KATHRYN B. BROWN
Owner
ANDREW CUTLER
Publisher/Editor
ERICK PETERSON
Hermiston Editor/Senior Reporter
THURSDAy, SEPTEMBER 23, 2021
A4
Founded October 16, 1875
OUR VIEW
Education
is the key to
unlocking
labor force
B
reak down poverty and unem-
ployment by race and it is worri-
some.
If you go back to 2019, Oregon’s econ-
omy was zooming. But there still were
large disparities in poverty rates by race.
• 10.2% for white, not Hispanic Orego-
nians.
• 11.8% for Asian Oregonians.
• 14.8% for Hispanic Oregonians.
• 25.2% for Black Oregonians.
The pattern isn’t all that different
for unemployment rates. And there
are substantial gender inequities, too.
Women are employed at lower rates than
men, and earn lower wages as well.
What could or should Oregon do about
it? It’s lost potential for families and indi-
viduals to build wealth and for Oregon’s
labor force. Josh Lehner, Oregon’s state
economist, recently took a look at the
issue.
“To really address this disparity, the
availability and affordability of child care
and extended care after school would
really need to be addressed,” Lehner
wrote in his report. “The unemploy-
ment rate between women and men is
not noticeably different, but that’s largely
due to many moms indicating they are
not looking for work specifically because
they are taking care of the home or
family. Flexible schedules, working from
home, and broader societal changes are
also likely needed to help address the
gender employment gap.”
It’s a complicated problem with no
single policy solution. But what we do
know is the value of a college degree in
improving wages and in employment.
The median wage for college graduates
is about 80% higher than for noncollege
graduates.
“Therefore the biggest economic and
societal boosts to raising educational
attainment and addressing racial dispar-
ities will not be seen in the raw number
of workers in Oregon,” the report said.
“Rather, the bigger boosts will be seen
in the income, poverty, homeowner, and
taxes paid data.”
Of course, college is not for everyone.
There will be gains from other post-high
school professional training, too.
Getting more Oregonians on the path
to college degrees or other post-high
school training could slowly change those
disparities. That’s not a particularly new
finding nor a surprising one. When we
think about priorities for Oregon’s chil-
dren, it’s worth remembering.
EDITORIALS
Unsigned editorials are the opinion of the East
Oregonian editorial board. Other columns,
letters and cartoons on this page express the
opinions of the authors and not necessarily
that of the East Oregonian.
LETTERS
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of 400 words or less on public issues and public
policies for publication in the newspaper and on
our website. The newspaper reserves the right
to withhold letters that address concerns about
individual services and products or letters that
infringe on the rights of private citizens. Letters
must be signed by the author and include the
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The phone number will not be published.
Unsigned letters will not be published.
SEND LETTERS TO:
editor@eastoregonian.com,
or via mail to Andrew Cutler,
211 S.E. Byers Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801
COVID-19 brings fear, tedium, relief
KATHY
ANEY
FROM THE REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK
T
he paper test strip steeping in
blue liquid would soon reveal its
secrets.
On the bathroom counter next to
the test tube, my phone timer silently
counted down from 10 minutes. I had
swabbed my nose, swished the swab
in the liquid and inserted the strip into
the tube. Shortly, I would know if I had
COVID-19.
A few days earlier, in a case of
the worst timing ever, I had driven to
Eugene to help my mom with a day
surgery appointment the next day.
Cruising along the freeway for five
hours, I happily listened to an audio
book and barely noticed a growing
tickle in my lungs.
I arrived on my mom’s doorstep
with a smile. Both of us had been fully
vaccinated for months, so we hugged
and got busy catching up. Had dinner.
Shared a glass of wine. We spent much
of that night and the next day together
as I ferried her back and forth from
surgery. My asthma, a chronic respi-
ratory condition I’ve had since child-
hood, started to bother me more.
That night lying in bed at my
Airbnb, other symptoms arrived: sore
throat, chills, a wheezy cough and
a stuffy nose — along with a grow-
ing feeling of dread. Surely this was a
garden variety cold. Just because we’re
in the middle of a deadly pandemic
doesn’t mean one should assume the
worst. Right?
The next day, I bailed on breakfast
plans with mom and headed back to
Pendleton. My husband, or Nurse Bill
as I now call him, met me at the door
wearing a mask. I set up the master
bedroom for quarantine. A friend
offered to give me a home COVID-19
test and Nurse Bill went to fetch it from
her.
Now my phone alarm chirped,
alerting us that the result was ready for
viewing.
“I can’t look,” I told Bill.
He bent close to inspect the
strip. The info sheet in the home kit
explained that a blue stripe indicated
a negative result. A blue stripe accom-
panied by a pink, however, meant posi-
tive. Bill gave it a long look.
“Pink and blue,” he finally said.
I was stunned.
“No! No, no, no, no.”
It was Wednesday, exactly a week
before the start of the Pendleton
Round-Up, my busiest week of the year
as an (albeit now semi-retired) East
Oregonian photographer and reporter.
Every day of Round-Up, I typically
shoot between 1,300 and 1,500 photos
of rodeo action. This. Was. Not.
Happening.
But it was.
My next thought was mom. Holy
moly, I might have infected my octo-
genarian mom. That realization hit me
with a supersized wave of guilt.
A PCR (polymerase chain reaction)
test a few days later at St. Anthony
Hospital confirmed the home test.
So where did I get COVID-19?
Maybe on Sept. 4 when I photographed
the outdoor Veterans Benefit and
Music Festival at the Heritage Station
Museum where few wore masks. I also
had roamed the sidelines of several
different football and soccer games
with my camera and met with a couple
of individuals separately at restaurants’
outdoor seating in the several days
prior to getting sick. All seemed like
well-ventilated, low-risk activities.
There are silver linings to getting
sick. One is the knowledge that the
two-dose vaccine I got last spring
did its job in schooling my immune
response. No longer naive, my system
fought back like a special forces unit
with advance intel. I am in a high-risk
age group and I have an underlying
condition. If not for those jabs, I might
be among the one in 500 Americans
killed by COVID-19 since the begin-
ning of the pandemic.
Of course, getting vaccinated didn’t
guarantee I wouldn’t get the virus. I
know that firsthand now. But recent
data suggests vaccinated people spread
the virus for a shorter time and their
cases are generally less severe even
against the hyper contagious delta vari-
ant. A Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention study recently reported that
unvaccinated people were five times as
likely to be infected from the virus, 10
times as likely to be hospitalized and
10 times more likely to die than fully
vaccinated people.
Hunkering down in the back
bedroom for more than a week brought
tedium, but also a constant stream of
texts, photos and emails from friends
hoping to keep me entertained and
encouraged. After 10 days in isolation,
I breathed easy again and actually got
to shoot a couple days of Round-Up.
As for my family, my mom tested
negative twice. Nurse Bill, however,
developed a fever and lost his sense of
taste and smell. The case is mild.
Be safe out there.
———
Kathy Aney is a reporter/photogra-
pher for the East Oregonian.
More recently we have the sad
Biden fiasco of leaving Afghanistan
without a plan or purpose. He has left
behind unknown numbers of Ameri-
can citizens (as well as 13 U.S. soldiers
dead) at the mercy of a violent Tali-
ban regime who are now well armed
thanks to Biden’s lack of planning and
purpose.
We have always been the leader of
the free world, but now even our allies
have found us to be untrustworthy.
They are having second thoughts as to
whether they can rely on the U.S. Biden
has managed in a short time to let the
American people down and also the rest
of the free world.
Ed Ater
La Grande
despite his reputation for grift, endless
lies and scandalous and inappropriate
interactions with women. Now we have
the resistance to vaccinations.
People are splitting themselves to
prove a point. Not recalling that they
themselves have been vaccinated
already just so they could attend public
schools. All of a sudden they want to
treat their bodies like a temple that
shouldn’t be subjected to a vaccine
that might contain ingredients they’re
unaware of.
All between bites of a gas station
corn dog, an energy drink and a drag
on a vaping device or a cigarette. I’ve
seen the temples in this town. I’m not
impressed.
Also, businesses have to take a
neutral position when it comes to taking
a public political stand. Cease with the
assumption that everyone agrees with
your political preferences. There are
businesses that I don’t agree with that I
will still patronize as long as they keep
their opinions to themselves.
Go on Facebook or other social
media sites and whine about not getting
your way and you’ve lost my business
for good.
David Gracia
Hermiston
YOUR VIEWS
Nothing good so far from
Biden administration
After nine months of Biden and his
administration, it’s difficult to find an
accomplishment that benefits our coun-
try.
He has further helped split our
country along political and racial lines,
caused unchecked inflation leading to
higher fuel prices thus higher prices
for everything moved by trucks, most
everything from food and clothes.
Our continued open borders allows
hundred of thousands of unknown
migrants from many countries to come
to the United States during a time of
COVID-19 restrictions for U.S. citizens,
perhaps bringing other health prob-
lems as well. Many are not apprehended
thus more drugs are entering, causing
unknown deaths as a result.
These illegals are being sent all over
our country with no vetting to help
protect citizens from harm. We do know
as a result that the cartels are making
millions of dollars on human suffering.
There is a huge amount of violence in
large cities and small as well, leaving
families wondering where to turn for
protection.
Keep vaccine opinions
to yourself
Umatilla County residents should
follow the old axiom of keeping our
mouths shut and just let people think
we’re ignorant and not opening our
mouths and removing all doubt.
It’s embarrassing enough to have a
multitude of people living here foolish
enough to support a Trump presidency