Friday, December 31, 2021
VIEWPOINTS
East Oregonian
A5
Challenges remain as we head into new year
ANDREW
CUTLER
FROM THE EDITOR’S DESK
A
year ago, at about roughly this same
time I wrote a column about how we
as a region might be bloodied but we
were unbowed.
Twelve months down the road I don’t
think I feel much different. I’ve worked for
the past year at an unprecedented time for
newspapers in general and for our local area
in particular.
Yet, I’ve been struck during the past two
years at the resilience of our region. Time
and again — especially as COVID-19 raged
— we’ve faced serious challenges and
obstacles and overcome them.
I wasn’t surprised, so much as
impressed.
I think a firm foundation of grit and
resilience is by now a hallmark of our
region. I can point to numerous examples of
this facet of our time, and I think it is what
defines — and sets us apart – from other
places in the nation.
We don’t shy away from challenges. We
take them in stride and that bodes well for
the future.
There is no getting around the fact we
face more challenges ahead. The omicron
variant of the coronavirus appears to be
ready to strike within the next couple of
weeks and it will probably create another
surge in infections.
We’re lucky in the sense we’ve been
warned it is just around the corner. That’s
helps for all of us to prepare. Still, I am
confident the people who populate our
great region will meet this challenge
with the same kind of determination they
faced when other crisis appeared.
Through it all, I can promise you that
the staffs at our newspapers around the
local area — in La Grande, Wallowa,
Hermiston, Pendleton, Baker City and
John Day — will be on station, working
had to give you the news you can use. We
will also be working to make sure you
can get as much information as possible
around any crisis that develops as fast as
possible.
I want to be upbeat about the coming year,
but I understand, as we all do, that challenges
remain. Yet I believe we, as a region, have the
tools and the resolve to be successful.
———
Andrew Cutler is the publisher/editor
of the East Oregonian and the regional
editorial director for the EO Media Group,
overseeing the East Oregonian and five
more newspapers in Eastern Oregon.
Dealing with loss and failure is a complex skill
SCOTT
SMITH
THE EDUCATION CORNER
Q
uickly babies learn that if they are
hungry, with a bit of crying, some-
one will provide nutrition. As they
grow and develop, they promptly refine
what response they need to give to resolve
what is causing their unhappiness.
The child is beginning to create conflict
resolution skills. Yet when they reach a
certain point, we as adults often step in
and “fix” situations so our children don’t
become frustrated and have a meltdown
causing us possible embarrassment. Our
problem-solving skills of avoiding a temper
tantrum stop the child from developing this
life skill of self-evaluation and resolution.
Everyone being a winner does not help our
children succeed in dealing with life disap-
pointments independently.
It does teach them that adults will
fix things, so they are happy. The older
the child gets, the harder it becomes to
change those behaviors. Starting young
and teaching them how to deal with
disappointments and evaluating how they
might avoid the situation next time will
serve them the rest of their lives.
handled correctly often is the one with the
Taking the time to teach your children
sad-looking cardboard box with notebook
how to deal with loss or failure and not
paper notes and drawing taped on the box
blame is a complex skill they will continue
if handled correctly. This child was placed
to refine all their life. At some point, you or
into the natural process of evaluating their
they will have to deal with failure or loss.
project against others.
Sooner is better than
Therefore, learning to
later. Stepping back
see what others did, they
and helping them eval-
adjustments
LOSS AND FAILURE understand
uate why they lost or
they might try their next
ARE A PART OF
failed is that life-im-
project. This student
pacting teaching
now learns the process
LIFE, YET WE CAN
moment.
of assessing a situation
Asking them,
to better the result next
CONTROL HOW
“What could you do
time. The more often we
WE DEAL WITH IT
next time?” teaches
allow a child to expe-
rience this process, the
them what they need
AND MAKE THINGS more their abilities will
to do to have success.
be enhanced, and they
It is much more chal-
BETTER FOR
lenging than it seems,
will use these abilities
OURSELVES AND
but the results will
daily.
have rewards beyond
Timing can be crucial.
OTHERS.
belief. It’s a process
The night of the science
and takes multiple
fair when they see no
situations to refine the
ribbon is the best time to
understanding that failure or loss is actually evaluate things. There is a natural process
learning.
of learning when dealing with loss or fail-
ure. The absolute worst thing you can do is
As adults, how we deal with the fail-
ure of a situation models how our children
push the loss or failure onto someone else or
respond when they experience a loss or
something else.
failure. Most of us have gone to a school’s
Later, spend time to reassure your child
science fair and observed the students’
that you are proud of them and ask them
projects. The student who learns the most if what they noticed about other science proj-
ects and what they might do differently
next time. Life learning occurs when we
allow the child to evaluate a situation and
make life adjustments to prevent replaying
the previous experience. Life learning also
happens when participating in sports —
asking, “What might you try next time to
make things better,” cause the child to start
the thinking process.
It’s easy to blame others when things
don’t go as planned. The skill of self-evalu-
ation over what the child might change next
time activates the thinking process in the
child. However, blame won’t increase the
child’s ability to evaluate and improve their
skills or change the result.
Looking for ways to acknowledge our
childrens’ frustration and learn how to deal
with loss or failure is accomplished through
questioning as a way of evaluation. Asking
questions such as: “What do you think
happened?” “What should we do differently
next time?” helps build their understanding
of evaluating and taking charge of situations
in a healthy way.
Loss and failure are a part of life, yet we
can control how we deal with it and make
things better for ourselves and others.
———
Scott Smith, doctor of education, is a
40-plus year Umatilla County educator and
serves on the Decoding Dyslexia Oregon
board as its parent/teacher liaison.
A few nuggets for spicing your holiday chatter
DICK
HUGHES
OTHER VIEWS
A
s you gather ’round the holiday
table, or seek to converse via Zoom,
where will your small talk take you?
Fear not, dear readers, for I offer the follow-
ing nuggets of news for spicing your chatter.
Each tidbit is intriguing but doesn’t
merit a column on its own. The late Oregon
columnist Ron Blankenbaker referred to
such items as “pieces of string too short to
save.”
Without further ado, and in no particular
order …
• When the Oregon Employment Depart-
ment eventually rolls out its new technol-
ogy, Oregonians will know whom to thank,
or blame: Frances.
The IT project will handle unemploy-
ment insurance and the future paid family
and medical leave insurance program.
The project is long from completion. But
last week officials announced, “Exciting
news! The name of our new modernized
system.” The name they chose honors Fran-
ces Perkins, who was President Franklin D.
Roosevelt’s long-serving secretary of labor.
• Mike Cully’s demise is one of the
strangest I can recall. The League of
Oregon Cities’ executive director got into
a Twitter fight — about tipping fast food
workers — with Beaverton Mayor Lacey
Beaty. Really.
Beaty filed a complaint with the league
about Cully’s inappropriate and report-
edly profane language. The league board
accepted Cully’s resignation last week. By
the way, Cully’s profile on LinkedIn refers
to his “Transformative Leadership.”
• By next summer, Oregon will have
been under a COVID-19 state of emergency
for more than two years. Last week, Gov.
Kate Brown extended her pandemic emer-
gency declaration through June 30.
• As of Thursday, Dec. 23, 12 Demo-
crats and 11 Republicans had filed to run for
Oregon governor. Former New York Times
columnist Nick Kristof is the latest, filing
last week as a Democrat. Kristof resides
on the family farm outside Yamhill. But as
was first reported by Oregon Public Broad-
casting, state election officials want more
information before determining whether he
meets the three-year residency requirement.
The filings are for the May 17 primary
election for the Republican and Democratic
parties. They do not include independent
candidates, such as former state Sen. Betsy
Johnson.
Now that Oregon courts have upheld
the congressional legislative redistricting
maps, candidates can begin filing on Jan. 1
to run for U.S. representative, state senator
and state representative. Filing continues
through March 8. Unlike candidates for the
U.S. House, legislative candidates must live
within their district.
• What will the 60-member Oregon
House look like in 2023? Women — 22
Democrats and 12 Republicans — are in
the majority. The newest member is Rep.
Jessica George, R-St. Paul, who was sworn
in this month to replace former Rep. Bill
Post, R-Keizer. He resigned after moving to
Nevada.
There could have been a 35th woman in
the House. The Marion County commis-
sioners, all Republicans, selected Salem
City Councilor Chris Hoy over three women
applicants to finish the term of former Rep.
Brian Clem, D-Salem, who resigned. By
law, an appointed legislator must be from
the same political party as the person who
left the office.
Meanwhile, a number of House members
are forgoing reelection and choosing to
retire or seek higher office. The most
recent announcements include Rep. Sheri
Schouten, D-Beaverton, who is retiring, and
Rep. Raquel Moore-Green, R-Salem, who is
running for the Senate.
Schouten’s story is unique. She met her
future husband, then-Washington County
Commissioner Dick Schouten, on the
campaign trail. Both were widowed. During
then-Rep. Malstrom’s first term in 2017,
he proposed to her on the House floor. The
next year, Gov. Brown officiated at their
wedding.
• The Legislature officially has two
new top managers. Interim Legislative
Administrator Brett Hanes had “interim”
removed from his title. Legislative Admin-
istration includes human resources, facil-
ities, finance, information technology and
visitor services. Amanda Beitel was named
legislative fiscal officer, leading the nonpar-
tisan staff that works on state budgets and
analyzes the fiscal impact of legislation.
• Legislators participated from all over
for a virtual meeting of the Emergency
Board, which appointed Beitel. Sen. Bill
Hansell, R-Athena, called in from the Walla
Walla Regional Airport in Washington
state. Rep. Rob Nosse, D-Portland, was on
video from his car. (He said he wasn’t driv-
ing.)
The Club for Growth Foundation has
gathered statistics on individual legislators’
attendance. The average state senator in
Oregon missed 7% of floor votes during this
year’s regular legislative session, compared
with 8% for state representatives. A few
lawmakers scored perfect attendance.
• Sen. Chris Gorsek, D-Troutdale, said
the Oregon Task Force on School Safety
will take a deep look into school resource
officers next year. Gorsek opposes their
unilateral removal from schools. He is a
task force member, a former police officer
and a longtime instructor of criminal justice
at Mount Hood Community College.
• The new president of the Oregon Farm
Bureau comes from the state’s most popu-
lous county, Multnomah. Angi Bailey oper-
ates a Gresham nursery that specializes in
Japanese maples. Elected this month to a
two-year term, she has filled the presiden-
tial role since last spring when Barb Iverson
stepped aside for health reasons.
• U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio recently
announced big money for Oregon from the
federal infrastructure bill — $662 million
for improving roads, highways and bridges,
and $42 million for airports. U.S. Rep.
Suzanne Bonamici announced $92 million
from that same legislation to fix and expand
drinking water and wastewater systems in
Oregon.
• Thanks to successful petition drives,
voters in Douglas and Klamath counties
will consider May ballot measures that
would take small steps toward the possibil-
ity of eastern and southern Oregon becom-
ing part of Idaho.
• In its list of holiday-sounding places,
the U.S. Census Bureau includes Unity.
The town in Baker County has 40 resi-
dents. No mention is made of unincorpo-
rated Christmas Valley in Lake County. The
Census Bureau also says the U.S. has more
bookstores than either home-improvement
centers or department stores. Really.
———
Dick Hughes has been covering the
Oregon political scene since 1976.