B8
Wallowa County Chieftain
LOCAL/REGIONAL
Wednesday, May 25, 2022
EOU joins state’s other universities approving tuition hike
By MEERAH POWELL
Oregon Public Broadcasting
LA GRANDE — Eastern
Oregon University’s Board
of Trustees Thursday, May
19, approved a 4.9% tuition
increase for undergraduate
students for the upcoming
academic year.
EOU is the last pub-
lic university in Oregon to
decide on tuition this year.
It follows in the footsteps
of the six other universities
that have all recommended
increases.
However, even with the
tuition increase, and an esti-
mated boost in enrollment,
Eastern offi cials are still
anticipating a budget defi cit
of at least $2 million.
EOU’s Vice President of
Finance, Lara Moore, said
the university made certain
decisions it knew would
contribute to that operating
defi cit — including freez-
ing its tuition rates for most
undergraduate students last
year.
“Our tuition proposal rec-
ognizes that,” Moore said.
“It recognizes that we are
in an operating defi cit. It
recognizes the infl ationary
pressures that we are under
as an institution, because
we do want to maintain our
fi nancial stability.”
Moore stressed that even
with the tuition increase,
aff ordability is an important
principle to the university.
According to EOU board
documents, Eastern is still
Oregon’s cheapest public
university by credit hour for
in-state students even with
this increase.
Undergraduate in-state
students are paying a little
over $7,800 in tuition this
school year if they’re tak-
ing 15 credits per term in
a regular three-term year.
They’ll pay roughly $380
more starting next school
year — or about $8,200
in annual tuition. Students
from Washington and Idaho
can also get in-state tuition
at Eastern.
Undergraduate out-of-
state students are currently
paying about $20,500 annu-
ally, based on that same
15-credit load. They will see
an annual increase of about
$1,000 — up to $21,500 in
annual tuition.
Tuition prices also vary
for students in the Western
Undergraduate Exchange
Program, or WUE — stu-
dents who come from a num-
ber of states near Oregon,
like California and Nevada.
Rates also vary for students
solely taking classes online.
Eastern is Oregon’s
smallest public university
and like nearly every other
public university in the state,
it got a little smaller during
the pandemic. Only Ore-
gon State University has
avoided a decrease in enroll-
ment this past fall com-
pared with numbers before
the pandemic, according
to Oregon’s Higher Educa-
tion Coordinating Commis-
sion. Offi cials at the small
Commissioners hear update on weed battle
IN BRIEF
Progress reported
for 2021; more
expected this year
May is motorcycle
safety month
By BILL BRADSHAW
Wallowa County Chieftain
ENTERPRISE — In an
update on the battle against
noxious and invasive weeds
in Wallowa County, Andy
Marcum, the county’s Veg-
etation Department man-
ager, listed the department’s
accomplishments in 2021 and
outlined plans to continue the
eff orts this year.
Working in conjunction
with other agencies and, in
particular, with landowners
in the county, the department
has made signifi cant prog-
ress, Marcum said.
“We’re staying on top of
the yellowstar (thistle) in the
Lostine,” he said of one area
of achievement.
He also said landowners
are of great help.
“They’re doing a great job
of keeping their roads clean
and staying on top of medu-
sahead,” he said.
Last year, some 400 acres
of medusahead rye was
treated on property belong-
ing to fi ve landowners, Mar-
cum said. Another 1,641 net
acres of weeds on diff erent
lists were treated, as were
490 acres of bareground and
broadleaf weeds on county
roads, gravel pits and right-
of-ways, according to Mar-
cum’s slide presentation.
Gravel pits, he noted, can be
sites that lead to the prolifer-
ation of weeds when gravel
is hauled to various areas
around the county.
Marcum said the depart-
ment found and treated three
new sites of plumeless this-
tle. Some $20,712.27 was
shared with landowners by
the county to help combat the
weeds.
But there’s still more to do.
“As you know, if you drive
down the Little Sheep High-
way in another few weeks,
you’re going to see Scotch
thistle this tall everywhere,”
he said as he raised his hand
several feet off the fl oor.
This year, the department
plans to survey for weeds an
additional 10,000 acres north-
east of Ant Flat for plumeless
thistle and other weeds. The
department also plans to:
• Continue education and
outreach with partners at local
events.
• Hold a “spray day” for
myrtle spurge at Wallowa
Lake.
• Install a hay station at the
Flora junction.
• Reestablish the nox-
ious weed tour with the weed
board in late July.
Numerous other proj-
ects are planned for the Lit-
tle Sheep Corridor, the Wal-
lowa River, the Lostine River,
Water Canyon, Big Canyon,
the East Moraine, treat the
mid-valley for musk thistle,
treat the mid- and lower-val-
ley for yellowstar thistle, con-
duct an annual invasive grass
survey and treatment in the
mid-valley.
Marcum said the depart-
ment is attempting to address
areas it believes are more
manageable.
“We need to refocus our
eff orts away from Zumwalt
(Prairie). We’ve been work-
ing out there for 20 years
and spent a lot of money out
there over the past 20 years
and it’s just so bad out there,
so we’ve tried to fi nd an area
that is manageable for eradi-
cation of weeds and grasses
and the sites that are out there
are pretty clean.”
He said the goal is to have
eff orts on the Zumwalt be
more cost-eff ective.
“You get to the point
where you dump millions of
dollars into the Zumwalt for
basic grasses and you have
to do it every single year,”
he said.
However, Marcum said
later that without the eff orts
by the county and its part-
ners on the Zumwalt, it would
likely be a lot worse than it is
now.
Treatment other
than herbicides
Commissioner Todd Nash
agreed that the department
can’t just continue to pour
money into treatment of the
prairie.
“At some point, you have
got to have a bigger, bad-
der perennial that out-com-
petes an aggressive annual,”
he said.
Marcum agreed.
“And that’s what they try
to do with the reseedings,” he
said.
Commission Chairwoman
Susan Roberts asked about
a section that burned sev-
eral years ago and then was
reseeded.
“That’s the ideal treatment
for those annual grasses,”
Marcum said. “Burn, treat-
ment and reseeding.”
He
said
Wallowa
Resources has done some
trial burns and reseeded with
success.
Marcum also talked about
biological methods of treating
weeds, such as insects that do
the job of herbicides.
SALEM – As Ore-
gon weather turns warmer,
drivers should expect to
see more motorcycle and
moped riders. By intention-
ally looking for riders, driv-
ers can reduce the potential
of a “Looked But Failed to
See” crash.
The governor has pro-
claimed the month of May
Motorcycle Safety Aware-
ness Month, urging all
drivers to look for rid-
ers. The proclamation also
encourages riders to ride in
a courteous, legally com-
pliant manner, which can
reduce some risks associ-
ated with riding motorcy-
cles and mopeds.
Joseph to hold
hearing on zoning
change
JOSEPH — A pub-
lic hearing on a resident’s
request for a zoning change
will be held during the
next Joseph City Council
meeting Thursday, June 2,
according to a press release.
The meeting begins at
7 p.m. at the Joseph Com-
munity Events Center. The
university in La Grande are
reporting an 8% decrease in
enrolled students from 2019
to fall 2021 — a trend they
say is critical to address.
“The real key to every-
thing really is enrollment.
That’s what we’re going
to live and die on is enroll-
ment,” EOU Trustee Brad
Stephens said at the board’s
meeting.
All of the public univer-
sities are instituting tuition
increases for the upcom-
ing academic year of any-
where from around 3% to
5% for in-state undergradu-
ate students.
public Is welcome to attend
in person or via Zoom.
To join the Zoom meet-
ing, visit
https://us02web.zoom.
us/j/88138754137?p-
wd=Z3c4WEFxUzdWL-
3RqdzhSbkFPSFRodz09.
The webinar ID is 881 3875
4137 and the passcode is
269827. To attend by tele-
phone, call 253-215-8782
The council will adjourn
its regular session to go
into the public hearing to
consider a request by Andy
McKee for a minor par-
tition of property at 201
E. 2nd St. and a zoning
change from R-2 (general
residential) to Commercial.
A map showing the
request is available on the
city’s website.
All residents who own
property within the 250-
foot conditional use/vari-
ance zone are allowed to
voice any concerns about
the requested changes. The
council also urges any res-
idents with other concerns
to speak at the hearing.
Anyone wishing to pro-
vide input before the meet-
ing is asked to do so before
4 p.m. May 25 at Joseph
City Hall or email the city-
ofjosephoregon@gmail.
com. For questions regard-
ing this meeting, call City
Hall at 541-432-3832.
— Chieftain staff