Polk County News
14A Polk County Itemizer-Observer • August 16, 2017
State money could help
Dallas street repairs
By Jolene Guzman
The Itemizer-Observer
STEPHANIE BLAIR/Itemizer-Observer
Josephine Bennett, right, was one of 24 students accepted into the Oregon State University Veterinary Experience.
Teen gets taste of vet school
DALLAS — Transporta-
tion legislation passed by
the Oregon Legislature this
last session will help local
governments solve part of
their street maintenance
needs.
Dallas City Manager Ron
Foggin conservatively esti-
mated the city could get
more than $300,000 per
year for the next ten years
to add to its street mainte-
nance budget. Councilor
Paul Trahan said he seen
estimates that would send
Dallas as much at $388,000.
The state will begin send-
ing the money in 2018.
“That’s good news and
it’s kind of bad news at the
same time because it still
leaves us quite a bit short of
what we need,” Foggin
said.
The city’s Public Works
Committee, consisting of
five council members, has
been looking at options for
street maintenance priori-
ties and funding for resi-
dential roads in town.
The city has a backlog of
about $15 million in main-
tenance on its residential
streets.
“That is great news and
what we end up with the
extra $300,000 is what the
committee is going to be
working on,” Foggin said.
“We’re pretty excited to
have that passed.”
While the money still
falls short of meeting the
needs, Foggin said the ad-
ditional money not only
gives the city more re-
sources to fix streets, but
more strategies to pay for
repairs.
“One of the conversa-
tions that we’ve had is how
much we could bond for.”
Foggin said, referring to a
revenue bond, not one
needing voter approval.
“That’s always a challenge,
is that you have your main-
tenance money and you
bond against your mainte-
nance money, but then you
have nothing to spend on
maintenance. You would
just be paying debt service.
This actually opens the
door for that conversation.”
Dallas high senior gets firsthand glimpse of what college will look like
By Stephanie Blair
The Itemizer-Observer
CORVALLIS — After
wrapping up at the Polk
County Fair on Sunday, Dal-
las FFA and 4-H club mem-
ber Josephine Bennett
packed her bags and drove
to Corvallis for the Oregon
State University Summer
Veterinary Experience — a
week-long program where
high school juniors and sen-
iors live on campus and
learn about veterinary medi-
cine.
This is the sixth year the
program has been held and
the first year that applica-
tions have been open to stu-
dents outside of Oregon.
Though more than 100 stu-
dents from around the
world applied for the experi-
ence, only 24 were admitted:
Bennett, a Dallas High
School senior, among them.
The program is designed
to give students a better un-
derstanding of what a future
in veterinary medicine looks
like, explained program co-
ordinator Tess Collins,
OSU’s coordinator of admis-
sions.
“The reason for starting
this whole program was to
provide a chance for stu-
dents who might not other-
wise get a chance to learn
about (veterinary medicine)
to get a really cool, hands-on
experience,” Collins said.
“And, also, just some expo-
sure to college.”
This week, the high-
schoolers will live in the
dorms, eat in the dining
halls and learn about college
lab procedure.
In classes, students will
have a chance to learn from
professors how to suture,
how to perform physical
exams on dogs, as well as
learn about animal anatomy
and physiology, among
other things.
Outside of the classroom,
they’ll spend time with cur-
rent OSU students who
mentor them during the day
by participating in fun group
activities, like bowling and a
movie night.
For Bennett, it’s an excit-
ing opportunity.
“I had been looking for a
camp like this, that would
show me all the things I
wanted to learn and see and
experience,” Bennett said.
“I’m really interested in
being a vet, so I really want-
ed to see what college would
be like and see what the
OSU campus would be like. I
also really wanted to be with
a bunch of people that are
really inspired to be a vet
and have the kind of drive
that I have to be one.
“(So far) I like it a lot, it’s a
lot of fun. I’m getting to
meet new people and expe-
rience a lot of things. And
we’re learning about anato-
my and physiology, which is
right up my alley, so I’m ex-
cited about that.”
For more information
about the program, visit
vetmed.oregonstate.edu/os
u-summer-veterinary-expe-
rience.
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