A6 BAKER CITY HERALD • SATURDAY, JUNE 18, 2022
LOCAL & STATE
Baker City boy gets student-built, off-road wheelchair
Electric-powered chair
for Gus Macy was built
by students from
Umatilla robotics team
BY ERICK PETERSON
East Oregonian
UMATILLA — Gus Macy, son
of Levi and Karla of Baker City, is
set for a very enjoyable summer,
according to his mother. Team
Confidential, the Umatilla High
School robotics team, is responsible
for some of his latest summertime
plans.
Students constructed a wheel-
chair that, according to the team’s
coach and UHS teacher, Kyle Sipe,
is more than a typical chair. This
chair was made specifically for
6-year-old Gus, who has spina bi-
fida and is unable to use his legs.
“What we determined to do as a
robotics club is to give him a chance
to have more activities with his
family outside of normal wheelchair
activity,” the coach said.
He described it as a “trike, retro-
fitted into an e-bike.” It’s powered
by electricity, so Gus, who cannot
operate a regular bike, can use it.
He can use his thumb to control the
throttle.
Karla Macy said that such chairs,
built for off-road adventuring, can
cost $10,000 to $20,000, or above.
This one, she said, will make a big
difference in her son’s life.
“This is a new and exciting way
for him to get around,” she said.
A heart-felt project
Sipe said that this was not only
a big project for his students; it
was a meaningful one. Students
planned its construction during the
COVID-19 lockdown of 2020/21.
When they couldn’t see one another
in person, they diagrammed the
chair remotely.
Students conversed with each
other via the internet about the
build. This gave them something
to do and to look forward to, their
teacher said. Also, it provided a rea-
son for them to keep in touch.
When lockdown ended, they got
together and enjoyed teaming up
once again, as they had done with
other projects. At least 35 students
pitched in on this project, working
whenever they had a free moment.
“I couldn’t hazard a guess as to
how many hours they spent, but it
was a lot,” Sipe said.
He and his students weren’t the
Umatilla School District/Contributed Photo
Gus Macy takes his first drive of the chair built by Umatilla High School students.
Umatilla School District/Contributed Photo
Gus Macy (front, center) poses next to his new wheelchair, which was built by Team
Confidential, the Umatilla High School robotics team.
only people responsible for this new
chair, however.
The dynamic duo and super students
Heidi Sipe, Umatilla School su-
perintendent and wife to the robot-
ics teacher, also worked to make
this gift possible. She said their ef-
fort was like other work they have
done in the past.
“I always do the organizing and
financing piece, and Kyle makes the
real work happen,” she said.
The superintendent said she dis-
covered this need while at a leg-
islative meeting. Gus’ mom was a
speaker at the meeting, as she was
advocating as an early childhood
intervention educator.
“I met her there and was really
inspired by her,” Heidi Sipe said.
They stayed in touch after the
meeting, and they discussed the
possibility of the Umatilla robotics
team helping Gus.
The robotics team is often busy,
but their schedule opened up
during the pandemic. There was no
in-person school, and competitions
were canceled.
“The kids needed a project,” she
said.
Also, local companies and peo-
ple were willing to fund the project.
Cattle Drive Leather Co. was the
primary sponsor.
The Lorence Family and Evange-
line Gifts were sponsors, too, and
Amazon Web Services helped fund
the team’s trip to Baker City to de-
liver the bike to Gus.
She called the experience of de-
livering the chair, and seeing the
surprise on Gus’ face, “the greatest
thing ever.” Some of the students,
who worked on the chair, agreed.
Fostering community involvement
Avery Gutierrez, Confidential of-
ficer and member for three years,
said she was very happy about this
project. She added that the robotics
team has introduced her to commu-
nity service; Gutierrez hadn’t done
such work previous to joining Con-
fidential. Lately, she has performed
yard work and helped out in other
ways with her team.
She said she likes this sort of
work, as it brings her closer to oth-
ers. Also, she enjoys learning new
skills, she said. Though the wheel-
chair project is not robotics, per
se, it did involve wiring and other
skills.
“We started by getting measure-
ments — his height and weight —
and we worked to adjust it to his
needs,” Gutierrez said.
According to Gutierrez, Gus
hugged his mom and gave everyone
on the team high fives upon receiv-
ing the chair.
Meghan Owens, lead of pro-
gramming and electrical for Confi-
dential, has been with the team for
four years. Like Gutierrez, most of
her community service work has
been through her robotics team,
she said.
Also like Gutierrez, Owens said
she “gets a lot” from her service.
“We get really connected with our
community,” she said. She added
that she has learned much about the
people of her community, as well
as the area’s history, businesses and
services.
She also said that Gus was happy
about the chair, even though he had
an accident on his first drive.
Adventures started with a spill
Karla Macy confirmed that
her son did, in fact, have an acci-
dent, though it was minor and not
enough to scare him away from the
gift. Upon receiving the wheelchair,
Gus steered it into a curb and took
a tumble.
“It only took him about five min-
utes to figure out how to tip it over,”
she said.
She said Gus was fine, as the chair
was built with safety in mind. A car
seat, with a five-point harness, is
part of the wheelchair. Also, he has
a helmet.
“What’s really good about it is
that it’s a pretty good size, and I
think it’s something he can use,”
she said. “I think this is something
that can last him his whole life, with
some minor adjustments.”
Gus’ mother expressed much
gratitude for the chair and the kind-
ness of the robotics team — they
spoke with him when designing the
chair and later, when they met him
in person, one student presented
him with a stuffed toy.
“Those students from Umatilla
have been so awesome,” she said.
Oregon’s prison chief in lead
for top federal prisons job
BY MICHAEL BALSAMO AND
MICHAEL R. SISAK
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Colette
Peters, the director of Ore-
gon’s prison system, has now
emerged as the leading con-
tender to run the federal prison
system, a person familiar with
the matter told The Associated
Press on Wednesday, June 15.
Peters, who has run the
state’s corrections department
since 2012, is at the top of the
list of candidates to replace Bu-
reau of Prisons Director Mi-
chael Carvajal, who submitted
his resignation in January but
said he would stay on until a
successor was named, the per-
son said.
She would be the 11th per-
son to lead the Bureau of Pris-
ons since its founding more
than 90 years ago, and only the
second director with no prior
experience at the agency, the
Justice Department’s largest.
While many officials from in-
side the Bureau of Prisons ap-
plied for the post, the Biden
administration was looking for
someone who was focused on
reforming an agency that has
had cultural issues for decades.
Deputy Attorney General
Lisa Monaco has been lead-
ing the search for Carvajal’s
replacement. The leadership
change comes in the wake of
AP reporting that has uncov-
ered widespread problems at
the agency, including sexual
abuse by correctional officers
and critically low staffing levels
that have hampered responses
to emergencies.
The person was not autho-
rized to discuss details of the
job search and spoke to the AP
on condition of anonymity.
Peters did not immediately
respond to an email seeking
comment. The development
was first reported by the Ore-
gon Capital Chronicle.
As director of Oregon’s
prison system, Peters is respon-
sible for about 4,700 employees
in an agency with a $2 billion
budget. There are about 14,700
inmates in the state’s 14 prisons.
The state corrections depart-
ment has also touted her role in
the state’s efforts to reduce the
prison population and reduce
recidivism.
Peters has a master’s degree
in criminal justice from the
University of Colorado in Den-
ver and a bachelor’s degree in
psychology.
Oregon’s prison system,
like many in the U.S., had a
wave of COVID-19 cases and
deaths, and Peters’ agency has
been criticized for not doing
enough to respond to the pan-
demic behind bars. In Oregon,
46 people in the Department
of Corrections’ custody have
so far died after testing posi-
tive for COVID-19, and more
than 5,400 people have tested
positive for the virus while in
custody.
In 2020, Peters publicly apol-
ogized for an inmate’s death as
the state prison system agreed
to pay a record $2.75 million to
the family of the man who died
from the flu. The settlement
came nine months after Mi-
chael Barton’s family filed a $15
million wrongful death lawsuit
accusing prison staff of failing
to treat the 54-year-old man for
the flu and then covering up his
flu-related death.
The Bureau of Prisons sim-
ilarly faced criticism over the
explosion of COVID-19 in the
nation’s 122 federal prisons.
Carvajal, 54, was appointed di-
rector of the federal Bureau of
Prisons in February 2020 by
then-Attorney General William
Barr, just before the COVID-19
pandemic began raging in fed-
eral prisons nationwide, leaving
tens of thousands of inmates
infected with the virus and re-
sulting in 295 deaths.
An agency insider who
started as a correctional offi-
cer and worked his way up the
ranks, Carvajal’s tumultuous
tenure as director included
a failed response to the pan-
demic, widespread criminal
activity among employees, in-
mate deaths and dozens of es-
capes.
Carvajal also oversaw an un-
precedented run of federal ex-
ecutions in the waning months
of the Trump presidency that
were so poorly managed they
became virus superspreader
events.
The AP’s reporting expos-
ing those problems compelled
Congress to investigate and
prompted increased calls from
lawmakers for Carvajal to re-
sign or be fired by Attorney
General Merrick Garland.
The chairman of the Sen-
ate Judiciary Committee, Sen.
Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said Car-
vajal “failed to address the
mounting crises in our nation’s
federal prison system, includ-
ing failing to fully implement
the landmark First Step Act,”
a bipartisan criminal justice
measure passed during the
Trump administration that
was meant to improve prison
programs and reduce sentenc-
ing disparities.
Biden administration of-
ficials had discussions about
whether to remove Carvajal in
spring 2021, after the AP re-
ported that widespread correc-
tional officer vacancies were
forcing prisons to expand the
use of cooks, teachers, nurses
and other workers to guard
inmates.
The Bureau of Prisons is
the only Justice Department
agency whose director isn’t
subject to Senate confirmation.
Currently, the attorney general
can just appoint someone to
the position.
A bill introduced in Con-
gress days after Carvajal’s res-
ignation would require Senate
confirmation for future bureau
directors — putting them un-
der the same level of scrutiny
as leaders of the FBI and other
federal agencies — but, so far,
the measure hasn’t come up
for a vote.
Others being considered for
the job included Gary Mohr,
the former director of Ohio’s
prison system. While many
had pushed Mohr for the posi-
tion, he never formally applied
for the job and is no longer in
the running.
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