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About The Bulletin. (Bend, OR) 1963-current | View Entire Issue (May 21, 2021)
A6 The BulleTin • Friday, May 21, 2021 Taiwan Continued from A1 The U.S. State Department awarded Wallace a scholar- ship to spend her first year of college studying Mandarin in Taiwan, with tuition, housing and airfare all covered. She’s thrilled to get the opportunity to master the language that has become her passion. “I love speaking foreign languages. It’s one of the only things I know I love,” said Wal- lace, 18. “Why not pursue it even further?” Wallace’s scholarship to Tamkang University in New Taipei City — Taiwan’s largest city — is being paid for by the National Security Language Initiative for Youth program. The initiative’s goal is to teach young Americans, through immersion, languages that are crucial to global diplo- macy. Many of these languages, such as Arabic, Russian and Turkish, are less commonly found in high schools. “(Mandarin) is critical be- cause of the relationship be- tween China and the U.S.,” said Hotel Continued from A1 Eagan said the city is likely no longer in the queue for the original $35 million, which has to be spent by the end of June. The city hopes to con- tinue evaluating the Bend Value Inn and that more Proj- ect Turnkey money will be allocated by the state Legisla- ture to pay for the project. Loeb said having more money coming to Project Turnkey is a “hopeful aspira- tion.” “It isn’t a guarantee, but we have communicated mem- bers of the Legislature that we do have more qualified applicants and that a num- ber of them are substantially through due diligence,” she said. The project won’t die if the city isn’t allocated state money, Eagan said. The city can use federal funding from Submitted photo Rachel Wallace visits the Great Wall of China in 2019. Lin Hong, associate professor of Chinese language and cul- ture at Central Oregon Com- munity College. “No matter if the relationship is combative or friends, it’s going to offer a lot of job opportunities for the young generation if they’re interested in international af- fairs.” the American Rescue Plan, which has been given to cities and counties for COVID-19 relief, or money from the city’s general fund. Eagan said she believes the city made the right decision by not moving forward with the original hotel, even if it does mean the city doesn’t re- ceive the grant money. The city took more time to conduct due diligence, which means inspecting the site to make sure it is suitable, so the city could be realistic about the cost of renovations. Eagan said she wonders whether other cities that moved more quickly will likely find similar structural issues like Bend did but just after the sale. “We knew more about our property going in then other communities likely are,” Ea- gan said. On Wednesday, the Bend City Council voted unan- Bend-La Pine Schools cur- rently does not have a full-time Mandarin program, although in the past, Mandarin teachers would temporarily visit from China, said district spokesper- son Alandra Johnson. How- ever, the new Caldera High School is planning to offer a permanent Mandarin program when it opens this fall, she said. Bend-La Pine has also of- fered dual-credit Mandarin courses with Central Oregon Community College, which is the class Wallace took at Sum- mit High School. This school year, Wallace has been enrolled in the Baker Early College public charter program, and takes all her classes through COCC — in- cluding Hong’s Chinese lan- guage and culture class. She credits Hong with in- spiring her to pursue an inter- est in Mandarin. “I can honestly say she’s changed my life and helped me become the person I am today,” Wallace said of Hong. “Whoever has her is really, re- ally lucky.” Wallace’s year of study in Taiwan will help her master Mandarin more quickly than if she continued to take Man- darin classes in the U.S., Hong said. In particular, learning the language is tricky in Bend, where there isn’t much of a Chinese population, she said. “Other cities, similar sizes as Bend, they usually have more opportunities to learn Chinese or other critical languages,” Hong said. More than 12% of Hillsboro and Beaverton’s population identify as Asian, compared to only 1.8% for Bend, according to U.S. Census estimates. The U.S. Census does not distin- guish what percentage of those Asian-identifying residents are Mandarin speakers, but both Hillsboro and Beaverton also have significantly higher percentages of residents who speak a language other than English at home. Wallace said she hopes to eventually earn a degree in Mandarin, and then either work in the travel industry or for the U.S. government in East Asia. “A state department job would be really awesome,” she said. Although Wallace has never visited Taiwan, she did get an opportunity to visit a Manda- rin-speaking country during a two-week trip to China in the summer of 2019. Still, Taiwan will be a bit of an adjustment, Wallace noted. “Taiwanese people speak Mandarin, but it’s a little differ- ent than the mainland (China) Mandarin,” she said. “They have different words, and a different accent … that will be something to dive into.” e e Reporter: 541-617-7854, jhogan@bendbulletin.com imously to negotiate a sale price with the owners of the Bend Value Inn on Division Street. The council also voted to end a purchase and sale agreement with the Rain- bow Motel on Franklin Ave- nue, mostly because it would be more expensive to buy in comparison with the Bend Value Inn, which a purchase and sale agreement prices at no more than $2.5 million, Eagan said. The city continues to have interest in the Rainbow Motel property, however. “We remain committed to increasing options for tempo- rary, transitional, and work- force housing in Bend, in- cluding through public and private partnerships in the Bend Central District,” Coun- cilor Gena Goodman-Camp- bell read in a motion on Wednesday. e e Reporter: 541-633-2160, bvisser@bendbulletin.com Ryan Brennecke/The Bulletin The Bend Value Inn is at 2346 NE Division St. in Bend.
