A4
OPINION
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, June 16, 2021
When it
comes to
pests, it’s us
or them
F
armers and ranchers
learn to keep a sharp
eye out for invasions.
Not the military kind, the pest
kind.
Whether they are insects,
amphibians, mussels or
rodents, they are up to no
good.
Perhaps the most famous
of the invasive species are
the Asian giant hornets,
which have shown up in Brit-
ish Columbia and Washing-
ton state in the past couple of
years. These oversized insects
are not only ominous-looking,
they can tear through a honey
bee hive in a matter of min-
utes, beheading any bees in
their path.
Then there is the tiny spot-
ted wing drosophila, which
has made its way to the Pacifi c
Northwest. These pests are
unique because they destroy
fresh fruit, not just fruit that is
already rotten.
The even tinier citrus psyl-
lids have brought another
plague from Asia — Huan-
glongbing, which translated
from Chinese is yellow dragon
disease. It causes citrus green-
ing, which makes citrus fruit
unmarketable and kills the
trees.
The quagga mussel has
Northwest agriculture and
wildlife biologists on red
alert. These small fresh-wa-
ter pests multiply rapidly once
they take hold — so fast that
they can clog irrigation pipes,
pumps and canals and munic-
ipal water systems. Most
recently, they have been spot-
ted in Oregon pet shops in
sponge balls for fi sh tanks,
causing state regulators to ban
the products.
Cuban tree frogs from the
Caribbean also have shown
up in Oregon. While only two
were found, regulators are
keeping an eye out to make
sure no others hitchhiked to
the region.
But nothing — and we
mean nothing — is as daunt-
ing as the invasion parts of
Australia have been subjected
to: mice.
In our experience, few pests
are as destructive as mice.
They eat crops, which is bad
enough. They get into bins and
elevators, destroying whatever
they come across. And they
eat the wiring in cars, trucks,
tractors and any other vehicles
they can get into. They repro-
duce exponentially and live
in walls, crawl spaces, attics,
brush — anywhere. They uri-
nate on everything in sight,
rendering it unusable.
In Australia, the mice have
overtaken much of the coun-
tryside in New South Wales.
At night, farmers describe
“carpets” of mice as far as
they can see. They have taken
over houses and other entire
buildings. One farmer said a
single water trap killed 7,500
mice in one night.
The worst part: the millions
of rotting dead mice that have
accumulated have soured the
countryside.
Mice can do as much dam-
age as any pest around. We
know of a mouse family that
destroyed a car’s wiring, caus-
ing thousands of dollars in
damage. We know another
case in which a couple of mice
died in the fan of a truck’s
heater, causing a permanent
stink.
Any invasive pest must be
“terminated with extreme prej-
udice.” You know what we
mean.
When it comes to farm-
ing and ranching, the choice is
simple: It’s us or them.
BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
Help wanted!
I
t seems that everywhere we go
there are “Help Wanted” signs.
Worse yet are those fl yers hung
in the window that say, “We’ve had
to reduce our hours because we are
short-staff ed.”
What’s going on?
There are a variety of answers,
but perhaps a more pertinent ques-
tion is, “Where can I fi nd people
who want to work?”
Of course, there are the tradi-
tional means like posting a job with
the Employment Department or
utilizing online platforms such as
Indeed, but employers may want to
take a closer look at their neighbor-
hood community colleges, univer-
sities and, yes, even high schools to
fi ll vacancies.
There are often stereotypes about
this group of people regarding their
perceived work ethic, diffi culty with
attendance, keeping them off their
cellphones, etc. However, several
employers have successfully utilized
the skills of many college and high
school students and have found them
to be excellent employees.
Yes, there is a learning curve (for
both the employer and employee),
and time will need to be spent out-
lining expectations and perhaps
teaching or reinforcing basic soft
skills which, for whatever rea-
son, are not always taught to stu-
dents. But hiring any employee is an
investment, and Generation Z has
important skill sets which can be
benefi cial to a company.
WHERE TO WRITE
cityofmonument@centurytel.net.
• Mt. Vernon — P.O. Box 647, Mt. Vernon 97865.
Phone: 541-932-4688. Fax: 541-932-4222. Email:
cmtv@ortelco.net.
• Prairie City — P.O. Box 370, Prairie City 97869.
Phone: 541-820-3605. Fax: 820-3566. Email:
pchall@ortelco.net.
• Seneca — P.O. Box 208, Seneca 97873. Phone
and fax: 541-542-2161. Email: senecaoregon@
gmail.com.
SALEM
• Gov. Kate Brown, D — 254 State Capitol, Salem
97310. Phone: 503-378-3111. Fax: 503-378-6827.
Website: governor.state.or.us/governor.html.
• Oregon Legislature — State Capitol, Salem,
97310. Phone: 503-986-1180. Website: leg.
state.or.us (includes Oregon Constitution and
Oregon Revised Statutes).
Blue Mountain
EAGLE
Published every
Wednesday by
A moral dilemma
fi rst became aware of a moral
dilemma at age 10 when I tum-
bled into a den churning with a
mass of moral dilemmas.
The story begins with my bicy-
cle, a one-speed wonder, sturdy
as a dump truck and felt as heavy
as one when I pushed it up a hill
too steep to ride. My two younger
brothers and I with our bikes
explored the woods and fi elds
beyond town. The only hitch — no
matter where we went, we had to
be home for lunch at noon. Mom
devised a hard-hearted punishment
if we were late — we were sen-
tenced to stay in the yard the rest
of the afternoon. Talk about con-
trolling how far we roamed.
One day, fellow kid bike rid-
ers reported that at a farm a man
off ered to let kids ride horses for
25 cents for 15 minutes. My broth-
ers and I raced home and scooped
up a handful of quarters.
At the barn, the man showed
us how to lead a horse to the pole
fence, climb up and slide onto the
horse bareback, grab the reins and
head down a lane to a logged-over
pasture.
In the pasture, tree stumps
wider than a garbage can lid and 3
feet tall dotted the
land.
I didn’t know
the horses knew
tricks until my
horse galloped
around a stump,
Jean Ann
braked and sent
Moultrie
me fl ying. Fortu-
nately I didn’t land
on the sharp edge of a tree stump,
but on a soft cushion of poison
oak. I caught my horse, led him
to a stump so I could re-mount.
All of us horse riders spent more
time catching horses and climbing
on stumps to get back on the horses
than we did riding.
At lunch, I casually mentioned
to my mom our activity — riding
horses. I think she visualized county
fair pony rides where ponies walked
in circles tethered to the ride.
The next day my brothers and I
headed back to the horse farm. We
splurged for the half-hour ride.
After a bruise-induced morning, I
checked my watch. Just enough time
to ride back to the barn, retrieve our
bikes and pedal furiously toward
home. Back at the barn, one brother
and I waited for our younger brother
join us.
Coming down the lane, younger
brother’s horse broke into a gallop
and took a sharp turn, which send
him fl ying. He ended up in a heap
with the wind knocked out of him.
It was at this point that moral
dilemma kicked in.
To be home on time, my other
brother and I needed to leave imme-
diately and pedal like crazy. We’d
be safe from the consequences of
being late. The brother still in a heap
could come later. If we recounted to
Mom how we left the other boy, we
could be grounded longer than an
afternoon.
Or we could wait until younger
brother was steady enough to ride a
bike and help him along. Showing
brotherly love meant being late. Per-
haps Mom would praise our good
judgement and skip a punishment.
Probably not.
A lose-lose situation.
All three of us arrived late for
lunch. We spent the afternoon in the
back yard weeding. That was the
last of the 25-cent horse riding.
The moral dilemma — the fi rst
of many.
The author, a resident of Grant
County, occasionally still feels the
bite of a moral dilemma.
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defi nitely pique their interest. Taking
the time to mentor them and off er-
ing things like employee health and
wellness programs as a reward for
their dedication are important. They
are seeking opportunities for growth.
While millennials thrive in teams
and love collaboration, Gen Z’ers
work more autonomously.
They grew up with technology
and know how to access information
quickly and, because of this, they do
not like to waste time. They are used
to having information at their fi nger-
tips, and for this reason, they may be
found (and prefer) working at odd
times.
They are highly effi cient at
multi-tasking.
Big projects are something they
like to be a part of. While it’s under-
standable to task them with smaller
duties at fi rst, they will quickly lose
interest as they are interested in
being part of the bigger picture.
Regardless of whether employ-
ers choose to recruit individu-
als from Generation Z right now,
they will soon be a major part of
the global workforce. Understand-
ing their strengths and preferences
will be important for businesses to
succeed.
Greg Smith is the director of the
Eastern Oregon University Small
Business Development Center, 1607
Gekeler Lane, Room 148 in La
Grande. For free, confi dential busi-
ness advising, call 541-962-1532 or
email eousbdc@gmail.com.
OFF THE BEATEN PATH
I
GRANT COUNTY
• Grant County Courthouse — 201 S.
Humbolt St., Suite 280, Canyon City 97820.
Phone: 541-575-0059. Fax: 541-575-2248.
• Canyon City — P.O. Box 276, Canyon City
97820. Phone: 541-575-0509. Fax: 541-575-0515.
Email: tocc1862@centurylink.net.
• Dayville — P.O. Box 321, Dayville 97825. Phone:
541-987-2188. Fax: 541-987-2187. Email: dville@
ortelco.net
• John Day — 450 E. Main St, John Day, 97845.
Phone: 541-575-0028. Fax: 541-575-1721. Email:
cityjd@centurytel.net.
• Long Creek — P.O. Box 489, Long Creek 97856.
Phone: 541-421-3601. Fax: 541-421-3075. Email:
info@cityofl ongcreek.com.
• Monument — P.O. Box 426, Monument
97864. Phone and fax: 541-934-2025. Email:
First, interns
or recent grad-
uates can bring
energy and cre-
ative problem-solv-
ing techniques to
your team. Cer-
Greg Smith
tainly, their in-depth
knowledge of technology is some-
thing nearly every company can
benefi t from. Perhaps most impor-
tantly, they can provide necessary
insight into what young consumers
are looking for and how they think.
The oldest of Generation Z is 25.
According to an article in Business
Insider, “Gen Z currently earns $7
trillion across its 2.5 billion-person
cohort. By 2025, that income will
grow to $17 trillion, and by 2030, it
will reach $33 trillion, representing
27% of the world’s income and sur-
passing that of millennials (the old-
est of whom are now 40) the follow-
ing year.”
In short, they’ve got a lot of
money to spend, and knowing what
they want no doubt can help a busi-
ness’s bottom line.
Here is some interesting infor-
mation about those in Generation Z
shared in the same article from Busi-
ness Insider:
According to a recent study,
money isn’t the single most import-
ant way to attract them. They
are interested in opportunities to
advance. Valuable career experi-
ences and even unpaid internships
so they can build on their career can
Phone: 541-575-0710
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