April 13, 2018
T he C olumbia P ress
6
Clatsop college tuition to increase $3 per credit
Tuition at Clatsop Commu-
nity College will increase $3,
effective summer term 2018.
The college’s Board of Di-
rectors voted 6-1 in favor of
the increase at their Tuesday
night meeting.
“We have come out of the
financial crisis the college
went through and we need
to be responsible to students
and the college to not put
ourselves in that situation
again,” board member Rob-
ert Duehmig said.
“As much as I hate an in-
crease that affects student
costs, we need to be able to
keep the services and remain
sustainable.”
Board members debated
the need to make communi-
ty college affordable for stu-
dents while maintaining fis-
cal sustainability.
No one wanted to see a re-
peat of the financial crisis the
college went through in 2012,
which caused substantial lay-
offs and reduction in services
for students.
Without a small increase
now, there’s a possibility the
college would need to impose
a much larger tuition increase
in the near future that would
impact students harder.
The tuition increase as
necessary, college President
Chris Breitmeyer told board
members, but he’s working
on ways for students to offset
the cost of the increase. Some
of those options are to use
financial aid money for low-
er-income students to cover
the increase, and looking at
ways to lower textbook costs.
The state should pay more
attention to the work being
done at community colleges
and better fund those efforts
so there isn’t a need to pass
increases onto students, said
board member Tessa Schell-
er, who said she was reluc-
tantly voting in favor of the
increase.
Rosemary Baker-Monaghan
cast the sole vote in opposi-
tion.
The $3 increase translates
will provide $75,000 in rev-
enue that can grow exponen-
tially and offer better fiscal
sustainability for the college,
said JoAnn Zahn, the college’s
vice president of finance and
operations.
The increase brings tuition
from $99 to $102 per credit.
The college last raised tuition
in 2014 by $1, from $98 to
$99 per credit, to fill a gap left
by state funding.
This Week in Aboriginal History
by Carl A. Ellis
Sen. Ben Nighthorse, a Northern Cheyenne, is born
April 13, 1933: Ben Night-
horse Campbell, a Northern
Cheyenne, is born in Auburn,
Calif. He will become a judo
champion, a jeweler and a
U.S. senator from Colorado
(1993-2005). For a time, he
was the only American Indi-
an in Congress.
April 14, 2007: The Mo-
rongo Indian reservation in
Southern California and its
775 adult members reported-
ly received roughly $15,000
to $20,000 per person, per
month in casino profits.
Twenty years earlier, the
tribe’s average annual house-
hold income was $13,000.
April 15, 1879: Thirty
Apaches escape the Army
camp at Ojo Caliente, N.M.,
and eventually return to Mex-
ico.
April 16, 1550: Charles
V, king of Spain, orders a
stop to Indian land con-
quests.
Senior lunch menu
Monday, April 16: Roasted pork loin, mashed potatoes and
gravy, red cabbage, coleslaw, chocolate cake.
Thursday, April 19: Cajun stew with ham and shrimp, rice,
mixed vegetables, romaine salad, berry trifle.
The Warrenton senior lunch program is at noon (doors
open at 10:30 a.m.) Mondays and Thursdays at Warrenton
Community Center, 170 SW Third St. Suggested donation is
$5 for ages 55 and older; $7 for those younger. For more
information, call 503-861-3502.
April 17, 1683: A repre-
sentative of Pennsylvania
purchases several tracts of
land near Schuylkill from the
Delaware Indians, according
to some sources.
April 18, 1818: Andrew
Jackson defeated a force of
Indians and African Ameri-
cans at the Battle of Suwanee,
ending the First Seminole
War.
April 19, 1991: Missis-
sippi Choctaw voters reject a
referendum to allow disposal
of manufacturing waste prod-
ucts on land near the reserva-
tion that the tribe proposes
to purchase and lease for the
landfill.
Ellis is an author and his-
torian working on a book
about Amerian Indians.
Learn more about aborigi-
nal history at facebook.com/
snippetsintime.
Senior Moments
with Emma Edwards
When in doubt, eat pie first
My iPhone is truly an amaz-
ing tool that can evoke all
kinds of emotions into my
day, especially when I zero in
on the weather.
I’m following weather in
19 locations and, would you
believe, Tuesday of this week
there was rain for only our
area and Auburn, Wash.? As
children we used to say, “No
fair.”
My husband always en-
couraged our six kids and
me to focus on the good of a
situation, especially if it were
something we had no control
over. So why am I complain-
ing about everyone except
two of “us”’ having rain on a
given day?
I really don’t know, but as
Popeye used to say, “I yam
what I yam and dat’s all I
yam!”
So what’s my point? As se-
niors, we have learned that
life is just what it is. I’ve ob-
served that most of us com-
plain less and tolerate more.
Often, I speak of the many
advantages of being a senior.
I realize “life isn’t always a
bowl of cherries.” But I would
stand on both my feet to de-
fend the oft heard statement
that the meaning of life is 10
percent what happens to you
and 90 percent how you react
to it. Obviously, we cannot
change the inevitable.
I firmly believe that atti-
tude takes precedence over
our life! Did you read the wis-
dom of Mayor Henry Balen-
sifer’s column last week? He
spoke of the “unprecedented
growth” in our area in the
past 10 years. Then he went
on to speak of Warrenton’s
“cornucopia of shopping and
dining choices and building
of more housing.”
I’m not sure about you, but
I’m thankful, especially as
a senior, to be living in that
cornucopia of activity. I know
of a gentleman nearing the
age of 80 who drives over ev-
ery morning to check on the
progress of whatever is being
built or remodeled at the mo-
ment. It gives him great joy to
share.
Maybe we are greener with
all that rain. What can we do
to cheer ourselves up once we
feel we’ve had enough rain?
Several of us eat our pie
before our meal and that re-
minded me of the “If I had My
Life to Live Over Again” essay
written by Erma Bombeck in
the last days of her life (where
she said she would have eaten
her pie first).
I’ve done that and I must
say it gives one a very liber-
ating feeling! I do believe we
seniors are less apt to lose
control if our attitude stays in
check.
I can totally identify with
a Dr. Seuss thought when
he instructs his readers to
“Don’t cry because it’s over.
Smile because it happened.”
Many of us enjoyed the wis-
dom of Dale Carnegie over
the years. I like the way he
sums up life situations by
saying “If you want to con-
quer fear, don’t sit home and
think about it. Go out and get
busy.”
I can’t resist adding that
you should also go to se-
nior lunch on Mondays and
Thursdays at the Warrenton
Community Center. You may
enjoy sitting with Mayor Bal-
ensifer, who is determined to
be there whenever his busy
schedule permits.
Remember, the controls are
in your hand!