A4 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2022
OPINION READER’S FORUM
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WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2022
A4
OUR VIEW
Changes make schooling more democratic
lue Mountain Community
College is on the right track
with its recent eff orts to mod-
ernize the classroom. We congratu-
late the school on its work, and we
look forward to future developments.
Hermiston Herald staff was pres-
ent at Blue Mountain a couple of
weeks ago to see how one class was
being delivered. We liked what we
saw — a biology class that included
more than a traditional classroom
experience.
There was a teacher lecturing from
the front of a room and eager stu-
dents hanging on her every word, but
there also was technology that made
remote learning possible.
From their homes, students are
able to participate in a classroom lec-
ture. They can see, listen and inter-
act with their instructors. In addition,
they can view presentation slides and
their professor’s whiteboard. Stu-
dents can be part of their classes
live, or they can watch lectures at a
later time that is more convenient for
them.
This is an exciting and revolution-
ary approach to education that makes
schooling accessible to new demo-
graphics. With the ability to study
remotely and asynchronously, new
B
Ben Lonergan/Hermiston Herald
Students work on course material Jan. 14, 2022, during an anatomy and physiology lab at
Blue Mountain Community College in Hermiston.
students are able to take classes and
earn degrees. This includes peo-
ple who are employed, disabled and
rural.
We also think about one group
of people who might otherwise be
intimidated by in-person learning —
namely, older people. Seniors, who
might be apprehensive about sitting
elbow-to-elbow with their grandchil-
dren, might feel better about remote
education. With this, they now have
privacy that may make them feel bet-
ter about joining a class.
As we look at the opening up of
education, we see schooling become
more democratic. As long as the
technology is made available and
understandable to all, it brings educa-
tion to the home of anyone who can
aff ord it.
In the future, we hope for more
aff ordable or free college. For now,
though, we are happy with the bene-
fi ts we are witnessing.
Much of what we are now see-
ing in the classroom is because of
the pandemic. Schools, wanting to
reduce face-to-face contact, have
instituted new changes in classrooms.
They may not have anticipated the
eff ect of opening education up to new
customers.
That said, they probably do not
mind it. College enrollment at many
schools, including at BMCC, have
been dropping. By making classes
more accessible, colleges may boost
their number of students. Meanwhile,
the rest of us will benefi t from having
education available at our doorsteps.
Changes to our schools are among
the positive things that have come
out of this awful pandemic. COVID-
19 has locked us indoors and has
forced us to do things diff erently. It
is our hope, however, that some edu-
cational changes stick around with us
after the disease is gone.
Furthermore, we hope new
changes occur to make education
accessible to even more groups.
INSIDE MY SHOES
Who really has their head in the sand?
’m afraid Pendleton
noun, saying she “worked
Chamber of Commerce too hard to learn English
President Velda Arnaud grammar to just willy-nilly
is going to suff ocate if she
make changes.”
remains steadfast to
The English lan-
her recent statement
guage is constantly
in a letter to cham-
changing. I still recall
ber members.
the fi rst time I heard
“I will be sticking
alternate usage of the
my head in the sand
word “sick.” My hus-
until some sense of
band and I were in a
sanity returns to the
ski shop in Colorado
Tammy
world,” she wrote.
and the clerk said
Malgesini
I joked with one
John’s shirt was sick.
of my friends that
Initially, I thought the
there goes her Supreme
dude didn’t like it, but when
Court nomination, but it’s
he asked where I bought it,
no laughing matter. I am
he went on about how awe-
amazed in this day and age
some it was.
that Arnaud would think it’s
And just like “The Times
perfectly fi ne to refuse to
They Are A-Changin’,”
use a person’s preferred pro- written by Bob Dylan in
I
the early 1960s, the times
continue to change. If my
82-year-old conservative
Christian mom can have an
open mind, I would think
that 60-something Arnaud
could retrain herself.
In her philosophy of edu-
cation, available via a link
from her instructor page on
the Blue Mountain Com-
munity College website,
Arnaud states, “It’s the
instructor’s job to encourage
and help students grow, not
to put them down.”
And she further states,
“Another thing that is
important to teach our stu-
dents is that each one of
them has value. While we
cannot necessarily elim-
inate low self-esteem, I
feel that we can increase
self-confi dence.”
It seems Arnaud has
made a connection with stu-
dents, being recognized in
the May 2021 Staff Spot-
light by the BMCC Asso-
ciated Student Govern-
ment. Maybe it’s time
for Arnaud’s students to
become her teachers.
My parents, who live in
Coos Bay, don’t have inter-
net access. However, they
watch the news and when
they don’t understand some-
thing, they ask. I have
explained such things as
Uber and social media plat-
forms, as well as nonbinary
and pangender.
A few years ago when a
former high school football
player came out as a trans-
gender woman a couple of
months prior to my 40-year
high school reunion, I talked
about Marcia with my mom.
We recently discussed hav-
ing no real understanding of
what it must have been like
for Marcia growing up and
living the majority of her
adult life as a male.
We discussed that the
least we can do is honor
people’s wishes by address-
ing them by their pre-
ferred pronouns. Somewhat
surprised by my mom’s
response, I said, “Well,
aren’t you progressive?”
I’m proud of my mom.
While she may not under-
stand, she’s willing to accept
people for who they are.
Marcia died due to com-
plications from gallblad-
der surgery in November
2020. I’m glad she was able
to live her last few years as
her authentic self and felt
love and acceptance from
her family, friends and for-
mer classmates — including
being addressed with her
preferred pronouns.
———
Tammy Malgesini, the
Hermiston Herald commu-
nity writer, enjoys spending
time with her husband and
two German shepherds, as
well as entertaining herself
with random musings.
LIGHT OF UNITY
Aligning behaviors with physical, spiritual world
stopped drinking alco-
which include the oneness
hol 32 years ago last
of God, the oneness of reli-
month, long before
gion and the oneness of
“Dry January”
humanity, but rather
made it a thing. I
is a commentary
did it because I was
on the needs of the
becoming a Baha’i,
world today.
even if I hadn’t yet
That’s a crucial
declared myself to
caveat: the needs of
be one. The Baha’i
the world “today.”
Faith forbids the
While alcohol has
Sarah Haug
consumption of
been an import-
alcohol or non-med-
ant part of human
ically prescribed drugs.
society for at least 10,000
This law against sub-
years, the needs and under-
stances is what we call a
standings of our ances-
“social” law. It isn’t as fun- tors are not necessarily the
damental to the Baha’i
same as ours.
Faith as the central tenets,
I felt the eff ects of alco-
I
hol long before I decided
to quit drinking. When
I drank, my behavior
changed, and I was more
open to suggestions —
from men, from friends,
from total strangers. Often
these behaviors were ones
I would never have con-
sidered when I wasn’t
under the infl uence. During
my junior year abroad in
England (where, ironically,
I was only 20, so not yet a
legal drinker in the U.S.),
someone told me that it
took 36 hours for alcohol to
leave the body. I couldn’t
remember the last time it
had been 36 hours between
drinks.
“It is inadmissible
that man, who hath been
endowed with reason,
should consume that which
stealeth it away.”
Few would argue that
alcohol has potentially
destructive effects on peo-
ple’s lives and that it puts
up a barrier between an
individual and their usual
self—or even, one could
say, their “true” self.
From a Baha’i perspec-
tive, alcohol thus acts as a
veil between an individual
and God.
CORRECTIONS
Printed on
recycled
newsprint
VOLUME 115 • NUMBER 5
Andrew Cutler | Publisher • acutler@hermistonherald.com • 541-278-2673
Erick Peterson | Editor • epeterson@hermistonherald.com • 541-564-4536
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Audra Workman | Offi ce Manager • aworkman@eastoregonian.com • 541-564-4538
Tammy Malgesini | Community Editor • community@eastoregonian.com • 541-564-4532
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OBITUARY PACKAGE • Paid • Advertising formatting — off ering three,
templated options featuring one full color photo. • Prices and sizes
available: 2 column x 5” = $79.50 (approx. 150 words). 2 column x
Baha’is are instructed
not to condemn anyone or
judge the behavior of others
— ever. (We don’t believe
in hell, either.) But we are
taught that there is a phys-
ical world and a spiritual
world. Those worlds aren’t
actually separate or distinct
from one another, but exist
within a single whole. Our
job is to align our behaviors
with, and live within, the
laws of both. In so doing,
we become happier and
healthier.
“Every created thing in
the whole universe is but
a door leading … to His
straight Path.” These last
two years have been hard
for our world as a whole, as
well as for me personally.
Given the dramatic increase
in alcohol consumption in
the United States as a result,
I can only be grateful to my
21-year-old self for putting
my feet on this path I’ve
walked for 32 years.
———
Sarah Haug is a mem-
ber of the Baha’i Faith and
has called Pendleton home
since 2002. You can fi nd
her most days walking on
the riverwalk with her hus-
band, Dan.
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