For this installment of Corvallis Parent, we want to tell you about someone that grappled with anorexia as a teen, and then, while still only age 15 – founded a nonprofit in response. Also, she will now be taking the reins at the Oregon Health Authority. But, you’ll have to wait for that story, because first, we need to tell you these stories…
Corvallis Schools Memo Unshared: Some readers may recall the district undertaking a communications audit last year – at the time we reported they’d learned they have some room for improvement.
For instance, they discovered they’d been sending so many messages that district families couldn’t even tell what information they SHOULD actually pay attention to. Part of the problem seemed to be the number of communications going to all families, even families for which the information is irrelevant. This resulted in what’s called message fatigue, which is pretty much what sounds like it is.
Fast forward to last week’s School Board Meeting – where board members witnessed a real world example of what miscommunications can do.
Here’s What Happened: A rumor took hold that honors geometry wouldn’t be taught at Crescent Valley High next year – and when a few of the potentially impacted students asked their teachers what was going on, they were told the rumor was either true, or at the very least, they didn’t have any information that the course would be taught.
So, a number of students signed an online petition asking for the class to be reinstated, and one of the students asked us at The Advocate for some help.
However, unbeknownst to both students and teachers alike, the class was indeed scheduled to be offered. The rest you can guess: the teachers didn’t know the class would be taught because the district neglected to tell them.
Much of the confusion resulted from a school district communication indicating some of the upper-level classes that would be offered next year, without including the whole list – though an omission from the list didn’t necessarily mean a class wouldn’t be taught.
Notably, the miscommunication came as controversy is still swirling among students and parents over the district’s decision to de-track math classes at the middle-school level.
School District Seeks Sustainability Advice: Back in 2019 the district adopted a Sustainability Management Plan. The idea was to set goals and integrate sustainable practices and decision-making throughout the district’s operations. At that same time, a Sustainability Specialist was hired to facilitate the plan.
Right after all of that, there was the pandemic, and now the district is seeking to renew their efforts.
So, the community is invited to provide feedback at an open house before staff presents a finalized plan to the Board in January. It’s slated for 4:30 to 6:30 pm, Thursday, Nov 16 at Lincoln Elementary. RSVP is not required.
Childcare and English-Spanish interpretation will be provided. For other language support or accommodation requests, please contact Chelsea Henson at 541-757-3849 or chelsea.henson@corvallis.k12.or.us.
Free Sibling Class, Starts Nov 12: Enjoy a video and activities that will help explain to siblings-to-be what their new baby will look like, how to hold and talk to baby, what baby eats, how to be a helper, new feelings, and how to make becoming a sibling fun.
Each sibling will receive an activity folder and a new sibling certificate. Participants will have the opportunity to tour the labor and delivery unit at the end of class.
The target audience is families with children ages 3 to 7 who are expecting a new baby.
This class is on Sunday, November 12, 2023, from 1-2:30 pm at the Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center.
Cost: Free. Registration required
To register call Pollywog at 541-917-4884. For questions about the class, contact Mary Jackson at 541-768-6908. They do not appear to offer online registration.
Low Cost Prenatal Yoga: This is a time to move and breathe, build strength and endurance, relax, and release in preparation for the journey of birth. Here, you are surrounded by love and positivity. Please come as you are from where you are.
This class happens every Thursday 6:00-7:00 pm at Monarch on 4th, 520 NW 4th St, Corvallis.
Cost: $5. Registration is not required; drop-ins welcome.
For more information, contact Kat via the contact us form at http://yogamama.ppcbrands.com.
On Behalf of Children, Oregon Sues Instagram: Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum filed suit against Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, among other brands. The federal complaint, joined by 33 states and filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, asserts that Meta knowingly designed and deployed harmful features on Instagram and its other social media platforms that purposefully addict children and teens. All the while, Meta falsely assured the public that these features are safe and suitable for young users.
The attorneys general assert that Meta’s business practices violate state consumer protection laws and the federal Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). Further, these practices have harmed and continue to harm the physical and mental health of children and teens, fueling what the U.S. Surgeon General –America’s top doctor – has deemed a “youth mental health crisis” that has ended lives, devastated families, and damaged the potential of a generation of young people.
“These platforms are not safe for our young Americans, and Meta knew that! Yet, instead of taking steps to mitigate these harms, Meta misled the public and hid the extent of the harms to mental health suffered by young users addicted to the use of its platforms,” said AG Rosenblum.
The complaint further alleges that Meta knew that young users, including those under 13, were active on the platforms, and knowingly collected data from these users without parental consent. It targeted these young users noting, as reported in a 2021 Wall Street Journal article, that such a user base was “valuable, but untapped.”
While much of the complaint relies on confidential material that is not yet available to the public, publicly available sources including those previously released by former Meta employees, detail that Meta profited by purposely making its platforms addictive to children and teens.
Its platform algorithms push users into descending “rabbit holes” in an effort to maximize engagement. Features like infinite scroll and near-constant alerts were created with the express goal of hooking young users. These manipulative tactics continually lure children and teens back onto the platform. As Aza Raskin, the original developer of the infinite scroll concept, noted to the BBC about the feature’s addictive qualities: “If you don’t give your brain time to catch up with your impulses . . . you just keep scrolling.”
Meta knew these addictive features harmed young people’s physical and mental health, including undermining their ability to get adequate sleep, but did not disclose the harm nor did they make meaningful changes to minimize the harm. Instead, they claimed their platforms were safe for young users.
Oregon Health Authority Gets a New Leader: Dr. Sejal Hathi, a New Jersey public health deputy commissioner, will be the next director of the Oregon Health Authority, taking over the mammoth state agency that provides Medicaid coverage to more than one in three Oregonians.
Gov. Tina Kotek announced the appointment on Monday, which comes five months after the state posted the opening and eight months after James Schroeder, Kotek’s first hand picked director, resigned in March after less than two months on the job.
In July, Hathi, 33, started to work as a deputy commissioner at the New Jersey Department of Health and has also worked in the White House. She will lead the Oregon Health Authority, which has a budget of more than $17 billion annually and more than 4,770 employees.
She will start on Jan. 16.
“Dr. Hathi brings a rare combination of extraordinary qualifications to this role – from frontline experience as a physician, to shaping policy in the White House, to founding two nonprofits focused on women and girls leadership,” Kotek said in a statement. “I am grateful she is bringing her experience and talent to serve Oregonians.”
Her arrival coincides with a time of transition and growth: The state is preparing to launch a new five-year Medicaid plan that will inject $1 billion in new federal money toward housing and food – not just health care – to improve the overall health of people and address the social determinants of health. About 1.4 million people are enrolled in the Medicaid-funded Oregon Health Plan.
Hathi joined the New Jersey Department of Health as the deputy commissioner for public health services. In that role, she oversaw epidemiology, environmental and occupational health, family health services, and other public health divisions, including HIV services, women’s health and opioid response. Shortly after she was hired, the head of the department retired. It’s not clear whether that played a role in her decision to apply for the Oregon spot.
She said in the release that she was “both excited and humbled to be a part of the ground-breaking advances in health care access that are happening in Oregon. At the national level, all eyes are on Oregon and the steps this state is taking to expand health coverage and tackle root cause issues, such as the social determinants of health.”
Prior to New Jersey, she was the White House’s senior policy advisor for public health, which includes public health preparedness, the medical supply chain and climate health policy.
A board-certified internal medicine physician, Hathi has been an assistant professor on the faculty of Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and Bloomberg School of Public Health.
In 2013, Hathi was appointed to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s expert advisory group on women’s and children’s health, tasked with evaluating the global progress against maternal and child mortality.
Hathi received her medical degree and master’s of business administration from Stanford University. She received a bachelor’s degree with honors in molecular biology from Yale University.
She trained in internal medicine and primary care at Massachusetts General Hospital while also serving on the faculty of Harvard Medical School. During her residency, she cared for COVID-19 patients.
She grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area with parents of Indian origin from Uganda and Tanzania, according to a Daisy and Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowship for New Americans, which she won in 2013. She grappled with anorexia when she was young that prompted her to create a nonprofit at the age of 15, called Girls Helping Girls, that spurred a worldwide movement.
As director, she will earn $221,868 a year.
– By Corvallis Advocate Staff, Oregon Health Authority Gets a New Leader by Ben Botkin of Oregon Capital Chronicle
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