VIEWPOINTS
( 01T 0 n l A1 s OPINIONS tEIffRS 10 TMf fOlTOR
Liberals, conservatives
help lower teen births
■ MM OMMMfc We should
lake a lesson m teamwork
from town ol Tillamook
Jack and fill want up the
hill to play a gnine of doctor
Th«y lay on the ground,
rolled around, and nine
months later (ill gave birth
to lack Jr.
Hut they didn't learn to do
that In Tillamook. Oregon
While teenage pregnancy
continues to be a severe
problem across the nation,
little Tillamook County ha*
found a way to lower its
number of unplanned con
ception*
The northwestern coastal
county recently caught the
attention of the U.S. Depart
ment of Health and Human
Service* after the communi
ty cut its teen pregnancy
rate by two-thirds.
Their formula for success?
Teamwork.
Organisers decided the
bait game plan was to gang
tackle the problem. The
gang turned nut In bo a
ft rung** one, though — one
that wfliuN the word
"diverse."
Churches, public and pri
vate agencies, schools,
health worker* and families
first all got together to
tu knowledge this issuts
Than. they rolled up their
sleeves and wont to work
Who would have thought
that a group of people from
directly opposite political
spectrum*. beliefs and val
uos. could have* over
reached an ifMOMri on
anything mon> important
than how to flip a light
switi h f
incredibly, those differ
i’IKM actually provided the
motivating factor that jump
started the entire communi
ty's involvement.
"Everyone did some
thing. and the combination
worked." »«id a Tillamook
Counly Health official.
Soma of those "some
things" included Tillamook
Counts- schools working
with Ine IlfMilh Department
lo have loan parents talk to
students about th<> 2a hour
responsibility of rearing for
an infant
Also. the school district
and a special commission
for families and t htldmn
worked with parents on an
acceptable sex-education
curriculum
Youth pastors from local
churches met with families
to discuss improving com
munication between parent*
and their teens, particulariy
on the topic of family values
and sexuality.
I Mini teamed about uxli
n« and how to resist
omniums lo become sexuel
iy active from « hurth-spon
somd speakers. teen-age
boys learned about tho
responsibilities of child
roaring, and the Women's
Crisis Outer committed
itself to helping students
recognise anti avoid domes
tic violence anti sexual
assault
As a result of these and
other proven strategies,
Tillamook has a teen-age
birth rale of unlv seven per
thousand among females
aged to to 17. Only four
years ago. Tillamook's rate
was much closer to the top
of Oregon’s 36-county list .
In comparison, lame
County's birth rate in the
same age group was 16.8 per
thousand in ttMM
A local task force has a
plan for the lane County
Commission on Children
and Families that it hopes
will mirror some of Tillam
ook County’s successes.
We can only hope this
weird but wonderful solu
tion works for our county as
well.
mma
f AS X UNDERSTAND it,
THE iNEqQ fAAT ION
SUPERW/frHWAV W»LL
ENABi-E us Tt>
SEND *T BACK.
^_—
4
Hifif i»wd
sC*** ** MP-4
t* Wt <Ah KXfP ^
*nTH £50 tUAMMltf
i
Angry boys can cause unexpected harm
It'* amaiing how the rule* of lift* t hang*
Take *«g«*r A* a bay. i w*» able to express
my anger in any way I mm fit — ** reaming,
trying, vailing — the usualchildish
! responses
Kimberly Andrews mad* me real angry little
Mi** Fourth Grade Perfect Perfect blue eyn,
perfect blond hair, perfect white dress Perfect,
perfect. perfect
After a math t**t or an ***«ay was handed
back. Kimberly and her ponytail would skip
down the hall to her mother's awaiting arm*
"look mom. another A!"
One dav Kimberly made me no angry that my
ik-year old blood reached the boiling point It
wa* creative writing time The topic was "pur
pie and Kimberly wrote some m hmaltxy story
about a little Purple Iris blowing in the wind
You'll have to understand that at the time
I‘rime and hi* movie Purple Rain were the
hippesl things a fourth grmler could imagine It
made perfect sen*# to me that I should write a
spin off entitled "Purple Pain ~ The star of the
story was the lauded txn k star Priss who wore
purple lace and rubbed it all over himself I was
quit* proud of my conation I mean. hey;, this
wes creative writing and all.
Whan lm> papers «wv handed buck. Mrs
l.umlev* utmiwmi* un my Mary were rather
brief *l>" and “Inappropriate "
Kimberly laughed at me with victory, at
which lima 1 grabbed her pa par. tor* it in two
and dogged her right in the stomach.
It Mi great 1 waa> able to lash out in the must
immature manner I could conceive
But at some point in our live* we learn that
anger and immaturity are not the moat produc
live meant of expression So what happens
when a boy reaches the age of maturity and
finds himself ignorant of the destructive poten
tial of his vehemence?
This question is pathetically answered in the
January 19th edition of the Oregon (xurtmenta
Ior.
In addition to the usual boyish bragging about
drinking and tax, the Commentator included a
list entitled. "Top 75 Reasons Why Women
(Bitches) Should Not Have Freedom of Speech "
The list was written by four first year students
at Cornell University and has circulated around
the Internet for months
Included in the 11*1 are No. 20 "This is my
dick I'm gonna fuck you. No more stupid ques
tions “ ; No 39 “Of course, if she ain't speak,
she can't cay no and No 47 “Nothing should
come emt a woman’s mouth. SWALLOW
BrrcHr
Those of the (Utmmrnlatof claim that they
oppose the list but were forced to include it for
the purpose of providing context to the Cornell
Internet debac le
However, the manner in which the accompa
•
nying article make* light of th« list suggests that
the Commentator writer* thoroughly enjoyed
the list end simply cited a convenient excuse to
revel in a boy's angry fantasy*
I art it be noted that the (Cor
nell *tory ran in several nation
al publication*, including The
Sew York Time*, none of them
printed the list Tantamount to
saying. “To write a story about
manure we must include a pic
ture of manure so that you
know what it looks like," the
claim that the list had to be
included with the story is
insulting
The Commentator rails (ho list merely "a had
joke" »mi argues that only "the easily offended''
will be bothered
No 38, "If she can't t|>eak. she can't cry rape "
Please tell me who 1* offended by this? Is it
threw overly sensitive men who, when hearing
such “humor." think about their sisters, their
mothers or their wives? Is it threw paranoid
women who are imprisoned at night because
they fee) unsafe walking outside'
On these boys' playground, fearful woman are
merely intruders who simply don't know bow to
have fun So how dure one explain to a child
that a (ok# about invading a woman should not
be described as a "form of humor"?
The Commentator argue* that “there it a clear
line between thought and action " This incom
plete observation ignores the effects of symbolic,
discourse
No. I do not believe that a man might road this
list and proceed jo rape a woman IIowkvm. | do
believe that svmlxds lead to thought*, and
thought* load to action
Not long ago member* of tinsel's opposition
party plastered poster* of Yitzhak Rabin dressed
in a Nazi uniform throughout the streets of
lerusaletn Party loader* organized rail lea where
Rabin was labeled the next Hitler Two week*
later Rabin was assassinated Tlw study of pro
paganda i* rich with example* that demonstrate
the interconnection between word* and action
Statements *uch as No JO. "They should |ust
shut up and obey anyway* do more than
express humor They create a fantasy world
where women out be objectified, violated and
discarded without remorse
tike prepubeacent children circling around a
Write magazine in the bathroom, the writer* of
the Commentator laugh without remorse
They cannot even fathom the destruction of
their banter
It sure is hard when you're dealing with hoy*.
Keith Cunningham, a senior muffing in English.
»• a columnist for the Emerald E mail
ketthcQoregan uaragan edu