Image provided by: Clackamas Community College; Oregon City, OR
About The print. (Oregon City, Oregon) 1977-1989 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 25, 1978)
Cultural center offers aid By Happie Thacker Of The Print For persons, both Indian and non-lndian, who are seeking a greater cultural awareness, Anpo (Dawn) offers some help. Anpo is a Native American cul tural awareness center located on the Clackamas River near Carver. "It's mainly for the purpose of giving our people self identity and a good self-image," said De- Vere East Man, director of Anpo. "The white man doesn't have a culture," he said, "but a so ciety or self-destructive system be cause there is no culture. According to East Man, this lack of culture is one of the main causes of problems such as alcoholism, unemployment and drug abuse among both Indians and non-lndians. "These people have problems because they are not aware they are a culture and that' they are not whole," said East Man. "The spiritual side of a man needs food to survive. People come here because they need something --they're searching for something." Through practices such as the sweat-lodge, ceremony, dancing,dis- cussion groups and instruction in Indian culture, Anpo helps in dividuals in the treatment of their particular problem. After becoming involved with Anpo, individuals "have a better understanding of changes out there (in white society). When they run into a problem they can call upon their creator and ask for wisdom or power to deal with problems," East Man said. Through an affiliation with such groups as the Urban Indian Cen ter, Anpo is also able to pro vide employment, medical refer rals and temporary housing, and the center itself is available for community activities. East Man, who was raised on a Bird skull perched atop flagpole at ' reservation in South Dakota, is Anpo. concerned about the problems white society causes for Indian youngsters. He feels that boarding schools are indoctrination centers and on ly teach a child to hate his own "Indianess" thus hating himself. East Man is involved with the Chemawa Indian school near Salem and goes there periodically to talk to the students and "tell them they're different." Counselors at the school also bring students out to participate in sweat-lodge ceremonies and oth er aspects of Anpo life. The Sweat-lodge is perhaps the focal point of the cultural center. Also called a purification lodge, it is used to purify the bodies and souls of those who use it. There are two lodges, one for men and one for women. In side everyone sits in a circle and "communicates with the creator," according to East Man. This circle of people creates a living example of the Indian circle philosophy that the past is the future, the future is the past and the past is coming, said East Man. The sweat-lodge ceremonies are open to anyone who is sincerely interested, East Man said. They are generally held every Friday, weather permitting and are fol lowed by singing, drum music and dancing. Counseling center offers mental health aid Mental health counseling is a new service available to students and faculty at the College. Rick Weiss, an employee of the Clackamas County Mental Health Clinic, is available for coun seling on the first and third Thursdays of the month from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. in the Col lege counseling center. "I'm available to talk with people about concerns and issues they would like to talk about to a person from the Mental Health Clinic," Weiss said. Weiss, a graduate student in the School of Social Work at Portland State University,(PSU), is finishing his masters degree practicum at the clinic. "I'm a resource person," Weiss said. "I stretch the boundaries of the clinic by going into the com munity rather than having them come to me." "Social workers are different than psychiatrists. There is a dif Rick Weiss . . . . Mental Health Counselor |f|P ferent focus on what we do," he said.'T it interested in the linkages Between people and people; people and the environment; and people and the community." Weiss is available to talk about personal counseling issues, mental health, community resources and also faculty consultation on an issue. Mental health, parenting. Trans actional Analysis for teenagers, and consultation are just some of the classes Weiss has taught as well as running training workshops. Besides Weiss' job at the Men tal Health Clinic, he is currently on the staff of Lutheran Family Services. Previously, he was assist ant director for Parrott Creek Boys Ranch. "I've been a resource person, working in lots of different set tings for 14 years," Weiss said. Appointments to see Weiss may be made by contacting the Collège counseling center. s I k Brian Sn«l The sweat-lodge ceremony is an important part of the cull teachings at Anpo, the Native American Cultural Center on 1 Clackamas River near Carver. Vocational talks plagued by jargon Jargon and vagueness domina ted the Vocational Education Plan ning Workshop held Jan. I7 in Salem, according to Don Bixler, associated Student Government vice president and a student represent ative from the College at the workshop. "It was very interesting and very confusing," said Bixler,"It was like being a patient with a terminal illness with I0 doctors around your bed talking in jargon with you trying to understand what they're saying.." Bixler attended the conference along with Dale Holland, ASG senator, and two members of the College's administration, Pat Lantz division chairperson for health, P.E. and human services and Judy Thomas, coordinator of occupa tional therapy1. As student representatives how ever, Bixler felt that he and Hol land didn't have as much voice as they should have had. "I thought it would be more open discussion to really sit down and hash the rough spots over in the vocational education field and come up with ideas to change it and set new goals," said Bix ler. Instead, we discussed a work sheet consisting of 17 different ideas and had to write down whet her we agreed, disagreed or were unsure about the ideas, he said. Student exhibits chess prowess By Scott Starnes Of The Print Richard Becker, an engineering student here at the College, is also a championship chess player who competes in various tournaments and chess opens playing on the expert level. Becker, who has played chess since he was four .or five, began playing seriously when he was a freshman at Benson High School. "I was involved in a chess club at Benson," said Becker, "but I was really inspired with the game after playing in the OMSI (Oregon Museum of Science and Industry) tournament," he said, "The next year, our family moved to Oregon City where I finished my high school educa tion," Becker said. "While at Oregon City I found that they were pro-chess and ranked as one of the best chess teams in the state. My experiences from playing at Oregon City led to my competi tion seriousness ' Becker added. Becker has played approximate ly 60 rated chess games in his career. "A rated game." according to Becker, "is a game where each player is designated a rating pre scribed by the chess, federation. The rating was a mathematical formula devised by a Harvard professor some 20 years ago. The rating, in effect, signifies how good you really are in terms of your ability to play chess." Anywhere from a 2000 to 2200 rating separates the amateur from the expert, he added. Becker sports a rating somewhere in be tween these figures. Becker said that the average length of time for a single chess match is usually around four- and-one-half hours or 45 to 50 moves. Some matches last much« longer, but they appear less fre quently, Becker said. Becker’s plans for the immed- ¡ate future are to accept the invi tation to the Oregon Chess Champ ionship which is being held at Portland State University rather Richard Becker Junior Tourney Chess Champ than fly to Montana and attend the ACU-I regionals. "Another player, including my self, were accepted to the tourna ment in Montana, but I declined because I'd rather play with the bigwigs who will be attending the Oregon Chess Championship," Becker said. Becker's greatest excitement occurred when he captured first place in the Oregon Junior Cham pionship. "The victory enabled me to be a participant in either the ACU-I tournament or the Oregon Chess Championship," he said. "Other than playing chess, I enjoy athletics " Becker said. "I like to jog a lot when I can find some spare time from school." Becker resides In Oregon City and is currently taking 19 credit hours at the College. "Deciding what they wan] was really hard because thewoij ing was so vague," he said, were divided into groups of] people to discuss these ideal'll representative from the State to ot Education, who was iM group, already had his mind m| ft Don Bixler .... Student representati^H up and didn't give the rest«« chance to say anything.” i H The participants in thelifl shop, approximately I25 of various school boards, insflB tors and about IO students] al« reworded proposals in order »1 make them more specific, j I "We changed some of the wot» ing that was too vague and H rowed it down to certain leal« gories," said Bixler. I "All in all, to me this was® part of the process of thaw eaucratic system that has to ■ gone through so that whenlthM go to the legislature for fundB they can say we spent one dafl going over proposals and makinB recommendations." I "I'm not sure how it will affeci the College by itself or how SB affect vocational education! but! there were some good reconi mendations," he said. I One of these recommend^™ was to use existing facilities wM school districts and bus studen® to them rather than building new! facilities that the individual schooB might not be able to afford. ■ I One of the changes that need» to be made, according to Bixlerl is a re-structuring of the availabil-1 ity to any interested student of via cational education facilities.I "This is where the College started climbing the ladder ba cause we had a program for blind] students in machine shop before! anyone else, I believe," he said« Clackamas Community CollaH inches D50 Illuminant, 2 degree observer Density