Clackamas Community College
Wednesday, November 28, 1979
Vol. XIII, No. 9
McMurdo’s plans
making many aware
By James Rhoades
Of The Print
9CK-A-BYE BABY — Student really gets into studying for finals week by “sleeping
lit- Photo by Duffy Coffman.
octor speaks on health
i Sandy Carter
it The Print
Medical science doesn’t have
[the answers yet, but people
nchange their owrt health for
e better, according to
hmeron Bangs, M.D., an
regon City internist.
Bangs, speaking informally
about 20 people at a Nov. 14
lens Resource Program
minar, applied generous por
ks of wit to the topic, “Take
large of Your Own Health.”
His own interest in health
recedes his medical training.
| 16, Bangs developed
leumatoid arthritis, which, he
lid, taught
him
his
ilnerability to ill health. “A
pod majority of people don’t
[cept the fact that it can hap-
|nto them,” he said.
■Eyes twinkling, Bangs said
If his second strongest in-
■est is the “pursuit of
lasure,” inherited from his
jandfather, which makes him
■ermined to be sure that
Imething is harmful “before I
■eitup!”
•Stressing that attitude, he
|nt over a list of subjects
liich included goals and at-.
■ides in exercise and nutrition
|d the changing role of
■th-care providers.
■On exercise, Bangs said,
Bow much do you need? I
fcen’t the slightest idea,
■orically, men and animals
■e always been lazy.” Stray
fcand male lions sleep over
Bhours a day, he said, in
kling that man has no innate
■pulsion to exercise.
I Heal exercise, he said, is
■orous and involves the
whole body, at least three times
a week, in a pleasant activity
that increases aerobic fitness.
He said rowing is best and golf
is “equivalent to checkers.”
Running may be ideal, he
said, “so it’s comfortable and
feels good and you can just
barely carry on a conver
sation.” Tongue in cheek, he
added that anyone who runs
more than six miles a day—as
he used to—us “neurotic.”
A standard physical exam
prior to starting an exercise
program is of no value, he said,
startling his audience, but a
stress test, such as he gives the
Portland Trailblazers each year,
is.
“The way you live influences
the way you feel,” Bangs said,
questioning whether people
feel good after they exercise, or
whether people who feel good
are the ones who exercise.
“Physical health and mental
enthusiasm go hand in hand.”
In terms of health interest,
Bangs said people fall into
three categories;
— “The ones thirsting for
knowledge—you can’t keep
them from it—who’ll do
anything they can. ”
—“The ones who don’t give
a damn—you can talk tc them
until you’re blue in the
face—who are unaware or
don’t care that they can in
fluence their health.”
—"“The vast majority, who
are ‘inspirable’ —depending
upon hdw convenient • it is
—and want good health but
don’t want to put out too much
effort.”
Claiming, “I’m willing to talk
about anything; my limited
knowledge of a subject has
never stood in my way,” Bangs
moved on to the subject of
nutrition, a topic on which he
said science knows even less
than it does about exercise.
Describing Americans as
“rats in the pantry,” he at
tributed the national obesity
epidemic to simply “too many
calories,” cautioning that
“humans have no good
mechanism to tell us when to
stop eating.” He supported a
moderate and alert dietary
lifestyle which could flirt with
junk foods and refined sugars,
but enjoy variety and avoid ex
cesses.
“Eighty percent of the
people I see in my office/’ he
said, “would get well without
me, but they don’t know it. If
they* think they need me, they
need me.”
Asked about the increased
use of physician’s assistants
and nurse practitioners, Bangs
acknowledged the trend as
“giving . up some of our
territory,” and saw it making up
for the traditional tendency of
doctors to treat “entities.” The
new health-care professionals,
he said, can put more stress on
communication and interaction
with the patient,
“I have no dogmatic
statements to make,” Bangs
said in closing. “I believe you
can influence your health and
longevity, through weight
control, exercise, not smoking,
and regular blood pressure
checks, and increase the
quality as well as the quantity
of your life.”
“I- see the College as a
college which is beginning to
weave itself into the fabric of
the community, and it is the
texture of that fabric I am con
cerned with,” said Kevin Mc
Murdo, new College public in
formation officer.
McMurdo has been on the
job for three weeks now, and
has some plans for the Public
Information Office.
“There will be an increase in
emphasis on understanding the
media’s needs and responding
to them,” said McMurdo. “I’m
trying to personalize the news.
That means a greater number
of feature stories, which
present the information that the
College is a place where people
can learn for,a lifetime.”
A personalized news service
is not the only thing McMurdo
has planned for the PIO.
“We are responsible for the
community at large. We are
trying to make them aware of
what the College does. That’s
fine and good. In addition, the
College is nationally recognized
for its community services,”
said McMurdo. “If the com
munity has a problem, we
should be able to help. We are
looking to inform the public
about this.”
“News service is the only one
small facet of what I do. I am
also concerned with percep
tion, so people come out with
the same impression of the
College.”
McMurdo feels that, with the
College having a stable faculty
and administration, and a
healthy enrollment, “what is
required is preventive medicine
to keep the College healthy.”
New director introduced
Carol ■ Layden was in
troduced as the new director of
the Focus on Women program
by former director, Bernie
Nolan, at the Nov. 12 steering
committee meeting at the
College.
Layden
was
formerly
secretary to Marvin Weiss,
dean of community education
and community services, who
left the College in September.
Layden said she is planning
next year’s Focus on Women
program, and asked for
suggestions.
Vince Fitzgerald, director of
the Men’s Resource Center,
said his program “is attracting
men at a new level of
awareness,” and feels that both-
Focus on Women and the
Men’s
Resource
Center
“should now operate under
one umbrella.”
The
possibilities
and
problems of combining the two
programs were discussed. Ken
Ciazza from Clackamas County
Mental Health, and a volunteer
at the College, proposed that a
joint effort would be most effec
tive, countering Carol Peter-
sonfe objection that “some
women fold in leadership
capacities when men are
present.”
Nolan
adjourned
the
meeting, asking that more
discussion on the proposed
merger of the programs take
place at the next meeting.
What’s inside
Look to The Print for interesting and
newsworthy items on and around campus.
This issue, read about the events in Iran and
compare your feelings with those of the
reporters. Get a glimpse into the personal
life of our illustrious ASG president Don
' Porter. Catch up on all the sports news.
Read about the new artist and the sculpture
students large scale sand sculpture. Read a
stunning record review and get the infor
mation about the “Real Inspector Hound.”
All of these and more are located in these
pages of The Print and best yet... it’s free.
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