opinion
‘Ageism’ prejudice
apparent on campus
By Sandy Carter
It may be pointed out at this
financial resources, you face
this scenario at age 70 or so: juncture that many of these
A distinctly American You live on a fixed income, people don’t have time to
prejudice exists on this cam can’t drive anymore without waste waiting
pus, that surpasses feminism, strangers making obscene
What is their alternative? In
anti-feminism, racism or gestures at you, the roof leaks, Clackamas County, it’s nursing
sexism. The name for this your family lives out of state, homes, according to Susan
prejudice is “Ageism,” and it the nearest bus stop is three Hill, of the College’s “Rent-A-
directly affects the lives of miles away, and you’re tired of Grandpare^t” program.
everyone, everywhere across always having to ask for help
Hill says, of housing in our
the United States.
from others.
county, “It’s abominable, with
After all, who among us
Even with these kinds of only a one percent vacancy
does not want to grow old? problems, in areas of voter rate. That means that a senior,
Ironically, many Americans responsibility and community if he loses his home, for
shun the very group they hope awareness, the elderly set whatever reason, has no alter
eventually to belong to!
examples that the rest of us are native but a nursing home.”
Elderly people suffer from hard pressed to match.
Unfortunately, to many old
more than the humiliation-of
This same 11 percent of the people a nursing home is
ageism. They suffer in many overall population makes up synonymous with a place to
ways. Examine your own 20 percent of all registered die.
feelings as you read Robert voters, and had an 8 percent
What can we do, as in
Butler, Director of the National higher turnout at the polls in dividuals, to fight the low-
Institute on Aging define 1974 than the 18-64 group.
income elderly housing shor
ageism: He describes it as an
Newspaper surveys con tage? A lot.
attitude that leads people, “to sistently show the elderly to be
We, the residents and voters
ignore the frequently poor the most faithful of all readers, of Clackamas County, have an
social and economic plight of as seniors make the effort to opportunity to get behind a
older people.”
stay informed.
propose!
which
could:
Why? To avoid dealing with
Housing seems to be the
—Help to alleviate all of these
the reality that our productivity- greatest of all the problems
problems of the low income
oriented society has little use plaguing older people today,
elderly
. for those (who are) regar one which all of their other
— Provide
valuable
new
ded—however unfairly —as worries come back to in the
curriculum for students of CCC
non-productive, and to attempt end.
—Create a rich and on-campus
to avoid (for a time, at least)
When a house or the lack of social "and cultural mix which
reminders of the personal one
is
the
paramount could erode that separation of
reality of our own aging and economic concern in an old
young and old which is the ar
death.
person’s life, all other basic tificial basis for ageism
How many of you know an needs must take a back seat to
If approved, the plan would
elderly person who hasn’t suf the problem of a roof over the
see a three to five acre parcel of
fered this kind of attitude when head.
the College property transfor
seeking employment, housing,
So, what’s the housing med into a low-income elderly
or education?
situation like locally?
housing complex with exten
Although the old make up
Steve Scroggs, a senior sive curriculum ties to our
only 11 percent of our. total citizen housing developer for
healthcare and social service
population, the September-Oc H. A.S.P. (the Housing And
related programs.
tober 1979 issue of Aging Services Program) talks about
How do the old folks that
Magazine tells us that, “Forty- waiting lists:
choose to live in a modern,
four percent of rural American
“The sad truth,” he says, “is age-segregated housing unit,
sub-standard housing is oc that in the greater metropolitan adapt?
cupied by persons over 65. Portland area, most housing
In an article from Human
And almost two-thirds of those authority and union housing
Behavior Magazine, June,
oldsters live in homes at least holdings have waiting lists that
1979, Frances Carp, Ph.D, of
sixth years old!”
fluctuate massively, but it’s not the Wright Institute at Berkely,
How will you feel, when, as unusual to be backed up to
reported on a long-term study
well as having to adapt to in I, 000. A given facility might
she made of the effects of im
creasingly restricted physical have anywhere from 800 to
proving the housing of needy
capabilities and shrinking 1,500 people waiting.”
senior citizens, on their social,
psychological, and physical
well-being.
“Provision of appropriate
housing
and
living
arrangements,” she continued,
not only improve
“ may
ma1
19600 S. Molalla Avenue, Oregon City, Oregon 97045
psychological and social well
Office: Trailer B; telephone, 656*2631, ext. 309
being during the later years, but
may also extend those years
editor: Leanne Lally; news editor: Mike Koller
and benefit health status during
arts editor: Elena Vancil; feature editor: Kelly Laughlin
them.”
sports editor: Brian Rood; photo editor: Duffy Coffman
Long term benefits aside, we
copyeditor: Sandy Carter
staff writers: Sue Hanneman, Ramona Isackson, Don Ives
know that just the act of
Lee Jeffries, Matt Johnson, James Rhoades, Tom Rhodes
moving brings about stress and
Susy Ryan, Sherry Succo
“ecological shock” at first. But,
staff photographers: Cathy Gross, Robert Hand
many older persons are willing
advertising manager: Tim Tycer; business manager: Ron Allen
advertising representative: Dan Champie
to accept the “initial discomfort.
professional adviser: Suzie Boss
of a new environment, for the
advantages in store,” Carp
found.
The Print, a member of the Oregon Newspaper Publishers
Access to an educational in
Association, aims to be a fair and impartial journalistic medium
covering the campus community as thoroughly as possible.
stitution would be considered a
Opinions expressed in The Print do not necessarily reflect those
tremendously exciting oppor
of the CCC administration, faculty or Associated Student Gover
tunity to many elderly people.
nment.
Hear what Aging Magazine has
Of The Print
sprint
page 2
ASG deals
in buffoonery
What is the world coming to? Just when you think
you’re safe and the perils and insanity of the world
can’t reach you where you live, something like this
ruins your faith.
Just this week our ASG put on a series of charades
that is making many people wonder who voted for
them. Their wishy-washy attitudes are enough to
make someone decide that it might be better to
abolish student government for this year and hope to
do better next year. In our opinion, we think it’s a
waste of time to have student government in a com
munity college when they make themselves and us
look foolish.
The issue of the 50 flags is a real laughing matter.
Don Porter, our president, is not earning many
brownie points with his show. First he agrees to take
the flags down and the next day vetoes his own
decision, while ASG members Phil Boitnott,
Richard Weiss, and others are changing statements
and generally throwing mud in everyone’s faces.
In our opinion, there are more important things
going on that the ASG could put their energy towar
ds, than whether or not they are going to take down
50 flags because they don’t agree with President Car
ter. Big deal. We thought the flags were there to
show we still supported and remembered the 50
hostages in Iran? It seems to us that a group like our
ASG would think of something else, like burning ef
figies of the president to show their displeasure.
Well, guys?
Now we say, if you in ASG don’t have anything bet
ter to do than sit around and look foolish, then get
out and let somebody else give it a try. Remember,
you are supposed to represent us. We voted for you,
and we sure have other things on our minds than
whether or not to raise flags. Why don’t you come
down from your clouds and find out what the studen
ts want, not what you think they need?
to say on the subject of con
tinuing education:
- “One area of service poten
tial is that of intellectual
stimulation through education.
Pre-mature dependency and
loss of a sense of worth can be
combated effectively through
education-oriented programs.
Yet it is an approach rarely
considered.
Whenever
educational opportunities are
available,” the article goes on,
“The response is impressive.
How intense and universal the
desire for more knowledge is
among the aged can be seen by
the fact that a university ex
clusively for the elderly has
been established in Toulouse,
France, with an enrollment of
over 1,000 students—average
age 70. And as much as the
College would be a resource
for the old people, they would
in turn be a resource for the
College,
with
unlimited
possibilities for skill and ex
perience-sharing exchanges.
According to Pat Lantz,
College division chairperson,
within the housing complex
would be “potential for formal
instruction programs in housing
management, activity direc
tion, social and recreational
management, food service
management, housekeeping,
home/health care, ” and many
other areas.
Keeping in mind the fact that
the project would be financed
by the state of Oregon, and ____
not
the College district, it is hard to
find a flaw in a plan which
could do such good for so
many. But “Ageists” among us
will
find
an
objection
somehow, which brings me to
what 1 see as the last but
equally important advantage to
pursuing the project.
If we are ever going to
conquer ageism, our weapon
must be familiarity. No longer
do we have three generational
families. Aging and dying have
been removed from the view of
young people.
To many small children
today, an old, old face, etched
with the smiles and tears of.
decades, is a freak, a monster,
an object of ridicule.
Apparently, the parents of
these unfeeling kids have never
taught them the old-fashioned
respect for age that was once a,
part of our heritage.
But I can see the pendulum
starting to swing back, in Gray]
Panthers,
in
Rent-A-i
Grandparent, in Community]
College housing projects, ini
second careers, and movies]
starring George Burns.
Maybe we will come back to
loving our old people.
Rather than the faceless gray!
we paint them, old people are 1
the rainbow of individuality and 1
stored experience that we all
will become if we play our car- I
ds right. To ignore their needs!
is to ignore our own, to hate I
them is to hate our future.
~ Clackamas Community College