Image provided by: Clackamas Community College; Oregon City, OR
About The print. (Oregon City, Oregon) 1977-1989 | View Entire Issue (May 6, 1981)
Funds endangered for student, family By R. W. Greene Of The Print The College has a strong contingent of foreign students this year, as in other years. There are over a dozen nations represented here, from Belize to Venezuela. Foreign students generally labor under more difficult cir cumstances than any American student. Besides the problems of keeping a decent GPA go ing, a great many students can study only subjects proscribed by their governments. Laya Anoushiravani, 20 years old and in her second year at CCC, is one such stu dent. She finds herself in a sticky situation this month; a victim of confusion and conflict which reign at present in her native country, Iran. Laya is an architecture ma jor, and recently applied to the University of Oregon to con tinue her studies in architecture there. They turned her down. Not surprising, since the pro gram accepts only 10 percent of the 900 or so» who. apply. Laya would like to change her major to interior design or com munication (she speaks three languages). But she can’t. The Islamic Republic wants its students to study only subjects which it sees as essential to the reconstruction of its country, subjects like agriculture, engineering arid medicine. “The reason they say we have to learn these things is that, if we want to return, there are certain skills that they need now,” says Laya. “Like they tell us they have no need for musicians things like that. But for me, it’s very difficult; I don’t want to be an engineer or a doctor.” The hold that the Iranian government has over Laya and her family is money. Laya first came to Portland in 1977 at the age of 17 to attend Lincoln High School. Her family came over months later, ostensibly just for a visit. While they were here, the revolution hit, and Laya and her family decided to wait out the confusion. The Islamic government took control of the banks in Iran and told the Anoushiravanis that they could only withdraw a certain amount of money each month, and only on the condition that Laya study one of the accep table subjects, and that she maintain a GPA of 2.5. The ar rangement had been hard, if acceptable; until Laya got her rejection letter from Eugene. Laya Anoushiravani Staff photo by Duffy Coffman "...for me, it’s very difficult; I don’t want to be an engineer or doctor.” “If I had no need for the money from Iran, I could study what I wanted,” she says. her. They are all happy to be together, she says, but the lack of hard news from Iran is a con Laya is a striking and attrac tive young woman, whose in tinuing source of frustration for them, tense eyes still hold their fire in spite of her frustration. She is still unsure of her plans, but finds a good deal of comfort in the fact that her family is with “Every day passes,” she says, “but yOu just don’t know what’s going to happen tomor row.” photo by Duffy Coffman Science students visit Malheur animal reserve By Tom Jeffries Of The Print “At Malheur Field Station, they say the eggs are fine; one rolled off the table and killed a friend of mine! Gee Ma, I wan na go, why won’t they let me go, gee Ma, I wanna go home!” So went the refrain that rang out from a busload of weary CCC biology, geology and zoology students as they ended a four-day study of the ecology and topography of the southeastern Oregon Malheur Wildlife Refuge and prepared for the eight-hour trip home. This year, two busloads of Col lege students, faculty and in terested citizens made the an nual journey, leaving Thursday and returning Sunday. The Malheur Lake and Wildlife Refuge in Harney County has long been an at traction to schools around the Pacific Northwest because of its abundant migratory and resi dent wildlife, and visible volcanic landmarks. Managed by the Bureau of Land Management, the preserve receives government funds to maintain the refuge and pro vide a place for student groups to stay and tour the area. Recently, the field station played host to geologists from around the nation, who stayed Page 2 to study the huge volcanic flows and craters that are a ma jor feature of the area. Other important points of the area are the historical features of the land around Harney County. “Eastern Oregon used to be all grassland, a hundred years ago. But then overgraz ing by cattle reduced it to near desert, dominated by sagebrush. The grass couldn’t compete,” explained CCC geology and biology instructor John Snively. Remnants of the once-thriving cattle industry in clude the famous Peter French round and long bams, both of which were built with lumber that had to be hauled from the Steens Mountains, many miles away. Zoologists and botanists are drawn to the site by the flora and fauna that abound in and around the Malheur Lake mar shes and often dry Harney Lake. The refuge is a stopping place for countless species of migratory birds, from Canadian geese to the rare Great Blue Heron. Year-round residents iriclude jack rabbits, ground squirrels, lizards and scorpions. Commented biology instructor Florence Lee, “It looks barren and dead, but once you start to look around, you see all sorts of life.” Visitors to the field station pay a nominal fee for use of the dormitories, shower facilities and dining hall. The cost per person for the CCC group was $31.50 for the four-day stay. The majority of their stay was spent on the buses, win ding along the unpaved refuge roads observing plant and animal life, or hiking among the countless craters of the volcanic basaltic flows, where erosiori-resistent surfaces have remained much the same for nine million years. Thus, it was a group of ex hausted, but much better in formed, students that arrived back at the College on Sunday.; Summer aid nonexistent By Wanda Percival Of The Print Summer financial aid may be unavailable to Clackamas Community College students for the first time this year, due to President Reagan’s propos ed cuts in the nation’s educa tion budget. If Congress approves Reagan’s proposed aid cuts, or some of them, a reprocessing of student financial aid forms will take place. But, with the existing circumstances, such as the Reagan assassination at tempt and his recovery, Con gress has been unable to act on the proposal. Therefore, col leges won’t know what the pay ment schedule is until mid July, already four weeks into summer term. Ron Hoodye, CCC financial aid officer, feels confident that Congress will pass at least some of Reagan’s proposed cuts. Tm positive that some cuts will be okayed by Con gress,” he said. “The cuts aren’t just here at CCC,” said Hoodye. “It’s everywhere. Four-year schools won’t have any summer aid, either.” programs, summer term is a rion-traditional attendance time. Mt. Hood Community Col lege and Oregon State Univer sity will have college^ work/study funds available,} and Portland Community Col lege will have funding for three! programs such as nursing. Bui other than_ that, “private scholarships are the only way to have your program funded,"! said Hoodye. “Nine percent! guaranteed loans are still available through banks, but even those may not exist after the Reagan cuts. This is the on ly avenue to funding.” Hoodye said he “doesn’t see any changes through the Reagan administration,” and, while there is no aid right now, “there will be in the future.” I “This is making it unattrac tive for our school,” said Hoodye. Still, he said, “I’d en courage people to apply for aid. This way, we could shoyy Reagan evidence that the bucks are needed.”. CCC’s nursing program will receive summer funding because it has been identified as a program that must be in at tendance. For the rest of the Clackamas Community College
