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