Image provided by: Clackamas Community College; Oregon City, OR
About The print. (Oregon City, Oregon) 1977-1989 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 3, 1982)
Monologue Idle Hands By J. Dana Haynes Welcome to the world of the high powered press ... Two weeks ago, Paul Nastari, the president of the Associated Student Body, called me on the phone and wanted to know if I would be willing to speak at the press conference. Now the obvious question was: what press con ference? The one on Saturday, Oct. 23, of course. Glancing at our duty roster and events calendar, I noticed that the only big happening slated for that Saturday was a Mary Kay party that Peg, my wife, had been suckered into holding. So I pointed out to Paul that there was no press conference planned for that day. I mean, after all, we are the free press. If anyone would know about a conference, it’d be us, right? “Course there is. Can’t go myself. Need a stu dent to represent College. Interested?” Paul tends to be a tad preoccupied when he’s in his office. I eventually dragged out of him the fact that the No On 3 people were holding a press conference to help fight against the passage of Ballot Measure 3, and Nastari was suppose to be one of the speakers. Being unable to go, and knowing of my weakness for big croyi/ds and the spotlight, he asked me to speak for the College. Of course I told him I couldn’t, conflict of in terest and all that garbage, but that I’d be delighted to cover the event. Granted, I was a wee bit miffed about our not being informed, but in the past few years I’ve come to grips with the fact that most peo ple think of The Print as being Twenty Thousand Leagues Beneath the Majors. Still in all, I felt that this was newsworthy, so I planned on attending as a member of the press. So Saturday rolled around. Complete with three- piece suit, steno pad, hangover and my three or four hard-nosed-yet-compassionate questions, I made my way to the Oregon City Union Hall. By nine in the morning, the Hall was filled to capacity with politicians, teachers, concerned citizens, policemen, firemen, senior citizens, more than 300 volunteer canvassers ... And me. The only member of the press to show up. With more than a small bit of embarrassment, County Commissioner Ralph Groener held the con ference for 20 minutes. When no trucks with lighting equipment, cameramen, no writers with press- passed fedoras appeared, it became painfully ob vious that yours truly was the sole representative. In the entire history of the free press, there has probably never been a more chagrinned conference than that one. And the worst moment of all was when the representative from the College stood and gave me a look that would chill snow. Y’see Nastari and I didn’t want the school to go unnoticed, so we convinced one of the writers from The Print, Shelley Ball, to sacrifice her Saturday and, in less than 24 hours, become knowledgable about Ballot Measure 3. Ms. Ball, when you look back on this day, and you will, be kind. It may have been a crock, but you gotta admit: they put on a damn good show. THE PRINT, a member of the Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association, aims to be a fair and impartial journalistic medium covering the campus community as thoroughly as possible. Opi nions expressed in THE PRINT do not necessarily reflect those of the College administration, faculty, Associated Student Govern ment or other members of THE PRINT. Office: Trailor B; telephone: 657-8400, ext. 309,310 Editor In Chief: J. Dana Haynes News Editor:. Doug Vaughan Arts Editor: Brett Bigham ■- Sports Editor: Tracy M. Sumner Photo Editor: Wanda Percival Copy Editor: Kristi Blackman Staff Writers: Victoria Archila, Shelley Ball, Kari Gassaway, Doris Hatcher, Tom Jeffries, Etta Leonard, Walt McAllister, F. T. Morris Staff Photographers: Roberta Ellsworth, Duane Hiersche, Troy Maben, Joel Miller Business Manager: Joan Seely Typesetter: Teresa A. Hannaford Advisor: Sara Wichman page 2 Abortion equal to murder EDITORIAL BY TRACY M. SUMNER This is not a commentary that will be well received by all. In fact, some will no doubt be of fended and possibly find a response in order. Others, however, will hopefully receive it as what it is meant to be ... a challenge. Our tax dollars support a wide assortment of programs, one of which I find reprehensible and almost frightening. It is the social and moral issue that has become almost white-hot in the last few years. Abortion and public funding thereof. Some arguments come to my mind that I’ve heard from “pro-choice” groups in defense of abortion and its public financial support. The first is the idea that abortions need to be readily available to women whose health is en dangered by the pregnancy or whose pregnancy is a result of a rape or incest. Can the deaths of millions of unborn infants be justified by the very small percentage who fit into the above group? Absolutely not! That would be like the Israeli army killing everyone in Beirut, Lebanon to insure the evacuation of the PLO. This reasoning is little more than a political smoke-screen. Those who favor unrestricted abortions seem to think of the unborn child as “sub human” and therefore not worthy of the same consideration or care as other children. Most aborted children are fully recognizable as human beings and quite often the face of the victim is grossly twisted and contorted in agony over the fatal violations on its body by the im plements of torture used to perform the abor tion. The unborn human baby is helpless, underdeveloped and for the most part is totally incapable of survival outside its mother’s womb. But it is a human being the same as any other child and as such should be afforded the same protection and care as any other child. Another argument for abortion is one that could only have been born of our rights-oriented “me-first” western culture. That is the argument that it is a women’s personal decision whether to fulfill her responsibility for her actions and have the child, or to put herself through the physical and emotional devastation involved in an abor tion. The rights of individual Americans are of ut most importance to me as a citizen and a jour nalist. However, with these rights come respon sibilities and consequences for failure to heed and act on these responsibilities. Abortion is nothing more than an easy (easier in the short- run than a full-term pregnancy) way out of the consequences for one’s actions. Promiscuity has been made so much easier when the consequence (in this case an un wanted pregnancy) can be “erased” with a saline solution and a suction device. Lastly, the insidious idea that abortion has a positive side in that it aids in limiting population growth. How can a supposedly advanced civilization such as ours stoop to such barbaric reasoning? Cold-blooded murderers go virtually unpunished while innocent children are being brutally butchered at the slightest whim of any in dividual. Publically funded and supported abortion- on-demand must be stopped. T q _ allow this holocaust to go on unchallenged is a -sad com mentary on the state of our nation. To allow public funding of the murder to continue is un thinkable. It is my sincere hope that the people we refer to as politicians will begin standing for what they know “is right on this issue instead of bowing to pressure groups for the sake of voter populari ty. They may lose a few votes, but hopefully they will save many innocent lives. Dialogue Vohs defends choice To The Editor: I do not enjoy writing this reply, for it is not the way I prefer to do business. After this, spoken words will suffice. I’m writing concerning last week’s letter to the editor (regarding ASG sponsored movies). I feel it is more impor tant to learn the truth of things than to appear to be right, so here I go! The purpose and intent of the noon movie is to give students a chance to take a break from their studies, relax and view entertaining, historical and even comedy type films of art. An example of the last type of film is Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong’s “Up in Smoke.” This movie allows the viewer to take a look at the lighter side of reality. (By the way, we had the biggest turnout for a noon Ynovie at the College with the showing of “Up in Smoke”). It is not in the interests and philosophy of the Associated Student Government to pro mote in any way, and by any means, the use of drugs here at Clackamas, as suggested by the author. The article also disagrees with the choice of “Halloween” for use as a college student- oriented Halloween movie; think hard, I don’t have to, I’m not going to order “Bambi” for Halloween. The article suggests that neither of these films are “entertainment” (his opinion, maybe others too!) But I would not stand in front of 50 million people and tell them it’s not. I’ll let them make up their own minds. (Besides, I like my face the way it is.) Very abruptly, what the author suggests is CENSOR SHIP. I’ve thought about my reply, and it is not as good as that of a well educated, Lewis and Clark graduate. I will quote uncut, unretouched and uncensored: “Certain self-righteous factions in our society have bravely taken it upon themselves to be critics of the arts. They have just as bravely written their own credentials to do so. Recently, a member of a certain group saw fit to condemn the film choices of the Associated Stu dent Government activities council. We all must remember that the only power these groups have over us is the power that we ourselves give them by recognition. Even placing their name in print acknowledges their self-taken power. “In answer to such critics I can only say that we must con tinue to use all our freedoms as guaranteed by the amendment to the constitution of the United States of America. “And one more thing, variety is the basil, the cumin, the nutmeg, that’s right, the spice of life.” What more can I say? We do not force anyone to look and participate in our activities. If it does not suit your tastes, don’t look at it or do it! Steven K. Vohs ASG Activities Director :amas Community College
