Image provided by: Clackamas Community College; Oregon City, OR
About The print. (Oregon City, Oregon) 1977-1989 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 17, 1982)
Monologue Pro-choice Idle Hands By J. Dana Haynes There’s a reason why they’re called “board” meetings. * Last week, in a spasm of efficiency, I decided to attend the monthly Clackamas Community Col lege Board of Education meeting. I’d never been to one before, though I’ve been here for going-on- three years now. And the rumor was that someone was going to discuss something that would cause a stir. So I dusted off my suit, bade Peggy au revoir, and made an appearance at the Holly Farm Mall, the sight of the festivities. Sure enough, after about an hour and a half of Robert’s Rules of Order, one of the Board members brought up the big item. The audience, mostly elderly citizens of the county and students, started to get excited. Here was the big issue. Should there be a policy excluding alcohol from the campus. Ta da. Now I have to admit that I was confused. For the past few years, I had been under the impres sion that the College did, indeed, have such a policy already. Many’s the time I was asked by an editor to cover an Associated Student Govern ment meeting, and the vision of a martini so dry the olive was parched would flash through my head. But no, I’d tell myself; this is, after all, an in stitute of higher education. Surely there are rules about such things. If, in fact I had been covering the ASG sober for better than two years, when no rule existed to keep me from attending with note pad, pen and highball, then something was definitely wrong. I put these thoughts aside then for the au dience was clamoring for attention. Ralph Groener, chairperson of the board, acknowledged the first speaker who stood, introduced himself, and began a tirade on the evils of liquor. After a hefty summation, Groener recognized the next citizen who stood, introduced herself, and repeated the first guy’s speech about booze on our nation’s campuses. Ralph pointed to the third speaker. He stood, ID’d himself, and the dance resumed. Ad infinitum, ad nauseam. About this time, I was getting a tad confused. After all, The Print had been trying to keep abreast of all the pertinent issues at the College, and to the best of my memory students attending class while sloshed were uncommon. Nor, for that mat ter, were professors showing up loaded to the gills, as far as we knew. So I raised my hand, was acknowledged by Mr. Groener, and asked the board if there had been a great deal of problems, vis a vis intoxica tion, of late. “No. Not really,” one of the members responded. “But the College’s lawyer felt that we need a cohesive written policy.” Hadn’t we always had such a policy? “Well, yes. But it applied only to students and staff, not to visitors. We needed a more com prehensive policy.” Is the school within the purview of the Oregon City Police Department? “Yes, it is.” Then is it safe to say that there is now, and always has been a rule against liquor on campus? Just about then, one of the distinguished members of the audience leaned toward me and said, “But we don’t want no booze at the College!” Logic like that is hard to argue with. The motion was passed, unanimously. Don’t ignore rights of living To the Editor: necessarily the result of a liber tine society that he suggests. This letter is in response to For many women and men, Tracy M. Sumner’s editorial, going through pregnancy to full “Abortion Equal to Murder.” term would create physical and Mr. Sumner has been emotional devastation. What is grossly misinformed by the responsible about having an same scare tactics that are used unwanted child? Even properly by anti-choice groups. Most used birth control fails. Choos abortions are performed when ing to have an abortion is a the fetus is less than three mon responsible decision! Thank God we live in an ths old. A three-month-old fetus is about the size of a mar advanced civilization where the ble, so it is of course absolutely rights of the living female are false that one can seeua “grossly taken into consideration and twisted and contorted face.” safe, legal abortions are The whole procedure takes less available. Too many women than five minutes and is much have died from back-alley safer than carrying a child to abortions. Returning abortions full term. to criminal status won’t The fact that a woman eliminate them: it will simply chooses to terminate her make safe abortions the pregnancy in abortion isn’t prerogative of the wealthy few and send middle-class women back to the alleys and dirty spoons. If the rights of individual Americans are of utmost im portance to Mr. Sumner, I’m curious to know how many un wanted children he is taking care of. Fortunately, the majority of citizens in the United States believe that abortion is and should be a personal decision. Recent history shows that it is people in the minority who are resorting to pressure tactics. Mr. Sumner’s incorrect facts, unfounded opinions and bom bastic style are simply an exam ple of these tactics. Sincerely yours, Mary Sinclair Pro-life Don’t fund with public taxes To the Editor: This is to address Ms. Joette L. Rose’s letter to the editor in last week’s The Print. First, I would like to com mend Mr. Tracy M. Sumner for taking a stand on abortion. This was, for me, a reversal of chauvanistic roles; me being the chauvanist and thinking men wouldn’t care one way or the other. Now to address Ms. Rose: She maintains she wants independence and a career; and she’s obviously not want ing to lose this “freedom” by becoming pregnant. Is she defending her right to pro miscuity? I’m not questioning her morals, and no one is forc ing an unwanted pregnancy on her. I just don’t want to pay for her or others’ abortions, as I don’t believe in killing. Ms. Rose refers more than once to “therapeutic abortions.” That is a contradiction. Webster’s defines therapeutic as “to at tend or treat.” An abortion is certainly not therapeutic to the child, and it must not be therapeutic to the woman when Ms. Rose describes abor tion as “. . . expensive, degrading, and physiologically upsetting.” Being realistic; the word therapeutic is thrown in to soften the harshness of the word (abortion). Women have always had a choice. But we haven’t always had Uncle Sam willing to pay for our choice. Ms. Rose states that women have the right to exercise control over their lives and bodies. That’s fine-however, it is not just their life that is affected. This is truly a matter of life or death for a baby. Not just something that will temporarily interfere with their career, or isn’t conve nient. Oregon’s former governor Tom L. McCall stated recently that his mother had to perform several abortions, as a pregnancy could not be afford ed financially; therefore, another child was not wanted. What if Mr. McCall had been the unwanted child? This would have changed history. What if Mary hadn’t wanted Jesus? Pregnancy was not con venient tp her either! Ms. Rose asks what’s the difference if a child dies of an abortion, or is killed (in the, name of a country’s pride or power) in a war? The dif ference is a human can change others’ lives for the better (or worse for that matter), just by being. In other words, a child some mother might have chosen to abort could change the world. I believe Mr. Sumner’s point of view has been missed. He stressed tax dollars being the main support for abortion. He conceded to the fact that abortion at times is justifiable. He was speaking out against unrestricted abortions being publically funded. I personally am astounded by abortions being scheduled through schools and being per formed on minors without parents knowledge or consent. As a parent, my rights to advise or counsel are potentially violated. And, doctors who normally wouldn’t perform surgery without parental con sent are going behind our backs, and figure what we don’t know won’t hurt us. Very sincerely, Gladys F. Hannaford 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: Trailer 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 L* a* b* I 39.12 ! 65.43 I 13.24 I 18.11 I 15.07 I 18.72 49.87 I 44.26 -4.34 I -13.80 -22.29 | 22.85 D50 Illuminant, 2 degree observer ■ 63.51 39.92 34.26 11.81 I 59.60 I -46.07 Density —
