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
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D50 Illuminant, 2 degree observer
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39.92
34.26
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