Monologue_________
Idle Hands
By J. Dana Haynes
Tom McCall is dead. In the next few weeks,
we’ll all hear and read various eulogies for the
former Oregon governor and newsman, and most
of them will remember McCall as a great man and
a great Oregonian.
That may be true. I don’t know, since like
most poeple, I never met the man. But I do know
some of the things he stood for, including conser
vation and ecology.
When times are tough, as they are today,
such niceties as the ecology seem to get side
lined. It’s a natural enough reaction. After all,
when Alcoa Aluminum lays off a thousand
workers, one cannot expect the boards of direc
tors to worry about the ozone layer. Likewise,
when the timber industry is looking at an
unemployment rate of nearly 25 percent, it may
seem excessive to expect loggers to leave an un
tampered radius of 100 yards around an eagle’s
nest.
But that is exactly what people like McCall
ask for. The current recession (or depression, or
whatever nice, neat buzz word you prefer) is effec
ting all of us. And there is some logic to the idea
that making America economically strong should
be our number one goal.
The question is: At what price?
We would all like to see gasoline sell for 59
cents a gallon again. But will that be the end
result if Secretary of the Interior James Watt suc
cessfully opens up the entire coasts of the Atlan
tic, Pacific and Gulf of Mexico to drilling?
We would all like to see Wall Street’s “30 In
dustrials” start hiring again, especially since re
cent studies show that every increase of one per
cent in the unemployment rate correlates to more
than 300 suicides nationwide. However, will these
jobs start opening if Anne Gorsuch of the current
ly ill-named Environmental Protection Agency
refuses to presecute even the most blatant
polluters, for fear of aggravating the Dow Jones?
We would all like to see the United States cut
down its deficit, which in the up-coming year will
be the highest in history according to the Presi
dent’s own advisors, who tend to be the most op
timistic crystal-ball-gazers of all. Ronald Reagan
is especially worried about the deficit, as he wags
his finger at the Democrat-controlled Congress
when they threaten to leave social spending in
tact.
But please remember, the President who
wants to slash spending is the same man who has
virtually given the Pentagon carte blanche and
who has worked rigorously for the Dense Pack,
MX missile scenario: a plan so blatantly silly that
it was not the military’s Plan One, or Plan Two, but
Plan Thirty (we can well imagine what some of the
better plans were, if No. 30 was not quite as good
as No. 29, which was slightly less efficient than
No. 28, which was ... ad nauseum).
When one picks up a newspaper, or turns on
the evening newscast, a great deal of the repor
ting will be on the sagging economy, which many
people suspect will get much worse before it gets
any better.
However, let us not forget that, as
melodramatic as it may sound, this planet is a
very fragile thing. Already more than 100 lakes in
the U.S. and Canada are lifeless, due to “acid
rain.” In response to that, the administration of
Mr. Reagan has suggested three to five years of
study, and no immediate action whatsoever.
Tom McCall was one of the few people in
government who seemed to worry about things
like clean air and water. This state is filled with
breathtaking beauty in its deserts, mountains,
coast line and rivers. McCall was aware of that,
and was aware of how easily it could be
destroyed.
He agreed as does nearly everybody, that the
economy must improve. But McCall always
remembered the price.
page 2
'£J
Dialogue
Print article
out of line
To the Editor:
At the risk of being har-
rassed, we feel compelled to
protest the sermon which ap
peared in The Print, Vol. XVI,
No. 9, Dec. 8, 1982, titled “A
Christmas Message” on the
following grounds:
1. A school newspaper for
a public institution should not
be used as a vehicle to quote
the Bible—to espouse the
tenents of a particular religious
doctrine (Note that case law
prevails here.).
2. On a humanistic level,
the choice of style used in the
article-quoting Scripture used
to reflect a particular religious
doctrine—is in poor taste and
inappropriate to the school set
ting. It is bound to be offensive
to any number of individuals at
a public institution with such a
varied religious and social
population.
3. And finally, we protest
oh the grounds of Christian
discrimination. For example,
the quote, “Right now, I
challenge every one on this
campus who professes to be a
Christian to make this pledge
and ask what would Jesus do?”
from this article offends us in a
discriminatory manner. There
are many facets to Christian
belief and how to act on these
beliefe. This quote denigrates
those who feel themselves to
be Christians, but whose views
take a different interpretation.
Judy Peabody
Cyndi Pucci
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
Photo Editor: Duane Hlersche
Darkroom Technician: Roberta Ellsworth
Copy Editor: Kristi Blackman
Staff Writers: Shelley Ball, Rob Conner, T. Jeffries, F.T. Morris
Staff Photographers: Roberta Ellsworth, Duane Hlersche, Troy
Maben, Joel Miller
Business Manager: Joan Seely
Typesetter: Teresa A. Hannaford
Advisor: Daria Spielman
Evaluation
system OK
Letter to the Editor:
It’s very possible there are
students and faculty who are
not familiar with at least one of
the formats for student evalua
tion of their instructor.
I would like to explain this
format and comment on its ef
fectiveness, the format is very
simple—it asks only three
specific questions:
1. What do you like about Mr.
or Ms.
instruction?
2. What do you feel Mr. or
Ms.
could do to improve
their instruction?
3. What specific suggestions do
you have for improving the
course/program.
These questions are
replied to after a concensus
agreement and therein lies the
key to its efectiveness, what the
students are telling you (good
or otherwise) is the opinion of
your entire class.
The results of these
evaluations for this instructor
have led me into areas of self
improvement and permitted
me to enjoy the fruits of
positive reinforcement. That’s
the kind of fuel that keeps me
warm long after my day ends
here on campus. To all my
students I thank you for that!
Sincerely,
Jim Henderson
Clackamas Community College