Image provided by: Clackamas Community College; Oregon City, OR
About The print. (Oregon City, Oregon) 1977-1989 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 16, 1983)
Monologue Truckers fight not over yet Idle Hands Guest editorial by By J. Dana Haynes Shelley Ball There are some subjects people simply don’t want to talk about. Unfortunately, these topics are often important, harmful to society and generally made worse when ignored. Child abuse is one such topic. Whether in the form of beatings, or sexual abuse, it is not a topic to bring up at a dinner party. More’s the pity. For it is through ignorance, and misplaced concepts of proper conversational etiquette that such pro blems fester. There are organizations in the world, and more specifically in Clackamas County, that are designed to open the public’s eyes to the growing problem of child abuse. One such organization is Clackamas Community College. Others include the Child Sexual Abuse Response Project and the Christie School in Marylhurst, Oregon. Those three organizations along with many volunteers and non-profit organizations, have compiled a booklet called the “Child Sexual Abuse Resource Directory.” The booklet is not large, only 22 pages. Yet it covers a wide range of topics from the child repor ting laws, why one should report, to whom one should report, “How to shop for a mental health professional,” and educational resources in the general metropolitan area. But the main body of the yellow booklet is an alphabetical directory of mental health profes sionals, groups and agencies to which one may turn. Regardless of one’s problem, whether victim, offender, family or outsider, there are literally dozens of sources to run to for help. Child abuse, and sexual child abuse, are only two social problems that remain enigmatic. Like alcoholism, drug abuse and domestic violence between spouses, no one likes to discuss such subjects and fewer still will admit having such a problem. Especially now, when the current ad ministration in Washington D.C. seems bent on making the world one big armed camp at the ex pense of social spending. But as the Child Sexual Abuse Response Pro ject, the College and scores of concerned citizens prove, help is out there. For those who wish to stop the self- perpetuating cycle of child abuse (remember: most people who abuse their children were, themselves, abused when they were young), or who wish to help others, the Resource Directory is a wonderful source of information. Most libraries in the county carry a copy of It. Or if one cannot find a copy, almost all counties in the nation have child protective services. In Clackamas County, the number to contact is 653-3140. Child abuse and incest are detrimental to the whole society. Fortunately, viable treatment is available. The cycle can be broken. z- THE PRINT, a member of the Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association, alms 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 relect 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: Rob Conner Photo Editor: Duane Hlersche Copy Editor: Kristi Blackman Staff Writers: Shelley Ball, Dianna Hardy, T. Jeffries, F.T. Morris Staff Photographers: Russ McMillen, Duane Hlersche, Troy Maben, Joel Miller, Rick Obrltschkewltsch Business Manager: Joan Seely Typesetter: Teresa A. Hannaford Advisor Dana Spielmann Page 2 As most people know by now, members of the Indepen dent Truckers Association are no longer on strike. Association President Mike Parkhurst called an end Thursday, Feb. 10 to the protest of the 5-cent-a- gallon increase in the federal gasoline tax and proposed jumps in highway user fees, both of which were recently im posed by Congress. Since the strike lasted merely 11 days, and the only negotiations the truckers have to show from members of Con gress are promises to take the truckers’ feelings into con sideration regarding the tax and user fee increases, rather than actively changing the in creases, the strike was ap parently a waste of time and ef fort. According to the truckers, the increase in highway user fees will cost the average trucker about $5,277 a year more than he currently pays in taxes. One can hardly blame their outrage at such an enor mous increase per year. On those grounds, a strike may sound like an effective way to get Congress to pay attention and activley revise the rate of increase to a more resonable amount. But what did the strike ac tually accomplish? Did the truckers manage to bring the nation to its knees by not delivering their goods? Hardly. Throughout the strike, news ar ticles that ran in the Oregonian kept reporting from numerous sources that there were no ma jor disruptions of comerce. This stemmed from the fact that not enough truckers were involved in the strke. Besides varying reports that relatively few in dependent truckers were ac tually participating in the strike, major organizations such as the American Trucking Association and the Teamsters also stayed out of the walkout, the Teamsters stating that they weren’t involved because the strike violated their contracts. In Oregon alone, the only trucking association that sup ported that strike was the Pacific Coast Owner Operator Association, which has 250 members. Yet one cannot blame the truckers who weren’t involved in the strike. With the economy as bad as it is today, people just can’t afford to sit back without earning wages for an unspecified amount of time. The idea to strike was really a serious mistake, as the results of the walkout proved that the majority of truckers can’t afford to participate in a strike at this time. But what the strike lacked in effectiveness it made up for in violence. The walkout has resulted in more than 600 shooting, 92 injuries and one death since it began Jan. 31. In Oregon there were reports of gunfire, rock-throwing and nails spread along major in terstate highways. Besides being an ineffec tive solution to the problem at hand, the strike also turned in to a dangerous one for all truckers who didn’t participate in the walkout. Now that it’s over those who, like myself, have a trucker in the family who cannot afford to strike for financial reasons, can relax for the moment and rid ourselves of thoughts of snipers shooting down from underpasses, and hoping that there isn’t the bar rel of a gun aimed and ready to fire upon our loved ones. All in all, the strike manag ed to produce a few promises from members of Congress, and instill much fear among those families with non-striking truckers. But we’re not through with this issue yet. The increase in fuel taxes and highway-user fees does not begin until April 1, so there’s no telling what may happen in the following weeks. Let’s hope that before any other line of action is taken people will stop to check how much support there is for it first. Dialogue Editorial irks chairperson Letter to the editor : s Duane Hiersche, so what have you learned in the Ger man language class, other than perhaps to order a beer in Frankfurt, or to find the way out of the subway? In that language class you were also introduced to differences in life style and cultures of various linguistic, ethnic and political groups, which leads to ex amination and appreciation of one’s own environment, by comparison ^pd contrast. I’m disappointed, Duane. You apparently don’t ap preciate what you do have: a car to transport you—among many other things, I’m sure— instead you are irritated because you have to use your feet for five minutes from the parking lot to the building! Have you thought of a wheelchair? Or what about the youngster in an Eastern Iraqi village who—evening after evening-»-does his homework in the street by the light of a gas lantern, because there is no From what 1 have found non- smokers have no rights to a nice, clean, and enjoyable en vironment in which to sit, chat and enjoy their lunch. The way the lounge is at Clairmont why buy a pack of cigarettes, all you have to do is OPEN YOUR MOUTH AND INHALE SMOKE! I hope that the smokers reading this letter in Clairmont consider smoking somewhere else than in the eating lounge so that the non-smokers have their rights to a clean environ Letter to the editor: ment. PS. BESIDES THE I have received many sug gestions in our ASG Sugges NURSES SHOULD KNOW tion Box concerning ashtrays in BETTER! Sincerely, Clairmont. The Clairmont lounge Emma Espinal does not have ashtrays because Associated Student Govern it is suppose to be a non ment smoking area. There used to be Assistant to the President a sign until it was taken down. However, it is still a non smoking area and you can sure Express yourself in The tell by the way you have to take Print. All letters a knife and cut your way should be typed, sign through the smoke. I don’t ed and neither libelous know how people can even en nor obscene. Send let joy their lunch in there. ters to Trailer B. and The reason the smoke gets so thick in there is because it be heard! does not have proper ventila tion. This is the reason for it begin a non-smoking area. light in his home? And you complain, because you have to walk to school—five minutes. And I bet you keep trim in the gym instead! Magdalena M. Ladd Chairperson, Foreign Language . Smoke rids lounge of non-smokers Community College