Image provided by: Clackamas Community College; Oregon City, OR
About The print. (Oregon City, Oregon) 1977-1989 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 16, 1983)
Monologue ______________ ( 1 Smokeout serves U.S. conservatives warned viable purpose By Marco Procaccini Copy Editor When the effort is made to sort through this hodgepodge of preaching and do-goodery, casting aside the public rela tions material (uncomplimentarily referred to as “flack”), one finds the hard facts about the Smokeout. The facts are interesting, more than a little scary and worthy of note. They also appear to point toward cigarette smoking as a major killer. Example: 75 to 80 percent of all lung cancer cases are found among cigarette smokers, who represent less than one third of the adult population. Lung cancer is also the number one cause of cancer deaths among men, while there has been a 400 percent increase in women’s lung cancer deaths in the last thirty years. Statistics indicate that, by the late 1980’s, lung cancer will surpass breast cancer as the number one cancer-killer among women. Cigarette smoking has also been implicated by research scientists in cancers of the mouth, pharynx, larynx, esophagus, bladder, kidney and pancreas. The list goes on for three pages. Granted, the issuing of such statistics is a scare tactic. However, that does not make them, nor the logical conclusions inherent in the information, wrong. Smoking can kill you: Point of fact. The facts about cigarette smoking have been hashed and rehashed and going over them here would serve no real pur pose. However, the facts about the Great American Smokeout are less well known and equally valid. The Smokeout began in Monticello, Minn, in 1974. It spread quickly throughout the state and by 1976 was picked up by California. In 1977, the Smokeout was held nation wide. Today, it is an annual event in Canada, Great Britain, Ireland, France, Australia, South Africa, Norway and Sweden. The reason for the widespread acceptance is its success rate. Many people do not participate because they feel it would serve no purpose. Quitting for 25 hours is fine, but what about the next day? Or the next? However, the facts indicate some people do quit for ex tended periods of time as a result of participating in the Smokeout. In 1982, more than 19 million Americans par ticipated. According to a survey conducted by the Gallup organization, 4.5 million succeeded for the full 24 hours. More to the point, follow-up calls made one to eleven days later indicated 2.3 million were still not smoking. The Smokeout is a starting point, nothing more. But that is all some people need: A place to begin. The Print heartily endorses the Smokeout. Many smokers, 85 percent according to statistics, would like to quit and this appears to be a plausible way to do so. Why participate? The Smokeout has proven itself as a viable method. How much does it cost. Not a penny. In fact, it will save smokers the cost of however many cigarettes they would smoke in 24 hours. How much time does participating take? Not a second, as there are no workshops to attend, no exercises to perform and no rituals to undergo. 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. Opinions expressed in THE PRINT do not necessarily reflect those of the College administration, facul ty, Associated Student Government or other members of THE PRINT. THE PRINT is a weekly publication distributed each Wednesday except for finals week. Clackamas Community College, 19600 S. Molalla Avenue, Oregon City, Oregon 97045. Office: Trailer B; telephone: 657-8400, ext. 309, 310 Editor In Chief: Doug Vaughan News Editor: Shelley Bail Arts Editor: J. Dana Haynes Sports Editor: Rob Conner Photo Editor: Joel Miller Copy Editor: Marco Procaccini Business Manager: Shelley Stone Cartoonists: Ward Moore, Chris Parrish Advertising Representative: Jack Griffith Staff Writers: DeAnn Dietrich, Charlene Jensen, Kathy Johnson, Renee Rickard, Kristen Tonole, Heather Wright Staff Photographers: Kim McAbee, Steve Beals, Russ McMillen, Jason Webb, Dan Youngquist Typesetter: Teresa A. Hannaford Advisor: Sara Wichman Page 2* As a Canadian attending College in the United States, I am amused at observing the self-righteous, ultra-conservative super patriotism of the American establishment and many citizens. Conservative movements are basically the same no matter where they may be. They use hellfire and brimstone scare tactics to get elected. They stage military coups in the name of freedom. They believe the enrichment of the rich and impoverishment of the poor will equalize society. Canada is no different. In the province of British Columbia, the right-wing Social Credit Party was re-elected last May due to the clever use of scare tactics. They screamed that the government had a $3 billion deficit (a deficit which they created by spending huge sums of money on corporate subsidies to produce what they call “business incentive” and on mega-projects such as a stadium and cruise ship facility to give the powerful and influential construction firms in the Province some extra money to burn). The only way to remedy the situation was through financial restraint which, they claimed, the Social-Democrats would not commit themselves to. Through the down-playing of their causing the deficit and not clarifying what their restraint program consisted of, along with solid business community backing, disorganization on the part of the Social-Democrats and an under-informed and bewildered population panic-stricken over the recession, the Socreds received a majority victory. The right-wing party charged at its long awaited opportunity to impose legislation that Canadians had not seen in many years, and never wanted to see again. Since its re-election the government has begun to legislate the abolition of the Human Rights Commission, the Labor Relations Board, rent controls and completely cut funds to Day Care, Rape Relief and Crisis Centers. The legislation allows the government to fire any public service worker without cause or compensation, and extends this right to landlords, who can now evict any tenant. The government now has the power to invalidate union contracts without cause, decertify unions upon reasonable request by any business. In short, the government’s goals are to protect the interests of business and banks by supressing many of the hard-won democratic rights the Canadian people fought, and many died for, to achieve and to continue the tradi tional duty of keeping the ruling elite rich at the expense of the common and poor people. A sob story? Not at all. It’s the plain sickening truth about what is happening less than 400 miles from Portland and could happen here if people are not careful, although I imagine there are a lot of Reaganites out there who would love it if it did. When asked why the government was im plementing such policies, Premier of the Pro vince Bill Bennett said, “We are trying to restore the economy of this Province to its previous high point and return to traditional free enterprise.” Sure pal, Canadians remember those good old days of “traditional free enterprise” when 40 percent of the Canadian people could not af ford medical care, when 30 percent were il literate and when, for most working people, democratic rights were nothing more than words on a piece of paper. In order to vote, one had to be a white anglo-saxon male British Subject or Canadian Citizen who was over the age of 21, had lived in Canada for at least five years and had a reasonable amount of equity to his name. Im migrants, native poeple and racial and ethnic minorities barely had the right to exist, let alone vote, and starvation, malnutrition and vagran cy in the major cities were not uncommon. The Social Credit Party’s new legislation is proof that rights are hard to gain and easy to lose. It also expresses the right-wing definition of freedom, that is, the freedom of the privileg ed few at the expense of the many who, through working for wages and paying taxes, involun tarily put the few in positions of wealth and power and keep them there, with little compen sation. The effects of the legislation are already visible as racial violence is increasing, rents are skyrocketing and tenant/landlord disputes are approaching an all-time high. However, all is not yet lost. Political opposition is calling for boycotts, petitions, demonstrations and other civil disobedience. It is obvious that a great number of Americans live under conditions similar to Canada of 30 years ago, and it is apparent that the Reagan Administration’s policies, although not as acute as those in B.C., intend to keep it that way as well as accomplish the same goals as the Socreds’. Look close, there are shocking similarities. So for all you Americans who feel you are about to be suckered into believing the constant bombardments of senseless cliches, ludicrous rhetoric and hollow reasoning that conservative forces use to justify what they say and do, I say, “Look North” (or south in the direction of Alabama, Cuba, and Latin America). Letter to editor Print commended on article Editor of the Print: My thanks to you and the Print staff for the excellent feature article highlighting the folks in the Public Informa tion Office, Publications and Printing. I was especially im pressed with your recognition of the service which secretaries such as Kathy Nelson provide to the operation of the Clackamas Community Col lege campus. Too frequently the “human side” of the classified staff at this institution goes unnoticed. For the most part, these people are dedicated pro fessionals providing a service, usually with a smile, courtesy and a willingness to help. I like to think they are “front-line” people who often sooth ruffl ed feathers of students and faculty, utilize psychology to its fullest extent, bake cakes, make coffee and who- for the most part endeavor to create a pleasant and “homey” at mosphere in which to work. It would be nice to have more articles on the people here on the campus so students could become acquainted with them as “real people.” We are all members of a “team” and it takes every single person to make the cam pus function. Secretaries are no longer just typists and ladies who take orders. They are considered intelligent pro fessional colleagues of an educational institution. I know, because in my area, I am a valued member of a vocational education team. This is not unique by any means. More and more classified employees are becoming respected for the job they do, and faculty and ad ministrators are not above say ing thanks for “going that ex tra mile” with us. Dianna Shepherd, Secretary Clackamas Community College