Monologue ______________
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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