Image provided by: Clackamas Community College; Oregon City, OR
About The print. (Oregon City, Oregon) 1977-1989 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 29, 1984)
Senior Companion Program aids the aged must be 60 years or older, they must have a low income and they must attend an orienta- Senior citizens through tion/training program which out the county who are victims consists of 40 hours,” Traci of solitude can receive Major, director of the Senior help—the Senior Companion Companion Program, said. There are 12 stations in Program, partially supported by Clackamas Community Clackamas County out of which the volunteers work. College. Three of the major ones are Initiated in 1981, the pro the Senior Center, Loaves and gram offers help for senior Fishes and Social Services. “The volunteers receive citizens in Clackamas County through providing compa good benefits from the pro nionship. The program is non gram and in return they are profit and is made up entirely helping other senior citizens,” Major said. of volunteers. The federal government “We presently have 15 volunteers in the program, provides the volunteers with a who work 20 hours a week. tax-free $2 per-hour salary and The volunteers must have reimbursement for mileage three qualifications: They and meals. By Heather C. Wright Of The Print The Senior Companion Program receives other aid from the College in the form of telephones, office space and postage. “The Senior Companion Program enables senior citizens to stay in their homes. It is a very useful program to the volunteers and the senior citizens. It gives the volunteers the chance to help other senior citizens in the community, and the volunteers have a much brighter attitude on life. The volunteers are giving to those less fortunate, which helps them feel needed. Both the senior citizens and the volunteers gain,” Lanna Ray, coordinator of the Retired Senior Volunteer Program, said. return they are helping other- senior citizens.” Traci Major, Senior Companion Specialist. ■ , T , , Photo by Joel Miller College offers low-cost driver education course By Shelley Ball Of The Print Students or other community members wishing to earn a driver’s license at a reasonable cost may be in terested in signing up for Clackamas Community College’s Driver Educa tion program. The course will be offered Spring term and will commence April 2. Registration for the driving course begins March 26, and the 10-week pro gram will cost $20 (full-time College students pay nothing). Kit Youngren, continuing educa tion director, said other driver educa tion courses will on the average cost around $120, and since the state reim burses the College’s program up to $100 for each student who passes the driving course, Youngren stated this enables the College to offer driver education at a lower price. The College’s driving course has been in existence for more than four years and is taught in three sections, with 30 students in each section, during fall, spring and summer terms. The winter term driver education course is taught in two sections with a total of 60 students involved. Each course consists of 30 hours class time, plus six hours spent in behind-the-wheel training. Although most of the students who take the class are high school students, Youngren said there are many other community members who for some reason haven’t learned to drive. However, due to a change in their lives, such as taking a job, the need for them to acquire a driving skill has arisen. Anyone signing up for driver education needs to have a valid learner’s permit. Besides the possibility of getting reduced insurance rates through taking the course, Youngren said most participants also learn to become better drivers. “Students who take driver educa tion courses usually have a better driv ing record. They’re more aware of the things they need to know to become better drivers,” he said. Youngren also said the demand for the driver education courses at the College has risen over, the years. “There is a tendency in parents to be a little busier, and there is a renewed awareness of the problems teenagers have had (learning to drive) in the past,” he said. The courses are taught by College instructors Tom Wittfoth and Richard Whelan, and through a leasing agree ment with Kellum Datsun, two cars (one automatic, the other a standard transmission) are available to par ticipants for the behind-the-wheel training. The success rate of the course has also been good. “It’s (driver education) and awareness type of course. We do a lot of self-help in the class, which we back up behind the wheel,” Youngren said. In addition to having driver education courses on campus, Youngren said the College teaches classes at local high schools for those who find the College is out of the way. Youngren said it can be “quite a com mitment” for some people to make an average of two trips per week to the College in a 10-week period. Courses are being taught at North Clackamas, Gladstone and Oregon City Schools. District candidates get chance to discuss issues By DeAnn Dietrich Of The Print Five candidates from the fifth congressional district ad dressed a list of questions on the issues of peace at a forum hosted by the Clackamas County Peace Network on Sunday, Feb. 26, in Oregon City. The candidates on the panel included Senator Ruth McFarland-D (who will be ap pearing at Clackamas Com munity College March 8), Jim Beall-D, John Reese-R, Senator Walt Brown-D, and Peter Courtney-D. The forum began with questions prepared by the eight-member Peace Network. The facilitator re quested that the candidates limit each of their answers to two minutes. The first question posed to the panel concerned the .............. Express Yourself! Your poetry, short fiction, opi nion and artwork are the life and death of RHAPSOD Y! Bring your material to Trailer B or call Steve at 657-8400, ext. 309. Page 6 \ candidates’ dedication to the pursuit of peace in their cam paigns. All of the candidates attacked the nuclear arms race in their responses, beginning with Sen. McFarland, who said, “Bigger and better will not work when talking about nuclear weapons.” Reese, the only Repub lican to attend the forum, cited technical experience he gained as a marine colonel as an asset in his campaign against nuclear weapons. Reese briefly ran through a list of measures he proposed for U.S. peace keeping policies. After each candidate answered four questions primarily concerning nuclear technology, the floor was opened to the audience. One of the questions asked by a congressional candidate from another district involved U.S. policies toward Central America. Sen. Brown’s reply placed responsibility on the U.S. to “bring democracy elsewhere in the world.” Courtney’s response to the Central American issue emphasized a recurring theme in his answers, which was the importance and key strategy i of peace talks and negotiations between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. Courtney said that he didn’t agree with sen ding foreign aid unless there was a guarantee that it would reach the people in need, and not end up in “Swiss bank ac counts.” The forum, which was scheduled for 6:30, was con cluded after two hours. A final question was posed to each candidate as to why he or she would be most capable of defeating incumbent Denny Smith-R. Jim Beall, the youngest of the candidates at the forum, attributed to himself a successful campaign of organization, money and knowledge of the issues. He said his primary campaign issues included peace and the economy. He emphasized the need for a stable economy in earlier questions, citing the growing federal deficit. . Each of the other can didates related experience in the government as a focal point. Reese referred to himself as offering “alter natives to Republicans.” The forum was held in Oregon City at the United Methodist Church and was almost filled to its 60-seat capacity. The Clackamas County Peace Network of fered free literature concern ing military spending and in ternational policy issues. The network’s philosophy was described on their han dout as a devotion to “non violent political action in a non-partisan approach to peace through education and direct involvement in the political decision-making pro cess.” Local contacts in the net work are Gerry Bellavita 655-2379, Tom Moore 657-5343, and Gail Parker or Roger Redfern at 657-9950. Clackamas Community College