Monologue
Goodwill toward homeless shallow in nature
By D. Dietrich
Arts Editor
Goodwill towards others is
something that is seldom com­
plained about when in action.
Even as I write I feel a little
uncomfortable voicing my
distaste about a seemingly
kind
act
that
many
Portlanders have felt compell­
ed to join in on. I’m referring
to the influx of street people
that have been “dumped” on
the streets after rejecting the
Rajneesh way of life.
I don’t mean to offend
those people who are genuine­
ly concerned about the welfare
of street people. But I don’t
like the idea of seeing local
heros being made out of peo­
ple who find this as opportuni­
ty to make the Rajneesh ap­
pear even more insensitive
(which may or not be the
case). It could have been
worse. The Rajneesh could
have made the street people
walk out of Rajneeshpuram,
certainly not one of Oregon’s
finer scenic trails.
I’m sorry one of the street
people died of exposure after
being dropped off in Govern­
ment Camp. But I’m also'of-
fended at the concern some of
Portland’s more wealthy
citizens have suddenly found
for people that they would
have normally refused the time
of day to just because it is the
latest cause to be in on.
I understand that Portland
does not have the facilities nor
the manpower to support hun­
dreds of surplus transients
gathered from around the na­
tion. Therefore, it may be a
good idea to ship them back to
whence they were recruited,
but let’s remember why we’re
so concerned about the
welfare of these people all of a
sudden. I do not believe the
charity benefits I’ve heard of
being organized to raise
money for bus tickets back
home are generated from that
golden word “charity”. Nor
do I feel the community
should be responsible for sen­
ding these people back home
because they didn’t catch the
right vibes at Rancho Ra­
jneesh.
The street people went to
Rajneeshpuran of their own
free will. Obviously they
didn’t have much of a home in
the city they left, so is it really
helping them to send them
back to the streets of their own
city? We don’t have the means
to support all of them here,
but the “charity” workers
seem to think we can simply
bus these people out of view
and the problem of the
nation’s homeless will go
away. Out of sight out of mind
is not the answer.
I have heard no mention ot
trying to fund additional low-
rent facilities for these people.
Why? because the general
population doesn’t want them
around to clutter up the
Par
Ir4
streets. Now, is that really
goodwill at work? It seems the
law of distribution should
come into action here. If these
street people were getting help
in their hometowns from the
same kind of funding that
T'tíA'V
Portland’s Baloney Joe’s is
working on, why doesn’t the
city ask for additional aid to
support the overload that must
be giving some reprieve to
other cities?
'T ina C’
Portland Trailblazers destined to go far this year
By Shelley Ball
Editor In Chief
(Editor’s note: Never let it be said that
I write only political editorials.)
Portland Trailblazer fans had to
wait a long time (a whole summer, at
least) for the start of the team’s
1984-85 basketball season. And this
year’s wait does not appear to have
been in vain.
/
THE PRINT, a member of the Oregon
Newspaper Publishers Association,
aims to be a fair and impartial jour­
nalistic medium covering the campus
community as thoroughly as possible.
Opinions expressed in THE PRINT do
not necessarily reflect those of t he Col-
lege administration, faculty,
Page 2
Anyone who has faithfully followed
the Blazers through the ups and downs
of their seasons can see there’s
something different about the team.
It’s not just the addition of rookies like
Sam Bowie and Jerome Kersey, or the
acquisition of former Denver Nuggets
player Kiki Vandeweghe that makes
the team different, either.
There’s a gleam in Blazer Coach
Jack Ramsay’s eye that hasn’t been
seen before, now even when the team
won the National Basketball Associa­
--------------------- X
Associated Student Government or
other members of THE PRINT. THE
PRINT is a weekly publication
distrubuted each Wednesday except for
finals week. Clackamas Community
College, 19600 S. Molalla Avenue,
Oregon City, Oregon 97045.
tion Championship in 1977. Of course,
times have changed and so have the
Blazer players, but that gleam gives
one the feeling this year’s team is
special.
Just watch Ramsay whenever he’s
being interviewed about his team.
Ramsay, the coach well-known for
wearing loud pants and possessing a
quiet, low-pitched, monotone voice,
now seems to come to life with renewed
energy. Judging by the Blazers’ perfor­
mance in the first few games of their
season, it’s no wonder Ramsay is so ex­
cited.
The Blazers have always been known
to play like a real team, because every
player contributes in one way or
another. Such teams as the Los
Angeles Lakers or the Boston Celtics
only rely on a few exceptional players
to get them to the playoffs. Therefore,
the pressure to perform is on players
like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Larry
Bird, while the rest of the players on
the floor seem to be there just to take
up space.
This never has been, and hopefully
never will be, the case with the Blazers.
The team, which hits always received
its strength from the group-effort prin­
ciple, now is playing even stronger with
the addition of Bowie and
Vendeweghe.
The Blazers also seem to be stronger
when playing games on the road. The
Blazers used to be famous for being
blown off the court when they played
outside their security blanket,
Portland’s Memorial Coliseum. But
out of their first four games on the
road, the Blazers have lost only two,
each by less than 10 points. In their re­
cent game against Los Angeles, the
Blazers were trailing at one point by 26
points, but they were able to come
back enough to save themselves from a
blow-out by losing 124-116, a mere
eight points. That is an improvement.
So take care, rival basketball teams.
The Blazers look like a team that will
have to be seriously reckoned with this
season.
Clackamas Community College