Monologue_____________
Publicity shouldn't be top priority for Clark
His term in office has barely started,
yet Portland Mayor Bud Clark has
been busy making important decisions.
His most publicized decision to date is
the naming of Penny Harrington as
Portland’s new police chief on Jan. 24.
While it is generally agreed upon
that Clark made an excellent choice by
naming Harrington the new police
chief, I question his motives in making
that choice. He has been quoted as say
ing his decision was based on qualifica
tions, but let’s not forget what Clark
said would be one of his most impor
tant concerns as mayor of Portland: to
help boost the city’s economic depres
sion through publicity.
That Harrington is the first woman
in the country to head a large city’s
police department is well known.
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Thanks to Clark’s selection of Harr
ington, Portland was “put on the
map” for a while when the event
received national coverage by major
networks.
So what’s wrong with getting
coverage on the national news?
Nothing. Every one knows Portland,
or Oregon in general, can use the ex
posure. There’s also nothing wrong
with naming Harrington Portland
police chief; she was apparently the
“best man” for the job. One wonders,
though, just how much the aspect of
publicity played a part in Clark’s deci
sion.
Don’t get me wrong - I am not a
Clark hater. His image of being a com
mon man, of being “one of us,” is ap
pealing. The sight of him pedaling his
bike to work is definitely more pleasing
than seeing stuffy old Mr. Ivancie en
trenched in his raincoat.
Community Corner
A BETTER BYTE: We have just received
a computer here in the journalism trailer and
it didn’t take long to tell that life was going
to change.
I knew something was up when Dana
Spielmann, the student publications adviser,
poked her head into my tiny (tiny as in larger
than a coffin but smaller than two coffins)
office with that “I’m gonna steal your
miniscule little space, mister” look.
This new machine is designed to help us
produce The Print more accurately while
streamlining the process of publication.
Right now most of our reporters write a
story longhand and make the necessary
modifications. When they are finished with
the writing, they type it and submit the story
to the appropriate editor.
The copy editor eventually gets the story,
and the spelling and facts are checked. Story
constructions and flow is also checked. If,
for instance, two paragraphs need to be
transposed, the typed sheet has to be cut
apart and taped back together in the right
spot.
The story then goes to the typesetter, full
of cat scratches, tape, and in some rare
spots, clean type. The typesetter retypes each
story into the machine, after which they have
to be proofread once more for mistakes
before being committed to the past-up pro
cess.
Our computer will speed the long process
at many steps. The reporters will no longer
type their work onto paper, but onto disks.
The editors will make corrections and ad
justments by button instead of by scissors and
tape.
Satisfied that the story is ready for print,
the copy editor will send all the stories of a
given edition into the typeset machine over
the telephone line. While one last look over
By Fritz Wenzel
the copy will be made as the work comes out
of the typeset machine, it will be a mere
review instead of a proof-read.
We are just getting used to the technology,
but we welcome the change. Instead of
finishing our production at midnight every
Tuesday, we might dream of heading home
at 10 p.m.
A WORD FROM DOWN UNDER: Who
says a textbook is useless until the library
bookstore buys it back? Going though my
required reading for English the other day I
happened across (people in general simply
turn the page and find an excerpt, but when
you start to write for a publication you learn
to “happen across” them. It really makes
life more exciting) an excerpt by Ambrose
Bierce titled“Wisdom from The Devil’s Dic
tionary.”
The book is a slightly modified dictionary;
the words are the same, but that is all. Here
Bierce defines admiration as “our polite
recognition of another’s resemblance to
ourselves.” A bore is one “who talks when
you wish him to listen.” Distance is “the on
ly thing that the rich are willing for the poor
to call theirs and keep.” A consult is “to
seek another’s approval of a course already
decided on.”
Finally, heaven is “a place where the wick
ed cease from troubling you with talk of
their personal affairs, and the good listen
with attention while you expound your
own.” Bierce must have been the kind of
neighbor everyone dreamed of having, and,
noting that he lived in Washington D.C.
while he wrote the above words, everyone
probably did have a neighbor like him.
A sad footnote to this fun is that our own
library does not have this classic book on its
shelves.
Clark’s relaxed approach to politics
is one Portlanders (and those border
ing the city) are not used to, which
makes it refreshing to many. His desire
to make Portland more popular with
publicity is a good thing, too, as long
as it doesn’t become his prime
motivating factor in making critical
decisions for the city.
Suppose Harrington wasn’t the best
choice for police chief, yet Clark chose
her because of her news value.
Portland certainly couldn’t hope to im
prove itself, both economically as well
as politically, with decisions made bas
ed on popularity and not genuine com
petence.
In the case of the Harrington deci
sion, Clark got to have his cake and eat
it too - a competent new police chief
that at the same time made Portland,
Oregon famous. So why bring the issue
up at all? Because Clark isn’t going to
be able to take advantage of such op
portunities simultaneously every time.
Letter to the Editor
In the Jan. 16 issue of The
Print, I read that Scott
Fischer, financial aid director
for Clackamas Community
College, was leaving the
school.
I am no longer a student at
Clackamas, having left a year
ago. But I spent four years
there, and in that time, I never
met a more helpful or
understanding person than
Mr. Fischer.
I have never understood the
druidic, necromantic voodoo
of financial aid. Even at my
current school, Lewis and
Clark College, financial help
entails a forest of forms and a
month of Sundays standing in
Mobius Strip lines.
Scott Fischer and the people
in his department could always
be counted upon to help
smooth the way. He obviously
cared about the students and
went out of his way to help.
Scott Fischer, you will be
missed. Bon voyage and good
luck.
Sincerely,
J. Dana Haynes
Former Clackamas student
THE PRINT, a member of the Oregon Newspaper Publishers Associa
tion, 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 administra
tion, faculty, 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: Shelley Ball
News Editor: Fritz Wenzel
Arts Editor: D. Dietrich
Sports Editor: Rodney Fobert
Copy Editor: Fritz Wenzel
Photo Editor: Joel Miller
Advertising Manager: Jack Griffith
Cartoonist: Richard Byington
Advertising Representative: Richard Byington
Staff Writers: Shelley Davis, J. Jason,
Amy LaBare, Julie Miller, Heather Wright
Staff Photographers: Rodney Fobert, Jeff Meek,
Mike Templeton, Daniel Wheeler
Typesetter: Diana Blakley
Advisor: Dana Spielmann
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Clackamas Community College
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