» JIM
Monologue
XJ YovNC, fat,K.*L . . .
STA^L l ÍHG THE C*mpv$
GÄOU/7PS... fTcci;^c>
Vo A/vKes... F«o T he H umo «./..
S ave 7U€ CHALES...
T he Te^se Vites
X// THE. /?!> ... Ytfik !
¡AVE THE U/oni-D
Vt*A
/H aa / j «*/€
NEID 7b DwecT
O va € ffoRTS
By Shelley Ball
Tót’n^fJo't' 7órnoí\nx>V.
L ome <5 ALL
tyou. AÍLÍb- . ■
Editor In Chief
W L ead
CXA^pLí.. •
fah, Pctcc
*vp LovC
ßtoTHCHi
>3NT» •
5isr£«S •
UNFoiUi/rVATC«- Y Jor*iC
í>€oPí.e M rv C
Community Córner
THE POLITICS OF GARDENING— It is
¡spring, and, of course, along with
everything new and beautiful, the latest in
political theories should be brought forth at
this time when all things worthwhile are
sprouting their wings and growing.
What with all the discussions about what
should be done in Central America, I am
surprised that no one has likened it to the
vegetable kingdom.
Knowing how President Reagan loves to
illustrate his major policy points with
stories, maybe he ought to consider the
tomato as a political example. Given the best
of conditions, it begins to grow. The
caretaker makes a special effort to give it
some water on the "hot days, so it is not con
sumed, and some shelter on those windy
days, so it isn’t destroyed in the holocaust,
and if the caretaker is really a concerned
overseer, the tomato might even get some
Miracle Grow plant food. More often then
not this is the case.
Things go well as the plant rises to a foot
in height, and then 18 ipches. No problems
on the horizon. Then it happens. The tomato
plant gets a little green growth. The
caretaker doesn’t worry. “It will go away in
time,” he says to himself.
He gives it more water and talks a bit with
it. A week later the green tumorous thing is
getting bigger, and it is bending some of the
weaker branches under the weight. Two
more weeks of watering and some idle
threats against the growing greenie turn out
to be futile. “I will go on a vacation and let
my neighbor water the plant for a while. The
Politics may return to
rightful place in ASG
By Fritz Wenzel
problem of this infectious growth will cer
tainly be past by then,” the caretaker says.
Of course, upon his return things have on
ly gotten worse. Not only is the original
growth bigger than ever, it has persuaded
other branches to get a growth of their own.
The growths are huge and are green with en
vy at the caretaker’s power. They want to
have free elections to decide whether to
water in the evening or in the early morning.
They want to determine where in the garden
tomatoes are to be planted in the future.
The situation is tense. One fateful day ear
ly in September, another startling develop
ment occurs. The tomatoes all turn to the
other side. They go public with their political
ties to the “light in the East.” They have
gone Commie. They have turned RED.
They resolved that they would not be the
meal of a tyrant, so they drank up more and
more water. First just sipping, then gulping,
after a while, about 3 a.m., they began to
fall from their stalks from their weight, and
as they fell, the notorious Northwestern
Slugs, who seldom hold alliances with
caretakers, engulfed them enmasse. At the
rising hour of 7 a.m., the caretaker had nary
a tomatoe still on the plants. A bloody and
tumultuous ending to a short but useful life
for the tomato'.
The question is where is Ed. Hume when
you really need him.
The moral to this column is that sunstroke
can attack even the mostcareful of colum
nists, even in the earliest of spring.
This year’s Associated Stu
dent Government (ASG) elec
tions have come and gone, but
not without a flicker of hope.
While it’s hard to tell at this
point, newly-elected ASG
President Daniel Hilts and
Vice President Shawn Wat-
terberg may actually do
something for Clackamas
Community College students
besides planning dances and
lip syncs.
But before I go on, let me
explain that first sarcastic
remark by saying the ASG
should be credited with taking
the time to organize the above-
mentioned activities so
students can have fun. Unfor
tunately, dances and other
social events seem to take up
all of the group’s time and ef
fort.
Entertainment is fine, but
what about politics? Granted,
a few political activities have
been planned by ASG this
year, but they have been
sporadic at best.
I say this year’s elections
results contain a flicker of
hope because for the first time
in a long while the College has
a president-elect who thinks
political issues, and student
awareness of political issues,
are important subjects the
ASG should examine closely.
President-elect Hilts, a
second-year student at the
College, has said he detests
campus pie-eating contests
and wants ASG to sponsor
more political activities. He
also has plans to organize a
political awareness committee,
the intent being to educate
students about current events.
Hilts’ partner, Vice
President-elect Watterberg has
stressed the need to “keep in
touch with students,” a well-
worn campaign idea but never
theless important task for
ASG to undertake. It’s fairly
safe to say the lines of com
munication between students
and the ASG need to be im
proved, considering the fact
there have been reports of
students on this campus who
spent the past year not know
ing who the current ASG
president or vice president are.
So there you have it: Hilts
and Watterberg want to bring
the word “politics” back into
the ASG members’ vocabulary
and open up the lines of com
munication to students.
They’re on the right track, but
how long will they be able to
stay on it?
Take their goal to improve
communication, for example.
In order to do this, Hilts and
Watterberg are going to have
to deal with a major
roadblock: student apathy.
Attempts have been made in
the past to improve apathy,
without much success.
Student apathy was alive
and well last year at this time,
as Shawnee Christensen, then
a vice-presidential contender,
was quoted as saying that in
obtaining public opinion at the
College, “You have to pull
teeth in order to get it around
here.”
Likewise, last April’s
presidential candidate Jenny
Metzker said, “We’re (ASG)
here to run the school for
students, not just for us.” So
much for famous last words.
Another factor that should
be noted is • both Hilts and
Watterberg have no political
experience in ASG, so it’s
possible they may become
overwhelmed by the amount
of work involved in running a
student government. Then
again, by having no ties to the
current administration, Hilts
and Watterberg may be able to
bring a fresh approach to stu
dent government and be will
ing to try new approaches in
handling problems.
In any case, I" think the
potential for effective leaders
is there. Good luck, His and
Watterberg. I hope you prac
tice what you preach.
THE PRINT 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 staff. THE PRINT is a weekly publication distributed each
Wednesday expect for finals week. Clackamas Community College,
19600 S. Molalla Avenue, Oregon City, Oregon 97045.
_______________________________
Page 2
Clackamas Community College