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About The print. (Oregon City, Oregon) 1977-1989 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 25, 1989)
OPINIONS THE PRINT January 25,1989 Page 2 Bush responsible for death of liberalism The inauguration of President George Herbert Walker Bush last Friday signalled the end of the Reagan era. A vicious and protracted two year campaign gave the first hint of the attitude of G.H.W. Bush. The first casualty: liberalism. There was a time in this country when it was o.k. to be a liberal. Franklin Roosev elt, whom many consider the quintessen tial liberal, helped lift the nation from economic disaster by increasing federal spending for social programs. And before the campaign it seemed as if everyone who was old enough to have a social conscience in the sixties was a liberal. Somehow the spin doctors of the Bush campaign managed to convince the major ity of America that it is wrong to care about others more than personal prosperity. The word liberal now has a bad connotation. Being a liberal in the America of George Bush is tantamount to being a treasonous, unpatriotic criminal. Unfortunately this tactic served pri marily to divert public attention away from the issues that face us, such as a $2 trillion plus deficit and the fact we are being outpro duced in the Far East. Apparently elec tions aren’t won on issues in the televisioh age; issues are too complicated to make good sound bites. The method of defeating an opponent by labeling him a liberal seemed to filter down through the Republican ranks. There was a brochure sent to voters from the Denny Smith campaign several weeks be fore the election. The outside proclaimed, “There is only one word to describe Mike Kopetski...” Inside was the word LIBERAL in huge red letters, and a small caption asking for a vote for Denny Smith. There was no mention of either Smith’s or Ko- petski’s stand on any particular issue, just that huge, red, LIBERAL staring out like some remnant of the McCarthy era. It would be nice if someone would explain what is wrong with being a liberal, or anything else a person wants to be in a free society. A lot of importance is placed on the historical significance of a president. Re agan wasn’t even out of office before the network news organizations were trying to put him in a historical perspective. When Bush leaves office and heads to Maine, or Texas, or whatever state he is claiming as his home at that time, we’ll remember him as the man who killed liberalism. Beginning of new term brings responsibilities A new term is here again and like always I am not ready. But, unlike other terms, this time there is no way I can get ready. You see, all I have left to take is math. Now I made it through Math 70 with only a minor concussion and a few bouts of nausea. But now I face the odious task of taking all those x’s and y’s and twisting them into new forms and even trying to cube the stupid things. Domestic Issues Tammy Swartzendruber And then there’s the story problems in which I am supposed to apply these funny things called trinomials and quadratics to everyday life. Now that has got to be the most ridiculous thing I ever heard of. I have made it through almost thirty years with out knowing a thing about trinomials and qaudratics. I happen to feel that there are more practical ways to solve a problem then the dubious use of x’s and y’s. Take this problem for an example: if it takes one boy five hours to mow the lawn and his brother can mow it in three hours, how long will it take both boys to mow the lawn if they mowed it together? Now why do I have to know math to figure that out? If the problem ever happened to crop up in my life I would send my two sons out to the backyard and have them mow it together. Then I would know exactly how long it took them. I guess math teachers’ minds are too complicated to think of such an easy solu tion. Now you say, “Yes, but that doesn’t help you figure it out if you’re sitting in school and have no access to a lawn mower or to your sons.” You’re exactly right. But why do I have to figure it out in my class? There’s no grass to mow in that room so as I see it that should be the end of the prob lem. Well, as I said earlier I actually did make it through Math 70 and I am deter mined to make it through Math 100 even though my list of casualties is already much greater than those things that I endured in Math70. Here I am about done with this column and in a few minutes I will be facing far greater problems than anything I ever will face in math class. I will somehow have to get totally new concepts across to my first grader when I help her with her homework. I will also have to try to juggle my time so that I will have time to sew a few dresses tonight, clean the house, do the laundry, go visit a discouraged girl friend, make dinner, and try to soothe my boy friends injured feelings when I tell him that I do not have the time to go skiing with him. Thank God that lifes problems don’t come in x’s and y’s or I would still be doing tonights work next year this time. Editorial Policy The Print welcomes Letters to the Editor. Such letters must be signed of will not be prin ted. Letters must not exceed 250 words and should be typewritten or neatly printed. Letters can be turned into The Printoffices in Trailer B north of Randall Hall. The Print reserves the right to edit Letters to thè Editor for grammar, obscenities and libelous and truthful material. Letters to the Editor must be turned in Friday in order to be printed in the following Wednesday’s edition. The Print aims to be a fair and impartial newspaper covering the college community. Opin- ions expressed in The Print do not necessarily reflect those of the college administration, faculty, Associated Student Government, or other mem- bers of The Print staff. Articles and information published in this newspaper can be reprinted only with permission from the Student Publications Office. The Print is a weekly publica- tion distributed every Wednes- day except for finals week. Clackamas Community Col- lege, 19600 S. Molalla Ave., Oregon City, Oregon 97045. Office: Trailer B. Telephone: 657-8400, ext. 309 (office), 310 (advisor), 576 (editor), 577 (production) and 578 (adver- tising). Editor-In-Chief: Christopher L. Curran Managing/Feature Editor: Carcc Hussey Copyeditor: Jim Titus News Editor: Briane C. Dotson Photo Editor: Julie Church Sports Editor: Mark Borrelli Reporters: Staci Beard 11113 Early Dan Fulton Tim Jones Ray Marcham Mike Nelson Luis Perez Rick Piller Roseann Wentworth Angela Wilson Photographers: Jillian Porter Tara Powers TimZivney Columnists: Joeseph Patrick Lee Tammy Swartzendruber Business Manager: Pat Adams “Rhapsody” Editor: Michelle Walch Advisor: Linda Vogt
