OPINIONS
THE CLACKAMAS PRINT
Congress needs to
approve $4.55 wage
The current minimum wage proposal
is showing the American people the true
colors of the United States government.
On one hand there is Congress, who
seems to want to give the American work
ers a financial break by recommending a
new minimum wage between $4.25 and
$4.55.
On the other hand, President George
Bush wants to support business interests
rather than the people who elected him last
November.
The latter of the two is what the people
should be concerned about. Bush has al
ready stated that he will veto any minimum
wage bill over $4.25. Furthermore, the
president is advocating a six month “train
ing period” in which an employee would
earn $3.35 until the training period was
over.
The biggest flaw with that idea is that
employers could hire someone, let them
earn $3.35 forsix months, tell theemployee
that they were no longer needed and hire
someone else for six months. The cycle
could go on forever. A training period such
as this would be one simple way for em
ployers to sidestep paying the employee
the new minimum wage.
Congress is concerned that setting the
bill at $4.55 will subject it to certain doom
when it is received by the president. Con
gress cannot afford to think that way; $4.25
is simply not enough to support the cost of
living. They need to pass a minimum wage
bill of $4.55 without any sort of training
period.
Although Bush wants to veto such a
wage increase, the bill wouldn’t be dead. At
that point it would be up to the American
people (the same American people who
helped halt Congress’ attempt to award
themselves a 50 percent pay hike) to con
tact their legislators in support of overrid
ing Bush’s veto.
One of the arguments against raising
the minimum wage is that employers would
hire less people, and therefore unemploy
ment would go up. The truth is that regard
less of the hourly wage, the same amount of
work will still need to be done. Conse
quently it will take the same number of
people to do the work.
Some are concerned about the effect a
higher minimum wage would have on the
cost of goods to the consumer. That simply
wouldn’t be an issue. When the minimum
wage was raised to $3.35 in 1981, we didn’t
experience a dramatic rise in consumer
costs. We’re looking at one small expense
to corporations. Anticipating inflated costs
would be presumptuous. It clearly would
not be a problem.
Join The narfamas Print in support-
inga $4.55 minimum wage with no training
period. Contact Senators Mark Hatfield,
Bob Packwood and Representatives Denny
Smith and Ron Wyden.
This is an effort that can make a differ
ence in this country.
Student Opinions
Compiled by Tara Powers and Jillian Porter
Did you vote in the mail-in ballot last month? Why
or why not?
Yes. It’s convenient. You don’t have
to miss a lot of school.
Yes. If a person doesn’t vote, they
have no right to complain about the
government
- Bob McDaniel
- Wes Duffey
No. I didn’t have time. I wasn’t even
aware of it. If I would have had
time, I would have voted.
- Shcllic Reed
Yes. I feel that voting is an impor
tant responsibility to ourselves
within the community.
- Julie Odoms
April 5,1989
Page 2
County makes right
choice on bond levy
With the passage ofthe bond levy March.
28 Clackamas Community College will be
able to finance several construction and
repair projects. But the projects were nearly
in jeopardy: the levy passed by a slim 1.8
percent margin. Such a narrow victory is
typical of a society which has lost its role as
a leader in the field of education.
There have been numerous instances
in recent years of school district operating
levies failing to gain voter approval, often
leading to school closures in pre-safety net
days. Voters don’t seem to realize that
supporting education is an investment in
the future of this country, regardless of
whether or not the voter is directly reaping
the benefits of his school district.
Well-funded educational programs
means better educated citizens. Better
educated citizens lead to a more produc
tive society in a number of ways.
An argument that is often heard when
a school levy comes up for a vote is that, “I
don’t have any children attending school.
Why should I have to pay for education?”
The answer is simple: the students that
attend well-funded schools will have, an
earning potential commensurate with their
higher, level of education, and a higher
Letter to the Editor...
Ban food irradiation
To the Editor,
Food irradiation is not the technologi
cal answer to our food preservation prob
lems. The safety concerns far outweigh any
future benefits. Oregon and other states
are proposing and passing food legislation
to ban irradiated foods.
The food is irradiated by exposing it to
radioactive waste from nuclear power and
weapons plants. When the food is irradi
ated, the gamma rays cause the food to
undergo molecular changes. New com
pounds, known as Unique Radiolytic Prod
ucts, are formed and many are considered
to be carcinogenic.
In the National Institute of Nutrition
study, irradiated wheat was fed to malnour
ished Indian children. The children devel
oped blood polyploids, a condition associ
ated with leukemia and characterized by
extra sets of chromosomes.
In other studies, laboratory animals
fed irradiated foods developed increased
rates of testicular tumors, kidney damage,
abnormal blood cells, chromosomal break
age, fewer offspring and a higher overall
mortality.
Aflatoxins, very potent carcinogens,
have been found in greater quantities in
irradiated foods.
Irradiation kills the natural enemies of
botulinum bacteria without killing the
botulism spores, so our food will become
more susceptible to botulism.
There is a major loss in nutrients from
irradiating foods, which is compounded if
the food is cooked.
Irradiation kills the bacterium that cause
food to smell bad. Without them, we won’t
know when our food is spoiled.
Please write to: (your legislator), State
Capitol Bldg., Salem, OR 97310, and ask
them to support SB 452 to ban irradiated
foods from Oregon.
Thom Alberti
Eugene, OR
earning potential means more tax dollars
to fund the government and ease the bur
den for all (not to mention more money for
the social security coffers, which will di
rectly benefit senior citizens who often
complain about binding schools when they
no longer have school-aged children).
Another common argument is that,
“I’m not going to pay for education be
cause our school systems aren’t doing a
good job.” Well, it’s impossible to do a
good job educating an increasing number
ofstudents when enough money isn’t avail
able.
When the American education system
was founded it was considered a modern
miracle. Now that same system is in jeop
ardy, primarily due to lack of support from
local communities. It seems as if those who
oppose school levies don’t feel that they
are a part of our society, because in such a
society ALL citizens are required to con
tribute to the community.
Clackamas Community College is an
important part of this community; it is
disheartening to find that almost half of
those who voted March 28 don’t believe in
the value of their community college.
gw...
Clackamas
Print
The Clackamas Print aims to be a fair*
and impartial newspaper covering the
college community. Opinions expressed
in The Clackamas Print do not neces
sarily reflect those of the college ad
ministration, faculty or Associated
Student Government. Articles and
information published in this newspa
perman be re-printed only with written
permission from the Student Publica
tions Office. The Clackamas Print is a
weekly publication distributed every
Wednesday except for finals week. The
Clackamas Print, Clackamas Commu
nity College, 19600 S. Molalla Ave.,
Oregon City, Oregon 97045. Office:
Trailer B. Telephone 657-6958 or 657-
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tion) and 578 (advertising).
Editor-In-Chief: Christopher L. Curran
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News Editor: Brians C. Dotson
Photo Editor: Julie Church
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Tim Jones
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Photographers: Jillian Porter
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