OPINIONS THE CLACKAMAS PRINT ____________ __________________________________ Papers should run aids ads unaltered The Oregon Health Division is respon­ sible for the television and print ads re- gardingaids prevention. That organization has recently sent Oregon newspapers, in­ cluding the Clackamas Print, a series of these ads. Something has been brought to our attention though. Oregon’s major newspaper, The Oregonian, has chosen to alter the ads. They have decided that their readers are not able to stomach seeing a condom on their pages. Instead of a condom, they have placed the symbols of male-female (circles with a either a plus sign or a diagonal arrow, depending on the sex, below) on the ad. That’s fine and certainly their deci­ sion. However, the targeted group for these ads ate high risk groups, primarily gay males. The male-female signs don’t mean any­ thing to gay males; if they needed to change the ads, then they should have replaced the condom with two male symbols. The in­ tended message is being lost by this altera­ tion. The ideal situation would be to leave the condom, which measures justonequar- ter of one square inch, in the ad or not run the ad at all. The latter of the two is what The Ore­ gonian chose to do with the first series of aids prevention ads, about a year-and-a- half ago. That is irresponsible. “Education is the key.” We’ve heard that over and over. How are responsible organizations and people going to do that educating when they won’t even do some­ thing as simple as put an ad on a layout sheet The publisher and editor of The Oregonian are foolish for making the deci­ sion not to run the ads unaltered. They are living back in thedays when abstinence was an answer. It is impossible and deadly to think that way. We’re talking about human lives here. The Clackamas Print will continue to display the ads unaltered with the follow­ ing in mind. If they will prompt one person to think twice and use a condom, then one life may be saved. „ Television, radio and newspapers are the most identifiable sources of informa­ tion and education which everyone has access to. It’s up to these mediums to show aids prevention ads in their entirety, This is not an option. It is a responsibility. There are several lessons that can be learned from the accident involving the Exxon Valdez: the need for more safety measures to protect the environment from such occurrences, for example. But on a more subtle level, the tragedy has taught us all who really controls the power in this country. It is obvious that big business is the true power in the United States. Why else would gas prices on the West coast jump almost 30 cents? Surely the 10 million gal­ lons of crude oil the Exxon Valdez spilled didn’t belong to ALL of the oil companies. If it didn’t, then why did all of the gas stations raise theirprices? And why didn’t the government step in to curb such blatant opportunism? It’s simple: our government is controlled by the major corporations that operate in this country. In high school American history classes we are taught that trusts (clandestine agree­ ments between businesses to control prices and reap huge profits) are illegal. The fact that every gas station raised their prices (in response to a corresponding raise by the oil companies that wholesale the gas, to be fair to local retailers) after the oil spill in Alaska points to an illegal trust. But our govem- The Clackamas Print welcomes Letters to the Editor. Such letters must be signed or will not be printed. Letters must not exceed 250 words and should be typewritten or neatly printed. Letters can be turned into The Clackamas Print offices in Trailer B North of Randall Hall. The Clacka­ mas Print reserves the right to edit Letters to the Editor for grammar,, obcenities and libelous material. Letters to the Editor must be turned in Friday in order to be printed in the following Wednesday’s edition. Don’t have sex, or Have one sexual partner. Practice safer sex. ASG building for next year begins this year There is a major problem at Clacka­ mas Community College. Nobody gets involved with the school. The problem has escalated far beyond the point of simple apathy. The fact that the Associated Stu­ dent Government couldn’t attract 15 people and have gone through the entireyear with a partially empty cabinet is proof of that. The elections for next year’s president and vice president will be upon us in just over two weeks. At this time, there is only one candidate for president and two candi­ dates for vice president. Is this what our apathy level has gotten to? One candidate for the president of the associated students of Clackamas Commu­ nity College? That’s like one team playing for the championship in the Super Bowl. The Clackamas Print doesn’t believe that out of the nearly 6,000 students at the college, there isn’t more than one who could be a qualified leader. Furthermore, we don’t believe that there aren’t more than two people qualified for the office of vice president, which includes overseeing the Associated Student Government budget ment sits idle while we empty our wallets to put fuel in our cars. There is a precedent for government apathy in this matter. Insurance companies join together to regulate insurance rates, yet have been exempted by the government for prosecution under anti-trust laws. Money is power in a capitalist society (or any soci­ ety for that matter) and these huge corpo­ rations have so much money that theÿ can control the government, either above-board with lobbying or illegally through bribes and dubious political contributions. Presi­ dent Bush probably even has a hefty amount of oil stock from his Texas oil days. The more money the oil companies make, the more his stock is worth. Why ruin a good thing by sticking up for the consumers?. What this all boils down to is that the average citizen in our “democratic” society is impotent. Perhaps after the United States is financially devastated by its shortsighted business leaders and hands the mantle-of world leadership to Japan we will realize that it is time for à major change in the power structure of this country. But don’t go knocking down the door of the White House in the quest for justice; the people with the real power are on Wall Street. Editorial Policy «..how it was changed by The Oregonian Don’t have sex, or Have one sexual partner. Use condoms for safer sex. This year there have been a number of things that m ight turn people off to partici­ pating in ASG. However, next year begins with a clean slate and it is up to next year’s ASG officers to make a success of next year and rebound from mistakes made during this school year. There is a need for strong leadership in ASG. Events such as concerts and college issues like the bond levy are all things that an effective ASG must take an active part in on the behalf of the students of this college. The ASG president is responsible, among other things, for representing stu­ dents’ opinions to President John Keyser and the Clackamas Board of Education and try to deal with issues like smoking on campus. Applications for the offices of presi­ dent and vice president are due Friday at the ASG office. Students need to initiate an effort to make Clackamas a school where other students can get involved. Clackamas is in dire nee i