Image provided by: Clackamas Community College; Oregon City, OR
About The Clackamas print. (Oregon City, Oregon) 1989-2019 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 17, 1990)
OPINION January 17,1990 Page 2 County needs clear policy on MLK Day From the editor... Garett Lytle’s resignation P THE CLACKAMAS PRINT came as a shock Monday; the move was totally unexpected. It’s too bad that a person who has done so much to improve the image of ASG will be leav ing. When Lytle took over at the end of last year, ASG had a bad reputation. Its relation ship with most of the college was poor, due mainly to the questionable performance of former President Faith Tay lor. Taylor was involved in several controversies that cast some doubt on her ability to act as president, and severely damaged the image of ASG. But Lytle changed all that He brought respect and com petence to the ASG presi dency. I think he sells himself short when he calls himself merely a “manager.” Lytle was and is a leader. The Print also had prob lems with Lytle’s predecessor. There were several occasions last year when Taylor “lost her cool” with members of the Print’s staff. But so far there have been no problems in the relationship between the Print and Lytle’s admini stration. In fact, Lytle saw to it that there was a distinct cooperation between the two student groups. I don’t fault Lytle for resigning. Being involved in a student organization eats up a lot of time, and often those involved find themselves making sacrifices for the or ganization (just ask my guitar instructor how many of his Tuesday classes I missed last term in order to get this paper out). The one consolation in this whole affair is that Tim Jones is a competent replace ment for Lytle He knows ASG, this is his second year in stu dent government. And Jones is a leader in his own right, albeit in his own particular style. He should do well in filling Lytle’s vacant post. Jones shouldn’t have many worries. Lytle laid the groundwork for much of what ASG is planning to do the rest of the year. All Jones has to do is keep everyone on track and everything should fall into place. I might have worried if Jones was taking over for Faith Taylor, but not for Garett Lytle. Lytle’s leadership will leave its mark on ASG for some time to come. It is unfortunate that this college is losing perhaps the best ASG president it has ever had, but life goes on. I wish Garett Lytle the best of luck with whatever he chooses to do, and I believe that a leader of his caliber will be a success in any endeavor he undertakes. caped the problems of racial ten ning King’s birthday plans, invite sion. The Cable News Network’s black leaders in the community or show Crossfire showed how there in the nation to speak about what is a growing faction of white su- King fought and lost his life for. premists in the nation, who re Maybe teacher should be encour cently have resorted to mail aged to teach us about black cul bombing various officials who ture in their respective subjects, happen to be black. Jimmy the so students can learn about Mal Greek, a former CBS football colm X or Vernon Johns. Maybe commentator, made inflammatory we should just do what King hoped remarks about blacks on the air. for by educating ourselves about We have not totally gotten over other and their freedom. Let’s hope racial tension, and maybe we never for, as King said in his “I Have a will, but one thing is for sure, Dream” speech: ignorance breeds fear. It is out of “...when we allow freedom ring- ignorance that supremists seem when we let it ring from every to hate the black population. village and every hamlet, from every Maybe we need to stop emphasiz state and every city-we will be able ing W.A.S.P (White Anglo Saxon to speed up that day when all of Protestant) history and inject some God’s children, black men and black culture into schooling, like white men, Jews and Gentiles, the rap group Boogie Down Pro Protestants and Catholics, will be ductions preaches for. Why should able to join hands and sing in the we still view history and subjects words of the old Negro spiritual, from a different point of view than "“Free at last! Free at last! Thank the traditional W.AS.P standards. ; God almighty, we are free at last! ” We should take full advan Instead of waffling over fi nances, amount of holidays, or tage of a day like King’s birthday even if the school should be closed, to do what he spent his life trying why not keep it open? Why not to achieve, an understanding of have one day of learning about black culture by the Caucasian subjects from a black perspective? culture as to the rights and free- We should spend some time plan- ■ doms of the black population. The other approach is what the ASG valiantly tried to. do in a last minute, thrown together way. For those who missed out on the “incredible” experience, an Amnesty International tape was shown, cake was brought in, and books on King and other related topics were set up. Don’t get this wrong, the ASG tried to do a good thing, but it is not good enough. What we need to realize is that the problem is not with either closing or opening the school, but with racism itself Maybe the rea son for the lack of understanding on the part of the non-black popu lation. For example, New Hamp shire does not even recognize King’s birthday as a holiday. Not only is this a problem, but the fact that my generation (20s and un der) do not seem to know the first thing about racism, or Malcolm X, or what the black people went through. Though their rights were supposedly guaranteed in the Constitution, the blacks were told, as writer Turner Brown Jr. put it, “Black is when folks sayyou’ve go to earn the rights the Constitution guaranteed you already had.” We, today, have still not es The celebration of Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday yester day at Clackamas was simplyatro- cious. Not only that, but the ma jority of Clackamites seemed di vided on to celebrate the holiday. The rest of Oregon was also di vided on how to approach the holiday. How divided? Four of the sixteen community colleges were closed, while the others remained open for business. Those who remained open, like Lane Com munity College, had elaborate celebrations to commemorate King’s birthday. What we have here is a prob lem. Should Clackamas follow the four communities colleges and close, or “observe” the holiday while continuing classes. It seems to have come down to politics. The consensus (relayed by a cer tain ASG advisor)is that the asso ciations have both had the holi day on the bargaining table, but each side says the other won’t take it. The truth is that the Board of Education could declare a holi day at the college, but the faculty would have to be paid for the day off. Who was it that said that money makes the world go round? Campus Views Do you think the U.S. invasion of Panama was justified? Len Frhetich: I think we had to take control of the situ ation. I think the U.S. has to stand up and be tough every now and then. If the U.S. government says they are going to crackdown on drugs then they should go to the top and that’s what they did. Jim Edgington: I suppose if anyone could justify this sort of action Noriega could. But I strongly feel that “armed force in the name of free dom” is a contradiction in terms. Rick Salve: Yes, I do think the U.S. was justified inter vening in Panama. The U.S. knew Noriega was a drug trafficker and provided a haven for drug smugglers. The U.S. has the right to inter vene to get a criminal no matter what country he or she is in. Missing Links by Paul Henry Clackamas $rtnt The Clackamas Print aims to be a fair and impartial newspaper covering the college community. Opinions ex pressed in The Clackamas Print do not necessarily reflect those of the col lege administration, faculty or Associ ated Student Government Articles and information printed in this newspaper can be re-printed only with written permission from the Clackamas Com munity College Student Publications Office. The Clackamas Print is a weekly publication distributed every Wednesday except for finals week. Clackamas Community College, 19600 S. Molalla Avenue, Oregon City, Oregon 97045. Office: Trailer B. Tele phone: 657-6958, ext. 309 (office), 577 (production) and 578 (advertising). inches »1 7| ' 1 ' ' 39 12 13.24 15.07 65.43 18.11 18.72 49.87 -4.34 -22.29 1 ' 1 44.26 -13.80 22.85 ' «I ' ' ' 5 55.56 9.82 -24.49 D50 Illuminant, 2 degree observer 1 ' 1 6 70.82 -33.43 -0.35 ' 5| ' 1 • 7 63.51 34.26 59.60 I ■ I 8 39.92 11.81 -46.07 Density ' 4| ' 3] ' 1 9 52.24 48.55 18.51 10 97.06 -0.40 1.13 > ■ 11(A) 92.02 -0.60 0.23 Editor-In-Chief: Jim Titus Managing/News Editor: Brians C. Dotson Copyeditor: Roseann Wentworth Feature Editor: Angela Wilson Photo Editor: Jillian Porter Sports Editors: Mark A. Borrelli Staci Beard Reporters: Dana Atwood Aaron Brown Me-Ussa Cartales Amber Cordry Cameron C. Dickey Ron Jagodnik Dawn Kuehl Margy Lynch Julie Merriot Helenmarie Nelsen Jennifer Soper Photographers: Scott Johnson Dawn Kuehl Lane Scheideman Tim Zivney Business Manager: Gregg Mayes Advisor: Linda Vogt ’I 3| 12 87.34 -0.75 0.21 13 82.14 -1.06 0.43 14 72.06 -1.19 0.28 1b 62.15 -1.07 0.19
