OPINION
April 25,1990
THE CLACKAMAS PRINT
Page
Immediate personal action necessary to save Earth
For most of us who started grade school
in the early 1970s, environmental aware­
ness started with that polite, catchy phrase
“Give a hoot, don’t pollute.” It’s easy to
obey a six-foot owl when you’re 10. Wood-
sey the Owl was a god-like creature in 1974-
-right up there with Smokey the Bear and
the Kite Man. Now all three of them are
either covered in garbage, retired, or see­
ing radiation specialists in the south of
France.
Twenty years later, it’s obvious that
asking people politely is just not enough.
We’re too busy: “Gotta go, gotta go-I don’t
know where it is I’m going, but I know I’ve
got to be somewhere.” It’s the attitude of
the times-I’m no different. However, it’s
come to the point where things are getting
frighteningly serious environmentally.
It’s going to take more than just the
radical environmental groups to save the
earth like most have been waiting for. Saving
the whales is not going to save thé earth.
Sunday was the 20th anniversary of
Earth Day. Since then, the Environmental
Protection Agency was created as well as
many other agencies that have put a big
dent in informing and changing the people
about environmental faux pas and blowing
the whistle on corporateAmericaand their
astronomical dumping habits.
Today, the leading cause of death of
children under ten years of age is cancer-
this is serious folks. “Give a hoot, don’t
pollute” just doesn’t cut it anymore, and I
think most of us, especially college stu­
dents, are aware of what we as humans are
doing to our Earth.
Humans see themselves apart from
nature, above it, rather than a part of Earth’s
nature. We’re part of the great cycle of
things. Life supports life, and ifwe kill what
supports us, it will in turn kill us. And ifwe
keep going the way we have for the past 200
ye?rs, maybe we deserve to become extinct.
For those who spent Earth Day anx­
iously waiting in their easy chair to get
inspired into a green lifestyle were most
likely disappointed. Those who sought out
a personal crusade to save the environment
probably got more than they bargained for.
They more than likely gotvery angry at just
how extensive the damage is.
Listen, the ozone has a whole the size
of the United States in it now. Let’s hope
we all look good in hats-they’re going to be
in style for a couple hundred years or so. .
We’re living in a society where by making
their plastic drinking straws 20% lighter, a
single fast-food chain, McDonald’s, “elimi­
nates one million pounds of waste” every
year-from their straws! That’s supposed to
make us feel better? Just think if they didn’t
even use straws-or put those little individ­
ual wrappers on them. Are you getting this
yet?
This should make you want to vomit:
the tropical rain forests of South America
are being slashed at a rate of more than
1500 acres a minute. Half of all the world’s
animal species lives there, not to mention
medicinal herbs that are used to heal daily.
If this doesn’t make you almost physi­
cally ill, you’re probably still tossing
McDonald’s bags out the car window.
It has to start with the idea that we should
take care of Earth. You have to demand
changes in yourself first. Maybe this is simple
enough for you: WE MUST CHANGE
THINGS! DO IT!
The stupidest thing is is that we know
the solutions to these problems; we know
what it is we have to do to stop raping the
land, yet we’re healing much, much slower
than we’re ripping the wounds. We’re
running out of time. It’s like if scientists
knew the cure for cancer, but never got
around to treating cancer patients with it
because they were too busy golfing.
Recycling is the easiest way to help the
environment. Hey, you’ve been doing it
most of your lives with the Oregon bottle
bill. What’s one more bin for plastics, tins,
and other glass products? If you don’t be­
come a conservationist per se by your own
will right now, you’ll be forced to very soon.
Do we really need microwave popcorn
(which is totally over packaged), or poly­
styrene to enjoy our earth? One plastic,
disposable diaper last 500 years; 2,000 years
ago humans were merely desert nomads-
2,000 years from now, at this pace, we may
not even be here to find out if the damned
things really do take 500 years to degrade.
If you don’t recycle for yourself, do it for
your kids..,especially if they aren’t born yet.
It’s obvious that saving the planet is
going to take dedication, hard work, money.,
and yes, commitment. However, it’s easier
than ever to get involved, to learn how you
as just one person can make a huge differ­
ence in your environment.
Unless you want to have phrases such
as “the occasional mutation” to be com­
monplace in your community, do some­
thing about it.
Campus Views .
Do you feel the services of the counselors
at CCC are adequate?
I feel that if the students need them
the services are there If they choose
to take advantage of them, and it is
up to the student to seek that aid.
Scott Cambron
Not realy, Ive never had anyone
help me. When I came here, I
did everything myself.
Stephanie Brooks
Yes, they have, whenever I've
needed anything.
I feel that the help the counselors
provide is extremely adequate.
However, I feel that there are not
enough counselors to suit all the
needs of every student who visits
them when they may need it the most.
Troy Kerr
Deni Gardiner
No!! No one is ever in there when
I go in. I've been in there six times
and theres only one counselor.
Unequivocally yes. They were a
great value when I needed help
with dealing with students - both
academic and emotional
problems. (As in the sense of
counseling)
Gladys Micheál
Willy Nelson
Photos by Jillian Porter
inches
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97.06
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1.13
D50 Illuminant, 2 degree observer
Density
11(A)
92.02
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0.23
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87.34
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82.14
-1.06
0.43
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72.06
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62.15
-1.07
0.19
Goldenlhread