Image provided by: Clackamas Community College; Oregon City, OR
About The Clackamas print. (Oregon City, Oregon) 1989-2019 | View Entire Issue (May 16, 1990)
THE CLACKAMAS PRINT — •Comments From The Top by Roseann M. Wentworth During Disabled Awareness Day last Friday afternoon, I was given the assign ment to put myself into a wheelchair and travel around the campus to experi ence first hand, or as close as I could come, the worst spots for wheelchairs at Clackamas Community College. I must admit that at first I felt it may be in bad taste to put myself in a wheel chair and pretend, assignment or not. But I then met Linda Trexler, a general studies student at Clackamas for over two years, who has always got around on campus with a wheelchair. Linda, a very kind lady, talked to me about moving around campus in a wheel chair. Although her overall comments were positive toward the set up of the college on a disabled scale, Linda did mention that it was apparent that CCC [handicapped-wise] was designed by someone who was not handicapped them selves. In the midst of telling me some of the things that could use improvement around campus, Linda decided to show me instead. My arms already sore from the short jaunt to the community cen ter, Linda didn’t seem to mind waiting up for me a little as I pumped my arms around those wheels slower than the average. Our first excursion was to Barlow Hall, where the wheelchair ramp sud denly appeared to be at a very scary 45- degree angle. I borrowed Linda’s chair gloves and pointed my nose down. I in stantly was going faster than I wanted and the friction between my hands and the wheels was almost unbearable; I forgot about the friction when I realized that in one second I had to make a 90 degree turn without tipping over or hitting the concrete wall. I made it down success fully, but now we needed to go back up the ramp—talk about anaerobic exer cise. Some other things encountered was Pauling has no automatic doors, and regular doors are heavier than expected when in sitting position; and a favorite campus bathroom, according to Linda, which is in Pauling, ironically doesn’t have automatic doors. Linda reports that being in a chair sometimes means being ignored by other non-handicapped people, also people may speak over your head, or just walk in front of you, because sometimes, Linda says, people feel that, “To admit I’m there is to admit that I have a disability- -and at times people don’t know how to deal with that.” Other obstacles to a chair around campus is that on the McLoughlin ele vator, the buttons are too high, and that most of the automatic doors around campus are just a little too slow. The salad bar is too high for people in chairs, not to mention squeezing between the pastry cart and the sandwich bar in Norm’s. And what seemed to be the most frustrating for the disabled that I talked to was having to go to the bathroom on campus. Although Pauling and Randall reportedly have the best bathrooms (women’s), one needs to have plenty of time to get to them. Most campus bath room stalls are either not long enough, not high enough, or ifyou Anally get into one, you won’t be able to shut the door. Next week: the positive aspects of being in a chair. OPINION May 16,1990 Page 2 If you didn't vote, don *t pop off Did you exercise your democratic right to vote or are you one of the 95.6 percent of the students who sat on their laurels and let the other person decide. The ballots have been cast and counted. The results are in. Only 4.4 percent of the registered full and part time students voted. Even if one just counts the 1,587 full time students registered this term, only 352 votes (22 percent) is not saying much for student involvement. Why don’t more students get involved at CCC? Is it because there isn’t a living on campus population or is it that students just don’t care enough about campus activities to get involved? In a democratic society it is one’s right and privilege to vote and express his or her opinion. Yet, it goes beyond right and privi lege, it is one of the responsibilities of citizenship to vote. If one chooses not to vote is that person irresponsible? If so, what does that say about the majority of CCC students and our society as a whole? The recent ASG elections reflect soci ety in that only a few people stood and got counted. If you are one that did vote you are entitled to an opinion regarding the outcome of the election. Ifyou didn’t vote, go sit back down on your laurels. Does the media have the right to refuse? All ads not endorsed by newspapers The Clackamas Print staff members for the past month have been puzzled by an advertisement from a local pregnancy cen ter, CaringPregnancy, because the inten tions of the ad were not clear. Most staff members disagreed with one word, “accu rate,” which preceded the word “informa tion.” With the abortion issue boiling-over in the media lately, words connected with organizations like CaringPregnancy are more closely scrutinized by journalists, writers and the public. It is the responsibility of the journalist to present facts for the reader to determine the opinion. “Accurate” does not always mean “factual.” At the risk of sounding wishy-washy, The Print, this year, does not take a stand on the abortion issue. The issue has been beaten to death in the papers off campus, and truly, one more paper supporting ei ther side will make little difference. Letters to the Editors and editorials will. But, the controversy in Trailer B is not about which side of the issue the staff members stand. Not one member of the staff has drawn the line to separate the two camps; however, open war has been de- clared on misrepresentation. Fortunately, through some crucial investigating journalistic evidence, The Print has found that Caring Pregnancy Center does give accurate information. Again, this does not mean that this organization is endorsed by this paper. The advertisement is a paid-for-advertisement. The Print, after weeks of debate, has decided to run the Caring Pregnancy Cen ter’s ad in next week’s paper. Even though the organization’s intentions are not crys tal clear, the information in the ad is not inaccurate. Letter to The Editor... Disabled person defends automatic doors An article in the May2 Print deplored the slowing of the automatic doors as an inconvience great enough to cause one to be late to class. Speaking as a disabled person, the five or six seconds it takes the door to open makes no difference in arriving to class on time. As a matter of fact, the reduction in use by those not disabled results in a net gain of some seconds because I no longer have to wait for a line of others before I can go through. Sherry Ramspergcr EDITORIAL POLICY The Clackamas Print aims to be a fair and im partial newspaper covering the college com munity. Opinions expressed in The Clacka mas Print do not necessarily reflect those of the college administration, faculty or Associ ated Student Government-The Clackamas Print invites readers to express their opinions; Letters to the Editor should by legible, should not be libelous, and must be signed. Letters should be dropped off in Trailer B, or The Stu dent Activities office by Monday, for publica tion Wednesday. The Clackamas Print is a weekly publication distributed every-Wednes day except for finals week. Clackamas Com munity College, 19600 S. Molalla Avenue, Oregon City, Oregon 97045. Office: Trailer B. Telephone: 657-6958, ext. 309 (office), 577 (production) and 578 (advertising). Editor-In-Chief: Mark A. Borrelli Managing Editor: Roseann Wentworth Copyeditors: Roseann Wentworth R.W. Jagodnik, Jr News Editors: Margy Lynch Roseann Wentworth Feature Editor: Angela Wilson Photo Editor: Jillian Porter Sports Editor:Staci Beard Business Manager:Gregg Mayes Rhaposody Editor: Me-Ussa Cartales Production Manager: Jennifer Soper Reporters: Amber L. Cordry Dan A. Fulton Richard Marx Jim Spickelmier Photographers: Scott Johnson Eva Worley Lane Scheideman Tim Zivney Staff Artist:Sue Ann Walker Adviser:Linda Vogt The views espressed in The Clackamas Print are those of The Clackamas Print staff, and do not neccesarily reflect those of Clackamas Community College. The Clackamas Print welcomes Letters to the Editor. Such letters must be signed or will not be printed. Letters must not exceed 300 words and should be typwritten or neatly printed. Letters can be turned into The Clackamas Print offices in trailer B north of Randall Hall. The Clackamas Print reserves the right to edit Letters to the Editor for grammar, obscenities and libelous material. Letters to the Editor must be turned in Monday in order to be printed in the following Wednesday’s edition. -------------------- —-——-------------------------------- —...... ?...... :