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.
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