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The Clackamas Print
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Colleges facing unsure future
Wednesday, November
Brendon Neal
Opinion Editor
Imagine going to almost any
college site in Oregon and it be
ing a satellite of Oregon State
University or the University of
Oregon. This is one of the pos
sible changes that a governor’s
work group and the Board of
Higher Education’s Chancelor
proposed.
During the first week of Oc
tober, Joe Cox the chancelor of the
state Board of Higher Education,
announced he was soliciting ideas
for changes in Oregon’s higher
education. The Oregonian noted
that they could be the most fun
damental changes in the system
since the 1930s.
The state system that cur
rently stands originated between
.1929 and 1932 and was necessi
tated by the Great Depression.
Cox and others feel that it is out
dated and needs to be changed
to come into sync with Oregon’s
economy.
Some of the possibilities im
elude a two university model,
single education board, public
corporations, a Washington
County campus, or revamp pub
lic funding.
In a system where Oregon
State University and University
of Oregon will be the only ma
jor schools, with other current
colleges becoming satellites we
face the dangers inherent in any
monopolies. Class prices would
rise and curriculum would be in
danger. While colleges can afford
to lean towards certain programs
or beliefs in the current system,
in a dual college format we would
have only two choices. If you
don’t like either college’s way of
doing things you are left with the
choice of going out of state and
paying higher prices elsewhere.
There would be less college
identity. A student going to a col
lege in Portland would be going
to the same college as the one
down in Salem. Some believe that
competition between schools is
heatlhy.
Free standing college corpo
rations are dangerous. While it
is a natural idea in a capitalist so
ciety it would not work. While
prices might stabilize if there
were enough of the colleges/cor-
porations it would bring the prob
lem of over competition and spe
cialization. Colleges would seek
profits over quality in an attempt
to keep from going bankrupt.
If colleges were profitable
states wouldn’t have to put mil
lions of tax dollars into colleges
every year. This might work if
government subsidized and kept
some control over the college cor
porations. Without some regula
tion the colleges would loose sight
of their students’ needs.
I would ask readers to con
would also encourage more inter
action between levels of educa
tion. With a single board each
level would be represented
equally. However, the word com
mittee gives me some misgivings.
Multiple bureaucracies could eas
ily be replaced by one full of com
mittees that never actually got
anywhere but instead talked about
ideas for months on end.
One idea for financial re
vamping would involve convert
ing half of the state funding for
higher education into vouchers
that resident students could use at
any public or private post-second-
ary school. While this would
probably work for in state students
what about out of staters? With
out the vouchers they would al
sider private colleges when read
ing the above possibility. Look at
their prices. Are these the rates
you want to pay?
The idea of a single educa
tion board would combine several
currently existing boards of edu
cation into one. It would cover
all state programs dealing with
education. It would be headed by
an appointed director and a non
partisan board with committees
specializing in K-12, community
colleges and higher education as
well as budgets.
This idea could shrink some
of the bureaucracy that plagues
the current education system. It
most assuredly have to pay even
higher prices than they currently
do. If we wish to prove Oregon’s
higher education we need to en
courage students from other states
to come here.
A more minor change would
be merging the graduate pro
grams at Portland State Univer
sity with programs from the pri
vate Oregon Graduate Institute
into a single technical/research
and teaching institute in Wash
ington County. The only major
problem I can see with this, is that
OGI wouldn’t want to lose the
freedoms often associated with
private colleges. If they were will
ing then this could give high-tech
industries a boost in Oregon. Fees
would probably be lower at the
new college than at OGI but a
little higher than at Portland State
University.
We all have time to consider
these and other possibilities that
are bound to come up in the fu
ture. No new legislation is ex
pected until the 1997 legislative
session. However, hearings will
start soon and the public, espe
cially students and parents,
should pay attention.
Other concerns include the
affect this will have on commu
nity colleges. The words “com
munity college” only come up
once in more than a page of the
Oregonian article from early Oc
tober.
If either combining or incor
porating colleges occurs, this
could have serious affects on the
community college; combining
especially since one of the com
munity colleges’ specialties is di
versity.
With so many community
colleges spread across the state
students can live at home and go
to college or choose from a vari
ety of programs and systems.
Also, incorporating would prob
ably raise prices at all levels.
The reason community col
leges are especially needed is that
they are far cheaper than four year
colleges. Many students can’t af
ford to go to a four year college
or do not need a bachelor’s de
gree.
The information that is cur
rently out is very vague. I would
hope that Cox would submit to the
public more detailed information
in the near future. A possibility
that is not mentioned would be a
vote by the public or at least sev
eral public hearings. If the gov
ernment goes against public opin
ion on this issue, it could be fac
ing major problems. This affects
most Oregonians and will affect
more as getting college degrees
become ever more important in
the future.
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Humans
have a lot
in common
Vicki Welch
Copy Editor
After reading Eric St.
Anthony’s last opinion article
about the teleconference, I was
astounded at the way he
trodded over humanity itself.
First of all, Eric, we DO
have a lot in common. We are
humans. That one word says
a lot about each and every one
of us. After all, there are many
words in the dictionary that are
made from the root word hu
man; humane, humanitarian,
humanity, humankind, just to
name a few.
Humans belong to the
homo-sapien family. We are
flesh, blood and bone, with a
little hair here and there.
Humans have similar ex
periences in their lives. We all
come from the same begin
nings. We are bom to parents
who are supposed to love us
and teach us. We live with
them until we are mature
enough to live on our own. We
learn and learn, work and have
kids, fall in love, but not nec
essarily in that order.
And then we die.
And when we pass on our
friends and family mourn our
deaths. They bring over cas
seroles and cakes to our fam
ily. They reminisce about our
lives. They remember.
Each of us has an effect
on the next person and they on
us. We may not even be aware
of that person, but that person
changes us. For the better or
for the worse, it matters not.
We make mistakes, we
learn, we go on. That’s what
you expect of humans. We try
hard, we fail or maybe we suc
ceed. Who knows?
And what matters most?
We are human beings, we have
rights and lives. We belong to
the most advanced civilization
on this small planet, as far as
we know. We are humans.
The Clackamas Print Staff
Alternative lifestyle hits home
Editor-in-Chief: Chad Patteson (Ext. 2576)
Managing Editor: Amy K. Hanson (Ext. 2576)
Feature Editor: Jon Roberts (Ext. 2578)
Sports Editor: Jesse Sowa (Ext. 2578)
Photography Editor: Josh Kehler (Ext. 2578)
Copy Editor: Vicki Welch (Ext. 2578)
Opinion Editor: Brendon Neal (Ext. 2576)
Business Manager: Cori Kargel (Ext. 2578)
Student learns to. deal with his mom’s sexuality
♦ ♦♦♦
Staff Writers/Photographers:
Eric Eatherton, Dan Anderson, Megan Friedow,
Lora Wahrgren, Linda Barr Batdorf, Andrew Beck,
Pamela Sirianni, Nikki Fuller, Ryan Humphris,
Dylan T. Hutter, Paul Ulmen, Lisa Marie
Secretary: JoAnne Gale (Ext. 2309)
Advisor : Linda Vogt (Ext. 2310)
The Clackamas Print aims to report the news in an honest, unbiased,
professional manner. The opinions expressed in The Clackamas Print do not
necessarily reflect those of the student body, college administration, its faculty or
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umn inch.
All signed letters to the editor will be considered for publication and must
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Clackamas Community College, 19600 S. Molalla Avenue, Oregon City,
Oregon, 97045; Barlow 104; (503) 657-6958, ext. 2309.
E-mail: cccprint@clackamas.cc.or.us
Ryan Humphris
Staff Writer
I was eleven years old when
my parents were divorced. Di
vorce is hard on a kids because
they don’t know why it’s happen
ing, or what they did to make their
parents hate each other enough to
separate.
In my case, it wasn’t what I
did- or what my brothers and sis
ters did- but it was the fact that
my mother had decided that she
was not heterosexual, she did not
like men anymore and she was
homosexual. This was a shock
ing fact to be heard by an eleven
year old, not even knowing what
it meant to be homosexual.
My mother tried to explain
it to me, but in the mid 80’s no
body in elementary school even
thought about what it would be
like to kiss or have sex with an
other person of the opposite sex.
We as guys hated the girls, and
the girls hated us guys.
I left my mother’s side in dis
gust and hatred, not wishing to
see or speak with her ever again.
I was totally shocked by the fact
that my own mother was leaving
my father for another woman.
Eeeeew!
After about two years had
passed I decided after growing a
little bit older and learning more
about gays and lesbians I called
her to say that I was sorry and that
I loved her. During the next few
months we talked and learned to
understand where each of us were
coming from, growing closer to
gether the more we talked with
each other.
After another year had
passed, she moved back to Utah
and I moved in with her, after fi
nally settling our differences
about our opinions on the subject
of being homosexual. Through
this experience I have learned that
no matter who my mother sleeps
with or who she kisses in public
or whatever lifestyle she has, she
will always be my mom and I will
love her forever.
After learning more about the
homosexual lifestyle as a whole,
being drawn in so close dealing
with my mom, I have realized that
whether a person is gay or straight
makes no difference to me.
People should not be hated or ridi
culed for that fact. Everyone is
human and we all live our own
lives, make our own choices and
suffer the consequences thereof,
good or bad. Every person in this
world is different in their own
way.
We need not judge a person
for being different; rather we
should commend them for stand
ing up for their beliefs.