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The Clackamas Print
Wednesday, January 31,1996
Public libraries
under attack
Attention anyone who believes in the democratic process: your
public libraries are under attack.
In the current proposal from the Oregon Citizens Alliance
(OCA) titled “The Minority Status and Child Protection Act of
1996” it states in section 4:
Though subsection one is established and in effect, books and
literature in public libraries which promote or express approval
of homosexuality shall be kept from minors: access made only
under parental supervision. Such material must meet local com
munity standards established through the existing library review
process.
This section is vague and leaves questions concerning spe
cifically what types of literature “express approval of homosexu
ality.” In what way does a book, poem, play or general informa
tion provided by a library express approval? Would our history
books need to be rewritten so that we wouldn’t read about great
people who gave much to the civilized world? Leonardo da Vinci,
Walt Whitman, Steven Foster, Alexander the Great, Michelangelo,
Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky, Gertrude Stein and Tennessee Williams
were all gay people who gave a lot; their being gay shouldn’t af
fect whether we learn about them or not.
“If you were to take out all of the literature written by homo
sexuals in the Intro to Literature book there would be very little
left,” stated Kate Gray, English Instructor at CCC.
Cyndi Andrews, director of the Learning Resource Center for
CCC, agrees that the literature in the libraries shouldn’t be subject
to censorship.
“The implications of such an amendment severely compro
mise the mission of the college library,” Andrews said.
Library Mission Statement: In keeping with the purpose of
Clackamas Community College, the primary mission of the col
lege library is to provide information resources and services to
support instructional programs. The library also provides for the
general information needs of students, staff, and community pa
trons, maintains a well-balanced collection of print, non-print,
and electronic resources, and assists patrons in the effective utili
zation of these resources.
Judith Krug, director of the office for Intellectual Freedom at
American Library Association (ALA) interviewed in Church and
State, Nov. 1995, said “This all comes down to political control.
They (OCA) think if they control the ideas and information avail
able, if they teach the future generation not how to think but what
to think, they will create a new society that only a few people feel
comfortable in. This is not about who is going to run this country
in the year 2000 and beyond, but what this country is going to be,
who’s going to be acceptable and who is not.”
Because of the threat to our freedom to learn, the members of
the Clackamas Print feel that the passage of such an amendment
would do harm to existing public libraries and institutions receiv
ing public funds for literature and educating purposes; therefore,
we do not endorse the amendment in any way.
We support the following statement from the ALA: “The
people should have the freedom to read and consider a broader
range of ideas than those that may be held by any single librarian
or publisher or government or church. It is wrong what one man
can read should be confined to what another thinks proper.”
First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of reli
gion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the
freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peace
able to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of
grievances.
Constitution of Oregon: Bill of Rights, Article I
Section 8. Freedom of speech and press.
No law shall be passed restraining the free expression of opinion,
or restricting the right to speak, write, or print freely on any sub
ject whatever; but every person shall be responsible for the abuse
of this right.
The Clackamas Print Staff
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 Karget (Ext. 2578)
Assistant Opinion Editor: Ryan Humphris (Ext. 2309)
Assistant Feature Editor: Brad Zimmerman (Ext. 2309)
Assistant Photo Editor: Lora Wahrgren
News Editor: Pamela Sirianni (Ext. 2309)
♦ ♦♦♦
Staff Writers/Photographers:
Eric Eatherton, Megan Friedow,
Paul Ulmen, Andrew Beck, Laney Fouse, Damon Fouts,
Joel Gunderson, Tarah Nimz,
Karin Redston, Joel Shempert
Secretary: Joanne Gale (Ext. 2309)
Advisor : Linda Vogt (Ext. 2310)
The Clackamas Print aims to report the news in an honest, unbi
ased, professional manner. The opinions expressed in The Clackamas
Print do not necessarily reflect those of the student body, college adminis
tration, its faculty or The Clackamas Print's advertisers. Products and
services advertised in The Clackamas Print are.not necessarily endorsed
by anyone associated with The Clackamas Print. The Clackamas Print
is a weekly publication distributed every Wednesday except for finals week.
The advertising rate is $4.50 per column inch.
All signed letters to the editor will be considered for publication and
must be submitted by 1 p.m. the Friday prior to the next issue.
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
OCA’s Minority Status and Child
Protection Act 1996
The Oregon Citizens Alliance is on the road with their third attempt to legitamize discrimination
against lesbians and gay men. Here’s the language:
Ballot Title: Amends constitution: Restricts local, state, government powers concerning ho
mosexuality.
Question: Shall constitution forbid basing civil rights on homosexuality, other sexual behaviors,
desires; bar spending public funds in a way approving homosexuality?
Amendment to the Oregon Constitution:
1. Minority status shall not be based on sexual behavior or desires; therefore (a) Children, students
and employees shall not be advised, instructed, or taught by any government agency, department of
political subdivision that a person’s sexual behavior or desire is the legal or social equivalent to existing
minority civil rights classifications, (b) The People find that to be morally opposed to certain sexual
behaviors such as homosexuality, when based upon a person’s convictions, is a Right is Conscience in
accord with Article I Section 2 and 3 of this Constitution. Such objection produced by one’s moral
standards and values is therefore not discrimination relating to civil rights, nor shall it be considered to
by any unit of state or local government; therefore: (1) Public funds shall not be expended in a manner
that has the purpose or effect of expressing approval of homosexuality. (2) Marital status shall not be
recognized or spousal benefits awarded on the basis of homosexuality.
2. Though subsection one is established and in effect, no licenses, permits, services or benefits shall
be denied any person otherwise due under existing statute; nor shall the holding or exercise of any rights
guaranteed by the Constitution of the State of Oregon or of the United States of America, be deprived,
nullified or diminished.
3. Though subsection one is established and in effect, with regard to public employees, it shall be
generally considered that a person’s private, lawful sexual behavior is a nonjob related factor, provided
such consideration does not violate any provision of this Act or the Constitution of the United States.
4. Though subsection one is established and in effect, books or literature in public libraries which
promote or express approval of homosexuality shall be kept from minors: access made available only
under parental supervision. Such material must meet local community standards established through the
existing library review process.
5. The term minority status shall refer to any class or category of individuals created in the law as
a special civil rights classification such as race, religion, gender, national origin, etc.
6. The people intend that if any part of this enactment be found unconstitutional, the remaining
parts shall survive in full force and effect. This Act shall be in all parts self-executing. For the purposes
of this Act, every Oregon resident and non-profit entity doing business in the State of Oregon has
standing.________________________________________________________ ________ --- _________,
Creativity, academics
can go hand in hand
Joel P. Shempert
Staff Writer
As a result, there are many
amateur writers who produce in
teresting work but possess almost
no knowledge of spelling, punc
tuation, or sentence structure.
The truth is, however, that
quality artistic creation and aca
demic excellence go hand in
hand. Before you learn the art,
you must first learn the craft. The
reasoning behind this is simple.
Basically, you must learn the rules
before you are allowed to break
them.
I have been attending
Clackamas Community College
for about a year and a half now,
and I must say that the experi
ence has been enlightening and
enjoyable.
However, I have observed a
general condition which seems
to have crept into various cor
ners of the college—some people
just don’t want to learn.
The cross-section of stu
dents to which I refer, though I
would make no attempt to pi
geonhole them, in general seem
to take an attitude that the for
malities of their college educa
tion don’t matter; that they can.
“get by” with a substandard
level of work and a loose inter
pretation of the conventions of
their particular field.
I believe this to be a seri
ous problem.
I would propose that stu
dents should push themselves to
greater academic achievement, ___________________
and realize that, whatever their
long-range goals, this is the time
A rule broken in ignorance
of their lives where the founda speaks
nothing
of
the
tion is laid for their futures.
practitioner’s artistic ability,
Reality is that one must ad while a rule broken deliberately
here to certain standards in or and with expert perception speaks
der to succeed in various fields volumes.
in our society.
If you want to create beauti
I’m sure that some will ob ful art, than you should strive to
ject to my contentions. A com learn as much as you can about
ment I hear frequently goes that artform, so that your art will
something like this: “I think be more beautiful.
that those who make great art
There may be talented ama
don’t worry about proper form. teurs who, for instance, paint
They just put down whatever beautiful figure pieces, but there
comes to mind, and the rules is no question that their paintings
and regulations don’t matter.”
would improve if they studied
This is used most often re anatomy.
garding writing. Anyone can
A second objection would
write, which means that literally likely be similar to this: “But I’m
anyone can take a crack at cre just not as talented as those high-
ative writing if they really want achieving people!” This is, of
to, and while some of those who course, a valid concern. No one
do have a good grasp of gram would expect a student to be the
mar, others who try it do not.
next Einstein simply because they
a
/ think that
those who
make great
art don’t
worry about
proper form.
were enrolled in a Physics
course.
Some courses at CCC, such
as Leland John’s art courses and
Bill Braire’s Comparative Reli
gion, take this into account,
^grading students based on their
individual abilities. However,
most classes by their, nature are
very concrete and inflexible in
their knowledge base.
If you don’t know the
chemical formula for Hydrogen
Peroxide, then you don’t know
the formula for Hydrogen Per
oxide. You may be a wonderful
person, but I wouldn’t necessar
ily want you to do medical re
search for my hospital! The
point is not that students should
be better than everyone else, but
that they be the best that they,
personally, can be.
I would like to make re
garding our academic achieve
ment as it relates to our future
careers. Quite frankly, like it or
not, everything in the
workforce, no matter the field,
is based on economics.
One thing. I hear over and
over as a music theory student
is that commercial success as a
musician depends on versatility-
-being able to say, “Sure, I can
do that” as opposed to, “Oh, I
don’t know that scale.” Simply
put, how well you succeed de
pends on how much you learn
about your particular field.
All these points come to
gether in one fact—academic
achievement is the cornerstone
of artistic creation. All fields
of study, and the arts are no ex
ception, contain great depth and
complexity, and even the most
dedicated of students rarely even
scratchs the surface.
It is an admirable thing to
retain artistic expression as your
primary goal, but only if you are
willing to learn the conventions
that make that expression real.