Image provided by: Clackamas Community College; Oregon City, OR
About The Clackamas print. (Oregon City, Oregon) 1989-2019 | View Entire Issue (April 17, 1996)
Opinion Disregard of laws endangers lives The Clackamas Print Wednesday, April 17,1996 »¿z Karin Redston Assistant Opinion Editor My two pet peeves for this week are the unsafe driving habits of many drivers on the CCC campus and the pedestrians who fail to follow safety precautions on the roads. Failure to yield the right-of- way by drivers causes numerous accidents. These drivers must think they are indestructible. They might even believe they’re invis ible. Several fender benders occur from drivers pulling out of park ing lots without stopping or look ing. The parking lot and entrances around the Community Center are particularly dangerous. This campus is not the India napolis 500 Speedway. It’s a cam- pus where there are people walk ing, running and biking on a daily basis. Too many drivers love to zoom around at the speed of light while attempting to save a few sec onds. The posted speed limit is 30 mph on the main strip, 20 mph on the lesser roads and 10 mph in the parking lots. For those of you who don’t know what mph is, it means miles per hour, not mil lions of miles per hour. Pedestrians who walk down the middle of the roads on cam pus are very much at risk, espe cially ones pushing strollers with babies in them. Those people re ally bug me. Not only are they put ting themselves at risk but they are risking the baby’s life as well. There are also pedestrians who do not look when crossing the road nor do they use the crosswalk. Some run into the road with their headsets on. Are they hoping no one hits them? There have been some close calls more than a few times. The road by the jogging trail is a perfect example. I have witnessed plenty of people who don’t follow proper safety measures while crossing the road. They must have an in with God or a guardian angel working over time. Don’t sleep and drive Maybe unsafe drivers and pe destrians should spend a day writ ing how sorry they are for their crimes on a blackboard 1,000 times. Or, maybe a day in the stocks wearing a sign saying “bad driver” or “bad pedestrian” would be good. Either way, the issuing of tickets seems to be non-existent on campus. A few good speed traps might work. So far, all of my experiences with the campus officers have been very positive. However, it doesn’t seem that citations are being is sued to these transgressors. Cam pus Security needs to cite more of the people who jaywalk and drive unsafely. Just one day a week would probably get the point across. As far as this writer is con cerned, those who tailgate should beware; I stop for cats. Automotive, from Page 2 scorers from each school on the written examination portion of the contest. The finals held at Clacka mas are “hands on,” and the state winners will compete in a national contest against winners from other states. Students will work on identi cal 1996 Ford Contours which have had “bugs” installed in them. The bugs involve the electrical and fuel systems, among other things. Students are judged on speed, ac curacy and workmanship. Most of the bugs require a high degree of skill to find and repair. A variety of prizes, scholar ships and job opportunities will be made available to contest winners. This year’s 10 teams represent the following high schools: Ashland, Mountain View (Bend), Canby, Junction City, St. Helens, Tillamook, Vale, Benson (Portland - two teams), and CTEC Training Center’s High School Program at Clackamas. For more information, call Ray Conklin at ext. 2320. Lack of sleep proves dangerous for student driver Research panic reaches peak VETO, from Page 3 Brad Zimmerman Assistant Feature Editor Normally, no one thinks that a lack of sleep could kill you. However, about two weeks ago, I found~out that it quite possibly could have. I was driving home around 7 p.m. and fell asleep at the wheel. When I awoke from my ill-timed nap, I found that I was in the emergency lane on the wrong side of the road. In my haste to get back on my own side of the road, I turned the wheel too sharply, and ended up doing in a 360 degree skid. An additional 180 degree turn left me in the ditch (on my side of the road). Fortunately neither I nor any one else was hurt. Nonetheless, there was still quite a bit of on coming traffic, and I could have easily been killed — by a lack of sleep. Since my accident, I have changed my schedule so that I get at least seven hours of sleep each night (previously, I had been get ting as little as four or five hours a night). - ; While researching sleep-re lated problems, I found that over 50 percent of all automobile-re- lated deaths are caused by falling asleep at the wheel. With that sta tistic in mind (along with the real ization that I could have been killed by not getting enough sleep) I have decided that losing a few more hours each night to sleep is well worth it. Since that incident, I have done a lot of reflecting. One thing that I always think of is how stu pid I would feel if I died because I fell asleep at the wheel. Really, that is about as bad a grabbing a powerline or driving drunk. By simply getting a few more hours of sleep each night, one can easily avoid a situation similar to mine. Save money, take the bus Jack Evans Staff Writer Almost everyone with a driver’s license remembers the first time their parents gave them the keys to the car. They warned us that owning and driving a car takes a lot of responsibility, so be prepared. Caught up in the notion of free dom, we pretended to be com pletely aware of just how diffi cult owning a car could be. Un fortunately, once we entered the real world, reality set in. Lately I have noticed most of the money I earn goes toward my truck. I only work 20 hours week, which gives me enough time to study and still have some what of a social life. I know my average paycheck still barely covers the cost of the gas I use to get to school and work. How ever, I started wondering exactly how much per month it costs me to drive. I figure, on average, I use about 20 gallons of gas per week. Let’s assume the average cost of gas is about $ 1.24. That means I use close to $100 per month. There goes a quarter of my monthly salary. Then there is that little re quirement we call insurance. Most people I know are fully in sured. That runs around $800 ev ery six months, or about $133 a month. Great. . .now half of my pay check is gone. Finally, there is an important necessity that all cars need: main tenance. With oil changes, air fil ters, etc., I figure I spend around $50 a month on maintenance. Of course, the older the car, the more maintenance it requires. For just these three necessi ties alone, I pay an average of $283 a month, just to drive. Luck ily, I do not owe money on my truck. Still, for those who don’t fully own their vehicles, this could take another good size chunk out of their income. There is, though, a very vi able alternative to driving to school.: It’s called riding the bus. They can be found on almost every comer in the Portland and surrounding area. It only costs $43 for a whole month to go anywhere the bus runs. That would save someone like me about $240. This money could be used to pay for half the tuition of a full time student. So the next time you get into your car to drive to school, ask yourself, is it really worth it to drive? ing the line-item veto one of his “contract with America” objec tives and the Oregonian can’t get enough of it. I mean, what’s the big deal, I ask myself as I scan what seems like the 15th article in a row reporting Newt’s promise to save the American people from the fiscal tyranny of future congres sional tax-and-spenders. By the 25th or 30th article I have this Gringrichesque vision of future republican presidents bran dishing the line-item veto like King Arthur would brandish Excalibur, slicing appropriations from bills that have been fattened by pork-bellied legislators. Give me a break. Gingrich is a putz. And this chair really sucks. Pretty soon I’m in the 50’s. I abandoned reading and scanning long ago in favor of reading head lines. The datelines are into Oc tober and November, Clinton and the Congress can’t agree on a bud get and I know they won’t in 1995. So what does the president do? He whines about not having the line item veto. One article after an other seem to be about how we could keep the government oper ating, while protecting the Ameri can people’s Medicare and Med icaid, getting Ricki Lake off day time television, — and if Congress would just give Clinton the line item veto. Yeah, right, Clinton: a man of the people. Like the fix isn’t in. The fix has been in ever since the D.C. democrats turned right on K Street and corporate lobbyists started filling the pockets of both parties. How about some more Tyson chicken, Mr. President? Some Gallo wine to go with that breast? What a sell-out. I hate America. If someone surgically removed my rear, I wouldn’t feel a thing. You want to punish the Unibomber? Make him sit in this chair. And then I snap. I come across an Otis Pike column from a November issue. “Whatever happened to the line-item veto,” he begins the column. Are you kidding me? What ever happened to the line-item veto? It’s being used to torture opinion writers in Oregon, you schmuck! Need a new office chair, Pike? I’ve got a reeeeal comfortable one for you, ya muckraking fascist! I admit it. I have a problem. My name is Damon and I’m a compulsive over-researcher. I know somewhere there is a pro gram for my... disease. I hope in the future I can write opinions that are as brief and unresearched as the verbal jousting I enjoy so much. But for now, I’m taking things one day at a time. Oh, about that line-item veto? I’m against it. ... God that felt good. Any one have a cushion? United Parcel Service offers a variety of shifts to fit a busy schedule. $8-$9/hour and great benefits are part of our part-time package. Package-handling positions require lifting up to 70 lbs. IF A PART TIME JOB IS THE SOLUTION TO YOUR TUITION EXPENSES, CALL rhe JOBLINE 800-382-0945
