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The Clackamas Print
Wednesday, May 1,1996
Histzxy of Cinao de l&ÿo
Contributed Story
Cinco de Mayo is a date of great
importance for the Hispanic commu
nities. It marks the victory of the
Mexican Army over the French at
the Battle of Puebla. Although the
Mexican army was eventually de
feated, the “Batalla de Puebla” came
to represent a symbol of Mexican
unity and patriotism. With this vic
tory, Mexico demonstrated
to the world that Mexico ■
•
and all of Latin
America were willing
to defend themselves
against any foreign in
tervention especially
those from imperialist
states bent on world
conquest.
Cinco de Mayo’s
history has its roots in the
French Occupation of
Mexico. The French occupation took
shape in the aftermath of the Mexi
can-American War of 1846-48. With
this war, Mexico entered a period of
national crisis during the 1850’s.
Years of not only fighting the Ameri
cans but also a Civil War, had left
Mexico devastated and bankrupt.
On July 17, 1861, President
Benito Juarez issued a moratorium
in which all foreign debt payments
would be suspended for a brief pe
riod of two years, with the promise
that after this period, payments
would resume.
The English, Spanish and
French refused to allow President
Juarez to do this, and instead decided
to invade Mexico and get payments
by whatever means necessary. The
Spanish and English eventually with
drew, but the French refused to leave.
Their intention was to create an errL
pire in Mexico under Napoleon HI,
Some have argued that the true
French occupation was a response
to growing American power and to
the Monroe Doctrine (America for
the Americans). Napoleon III be
lieved that if the United States was
allowed to prosper indiscriminately,
it would eventually become a power
in and of itself.
In 1862, the French
army began its advance.
Under
General
Ignacio Zaragoza,
5,000 ill-equipped
Mestizo and Zapotee
Indians defeated the
French army in what
has come to be
known
as
the
“Batella de Puebla” on
the fifth of May.
In the United States, the
“Batalla de Puebla” came to be known
as simply “5 de Mayo” and unfor
tunately, many people wrongly
equate it with Mexican Indepen
dence which was on September 16,
1810, nearly a fifty year difference.
Over, the years Cinco de Mayo has
become very commercialized and
many people see this holiday as a
time for fun and dance. Oddly
enough, Cinco de Mayo has become
more of Hispanic holiday than a
Mexican one. Cinco de Mayo is cel
ebrated on a much larger scale here in
the United States than it is in Mexico.
People of Mexican descent in the
U.S. celebrate this significant day by
having parades, mariachi music,
folklórico dancing and other types
of festive activities.
Opinion/Feature
V-Chip - tool for parents
EricEtl ierton
Wister
k»
The V-Chip w¿is part of tft
Telecomniunications'Act of 1991,
and in the" minds of Some, it wl
the key point of the act.
Until my colleagues brought
it to my attention, I didn’t even
give it a passing thought - mainly
because I didn’t even know what
the V-Chip was. However, now my
thoughts are on this concept
(please note I said concept, as this
V-Chip isn’t even in existence). Do
I support it, or do I stand in oppo
sition?
Let’s weigh the arguments.
First of all, why do we even have
this idea?
Those who successfully lob
bied for it argue about the exces
sive amount of sex, violence and
profanity on television. This is
especially evident between the
hours of 8 and 11 p.m., which tele
vision honchos call “prime time.”
(However, the profanity is edited
out with the help of bleeps and
mutes.)
These lobbyists believe the
V-Chip will help parents block out
shows containing too much sex,
violence and profanity.
The television networks have
since developed a rating system.
It works the same as the one which
successfully serves the motion
picture industry. It serves mainly
as a preemptive strike against
government’s admonitions of
“regulate yourselves, or we’ll regu
late you.”
A panel of judges will deter
mine suitability of television
shows on the criteria of sex, pro
fanity and violence on a scale of 0
to 5 (5 being the maximum).
Parents, with the help of a
special remote control, can set a
maximum rating fit for their chil
dren to watch. The special remote
control will block out shows with
the higher ratings.
So why should I support or
oppose it? Those who oppose it
will cry “censorship.” This being
the same argument used against
the ratings system in the motion
picture industry and earlier this
decade, the,video game industry.
They assert that if the parents
don’t want their children to watch
those shows, they need to take
responsibility themselves and not
leave it to government, who they
fear will take away their rights to
freely create, express or speak
whatever they want to, if govern
ment isn’t doing that already.
But the censorship card be
ing played notwithstanding, the
major argument is that it’s likely
kids know more about how to work
the remote than their parents.
They can override the parents and
watch whatever they please, at
which point the V-Chip won’t do
one thread of good (except if a
password program is also in
stalled). To say nothing of older
television sets, which are not re
quired to have the V-Chip because
the requirement for installing it
only starts with televisions made
after (I believe) this year.
Those who support it have as
an argument that finally parents
can assert control over what their
children watch on television, after
years of an all-out assault on “fam
ily values.” They have seen our
society get less and less civil over
the years. There has been a pro
liferation of various forms of inde-
See V-CHIP on Page 8
Join the Spanish Club Euthanasia: the final choice
Tanya Hedbor
Contributing Writer
On April 20, some of the students
from the CCC Spanish Club, Entre
Amigos, went to see the Spanish/
English bilingual play: Tierra del
Fuego. with a presentation of
Brazillian dancers.
The dancing was first with an
exciting array of costumes and
dance styles. Tierra del Fuego was
about the island with the same
name, in Chile and its environmen
tal concerns. Participants enjoyed
the play, although there was less
verbage in Spanish than many had
hoped for.
It was a great way to spend a
rainy afternoon. If you would like
to participate in Hispanic Cultural
events, come to the Spanish Club
on Fridays 11 a.m. in B237.
Nos gustaria tener su
participación. Unanse a nosotros.
The Clackamas Print Staff
Editor-in-Chief: Chad Patteson (Ext. 2576)
Managing Editor: Amy K. Hanson (Ext. 2576)
News Editor: Pamela Sirianni (Ext. 2576)
Feature/Assistant Sports Editor: Jon Roberts (Ext. 2578)
Sports Editor: Lora Wahrgren (Ext. 2309)
Photography Editor: Paul Ulmen (Ext. 2578)
Copy Editor: Laney Fouse (Ext. 2309)
Opinion Editor: Brendon Neal (Ext. 2309)
Business Manager: Cori Kargei (Ext. 2578)
Assistant Opinion Editor: Karin Redston (Ext. 2309)
Assistant Feature Editor: Brad Zimmerman (Ext. 2309)
Cartoonist: Brian Ray
♦ ♦♦♦
Staff Writers/Photographers:
Eric Eatherton, Andrew Beck,
Jessica Dvorak, Jack Evans, Brian Ray, Joel Shempert
Secretary: Joanne Gale (Ext. 2309)
Advisor : Linda Vogt (Ext. 2310)
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professional manner. The opinions expressed in The Clackamas Print do
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tised in The Clackamas Print are not necessarily endorsed by anyone asso
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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
Laney Fouse
Copy Editor
In a video cassette titled The
Right to Die (a Reed Community
College presentation), two sepa
rate arguments on euthanasia were
presented.
One argument stemmed from
a legal standpoint and the other
from an ethical one. Both medical
and legal fields were represented.
Their answers varied depending
6n which of the three hypotheti
cal cases were being discussed.
The three cases included: an
18-year-old boy who refused a
blood transfusion because of reli
gious reasons, a woman who re
fused to have a Cesearean section
to deliver her unborn fetus which
only had a 15% chance of survival,
and a 75-year-old man with termi
nal cancer.
In the case of the 18-year-old
boy, doctors claimed his right to
refuse treatment was honored be
cause he was considered a ratio
nal human being.
The woman who refused to
have a C-section was considered
rational because her intentions
were to let the natural process of
dying happen.
The biggest argument
against assisted suicide came
when the 75-year-old man felt that
continuing his life would be futile.
He didn’t want to go through the
suffering he feared cancer caused,
nor put his wife and family
through the experience.
My stand against assisted
suicide stems from a purely ethi
cal point of view. Perhaps the 75-
year-old man feels he has lived out
his life. But, if he is making his
decision based on the fear of pain
and suffering he thinks is ahead,
his rationale cannot be considered
to be logical.
If he refuses the drugs nec
essary to ward off his pain, as well
as further medical care, he is mak
ing a decision to let nature take its
course. This-decision would then
be made in a logical manner. He
knows without medical attention
he will not only suffer, but even
tually die.
Some terminally-ill patients
find that families tend to draw
“We are slowly but
surely destroying
ourselves. With
abortion and eutha
nasia, how soon will
it be before we meet
in the middle?"
~A Native American Elder
closer during their illness.
Oftentimes, closer relationships
develop. Perhaps a better under
standing of life is achieved by be
ing a part of this dying process.
Such was the case in three
very important relationships in my
life.
My grandfather suffered a
heart attack, which was further
complicated by kidney failure. I
was only 19 at the time, but the
event still stands out strongly in
my mind. I recall him being lucid
for brief moments near the end.
My most vivid memory is
when he asked the doctors to let
him die in peace. They tried to
convince our family otherwise, but
we held to our belief: that when
it’s time to die, the family just has
to let it happen. Fortunately, his
doctors were persuaded to let my
grandfather go naturally.
Like the pregnant woman who
refused the C-section, my dad re
fused open heart surgery. The
doctors could not guarantee any
improvement to his heart or way
of life. My dad made a rational
decision to refuse a futile attempt
to alter the course of nature. This
was over seven years ago and he
is still enjoying his retirement.
As humans, we often take life
for granted. If we know someone
doesn’t have long to live, we tend
to make a concerted effort to
spend more time with that person.
More recently, I lost a friend
to terminal cancer. Marge refused
treatment by radiation and was
given only a year to live. She suf
fered greatly near the end, but not
once did she complain. She con
stantly reminded me that “life is
too short, but death is too long.”
She proved to be one of most
influential persons in my life. With
out her encouragement, I wouldn’t
be here today doing what I love
most: writing. She helped me to
believe in myself. Had Marge cho
sen to end her life, like the 75-year-
old man wanted to end his, I would
not have had the privilege of
knowing and learning from her.
Unfortunately, long-term so
lutions to such problems are of
ten lost to society’s passion of the
moment. As a friend told me re
cently, “We are slowly but surely
destroying ourselves. With abor
tion and euthanasia, how soon will
it be before we meet in the middle?”