Image provided by: Clackamas Community College; Oregon City, OR
About The Clackamas print. (Oregon City, Oregon) 1989-2019 | View Entire Issue (April 22, 1998)
4 Wednesday, April 22, 1998 LeDoux campaigns for student involvement ROBERT SCHOENBERG Staff Writer the peripheral costs of attending school such as child care costs and the price of texts required in the classroom. These issues need attention and the students need a leader to pur sue these goals. LeDoux intends to be that leader. One of his first moves, he says, is to fill the position he presently holds. “What I am going to do is, I want to empower the legisla tor officer as much as I can. So that they will understand how important the job is. I want someone with high energy, who has got some experience and is dedicated to students. I want someone who is pumped about students,” said LeDoux. “I want the ASG team to be dedicated. I plan to do that by showing them my dedication.” LeDoux, despite the fact that his schedule involves school work along with traveling com mitments on behalf of student government, has missed only one ASG meeting. Another part of his goal is to improve communication between the students and the school they attend. The stu dent activity board he had installed outside the community center this year is hi$ move in that direction. “That is specifically what it is for, to get some communi cation going between the administration and the students,” he said. Another direction he is enthusiastic about is sports. He believes it builds teamwork and leadership abilities and David LeDoux (pronounced Lah-due) is a man on a mis points to himself as an example of sports working for that sion. He wants students involved in what happens at school end. while they are attending, and he wants them involved right He said, “What I would like to see is the intramural pro now. gram become involved with the athletic clubs, like the rac To accomplis}? this end, he wants to be the Associated quetball club and the ski club, and work with them. It is Student Government’s next president, an office currently another link for students to get involved. Its a way that if held by Jake Boenisch. Unfortunately he is running for an you’re not involved directly in the club, a student can take office that requires a student vote, and he is running unop advantage in the club acti vities. And the ASG can offer that posed. link through intramural sports.” This does not sit well with LeDoux’s competitive per LeDoux always comes back to student involvement. sonality. He has played organized soccer since the age of “You should care about the institution that your getting nine, he has been a team captain and he has played on the an education from, how do you know your getting a good varsity squad at Hillsboro High School where his parents education?” he said. “It starts with me as I work with these moved after living in Portland and Alaska. people and develop good-standing relationships. He wants the competition of an election, not to thoroughly “I am not saying ASG is better than you, but so that ASG tromp the opposition, but because an election usually pro can help you, ASG needs your help. I’m not here to say that motes student involvement, because students will get ex ASG is some untouchable organization or that the college cited about the issues, and because an election focuses stu is an untouchable resource that they are some enemy that dents on their school. we have to fight against. I think we are here and the re “I don’t like it,” he said. “It shows me that students sources are here, to work together are less active about knowing what is going on in this as a team. I’ve always been a team college. And that seems to me to be wrong.” player, its just the way I think.” LeDoux cares about being active. He is Campus Is LeDoux’s future plans are to fin sues Officer and regional chair to the American Stu ish his education and possibly be dent Association of Community Colleges. On Mon come a lawyer specializing in law day he returned from a weekend trip to San Diego concerning technology, and he where he met with other students active in government has been accepted at George Fox and he often found that even they are not as active as University where he is planning he likes. to study computer science. “There are colleges out there that think it is a waste LeDoux utilizes every aspect of of time to lobby for funds,” LeDoux said. “If we want his life so that it in some way il the funding, this ASG, which has proven itself in the lustrates his ability to serve. When past, is going to have to hold true to that effort and be not at school, he works in food an effective lobbying group.” service. LeDoux is looking forward to being president next “The philosophy behind student fall, if elected, because this fall state elections are go government is to be there for the ing to get underway. This represents an opportunity to students,” LeDoux said. “That is lobby for education. the idea, the connection between “Next year is a legislative year. I think student leg the students and the facility. I islation is a huge key to our funding. If we’re not out want to make sure the college has there with a voice, we can’t be effective. I fully intend a student focus. I want to uphold to do just that,” he said. that philosophy. At issue is the money needed to fund student pro “The college provides a service grams. Current and past administrations have worked for a customer and the student is to lobby local, state and national legislators to fund that customer. I want them to have CONTRIBUTED PHOTO programs that allow students to attend college when the best customer service pos they cannot afford to, utilizing Pell Grants and Need David LeDoux may not be thrilled to run unopposed, but the ASG Presidential sible.” Grants. Legislators also have worked to fund some of candidate is confident he can achieve much for students at this college. Spring is alive in Pauling's Native Garden SLADE SAPORA Contributing Writer Looking around the Native Garden you will see quite a few plants coming into bloom this Week, but there are a couple that deserve some special atten tion. One in particular is the Indian Rhu barb, Peltiphyllum peltatum. This plant has large clusters of small pink and white flowers that sit atop a slen der green stalk a foot off of the ground. To locate it, just stand on the metal grate near the pond and face north; it will be in the bed on your left, about 12 feet in front of you. Indian Rhubarb is uncommon and grows naturally in only a small portion of Southwest Oregon and Northwest California. There it forms dense stands along the rocky banks of the coastal TIMOTHY BELL / Clackamas Print Penstemon flowers combine simple beauty with medicinal value. Wednesday, April 22, 1998 rivers, covering the rocks with its large umbrella shaped leaves. Each leaf has its own separate stalk that arises from a rather massive above ground root system (bend over and take a closer look). By summer these leaves can grow to as large as two feet across, while only being a foot or two off of the ground! This is how it derived its second name: Umbrella Plant. As of now, the leaves are still young and not quite as dramatic, but keep an eye on them. In the winter when the rivers swell with rain these plants become fully sub merged, and are subject to massive pressure and force from the swiftly moving waters. Now look at the thick and clinging roots and think “hang on!” Native Americans would peel the plant’s stalks and eat the tender green insides raw. One author suggests plac ing the peeled stalks in salad, but since this plant is limited to such a small area on the planet, it’s best we leave it alone. If you don’t know what Penstemons are, then now is the perfect time to learn. We have several different spe cies of Penstemons in the Native Gar den, and you can find them located in the rocky plant bed just below the win dows of the Chemistry Lab. They are a low-growing creeper plant, with small thick green leaves and gently rising clusters of dark purple tubular flowers. The flowers on Penstemons often last well into the summer, and serve as a great source of nectar for bees and other nectar loving critters. Penste mons work well as a skin oil for us hu mans too. Gather the flowers and stalks, grind them up, place them in a jar of oil (olive or almond) and let that sit for three to four weeks. When the oil looks good and dark, strain out the leafy gunk and save the leftover oil. This is used for everything from minor cuts, scrapes, bums, bruises, chapped lips, rashes and insect bites, just rub it on. Penstemons are also widely used in landscaping, and are a favorite of Northwest native gardeners. Combine this with their medicinal qualities, and you have the potential to grow your own medicine, giving the wild Penste mons a break from the impacts of pick ing and harvesting. Find yourself a favorite plant, or plant bed, and watch it grow and unfold; the Native Garden provides us with a great chance to see nature in action. Enjoy.
