Wednesday,
June 3, 1998
Media-hype at Thurston
adds to children's grief
To the Editor:
Technology and online courses
were the topics last week of a
sometimes-heated panel discus
sion in the Gregory Forum. Ap
proximately 50 students, faculty
members and administrators came
to hear remarks from panel mem
bers Shannon Stiles, David
Smith-English, Eric Lewis and
me, and to contribute their own
comments. I was asked to be a
part of the panel because I have
collaborated to create an online
journalism course which will be
offered here at Clackamas in the
fall.
On a college campus, it is es
sential that we create these oppor
tunities to think, share ideas and
ponder important questions. Of
course no one goes to college to
be “taught” by a computer, but
then online courses are not taught
by computers; they are taught by
instructors who use the computer
as a tool.
Online courses are new, they
are exciting, and they are popping
up everywhere. As an educator,
I feel I have a responsibility to
learn about this new technology so
that I can help my students make
informed decisions about whether
or not online courses are a good
way for them to learn. I feel we
all have that responsibility and we
can not do that if we instill fear and
ignorance about this important is
sue.
An effective instructor, whether
teaching in the classroom or
online, encourages students to
think for themselves. This should
be our charge, as faculty members,
in relation to this technology revo
lution that is before us. It should
be our goal to educate and inform.
To do that, we need to be educated
and informed ourselves.
This technology isn’t for every
one. But as educators, we need to
try to understand it. It’s a part of
our culture, it’s becoming a bigger
part of higher education, and stu
dents today need to know how it
works. Don’t deny that option to
your students; they deserve the op
portunity to decide - and think - for
themselves.
- Linda Vogt, Journalism Instructor
To the Editor:
I just wanted to voice my opinion on your recent articles... I think
they rock\ I don’t care what some people say. The flak you’ve been
receiving over some articles seems absurd to me. Nothing I’ve ever
read in your newspaper has offended me. In fact I have to write a
paper about a current event that I think is important, and I’m writing
it on this controversy. I should probably get back to that!
- Scott Baker, student
T
To the Editor:
I am writing to applaud you to
day because you succeeded in get
ting a flurry of responses both
positive and negative from our
campus community regarding re
cent issues of the Print. Whenever
you compel people to examine
their values and ways of thinking
you are merely helping them to
discover who they are and why
they believe what they do.
As the former editor, I have
firsthand experience in the incred
ible amount of time, work and cre
ative effort which goes into each
issue. There is no such thing as
perfection, and I’m astounded by
the number of people who require
it of others but not of themselves.
Few people realize that the Print
is a springboard for imagination of
the students who not only must
carry full-time credits, but also find
the time to interview, write stories,
implement, design and publish a
weekly newspaper—all under an
immovable deadline.
Although every edition may not
be perfect, there is no reason for
you to apologize. Only a handful of
students receive an A on every as
signment they hand in. My native
elders taught me that there is honor
in doing the best you can every day
and some days your best is better
than others.
- Laney Fouse, former editor of the
Clackamas Print
-----------
jiJTree ATJVI at Community C<
The unfortunate in
cident: at Thurston High
School in Springfield May
21st has brought Oregon
into a state of shock. Dis
gusted Oregonians are
searching for an explanation
to why such a horrible event
occurred. Oregonians have
It is un
picked up their local news
fortunate papers to search for answers.
What most have
that the
found however, were rows
school ’*/. of black and white ink filled
with more emotion than rea
allowed
son. Words like fear, hope,
wolves to and safety permeated the
feast
print until readers them
selves were full of sorrow
among
and grief.
their
On Oregon Live, an
online version of The Or
sheep.
egonian, authors Kate Tay
lor and Dana Tims wrote a
Jacob Bosnisch
May 27th article titled “Fear
ASG President
Lingers as Thurston Re
opens.” The story is a col
lage of quotes from children,
the school, and the community. The authors play
at the strings of emotion to attract the reader
into knowing less about the event and more
about what personal tragedies witnesses faced
in the event’s aftermath.
Kate Taylor and Dana Tims’ article is an ex
ample of the media’s focus on visually dramatic
events. What can be more visually dramatic than
a Kip Kinkel spraying a crowded cafeteria with
his .22 caliber semiautomatic rifle? What could
be more visually dramatic than high school stu
dents emotionally disturbed about the tragic
shooting, and the onslaught of pressure news
crews have put on their quiet community?
The authors dramatize the events by putting
in quotes that have the reader cringing. One
such quote was one given by a student who was
in the cafeteria during the event. “Every time I
close my eyes, I’m back in the
cafeteria.. ..There’s shooting and noise and panic
everywhere.”
The authors also write with a style that seems
to distort or exaggerate the actual event. Their
Dear Grizzo,
I’ve been read
ing your column
GRIZZO for a long time,
and I love it I’ve
never felt the need to write in be
fore, but I found this great poem
tucked in my shorts the other day
and I just had to mail it to you so your other read-
ers could enjoy it: <poem omitted>
-Big Fan
DEAR
$ %
article describes Thurston High as a pool of tears
and horror. The authors talk of students feeling
: unsafe and they generalize the emotional reac
tions students are having over reentering the caf
eteria were the carnage took place.
The media’s exaggeration of the events have
also led to a rash of discussions over gun control
and other new laws that do more to hinder hon
est citizens than stop future crimes. It is the opin
ion of this author that any gun laws coming out
of this event are due to the media’s relentless
blitzkrieg of blaming guns as the ultimate rea
son for Thurston’s fate. One such example is a
paragraph that almost sarcastically pokes fun at
Thurston’s policy of remaining a high school, not
a prison. The authors write:
Despite the remarkable easy access Kinkel had
before toting three guns into the crowded caf
eteria and randomly spraying 51 bullets at the
stunned and uncomprehending students, there
are no plans to increase security measures.
Why couldn’t the authors just mention that
there were no plans to increase security? This
paragraph is an example of what is supposed to
be a non-biased story, twisting words to make a
political and social point.
I feel that it is unfortunate that the school al
lowed wolves to feast among their sheep. The
media’s bloodthirsty hunger to extract meaning
less, emotional distress out of unexpected young
kids and parents brings more pressure, stress and
harm to a community than good.
The students of Thurston, unfamiliar with the
tactics of the media, fell prey to an onslaught of
soundbites and stereotypes which have forever
changed the way outsiders will regard Spring-
. field. Readers have also been subjected to a fas
cination with people crying, mourning and try
ing to find a hold on life. The-media’s reporting
of the event often perpetuates individual grief.
Every reporter is a reminder of how horrible the
community feels.
I feel it would have been wiser if the school
and community would have limited the media’s
access to the children of Thurston High. I am
sick of hearing about their pain and grief.
It is my belief that the longer the media hangs
onto this story, the more the citizens of Spring
field will cry and grieve. The media needs to
leave Thurston alone.
- Jacob Boenisch, ASG president
Hey. We don’t do that crap here. This is the
Clackamas Print.
Dear Grizzo,
You have one book overdue at this time. Please
return this book to the CCC library as soon as
possible as other students may be waiting to
use it.
Oí
-CCC library
Oh, shut up.
Is &rGÏF
WlwlowWl HtfGS rHI
19600 S. Molalla Ave. Oregon City, OR 97045
(503) 657-6958 ext. 2309
cccprint@clackamas.cc.or.us
Co-Editors-in-Chief:
Christina Mueller
(ext. 2576)
Brad Zimmerman
Joel P. Shempert
John Thorbum
Kristina Brooks
Feature Editor:
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CIa.cka.miis; Federal Credit Union
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Staff Writers and Prbduction: Laura Armstrong, Adam Crum, Toni McMichael and Robert Schoenberg.
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Wednesday, June 3, 1998