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About The Clackamas print. (Oregon City, Oregon) 1989-2019 | View Entire Issue (May 24, 2000)
Letters______________ Opinion 2 WEdNEsdAy, M ay 24, 2000 All signed letters to the editor should be 500 words or less and will be considered for publication if submitted by 1 p.m. the Friday prior to publication. Letters to the Editor are subject to editing. We r.eserve the right to not publish any letter. Shelter the children from the storm the baby, but for the parents as well. I couldn’t understand why the father and mother would A cry echoes through the al feel the only way out was leyway. A dark, damp dumpster to abandon the child who hugs the wall with a secret. It was part of them. I don’t condone their ac holds an infant, a child who has tions, nor do I condemn been abandoned. Every day children are left them. I don’t know these alone and helpless. They have people, nor do I know the been thrown into a situation in circumstances behind their which they have no control. Par actions. I don’t even pre ents are careless in their concern tend to understand their ac for their children. In recent aban tions. However, I do donment cases, the parents have know we need an an been no more than children them swer to the on slaught of chil selves. Babies are found in bathrooms, dren who die dumpsters and on railroad abandoned. Finally, £ tracks. They have been left alone because their parents are my prayers M too young and naive to fully un were an- y derstand their actions, actions swered. Recently that alter their lives, and ulti I heard that mately destroy that of a child. Recently, I was watching the answers to these problems are news. It was reported that a 15 coming. I heard that a person year-old girl had left her baby on could give up a child at a speci railroad tracks. The baby was fied location, with the strictest confidentiality and anonymity. only a few weeks old. I went through several emo The news report said that upon tions. First, I experienced dis a child’s birth a parent has 30 gust; then revulsion, sadness, days to give it up for adoption anger; and finally, heartache. without legal recriminations. I think that is a good idea. In These feelings were not only for SALENA DE LA CRUZ Opinion Editor Editor-in-Chief: John Thorbum (x2447) Managing Editor: Megan Oldenstadt Design Editor: Timothy A. Bell A & E Editor: Angie Daschel Copy Editor: Sandy Lupo Associate News Editor: Diana Scrivner Sports Editor: Mandy Good Opinion Editor: Salena De La Cruz Business Manager: Karl Katzke (x2578) Cartoonist: Joel Gunderson Chris Lundgren Staff: Mike Pollock Tam Oliver Steve Nielsen Erin Bernard Toni McMichael Jason Lingel Maggie Jirasek Matt Shempert Secretary: JoAnne Gale Advisor: Linda Vogt (x2310) Goals: The Clackamas Print aims to report the news in ah honest, unbiased, pro fessional manner. The opinions expressed in The Clackamas Print do not necessarily reflect those of the student body, college administration, its faculty, or The Clackamas Print 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 and is distributed every Wednesday except during Finals week. The Clackamas Print Copy right 2000. Advertising: The advertising rate is $4.75 per column inch. 19 6 0 0 S. M o I a 11 a A ve . O r eq on Ciiy, O reqon 97045. (505) 657-6958 ext 2509 CCC p Ri N T@ CI AC k AM AS . CC . O R . U S the long run this will benefit the children who suffer from ne glect, or abandonment, be cause their parents didn’t want them or couldn’t deal with be ing parents. Hopefully, more children will face love and comfort instead of heartache and pain. I encourage you, as citizens, as parents, to help end the heartache. Per suade the government to take action and give children a safe place to be left in caring hands. End the abandonment of chil dren to the elements and the streets, where they may be hurt or killed. Questions or comments: ccc print@clackamas.cc.or.us 'Academic freedom thrown around, but not discussed at the colloquium' Although the word was thrown around a lot, academic freedom was not discussed at the colloquium on academic freedom earlier this month. Contrary to what some faculty and counselors would have you think, academic freedom and students’ rights are not contentious to one another. Academic freedom is a student’s right and this college, with its current trade school mentality, has shown that it is not capable of a productive discussion on academic freedom. I am grateful to Dr. Flow ers for conducting discussions on this matter in her history classes but this issue needs to be confronted by all students and instructors. Aca demic freedom is the right of both students and instructors to speak freely without worrying about “of fending” anyone or being persecuted by our misguided school newspaper or any other source of media. How are students going to form opinions of their own if tolerance for oppos ing points of view is not practiced in the classroom? Some people are of the opinion that words are dangerous. There is no such thing as a dangerous com ment, only dangerous actions. The most dangerous action of all is cen sorship, which is why freedom of speech and religion are listed first in our Bill of Rights. If there is such a thing as- a dangerous comment we should start our inquisition with The Print. The Print handled Dr. Epstein’s story with reckless abandonment of journalistic decorum. I am currently attending Linda Vogt’s mass media class, which has informed my con clusion. Some current as well as former members of The Print also feel there was spurious journalism involved but Linda Vogt, advisor to The Print, used our “colloquium” to defend The Print. The false analogy she used regarding Antebellum Af rican-Americans had nothing to do with the Bible or academic freedom. There is no recognized academic work that can support racial inferi ority. Dr. Epstein’s opinion of ho mosexuality is well founded in fact which is nothing more than a widely accepted theory. I cannot think of any book that is more widely ac cepted than the Bible. Another fact is that our “colloquium” concerned who is right and who is wrong and many people involved should be ashamed for dragging the students to this “colloquium” under false pre tenses and for holding us hostage while they rationalized their inad equacies. This is just another dem onstration of the lack of respect for students at this college. Nothing was solved ana those of you who think that the students bought into this farce should check your tokenism or this issue will escalate as others have. In addition, I believe the faculty members who have attacked Dr. Epstein owe him an apology. A dif ference of opinion should not ne gate what Dr. Epstein has done for our community. I hope that all fac ulty members who are guilty of jumping to conclusions based on the solecisms in our campus rag are treated with more respect when it is time for them to retire. Glenn McCarthy. Students for Democracy Correction In last week's issue, the "Graduations set for June 8,9 in Randall Gym" story contained the wrong information re garding the Student's profile at gradu ation. The correct information is as follows: Irene L. Carillo, 30, Oregon City, 3.5 GPA, (CCC employee) Cert, of Completion, Office Assistant. The Clackamas Print strives for accuracy and completeness in all of its coverage. The newspaper will correct significant errors of fact that are brought to the attention of the editors, if you see an error in the newspaper, please contact the Editor-in-Chief at (503) 657-6958 Ext. 2247 or send email to cccprint@clackamas. cc. or. us
