Image provided by: Clackamas Community College; Oregon City, OR
About The Clackamas print. (Oregon City, Oregon) 1989-2019 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 29, 2000)
i Iveners * 2 WedNEsdAy, N ovemòer Opinion 29, 2000 All signed letters to the editor should be 500 words or less and will considered for publication if submitted by 1 pm the Friday prior publication. Letters to the Editor are subject to editing. We reserve right to not publish any letter. Smoking issue burns at Clackamas Smoking has been twenty-five year controversy on campus JIM SPICKELMIER Webmaster i get me py PO' my lit cigarette from bet sen my dead fingers,” Signey Vernon, re tired Clackamas sociology instruc tor, exclaimed one day during class. She went on to explain that she had been raised in a society where smoking was OK; however, society’s viewpoint on smoking was starting to change. The point of the lecture was that it takes about 50 years to effect a change in social values and that the smok ing issue was well worth watching as a “highly visible” 50-year les son in social change. That was long ago and the smok ing controversy was just begin ning. Only a few years had passed since cigarette advertising had been banned from TV and bill boards, the national movement to change a social value, smoking, was in its infancy. Having attended Clackamas many times, I never forgot the aforementioned 50-year assign ment. I have watched the changes in campus smoking policies with interest. From the time of its construc tion through the late 1970s, Clackamas was an open smoking campus. Believe it or not, one could walk out of class and light up right in the hallways. There were butt receptacles everywhere and nobody thought twice about smoking indoors. Non-smoking areas at Clackamas became an issue in the early 1980s. The atrium area of the cafeteria became the non-smoking lunchroom. By mid-decade the trend had changed to designated indoor smoking. The atrium cafeteria area became the smoking lunchroom, the main cafeteria became non smoking and limited indoor smok ing areas were appearing through out the campus. the Letters Around 1989, the smoking issue hit the fan at Clackamas. The ques tion was do we, or do we not, ban all indoor smoking on campus? It was a heated issue and came down to a student vote. The smokers won for a brief time; however, an administrative decision ruled that all non-votes counted as no votes and by this means the administra tion banned all indoor smoking from campus buildings. For a brief time outdoor smoking areas were set up with picnic tables and over head outdoor heaters but those too went by the wayside. Will the college inevitably be come smoke free? You can bet on it Editor Smoking discussion not intended 'We want healthy lungs, and clean air' and 'not to smell like smoke' to banish smoking altogether In response to (last week’s let ter to the editor), “Smokers urged to speak out for rights,” the sub ject of DESIGNATED smoking areas was brought up in the Col lege Conversation ofNov. 1,2000. In this conversation, the sug gestion was made to designate smoking areas around the cam pus, NOT to ban smoking alto gether. Non-smokers don’t like the health hazard it becomes and want to designate areas for the smokers. The smokers don’t like this idea and feel that they are being discriminated against. Smokers were not the targets of the discussion, the health of all students was. Smoking is a per sonal choice that not everyone chooses. So the smokers should respect everyone else’s choice and accept the idea presented by ASG to provide designated, cov ered areas away from building en trances. This allows for a better work and school environment for everyone, not allowing the smoke to permeate doorways, buildings and offices. This idea would ben efit both smokers and non-smok ers; ASG has gone into serious re search about covered smoking ar eas. If this solution is implemented, the designated areas have not yet been decided. Great discussion will go into the placement of the areas to make sure that everyone is ac commodated. No one ever said that accommodations could not be made and there has been abso lutely not talk of banning smoking from Clackamas Community Col lege. Hayley Hill, Student Ambassador I want to say I am disgusted with all the smoking on this cam pus. Whenever you walk out one of the buildings, you have to walk through the thick smoke in the air and cigarette butts on the ground. I am thankful that smoking is not allowed inside the buildings, but something has to be done about the problem that exists now. Most state-run schools, county offices and businesses have des ignated smoking areas that smok ers must use if they wish to light up. Everyone is worried about per sonal rights these days; well, my rights and the rights of many fel low students, are being violated every time we are exposed to this smoke. I do not choose to have my books, belongings and myself smell like smoke. I have to walk through many smokers to get to my classes, which causes me to have the aroma of a dirty ashtray. There is now proof that sec ond-hand smoke is just as dan gerous as smoking itself. Those of us who do not smoke are un able to avoid the smell of the smoke, or the damage it can do to our lungs. We want healthy lungs, and clean air; by attend ing CCC, those wants are just a dream, riot a reality. If students have to walk to a designated smoking area to light up, it may even help some of them kick the habit. These students would thank you later and hun dreds of us would thank you now for a smoke-free, butt-free cam pus. Joshua Shelton, Student Why use an alias for The Counter ? I don’t think I have to be a politi cal science major to think I have the right to face my accuser, and I have never had any contributors to the Clackamas Counter intro duce themselves to me, I wouldn’t know them if they walked right by me. So I wonder who is this Clackamas student who had so much to say about The Print! Seth K. Thurete, in his article “77ie Counter is an academic pa per, not The Print," declares him self “one of the ‘freethinking’ Clackamas students who partici pated in the first edition of 77je Clackamas Counter." But Thurete isn’t registered this term, nor has he ever been registered at Clackamas. I guess it’s just a coincidence that if you rearrange the letters of Thurete’s full name, they spell ‘seek the truth.’ So, if Seth K. Thurete isn’t the author of these two opinions, then who is, « and why is he (or she) hid- * ing behind an alias? Why all who acknowledged he is the advi sor to 77ie Clackamas Counter, that The Print is not interested in an altercation. Much of what “Thurete” said in his article is On the contrary the cloak and dagger, riddles and conspiracy theory? Why all the venom toward The Print! I’ve already expressed to Dean Darrisz Steve Nielsen News Editor about members of last year’s Print staff and their actions. Several of those students have moved on to Editor-in-Chief: four-year schools. Regardless, I don’t believe they used the news paper to persecute Dean Darris, Don Epstein, Jennifer Rankin, or anyone else. I am sure, that they were working under tight deadlines to collect all the information on a story, and reported the facts. This paper has already spent too much time and space on refu tation of the Counter’s accusa tions. It would probably be much easier to resolve any further problems if any person with a complaint would talk about it with The Print staff directly. We at The Print aren’t out to harm anyone; we are just looking for the truth. Web Master: Diana Scrivner (x2447) O 'tmf — CI ac I a M-X s Fkir Spring f nir rock» wiih Inr Feature Co-Editor: Q ac K a MA s Phi Jim Spickelmier Staff: Maggie Jirasek Amanda Gosser Chris Lundgren Corinne Rupp Dana Palmer Elena Boryska Jenny Chavez Liesl Muggli Matt Shempert Michael Choe Shannon Recabaren Wes Fawcett Feature Co-Editor: Tam Oliver A & E Editor: Mandy Good Copy/Opinion Editor: "It's nasty when you walk around the campus and walk through a cloud of smoke." -Josh Cumming X Sandy Lupo Sports Editor: Jason Lingel News Editor Steve Nielson Photo Editor: Secretary: Mike Pollock Business Manager: JoAnne Gale Advisor: Scott Creson (x2578) Linda Vogt (x2310) "People should be allowed to smoke only in areas where others dont have to be bothered by the smoke." -Johan Limbour "I think designated smoking areas should be enforced for people who like to smoke." -Patrick Chandler "People should be able to smoke anywhere outside." -Niki Froehle "I am very satisfied with where people smoke, it makes me feel comfortable with my surroundings." —Vern Reck Photos and survey compiled by Mike Pollock, The Clackamas Print aims to report the news in an honest, unbiased, professional manner. The opinions expressed in The Clackamas Print do not necessarily reflect those of the student body, college administration, its fac ulty, or The Clackamas Print advertisers. Products and services advertised in The Clackamas Print are not neccesarily endorsed by anyone associated with The Clackamas Print The advertising rate is $4.75 per col umn inch. The Clackamas Print is a weekly publication and is distributed every Wednes day except during Finals week. The Clackamas Print Copyright2000.
