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Letters
Opinion
WEdNEsdAy, J anuary 51, 2001
All signed letters to the editor should be 500 words or less and will be
considered for publication if submitted by I pm the Friday prior to
publication. Letters to the Editor are subject to editing. We reserve the
right to not publish any letter.
Poll
Pros, cons: were parking tickets justified? Student
How do you
Rich shouldn't get Sometimes the law feel about
allows for grace
animal
special privileges
Staff Writer
I recently heard about an inc ¡dent at
this college that went like this: a party
is being held for some people who had
donated some large sums of money to
the college, and a public safety officer
since the individual was persuaded
against ticketing the vehicles, then
they are just in doing so, since they
have the strength of money on their
side.
Or are large corporations like
Microsoft justified in manipulatingtax
JENNY CHAVEZ
Copy Editor
I agree with Matt that the rich
shouldn’t be able to buy their way
through the justice system in order
to dodge repercussions of lawbreak
combined at the same location, park
ing in undesignated areas would be
predictable.
I am reminded about an incident
that happened to me not long ago. I
openly confess that I was driving
45-mph in a25-mph zone. Shame on
me-1 know better. I was caught too.
The officer did the routine license
and registration check and followed
the procedure of the law, except he
didn’t give me a ticket. I didn’t give
him an excuse or wave a bribe in
front ofhim, he merely chose to give
me grace. Was he doing wrong by
not giving me a ticket? I’ll be the last
to tell you that. With a short reproof,
ing. But this wasn’t what was hap
pening in this situation and I would
was in the parking lot giving tickets to
have to disagree with his outrage.
cars which were illegally parked. One
The people who had their cars tick
of the cars ticketed belonged to the
eted didn’t wave their donation
Fine Host people who were delivering
check stubs in order to avoid a
food. Someone found out and pro
ticket. They were innocently partici
ceeded to persuade the officer to not
pating in a dedication ceremony for
give them tickets. The officer eventu
isn’t as if the well-off in question here a childcare center, which they gen
ally removed the tickets.
I had a problem with that Ifcars are are necessarily using their fnoney for erously donated to out of care and
belief in the program. There was a
he sent me on my way and I was
blocking a fire lane or a loading zone, this purpose, or even knew that the
thankful that the law allowed for
celebration happening, and those
money they had donated was cited as
that could become an actual problem.
human error without judgement.
people were our guests. Some par
But then, the person who told me this a reason to let them off. I’m objecting,
I want to say thank you to those
not to the fact that they were let off, but ticipants were donors, others were
said something that I’ve been think
for the reasoning that was used to jus
not, but everybody there had been
guests of the college who care
ing about for the last couple of days.
invited to a hospitable occasion.
about what’s happening here. And
tify it It was not justice that removed
She justified the people who were ille
If anyone has ever been to the
thank you to the officer who re
gally parked by the fact that they had the ticket, but mercy. I want to make
center on an average day, they
moved those tickets while guests
donated thousands of dollars to the myself perfectly clear, however. I do
of the college were inside being
college. This bothers me because it not decry mercy, for I am not worthy of would notice that the front parking
entertained by Mother Goose.
Heaven, but because of the mercy of area is small and usually full. And,
equates money with justice. It says,
sidewalks leading to the center from
And thank you Matt for remind
“Well, if they donated a lot of money God, I am going there. lam simply ob
ing us that the law is the law, but
to us, it’s ok for them to park illegally.” jecting to the concept that because the expanded parking lot are still
under construction. Whenever con
in this case, grace prevailed, and
Why is the fact that they gave someone has money, they should fol
struction and a big celebration are
rightly so.
money to the college justification for low a different code of justice.
their parking illegally? If money can
be used to justify injustice, then more
money can be used to justify a
L e~maft replies to us at cccprint@clackamas.cc.Tft.us St in Bl04.
“greater" injustice. The rich can jus
Do you believe that one’s personal beliefs should be taken into account when applying for a job? For example, former Senatot
tify any wrong they commit based on
John Ashcroft is awaiting confirmation for the position of U.S attorney general, a position requiring him to maintain laws
the money given to “worthy causes.”
such as abortion rights and affirmative action he has fought against for years in his home state of Missouri. The senate has
scrutinized his record heavily during his confirmation hearings. Is this fair? Should it be legal? What do you think?
Is that justice? Is justice merely the
“interest of the stronger,” as
Well, 1 think they should definitely put their personal beliefs into consideration, but only to a certain extend though
Thrasymachus puts forth in Plato’s Re
Because after all, qualifications should be the most important factor in considering whether or not that person is fit for the jot
public! Is there really no such thing
or position. For example, everyone knows that marijuana is illegal here in the states, except for medical treatment Anyway,
if an officer found a bag of marijuana on someone, they have to fulfill their duties as an officer, which is to confiscate the
as a principle of justice that overrides
marijuana whether or not they feel it’s alright to use marijuana, on a personal level that is. Heck, they might even use a little
all behaviors? Is Justice only a tool for
on their own personal time, but that should have nothing to do with the decisions they make while on duty. I feel that as long
the strong to impose their wishes on
as one can perform their duties to the fullest, who cares what their personal beliefs are, that’s their business.
tlie weak? If so, then I suppose that
laws to completely avoid federal in
come tax. Because, after all, money
dominates this world. Therefore, jus
tice is in the interest of the wealthy,
and those with money are justified in
using that money to circumvent re
sponsibility for their actions.
Perhaps I am overreacting, after all, it
testing?
"I think it's good. It's better
than scratching our heads
trying to figure out what else
we could do."
James Hundtoft
"I never really thought about
it. It's ok if it helps people."
Sarah Hollin
"I'm against cruelty."
Casey Kinney
World’s stupidest criminal an easy bust
Have you ever heard the phrase,
“the world’s stupidest criminal?”
I believe I met him last week.
1 was at work when a co-worker
came to me and
said that a
strange man
was in my car
- in broad day-
light. Natu
rally, I freaked
and ran to my
car. I was lucky
that my man
ager overheard the conversation
and ran out after me.
1 found a thief in the back seat
of my car bagging all of my be
supposed to clean it out for him.”
I responded, “Yeah, right!” We
threatened to call the police and
he took off.
thing back. Then the police found
Some
longings. We demanded he step
out of the car and put all of my
stuff back. His response was, “My
brother bought this car and I am
The police took me to identify
the man, but they couldn’t charge
him for stealing anything from me
because I made him give every
m
♦ ♦ ♦
Daisy Bain
Staff Writer
It was a surprisingly short,
three-minute wait from the time I
talked to the dispatcher’s office to
the time the police came and took
my statement. While they were
taking my statement, the perp was
caught about a mile away trying
to hot-wire another car.
my work nametag in his pocket
and he was charged with theft -
all for a measly little $2 nametag;
He also had in his possession sto
len checks, someone else’s mail
i and car insurance and registra-
I tions from many other victims.
I According to the police, he had
just been released from jail three
days prior for forgery.
I did learn a valuable lesson af
ter everything -1 could have been
easily hurt. What if he had a gun
or had a tendency towards vio
lence? 1 should have called the
police first, and then asked my
manager to walk out with me.
Editor-i n-Chicf:
I have some advice, especially
to all of the women out there. Al
ways have someone walk with you
to your car at night, even if it is
'/close to the front door. If you ab
solutely have to walkout by your
self, then carry a defensive device
such as mace, a whistle or a panic
alarm, all of which come in com
pact sizes that can fit on your
keychain. If you have a phone,
have it ready to call 911 in case of
an emergency.
Here at Clackamas, there are
Public Safety officers who offer
courtesy services to students and
staff, which include an evening es
cort service. In December, 46
'people took advantage of the ser
vice. Call 503-657-6958, ext.2234
dr dial 0 from any campus phone
for assistance.
Business Manager:
Diana Scrivner (x2447)
*7
555?*
amas
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Linda Vogt (x2310)
"I think it's a good thing. I
would like to see human
testing."
Matt Tabisz
PHOTOS BY GILBERT BARRETT
QUOTES GATHERED BY MAGGIE JIRASEK
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