Image provided by: Clackamas Community College; Oregon City, OR
About The Clackamas print. (Oregon City, Oregon) 1989-2019 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 5, 2001)
Opinion TI he CI ac I camas P rínt No one deserves to be abused I never thought it could hap pen to me until I found myself dodging hits and crying myself to sleep because I wasn’t good enough to be his girlfriend. Channel 12 had a Special Re port uncovering abuse in dating and was noting that every year more and more women are trapped in abusive relationships and lately more and more teenagers are coming face to face with these harsh re alities. It wasn’t un til I began watching that special that I re membered what I was trying to forget. On this particular report the girl they interviewed just happened to be my former roommate. She is now 21, but when she was my roommate she was just turning 18. The guy she had living with her at this apart ment was heavy into drugs and kept leading her back in. I re member one night they got into a rather physical fight. I don’t remember who started throwing the first punches, but I remem ber her hitting him with a lamp and busting it. I remember her mouth all bloodied and her run ning out of the apartment. I made him leave and the cops were called. What’s ironic is the guy who was her boyfriend was the brother of one of my former boy friends. I was a naive girl in high school, a freshman. I believed it when he said he loved me. I be lieved it when he said he was sorry. It wasn’t until I was at his house one day that I knew I de served to be treated better than WedNEsdAy, D ecem bER . j L^.2001 T error T racking know I deserved better and I’m glad to hear my former roommate learned the same. It’s not some thing people can make you learn. WASHINGTON- Homeland Secu Kandahar on Tuesday as a the You have to want to get out of rity Director Tom Ridge issued a United States continued its bomb that relationship and want some new warning for Americans to be ing campaign. thing better. Granted I did find on a heightened alert against ter JALALABAD, Afghanistan- myself in a couple other relation rorism. Workers readied the airfield for ships similar to this one. I was KOENIGSWINTER, Germany- United States’ planes within 72 head bunted and had a TV thrown at me. Also on numerous Future talks of Afghanistan’s final hours. occasions I experienced stretch Tuesday after the northern degradation and mental alliance gave in to strong United RAMALLAH, West Bank-Step abuse. I was never good States pressure and finally pre ping up reprisals for suicide bomb enough and I know now sented candidates for posts in an ings by Palestinian militants, Israel unleashed air strikes Tuesday with that was a lie; it was he who interim administration. three missiles hitting near Yasser was not good enough for Salena De La Cruz me. To this day I had told MONTREAL-The United States Arafat’s office as the Palestinian Opinion Editor only one or two people. and Canadian officials have agreed leader worked inside. Maybe by people hearing to tighten border security, includ Palestinian said no one had been tunately told no one. I believed my story they can break the cycle ing the deployment of 600 United injured. States National Guard troops to I had deserved it. and get away. border crossings and the sharing JERUSALEM: town of Jenin-Early Later that week I was walking Needless to say I am now weary Tuesday, Israeli troops tore up the through town with my older upon entering a relationship. So, of computerized fingerprints. landing strip of Gaza International brother, my now x-boyfriend I say a message to females and came behind me and yanked my myself; we deserve love with a SOUTHERN AFGHANISTAN- Airport. The airport had been a vi head back by my hair. My soft touch not an angry hand. Australian combat troops have tal link between the Palestinians brother is built like a football That also goes to guys who get joined the United States’ Marines and the rest of the world since it player and let’s just say one hit beat up by women, it does hap who seized a remote air base last was opened in 1998. It was closed dropped that guy. He got up and pen, we have to believe we de week, while Marine reconnais to regular traffic for most of the past 14 months. waved a policeman over who serve better and want better for sance units aggressively patrolled happened to be driving by. He ourselves before the cycle of the surrounding desert. WASHINGTON-Serious negotia said he wanted to press charges hurt and pain will be broken. on my brother for hitting him. If you or someone you know KABUL, Afghanistan-Taliban tions are expected to begin on an Well, needless to say my brother is in an abusive relationship, fighters and members of Osama bin economic stimulus bill now that explained why he hit the guy and don’t keep it to yourself. You Laden’s al-Qaida militia were put Republicans and Democrats have the policeman said if he’d done don’t deserve it. Tell a family ting up fierce resistance against settled a feud over procedure that that to his sister he’d get the member, a friend, or a counselor. opposition Afghan forces outside had delayed the talks for a week. same thing. I’m happy to say I didn’t see If you or that guy after that except in pass ing. It saddens me to say that you know help United on heightened against same guy, with a friend, later contact Domestic raped my best friend. Violence Hotline at I’ve grown up since then and learned that women need to be Information compiled from KA.TU sources as well as The loved and not the sick twisted Oregonian. kind this guy tried to show me. I this. I was babysitting his little brother when all of the sudden he demanded to hold him. He seemed rather distraught, per haps on drugs, so I said no. He left the room and came back with a metal pipe. I looked behind me that was the last thing I remem bered before I woke up with a huge headache. I left and unfor Say It Loud & Proud! someone needs the 'I want to define dignity for myself’ This letter is in response to the opinion piece, “Assisted suicide not dignified.” I would ask: What makes anyone think that dying “naturally” is more dignified? The media and the isolation and tech nology of nursing homes and hos pitals have sanitized our concept of dying to the point that few have faced the true realities of death. I write from personal experience. When my husband, Richard Andrews, former college board member and English instructor and a UCG Pastor, was dying at home of cancer in 1992,1 found little that one could call dignified. Nightmar ish would be the better term. His last weeks were filled with in dignities and heartbreaking pain. The decision we had made not to have pain-prolonging, intrusive medical intervention those last days had wrenching conse quences. He became unable to con trol his bodily functions and had to alert States terrorism. 1-800-799-7233. Leuuers uo die EE luole ^ Letter to The Print: /V eux^ be diapered. The effects of the dis ease caused an odor that could not be completely eradicated despite our best care. As his system broke down, the build-up of toxins in the body caused hallucinations and nightmares, and this man of cour age was filled with anxiety and fear. Drugs left him confused and inco herent. He struggled to breathe. He became unable to eat and drink, and faced hunger and thirst along with pain. He tore at his clothes, a com mon aspect of dying, and we even tually abandoned them.. .except for his diaper. His lapse into a coma was a blessing, but even then he was wracked by a pain that drugs could not touch. I communicated with hos pice and the hospital, but drugs suf ficient to truly ease the pain would have killed him.. .and that, of course, was illegal for all of us. My tempta tion in the light of his suffering was almost unbearable. The sound of his moaning filled our home and will haunt me forever. I literally prayed for him to die, for his escape from suffering. And he did, “naturally”.. .but not with any dig nity that I could discern. This story is not unique. It is also the story of my mother, who had died of cancer 18 months before. It is a story that is still replicated regu larly. It is true that not everyone ex periences this kind of death, and for that I am grateful. But, I find it unac ceptable that earlier, when my well loved dog developed cancer, we were able to kindly end his pain, but subsequently we did not have a choice for a beloved husband. The law gave greater compassion to my pet than to my spouse! I hope that as a state we never again restrict another’s right to choose how to die. If that choice is not right for you, then don’t choose it, but don’t take another’s right to do so. I want to define dignity for myself. Thank you. Cyndi Andrews Director, Distance Learning, Library and Media Services Join us Winter Term and read Potter article your peers lacked research opinions and hnw Letter to the Editor: Flipping through the Nov. 28 issue, you can rospnnd. I started reading the “ What do you think?” column titled "Hany Potter: See you in 2002. fantasy versus reality" written by Liesl Muggli. While I agree with the opin ion stated in the column, it is the lack of research done of the subject Now, I would only describe myself as a ca sual harry Potter fan (I read the first two books and saw the movie), but poor research is poor research. Muggli states: “Harry Potter and Sorcerer’s Stone’ has been renamed as ‘Hany Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.’” A little research would have shown that “Philosopher’s Stone” was the original title when the book came out in England and Europe. Even the Eu ropean version of the movie has no reference to the “Sorcerer’s Stone.” I’m not here standing up for the rights ofHarryPotterites or anything. I’m just looking for good research. Sincerely, Matt Roberts E-mail us at cccprint@clackamas.cc.or.us or drop by B-104 with your writing on a disk and between 300 to 500 words.
