5
Opinion
The CI ac I< amas P rint
WedNEsdAy, FEbRUARy 27, 20 02
Airport security is not just black and white
Over the winter breakjmademy way
back to Missouri for Christmas, mark
ing the first and only time I have flown
since Sept 11.1 encountered manynew
experiences as I traveled through four
different cities, due to increased secu
rity at the nation’s airports—including
the random selection of individuals for
searches as they boarded.
I took planes in Portland, Salt Lake
City, St. Louis and Phoenix, and each
time three people were chosen to step
out of line for inspection before board
ing. This meant I witnessed 12 indi
viduals asked to consent to a search,
and out of that dozen, only four were
white.
Whether it was a Hispanic family or
a person of Asian decent, the vast.ma-
jority of those I witnessed searched
were people of a different race and/or
nationality than myself, a white Ameri
can. It even became a game that I would
play as I waited in line to take my seat
on the airplane.
I would look over all those who were
sharing my flight and decide who the
airline’s security personnel would grab
for a search. My eyes would scan the
throngs of people, first selecting those
who were not white, then judging
them by their appearance. I gave spe
cial credence to die likelihood of a
search of any who seemed to have a
Middle Eastern appearance, and I am
ashamed to admit that I was hardly
wrong.
I watched in Salt Lake City as a
middle-aged African-American male
and his daughter were “randomly”
selected out of the crowd and then
pulled aside to have their carry-on
luggage rummaged through in front
of all who waited in line. In St Louis,
an entire Hispanic family was pulled
aside and searched, as was a man of
Asian appearance (theonly minority
on the flight) in Phoenix.
While I was pleased to see the in
creased security at the airports, I was
ashamed at the manner in which
people were picked for the extra
search. Finally, I began to try and
catch the attention of the employees
by acting slightly nervous or
“shady,” all to no avail at getting
stopped before I boarded. My little
experiment says two things: One; my
acting was perhaps fair, to say the
least But more importantly, a white
individual waiting in line for a seat on
an airplane could more than likely
breeze by the last security checkpoint,
more so than a person of color.
The more I have thought of my ex
perience over the holidays, the more I
believe the majority of white people in
the United States feel that their race is
perfect
and
therefore not a
threat to na
tional security.
The case of the
Taliban fighter
and
white
American, John
Walker, reiter
ates my point. I think the reason our
nation wants to punish, in the most
severe manner allowed by law, this
“traitor” is because he causes a good
number of Americans to feel uncom
fortable about their race.
After all, Walker is as white as a fro
zen turkey and benefited from an up
per-middle-class background, yet he
ended up fighting for a terrorist regime.
His actions raise questions that most
people in this country choose not to
. answer, or even acknowledge: Walker
causes us to feel insecure about our
race, because it forces us to not only
blame a certain race or nationality, but
our American way of life.
How easy it is for us American’s to
blame those who “look” like they are
Keepin’
it real.
Nick Barron
Business Manager
Muslim, rather than think that perhaps
it is the individual, not the race, who
should be held responsible for the ter
rorists actions. Sure, the government
of the United States has officially
stated its belief that Muslims
should not be held responsible for
Osama bin Laden’s actions. But is
it any different if we kidnap and
hold captive an entire nationality,
as we did in World War II, than to
force them to give up first choice
of a seat on an airplane?
Having to take an aisle seat
over the one by the window is
perhaps better than being forced
to live in an area surrounded by
fences, and it appeared to me
that most of those who were ra
cially profiled by airline employ
ees were more than happy to be
searched. But considering they
were in a nation that forced an
entire race to feed its infant
economy by picking its cotton
and feeding its mouths, I guess
they knew it could be much
worse.
The point is people of color
shouldn’t be expected to accept
this. I was one who thought
racism died with the 1960s, but
what I saw over the holidays em
barrassed me. The United States
might not openly shackle and
beat a race of people anymore.
Now we just do it more covertly,
so our own consciences can tell
us that our nation is truly free
for all people.
To reach Nick Barron e-mail
barronoru@hotmail.com or
drop byB-104.
Take a risk: Don’ t submit, fight the system
There is a myth that surrounds the
United States, that it is a great land of
opportunity for everybody. Itisclaimed
that anyone who works hard will “suc-
ceed,” which of course means that
Be Human
because it is the extreme exception,
not the rule. The reality is that the
rich are the children of the rich, and
their children shall be
rich. The poor are the
children of the
poor, and their
children will be
poor.
Jesse Gurzynski
'
Staff Writer SI
Someone bom
andraisedina
Poor neigh-
■■ mm I borhood will
they will accumulate a lot of money and
property. That is a lie.
The poor, it is said, are poor because
either they choose to be poor or they
are lazy. The wealthy are wealthy be
cause they are more “upright” or harder
working, or more intelligent If this were
true, then capitalistic social Darwinism
would certainly be justified; but it is not
true.
Granted, there are a few real cases of
the “rags to riches” myth. It is a myth
get a worse
education and may have to drop out
of school to support his or her family,
as have people I’ve known. If poor
kids make it through high school with
out developing a major drug habit,
their opportunities for economic ad
vancement are quite poor. As for the
drug habit, it’s an easy thing to de
velop when one is surrounded by
drugs all of life and there is no fore
seeable way out of poverty.
When Ralph Nader was explain-
Letters to the editor...
FTE corrections
Rank,
Thanks for the article on enrollment
(The Clackamas Print, 2J2O/O2). We
are really booming and it’s good to
get the word out
I would like to make some correc
tions, however. Fall term 2001 FIE
(Fall Tenn Enrollment) was up to 14.1%
over Fall 2000, not the 14.7% you
quoted. The 14.7% figure is in rela
tion to our year-to-date F l'E, which is
the sum of summer, fall and winter. An-
nual FTE in 2000-2001 was only 2.1%
greater that 1999-2000FTE, not in the
14.1%youquoted. It seems you were
confused over the various time peri
ods available. That’s understandable,
it can be confusing.
“FTE is what the college uses to
track how much money is taking in
from tuition every year,” is an incor
rect statement F1E is the measure by
which the college is funded from the
state. FIE can be classified as reim
bursable or non-reimbursable. The
state will pay us only for FI E gener
ated from approved instructional ac
tivities. Generally, our reimbursable
FIE is about 98% of the total FIE we
produce. FTE has nothing to do with
tuition.
Melissa Banks
Research Coordinator
The Print is great!
Dear Clackamas Print,
I just wanted to say how much I
enjoy your columns and how well
you follow up on and cover diverse
and important topics—I greatly ap
preciate it
I would also like to say ho w glad I
am that you have Marvin Baker as
your guest columnist. I think this
column adds a wonderful humorous
spunk to The Clackamas Print,
thank you for all your efforts and
ing his candidacy for president, he out
lined many points that illustrate the in
equities in the United States. Forex-
ample, adjusted for inflation, most work
ers make less now and minimum wage
is lower than in 1979. And workers are
working more hours now. Corporate
welfare (do corporations need our tax
dollars?) is growing while consumer
debt is at an all-time high (over $6 tril
lion) and personal bankruptcy is at an
all-time high as well. SaidNader, “Per
sonal assets are so low that Bill Gates’
net worth is equal to that of the net
assets of the poorest 120 million Ameri
cans combined.
“The top 1 percent of the wealthiest
people have mere financial wealth than
the bottom 90 percent of Americans
combined, the worst inequality among
large western nations.”
And everyone has equal opportu
nity? CEO pay is skyrocketing while
the worker’s pay has stagnated, and
still people say that those who work
hard will succeed. Workers are getting
poorer, despite taking second jobs and
working overtime.
I’m going to ask you to remem
ber something. Do you remember
about a year and a half ago when
the so-called news media was
boasting of an oh-so-strong
economy, and how great everyone
was doing? I’ll bet that you can
remember people at that time that
you knew taking a second job, or
getting laid off, or unable to pay
rent, filing for bankruptcy, or go
ing into debt. It wasn’t us who
were doing fine, it was the rich;
and the rich are still doing fine,
while our schools and libraries and
public works get their budgets cut.
Don’t blind yourself with patrio
tism. Don’t call the United States
the “land of opportunity” as you
yourself are screwed out of all
chances for economic security. We
are not even allowed to be self-
reliant: we can’t afford rent on land,
can’t afford seeds to start a gar
den, aren’t allowed to live anyplace
that does not cost money (except
prison).
We are expected to work our en
tire lives away so that we can re
tire after we’ve been worn into the
ground, but how many retirement
age workers are out there without
any money to stop working?
Screw the lies about opportunity
and screw wasting the prime of life
(and the rest of it as well) in a stu
pid job.
We are left with two choices in
life: we can take a risk and stop
cooperating with the system,
working hard to survive but at
least living somewhat; or we can
take the easy route, getting a job
and signing our life away. The
second option is a no-brainer be
cause the system is set up to let
most people at least barely get by
as long as they play by the rules
and don’t think. I’ll take the first
hard work.
Also, a big thanks to the grounds,
building maintenance and cafeteria
crews who work very hard as well.
Sincerely,
Rebecca Neal
“No. I mean, grown men prance
across the ice wearing glittery
outfits. To me, that is as
embarrassing as it gets.” Actors
do the same thing in a sense
when they are playing a certain
character. Figure skaters are
amazing. I for one can not do the
a cup of coffee in public restau
rants. We have been either put
out in the cold or into a small
room with no ventilation. I work
at Fred Meyer, and we are lucky
enough to have a smoking room.
If the college decided to put up a
few shelters around campus with
a bench, that would be great. As
it is though, with the new smok
ing policy (no smoking within 25
feet of an entrance), we are usu
ally forced out into the weather.
It was my choice to smoke, no
one made me do it. I accept full
responsibility for my actions. But,
I think that it is a little excessive
when we are forced to enjoy our
habits out in the rain when all they
have to do is build a small shelter
like they have at bus stops. I don’t
think that is too much too ask.
Austin Fields
Sent via e-mail
Thank you, Allison
Hi Allison,
This is just a note to thank you
for your extremely well written ar
ticle about the Covell/Winfield
presentation in the 2-20-02 Print.
It was interesting, informative, and
as far as I could tell, contained zero
factual errors or typos.
Well done!
Ray Conklin
CCC Automotive Department
Chairman
Respect skating!
Why are you making fun of a
sport that many worldwide enjoy?
things they do, can you?
Anyway, I was just wondering
why you had to make light/fun of
figure skating and the events
that have happened?
Jessica McFall
Sent via e-mail
Rights for smokers
Salena-
I found your article in The
Print to be quite interesting. As
a smoker, I have a few opinions.
First off, when is enough
enough? Smokers are no longer
allowed to smoke when having
option.
To reach Jesse Gurzynski e-mail
hetevodox@onedox.com or drop
by B-104.