4
WEdNEsdAy, MARch 6, 2002
Feature
The CI ac I< amas P rînt
There’s something
about ’’nothing”
I heard the greatest pick-up line the Since I’ve already touched upon
other day. This guy walked by a girl men’s ability to raise their daugh
waiting in line at the theater and said, ters and still enjoy a trip to
“Do you believe in love at first sight? XXXgotmiIk.com, I’m going to
Or should I walk by again?’ Pretty point out to the ladies we know
gutsy. Earned him a smile, which you have your own double stan
quickly turned into “Get lost, loser,” dards, but we just wisely keep our
but for about 1.257 seconds he was mouths shut. If we don’t, we know
the man.
Whenltriedto
empathize by
commenting on
what a jerk he |
Marvin Baker
was, she told me |
Guest Columnist
to hang it in my I
shorts. Actually, I
she used fewer I
words than that,
but you get the gist
we’re going to get creamed with
I don’t get it Women say they want something we did that we don’t
our attention and they say they want know you know about and end up
us to be honest with them, but when in bigger trouble than necessary.
they get it they slap us down. Ami
My personal favorite, however,
wrong here, gentlemen? Some of the is when women cloak criticism as
worst conversations in my life have concern.
started with the question, “What are
Here’s my case in point: I have a
you thinking about?’
female friend who visits a lot when
Ladies, here’s a hint from the guy her boyfriend’s at work - get your
play book: “Nothing,” is short for, minds out of the gutter, it’s not like
“Nothing you want to hear.” It’s not that. This particular instance she
the feminine ‘Nothing,” (followed by plops her narrow ass down in my
a heavy sigh) which is code for "drop living room and starts doing leg
evoythinganddragitoutofme." This lifts while talking to me. This was
is not to be confused with the sharply during mid-terms. I’m doing my
spoken ‘Nothing,” (no sigh included) best to ignore her and think about
followed by an enamel-rending gnash the ice cream in the freezer, when,
ing of teeth. Translation: “Get the hell finally, she heaved a sigh at me and
away from me.”
said, “You’re not even listening.”
There is also the dreamily uttered I told her I was thinking about ice
‘Nothing,” which is her way of saying cream - the truth - and she says,
a guy - or possibly another woman - “You shouldn’t be thinking about
has just wandered into view and be ice cream with a belly like yours.”
come her moisturizer of choice. FYI,if
She tried to gloss it over with,
she is curious about women, here’s “Well, it’s true,” and explained how
two things you need to know; (a) she’s that exempted her from hurting my
probably not thinking three’s com feelings - because she had my best
pany; and (b) you may be surprised to interests at heart. Then she spent
discover she won’t necessarily see this five minutes telling me how she was
as fooling around on you. And you going to exercise until she had "an
can forget what it says in Chapter 63, ass you could set a drink on.”
section 24, paragraph 5(a): threaten
When I tried saving her the ef
ing to start checking out other men is fort by pointing out that’s what the
no threat She’s seen you gag on your top of her head was for, suddenly
own toothbrush; you’re not going to I was the bad guy. All because I
convince her you can switch up that told her the truth about what I was
easily.
thinking.
This, ladies and gentlemen, is the
To reach Marvin Baker e-mail
conundrum of the double standard. mbaker296@attbicom.
PATTY MAMULA / Clackamas Print
The Print staff is pictured outside Warner Brother's Studio's theater where they saw "Death to
Smoochy," directed by Danny DeVito. Left to right: Allison Gerfin, Nick Barron (back) Salena De La
Cruz and Maggie Jirasek.
The Print lets loose in L.A.
SALENA DE LA CRUZ
Opinion Editor
Amidst the smog and sunshine
of Los Angeles, Calif., four mem
bers and the adviser of The
Clackamas Print attended the
National College Newspaper Con
vention, sponsored by the Asso
ciate Collegiate Press we ventured
to sessions on news writing, pho
tojournalism, headline writing, de
sign and more in hopes of learning
how to make the paper better.
From Feb. 28-March 3, vendors
from across the country offered
services, free merchandise and
promotional material for students
while national newspapers sent
experts to teach aspiring journal
ists. Some of the exhibitors in
cluded Newspaper Association of
America, U-Wire, Associated
Press and Artisan Films.
“I thought it was pretty cool to
have all of these different people
wanting to talk to me, acting like
they were my best friend,” said
Nick Barron, business manager for
The Clackamas Print.
The first day, the soon-to-be re
porters were welcomed to Los An
geles by Tom Rosenstiel, director
of Project for Excellence in Jour
nalism and co-author of “The Ele
ments of Journalism,” with a rous ing and measures to prevent college
ing speech about the role of a jour drinking. Sgt. Leon Nixon of the Los
nalist in society. The night ended Angeles International Airport police
with a special screening of “The opened up about airport security.
Panic Room” at 7:30 p.m., spon Four student panelists from differ
sored by Sony Pictures.
ent colleges were the primary inter
On March 1, there were sessions viewers.
from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. ranging
I thought it was a great experience
from reporting on crime on cam to be able to be an interviewer at
pus, polishing your news writing, this conference. I know I’ll be tak
sports writing and special ses ing a lot away from the entire con
sions for advisers of the student ference. I learned so much.
ran papers.
The night ended with a trip to
“Steve Padilla from The Los An Warner Brother’s Studios to see an
geles Times not only gave great advanced screening of “Death to
hints on writing and copy editing, Smoochy,” starring Robin Williams,
but also on working with writers Edward Norton and Danny Devito,
to improve their writing, said who also directed the film. Then stu
Allison Gerfin, copy editor, The dents interviewed long-time actor/
Clackamas Print.
director Danny DeVito.
The afternoon session was a
The conference ended with an
press conference that lasted one awards presentation for Newspa
hour called "Binge Drinking, Club pers of the Year for Excellence as
Drugs, Airport Security: Welcome well as an award for the best cover
to Spring Break 2002." With age of Sept. 11.
Spring Break steadily approach
“It was very interesting to see
ing, the content was well timed.
how other papers worked. Also, to
Barbara Ryan, editor of “Preven see that they had the same kind of
tion Pipeline" and "Prevention File: problems we do and it was great to
Alcohol, Tobacco and Other see how they dealt with it,” said
Drugs”, discussed club drugs and Maggie Jirasek, editor-in-chief, The
prevention. George Marcelle, com Clackamas Print.
munications and social marketing
ToreachSalenaDeLaCruze-maU
professional, Social and Health Ser wonderwoman41477@hotmaiLcom
vices, Ltd., discussed binge drink or drop by B-104.
Students build team leadership with Legos
MICHAELREED
Contributing Writer
Editor’s note: The following
article received first prize in the
Clackamas Regional Skills
Contest’s Journalism-Feature
Writing category. The article
was edited for clarity, content
and grammar.
Imagine sitting in a crowded,
noisy corridor, while your team
is doing their best to piece to
gether a replica of a Lego struc
ture that is placed on a table in
the center of the room. Does this
sound like fun? That is what
occurred in the Community Cen
ter Skylight Dining Room at
Clackamas Community College
on Feb. 28.
The contest was just one event
at the 24th annual Clackamas Re
gional Skills Contest. There
were 19 high schools participat
ing from all around Clackamas
County. This particular event,
the leadership contest, had six
high school leadership teams
scheduled to participate. Five of
them showed up, along with two
home-school teams. Each team
could have no fewer than four
and no more than eight people.
The event was an exercise in
the team’s leadership skills and
how well they can work together
as a group. If there wasn’t very
good communication between
the people with their team, their
success was limited.'
“Teams need to display coor
dination and organization in or
der to be the quickest to make
the Lego replica,” said Leader
ship Competition Supervisor
Michael Caudle. “This exercise
has great competitiveness, and it
builds school spirit and excellent
strategy skills.”
At the beginning of the event,
each team is given the Lego
blocks that are needed to com
plete an exact replica of a Lego
structure placed at the middle of
the room. Teams can use as much
time as they want to plan how
they are going to piece them to
gether, but as soon as the blocks
are touched, a timekeeper starts
a stopwatch. The first team to
complete it perfectly in the least
amount of time wins.
The leadership contest pro
vided a fun and exciting atmo
sphere for students who partici
pated. There were some that
thought that the difficulty of the
assignment added an interesting
twist.
“It was a whole lot harder than
I expected it to be, and that made
it fun,” said Adam Hardlurd, a
sophomore at Gladstone High
School. “When I talked to
people who did this last year,
they said it was really easy.”
Evidently, the contest last year
was incredibly easier. In fact,
most people thought that it was
too easy. There were many
changes made so that this time
around teams would have more
of a challenge.
“I really tried to increase the
difficulty. Last year the first team
finished completed it in less than
one minute. It was so easy be
cause it was only a Lego robot.
Now, I designed a more complex
figure that requires more work
and concentration,” said Caudle.
Times this year ranged from
anywhere between 12-25 minutes
on the first attempt. Also, the
figure this year was not recog
nizable as anything, only a mass
of red and white Legos. The
color infrequency in the blocks
causes more strategies and fewer
people rushing to get finished.
“It’s fun to see all of the teams
using different strategies,” said
Elaine Garrect, a junior on the
Country Christian team. “I can
tell we are losing because we
spent less time planning and too
much time handling the Legos.”
Although there was a lot of
panic to get finished, most if not
all participants had a good time.
Prizes will be awarded to the top
teams, but just being there was
an unforgettable experience for
everyone involved.