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About The Clackamas print. (Oregon City, Oregon) 1989-2019 | View Entire Issue (May 1, 2002)
Letters 4________ 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 WedNEsdAy, M ay 1, 2002 Waking up from the nightmare of Nick Barron ' This letter is in response to the article, “Waking up from the night mare of the NBA” by Nick Barron that appeared in the April 17th edi tion of The Clackamas Print. Nick had two opinions within his ar ticle, the first one being that the NBA finals are lackadaisical and sleep-inducing. The other was that Nick likes baseball more than basketball. He said nothing to support his opinions, yet still man aged to consume half a page with mindless babble. When the article was printed this year’s playoffs had not started, so Nick must have been upset, most recently, with last year’s play offs. I admit the Western Confer ence games left much to be desired, unless you’re a Laker fan. The Eastern Conference, however, had many games that were close and exciting. Most of the series were played out all five or seven games. One had no idea which team was going to come out as champion until Game 7 of the Conference Fi nals. This streak even carried into the finals when, in Game 1, Phila delphia became the only team to give the Lakers a loss in last year’s playoffs. How is this lackadaisi cal or sleep-inducing? In paragraph five of Nick’s ar ticle, he implies that baseball is superior to basketball. He supplies no evidence to support this com ment, but he makes many state ments in attempt to belittle basket ball. Let’s apply Nick’s statements about basketball to baseball to see if baseball is, in fact, superior. Nick wrote about NBA players swing ing punches and throwing basket balls into the stands. How often does a batter charge the mound? How many times have managers and referees kicked dirt on each other, yelling so violently that they are red-faced, spit flying from their mouths? How many times, through the years, have we seen whole teams empty their dugouts, mak ing the baseball diamond look like a battlefield that rivals any "BraveHeart" scene? How is base ball better? Nick also stated that profes sional wrestling is a healthy for mat for the public to see people with a grudges work out their dif ferences. For onCe, Nick and I share an opinion. A few years ago Karl Malone and Denis Rodman got into the “squared-circle” and battled out an entire season worth of potential court brawls. Have two baseball players ever done this? Many people share the feeling that sports figures should elevate themselves and be examples of ideal citizenship. Millions of fans think that athletes Should be people that children can look up to and hope to someday emulate. Nick targeted Allen Iverson as basketball’s greatest evil-doer. I have two words for you, Nick: John Rocker. The point that I hope to get across, is that if Nick wants to write about his opinion, he needs to in right to not publish any letter. elude facts that support it. A sports column should not be some thing thrown together in ten min utes. Reading Nick’s article was a waste of my time, and he wasted space in an otherwise good news paper. Edward S. Phillips Student "Gifts" not always legit The headlining article for today’s Clackamas Community College newspaper disclosed the web site addresses, fundraiser events, and most recent discovery of human remains into the disappearance of Ashley Pond and Miranda Gaddis. About half of the story suggested that people who claim they have a “gift” may be able to provide as sistance in the case. The journal ist of the article, Salena De La Cruz, chose to include an extremely de tailed profile of the alleged abduc tor submitted to this forum by an anonymous individual who claims to have “premonitions or visions of an event.” Although Cruz noted that it was not illegal to print a sketch of the suspected monster (according to the Student Press Law Center, N.Y.) what was she thinking?! Did it ever occur to Cruz that the person who submitted this profile and sketch could be the same individual who abducted Miranda and Ashley? Or better yet, and maybe less likely, it could be the sophomoric plot of a jeal ous lover seeking revenge on her former significant other. If this phantom source that pro duced the suspect’s fantasy pro file is a true clairvoyant then why didn’t the profile include informa tion that could actually be used in the case? For example, a home ad dress would be a decent lead in the investigation. If the only key witness to this crime exists in an other reality (not ours), then why is it necessary to print this in a newspaper? I agree there are people in this world who have a convincing track record of real pre dictions, etc. Unfortunately, these are the same people who suffer from the backlash of unsupported claims made by quacks and char latans whose only reputations are a myriad of decepion. In other words, if you’re going to write about a phenomenon, give it some reference to an empirical source — not an anonymous sub scriber of an Internet forum. Marc Cramer Instructor The Print does not meet mission statement Dear Clackamas Print: Thapk you for considering the opinion of your readers. I am happy you value the freedom of expression in your paper. However, the freedom you claim has been abused in the April 24th, 2002, article “Famous pom star salutes Oregon.” A famous quotation by Eric Hoffer reminds us, “The basic test of free dom is perhaps less in what we are free to do than what we are free not to do.” I rejoice to say that we have the freedom of speech in the United States; however, I shudder when the press prints biased information to the student body and promotes por nography to students, including minors. Currently, there are hun dreds of 13-14-15-16 and 17 year olds enrolled at Clackamas Community College. The “Pom Star” article is advertising pornography to these minors. The majority of students on this campus agree, even the most liberal of us, that advertising por nography to minors is unethical. Additionally, the “Pom Star” article is extremely biased because there is no mention of the opposing view point. Arguments against pornog raphy like, broken relationships and the dehumanizing of the individual, were completely ignored. The article used language like “hero” (line four) to describe the pom star, Ron Jer emy, and referred to pom shows as “harmless fun” (last column mid section). In a biased manner, this use of language gives a one-sided, posi tive outlook on pornography to the students on this campus, especially influencing the developing minds of the 13-14-and 15-year-olds. While the article contained a warning at the beginning, students should be free to read their school paper with out having to flip through an adver tisement for pornography. Addition ally, the warning implied in a degrad ing manner that anyone who dis agrees with the article does not ap preciate the freedom of expression. The Clackamas Print is designed to serve the students first, not tell us that if we disagree with their articles that we are un-American! Finally, the Print’s article did not meet the goals nor the mission state ment of the Clackamas Print. The Print’s goal of unbiased information, failed. Additionally, the mission of giving vital information about the college failed because the “Pom star” article was an advertisement for the pom star and not a balanced, informative editorial. I regret that The Clackamas Print’s standard of excel lence has sunk so low. Please, offi cially apologize for giving us, your readers, biased information and apologize for advertising pornogra phy to my friends and fellow stu dents. Take a step toward editorial excellence by featuring a balanced article in the next edition of the Print, which deals with both views of por nography laws and use in Oregon and how it relates to the students of Clackamas Community College. And/or, please give The Print’s re sponse to the main arguments of my letter. If nothing else, keep the Pom Star in Playgirl or Playboy, not in The Clackamas Print. I look forward to reading your next issue. Paul Southwick Student Freedom of speech not for everything Dear Clackamas Print: No more than a half a year ago America stood by in horror as a good 5,000 people mindlessly were murdered in New York and Wash ington D.C. We were united, we waved flags, both Republicans and Democrats alike sang “God Bless America” on national television, we had candle light vigils. We hugged, we cried but most of all it seemed we turned. Even now, we see the bumper stickers “God Bless America.” It cannot be hidden what this coun try was based on and the morals our forefathers stood for. Yet here we are six months later, once again perverse, a shame to human de cency, we make a mockery of our selves before the world. I read your article on ‘Tamous pom star sa lutes Oregon,” and the warning at the beginning, which hid behind freedom of expression. Is this what our forefathers meant when they wrote of “freedom of speech,” is this what you as a college, de signed to serve the community, teach? It seems to me as if it is time for this country to get its mind out of the gutter, and if this article is a depiction of how your institute in tends to teach American citizens, many of whom may be no more than 16 years old, how to better themselves, I don’t believe I need say more. I do not see how an ar ticle as offensive as this can pos sibly be what you want known of your colleges standards. I ask you to start teaching a level of decency. If that means starting with your “freedom of expression,” than please present yourselves in at least a respectable manner. As far as your mission statement, how does this serve students first? How does a pom star serve Or bet ter the surrounding community, have you any idea what this stuff can do to homes, is this vital infor mation? And where is the college even mentioned, you say The Print “balances opinion,” in order to balance an opinion both sides must be heard, here is another side. LET IT BE HEARD. Robert Larson Student Content not age appropriate Pom is not right Dear Clackamas Community C< lege: I was quite disturbed when I re the "Porn Star" article in Ap twenty-fourth’s issue in Tl Clackamas Print. There are su flaws with it that I have to wonde why you chose to print it. First, your paper’s mission stal ment holds that is purpose is serve the college student bod May I humbly remind you th there is a good portion of the st dent body younger than age 1 Did you further know that it is crime to sell or advertise porn minors? A law I know was esta lished for the purpose of protect ing young and developing minds The second problem I have wi this article is its style. A newspa per, by its very nature, is for t purpose of reporting news. Tl article fully fits in the category “infomercial.” Lastly, you routinely tout fre dom of speech in the "Pom" i tide. I have heard it said, “Fre dom is not the right to do as o pleases, but the freedom to do what is right.” I would submit to you that pom, in general, is not right because it destroys relationships, ma riages, and cheapens and dishon ors people, women especially, focusing only on their outward physical appearance and not i their internal qualities. I would encourage you to apol gize for presenting an article tl was not only biased, but also r representative of the commi needs and interests of the whe college body. News relevant to t school would be things such sports, students or buildii projects. I submit this with utm< respect and dismay. Matt Rouse Student More journalism classes, please Dear Clackamas Print, A friend of mine brought my attention to an article in your newspaper titled “Famous porn star salutes Oregon.” It is my opinion that this article has no place in a college campus, where it can be read by all, young and old. The writers and editors at your newspaper need to remember the age of their audience. Many of them are high school students. For this reason, it is irresponsible of your paper to print this type of article. Students at Clackamas Com munity College have no need for this type of information. They come here to learn valu able skills that they will need in the workplace, not bawdy humor. There is a plentiful sup ply of useful news for your pa per to cover. Please refrain from printing articles that contain crass content in the future. I find Allison Gerfin’s article The Clackamas Print extremely poor journalism. One expects find articles that may be of interest, articles that one d agrees with, but not to find su blatant biased information. O really expects more from a c< lege newspaper whose missi statement reads, “Serves the c< lege students first, and provides vital information about the c< lege.” Whose goals read; “rep< the news in an unbiased proft sional manner.” The warning itself reads as 1 ased and unprofessional. It i sinuates that people who d agree with an article about p< nography, “don’t appreciate freedom of expression.” This is sloppy sentimentality. Colleges are meant to be ins tutions of higher learning. P< haps a few more classes in joi nalism would help. Darían Pike Student Mata Kimmel Student
