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About The Clackamas print. (Oregon City, Oregon) 1989-2019 | View Entire Issue (April 16, 2003)
4 D The Clackamas Print April 16, 2003 Blazers deserve media's respect Nie Delzell Staff Writer Recent reports have attacked the character of some of the players for the Portland Trail Blazers. It needs to stop. Because they are one of the smallest NBA markets, the Blazers make easy targets. Due to the fact that certain media members dwell on all the “unfortunate incidents” that have taken place during this Blazer z season, people are rarely exposed to the good side of the team. Think of what Pete Rose is accused of doing to baseball, or for mer Dallas Cowboy Nate Newton and his consecutive (pending) drug trafficking charges. Compared to Rose and Newton the Blazer’s mis takes are petty. Ignorance is fueling uninformed journalists. Urey hear of certain players, who did this and that, and form ideas about the entire team with out knowing the whole truth. Some members of the media are starting to get the picture. It’s about time someone stepped up to point out that hearsay is involved in nega tive Blazer reports. The Oregonian’s Katy Muldoon did so in a recent article. “ESPN, Fox Sports, myriad sports talk radio programs, internet sites, magazines and newspapers devour the details and jaw away, masticating the facts and the hearsay,” Muldoon wrote, “until the next incident- there always is one- gives them something new upon which to chew.” Rasheed Wallace and Damon Stoudamire are constant media tar gets. Marijuana charges have not affected either of the players on the court, so leave them alone off the court. Wallace wears his emotions on his sleeve. He represents a new gen eration of NBA players. Wallace is a passionate and highly skilled basket ball player, and the Blazers would not be the same with out his MVP type numbers. In his book “A Coach’s Life” Dean Smith, former University North Carolina head coach, describes his former player Wallace as “A wonderful young man...intel ligent and respectful.” All of this negative hearsay reporting about the Blazers is inac curate and twisted. Only the players or people involved really know what happened during these “unfortunate incidents.” At Golden State, Bonzi Wells was involved in a scuffle with the Warriors’ Chris Mills. Not even local media focused on the fact that Mills provoked the attack, during and after the contest. No one ever looks at the positive aspects of this team. Wallace’s efforts with the needy in Portland and his hometown Philadelphia are never mentioned. Damon Stoudamire donated thousands of dollars this past winter to Portland Public schools spring sports effort. Reserve center Chris Dudley runs The Dudley foundation, which has been doing great things around Portland and the rest of the league since 1994. Scottie Pippen was voted one of the NBA’s 50 greatest players. Arvydas Sabonis is a bas ketball god in Europe. Reserve guard Charles Smith has fought his way back into the NBA, after brief stardom in the early 90’s, with a work ethic that is uncommon in bas ketball these days. What about 20 plus consecutive trips to the NBA playoffs? Respect is a two way street. If the media would respect the Blazers on and off the court, things would change. Do your homework before you blast Portland’s team. Start to point out the positive things the Blazers have done for Portland bas ketball, and the community. Hate is hate no matter its face Jared Eschweiler Staff Writer A war in a far off land has the attention of the world. Many are in support of it; others are adamantly opposed to it. Its proponents bill it as a war against evil. Its detractors claim that to wage this war is evil in itself. Whatever one’s views are, what is happening is real. People are fighting and dying. Unbeknownst to most people an evil within our own land, on American soil, has been revived. Its evil and influence are subtle; most people are blissfully unaware that it is even happening. This beast, this evil, or plague if you will, is hate. It is intolerance, it is discrimination, it is persecution, it is the beast called racism. The current war has caused a rise in racism that is noticeable to the watchful. It is seen within humor, news media, television, radio; & lit erature. Although it may seem enter taining, it is not right to laugh at another’s race, nationality, or cul ture. In essence everyone is guilty of this crime, whether they are telling these jokes and stories, or standing by in silence while they are told. It needs to be stressed to the people of Have some fun now, groceries can wait Shadra Beesley Editor-in-Chief/ Copy Editor The world of higher education is unlike any other; no where else does such a large group of people live on less time, less money, less sleep, and yet have more fun. As a third year college student, I feel I have finally begun to under stand a thing or two about living the college life. Budgeting, scheduling, socializing: these are all things I have mastered. I’m lying, of course. Just the other day I was faced with a difficult budgeting decision. I discovered that Guster, one of my favorite bands, was coming to the Crystal Ballroom. I carefully ana lyzed my financial situation, and concluded that I could either buy groceries of two tickets to the show. After painstakingly weighing the pros and cons of both situations and coming up with a strategic game plan I left Ringler’s Pub proudly carrying two tickets and figuring I could live on the stale chips and- macaroni and cheese from last month’s trip to the grocery store for at least another week. This type of mind-bending puzzle is the sort of problem that we college students have to deal with every day. It’s a wonder the majority of the pop ulation makes it out of college alive. But rest assured that I, your dedicat ed columnist and reliable source of sage advice, will not starve to death from lack of entertainment. For the next eight weeks I will help guide you to. a successful col lege career. With each issue of The Print I will trickle the important issues that face college students including car trouble, relationships and those paper things they put on coffee cups to keep them from burn ing your hands and prevent them from actually fitting in the cup hold er in your car. I will share stories that will impart wisdom, invoke sympa thy, and change lives. Or at least give the reader a good hearty laugh at my expense, this nation that racism is wrong in all its forms. Hate is hate no matter its face. Racist jokes, though they may be entertaining, are not funny to everyone, and many may find your words offensive. “Nothing brings people together more than mutual hatred,” said Henry Rollins. Intolerance towards Arab or Islamic people is not new, just ampli fied because of current circum stances. Rollins’ words can be applied throughout history as well. Racism has reared its ugly head in the case of the African people, the Native Americans, the Jewish peo ple, Japanese, Irish, etc. Bigotry towards these and other ethnicities still exist, but it is not amplified by present circumstances. Without perfect equality amongst all nations, kindred, tongues, and people we are doomed to continue on the path of humanity’s destruc tion. Until that great day, we can look to those who offer sound coun sel. Religious and secular leaders alike have spoken out in warning to the world. Booker T. Washington, while suf fering the slings and arrows of racism himself, remained strong in his refusal to return hatred. “I will permit no man to narrow and degrade my soul by making me hate him,” he said. Gordon B. Hinckley, president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter- day Saints, in a recent worldwide address, reminded members, “We have no quarrel with the Muslim people or with those of any other faith. We recognize and teach that all the people of the Earth are of the family of God, and he is our Father, so we are brothers and sisters with family obligations one to another. “Let us never become a party to words or works of evil concerning our brothers and sisters of the church in various nations on one side or the other. Political differences never jus tify hatred or ill will,” Hinckley said. Peace cannot be attained or main tained by force. The golden rule, “do unto others as you would have them do unto you,” is of great worth. If we can all follow this simple counsel, hatred and intolerance will have no place in our minds, hearts, or actions, and we will truly be a civilized peo ple. COMPLETE Î0BH COLLEGE DB61EÉ from Georgs E&x University * Bachelor of arts degree in management and organizational leadership (MOL) * Bachelor of arts degree in social and behavioral studies (SBS) *' Bach elor of science degree in management a nd business information systems (MBIS) Call 503-554-616S dps.geargefox.edu INFORMATION MEETINGS AT 6:30 P.M- Portland center (12753 S.W.68th Ave.) Tuesday, April 22, Thursday, May 1 and Monday, May 14 George Fox University Salem Center (2600 Pringle Road S.E.) Thursday, May 22
