O pinion
4 • T he C lackamas P rint
Undocumented immigrants: \
high price for financial aid
l
First, applicants for citizenship /
must be over 18 years of age, making/
it difficult for those who are already
Ben Maras
attending college and just recently
S taff W riter
reached adulthood, and not yet been
able to file the appropriate forms/
With the recent plummet in the
Second, one must take theOath of
economy, students are applying for Allegiance. This requires such things
financial aid at record rates-even if as a pledge to "bear arms" and serve in
they are not U.S. citizens.
the military in a time of need, some
The Oregon Legislature has passed thing which .many Americans would
a bill titled Oregon Senate Bill 10 [OR likely refuse to abide by.
S 10] saying that undocumented immi
Next, applicants must past a test of
grants can receive financial aid from U.S. history and general knowledge,
the state government. Oregon is not which the average American adult can
the first to pass such a trill; something not pass. They must also be able to
similar has already been done in sever read, write and speak the English lan
al other states, including California.
guage well. Two-thirds of the coun
Before a mob descends on the try's present citizens would be elimi
Community Center with implements nated by this requirement alone.
of destruction, let's take a step back
Furthermore, applicants must
and look at said bill.
prove they are "attached" to the ideas
OR S 10 puts several provisions on of the Constitution, a document which
who can and cannot receive aid. The seems to get walked on in this country
student must have spent three consec more than the New York sidewalks. In
utive years living in the States with a addition, they must show "good moral
parent or legal guardian, while attend character," as if we, as Americans, are
ing secondary school in the state ones to talk about moral character.
which they intend to attend college. Last, but not least, applicants must be
The students must have a high school residents of the U.S.
diploma, or similar degree. The stu
There, in essence, is the point of the
dent must also and most importantly, bill. One can be a U.S. resident without
intend to become a U.S. citizen, which being a citizen, because one must spend
will be decided case by case.
time in the U.S. before they are allowed
After one reads the bill, it becomes the citizenship status. It is these people,
apparent that the Oregon government who are pending in the system, for
only wants to help those who deserve whom OR S 10 was created
assistance, and not just anyone who
On this reason alone, we must be
wants some free money, making the able to see that the Oregon govern
bill seem less unreasonable.
ment really has not gone insane. In
But why, one may ask, would fact, it is only taking crucial steps
someone go through all the work to towards helping those who, because of
apply for financial aid as an illegal their U.S. education, might someday
immigrant, when they can skip all that become doctors who save lives or
and just apply for citizenship? For teachers educating the world, or legis
that, we must see what is involved in lators who make tomorrow a more
becoming a citizen (courtesy of promising future for our children and
www.immigration.gov).
grandchildren.
O ctober 29, 2003
Co EditorJnzChjefsi V/eekly, Column
Shed just one tear for Papa
How much emotional stress
can a man take before he breaks
down and he needs a shoulder to
cry on?
Some may argue it all
depends on the person. Others
may argue it depends on the situ
ation. Sometimes it takes a spe
cial day to make someone realize
how much one can take before
crying. For me that day was
Sunday, October 19 when my
father had a heart attack.
One of the first responsibili
ties that I have to take on is my
father’s role as a father. Being
in the hospital, he was
unable to maintain the
household as normal. My
little sister Kayle, who is
13 and a top worry to my
dad, now became the
majority of my fret. The
next top responsibility that
I had was my job for The
Print. Maintaining my job as
co editor-in-chief stayed in my
mind and in my schedule.
Back to my family. The
Wednesday after everything
began, I read an instant message
that was between Kayle and a
friend of hers. She had written
phrases like “I want to blast my
head off with a shotgun” and “I
am going to run away for few
days.” Afraid and concerned for
her health, I called my brother
Kyle who informed the school
that I would be down to pick her
up immediately.
The next night I came home to
discover a bottle of beer missing
out of the refrigerator. Thinking
nothing of it, I dropped the sub
ject and tried not to worry about
it Until the next morning, that is,
when I peeked into my sister’s
room to find the empty bottle sit
ting on her desk. Fear struck my
heart and I was worried she had
tried to do something stupid, so I
confronted her. She informed me
she did it because of a dare. I was
not happy with what happened,
but considering the circum
stances
and how hard everything had
been on my family, I decided to
just let it go.
Through all the time my
father was in the hospital, when I
was worried for everyone else’s
health, I never stopped to worry
about my pain. From the very
first day I saw my dad white as a
ghost, lying in that hospital bed,
never once did I cry. I was always
taught to be strong and not to
show emotions. Sleep became
unnecessary and I drew back
from school and friends.
Twenty-four hours a day, all I
could think about was, “Why
can’t I be there for my dad?”
Finally, after four days in the
Critical Care Unit, he was able to
get out of bed and walk. Later
that day they moved him into a
regular room. At last I was able
to feel at ease about my father,
but a new emotion was hitting
me, the “I want my daddy” emo
tion. Home never felt right.
There was a heavy emptiness that
only he could fill. Music could
n’t drown it out and working
harder didn’t make it fade.
Friday, when my dad was
released from the hospital, a
wave of joy swept over me.
Just knowing my dad would
be healthy once again made
me ecstatic; having him back
in the house felt just like old
times. This was the time when
it was okay to relax. This was
the time when I needed a shoul
der to cry on. That shoulder
belonged to my closest family
member, my Heavenly Father.
A family always pulls togeth
er in a time of crisis. They must
leave any hate or dismay behind
them and focus on the person in
need. Sometimes it’s the least
likely person that steps in and
takes charge. And those people
are the ones who need the
biggest hugs.
Ex-carniesz elephant breath, broken daybeds hinder editor's quest for true love
Cory Price
Co E ditor - in -C hief
Let me tell you why my life
sucks.
Ever since the dawn of mankind,
there has been a special bond
between
man
and
woman.
Unfortunately, I have missed out on
this bonding experience. Instead, I
have been burdened with a streak of
bad luck, learning a profound lesson
of who not to date.
My lesson began when I discov
ered the newest addition for the
Mattel line of Barbie dolls.. .Bi-polar
Brittany. She will be based upon a
girlfriend who could never make up
her mind.
It all started on a Monday.
Brittany and I went for a walk around
her cul-de-sac to discuss our roman
tic interests. Halfway into our walk,
she turned and asked if she could kiss
me, and I obliged. After a wonderful
couple minutes of tonsil hockey, she
asked if I would be her boyfriend.
Again I obliged.
A month later, I sat down to have
a heart-to-heart talk with my friend
Damon, who revealed to me an inter
esting bit of information. He told me
that the day before Brittany and I
began to date, he had also engaged in
a bout of tonsil hockey—with the
same girl! Which wouldn’t have
been a big deal, except they had a
rematch the day after we began to
date. Needless to say, I ended that
relationship immediately.
The next relationship started off
normal.
I picked up Mandy for our first
date five minutes early, met her fam
ily and siblings, then took her to a
local restaurant for dinner. Then it
was back to my house for “dessert”
and a wholesome family comedy.
We had made the mistake of sit
ting on the daybed. She leaned in for
a kiss and, being the nice guy that I
am, I just couldn’t refuse such an
offer.
That was when the relationship
started to sour. The edge of the mat
tress gave way and dumped me on
the floor, thus hurting my shoulder
and ending the night. The next morn
ing, I received a phone call notifying
me that I was never allowed to call
her again.
Fortunately, my life soon led me
leave Oregon for a while.
Generally moving to a new state
means meeting new friends. One
person that I met was named Desiree.
We got along like peas and carrots
until I moved in with her family. Her
father was an ex-carnival worker and
I thank my lucky stars that he didn’t
own a gun.
Otherwise I might have died on
the night he took me aside and con
fronted me about taking advantage of
their hospitality. The next day I was
on a one-way flight home. I left
Missouri with this life lesson: Never
date the daughter of an ex-camie.
Not having any luck in the real
world, I decided to test the waters of
cyberspace. I posted my photo on a
singles web page. Just a week later, I
received an email from a girl named
Allie wanting to go out for a date. I
suggested an afternoon stroll through
the Washington Park Zoo.
It only took a half hour into the
date for me to realize an elephant’s
breath would smell better than hers.
Can anyone say tic-tac? Accepting
the fact that this was our last date, I
deleted her number from my phone
after leaving for my imaginary
appointment.
Two months later the tides of
dating turned on me when my friend
Jake invited me to accompany him
as his wingman on a blind date.
Upon arriving at the designated
meeting place, much to my surprise,
Jake’s blind date was elephant
breath Allie!
This has taught me two lessons.
One, you should always have a pack
of tic-tacs on hand. Two, I have no
luck fishing in the cyberspace dating
pool.
Tune in next week for the continuing
saga of Cory’s quest for love.
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