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About The Clackamas print. (Oregon City, Oregon) 1989-2019 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 19, 2003)
C ommentary 4 • T he C lackamas P rint N ovember 19, 200; Airport Security flies over the top Pete Ford O pinion E ditor Remember what it was like to be able to greet loved ones right as they were getting off of the airplane? -.With the heightened security fol lowing the tragic events of 9/11, such an occasion is only a memory. Nowadays, visitors can’t even roam the airport and watch planes when they have a little extra time. Passengers must have a board ing pass just to be able to have their carry-on bag scanned and move through the metal detector. Airports have become almost prison-like. A suspicious-looking character at the airport has no freedom, and sus picion has many prejudices. One may be deemed suspicious based on race, age, sex and even one’s cloth ing. The airport folk also have these random searches in which they can make passengers take off belts, pants, shoes and even socks. Airport personnel say that there is some structure to these random investigations and that the searches are all indiscriminate but what they mean by that is they get to choose the victims. One day I was standing in line Chiefs' Weekly Column Counselors lend an unbiased ear what the heck—it was free. I was referred to Jean De- Venney, the counselor on duty, and preceded to ramble on about iCyndee Mady my problems while she listened Co E ditor - in -C hief intently, offering advice when asked. A mere 15 minutes later, I genuinely felt better! I just need ed a friendly, unbiased ear to With midterms a memory and bend and that’s exactly what I finals fast approaching, it is easy got. to get overwhelmed with the bal “We have six professionally- ancing act of maintaining a trained counselors and they work healthy mind, body and soul. with the more emotional side of The good news is that CCC student life,” said De Venney. provides on-site counseling for “The counseling side is more the the woes of the weary. support for the students’ decision Whether you are simply hav making, clarifying their values, ing a bad day or have a childhood setting their goals and ideas on experience you’re trying to over how to manage the things that are come, the Counseling and creating barriers for them.” Advising Center is at your serv Sometimes seeing someone ice. who is a professional and impar I found out about these servic tial to the situation can offer fresh es when I mistakenly asked to see solutions that may not have a counselor, but what I really occurred to you before. meant was academic advisor. It also helps to hear kind and I was informed about emotion reassuring -words, providing a al counseling offered at the col boost of support necessary to lege and decided to give it a try. overcome the day’s afflictions. After all, I’d been in an unshake According to DeVenney, she able funk for about a week, and helps people with a wide variety Trevor Coffee Josh Spirlin “It’s weird because they get to choose who they want to put down and check out, giving them the power to discriminate against whoever they want.” T he C lackamas P rint 19600 S Molalla Ave. Oregon City, OR 97045 (503) 657-6958 The Clackamas Print is a weekly student publication and is distributed every Wednesday except during finals week. “I haven’t had a problem with it. I think they are a little tighter than they have been, but I don’t notice it being-over the top. I think it’s getting better.” of problems, from stress manage ment, relationship problems and communication problems to sub stance abuse, domestic violence and eating disorders. “What is said in our offices doesn’t go outside these doors unless there is a potential threat to self or others,” said DeVenney. Popularized by television shows such as “Ally McBeal” and “The Sopranos,” and movies like “Analyze This” and “Analyze That,” counseling no longer adheres to the “crazy” stigma for merly attached to it. In its place is the desire for individuals to manage their lives more effec tively, even if that means asking someone else for help. Though appointments are rec ommended, students’ moods don’t always cooperate with schedules, so drop-ins are also welcome. If you have something you would like to get off your chest, dial ext. 2213 to schedule an appointment, or simply drop by the Counseling and Advising Center. I was certainly glad I did. to get on a plane and the person directly behind me was pulled out of line and patted down like he was smuggling guns. I thought to myself, “Thank God that wasn’t me!” After they searched this man, however, the airport employee began to search the man’s little daughter, who looked to be maybe three years old. This is crossing the line. The look on the little girl’s face showed Obvious fear. She might as well have been a criminal for the way they were treating her. The man did nothing while they searched his daughter because airport employees explained to him that this was procedure. What kind of concentration camp are we creating for our selves? It is Students make the grade Pete Ford O pinion E ditor Every living human being has an opinion on the way they are treated by others; www.ratemyteachers.com lets students post their thoughts about teachers anonymously online. For those that haven’t heard of this site, it lets students rate their teachers on a scale of one to five on subjects of clarity, helpfulness and easiness. It also provides a section for comments that are first reviewed by the website creators to make sure people are not being slanderous or profane. This site has caused a major con troversy all over the United States. Some schools have even gone as far as banning the entire site from their com puters. Why is this? Are people afraid of being evaluat ed on their performance? Or do they want to hide the fact that their teaching or behavior towards some students may be unsatisfactory? Maybe they have just been rated poorly and have a new personal insecurity. At any rate, teachers should have nothing to worry about if they feel comfortable in their environment and believe that they are doing their job to the best of their ability. Negative remarks should bounce right off and teachers should realize that they know the real truth. They should take these negative comments and see them as constructive criticism, even if com ments might not be so positive. This website, unlike student report cards, is just words and numbers. It doesn’t affect the careers of people, only their feelings. Most people wouldn’t write anything negative about a person that they didn’t think deserved it. Also, in comparing the negative remarks to those of the positive variety, one can see that not all teachers rated on this site are disliked. In fact, there are many perfect scores and positive comments that emphasize all the help certain teachers have provided. Ulis site is an avenue for students to give feedback about their teachers, without having to suffer the wrath of an angry teacher. It allows students to reveal the emotions they are truly feel ing—good and bad, which they proba bly would not be able to express in nor mal conversation. Besides, no true administrator would look to this site to evaluate a teacher’s performance. They would go about it in a much more professional way, by observing the teacher’s class room and following it up with a formal evaluation based on facts, not opin ions. Those who let this site affect them in a negative way choose to let it affect them negatively. It is merely an oppor tunity for students to grade the graders and one’s true character stands out sim ply by the way they react to this site. Melissa Summerton Nokita Myers “It’s alright because since 9/11, it’s necessary to have more pro tection to make sure we’re safe.” “I think they’re a little exces sive, but I’d rather not have someone with a bomb on the plane I’m on.” Kaniie Thrall “I think it’s pretty excessive. It’s kind of scaring people more than they want” absurd to think that actions at the air port can get any worse. I understanc that we are doing our best to protec our country against terrorists, bu harassing the general public based ot personal assumptions is completelj wrong. About a month ago, I attended the annual gun show at the Portland Expc Center and saw weapons that were labeled “airport safe.” What thai meant is that these weapons could noi be detected by security at the airport. Venders actually had razor sharp plas tic and ceramic knives for sale that were intentionally made to clear the metal detectors. A terrorist will go to any means necessary to beat the system because they do not want to be searched either. Their intent is to terrorize helpless people, not to get caught. They have a point to make and feel drat violence is the only way to go about it. Most terror ists have probably thought through their options as well as the obstacles they must over come. They most likely do not want to get caught so they will find a way around all of the ridiculous procedures. Until the government comes up with some sort of detec tion system that can read every material on a person’s body and in someone’s luggage, we need to formulate a procedure that doesn’t make airplane passen gers feel like prisoners. Co Editors-in-Chief: Advertising Manager: Production Assistants: Cyndee Mady and Cory Price Copy Editor: Katie Funk News Editor: Jared Eschweiler Opinion Editor: Pete Ford Feature Editor: Karen Hill A&E Editor: Isaiah Creel Sports Editor: Nie Delzell Mark Falling, ext. 2578 Tech/Design Editor: Robb Egan Staff Writers: Shannon Armstead, Michaeli Cooper, Earl England, Shingo Izumi, Karlin Johnson, Frank Jordan, Jesse Lamond, Jessica Le Claire, Ben Maras Megan Cline, Tamie Johnson, Maggie Leniger, Shannon Nielsen, Justin Orton, Carmen Richard Adviser: Linda Vogt Department assistant: Lauren Vulsteke • Goals: The Clackamas Print aims to report the news in an honest, unbiased, professional manner. The opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the student body, college administration, its faculty or The Print. Email comments to chiefed@clackamas.edu. The Clackamas Print © 2003
