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
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Sports Editor: Nie Delzell
Mark Falling, ext. 2578
Tech/Design Editor: Robb Egan
Staff Writers: Shannon Armstead,
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