Image provided by: Clackamas Community College; Oregon City, OR
About The Clackamas print. (Oregon City, Oregon) 1989-2019 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 28, 2004)
N ews 2 • T he C lackamas P rint J anuary 28, 2004 ^■Loas. Tax hike faces voters on Feb. 3 Frank Jordan T he C lackamas P rint Oregon voters will get a chance next week to vote on another tax increase proposed by the Oregon Legislature in the form of Ballot Measure 30, which, if passed, would add a surcharge onto person al income taxes for the next three years. The Oregon Legislature hashed out a plan that would raise approxi mately $800 million in new revenue during last year’s session. The legis lature struggled during the session in the wake of ever-decreasing rev enues to balance the 2001-03 budg et. After making sufficient cuts to balance that budget, lawmakers faced à dire situation when it came to the 2003-05 budget. Revenues continued to plummet and the legislature saved about $1 billion through freezing salaries and other budget cuts. The legislature was in a stalemate, however, when it came to finding revenue sources to make up the shortfall. In the end, a group of moderate Republicans rebelled against their party leader ship and joined state Democrats to pass a package of tax increases. Shortly thereafter, opponents went out and gathered twice the required number of valid signatures to place the tax package before vot ers on the Feb. 3 ballot. Measure 30 supporters say that schools and state services will suffer greatly if the measure fails. Failure could mean even more students per classroom and the threat of anoth er shortened school year at the K- 12 level. Thousands of working poor could lose benefits under the / Oregon Health Plan, and low-level criminals may not be prosecuted due to overloaded courts. / Measure 30 opponents say that the sheer size of the tax increase is outrageous and excessivpf Oregon voters have a history of voting down tax increases and the short time that it took signature gatherers to collect enough signatures- only proves that point. Higher taxes, opponents say, will have a negative impact on how the state can climb out of its- current economic downturn. Even though the income tax increase is tempo rary, many of the corporate tax changes are permanent and this could adversely affect how business is conducted in the state. The temporary tax changes include a graduated income tax assessment for the next three years based on how much money a per son makes, ranging from a 1 per cent assessment on incomes between $10,000 and $19,999 to a 9 percent assessment for those who make $120,000 or more Measure 30 would also extend cigarette tax of $0.10 per pack until Jan. 1,2006, as well as defer 20 percent of cer tain corporate tax credits until 2006 and reduce deductions for divi dends received by corporations from 70 percent to 35 percent until 2006. The permanent tax changes include the following: altering the age in which seniors can take their medical expense deductions and reducing the percentage of those deductions that a person can take; eliminating deductions for certain types of business vehicles; increas ing the minimum tax on corpora- (D o co O O AZZ reports are taken from CCC’s campus safety incident logs. Summaries are edited for clarity, not content 1-21-04 9:08 p.m. Auto theft reported by Russian speaking person, called CCOM for inter preter. 1-21-04 10:06 p.m. Oregon City officer on site, used telephone to assist for information for theft on a black Nissan Pathfinder from Barlow Parking lot. 1-22-04 8:55 a.m. Staff reported backpack stolen from bookstore. 1-22-04" CORY PRICE C lackamas P rint dons from $10 to between $250 and $5,000, depending On sales; and reducing the discount that property owners can get by paying their property taxes early. If Measure 30 fails at the ballot box next week, state law requires 10:20 a.m. that $544.6 million in budget cuts be enacted for the 2003-05 budget biennium. Those cuts will include $298.9 million for education, $187.6 million for healthcare and human services and $58.1 million for pub lic safety services. White male adult reported his vehicle was almost hit twice by speeding vehicles. Speech and Debate team brings home 21 awards at tournament Shannon Armstead T he C lackamas P rint The Clackamas Speech team brought home 21 awards and placed first in community colleges and sec ond out of two and four-year colleges combined, in their first tournament of the term last weekend. The team suited up as they joined 12 other colleges and universities form Oregon and Washington, pre pared to make their best impressions while debating current events and delivering their speeches with flare. Clackamas students expressed their excitement for performing their speaking events after a long winter break. “I love debating, and I love giving speeches,” said Clackamas team member Alisa Poul. Poul had the opportunity to exhibit her communication skills, tak ing home two first place awards for her dramatic and persuasive speeches. “This was the first time I had given my dramatic, and my persuasive is close to home because it is about the environment, so I was excited to receive awards for both [these events],” said Poul. Emily McCoy and Mathew Blythe of Clackamas won second place for their duo speech after performing it for the first time at the tournament. Standing next to each other and look ing in opposite directions, they put emotion and humor into their inter pretation of an intelligent intern looking for a job from a lazy politi cian. John Westray won first place in novice extemporaneous speaking, an event that gives the speaker 30 min utes to prepare a speech on a given current event. “Extemporaneous speaking is fun and interesting because it gives you the opportunity to state your opinion in a credible manner,” said Westray. Some students, however, are forced to argue against their own opinions or lose the round. “During one of our [debate] rounds, our opponents said they could not refute the arguments [my partner and I] gave because they agreed with them, they then went'on to argue it anyway. I think we won by default,” said first time debater Kamie Thrall. Clackamas Speech and Debate Coaches Kelly Brennan and Chris Edwards were largely.responsible for making the PSU tournament possible. According to Brennan, the PSU speech and debate team is com pletely student-run and PSU students would have been unable to run a tournament without the help of pro fessionals. PSU students called Edwards to see if he and Brennan were available. “Our coaches made it happen,” said Thrall. “Everything went smoothly and we expect to see even more schools take part in [the PSU] tournament next year,” said Brennan. Contraception and General Women’s Care Women’s Health Center of CONTRIBUTED PHOTO Team member John Westray won first place in novice extemporaneous speaking. DO YOU HAVE WHAT IT TAKES TO EARN THE GREEN BERET? • Routine Gynecological Care • fcrth Control Options ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ • STD Screenings If your answer is yes, then the United States Army has a unique opportunity for you • Prenatal Care Oregon - to become a Special Forces Soldier - a Green Beret. You’ll learn from some of the best Soldiers anywhere, and put your new skills to work in duty stations around the world. It takes plenty of hard work to earn the green beret, but the pride you’ll feel when you wear it for the first time will make it all worthwhile. 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