C ommentary
4 « T he C lackamas P rint
Do you think
Oregon
should
switch to
self-service
“It would
make us
independent
creatures in
the gas
pumping
world.
Mindy
Crouchley
I think it’s
rather odd. I
feel nice that
I’m being
served, but
possibly our
gas prices
would be
lowered.
Clare
Gunn
“[Attendant
service] cre
ates jobs and
if S probably
safer; it’s
quicker and
easier from a
consumer
perspective.
Sabastian
I in in el
Price jump drives gas debat
Josh
Lynch
i
“If it lowers
the rates, sure.
How about a
lane where
you have the
option?”
p
Donovan
Effray
The monster of obesity is attack
ing our state, evidenced by the fact
that Oregonians can’t even pump
Cory Price
their own gas; this has to stop.
E ditor - in -C hief
According to Mel Kohn, M.D.,
Oregon is the fattest state west of
the Rockies. Almost sixty percent of Oregonians arc overweight or obese.
The cause is a lack of exercise, better known as the lazy bug. It’s common
knowledge that a person needs thirty minutes of exercise per day to main
tain a healthy lifestyle. Changing the state ban on self-pumping could help
us create a healthier population.
If we could get out and pump our own gas, we could often finish the
job and be on our way before the attendant approaches the car. In this
scenario, not only docs the driver create five extra minutes in the day but
also gets five minutes of exercise.
Currcndy 48 states are saving time by having consumers pump their
own gas, leaving Oregon and New Jersey battling for the tide of laziest
state in the union.
Still there arc skeptics about the idea of touching a gas pump. Websites
offer reasons like, “Oregonians wouldn’t know how to pump their own
gas,” or “I t wouldn’t save time because a person has
to go inside to pay.”
The first argument can be discounted with a look
at Oregon’s high school graduation rate. In 2000, it
was 80 percent. It follows that most of these grad
uates can learn how to operate a gas pump.
The answer to the second argument is called “pay
at the pump.” Step one: remove debit card from wal
let Step two: insert card into slot. Step three: begin
pumping. This simple, process eliminates any wait
inside. .
Be excited; there is hope for all of us who want to
save money and cannot afford to pay $2.05 a gallon.'
There is a bill in Salem right now to decide whether
to maintain Oregon’s ban on self-pumping, If it
passes, if will retain a portion of the current jobs for
those who arc unable to pump their own gas. For
example, the law stares that those over 55 and people
with disabled parking passes do not need to pump
their own gas. The bill also provides an exception for
people who have, a medical condition that makes
them unable to.be around gas fumes.
So doesn’t this idea make for a happv wofkl? The '
elderly can have that cute lad pump fheitsgas, while
those who are 54 and under get to pump their own
gas and save some money.
The dominant reason for passing this bill is the
speed, or lack thereof, at the pump. A person would
no longer have to sit at the pump waiting for Joe
Schmo to lollygag over. Instead, people would be
able to jump out, pump their gas and be. on their way.
Ixt New Jersey be the laziest state in the country by
allowing Oregonians to pump their own gas. We’ll
save time; We’ll save money, and ultimately, we’ll save
our own health.
19600 S Molalla Ave.
Oregon City, OR 97045
(503) 657-6958 ext. 2309
The Clackamas Print is a weekly student
publication and is distributed every
Wednesday except during finals week.
No matter how fluster;
arc at being gouged in the p<
book at the pump, taking
Ben Maras
someone’s job is not the p
pinion E ditor
way to deal with it and tl
exactly what self-pumping do
While the theory in itself may not be a bad idea, when it is ii
mented it causes more harm than good. Technology is expc
Gommon sense dictates that it costs more to maintain high-tech,
putcrized machines than it does for standard machines —just cor
new cars to older ones for example. Also, the people it takes to i
such machines cost considerably more than the normal repairm;
When these costs add up, it negates the savings of not having
high school kid pump our gas and explains why self-pumping]
only a few cents cheaper at the most, and in some cases slight! \
expensive.
Now what about that high school kid? Because of our grec
would be out of a job. One of the few jobs that cannot be out-so
would now be taken over by a computer. This is only a giant step
wards for society. With the economy in the dismal shape that i
now more than ever we need entry-level
that can be filled by people het
■ America—hot overseas.
, What jobs such as this do is provide i
form for high-schoolers, or someone!
needs another job to make ends met
someone who is just coming off uneni
ment. By cutting these jobs away, we arc
dering the ability of people to be what the
be. Most dectint people would gladly pay]
or two more if it means keeping somcon
welfare.
With all this said, there is one ridicui
‘ simple and common sense thing we can i
to keep ourselves from getting shafted b
oil: Don’t.use as much fuel. This could!
anything from getting a tune-up to having.
•- car converted to a hybrid (something A
g vehicles should be). Diesel engines can lx
verted to run on cooking oil (read next
for the full story on that). Think of al
i things one can do and buy to make a ca
- smoother! and morc^fficientl^-m
; We also cbuld find out what is tithes
with the nine-tenths of a cent on thi
prices—the tenth of a penny that wo
get back, because the tenth gets round
to a whole cent, even though we shout
a penny back for every ten gallons ol
we buy. How much docs that add up i
Just because oil companies may be
ging the motorist with their insanely
prices doesn’t mean that we in turn lit
bludgeon the working class to save :
pennies.
by JESSE LAMOND
C lackamas P rint
Rolling backpacks cause monster
Hilliary Ferguson
T he C lackamas P rint
For years, the badge of a student was a
crooked, slouching back. We all suffered for
our majors; slumping under the weight of
ridiculously heavy books. However, some stu
dents have no sense of common decency and
continually aggravate the rest of us with the
rat-tat-tat of their plastic wheels.
Once offered solely in luggage, rollers are
now readily available on, backpacks, much to
the chagrin of regular students. Every day—
every day—they’re out there, rolling their bags,
disturbing the peace The sound jackhammers
into every crevice on campus and ricochets off
every building. Just one student with one roller
bag sounds like a simple air raid; the racket
created by many resembles Pearl Harbor.
One day, I was enjoying the serenity of a
sunny afternoon, and all of a sudden, I heard
them coming. To my left I noticed a caravan
of 20 people, a rainbow of nursing students in
varying scrubs. Behind them, wheels of thun
der. Not one of them had a conventional
backpack—not one!
As I wondered if this was a prerequisite for
the nursing program, 1 realized how a family
T he
C lackamas P rint
Self-service saves little
money, destroys jobs
Save time, money with
self-pumping stations -
P hoto I llustration
I have a bet
ter idea: offer
an island for
self-service,
then a couple
with an atten
dant.”
M ay 5
Co Editors-in-Chief:
Cyndce Mady and Cory Price
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on the open plains must feel when faced with
a stampede of bison. The sound must cer
tainly break some sort of noise ordinance, but
who’s going to complain about a group of
students dutifully walking to class? 1 am, that’s
who!
(dome on, guys, give up the roller bags;
Unless you can legitimately cash in on a senior
discount at Burgeryillc, carry your bags like
the rest of us. Get a locker! Gould 1 go around
campus, screeching like a madman? At least
acting like cx-prcsidcntial candidate Howard
Dean is entertaining. Disrupting the
entire student body simply by walking
to class is uncalled for. '
It’s because of students like this
that 1 come off looking like a
bad guy. I don’t mean to pre
judge them, but I immediately
assume that they just might be
horribly annoying. Upon
first meeting, 1 already feel
the urge to chuck their
loathcsome instruments of
laziness up and over the
side of the courtyard. I hate
it when people make me
think irrational thoughts.
But the fault is not only
that of the students them
selves but the companies man-
Sports Editor: Nie Dclzell
Photo Editor: Jesse 1 .amond .
Sports Copy Editor:
Frank Jordan
Staff Writers: Robb Egan, Joel
Gaynor, Hilliary Ferguson, Jessica
LeClaire, Bethany Monroe, Jeff
Sorensen, Jennifer Trank
ufacturing these bags. To these 1 plead,
the love of Vishnu, please make your tin]
wheels out of rubber. My cars—they c:
take it!” A cushy rubber wheel might pul
a soothing murmur instead of the teeth j
ing atrocity committed beneath plastic«
(dan the students themselves not',
the sound their bags make? Had lj
chased a roller bag, upon first hcarin.
sound of their wheels hitting the [,
ment, 1 would have marched <»' <
Meyer, demanding a refund. Perhaps,
ing the bag behind you|
one into a dream-like
where you cannot sec ot;
what is going on around'
Perhaps this soothe^
sting of having sttul
cover their ears and s'
dirty glances wlw(
the roller bag passes;
In any event, ii lj
to have one of J
bags, I Would slowj
insane. That perpi
racket can’t be J
for the mental
My
backpack i
cause a crooked l’<
but yours causes denw
So there.
I
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