^otynmentary October 20, 2004
th^LACKAMA^fifit;
t at our rally!
jntroversial T’s set teachers the boot
Maras
its heart. Maybe this would be a
laughing matter if it weren’t for
the irony of the fact that they were
wearing shirts specifically advo-
despite the fact that he has pro
claimed that he does not listen to
public opinion. They did not feel
i seems a day cannot pass
represented, and they took it upon
aut yet another
themselves to
iy liberal trouble
bring democra
dr stirring up mis-
cy to the leader,
rather than the
' — how dare
Is* A week does not
leader bringing
r when some sub
democracy to
Ave organization
the people.
the “school
The
/ps”) break into
system of rep
; laving valid tick-
resentative gov
i a Bush rally,
ernment which
a/ to promote their
we practice in
less Communist
America seeks
ballistic” propa-
to find the per
ia, such as “pro-
fect
balance
our civil liber-
between true
e'
■ i
democracy and
his is ; exactly
an aristocracy,
happened when
which can only
Internet Photo
t Medford school
work if the peo
The three teachers model the ‘outrageous’ shirts.
lers infiltrated
ple’s feelings
front lines of the Republican eating the protection of our civil are represented
iliring at the Jackson County liberties.
(go figure). This balance is just as
¡rounds, wearing t-shirts with
The three educators admittedly important—if not more so—than
hrase “protect our civil liber- had worn the shirts to get a stir out the system of checks and balances
non the front. Talk about parti- of the GOP. After being angered between the Executive, Judicial,
rdrivel! The three got what by peaceful protestors being and Legislative branches we learn
p to them, though; they got kicked out of Bush rallies, they about in school.
:d out of the rally for having decided to do a little test of their
When the system starts to fall
cene” messages on their own, with a perfectly neutral and out of step with itself it becomes
universal American theme such as time for a change. If America has
slaybe this situation would be a the protection of civil liberties. been reduced to the point that inci
fling matter, if it weren’t for Little did they know how well dents like this seem to indicate, it
often such things tend to hap- their plan would work.
is time that change must come, and
in this wonderful countiy
Their intent was to bring their it must be either a change made by
h holds free speech so close to message to the President ... the president, or by the people.
? Clackamas Print
few speed bumps overkill
e Piazzisi
? Clackamas Print
ampus
speed
as: useful, or just
alt hell? First let’s
< at the facts. The
d bumps measure
a be 25ffeet wide by
jet tall! I may or may
le off by a couple of
as. Let’s (face it, the
!;s are ginormous
irmous: when some-
t is giant and enor-
p at the same time),
for one believe that
peed bumps are a fit-
lit overkill. I myself
to purchase a com
ity separate vehicle
o be able to come to school. I
urse found out the hard way.
drove to CCC in my 240z, so
Id register for the fall term, as
as get any information I
d need so I could start my
college term. Pulling into the
lng lot, I came upon a speed
) that I couldn’t even see over,
went at it at an angle, just like
didn’t register for school that day.
A couple of days later, from the
safety of my home, I registered
online. I was now left with the
challenge of finding a
new vehicle. One that
could climb moun
tains—I mean CCC
speed bumps! Then the
list of cars that could do
this started scrolling
through my head. My
first thought was a tank!
No, a Caterpillar—wait,
no, an Hl! Shortly after
that thought I realized
that I had a budget.
Sorry, you won’t see me
strolling around campus
with a tank any time
Photo Illustration by Joel Gaynor Clackamas Print
soon.
got out to see what the problem
I’m happy to say I now have a
was. I slowly approached the front car that is speed bump compatible;
to find that the bumper was resting I just have to go over the speed
on the speed bump. If my bumper bumps at 4 mph. If you want to see
couldn’t make it over, how would my new car, all you have to do is
the rest of the car? I got back in the go out to the parking lot and find
car and eased off the clutch, giving the baddest vehicle out there. Then
it a little gas. The sound came right go down four cars and over two
back. At that point, I turned around rows; I’m parked over there some
and went home. Needless to say, I where.
everyone else does, when I heard
metal scratching and fiber glass
scraping.
Naturally, I stopped the car and
Procreation shouldn’t
be the ultimate point
■Hilary Feraasan
With the recent hubbub sur
rounding gay marriage and a
certain unfair constitutional
amendment, one main defending
argument focuses on a gay cou
ple’s inability to procreate. This,
in one word, is ridiculous. With
the state of the world as of late,
we should be commending the
gay community for not having
children.
Until the agricultural revolu
tion, the world population hov
ered around a mere 10 million.
Then came the plow and the
population began to grow signif
icantly. In 1800, the count
reached a whopping one billion,
and in only 200 years since the
count has exploded to over six
billion—and the growth isn’t
about to slow.
price? What kind of life will our
children have if everyone pops
out four or five of the ankle
biters? There are so many chil
dren who will never know a
family, yet we have our own.
Maybe we should ensure the
lives of die children which exist
now, instead of throwing more
into an unstable situation.
Still, some people argue that
there’s nothing one can do once
they’re pregnant. Here’s an idea:
don’t get freakin’ pregnant in the
first place! Take it from me, it’s
not that hard. It’s this magical
little thing called the birth con-
i trol pill—-take it.
Let’s take this one step fur
ther. Maybe China had it right
when "they mandated that fami
lies could only have one child;
that would definitely slow the
population boom.
Here’s another suggestion: a
Ißt fruitful and maltiplq...
Now divide.
Now, turn your attention to
the thousands, if not millions, of
parentless children around the
world. Many of them spend their
youth never knowing the emo
tional stability of a loving fami
ly. Some are bounced from fos
ter home to foster home. Still
worse, some of these children
are sold into sweatshops or
forced into prostitution as young
as 7 or 8, boy or girl.
This being said, I am able to
make my point: people shouldn’t
be procreating.
Within the next century, the
population is expected to reach
10 billion! This means more
housing developments, wider
freeways, less agriculture and
less oil. If you thought rush hour
was a hassle now, just imagine
another couple billion people
trying to merge into your lane. It
is still undetermined if the cur
rent agricultural system is going
to be capable of feeding every
one.
When I see a family of more
than two or three kids, I see a
selfish family. Yes, we all want
to have children, but at what
parenting license. The govern
ment makes us take classes and a
test to do the easiest of tasks,
such as fishing and driving, yet
they’ll let any old idiot get
knocked up. Parenting takes a
lot more effort and expertise
than rowing a boat to the middle
of the river and casting a line.
What’s even more infuriating
is that some people have kids
specifically for the tax breaks.
The government should punish
families for having more than
one biological child. (This
would exclude multiples, such
as twins.) Perhaps, then, people
would think twice before decid
ing not to wear a condom.
Methods of birth control
should be made cheaper and
more accessible to the public.
This could also prevent thou
sands of unwanted births.
I’d like to leave you with one
final thought: a child is a privi
lege, not a right. The govern
ment insists on dictating every
other aspect of our lives, so why
not the one that makes the most
impact on the life of not only the
child, but the world in general?
| Opinion Editor
oting can be overwhelming, but don't let that stop you
*The following article originally appeared in the October 17 issue of The Oregonian. Trista Cornelius is an English Instructor at CCC. *
rlstalc o rne I ius
ntributing Writer
y the time I turned 18, I’d been
it that voting was my civic
and choosing not to vote was
r shameful. So I voted during
10s, but I voted ignorantly and
puch of the ballot blank.
joking back, I realize I thought
isn’t smart enough to vote,
ips that’s one reason why the
:ntage of twenty-somethings
g is so low.
uring my first college semes-
ny philosophy professor asked
raise our hands if we voted for
sure 5, which limited property
i and shifted the responsibility
finding schools to the state in
ised my hand proudly, not
because I believed in the measure
I’d voted for, but because I’d voted,
and that’s what I thought mattered.
My professor looked disappointed
ly at those raised hands. I’ve since
had more than a decade to learn
how Measure 5 rocked the founda
tion of Oregon’s public schools.
I was too embarrassed then to
admit I didn’t really understand the
measure. When I could have been
organizing voter parties during col
lege, gathering other young voters
to discuss the issues, I was hiding in
my bedroom trying futilely to read
the Voters’ Pamphlet.
Near the end of my 20s, my
embarrassment about barely voting
finally overcame my shame about
not feeling smart enough to vote.
Now, in my early 30s, I have a sys
tem.
Last week, I ran into my philos
ophy professor from 10 years ago.
We fell into a discussion about vot
ing. I suggested that maybe the
Voters’ Pamphlet is a bit hard to
read. He agreed, “Oh, yes.”
He said he thinks many people
make their decisions based solely
on the Voters’ Pamphlet’s one-page
summary because the onslaught of
all the other media becomes over
whelming. I sighed a bit of refief
and agreed witii him because I’m
one of those very people.
Then I dared to explain my vot
ing method. During an election sea
son, I leave the Voters’ Pamphlet
out on the coffee table. Even
though often exhausted and frus
trated, I read a little bit each
evening, making notes and drafting
my decision before penciling it in
permanently on the mail-in ballot.
(My passionate-about-politics
husband has helped tremendously
in this process, starting with a dia
gram of the three branches of gov
ernment during a commercial one
night, not letting me feel ridiculous
for not already understanding this.)
My former professor said he
practices a similar method, as if this
arduous way of voting is normal,
expected even.
I don’t know if current twen
tysomethings feel the same as me,
but voting seemed like a duty to
perform as a citizen, like stopping
for a red fight. Somehow, the rigor
ous intellectual exertion voting can
require hadn’t been described to
me. I thought if I was unable to sit
down and fill out the ballot like an
easy pop quiz, I must not be smart
enough to vote.
Voting is talked about as if it is
the most natural role of a citizen,
like jury duty. But it’s not easy. We
don’t all understand the systems we
five within, and as they grow more
intricate, some of us fall behind and
are afraid to admit it.
I’m a natural-bom citizen but
I’m thinking about taking a citizen
ship class. My husband dreams of
launching a civic literacy founda
tion to engage tentative voters with
doughnuts, coffee and workshops
about the issues and candidates.
Maybe it all starts witii sitting
around the coffee table each
evening before the election dead
line, reading the Voters’ Pamphlet,
checking local newspaper endorse
ments, then making one careful,
conscientious decision at a time.