Clackamas Print
fa opinion ofThe Clackamas Print editorial board
\SG should end
jar on candidacy
'onstitution addition stifles democratic pro
ws, breeds apathy, low voter turnout
fhe following is an editorial written by, and expressing the opinion
the majority ofThe Clackamas Print editorial staff. As such it is left
signed.
the student government debates last week, presidential hopefill
u Lussier said something that should strike a chord with students.
“I’m amazed how much the [ASG] president’s job does for students,”
said, “meeting with various organizations and standing up for stu
nts’ rights.”
The student government, and in particular the ASG president, plays
invaluable role in campus politics, representing as they do the interests
al] the students at Clackamas. It is because of their unquestionable
Motion to students that an amendment to section five of the “Bylaws of
¡ASGCCC Constitution” is so troubling.
Section five states:
any person running must serve at least two terms on Student
udership (CCC Student Government and CCC Student Ambassadors)
to to position.”
Hie amendment was made during Spring Term 2005. This is the first
JG presidential election under the new guidelines.
While the amendment may have been passed with good intentions,
believe it will have a damaging side-effect on the elections. This is
¡second election in a row with an uncontested run for the president
sition, and voter turnout last year was smaller than the enrollment of
he classes.
There seems to be a surprising lack of concern as to why students are
[voting. This creates problems for campus workings, because as with
)p, politics needs to be stirred up to prevent spoiling.
! Anyone can join ASG. However, they are not elected in by the student
fy Instead they apply and are approved by the current ASG officials,
e amendment to the ASG bylaws creates an institutional block against
esh” candidates, because in order to be eligible to run (by previously
ng a part of ASG) they must be selected by the previous ASG officers,
is way the choice is selectively limited to those approved by student
It makes sense that student government wants Someone with experi-
X in leadership as president; after all, experience is something to be
¿red in a leader. But this cannot get in the way of a free election, for if
t principle is lost a feeling of apathy and disassociation is bred, which
heritably bad for both the students and ASG.
One of the issues addressed by the presidential and vice presidential
¿dates during last week’s forum is that much of the campus is not
a aware of their existence. If a well-contested election were held,
te issues would be subject to debate and students would have more of
opportunity to learn what ASG does and what they stand for.
But more importantly this would keep the student body from feeling
gotten. If students are allowed to directly oppose and take part in the
ideal process, they would feel better connected to their government
While no easy solutions to appease both sides are apparent yet, dis-
¡One price of democracy is that occasionally those without experi-
x or even ability will be elected to important offices. We at The
ickamas Print believe that this price, while often heavy, is an integral
t of ensuring that the voice of the student body, the entire student body,
sard when it matters most
Letters to the editor can be directed to
chiefed@clackamas.edu, or dropped
off in RR135 on a floppy
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Declare huntins season on loan sharks
. Ben Maras
| Editor-in-Chief
In the shortest session on record, the Oregon
Legislature passed into law a handful of statutes that
were met with little to no opposition last Thursday. Of
them, two are worth special attention.
The first involved tougher sentences for sex offend
ers against children, and was sure to pass from the get-
go. The second places tighter regulations on “payday
loans,” - although it does not go far enough.
Payday loan operations (also known as paycheck
advances or cash advances) are privately run short
term lenders that charge borderline usurious interest
rates to those who fall on hard times.
For years this economic hammer-lock
has been the rfecessary evil (emphasis on
the “evil” part) of millions of working
families who experience an unforeseen
hardship, or even worse, use them to make
ends meet and buy things as simple as
milk for their kids.
Now Oregon has done something
about it-sort of.
Although this is a strong step forward
for Oregon, the text of the bill falls short
of impressive, and does more to disgust
the citizen with the kinds of practices that
the legislature previously allowed to be
perpetrated by these companies.
The bill’s first change sets a maximum
rate of interest at 36 percent. This is by far
the most impressive move by the legis
lature, for a reason best summed up by a
payday loan operator himself.
Expecting to be risen up on shoulders
and championed as a prince of a man,
one owner wrote in to the Oregonian last
week saying that as an act of heartfelt
misanthropy, he had already cut his inter
est rates in half - they originally stood at
more than 500 percent. Forgive me for not
applauding.
The law also limits the beginning fee
down to 10 percent of the loan total, and
specifies that no more than one fee may be
charged for the inability to pay a loan
back on time. It also limits the sort of
fees that can be charged to a person,
so that meaningless charges cannot be
tacked onto their bill. ~
Considering these moderate limi-
tations of arm-twisting by the private sector, it’s
surprising that the pro-business House Republicans
and Neofiberals passed it. While they claim that it is
an attack on freedom to conduct business, what they
seem to forget is a payday loan operation’s sole pur
pose is to exploit others for their own financial gain.
In this case, the prey is those who can afford it
least.
The state’s first job is to protect the people, espe
cially if they have become their own enemy. If a nation
can in fact be judged on how it treats its worst-off citi
zen, then protecting the rights of the fat parasite does
not reflect well on us as citizens, and as Americans.
We can only hope that this first step will not be
file last
Bush's stance on Iran is familiar
Administrations angle
on Iran carries dis
tinct Iraqi flavor
I Laura Cameron
II Commentary Editor
Is George W. Bush really
that stupid?
Noises have been coming
from the White House lately
about the possibility of mili
tary action against Iran. This
notion has been greeted with
about the level of support
that one might expect.
The problem with Iran, of
course, is that they have a
nuclear program going and
recently managed to refine a
small amount of uranium. In
the eyes of the Bush admin
istration, any country with
both a large population of
Muslims and a nuclear pro
gram is obviously working on
making nuclear weapons feno
matter how many times they
say they’re only interested in
nuclear power plants.
E ditor - in -C hief : Ben Maras
C opy E ditors : Katie Weinberg, E. E.
A d A ssistant : Helen Conley
S taff W riters : Derek Erickson,
West
Justin Goe, Elizabeth Hitz, Frank
Jordan, Mike Kimberling, Megan
Koler, Adam J. Manley Matthew
Olson, Kyle Steele, David Stark,
N. P. Delzell, Helen Conley
N ews E ditor : Katie Wilson
C ommentary E ditor : Laura Cameron
F eature E ditor : C.J. Ciaramella
S ports E ditor : Mike Guidice
A&E E ditor ; Tayo Stalnaker
P hoto E ditor : Jeff Sorensen
A d M anager : Sam Krause
Commentary 3
Wednesday, April 26, 2006
P roduction A ssistants : Adam
J. Manley, Kim Maier, Elizabeth
Let’s be clear on this: I
am not claiming that Iran’s
actions are necessarily inno
cent.
I have a hard time
trusting the word of a pres
ident who claims that the
Holocaust never happened.
But the Bush administra
tion is now taking the same
tack on Iran that it "did on
Iraq - apparently under the
impression that, if he just
changes the last letter in the
country’s name, no one will
notice him starting another
war.
But even better than
Bush’s plan to recycle Iraq
by subtracting a “q” and add
ing an “n” are some of his
ideas of how to deal with
Iran if we do attack.
For example, Bush has
the bright idea of sending
missiles against the plants
where they are enriching ura
nium. That’s right, to keep
Iran from making nukes, we
would blow up their, ura
nium. Because that’s a good
idea!
I have heard several times
now that Bush is focusing
Hitz, Chris Anderson, Scott
Risvold
P hotographers : Adam J. Manley,
Lara Hedbor, Elizabeth Hitz,
Matt Olson, N. P. Delzell
D epartment A dvisor : Linda Vogt
D epartment A ssistant : Chris Hennel
on Iran because it’s look
ing like the Republicans will
suffer in the November elec
tions, as though he thinks
having another war sitting on
the back burner would force
people to re-elect House and
Senate Republicans to keep
the war effort running.
If
that is truly the president’s
plan, then he is even dumber
than I thought.
We don’t even have
enough troops now to keep
both Afghanistan and Iraq on
track. If we invade Iran, the
only way we could get enough
“boots on the ground” would
be to reinstate the draft. I
can just imagine the reaction
to that proposal!
Mr. Bush, please reconsid
er your position on this. Yes,
yes, we know that military
action against Iran is “a last
resort,” but supposedly so
was military action against
Iraq.
We the people are even
more cynical about your
motives now than we were
when we entered Iraq. Watch
your step.
G oals : The C lackamas Print aims
to report the news in an honest,
unbiased, professional manner.
The opinions expressed do not
necessarily reflect those of the stu
dent body, college administration,
its faculty or The Print. E-mail
comments to chiefed@dackamas.
edu.