V*1 Clackamas Print
--
Student
poll:
1$ college
Afferent
than high
school?
“It’s different
because it’s
scary, but it’s
fun.”
Mlory Kelly
ion’tlike
tfar the
h between
besare.”
Erik Brawner
“It’s not that
different
besides the
length of
classes.”
Commentary
Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2006
Voting system blues
Nicholas Delzell
The Clackamas Print
Politicians piss people off. Why
do so many people back certain
candidates, when an independent
one can’t vote in primary elections
... so what is the point of register
ing in a flawed and suppressed
votmg system?
Considering the scandals that
followed recent presidential elec
tions, people should be turned off
to voting and the system as a
whole.
First off, people get
so worked up around
voting season that
it’s hard for regular
citizens, let alone
politicians, to relate
to others outside
of their political
party. Scandal will
occur if people get
worked up over any
subject.
According
to
a
Wikipedia.com
article on voter sup
pression, “In the 2002
New Hampshire Senate
election phone jamming
schedule, Republican officials
attempted to reduce the number of
Democratic voters by paying pro
fessional telemarketers in Idaho
to make repeated hang-up calls to
block Democrats’ ride-to-the-polls
phone lines on Election Day.”
The article went on to tell about
some scandalous things Democrats
have done as well.
“In 2006, five employees of
the John Kerry campaign were
convicted for slashing the tires
of 25 vans rented by the GOP to
drive voters and poll watchers to
the polls on the day of the 2004
general election.”
If you take into account voter
suppression, what is the point of
voting at all? This article is not
supposed to put down those who
vote religiously; it is meant to
inform people that voting and voter
registration is not what old school
people may think.
Votes are suppressed not only
by political parties, but also by the
government.
“In the US, voter suppression
was used extensively in some
Southern states until the Voting
Rights Act of 1965 made most
disenfranchisement, and voting
qualifications illegal. Traditional
voter suppression tactics included
the institution of poll taxes and
literacy tests, aimed at suppressing
the votes of African Americans
and working-class white voters.
Mailbox smashing was also used in
some districts. Measures in place in
seven U.S. states ban released fel
ons from voting; some allege that
this is a tactic aimed at suppress-
ing voter turnout. OccasionaHy,
as in Florida in the 2000 presi
dential election, some non-felons
are banned due to record-keeping
errors and are not warned of
their disqualification before
they have the right to con
test it.
“In the U.S. presi
dential election of
2004, Ohio officials
allegedly miss-allo
cated voting machines
to reduce Democratic
turnout. With too few
voting machines per
registered voter, in
areas heavily populated
by African Americans
who were Democratic,
had to wait in line for hours.
Republican districts received
many more voting machines per
capita.”
With this information in mind,
rethink the reasons to register to
vote in our country. Rethink where
a vote goes once it comes off the
ballot. Think of the people who
take your vote and have their own
political agendas.
And mind yourself, because
voter registration, and voting in
general, is a flawed government
system, set up by “the man” and
for “the man,” with intentions of
only taking “the man’s” advice
Staff
Ml:
What is your
reaction to the
Print's special edi-
tion, “Crisis in
Leadership”?
‘It’s
unfortunate
that so many
people are
forming
opinions
without
having all toe
information.”
Loren Ford.
Psychology
Instructor
‘I thought it
was excellent.
It doesn’t
happen very
often that The
Oregonian
will use
information
from a student
paper.”
Robert Keeler,
Social Science
Instructor
f Letters to the
»hanie Tombleson
Devon Trigg
H “It’s a lot less
B social; people
mostly
I keep to
themselves.”
E|9|
MM
tred Hanley
I
This week's poll
I compiled by Liz Trav-
lers and Elizabeth Hitz
Clackamas Print
19600 S. Molalla Ave.
Oregon City, OR 97045
(503) 657-6958 ex. 2309
Ik Clackamas Print is a weekly
,£ student publication and is
<Abuted every Wednesday except
finals week.
Mach responds to ‘Bias’
I would like to “out” myself as the
instructor to whom Matt Olson refers
in his article ‘Biased instructors can
be distracing, affect learning.’ Mr.
Olson mentions a writing course in
which he read, “an explicit story
about a homosexual encounter.” The
class was Writing 121, and the story,
The Toughest Indian in the World
by Sherman Alexie, was actually
about a young Native American man
attempting to come to terms with
his cultural and perhaps his sexual
identity. The central character in the
story is a journalist from Spokane,
Washington, who picks up a hitch
hiker while on a drive to cover a
story in Yakima The hitchhiker is an
Indian street fighter, off to conquer
an old rival. The journalist views his
fellow traveler as a warrior. At the
end of the story, the two men share
a hotel room, and yes, they have
sex. During the class discussion, I
encouraged the students to focus on
the craft of the story, and to dis
cuss the metaphorical aspect of the
sexual encounter between the two
men, rather than get caught up in a
discussion about whether or not it’s
okay to be gay. That’s not what the
story was about.
C o -E ditors - in -C hief : Sam Krause,
go
I’m curious to know what Mr.
Olson means when he accuses me
of bias. He states that it was “obvi
ous that the teacher was directing the
arguments towards one standpoint”
I’m wondering what, specifically, he
believes my standpoint to be?
I have opinions, and although I
don’t attempt to openly tout them
in class, neither do I hide them. As I
tell my students at the beginning of
each term, if we can’t discuss ideas
freely in the classroom, then we’re
in big trouble. If I have a bias, it’s
against intolerance of any person or
group—whether it be Christians or
homosexuals. I also assure students
that dissenting opinions have no
effect on their grades. Mr. Olson, in
fact, received an A in my class.
W.B. Yeats said “Education is not
filling a bucket, but lighting a fire.”
As an educator, especially one work
ing in the humanities, intellectual
pyromania is part of my job. Perhaps
rather than fearing the discomfort of
toe academic experience, Mr Olson
should welcome and explore it
Sincerely,
Sue Mach
English Instructor
A d M anaghc Elizabeth Hitz
Katie Wilson
C opy E ditor : Colleen Watkins
N ews E ditor : Megan Koler
C ommentary E ditor : Tayo Stalnaker
F eature E ditor : Laura Cameron
S ports C o -E dttors : Nicholas Delzell,
Mike Guidice
A&E E ditor : Matt Olson
P hoto E ditor .' Adam J. Manley
Thoughts on
Iraq War
I was surprised and grateful to
The Oregonian for publishing toe
number of Iraqi deaths, and on toe
front page! (600,000 Iraqis died
since 2003, study says.)
The general public almost
always hears through the media
onlyabout the number of American
deaths. Iraqis are human, too, a
perception that is all too often
ignored when there is war.
One of the tactics used by the
military in all nations is to present
toe enemy as less than human
in order to justify killing people.
Soldiers who fought in Vietnam
have told me about this technique
first hand, as have my students at
Clackamas Community College
who are coming back to school
after fighting in Iraq.
Diane Averill
503-657-6958 Ext. 2370
To send a letter to the editor,
e-mail it to chiefed@clackamas.
edu, or drop it off at The Print
office, Roger Rook 135.
P hotographers : Juno Dean, Jeff
Sorensen
S taff W riters : Justin Goe, Danny
Helus, Frank Jordan, Andrea
D epartment A dvisor : Unda Vogt
Simpson, Jeff Sorensen, David
Stark, Liz Travers, Alexandria
Vallelunga
P roduction A ssistants : Rachel
Gillette, Andrew Green, Genyva
Laubach, David Stark
“It’s a
deciding
moment, and
we’ll let those
in charge
make their
decision. We
need to let toe
water clear.”
Robbie Robinson,
Baseball Coach
“Informative,
but it didn’t
have a lot of
meat.”
Jennifer Bown,
Science Instructor
This week's poll
compiled by Liz Travers
and Elizabeth Hitz
G oals : The Clackamas 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.