he _
First copy FREE, additional copies ltf
Clackamas Print
independent, student-run newspaper since 1966
Clackamas Community College, Oregon City, OR
Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2007
Volume 40, Issue 13
Aessages of international peace
Clackamas gets a
sneakpeek of the
soon-to-be histori
cal student ambas
sador presentations
Photos by Megan Koler Clackamas Print
egan Holer
ws Editor
Eighteen different countries,
fading Kazakhstan, Iraq, Moldova,
sia, Kuwait and Palestine, were
Esented by student ambassadors
he Gregory Forum yesterday to
mote diversity in education.
All the students participate in a
profit, educational organiza-
i called “Student Visions” that
uvolved in many different pro-
os, such as mentoring, tutoring
ISAT/ACT preparation.
The program we are going to be
ising on a lot today is the United
ions of Young Ambassadors,”
IChristina Pham, one of the orga-
rs of the event. “We are actually
g to be presenting some of the
cs we are speaking of today to the
ted Nations General Assembly
(month in New York.”
Hie presentation before the U.N.
(month will be the first of its kind
IN. history.
Before the two presentations yes-
ly, each representative prepared
splay with little pictures and
cts representing their country,
j with a short speech concem-
iieir country and its place in the
world.
A s s e 1
Zholdybayeva,
a student ambas-
sador
from
Kazakhstan,
stood next to
pictures of her
country
and
a model of
a
traditional
Kazakhstani
yurt, and spoke
briefly about her
experiences in
Student Visions.
“Look at us;
we are all from
different coun
tries and differ
ent languages,
but now, here
we are speaking
English,” said
Zholdybayeva. “The most impor
tant part for us is to learn to live in
peace.”
Hussain Qasem, a Kuwaiti stu
dent ambassador, was one of die
students who rejoiced in the opportu
nity to inform his international peers
about Kuwait and misconceptions
regarding it.
“We hate Saddam Hussein,
and we have many Americans in
Kuwait,” said Qasem.
Most of the students felt the same
as Qasem, and they see this whole
experience with Student Visions as
an opportunity to inform Americans
and die world about the side of
their country that isn’t represented as
much in the media.
Anyone interested in Student
Visions or learning about the visit to
the U.N can find out more at www.
studentvisions.org.
ABOVE: Student ambassadors
present Clackamas students
with miniature presentations
about their country.
BELOW: Zholdybayeva tells
an onlooker about her native
country of Kazakhstan and
about her time with Student
Visions.
The presentations by
die various U.N. of Young
Ambassadors members were
designed to be informative and
advocate peace.
Hamza Al-Shaishani, die
representative from Jordan,
discussed die tribal wars in his
country, and how these rival
factions were ignorant of each
other’s cultures. His presented
solution was diversification
education in a child’s early
school career, as well as gov
ernment support for extra-cur
ricular activities to advocate
and further the blending of
cultures.
Angela Zuki, the Lebanese
representative,
discussed
die recent military actions
from 2006 in winch Israel
attacked Lebanon in response
to Hezbollah aggression in
Northern Israel. She touched
on the loss of innocent life in
Lebanon, and possible solu
tions. Zula also emphasized the
frustration, social and political
confusion that war breeds.
The
two
Palestinian
natives, Samer Anabtawi, from
the Northern Bank, and Rami
Ziara, from the Gaza Strip, dis
cussed Palestine’s conflict with
Israel.
Anabtawi’s
presenta
tion encompassed die politi
cal atmosphere of the two
sides, the social impact that
it has both in his life and his
peers’, and the steps people
involved with die war are tak
ing towards peace. Anabtawi is
part of peacefid groups; their
purpose is to integrate Jewish
and Palestinian youth through
talking and shared travels.
His presentation ended
with a summarization of the
message that the whole group
seemed to push: “Partners in
Pain; Partners in Peace.”
- Compiled by Matt Olson
The Clackamas Print
ood news, bad news for Clackamas’ accreditation
egaq Koler
vs Editor
Clackamas’
accreditation
been reaffirmed; however,
college is hardly out of the
ids,
-ast fall, the NWCCU
Jthwest Commission on
leges and Universities) vis-
IClackamas for a week, to
ide whether it would remain
^credited institution.
^hile Clackamas received
tnendations regarding its
lection to the community
the beauty of the campus,
WC'CU made three recom-
dations.
According to Baldwin van
der Bijl, vice president of
instructional services, the first
recommendation from
the
NWCCU was for administra
tors to develop a standardized
way of assessing what a student
should know after receiving a
Transfer Degree.
The assessment problem is
an issue at many other colleges
and universities, and something
Clackamas has been working on
for about a year.
“Number two has to do
with our planning procedures,
in a broad sense, and evalua
tion,” said van der Bijl. “We
go through a process of ‘here’s
what we want to do in the next
“They are
asking us to
upgrade, mod
ernize and
reorganize our
financial soft
ware. ”
Baldwin van der Bijl
Vice President of
Instructional Services
year or two or three,’ and [the
NWCCU] wanted more clari
fication on that process and a
better accounting of what hap
pened.”
“We go through a process
with decision packages, which
is where people will request
money to buy something, and
we go through a process that
works very well, on which ones
are going to get the money and
which ones aren’t,” said van
der Bijl.
The recommendation the
NWCCU made was simply to
follow up on those endeavors
and evaluate and record whether
or not the changes made accom
plished the goal.
“The third one has to do
with finance,” said van der Bijl.
“They are asking us to upgrade,
modernize and reorganize our
financial software.”
Van der Bijl again wished
to acknowledge that Clackamas
has been aware of its need for
an upgrade for quite some time.
“We also need to improve
what tools and controls we
have,” said van der Bijl. “Tools
are what we use to get our work
done, and then controls are the
checks and balances and proce
dures that we use.”
Clackamas has until spring
of 2008 to make significant
improvements in the aforemen
tioned three areas. The NWCCU
will visit the college that same
spring for what they are calling
a “focused interim report.”