Image provided by: Clackamas Community College; Oregon City, OR
About The Clackamas print. (Oregon City, Oregon) 1989-2019 | View Entire Issue (April 18, 2007)
ommentary Campus Poll: Did you <¡>et your taxes in on time? Melody Judd "I didn’t need to fie them, but I needed the refund, so [got them in.” Gabe Averre “No. I was just doing them, actually.” lebecca Holstein I was actually just on my ray to do hem.” Cory Andersen Wednesday, April 18, 2007 Clackamas Print 3 Internet radio in danger Matt Olson Commentary Editor Many listeners feel indigna tion, repulsion and, yes, severe disappointment toward the music industry in this new mil lennium - but the industry’s lat est actions take the cake. Last month, the Copyright Royalty Board (one of Congress ’ committees/lackeys) raised the fees that Internet radios have to pay by 30 per cent, retroactive back into 2006. There may be no col lective gasp, or even an “oh, that sucks” uttered by the masses, but it adds to the growing sense of confusion. To “clarify,' Congress has already passed three separate laws which affect the rates that dif ferent broadcast ing mediums must pay to beam beauti- ful ballads to greedy ears. Now mix in music pirating, two types of woyalty fees (which may or may not apply), an increasing range of musical tastes and ever more competition for listeners, and it might become a bit clearer what broadcasters are up against. The kicker is that this fee increase was, essentially, done by the music industry - to the music industry. The betrayal is an age-old one; the rich music moguls are twisting the arms of the music hipsters (what with their podcasts and streaming media). Even simpler, big money is strangling an oppor tunity and, by doing so, shooting itself in the The “foot” that these clout-swing ing businesses are shooting is the independent Web radio stations, which have such potential and great communi ties. Too many times this pattern has played itself out: fear of the unknown, fear of change, or just pure spite for a mote successful newcomer. For example, when Napster, BitTorrent and Kazaa came out, the music industry moaned and bitched about lost profits. They moaned until Apple kicked ass with iPods and the digital music store on iTunes. For a long time before that, downloadable music was an opportunity squandered and bungled by so many par ties. You’d think that someone would have learned something from the mistakes made and imitated Apple and its success. Unfortunately, it appears as if this newest turn of events is just another addition to the sad equation of fear, failure and poor foresight that the music industry operates by. The saddest part is the actions taken by Congress in all of this. Time and time again, they’ve passed laws hastily, desperately trying to bail water out of a sinking industry. Don’t fear, though; all is not doomed? As these morose patterns and trends define themselves, peo ple will begin to recognize them and learn from the mistakes that have been made. Innovation will always be there; it may struggle with morality, competition and Congress, but it will always be there. Tuition increase necessary, legislature to blame Matt Olson Commentary Editor Tuition’s going up. Don’t worry. The Board of Education just upped the tuition by $2, $1 added to the technology fee and $1 added to the credit fee. Nonetheless, Clackamas’ tuition is still the lowest in Oregon. Does such relative thrifti ness console most people? Yes. Does it console everyone? No. So, why did the board deem it appropriate? - Was it the growing number of enrolled students, or was it the desire to improve class quality? Maybe it was the sim ple desire of greed. A great number of students may not care, but others do. The explanation is not found here on campus, but in the halls of the Oregon legisla ture. Last year, the community colleges proposed a 2007- 2008 budget of $529 million. This impressive sum may seem like an overestimation, but considering the costs of 18 different schools and the escalating enrollment at each of these colleges, that figure is not grossly bloated. Despite this, the governor and the state legislature have decreased the proposed fund ing to an estimated $458 mil lion. The under-funding, along with other factors, has finally compelled Clackamas to raise its tuition. The measly $2 raise is understandable when com pared to the tuition increases done by other community col leges in the last two years. While other colleges raised their tuition by nine percent, Clackamas was steadfast and didn’t increase tuition costs at all. Also, Clackamas’ needs are special. The Harmony campus construction, planned to begin soon, will cost approximate ly $20 million. Without that extra money from the state, the revenue will have to be made up in other areas. Considering all of these things, it would be stupid for the Board of. Education not to raise the tuition. Like any other business, schools need to stay competitive. In this case, competitive means up-to-dati technology, and being well- staffed and well-maintained - all of which cost money. Finally, what’s $2 when compared to the enormous amount of money everyone wastes on food in Chartwells? With a bit of perspective and a respect for the administration and faculty here at Clackamas, anyone can see the well-mean ing intentions behind this min ute increase in fees. So, tuition’s going up. Don’t worry; be happy. ASG due for renovation; coup d'etat comrades Editors ’Note: The following is an editorial written on behalf of and representing the major ity,opinion of The Clackamas Print’s editorial staff. Campus Poll compiled by ¡cholas Baker and Jennesa Palmer The ASG debates for president and vice president were a farce. Not once did a candidate estab lish a difference between him or herself and the other candidates. Entirely too much time was spent on questions like, ‘Is there a plan to keep students on campus after they finish their classes for the day?” There were many claims by the candidates that ASG understands the general student population. The average age of a Clackamas stu- C o -E ditors - in -C hief : Sam Krause, Clackamas Print Katie Wilson 19600 S. Molalla Ave. Oregon City, OR 97045 (503) 657-6958 ex. 2309 C opy E ditor : Colleen Watkins N ews E ditor : Megan Koler C ommentary E ditor : Matt Olson F eature E ditor : Laura Cameron S ports E ditor : Mike Guidice A&E E ditor : David Stark P hoto E ditor : Adam J. Manley The Clackamas Print is a weekly student publication and is distributed every Wednesday except finals week. . dent is 32. The average age of an ASG member is 20. That’s a gap of more than 10 years. After watching one of ASG’s many events around campus, it’s easy to see that there isn’t much interest, unless it has to do with free food. When The Print asked all four candidates about the criteria for someone to be a candidate in the election, an attempt was made to turn die question around on The Print and how we select the edito rial staff. This is the problem The Print has with the election of president and vice president: In a supposedly democratic student government, only a person with two terms of Student Leadership is allowed to run and hold elected office. A d M anager : Elizabeth Hitz S taff W riters : Nicholas Baker, The only way to get Student Leadership training is to be a member of the CCC Student Government or the CCC Student Ambassadors. -■ The sitting ASG vice president and the selection committee review applications and appoint members to these two groups. Current ASG President Tim Lussier said that no one who quali fied for a position on ASG has been turned away. This criteria specifically leave out other representitives of stu dents, such as members of Latino Leadership, not to mention the stu dents themselves. So, what’s the solution? The only way to make a change to the ASG bylaws is to have three- Garrilynn Harvey, Chris Young P hotographers : Juno Dean, Kayla Berge, Benjamin Caldwell, Brandy-Marie Faulhaber, Jennesa Jesse Dees, Leia Dickerson, Frank Palmer Jordan, Heatherann Price, Dustin D epartment A dviser : Linda Vogt Ragsdale, Jess Sheppard, Andrea Simpson, Liz Travers, Sean Van D epartment S ecretary : Pat Walchren, Emily Walters Thompson P roduction A ssistants : Joseph Elliot, Rachel Gillette, fourths of ASG vote on whether or not to make the change; however, there are guidelines to have the ASG Constitution repealed. All that is needed is 100 signa tures from Clackamas students sup porting the repeal, a constitution to replace the old one and a vote with two-thirds approval by the voting student body. The U.S. Constitution doesn’t have as many rules about the U.S. presidency as the ASG Constitution has about the ASG president. The only way to fix this prob lem of such an internalized elec tion procedure is to start gathering signatures for a repeal of the ASG Constitution, since those already in power aren’t willing to make the change. 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.
