Image provided by: Clackamas Community College; Oregon City, OR
About The Clackamas print. (Oregon City, Oregon) 1989-2019 | View Entire Issue (May 2, 2007)
First copy FREE, additional copies 1$ [he Clackamas Print 8E n independent, stu den t- run newspaper since 1966 CHackamas^^jn munity College, Oregon City, OR Wednesday, May 2, 2007 Volume 40, Issue 18 ‘We will not be victimized’: Taking back the night Andrea Simpson The Clackamas Print All Photos by Elizabeth Hitz Clackamas Print participant protects a candle as the group s a moment to remember victims of assault. ISC Election Results! See page 8 ... “Join together/ free our lives/ we will not be victimized!” Women and children marched around campus on the evening of April 25 chant ing in an event called ‘Take Back the Night.’ The event took place on campus to raise awareness of sexual assault. According to Department of Justice sta tistics, every two-and-a-half minutes, some one is sexually assaulted. That does not include the 60 percent of assault attempts that are not reported to authorities. ‘‘We should be safe on the streets, we should be safe at night, we should be safe anywhere we go,” said event coordinator and speaker Irene Gostevskyh. The event featured a self-defense dem onstration, a march around campus and a candlelight vigil that provided an opportu nity for survivors to talk about their experi ence. “Many survivors find it healing to talk about their experiences,” said Gostevskyh. PREPARE Portland, a Portland-based self-defense organization, was on hand to teach event participants how to defend themselves in the event of an attack. “We/ve been trained to think that only some of us can protect ourselves, only those who are athletic; but really everyone can,” said instructor Lia Nagase. Nagase and her assistant demonstrated how to verbally tell someone to stay away and how to physically defend yourself if attacked. “They teach you how to defend your self in an adrenaline-charged atmosphere so, if you are attacked, your body natu rally knows how to respond. It just kicks in before your brain can freeze,” said assault survivor Mazarine Treyz. “I wish I had learned this when I was 17 ... or younger,” she added. “I would recom mend that everyone take a self-defense class of some sort. It is incredibly empowering. I don’t have to be afraid when I go to my car or just walk.” After the demonstration, the group marched around campus with noisemakers and homemade signs with slogans such as “Claim our bodies/Claim our rights/Take a stand/Take back the night!” and “I will not be afraid to take back the night.” Equipped with these instruments, the throng marched and yelled encouraging chants. The group even had a four-legged friend join in on the march. Riley, a dog belonging to one of the participants, added his voice to the melee by barking the whole way. “Women should have this right to walk down the street and not be sexually assault ed. Simple as that,” said Gostevskyh. For more information about PREPARE Portland’s self-defense classes, contact Lia Nagase at (503) 764-8344 or online at www.prepareportland.org. To contact Clackamas Women’s Services, call (503) 722-2366 for their offices or for their crisis number, call (503) 654-2288. ABOVE: Nagase and her assistant demonstrate a defense tech nique. It invovles using the heel of the hand (rather than the fist) to deliver a more effective blow in a desperate situation. i>p candidate in negotiations with board for full-time president job atie Wilson ■Editor-In-Chief ’resident-less no more? eft adrift by the departure essentially all administrative ers, in the forms of former lege President Joe Johnson Vice Presidents Dian Connett Ron Stewart in Fall Term, college community and the rd of education has scram- II to cope. owever, as of last Friday, the ■ is in contract negotiations current Interim President ne Truesdell. m excited,” she said, laugh- “I have great memories of s here as a student.” be day can only get better from here, according to Board of Education Chair Ron Adams. Reconnecting with the college community is the main concern. “There were connections that were lost,” said Adams. “Communication has deterio rated.” These are problems Adams, the board and Truesdell herself feel she can solve. She will meet with the President’s Council next Tuesday, she said, to “figure out how to best communicate with the staff’ and students. She has also been making an effort to eat lunch twice a week in the college’s cafeteria. “Anyone is welcome to come and sit with me, be they staff or students,” she said. With Truesdell at the helm, Adams said he fully expects that “the internal and external connections will be recreated and improved.” Hiring Truesdell on as full-time, official college president will “restore a sense of confi dence on campus that the admin istration and the board are doing the right thing,” Adams added. TRUESDELL He feels that this confidence has, in some sense, already been restored by Truesdell, but “until that interim position becomes permanent, there are still going to be questions.” In an open faculty forum last Friday, the majority approved of the board’s selection. There were 81 total written responses, according to Adams. Of those 81, two said the whole process felt a bit rushed. Another was unsure about Truesdell’s external fundraising back ground. Adams, in an interview with The Clackamas Print, was quick to point out that for- mer president John Keyser, who has been assisting with legisla tion and fundraising, will stay on as part of the Foundation. “I don’t think you could find a better person to do that job in Clackamas County,” said Adams. Any lack of knowledge or experience on Truesdell’s part concerning fundraising, could be taken up by Keyser. And, said Adams, she’ll learn quickly. The board will need to final ize contract negotiations with Truesdell by June, since that is when her interim contract expires. Adams does not anticipate a quick negotiation process, how ever. “We do not want to short cut. this process,” he said.
