Image provided by: Clackamas Community College; Oregon City, OR
About The Clackamas print. (Oregon City, Oregon) 1989-2019 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 20, 2008)
The Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2008 k 7 I TT ents respond to of letters from '.UMF revious issue ]■ ;ar Editor. Unprinted letters to the Editor r — — — — — — — — — — — — — — 1 ■ 1 ■ ■ I r I think there is a situation at hand that is totally unacceptable. earning the letter to the editor in last week’s paper, where _____re responding to the gay student who runs the blood drive t can’tfcimself give blood, there is no excuse to only publish such ar hateful responses and no others. told that the positive letters greatly outnumbered the nes and yet die larger stack was “misplaced.” I find this / unlikely and entirely either irresponsible or vile should it be ennonal. I don’t feel like I should have to pull my punches; you allowed ^■Hput horribly close-minded and ignorant letters to be pub- ted. If people are allowed to express those kind of views, views t scream out “We are ignorant and proud of it!” then we cer- lly deserv e that. A place of learning should also, at best, be a place of tolerance, is campus is a place where people come together from all over 1 from all walks of life to learn. Is the lesson we want remem- ed thehmost to be intolerance? I hope not; that is a lesson taught too much anymore. There were a number of people hurt and angered by the incred- y Mjnsitive and ignorant letters that were published. That is irelyBincalled for. I believe that the person in charge of that jnoa&ct should have to apologize publicly and personally for :ir actions regarding this already sensitive situation. I hope that the paper can keep up its usual level of balance and M^Sient in the future. I was highly disappointed in the lack of tfessiohalisin shown last week. I hope that doesn’t occur again; loesn’j reflect well on The Print as a whole for that kind of a ng to be published. On one last aspect, not only is it the fault of the person who Wished the article, but the editor is also at fault for not catch- ; the error and correcting it appropriately. I would be more «■ding if it was to only go through one person, but for two jple to. knowingly put such hurtful material in is most definitely ^Mle. Editor ’s Note: The letters beloyv are six out of the 39 let- ters that were originally submitted after the article ‘‘Sexual orientation prevents male student from giving blood” was published. Because a disproportionate representation of the general sentiment was presented, The Print is providing a sample of the original, unprinted supportive responses. Dear Editor, Dear Editor: To not be able to give blood because you are gay is unfair. To hold such a judg ment on gay men is like still holding judgment on African Americans. Everyone should be treated equally no matter their sexual orientation. I feel like the bias this country has on gays and les bians is almost like black and white segregation. It’s almost cruel in a way. Straight people who find gays promiscuous, even though gays and straights are just the same as straight people, get to decide whether they can do certain things, like give blood and get mar ried. Just because you like some one of the same sex doesn’t mean that you are a bad person or you should be treated dif ferently. People cannot help who they like or how they feel about someone! No one should ever be told they can’t give blood because of some thing that they can’t help. Upon reading your article, I couldn’t help but feel disgusted - not because I have a prejudice about homosexuals but because people are so native and stereo typical. I personally don’t agree with homosexuality, but I’m not going to try to stop someone else from making his or her own choice. The idea that all gay men have AIDS or some other STD is ridic ulous. I know two people person ally who are infected with HIV, and neither one of them is gay. If the American Red Cross wants blood to save lives, it shouldn’t matter what the donor’s sexual" orientation is as long as the blood can be used to save lives. Like mentioned in the article, “they check every unit of blood.” I think it’s great Mitch Knudsen continues to help plan and be a part of the blood drive even though he is unable to donate. - Heather Asquith ir Editor, Dear Editor: i’ve read the article on Mitch Knudsen and the letters ated last week, and I whole heartedly disagree with majority of responses. The ignorance and malice wn in the letters were equal to those found on any srnet forum, not what I would expect to read in a col- e paper. IIV tnay have been a bigger problem for gay males he past, but now it is common for heterosexual men women as well. Everyone who is sexually active is at i ThejAmerican Red Cross now tests all the blood it eives for HIV six times and refuses the blood if even test js positive. I seems to me that this is more about a silly fear of iosex|iality being contagious than actually contract- HIV.lThat said, only two out of the 11 letters were n remotely supportive of the gay community. I’m at all convinced that those could be the only letters rived, noting how ridiculous the FDA regulation is. It med completely one-sided and biased, and it makes wonder what the staff of this publication is teaching lent writers when only one side is presented and the 3 Clackamas Print In response to the article written, “Sexual orientation pre vents male student from giving blood,” it’s such a wonderful thing that the male written about is able to coordinate and orga nize a blood drive. Yet, it does not seem right that he himself is unable to donate blood due to his sexuality. He has been tested, claims he only has one partner, and there is blood testing now that picks up such things they would be looking for in blood. It is sad and almost unforgiving how someone puts so much time into organizing a blood drive but is unable to give blood because of MSM. - Samantha Posvar — Heather Williams Dear Editor: It is my Opinion that, gay men who have had sex should be able to give blood. Their blood could help save lives. Restricting their ability to donate only hurts people - both those who wish to donate and those who need to donate. With modem technology, not letting these men donate is bordering on extreme igno rance. With the advances in tech nology in the last 30 years, these men should be able to donate blood. Every drop of blood is already tested. These men could also get tested before the drive and bring proof that they are HIV-free. Reform needs to happen in the Red Cross’ blood donation restrictions. - Tyler Dearborn i 1 ■ ■ ■ Dear Editor, When I read this article, it made me feel angry due to the fact that the American Red Cross is supposed to help people by receiving as many donations as possible. Though some have the disease, the assumption that “all” gays have HIV is ridiculous. If gays were allowed to donate, they could save so many more lives. Obviously, the more people who can be potential donors and can actually donate create a higher chance of saving lives. I believe gay men should be allowed and be more accept ed. It’s pure reality now. They shouldn’t be mistreated or disre spected by who they are. Stereotypes are stereotypes, and I’m disappointed that the American Red Cross doesn’t see anything but the “gay man who has HIV.” What does that say about the American Red Cross, in a sense that they want to save as many lives as possi ble? They’re contradicting their beliefs because they refuse gay men’s donations. — Brittany Kolb Dear Editor, After reading the headline “Sexual orientation prevents male students from giving blood,” I was angry. How can this affect the blood so much? I do not like how the Red Cross only discriminates against homosexual and not les bians. Every person should be allowed to give blood no mat ter who they would sleep with. Everyone has the same chance as everyone else to get a STD or HTV, no matter his or her sex partner. It makes me sick to think that the person who set up such a great cause cannot even give blood himself. His blood could save a life just as well as my blood or your blood - and that’s the over all reason for a blood drive. - Magen Pettitt iiiiiitiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiifiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiin ditor in Chief responds in wake of errors in Opinion section Megan Koler Editor in Chief Last week in the Opinion section, The Print pub- led letters in response to the article entitled “Sexual Itation prevents male student from giving blood.” io an error in the organization of the 39 letters red, the vast majority of those printed were of an lomosexual nature or in support of the Federal Administration’s ban on gay men giving blood, was an absolutely unintended misrepresentation ; proportion of supportive letters to ones oppos- the American Red cross. Normally, The Print ves to show an even distribution of all submitted sentiments. In this case, nearly 75 percent of the let ters received were from students who were as out raged by the FDA ban as Mitch Knudsen and Carol Burnell. An example of the supportive letters is pro vided in this issue of the newspaper. To anyone who has been hurt by the error: On behalf of the rest of The Print staff, I deeply apolo gize. However, it is our obligation to publish as many responses to our articles as possible. The editorial staff will never turn away a letter simply because we disagree with the views being expressed by the writer. It is our opinion that every individual has a right to be heard, even those who express beliefs that some people may consider “close-minded” or “ignorant.” In response to the claims that The Print was pur posely showcasing only the negative letters as an iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiHiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiim^ elaborate means to push some kind of anti-homosex ual agenda, I can only say that those accusations are ridiculously absurd and offensive. I personally went to a lot of trouble to research and write my article about the fact that Knudsen was unable to contribute to the blood drive because the basic rights of all students, staff and faculty are of great concern to this newspa per and to me. Unfortunately, because we are only a weekly publication, there hasn’t been an opportunity to explain this misunderstanding until today. I still thank the students who sent in letters, and I encourage everyone to continue to write in should they feel so inclined. Even though The Print's inten tions were misunderstood, seeing so many students come to the defense of members of their community is encouraging. Please never stop. |
