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About The Clackamas print. (Oregon City, Oregon) 1989-2019 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 28, 2009)
ews... Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2009 the clackamas print 5 GARETTES: coming under fire Continued from CIGARETTES, Page 1 “This is still very new to every one, we are trying to figure out the best way to inform students,” Fava said, as she explained that the administration specifically asked ASG to tackle the topic during “The Great American Smoke Out” on Nov. 18. Fava believes CCC does not have a huge population of smok ers and believes most people’s reaction will be “Oh, it’s nice,” and says, she herself is not a big fan of walking through a cloud of smoke. Fava also wants to make sure everyone gets ample opportunity to express themselves about this issue and believes it is good that Clackamas has waited as long as they have to institute a ban so CCC can look at other colleges to see what worked and what did not. Fava also wanted to empha size that the school would not be saying, “You can’t smoke,” but rather, “You can’t on campus.” For those who want to be heard, Fava says she is available and in her office almost all day everyday. Fava’s office is in the Community Center ASG offices. Lauren McReynolds (left) sits in the designated smoking area between Clackamas’ McLoughlin Hall and Bill Brod Community Center with fel low smoker Ryan Morey on Oct. 26. (right). psr; All photos contributed by Lynn Lennon I Ipinion: what’s the worth of the Nobel Peace Prize I N ul E 1 By Annemarie Schulte Associate News Editor | goes like this: Once upon a time, e ■super power of the world was |ged in war with numerous coun- I the economy was in ruins, job Ks were at a 14 year high, hun ts of thousands of families’ homes I being foreclosed on, and the total Iber of troops overseas kept rising Iby day to an incredible high of an fated 113,000. [he above is not just a story, it is the lent day state of our country. I’ll admit it: I have Obama as a ■book friend. I defend him over lover to Republicans, even to my I family. I proudly marked his box Ihe ballot on Nov. 4, 2008. I was lily 18, ecstatic to vote. I knew ■as changing history by electing ■first black president. He promised ■ange" we could believe in and I was ■solution. Almost exactly a year later ybama’s approval ratings plum met lower than Bush’s, I am painfully aware that I made a mistake. But I’m not the only one to make a mistake. On Oct. 9, 2009 Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize and the big question ringing throughout the country was, “Why?” Resident Political Scientist and Attorney at Law Dean Darris answered that question stating that the Norwegian Peace Prize Committee chose Obama for the “idiot Nobel Peace Prize” as a way for Europe to conjure Obama to do something, to keep his word, close Guantanamo Bay and make America a more peaceful state like he promised. It was a way for Europe to beg Obama to stop making mistakes and get back to what he told the American people he would do. Regardless of the fact that Nobel Peace Prize nominations were due Feb. 1, only 11 days after Obama took office. Obama is the fourth U.S. president to win the Nobel Peace Prize. He is the third to win it while in office and the first to win it during his first year in office. Unlike everyone before him, Obama was chosen not for his past accomplishments, but for his “vision” and inspiring “hope” at the beginning of his presidency. “For 108 years, the Norwegian Nobel Committee “has sought to stimu late precisely that international policy and those attitudes for which Obama is now the world’s leading spokesman,” the committee said, explaining its deci sion. The committee added to that state ment by saying, “Only very rarely has a person to the same extent as Obama captured the world’s attention and given its people hope for a better future.” In a speech at the White House two days later, Obama said he did not view the award “as recognition of my own accomplishments. But rather as an affirmation of American leadership,” and went on to say “I will accept this award as a call to action.” He also posted a Facebook status update that read simply, “Humbled.” Obama’s statements after that were interesting as well because he said that even he felt he did not deserve the award. Obama revealed, “To be honest, I do not feel that I deserve to be in the company of so many of the transforma tive figures who’ve been honored by this prize - men and women who’ve inspired me and inspired the entire world through their courageous pursuit of peace.” We must not forget, Americans weren’t the only ones with something to say about Europe’s surprise pick. Afghan President Hamid Karzai said, “We congratulate, wholeheart edly, President Obama on the award of this prestigious award.” But Hisham Qasim, Egyptian democ racy and human rights activist, said he was “shocked” Obama won. “He has achieved nothing. He’s stumbling. He hasn’t achieved any of his promises and nothing is working. He promised to close Guantanamo and now that’s not going to happen, and the Arab-Israeli conflict looks like it’s going to get very nasty.” Gideon Rachman,- a foreign affairs columnist for “The Financial Times,” wrote a blog with the headline, “What did Obama do to win the Nobel Peace Prize?” “I am a genuine admirer of Obama. And I am very pleased that George W. Bush is no longer president. But I doubt that I am alone in wondering whether this award is slightly prema ture. It is hard to point to a single place where Obama’s efforts have actually brought about peace - Gaza, Iran, Sri Lanka?” He didn’t stop there. “While it is OK to give school children prizes for ‘effort’ - my kids get them all the time - I think international states men should probably be held to a higher standard,” he wrote. Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said he thinks the prize “will strengthen President Barack Obama’s capability to contribute to regional peace in the Middle East, and to an agreement between us and the Palestinians that will bring secu rity, growth and prosperity to all the nations in the region.” Hamas official Ahmed Yousef also congratulated Obama, “though it is early for him to be awarded this prize.” The winner of 1983’s Nobel Peace Prize, anti-communist Polish leader Lech Walesa, was quoted in The Wall Street Journal as expressing surprise. “Who, Obama? So fast? Too fast - he hasn’t had the time to do any thing yet,” the paper’s online site quoted Walesa as saying. On Twitter, one person wrote, “Seriously cannot believe they gave Obama the Nobel Peace Prize. Ridiculous.” Europe, you’ve got a lot of‘splain- in ta do.
