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.