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PRINT: Sports
Wednesday, February 19,2014
SOCHI:
Human
rights
contro
versy
COUGARS: Team bounces back from
heartbreaking loss to beat Umpqua
Continued from Page 1
Continued from Page 1
A
Y ouTube
v ideo
by the A ustralian pub
lic telev isio n netw ork
SBS titled “R ussia’s Gay
H ate” provides a look
beyond the fluff and spin
o f R u ssia’s P R m an
agem ent. In the video,
A nzhey Khm itits, a mem
ber o f the group “Occupy
Pedophilia,” founded by
neo-Nazi M axim “Tesak”
M artsinkevich, says, “We
judge gays and pedophiles
identically - we see no dif
ference. I don’t see those
creatures as human. N ot
at all. They look anthropo
m orphic, but they are not
hum an.”
H ere in the States, w hen
fringe religious nuts like
P astor Charles L. W orely
m ake statem ents about,
how gays should be put
in internm ent cam ps w ith
electrified fences, people
laugh and w rite them o ff
as a bigot. In Russia, when
governm ent officials like
Oleg Betin, m ayor o f the
city o f Tambov, or celebri
ties like Ivan Okhlobystin,
actor in the R ussian Scrubs
clone “Interns,” e a u ^ r o r
, confetti or put in ovens, no
one bats an eyelid.
The level o f brutality
and dehum anization aimed
at the Russian LGBT com
m unity isn ’t surprising.
It’s the sam e old tactic
o f m isdirection and con
venient scapegoating that
gave A d o lf H itler a pulpit
to shout from and it is this
sam e exploitation o f hatred
and suspicion o f a m inor
ity group that’s allowing
Putin to m aintain political
pow er and relevance.
It’s this same hate for
“the other” that gave pop
ularity to D avid Bahati,
the m em ber o f Ugandan
P a r lia m e n t
b e h in d
th a t
c o u n try ’s
“A nti-
H om osexuality Bill” often
referred to as the “Kill
The Gays” bill, due to its
original prescription o f the
death penalty for hom o
sexuality. Bahati casually
stated in an interview with
Je ff Sharlet, a w riter for
H arper’s M agazine, that he
w anted to “kill every last
gay person.’’ ,,
Plenty off* people out
there are o f The attitude
that “I f it isn’t happening
in Am erica, then it’s none
o f m y business.” M any
also held these isolationist
view s during W W II while
H itle r’s Final S olution
sought to rid Germ any o f
Jews, R om a (gypsies) and
hom osexuals.
Dr. M artin Luther King
Jr. once said, “Injustice
anyw here is a threat to
ju s tic e
e v e ry w h e re .”«
Those who genuinely care
about hum an dignity and
civil rights cannot and
should not sit quietly on
the sidelines as innocent
people are m aligned and
m istreated.
Anthony Russell, freshman point guard, walks up the court against Umpqua Community College. The Cougarswon
the game 90-68 on Feb. 15. The Cougars have won seven out o f eight games, with their only loss being by onepoint
in overtime to Chemeketa Community College, .
Clackamas outplayed Umpqua
end-to-end and dominated in Scor
ing, rebounding and assists. The^
Cougars spread scoring opportunities*
and had five different players put up
double-digit points. Grant Sitton and
Brandon Halter led the team with 16
points each. Ezikiel Martin was not
far behind, scoring 15 points him
self Team play facilitated scoring as
Clackamas players assisted on 20
plays. Eight o f nine cougars recorded
at least one assist by the end o f the
game.
Rebounding was a big edge for
Clackamas as they collected 14 more
boards on defense than their oppo
nents. Mitchell Beckwith came down
with 11 rebounds in the game.
Despite the blowout win, the game
offered much excitement through
flashy plays and impressive scor
ing. Anthony Russell’s ball handling
crossed up the Umpqua defenders and
cleared paths to the basket and made
room for passes. The Riverhawk’s
Derrick Wattman threw down two
big dunks in the second half but the
highlight play o f the night was Grant
Sittan’s monster two handed jam that
capped off a Clackamas fast break
Clackamas basketball fans
showed up in good numbers to get
the most o f their team as the season
winds down. Fans Paradise Hitchens
and Marco Kovacic were pleased
with their team’s play and were hope-
fill about their team’s chances at the
end of the season.
“They didn’t let up at all, they just
kept scoring,” said Hitchens.
. Kovacic added: “if wë Can finish
the season like this we’ll be looking
good in the NWAAC tournament”
' /Ifiér fop ' lqur,
region advarice to the NWÀACC
tournament But with five teams so
close to each other in standings it
' is tough to pick Which one will fall
out Clackamas could still potentially
win the South Region with two PCC
losses but a number two seed would
be the best most realistic outcome.
To clinch the second seed, Clackamas
is tooting against SW Oregon in their
final two games against Lane and
PÇC and a M t Hood loss against
Umpqua.
Most important is for Clackamas
to win their final two games against
M t Hood and Linn-Benton. Any
slip up from the 8-4 teams in this
final week can easily put them out
o f the tournament The Clackamas
Cougars play their final home game
Wednesday, Feb. Î9 in Randall Hall
at 7:30 p.m.
Cougars capture West Region Title
On Feb. 15 the Clackamas
wrestling team went to Wyoming
to compete in the Region 18
, Championships. The Cougars scored
a phenomenal 13*7.5 points overall.
Head Coach Josh Rhoden was
proud o f his team’s performance at
regionals, but said they have to stay
competitive for nationals.
“The guys wrestled pretty hard
today and had to overcome some
o
adversity to win this conference
»
title,” stated Rhoden.
gT
“We have to make some adjust-
|
ments and get healthy" heading
“
into nationals as we could have
o
competed a bit better this week-
3
end,” Rhoden stated. “The West
§
Region is die toughest region in
C the National Junior College Athletic
g
Association (NJCAA). With our
® team being ranked No. 1 nationally
§
[and] Northwest College and North
§
Idaho No. 2 and No. 3 nationally,
it is almost as if we wrestled a mini
5' national tournament this weekend.”
The team celebrate after winning the West Region Title tournament in Rock Springs, WY. The Cougars were led by
Cary J. Palmer and Eleazar DeLuca who both took first in their weight class:
— Compiled by NATHANIEL KLEIN