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Underage smokers

Former president campaigns

light up despite laws

for wife at Oregon City HS

In 2005, according to the American Lung Association, it was News Associate found that 23 percent of high school students were current smokers, and Smoking – it’s the new hot topic, and in 2009, 54.3 percent reported having smoked Oregon will expand its Smokefree Workplace Law to at some point in their life. include bars, bingo areas and employee break rooms.

Clackamas’ youth population Although the ban will impact thousands of smokers appears to be no exception to these of all kinds in the state, one sinew aside from the activ- statistics. ity itself holds the majority of them together: when Lisa Nielson, a morning GED and they began the habit.

Tri-City Alternative Program instrucAs stated in a report issued in 1994 by the Surgeon tor, says that the bulk of her students, General, in that year it was estimated that 90 percent of ages ranging from 15 to 17, smoke smokers started before age 21. and were doing so before they were in enrolled in her classes.

“I’ve never had a nonstudent start smoking here,” Nielson said, at least to her knowledge.

It is illegal for underage students to smoke on campus. First-time offenders usually receive just a warning, but more persistent lawbreakers can earn themselves a court appearance if a MIP (Minor in Possession) is issued.

One problem with the current rules is that they are not enforced, according to GED Instructor Steve Long.

Even though students receive citations for smoking, more often than not the case gets thrown out and the individual ends up not having to pay any fines.

“They know before we tell them not to smoke that they won’t face any real consequences,” Long said.

For student Angela Fender, the concept of trying to stop underage smokers is preposterous.

“We should educate instead of fighting it,” Fender said.

Education on the topic is an approach the school has pursued. One method has been to hold forums for students highlighting the effects of smoking on human health.

During the forums, attendees were shown pictures of cut-away lungs from a healthy lung and a smoker’s lung, in order to illustrate the differences between the two. They were also subjected to scenes John Shufelt Clackamas Print of throat and mouth damage caused by GED student Chloe Blumer takes a smoking break outside cancer.

Rook Hall. She started smoking at 14. Clackamas is lookPlease see SMOKING, Page 2 ing toward getting young people to quit lighting up.

John Hurlburt

Vo l u m e 4 1 , I s s u e 1 9

Matt Garrison The Clackamas Print

Pell Grants and caring for veterans coming out of Iraq were discussed as well.

“She (Hillary) has the best ideas, the best record of achievement and the greatest likelihood for turning this economy around,” Clinton said.

“Unless we turn America around, we will not gain our position back in the world,” he declared at another point.

He also noted the rise in the economy that occurred while he was in office and the drop that took place when Bush took over the reins.

More than 1,500 people gathered at Oregon City High School on Saturday, April 26, to listen to what seemed like a multi-generational rock legend campaigning for his wife to be elected as the 44th president of the United States of America.

They came to hear former President Bill Clinton speak on behalf of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.

“Hillary has supporters of all ages, races and walks of life,” said Julie Edwards, Please see CLINTON, Page 2 Oregon communications director for the Hillary Clinton campaign.

“Her supporters appreciate her 35 years of public service and her ability to work with others to get things done.”

At the event, shirts were tossed into the crowd and attendees were given the chance to send text messages to meet Bill Clinton; there were two opportunities for two different members of the audience.

Clinton talked about problems including the economy, energy efficiency, eco-friendliRobert Crawford Clackamas Print ness and affordable Former President Bill Clinton technology, as well as healthcare, diabe- smiles at the crowd that flocked tes, affordable col- to hear him speak in the Oregon lege and trade. The City High School gymnasium concepts of raising Saturday, April 26.

Advocate opens doors for transgender youth Helen Conley The Clackamas Print

At 12, not long after stealing a copy of “The Transsexual Phenomenon” by Harry Benjamin from the corner store, Jenn Burleton dressed in her mother’s clothes, took a city bus across town to the county hospital and went to the psychology department, where she told doctors she was like the individuals described in the book and was ready to start treatment.

The doctors’ and her mother’s response was to send her to a psychiatrist.

Burleton realized by age 5 that although her anatomy indicated otherwise, she was a girl. She began to express feelings of confusion about her true gender as soon as she experienced them, but quickly learned, as most transgender children do, to suppress such feelings when confronted by ridicule, harassment and disrespect from the people surrounding her.

On April 9, she performed with her band, Uncommon Women, at Clackamas, before the Take Back the Night march. She was there to teach students and other attendees about transgender youth and their connection to domestic violence.

Telling her own story, she explained how a psychiatrist “spent the next year talking to me about football and baseball and whether or not I liked girls.”

Soon, with research, Burleton began to realize the changes that puberty would bring.

“I began to ‘borrow’ my mother’s estrogen pills that she was taking for her menopausal symptoms,” she recalled.

Six years later, in 1972, she transitioned to her true female gender identity.

Burleton is the founder of the organization TransActive, the objectives of which are to raise awareness and to advocate on behalf of children who identify themselves as transgender or are gender-nonconforming.

Burleton defined “gender-nonconforming” as anybody who has an identity, a form

of self-expression or views his or her gender in a way that is not stereotypically either male or female.

The organization works with grade levels K-12, assisting children and family members in communicating the child’s gender identity, as well as allowing him or her to undergo transition – meaning the child can begin living in his or her desired gender role as early as kindergarten.

“Many of the children we work with have a completely different experience than the one I described” Burleton noted.

She attributes this to the willingness of these children’s parents to support their child’s gender identity and gender expression.

However, she added, “Many other children and youth, despite the decades since my childhood and adolescence, have the same negative and oppressive experience that I did.”

Please see BURLETON, Page 4

Helen Conley Clackamas Print

Jenn Burleton plays guitar and sings with her band, Uncommon Women, at the Take Back the Night event held on campus earlier this month.

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The

News

Clackamas Print

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Election breakdown: ASG candidates pledge service Latisha Burley: ASG vice president I will: – Listen to you – Represent you – Be fair, honest and open

Jayc Izso: ASG presidential candidate

Michael Vu: ASG presidential candidate

BURLEY

My experience: – CCC ASG Administrative Assistant, 2007-2008 – 4.0 high school GPA, two-year ASB president, valedictorian – 2005 Hugh O’Brian Youth Leadership Alumni – Clackamas County Young Leaders Program, 2005-2006 – Foundation for Rural Services trip to Washington, DC, learning about telecommunications – National Honor Society Vice President, 2006-2007 – Key Club Treasurer, 2005-2006, and Treasurer/Vice President, 2006-2007 Clackamas Students, If I had to pick one important issue that this college faces, I’d say it is student involvement. Coming from Associated Student Government, it can be challenging to capture the participation of students on campus. There has to be a way to conquer this task, and I have a few suggestions.

ASG’s job is to provide opportunities, but I would like to see more input from students of what they want to see happen. While talking to students, I found the reason people don’t get involved is because the activities that they’d enjoy are not offered. Student input is crucial!

I would also like to see ASG’s president and vice president make quarterly visits to the clubs’ meetings to see what their advice is. They should focus on offering students more options and raising the awareness of each opportunity. Suggestion boxes could be revamped to encourage students’ proposals.

College is all about making the most of this season of life. It’s during this time that students decide who they’re going to be for the rest of their lives.

Whether you are a still in high school and enrolled here or you are taking a few classes to finish up your degree, this is your chance to take advantage of all this school offers. Like all the fliers say, CCC is the “smart” choice, so why not make the “smart” choice and make the most of your time here?

It may be more convenient to come to school, attend to class and go home, but ASG is here to make your experience the best it can be. On the way to your next class, stop by the Community Center and drop off a suggestion. Give us your thoughts, give us your ideas and we’ll give you a great college experience!

Experience: – 2007-2008 ASG senator and officer (campus activities) – 4.0 Clackamas Community College GPA, 89 Credits – Four-year class officer, Canby High School

Goals: – Get more students involved Clackamas Students, What do you think about Let’s work together, you an online blog/forum, where and me. As president, I want you could voice your opinto collaborate and make ions about what can be done change happen. differently? Would you use First off, I would like to it? What if the student govincrease the communication ernment could remind you between you all, my fellow of upcoming activities, or classmates, and the student ways to have fun and get government. Our job is to involved? What do you provide services and, more think? Let me know; you can importantly, a voice for you to find me in the ASG office. our college administration.

Related to that, I would As president, I will serve also like to increase your as an active “middle-man” involvement here. There are between the students and the many students who go to college administration. I will class for a couple hours and always be gauging what you then just head home until they all want/need and commu- have class the next day. nicate that to the administraThere’s really more to tion. be experienced in college. If The student government you are looking for somealso needs to hear feedback thing more to do, you should from you, so that we can make be given that opportunity. In changes, hear more feedback order to accomplish this, stuand make more changes. We dent government should have are representing you, so we a student recruitment departneed to hear what you have to ment to get in touch with any say. This invitation is for any and all students who want to and all of you who would like get involved. to be heard.

All in all, Clackamas An action step to move Community College is a great toward this goal is to have place, and it has vast opportua way for the students to nities, but we need to all pitch communicate to the student in and make it the best place government. In this day and for us, in whatever way, shape age, we will likely move or form. Let’s make CCC the toward a more technological place to be. stance to reach you all.

CLINTON: wife’s campaign issues discussed on platform last Saturday “We have to create more jobs in this economy if we expect incomes to go up, and we have to address the cost problems of America, which are energy, healthcare and higher education,” he said in regards to how America should rebuild the economy.

“She (Hillary) has the best plan to produce jobs in the only way that all these countries that are succeeding are producing them today,” he added.

Edwards asserts that Hillary Clinton is “the most experienced” of the candidates.

“Hillary has years of public service, relationships with leaders around the world and a proven record of fighting for working families,” she said.

“She is the only candidate who has proposed a universal healthcare plan, and she is the only candidate to put forward a detailed plan specifically addressing Oregon policy priorities.”

Clinton has created an Oregon Compact that involves goals for the state of Oregon. She has requested two debates with rival Democratic candidate Barack Obama sometime before Oregon’s May 20 primary election. One of

VU

Qualities: – A “listen first, then act” leader – Reliable, open, honest, hard-working and passionate – Care deeply about helping students

ASG Elections: Vote online at clackamas.edu on Wednesday, May 7, or Thursday, May 8.

Continued from CLINTON, Page 1

Who is Jayc Izso?

the debates will discuss challenges facing rural Oregonians.

The public can go to Clinton’s Web site, www.hillaryclinton.com, to sign a petition to make a debate between Clinton and Obama in Oregon possible. The site details issues Clinton supports, her personal history and how to become a volunteer for her campaign or donate money to the cause.

“Our country needs a strong, experienced leader to put us back on the track of peace and prosperity after seven years of failed Bush administration policies,” Edwards said. “Hillary Clinton is the candidate who can do that.”

Attendees of the event included voters who are similarly confident in Clinton’s abilities as a leader.

“She is, by far, the best candidate,” Dan Domenigoni said. “She is the most presidential out of the candidates.”

Another audience member,Terri Domenigoni, said, “She is bright and politically aware.”

Bill Clinton also addressed his wife’s character, assuring the crowd of her dependability.

“You will never worry that she will not be there for you,” he said.

I have been a student at CCC for four terms and have thoroughly enjoyed every one of them. The grim reality of the sit- IZSO uation is that I have realized that the system by which students are “governed” is flawed. Now I’m running for ASG president to rectify the issues that are currently dictating how student representation is being conducted.

Why vote for Jayc?

– To prevent the misrepresentation of students and the subsequent funds they supply ASG with.

– To make this a student-run government, not one built of the foundation of pseudo-nobility.

– Let’s be honest; over 75 percent of students either don’t know we have a student government or simply don’t care. Now is the time to have someone who wants to actually give the majority their due.

– He’s just an average guy, works a full-time job, goes to school full-time and understands the stressors of an average student.

– It’s time for the system to evolve.

The truth of the matter is at least 80 percent of the students on this campus have no knowledge that the Associated Student Government even exists. Sure, we in the ASG pretend like they do; in fact, we call ourselves “student representatives.” But how can we possibly represent the average student when only 200 out of 30,000 actually vote?

To put it simply, we can’t.

It is because of this very issue that we arrive at the reality at which we are now faced. Tuition is increasing; book prices are as high as ever, and instead of spending the ASG funds – student-supplied money – on scholarships and better food options, we decide to throw the money away on cotton and barbeques.

The truth is, the college is struggling. Enrollment is down and, thus, one of the primary sources of the college’s income

is being forced to pay more.

A lot of people have asked me why I’m running, and the simplest answer I can supply is that I don’t like the way things are done at this college.

I’m sure, with a little more information, the average student would find that they don’t, either. Many of us love our instructors on this campus, and frankly, they’re being directly affected by the poor choices the administration has made as well.

I encourage students to get involved with the faculty on this issue; after all, they are our teachers, mentors and guides.

What, with another tuition increase of $5 per 1 credit on the horizon, and the recent consensus that the cafeteria is bad (go figure), it’s time students had a voice.

I’m Jayc Izso, and frankly, if you want things to stay the way they are, don’t vote for me.

SMOKERS: education and enforcement the key to control Continued from SMOKING, Page 1

All of this, however, doesn’t seem to deter students from smoking, Fender pointed out.

“Scare tactics don’t work,” she said. “The bottom line is that they’re addicted.”

Students on campus who smoke do so for a variety of reasons.

Giovanni, a 16-year-old student who did not want his last name used, says that he has been smoking for two years. He started due to troubles within his family, as well as because all of his friends smoked.

With no plans to quit anytime in the near future, Giovanni sees it this way: “You only get one life.

Might as well live it up.”

Another student, Nate Young, now of legal age, has been smoking since he was 14 years old and attributes his starting the habit to “just being stressed out.”

“My friends told me to try it,” he said. “It probably kept me out of jail a couple of times.”

For Young, smoking relieves aggression Clackamas’ security

officials were unwilling to comment about underage smoking at the college, but a search through the Department of Public Safety shift logs on campus showed no citations issued to minors for tobacco use within the months of March and April.

Even though, recently, students have not had severe disciplinary steps taken against them for smoking, this does not mean that security is not on the lookout for violators.

Student Zack Brooks has been carded on campus.

“We had security guards, yesterday, check our IDs,” Brooks said.

Brooks sees no problem with people smoking on campus as long as they stay out of traffic areas.

He thinks it’s rather trivial when individuals who are on the verge of adulthood get into legal trouble for lighting up.

He does, on the other hand, see something wrong with youth of a certain age doing so.

“It’s ridiculous how early people are starting,” he said.

Brooks recalled an

instance when he was approached by a young kid for a pack of cigarettes.

When asked his age, the boy said he was 12 years old.

Stories such as Brooks’ are proof of a belief Nielson harbors herself, and that is whatever interventions society is going to make need to happen before students reach the age range of 15 to 17 years old.

Kayla Berge Clackamas Print

Stephanie Brydon takes a moment to enjoy a cigarette. She started smoking regularly when she was 13. Her 18th birthday will occur this summer.

The

Clackamas Print EDITORIAL

Revenue policy needs updating, part II

Opinion

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

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EARLY POLITICAL TRAINING

Two weeks ago, this page explored business ideas utilized by other colleges to raise operating revenues in place of hiking tuition fees.

Other viable options do exist for us.

Some of these options are simply passive means of lowering operating funds and generating revenue, and are important in maintaining Clackamas’ affordable cost and keeping the school on a sound financial basis.

FOR EXAMPLE, a number of concerned students have brought to this editorial board’s attention the lack of a definitive recycling program at the college.

Although recycling bins are scattered around campus, there is not a comprehensive system of separating reusable materials from the mounds of waste Clackamas generates on a daily basis.

According to research, an aggressive recycling program instituted on all levels of the school would immediately pay for itself in lesser overall operating expenses and services.

According to universities and “green” activist group’s Web sites, better than 90 percent of all solid wastes produced by commercial or educational institutions is simple paper or cardboard.

Also, the hundreds of plastic and aluminum cans and bottles disposed of every day each have a value-added price that quickly add up.

Many California and Oregon schools already employ the 5-cent deposit value to help fund student activities or pay for other programs that would otherwise go lacking in funds.

The University of Oregon even has an excellent how-to page online that details the step-bystep creation from scratch of a campus recycling program that covers every angle.

The Clackamas ASG would do well to check it out at Uoregon.edu/~recycle/howto_text.htm.

ANOTHER PASSIVE MEANS of saving money is the simple expedient of installing fluorescent lights and automatic timers in every office and classroom.

Although many rooms do have them, enough do not that it becomes an issue.

Information gathered from Consumer Reports and other watchdog groups have consistently shown long-term benefits and savings to both private consumers and commercial users.

With fluorescent lighting using 80 percent less electricity than conventional bulbs and including savings from automatic lights, the cost of installation usually pays for itself in less than a year.

LASTLY, with emerging alternative energy sources, the concept of homegrown electricity is becoming more and more common.

Many new buildings in the downtown Portland area are starting to incorporate solar panels and wind turbines into their construction, to take advantage of lowered costs of heating and lighting associated with these technologies.

A secondary benefit comes when more power is generated than consumed. Utility companies give energy “credits” to business and residents when excess power is sent onto the local grid.

Only a surprisingly small number of generators are required in order to start seeing a return on the bottom line.

Although a solar/wind generator requires a significant initial investment the school can illafford, the majority of costs are underwritten by government grants, state and local solar rebate programs or tax credits.

None of these suggestions are new, radical or unheard of by most people. They are all tried and true ideas that have been proven time and again to work.

Clackamas is known to be a leader in innovation and education.

Let’s lead by example.

The

Clackamas Print

The Clackamas Print 19600 S. Molalla Ave. Oregon City, OR 97045 503-657-6958, ext. 2309

Armondo Borboa and Kayla Berge Clackamas Print

Armondo Borboa Opinion editor

Especially in election years, a popular American pastime seems to be watching public figures becoming increasingly out of touch with reality.

The only challenge to the viewer at home is wondering which individuals will stick their foot in their mouth next.

Personally, I always bet on the guy whose lips are moving.

In the real world $300 million for an Alaskan bridge to nowhere is clearly stupid and a waste of money, yet some politicians figured it was a great idea.

Sending out a $600 government tax rebate check per person to kick-start the economy is clearly just picking our pockets and handing us back a tip.

Millions of taxpayer dollars are spent to encourage the use of ethanol fuels to reduce dependency on foreign oil.

Too bad ethanol directly leads to higher food prices and an increase in greenhouse gasses. The list goes on and on.

But then again, spending time on planet Earth with the rest of us is apparently not something politicians do on a regular basis.

If the Hillary show has demonstrated nothing else this year, it has at least shown the amazing difference between our reality – a normal airport-landing in Bosnia – and the way politicians tell it – a combat drop under sniper fire.

Not that the other guys in this threelegged race are any better.

But at least McCain really did get the crap beat out of him in a Vietnam prison for five years; there is no doubt about that hap-

Editor in Chief: Megan Koler Copy Editor: Colleen Watkins News Editor: Lydia E. Bashaw A&C Editor: Emily Walters Sports Editor: Andrea Simpson Feature Editor: Kyle Steele Photo Editor: Kayla Berge Opinion Editor: Armondo Borboa Photo Associate : John Shufelt News Associate: John Hurlburt

pening whatsoever. Go, John.

So why don’t most politicians get it?

To paraphrase Arnold the Gubernator when he was running for office in California, “Most of these guys have no idea what it is like to sign on the front of a check.”

What the Terminator was trying to say actually does contain a fair bit of wisdom.

Most public figures we see on the evening news, with their 30-second sound bites and “talking points,” have no clue what it takes to run a successful and profitable company, something many private citizens do every day.

Most of them have no idea what makes an economy work or how to keep the unions happy while keeping a business in the black.

Most of them have no clue what motivates a workforce to create new ideas or technologies.

and cope with the occasional Godzilla attack.

This idea isn’t as far-fetched or silly as it might seem at first.

After all, modern fighter pilots spend literally hundreds of hours jacked into simulators before they ever go up in a real bird.

Same thing goes for Wall Street stock market traders. They spend countless hours and days going over charts, graphs, economic models and real-time reports before they ever input their first real buy order.

Doctors, lawyers and military officers have historically always been considered professionals, and they all have stringent requirements that must be met in order to be allowed into their ranks.

We require proper training and licensing before we allow people to be trusted with our money or our safety.

Why should we trust our society’s wellbeing to anything less?

What to do

Cyber-nerds to the rescue

Although a very broad generalization, a large majority of so-called “career politicians” are lawyers who passed the bar exam and then only held down a job long enough to run for public office.

Funny enough, the only careers considered more despicable than politics are attorneys and news reporters.

So what is a possible solution?

We could require our elected officials to first successfully prove themselves in the boardroom before they can attempt to run our economy.

But then again, self-made millionaires Mitt Romney and Ross Perot both spent plenty of their own dollars and still didn’t win their respective races.

Personally, I like the idea of requiring anybody holding public office to first qualify on strategic population simulator programs.

Think of this as playing “SimCity” or “Civilization” in expert mode.

To even qualify to run for office, they would have to not only keep an approval rating better than 70 percent, but also stay within a budget, deal with natural disasters

With modern technology growing smarter and smarter each day, simulator games are becoming as close to the real thing as you can get without actually being there.

Anybody who has ever played a strategic sim game knows what happens when you raise the tax base without increasing your resources first – common knowledge to any gamer, but apparently a totally foreign concept to our elected officials.

Your population gets unhappy and soon goes somewhere else to live.

The same concept is true for projects and public works that do not serve the needs of your population.

You blow all your gold, you get no bonuses and again, the people leave.

If teenage gamers can master archaic concepts like budgeting, resource management, population expansion, supply and demand, forms of government and military strategy all by sitting on their butts playing video games, then anybody can do it.

Is it too much to ask for people who are playing with our real lives and tax dollars to do the same?

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The opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the student body, college administration, its faculty or The Print. E-mail comments to chiefed@clackamas. edu.

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Clackamas Print

TransActive: lone voice for transgender youth Continued from BURLETON, page 1

Although TransActive works with youth as old as 18, most of the children who are part of the organization realize they are transgender when they are very young.

Consequently, one might think it’s the kids themselves who are confused, but Burleton strongly disagrees.

“These kids understand who they are absolutely perfectly, but our culture presumes they are confused simply because their internal sense of gender identity is in conflict with their anatomical sex,” she said, “or their gender expression falls outside what others may consider to be an acceptable range in relation to their assigned male or female gender.”

TransActive also seeks to educate social-service agencies and programs for domestic violence.

“A source of conflict within the family that can lead to violence can often be a child that is not gender-conforming,” Burleton said, “and one or the other parent is very opposed to it” Burleton wants the public to comprehend the difference between being gay and transsexual.

“Being transgender is not a matter of one’s sexuality,” she said. “It is about the individual’s gender identity. We all have a sense of our gender many years before we even develop a sexual orientation.

We do not identify as female as a result of being attracted to men, or vice-versa; who we are is completely different from who we like romantically.”

According to Burleton, statistically speaking, as many as 50 percent of trans-identified youth do not even reach their college and adult years.

“They have the highest suicide rate of any at-risk population you can measure,” she explained.

“That isn’t due to their gender-nonidentity issues,” she continued. “It’s primarily a result of the intolerance and indifference of our culture, and of the medical profession, to their situation.”

This applies specifically to taking action to block or delay the onset of puberty and to administer cross-gender hormones so the child can develop and mature physically in a way that is congruent with his or her gender identity.

TransActive attempts to inform health-care providers of the challenges faced by transgender kids and their families.

“Trans kids are pretty much the most underserved and neglected segment of the community,” said Hayley Klug, a close friend and coworker of Burleton.

“Really, what it comes down to is, no one else is speaking for these kids,” Klug said in reference to the importance of Burleton’s work.

“There aren’t many other organizations out there that target the needs of trans youth, and it makes such a difference in these kids’ lives.”

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Feature

Public buses may hold key to more money Rising fuel costs have left a bitter taste in drivers’ wallets, but a solution may be as simple as riding the bus Matt Garrison The Clackamas Print

The smell of stale tobacco, strong aftershave or even cat litter may scare people away from using public transportation, but it is a less expensive way to get where you need to go.

While drivers complain about rising gas prices, a car requires more than fuel. What if it breaks down? Even if that day never comes, oil changes, maintenance and trips through the car wash are still necessary.

Although public transportation may be a slower means of travel, and it does run the risk of being late, it is cheaper and doesn’t require a license to ride.

“Trip planners are offered at TriMet’s Web site,” said Peggy LaPoint, public information officer for the organization.

At www.trimet.org, toward the top left portion of the screen are the words “Trip Planner.”

There are several options: type an address, intersection, landmark or the stop identification number.

From there, enter when you want to leave your starting point or the desired arrival time.

Then, confirm the date and click on the green “plan trip” button to see a list of different ways of reaching the destination.

“Don’t throw away transfers,” said Jeff Jones, a TriMet bus driver, as passengers receive one when they pay their fare. “Any TriMet fee can be inspected by any TriMet employee.”

“Month passes are available at most Safeway, Albertsons and Fred Meyer stores,” Jones added.

In addition to prohibiting “disruptive, threatening or offensive behavior,” the rules of conduct posted at the front of every bus request that passengers present their fare receipt when asked, keep their feet on the floor – not on the seats – and “make front seats available to senior and disabled citizens.”

Anyone who rides is also asked not to

smoke, use any music devices without head- the morning and during rush hour. phones, carry food that is not in a closed conAt the Oregon City Transit Center, commuttainer or have an animal that is not in a carrier, ers can transfer to bus lines 32, 33, 34, 35, 79, with the exception of a guide dog.

99, 153, 154 and the Canby Area Transit (CAT), And it may not be a rule, but bus drivers which goes to Canby. appreciate and suggest having your fare ready Bus 34 travels River Road into Milwaukie. before getting on the bus.

Bus 35 – Macadam – takes passengers down “Between 8 p.m. and 5 a.m., you can ask the Highway 43 through West Linn, Lake Oswego bus driver to get dropped off at an undesignated and part of Southwest Portland to downtown bus stop,” said LaPoint. “Whenever you exit the Portland. bus, exit the back door so people boarding on Bus 79 can eliminate a trek to the Clackamas the bus can get on easier, and make sure before Town Center, while number 153 goes down getting on the bus (that) it’s the right one by South End Road and the 154 travels into West checking the top of the front of the bus.”

Linn.

Youth and high school student fare is $1.40, Transit centers are located around the Portland all-zone adult is $2.05, adult 2 zone is $1.75 and area, and will connect to other routes that can go for senior and disabled citizens, the cost is 85 as far as Hillsboro, Troutdale, Sherwood and cents. All-day tickets are $4.25.

Janzen Beach, where those interested can take Clackamas students who are interested in the C-TRAN into Vancouver public transportation have it easy – the college For more information on bus pass and ticket has a TriMet stop where buses 32, 33 and 99 stop prices, instructions on how to ride or bus schedduring rush hour, going to Portland in the morn- ules, go to www.trimet.org or call 503-238ing and from Portland in the late afternoon. Also, 7433. the South Clackamas Transportation District serves transportation to Molalla from Clackamas for $1 per ride.

Tri-Met bus 33 – McLoughlin – will take passengers as far as downtown Portland, where the line will usually turn into 33 – Fremont – which goes through Northeast Portland to the Gateway District.

Bus 32 – Oatfield – will travel as far as Matt Garrison Clackamas Print the Milwaukie Riders go about their day while riding the 33 bus near the college Transit Center, in the bus transit area. For times and locations, www.trimet.org except for in offers a trip planner found on the top left of it’s homepage.

Class explores the mysterious world of film Series offers students a hands-on experience with the skills needed for the film industry Kenton Benfield The Clackamas Print

Future famous people may walk among us.

Thanks to Advanced Screenwriting and Production, taught by Andy Mingo with the support of Sue Mach, the college is helping to cultivate the next wave of movie direc-

tors and screenwriters.

Advanced Screenwriting and Production is in its forth year and provides the opportunity for budding filmmakers and writers to make short films to be produced for exhibition at an end-of-the-term public film festival on campus.

The course is the culmination of a sequence of classes that begins with Introduction to Screenwriting, taught by Mach in the fall, in which students learn the process of writing an original screenplay.

In the winter, that knowledge can be applied in Screenwriting and Production, which is taught jointly between Mach and Mingo. After writ-

Kenton Benfield Clackamas Print

Former film student Brandon Victor sits next to one of the many Mac computers the film class use to edit the films in Rook Hall.

ing a screenplay, those who know everything,” he said. wish to convert it into an actu- “Blood, sweat and tears!” al film must submit their work But the payoff is apparfor consideration by Mingo. ently well worth it.

If approved, “I think the true work that Sue Mach begins – the is one of the “If you take movie is then best film constructed, instructors … the class, complete with that I have don’t go into real actors, sets ever had the and crew. opportunity to it thinking S t u d e n t study under,” that you know R o x a n n e Clingman everything.”

Clingman is said. “It is among the filmexcellent, that makers currentcombination Brandon Victor ly enrolled in of Sue and Former film student Mingo’s class.

Andy … the “When I put strengths they out my castboth bring are ing call on the just amazing.”

Internet, I got While the a lot of responses,” Clingman classes are set up as a series, said. “They (the actors) are they do not have to be taken pros; they just got back from in order.

Universal Studios accepting “You don’t even have to an award … I am impressed take all three of them if you with the quality.” are interested in one area more Clingman’s film, based in than another,” Mach explained. the 1950s, is about two kids “If you are a screenwriter, you – a boy with a disability and a have to take all three.” dislocated girl who befriends Many former film students him – as they care for each at Clackamas have gone on to other while dealing with the work in the short and indeinadvertently harmful inter- pendent film scene, attendference of their parents. ing film festivals and hoping Former film student to catch the eye of big-name Brandon Victor, who pro- studios. duced a piece titled “Kaddish” The festival this term will last spring, is familiar with be June 9, feature the three the hard work involved in the films currently in production course.

by Mingo’s class and be open “If you take the class, don’t to the public. go into it thinking that you

The

Clackamas Print

&

Arts Culture

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

5

Writer relays food experiments Emily Walters Arts & Culture Editor

A partial solution to the threat of global warming may be found in vegetarianism.

Writer Trista Cornelius, who works as an instructor for the English department at Clackamas, spoke inside room 220 of Roger Rook Hall on Thursday, April 24.

attendees several questions for them to ponder during the discussion.

• How conscious are you of what you eat?

• What have you eaten so far today?

• In what manner did you eat it?

• How does it make you feel?

Following these questions, Cornelius relayed how a trip to the grocery store several years ago opened her eyes to foods – mainly fruits and vegetables – she did not know about or had not yet tried.

This realization was brought on when she saw some sort of spiky melon.

It made her think, “How could I be so limited in my ideas of food?” She found herself wanting to explore the concept further, and fulfill the inkling that she had always had about wanting to be a vegetarian.

2. Meatless March

1. An Apples and Oranges Life

Cornelius started small, by deciding to – along with her husband – go one month without consuming meat of any kind.

“My biggest initial discovery was butternut squash,” she said.

That was just one of the many new foods she sampled that month, but has stuck with her to this day as a favorite.

“I rediscovered foods that I thought I didn’t like,” she said, mentioning brussel sprouts, which are commonly hated by children.

A goal resulted from her first “Meatless March”: she began trying to buy organic produce and grains.

Cornelius began by asking

3. There’s a Worm in My Plum

CORNELIUS

The talk was aptly titled “Saving the Planet One Bite at a Time,” and is just one of the many events planned for this spring by the college’s Sustainability Project.

In a series of nine segments, Cornelius gave the audience an overview of her explorations with food and explained how our food choices affect the planet.

Another point of realization for Cornelius was a couple of years later, when she was cutting up a plum and discovered a worm inside.

She said that, prior to that time, finding a bug in her fruit would have disgusted her, but at this moment, it actually made her feel good that the worm had been naturally attracted to her organic food – rather than the normal produce that is sold in stores, which she described as then seeming “waxy” to her.

Cornelius’ whole sense of food had changed.

4. One Less Food Group Cornelius described a day, just before coming to work at Clackamas, when she felt sluggish and had recurring headaches.

As an experiment, she decided to try cutting dairy out of her diet for two weeks, as she had heard that it was sometimes linked to those types of problems.

Only two days later, Cornelius saw that the outcome was excellent, and has not reintroduced dairy since – even though it used to be her favorite food group – because of how much healthier she feels without it.

5. Hurricane Katrina and a Veganish Lifestyle A few years ago, Cornelius said, she noticed when her husband was gone on a trip that her eating habits had completely reverted back to her bachelorette days: to a lot of unhealthy and fast food.

With another imminent trip approaching, Cornelius resolved to make a plan she would stick to, and decided to eat vegan

for the 10 days that she would be alone. She ended up liking aspects of it so much that she has continued doing it, to a certain degree.

6. Eating Sunshine Cornelius found that her diet of eating mostly plants gave her life new revitalization – it was like consuming warmth and energy.

This side effect to the lifestyle change is something that made her stay on the course she chose.

7. Jack and the Beanstalk Volunteering at a food bank also gave Cornelius an opportunity to learn and think up ideas as to a further approach to meals.

She noted that the foods individuals were getting at the food bank were beautiful and edible, and the quality of everything made everybody light up.

It helped bring to her attention what she dubbed “edible landscaping.” It was the ideal situation of having the surrounding trees, bushes and so on not simply exist for decorative purposes, but produce substances that people could consume.

Also, she started containergardening inside her house, with sufficient success, which she recommended to the audience as a way of supporting oneself cheaply and healthily, even in the overly-rainy Oregon weather.

8. Worms Under the Sink One beneficial part of the notion of a plant-centered environment is that it reduces a significant quantity of waste from the wrapping and packaging

done to most items located at a regular grocery store.

Since she made the switch to vegetarianism, Cornelius has found enjoyment in creating a smaller amount of garbage, and what little food waste her family does generate is usually easily thrown out to compost, to be processed by worms back into the soil.

9. Cows Versus Cars Perhaps the most interesting part of Cornelius’ entire talk was the conclusion, during which she shared some surprising statistics from a story she came across in The Oregonian about a year ago.

Almost one-fifth of all emissions released into the atmosphere, the article stated, come from raising livestock for food, which is more than the portion created by the entire world’s use of automobiles.

The methane gas from the animals’ manure was pinpointed as one of the major parts of the issue.

In addition, the public may be interested to hear that, according to the article, they can make more of a positive impact on the environment when they “move to prevent global warming by turning vegetarian rather than switching to a Toyota Prius.”

The Prius is thought to be one of the best hybrid cars out there – and it is expensive.

It seems it is pretty safe to say that investing in extra helpings of good ol’ fruits and veggies is a smarter choice.

For more information, or to be given resources for eating healthily and locally, e-mail Cornelius at tristac@clackamas.edu.

Clackamas student plays guitar for local alternative band Jess Sheppard The Clackamas Print

The members of the Portland-based band Amaretta describe their music as alternative, which guitarist and Clackamas student Chris Young explains as “a blending of styles and eras.”

Amaretta is a fairly new ensemble, having formed in October of 2007.

In the beginning, it was merely Young along with his friend, and the group’s drummer, Jon Cotton.

“I was itching to play with some people,” Young said, “so I got Jon to come and jam with me.”

Then, one day Cotton just happened to tell Young about an acquaintance of his, Andrew Scott, a bass guitarist.

“Jon, why the hell haven’t you mentioned this before?” was Young’s reaction.

Scott was soon added to Amaretta’s ranks.

“I tried it and loved it,” Scott recalled. “I went over and brought it, and he (Young) said, ‘He’s good.’”

Not long after, Young ran into thenClackamas student Kara Dishman in their History of Rock class.

“I’ve known Kara since seventh grade,” he said. “It seemed like she was always there.”

With Dishman as lead singer, the band was complete.

The name Amaretta was originally thought up by Young.

“I think I just threw it up there when we made our MySpace page,” he said. “We just kind of went with it.”

Young admits that he had been drinking amaretto cappuccinos at the time.

Amaretta has already played in several locations around the Portland area, including the Hawthorne Theatre, the Artistry and the Ash Street Saloon.

The saloon proved to be an interesting experience when the woman who booked their performance realized that Cotton, Dishman, Scott and Young were all underage.

“None of us are actually legal to be inside,” Young said. “They kept us quarantined in the back.”

Fortunately, they still performed well and were invited to play at the saloon again.

“We were relieved not to burn a bridge there,” Young said.

Besides playing gigs, Amaretta has finished its first CD, “Esque.”

It “started out possibly going to be titled ‘_____esque,’ as in fill in the blank with any word we deemed appropriate,” Young said in an e-mail. “But when we failed to find anything that really worked with that, we started just calling it Esque, and it stuck. I think the word also represents how we musically and lyrically don’t seem to stick to one thing. We do all sorts of things.”

Contributed Photo

From left to right: drummer Jon Cotton, bass guitarist Andrew Scott, guitarist Chris Young and lead singer Kara Dishman.

Self-written and produced, the album features seven original songs, recorded by the members themselves.

“It’s pretty amazing what you can do with a few decent mics and a laptop,” Young said.

Songwriting, for Amaretta, is a group process.

“We start with a jam,” Scott said. “Then, Kara and Chris go over with the harmonies.”

At live shows, the band mainly performs its own songs.

“We do a few cover songs ... but for the most part, it’s stuff we’ve written,” Scott said.

With the CD finished, the plan is to send it to some small labels.

Scott doesn’t deny that the dream to “make it big someday” is always tempting.

“That would be fantastic,” Young agreed.

However, both men also concurred that they will be equally happy if that doesn’t happen.

“I just enjoy going out and playing music,” Scott said. “I wouldn’t do this if I didn’t like it.”

Scott added, “It’s been one of the greatest experiences I’ve ever done.”

To hear Amaretta’s music, visit their MySpace page at www.myspace.com/amarettamusic.

6 Sports

The Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Save your green by going green

Clackamas Print

Softball looks to improve record in time for NWAACCs Megan Koler Editor in Chief

Andrea Simpson Clackamas Print

With an even win-loss record, Cougar softball aims to improve.

Clackamas lost this past weekend’s first doubleheader against Chemeketa Community College 2-7 and 8-10, and tied its doubleheader with Southwestern Community College 5-4 and 0-2.

“We didn’t perform offensively like we should have,” said Softball Coach Jessica Buel. “We’re still in third place, so we’re only going to improve from where we’re at.”

One of the players in the process of improving is freshman Mallory Callahan, who led the team with a two-run home run in last weekend’s doubleheaders.

“I was kind of in a hitting slump for a while, so it felt good to get out of it,” Callahan said.

Despite a less-than-stellar offense, Clackamas had one of its strongest defensive games, with only two errors made the whole weekend.

The team is now third in the NWAACC (Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges) standings, below Mt. Hood Community College in first and Lower Columbia Community College in second. Only the top four teams will be invited to compete in this year’s NWAACC championships.

“It’s scary because we want to make NWWAACs so bad,” said freshman Kayla Vedaa. “It’s a reputation we want to withhold here at the school.”

The Cougars’ next game is at home this Friday against Mt. Hood at 3 p.m. on the softball field.

“The pressure is on,” Vedaa said. “Hopefully, we’ll get things to come together.”

Instructor Kate Gray rides away from Roger Rook Hall on her recumbent-style bicycle. Gray bikes from her Sellwood home, which is approximately 12 miles from the college.

With gas prices hitting record highs at almost $4 per gallon, alternative transportation is becoming more appealing to the masses

the local shop Daddy’s, located on Sandy Boulevard, says that the activity plays a role in maintaining her physical health.

“A lot of people wouldn’t think that you get a lot of exercise from it, but when you are using your legs to push yourself, they get pretty strong,” she said.

She frequently boards from her place of Andrea Simpson work, Coastal Farm and Ranch, in the Oregon Sports Editor City Shopping Center, to the Oregon City campus.

Biking and other less-conventional modes As the weather turns warmer and pants are of transportation are indeed environmenttraded for shorts, people start to pull their friendly. And with global warming becoming bicycles and skateboards from storage, using a hot topic in politics, the public is beginthem as a substitute for driving in the glori- ning to question what they can do to slow the ous weather. inevitable monstrosity.

Here on campus is a little-known comAccording to the League of American munity of bicyclists and skateboarders who Bicyclists’ Web site, bikeleague.org, 60 perhave many different reasons for cent of the pollution generemploying alternative means of ated by automobile emissions commuting. is released within the first few For English Instructor Kate minutes of functioning, before Gray, it’s a matter of less polthe emission control devices “I am trying to lution. have a chance to work. This “I am trying to lessen the means that short trips to places lessen the carbon footprint I leave,” Gray only a few miles away emit said. more pollution per mile than carbon Gray, who rides her recumlonger outings. bent-style bike once every couThe TriMet bus system has footprint I ple of weeks, says that even long been viewed as a positive though it takes five times lonreplacement for driving. Some leave.” ger for her to bike to Clackamas students use a combination of than it does to drive, her efforts longboarding and riding the are well worth it. bus to get to the college.

Kate Gray “It’s great exercise,” she Gray says that alternative English Instructor said. “I’m not hardcore about transport, however, does have it. I don’t bike in nasty weather its pitfalls. or anything. I started riding as “I bike along (Highway) a training athlete. Now, I’m 213, and that scares me to trying to do more environmental stuff.” death,” she said. “Drivers are so reckless.

Gray bikes from her home in Sellwood, a “It’s funny when I see my students while distance she estimates to be about 12 miles.

I’m biking. One time a student stopped next Student Jaynee Lindquist agrees that alter- to me near Home Depot, and he told me I native transportation can have multiple ben- looked so scared he decided not to honk and efits. say hello.”

Lindquist is part of a small group of people So before you fire up the engine to run to who longboard on campus. She began long- the store, think about saving gas and the enviboarding in November of last year, when her ronment by utilizing earth-loving methods of boyfriend and his friends took up the hobby. transportation.

Lindquist, who bought her longboard from

Games This Week BASEBALL April 29 – Lane CC (DH) 1 p.m. at HOME May 3 – Mt. Hood CC (DH) 1 p.m. at Gresham May 6 – Chemeketa CC (DH) 1 p.m. at HOME SOFTBALL April 29 – Lower Columbia College 3 p.m. at Longview, Wash.

May 2 – Mt. Hood CC 3 p.m. at HOME May 3 – Chemeketa CC 1 p.m. at HOME May 6 – SW Oregon CC 2 p.m. at Coos Bay TRACK AND FIELD May 2 – Pacific Twilight at Pacific University

Sports Scores Baseball

April 26, 2008 – Clackamas 10, SW Oregon CC 0 April 26, 2008 – Clackamas 3, SW Oregon CC 0 April 27, 2008 – Clackamas 4, Concordia Univ. JV 2

Softball

April 26, 2008 – Clackamas 2, Chemeketa CC 7 April 27, 2008 – Clackamas 5, SW Oregon CC 4 April 27, 2008 – Clackamas 0, SW Oregon CC 2

The

Clackamas Print

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Sports

7

Cougars prove strength against Saints and Cavaliers This past weekend at the Saints and Cavaliers Invitational, Clackamas made a strong showing with several athletes placing first in a variety of events. The meet, which was held at Mt. Hood Community College on Saturday, April 26, hosted several four-year universities as well as community colleges from around the state.

Rachel Hemphill placed first in the women’s 400-meter dash with a time of 58.84 seconds, beating the nearest competition by a full three seconds. The women’s 4x100 relay placed second with a time of 50.12 seconds.

Sierra Hess made a showing when she placed third in the women’s discus throw. Hess threw a distance of 37.94 meters.

In the men’s competition, Logan Fjelstad ran the 200meter dash in 22.46 seconds and took fourth place. Sprinter Mat Tweedy earned the first-place spot in the men’s 400-

meter dash.

In the men’s 400-meter hurdles, Stan Wester placed first with a time of 56.19 seconds. Kai Ojala jumped 1.98 meters in the men’s high jump, and the men’s 4x400 relay placed third with a time of 3:25.55.

“It was a very solid meet for us,” Head Coach Keoni McHone said. “There were a lot of lifetime PRs set.”

The track team traveled to the NWAACC Multi Championships at Mt. Hood Community College on April 28 and 29. At the time of publication, the results were not yet available.

The next meet for Clackamas is the Pacific Twilight Event at Pacific University on May 2.

- Compiled by Andrea Simpson ABOVE: Sophomore Ime Ntehpere starts the 4x100 relay on Saturday.

LEFT: Matt Dotson lands in the long jump on his first attempt. Dotson placed ninth for the day.

RIGHT: Chris Baker splashes through a water hazard in the steeplechase. Baker placed fourth in the event.

All photos by Robert Crawford Clackamas Print

Baseball wins big in doubleheader, ties Mt. Hood in NWAACC standings

Robert Crawford Clackamas Print

ABOVE: Sophomore pitcher Bryan Roby throws during the game April 26 against Southwest Oregon Community College.

RIGHT: The team meets in a huddle to discuss the game.

Clackamas baseball recently tied for first in NWAACC (Northwest Athletic Association of Community College) standings with Mt. Hood Community College.

Cougar baseball won its doubleheader against Southwestern Community College last Saturday 100 and 3-0. The team also won a non-league game against Concordia University 4-2.

Clackamas’s NWAACC standing is now 12-4, which puts the Cougars in first place with seven games to go until the NWAACCs. “Everybody is playing well right now,” said Baseball Coach Robin Robinson. “We’re hitting well all the way through our lineup.”

One of the stand-out players this past weekend was sophomore catcher Ben Janal.

“Ben Janal was a great leader and one of our best guys,” Robinson said.

“He is kind of the quarterback of the team.”

Janal is just pleased that he and his fellow players came together and played like a team.

“If we play with the same inten-

sity we’ve been playing with, we have a good shot at NWAACCs,” he said.

Baseball’s next game is this coming Saturday against Mt. Hood Community College, in Gresham, at 1 p.m.

- Compiled by Megan Koler

Contributed by Steve Wright

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