www.TheClackamasPrint.com
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 23, 2014 V. 47, ISSUE 17
Analyzing homophobia One writer’s take on homophobia in America.
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CLACKAMAS COMMUNITY COLLEGE
see OPINION, Page 4
AN INDEPENDENT, STUDENT-RUN NEWSPAPER SINCE 1966
HOW WOULD YOU SPEND
$90 MILLION? The Board of Education is voting in July on whether to send a $90 million bond measure to the November ballot. They have their own plan for the money. Here’s what students want.
by CHRIS MORROW copy editor We have always lived in a culture permeated with the attitude that if you’re gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered or anything else it means that there is something wrong with you as a person, and having any of the aforementioned as your child means that you did something wrong as a parent. So ingrained into my mind was this attitude that I myself participated in the homophobic banter of my peers during high school and vocational school, mostly for the purpose of keeping up appearances, and when my parents finally attempted to have ‘the talk’ with me, I feared the absolute worst as they held me hostage on the living room coffee table, my sweating hands squished under me as I tried to think of what to do or say in response. My mind flooded with possible outcomes to an honest answer; disownment, a one-way trip to some ‘reparative therapy’ facility, a violent bludgeoning – none of these happened, instead the worst I dealt with was my mother’s playful ribbing and my father’s occasional half-hearted threat to buy me a bunch of Playboy magazines. In retrospect, it might seem like I was exaggerating things in my head and I was being overly paranoid, but considering some of the rhetoric, behavior and action aimed at LGBT youth I don’t feel like my paranoia and hesitation was all that unfounded. Most people have probably all but forgotten the now three year old controversy surrounding Tracy Morgan’s stand-up routine turned anti-gay tirade at Tenneesee’s Ryman Auditorium, in which the 30 Rock star who alledgedly said that he would stab his son if he were gay. Unless you consume YouTube videos as voraciously as I do, you’ve also probably never heard of North Carolina baptist preacher Sean Harris, telling the dads of his congregation to crack the wrists of and give a “good punch” to their sons who behave effimenantly, nor would you have been aware of an incident that happened at Grace Fellowship Church in Humboldt, Tenn., in which the pastor of the church, Jerry Pittman Sr., instructed his deacons to visciously attack his own son, Jerry Pittman Jr. and his partner, Dustin Lee, to prevent the couple from entering the church.
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by ERIN CAREY news & culture editor For two years, Clackamas Community College was given the task of looking around the facilities of its campuses and to finally bring them into the 21st century. The college was established in 1966, and due to this many of its facilities and buildings are in desperate need of repair and replacement. The proposal of a $90 million bond being set for the Nov. 4 election would not only affect the Oregon City campus with modernizing its science and engineering technology, but also replace a 61- year old building at Harmony campus to make room to support economic development.
“In my opinion, this school would really benefit from a multicultural environment and multicultural classes. A big chunk of it would have to go through multicultural classes and creating an area for a multicultural environment .”
–SAM DONILY
“More resources for students like rental instruments. I know that the computer lab could stand for an upgrade, especially for the more computer-intensive classes.”
–SHEPHERD DUFF
“We could expand the college and add classes by getting student suggestions. [That] would be a good way to get classes that we don’t have here. Maybe new modes of transportation, busses that reach farther to different places.”
This bond also proposes to replace many worn out plumbing, ventilation, electrical and heating systems that the antiquated campuses suffer with currently. Based on many surveys and focus groups that the community participated in, voters will decide whether $90 million is worth it. Not only does this money update the essentials, but it aims to ensure that students will adequately meet industry standards for their fields, whether they are science, manufacturing or engineering. The Print asked students how they would spend $90 million on campus. Here are a few of their responses.
“Improving the track field because ours is so bad. It’s not good for the school because members are getting injured on our terrain. It would be nice if we could compete on our own field.”
–ANTIONETTE MARO
“That’s a good question. I would improve parking, that’s really important. And improve buildings in any way that they need.”
–ZACH FERRIS
“Parking is always a problem. Maybe cameras for photography classes.”
–CLARISSA CHESS
–MICKAEL MARKIN Photos by Patty Salizar