For a recent assignment in my Government and Politics class, my teacher handed all of us a list of 17 rights that are included in the Bill of Rights. We were instructed to select 10 of those 17 freedoms that we considered to be most important. The remaining seven that we didn’t select were freedoms that we would no longer be able to have.

    Every journalist holds the hope that he or she will be looked at as a professional by those who are outside their profession. I personally hope that the students, faculty and staff on this campus will read the newest issue of The Independent every Wednesday and view each and every reporter, editor and page designer as professionals who deserve respect.
 

    This week began the celebration of Earth Week here at Clark. The ASCC and the Office of Student Life and Multicultural Student Affairs planned several earth related events for this week, such as a “non-toxic cleaning solutions” presentation on April 22, a “global warming crisis” presentation on April 23 and showing the film An Inconvenient Truth on April 24.

    I would like to start off this column by welcoming all students, faculty and staff back to Clark for spring quarter. As you can probably see, our previous Editor-in-Chief Rylan Sorenson is no longer with us. Rylan was Editor-in-Chief of The Independent during the fall and winter quarters of this academic year, but he has since moved on to bigger and better things and is now attending Portland State University (PSU) and writing for the campus newspaper.

My time at the Independent and Clark College is coming to an end for all intensive purposes. Whether I had an impact while I was here is hard to say, but what I know for sure is that my experience has entrenched itself in my being, and it will likely remain there for some time to come.
 

    Over the weekend that began the month of March, some of the Independent staff and I went to San Francisco to attend a collegiate journalism conference. These conferences often take on the feel of a mixture between a support group and a pep rally. It is a time for speakers to remind all in attendance that journalists serve the public at large. Journalists have a responsibility to those who they serve and that journalists are a good and respectable breed that is here for YOU.
 

I suppose procrastination is a part of my nature. In fact, I think it would be safe to say that nearly everything I have ever written for the paper, or classes in general for that matter, have been put off until what seems to be the last possible instant.
 

I have heard many claims that it is a racist celebration and it only serves to create separation amongst people, but after some thought and research about the meaning of Black History Month, I would have to disagree. I find it to be the responsibility of an educated society to take pause for a chance to learn from the past.
 

I have heard many claims that it is a racist celebration and it only serves to create separation amongst people, but after some thought and research about the meaning of Black History Month, I would have to disagree. I find it to be the responsibility of an educated society to take pause for a chance to learn from the past.
 

How much of the advertised “green” products are really addressing the issues at hand? My fear is that “green” is the new black. Trendy and superficial changes have a way of disappearing, and it will be popular to adhere to the next big thing. We have an opportunity to use “green’s” popularity to promote a real education about the impact of our actions on the world around us, so that we may affect a lasting change.