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Show 4A Sun Advocate, Price, Utah Wednesday, March 25, 1981 ' jJ r1 , k"c f , ' E f h V ' . , , 3s $ Sun Advocate Council diversity could be helpful It was gratifying to note that Mark Hanson, the senior Price city council member, sees the need of appointing a new member who will provide some geographic diversity to the present board. It would be helpful to appoint a council representative from the south part of Price. Most of the council can see this need from hostility from a few south Price residents who feel they are not getting as many services as the north side of town. This has not been the, case. The city has aggressively gone after federal grants for south Price, as evidenced by the newly constructed south Price Park and the completion of the home improvement block grants in south Price. Besides the hopes that a south Price resident could be appointed, some consideration should be made that the appointed member be of a different religious persuasion than the rest of the council. Presently all council members are Mormons. This should be seen as a compliment to the civic mindedness of that church since their members have made such concerted efforts to improve life in Price. However, it would be well to actively search for a person of a different religious background. This suggestion is not implying that the Mormon council members have been biased in their decision making. In the past two years this newspaper has not seen a decision in which religion prejudiced a city decision. But despite the fine service of the present members, we believe a more religiously - diverse council would provide better respresentation in this culturally diverse community. -- State journal doesn 't want severance tax estimated one and one half million tons of Utah coal have not been sold and are stockpiled in the state. This is about 12 percent of 1979's total production An of 12.1 million tons. About 60 percent of the coal mined in Utah is burned by companies that control the mines; the other 40 percent is sold on the open market. Why has this much coal, equivalent to at least two million barrels of oil, not been sold? One reason is that all of the coal presently mined Utah comes from underground mines. It costs from 17 to 25 dollars to mine a ton of coal. Most of the coal from neighboring states is from strip mines, and can be mined for about 7 to 10 dollars a ton. Utah's coal can compete because we have, at the moment, no severance tax, and' because the coal has a very low sulfur content and a higher heat content than the strip - mined coal. in Taken from the Utah Geological and Mineral Survey Newsletter, Feb. 1981. Letters A to the Editor VOICE FROM THE PAST Editor, resident of Carbon County, I thought that it would be of interest to my friends and fellow county residents of my progress in the United States Army and Air Force. I graduated from Carbon High School in 1968. 1 was active in the band and lettered in track. As far as I know my track records still stand unbeaten. The reason I mention this is because I am proud of my high school and the county I grew up in. As a My military duty started on 5 Nov. 1972. 1 entered and took basic training at Fort Ord, Calif. In January 1973 I was stationed at Fort Dix where I attended clerk and chaplain assistant school. From the east coast I was promoted from Private Specialist Five within 22 to month period. also became the recipient of the Army Commendation Medal, Good Conduct Medal and the National I Defense Ribbon. In March 1976 I was reassigned to VII Corps Chaplains Office While was the stationed in Germany recipient of the Good Conduct Stuttgart, Germany.I Medal for the second time. In February 1979 I returned to the United States and was discharged with an Honorable Discharge. After my separation I returned to Brigham Young University and joined the Air Force ROTC program, while in this program I served as the football coach, was a member of the color guard. In my last semester I served as the Cadet Recruiting Officer and Flight Commander. I graduated from B.Y.U. on 17 December 1981 with a B.S. degree in Psychology and had the honor to graduate from the Air Force ROTC as a distinguished graduate. I was also commissioned as a 2nd Lt. on 17 Dec. 1980. I will start active service on 24 March 1980. I will be attending missile school in Vandenberg, AFB and then be permanently assigned to AFB at Great Falls, Montana. Mulm-stlro- Additional information - I married Ramona Doris Wolfe on 17 Dec. 1971. We are the parents of three girls and one boy. Patrick A. McKendrick 480 N. 700 W. Provo, 84601 377-078- There is some grim news from El Salvador. Its stamped confidential, but the American people are entitled to know the truth. The U.S. embassy in El Salvador has warned that, without massive economic aid, the survival of the WASHINGTON 9 Salvadoran government acting U.S. ambassador, Frederick Chapin, in an urgent, confidential cable to the State Department. He reported that up to $40 million in U.S. aid would be needed immediately if the Salvadoran government was to survive the next six to nine months. I am convinced that the most urgent need is for $22 million to $40 million, Chapin cabled. But that was three weeks ago. In the meantime, a special team has been in El Salvador assessing that nations needs. Now the embassy reports that the price for saving the moderate government has skyrocketed. The regime will need $260 million in external financing to keep the economy afloat. The latest embassy cable warns that even the most optimistic Salvadoran leaders predict that unless political stability is brought about soon, there is little chance the current government can survive the next three to six months. President Reagan will have no problems, we should add, with military aid. This is because of a little noticed clause in the foreign assistance laws which allows a president, in an emergency, to send as much as $50 million in military arms to a foreign country without congressional approval. But there is a disturbing echo of the past in this emergency slush fund. In 1965, when the fund was bigger, President Lyndon Johnson drew hundreds of millions from it to expand the war in Vietnam secretly. Meanwhile, Secretary of State Alexander Haig has been up to Capitol Hill to give the Senate Armed Services Committee a secret briefing on the situation in El Salvador. Apparently, he figured the tough talk at the meeting would come from him. He told the Senators that more American military advisers would be sent to El Salvador. And unless the bloodshed there is brought to a quick end by international mediation, he -- s 15 is severely imperiled. The message came from the declared, U.S. military aid to the j unta could escalate. But the senators had some strong words of their own to throw back at Haig. They gave him a message to take back to the White House: Any sign of U.S. military intervention in El Salvador would endanger the Pentagons budget. The congress, they said, simply would not abide any attempt to use American troops to put out a Latin American brushfire. Our committee sources say the senators werent bluffing. And their warning had some added weight: It came from Republicans as well as Democrats. Credit card subsidy President Reagans anti inflation strategy is to cut back on the use of credit cards. The easy credit encourages people to spend money they dont have. Part of -- Congress could help curtail credit by changing laws that encourage consumers to buy on credit. The regulations allow the costs of credit card purchases to be passed on equally to all customers. This penalizes those who pay cash. But the multimillion - dollar credit card industry is quietly lobbying for an extension of the current laws. Three of the lobbyists who have been talking to the Senate Banking Committee, incidentally, former staff committee. Dear Editor, In reading an article in the Sun Advocate on March 18, 1981, concerning the mini - surgical unit, a few questions have been asked. Why doesnt the Hospital Corporation of America (HCA) operating Castleview Hospital cooperate with Holy Cross Hospital in establishing this mini - surgical center? Wouldnt this help reduce the amount of time being spent on smaller emergency problems and leave the hospital personnel ready to respond to the more devastating needs of the public? The statement was made, If Holy Cross Hospital is allowed to place a facility in the Price area we may find ourselves being referred to Salt Lake area hospitals. The mini - surgical unit would handle the smaller, less critical cases. So why would we be referred to any Salt Lake area hospitals? If any referrals were made, it would be to our own family physicians. It was also stated such referrals would minimize the capital imof Castleview provements Hospital. Isnt the purpose of a hospital to provide medical services for the people? of low opinion of Palestine Liberation Organization leader Yassir Arafat. The pistol - packing Palestinian may be in good standing with fanatics around the world, but Khomeini doesnt think he is fanatical enough. The ayatollah would like to boot Arafat out of the PLO and replace him with an Islamic firebrand more like himself. Arafat, according to our sources, isnt devout enough to suit the ayatolla. Khomeini insists that arafats guerrillas should pray five times a day. Even worse, a few Christian Arabs have been admitted to the PLO; Khomeini wants them purged. The ayatollah would also like to change the PLOs charter to make it a religious rather than a political organization. are the The Federal Home Loan Bank Board has summed up the case for revising the law in a letter to Sen. Jake Gam, R - Utah, chairman of the banking committee. The credit card industry, in our view, says the letter, is capable of prospering without this kind of federal protections. Letters HOSPITAL ISSUE REVISITED members Arafat the infidel? Irans Ayatollah Khomeini has a to the Editor Could it be HCA is more interested in capital improvemerits than in providing patient care? Could it be that the hospital ad- ministration is worried about not making as large a profit if a mini surgery unit is established here? How could a mini - surgical unit be gutting the financial stability of the hospital? Is the financial stability of the hospital based on money received -- from' smaller emergency problems, or is it the people with the greater medical problems, the in - patient, that provides the financial stability of the hospital? It was stated, through HCAs residents higher rates, have a medical community which is more diverse than in the past. What connections is there gained between higher rates at Castleview Hospital and new doctors coming into this area? Does HCA pay the doctors wages for services rendered to the public or do we, the people, pay the doctors for services rendered in their offices and the hospital? Does HCA really think the people of Carbon and Emery Counties believe it would have cost $8.46 million to get Carbon Hospital in operating order to receive a two year accreditation? Wasnt there new equipment purchased for the Castleview Hospital, new equipment, -- x-r- surgery, respiratory, lab, O.B., emergency room equipment, new beds, life support equipment, kitchen facilities, laundry, not to mention office equipment, such as desks, chairs, files, carpets, drapes, etc. Surely all of this equipment could have been located in Carbon Hospital without the added expense of the new building and property. We feel we have and are being ripped - off and an unbiased survey should be conducted of the rates of various Utah hospitals. Also Castleview rates should be compared to hospitals providing the same services. It should not be compared to hospitals offering services such as new born intensive care, open heart surgery, kidney transplants and more intensive medical problems. Why do these questions go unanswered: Why doesnt HCA work with Holy Cross instead of focusing their energies against it? Surely the two counties are large enough for both facilities to work in the publics best interest. Why shouldnt the people have the right to choose which facility to use, just as they choose any other service available to them? Free enterprise is the American way. Eleanor Rasmussen Wellington |