Wednesday, October 17, 2007 TO THE EDITOR... FOR LETTERS-TO-THE-EDITOR POLICY GO TO WWW.SANPETEMESSENGER.COM, CLICK ON ‘OPINIONS’ THEN ‘LETTERS TO THE EDITOR’ If state wants building, let state pay for it I realize we are country bumpkins. We know the value of hard work and don’t take kindly to our hard earned money we pay in taxes being used in what we feel as unnecessary expenses. We feel like the silent majority in trying to figure out the necessity for a new state court building. One thought is, who will make the interest payment should the bond go through, during construction? Ask any homeowner: construction interest is usually higher than what they hope to lock their mortgage in for. Will we be faced with the payment of interest, and at what rate? Either way, taxpayers in Sanpete County will bear the burden for the next 2-3 years while the state court building is under construction. In our business dealings, we’ve never received money from the interested party until we turn possession over to them. Will that be different in this case? Probably not. Even if the state would reim- Enrollment (Continued from A1) percent from 2005. Fewer scholarships offered means fewer taken, and therefore fewer students since, presumably, some students accepted scholarships elsewhere. But there are two other factors in the scholarship piece of the puzzle, says Wyatt. “On some of the scholarships, we have reduced the amount of the scholarship awards, so it makes it less attractive,” Wyatt said. And also, “In trying to respond to the college’s overspending, it took a while to figure out what we really do have, and how much can we award, and that resulted in some confusion that delayed some of these scholarships. Those who were waiting had to wait so long that they just decided to go somewhere else.” Wyatt also blamed some of the college’s enrollment woes on the Utah economy, which has been good for business and individuals generally, but bad on institutions of higher learning. That’s because, he said, of a general trend well known in higher education that whenever the economy is good, people are working rather than attending A5 Sanpete Messenger/Gunnison Valley Edition burse Sanpete County the interest money that taxpayers paid, would we ever receive it back in our pockets? Has anyone really ever seen a tax rescinded once it’s a tax, even if the project’s been completed? No—the taxing agency just finds somewhere else to use it like Manti did. The Manti road tax will soon start going to the pool. So much for it coming off our bill. Maybe we are not financial gurus, but it seems to us that should the court building go through, the state will take the lease money they presently pay to Sanpete County with them. After all, why pay for something you don’t use anymore? That leaves Sanpete County taxpayers with our original court building with no income and the same space we are required to provide maintenance and utilities for. It doesn’t take an Einstein to know who will suffer that burden. Yes, Sanpete County taxpayers. One last thought: if your home was remodeled less than 25 years ago would you abandon it and con- sider rebuilding a new one? Of course that is a ridiculous thought. So why would we as taxpayers even entertain such a thought for the state courts building? Make our beautiful, classy courthouse work for all courts. Let’s just put this bond issue on hold for a few years until the jail is built and that space vacated. Re-assess the space once empty. At that time, we need to insist the state pay for all remodeling just as anyone else would have to do if they were leasing a building. There will be ample space for the courts and associated rooms, offices and chambers, once remodeled. Maybe their horns will have to be pulled in a little, but let’s be realistic: Sanpete County does not need a state court building comparable to a larger city. To sum it up, if the state wants it let them pay for it! Vote “no” regarding the bond issue on November 6th. Gary R. and Janice Carlson Manti school. Conversely, when the economy takes a downturn, people go to school to become more employable. The third major reason for the drop in student numbers, Wyatt said, is the war in Iraq. With the deployment of local troops, a casualty of the war has been the numbers of veterans enrolled in classes. A comparison of numbers of enrolled students who are also in the armed forces bears that out; there was a nearly two-thirds drop in the number of veterans enrolled at the college between this year and last. Wyatt cited other, less significant reasons for enrollment decreases, including concurrent enrollment programs, the New Century Scholarships and the fact that UVSC has become a fouryear college. The enrollment numbers indicate that Wyatt, on the job now only a couple months, has his work cut out for him, but it was work he anticipated long before he saw the recent enrollment numbers. Soon after he came onto campus, he said, “President Benson has built a beautiful campus, and now it’s my job to fill it.” This week, he didn’t shy away from that statement. “Enrollment and the quality of our education are my two top priorities,” he said. Those two priorities are to become the top driving factors that will influence all decisions made on campus. They are the first two of five “markers” that Wyatt has identified to help guide decisions. When deciding whether to take a certain action, people should ask how it will affect enrollment first, then quality of education. “I list enrollment above quality simply because it’s the one that needs the most focus right now,” Wyatt said. The other three markers are student life, partnerships and fiscal responsibility. One of Wyatt’s first actions to help enrollment is to form an alumni association and council, which he started doing at a dinner for invited alumni last Friday, in conjunction with Snow’s homecoming week. Where most schools use alumni associations as fundraising auxiliaries, Wyatt sees alumni as enrollment boosters, and wants to use alumni first and foremost as a If Sanpete has to pay some of courts cost, so be it I have to wonder: are these people who are complaining about the possibility of Sanpete County maybe having to pick up part of the tab for the courts building forgetting something? Maybe something important? Are the cases being heard in these courts due to crimes committed in Sanpete County? Are the criminals who are convicted of crimes here in Sanpete County not at least partially the responsibility of Sanpete County? The state will no doubt pay the vast majority of the expenses of the courts building, maybe all of them. I believe the county should at least be responsible for some of the costs of crimes committed in our county. I have no doubt Sanpete County receives a portion of the fines levied from these court cases heard in the county. Should we not at least give the state the benefit of the doubt when they say they will pay the costs of the courts building? And if we have to pay some of the costs, so be it. They are, unfortunately, our criminals. Mary Duitz, Fairview Is courts building too good to be true?...Probably My wise old grand pappy used to say if it seems too good to be true, your first hunch is probably right. I’ve heard all the information from both sides of the new state courts building, and it seems like this situation may fit my Grand Pappy’s ideology. I did a little research on revenue bonds and found that the county would not be responsible to pay the money back, unless the state were to default on the bond. Now let’s consider the following scenario: The new jail that is being constructed just south of Manti was originally to be around $6 million, if my memory serves me recruiting tool. “This is where we diverge from many alumni associations. The primary purpose of ours is to help with enrollment and quality of our programs. The more we can engage our alumni and bring them back to campus, the more we’ll grow our enrollment and improve what we’re doing here. That is the primary reason for the creation of an alumni program right now: enrollment.” With numbers as they are this year, increasing enrollment would be a challenge for any president, let alone a president in his first few months. But Wyatt is undaunted. “I am so glad that it is Snow College that we’re talking about,” he said. “There are a lot of schools out there that if they had faced some of the challenges we’re seeing, they would have a difficult time recovering. But we have the opportunity to build on a base of quality and alumni who love this school. I’ll take those two things over anything else. “Quality programs and alumni who love this school— those two things are the keys for our future success. Every strategy we have is based on those two.” correctly. Now I understand that it is going to be closer to $17 million or more. Stick with me, I’m trying to make a point. What if the new courts building follows this same pattern, as so many building projects do (not just in our county). At what point does the state step in and say, “enough?” Where does that leave the citizen’s of Sanpete. We are going to pay for it indirectly anyway through our state taxes. It’s been said that we have the lowest tax base in the state. Do we need to penalize ourselves for that windfall? We also have the lowest, or one of the lowest, per-capita income lev- els in the state. Do we want to jeopardize our meager personal resources? I know that there are some affluent, well-meaning county citizens that have donated some money to the commissioners’ cause, to push for acceptance of the new courts building. Just be cautious and thoughtful when you hear or see the advertisements. When you go to the voting booth, ask yourself, “Is it too good to be true? Am I willing to take that chance?” I think you know where I stand. My wise old Grand Pappy gets smarter the older I get! Willy Akers Manti Square Tube Corral Panels Round Tube Steel Pipe ½” to 18” Rebar Purlins Square Bar, Angles, Round Bar, Flat Bar 85 S. 1350 E. • Lehi, UT NOTICE OF EARLY VOTING FOR SPECIAL/MUNICIPAL ELECTION Public notice is hereby given that registered voters in Sanpete County will be eligible to vote early for the November 6, 2007 Special/Municipal Election in accordance with the provisions of Section 20A-3-601, Utah Code Annotated, 1953 (the “Utah Code”). Early Voting will be available in the following locations: Sanpete County Clerk’s Office 160 N Main, Room #202 Manti, Utah Tues Oct 23 - Fri Oct 26, 2007 Mon Oct 29 - Fri Nov 2, 2007 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Mt. Pleasant City Building 115 West Main St Mt. Pleasant, Utah Thursday, Oct 25, 2007 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. Narcotics Anonymous Meetings in Sanpete Fri: 7:30 p.m. Ephraim 390 W. 100 N. Choose any 10 wireless, landline, home, or office numbers anywhere in the U.S. (on any network) that you get to call for free 1000 National Anytime Minutes Choose your bonus features 1000 text/pic/video messages OR Nights starting at 7:00 p.m. Gunnison Senior Center 38 West Center St Gunnison, Utah Tuesday, Oct 30, 2007 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. Individuals with disabilities needing special accommodations should contact Sandy Neill (435) 835-2131. Sandy Neill, Sanpete County Clerk Closed meeting, for addicts only. For more information on N.A., call 283-6694. Publish Sanpete Messenger and Sanpete Messenger/GV Edition, Oct. 17, 2007. Barbecue Eat & Greet Sat., Oct. 20 starts at 3 p.m. 450 E. 200 N., Mt. Pleasant mix & match one per line Unlimited Mobile-to-Mobile and nights and weekends a b la se h ~ l ano esp $79.99/month Second line free! 17 East Center in Ephraim 435-283-5010 For terms and conditions, see www.alltel.com/terms.html Get to know other Democrats in Sanpete, or just come and see who we are! Everyone welcome, please bring own dinnerware and a side dish to share. After the barbecue, Craig Axford from the state party will talk about vouchers and voter registration issues.