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Show f THE ZEPHYROCTOBER 1991 PAGE 2 I page two Jim Stiles The world shook on its axis last month and once again the course of history took a and dramatic turn. Where it will lead to Soviet people, or 11 of us for that matter, is a that a question that no one can answer. We are moving into uncharted territory, and let's hope "free market economy "moms something besides a materialistic, corporate driven sodety of al consumers. I can almost see those companies licking their chops. But along with that most primal of fears - the unknown, comes hope, and the possibility that we can eliminate the nightmare feat has hung over our planet for forty years. I was a odd war baby. I grew up wife the image of Nikita Khruschev pounding his shoe on a table at fee United Nations, and his promised threat: "We will bury your DEW line, grandchildren." I remember learning fee lexicon of fee 50s - fallout, commie, radiation, or just the NORAD, first strike, strontium - 9(1 fee Button, fission, fusion, multi-nation- A-bo- H-bo- Bomb. constructed Building contractors began to offer fallout shelters as options on newly homes, and it was possible to retro-fi- t old homes wife reinforced basement shelters. At school, we watched the "Duck and cover" films put out by fee Defense Department. All it appeared one ViaH to do to survive a nuclear attack was to get on all fours under a sturdy desk. None of us was that dumb. We'd seen fee "what if" maps in the paper that showed what a 50 megaton hydrogen bomb would do to our hometown. They always placed Ground Zero at fee intersection of 4fe and Broadway. A series erf concentric circles emanated from that was easily within the area of point, and we were old enough to see that Goldsmith Elementary "total devastation. Plainly, duck and cover meant- bend over, grab your ankles, and kiss your ass goodbye. Never was fee threat of nuclear holocaust greater than in fee autumn of 1962. On Soviet Union was Tuesday, October 16, President Kennedy received irrefutable evidence that the U-- 2 from sites Cuba. in spy planes photographs constructing offensive missile missiles jpHWtoH that technicians were working around fee dock to make fee intermediate-rang- e operational in a matter of days. to all but a handful of Americans. The Executive The crisis remained a well-kerecommendations to fee cnrnmiHuo of fee National Security Council-fe- e Ex Comm-mad- e an President as to what might be fee response to fee crisis. Hie options were extreme-froinvasion of Cuba to no response at all By October 21, bits of fee story leaked to the press and fee next evening, President friend Stat Kennedy addressed the Nation. It was almost 7 o'clock on feat Monday nightr and ny called both of us upstairs to watch Geer and I were playing in fee basement, when my mother this Kennedy's speech on TV. My parents had a sense of history and wanted me to remember particular moment of it Kennedy began... "Good evening, my fellow citizens... Within fee past week, unmistakable evidence has established fee fact feat a series of offensive missile sites is now in preparation on that imprisoned Island. The purpose erf these bases can be none other than to provide a nuclear strike capability against the Western Hemisphere." I didn't have to be an adult to understand his meaning The President continued... "...Any mtadlg launched from Cuba will be regarded as an attack by the Soviet Union on fee United States, requiring a full retaliatory response upon fee Soviet Union." The expression on my mother's face told me everything That evening after I'd gone High-resoluti- on pt m no safe depository of the ultimate powers of the society but the people themselves; if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise their control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them, but to inform their I know discretion. Thomas Jefferson THE CANYON COUNTRY ZEPHYR P.O. BOX 327 MOAB, UTAH 84532 I could not hear the words bull axild to bed, I could parents talking softly In the den. tool Thenext day, when I returned home hum sAooU found two cardboard aensethdr somber a map My candle a flashUght-m- d boxes by the bade dooe,fuU of canned goods and utenall the suburbs to the farmlands dad had highlighted a series of backroads that led from our home in of Bullitt County to fee south. It was our escape route. all incoming ships Kennedy's decision to quarantine the island of Cuba, blocking sites be dismantled immediately left the world carrying missiles, and his demand that all missile further breathless for five long days. When Soviet ships stopped dead in the water, awaiting Rusk Dean of State nudged word from fee Kremlin, fee news readied the Ex Comm. Secretary blinked. other the I think and guy just McGeorge Bundy and said, "We're eyeball to eyeball, from Cuba. But missiles of removal fee announced Khruschev complete Two day later, it was that dose. end of Who would have believed that 29 Octobers later, we might. might be seeing the believed feat 10,000 feat kind of global terror (for a while at least)? Who would ever have and determination, Russians, armed with sticks and bottles and their own unyielding courage could stand up to the will and might of fee Soviet army? As fee coup and fee people' s response to it iinfaidpd before our eyes, I could not help but think of another confrontation. It was barely two years ago, on June 5, 1989, that a 19 year old student named Wang Weilin stepped in front of a column of Chinese Army tanks near Tiananmen Square. His gesture was simple, utterly profound, and ultimately futile. But Wang's confrontation lit a spark feat now burns bright as a prairie fire. One candle on a black night evokes courage and heroism but will not chase away the darkness. But take that tiny glow and multiply it ten thousand times and see what can be accomplished. In many ways, I envy fee Soviet people's innocence - even naievtie - as they stare ahead at an uncertain future. After nearly three quarters erf a century living under totalitarian rule, or indolent or cynical anything is possible now. They have not had the time to grow complacent AfteraU, they just faced down the Soviet military machine - what can't they accomplish? We, on the other hand, have been seduced by our own success. Who will speak on behalf erf a cause in which they truly believe before first weighing the consequences that such isn't worth fee risk. So we sit honesty might foment? More times than not the reward just erf world the (or fee nation, or fee state, quietly on our hands and complain bitterly about fee state or the county, or the city,), or the whole damn human race, as Mark Twain put it and wonder why nothing ever changes. If every person who ever wrung their hands in frustration said, "What's the paint in who ever uttered If getting involved? It wouldn't make any difference anyway..." every person their one wife voice, power would be those words could somehow find rach other and speak immeasurable. But one thing is certain. Nobody else is going to fight our battles for us. In Grand for fee rest County alone, there are enough skirmishes available to keep us bruised and bloody and the of education state dismal plight of this of our lives. For now, let's consider just one the county's teachers. Utah ranks 48th in the nation in starting teacher salaries. Of Utah's 40 counties, Grand makes 38th. To those who grumble feat teachers only work a six hour days for nine months a have come year, and if anything, are paid too much, I can only say that comments like feat must I can either. from deserve education the personal speak from people who didn't get they "raises" feat Grand County The some. then and 24 a hours work teachers day, experience teachers received this year were a pittance and absolutely pathetic (some teachers, wife many years of service, received as little as $100 "bonuses."). Most communities regard the quality of education as a barometer for fee general well assistance they can to being of the town, and will go to great lengths to get all the funding and assure that quality. But that doesn't seem to be the case in Grand County. Only last month in this paper. Commissioner Manuel Torres essentially told teachers that if they don't like fee low salaries, they'll just have to go somewhere else. Granted, the Commission has no direct influence on fee school district Blit while they roads to Vernal, and spend a hell of a lot of time lobbying for funds for equestrian centers, and I don't see any of them lifting a finger to find ways to get more funding for the schools. new For instance, we've all scratched our heads in disbelief when we see fee school district the football field, pumping tens of thousands of dollars into paving parking lights, or or installing a new sprinkler system. How, we ask, can the district have money for a parking lot and at the same time pay the teachers slave wages? In this case, the district's hands are truly tied. The funds come from the capital has the improvements account and cannot be transferred by fee school board. But someone used more could be feat efficiently. money authority. Even if it requires action by the legislature, The Gty Council and fee Mayor have done little to aid the schools either, and again I realize feat they have no direct control But the Council, the Mayor, and the County Commission are fee elected representatives of this county. Along wife the School board itself, they set the tone ji, subscribe to THE ZEPHYR MOAB, UTAH 84532 P.O.BOX 327 edited and published by JIM STILES (801 259-77- a subscription is still only 12 DOLLARS 73 production managers GARY AND SUSAN CLUM (1 year, 11 issues) contributing writers Jack Campbell B.J. Eardley Jane S. Jones Ken Cavey historical photos poetry Herb Ringer Frank Lemon 1991 The Canyon Country Zephyr all rights reserved The Canyon Country Zephyr is a monthly newspaper, published eleven times a year venat Moab, Utah. The opinions expressed herein are not necessarily those of its its dors, advertisers, or even at times of publisher name address renewal new subscription |