DheSaltLakeTribune OPINION Ai2 MONDAY,MAY21, 2001 OUR VIEW Finally, a Plan Say whatyou will aboutPresident Bush's energy plan, at least he has one. The absence of any long-term planning in the past decade has left America short of electricity, natural gas and refined fuels for vehicles, as well as overly dependent on foreign oil. This neglect has left the world’s leading economy vulnerable, and there is no question that the United States must increase its overall energy production to keep the engine humming. Whether Bush’s plan goes too far and exacts an unnecessary toll from the environment are valid questions that will be debated in coming weeks, but much of what the president is proposing should have been implemented long ago. For instance, Bush would streamline the permit process for new oil refineries. A shortage of these facilities has contributed to soaring prices for gasoline nationwide and heating oil in the Northeast. He would remove the regulatory hurdles for new electricitygenerating plants, which have not beenbuiltsince the 1980s. Since then, the population has grown by tens of millions, while computers andvideogame consoles have become ubiquitous. Perhaps most disappointing to environmentalists is Bush’s plan to encourage more drilling for oil and nat- ural gas on federal lands,butthere is plenty of room — literally — for compromise in the millions ofacres under consideration. The president is unlikely to gain congressional approval for his proj to drill in Alaska’s National W Wildlife Refuge, for example, and it is doubtful that the U.S. public would support development of the most sensitive natural areas ofthe American West. But some drilling must be allowed because the heavy U.S. reliance on foreign oil is a national security risk, and that danger will grow as developing countries such as China increase the competition for international supplies. Bush's Roe plan might be unnecessary if Americans less energy, and the reams of news releases sent by professional environmentalists to media outlets each day via power-sucking computers and fax machines are adamantthat the vast majority of Americans support conservation over production. But if that were true, Americans could’ solve the gas shortage themselves by trading in their gas-guzzling sport utility vehicles for fuel-efficient vehicles, as Salt Lake Mayor Rocky Andersondid this week. Bush’s plan includes $5 billion in tax credits to encourage Americans to buycars that run on natural gas and electricity, but even those vehicles areno panacea.Theystill require en- * ergy sources that today are int short supply. Bush’s proposals,for better or worse, would increase those sources. If environmentalists have a better plan for meeting the country’s growing energy needs, they have yet to produce it. Spanish Fork’s Duty The residents of Spanish Fork Ranchare still down in the dump, and their city has not yet reached an agreementto movethem out. That's a scandal. City officials seem to recognize their town's moral responsibility to help movethe roughly 30 residents of Spanish Fork Ranchoutof the subdivision built on the community's formerlandfill. The botched reclamation project is contaminated by asbestos and methane gas, and the people wholive there are suffering headaches and skin ailments that likely are related to the environmental contamination. Early this year the Utah County Health Departmentordered the homes moved by June1. But as that deadline looms, the residents and the city have not reached an agreementabouthow far the governmentwill go in paying relocation costs. The city has offered to move the 11 manufactured homes within 200 square rhiles, but it wants. the homeowners to locate and buy lots at new sites. The homeowners say they cannotafford that. Earlierthis year, the city offered to move the homes to Carbon or Juab counties, but the residents declined. One argues, understandably, that those places would leave people too far from their jobs. The city bears a share of the responsibility for the residents’ predicamentbecause it previously operated the landfill and approved the developer’s plans and permits to build Spanish Fork Ranch. Residents assumed the subdivision wassafe. Thecity, in turn, blames developer Ron Jonesforfailing to carry out the reclamation correctly. Jones’ attorney has said the developer does not have the money to move the residents. The homeowners havefiled suit against Jones, andhavefiled notice of intentto suethecity. Considering the health hazards and possible legal liability, the city might be ahead in the long run to buy newlots for the residents as well as move their homes. Admittedly, that would be tall orderfor a city of20,000 Tools of Plagiarism Computers perform numerous entire papers were identical. University of Virginia physics pro- fessor Lou Bloomfield produced dismaying evidence that cheating may be prevalent. Alerted that some of his students might be plagiarizing for a required 1,500-word paper, Bloomfield designed a computer program to scan the papers that the students submit by e-mail. The program looked for common phrases ofsix words or more among 1,500 papers and fingered 122 students whose papers may have been . In somecases, long passages were identical; in others, Bloomfield’s software and similar programs developed at other schools hold out the prospect that the same technology that enables students to become plagiarists will now enable their teachers to catch them. Coincidently, the UVAstory broke a few daysafterCliff K. Hillegass died at 83. Hillegass was the creator of Cliffs Notes, the synopses and study guides of books and plays that were vilified as “cheat sheets” when they first came out in 1958. Critics said students would use the notes as intellectual shortcuts, skipping the original work and settling instead for a dumbed-down summary. How innocent and dated that all seems now. The Gainesville (Fla.) Sun The Salt LakeGribune UTAH’S INDEPENDENT VOICE SINCE 1871 PAST PUBLISHERS John F. Fitzpatrick (1924-1960) John W. Gallivan (1960-1983) Jerry O'Brien (1983-1994) First Security Woes one year since First Security Corp. agreed to sell its franchise to Wells Fargo and break the agreement with Zion’s Corp., and Wells Fargois in the newsregarding its plan to moveinto the American Stores tower, perhaps it would be instructive to see how the shareholders of the former First Security have done. On May 16 Wells Fargo stock closed at $45.70 per share. The Exchange ratio of .355 translates into price of$16.22 per share. Zion’s closed at a price of $55 per share. The exchange ratio of that deal was . 442 and translates into a price of $24.31 per share. Evenif First Security would havenegotiated a lowerratioof.40,its share price would have been equivalent to around $20 per share. All the employees who have had their 401k plan and other shareholders thank the formerFirst Security management's buy high andsell low mentality. EDWARD W. SCHMIDT Sandy @ When submitting letters to the Public Forum, please include your full name, signature, address and daytimetelephone numbers. Information other than your name and the city. in which you live are kept confidential. @ Keepit short. Concise letters developing a single theme are more likely to be published. @ Please type and double space. ™@ Letters are condensed and edited. @ Because of the volumeof mail received, not all submissions are published. @ Mail to Public Forum, The Salt Lake Tribune,P.O. Box867, Salt Lake City, Utah 84110 @ Our fax numberis (801) 257-8950. @ Our email address is letters@ sitrib.com. Worn Down Team Too Much Publicity Even though he may be “news” in somepeople's eyes,please do notgive PUBLISHER Dominic Welch EDITOR James EB. Shelledy PAGE Randy C,Frisch ‘THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE, 143 8. MAIN ST, SALT LAKE CITY ,111 JOHN BRANATH Salt Lake City I want to thank the entire Utah Jazz organization, the players and coaches, for another year of a class performance, They did the best that could have been expected with the personnel that was available, Nowthatthe seasonis over,let us look at whythe team did notfare better in the postseason andat the same time look ahead to the 2001-2002 season. Karl Malone and John Stockton are the heart and soul of the Jazz. Theycould not have given more. Unfortunately basketball is a five-man, 48-minute game. Malone and Stockton are no longerableto play 40-plus minutes, They and we need a more talented supporting cast. The time has cometo rebuild, Now let’s look at the rest of the team. Bryon Russell is a key player who alwaysgives everything that he has and will continue to be an asset. Acquiring Donyell Marshall was the best thing that managementhas done in manyyears. He will havea starring role in time to come. Now for the rest of the cast of Players. John Starks and Danny Manning gaveus lift, but they are aging and have limited time and value remaining. Jacques Vaughn is undersized for today’s NBA, which hurts us on defense, and he is weak offensively. Olden Polynice is a decent backup center, not a starter. Greg Ostertag does not deserve to be on the team. He cannot shoot, jump, boxout, catch and so on, Ostertag is the worst player on the team. Dump him and doit now, David Benoit and John Crotty should be released — no explanation required. Let Deshawn Stevenson play. He won't gain the needed experience to go along Mehis ability Uh ae on mebench. Give agit mae paying time. Te tony iretossbie 10 parkas well, then they have no business being here either. Whydidn't the Jazz go further in peeOne word — talent. We did not There are a out there, Hopefully the Jazz able to acquire some of them. be IRA SEIDMAN Salt Lake City The Tribune (May 15) had a story aboutthe opening of I-15 on the front page. The only sour note was the mention oflead-footed fast drivers in view. Seems we forget quickly. It was : only just after it started that the re- build moguls discovered that 65 mph wasjusttoo fastto allow traffic toflow while construction proceeded, so finally it was reduced to 55 mph which solved the lead-footed problem. It is no accident that the nation’s speed limit limited the speed in “built-up urban areas”to 50. It was a good rule then andit would be again if safety were a serious consideration for us Utah speed freaks. I say let's drive safely here in our town even on the freeways! Come 2002, our visitors might eventhink weare civilized. DAVID BLACKBIRD Murray any more press time to Thomas Green. He andothers of his mind-set deserve to be in prison. Your Sunday front-page article (May 13) only makes me say, “Oh, poor baby.” Qa Padgett sor Slow Down Where to Write Since it has been approximately with a general fund budget of only $8.4 million. It might cost $8,000$10,000 apiece just to move the 11 homes, without their garages, and that cost does not include new lots. But in these extraordinary circumstances, making these residents whole would be the right thing to do, and mightbe costeffective. ANOTHERVIEW functions,notall of them benign and one of those is cheating on college classwork. Studies show that computer-aided plagiarism is more commonthan college officials would like to think. THE PUBLIC FORUM Q Get Green Off Relief Here wego with thelatest dog and pony show, paid for by Utah taxpayers. David Leavitt is taking Tom Green to the whipping post to determine whohas the most power. I could care less that Green and his group of society misfits go out on the desert and start breeding like a bunch of gerbils. What puts a burr in my shorts is the fact that they are using mytax money. Zoological Hilarity “The Mansell Zoo” or “The Mansell Memorial Zoo.” Isn’t it poet- ic? The double-entendre is hilarious. Andwith the direction the Utah Republican Party has moved in recent. years, it’s hard to tell the inmates from the keepers. O. RHEES RIRIE Salt Lake City If Tom Green wants to slop at the public troughs he should get himself elected to the big trough, where he could dine on pressed duck, caviar, pheasant underglass,travel in a private jet, the sky's the limit, or he could kiss up and get appointed to someself-serving position. The slop isn’t the best but the housing is better than the desert. Either way he would haveplenty of moneyandtime for his breeding program. JOHN CORNELL HOLMAN Salt Lake City Specious Allegations There appears in your May14 edition a letter from “Paul J. Ebbert, Vernal” which purports to criticize a decision of the governor andattorney legal action over others fitting the descri fact, the property has been extensively drilled and explored (under a rigorous state regulatory program) without threat to the Vernal water supply, or any other water supply. (SILTA) are not subject to state “environmental or economic assessments”will certainly come as news to SITLA. SITLA’s economic decisions may be questioned by every parentof a school child in the state. Ebbert Should obtain a copy ofTitle 19 of the Utah Code,Ee eeon ital regulatory scheme, observe the law’s multiple pr tions coil a dation by “any Iisa portanthat the pu (megncas bee eee san ignorance and misinformation. The Tribune would do well, in the fu-