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Show rr ww Viewpoint nda clipper today A4 THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 1999 No apologies are necessary Andrea is our third child. We think of her as Gods way of apologizing for the first two. Let's not let anyone in Davis 'fall through the cracks' Please dont misunderstand. We love her older brother and sister every bit as much as we love her, and we wouldnt trade them for anything (besides. I'm not sure how much we could get for them, now that theyre both adults with families of their own). But they would be the first to admit that as teenagers, they were and both recalcitrant, strong-wille- d more than a little challenging on occasion. Andrea on the other hand, has been a model child: obedient, children at work, and With three out of five mothers having school-age- d households, many children go home to an empty more and more single-parehouse. We can hope theyll buckle down and do their homework, or that they engage in wholesome activities. But kids will be kids, right? Nampa, Idaho, has hit upon an idea to help solve that problem. Admittedly, there is still work to be done there, but the percentage of kids going home to an empty house after school has dropped significantly in the last several years. And the number of programs, where students are supervised funded programs, has grown from zip by adult volunteers in in a city about the size of Bountiful. These to nine programs are more than just a warm place to keep kids off the streets. The youngsters must complete their homework before they engage in any number of activities offered. And, as a draw, there is always plenty of food to quench the appetite. It seems like everybody has gotten involved, from the hospital to churches to schools to parents. A Boys and Girls Club has also been organized something Davis County, with nearly six times the population, could also stand to do. There would certainly be room for two, or maybe even three of those, in our opinion. The United Way of Davis County chose to highlight the Nampa experience as an example of what can happen here. More than 100 leaders from various walks of life in the county met recently to figure out how to implement needed changes following a needs assessment completed last year. Overcrowded schools, lack of affordable housing, lack of adequate public transportation and suicide were among items addressed by residents contacted as part of the assessment. It was realized that a stronger pulling together of the community in a common interest can do a lot, including reduce crime. Layton and Clearfield already have strong Community Councils, but in some towns, they are nonexistent. And like it or not, everybody has problems. k For example, suicide doesn't only happen to kids in poor, homes. It strikes among the most wealthy of families, as well. Just as has happened in Layton with its Community Action Council, neighbors must start taking an active interest in their neighborhoods, so they can help one another. Certainly this happens in many cases, but much more could be done. Kids need an upper hand w hen it comes to a caring environment in which to grow up, especially since extended family so often is no longer at hand. But as was also mentioned at the summit, senior citizens also must be remembered and helped. After all, look at what they have contributed to the after-scho- after-scho- ol congenial, accomplished and fun. Wed love to take credit for how well she is turning out, but to be perfectly honest, I cant see that weve done anything different with her than we did with Amy and Joe. Its Andrea who is different, not us. And I dont mind saying that we are enjoying the Good work habits are financial foundation across-the-trac- rest of us. While much good is happening, there is much that needs to be done. Lets follow Nampa's example and put efforts to work to improve those areas highlighted in the needs assessment. The children. But even views in this though expressed column are the opinion of the writer and not necessarily those of the ownership or man- agement of this first place. In all my conversations with busi- newspaper. One of the about n books of the year is one that scolds parents for misinforming their children on finances. Last week, USA Today gave the book a lengthy review; a business magazine labeled it a modern classic of perceptive most-talke- d non-fictio- Free enterprise in education? It offers some real possibilities The Sutherland Institute, a Utah-base- d public policy research organization, has just approved a resolution calling for the enactment of the Universal Tuition Tax Credit. The goal, it says, is to improve the quality of education in Utah. Under the plan, deductions would be allowed for the costs of private school tuition, computers, software and other expenses related to education. The tax credit would expand the number of educational choices for children, create greater diversity, add specialized options for children with special needs and empower parents to select the best educational options for their children. .. Frankly, the institute's details on the plan were a bit sketchy and an study of the idea won't be available for a little while longer. So, while its hard to really make an informed decision on the merits of the proposal, something the Sutherland Institute said provides some real food for thought. To excel in business, management and staff must perform at a level high enough to satisfy the demands of customers who hold the power to buy or not buy in the marketplace, said Dr. James W. Jenkins, chairman of the group's Board of Business Advisors. We believe it can and must be the same in education. You may not agree with the tax credit proposal, but that's not important at this point. What is important is the concept that organizations which are held accountable by their customers inherently produce better results. : Long distance phone rates, for example, are now vastly lower than they were years ago when the Bell System was a monopoly. And instead of a few choices of phone styles, there are now thousands as well as new services such as caller I.D. A decade or so ago. U.S. automakers were calling for protection against Japanese imports, but some felt it would be better if automakers simply were faced with making a better car or going out of business. The result is that automakers rose to the occasion and have been building care that are far better and more durable than those of the early 1980s. What if the same thing happened in education? If our public schools were forced to be simply the best or go out of business? We believe they would rise to the occasion. This isn't to say that they arent already close to that goal, but the idea of schools competing mightily to be best would have a huge impact on education. To make the playing field level, however, all schools would have to be subject to the same mandates as the public schools. Once this is accomplished, the battle for the best, the most innovative, the most successful programs would begin. And parents could vote with their dollars. Could public education make the same strides forward as did the auto, the computer, the cell phone and the telephone industries, to name just a few? If schools could make the same advances as GM did between the Vega of the 1970s and the Geo of today, education could become supercharged. And thats a thought that realty revs up the mind with possibilities. th J ClipperToday Complete North Davis coverage from Kaysville to Sunset Published by Clipper Publishing Co. 197 North Main Layton, Utah 84041 Office hours: 8:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. Monday thru Friday 0 4 Fax: Phone: eztalkclippertoday.com 547-137- 547-980- ClipperToday published every Thursday and distributed to residents of Kaysville, Fruit Heights, Layton, Clearfield, Clinton, Syracuse, Sunset, West Point and South Weber. The views expressed in the letters and columns on this page are those of their authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the is i t ownership, management or staff of Clipper Today. Total circulation in excess of 38,000 copies. Publisher: RGailStahle Editors: RolfD. Koecher, Tom Busselberg Sales: Martin Ehman, Aaron Glauser, Judy Hammerschmidt Display advertising deadline: Friday, 5 p.m. Camera-read- y ad deadline: Monday, 5 p.m. Classified advertising deadline: Tuesday, 10 a.m. students need information on investing, it's even more important to teach them how to incrementally pile up money in the examination. The books thesis is inflammatory: Parents and educators, it says, have cheated their sons and daughters by lecturing them on the need to work hard and gain an education. A study by the books author finds that the key to financial success has little to do with hard work and preparatory education. Success, says the author, comes from the knowledge of how money works and how it can work for you. The poor and the middle-clashe says, focus on the making of the o money itself, whereas the families acquaint their youngsters with the dynamics of money. In other words, the key to success is investment, not slaving for a wage. Its amazing that authors can earn money on such drivel. While the author will be touted on talk shows and heralded as a modem oracle of financial wisdom, most of us can see s, well-to-d- his argument as claptrap. The obvious problem with the thesis is simple: you've got to have a sufficient amount of money before you over-educat- can invest a solitary dime. Any money tossed in the stock market, for instance, should be money not needed for house paymentsapartment rentals, food, loan obligations and short-teremergencies. And how does one earn the money for the house payment and food? By showing up for work! Theres no doubt that parents and schools do a poor job of educating young men and women about financial matters. Aside from knowing how to write a personal check, students leave school with little or no knowledge of stocks and bonds, taxes, interest rate concepts or the functions of banks and credit unions. The reasons parents and teachers do a poor job is that they are usually as inept in financial matters as their sons and daughters and pupils. The books author castigates the middle-clas- s and the poor for not explaining investment power to their m ness owners, Ive never yet heard one of them bemoan a young person's lack of financial knowledge. What I hear instead is that young workers a) dont know how to work; b) dont know how to arrive at work on time; c) dont know how to add or subtract without an electronic calculator; d) dont know how to remember anything without a computer, and e) dont show personal initiative other than showing up at the time clock. Never once have I heard a business owner say, Johnny would be a much better contributor to our society if he knew how to place a stop order with Merrill Lynch. Undoubtedly, students need to know the reasons behind the Federal Reserve. They need to know the difference between passbook savings and a certificate of deposit They need to know the rationale and the workings of a progressive tax system. But they also need to know how to sweep a floor and smile at a customer. Once they learn these two things and once they learn how to arrive at work on time they just might be on the road to buying 100 shares of Intel islation. Some of us really do care about campaign finance reform! Nelda Bishop, League of Women Voters, Davis County Angels, tooth fairies and honest people Editor About three years ago, Clinton City realized that the builder of many homes in Aspen Meadows, Sierra Estates, Sunshine Meadows, and Bridges Subdivisions had major financial problems. The builder was well known throughout the area as BauCorp. The harder the city tried to enforce escrow and bonding agreements, the more difficult it became to find the builder or his agents, much less to get any relief. Legal help from the state and legal action taken by the home owners produced very little satisfaction. However, out of the woodwork came one individual who had originally played apart in the lot development for the builder. His name was James W. Ritchie. He came forth, and through his financial backing, all of the problems in these subdivisions relating to roads, water, sewer, street lights, surveys, curb, gutter and sidewalks were completed to city standards. Some of these items had to be redone due to poor workmanship by the builders. Seldom did we have to initiate contact with Mr. Ritchie. He made it a point to stay in touch with city management. As a final good faith gesture, Mr. Ritchie gave the city sufficient funds to install street lights, survey monuments and lot markers and slurry seal the roads. Also, he deposited funds in escrow for any problems arising before the one year warranty period expires. Not once did he try to cut costs with shoddy work. Had Mr. Ritchie taken the approach that others in the projects did, it would have taken a long time and been very costly to sift it all out in the courts. Project com- pletion would have taken many years, if it occurred at all. We now have the above subdivisions nearing completion with satisfactory results for the land developer, the city, and those who buy the homes. Mr. Ritchie had no financial interest nor legal responsibility for some of the projects, yet he funded them all to make sure we had a viable finished product His main desire was to walk away with a good and honorable name. This was no small undertaking. Costs it were well up in the range. Our hats go off to an honorable and honest human being. He will always be welcome in our community. Mayor A. DeMar Mitchell, Clinton six-dig- We do care about campaign reform Editor. Rep. James Hansen claims he hasn't heard a word about campaign reform from his constituents (Clipper August 17, 1999). I met with him for more than an hour to discuss campaign reform just a few months ago and he seemed to be listening. He even agreed with me on some points. But since he hasnt heard a word, let me say it again. Some of Rep. Hansens constituents do care that elections go to the highest spender and that only the super wealthy can challenge an incumbent. Some of us are discouraged that campaigns focus on nasty accusations rather than on meaningful discussion of relevant issues. And some of us dont believe that big money donors are treated the same as everyone else when they come to ask elected officials for favorable leg Don't tamper with the Second Amendment Editor I am writing you about the fight to keep guns in our homes. Groups of people, including a few in our government, want to ban guns from the United States. This has already hap- pened to people in Australia and England. My thoughts on this are: If the United States and the rest of the world ban guns, somehow criminals will get guns and break into houses and the families of those houses wont have a gun to protect them- selves. I want the Second Amendment to the Constitution to continue as it is now. It prohibits the national government from restricting the right to carry weapons. Cody Spencer, 13, North Salt Lake Graham's letter was informative. Insightful Editor I'd like to thank Mark Graham for the very informative letter he wrote on the dangers of fluoride and I agree with him 100 percent. My husband grew up in Texas where natural fluoride was in their drinking water and yes, it kept him and all folks who lived in that community from having cavities in their teeth, but all of his family and many others had false teeth by the time they were in their 50's as the fluoride affected the roots of their teeth and they got so loose and painful they had to have them all pulled. Weve voted the fluoridation of our drinking water down in the past, and I don't understand how every few years we are threatened with fluoride again. Who is paying for this? M.M. Waggoner, Clearfield difference. As Amy and Joe were struggling through their teenage years, they sort of tuned their parents out. So we had to trust that life would teach them the hard lessons they desperately which it did. needed to learn Andrea, on the other hand, has been willing to listen to our counsel and advice. She has even sought it on occasion, believe it or not. We have hoped that life would reward her for her good choices and positive attitude. And for the most part, it has. Until last week. I won't go into a lot of detail shes going to kill me when she reads this as it is (next time your kids try to convince you that their fife is hard, tell them it could be worse; they could have a parent who writes about their problems in the newspaand names names!). Let's just per say that something didn't turn out the way I promised her it would. When she started high school, I told her that if she worked hard, paid her dues, sacrificed and waited her turn, The Thing She Wants Most would happen. She believed me. She trusted me. So she did everything I said. For the next two years she worked hard, paid her dues and sacrificed, and finally it was her turn. At the start of her senior year, she was poised to collect on my promise. Then last week we found out that The Thing She Wants Most isnt going to happen. At least, not for her. Now, I know that life is like that sometimes. Sure, wed all like to think of it in mathematical terms. Just as two plus two always equals four, we want to believe that talent plus hard work will always equal success. But life isn't a simple equation. Sometimes things work out the way we think they should, and sometimes they don't no matter how good and worthy and wonderful we are. It's a hard lesson, one that only comes painfully. And right now, Andrea is feeling the pain of learning. As her father, I wish more than anything I could just wave a magic wand and make the pain stop. But after years of parenting, I still havent figured out how to do that. And its probably just as well. Andrea will make it through this just fine, and she'll be better and stronger as a result. Shell be more understanding of others she encounters throughout her life who are suffering emotional pain, because she will have experienced it herself. That will make her a better friend, a better wife, a better mother and a better person. Unfortunately, knowing that will happen eventually doesnt take away the pain of right now. I wish it could. But the pain will subside for 21-pl- Andrea and for her Dad. New dreams will take root. New opportunities will beckon. And some New Thing She Wants Most will finally happen. With no apologies necessary from God or anyone else. eztalltIetters polity Clipper Today welcomes letters to the editor and will do its best to include as many as possible each week. Please mail or fax your letter to the address or fax number at the far left on this page. Or simply us at eztalkclippertoday.com We reserve the right to reject letters for any reason and to edit letters for length or content. All letters must be signed and should list the writer's name and city of residence. i POOR |