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Show Governor declares Sept. 8 Newspaper Literacy Day Governor Norman Bangerter, in an official declaration, has named Sept. 8 as Utah Newspaper Literacy Day, and called for a greater awareness of the problem of illiteracy in Utah and across the nation. According to the declaration "The literacy rate in Utah is among the highest, (and) functional illiteracy (inability to read above a fifth grade level) among adults, is a grave concern which needs to be addressed..." ' National studies show that 25 million adults in America are functionally illiterate, and that another 36 million are marginal. These numbers represent 60 million people, or one-third of the adult population of the United States. This means that most of these adults cannot read bus schedules, sche-dules, job applications, or their local newspapers. One out of four Americans can't figure out if his-her pay check is correct, and one in five can't address a letter. The Utah Press Association and the weekly newspapers throughout the state, have joined hands with Utah State University, Univer-sity, the American Newspaper Publisher's Association, and the National Newspaper Association in an effort to promote awareness aware-ness of the illiteracy problem in Utah's communities. The theme of the effort nationally is "Press to Read." President of the Utah Press Association Adrien F. Taylor, publisher of the Moab Times-Independent, said "Newspapers across the United States have a vested interest in people who can't read. Without readers, newspapers die, and our nation suffers. Every single problem in the country today would be I positively impacted by higher literacy rates." |