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Show Saturday, January 1, DAILY 2005 HERALD AS EDITORIAL DHORIAL 2mht$Hcwlii BOARD Albert J. Manzi, President & Publisher Randy Wright, Executive Editor Donald W. Meyers, Editorial page editor D Christian Harrison, Public adviser Nancy Hutchins, Public adviser IN OUR VIEW Coll phones in the Mendly skies he Federal Commu- networks. Starting in 2005, the Inicat ions Commis FCC will take public comment sion is considering on allowing cellular phones on rules that will allow airliners. cellular telephones This is one of those times 'in the friendly skies. where one must ask whether If the Federal Aviation Adminsomething should be done just istration buys into the concept, because it can be done. Sure, there are some obvious you can expect to hear ringers benefits to allowing people to going off on aircraft. Wasn't it already hard enough to sleep on use their cell phones while in an airplane? transit. For instance, you can let people know that your flight Currently, cell phone users are banned from using their schedule has changed, or you can conduct busi- phones on flights. ness. Telephones Federal aviation and communiallowed the pascation officials Normally, you can sengers on the believe the radio doomed Sept. 11 deal with such signals the phones flights to give final farewells to emit may disrupt boors by leaving loved ones and electronic systems the room, asking in aircraft. So air alert the world to what was happentravelers either be to at have to endure a ing in the skies. But there is communication the restaurant or a dark side to blackout while this as well. In getting a theater they're in transit all likelihood, or use the teleusher hover to we're going to phones mounted in the seatbacks. have to endure But ominously. But those phones the same miswhen you're have poor recepery cell phones Tr have wrought at tion, and the'rates inside an trapped movie theaters, are around $4 a minute, like a 900 airliner, especially a restaurants, buses and other public number. crowded one, your places. Those loud Exorbitant conversaphone phone options are limited. tions where peo- - . prices are enough to convince some pie are going into detail about their people the only love lives or their reason for the cell phone ban was to guaranmost,recent medical procedure. tee a captive market. Indeed, Normally, you can deal with such boors by leaving the room, some experimenters have found that a cell phone has no asking to be reseated at the effect on a plane's avionics, restaurant or getting a theater although it is difficult to catch usher to hover ominously. But a signal when you're hurtling when you're trapped inside an at .more than 400 mph 7 miles airliner, especially a crowded above the nearest antenna. one, your options are limited. But-thDo we really want to subject FCC recently ap- - . air travelers to this kind of torproved plans to allow travelers to access the Internet via ture, especially on wireless connections while flights? on board aircraft. The system When the FCC and FAA consider new phone rules, they would tie into satellites that should take careful stock of the would provide the needed true human ramifications. connection to ground-base- d I ed Picking up the pieces 'K0 e cross-countr- Michael Dobbs, a reporter for The Washington Post, describing his experience at being caught in the tsunami while in Sri Lanka. y 'Where are my children? Where are they? Why did this happen to me? I've lost everything." Absah from Banda Aceh, the Indonesian city closest to Sunday's epicenter, searching for her 1 1 children who were lost in the tsunami. Beehives & Buffalo Chips Beehive to the BYU fans who are pulling for Utah in the Fiesta Bowl this year. It takes a really big person. Just as BYU fans cheered the Running Utes when they were in the NCAA basketball finals a couple years ago, some will be lending emotional support to them today on the grounds that a Ute win is good for all of Utah which it is. Hard-cor- e BYU fans insist this is like France cheering Germany or John Kerry rooting for George W. Bush. You will be able to identify these obsessive bad sports fans today: They'll be wearing BYU blue and cheering for Pittsburgh. - iBk unsuccessfully ran a write-i- n campaign against U.S. Sen. Bob Bennett in the November election.. Judy sued to have the election results nullified because no pencils were provided in voting booths, nor were lists of write-icandidates provided at polling places. Yes, it must have been a problem in the system because certainly Judy's criminal past had nothing to do with his electoral loss. Bennett has asked the court to throw out the case. Good idea. Judy couldn't legally run for U.S. Senate from Utah anyway since he has taken up permanent residence in the state of denial. n Beehive to Clark Turner, founder of an Orem company, Ariba, which came up with the world's first battery powered, portable y machine. Turner donated his only two functional devices, which look like beefy hair dryers, to tsunami-stricken- 1 Thailand, where they will help identify victims by providing dental without having to move a body. The company is awaiting FDA approval for use of the devices in the United States. Turner said he hopes to recover the cost of the materials for the machines, but he's not really expecting much. We think the people of Utah County ought Beehive to John and Sandy Rowe of Provo for their work on Win- terfest. The Rowes are the new directors of the city's holiday celebration, which culminated Friday night with First Night. Now, they can rest and soak up the praise for putting on a fine festival that started Thanksgiving weekend. to help mMNOUON, APMINI 9TFAWN.. COUNT ON FFOM YOUR . i . ftfpi BemwAiso THINGS HO1 t ANP MP t. Mi iv i ''tUTae coptsiuir Mo'mtor Garry Trudeau YOU CAN W LOYALTY, LOYALTY: lifl him out. D00NESBURY ' SIS -- Buffalo Chip to Cody Judy for not knowing when to quit. Judy, who spent eight years in prison after threatening IDS Church apostle Howard W. Hunter with a makeshift bomb during a 1993 appearance at BYU, THANK YOUFCR 1HI5 OPKR- WfTY TO PURGE All P$SNT 'The beach and the area behind it had become an inland sea, rushing over the road and pouring into the flimsy houses on the other side. The speed with which it all happened 'iaamd lilro a crMi fmm tho Pihla 4r,a natural phenomenon unlike I LOCKING TOP. I em no. not THeAPfWMX CFGM&ENfff I $ La? rj YtXi. MALLARD FILLMORE Bruce Tinsley |