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Show DAVIS REFLEX JOURNAL, JUNE 19, 1985 DAVIS COUNTY CLIPPER, JUNE 19, 1985 Davis County Clipper Davis Published Reflex-Journ- al weekly by Clipper Publishing Co. 76 South Main Bountiful, Utah 64010 Weekly newspaper published at Bountiful UT In the interest of Davis County and colonies formed by former residents. Entered as second class matter at Bountiful Utah, under the Act of March 8, 1979. Second class postage paid at Bountiful UT, 84010 Publisher Mgr. John Stable, Jr. Editor Dean S. Stahle Asst. Luclle Stahle Mgr. Suicide Alcohol Try Drags, ALANS PARENTS described his teenage life as one of constant troubles because of his dependency on alcohol and drugs. They said he was seldom sober, always hooked on booze and drugs. "I know that if I ever slip back to using alcohol or drugs that I will be back to square one - and probably back into the hills with a shotgun to my head, Alan said solemly. I have wonderful parents and a whole bunch of friends I supporting me and it will be my own fault if go astray again. Continued from page one 26-229- 1 (USPS and fasted earlier for his safety and had a spiritual feeling that things would turn out all right. But when Alan had attempted suicide up a canyon gotten angry because he was unsuccessful - was driving his car down the canyon and headed for a nearby mountain pass where he planned to drive his car over a steep cliff. 1491-800- -- -- ALAN EXPLAINED that he first felt that he could beat the drugs and not become hooked. But it didnt take me long to learn that you may be able to beat the drugs at first, but eventually they (drugs) will beat you. He also stressed the fact that alcohol and drugs are related in their useage and very often go together. THERES only one major intersection where the canyon That the community might be Informed about the of daily life, we present the Forum, In hope of aiding a behind-the-scene- s more Intelligent decision. ALAN HAD his share of misfortunes as a teenager on drugs, luckily none of them involved physically hurting someone else. But he was lucky to survive a vehicle crash in Ogden Canyon and three times recovered from alcohol and drug overdoses and spent time in psychiatric centers of rehabilitation. To sum it up, Alan admits that he could not cope with the everyday problems of the world - not while he was constantly stoned on alcohol or drugs - or both. I STILL have a long way to go and will be a chamical dependent all my life, he said. I know that 1 must beat this disease or it surely will beat me - theres no two ways Wednesday LIGHTER SIDE A road joins with a major county highway. Alan stopped his car at the intersection at the precise moment his parents passed by. Alans life was not only saved, but probably changed. Alan admits to some trying times immediately after the suicide attempts but that he has been free of drugs and alcohol for about two months. -- about that. He said that day by day he is making progress, and month by month is taking care of his obligations and meeting the problems - the same obligations and problems that forced him into attempting suicide. humorous look at serious topics -- -- -- Sue A Doctor CYCLOPS Guest Writer Young people frequently ask me about their future career. They all seem to want a job with a short workweek... that allows them a great deal of independence.. that offers a sense of security... and that pays a great deal of money. They think about medicine (but that takes too many, years of education). ..And they think about engineering (but that takes too many years of math). ..And they think about becoming a television anchorman (but that takes too many cans of hairspray)... And then they finally turn to me. And they act very surprised when I give them my answer. If you want to make big money in a secure future, I tell them, go out and sue a doctor. Everyone else get into it now before even more people flood the market. I didnt either They don't understand my advice--anuntil I sat next to David Slagle at a recent dinner. Slagle works for a law firm in Salt Lake which handles about 80 percent of the malpractice defense cases in Utah. Hes made a good living from it, and hes done well enough to drive a new Corvette and speak with authority on the subject. Slagle says there are over 300 malpractice cases currently against Utah doctors, hospitals and clinics. And its not unusual to win $100,000 by suing the good old family doctor. "But you have to provide a good case, dont you? 1 asked. Not necessarily, he laughed. One lady, he says, received $ 17,000 after she stood on a toilet seat and fell off. If she had fallen off her own toilet seat, she wouldnt have received anything but a bruise. But since she fell off a she won. hospital toilet seat, she sued--anNow I grant that $17,000 is not enough to retire on. But there is more than one toilet seat in Utah. Fall off two each e comfort. year and you can live in it sense to So makes perfect eye this malpractice stuff as a possible career. If the judge asks you why you were standing on the toilet seat in the first place, you wont have to answer... You can just cry for a few minutes and tell the judge you were sick at the time. After all, if you werent sick, you wouldnt have been in the hospital. And the hospital should have known you were sick. And they should have known their toilet seats were potentially lethal weapons. Realistically, however, you should be more creative. If you are going to make a career out of this, you should involve your children. When children are involved, legal claims skyrocket since a little tyke has many good years ahead in which to receive damages. A creative person might claim his child was psychologically scarred during a visit to a pediatrician. Maybe the toys in the playroom were not his favorite... May be the doctors stethoscope resembled a monstrous worm-.- .. Maybe the doctors smile wasnt friendly enough. No sue the pediatmatter what the reason, visit a lawyer--an- d rician. You can tell the judge, Your Honor, my boy is now doing poorly in school, sticks his tongue out at pharmacists, refuses to sit down with the family for dinner and is very queer about seeing doctors. This could lead to poor health in his 65 years of future life expectancy. We are only if the doctor wishes to pay asking for $50,000 per year--oin advance, well knock it down to a cool $3 million lumpsum payment." You just might win. After all, the public thinks that physicians make too much money. The public doesnt realize that they end up footing the bill for those additional malpractice insurance premiums. Doctors in Florida are already paying $100,000 per year for their insurance, so they are forced to charge more for the office visit and the aspirin. And when the hospital premiums go up, the cost of those fancy hospital slippers go up as well. Slagle thinks the time may come when doctors cannot afford to practice medicinc--annot only is that bad for us, its also bad for Corvette payments arent cheap! Slagle. But in the meantime, being a malpractice patient may be a great career move. Were a growing state with a high birthrate and expanded facilities for incoming industry. We're attracting more and more people needing more and more facilities. Just think how many toilet seats will be available in the year 1990! is--- d d d Deadline For Photos & News Articles Wed. 6:00 P.M. m AND HES OFF to a good start. DHS Moves To Fair County County. We have some tremendous talent in the county, Com. Tippetts said. And although a rodeo and horse racing aren't in the cards for this year, the commissioner said hes pegged hopes on a horse show and housing livestock exhibitions in the old Davis Schools bus shops just east of the high school campus. Continued from page one Lake to South Weber to attend? Although a lot has to be finalized in the eight weeks before the event is staged, the commissioner outlined some activities, including some new ones. THERE WILL be the traditional, as well, what with activities, a county queen contest and commercial-industriexhibits. Much of that will go on in the old gym and fieldhouse area. Another new twist hes trying to work out will involve an emphasis on the home gardener exhibiting his top produce-wareDavis Countys long been known as the states fruit basket, and while those truck farms are diminishing as subdivisions take over, there are thousands of home gardeners carrying on their own agricultural tradition, he stressed. ALTHOUGH Mr. Dygert and others had hopes at least a partial fair site could WE HOPE to have athletic competitions during the day, he emphasized, 4-- H including tennis, hoping a round-robibaseball and soccer could be set up culminating in county championships. All of the necessary facilities are there at Davis High. exhibition is also among An animal-pe- t Mr. Tippetts goals, something the n children-cou- ld al s. enjoy. EVENINGS would see lots of different entertainment, from dancing to singing to other performing arts, staged in the high school auditorium, taking a generous heip..ig in its makeup from within Davis middle-incom- r, HE EVEN attempted an LDS mission, but lasted only a few months. I just packed up and left for California -- - to be with my friends, alcohol and drugs, he said. , Now, Alans short-tergoal is to stay away from both alcohol and drugs and put his life back in order. His longterm goal is to meet the challenges of life head on, conquer them, and live a respectable life. ALANS TURNING point in life began when he was 15, a sophomore in high school in California. Thats when he first got mixed up with alcohol and soon after with drugs. I became an alcoholic and addict almost immediately through peer pressures and desire to live and let live as long as I was having a good time, he said. But I soon found out that the addiction lasted a lot longer than the fun. 0600GQ6 0 OQG QQDPQQ Alans Suicide Note Dear Mom and Dad, Mom, you always said that I would go crazy or die. Well, we all know I was crazy so all I had left was to die. Since I left home I had gone into a depression I couldnt seem to pull out of completely. It wasn't the fact I had to leave its just that I guess I began to really realize what kind of person I was. It was depressing. Mom, you knew who I was so you can probably understand how 1 felt. ANYWAY, I just want you to know that although I will probably never see you again I will continue loving all of you and thinking about you if at all possible where I am going or have gone. Right now I am afraid I dont know what to expect. The thought of going somewhere where we really dont know much about scares me. I thought seriously about coming home to ask if I could stay but all that would do would cause more problems. None of you ever failed me. Never not once! You did everything right. The reason 1 am the way I am today is of I made the choices, screw my own account and I was proficient in screwing up. that I admit must up. I DONT know what else to say. Here are some last info, on my stuff. Most of it is packed up and at Mrs. Smiths house. The rest is in my car whenever it is found. Dad, Im sorry but I borrowed your shot gun because I had nothing else to use. My pay check at work should cover the cost of it. I should have made well over $300. 1 dont know if that will pay for it or not. Probably not, knowing me. Everything I have is yours. Do what you will with it. I am so very sorry but I just didnt know what else to do anymore. Too many things happened at once for me to handle or work out and this was the easy way out of it. be ready for this year, Com. Tippetts stressed an awfully short time to attempt such a project with a missed deadline posing disaster. With Mr. Dygert feeling he has the land and facilities together as far as a proposal. Com. Tippetts turns to a desire he says has been with him for 35 years: getting all the fairground facilities together in one place. Thats still his hope, although we want it to be right, and really do a job because wellutil-iz- e it for a long time once those buildings and grounds are in place. FOR AUG. though, it looks like the tried and true of Davis High will have to fill the bill. Among those coordinating fair efforts are: LeRoy Buhler, operations manager; Lee Sherry and Steve Jackson, reprefrom the Extension Service; senting Shawn Olsen, extension agent and Judy 1, 4-- H Starkey, home economist and Ann Richey, assistant secretary. Why Kill Swan. For several years my family and I have enjoyed golfing at Davis Park Golf Course in Kaysville. One of the attractions there has been a graceful, white swan who made its home on the pond near number seven green and had become so much a part of the course. It was so beautiful as it first came into view while walking down number five fairway. SOME TIME Thursday night, June 6, during the course of a second night of senseless vandalism and destruction of property at the golf course, some demented individual or individuals clubbed and stabbed to death, with metal stakes pulled from the grass, this beautiful helpless creature. Was this perhaps someones idea of a fun way to celebrate the ending of the school year? The senselessness and stupidity of this atrocity makes one wonder about the mentality of the perpetrators! When and if they are apprehended, there are many golf course employees and patrons alike who would be more than happy to make suggestions as to their appropriate form of punishment. Sherma Oram Kaysville 1 free-wil- l. PeadMime IFW DMspllay Ads TTwkss. : P.M. Goodbye, Bum Plant Nearing Reality Field. Continued from front page full steam" for several weeks, as crews have hauled out tons of topsoil from the site where the plant is to be built. The board gave approval to its 1985-8budget, which includes capital for completion of a gravel access road to the site as well as preliminary construction. Mr. Palmquist stated that the right of way necessary for the roadway is something we are still waiting on. a decision to be made after a report from the Corp of Engineers goes to Hill steam-generatin- g 6 I THE DISTRICT has narrowed its candidates for District Manager to three men: Bud Stanford of Salt Lake City; David Gunn of Provo, and Jim Young of Riverdale. Mr! Palmquist was authorized to negotiate with the finalists concerning the position, with a decision to be made by July I when the new fiscal year begins. The district is also continuing negotiations with owners of the property bn which the plant will be built. An assessment of the land value is near completion and the district hopes to begin acquiring the land this week, th I i I |