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Show I I A Year To Remember I DESERET NEWS LETTERS TO THE EDITOR o! SAIT LAKI CITY, UTAH BfiWMMMnmiuiiuiH!nmiiHiRfflHiitniiiiiinMinisiuMnunuuuiii!HK 0 Gun Law Deplored We Stand For The Constitution Of The United States As Having Been Divinely Inspired 18 A EDITORIAL PAGE LEGISLATIVE WEDNESDAY, JANUARY On Dec 16, the provisions of Title Control Act of 1968 went into effect 1, 1969 of the Gun son o that date, I, as an authorized dealer of firearms and ammunition, must record the name, age, and residence of each purchaser and the description of the firearms or ammunition sold. The legislation contains more ertensive requirements, but I must now record this information on every person who buys even a box of .21 On iSSUES-- 7 record-keepin- For Better Government Ethics Codes Needed Over the years Utah has been fortunate in having little corruption in state government, an achievement thats a tribute to the high caliber of our public servant. But as budgets grow greater and more money passes through the hands of public employes, the opportunities for honest mistakes and outwright wrongdoing alike loom larger. Moreover, as public employes have more dealings with private interests through expanded government activities, and as Utah government becomes more complex, it becomes increasingly necessary to spell out what constitutes proper and improper conduct. For such reasons, the Little Hoover Commission proposed a comprehensive code of ethics for all officers and employes of state government This week a committee of the Utah Legislative Council added its voice to the campaign to establish a code of ethics by recommending that ethics committees be established in each house of the Legislature with power to recommend suspension of membership for unethical conduct Another bill defining the areas of possible conflicts of interest for officers and employes of the executive branch also is to be introduced in the 38th Legislature. I Because public servants are in the limelight more than ordinary citizens, they should set an example of high integrity and help raise the standards of general conduct An ethics code can help in this effort &nd such codes have been adopted recently by California in the West and several other states. Moreover, if Utah is to avoid a double standard between Its executive and legislative branches, there should be a code of ethics for each. Such a double standard has been a problem at the federal level, with Congress insisting on strict conflict of interest requirement for the executive branch but not for itself. As a result, good men have often been deterred from accepting responsible federal positions. Lets not make the same mistake in Utah. Goals For Utah A few days ago this page observed that businesses which dont set long-rangotta for themselves and work diligently toward them are asking for trouble. That goes for communities, too. Without a set of well thought out objectives, a town or an entire state can find that civic improvement comes about by accident or not at all. . With the advent of a new year, the Deseret News wishes to thank its readers for their support during 1968 and to pledge continued diligence during the year ahead in reporting important civic matters in the belief that an informed public is the key to a better community. ' As a recent meeting of civic leaders noted, the important goals for Utah this year should include development of a better mass transportation system along the Wasatch Front, improved coordination of industrial promotion activities, creation of more and better jobs through local industry, consolidation and modernization of government, improved support for law enforcement agencies, and the upgrading of education at all levels. These are among our resolutions for the new year. Wt hope theyre yours, too. ge city-coun- ty Hold Dovn Taxes When it comes to tax increases, taxpayers have long memories and tend to express their feelings quite eloquently at the ballot box. Thats as it ought to be, since taxpayers shouldnt have to pay for the mistakes of elected officials in setting budgets excessively or unrealistically high. We make these observations because the record high $27.6 million budget which the Salt Lake County Commission adopted this week is being criticised as based on estimates of revenue. Aa the critics see it, the projected 1969 budget involves a mill levy increase of 0.8 or even more. Even County Commissioner Phil Blomquist admits the property levy may have to be raised as much as 0.5 mill next August, but hopes the increase can be kept to 0.2 mill In view of the county commissions achievement in holding the line on expenditures a year ago and producing surpluses where deficits previously existed, perhaps it deserves the benefit of the doubt at this stage. But it should know that taxpayers are in no mood to jadd to their burden very much if it can reasonably be avoided. So if Salt Lake County finds it has revenues, it should do whatever cutting is necessary to keep from increasing taxes substantially. g hui wa; sell any ammunition or guns to persons under 18 yean of age, and a person must be 21 years of age or over to purchase ammunition for handguns or long guns. Under toe law, I must not sell guns or ammunition to anyone that I have reasonable cause to believe is: Trt son s.na car stit cas wa1 A fugitive from justice or under indictment for or has been convicted of a felony. lati dir narcotics addict An unlawful user of marijuana or any depressant stimdant, or narcotic drug. A What To Do With The Moon? WASHINGTON Well, we really had a close look at the moon last week and we know for a fact that man can get there and back. The next question that has to be answered is what do we do with the moon now that its in our grasp? A top secret meeting was held in Washington last week to discuss this ART 6UCHWALD moon into a natural park where people can get away from the cares of the world. We should leave it just as it is, only adding a few refreshment stands and places were people can deposit their refuse. thorny problem. Gen. Wilco The Department of Transportation jumped in. Wait a minute. Our highway people have surveyed it and we believe the thing to do with the moon is to pave it from one end to the other. The only way youre going to get people to go to the moon is to provide them with something to drive on. The Department of Urban Affaire man objected. The moon should he used for housing development My department wants to start a pilot juiguuii with ptt vate industry. We propose to sell the best views of earth for high-ris- e apartments e develand luxury hotels to opers, If they in turn will Invest In low-co-st housing for the poor on the dark side of the moon. Ttis way the costs of public housing would be kept down. Health, Education and Welfare spoke up. Well support that program mainly because wed Idee to see if bussing school children from the earth to the moon would be feasible. said the DepartWait a minute, ment of Agriculture man. We think the moon should be set aside for fanning and grazing." the U.S. Air Force representative, said, I dont think we have anything to discuss. The moon should become our first outer- - space Air Force base. Weve already drawn up Mr. Buehwald the plans, and for $50 billion we can give the U.S. a superdeterrent that will set the Soviets back on their ears. Even if they knocked out every rocket on earth, wed still have our hardware on the moon for the final crunch. Adm. Shipstead of die Navy said, "The moon should be a naval base. After all, it will have to be supplied by spaceships and were in charge of all ships. Army Gen. Trenchfoot said angrily, "If the moon has to be occupied, then its with Air Force and the infantrys job naval support, of course. A representative of the Department .of Faria spoke up: "I object I think we should make the Andout, real-estat- You can't grow anything on the moon," someone shouted. . All. the better, the Department of Agriculture man said. We pay large sums of money to farmers for not growing anything. If we had the moon, we could triple our budget." Treasury had a man there. "The secretary insists that nothing be done about the moon until we find out if there is any tax money we can squeeze out of it" The Department of Commerce spokesman interceded, I know of seven conglomerates who want to make a bid for tiie moon, for no other reason than they consider it a growth stock. I have also been approached by several advertising agencies who would like to lease the moon for outdoor advertising purposes. One agency plans to build the largest noon sign in the universe for its detergent client, and it not only wont cost the government a dime, but theyre willing to pay $2 million to lease the space. Everybody in the room started to yell at once. Suddenly the head of NASA and gavelled the walked in white-facemeeting to order. "Gentlemen, I have just received word that Howard Hughes is willing to buy the moon at any price. What does he want to do with it?" someone shouted. Hughes doesnt plan to do anything with It He says he just wants to buy it as protection against anyone ruining his view of Las Vegas." - t ' remark. We all censor our thoughts before speaking, for a number of reasons, some good and some bad. But what is interesting is that if we cant hear ourselves speak, we lose some control over our feedback mechanism. And, actually, many persons cannot hear what they are saying even without toe Interference people. Interviewing a random group of subjects, he asks them to wear earphones a kind of that feed them white noise radio static that is activated by the subjects voice, so that he cant hear himself talking. In this situation, where toe interview- -' er can talk to the subject and hear what he says, while the subject can hear only the interviewer and not himself, some surprising results show up. One of them, he reported, is that people reduce their ability to control their speech. As an example the researcher gave, one man when asked How do you and your wife get along? might reply, "We get along just fine," and ton add quietly, That's a lot of hooey. When the taped interview is played back to him, he of white noise. This inability accounts for a lot of tactlessness, what we loosely call which is rarely conscious or deliberate on the persons part On the other hand, persons called diplomatic, like successful politicians, have superb feedback, which allows them to censor their true thoughts completely, even as they are speaking with persuasive fervor. A good politician to able to monitor every phrase and tone as it Issues from ids lips, and to keep making continuous President Johnson he told his Cabinet when it clearly meant have to have a we If the election, after as R e p u b lican President, Im going to do everything I can to help him succeed. These are not just words. They are being matched Mr. Drummond with significant actions. The latest, which will be evident in his State of the Union message dget, is this: Contrary to some reports, Mr. Johnson is not going to confront Congress with any major, radical new programs, and he has made this decision for a very special reason. He does not want to embarrass the new administration with a set of lame-ducmeasures which would almost certainly not be enacted and which would only cause divisive controversy. He does not want to involve the new Congress with programs which would lock in the new President and put him in a legislative bind which would only slow up whatever he wants to do. If the President sticks to this decision, he will be turning aside an enticing political temptation and will be doing so beis cause he believes that politics-as-usucut of place in todays troubled America. It would be understandable and defensible politically if LBJ should lay out to Ccrffrcss in h1" ?sreve!l iTtCsssy i new vista of Great Society programs, which would represent how he would deal with all the ills of the nation if he had run add k been ROSCOE DRUMMOND He could urge toe Democratic chairmen of the Democratic controlled congressional committees to make his programs the first order of business, thus trying to take the initiative sway from the new administration. He could, if his programs were defeated or stymied, turn them into a platform to promote a Democratic Party comeback during the next four years. My information is that LBJ is rejecting this tactic because he wants Richard Nixon as President to have full freedom ts try what he believes will work best This does not mean that the Johnson farewell will not reflect the Johnson philosophy and will not defend the many Great Society programs already enacted. He will not only defend them, but he will urge their continuance, and trill set out the principles which he feels should and will guide his party back to the presidency in 1972. No, LBJ is not retiring from politics because he is retiring from the presidency. He will be playing a major rote in the leadership of the Democratic Party, along with Hubert Humphrey, Edmund Muskie, Edward Kennedy end others. But one fact Is clear above all others. Lyndon Johnson would rather see his party pitted against a successful Nixon Administration than to see either the nation or his party inherit the catastrophe of failure. This is why he is doing his part and more to make the transition from outgoing to incoming President unprecedentedly effective. wh the stil per nat Upon returning home after witnessing a pre- miere showing of Franco Zeffirellis Romeo and Juliet I fed moved to share my feelings about the film. The film gained notoriety with to eannounce- ment of Leonard Whiting, 17, and Olivia Hussey, 15, cast In toe respective roles of Romeo and Juii- et. Various publications have featured articles on the show. The young actor and actress have had numerous encounters with the public and publicity. After viewing the film, all notions, favorable or not, that resulted from the publicity of toe show were overshadowed by the experience of the film ' I ) ; J ... f , - . , . . , ! - ; I 1 j itself. . For most of us, Romeo and Juliet has been in n the past a tragedy wrath ones Inter st unless there Is something better offered. Cer-- J I tain lines from Romeo and Juliet have become Zeffirelli Director everyday colloquial phrases. c, brings his Romeo and Juliet to toe screen with ' J . cp well-know- cal (sj jht . new lifeblood. The tragic death forced upon the young lovers J by the feud of their families takes on many paral- - I lels in light of our contemporary times. This may "I or may not detract from William Shakespeares ! original theme, but let us look upon Zeffirelli not as an editor of Shakespeare but as a director capable of displaying Shakespeares work as never before. Granted that one is willing to lend himself for two Romeo and and a quarter hours, Zeffirellis Juliet repays by leaving the dimensions of fuift and play and becomes a complete experience. t ye . , - ' RANK 1 KANIG adjustments as he senses toe mood of the audience. (This to why, by the way, so many skillful politicians sound lifeless what reading a prepared script, which does not allow for deviation er feedback from toe environment) Most of us, however, are more like the old lady on the witness stand who snapped back at the judge: "How can I know what I think until I hear what I say?" And even after we hear what we say, many of us are unaware of the way It sounds to others, or how a seemingly innocuous statement of ours is underlaid with a heavy emotional charge. When rebuked by his wife after a party, a huband may exclaim: Did I say that? Well, I certainly didnt mean it to sound offensive. But toe odds are he did mean it to sound offensive, down below toe conscious level. For nothing we say is without meaning or purpose, even though its hidden intention may be clearer to others than to ourselves. Gr y, w . Cedar Qty i People take their own lives on toe streets and highways of this nation every day. There is a crying need for a plan that can save their owa lives. I believe I have one. The plan would work like fids: Post cards with various types of traffic violations, license number, location, and time could be Issued by the local safety council when people obtain their auto licenses for toe year. Every driver and pedestrian could have cards to carry In the glove compartment of his car, in pocket or purse. Every time anyone sees a violation, hs could quickly note it on toe cud, drop it In a mail box and, at the end of tiie month, toe cards could be tabulated by toe local safety council members. The local safety council members could then make a call, by phone, drawing toe drivers attention to his violations, being careful to state this is not an arrest At toe end of three months, if persistent violations occur, there courtesy cards showing the individuals traffic violation pattern would be turned over to toe local police and highway patrol, who would then take action only on their own observation of traffic violations by the individual --L. H. PREWITT, M.D. Ottumwa, Iowa ; ' 1 J vn . is in J A di ca m I 111 da 1 01 wl $ Street Signs, Please On the front page of When you think back to the sterile hiatus between Herbert Hoover and FDR, the cold, unspoken relations between Harry Truman and Dwight Elsenhower and the superficial contacts between Gen. Elsenhower and John Kennedy, it to transition evident that the Johnson-Nixo- n to an achievement of great dimensions. LBJ wants to be As an as continuously helpful to Nixon as Gen. and that will Eisennower was to him mean he Isnt going to heckle from toe sidelines. To those who know Lyndon Johnson, none of this is surprising. GUEST CARTOON W( N tel a recent Deseret News yon asked for readers to make suggestions as to how we can make the state better. I have thought of doing this several times. As I drive over the state I find many cities guilty of having poor street signs. Here is a case in point. Recently I drove five blocks on Fourth South up past the University of Utah and could not see one street sign. That is, I guess It was on Fourth South. In Murray on State Street there is no sign between 47th South and 53rd South. These cases can be found in many places. The signs that are there in most towns were appropriate for horse and buggy days, but are not large enough for a motorist to see if he is driving 35 mile an hoar. Pr ii fr er B C ca ar P 1 a n w m These sips on the freeway are great. If on knows the streets thoroughly, he does not need any street numbers. He knows where he is. But is there anyone who does not need to know where he Is by means of a street sip at one time r another? -I- RWIN JENSEN Pleasant Grove C Cl w S in ir N Thanks Mail Carrier 1 1 During the holiday season, when everyone Is so 4 with the seasonal rush and in such s hurry to get thing done, it always seems to come . j as a surprise when someone takes the time and goes out of his way to do something for someone t j j involved else. . Im speaking "I love her, I ' Proposes Safety Plan LBfs Farewell Gift To Nixon WASHINGTON few bef Delightful Movie ' J. HARRIS doesnt at all remember making toe latter me Richfield On Monitoring Your Feedback At an International Design Conference In Aspen a few summers ago, a psychological researcher recounted an experiment he had conducted in listening to dor uec eac -J-AY THOMPSON . By SYDNEY mu An adjudged mental incompetent or one who has been committed to any mental institution. Sound frightening? It does to me. Personally, I dont want this police state power. But that is toe law, so we will have to learn to live with It until we can get it changed. -F- and an austere January 1st is man encountering a dispiriting ordeal the dead of winter. And dead it is! . . . And it is when it takes adl of a mans energy just to hope to survive the dismal time . . , January 1st is nature unfriendly and fellow mortals who frequently seem drained of their usual compassion . . . January 1st is the winter of sleigh hells, songs, and parties . . . And it is also the season of sniffles, coughs, sinus infections, sore throats, fevers, agues, and worse . . . January 1st is snow that is no longer ermine, icicles that are no longer crystal pendants, and air that no longer stimulates . . . But January 1st is also the poetman already bringing two seed catalogues . . . And it is almost any day now that the thought will come up that another forsythia would look good in the back yard . . . January let is the assurance that the tracery of leafless trees will become pure beauty. And very gradually it is the as it may be today sun ' clouded and of our part of the earth with a prolonging its contemplation each arlier morning and lingers X lfeht that comes one minute afternoon. 6 minute longer each had jiat the I may not over-estimat- It's January 1st car shells. over-optimis- tic fog-blanket- I turi Jiea love her not v n !c!nct . ,ltonlter specifically about our mail car- - J rier, Neil Hardy. My wife and I recently moved to Salt Lake City from Georgia, and as Christmas neared, and because we both also had some last- - , J minute arrangements to make and gifts to buy, we ; i were afraid we world miss our packages from home. Neil made sure we did not And, after talking with his associates at work, wa found that he is as i meticulously conscientious with everyone. Tills wa 1 ! for us a much better Christmas because of him, --DR. and MRS. W. ,H. BUNTEN 2105 A 3300 South 1 n -- k ' |