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Show rv- Lehi Free Press New Utah! - Wednesday, February 17. 1999 - Page 2 Opinion Use funds for tobacco prevention Utah Legislators bristled and then bit back when Utah Attorney General Jan Graham started a campaign to force state lawmakers to allocate for tobacco prevention programs the funds the state will receive from a recent settlement with tobacco companies. The d settlement will put an estimate- $836 million into Utah's coffers. However rather than debating the merits of tobacco education, and possible levels of state funding for these programs, Utah's Republican-controllelegislature cut Graham's budget, economically hobbling the only elected Democrat to hold state office and tli state's top law enforcement d ifficei The ove doesn't bode well for ilucation or law enforcement. A b ;'U approach would be to dedi cate then to programs aimed at obacco education and prevention, for :r- itinc Mvtcco addiction, and for !' o iding '..lth care for Utah's children. And then to restore funding to the office responsible for Utah law and order. tobaco After all, the law suit which pro- duced this huge settlement was based on oremise that tobacco creates trc douspublichealthcosts.lt a.h and disease, and Big benefits from that in the form f trt mendous profits. The settlement is a way for Big Tobacco to pay back these costs. To funnel this money into programs not related to public health issues or the can-- : r'la: prevention of tobacco use would be inappropriate, to say the least. Currently Utah spends around $500,000 to combat tobacco use. But according to an alliance of more than 70 of Utah's leading public and private health and tobacco use prevention organizations, tobacco costs Utahns a lot more than that. Tobacco kills more Utahns every year than alcohol, car crashes and suicides combined. Medical costs related to tobacco amount to more than $200 million each year. And the use of tobacco among our young people is growing. Between 1984 and 1997, tobacco use jumped from 9 to 15 percent among junior high and high school students. That's 2,000 new smokers each year. This trend can be challenged with adequate funding for tobacco prevention and cessation programs. At the current level of funding, Utah is losing the battle while tobacco companies spend tens of millions of dollars each year on tobacco advertising. The public has caught the vision of what the tobacco settlement funds can do for Utah. A recent poll showed that 90 percent of Utahns feel at least half of any settlement money should be used to combat tobacco addiction. Utah's legislature needs to take a similar approach. Funds Utah receives from the tobacco settlement should go to tobacco prevention it is common sense and it is the appropriate use for this money. Translating products for a peculiar people My wife and I were sitting in church, somewhat aworship, when we heard a familiar little "doot doo doodly doo" behind us. Immediately after that, a sister in the next row stood up and retreated to the hallway, where, we soon realized, she was taking a call on her cellular phone, which obviously had been set to play a little ditty instead of an obnoxious ring. Of course, she wasn't the only one in church who was attached to her phone. We saw someone in the hall before we went into the meeting, and another brother left after his phone vibrated in his pocket a little later in the meeting. Perhaps these people were receiving their monthly visiting teaching and home teaching reports, and quite possibly, the first brother that we saw was extending a call to someone. But after I got over my initial reaction to these scenes, I started to think of the great marketing possibilities that are available if companies will look to the vast Mormon market. All it takes is a little modification to existing products. The cellular phone market, for example, could reach practically to Kolob if the manufacturers would simply add a couple of hymns to the selection of ringer tunes. I'll Go Where You Want Me To Go or Called to Serve would be great indications that one is wanted on the Celestial Cellular Connection. At Christmas time, perhaps one could even choose Hark! The Henald Angels Sing. Remember those cardboard containers that were originally designed n to carry milk bottles from the dairy. I remember when they were half-gallo- Hussein stabilized Middle East their advertisements and have a ready market of about 50,000 prospective Bible-bashin- popular among Primary and Relief Society presidents, useful for toting the array of materials necessary to keep their respective congregations quiet and busy. With so many wards being created in the Lehi area, and the sometimes overcrowded conditions in the facilities, these simple cardboard marvels could be as "Bishop In a Box a handy tote for itinerant bishops who do not have the luxury of a fixed office. "Bishop in a Box" could conveniently hold the General Handbook of Instructions, temple recommend forms, donation envelopes and a set of scriptures. The children of Israel hauled around their tabernacle and the Ark of the Covenant, so why couldn't it work today? For that matter, perhaps the Relief Society could create a portable ward building in one of their homemaking meetings, a tentlike edifice that could be folded up into one convenient bundle and taken to the people. Franklin Electronics has a marvelous hand-helcomputer that contains the entire King James Bible. With just the addition of one extra little chip, they could easily convert their electronic bible into and electronic quadruple edition, complete with the Book of Mormon and latter-da- y scriptures. d "Arm your missionary with the word of God," they could expound in mind-bogglin- ; g. , h A town in the middle of nowhere The world is a poorer place and the Middle East a more difficult one after the death last week of King Hussein of Jordan. Are we growing in north Utah never met the man, but after The answer is a resounding County? seven years living in the Middle East, yes. it was impossible to remain unaware drive to modernize his the The personal effects of growth country of him or to have anything but respect same challenge that faces all of the have been felt time after time in my for his way of doing things, regardless region's leaders. household. of what I thought of his policies. In this, he has perhaps been the Nine years ago Sharon and I Why, you might ask, should we most successful of all. to a new home in a new neigh-..- . moved here care anything about the ruler of A visible and devout, adherent of, 1 borhood which was rt taking. sh.ape.ia , a small, poor countrv halfwav around WalnTnMs wfc,i k fk,i. be an alfalfa field inJJfteO $ whatjjsed.to the world? - J town. Our new f norjfhwet part .v. ; umiig, a lut muie ui piexeiy avoided the headlme:grabbulg," home was placed on what was called center th&easy vay, by building it. your sons and daughters would have , extremism of the few who have is eiven Lot lof the Hillcrest Subdivision. We found it' by' driving past the airDeen sent to the region without him, an inspired religion a bad name. We are still in the same house, but and some of them would never have port and then looking south. There in In fact, he cited the tenets of his over the past nine years, we have the distance, come back. His premature death from faith often when literally in the middle of been in four separate LDS wards, nowhere, announcing signifiMountain is cancer last week makes that possibil- cant decisions, Eagle including the courathree of them newly created, and where once local dry farmers rising ity a lot more real than it has been geous and historic move to broker a grew have been in two stakes. wheat. during his lifetime. comprehensive peace with Israel and Last Sunday still another ward We turned at the big eagle and Hussein would have nevertheless all concerned parties, including the was created in our neighborhood, drove for what seemed quite a ways deserved our admiration if he had dispossessed Palestinians. although this time we were able to before we reached the Eagle Moundone nothing more than survive to He has encouraged andor financed remain in our present ward lead his country for 40 years in what just tain city center, where "beehive" aptly virtually all of the progress in his with different boundaries. describes the building activity going remains one of the world's most country's institutions, which has This kind of explosive growth isn't on there. volatile regions. It is a cruel irony raised the standard of living of all his I don't know how unique to our neighborhood. In fact, that disease did what assassins could citizens to some homes degree, and he has one north Utah County community is have been sold in this manybut not. it is area, to do it without provoking a managed trying to burst onto the scene by clear the people behind Eagle MounYet. to the end, Hussein did everywidespread religious or oligarchic putting town in the middle of tain are planning on selling a lot, thing within his power to assure the backlash. nowhere and apparently they are because that's how future of his country. How very like many they are His sensitive but pragmatic succeeding. the man who almost building. approach to the politics of his region On Monday, we drove to Eagle The centerpiece is the new $11 milbuilt a nation out of a sandpile in a has built bridges between Arab hardMountain to look at a building lot our lion city center and fire station. At very dangerous position. liners and moderates, between Israel kids are considering buying as a localeast that's the cost that was listed No aloof enjoyer of privilege, Husand its neighbors, and between the tion for their first house. We were for the sein was a kind Arab countries and the West. building in a recent news astonished at what we saw. release about Utah County's top busiof monarch. The extraordinary outAnd he has done it all without the Sharon and I had taken a drive ness construction projects for 1998. pouring of grief by his subjects gave benefits of the wealth of natural through Cedar Pass Ranch several Around that building they are Westerners a glimpse of his incrediresources enjoyed by many of the months ago but we had never dri- placing smaller homes ble personal impact on his countrybasically area's other countries. He's had little ven to the heart of Eagle Mountain starter homes for young families just men, a great many of whom knew leverage other than the locabecause we didn't know where it was. strategic him personally and most of whom tion of his starting out and looking for an affordhomeland and his own perAfter all, Eagle Mountain is the able house. A little further out, the considered him their father in a very sonal integrity and commitment to third largest city in Utah, in terms of homes and lots real sense. get larger. finding solutions addressing the geographical area. But much of the We visited the real estate compaEqually impressive was the assemneeds of all. development we had seen involved ny's trailer a stone's throw blage of world leaders who converged He fought his cancer to the end, homes on large lots ranging from one from the fire parked and listened on his desert land with very short but when in station, he knew his days were to five acres. It's pretty hard to develon some of the real estate pitches notice (his faith requires rapid burial, numbered, he tried to insure the surop much of a community center with being made while the although his deteriorating condition vival of his country by an young couple abrupt large building lots like that. did allow some warning) to honor him talked business with an agent. in crown princes and some change But Eagle Mountain has that all A model of the town shows where at his passing. other government restructuring. of. They've created a taken care the Jake Garn Airport will be built, were city a testament towto They the After the final attempts to prolong ering stature he had built and his his life failed, one of his last requests incalculable influence on the Middle was that he be returned to his homeEastern peace process. It is safe to say land so he would not be separated that the current state of relative secu- from the people he had labored all his rity and prosperity in the area would life for, even in death. have been impossible without his Their respect and affection for him help. will allow the new King Abdullah By Linda Butler what they are doing appears to be neiHussein was forced to grow up some time to his position, solidify and sirens blaring, ther dangerous nor illegal. The officer Lights glaring very fast. He saw his grandfather he will have is anywe immediately notice when a police though how emerges from his car and walks over assassinated in front of him when he one's guess. Ilong don't claim to know why officer is in pursuit. But some of an toward was only 16, and was thrust to the Hussein my van, parked alongside the made the changes, but I'm officer's law enforcement is done in a curb. I leave the house throne just two years later when certain he had Immediately good reasons. quiet, gentle manner. Such was my and approach the officer, who is caremental illness forced his father to We had better all hope that Abdulrecent encounter with the Pleasant fully surveying the scene. abdicate. lah listened carefully to whatever his Grove Police. "Their movement looked suspiHe is the only ruler that most Jorfather's directions were, and that he "There's a police car behind your cious," explains the officer. danians have ever had, and he has follows them. A vacuum Initially he van my friend informs me. From my had suspected an walked an uneasy tightrope between Jordan will destabilize of power in theft; as attempted the entire position in her hviiig room, I have been he had come closer, he realized that his people's deeply-helreligious and area and have consequences that are watching my daughters, ages 7 and 9, there were children inside cultural beliefs and the need and horrific to possibly contemplate. as they wait in my van. Their heads truants. have been bobbing up and down, but Filled with relief, I tell him that . I 'r!neiStS.T single-handedl- J buyers. g without "Don't go one," could be another great slogan. And if they contracted with Mr. Mac to sell them along with his missionary J suits, the combination would bej almost Finally, the makers of laptop com- - J puters could find a new market niche J among members of the stake high J council. A few years ago, my colleagues and I I were mildly surprised that a guest J speaker at a workshop hauled her lap- top to the lectern to give her keynote address. Now that the initial shock of that scene has worn off, I can imagine that seeing a member of the high council with a laptop, as opposed to a stack of papers, would seem less intimidating to members of the congregation. "The Councilor" model of a laptop could even be configured to track which talks had been given in a par- ticular ward, so that duplication of material was lessened. As the high councilor enters in his talk, along with a code number of the ward where he will be speaking, the,' computer could monitor the words or scriptural references used in the talk and warn the speaker if those words of scriptures had been used in that ward within the last six months or a year. Our high-tecmindset would prob- -; ably prevent us irom living like the Children of Israel, but then again, if they couldn't save themselves just by! looking at the brazen serpent, just think how lost they be if you put a cel- lular phone or a laptop computer in j their hands. t y as well as roads, walking paths, and I open space. Lots of open space. Some of the comments raised ques- tions. For example, a young woman pointed out on the map the location of the elementary school, and said they, hoped to start construction this sum-- J mer. Eagle Mountain is talking to the' Alpin.chool District, she said and i Jthait Idoesnft "Iwork out theyjJdll,' other school dtrictK, ;n p jOBvioiisly the, young womn 'hd; noide"ar how school districtswofk, br how difficult it is for the school dis-- ; trict to fund new schools especially in short order. I can't imagine anyone else being willing to move in fromt outside the area and build a school tdj order either, unless the developers of Eagle Mountain are going to fund the construction and then turn the build-- ! ing over to Alpine School District. Then she showed an interested couple the proposed location for the ir junior college. She also pointed out the location of the new LDS ward building, to be started in six months. Although, she pointed out, the church hadn't bought! the property yet, so the church might; be placed somewhere else. This is a unique concept, this grow ing a town all at once from the ground up, master planned within an inch of its life. If the developers can fill all those homes, they will soon have a' community to be reckoned with,; sprouting in the middle of nothing. From the outside, Eagle Mountain looks like a big gamble an "if you' build it, they will come" kind of com-- ! munity. And apparently they are coming. Just last week, the LDS Church formed an Eagle Mountain Ward and. a Cedar Pass Ward. That pretty well defines north'' Utah County. Don't blink, or find yourself lost in a whole newyoull sub-- ! division. ; Local police: To serve and protect d NewUtah! (ISSN No. Published weekly by 1521-685- (U.S.P.S. No. Jewjtahjews 309-50- t $f NATIONAL & Circulation NEWSPIMW pi tAA)rf (inqwti 59 West Main American Fork, Utah 84003 Deadlines 9 3 Publisher A member of Tfn Telephone Number Advertising News Brett Bezzant Managing Editor City Editor Marc Haddock RussDaty Subscription price $24" per year Periodicals Postage Paid at American Fork, Utah POSTMASTER: 59 ttnd KtdrtM WnI Main, American Chang to Fortt, Utah 84003 Classified Advertising Display Advertising News Missionaries Weddings Sports .. .Tuesday, noon ... .Monday, 5 p.m. Monday, 2 p.m. Monday, 2 p.m. We welcome letters to the editor. All letters must include the author's name (printed AND signed) and a telephone number. We reserve the right to edit let- -' ters for clarity, punctuation, taste and length. Letters are welcome on any topic. HOW TO REACH .Monday, 2 p.m. Monday, 1(5 a,m. Community Calendar . .Monday, 10 a.m. Letters to the Editor . . .Monday, 10 im. Obituaries Tuesday, 11 a.m. these are my homeschooled children;! they are not truant, and they had gone! out to wait for me. The officer smiles atf me, realizing that I have things under4 control. I am chagrined and a bit embar- -' rassed at the attention my children! have drawn to themselves, and to me- -' I'm also grateful, that this officer is so observant of the "little" things. He's doing his job protecting the public' And, like other officers on the Pleasant Grove Police force, he's doing an excellent job. , P.O. Box 7, By Mail American Fork, UT 84003 In Person 59 W. Main, American Fork II R By Fax 756-527- 4 By editornewutah.com POOR COPY |