Show J ' t ' V 1 Seatbelt law ' : 3 nee again the Utah State Legislature will attempt to tighten up the state’s seat belt law Rep Carol Like City is Spademan Moss reintroducing legislation prohibiting driven from stuffing more passengers into a car than there Are seat belts Currently Utah's mandatory seat belt law has an exception: You’re not breaking any law when a passenger isn't budded up if your car doesn’t have enough belts Moss sponsored this legislation last year and was narrowly defeated by lawmakers who said the proposal discriminates against large families with incomes too low to afford large can Utah Eagle Forum President Gayle Ruzicka is raising those arguments again this year Ruzicka said the law would force families to leave loved ones behind on trips because they cannot comply with the law He’s right although the proposal has some merit It just needs a little commonsense tweddng Utah already requires people to wear seat belts at all times when traveling in motor vehicles So from one penpective the current exception makes no sense In the first place if you have more passengen than seat belts you are by definition exceeding die number of passengen die car was designed to cany That alone could be a safety problem While adults can decide for themselves whether they will wear a belt — and then accept the legal or physical consequences of that decision — children are a different matter They’re not in a position to make an informed decision Therefore adults are expected to keep them out of harm’s way Anyone who allows a child to tide unrestrained — whether D-S- : the child's parent grandparent sibling baby sitter or youth group leader — should be held accountable if restraints were not in place and the child is injured in an accident Wxdd anyone think of getting on — or letting their children ride — die rollercoasters at Lagoon or Disneyland without safety restraints? Of course not While Ruzicka and others who oppose lifting Utah’s seat belt exemption have a point — that Moss’ legislation would discriminate against large families — they also miss another point: Your responsibility for your child’s welfare isn’t reduced or waived marly because you have lots of children Seat belts are something parents need to plan for as surely as planning for the child in the first place If that means buying a huger vehicle or using two cars to haul the tribe around so be it Having said that there are circumstances that arise in life that reasonably may require someone to tide without a seat belt For example a teenager may be stranded after a dance because their ride left earlier and having them wait for a ride with adequate seatbelts may be more dangerous than taking them home in a slightly overcrowded caror a car may have broken down In those situations especially if the distance to travel b short or along low-speresidential roads there is a legitimate reason to bend the role Driving from Logan to St George on a preplanned trip b another matter Sufficient restraints should be available for all We also need to be realistic Will a change in the law make people safer overnight? Not likely as it takes time to charge attitudes People who don’t already buckle up may not be more -likely to do so' just because there's a ' new law"4" But the law is reminder to drivers are responsible for dthers - damaging ! I was extremely concerned to read in the article concerning the efforts of local school districts to improve their ability to educate students whose first language is not English (Herald Journal Dec 8) that Logan City School District Secondary Curriculum Director Kirk Allen holds some common and very damaging misconceptions concerning second language acquisition and instruction Apparently the district is encouraging English acquisition by the parents of children learning English as a second language (ESL) As a knowledge of English is clearly an asset if not a necessity for economic betterment in the US I applaud these efforts However the rationale for this that is provided by Allen is that these parents may then begin to speak English to their children in the home thus giving the children mort'tirae to “actively use” the language He claims that “when they don’t” actively use English the learning capacity diminishes? While intuitively appealing the notion that greater time spent using English equals better acquisition : misguided Research has demonstrated that it is the quality of second language instruction that makes a difference X HAVE A BAD FEELING ABOUT THIS CRUISE s V ' “ The evils of saturated fat By Jack Anderson and Douglas Cohn United Feature Syndicate ttomeys are suing McDonald’s because their meals high in saturated fat are ruining customers’ health It is the right complaint but the wrong venue Since foe days of : Prohibition we have understood — or should have understood — that the government shouldbe wary when itattenmts to legislate personal behavior whether the issue Is the use of alcohol smoking or saturated fat' (mu Excesses such as (hiving unto die influence of alcohol must certainly be regulated But how can the government regulate the consumption of saturated fat? And a lawsuit that is successful in penalizing companies for making foods high in saturated fat has the effect of law There is a better way The surgeon general issued a warning that cigarette smoking could be hazardous to your health and it is prominently placed on all cigarette cartons and packages Public service ads are frequently run on television ed Your view lb the editor The Herald Journal & fr Allen’s statements A4 m& Regional vievj From The (Provo) Daily Herald Tuesday December 10 2002 label packages in the absence of a program to educate the public Dr Dean Ornish the famous heart-patieguru hiss been waging a camto paign provide such education but his is one lone voice unsupported by the surgeon general or any other government organization He claims — and we can attest — that his regimen of foods low in saturated fat can actually reverse heart disease He is aided in his crusade by com- parties such as Subway which advertises its sandwiches as being low in saturated fat It even goes so far as to post comparisons with McDonald’s in its restaurants In die end it is better to legislate sparingly and educate profusely Life is a matter of choices and every citizen should be properly educated so he or she can make informed decisions And when people make informed choices there is little room for attorneys to claim fault with the cigarette makers the alcohol companies and the food companies that produce products high in saturated warning about foe evils of tobacco and laws are multiplying across the country that ban smoking in enclosed public areas The idea of excluding tobacco use in certain areas is proper government regulation The prohibition of tobacco use would not be Saturated fats like tobacco cause serious health problems most notably in foe clogging of arteries better known as heart disease One study conducted on the American soldiers who died during the Korean War showed that many of the men had partially blocked arteries before they were even out of their teens a scientific commentary on the notoriously poor American diet It is a diet that has improved but mostly nt because the public has engaged in about food extensive products and because healthy eating is adequately taught in schools or is promoted by government programs Qpqfsason fofffoUifi that 6$ used to Nf considered the beginning of old age! This is no longer the case and people have become more aware that this is a result of better diets Most food products are labeled indicating the number of grams of saturated fat in one serving but the public has never been officially warned about tiie problem There are mi warning labels about saturated fat on food products — another proper use of government activity — and time are no public service commercials on television concerning the problem So it does little good to self-educati- — not the quantity In fact the district would be better off encouraging these parents to help their children continue to develop their native language skills Here again the research findings go against “common sense" showing that academic success in English is strongly related to highly developed native language skills Academic skills ami knowledge learned in the native language transfer to the second language once a “critical mass” has Here la a list of addresses and phone been learned: for some of Cache VaHes numbers Bilingualism is a cognitive social k) government: representatives and economic benefit yet in the US where support for bilingualism L0GAN4IAYOR among immigrants is not widely Doug Thompson 1567 Lynnwood accepted or tolerated the home lan9 Ave Logan guage tends to be lost very quickly L COUNCIL Encouraging parents whose native Thomas Kerr 35 N 1400 East language is not English to speak 1 Logan 84321 English to their children simply AtanABred 1535 E 1500 North takes away one more source of sup4 Logan 84341 port making it even less likely that Steve Thompson 37 S 200 West these children will grow up with the Logan 84321753-601- 9 asset of bilingualism Finally this Karen Borg 1670 N 1600 East chilto be can alienating practice 3 Logan 84341 dren who are already struggling to Tami South PI Pyfer adjust in a new country I would 9 84321 v encourage Kirk Allen to consider obtaining the ESL endorsement CACHE COUNTY EXECUTIVE from U$U that many of the district’s BRANCH teachers have so that in the future Executive: Lynn Lemon 120 N 100 he can make informed curricular West Logan 84321 decisions rather than those based Assessor Kathleen Howell 179 N on his own intuition Main Logan 84321 Prediction: The surgeon genual will eventually acknowledge the health risks posed by saturated fats and commence a campaign to warn the public accordingly Food products high in saturated fat will bear warning labels similar to those contained on cigarette packages Television commercials will regularly expose the threat saturated fat poses to public health : Lawmakers Main Logan 84321 716-712- 3 Clerk: Jill Zollinger 170 N: Main 0 Logan 84321 Recorder Michael L Gleed 179 N Main Logan 84321 0 Sheriff: Lynn Nelson 50 W 200 North Logan 84321 0 Treasurer Karen A Jeppessen 179 4 NMain Logan 84321 716-718- 715-740- LOGAN-MUNICIPA- US - 753-822- 753-696- 524-593- SENATE-UTA- Sen Robert Bennett Republican US Senate Washington DC 3 Orrin Hatch Republican — 524-438- 0 ILS SENATE4DAHO Larry Craig Republican — 520 Hart Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510 (202) 224-27Idaho office: 801 E Sherman Room Attorney Scott Wyatt 11 W 100 North Logan 84321 7188381 AudKor Tamara Stones 179 N V'-'-1 HOUSE-UTA- H 393-836- 2 ILS HOUSE4DAHO Mike Simpson Republican — Represents 2nd Congressional District which Includes Franklin County 1449 Longworth House Office Building Washington DC 29515 (202) 225-55Idaho office: 304 N 8th Room 325 Boise ID 83702 (208) ' 716-71- 00 ' or Utah office: 20510 (202) 224-525-1 8402 Federal Building 125 S State SL Salt Lake City UT 84138 (801) 716-717-1 7 Washington office: 2466 Rayburn Building US House of Representatives Washington DC 20515 Utah office: 1017 (202) 225-045- 3 Federal Building 324 25th Str Ogden UT 84401 (801) 625-567-7 224-544- Sen 236-681- James V Hansen Republican — Represents 1st Congressional District which includes Cache County US Senate Washington DC 753-752- Nancy Bell Logan US 4 Utah office: 20510 (202) 4225 Federal Building 125 S State St Salt Lake City UT 84138 (801) 52-13- 70 83201 (208) 236-677- 716-839- 752-315- ID Michael Crapo Republican —111 Russell Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510 (202) 2248142 Idaho office: 801 E Sherman Pocatel' 5 lo ID 83201 (208) 716-715- 753-689- - 193 Pocatello 31 52 334-195- 3! Mallard Fillmoro MUMaem 0utvincH mote&wne JUwy m&xvem fHa&P? 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