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Show 4 The Vtiiuna ( alley News, September 19, 2002 imiVWesl mi wig Editorial Senate to vote on discrimination Editor: By DEBSI OLSON Editor Boys will be boys. Thai seems to be what the Hunter High School administration is saying as it meted out a lenient punishment to nine members of the Varsity football team for shoplifting athletic shoes in a St. George Mall before the game. The story: on Friday the 13th. nine members of the Hunter learn left their hotel in St. George and went to a shoe store in the mall and w alked out without paying for the shoes. Now remember, these are football players, probably at least tall, they are not little scrawny teenage computer nerds who don't get a second glance when they walk into a store. They are big guys. They were all wearing their football jersey 's Who. in their right mind, is going to tell the line that they can't take w hatever they want? Certainly not a clerk at a shoe store. But, the store clerk did call the pol ice and the St. George police Department was not afraid to go seek out the visiting team and find them in possession on the athletic shoes. know there are tight budget cuts affecting schools this year, but. do the team members really need to steal the shoes they wear on the field? nine-memb- er 1 The punishment: The police charged the team members with a Class B misdemeanor. Hunter High School put the boys on probation and suspended them for one game. One Game! Did you read that? One Game. They will be back on the field bashing shoulder pads to shoulder pads against Granger on Friday. Are you as shocked as 1 am? A slap on the hand would have at least caused them to feel e a little bit of a sting. But a suspension is hardly a punishment for bad behavior and bad judgement and for the embarrassment the incident brought to the school and to the West Valley Community. Oh, the team did lose the Pineview. That game to doesn't seem like adequate punishment either, though it may be school to embarrassing for a lose to a school. Here, our ambassadors of the states second largest city ends up being a group of thugs who bullied their way into a shoe store, took what they wanted and left. They obviously knew they ' would receive a lenient punishone-gam- 3-- A 5-- A 3-- A ment These boys get to go back to school, back to the team, they may have to pay a fine for stealing the shoes. The Principal said if they did it again they would be kicked off the team. Why do they get a second chance? What is going to prevent them from doing it again? If the the administration couldn't stand up to them the first time, why would anyone think they would be able to stand up to them the next time. Hunter High School and the Granite School District essentially confirmed that the old adage is true. Boys will be Boys. So, its ok if they are bullies and break the law, thats what boys are supposed to do - right? dont think so. And athletes are exempt from the rules that regular students have to adhere to - right? I dont think so. I But that seems to be the message Hunter High School is telling its students. In 1980. President Jimmy Carter (the President who gave aw ay our Panama Canal) signed a treaty with the United Nations - the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. Twenty-tw- o years later, that treaty has not been ratified by the U.S. Senate. How' bad is a treaty the Senate refused to approve for over Bad, but the Internationalist Bush administration requested the treaty's ratification in February. Then, in spite of objections from Republicans, on July 30 the Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted 12-- 7 to send the two-decade-s? UNs CEDAW treaty to the Senate floor for a vote. This month it will likely come to a vote in the Senate. But why should women teH Senators Hatch and Bennett to vote against this The treaty would empower a UN panel of 23 bureaucrats to dictate Render law's and policy inside the U.S.' This UN panel is already making law for nations that ratified the treaty. For example in Italy the 23 bureaucrats have demanded that Catholic hospitals offer abortions even if medical personnel have religious objections, after-a- ll women have a right to an abortion notwithaccording to UN-lastanding the family law in Italy. The treaty law overrides such local Italian law. have The to China legalize prostipressured tution. (Will the some- UN-pan- el day pressure Utah to legalize prostitution?) Shouldn't women who fought against the radical feminists' Equal Rights Amendment of the 1970s and early 1980s fight against this International version? Shouldn't women's clubs and church organizations study this CEDAW treaty ASAP and voice their opposition to their Senators pronto? If women don't lead this fight, who will? UN-treat- y? Bliss Tew W. Orem Being a volunteer can come in many forms Bv GREG SCHULZ tour as a member of the 4th of July Committee as an example. As I said in the first article of , The 4th of July Committee for this series, Magna Community spe2002 held its first meeting in cial events are 100 percent staffed August 2001. During the time from August to April, they met by volunteers. The beauty of this is all of the once a month to identify, discuss donations go to fund the events and plan the event 100 percent There are no manpowFrom April to the end of May, er costs. This is why it only costs the committee met every other the Magna Community about half .week to finish the plan and to of w hat it costs West Valley City to begin nailing down the details. In June, they met every week to get put on a special event of the same size. all the details finished, and then The downside is because our they hosted the event on the third and Fourth of July. special events are efforts: we need about two-timIn all. I figure my wife put in the number of volunteers to pull it more than 200 hours of volunteer off with the same level of service time for her part in the 4th of July as West Valley City. Festivities this year. There were Now youre probably asking some members of that inner circle who put in more than 200 hours. yourself why we would need two-timthe number of volunteers? The truth is they were a committee The answer is because there is of just 12 people doing the work no full time staff to assign the of a staff that in West Valley City " workload into smaller pieces so' the ' 'consisted of 30, including the paid i' volunteers a life outside "'Staff;1'!'! hu'is in tf.'j.iiOifi of the' event'"' 'There is also a downside in that The special event cannot be because there is no paid staff to allowed to become an field citizen comments, positive or part of their lives, or other negative, hence the "Rodney things in their lives will suffer. Dangerfield" reference to getting Because of this intense need to "No Respect". There were many break the job of putting these days I fielded negative call after . events on into smaller pieces, you negative call, and wondered why can see there is always plenty of my wife and I were doing this. My room for helping hands. There are coping mechanism was to remema couple of different w'ays you can ber that the negative comments had to meet or exceed 10 for every help as a volunteer. 1. Become a part of the "Inner one positive comment to be a real circle" that is planning the event. concern - they never topped a ratio This is definitely the most time of 3:1. 2 Being a member of the consuming level of volunteerism an example, the 4th of July needs folks to post the parade route 48 hours before the parade. On the day of the parade, put up and take Guest Writer . . es es can-hav- possible. By joining the inner circle, you will be helping to plan, prepare, host, and market the event To give you an idea of how much time you need to set apart for the demands of the inner circle commitment, I will use my wife's "Support Staff" Granted, most folks dont have the time available to commit to an "inner circle tour. But, I have found many have the time to offer an hour or two on the day of the event to help. Is this really possible? Yes! As down the barricades, perform crowd control, clean up after the parade, roping off the park for the fireworks show, and cleaning the baseball diamond after the fireworks show is over are all jobs that need volunteers. None of those tasks takes more tlan 2 hours to perform. The nice part about it is you were going to the parade and fireworks show, anyway. But helping with these little jobs is just as important as planning and coordinating to achieving success, and if this is all the time you have to commit, just that offering is very greatly appreciated. Why you want to volunteer It has nothing to do with getting rich, or achieving some sort of sonal glory. It has to dCPwithpfeq 'serving a ored heritage for our childfefttB pass on to their children. It has to do with establishing and affirming a sense of community and family that transcends anything any other community in this valley has to offer. It has to do with feeling connected to the people who live around you. It is all of these things and more. It was just last winter we all "Welcomed the World to our State. As a volunteer for a Magna Community Event, youre welcoming the valley to visit our community and to see the things that make it special. Next time I will go over all the organizations in Magna offering special events in "We really do have some things going on in Magna!" . r , Send this letter to your Congressman Dear Senator or Member of ongress. Get behind the president. Send iMns in. Its time to stop playing around, it's time to take action. America wants to go to war. Rather, America realizes it is at war. and it wants to march toward peace and security. And it knows the only way to get there is through the conquest and destruction of our enemies. So let loose the dogs of war. Every day you delay serves the I interests of our enemies and will be paid for in American blood. 1 We dont need anybody's per- mission, we dont need anybodys help, we dont need anybodys meddling. We need the might of the United States of America to I rain down on those who hate and I attack us. f And if you don't know who that is, then step aside. Because the American people do. There is no doubt in our mind. And there is no doubt in our mind that American peace and security will only come after the Exercise of American might We 'must move now. to vanquish ene mies we have identified and to intimidate enemies we have not. Because life is like a playground. And the bully is going to keep beating you up and taking your lunch money until you fight back, until you knock him on his can. Its time the United States started knocking some people on their cans. And Iraq is the perfect place to start. The first reasons are obvious: Hes trying to kill us. And the Jews and the Kurds and his neighbors and anybody else he can. For a generation he has worked actively to build a nuclear bomb. Ditto for poison gas and germ warfare both of which he has probably already used. How long before he decides to uncork some of this stuff at Manger Square or Times Square? Or how long before he gets the nuke right and it ends up in somebodys suit case in the middle of Chicago? We must take Saddam Hussein down before he takes us down. Thats reason one. Reason two is that a United States victory in Iraq would demonstrate Americas will and might. We would have laid the bully out cold and by doing so put every other bully on the playground on notice. We would have shown the world that we are not a paper tiger. And that will do much to assure world stability and peace. Conflict arises when there is uncertainty and when there is a possibility of weakness. By appearing weak, we invite challenges to our power, and those challenges will be destabilizing and dangerous. A powerful American means a peaceful and prosperous world, a weak America means a dangerous and frightening chaos. Additionally, establishing a military presence in Iraq will free its oil for unfettered flow on the world markets, stabilizing oil prices and national economies. It will also put American troops smack in the middle of the Persian Gulf region without the need to appease a landlord or its citizenry. We would be immediately less reliant on Saudi Arabia, which would be a very good thing for us and for Muslims who resent our presence in a nation hosting Islams holy sites. We would also be next door to Iran, thereby creating an intimidating presence to deter its terrorist activity. Its good to have American troops in Iraq. No matter what Europe says. Because Europe is, dont forget, aching to be our rival. Its currency and its economy are growing relative to ours, and it is seeking to place its interests above our own. It is a simple and historical competition. Everything that weakens America strengthens Europe. Additionally, Europe has great political power but negligible military power, and so it opposed American action in an arena in which it is impotent If things are talked out, Europe has power. If things are fought out, Europe is not a player. Europe opposes an attack on Iraq because it hates us more than it hates terrorism. The same goes for Nelson Mandela and Kofi Anan and every other internationalist out there who sees the path to glory leading directly over the back of the American citizen and taxpayer. You were sent to Congress to represent the will of the people, and the people want to take up arms. Because the war is already going on. And were the only ones not fighting. Vote to let us finish this, and do it before Election Day, That way, if you dont do whats right, we can vote to finish you. . Earnestly, An American - by Bob Lonsberry 2002 Bob Lonsberry is the morning talk show host at KNRS 570 --AM from 5:30-1- 0 a.m. lie writes a daily internet column at www.lonsberry.com r- POOR ( |