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Show V. ; .ENTERPRISE ? 15 PRAGMATIC DOGMATICS In consequence, New Years resolutions I by Kent Shearer The calendar marks this to be the period when one is expected to form resolutions for the forthcoming year. Time was, I considered In this an opportunity for I those days, annually vowed to strive toward worthy objectives such as participation in charity drives, attendance at early morning masses, and daily push-upThat system led, however, only and inevand to disillusionitably to loss of ment as, one by one, my resolutions fell by the wayside. Charity would go first, as I recognized government taxed me for that purpose. Then early morning religious services, as I convinced myself that the Supreme Being intended man to have a good nights sleep. as onlookers snickered at Then the push-upmy pitiful endeavors. And so on. self-improveme- nt. s. self-estee- m s, 4 devised a new, and better, contrivance. determined to collect the habits and prejudices I most steadfastly held and resolve to continue them. Now, this may not be the road to but at least it is the pathway toward resolution maintenance. A partial list of my resolutions for 1978 will illustrate. 1. I shall cat legs of lamb, steaks, trout, and pork tenderloin. I shall not cat liver and onions, mackerel, chicken gizzards, or hog I self-improveme- heads. shall drink Beefeaters, Old Grandad, Almcndcn Mountain Red, and iced tea. I shall not drink Old Mister Boston products, Gallo White Port, or ironport. 3. I shall attend adventure films, and disdain those by or of Lillian Heilman. 4. I shall view sports events, William F. Buckley, and Harry Reasoncr. I shall not view parades, religious programs, or Barbara Walters (a rather neat trick in light of the Reason 2. I cr resolution). 5. I shall root for the Denver Broncos, Cincinnati Reds, Houston Rockets, and any squad from the University of Utah (save when the latter plays Kansas University). I shall root against the Oakland Raiders, New York Yankees. Portland Trail Blazers, or any squad from BYU. 6. shall read mystery novels, newspapers. and National Review. I shall not read Das Capital. Pearl of Great Price, or anything by Harold Robbins. 7. I shall attempt to be fair to Gentiles, Utah ski resorts, and Republicans. I shall not be overly praiseful of campaigns, the western Juab landscape, or Democrats. Etcetera. I commend the system. All you need do is substitute your likes and dislikes for mine, e.g. "I shall not read Kent Shearer." If you do so, you can say with pride come this time in 1978, "I kept all my New Year's I anti-smoki- ng resolutions!" ) i ; 4 ! im, netes i pauce; ACWJce ; i, j 6ms O our MAW OS AO0FR 3PT IM GaX DSUfE .. A c me- - 0JJ1 2212a prjr I'M 60106 TO (dllHCEAH) iun i, MYS&F- &XD6 ftCHPBTE M wuetcusL't' - iw vtu- vcnvsix. - TO i mo mmmmni iwwiv IM Hi 60 IUS - ad a seif ffcSTROCTll te m BUGS. i ri Otfor'TL CCOl--P 36 tlA OOH6 Bwsm&iu m. ; MM TAOTRUM. If .i i ) M z j I- 1 : t ' 3 i , 1 i I i i i 1 o CL CC IU Z t V o o Showdown at the Bar-- X, Part III by Parker M. Nielson The voice on the other end of the line advised that the Police Chief would like to meet with me. He was not too keen about installments I and II of this scries criticizing the arrest of Steven Strasscr for "spitting," and wanted to discuss the subject. He even offered to come to my office for the purpose, though I volunteered that the Metropolitan Hall of Justice, where the records were available, was more appropriate. The meeting, several days before Christmas, was most cordial. We disagreed on some points but the discussion was conversational in tone and both Chief Willoughby and Major Whitehead (who was present for parts of the meeting) were complete gentlemen. Chief Willoughby differed with my view of the impound policy, but acknowledged that impound could be and was sometimes abused. He stated that he had recently published new guidelines on the subject. The Chief also objected to what he said was my statement that officials of the police department had not reviewed Strassers arrest. I pointed out that I had said no more than that In any event, Chief Willoughby I did not know that they had. had been produced files to verify that, indeed, the ease reviewed and was still under review. Chief Willoughby also objected to my statements that the littering and disturbing the peace charges on which Strasscr was tried had been added several days later to cover the curious arrest for "spitting." In fact, the truth lies somewhere in between. The arrest was originally for spitting and drunkenness. though no one seriously claims that Strasscr was drunk and that charge was dropped almost immediately. The littering charge was added, but at the time of booking so that it does appear on the arrest record. The disturbing the peace charge the other one of the two Strasscr was tried on was added several days later. The purpose of my statements was not to criticize the Police Chief or any of his administrative officers, but to question the acts of the arresting officer. My point now is not to quibble with Chief Willoughbys view of the facts or to justify my own. I explained to the Chief I did not consider any variations between the facts and my account to be material and that in any event my purpose was not to report the facts but to express an opinion. As always, the facts arc only the predicate to the opinion: in this case that police officers can, and do, abuse their powers and that police administrators arc obligated to safeguard against such abuses. In that, I believe Chief Willoughby and I arc in accord. Salt Lake City residents can, however, be comfortable in the assurance that their police department is led by those who arc responsible, who maintain internal review- procedures and regularly revise their own policies on matters such as arrest and impound. They arc also responsible and mature enough to go to the source of criticism, not for the sole purpose of vindicating their officer, but to also solicit views on how the system can be improved. Comment on such incidents is important to focus the public eye on the potentials for abuse. Such comment is a part of the overall effort to improve law enforcement procedures and should not be considered hostile to the important work of law enforcement agencies or the many responsible individuals employed by them. I believe Chief Willoughby recognizes that. - |