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Show J SPECIAL j 313 c:;rrn srrLL LIT? COLLECTIONS IJ A or U t LAKE T A? rI nn. 7i r ' f 1 1 Y L Y T . THE I vc - n Defeat still possib e in airport bond election I by James M. Schutz Enterprise Staff Writer Success breeds success. Right? Not always, as the proponents of the $42 million Revenue Bond proposal are discovering. The issue goes to the polls on May 23rd and backers fear the proposal will die a quiet death at the hands ponents of the airport revenue bond. When supporters stay home . to watch the nightly news, and leave the voting to other more ambitious souls, the leverage of opponents, whomever they may be, in- lawyers in Utah? opinion consultant, explained the problem this way, There are always the hate groups who will vote no on every bonding proposal. The exact number of them in Utah is unknown, but in order to get a backers passed, proposal should conduct a well organized campaign, otherwise it See AIRPORT page 4 creases. Dr. Ray Briscoe, a political science instructor at Westminster College, and a public of voter apathy. The heart of the problem is the opposition. There is none. As Des Barker of Barker Jorgensen, puts it, as Barker Jorgensen, the public relations firm handling the proposal puts it, at the city commission meeting where the new funding proposal was brought before the commission for public comment, only a few questions were asked. There wa no one there who opposed the bond. Any politician or political strategist will tell you that peaking too early is a cardinal vice in any electoral race. What happens is people who support the candidate or issue simply stay home, knowing the issue is a sure fire winner. And thats precisely the dominant concern of the pro Are there too few Though barristers are flocking to Utah in twice the number they were five years ago, the fact remains lawyers in Utah can expect to make about 30 percent less than they could in comcliparable business mates. Utah Bar director Utah Power and Light and delegates from the Intermountain Association for Independent Electrical Contractors reached accord last week over the problem of UP&L n electricians banning from bidding on its construction projects. We have reached an understanding where neither subconn union nor tractors will receive preference in our bidding practices, UP&L vice president of engineering Frank Davis said. The IAIEC and UP&L locked horns several weeks ago when an independent electrical contractor reported to IAIEC A1 Biorge sociation executive secretary Dean Sheffield says the migration of some 250 attorneys to the Beehive State last year reflects, in part, our lean percentage of lawyers per capita as compared with other parts of the nation. Sheffield says an increasing number of metropolitan areas arc beyond the saturation point in legal beagles, while Utah still falls far below the expected ratio of one attorney per 500 residents. Therefore, he explains, attorneys are moving to the greener pastures of Utah. that he had been excluded from bidding on a $360,000 Layton UP&L structure. Davis admitted independents had been eliminated from the running in that par- non-unio- ticular project because of potential problems with International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers members employed by UP&L and because of n squabpast union -- bles at job sites. This kind of ban was rare, however. non-unio- As- non-unio- The possibility of the IAIEC filing a complaint a- -, gainst UP&L with the Utah Public Service Commission was eliminated at the meet- And though there are a good number of ing, Biorge added. attorunderemployed Sheffield neys here, points out that these people are largely new graduates of the states various law schools. Other areas which compare to Salt Lake or Utah have a much higher underemployment rate, he says. On the average, legal fees here range from $18 to $75 an hour with the majority of lawyers charging about $30 an hour. In comparable cities, the averages are as much as $50. Even at $30, its a fair living. But before you compute the annual salary of an attorney and report him or her to the IRS consider two things. First, Sheffield estimates only 5 12 hours of a lawyers ten-ho(minimum) workday are billable the rest of the day is spent on the phone and in other ofur - fice business. Secondly, a whopping 40 percent of his fee will be funnelcd into overhead costs. NBA eves market Nets could snap again in SLC by Sheri Poe Enterprise Staff Writer j An outside shot that Salt Lake City could become the home for a National Basketball Association team took a step closer to reality last week as basketball magnate Ozzie Silna came to town to scope out the market here. Silna, owner of the Spirit of St. Louis until the demise of the American Basketball Association in 1975, said the possibility of his bringing a basketball team to Salt Lake City did not look unfavorvisit to Salt able. His Lake was step toward the completion of a feasibility study expected to be finsihed this week. Though Silna hinted he was convinced Salt Lake could support an NBA team, he said the NBA board of governors may feel the population here is too small for NBA standards. He was here, he 24-ho- ur VOLUME 17 NUMBER 46 explained, to prove otherwise. Should Salt Lake be chosen as an NBA prime candidate, there are still several hurdles before the team becomes a reality. Since informed sources expect Silna would buy a team away from another city instead of creating a new team, the purchase price is a big consideration. NBA executive Don Mulinelli said the purchase price on a existing team can Inside ' t y run between $7 and $9 million. Five of the 22 NBA teams are currently on the market, Silna added. Local NBA promoter Don Geis of Jolene Manufacturing Co. in Provo estimated in a November interview it would take about $3.5 million to rally the team toWe would also gether here. need a sales committment of about 8,000 season tickets, See NBA page 13 4.P Businesses are the biggest threat to free enterprise. Wording to economist Milton Friedman Jand U.S. Steel is; one of the biggest hypocrits fighting against ' v', your personal freedoms. If your enterprise is considering going to bat for the little guys by sponsoring a youth sports team, don t expect to score any points in public relations. Sponsoring a team can be costly, and the only benefit is a boost : of the morale, ; awording; toBnviromt "tv. 'officials. I and; get this, Kent Shearer; on .Parker Nielsen agrees with William F. Buckley, Jr. : J V . J. ' 15 - . MONDAY, MAY 15, 1978 lawyer-politicia- ns . ?: : lit 50 CENTS |