Show D2 The Salt Lake Tribune COMMENTARY Sunday November Necessary House g leaning THE PUBLIC FORUM Letters from the Tribune's readers Ban Cigarette Ads war on drugs- for decades )k e ha‘ e finally discovered what nathe most lethal drugs those tion 'hat kill the most According to a Joan Beck column Tri 51 Sept 26) the subsidized U S tobacco industry helps kill 3 million people yearly world-with- ) almost half a million of them in the United States If we stopped the subsidy added a dollar or more tax per pack (including those sold abroad) and stopped the ads targeted to young people it would reduce the After waging -- When submitting letters to the Public Forum please include your full name signature address and daytime telephone numbers Information other than your name and the city in which you live are kept confidential Keep it short Concise letters developing a single theme are more likely to be published Please type and double space Letters are condensed and edited Because of the volume of mail received not all submissions are pub- fed-)(rall- y hard drug problem and thus our crime problem Several facts from Tribune articles must be remembered: 1) 90 percent of so "new smokers start as smokers- means young people: 2) underage smokers (teens) are 50 times as likely as to use cocaine and limes as likely to use heroin: 3) advertising and promotion have a big impact and highcr costs for cigarettes would reduce consumption If the overnment added a dollar tax per pack it ould reduce consumption an estimated 26 percent Think of the health benefits of such an action when tobacco kills 434000 per year More importantly fewer could afford to start and would thus be less likely to use cocaine or heroin Next due to their deadly effects on youth ban all cigarette ads in any media accessible to youth — magazines newspapers billboards etc They could still advertise in adult-onlmagazines and adult-onlstores or clubs) This would save the tobacco companies almost $4 billion per year for which they should be most grateful if as they say ads don't really induce young people to tart smoking It should reduce the number willing to try hard drugs Where is the flaw in this logic? Does our Congress have what it takes to ban these deadly ads and solve our problem right here in our own country where it starts? STEVEN C BARROWES lished Mail to Public Forum The Salt Lake Tribune PO Box 867 Salt Lake City Utah 84110 El Our fax number 2099 teen-ager- s is (801) 237- - non-smoke- teen-ager- s y y hard-dru- g Salt Lake City E Who Are These Guys? In their relentless and drive bring the Olympics to Salt Lake we can only think of the Butch Cassidy and Sundance Kid movie The title characters when pursued by men out to destroy them asked Who are these guys?" No less a man than Jon NI Huntsman has said that this is not the kind of development we need here The history of the Winter Olympics has been one of financial disaster Albertville lost $57 million when its original budget inflated from 3500 million to $800 million Lillehammer cost $2 billion Calgary Winter Olympics cost $900 million Grenoble which hosted the Olympics 20 years ago is still paying on the debt and no one is using the facilities Facilities at Squaw Valley and Lake Placid have deteriorated and no one uses them for training or shows Who are these guys who think we will be the exception? Many of us live here because of the quality of life we enjoy Our mountains and streams and lack of crowding will be Telluride Park sPriously threatened 'ity and Jackson are now attempting to limit growth and prevent urban sprawl Middle-clas- s residents can no longer afford to live in these once lovely communities Who are these guys who want to change the very thing that has made us choose to live here? Disdain for the local population is evident when these same promoters will not allow people working at First Security to ego-drive- n to Darkest Hour Lee Allen of Provo (Forum Sept 19) supports the mass annihilation of the innocent women and children of Japan at the end of the war He trivializes the horror of this act by denigrating Jeffrey A Williams (Forum Sept 12) his association with the University of Utah and the entire U of U history department for daring to present the other side of what could very well be the darkest hour in US history He sounds as if he is talking about a U of UBYU football game To him the nuking was OK because it defeated "a brutal enemy There is a huge difference between government and military authorities and the common people To place innocent women and children in the category of "a brutal enemy" escapes my logic To the best of my knowledge these women and children living in the enemy territories of Hiroshima and Nagasaki did not commit the atrocities of war cited by Allen I dont think that living in enemy territory automatically qualifies you as the "enemy" Nor do I believe that the cities nuked were military strongholds In Washington there is a memorial honoring the innocents of the Holocaust There is no such memorial for the Japanese civilians I see no harm in at least offering some sort of apology Not an apology to the Japanese government and not an apology to the Japanese military authorities but a heartfelt apology to the Japanese women and children who like the common people of our country or any country have no say in the most deadly of games — war DENNIS KOSTECKI Holladay El Out of Hand What to? On Halloween 0 Boycott Pro Sports and three friends were in the Avenues area They were accosted in front of Shriners Hospital on Virginia Street by four men wearing masks and wielding a handgun These men threatened them with the gun stole their candy and drove away in a van laughing at the kids I don't think our forefathers meant the right to bear arms included robbing children of Halloween candy NAN KLEIN Salt Lake City 0 Field of Dreams People say that football is a game of violence I say its a game about dreams and peace at heart For example as you walk on the field the sun shining on your uniform the smell of the fresh-cu- t grass the sound of the wind whispering through the ear holes of your helmet you are where your dreams become reality Through the course of the game you're constantly tested as you are challenged by your opponent Most important is the constant test you give yourself continually stepping farther than you had ever gone before seeing how far you can push your skills In the end you know you have one final chance to win This is the time where boys become men and the weak quit or look for excuses This is where dreams are either made or shattered It's up to you and only you No one else but you can push you to new heights Yes a victory was won today but it's not shown by the scoreboard it is shown by a boy who walks from the field a man JOSH THAYNE really don't get it with professional athletes How can someone making such large wages go on strike or hold out for more money? How much money is enough? Are there players who honor ' 4 E Don't Lock Them Up They are not gangsters They are disillusioned angry kids They haven't had time in life to be hardened criminals but if we insist upon locking them up in pens with their own kind they will breed real gangs platoons of them Why can't we see this? Why do we keep the juvenile courts and detention centers alive when they have never proven their value? I ask the reader would you want your son or daughter locked up with a bunch of angry kids? Perhaps you don't have a son or daughter in trouble so you tell yourself you really don't care "but lock the other little SOB Kearns 0 An Ogden dentist namely Gregg Terry Nielsen recently pleaded guilty to three counts of sexual abuse of a child and two counts of attempted sexual abuse of a child Not only was he given a short jail sentence with work release time but he also has been allowed to keep his license and his practice I cannot see where there is any justice in this sentence (Oh I'm sorry The poor man also can't treat any girls under the age of 18 I guess that makes everything OK) What a joke This SOB should be behind bars for a long time No work release no license and no practice Punishments such as these are a slap in the face of justice And as a deterrent? Worthless Mandatory maximum punishment with no leniency whatsoever should be imposed immediately upon conviction These people deserve no chances or plea bargains - ' WASHINGTON — So who needs term limits? The voters on Tuesday cleaned house the way taking the respon- sibility on themselves and earning the satisfaction that comes only from exercising the ultimate power of democratic citizenship the choice of elected officials It wasn't the first such demonstration — and it won't be the last Two years ago the search for what is missing in governmental leadership led those same voters to reject a president George Bush whose management of the final stages of the Cold War most of them had admired This year those voters dumped scores of Democrats from their House and Senate seats ending the careers of many who like Bush had invested years in proinsuductive public service The perable advantages of incumbency are pitifully weak defenses against the awesome power the people possess in a democracy In both the House and Senate committee chairmen and other longtime s were sacrificed to the voters' desire for change It is clear now not just because of the results of the last two US elections but also from what we have seen in Canada much of Western Europe and Japan where ruling parties were also rejected — that when the Berlin Wall came down and the Cold War ended voters decided it was time to take a hard skeptical look at the condition of their governments They did not like what they saw — too much wasteful spending too much bureaucracy too little in the way of results — and sweeping political change has been the result Much has been lost in the process Distinguished careers have ended in ignominious defeat and promising careers cut short Into office have come a lot of rookies whose performance may be as erratic as the Redskins' pair of novice quarterbacks In the next Congress close to half the members will have taken office since January 1993 But that is what the Founders intended power-broker- Growth Factors Take Another Look Members of the Salt Lake City handicapped community pressured the government into purchasing and operating a fleet of specially equipped buses to accommodate handicapped individuals At the time I thought it was an excellent idea However I now have a major concern Since the implementation of this s project I have observed these buses at various times and places and they are usually empty or carrying only one or two persons This is a very costly program and perhaps it should be Flex-Tran- once expressed my concern to a group of handicapped persons and was told that it was none of my business I responded by saying that it sure as hell is my business because the project is funded with taxpayers money JANICE NELSON Salt Lake City 0 All Wet I'm writing this letter to solicit help in answering a riddle The riddle is this: People living in the second driest (precipitation not alcohol) state in the Union water their lawns from early spring to late fall Oct 14 at last sighting Why? I know this is a riddle because there is no simple answer This I am sure of because the easy answer is that they water to keep their lawns moist and green like those in England But that is not the answer it rained several days prior to Oct 14 the morning of the 14th and the forecast called for snow on the benches So I give up What's the answer? TIM BROWN Salt Lake City k d y oppo- sition-controlled o Asian furniture sweatshop However this desk was made of plastic And I could not see one screw washer bolt or other object of pain on it "Real simple?- - I asked again "Just MIKE ROYKO El middle-of-the-roa- The Tipoff: 'Moving Parts' D Alyson M Kelly (Forum Oct 14) has complained that government costs increase faster than the population This is another indication that our educational system fails to produce the informed citizens that a democracy requires if it is to survive It takes little more than the ability to count and multiply to show that social interaction increases as the square of the population The costs of fighting crime providing transportation controlling invvill quadruple (withfectious disease out inflation) if the population doubles We must control population growth if we want to maintain our quality of life without increasing taxes BARTHEL WAYNE HUFF Salt Lake City need the opportunity and responsibility of holding the gavel and setting the agenda And the Democrats whose exercise of power had become increasingly capricious and arrogant need to live under someone else's authority The Senate had a run of Republican majorities as recently as 1981- 87 and many of those who will now provide leadership there starting with Bob Dole learned the ropes back then Despite the strengthened voice of conservative Republicans among the newly elected senators there is a reasonable prospect that a centrist coalition of moderates from both parties will steer major fiscal and social policy decisions The House will be far more polarized The center of power within the shrunken Democratic caucus moved even further left because so many of the districts Republicans won had been represented by Democrats And the new Republican majority is composed Reaganites for largely of latter-dawhom cutting taxes and curbing the welfare state are top priorities Dealing with such a Congress is not what President Clinton bargained for when he came to office two years ago Nothing in his Arkansas experience pre pares or equips him for managing an legislature Presidents without big domestic ambitions — Jerry Ford and George Bush for example — were content to exercise a But an strategy of government-by-vetactivist like Clinton will find it an agony even if it serves to define the issues on which he can run in 1996 But he has himself to blame for much of his problem He overreached on some issues like health care and mishandled others like gays in the military — even as he scored solid accomplishments on many other fronts His substantive options now are very limited The new Republican majorities have their own agenda of conservative initiatives and they will do to Clinton what Tom Foley and George Mitchell did so effectively to Bush for four years They will block many of his proposals and pass their own bills forcing Clinton to sweat out the decision whether to sign or veto But there should be no complaint Tuesday belonged to the voters and — despite a wretchedly negative campaign — they figured out what they wanted to do They shook up Washington Again six-ye- THE WASHINGTON POST Provo RANDY N CARLSEN Sandy $ - f' up" I Slap at Justice " EUGENE J FAUX son my I their contracts? How can anyone say that playing a game is work? Work is much more diffi cult than playing a game Get real We no longer care if professional athletes claim poverty It is time for all of us to unite under the common banner of sports fans and say the fight over collective bargaining contracts and salaries no longer cuts it with us Yes just say no! Rebel! Go see college and high school games Hockey football basketball and baseball are much better at that level because the players play for pride and fun There is only 1 in 2000 chances that you would be supporting a future professional spoiled athlete It would be neat if sports fans would boycott the four major professional sports for a year Maybe then the owners and the players would learn who really pays the bills However it will never happen and that is why the players strike owners lock out and we the fans get the shaft ROBERT T DUNTON Salt Lake City MARILYN SPERONI Science Teacher Mountview Elementary Salt Lake City trick-or-treatin- g ( share elevators with the International Olympic Committee (Are they afraid someone will tell them they are unwelcome here?) Or when these same promoters 'borrow" coats (without the owners' permission) from the cloak room at the New Yorker to shield their Olympic visitirs from the cold night Who are these guys? JINNY LEE SNOW ROBERT A WILSON Salt Lake City is life in Salt Lake City coming Students at NIountview Elementary are concerned about the dead trees and dry streambed at the mouth of Little Cottonwood Canyon Murray City has dewatered the creek by diverting water for their power project and has plans to divert even more upstream although in this section they have agreed to a minimum stream flow The original project required no minimum stream flow and was approved by the State Engineer without an extensive environmental study Although Murray City Power claims that the dewatering has not caused the dead trees they are dead the riparian zone is being destroyed and there is an obvious fire hazard not to mention the loss of scenery We wrote to Gov Mike Leavitt and he told us that the state has no jurisdiction in this matter and declined to send a representative to our school to talk to the students This in spite of the fact that the state approved these projects Murray City Power also refused an invitation to visit our school on the basis that the children would not understand the economic impact of the decisions made by them We believe that the original agreement with Murray City can be amended to restore water in the creek to the mouth of the canyon before it is piped to the Metropolitan Water District even if it becomes a condition to their being able to go forward with their plans to divert more water with a larger pipe upstream Is this canyon going to be destroyed little by little while everyone looks on? Are other canyons going to follow suit? We ask all parties involved to support our efforts and come to some agreement before it is too late for Little Cottonwood Canyon Our environment is our future The House was designed to reflect short-terswings in voter opinions In institutional terms the shift of control of the House to the Republicans is the healthiest thing that could have happened After 40 years of Democratic majorities frustrated House Republicans desperately DAVID BRODER Draining Cottonwood Creek Where to Write 1994 13 i ti S A) ! :A '' rAV "' 401 '':11 CHICAGO TRIBUNE SERVICE CHICAGO — "It just snaps together?" asked the salesman pointing at the floor model of a simple plastic desk just big enough to hold a computer and keyboard a cup of coffee a sweet roll some note paper and a telephone — the tools of my trade "Right" the salesman said "Just snap it together or unsnap it to take it apart" "It doesn't have bolts screws or anything like that?" "Nope All it has are grooves and tongues Just slip one part into another and pop it fits into place See here? Got a nice tray for the keyboard that slides in and out" "Something that slides? A moving part and it isn't too difficult?" "Oh no it's real easy the way they make these things nowadays Sell lots of I them" Real easy When he said that something in a dark corner of my brain told me that I should run I have dealt with real easy furniture before In the corner of my home office there is a wood file cabinet that leans like a drunk at 2 am I spent an entire Saturday twisting screws into that one When I finished I realized that the only way I might make it stand straight would be to take it apart and try again Even then it might wind up standing like a drunk at only 1 am Next to it is a wood desk Another hellish Saturday full of screws bolts washers and other tiny things that fall down and roll under chairs and TV stands And it ended up with a tilt But I adjust it with the old Christmas-treestantrick — jamming a paperback book under one leg This is all part of the curse of the home office And it is something that the experts on home offices don't tell you about when they chirp happily away in their advice columns and magazine articles about how easily you can create a friendly comfortable and soothing work environment just the way you want it Yes you create it by spending hours kneeling on the floor looking at baffling diagrams and instructions written by some deranged America-hate- r in an d 1 4 snaps together?" "You got it" the grinning salesman said We hauled the cardboard box to the car shoved it in the back seat and 30 minutes later I was unpacking the pieces And as he had said it looked simple enough But then I noticed something odd There was not the usual sheet of instructions — pieces A B C D with arrows saying where they connect I shook the packing box and ran my hand inside Could it be so simple that it didn't require instructions? It appeared so and why not? We approach the 21st century and the promise of a age of never sweating or thinking hard Then I noticed that there was some printing on the box A few simple pictures and brief set of instructions None of it made any sense It might as well have been written in Chinese or Korean But if it was really simple who needed instruchigh-tec- h tions? Four hours later it was time for the inevitable scream of rage which is also part of the home office process It brought the blond up the stairs with the rebuke "Don't shout those filthy words The neighbors can hear you" "Let them hear That's what they get for not moving into a better neighbor- hood" "It isn't going too well?" "No It is the sliding keyboard tray I should have known that if it had a moving part " But she was out the door and down the stairs Some people cannot handle their share of a crisis Moving parts That should have set off an alarm bell back at the store Never buy anything with moving parts Little white plastic roller things that have to fit into groves then slide along Why should a desk have moving parts anyway even drawers? You just put things in there and never see them again So there it sprawls in a corner — half a desk and some of its scattered limbs like a battlefield casualty And there it will remain forever because I can't take it back If I do some glassy-eyeyouth will shuffle out of the back room and pop it together like a Tinker Toy making me feel stupid I'd rather be furious than stupid Tomorrow I'll go to the grocery or poultry store and get a couple of empty wood crates Then from the lumberyard I'll buy a piece of plywood and put it on top of the crates and I'll have a functional desk Put that in the House Beautiful section of the paper slack-jawe- d d I |