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Show ,, THE THUNDERBIRDO SOUTHE~N UTAH UNIVERSITYD THURSDAY APRIL 30, 19920 PAGE 4 VISITORS MUST CONSERVE PARKS s summer weather hastily approaches, spring fever catches on and Utahns flock to our national parks and recreation areas. With all that our surrounding outdoor areas have to offer, it's no wonder nature worshippers and sun lovers pilgrimmage to southern Utah. There exists practically anything any hardy outdoor person could ever want: mountains, lakes, cliffs, forests, isolated beaches, Utah has them all. Tourum in Utah is a multi-billion dollar industry with visitors from all over the nation focusing on the Grand Circle of national parks located in. the four state area, the majority right here in southern Utah . At Lake Powell National Recreation Area, yearly visitors register in the millions, for example. Certainly the state welcomes this continual boost to the economy. But Utahns question if all this visiting and exploring is beginning to take its toll on Utah's Parks. Zion National Park, a favorite among tourists who see it regularly featured in outdoor and tourism magazines, suffers increasingly under the battering of visitors. The Park Service estimates over 150 people a day visit the left fork of North Creek in the park during peak season. To illustrate this recent visitation explosion , visitors to this area amounted an estimated 150 per year j ust a few years ago . T he focus of their problems seem s to be not just a matter of increased visitation. With •he current " Back to Nature" trend , usage of the more pristine a reas increases some 22 percent per year, as opposed to park entrance station n umbers showing an increase of only seven percent annually. With most of this use centered on a few favorite sites, the problem of impact and preservation becomes magnified. One of the most extreme problems is the amount of human feces littering the canyon, easily preventing anyone from enjoying a natural experience. Zion National Park isn't the only area in Utah suffering from these problems. Lake Powell's twisting isolated canyons find themselves rapidly filling up with the refuse of boaters and vacationers. Park officials anticipate everrising charges to use the area in order to fund maintenance and clean-up of the water carved canyons. No one wants the parks to be sealed off from human use, or even tourism dollars to cease rolling into state coffers, so let us learn to use without abusing, visit without destroying and manage our backcountry areas carefully. Visitors must exercise more care lest the priceless privilege of enjoying nature's wonder world be lost. A SOUTHERN UTAH UNIVERSITY O CEDAR CITY, UTAH Editor C hcris Tuclter Aaoc:ia~ Editor David J o hmon AIIOCia~ Editor Jennifer M o rley Photo Editor Eric Roderick Sporn Editor Jay Hinton .YYuti,ing liq> !kn Blackbum Staff Production Head Lynn Dennett Faculty Advi.wr Larry Baker Tltt 1Nltdnl,;,d is published cad, M onday and Thunday of the academic year by and for the m.>dmr body ofSourhem Urah Uni...,rsity and is not aJTiliau,d with the UlliYersity's department of communication. The views and opinions cxpn:ued in 7'1,, TTti,,dn/,i,d arc th'* o( individual writers and do not necessarily rdlect the views of the institution, faculty, staff or student body m g,,ncral. The: wwgnc<I editorial dircct.ly abcM, is the opinion o( Tltt T1amdrniitd as a single entity. Lencn 10 the, «fitor mWR be rypeJ and indudr the name and phone n umber. Only the name will be printed. Nama will no, be withheld under any c:ircumsw,a:s and the editor ffllCrwll editing pm·i ~ Letten mu• be mbmitud by noon Fridays tor Monday cditiom; 5 p.m. Tuadays for • Thuroday edition,. G rievancu: Any individual with a gnevance against 1?tt 1'11,ndn/,ir,1 .!houJd dirtt1 tuch problem first to the edi1or. If unl"CIIOIYCd, that grievance should then be dircctcd to thc advix r. II still unresolYCd, the gnCYlll)tt lhould be directed to the SUU Publication.< Council. 586-7710. Tt,, 'n.mdn/,ird: offices in SUU Technology Building 003. Mail at SUU Box 9384. Cedar City, UT 84720 Phone (801) 586· 7757, 586-7758. 586-7750, 586· 5488. FAX 586-™7. LETTERS ACLU fights unconstitutional laws TO THE EDITOR: Watch several different television channels, read a few different types of newspaper, and read as many books as you can get your hands on, and it will probably open your eyes to several things, including these startling facts. The American Civil Liberties Union uses its abilities to defend the rights of people in a huge amount of different cases, a great deal of which arc unpopular in the area of the case to defend and very popular in other totally different areas. The ACLU is a non-profit organization which uses the rC!Ources it does have to fight laws passed that go against the guidelines we use today in the interpretation of our Constitution. Any law that I have seen the ACLU challenge has often been very blatant in going against the framework of the Constitution . Because we live in a state where a majority of the people who vote are of a very religious background, some people tend to forget that our founding fathers specifically wrote that there should be a separation between church and state. This is not to say there should be no connection at all, but I can't make that choice of the government, only the Supreme Court can. Just as it decides what laws should be abolished because they are not Constitutional. Because of what this country is founded on, all people must be given quote-unquote free reign in their choices about how they want to.live their own lives, and not to tell someone else what there is that they can and can not believe iQ. That concept that they can't have that choice is fundamentally Un-American. Many people try to argue thal if the people don' t legislate morality and people' s beliefs we will lose the nation to the forces of evil. I don' t know about all religions, but if you are a Christian and believe in this ideal, the forces of evil have already won. The teachings of Christ were that God wanted to his children [to have] a choice in their actions while Lucifer wanted to take away that choice and have everyone of the same moral fiber and values. · Which one sounds more like what your ideas and reflects what you want to do. If you're still solid in your belief that religion should control the population in politics, morality, and beliefs, then you should 1 probably join a new group I heard about, the O.R.Z.A . -The Overreacting Religious Zealots Association. It will follow your style of thinking much better. Earle Severance Newspaper's letters policy explained The T'hu.nderwd, as part of its mission at SUU, will print letters to the editor whenever they are received The editors reserve the right to edit or reject any letter for any reason at their discretion. Letters should be typed and include the writer' s name, student number (if any) and telephone number. Only the name will be printed. Succint letters between 400 and 800 words receive priority attention for publication herein. They should be submitted our offices no later than noon Friday or 5 p.m. Tuesday to be considered for publication in either Monday's or T hursday's edition. |