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Show OPINION -Ii if LETTERS ' ' - DAVE BARRY 'j j COMMENTARY -- Representative taken to task by student A tribute to Nagano Games • I was encouraged by one of m y professors to become more involved with the state Jegislative meetings being held in Salt Lak e by e-mailing our current represen ta ti ve, DeMar " Bud" Bowman. I thought it would be a great idea. I wrote to him concerning some of the money allocations that were on the agenda for ruscussion that would affect us as studen ts fr om SUU , as well as some other issues of concern. One of these dealt with the need for funding to acquire the middle school across th e street for a future site of a new P.E. Building' since the current one is in a condition suitable for condemnation. Another concern I had was for a lack of money being given to increase the fac ulty at SUU in response to the growing student enrollment. This was a major concern I had since I, and many others I know, chose to attend this university because of its smaller class sizes and its close, personal learning atmosphere. I e agerly awaited a respo nse t o my e-mail from "Bud." I thought you working for us Bud? he'd be delighted to know I'd normally encourage there was a student here st udents to e-mail Bud concerned about what was and voice their opinions going on in the capitol, as well, but Bud told me was accepting of the to " Let yoiµ friends know propaganda in the merua my feelings and tell them telling us as voters to get that it is not necessary for involved with our state them to write to me." government and voice our l, as well as other class comments and concerns, memb ers that read the and, even more important, response, found that to be he would be getting input quite condescending. Are of some kind from one of we not the people that put him into office? Are our his many constituents. However, his response concerns and education was just the opposite. He just too trivial to be of did not respond to my importance to him? concerns about adrutional Maybe Bud's a little too faculty, which was the comfonable in that office brunt of my letter. of his after all these years He said he is a member and needs to be shaken up of the Capitol Facilities a bit to get him to start Committee and though he listening to those of us had " high hopes" for the who pay his way. P.E. Building and he was Maybe it would be best "working very hard for it, to encourage students and ... there are lot of needs for the general public to write Capitol Facilities Build- to him! ings and not enough U you'd like voice your money ." I have since comments or concerns to been informed the Bud, you can write to him proposed idea is be ing via his e-mail address: shot down. dbowman@le.state.ut.us. I find this response just If any of my fellow a little disturbing with students wish to contact the knowledge that me about any of thi s, there's a multi -million please feel free to call me dollar surplus in state tax at 586·5222. money again this year. Exactly how hard are Chad Harrington I got picked up in a bar. No, not THAT kind of picked up. I mean I got physically picked up, into the aiT by a Latvian politician. The common element linking these events was karaoke. " Karaoke" comes from the Japanese words " kara, " meaning "people," and "oke," meaning " who could not carry a tune in a bucket." Karaoke was invented in Japan, and it remains popular here. The three basic elements are: I. A microphone. 2. Beer. 3. A whole lot more beer. A group of us journalists found these elements at a place called Police 90, which has become the Official Karaoke Bar For Westerners Looking Fo r A Karaoke Bar of the Winter Olympics. We sat at a table and started looking through the book of karaoke songs, which were listed in both Japanese and a language that wasn't exactly English. While we were selecting some songs, the owner of Police 90, Yoshio Matsuzaki, came over and entertained us with amazing feats of magic. He'd pick up a spoon, and make us feel it, to see how sturdy it was. Then he'd bold the spoon loosely in his hand for a second andPresto!-it was bent like a pretzel. He'd hand the spoon back, and we'd try to straighten it, and we couldn't, and then he'd take it back and-Presto!-it was straight again! Spoon healing! He also, without touching it, caused a wristwatch to stop and then start again, and be made a pack of cigarettes scoot t0ward him on the table. As the magic act was going on, a lean, intense-looking man came over to watch, and then started talking to Matsuzaki. The next thing we knew, Matsuzaki was doing something to the man's back, and the man was saying "Warm ... warm... WARM! WARM!" Afterward I asked him what was going on. He pointed at Matsuzaki and said, "He is strong! He is giving me ene.rgy!" His said his name is Peteris Strubergs, and that he's the secretary of the board of an important political party in Latvia, which is a nation. He also said that he's 53, and that he used to be a boxer. " I am strong!" he said, and, as I was writing that in my notebook, he picked me up off the flo or. After be set me down, we shook hands and he said, "I am having a big pleasure to have meeting you," and invited me to look him up if 1 am ever in Latvia, which I will, although I will keep my distance. Later, columnist Mitch Albom and I performed a brilliant rendition of a song that epitomizes the Olympic ideal: "Johnny Get Angry." There wasn' t a dry set of underpants in the house when we belted out the chorus: "Johnny get angry, Johnny get mad! Give me the biggest lecture I ever had! I want a BRAVE man! I want a CAVE man!" etc. After that for some reason they took the microphone away from us, and it fell into the hands of members of what I believe was the Austrian bobsled team. So we left. But it was an Olymp ic experience l will not forget. At least not until this headache goes away. Dave Barry is a nationally syndicated columnist. If the country were in the hands of Henry Hyde ... Washington is beginning to whisper a very loaded word- impeachment. If it happens, and that remains a oig "if," the country and the president will be in good hands. The hands of Rep. Henry Hyde of Illinois. By an accident of history and seniority, the 73-year-old Hyde is chairman of the House Judiciary Committee. And no lawmaker in either party is more respected than this heavy-set, white-haired, good-natured Irish Catholic who was raised a Democrat and has represented the Chicago suburbs as a Republican since 1974. " Henry is a very committed ideologue," says Rep. Barney Frank of Massachusetts, the second-ranking Democrat on Judiciary. "But be fights fair." In the weeks ahead, independent counsel Kenneth Starr will face a tough decision: What charges, if any, should he bring against Clinton in the matter of Monica Lewinsky ? Did the president and the former White House intern have a sexual relationship? If so, did he lie about it? Did be encourage her to lie about it? If Starr uncovers "substantial and credible" evidence that a crime has been committed, he is obligated to report his findings to the House for possible impeachment proceedings against the president. Clinton defenders insist it will never come to that. "I doubt Starr will send anything over," says Frank, whose sister, Ann Lewis, is White House communications director. "He can't send over suspicions." . At this point, most Republicans hope Frank's right. One look at the polls terrifies them. Newsweek gives Clinton a favorable rating of 66 percent, whil~ Starr is at 29 percent. In the NBC/Wall Street fournal survey, two out of three say Starr is acting out of " partisan, political" motives. That's why top House Republicans have started private, preliminary talks about what to do, should Starr dump the Monica mess in their laps. At that point Hyde would assume command: guarding evidence, running bearings, setting ground rules . His balance and judgment would be tested to the limit. COKIE & STEVE ROBERTS COMMENTARY 1 The chairman is best known to the general public as the sponsor of the Hyde amendment, which bans federal funding for abortions and makes him a hero to the GOP's right wing. It is precisely because Hyde has such impeccable conservative credentials that he could stand up to party hardliners and resist their efforts to tum impeachment proceedings into a partisan witch bunt. A few House Republicans are already demanding Clinton's head, and a covey of presidential hopefuls, such as Sen. John Ashcroft of -Missouri, see the sex scandal as a perfect way to galvinize support among GOP activists appalled at the country's moral decline. But Hyde won' t be bullied. He's made it clear he won't go forward without significant Democratic support. And he's always been a legislator who sees each issue freshly and works with the other side when it makes sense. Hyde's opposition to abortion comes from his deep religious faith, but he's one of those Catholics who believes if life begins at conception, it doesn't end at birth. So he broke with party dogma to suppon family and medical leave legislation aimed at helping families care for sick children and aging parents. He vocally supported the Brady bill, restricting the sale of hand guns, and a ban on assault rifles. He backed an extension of the voting rights act, even if it enfranchised blacks who would mainly vote Democratic. In his finest moment, Hyde gave a brilliantly funny speech attacking the most misguided measure of recent years, term limits for members of Congress. If you had a brain tumor, be said, and were facing an operation, wouldn't you want a doctor who had done the procedure countless times, not some newcomer who had the job because the senior surgeon was forced to retire? Thank goodness term limits never passed, and Henry Hyde is still around. He won't be a patsy for Bill CHnton and he shouldn't be. He won't be totally isolated from political considerations and that's understandable. But whatever happens, he will play fair. That's all the president, and the public, can ask. Cok:ie and Steven Roberts are nationally syndicated columnists. |