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Show Page A7 (Dig EinifS-3nbfpnxhn- Thursday, July 27, 2000 it Don't change the place we call home Letters to the Editors Ie Ground control to Tara, what planet are you from? Dear Editor: Ground control to Tara, Ground control to Tara, come in Tara. Exactly what planet are you from dear? From what culture do you hail? Is your reality chemically challenged? How do your arrive at such wild deductions? The G," is an expression of pride in ones community. Maybe not the symbol you would have chosen, but it was chosen and in place before you were bom. I w asnt bom here, but almost every city I ever lived in or near had something similar within view of the town. If there wasnt a mountain, it got placed on a water tower or something. And how you perceive it as a symbol of superiority is beyond me, hell it is just beyond. I really doubt that few if any of the tourists notice the G," and even fewer read any kind of message into it. Do you hear voices? However I remember one friend of mine asking me why it wasn't an M , (for Moab if you cant figure that out). And while 1 am not positive, 1 am reasonably sure that the paint on the rock has caused it no irreparable harm. For all you and I know the rock may have been happy being painted, being able to stand out from all its friends who seem to dress the same. As far as your mention of us hypocrites awareness of current attitudes toward such defacement; for the record I am painfully aware of current attitudes towards a lot of things now days. And I would remind you that contempt for such crap is by no means a sign of ignorance of them. Ralph F. Santos Moab Big 'G' has been a sign of homecoming Dear Sam & Adrien, would like to take this opportunity to apologize to Tara Collins for our community, how sad it must be for her to feel we are all above her and that we think we are better than she is. I sincerely hope she and anyone else who feels the same way she does will be able to move to a community where they will be happy with the class of people they wish to be with. As for the big G, I for one, hope it will be repainted " ASAP. It has been a sign for Grand I home-coming- County High Alumni, including my three daughters, for many, many year. I also .ould like to say to those who think it shouldnt be there, with all due respect, surely to goodd that you can't find a ness you are not so different red rock to cast your gaze upon. JUST A THOUGHT. Sincerely, Jean Posey Moab short-sighte- For those who did not catch my previous letter about this subject, I would hope there will be serious consideration of this proposal. I propose that we declare Highway 191 a scenic highway from Monticello to Moab and make it illegal for trucks other than the ones servicing our communities and those who live here, to use the corridor. The highway certainly has the beauty to qualify for scenic status. Make interstate trucking use the interstate highways where they belong! So what if it adds a couple of hours to their driving time. Trucking companies make a lot of money. They can afford it. Why change our lifestyle to save the people north and south of us a couple of shillings per item? This is a good idea for several reasons: First and foremost it makes the highway and the streets much safer! We would also spend much less tax money maintaining the surface of the highway. We would not have to install a Moab bypass for at least a couple of decades, probably a lot longer. Car traffic would still continue to drive through the center of town, which is undoubtedly good for business and the tax base and con tributes to the unique flavor of Moab; one of the last towns in America where the road still passes through the middle of town. We would not have to spend millions of taxpayer money on a new bridge, new highway, and off and on ramps. We would not have to deal with the noise pollution of a highway next to the cliffs and we could still have parades. In my opinion, I think trucks simply dont beon Highway 191. I was driving to Monticello the long other day and there was a small rental car with obvious foreign tourists, terror plastered on their faces as they negotiated their way through the Muleshoe turns just south of Hole n the Rock. Why were they frightened? Because a Kenworth was crawling up their tailpipe and Im talking illegally close and serious terror! I really sympathized with those people. How good is that for the reputation of our tourist community? Does Moab really want to spend $100,000 to study putting a bypass over or around Moab and then spend millions of dollars creating a highway for trucks? Wake up folks. A bypass will seriously affect life in Moab. David L. Everist Moab In defense of bureaucrats who work at the CDC Dear Sam and Adrien: After reading Dr. De Lamar Gibbons assault upon the bureaucracy (July 13, 2000), 1 feel compelled to respond. As a federal government employee with almost 30 years of dedicated service with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), I believe the good doctor took some cheap shots at dedicated scientists and bureaucrats who have worked long hours, over many years, to make the health care in our country the best in the world. Let me speak from personal experience. I became a Public Health Advisor with the CDC in November of 1968 in Los Angeles, Calif. My first assignment as a young, green, transplant from Utah was working as an epidemiologist interviewing patients with infectious, early syphilis. Yes, sir, 1 worked night and day and on weekends without compensation to locate the source and spread of countless syphilis infections. For example, I worked on my own time to locate a pregnant woman whom I believed was infected with syphilis. One of the first cases I had was this woman I found with secondary rash, with bisyphilis, a generalized macular-papula- r lateral lymphadenopathy. Her private MD missed the obvious symptoms and, consequently, she delivered a congenital syphilitic baby girl. Yes, this underpaid government bureaucrat, saw the infant scream in pain when the mother lifted her legs to change the diaper. The showed the infant's long bones with a appearance. Unable to afford public transportation, I loaded up the young mother and her infant in my own car and transported them across town to the Los Angeof California Medical Center and les walked through that bureaucracy to assure the mother and child were properly treated with Bicillin. I missed sports events and programs at my sons schools to locate young gay men in Hollywood bars at night who were infected with syphilis, who during the day avoided me and the messages I left them. I often sat alone in my car in South Central Los Angeles late at night looking for a hooker named Barbara who had been named by several male customers. I worked weekends in Pennsylvania giving shots to students and residents who could not otherwise afford a visit to their physicians. Ive gone into neighborhoods and tenements where even the police did not venture. This is just a hint of the efforts that I and my fellow bureaucratic Public Health Advisors did week end and week out. Syphilis has now reached a point where my fellow bureaucrats are concentrating their efforts in an attempt to eliminate this scourge. It is very possible that we could eliminate syphilis in this country in our lifetime, perhaps even within the next few years. Yes, Doc, we are the bureaucracy! e A close friend of mine was in packing blood samples when one slipped out of colleagues hand and exploded on the cement. Yes, the blood was positive for Eboia. With no cure, he was terrified, but continued packing samples to be sent to the CDC in Atlanta. Yup, moth-eate- n County-Universit- y age-ol- d then-Zair- just another tyrannical bureaucrat at work! I have friends in this CDC bureaucracy who have almost lost their lives going into villages in rural Africa treating wells and ponds for the guinea worm, the parasite that causes dracunculiasis. I witnessed smallpox eradicated by CDC, and others, all bureaucrats, walking from village to village in Bangladesh locating the last cases of smallpox. I am presently working at the CDC headquarters in Atlanta where many of the vaccines are developed and tested for the dissemination to physicians like yourself You can drive by CDC day and night and on weekends and see vehicles in the parking lots where technicians, technologists and scientists are working long hours for you and your patients, and all of them bureaucrats. Come on, Doc, get a grip! We are not all green-eye- d monsters out to terrorize you and make your life so miserable. The school district that directs the educators who teach your children is filled with dedicated bureaucrats. The fire department, the police department who protect you and your loved ones are part of a bureaucracy. My best friend from high school, a former FBI special agent, spent his career finding killers, kidnappers and armed bank robbers, and would take umbrage at you calling him a tyrannical bureaucrat, especially after all the hours he spent putting his life on the line to protect us all, you and your family included. May I suggest that before you paint all bureaucrats with the same broad brush, you count your blessings that you live in a country with clean air, potable water; where you can walk the streets of Blanding, Utah at night in safety, and know that the antibiotics you prescribe are not tainted, out of date or unregulated by the unscrupulous businessmen. The wicked bureaucracy you described prevents this from happening. Our country is not perfect, and I will be the first to admit it, but we do live in a democracy where we can elect officials who do actually influence the w ay we bureaucrats do business. I can attest to that! It niay sound like a hackneyed cliche, but I still believe in my calling as a civil servant." Im proud of my years of hard work within the CDC bureaucracy, yes, even as a small cog in the machinery, to make my iife and the lives cf others healthier and maybe a bit happier. It is very easy to criticize and tear us bureaucrats down, and, as they say in the South, any jackass can kick down a building, but it takes training, intelligence, and a designer with talent and diligence to build an organization like the CDC to protect your health and the health of us all. Yup, Doc, Im proud to be a federal government bureaucrat, and I can look at myself in the mirror and know Ive given you, the taxpayer, more than your moneys worth. Sincerely, a proud bureaucrat Letters to the editor policy. John A. Cox Stone Mountain, Georgia Former Moabite . welcomes opinions from its readers concerning any subject pertinent to Southeastern The Utah. Letters should be to the point and must include the writers name, address and telephone number. Letters may not be used to replace advertisements, or to list and thank sponsors or participants to a particular event. Letters to the editor will be not be accepted from any candidate who has filed for political office or from anyone writing in support of a filed candidate. Anything unsigned, of a libelous nature, or containing defamatory statements will not be considered for publication. All letters must be typed or legibly written, and be 800 words or less. Letters are subject to editing. Mail to Letter to the Editor, PO. Box 129, Moab, Utah, 84532. Deadline is Monday, 5 p.m. to editor O moabtimes.com. The Letters may also be sent via may not accept letters from persons who write more frequently than once every four weeks. Times-lndepende- nt Times-lndepende- nt old-time- First mistake was allowing second tram to be built guy build the thing, if it doesnt work out, it will be bonded, well tear it down." There is only one problem Rick Jewitt and Chriss Schellabarger pulled a fast one, and no one bothered to check to see if the bond was in place. Now they want to sell it to a corporation who has even bigger and better plans. This kind of planning and lack of vision by our elected and appointed officials is unacceptable. Impact to the resource and to the view shed should be top priority, not the sacrifice of the valley for the blind potential of the almighty dollar If you want to see an example of poor planning of a gateway city, visit Gatlinburg Tennessee, AKA Vegas West. Is this really where Moab is heading? Everyone I know who has visited Moab recently has stated they cannot believe that anyone would allow a project of this kind to be built in such a place where it is the very first thing that is seen upon entering the Moab Valley. They have all asked me the same question. Who ride to nowants to sit in a gondola for a three-minut- e where? Its a joke, but most locals arent laughing I leave you with the lyrics from a Pink Floyd song. Tear down the Wall". Dear Editor, I write to you today in response to the recent articles and letters regarding the new tram on the north end of town. The June 29 article definitely got my attention as 1 kept wondering w hy no one was working on the tram each time I drove by. Last weeks article got my ire It is beyond my comprehension how a project this controversial could even break ground without anyone on either the county council or the planning commission not knowing if the bond had ever been posted. This is inexcusable. One word comes to my mind. ACCOUNTABILITY! And some members of the county council wonder w hy some people are in favor of term limits, and an expanded council. I would have hoped that the county council might have learned a lesson from the City of Moab on the repercussions of vaguely worded codes and contracts in lieu of the recent sign problems. Kim Schappert was quoted as saying The initial mistake is that it wasnt specifically stated that before the building permit was issued, a bond would have to be in place." I beg to differ. The initial mistake was letting the project go forward in the first place. The county council had concerns the project might not make money, but took the position of hey, let the Sincerely Sam Warner Moab Setting the record straight on dog incident Bypass will seriously affect life in Moab Dear Editor, welcome to leave anytime you want. I know Ira speakhere. We love Moab just ing for a lot of the like it is and dont need people coming here and try ing to change this place we call home. Thsnk you, Ken Partridge Moab Dear Sam, lived m Moab for the last 40 years. The Big G on the rock was something I always looked forward to seeing when I came back home from wherever I roamed I am a veteran and cannot see where it ever said I am better than anyone. This is my home town and the way I see it is, if you dont like our ways or traditions you are the heck could she be, my husband asked (half jokingly), "Did you take her with you to run Bn errand and leave her behind?" I immediately remembered taking her to the bakery and called Robin and Matt at the Knave of Hearts about her (I did not wait until the following morning as the gentleman from Tennessee claims). When I called Robin I learned that they had very kindly watered, fed and played with Jazz, and found her a home for the evening - and that 1 had caused quite a lot of concern and anger Since her tag had fallen ofT a few days before and I hadnt gotten her a new one yet they called her Queenie," but Im sure she responded to their love and care as if they had been calling her by the name I have used for almost six years. The next morning I went to the Knave at nine a m. and picked up Jazz from the very caring person who cared for her that night. I take full responsibility for my actions was (and still am) appalled that I forgot my dog. I have taken to heart the message this told me - that I need to slow down and focus on myself and the people and animals that mean so much to me more than I have been able to of late. However, 1 do feel that it is unfair to accuse me of cruelty, publicly and as if the actions were intended to be cruel, without ever once trying to learn the rest of the Sam and Adrien When I read the letter to the editor in last weeks T-- I from the gentleman from Tennessee regarding an incident in my life, my first reaction was to want to crawl under my desk and hide. Initially I thought the best option was to forget about it. I put it out of my mind until today. I have been told that this incident has been given far more attention than it's worth, particularly since the same gentleman who never took the time to address a letter to me directly (or find me - even after he had learned that I had called the Knave of Hearts to find my dog - to ask any questions) also wrote a letter to the mayor. First Id like to set the record straight on a few things. I did bring my dog to the Knave of Hearts Bakery around noon on Tuesday the 18th of July and tied her in the shade to the bike rack out front. And I also left the bakery and walked home pondering the number of things I had to take care of that afternoon. And Jazz (my dog) watched me leave her there. When I returned home I ate lunch and worked on the computer preparing letters and financial statements Id need that afternoon and the next day. And at 1:45 I left for an appointment and wondered - wheres Jazz.... I looked around for a little while in a panic, and then had to leave. As I left I asked my husband to look around too, and to call the vet and animal control because I couldnt find Jazz. I had figured she had gotten out of the yard and was somewhere nearby - probably looking for scraps from a nearby restaurant. I had completely forgotten that I had even taken Jazz to the bakery. Finally, after dinner and many questions of where -- 1 story. Since this occurrence in my life I have spoken to a number of friends and heard many amusing (because as in my situation no one was hurt) stories about similar and often worse - scenarios of forgotten pets and children from campsites, gas stations, and stores. Embarrassed, but glad to have Jazz with me Kara Dohrenwend Moab Castle Valley Comments by Ron Drake The Castle Valley Town Council met last week to conduct business during their regularly scheduled July meeting. The remodel project for the towns temporary office trailer was the subject of discussion again and Robert Ryan said he has contacted a couple of people to bid on the project. Dave Wagstaff, who reviewed the plans that were submitted by the architect, stated that the plans are way especially for a temporary structure, pointing to provisions for expensive metal panels on the railing and deck as an example. He thinks the architect assumes fill dirt will be brought in to level the site contrary to what the council plans to do, which explains why the ramp is located on the down hill side of the structure. Wagstaff said by putting the ramp on the other side, 18 feet of ramp could be saved. It reeks of pork," he said, it is so overengineered, it doesnt make practical sense," he concluded, Ryan thinks because it is a municipal building, it needs what the plans call for and said the architect viewed the site and understands the situation. Mayor Bruce Keeler agreed, saying we still have to meet specifications. He suggested that council member Karen Nelson and himself visit with the county building inspector to see what he says and where it goes. Road Supervisor Damian Bollerman reported that a wheel assembly for the disabled road grader was found and ordered and that another part on the machine was welded and should be over-designe- d, back on line soon. The part cost $657.30 and it was hoped the grader would hing in there for a little longer until a better one could be found. The mayor said the town has to go through the county to get on the list for CIB loans and grants. This years list is already in and will have to wait until the first of the year. The planned information kiosk has to be erected near the mai boxes, according to 3LM officials. A spot has been picked out and will soon be graded in preparation for construction. The inter-locagreement with the City of Moab for animal control was discussed by the council and after a few changes voted to come up with a comal prehensive document for the August meeting. The council also discussed the general plan with the mayor suggesting the council read the document and identify problematic areas before holding a public hearing. They decided to set aside a block of time in August to discuss the plan and make changes. The mayor also suggested, based on his concern about projected population growth and with the land being develwe should work with the oped, planners and plan for a commercial area in the current school trust lands. That would be favorable rather than ending up in a situation were in now and ask people who bought into a residential area to have a commercial area in their neighborhood. He said we should be open to pro-acti- ve thinking. Mayor Keeler appointed Brooke Williams to the planning commission after what he described as a hard decision. Usually, one or sometimes no one applies for the position but four applicants, including Tim Angus, Dan Kent, Merrill Brady who later withdrew and Williams applied for the position. They all bring different elements, according to the mayor, but in the end he made the decision based on the philosophy of Fritz Bachman who Williams will replace on the commission. Bachman moved from the area. Several issues last month delayed signing the contract for the planner who was hired to negotiate between the school trust lands administration and other agencies involved in the land administered by SITLA. The ambiguous funding wording and how the results of planning would enter the planning process were a couple issues that were solved by the town attorney. A couple of paragraphs were added to the contract that would leave the town with no financial obligation. The mayor read a thank-yo- u letter from Elizabeth Whitney who received part of the annual scholarship money awarded by the council last month. The endowment was made on behalf of an anonymous Castle Valley donor. fSee jfJ " Page A8 On Two by Ron Georg |