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Show WINTER 2002 The This opinion section is an open forum for community issues. Editorial Letters of an indecent or demeaning West View Page 9 columns and opinion articles are strictly the opinion of the author. nature will not ag published. Letters will be edited rob style and opeee Train Accident Reinforces Residents’ Concerns sand. Two homes on the same block have already been vacated by residents and are now in the hands of absentee owners. Such is the fate of our neighborhood. With trains ~ running on 900 South, property values will continue to drop and the neighborhood will | continue to decline. here is a glimmer of hope to save the . neighborhoods. If UP’s main line through Grant Tower, also known as the “S” Curve, near 700 West and South Temple is ot quite a year has passed since the 900 South rail line was reactivated to run freight trains through the Poplar Grove and Glendale neighborhoods, yet there has already been a major accident on the line. Any future derailments of more toxic, _ hazardous materials would be disastrous for our west side neighborhoods. On Saturday, had any of several cars ahead of the derail- ment been involved, it would have caused a S mandatory evacuation of all people within a one-mile radius of the site. A major disaster could have happened (and may yet happen) ‘ on this line. ae the nuisances of the reconfigured, ® A close-up look at the damage of a Union trains, ) Pacific rail-car after the 7 derailment. such as blocking traffic at numerous crossings, fouling the air with train smoke, and disrupting sleep with loud whistles at | “process of relocating to.a trailer park in Sandy. They have 3 children; two of whom all hours of the day and night, etc., property will continue attending the local elementary values of homeowners near the line have school, requiring twenty-mile commutes been drastically diminished. Property owneach day. They reported to have invested ers have been robbed of their equity and $130 thousand in their home and property. investment by UP. Their real estate agent has informed them One family, who’s home is one-half block from the site of the derailment, is in the December racy, we are once again seeking to preserve our ideals and way | huge petroleum reserves. While I doubt to long term peace and justice, not just for ourselves but for other nations as well. The United Nations Inspections Team continues its investigations into whether Iraq has weapons of mass destruction. If the teams find Iraq out of compliance to any degree, we will once again send our troops into harm's way. | My feelings on the possible war against Irag are complicated. There seem to be those within the Bush administration interested in provoking war and aggression to bring a terrible dictatorship under control but as My concern is also very personal. My oldest son will be called to military duty for any rich nation, living with careless use of resources and without — care for the rest of the world's citizens. Open discussion of a possible military action against Iraq should continue. Among the things we should be discussing is whether we are helping or hindering the development of basic human rights for other nations’ citizens—life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness— that we so greatly value. When we ask our own children to leave the comfort of home and and family, to risk their lives, then the cause should be noble, not self-serving and short-sighted. by Edie Trimmer Submission Deadline Articles, ads, and photos are due on | -Former concerned resident (name held) with- Poetry Corner February 1, 2003.: Shimmering like coins, Hundreds of golden coins, an Dancing like so many, many: tiny. cymbals. . They move and:sway to the,music of fall... - «Leaves, like the promise of generations to tees? “Falling from’the generations ‘of today © Swaying, dancing, moving to the soft stirrings Join with others in their dancing play. | Our children and their children Testing morality; Sometimes with tiny baby steps, | Sometimes with purposeful strides. They return to the source of their learning Only to move ahead, | Sending out tiny little branches, Branches of their own making. With winter’s adversity, We have learned to lean and sway, And to take comfort In the warm summer days to replenish us. Our roots sink down in Heady with dreams of the They brought tiny Sinking the timid roots the rich ancestral soil. promise of the new land, seedlings to plant, ce) in the good earth. I would be an aspen, Upheld by the surrounding forest, Sending out the beauty of new growth, Changing with the seasons of my life, And reaching downward for the strength of the root. From ‘‘Poems’’ by James Griner expressing, a poem is like, feelings with a rhythm without logic | yet, you identify understand : ~ Submit articles toeditor@ thewestview. org. - *Emailads and photos to. ~ - ads@thewestview.org. Questions? Call Chad or Charlotte @ 355- 29512: “es by Ann Callister ; these aggressive act. For his sake, I again facing war with Iraq, hav- ~ want any military action to be taken carefully and deliberately, ing come full circle, to be eneto promote peace and justice mies of cultures and nations we rather than to protect us as a do not know or understand very that military action contributes for As A Tree “separate from the: rest’ of the ‘Tragi Kurds and -the fear Iraq “Arab © world. Over the past ten years, ‘inspires in No. we have sent our armed forces countries. well. We hope, with the understanding of ordinary citizens, congestion to also to maintain our access_.to of life in a world where chaos - motives for waging war, | also think about * the ‘ reports” of+ and violence seem to dominate.’ “The horrors of September “11° human rights violations © and ~ remind us that we cannot ‘be ~ exile for groups such ‘as the’ | to the Gulf War in Iraq, peacekeeping missions in Bosnia and Serbia, the war on terrorsim in Afganistan. We are now once reduce that their home is now worth only $80 thou- War on Iraq: J ustified or Short Sighted” As people living in a democ- it will all of UP’s trains that pass through the city. If the City, other government entities, residents and others were to work cooperatively with UP to secure funding for fixing Grant Tower, then maybe UP would give us back our neighborhood by abandoning 900 South. Fixing Grant Tower is that glimmer of hope to restore our neighborhoods. Both poems were originally published i in “Healing Together”, a publication of “the DiverseCity Writing Series in partnership with the Cancer Wellness House - a project of the SLCC Community Writing Center (S11 West 200 South, Suite 100, 957-4992). |