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Show Tom m u n i t y ( c o m m e n t s . . . Once every three months I spend four miserable hours working for the government. But Instead of getting compensated for my efforts, it costs me money. I refer, of course, to the filling out of quarterly reports covering everything from withholding and sales tax to state insurance. I'm no different than any other small businessman in this task, and we're always plagued by the darned forms which have a habit of changing In composition almost everytime we fill them out. This time, however, there was a ray of sunshine In my otherwise bleak evening's work. Seven-year-old-son, Zane, noting my dedication to the task at hand in my cubbyhole office at home said, "Is that hard work, Dad?" My answer was that It wasn't really hard and it was a darned good thing, because I wasn't too smart. "That's OK, Dad," he said. "You're a darned good fisherman." I'm glad to see the youngster is developing a sense of values at an early age. First things must come first, -sjt- We've been getting a great run of comments from readers in the form of letters to the editor, and I couldn't be more delighted. And of all I've received, there have only been a handful that haven't seen print. But for that reason, perhaps it would be good to again list the rules for our Letters column so that people whose work doesn't appear in print will know the reason why. First, letters must be signed. There are occasions as there is this week where I will agree to publish a letter without a name on it. But I've got to know who the letter writer is, and his reasons have to be pretty obvious. Anonymous letters won't go. I don't even read them before chucking them in the waste basket. The other rules are simple: Letters must be brief in the interest of space; they must not be libelous or scandalous and must not defame character; and they must be in good taste. That last item is one where I have to make a judgment decision. I remain, the judge of what constitutes good taste, and that's what an editor's job is all about. One letter was withheld this month because in my opinion it violated the ethic of good taste by running an ethnic theme into the ground. The tongue-in-cheek references to racial nicknames turned me off and I chucked the letter for that reason. This week I got a note from the writer. The letter covered a number of subjects, and it was his feeling that I had not run the letter because of the controversial subject covered on down the line in his letter. "Did my letter tell more about power plant smog than you want Moab readers to know..." he querried. No, is my answer. I don't care how much the readers learn about power plant smog, city dump smoke or smoking in general. Have at it. As long as it is to the point and in good taste, I'll run it. I'm not ir, the business of trying to protect the readers of this publication from hearing two sides of a story, and I resent the implication. If the writer would like me to edit out the references to Negro Bill Canyon, I'll be glad to run the balance. Buh it's not my normal practice to edit letters to the editor. (Just correct the spelling, sometimes.) |