OCR Text |
Show 4 Signpost Friday, May 23, 1986 Good and bad events taking place all over by Rae Dawn Olbert Editor-in-Chief A lot has happened in the past few weeks, and the implications of these actions could be of major significance. It seems all our help overseas economic, military and political doesn't count for all that much when votes of the U.N. members are tallied. The Associated Press reports that voting trends during the 1985 session of the U.N. General Assembly show the 159-nation membership as a whole voted against U.S. interests nearly 80 percent of the time. Those voting more than half the time with the U.S. (19 nations in all) were mostly our major industrialized allies. Britain, West Germany and France were at the top. Voting against the U.S. 69.8 percent and 70.2 percent of the time were El Salvador and Honduras, respectively. Both governments have drawn political support from President Reagan's administration. Other countries, including Mexico and Saudi Arabia, voted consistently against U.S. views. All these figures serve to prove that you just can't buy support. Every nation has its own best interests at heart, as they should. And no matter what anyone can say or do, they act accordingly. If we, as a nation extend our support freely, in the spirit of man helping man . . . that's great. But if we extend our help with strings attached, with hope of receiving a return on our "investment," then perhaps we had better open our eyes. On a local scale, Governor Norman Bangerter took it upon himself to save our lawmakers some trouble. Instead of allowing them to make a decision on how to solve the problem of the rising Great Salt Lake, Bangerter made the decision for them. He has stirred up some resentment on Capitol Hill, and the anger is well-deserved. He threatened to veto anything except this pumping plan . . . and his plan passed. The threat was prompted when lawmakers began considering an amendment that added the Antelope Island dike work to the governor's bill. His warning, delivered as the legislators were debating the amendment, killed the island diking amendment. Bangerter has tried to usurp the legislature's power to make decisions and impose his will on all without consideration for the democratic process upon which this country is founded. This type of action is dangerous and, if allowed to pass unmarked, sets a dangerous precedent which could only serve to detract from the role of "the people" in government. On a brighter note, the American Can Company has created a unique system to catalogue outstanding community projects and make them available to towns across the country who are facing similar problems. They have acquired a databank of information on successful local activities, which are offered as models for communities to replicate or adapt to their own needs. This public service program allows towns to learn what other local governments, businesses and citizen groups around the country are doing to solve problems and improve the quality of life in their communities.This idea is outstanding. It will allow communities to examine another town's solution to a similar problem and gauge its ability to succeed in its own setting.Some of the more successful community projects have already been identified in the company's report and distributed to national and local leaders nationwide.If only someone else had a problem like the rising Great Salt Lake. Maybe Chicago is having problems with Lake Michigan? AFTER MONTHS OP IMMUENPOeS AMP ACCUSATIONS ABOUT THE SHUTTLE CRASH , TH6 AT MORTON THIOKOC HAVE PlSCOVEREP -me source OF THE AK. 1 r II IE I - S J (Ai U KIM . &CAM64 kjfip IwZS AWPTHE RRgp HIM, Avoice Totp Kg to ervs ) OP Alt AW WORIPM ' POSSESSIONS,, HONM aevTHiAiGrowM, vTXATb when r BECAME A TEACHER , are these PRICES? 4 RADIATION L J LEVELS EL jeu&--i&4BS?xr Letter Policy The Signpost welcomes letters to the editor. Letters must be typed and should not exceed 400 words in length. The Signpost reserves the right to edit for reasons of space and libel and reserves the right to refuse to print any letter deemed inappropriate. Letters must include name, address and signature of writer. Deadlines for letters to the editor are Wednesdays at noon for Friday's editition and Fridays at noon for Tuesday's edition. I |