OCR Text |
Show Letters to the editor Giving up Against MX High prices of us with nothing but higher prices and increased taxes. Citizens of widely divergent political views have growing concern over the prospect of MX deployment in the area. We are neither un-American, stupid, Bol Tinlnft)rmed. We"do "lack that avarice that compels the greedy to "go for it all regardless of the cost to the rest of us. We have had two decades of presidential administrations that have shoved us into a precarious state of military unpreparedness. Now we are expected to trustingly acquiesce to this crash program, regardless of the disproportionate sacrifice on our part. The Utah-Nevada deployment, though touted by those whose job it is to promote it, is certainly not universally endorsed by military or defense experts. ex-perts. If it receives approval, it won't be because it is the best use of our defense money, but because of irresistible pressures from international in-ternational powers. For me to accede mindlessly to all of this is unthinkable. Florence Wolfram. Editor: In spite of the fact that 70 real estate and business people palmed themselves off in D.C. as our representatives, the truth remains that most of us do not want the MX here. Blinded by the glitter of anticipated personal financial benefit, the delegation has conjured up a' ground swell of' popular support, ftr" this monstrous waste of our defense dollars. That proper and legal procedure shouid be circumvented by our county commissioners, for the sake of adding to that delusion, ought to be a matter of grave concern to all of us. An important, im-portant, controversial issue of great general interest which has not appeared ap-peared on the publicized agenda should be acted upon. A Commissioner who favors the Utah-Nevada MX deployment, for whatever ostensible reason he may have, has, nevertheless, an abiding responsibility to represent more than the interests of the business community. It is ridiculous to swallow the merchants' mer-chants' maxim that "whatever is good for business is good for all." What's good for business often leaves the rest Editor: Efforts to establish impact funds in the MX legislation, and to initiate planning studies at local levels are commendable and should be encouraged. However, there seems to be a growing opinion in the community com-munity that the deployment of MX in Utah-Nevada- -is inevitable. Such a conclushm is premature. President Reagan and Secretary J of Defense Weinberger will not make their final decisions on deployment until hearing from the review committee studying MX deployment. This was emphasized to the Pro-MX group on their trip to Washington, D.C, by Dr.. Richard DeLauer, undersecretary for defense, research and engineering, who indicated that it would be premature to state what the final decision on MX deployment will be. Since deployment is , being studied again and the impacts involved are so severe, those who do have serious concerns about the deployment in Utah and Nevada should voice those concerns con-cerns now before the study is concluded. con-cluded. Opposition and criticism to the proposed deployment mode is increasing in-creasing as more and more people review the present plan. For instance, during the past few weeks, the Washington Post and New York Times, through an editorial and national columnist respectively have criticized the proposed deployment mode, with the Post concluding that based on the demands on the intermountain west regarding MX and energy programs, "the west may see its natural heritage and the genial social structure it knows today irrevocably smashed. "Opposition should increase as more people in the country learn of the proposed system and its impacts. I would like to encourage readers to write their congressman, the President, the Secretary of Defense voicing their opposiition while the deployment mode is being reconsidered. recon-sidered. ArleneBraithwaite Editor: I oppose the MX "for "many reasons, one of which is the drastic impact on lifestyle. There has also been some question recently as to what lifestyle is and how it might be affected. Here in Cedar city, lifestyle is characterized by a small town atmosphere where neigh-u neigh-u bors know and care about one another, () low crime rate and the assurance of a good education for our children. Cedar City's setting, in close proximity to both deseret and mountain areas, provides exceptional opportunities op-portunities for it residents. Health care needs are met and there is an atmosphere that is accepting and encouraging en-couraging of families doing things together. A variety of goods and services ser-vices are available here at reasonable costs. What will happen if MX comes? No one can say for a certainty what the extent of change will be, but is it not too difficult to look at other situations involving large influxes of people into small communities and recognize that certain changes are inevitable, Cedar City will lose its small town atmosphere. at-mosphere. Many of our new neighbors will have value systems far different from what we know now. Some of these people are already immigrating to Cedar City in hopes of MX employment. Rock Springs, Wyom., was similar to Cedar City before its mining boom. The Rocky Mountain News dated Feb. 18, 1978, reported the following increases which occurred during a four year period when the town's population increased 100 percent. Crimes against property increased 220 percent, crimes against people increased 900 percent, child behavior problems increased 1,000 percent, drug incidents 1,400 percent, mental health clinic case loads increased 900 percent and calls to police rose from 8,000 to 36,000. Concerning education, the class loads in Cedar now are large, but manageable, due to years of careful study and planning. With the influx of thousands of new children in a relatively short period of time, the quality of education will surely suffer.. With MX, recreational needs will change. Access to desert areas will be limited, if not destroyed, and our canyons and mountain will see greatly increased usage.. The inflated construction wages, and discount military stores to compete against, Cedar City residents will experience ex-perience unimagineable inflation. Those on fixed incomes will suffer severely, local family owned small businesses will be overpowered by large chain-, stores and their tremendous buying power and drawing power and advertising. GenniferThorley |