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Show THE PARK RECORD WED/THURS/FRI, JANUARY 12-14, 2005 Viewpoints. A-17 EDITORIAL Summit County newsletter is sending the wrong message he Summil County Commission may have saved money by piggyT backing 1 ts newsletter onto an existing publication but. as a result, the county appears to be promoting the religious right. Lasl year. Summit County entered into a partnership with Midway Printing that allows the printer lo wrap the county's newsletter with advertisements and independently selected editorial material. Readers have expressed concerns about whether the content of the advertisements and the cover articles are intended to represent the county's point of view. 'Flic commissioners aiid the printer have tried to address those concerns by flagging the four pages of official county content with a distinct border and layout. Still, the overall impression is that the entire 16-page publication has the commission's stamp of approval. The conflict of interest was especially apparent lasl fall when the Summit Quarterly with the county newsletter also contained a large political advertisement for Summil County Commission candidate Stephen Osguthorpe. Since the newsletter is sent to every postal patron in the county, it appeared that Osguihorpe had somehow underwritten the publication or, worse, that the county was helping to promote Osgulhorpc's campaign. Equally disturbing are the religious overtones of I he publication. While the wholesome messages are innocuous on their own, when coupled with an official government body, they straddle an uncomfortable line between church and stale. Overall, the county's partnership with Midway Printing is doing more harm than good. Whether or not readers are able to distinguish the official content from commercial content, il is an inappropriate vehicle for county government. Mosl county taxpayers would probably prefer lo see a modest two-sheet informative newsletter about salient issues and upcoming meetings than a slick stock, full-color glossy magazine in which the important information is buried between advertisements and sermons about family values. Midway Printing's contract is coming up for renewal. While we respect the company's right to print and distribute any maferial it wants to. it is not the place for a government newsletter. We say put the contract in the shredder and don't look back. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Locals' ticket sales an insult ning films from this year's event. Throughout the year, we bring back gems from past festivals, free of charge, screening them through the Sundance Documentary Film Series al Santy Auditorium and the summer-long Outdoor Film Festival in City Park. We recognize that our commitment to local participation will remain an ongoing, evolving challenge for us. Despite our best efforts, we experienced some technical problems with our ticketing system during locals' ticket sales this year. The issue has been addressed within our organization, lo ensure that it will nol be a problem in the future. We regret that due to the error, many of our local patrons were not satisfied with ticket availability for specific screenings. There are still plenty of tickets available, especially for screenings during the second half of the fcslival. On Saturday, Jan. 15, our festival box offices will reopen, and we invite locals to visit the Gateway Center or our website to pur- i JOHN KILBOURN/^/J/7/r/?£"<?<?/#? (Originally published Jan. 10. 2004) GUEST EDITORIAL 'The first thing is, lets kill all the lawyers' damages make a "one-sizc-fils-all" situaBy LAREE MILLER Editor: tion for the injured. How can our politiExecutive director, The Sundance Film Festival "locals'" cians possibly know what is fair for Utah Citizens Alliance for Safety advance ticket sales on Saturday, Jan. 7 everyone? Every case is different and and Accountability was an INSULT lo residents of Park only a jury can decide after being preCity. More than 200 people spent the sented the facts from both sides. This Yes, it is true a Shakespearean characnight in the Gateway Center in Park unequal civil justice would place the ter uttered the line about killing the City hoping to get tickets to movies at interests of businesses above treating all lawyers. What we don't hear is his next the festival. After a cold night sleeping people equally and v. line: "Then we will have our way!" on the floor, at 8 a.m. they were awardThe medical prof. ,on believes that Our medical profession would love to ed appointment times to return to purhave it "their way," no lawyers or juries, citizens like you ai.d I sitting on a jury in chase tickets based on their position in except for the 175 full-lime lawyers cur- a civil case are too uneducated and emothe overnight line. rently employed by the American tional to make a decision regarding a When the very first groups were Medical Association. They nicely gave medical malpractice case. They want admitted at 9 a.m. lo purchase tickets, the AM A and its medical society a politicians or doctors lo make the decithey were rewarded with an announcewhopping $1 billion last year from suing sion. Yet, in the criminal justice systems ment board of mainly SOLD OUT insurance companies. (Source: AM A juries are smart enough to decide the movies. When our group arrived at 2 fate of a person's life, death or life in website) p.m. to make our advance purchases, we prison. Ever since the National Institute of had to cross off 20 of our 24 selections Medicine came out with their report "To The medical profession does not agree because they were already sold out. We Err is Human," the doctors seem lo with their own business news informaended up with only 101 tickets out of the J1h i n k l h a t line makes them unaccount- tion Modern Physician, of October, fldfiitinnfll lickets. po t g-frtfttfr'ttn-pni-ekasa. AQ NriirimfaviiHhas,.Hichase, 1 ii i r i i p i n I] fijiifci y I M M M m i l • ii -•^j_t-;i-t*: aoTe'tor MicTfrhis takes. Five 'y4ars"Jaie1%~~70047Trie~slllTty shows""cycles, not suits, movies "had rronbeen suld-.uut. Some of Meetingg the needs ot all of our con- ^ejpperts^say that after the report about drive medical malpractice trends. The these 10 tickets were not original choic- stituents, including filmmakers, epidemic of medical errors in the cause of the recent medical malpractice es of what we would have liked to SOTS-, press, film industry representatives the U.S. health care system, lillle progress insurance crisis has had much to do witli attend. There were many groups behind and local and national patrons, is a deli- has been to make medical care business cycles, both inside and outside us, some with appointment times on cate balance and one that we will contin- safer. Themade report still claims 98,000 the insurance industry, and little to do Sunday. There were many unhappy ue to work on as the festival grows in Americans die each year because of pre- with tort-claim payouts, according to locals leaving the sales office. popularity. We're committed to continu- ventable medical mistakes. recent research by a former federal and We feel' Sundance has provided a ing to address the concerns of our festistate insurance administrator." The medical profession really wants HOAX for the locals. They promote this val goers, most especially our local Doctors don't agree with the U. S. as an advance sales opportunity for patrons. We welcome your feedback, "no-fault medicine." They start by asklocals. The opportunity to spend a night and encourage you to send us your ideas ing our president and congress to place General Accounting Office's (GAO) sleeping in the Gateway Center only to for ways lo expand and improve local caps on the amount victims of malprac- report which found: "Doctors, groups E-mail us at localsugges- tice can collect for pain and suffering. had misled, fabricated evidence, or, at find most of your movie selections sold participation. ; The legislation would severely reduce the very least, wildly overstated their out. even for the earliest groups, is an tions(o su ndance.org. the "rights" of medical malpractice vic- case regarding medical malpractice liminsult to the residents of our fine city, tims nationwide, as well as victims of iting access to health care. The health Respectfully, certainly not a benefit. dangerous FDA-approved drugs. The care accesses problems that the GAO Jill Miller bill includes a $250,000 cap on non-eco- could confirm were isolated and the Managing Director Terry and Fred Tripp nomic damages. It would limit the liabil- result of numerous factors having nothSundance Institute Park City ity not only for malpracticing doctors, ing at all to do with the legal system." but also hospitals. HMOs, nursing And again, they do not agree with the homes and manufacturers of drugs and August 2004 report from the Nation medical devices. Bureau of Economic Research: "The Though tort reform is al the top of the arguments that slate tort reforms will president's agenda, a poll this week avert local physician shortages or lead lo Editor: Dear Park City Community, shows only 22 percent of the public feels greater efficiencies in care are not supWoujdn'l it speak volumes about, the it is important. Recently, the president ported by our findings." We al the Sundance Institute consider Park City our home, and as such, we arc moral character of George Bush and his said, "Justice ought to be fair. Those who Physicians don't even agree with the truly committed to ensuring that as fellow Republicans if they were lo have been hurl ought to have their day in Weiss Ratings, an independent insurmany locals as possible have opportuni- forego their $41,000,000 Inauguration court. But a judicial system run amok is ance-rating agency which found that ties to participale in our programs. We Ball and instead donate the money to o/ie that makes it really hard for busi- between 1991 and 2002, states with caps appreciate Park City's ongoing support the Tsunami victims? I think it would be nesses to stay in business. " on non-economic damage awards saw in hosting the tens of thousands of peo- a very compassionately conservative median doctors, malpractice insurance Fair, what is fair? Tort reform serves : ple from around the world who attend gesture. as an "injustice," not allowing juries to premiums rise 4S percent, a greater lhe annual Sundance Film Festival. do their job. Caps on non-economic increase than in states without caps. In Each year, the festival grows in both Sincerely, attendance and prestige, increasing the Nick Wright demand for tickets worldwide. We wel- Park City SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION come this growth, and at the same time, we redouble our efforts lo keep locals 1 Year inside Summit County, $37, outside Summit County, S70 involved in this annual event. Though a 6 Months inside Summit County, $20, outside Summit County $39 constant challenge, it is one we address throughout the year, comparing planning and decision-making against their Mastercard Exp. Editor: effects on local participation. or Visa No. Date: On behalf of TMMS's P'I'SO. we As part of our commitment, we pro- would like to thank all local eighth Name vide a number of special opportunities graders in all Park City Schools for bravfor local residents, including the offer of ing the bad weather and attending the Mailinq Address "Locals Only" discounted ticket pack-1 first-ever Eighth Grade. Jr. Stomp held ages and the sale of individual locals at Treasure Mountain Middle School tickets prior to national and internation- this past Friday night. Mail to: The Park Record, P.O. Box 3688, Park City, Utah 84060 al ticket sales. The students had a great time and the This year, we were able to increase the dance was a success. number of ticket packages and passes We would also like to thank our adult available to locals by 20 percent, and volunteers for making everything fun offered over 45.000 individual tickets to for all. And a special thank you to more than 600 screenings during "locals Principal O'Connor. Vice-Principal Andy Bernhard • ab @ parkrecofti .com only1' individual ticket sales. Last week, Kuennen and the TMMS custodial staff Nan Chalat-Noaker • editor@parkrecord.com we offered a "sneak peek" of one of this for their hard work. Valerie Deming • ads@parkrecord.com year's Festival documentaries, free to locals. Sincerely. Jay Hamburger • citynews@parkrecord.com In addition, at the completion of the Emily Schwab Patrick Parkinson • countynews @ parkrecord .com festival, we offer free, locals-only, "Best and Terry Shapard Jared Whitley • education@parkrecord.com of Fcslival" screenings of award-win- Co-Presidents Sundance fixing 'local' problem Inauguration alternative TMMS Eighth Grade 'Jr. Stomp' Park Record e-mail addresses Trie Park Record welcomes letters to the editor on any subject. We ask that the letters adhere to the following guidelines They must include the address and telephone number ot author. No letter will be published under an assumed name. They must not contain tibelous material. Writers are limited to one letter every 28 days. Letters must not be longer lhan 350 words (guest editorials, 550 words) and should if possible, be typed. We reserve the right to edit tetters if they are too long or il they contain statements we consider unnecessarily offensive or obscene. In addition, thank you letters are limited in length with regard to businesses and event sponsors. Visit The Park Record website at iiRuiv.parkrecord.com 'J Matt James Adia Waldburger Anna Bloom Scott Sine Grayson West Kat James Mike Duffy Matt Gordon Chris Gill Inkarna Black Joe Lair • • • • • • • • • • • arts@parkrecord.com sports@parkrecord.com business@parkrecord.com photo@parkrecord.com photo@parkrecord.com kat@parkrecord.com circulation@parkrecord.com production@parkrecord.com realestate@parkrecord.com classifieds@parkrecord.com scoreboard@parkrecord.com states without caps, median premiums increased only 36 percent. (Utah's premiums increased 82 percent in the lasl four years with a cap in place since 1986). The Los Angeles Times recently reported, that "special interests spent $1.1 billion during the first half of 2004 on lobbyists and advertising campaigns" and "topping the list of spenders were the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the American Medical Association, which spent a combined $39 million during the six-month period to appeal for medical liability limits." The medical profession tries hard to convince the public with their '"anecdotal11 evidence that we should be concerned for them financially and surrender our "legal rights" to benefit them. They are doing just fine as the highest paid profession in our country. Hardly a disadvantaged group;-according-to"thePhysician Socioeconomic Statistics report of 2003. Why should those of us that live in the land of reality with a median household income of about $43,000 be concerned so the doctors can have it "their way?" Allowing doctors to have their way will leave the door open for all industry, and then safety and accountability will be out the door. The Park Record Staff PUBLISHER Andy Bernhard Editor Nan Chalat-Noaker Staff writers Jay Hamburger Pat Parkinson Joe Lair Jared Whitley Adia Waldburger Matt James Anna Bloom Contributing writers Tom Clyde Teri Orr j p y Meehan Joan Jacobson Silvia Leavitt Unda Jager Editor's assistant Courtney Herzinger Classified advertising Inkama Black Sheree Durastanti Office manager Holly VanDenAmeele Circulation manager Michael Duffy Accounting manager Kate Fischer Advertising director Valerie Deming Advertising sales Wendy Halliday Anne Anderson Molly Ballard Cheryn McNicol Teresa Chavez Lacy Brundy Chris Gill Annie Macdonald Editorial production Kat James Photographers Scott Sine Grayson West Production director Matt Gordon Production Kristi Ruppert Scott Schlenker Jason Plawecki Kyle Burress Kim Vance Jon Smedley Distribution Chris Anderson Todd Kendall Cartoonist John Kilbourn Contents of the Vic Park Record'arc copyright © 2005. Diversified Suburban Newspapers. All rights reserved. No portion may be reproduced in anv form without written consent of the managing editor or publisher. The Park Record (USPS 378-730) (ISSN 07459483) is published twice weekly by Diversified Suburban Newspapers. 1670 Bonanza Dr., Park City. Ulah. Periodicals Postage paid at Park City. Utah. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to 77ie Park Record. Box 3688, Park City, Utah 84060. Entered as second class nutter. May 25,1977 at the post office in Park City, Ulah 84060, under the Act of March 3, 1S97. Subscription rates are S37 inside Summit County, S70oulside Summil County. Utah. Subscriptions are traasferrable; $5 cancellation fee. Phone (435) 649-9014 or fax (435) 649-4942. Published every Wednesday and Saturday. I |