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Show VIEWPOINTS A-15 WED/THURS/FRI, OCTOBER 3-5, 2007 THE PARK RECORD www.parkrecord.com EDITORIAL Kids and alcohol in the schools: there are no easy answers generation ago, there were no metal detectors or breathalyzers at school dances. Perhaps there should have been, but the technology was still bulky and expensive and there was a certain innocence, or maybe ignorance, about the dangers of alcohol use and its prevalence among school-age kids. Fast-forward to Park City High School's homecoming dance last Friday where one in six participants were randomly selected to blow into an alcohol detection monitor. According to Park City High School Principal Hilary Hays, the administration began using breathalyzers at a handful of school events last year. And according to Park Record intern Jordan Fischer, who tipped us off about the issue in her column this week, a lot of students, at first, were angry about the mandatory testing. Fischer recalls, last year, some students boycotted events where they knew administrators were doing alcohol tests. This year, she says, students seem to be ambivalent. Some are insulted, others just aggravated. A few support the policy. Whatever their attitude, it didn't dampen attendance at the dance last weekend. A ALLRISHT, SINCE NO ONE DIVERSE SHOWED UP FOR THE DIVERSITY MEETING, WE WILL MOVE ON TO . DISCUSSION OF SATED COMMUNITIES AND HOW WELL THEY KEEP DIVERSITY OUT OF PARK CITY. Hays says using breathalyzers was a shared decision with parents and school administrators. But for the program to truly have its intended effect - to reduce teen alcohol use - the kids need to buy in too. Otherwise the only lesson learned will be to avoid school functions, and the drinking will continue. As most parents learn early on, an authoritative approach has its limits. Notably, it works when mom and dad are watching. But what parents and school administrators really want is to know their kids are safe even when they aren't around and to trust that they have instilled values that will hold up under peer group pressure at private parties as well as school dances. Furthermore, alcohol isn't the only dangerous substance modern-day kids are exposed to. Reports vary about the prevalence, but not about their presence of illegal drugs on school campuses across the country - not just in Park City. Is the only recourse drug testing too? There are no easy answers about how to control drug and alcohol use among students. But as administrators and parents search for answers, they need to make sure students are included - and not alienated - in the process. JOHN KW.BOUBWPARK RECORD LETTERS TO THE EDITOR - Take a stand, school board Editor: In November the voters of Utah will be deciding on the voucher initiative. Last week I attended the Park City school board meeting. In my opinion, everyone who is a part of public education should be against school vouchers. Utah has the most crowded classrooms in the nation, and ranks last in spending per student. Instead of spending millions of taxpayers' dollars for vouchers, Utahns should be increasing their investment in the public schools - which 96% of Utah children attend. There are numerous other reasons for voting against this initiative. I spent my entire career teaching in California. We defeated the Voucher Initiative twice. It took the combined efforts of students, parents, teachers, administrators, and school board members to accomplish this, t, . .-H.1.J Voters look1 for directions;from- the school board, and I was disappointed to see that the Park City school board has not taken a stand on this very important issue. Also, as I read the Park Record, I have seen articles that are definitely pro vouchers. Perhaps the anti-voucher people should be given equal coverage. Thank you, how cheap it is to preserve some of these aspects, even as we grow in numbers and in our ability to welcome visitors seasonally. We just need to take the initiative to make it happen. Watch the foot traffic and the car traffic on YOUR morning commute, and consider the incredible improvements if you just vote Yes on Walkability! Gincy Carrington Plummer Park City put out are the this venerable American institution of business? And why? Now these some questions that will truly whet appetite. Greg Proffit Principal Ecker Hill International Middle School Let's send UDOT a message on SR 224 Under scrutiny, Oreo analogy crumbles Editor: On Wednesday, October 3, 2007, it will once again be "International Walk to School Day." What this means is that, in over 5,000 schools in 50 states and over Editor: I read Richard Eyre's Parents for 40 countries around the world, people Choice Oreo cookie editorial with everywhere will be walking their chilappetite. I was hungry to/ understand- dren to school. Walk to School events ing, and curious as to how a loss in pub- work to create safer routes for walking lic education funding would improve and bicycling to school and emphasize conditions for Utah public school stu- the importance of increasing physical *$&nt§* At a mjcrojevpl ^class/ppm) one t activity among children, concerns over may argue ttiaf fun,ds are 'left behind' by traffic congestion, and the environment students who leave for those students and to help build connections between that remain. But this is an analysis that families, schools and the broader comdoes not hold up to reality: at'a macro munity. level (state, district, or school) funds For those of you familiar with the have vanished - money is gone that was efforts to achieve support for building a part of a budget used to pay teachers, tunnel under SR 224 at Bear Hollow buy supplies, and afford utilities. I'm still /Silver Springs (safely connecting the hungry. east and west sides of SR 224), I ask that Mr. Eyre's speculation that private- you consider this: There are 31,000 cars Gerd Holmsen-Aguilar school enrollment would stimulate addi- DAILY on 224. Those of us trying to Park City tional parent involvement lacks evi- walk our children to and from school, dence. Furthermore, though parental walk our dogs, or bicycle or hike (out of involvement has been found to have a all of the trail systems from the Ridge positive correlation with successful and Mid Mountain trails) are faced with schools, this factor is not on the list of the dangerous task of crossing SR 224 what we can control in schools to benefit with 31,000 cell-phone-talking, yellowstudents: cohesive curriculum, effective and sometimes red-light-running, speedassessment, quality instruction, etc. It is ing motorists or decide to drive, only Editor: within this locus of control areas that adding to the congestion/problem. Those OK, everyone, how about we all vote schools operate - we take care of what of us living in this community have seen Yes on Waikability! It only costs the we can: those activities that take place the numerous accidents at this intersecaverage home in Park City about 30 during the school day. Sorry, Parents for tion. cents a day to: make walking and riding Choice, my sweet tooth's unsatisfied. Ironically, the state and the Utah bikes to school safer for children and Utah's per-pupil funding allocation Department of Transportation (UDOT) their parents, save everyone's fuel and time by improving traffic flow, reduce consistently ranks last in the nation. say SR 224 is too dangerous to provide a greenhouse gas emissions, and improve Each year the No Child Left Behind Act crossing guard for our children and our ability to connect as a community! will label more and more public schools although they feel the tunnel is a good What a bargain! Think about what as failing. Vouchers will withdraw dollars idea, they can't quite justify spending makes Park City a great place to live and from underfunded schools attended by $1.5 million since there are not "that public school students. Who is trying to many" people crossing the street amidst Walkability bond is a bargain the 31,000 cars. In an effort to further demonstrate our concern to UDOT, Summit County, and the Park City School District (PCSD) and to show how many people would walk or bike across SR 224 if there was a safe route (tunnel), we ask that each resident of Summit County to attempt to walk across 224 at Bear Hollow/Silver Springs a minimum of ONE time on Oct. 3, 2007. My goal is for the crossing button to be pushed 31,000 times on International Walk to School Day. Let's show the state and UDOT what 31,000 attempts really are. So please, on your way to/and or from work, school, physical exercise etc., please get out of your car and push the button a few times. In addition, we will challenge the PCSD to come into compliance with Utah state law and the Student Neighborhood Access Program (S.N.A.R) requiring elementary, middle and junior high schools to have a routing plan that outlines the safest walking and biking routes for students to get to school. A daunting task when faced with getting students safely across 224 from the west side. Michelle Fog arty Sun Peak Withholding health care is murder Editor: The Institute of Medicine estimates that about 18,000 people die each year because they cannot afford health care. What do American Republicans call government sponsored attempts to provide health insurance to the 40,000,000+ uninsured in the country? Socialized medicine. What do decent people in moments of honesty call withholding health care from persons who become disabled and die without it? Murder. Isn't it time to stop hiding behind euphemisms, self-serving rhetoric, legalities, ideologies, hypocrisy, intoxicating ourselves in pursuit of the "perfumes of Arabia," and pandering to special health-care business and political inter- GUEST EDITORIAL Public schooling is not another for-proft industry doubt that they feel their success in commerce justifies their abilities to "fix" this country's educational system. I want to preface my opinion by stating Mr. Eyre believes "market forces" that until recently I was in favor of vouchers. The basic concept appealed to my should dictate school choice and would egalitarian sensibilities: provide a tax sub- provide regulatory ballast. This belies the sidy for needy parents to allow their chil- fact that schooling is a social infrastrucdren to gain the same educational oppor- ture, not another for-profit industry. Mr. tunities available for the wealthy. I over- Eyre's little stacks of Oreos can serve to came my initial skepticism that the cur- advocate a return to private toll roads rent Utah legislature, so averse to any ("Lexus Lanes" in California offer a increased spending for education, would glimpse of that free-market paradise) or actually back such a "liberal'1 subsidy dismantling public utilities from unprofitable rural areas. We could gain a few with precious tax dollars. more cookies by privatizing our fire That said, as the issue comes to a head departments in favor of the insurancewith the usual barrage of editorials and company brigades of yesteryear. Not so TV ads, I see true colors being flown. fast, Richard. The cookies will stay in one Repeated exposure to the pro-voucher bag since we are committed as a society to message in the media has led me to a compulsory public schooling because an greater understanding of what is political- education improves society as a whole, ly at stake. And so I would like to dispute not just the student. That's why public Mr. Eyre's thesis in his Park Record edito- schools serve all children, regardless of rial that the "more people know about location, background, ability and attitude. vouchers, the more they are for them." They do not pick and choose the best, In any political dispute there are mon- most profitable "product." eyed special interests. Parents for Choice Something greater than irony must in Education gets a large part of its funding from All Children Matter, a PAC sup- compel the self-described "conservative, ported by heirs to the Wal-Mart fortune. pro-business" voucher lobby to embrace Other financial backers include such an obviously market-manipulating Overstock.com's Patrick Byrne, Amway government subsidy. Subsidies are known founder Dick DeVos as well as to stifle competition as opposed to fosterEnergySolutions. These captains of ing it. This contradiction resolves itself industry clearly know a thing or two when one considers how the pro-voucher about markets and efficiency. I do not argument dovetails with the argument against all compulsory education. Submitted by Martin Jedlicka Snyderville Through shifting the source of funding from the taxpayer to the parent by incremental legislative degrees, the parent, not society, becomes the consumer of education. The public school system shrivels, relegated to those who cannot contribute their share of the cookies. Mission accomplished. Now parents provide the cookies. But consider - these are young minds, the essence of our future that we're dealing with, not some sugary commodity, and that's what is wrong with Mr. Eyre's analysis of public policy through simplistic physical analogies. Granted, he can stack cookies into so many piles, even snacking on the bigger cookies to back into his answers, but at the end of the day, the Utah legislature is not traipsing to any store, even Wal-Mart, to buy more bags of Orcos. The cookie jar has a fixed volume, mandated by the legislature's outspoken aversion to taxation, so any cookies given to private schools have to come at the expense of the public school system. To deny this is to deny the realpolitik of Utah, where many voucher supporters coincidentally support a local version of Proposition 13, the California initiative that has irrevocably damaged what was once one of the nation's best school programs in the flinty spirit of tax resentment. But at least California has a lottery to support its cash-starved public schools. That's not an option for Utah's public school system once the legislature adjusts public funding levels to account for the "success" of the voucher program. The separation of church and state is a founding principle of this nation, and it is continually under attack by the extremist religious right, which has weighed in heavily on the side of vouchers. While it dismays me that parents would choose to send their children to schools that dispute scientific truths such as evolution and the geological record, I support their right to do so. What I don't support is the use of public funds to promote specific religious beliefs. Would you support a government campaign to discourage the refrigeration of foods? How about the repression of women's rights? These are religious beliefs to some, and if an electoral majority is all we need to impose such beliefs on others, then these issues can become public policy through dubious legislation. Logic, reason and an open mind are not the tenets of some phantom "religion" dubbed "Secular Humanism," but rather they are the building blocks of all education and perhaps the stumbling blocks of all indoctrination. I believe most educators understand this distinction, and unfortunately some demagogues willfully exploit it. One thing Mr. Eyre and I can agree on - Luckily for most Americans, educational policy is still determined by state, so should the Utah voucher program pass, other states will gain an education at the expense of our unique experience. ests of both Democrats and Republicans? Or do you choose to live in an America where chance decides who lives and dies from disease? Money and blood don't mix. If we cannot have a health care sector in the U.S. unchained from profiteers and committed to and able to commit funds to promoting the lives and health of each of us; then, how can you and I, with this blood of others on our hands, respect ourselves and each other? For the past, what's done cannot be undone; not so for the future. Let's see deeds and stop hearing words until the dying is over. On the other hand, if we are not going to correct this injustice then let's be honest with ourselves and start wearing lapel buttons that read: "If you don't have access to health care it's your problem. Just please don't be so inconsiderate of me to die where I might see your body and be reminded of what I have done." Robert Becker Park City The Park Record Staff PUBUSHER Andy Bemhard Editor Nan Chalat-Noaker Staff writers Jay Hamburger Pat Parkinson Joe Lair Adia Waldburger Anna Bloom Dan Bischoff Frank Fisher Contributing writers Tom Cfyde Ten Orr Jay Meehan Joan Jacobson Silvia Leavitt Unda Jager Lisa Nyren Steve Phillips Editor's assistant Kelly Evertsen Copy editor David Hampshire Special sections editor Trade Fails ADVERTISING Classified advertising Bridget Morgan Office manager Christin Hicks Circulation manager Kandilee Snyder Accounting manager Lacy Brundy Advertising director Kristi Ruppert Advertising sales Valerie Deming Wendy Halliday Teresa Chavez Annie Macdonald Lori Gull Steve Aldous Jennifer Musial Nicole Graham Arwa Jundi Advertising Assistant Nikki Norton Editorial production Photographers Scott Sine Sarah Ause Production director Matt Gordon Production Scott Schlenker Becky Larsen Ann Marie Kloogh Tawnya Cazier Joshua Greenberg Sara Ely • Seth Cahil Polly Hopkins PRESS ROOM General Manager Bill Olsen Head Pressman Don Femey Pressman Jimmy Elkins Pre-press Mike Hall Controller Valerie Waite Office Staff Sandy Trost Ethel Bradford Mail Room Marilyn Case Distribution Ray Scoggins Mike Fischer Antonio Contreras Cartoonist John Kilboum The 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 of author. 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