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Show 2 Vernal Express Wednesday, August 9, 200C Opinion and Commentary JACK-STRAWS Jack Walils 1 Small amounts of exercise might not get you 'Tit" or "in shape" but even small doses of activity will contribute con-tribute significantly to better health, says an exercise physiologist at Stanford University. "Any exercise is better than none," says Gordon Matheson, professor of functional restoration, director of Stanford University's Sports Medicine Program and a team physician for Stanford athletic teams. Matheson says that the U.S. Surgeon General's Healthy People 2000 report calls for most people to accumulate 30 minutes of exercise almost every day to improve health. Matheson notes that accumulate is a key word. "Research shows us that the effects of exercise are cumulative-everything counts. Continuous exercise is good, because it helps build endurance, but health benefits are gained by finding small opportunities during dur-ing the day-for example, walking up the stairs instead of riding the elevator, or parking at the back of the parking lot to add a two-minute walk to the daily routine," rou-tine," he says. Does it really matter that 30 minutes is spent running up hills at a fast pace or walking briskly? "For overall health, the advantage to be gained from running up a hill vs. a brisk walk may be small," says Matheson. "You won't achieve athletic fitness with a daily walk, but you will likely achieve 90 percent of the benefits to your heart and other organ systems that you would have gained from more vigorous exercise. You will also gain significant benefits in fighting or helping to prevent hypertension or blood sugar disorders, disor-ders, most notably diabetes," Matheson said. People should check with their physicians before beginning any exercise program, not only to assess possible risks and hazards that may apply to them, "but to establish reasonable goals and objectives that can be an important part of their overall health routine." rou-tine." A good way to start an exercise program, says Matheson, is to take a brisk 30-minute walk each day. After a week, start running or jogging for a few minutes min-utes of that half hour. "Even if it is a few steps, try to make that start If you're able, you can very slowly increase the running time by a minute or two each day until finally the entire 30 minutes is spent running or jogging." Most people will find they regain the time spent as a dividend in the form of higher work productivity, greater alertness and less sleepiness as the body gains overall strength and stamina. "This isn't a debate," says Matheson. "More is better, bet-ter, but less is OK, especially if you are among the millions of persons who have found that a little exercise exer-cise made them feel better-so they went on to discover discov-er that more exercise increases that feeling." PUBLIC FORUM LETTERS TO THE EDITOR What is your opinion? The Express welcomes letters let-ters from its readers concerning any subject pertinent perti-nent to the Uintah Basin. There are no restrictions as to contents, if not libelous or vindictive and of reasonable length (two typewritten double spaced pages). Letters must be submitted exclusively to the Express and bear the writer's full name, signature, signa-ture, phone number and address. Letters for the sole purpose of expressing thanks to individuals or groups will not be printed in the forum. Letters may be mailed, faxed at 789-8690 or through e-mail at editorvemal.com. The name or names of those submitting letters must appear on all published letters. let-ters. All letters are subject to condensation. Letters express the opinion of the writer and are not necessarily nec-essarily the opinion of the Express Editor. Observe traffic laws Dear Editor, The area in which I live is a very pleasant, enjoyable area. It is a rural area where the neighbors work together and kind of watch out for each other's families. fami-lies. Every family on my street owns a pet or two and has young children and grandchildren and we all watch out for each other. However, we do have on big problem. I guess because we are rural, out in the "sticks," some individuals feel they can use 4000 South as their practice track for auto racing. 400 South intersects with 500 East and continues to 1500 East. It is a mile-long straight, no posted speed limit signs and very little patrolling if any. I understand the temptation to test the limits of the speedometer in that mile, but those of us that aren't racing fans prefer slower speeds, practice somewhere else. There is usually usu-ally an assortment of children and pets on the roadside or attempting to cross, and the high rate of speed poses a real threat in this populated area. On Aug. 1, my wife experienced the sad loss of her beloved Basset puppy. Although he was kept in a fenced yard, a gate had been left open and he ventured out, barely off the driveway. He was struck by a vehicle and killed. The situation was made worse by the fact that this driver hid the body behind a garbage can and prompdy drove away, making no effort to locate the owners. This could easily have been a child, a young mother walking her baby or one of the many walkers or joggers that are out and about every day. I would like to ask drivers to observe the same traffic traf-fic laws and limits in rural areas as those within the city limits. Even though we live in the "sticks," our friends and families deserve to be safe outside their house and yard. We can get another dog, it won't be the same, but it can be replaced. However, a human life can't be replaced and it is sad that life, whether animal or human means so little to some people. ELAINE and CLEM GARCIA Vernal VERNAL express (ISSN 0892-1091) Published every Wednesday lor $19.00 per year In shopping area and $30 per year out of shopping area within state and $33 per year out of state within USA by the Vernal Express Publishing Company, 54 North Vernal Avenue, Vernal, Utah 84078. Periodfcals postage paid at Vernal, Utah 84078. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to VERNAL EXPRESS. P.O. Box 1000. Vernal Utah 84078. Jack R. Wallis Publisher Steven R. Wallis Editor and co-publisher Carol Jewsrt Lifestyle Writer VtoW Fetdt Public Notices Tara Maytett Advertising Marie Yoder .Advertising Jody Smuin Circulation ft Classified Ads Phone: 435-789-3511 FAX: 435-789-8690 Website: www.vemal.com e-mail: edHorOvemal.com DEADLINES ......... .................Monday 12 noon Display Advertising ., .. ...Monday 8 p.m. Classified Advertising Monday 5 p.m. Pubic Notices .. . Mondiry 3 p.m. 4-Wheel competition Dear Editor, On behalf of the High Country 4-wheel Drive Association I would like to recognize the citizens of Vernal, Roosevelt and the surrounding area for the support sup-port and contributions that made our event a resounding resound-ing success. We were hoping for a total attendance of 2000 to 4000 over the two days the event ran. Total attendance for both days was a staggering 11,500 people. peo-ple. The Vernal Chamber of Commerce is estimating that our event brought in just over $1,000,000 to the Vernal economy alone. We were asked to host the "Goodyear Extreme Rock Crawling Championship Series" only three days after we formed the club. Without the generous support and participation of the community we could never have pulled it off. This event has developed an unprecedented, and previously unknown, common ground between Tribal members, non Tribal members and people from all around the region.. We had competitors from as far away as South Carolina and western Canada. All were awed by the unique and rugged beauty of the Uintah Basin. I talked to many of the competitors who said they had never seen an area like this before. They were also made to feel welcomed and appreciated. There are hundreds who were instrumental in bringing about the success of this endeavor, and I'll make a feeble - and certainly incomplete - attempt to name some of the most prominent. promi-nent. First and foremost, my loving and patient wife Joni who put up with four months of non-stop calls, e-mails, e-mails, trips and meetings - working at least as hard as I was, but always accepting the thankless position of 2, Bryan and Althy Teauge, The Ute Indian Tribe who allowed us the unprecedented and historic use of their land, the Ute Tribe Business Committee, John and Jackie Felt, Troy and Tina Blasier, Terry and Brandy Clark, Richard and Kris Kofford, the Dunsmore boys -Troy and Derek, Trent and Sandy Nelson, Ranch and Ericka Pratt and all the ARCA volunteers, Andi Vogt, Derk Hatch, Phil Kollard and Jim Peterson - world class trail builders, Deb Snider, Irene Hansen, Alice Larsen, the Vernal and Roosevelt chambers of commerce, com-merce, the Tribal, BIA, Vernal and Roosevelt police departments, Steve Dunsmore and all the Search and Rescue volunteers, The Ute Tribe ambulance crews, The Ute Tribe fire crews, all the other members of HC4WDA, the direct and indirect supporters of HC4WDA, Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, the gang from the jeep-slc list, the competitors for putting on a great show, the cities of Vernal and Roosevelt and the fantastic people of the Uintah Basin LEHI SMITH President High Country 4-wheel Drive Association Teacher publishes novel Donna Barton, local resident and teacher has just published her novel, "My Horses Had Wings." The story tells of those years when World War II changed the world. It tells of the impact of the war for U.S. families and how lives were uprooted; and war or no war, how life moved forward in personal paths and relationships which made and remade life. The tale is autobiographical; the incidents and the characters are real. These are the things Barton remembers remem-bers about her life and the lives of her family and friends. Even though the happenings are true, the' story unfolds like a novel. There is a theme and characters with problems to be solved Horses become the talisman talis-man to which Donna clings to find the joy of being a country kid. The old school and the town, as well as her family and pets, especially her horses, form her personality as she matures. Donna Barton practices what she preaches. Many have taken English from her at Utah State University or Altamont High School; and just as she taught her students, stu-dents, Barton has taken one year to write and rewrite until it seemed to be correct and readable. Barton has written stories and articles most of her life. She and her students published two books about early life and ways in the Uintah Basin: "Forgotten Ways," and "Memoirs of the Once Silent Uintah Mountains." "My Horses Had Wings," is published by Bonneville Press. Barton lives with her husband Jack Barton in Altamont. I Hon'-h know if I've dot alzheimers or sornebi triers, All! know is I don't Know if IVe -found a chunk or rope or los-t my horse fj Surplus or Overcharge by Gordon S. Jones You can always count on President Bill Clinton to let the cat out of the bag. Not that the man isn't devious. No one more so. But the fact is, that he is so wrapped up in himself that he is not in the slightest conscious of the irony of his pronouncements on economics and ethics. We are all familiar with his characterization of the impeachment impeach-ment trial as himself standing at the bridge defending the Constitution. A proud moment, and an important part of his legacy. Now he is weighing in on the "Republican tax cuts," pointing out with hokey little charts and repeated bloviations that, unless he mounts the barricades once more, those foul GOPers will "spend" all the surplus by cutting taxes. His charts show a simple equation: equa-tion: $1.8 trillion -1.8 trillion $0.0 trillion The first $1.8 trillion here is the amount of the budget surplus over the next ten years. The second is the amount of proposed Republican tax cuts over those same ten years, leaving a balance of zero. Of course that $1.8 trillion surplus is the result of too getting tax rates wrong, not a planned figure. No one, least of all Clinton, said, "I've got a good idea. Why don't we overtax over-tax the American people until we run up a $1.8 trillion surplus?" That isn't what happened. And the second number is phony as well. Clinton counts tax cuts passed by the Congress last year, but vetoed by the president, as well as this year's round of tax cuts, a major share of which is designed to replace last year's vetoed cuts. But leave the details aside. The fascinating thing is that Clinton somehow seems to think that now that the government has all that money, it should spend it to make our lives better, instead of letting us decide how to spend it That $1.8 trillion is an overcharge, plain and simple, just as much as if the phone company or the grocer had overcharged over-charged us. In those cases, we don't let the phone company or the grocer decide how to spend the overcharge. We insist that it be returned to us. If in fact Republicans are proposing propos-ing to return the exact amount of the surcharge (which as I've noted, they are not), isn't that exactly what we want them to do? And whom are the Republicans proposing to return it to? The "rich," of course. In ClintonSpeak, "rich" means people who pay taxes. If we are going to cut taxes, it is inescapable that the benefits are going to flow to those who paid the surplus taxes in the first place. And that seems perfectly per-fectly reasonable. But not to Bill Clinton. Nor to At Gore, though he is lying low for the moment. These esteemed gentle men prefer "targeted" tax cuts. In other words, they don't like the idea of broad, across the board tax cuts, but prefer to target the cuts to particular par-ticular groups that they favor, incidentally inci-dentally (or maybe not) groups that tend to vote Democrat in presidential presiden-tial elections. In fact, tax cuts of this kind look a very great deal like spending programs, such as the president's proposal for a new prescription pre-scription drug benefit And in some cases, Clinton and . Gore actually prefer new spending programs outright, out-right, as in their proposal for new spending on schoolteachers. We should be grateful to Bill Clinton for reminding us, with his chart, just how carefully Congress has structured its tax cut proposals, such that they so closely match the surplus, bringing the federal budget into true balance. Do I not care about paying down the national debt? I do, but I note in the first place that Congress has not proposed pro-posed $1.8 trillion in tax cuts. Half a trillion over ten years will be left to pay down the debt, something that Bill Clinton was never much exercised about until it could be used to de-rail tax cuts. And in the second place, tax cuts would stimulate the economy, which shows some signs of faltering, falter-ing, keeping the revenue machine growing. If we can resist Clinton's shell game, and push through some real tax cuts, an expanding economy will make possible future tax cuts, manage the transition from Social Security to a fully-funded retirement retire-ment program, and provide ample revenue to retire the national debt as well. Gordon Jones is president of the Association of Concerned . Taxpayers a 20,000-member grassroots grass-roots organization. Gold medal mile As part of "A Healthier You 2002" program, the Salt Lake Organizing Committee for the Olyrrtpic Games of 2002, in conjunction con-junction with Uintah Parks and Recreation and Vernal City, is inviting invit-ing everyone to participate in a Gold Medal Mile on Saturday, August 12 at the Freestone Legacy Walking Park at 9 a.m. The Gold Medal Mile is a free, one-mile walk, to jump-start individual indi-vidual fitness programs. The first 100 people to register will receive a 2002 Olympic Winter Games pin after completing the walk. Participants can register before the event at 8:30 at the Colton Pavilion, or they can preregister in the Parks and Recreation office or on line at www.saltlake2002.comcommunity. Walk a mile with your family and friends; make this the beginning of a healthier you for 2002. For more information, call 78 1 -0982. Museum to present nature slide show On Monday, Aug. 14 at 7 p.m. a free slide show by Mark Fuller, nature photographer, will be presented pre-sented at the Utah Field House of Natural History. 235 East Main in Vernal. The presentation is the third in a series of lectures devoted to natural history to be held at the museum this year. Future lectures will be in the fall and winter. Contact the museum at 435-789-3799 for further fur-ther information. Open horse show kicks off fair The Uintah County Fair began on Saturday, Aug. 5 with the Open Horse Show. Many local riders and their horses as well as a few from Colorado participated in the judged portion of the horse show. Clif Goble, from Syracuse, Utah, was the judge. In halter classes the horse is judged on confirmation. Winning grand champion stallion was Silkn's Master Fox owned by Roxi Englert from Rangely, Colo. Reserve Champion Stallion was Saddle San Badger owned by Steve and Jeanne Sanchez. Grand Champion Mare was Freida owned by Kay Bergfeld. Reserve Champion Mare was. Pawnee Sassy Sox, owned by Roxi Englert and Reserve Champion Gelding was BC Atta Skip; owner Sherry Gines. The judged performance classes for adults were Showmanship at Halter, Western' Pleasure, Western Riding, and Reining. Earning the most points in the adult division was Jaclyn Gines riding her horse named Jetaleo Jaleeta. Reserve high point adults was Roxi Englert The 12-15 age group was judged on Showmanship at Halter, Western Horsemanship, Western Riding, and Reining. Winner of the 12-15 age group was Tiffney Lance riding her horse named Shawman. Reserve high point 12-15 was Sadie Taylor on her horse. Ginger. The 1 1 and under age group were judged in the same four classes and winner of this age group was Alisha Perry on her horse named Ginger. Reserve high point in the 11 and under age group went to Charles Jones on his horse named Pete. A special division for two handed training horses, horses which are under five years of age, was held. These young horses were judged in Showmanship at Halter, Western Pleasure, Western Riding, and Reining. Winning high point in this division was Tiffney Lance on her horse Scooter. Reserve high point went to Teresa Grant on her horse Dusty. A special western equestrian class for riders 8 and under was held. Tied for first place in this age group was Elizabeth Jones riding Pete, Bradcn Searle on Gypsey, and Brant Hcnline on Cookie. X |