OCR Text |
Show A10 Vernal Express Wednesday. July 28, 2004 Opinion 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 writers 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 editorvernal.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. Changes Dear Editor, I have been talking with a few districts in the state to find out how long they leave their principals in the high school position. Jordan School District used to leave their high school principals in for five years, but they have recently extended that time due to accreditation. accredita-tion. They have found that their schools do much better if the same principal stays at the schxl throughout the process. When asked why they would remove a principal prin-cipal from a high school, they said that if the principal requested the move, or if the principal had been in a school for a long time they would move them. When Granite Schxl District was asked how long they keep their principals at their high schools they said that they kept them as principal for an average of seven years. They said that they would move a principal upon the principal's request, or if they had been at a school for a long time and both the school and the principal needed a change. It was also mentioned at the meeting on July 6, 2004, that Union High School and Wasatch High School have both had two principals in the last 20 years. This upcoming school year will be my I Oth year at Uintah High School and the fourth principal change. Something isn't right in our district. I also wanted the public to know something about all of the changes that our district makes every other year. Every time a forced move is made, an administrator administra-tor keep hisher high salary. So this means that when Dixie Allen was moved back to Discovery, for the 2000-200 2000-200 1 and the 2(K)l-2O02 schml years, she kept the high school principal's salary. As many of us know, our district dis-trict has made many of these forced moves. In the past six years our district has spent about $50,000 that they didn't need to spend, on forced moves. Taxpayer's dollars dol-lars well spent don't you think? KRISTY PUTNAM High school math teacher rt 1 Whiterocks Speedway Dear Editor, I would like to apologize to the spectators of the Whiterocks Speedway for the unprofessionalism of the track and the drivers during the past few weeks. The management and drivers have had a meeting this past week to discuss some new ideas and the solution of the old problems regarding our local stock car track and both management and drivers want the spectators to know just how important they are to us. It seemed like the pride was taken out of the track and the fun was gone for the drivers, but all have come to a group decision deci-sion to make things work out right. We agreed to work a little harder and solve the problems, not just give up on something that obviously we love to do. There was an announcement about the cancellation of the July 31st and the August 7th races, but due to last week's conclusions, we will be racing those weekends and promise our "local crowds" that we are giving it our 100 to make it enjoyable for them. We will however how-ever be changing the 21st of August race to the 14th of August., so the locals can enjoy the County Fair Demolition Derby. There have also been changes to the start times of the races, they now start at 6:00 p.m. and again we apologize for these changes. It is so nice to have something in the motor-sport world in our own backyard and have every intention of making this work and being a positive and enjoyable thing. We invite one and all. young and old to come and watch an afternoon of action-packed excitement. And if you have enjoyed what we have done in the past, the race on the 14th of August w ill definitely be one to see. Without you-our spectators-there will be no racing, and w ith the new track improvements and new attitudes of the drivers, we are hoping to make things absolutely spectacular thoughout the rest of our season. TERRIE WHITE Whiterocks Speedway Secretary To the Board Dear Editor, It has been my information that Dixie Allen is to be put in the district office and to have very little if any interaction with the students of this school district. I would hate to see Dixie like that. She loves the students of Uintah High School and always will. Dixie is our friend, she isn't just an administrator. She is one of us students. She knows what hard times we are going through as teenagers in an ever changing world and environment. She is always there to talk to. She supports us in our extra-curricular activities at school. Mrs. Allen will be to an event if she can. She will cheer the students on. She believes in us and knows that we can do our very best. Mrs. Allen follows the rules and does not show favoritism to a certain club or sport. She supports us all. True, she might not let a player on a team play that has some academic or attendance reason why he she should not be in the game, or let a student not be able to participate in a competition or a concert for the same reasons. But at least she is playing by the rules. It shouldn't matter if your family is on the top of the totem pole or your parent is a key player in some group. We should all be treated like equals. I hope that you take this letter into consideration and realize what you are doing to the students and faculty at Uintah High School. You are causing a great loss to the students and we want Dixie to stay with us. DALEC. KYNASTON Student of UHS Health insurance Dear Editor: Almost everyone in this country is just a moment away from being uninsured even though they have worked their entire life. This is what happened to my son last year when he was injured in a motorcycle accident. At the time of the accident he was working and insured but because of his injuries he could no longer work and therefore could not afford to pay the cobra payment for his health insurance. As a result he now owes more than $1 10,000 in medical bills. More people die in the Basin from colon cancer than in other areas, probably because a large percentage percent-age of folks are uninsured even though they work more than 40 hours a week and often hold down more than one job. Since they are uninsured they forego the costly colonoscopy that can catch or treat possible colon cancer at an early stage. I don't understand why Americans seem to think it is un-American to have a national health insurance for everyone rather than use the inefficient insurance system which only helps some Americans pay their medical expenses and wastes $200 billion a year due to the overhead and profits of the private investor owned insurance industry. A government financed health insurance covering every American is more efficient and less costly, if only folks would not be bulldozed by insurance companies into thinking it would be more costly. When I called to see why Ashley Valley Medical Center charged my son $10,000 for an approximately three and a half hour stay before he was life flighted to SLC, I was told by a hospital spokesperson, "We can charge anything we want because we are in a rural area." Compare Ashley Valley's outrageous price to a 9 day intensive care stay at the University of Utah Hospital of $28,000. Folks wonder why there are bankruptcies, suicides, sui-cides, children going hungry and people not getting the medical attention they so desperately need. How are folks suppose to afford to live when hospitals can charge outrageous prices for services that are a necessity. In the Basin jobs are hard to come by, especially ones which insure their employees. The government is already paying for the unemployed drug seeking addicts to make numerous visits to the ER for pain medications. It is time we overcome the republican resistance to a national health insurance program. Don't let the influential health insurance lobbying groups control the will of the people for an equitable equita-ble government financed health insurance plan for everyone. We need to start a fight at the local level for national health insurance all Americans, each of whom could find themselves uninsured at almost any moment. RUDY WIERSMA Vernal Soldier Hollow Biathlon to be held August 1 A new adventure is available to anyone 10 years and older on Sunday, August I at Soldier Hollow: a biathlon on mountain bikes. Participants will ride a pre-determined course and then fire an air rifle at targets once used by 2002 Winter Olympic athletes. Information and registration is available by calling Soldier Hollow at 435-654-2002. Registration fee is $I0 on the day of the event. Bicycles are available for rent prior to the event. Gold, silver and bronze awards will be presented as well as certificates for all participants. Vernal teacher hears latest methods at summit No Child Left Behind summit educates teachers on the latest research-based practices to improve student achievement Lynna Kendall of Vernal Middle School in Vernal, Utah participated in the U.S. Department of Education's first-ever Research-to-Practice National Summit in Washington, DC on July 19-20. Attendees learned about the latest research-based methods to raise student achievement at the invitation-only event. "Effective teachers are the key to fulfilling the promise of the No Child Left Behind Act," said U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige. "The summit sum-mit aims to provide a select group of educators from every state, every discipline, and every grade level with the most useful information about what works in the classroom. Participants can then share what they learned with their colleagues. Teachers are the true heroes of education, and we are pleased to facilitate this exchange of information to help teachers and, ultimately, students." Secretary Paige led off the two-day summit that brought together effective teachers and education researchers to demonstrate their strategies for their colleagues in the fields of reading, mathematics, science, sci-ence, and the arts. Alma Powell was the luncheon speaker. President Bush and Congress provided an unprecedented unprec-edented $16.1 billion in federal funding since 2001 to support the teaching profession and the President has requested $5.1 billion for additional funding in FY 2005. The U.S. Department of Education and Secretary Paige are committed to building upon teachers' success by listening to and learning from educators through the Teacher-to-Teacher Initiative. The initiative includes the summit, summer workshops, work-shops, teacher roundtables, "Toolkits for Teachers" and resource materials, and the weekly e-mail update "Teacher E-Bytes." g Gins Gem Ainmeuica weighs in By Virginia Harrington Vernal Express Writer Americans have a weight problem that encompasses everything from anorexia to morbid obesity. Two or three years ago, every magazine in the racks at grocery stores carried car-ried headlines about the tragedy of anorexia. Today, those same magazines maga-zines are touting the latest diet craze of low carbs. Reading professional journals that report the results of years of research isn't of much help to those who are struggling with extra peunds. , Reports from the scientific connuni-ty connuni-ty are often contradictory ana confusing. confus-ing. Obesity is blamed on everything from a missing enzyme to a virus. Unfortunately, the authors of diet books will jump on one report and the next fad diet will blossom. The result is usually a fairly quick loss of weight followed by a steady replacement replace-ment of those pounds to the original weight and beyond. This yo-yo effect is disheartening and unhealthy. Obesity is a complex problem and it is highly unlikely that one fad diet will fit the needs of everyone w ho is trying to shed those extra pounds, be it 10 pounds or 100. The low fat diet of the last several years backfired, causing many dieters to gain weight rather than lose. 1 fully expect the same results from the current low carb craze. The only people who will receive a long term benefit are those who manufacture, advertise and sell the products that support the fad. It is possible to find a voice of reason amidst all the clamor. The cover article in the August edition of National Geographic does a fine job pf explaining theoriesdietSi and other factors that influerfce weight gain and weight loss. The conclusion conclu-sion drawn in this article is that a calorie is a calorie, no matter where it comes from and no matter what drives the individual to consume that calorie. The calories taken in need to balance with the calories expended on life support and physical activity. The author, Cathy Newman, does not fall into the old trap of blaming obesity on a lack of willpower. She acknowledges the bio-physical problems prob-lems that encourage people to over eat, causing a continuing weight gain over decades. Newman's bottom line, however is that no matter what is causing the obesity, there is only one solu tion. Diets need to be well balanced not only nutritionally, but also with exercise. Our sedentary life style is a major contributor to our waist size and our fad diets hurt us rather than help us. Exercise doesn't have to mean run ning five miles or climbing a moun tain. It can be as simple as parking in the space farthest away from the supermarket door.; Walk in place r step up and down off a wooden box for 15 minutes while watching a favorite television show. Encourage children to turn off the video games and play basketball or jump rope The point is, exercise doesn't have to be a chore. Burning those extra calories can become part of a normal daily routine with a little imagination and a modicum of effort. Now, if I would just take my own advice, maybe I could lose those 10 extra pounds I've been carrying for the last few years. Mary Schaefermeyer served as parade Grand Marshal Mary Schaefermeyer says leading Saturday's Pioneer Day Parade this year as Grand Marshal was a real honor. "I didn't think I really deserved it! I always felt that a grand marshal was asked because they thought they were getting old," she observed with her characteristic quick wit. Mary admits that her grandchildren were excited and that four of her family came for her big event. "They were in full force downtown by the bank and yelled for me," she says of her trip down the Main Street parade route. "It was worth it to do it for them." This long-time Vernal resident is a recognized community leader. Mary Aycock Schaefermeyer, daughter of Robert and Addie Sowards Aycock, was born in Vernal Nov. 9, 1921. She graduated from Uintah High School in 1940. Mary has served in many LDS Church callings including Primary President, stake and ward Relief Society presidencies, presi-dencies, ward and stake organist for 55 years and ward choir director for 15 years. Mary has worked in the Vernal Family History Center and currently enjoys working in the Vernal Temple' and serving as an organist there. Mary has been active in community commu-nity activities serving as a past president presi-dent of the Progressive Arts Club in Vernal and chairman of the Heart Fund Drive for many years. She was instrumental in improving cultural activities in Vernal, including scheduling sched-uling concerts of the Utah Symphony and the U.S. Navy Band. She received the Uintah Arts Council Artist Appreciation Award in 1997. Mary and her husband Art were well-known in Vernal as owners C 1"V . j- , -V- - - - ?-.. ir'-- Grand Marshal Mary Schaefermeyer of the Vernal Music Store (earlier known as Melody Gardens) from 1961 to 1985. Mary passed on her love of music to many young people as she taught piano lessons for many years. Mary and her husband Art raised six sons, all served LDS missions. She has 29 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren. In 1986, Mary and Art served an LDS mission to San Francisco, working in a Spanish ward. Mary enjoys the outdoors and especially enjoys fishing, boating and snowmobiling. |