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Show AID Wednesday, March 2, 2005 l2)teDfD Public Forum Letters to the Editor What is your opinion? The Vernal Express welcomes letters from its readers concerning any subject pertinent to the Uintah Basin. There are no restrictions on contents, if not libelous, vindictive vin-dictive and in good taste. The letters need to be a reasonable length, two typewritten double spaced pages. Letters must be submitted exclusively to the Vernal Express and bear the writer's writ-er's full name, signature, phone number and address. Letters for the sole purpose of expressing express-ing thanks to individuals or groups will not be printed in the forum. Letters may be mailed to P.O. Box 1000, Vernal, Utah 84078, faxed at 789-8690 or through email at editorvernal.com. The name or names of the persons submitting letters must appear on all published letters. All letters let-ters are subject to condensation. Letters express the opinion of the writer and are not necessarily necessar-ily the opinion of the Vernal Express Editor. - they are animals and pets and should be treated with love and kindness. Keeping a dog chained up in your yard and restraining it from running loose is not cruel and it is only protecting your dog. It also protects the community. Keeping a dog on a chain that allows it to move around does not make it prone to attack people. It is the maltreatment of dogs that makes them mean. It is those who don't restrain their dog who do the real damage in our community. Most attack by dogs occur when a dog gets off its chain, out of its pen and off its owner's property. These incidents many times result in children being seriously injured and sometimes even killed. I would hope one would not deem it acceptable that the result of not restraining their pet was an attack on a child. I don't know how many times in my line of work I have heard, "My dog is trained, he has never done that before." Well the first time your beloved, unrestrained pet goes for a three year old's throat, it is too late. Michael J. McHale Military service appreciated Dear Editor, My son, SPC Kyle Eisenbraun, is a battalion combat medic with the Fourth Infantry Division stationed at Ft Hood, Texas. He has already served a one-year tour in Iraq, near Mosul and Tikrit He called me to inform me that he will soon be sent over to Iraq for maybe another year so I took advantage of a long weekend to fly down to Texas to see him before he is deployed again. While there I purchased a sticker that says "My Son is Serving in the U.S. Army" and placed it in the driver's window of my car. Last Friday when I left work from the Junior High School, the following note was stuck on my car by my sticker "Thank your son for serving to help keep us safe and free!" I just wanted this person who so thoughtfully placed this note on my car to know how much it was appreciated. I don't know who you are, but this note came to me at just the right time. It is nice to know that our community still supports our young men and women who serve our country. Once again, thank you for this note. Mary Donovan Vernal Cruelty to dogs Dear Editor, I am writing this because of three recent articles arti-cles in the paper. These articles appeared to have the same theme. All three articles were concerning dogs being kept outside, specifically dogs that are chained or penned up. After reading the first article, I thought it was just an extreme opinion that in itself is fine, people peo-ple have all kinds of ideas. I must say it did seem to be little strange that the person who wrote the article felt that anyone who chained up or penned up their dog was somehow a cruel person per-son and mat when they die they should be condemned con-demned to spend eternity chained or penned up. Hmnun? I don't think I am alone in thinking that is somewhat extreme. The latest articles states that not only should dogs not be chained up or penned but in the winter win-ter when it gets cold they should be brought into the house and those that don't bring their dog in the house when it gets cold are committing an unimaginable cruelty. The writer even went so far as to suggest that anyone that sees a dog chained or penned up outside should report it To whom it was not clear. There is a reference to Utah State HB 242 cruelty cru-elty to animals. It is my hope that by the time this bill passes it is rewritten so as not to include chaining or penning dogs. I believe dogs and all pets should be protected from those few people who would hurt them. Having worked in law enforcement for many years, I have seen a number num-ber of cases of animal cruelty. Although I can state that there are far fewer cases of animal cruelty cru-elty than of cruelty of humans to humans. People treat their pets far better than they treat each other. So therein lies the issue. I submit that the author has in her mind raised the level of dogs to one above human beings. Dogs have been around for hundreds of thousands thou-sands of years (Dictionary definition canis n. 1. A genus of digitigrade carnivorous mammals, including the dog, wolf, fox and jackal.) Now, one could possible consider it to be cruel to keep a miniature poodle, especially one with all its natural hair shaved off, chained up outside when it gets down to freezing. Such a dog may very well freeze if left out all night. I think it's important to note that we humans are responsible responsi-ble for that condition as those types of dogs are hybrids. But to imply that keeping most other types of dogs outside, dogs that have a natural protection against the weather just as horses, cows, sheep, deer, elk, wolves, bears, etc., is an act of cruelty is ludicrous. This area, apart from the oil fields, is an agricultural agri-cultural area and as such, there is a large variety vari-ety of farm animals. One of the most important is the dog. The majority of farm dogs are working work-ing dogs, none of which are ever allowed in the house. These dogs are trained to work cattle and sheep, which they love to do and are amazing to watch. Most of these "working" dogs are either kept penned or chained up. Apart from the fact that people are required by law to keep their dogs restrained which means not allowed to wander around the street or onto other people's property, dogs on a farm would work the cows and sheep all the time if they weren't restrained. A farmer would no more take his dog into the house in the winter then he would take his cows or horses hors-es into the house. With the rare exception most dogs, especially the kinds of dogs in this part of the county, are perfectly comfortable outside in all kinds of weather. Most people who have dogs outside, have a "dog house", shed, porch, or something the animal can get under when it rains or snows. Dogs are incredible animals and even the farmer who has his working dog loves that an.'', mal and feels a great sense of loss when it dies or la killed. The record shows that most people who have pets love their animals and are kind to them. The dog is especially well loved. It is even thought that dogs were the first domesticated domesti-cated animals. Of course they were wolves then. It is scientific fact that all dogs' ancestors were wolves. I think you get the point; dogs are dogs, Chaining pets Dear Editor: I'd like to congratulate the Vernal Express for tackling the difficult subject of chaining and penning dogs. Your recent series of articles has pointed out the problems that chaining and penning pen-ning pose for dogs and people. A national organization dedicated to unchaining unchain-ing and unpenning dogs reports that about 20 children are killed every year when they wander wan-der into a chained dog's territory. With all of the chained dogs in the Uintah Basin, it is simply a matter of time before tragedy strikes one of our youngsters. Thank you for bringing this important issue to the public's attention. I hope that your articles and the discussions they generate will prompt the City Council and County Commissioners to ban the practice of chaining dogs before an innocent inno-cent child is killed or maimed. Sandy Hansen Production great but theater freezing Letter to the Editor, Compliments to the Vernal Middle School for the production of "Teens in Tinsel Town." It was a group of well-rehearsed young people putting their hearts and souls into a production to entertain enter-tain their families and the community. Kudos to them and their director, Elaine Bernard and all those who helped with staging, costumes, and dance instruction. We enjoyed the young actors and the story. My question to the school board and the Vernal Jr. High is why the audience had to freeze while watching the three nights of performances? We attended Friday evening. When we walked in to the auditorium it was very cold. I went to find someone to turn up the heat. I was told that no one in the building could adjust the temperature. So I called Wayne Gurney and was told he would "try" to get someone to check into the problem. At intermission I called Wayne Gurney again to explain that people were wrapped in blankets, everyone still wearing their coats, some wearing gloves and that it was extremely uncomfortable in the auditorium. He told me that he could not find anyone to turn on the heat. So I asked him if he would continue to call people so the people attending Saturday evening could be comfortable. comfort-able. He said he would take care of the heating problem. People on Saturday froze, also. Families were huddled under coats and blankets. The audience was uncomfortable. But the ones I felt bad for were the performers. People were so cold that they did not respond to the actors the way they should have. It is hard to laugh, cheer, applaud and be really responsive when your teeth are chattering, your hands are freezing cold or you are wearing gloves, or your body is wrapped in a big blanket After checking into this freezing event I discovered dis-covered that the nights for the play were put on the Vernal Jr. High calendar three weeks before show time. That should have been plenty of notice to have someone turn on the heat for the performances. I hope the performers and the audiences get more respect from the scheduling and the building build-ing maintenance people in the future. A still "Thawing Out" patron of the arts, Phyllis Jones Traffic light Dear Editor, My name is Josh Knight and I am 12 years old. I spend time at my grandparents at 2653 West 500 South. When we travel down the street to turn at Big O Tires, north on Highway 40, we have seven places to look for cars: coming from the Ponderosa Feed, KFC, Big O Tires, Coldwell Banker's parking, up the street and down the street plus 500 South. There have been countless wrecks that I know about and most likely more. I would really like to see a traffic light put in for the safety of us all. Josh Knight Vernal EVERYONE KNOWS THAT MARCH IS SUPPOSE TO COME IN LIKE A LION KE J if BUT IT WASN'T . MUCH OF A LION; ran i MEOW fy Tax Credits Dear Editor, We became very upset after reading the letter to the editor written by Dixie Allen in last week's Vernal Express. Frankly we were shocked and appalled at her apparent lack of knowledge about her own community. While she is entitled to her opinion regarding House Bill 39, Tuition Tax Credit, we do not appreciate her reference to private pri-vate schools and that the students who attend these schools have, in her words behavior problems, drug problems or both behavior and drug problems. Our daughter attends 7th grade at Uintah Basin Christian Academy in Vernal, a private school. She has attended this school for four (4) years for a fee we gladly pay. We consider it a blessing to have our choice of the school we send our child to. Our child does not have behavioral problems nor a drug problem we choose to give our child what we feel is the best education possible. pos-sible. We do not appreciate the negative implication implica-tion and the connotation Mrs. Allen is putting on those children that do attend private schools. We highly support the public schools system in the Uintah School District, have attended it, our parents, siblings, relatives all have attended Uintah School District. We have many friends and relatives that are part of the Uintah School District either as teachers or in administration. A little background: Uintah Basin Christian Academy (UBCA) was founded in 1999. The purpose pur-pose of UBCA is to provide academic excellence in a Christian-centered environment. UBCA teaches using the ABEKA curriculum (look it Up it is not easy) which is used in thousands of Christian Schools around the world. Class sizes are small, maximum of 10 children. The children chil-dren are required to follow a dress code. UBCA receives no federal or state funding. This is a school where respect of oneself, peers and educators edu-cators is expected and nothing less is tolerated and oh, yes, prayer in the classroom. The UBCA teachers, educators and many parents and others in the community have donated countless hours and money to the success of this school. The dedication and unconditional support of those involved in UBCA should be commended. Our child attended kindergarten through third grade at Maeser and Ashley Elementary Schools. She was always a straight A student and loved by her teachers. When we made the decision deci-sion to change schools, purely personal, there was no major event, nothing went wrong, just a new opportunity. She went from a straight A student to Cs. This was because of the strict curriculum cur-riculum and the challenge of the classes. She rapidly rap-idly adjusted and was soon on her way back to As and Bs and has been on the honor roll for the last three years. A great deal of sacrifice goes into sending your child to this school. There is not a bus system in place to pick up, deliver the children chil-dren to school every day and pick them up. The ABEKA curriculum has such high standards that homework is a requirement Most days our child has over one hour of homework. The skills she has been taught by attending this school will be with her the rest of her life. She has learned valuable valu-able skills and is on her way to becoming a very well rounded, responsible and educated adult As parents, we have chosen to become involved. We sincerely hope more parents would. Mrs. Allen's letter implies that only the rich can afford to send their children to private school not so. We work hard in order to provide the best environment and education for our daughter and because of this we have chosen not to purchase a new vehicle every year or pamper ourselves with the latest and greatest gadgets, again that is our choice and we are happy with it We are concerned and write this letter because Mrs. Allen does work hard for our community and is well respected, but she needs to correct such an inaccurate statement and we felt the inaccuracy needed to be addressed. Her implication, implica-tion, because of House Bill 39, that money will be given to anyone is incorrect Taxpayers, whose children meet the age requirement, will be allowed a certain deduction deduc-tion on income tax returns based on their annual income, according to the bill please read for yourself: http:wwwJe.state.ut.us2005htm-dochbillhtmHB0039S02.htm. http:wwwJe.state.ut.us2005htm-dochbillhtmHB0039S02.htm. Gino and Marilyn Riddle Gin's Gems It's time to acknowledge women's heart disease By Virginia Harrington Express Writer Heart disease is the number one killer of women in the United States. TriCounty Health recently held a full blown gala in Roosevelt to bring awareness of this fact to the citizens of Uintah Basin. It's way past time for this fact to be acknowledged acknowl-edged by the nation's medical community. Thirty years ago, women with mild symptoms symp-toms of heart disease were put on tranquilizers tranquiliz-ers because health professionals assumed their fatigue from a failing heart was really due to mood swings or emotional upsets. Today women are put on anti-depressants for the same symptoms symp-toms while their heart conditions grow more severe. Men with identical symptoms are treated for their heart disease. I have a friend whose husband is on multiple medications for his high cholesterol and blood fats. The medications have done their job and his blood tests are now all in the normal range. My friend's cholesterol is about 100 points higher than her husband's was when he was initially placed on medication. Nothing is done to help my friend bring her levels down to normal. She asked her doctor why she wasn't on medications medi-cations like her husband is. The answer was that the estrogen in her body would protect her from heart disease. My friend is in her 50s and is years into post-menopause. She has no more estrogen in her body than her husband has in his. This didn't happen thirty years ago. It was last year. What prompted me to bring this up was an interesting and educational presentation by a local emergency medical technician with years of experience in the field and in the classroom. He told his audience that a few years ago the American Heart Association (AHA) changed the procedure that is used to find the correct hand position when performing heart compressions during cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR). In the past, the proper position for the hands was determined by finding the lower point of the breastbone and placing the hands two finger widths above that spot. This was generally successful suc-cessful but sometimes resulted in improper positioning posi-tioning due to differing sizes in peoples hands, fingers and chests. Failure occurred most often when women with small hands tried to find the right spot on the chest of a large man, or when a man with large hands tried to find the correct spot on a small woman. The new technique does not depend on hand size. The appropriate position, according to the AHA, is to place the heel of the compressing hand on the breastbone along the nipple line of the person per-son receiving the CPR. Here we go again. The change is great for men. It doesn't work for women in need of CPR. Where is the nipple line on a woman? That depends on breast size, age, musculature, surgery such as removal of lumps that alter the shape of the breast, mastectomy and breast reconstruction. reconstruc-tion. The AHA's answer is to take a straight stick of some kind and place it under the woman's breasts to determine the line. I take issue with that solution. For one thing, that doesn't necessarily find the proper line. On a woman with large breasts that will put the compressing com-pressing hand too low on her chest In an emergency, emer-gency, when seconds count should the person doing the CPR really have to take the time to look for a straight stick? I'm sure that for some people this problem has an aspect of humor. I wonder how long that humor would last if the heart needing the CPR belongs to the person's mother, wife or even young daughter. One (mainly) female disease has received a lot of attention across the country because of determined deter-mined women who have worked hard for recognition. recog-nition. That is breast cancer. Maybe it's time for women with heart disease to follow in their foot- I thank TriCounty Health for taking steps to change the perception on women and heart disease. I am not happy with AHA for designing design-ing a CPR process that makes it difficult to save women in cardiac arrest "S |