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Show A6 Wednesday, January 30 2008 Vernal Express aim Vepnal amress ) r I N i o N President Hiiikley of LDS Church will be missed on By Kevm Askby Express Publisher Whether or not you are a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or not, the influence and direction provided by LDS Church President Gordon B. Hinckley over the past 13 years and 70-some years as church leader will be around for quite some time. I have had several occasions where I have been present when President Hinckley entered a room and if the hush didn't grab your attention, you would have noticed the respect and love shown to him by others came deep from within the soul. President Hinckley was first and foremost a Christian. He had an unshakable testimony of Christ and his teachings. He was quick to learn not only the doctrines, but figured out a way throughout his life to practice Christ-like service to all he met. And this ranged from kind acts of service to those around him, to allocating millions and millions of member donated fast offering dollars throughout the world under siege of earthly turmoil. He will be remember by members of the church for spreading the opportunity to attend to temple services and ordinances, a very faith promoting promot-ing experience for those who go through the process. And then on the other hand, he puts together a program where missionaries from all over the world can receive money to attend college that can be paid back after where that money will in turn be used by future scholars. President Hinckley practiced by what others only preach by not only providing money for education of youth in impoverished nations, but allowing them to be taught how to fish - not just be given a fish. He will also be remembered for his whit. There was never a meeting he attended that the audience did not have a chance to laugh and then sigh in appreciative respect that he was one of us no matter his accomplishments. We had a group of 50 students from Carbon High School who were invited to sing in Salt Lake during the Christmas season several years ago. While there, they were invited to sing in the Church Office Building early one morning. Even though the choir was half members of the LDS church and half not, the students all accepted the invitation and attended. While sitting at the piano playing for the choir, a non-LDS student turned to her co-pianist and asked, "What happened? What do I feel!" She was told that president Hinckley had just entered the room to hear the choir. I will remember a lot of things about President Hinckley, especially his love and concern for the youth of the LDS church, but what will stand out in my mind is how he made me feel when I saw him. And how those feelings made me want to be better at whatever task I was doing. He was an individual surrounded by goodness and his raising the bar of performance for all church members, as well as inviting all to become better Christians through service, charitable acts of kindness and just being honest in our dealings have impacted us all. I for one will miss him, but look forward to the direction of President Thomas S. Monson. There should not be a missed step by the church in this -period of change. " The measure of maturity Bertha Butterbean 1 w -29. ' hfcp tuotim til "I've already spent whatever stimulus package comes out of Washington." 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 in good taste and not libelous or vindictive. Letters may be edited for grammar and style, length and content. All letters must be submitted exclusively to the Vernal Express and bear the full name, signature, phone number and address of the writer or writers. Letters for the sole purpose of expressing thanks to individuals or groups will not be printed in this forum. Submissions may be mailed to 54 N. Vernal Ave., Vernal, UT 84078; faxed to 435-789-8690 or sent by e-mail to editorvernal.com The name or names of the persons submitting letters must appear on all published letters. Letters express the opinion of the writer or writers and are not necessarily the opinion of the Vernal Express. If you made it through high school, you have heard Shakespeare's lines, "All the world's a stage and all the men and women merely players, and each man in his time plays many parts." (I may be paraphrasing here.) I don't presume to comment on Shakespeare, in fact, you have probably already noticed that I tend not to be as complex in my thinking as was Shakespeare. But if you are interested in a modern interpretation of the stages of life, then this article is for you. Below is Bertha's Maturity Classifier Index. When you think you have reached adulthood but can't convince your parents, show them your score on Part One, below. You might have a hard time persuading your parents that these are sure indications, but it's a beginning. I say, you are probably grown up if: 1 . You would rather walk around than through a mud puddle. 2. You begin to eat things like crab salad and cheesecake. 3. You eat ice cream without mixing in the topping. 4. You cease to care what color your Pictionary piece is. 5. You prefer Raisin Bran over Captain Crunch. 6. You can resist making footprints on the fridge. 7. You are able to save a piece of gum from a 1 0-pack for tomorrow. 8. You stop bragging about your age. 9. You can let the plate pass without taking the biggest piece of pie. 10. You will sit in the back seat of the car if necessary. If your parents want to know what makes Bertha Butterbean an expert on the subject, you can say, "Well, she's pretty old, she must be grown up," which will get you nowhere, and that is probably good. Actually, I'm on their side. When your parents are dead sure you aren't old enough for whatever it is that you want to do (which is probably go somewhere) you can give them Part Two of "The Classifier" just to get even. They are sure to fail part of it. This section is for those who are not sure whether they are in their prime or over the hill, but you are beginning your descent if: 1 . You don't go out when there are puddles. 2. You begin to like things like Tagamet and herbal tea. 3. You don't eat ice cream; it hurts your teeth. 4. You don't know what Pictionary is. 5. You prefer mush over Raisin Bran. 6. You can't get your foot high enough to put a footprint on the fridge. 7. You don't chew gum; it makes you nervous. 8. You stop having birthdays. 9. Pie gives you heartburn. 10. You don't get into back seats because you might never get out again. I believe that Shakespeare counted seven life stages. I don't remember most of them. At the risk of oversimplifying, I say you are either old enough to drive or you are not, and don't be driving until you are. But if you failed Part Two, you may need to think about staying off the main roads. Vernal.com Web opinion poll Each week the Vernal Express offers an online poll to its readers. To participate in the poll, visit www.vernal.com and click on the opinion link. Polls are not scientific and represent the opinions of voluntary Internet users. New polls are posted weekly and printed results represent voting as of Tuesday morning. If you have an idea for an opinion poll, e-mail it to editorvernal.com. Results for this week Last week, the Vernal Express launched a new version of its Web site. What do you think of . the new vernal.com? a) It's better. (71) b) I like the old site. (29) Bag taken from cart Dear editor, My name is Elizabeth Goode and I still believe in human goodness. Maybe I shouldn't, because be-cause it seems that my bag was lifted from my shopping cart in Wal-Mart Sunday afternoon. The aisles were not crowded, and as I told the police officer, I never saw anyone that looked even remotely like a criminal. I guess I'm in denial - I don't want to believe that this would happen in Vernal. I try to watch my purse, but like - everyone else, I turn to look at merchandise. Because it makes my back tired to carry it on my person, I always get a shopping cart to carry my bag, even if I'm not buying much. I don't want to think I am too trusting. I want to trust people. I believe the person who took it will have second thoughts and return my belongings to Wal-Mart. I have faith in the integrity of people, especially in this case where it had to be a "normal" kind of person, perhaps a young person. I am 70 years old and work because I need the money. There is nothing to "steal" from me - unless you'd like my debts! I want to continue to feel safe in Vernal. This lesson will teach me to take extra precautions, precau-tions, of course, because I am not naive or stupid, but I want to continue to have unconditional uncondi-tional love for humankind. If the person who took my bagreads this, I ask that he or she please return my belongings belong-ings to the Wal-Mart service desk and let me keep my belief in human goodness. Elizabeth Goode Constitution getting thread bare Dear editor, LDS President Ezra Taft Benson has written the "U.S. Constitution is a Heavenly Banner." In truth, it was. Today, it is essentially a tattered tat-tered rag of its former glory. given lip service to by those who are sworn to uphold and defend it from all enemies foreign and domestic. With the exception of one presidential presiden-tial candidate, all the others are pushing for "change" that promises higher taxes, more nanny-state federal interference in our lives, a reduction in our liberty, fewer state's rights, and with an acceleration ac-celeration of the destruction of the Republic. The only presidential candidate that truly respects and honestly . honors the Constitution as it was written and intended by the founders of this nation, ' those who risked their lives and sacred honor by hanging from the King's gibbet by endorsing the Declaration of Independence, is Republican Congressman Dr. Ron Paul. Sincerely, Woman's freedom of choice is important To the editor, Things won't change with another Republican president presi-dent in the White House. Male, anti-abortion, GOP presidential candidates are dead set against a woman's freedom of choice. Since when do male Republican politicians have the right to dictate to a woman what she can and cannot do with her body. A third of the voters in the upcoming elections will cast ballots for president using touch-screen machines that provide no paper record of the vote that could later be used in a recount. Can Americans stand another four years of Republican Repub-lican anti-tax, voodoo, trickle down economics. Republican mantra: It's all about a faltering economy - OK, who has been in charge of the economy for the past seven years. Can you imagine the shenanigans the Bush administration admin-istration has up its sleeves for the upcoming election season. Ron Lowe Grass Valley, Calif. Political Correctness Dear editor, Mary Bernard's recent article ar-ticle on ice fishing prompted me to drop by and visit with her about her using the relatively unknown political correct term "fisher" for the gender neutral term "fisherman." "fisher-man." Mary indicated that the Associated Press required her to use this term so as not to offend any readers. I mentioned that it would be . moreappropriate towcite for . the locaLaudienceof.a small town newspaper. However, I am told the Vernal Express now has an international audience. If the Vernal Express is now an international newspaper, news-paper, I suggest that the staff lead out, internationally, and set the standard for the AP to improve political correctness. The following political correct cor-rect terms will be welcomed around the world. Mary is not a writer she is a "writerwoman." Kevin Ashby is now an "editorman. " If Mary does another fishing article she can use the terms "fisherwoman, fisherman, fisherboy, fishergirl." If she should write an article on hunting, she can use the terms "hunterman, hunterwoman, hunterboy huntergirl," If there is a woman with particular hunting hunt-ing skills, she can be called a "huntress." We could carry this project on indefinitely ... "plumber-women, "plumber-women, carpenterwomen, doctorwomen, etc." What about the general terms man and mankind in the scriptures? Shall we change those, also? The attempt to change titles, for fear of offending people has reached the point of being preposterous. Are we writers and columnists mere lemmings, being led into the sea of illogical conformity? On the other hand, instead in-stead of setting international standards for political correctness, cor-rectness, perhaps the Vernal Express staff should spend Question for next week Uintah County officials are proposing to construct a new $40 million public safety complex. How do you feel about a tax increase to help pay for part of the facility? a) Yes - only if the county gets grant supplemental funding. b) Yes even if there is no supplemental funding. . . :5iSo.po not raise my taxes. more effort at proofreading, accurate reporting and being the watchdog for the community. com-munity. Sincerely yours, Ben Mahaffey Editor's note: The Vernal Express does not generally gener-ally comment on letters to the editor. However, we believe this letter deserves some response. re-sponse. At best, the suggestion to use Mahaffey's improved AP Style Guide is satire. At. worst, , it perpetuates and . entrenches the sexist need to. , tie gender to the description of an individual. There are two reasons for using fisher, instead of fisherman or fisherwoman; council member, instead of councilman or councilwom-an; councilwom-an; spokesperson, instead of spokesman or spokeswoman; and actor, instead of actor or actress. , The first reason is economy of language. Rather than having hav-ing two (or as Mahaffey suggests, sug-gests, four) ways of describing a person who fishes, we have one. It doesn 't matter whether a person is a man or woman, we use one word or phrase for both. The second and more important reason is to avoid giving gender unnecessary importance. It simply does not matter whether people who fish are men or a women. The point is they fish. So we call them fishers. Likewise, it does not matter whether an individual elected to the city council is a man or woman. They are all simply called council members. Giving undue importance to gender can imply that an individual is more qualified for the position filled or action performed. As this is not the case, journalists around the world have opted to avoid using gender-specific terms when describing the qualifications qualifi-cations of a person. This is not to say that gender is not considered or that there is an attempt to eliminate "man" from the English language. The journalism community continues con-tinues to use gender-specific pronouns, such as he and she. Similarly, we recognize an individual of one gender who is reaching across traditional gender boundaries, such as Candace Workman is doing with wrestling at Uintah High School. And we will continue to use words like mankind (though humankind is acceptable), ac-ceptable), manhole (because underground utility access point is cumbersome) and manpower (because labor force and workforce don't always carry the meaning implied by manpower). Les Bowen Associate Editor Call 789-3511 To Place an Classified Ad Today |