OCR Text |
Show Wednesday, April 9, 2008 C3 HOMEFIELD ADVANTAGE Uintah to be 4A in 2009: Is this the answer? 1 v ZJU Vernal Express By Casey Chrssthisct Express Writer T.e second sec-ond draft of the realignment realign-ment for 2009 has been released re-leased and the further y" ' it progress 3- teA t a es towards June 10 the more I think it is actually going to happen. If it passes, Uintah will move from 3Ato 4A. My gut reaction to the entire draft is negative. There are pros and cons to the issue, but the cons are serious issues that need to be resolved before the change is made. The biggest of all the cons is the cost. Consider a sport like basketball that has to play each region team twice, once at home and once away. They will have to be on the road for a total to-tal of 3,886 miles to play every team in the region, including Dixie, Snow Canyon and Pine View - all in St. George. With increasing gas prices and the cost of motels motels considered consid-ered for the three trips to St. George; the cost sky rockets to unmanageable levels. There are ways to negate some of these costs such as playing two of the St. George teams during one trip. The same thing goes for the Spanish Fork and Payson area teams. Although the price of enough motel rooms for a team with a roster like football's may counter the gas money saved. It is a real conundrum without any clear and easy answer. an-swer. Uintah is too large to be playing in the current region. Population-wise Uintah is a 4A competiitor. In fact, Uintah will be the fourth largest school competing in its new Utah Valley South Region next year. Playing against bigger schools could help Uintah raise its own level of competition and colleges are more inclined to look at larger' schools' when awarding scholarships fqr athletics. All these things are hard to measure, but very real pros for the change. The cost has to be the most frightening of all the issues. Education throughout the state is already run on a very controlled budget. Where are the funds going to come from to support the athletic system in the new realignment? Is some other aspect of education going to be forfeited? Will the Utah High School Athletics Association Associa-tion take care of travel costs for schools around the state? These questions have to be answered before any move is made. Sports are an important part of high school life, but they are not the most impor Emma Smith movie opens Friday The film My Story: Emma Smith will debut across Utah on April 11, including Vernal's Cinema 5 on W Hwy 40. The Emma Smith story is told from Emma's point of view. The audience will see the events that molded the wife of the Prophet Joseph Smith (played by Nathan Mitchell) into a strong and compassionate com-passionate woman. The film begins near the end of Emma's life. Her adopted SERVING WILD DINNERS ALL WINTER. Enjoy a relaxing winter weekend of fine dining and great wildlife viewing. Restaurant open every weekend Luxury cabins available any night 435.889.3759 - wu w.redcanyonlodgc.com CANYON 1 iop IligliHil) 44. 1 liiniiiij! tant. Priority lists are topped by education, relationships with family and friends, and for some of these youth - jobs. More time on the road traveling to these events or staying in a motel room means time with one of the top priorities must be sacrificed. Nevertheless, athletes do have the freedom to make the choice not to compete. They can choose to forfeit their athletic opportunity to maintain one of the aforementioned aspects in their lives. But is it fair for leaders lead-ers to put such young people in a position where they have to make decisions such as these? That is for you to decide. The second draft released by UHSAA last week states the board will consider issues such as isolated geography, school make-up, mobility of student body, projected enrollments, competitiveness and rivalries. After reading these considerations, consid-erations, I wonder why the draft is still being considered? It seems the only thing really being considered is school size - projected enrollment. UHSAA should take a look at some of the things they said were issues they would consider. Few cities are more isolated then Vernal. Uintah is not taking every title in 3A. It would be unlikely that the Utes could be competitive in 4A right now. Uintah could be in the future, but now - while this is being considered - the school is not competitive in the majority of sports against 4A teams. School make-up - I'm not sure what this is about, but I should interject that every program has issues with getting enough athletes to participate. Rivalries - does it get much better than Uintah vs. Union? Wasatch vs. Uintah in wrestling? Uintah vs. Park City? If this thing passes then the school board and the high school will be forced to find a way to fairly resolve the mon-etary mon-etary issues. What does- that j mean? Well, it could mean an end to certain programs at Uintah Uin-tah High School. Maybe they can absorb the cost without affecting any current program, I'm not sure. Maybe they should build a second high school and split the school in half to reduce the numbers to 3A size (it's an option even if it is remote). I think the answer is for the UHSAA to wait and then in the near future raise the enrollment cap levels. Uintah is not the only school needing to change classifications, proving prov-ing Utah is a growing state. Perhaps, a little patience would serve everyone well. Nevertheless, Neverthe-less, the vote to move Uintah back to 3A lost 12-10. daughter, Julia Murdock Smith (Stephanie Foster Breinholdt), returns home to Emma (Patricia (Pa-tricia PlaceKatherine Nelson) and shares several hardships she has been through. Emma relates to Julia some of her own life's experiences to put things in perspective and illustrate the importance of maintaining faith amid such difficulties. Various turning points in THE CIVILIZED WAY TO ENJOY THE GREAT OUTDOORS. GE (iurpc (tiunli I'.irlncis in ro.ri.it ion wilh ' ' : 1 - BROWSING DEER This herd of 1 5 deer slowly meander through the brush trying to find an afternoon morsel of food. on most roads because they are still closed, but the wildlife motorists can see is spectacular as of what's going on around them. Members sustain Monson By Jennifer Dobner Associated Press Writer SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - In his first official address, the new president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints called upon the faith's men and boys to strive to be steadfast examples of virtue in a "complex world." "We have been placed on Earth in troubled times," President Presi-dent Thomas S. Monson said in prepared remarks Saturday night. "We live in a complex world with currents of conflict everywhere to be found." Monson spoke at the 21,000-seat 21,000-seat church conference center to a gathering of men and boys in the faith's lay priesthood, calling them a "chosen generation." At age 12, all worthy Mormon males can be ordained. The session, which prohibits attendance by women, was also broadcast to church facilities worldwide via satellite. "Ours is the task to be fitting examples," Monson said, before adding a direct message to church youth. "My young friends, be strong. You know what is right and wrong ... be the one to make a stand for right, even if you stand alone." .,.!: Earlier in the day, Monson's . preideijcy w,as affjrjned by millions mil-lions of faithful Mormons worldwide world-wide who stood with upraised hands - whether in attendance here or in their homes watching the proceedings on TV - in a symbolic vote of support. ' Monson took over the LDS Church in February after the death of Gordon B. Hinckley, but the faith traditionally calls for a sustaining vote by members in a ceremony known as the solemn assembly. The ceremony calls for each church organization - from its top leadership to youth organizations organiza-tions - to stand when called to cast their votes. Mormons last held a solemn assembly in April 1995, when Hinckley was named president. He was remembered Saturday Emma's life are revealed as she reflects on experiences ranging from her childhood with a father . that was very strict and not fond of religion, to her courtship and marriage to Joseph Smith, and the challenges she faced in being the wife of the prophet; the film also includes brief insights into her life and character after the martyrdom of Joseph until her own death in Nauvoo in 1879. AOilcv N.uinn.il I unsi it', i 1 ? -k; K "A ' . 1 President Henry B. Erying, President Thomas S. Monsen, and President Dieter F. Uchtdorf participate par-ticipate in Saturday's solemn assembly, held to sustain Monsen as the 16th president and prophet of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Erying and Uchtdorf were also sustained as Monsen's first and second counselors, respectively. The assembly was part of the LDS Church's 178th Annual General Conference in Salt Lake City over the weekend. Photo: Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by church apostle Russell M. Nelson, who said all Latter-day Saints felt a deep sense of loss with the 97-year-old Hinckley's Jan. 27 passing. "However, we have felt our mood shift from grief to gratitude," grati-tude," Nelson said. "We are very grateful for what we have learned from this great prophet of God." Monson, 80, is the-youKgest-, church president sine -1973 , and the 16th president of the American-born denomination, which claims 13 million members worldwide. Since the early 20th century, the church has followed a system of apostolic succession in selecting select-ing its president. The position passes automatically to the next most-senior member of the church's Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, the second-highest leadership circle. A church elder for more than 40 years, Monson is a familiar face, but many people are wondering won-dering what differences he will bring in his new role. He said in February that there would be "no abrupt changes." Monson has long been a featured fea-tured speaker at twice-yearly conferences and served as a Salt Lake City emissary at church gatherings around the world. Church members gather in 0v Ik p.. w. April and October to hear words of inspiration and guidance from their leaders. More than 100,000 will attend the two days of conference sessions, which are K J If you want to make farm life less taxing, talk to your people at H&R Block. Our people can answer questions about things like fuel credit, farm income averaging, and casualty losses. Call 1-800-HRBLOCK or visit hrblock.com H&R Block 1607 West Hwy 40 Vernal, UT 84078 435-789-3335 2006 H&R Block Services, Inc. w. ... V-. r' ((' X 4 There are hundreds of excuses you could use to avoid getting screened for colon cancer. But no excuse is a good excuse when your life's on the line. If you are 50 or over, go get screened. For more information, visit www.ucan.ee or call the Health Resource Line at 1-888-222-2542. NO EXCUSES !- t st h i mi u nuiAv f.tfnym -raj UTAH DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH Drive up the canyons are cut short animals come close with little fear as leader "5 i i also broadcast in more than 80 languages on radio, television, closed-circuit satellite and the Internet. H&R Block 865 E. 200 N. Roosevelt, UT 84066 435-722-3335 H&R BLOCK You got people 15 A r ucan |