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Show A6 ' Wednesday, December 31, 2008 Vernal Express feme BMresaaoT 'mm mmm smBBMMMiaMMHMMI 3 cprsss O P I N-E-O-frf SELLING ALCOHOL TO MINORS SHOULD NOT GO UNPUNISHED ... V';;- V' By Kevm flsHEy Express Publisher. ; . I was disappointed last week after another sting 'operation by the Vernal City Police Department identified identi-fied so many stores still selling alcohol to minors. I'll admit that there was an improvement over the last sting, eight out of 23 stores instead of 11, but it pointed out that if the minor is persistent, he or she will find a place that will sell them alcohol. And now, the fate of these stores and their ability to sell alcohol rests jri the hands of the Vernal City Council who, by the way, handed out one suspension of a license last time, but voiced strong concern that the merchants had been warned and that next time they wouldn't be so lenient. . Well, it is now "next time" and the voice of the council will be heard on Jan. 7, during the council's regular meeting. We will see then just how bad the council wants to stand behind the laws as they related to underage drinking and sales of akohol to minors. ( : . , As I see it,' the city Council can choose from a variety of options, including the suspension or rerocation of the alcohol sales license, suspend the business 'license, or do nothing at all. " Our online readers voted overwhelmingly for the city council to take stiff 'and appropriate action. We agree - a slap on the wrist is not going to change behavior, but a dent in the store's bottom line will. I agree with Sharon Mackay, public information officer for the Utah Division Divi-sion of Alcoholic Beverage Control when she said, "You take someone's liquor license ay ay for a week, and it makes a big impact on their business. They're very careful about not reoffending. " It .will be interesting to hear what the businesses have to say about their employees who, for the most part, are checking the ID card, but who are doing nothing with the ID information and sell to minors anyway. Are you aware that in Utah, the driver's licenses is printed vertically for minors and horizontally for those who are older? Also, a minor's birth date is printed in a different cqlor of ink, making it very easy to compute that the buyer is also a minor. I don't have to go into the reasons why we have laws prohibiting those under the age of 21 from purchasing and consuming alcohol. In fact, many of i i i j j- i l jl l i i i tJi i . - i t nnua a ri nn nnn v Biinrwirr i niu in w uniiiM rifrt r hi i i v ii-m m iish i i. in ni n 1 1 if piece of legislation. What we do need to clarify is what is going to happen to businesses who continue to sell a controlled substance to minors. The council's decision is a tricky one as there needs to be good working relationships between the city and its businesses. But there also needs to be an effort by the businesses to uphold the laws of the land. As tor the businesses who didn t sell, my nat s oil to you. . You are showing .that training and expectation, and even loss of job, can create cre-ate an atmosphere of compliance to the laws of the land. So lead on, and let's make this place as safe as possible for teenagers and those under 21 who have a desire to drink, but should hold off as long as they can so that their decision deci-sion to drink is one their mind can make, not just physical appetites that can rule the bodies and minds of minors into trying something that is not good for them. , : . ' f kashbyiernal.cpm WORDS OF THANKS Express Editor , ' ' 1 r 1 V:.. Looking back over the four short months Vve Wn liv. ing and working in Vernal, I can say - without hesitation - the besj part of rjiy day is hanging out with the top-notch top-notch reporting team of Mary Bernard, Tabatha Deans and Gary Parker. I am extremely fortunate. Some teams click, and this team clicks off the charts. News rarely falls into our laps here at the paper. Good reporters sniff it out, the good and bad. And these three reporters have a keen sense of smell along "it oxitu p eyes and thick'skin.. Our newest reporter, Gary Parker (the dark, one), is a gifted photographer who no doubt wBl go on to greatness. His photos have that something extr,a." -" . Tabatha Deans, relentless in her r 1 1 . . .t '"V--' j '. s "" ' " ' ' ' ' . : '' : I fcrrTi.itfifcn i 1 ill i I Um I" J f- " m Bernard Deans Parker CELL PHONE WONDER Dm CoLDvtcH Guest Writer Just to let you know, I am not a complete idiot. After Af-ter all, I am typing this on mv very own laptop. I can use more than one of the programs on it, too. I can save and retrieve files, send e-mail, install programs, and I know the difference between RAM and RGB. I am not so literate with cell phones though. I have had one for a while, which I have used when I have the need to call other people. That doesn't necessarily mean that they can call me, since I usually keep its battery in various near-death stages when I haven't let it expire entirely. Of course it takes a lot of work to keep it alive. You already know how Bertha feels about batteries. So for Christmas Father B. and I got new cell phones. They do a little more than just dial up friends and family. Father B. can take a fuzzy picture of his index finger with his, and I can record family arguments without even trying. One upgrade we both have that we didn't before is "text messaging." It means that if we get into the right menu on our phones, we can send a little message that we type out on our keypad. If we do it right, the person we designate can read our little messages. If you are under the age of thirty, you can stop laughing anytime now. I am supposed to be the one inchargeoflaughinghere. So my first "text" was sent to Mr. B.'sphone. (Hewassittingon the other end of the couch.) It said, "Hi gag." A few minutes later I get a reply that says, "Hi dufis. Who is gag?" Okay, we are handicapped whether we have a cell phone in our hands or not. I can't see very well, but those little letters beside the keys on my phone are about 4-point type in blue on gray. You realize, of course, that if I had been on the "3" key instead of the "4, " that I would have spelled "Hi dad." I can't be expected to recite three letters for every number on the keypad every time I need a new letter, can I? Besides that, Mr. B. can't spell. Earlier I had tried to do something on that phone, and was told that I had to activate my Voice Mail. So I "press TALK to dial Voice Mailbox. " I get Voice Mailbox who seems to be female in gender. She tells me to enter my temporary password which I dimly remember was "9999." So I key in "9-9-9-9." Now what? Do I press the "" key or "OK" after that? I tried both. She didn't like either one. "Please try again." So I tried again, possibly pressing the keys in the same order, or possibly not, how would I know? Anyway my finger might have slipped off the "9" key and hit the "" key prematurely, so I hit the "BACK" key four times and tried again, this time pressing the "OK" key. Nothing happened, so I pressed the "" key instead. I put the phone to my ear just in time to hear Miz Smarter Than Thou say to me, "You seem to be having a problem activating your Voice Mailbox. Please call our Help Hotline for information regarding your problem." I detected a note of patroniza-tion patroniza-tion (is that a word?) in her voice, too. "Yes, and what is Help Hotline's IQ?" So the new phones are smaller than the old ones. I am not sure that smaller is better, Yes they fit into any pocket not just one pocket. When I start to ring, I do the . regular pat-down trying to locate the correct pocket. I come up with some change, a cough drop, a used tissue, a flash drive, a library card, and one glove, but no cell phone. After a couple more ring tones, other people are helping out. Miami Vice may as well be practicing on me. Next thing I need to do with this technological wonder is input my circle of ten friends. I am working on that. So far I have thought of four. ' . i , . wtiUU ! : :! . 111 i i. .( s , ; ,M . ; s - ; ' j k, i ' hrW I ! ' , "'"pT 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 60 E. 100 N., 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. quest for good stories (not sure when she sleeps), has established a rapport with local law enforcement agencies that's rarely found in the reporting world. They trust and regpect her. ; Mary Bernard, our senior, writer and resident anthropologist, has an preter-natural preter-natural understanding-of land issues and the mineral-extraction industry. She also shares my appreciation for Rod Serling. , Together they are a force to be reckoned with, a three-headed hydra that has raised the haj of reporting and writing here at the paper. They make my job a walk in the park,, and I appreciate all their hard work. We reporters have chosen a profession that requires us to be on call 247, meet unreasonable deadlines, and deal with people who often don't want to deal with us - all this under the watchful, sometimes scornful, eyes of a public who thinks we 'should leave well enough alone. Fortunately this trio doesn't think that way. DmullikinCfruprnnl Mm . . v . Web opinion poll Each Week the 'Vernal Express offers an online poll to ns readers. To participate in the poll, visit www.vernql.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.c6m. ' . Results for this week What sanctions should the Vernal City Council impose on stores caught selling liquor to minors? ' ; a) mandatory employee training b) impose a one-time fine ' c) ban alcohpl sales for one week d) ban alcohol Bales permanently a) 10 h) 17 Thumbs up for civil disobedience Dear Editor, I look around me each day for heroes: people who make the world a better place with their good hearts and works, and sometimes with their defiance. It gives me hope for the world. The young man from the University of Utah who crashed the party at the BLM lease auction is my newest hero. His simple act of civil disobedience spoke volumes about the agency's management manage-ment (or its lack) of the public lands that are the heritage of us all. We need more civil disobedience in our day and age, more spunk, as our civil liberties and constitutional rights are threatened, as terrible things like torture are done in our names, as our public lands are degraded before our eyes. To question and be suspicious of authority is one of the most valuable lessons we can give our children. chil-dren. Civil disobedience is in the finest tradition of our nation's Founders. The Bureau of Land Management has pimped for the oil and gas industry for decades. But our public lands are no mere painted lady, to be used and abandoned. They are a precious ecologic, recreational recre-ational and scenic repository. Their value far exceeds that of the oil and gas that can be extracted from them. It would not be too extreme to say that to many of us they are sacred, embodying spiritual values that are as tangible to us as hydrocarbons in a pipe are to others. To sell leases and drill everywhere on our public land, and near some of our most precious treasures, like Arches, Canyonlands or the White River Canyon is as absurd as to drill nowhere at all. While there is no question ques-tion of our societal need for hydrocarbon fuels, BLM is painfully far from striking an acceptable balance in its egregious mismanagement of our public resources. I applaud the spunky student stu-dent who thought enough of his public lands heritage to make a statement that could not be ignored. If he needs a generous contribution to a legal fund for his defense yau can count me in. Will Durant, MD Vernal Christmas theft Dear Editor, Early Saturday morning I awoke to missing Christmas decorations from my front yard. I'm missing a baby Jesus and a camel from my manger scene. I would really like them back. If you know anything about it please contact me at 435 621 5782. No questions will be asked. Thanks so much, Donna Curtice Vernal Lett 4 i "o f V .v On-paper or Ow-liwe... YOUR OPINION COUNTS! Submit your letters to the editor at: Vernal Express 60 East 100 North .Vernal, Utah 84078 Or online at: vernal.com bit iWiH J at... Vernal.com j WM xmu,, . I v ;' TT i AW J This queition will run for one mofe week. to a great opportunity d) 33 Check out our Help Wanted section! w u ' |