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Show Page Four - The Springville Herald - January 23, 1991 Looking Back To be a Nerd ( by Lot's Wife I want you to be a nerd. The Bible wants you to be a nerd. "Blessed is the man that walk-eth walk-eth not in the counsel of the ungodly..." Your mother wants you to be a nerd. Now, lest you think you've wandered accidentally into the ValueSpeak column, you haven't. have-n't. I ordinarily would not advocate such a position since I am typically all too conscious of the value of worldliness. People who have no idea of what's going on in the pop culture cul-ture world or fashion world usually bug the heck out of me. But there's something to be said for nerdiness too. One such hypothetical instance in-stance would be if the pop culture you were surrounded with was a nerdy one and you instinctively knew, deep in your inner core of "coolness," that in your particular case, to be "nerdy" would be "cooler" than to fit into your surroundings. surround-ings. Take, for example, Springville Spring-ville High. Let's say, hypothet-ically, hypothet-ically, you are a senior girl who has somehow managed to reach this exalted height with no boyfriend, no marriage plans, and a good grade point average. In some circles, you would be a nerd. While your virginity may be intact, your . reputation may not be. Let's further suppose that you now plan to take your great grade point average into a great school, and you plan to not only get your bachelor's degree, you'd possibly like a master's BEFORE you get married. Considering that a recent survey of all Utah Valley Val-ley high school senior girls showed that over 70 of them planned to be "taken care of" by an adoring male (or could they possibly be thinking of their moms and dads?), this attitude is definitely going to put you in the minority. People are now going to think you're a women's libber and not let their kids play with you. Never mind what they're going to think of your mother. But, basically, assuming that you really don't have any hard feelings about being a mother and wife, you may just be a cool person in a prevailing host of nerds. Or let's say you're a nerdy grade school boy. You like music, math, your mom and dad, and you're not adverse to treating your siblings kindly. You can even be trusted to babysit your younger brothers and sisters and not do them any permanent damage. You're what they might call responsible. responsi-ble. You've got nerd written all over you. You probably don't hit people just to make them move, and you don't call them names just to make them feel bad. Ick. People are going to wonder where you got an attitude atti-tude like that. They're going to think you're not tough. They're going to think you're a fag. Well, basically, you're just the only cool kid in a nerd paradise. Sometimes it is possible possi-ble to be the only person who thinks the right thing in a room full of people who think something different. Some times you're right and everybody every-body else is wrong. But being good has always been nerdy to somebody. Fifty years ago they called you a "mama's boy" instead of a fag. Only gangsters used words like fag fifty years ago. And fifty years ago, before World War II and inflation and a high divorce di-vorce rate, (Utah's divorce rate is higher than the national average since we sacrifice so many high school seniors to the bridal gods) sent moms to work, most senior high school girls could count on daddy bringing home the check. And as parents, we encourage encour-age this nerdism by teaching our children to conform, to grow up fast, to not try to be different and not be the one who reaches for the stars. We teach them to be "nerds" by teaching them to be "cool". We worry so much about how we will be viewed by the neighbors neigh-bors that we forget how we will be viewed by ourselves when we look back, and by our posterity when they look back. Not that you should try to be a dork. Being a dork is different dif-ferent than being a nerd. Being a dork is.. .well, being a dork is indescribable. I guess you should just try to be yourself and not worry what I think. After all, no one else does. My kids don't listen, my husband doesn't listen. They're all dorks.. .and they seem to be just doing fine. 'v.. ) . m 'T' J Sv ndrflf- ' Tiffany Mullen, daughter of Harley and Linda Mullen of Provo, will celebrate her first birthday January 29, 1991. She has one sister, Lorelei, and her grandparents are Mr. and Mrs. I) wight Bartholomew of Springville and Mr. and Mrs. Jack Mullen of Oakley, Idaho. Highland classes Bagpipe and Highland Dance classes are held each Tuesday, at the Peteetneet Arts Academy, 50 North 600 East,1 Payson. All ages are welcome. Pipe teacher is Larry Erdmann, dance teacher is Jan Webb. Students who start now would be ready to participate in the 8th Annual Payson Scottish Festival, July 13. For detailed information call Helen Scott, 465-3714. WHAT ME THE 2 BESTKEET SECRhTS IN UTAH COUNTY? YOUR SUBSTANCE ABUSE PROBLEM & The Pavilion TREATMENT PROGRAM Every Alcohol St Drug Dependent Person directly effects 20 ptopli each day... including themselves. YOUR DEPENDENCY IS TREATABLE AND BEATABLE. The Pavilion at Mountain View Hospital Drug and Alcohol treatment Center. Call 465-9201 for more information. If you or i family member hot t substance abuse problem, please call Medicare update January 30th is the Medicare Medi-care Update provided by Mountain View Hospital Seniority. Se-niority. Howard Stone, Business Busi-ness Officer Manager and his staff will discuss the recent changes in Medicare and how that affects patients. The meeting will be held at 11 a.m. in the Hospital Board Room. Also on January 30th at 10 a.m. the hospital will hold a Seniority Orientation. This is an hour meeting that explains the benefits of the Seniority Program at Mountain View Hospital. All members or interested in-terested individuals are encouraged en-couraged to attend. Please contact con-tact Pam White at 465-9201 extension 113 for more information. infor-mation. Ultra Fast Weight iram offered o V? in' m i i i .in mmm 11 n mniiw ill mi n inn mi inn inn i i 1 i "" Progi The UltraFast Weight Management Man-agement Program was first introduced by Mountain View Hospital in January 1990. The program has rapidly grown while its participants have gotten smaller! Stated Laura Richards. UltraFast Coordinator, "It is rewarding to work with the people and see the changes that are taking place in their lives, in part, due to the weight loss. The participants are dedicated and doing very well." For more information-and orientation registration, please contact Laura Richards at 465-9201 465-9201 extension 287. "Donor Bank," a large oil painting by Richard Van Wagoner, was purchased from the (iene-va (iene-va Steel Autumn show for the permanent collection at the Springville Museum of Art. It shows an urban-scape of wrecked cars. Focus at the museum has been to collect Utah art and many of the 65, 1990 new acquisitions have added to that goal. Work is being done in preparation for the publishing of a large book, "Utah Art: Springville Museum of Art," this year. Piano needed at ArtShop The ArtShop is in need of a good piano and are asking the citizens of Springville and Mapleton for assistance. Many groups, both drama and music, are using the Art-Shop Art-Shop now that it is finished, and a "permanent piano is needed at the facility according to Teddy A nderson , d irector of the Springville Arts Commis sion. "Productions are in line for this spring and it is too .expensive to rent a piano for the building," she said. If any citizen has a piano they would like to donate, or if they would like to donate the funds to buy a piano, either would be a tax deductable. donation to a non-profit organization. Call Teddy Anderson at 489-2726 or 489-6662. "Wanna Be A Star?" 3lmniBfwfilp Mwfclhcar Esteem ftrfcrtnlng Ask about our FREE classes MftirlWWfc I Vickee Barker f 489-9561 A Community Credit TT T TT 11 0 YOOTDailK imwe kYoirfutoe. ting Banks operate on a very basic principle: They lend depositors money to people who need financing for homes, cars, businesses, agriculture, agri-culture, education, home improvements and other consumer needs. Think of it as recycling! Lending within the community is a top priority for Utah banks. Utah's future depends on it. Utah banks at more than 400 locations invest in our communities. Last year, approximately 150,000 new i I III S VI loans to indi- 1 viduals, fami- LjtL. lies and businesses were made by f T T. 1 1 1 If: utan DariKs. Many loans are made in conjunction with public and non-profit agencies. For example, three banks loaned funds to Ogden City's Neighborhood Development Agency to help them acquire land. As a result, a blighted neighborhood will be turned into new affordable afford-able housing. In Southern Utah, a bank joined with the Small Business Administration to finance several sev-eral motel complexes which added over 50 new jobs to the local labor force. In another Southern South-ern Utah community, two banks joined together to-gether to fund construction of a new golf course vital to the area's economic future. In Springville, a bank joined with the Small Business Administration to finance a new company which manufactures modular , homes. Not only has this funding helped to purchase land and construct a building, but it also assisted in creating 1 15 new jobs in Utah County. Salt Lake Neighborhood Housing Services Ser-vices initiated a Youth Works project where ' rtigh risk" youth were employed on a training project to build a home. The completed home was sold to a familv of four who financed it through a local bank. Creative thinking and financing fi-nancing resulted in several community benefits. ben-efits. Utah banks want to increase their lending in Utah to sup port local economies. Sound banking partnerships partner-ships with individuals and businesses enhance our daily lives. As a result, Utah banks are reaching out to those with extraordinary cir cumstances, finding creative ways to make loans while still maintaining high levels of safety and soundness. Your ideas and suggestions about ways Utah banks can satisfy me community's credit needs are valuable to your bank. You are encouraged en-couraged to use the form provided, or send your bank a letter. (Please send or deliver this completed form to your bank.) m Attn: Community Reinvestment Officer Bank Name: Address: ; . I offer these suggestions regarding the credit needs of our community: (Attach additional sheet if necessary) Name (Please Print): . Address: Phone: Thank You from the Utah Bankers Association Deposits in Utah Banks are Insured to $100,000 by the FDIC. |