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Show Modw AlbaDmiit lit? tWnewTiDaDnDntt This question was posed to teachers at Park City High School and the Treasure Mountain Middle School. What's the best excuse you ever heard for a late assignment? assign-ment? Moose Smith I don't accept late assignments, so they don't give me excuses. Page A2 Thursday, October 7, 1982 EMittaDHsiIl f The letters (and the campaign pitches) keep coming If our Letters To The Editor section is a true indication, there's been a sudden upsurge in interest in community affairs af-fairs over the last couple of months. Fervent opinions regarding county, city and fire district matters have become almost commonplace lately. Excuse us for being cynical, but we don't think the Letters Let-ters section is a true indication. If you look at the signatures at the bottom of the letters, you'll notice that they bear a remarkable similarity to names that were on the recent primary ballot, or who will be on the ballot in November. As much as we hate to point accusing fingers, it's very obvious that the Letters section is becoming the Vote For Me section. In recent weeks, we've mentioned to more than one local candidate that we don't consider this a legitimate use of the Letters section. It's a bit like the timeshare come-on where they offer you a free meal, then hit you with the hard sell. But the letters keep coming. Newspapers offer the Letters section to the readers because it can be an exciting forum for ideas. And it's one of the best-read sections of the paper. While we hate to start menmhem mi mm mxmw F0RYEAR5, 7HfiM ON W Wfim WOTTHEflSft WHY NOT v).U5T 60 AHEAD AND ANNEX IT?,, by Stanley Karnow (KUdDltoail View Begin' s arrogant nationalism is steering Israel to disaster Washington When Arab terrorists commit atrocities, their misdeeds are almost taken for granted. But when the Israelis are implicated in acts of wanton brutality, as they were in West Beirut last month, the world is outraged. Thus a double standard is being applied to Israel much to the consternation con-sternation of Prime Minister Mena-chem Mena-chem Begin and his supporters, who assert that the dual judgment is unfair and hypocritical. As I see it, however, the double standard is a tribute to Israel. For the expectation that the Israelis ought to behave differently from their enemies underlines the perception of the Jewish state as a unique phenomenon. Indeed, Israel shares that distinction with the United States, which also must bear in mind its obligation to uphold human rights. So Americans could not plausibly claim in Vietnam, for example, that their misconduct was no worse than that of the Communists. Ostracized and persecuted throughout through-out history, the Jews retained their identity for 2,000 years because of their faith in their own moral superiority. During those years, as they wandered the earth, they imposed a rigorous code of behavior on themselves. Israel owes its existence to its moral exceptionalism. The state never would have come into being a generation ago had not the United States and other nations, ridden by guilt for their failure to save the Jews from Nazi genocide, finally agreed to recognize the rebirth of the Jewish homeland. From the start, therefore, Israel was saddled with the awesome responsibility responsi-bility of operating on a loftier ethical plane than its Arab adversaries. Fulfilling that responsibility has not been easy. It is perhaps simplistic to say the Arabs and Jews do not place the same value on life. Nevertheless, the Israelis have consistently exercised restraint, frequently in the face of blatant provocation, while Arab terrorism has been indiscriminate and sometimes savage. But it is precisely its moderation that has earned Israel respect and admirationat admira-tionat least until now. oegiii and his backers evidently believe that they are no longer bound by the moral imperatives that guided their predecessors. Arrogantly nationalistic, na-tionalistic, they repeatedly affirm in effect that Israel should not be judged by different standards or play the game by different rules. Moreover, they contend, those who express misgivings about their policies are anti-Semites. They have even confected a pejorative label for their critics in the American Jewish community, calling them "self-hating" Jews. The problem with their approach, however, is that it is steering Israel toward disaster. For if it squanders its special moral position, Israel runs the risk of losing the prestige it has gained placing restrictions, we feel we owe it to our readers to keep campaign rhetoric in the Letters section to a minimum. So, if your letter doesn't make it into the paper, that may well be the reason. While we're on the subject, we'd like to remind you of a couple of other Letters policies we have : We won't publish unsigned letters. If a letter comes in signed "A Concerned Citizen" or "John Q," and we can't find out who the author is, it goes in the circular file. We think those who express their convictions in print should have the courage to stand behind them. We won't publish letters that contain libelous material, make unsubstantiated charges, or subject other people to needlesss abuse. Sometimes this line is difficult to draw, and there have been times where statements made it into print that didn't belong. But we try. Finally, we have a deadline: it's noon on Tuesday. Please keep that in mind. Please don't get the idea that we're trying to discourage you from writing letters. We're not. As a matter of fact, the more letters we get, the happier we are. -DH Qjjj I since its creation, particularly in the United States, and that would spell its doom. Put aside Begin's rhetoric about Israeli sovereignty. Israel is fundamentally funda-mentally a weak and isolated little country that would go down the drain overnight without American economic and military aid. Since the beginning, though, U.S. assistance has been largely predicated on Israel's unique moral status. Had it not been for that consideration, American presidents since Truman dramatized the change. Sen Alan Cranston of California, long a bulwark of pro-Israeli support on Capitol Hill, released a bitter diatribe against Begin, denouncing him for "dimming the inspiring moral beacon which has shone so brightly from beleaguered Israel." Cranston's attack was echoed by other senators who have backed Israel. Their disenchantment is mirrored in opinion surveys, which show American sympathy for Israel to be dropping significantly. So Israel's moral role is not simply an abstraction. It is, in a very real sense, the practical and tangible basis on which the Jewish state must function not only for its own sake but for the sake of everyone, Jews and non-Jews alike, for whom it symbolizes a sacred trust. 1982 The Register and Tribune Syndicate Inc. L 'My dog ate my sculpture, but it was terrific. I can draw a picture pic-ture of it." J ' t'j' ' , I "My WWHTIr yy reicn&jijy Defense contractor hires cream of ex-Pentagon crop Washington The Martin Marietta Corporation lost a bundle when it failed in its recent bid to take over the Bendix Corporation. It was an incredible display of corporate cannibalism. But don't weep too much for Martin Marietta. It is still the nation's 12th-largest defense contractor. And the firm has taken steps to make sure that it keeps its lucrative share of the Pentagon budget. What Martin Marietta has done is to hire former Pentagon brass hats by the carload. Most defense contractors do this, but Martin Marietta is the king of the hill. From 1979 through 1981, the corporation placed 231 former high-ranking high-ranking officers and Defense Department Depart-ment officials on its payroll. That's more than twice as many as any other defense contractor. Our reporter Eric Koli checked the list of retired military and civilian defense officials who have taken jobs with Martin Marietta. There is a law which requires these former officials to disclose when they go to work with a defense contractor. The law is supposed to let the public know when there might be a conflict of interest in the billions of dollars the Pentagon spends. Military purchasing officers might be giving an edge to defense contractors who are going to hire them when their government service is finished. In any event, Martin Marietta has gone after the cream of the crop. Among those hired since 1979 were two Army generals. One was a vice chief of staff, the other a deputy under secretary of defense in charge of acquiring weapons systems and materiel. mate-riel. Also put on Martin Marietta's Mewspaper Publisher Editor . . , Adverting Sales Jm Wiking . Business Manager Rick Unman !t Becky Widenhouse, Liz Heimos Staff Reporters Rick Brough, Morgan Queal Contributing Writers Beina Moenchi Jay MeehM Nm Chalat Typese,,inS Sharon Pain, Dixie Bishop Subscripts 4 Classifieds Mgrion Darkroom & Photography .... ::::::::::::::::RiS Entered as second-tlass matter May 25, 1977, at the post office in Park City, Utah 84060, under the Act of March 3 1897 Published every Thursday at Park City, Utah. Second-class postage paid at Park City, Utah. ' Unsolicited manuscripts and photographs are welcome and will be considered for publication. However, The Newspaper will assume no responsibility for the return of such material. All news, advertising and photos must be received prior to the Tuesday noon deadline at our office, 419 Main Street in Park City, by mail P.O. Box 738, Park City, Ut. 84060, or by calling our office (801) 649-9014. Publication material must be received by Tuesday noon for Thursday publication. David Chaplin Carol Marriott Abbey Peterson said her house assignment. Bob Boyer mother lined the bird's cage with it." Sharon Richards "My brother threw up on it. TeriWiss "A magician used it in his disappearing act." fJl by 9 ivcu:JidUii & payroll were a former chairman of the Defense Department's contract finance fi-nance committee, a former inspector general and two members of the inspector general's investigative staff. We want to emphasize that Martin Marietta did nothing illegal. An unemployed general can go to work wherever he can find a job. But it doesn't hurt a defense contractor to employ people who know their way around the Pentagon. Menachem Maneuvers: The National Nation-al Security Council has been secretly discussing ways and means of dealing with Israel's recalcitrant prime minister minis-ter Menachem Begin. So far, the White House officials haven't come up with a workable plan. An arms cutoff to Israel has now been ruled out. The main reason is purely practical: The Israelis don't need American arms right now. Their invasion of Lebanon didn't cost them much equipment. In fact, they wound up with an enormous amount of captured military booty. But President Reagan's advisers have been discussing some less-drastic reprisals against Israel. Reagan wants to punish the Begin government, we're told, not only for standing by while hundreds of Palestinian refugees were massacred, but also for brusquely rejecting his peace plan for the Middle East. Here are some of the ideas that are being considered by the White House: The United States may stop forgiving the Israeli arms debt. Usually, about $500 million is written off the books each year. Organizations that donate money to Israel could be stripped of their tax-exempt status. This would put a serious crimp in Israel's fundraising Subscription Rates, $6 a year in Summit County, $15 a year outside Published by Ink, Inc. USPS 378-730 mmmmm mgmm mmxmmmm burned down and burned her Jack Anderson joe sPear efforts in this country. The administration might tighten up the rules on Americans who lobby for Israel. Most of them are not required to register as foreign agents. But Americans who lobby for Arab causes are usually compelled to register. The White House may decide to deduct the money Israel spends on its West Bank settlements from the $1 billion a year it receives in U.S. economic aid. This could cause the Israelis to wonder whether the West Bank colonies are really worth the cost. A top-secret Central Intelligence Agency report states that "the Palestinian question raises so many sensitive issues that most Israelis would prefer not to face it." What Reagan wants, in the words of the CIA document, is to "force (the) Israelis to come to grips with the question." Watch on Waste: According to federal auditors, the taxpayers shell out nearly $500 million a year to operate 688 aircraft for the sole purpose of flying bureaucrats around. For example, Federal Aviation Administrator Lynn Helms took no commercial flights during his first eight months in office. His flights aboard government aircraft cost $417,000. Identical flights aboard commercial aircraft would have cost less than $13,000. Another example: The Pentagon dispatched a plane from Illinois to New Mexico at a cost of $3,500 just to pick up some unclassified briefing material. The material could have been sent by express mail for $9. (c) 1982 United Feature Syndicate, Inc. Summit County Jan Wilking David Hamnchir |