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Show THE PARK RECORD SATURDAY, JANUARY 31, 1998 EDITORIAL Viewp oints A-13 An extraordinary Olympic beginning The citizens of Park City finally, almost thnP after Salt Lake City-and thus Park City-were awarded the 2002 Winter Olympics, know what direction the city will take as it prepares for the Games. The working draft of an Olympic master plan authored by Park City Director of Olympic Planning Frank Bell and Park City Director of Public Affairs Myles Rademan and released to the public Thursday addresses a number of Olympic-related topics. It has to be considered an extraordinary beginning to the next-and last- phase of the city's Olympic planning, the phase that will bring the city into the Games, scheduled for February 2002. The draft, which will now undoubtedly go through numerous transformations over the next several years, is a strong statement that Park City has no interest in letting let-ting the Games leave the city in shambles, nor in debt. It is this stand that the city must hold fast to as Olympic preparations in Utah become a 24-hour-a-day operation. The report states that the city must avoid the commercialism com-mercialism that marred the 1996 Summer Games in Atlanta, indeed this is a stand that Park City should take. Park City's commercial charm comes from its diverse business community. A slew of temporary Olympic souvenir sou-venir stands during the Olympics would lessen the charm of downtown Park City as it hosts visitors from all parts of the globe. The report also calls for a proactive city program to ensure that the cost incurred by Park City is not of Olympic proportions. Again, a strong statement that LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Park City is not interested in letting the International Olympic Committee, nor the Salt Lake Olympic Organizing Committee, fully dictate what Park City's role will be during the Olympics. This stand has been well documented even before the report was released. Last summer, the Park City Council drafted a letter to SLOC expressing concern about the compensation package offered to Tom Welch, SLOC's former president, who resigned after being invloved in a domestic-violence incident. It is apparent from the draft of the master plan that SLOC and other Olympic organizations orga-nizations can expect the same type of reaction from Park City if the city sees similar episodes unfold. In Park City itself, the report indicates that the local streets will be closed to all vehicles except those associated with official Olympic business or those owned by residents. While this idea may deter many from the Wasatch Front from visiting Park City during the Games, it is an appropriate measure. During events such as the Park City Art Festival and the Sundance Film Festival, traffic is almost unbearable for local residents. The traffic the Olympics will create will dwarf that of the aforementioned aforemen-tioned events, thus park-and-ride systems that are proposed pro-posed to be placed on the outskirts of Park City will ward off a potentially disastrous traffic situation during the Games. While four years remain until the 2002 Winter Games begin, it is clear that Park City, with the Olympic master plan draft in its possession, is well ahead of the curve in its Olympic planning. A-V-Vtrt.wce.K5 posihj SfcorN:t. V"tvy FesVivail i Earl ... RfcWv5VoVis job,wKeire Vis all . JOHN KILBOURNR4RK RECORD Support for disabled skiers Editor: During the weekend of Jan. 2-4, the National Ability Center's Huntsman Cup brought together a highly competitive field of racers from Utah and across the United States, including the United States Disabled Ski Team. National team members from Canada, Germany, South Africa and New Zealand were also in attendance for the weekend competition. This event holds critical crit-ical implications and valuable race points for those participants who desire to compete com-pete in the Nagano Paralympics occurring later this spring. We are delighted that the event bought out so many spectators and received such outstanding local coverage from The Park Record. TI.c Huntsman Cup weekend was a huge success and we could not have done it without with-out the generosity and support of our sponsors spon-sors and volunteers. We would like to show special appreciation to our presenting sponsor, spon-sor, Chevy Astro, along with Mike Hale of Mike Hale Chevrolet, who together enabled us to welcome the U.S. Disabled Ski Team "ahtf1 alt other competitors to Park City in style! We also extend our gratitude to our title-sponsor, the Huntsman Corporation, and associate sponsors Swire Coca Cola, Budweiser and Big Four Distributing, HealthSouth, Domino's Pizza and Snow Creek Emergency & Medical Center. Special thanks further go to Park City Mountain Resort and the Race Department for putting together three great days of racing. rac-ing. The Yarrow for their outstanding banquets, ban-quets, along with The Utah Winter Games, Moose Canyon Video, Neil Rossmiller Photography, Wasatch Audio Visual and The Olympia Park Hotel for their contributions. contribu-tions. Following the Huntsman Cup, we had a young group of skiers from MD Anderson Cancer Center come and enjoy a special week here at Park City. We would like to thank Hans Fuegi and Steeps for providing the lunches for the entire week. Warmest regards, Meeche White NAC executive director Don't drain Lake Powell Editor: Hi, my name is Alan Avedovech. I did a report on Lake Powell last fall and researched the idea of restoring Glen Canyon to its original state. I think that Lake Powell is too good to destroy. Restoring Glen Canyiprj will kill jpts" of fish and animals in and around it. If they drain Lake Powell, fish will not have anywhere any-where to live or reproduce. It will also take away water for animals that live around it. I care a lot about wildlife and I do not like the idea of killing it. I care about wildlife because they are living things. Animals are not just things to hunt and put in zoos. They are part of the circle of life and are just like us but in a different way. Wildlife is very important. Currently, Lake Powell has many uses such as houseboating, slick rock slides, water skiing, camping, et cetera. It is a great recreational use of land. It is also a place that you can enjoy by yourself or with your family. Even though Glen Canyon is one of the most special places on earth, I like Lake Powell better. I think draining Lake Powell is a bad idea. Sincerely, Alan S. Avedovech catch whirling disease. My whole family loves to fish. We especially espe-cially like to fish for trout and salmon, and I would not like to see our fish populations go down because more fish hatcheries are catching whirling disease. Pretty soon my family and I will not be able to fish for our favorite fish because trout and salmon are the only fish that can catch whirling disease. Thank you for your time to read my letter, let-ter, and again, 1 hope we get the new fish hatchery done soon. Sincerely, Christa L. Cassidy Warmth and beauty Editor: We would like to thank the Silver Queen Quilters. They donated beautiful quilts for use in our exam rooms and to share with the families we see in our clinics. These are wonderful gifts and very much appreciated. Steve Jenkins and Ruth Richins Summit County Public Health Dept. Better bike trails Save the rain forest GUEST EDITORIAL Government proposal will limit water heater choices Editor: I would like Summit County to make a bike trail that starts at Highland Estates and that connects onto the Rail Trail. I think we need this trail because not just bike riders will use the trail but horseback riders too. My dad and I like to go bike riding and we are starting to get sick of the trails thafgo around in circles. I would think that it would be safer to ride the dirt trails because the dirt would be better for the horses and it would keep the bikers away from the traffic so they can't get hit by a car. If the county makes the trail it should be marked so that the horses don't trash the rest of the land and so there aren't bike tracks everywhere. The county needs to budget an amount to make these trails. I feel strong about this and think other people will like it too. Sincerely, Derek Thomson by LORI TRAWEEK Hold onto your wallets, homeowners, the federal government has found a new way to spend your money. If you like to take a hot shower, or wash clothes or dishes, dish-es, get ready to pay more for that privilege. After many years of study, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has released a proposal to raise efficiency standards stan-dards for water heaters. In plain English, DOE wants consumers to use less energy to heat the water in their homes. The goal is praiseworthy, but DOE seems hellbent on failing to achieve it. Instead of tightening efficiency standards stan-dards for all types of water heaters, DOE appears to be inclined to change only gas water heater standards, thus placing natural natur-al gas water heaters at a competitive disadvantage dis-advantage with their electric and oil counterparts. coun-terparts. Why punish gas? This is a puzzler. The full energy cycle for a gas water heater already is more efficient than that of electric elec-tric models. In addition, gas water heaters are the most economical choice over their lifetime, electric water heaters cost twice as much as gas water heaters to operate. oper-ate. And natural gas is the most environmentally environ-mentally friendly fuel. By changing the standards for gas water heaters only, DOE could cause these heaters to be priced right out of the market, mar-ket, at the expense of both the consumer and the environment. It seems that the new standards won't reflect the most efficient effi-cient energy technologies. There may be energy savings achieved by shoppers faced with fewer affordable choices in water heaters. Maybe they'll save their energy by just staying home. DOE was supposed to take several factors fac-tors into consideration before releasing its ruling. The "new" water heater was supposed sup-posed to use less energy to heat water than in the past, be technologically feasible to produce and save money. This rule making fails on all counts. Lori Traweek is vice president for operating oper-ating and engineering at the American Gas Association. Help for fish populations Editor: My name is Christa Cassidy and even though I am only 10 years old I care very much about our environment. So does my whole class. The environmental issue I am most concerned con-cerned about is that I think the state should get started on the new fish hatchery in Kamas. I did a report on whirling disease and I learned how important it is to have fish hatcheries that are new and less likely to Editor: Hi, my name is Brittany Coyle. I live in Park City. I want to tell you about the rain forest. People have been cutting down too many trees. Pretty soon there won't be any more. Already millions of animals have lost their homes. We need to save the rain forest. I think every time" we cut down rtree 'we should replace it. Trees give us oxygen. If we can replace all of the trees we cut down, then we can live in a better unpolluted area. I hope that together we can save the rain forest. Yours truly, Brittany Coyle Better bus service needed Editor: Hi, my name is Melanie. I am very concerned con-cerned about parking problems on Main Street. Main Street parking is bad and it will be worse during the Olympics. I think we should do something about the parking problems before the Olympics come. I think we should have more buses going to Main Street from all over Park City. It would save parking spaces, decrease traffic on the way there and it would cause less pollution. pol-lution. Park City isn't polluted yet, but if we don't stop pretty soon, it will be. These are some ways I think could help Main Street parking. Sincerely, Melanie Rittscher The Park Record welcomes letters to the editor on any subject. We ask that the letters adhere to the following guidelines:They should include the address and telephone number of author. No letter will be published under an assumed name. They must not contain libelous material. Writers are limited to one letter every 28 days. Letters must not be longer than 350 words (guest editorials, 550 words) and should if possible, be typed. We reserve the right to edit letters if they are too long or if they contain statements we consider unnecessarily unnec-essarily offensive or obscene. The Park Record Staff PUBLISHER Editor Staff writers Contributing writers Office manager Classifieds manager Classifieds Subscriptions manager Advertising director Advertising sales Editorial production Photographer Production director Production Circulation CartoonistIllustrator Andy Bernhard Nan Chalat-Noaker Kirsta H. Bleyle Bruce Lewis Dave Fields Melissa O'Brien Jay Hamburger Stephanie Howell Tom Clyde Rick Brough Jack Fxiell . . 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Published everv Wednesday and Saturday. til rGCOrd Asked on Main Street How do you feel about your tax dollars being used to send local officials to Nagano? ; , f. ''J V lj lft i it , I' s 1 j.ii ... it ft? In Heidi Olding Park City "I feel the city should let us know who is going, why they're going, who decided if they could go and how much are we citizens paying." Sam Booth Park City "I feel instead of spending the money on those who don't really need to go, they should get information infor-mation from the Web." Jim Maire Park City "I think some people should go, but most people shouldn't go." Wayne Jergensen Park City "I dont think tax money should pay for people to attend the Olympics, but there's enough money in these committees commit-tees for them to pay for themselves." Randy Neilson Park City "I dont mind spending the tax dollars, dol-lars, but half of the people going shouldn't." |