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Show THE PARK RECORD WEDNESDAY, MARCH 14, 2001 EDITORIAL Viewpoi ints. A-1 5 Abating violence with information When it comes to covering school violence The Park Record is painfully aware of the fine line the media must walk between informing the public and sensationalizing the issue. Worried parents and school administrators this week already have accused the newspaper of both ignoring recent incidents in the Park City School District and -- at the other end of the spectrum -- looking for news where there is none. We are guilty of neither. Early efforts to follow up on last week's rumors that two students had been caught carrying carry-ing hit lists (but no weapons) listing the names of specific classmates, were dodged by both the school district and the Park City Police Department. Lacking official confirmation we let the matter rest. In the meantime, school districts across the country reported a rash of incidents of varying degrees of seriousness in the aftermath of the Santana High School shooting in California. Discussions about our responsibility to cover the issue without inciting further acts of violence have dominated many discussions among staff members. After weighing the risks of inspiring possible copycats and publicity seekers, we nevertheless concluded that being informed is better than remaining in the dark, especially when the potential consequences are so grave. Our job is LETTERS TO THE EDITOR" to inform the community so that it can take whatever action it deems appropriate. Our decision deci-sion was reinforced by a call from an angry parent par-ent who was frustrated by the school district's attempts to suppress information about the threats. Students as well as parents have a right to know about the kinds of dangers they may be facing - even here in Park City. (In fact, some statistics suggest that suburban areas with large disparities in family income are particularly prone to violence.) The community also needs to know what kinds of programs exist to diffuse angry students and what plans are in place to handle a crisis. The Park City School District, in many respects has been proactive in addressing the personal issues that may lead students to desperate desper-ate acts. And there are signs that the students themselves want to address the issue head on. One of them has established a chapter of Students Against Violence at Park City High School. While protecting the privacy of its students, the district must also find a way to be more forthcoming about the threats, both real and imagined to local students. The community can't put an end to school violence until it knows what it is up against. JOHN KILBOURNR4W RECORD Epitome of an Olympic host Dear Stein: Your interview and article in the March 3 edition of The Park Record was a gem! Your comments were thoughtful and precisely stated concerning the key elements of us hosting successful Olympic Games in 2002. This article should be mandatory reading for all of us as volunteers. I believe you have captured the essence of what our visitors wish for and have every right to expect during their stay in Utah. This is a short, precious moment in time, which will not come our way again. We should all seize it! Key to your comments is "showing our guests that we respect them and their ways of life" and "not leaving some important things out." As the Venue Chairman at Deer Valley, I am blessed to work with a special spe-cial group of people who use customer service and people as a competitive advantage. We plan on making certain that each of our volunteers clearly understands under-stands the "Deer Valley Difference" and that e take this guest-centered focus to the venue with us each day. Even at that, I spend considerable time worrying about planning for the never-ending never-ending list of contingencies that may be unexpected. This will include simple things such as helping our guests navigate through a community they are visiting for the first time. In addition to being a great friend to so many of us in Park City, I respect you as one of our most precious human resources. Should you ever grow tired of skiing you will be well positioned for a career as a consultant on leadership! Sincerely, Phil Thompson Deer Valley Venue Chairman Whole lotta litter Editor: Comments made by Stein Eriksen in the March 3 Park Record prompted me to finally write this letter which I have started start-ed to write several times in the past. Stein is absolutely right. Park City needs to clean it up. The entire town, especially the Main Street area, is invariably littered with garbage and other unsightly items. I daily walk past businesses where there are piles of trash, food waste, old couches and other discarded items that have remained for months. The situation is embarrassing to me as a local and disgusting disgust-ing to me as a customer of the various establishments. Clean up should be a regular part of daily business operations in any resort community. Parkites should take pride in this great little town and our beautiful environs, yet I see little, if any, effort made by retailers and restaurateurs, the city, the Chamber, BFI or merchant associations asso-ciations to keep the area clean. Recent Park Record articles and KPCW interviews inter-views relating to drawing more people to the Main Street area address the need for more events and contain "lofty" ideas such as elevated dining platforms. I think merchants and others need to acknowl- GUEST EDITORIAL Fair housing is your right edge that a mess exists, and begin their efforts to improve the Main Street area at the ground level. A concerted effort needs to be made now to remedy this trashy situation and to put mechanisms in place to keep it from occurring in the future if Park City is to remain a place where people want to visit. Sincerely, Mary Keller Gratuitous violence Editor: Last summer, "Survivor" producers were taken to task for allowing the game show's contestants to cruelly kill rats, rays and chickens and CBS was in hot water for broadcasting their antics. When "Survivor II" began shooting in the Australian outback, CBS officials made sure that the animal abuse continued in their network's shameless pursuit of ratings. rat-ings. Recently, viewers were stunned and sickened to watch as a contestant stabbed a pig to death, then smeared her blood on his cheeks. .; Australia's Animal Protection Act makes it illegal to torture, mistreat or bait any animal or to instigate such acts. If "Survivor" producer Mark Burnett and CBS placed a tame pig on the scene, separated sep-arated a wild pig from her family group, or baited or corralled the pig so she could be attacked, they are likely to have violated vio-lated the criminal code. "Instigating" cruelty cru-elty is an offense equal to stabbing an animal. ani-mal. CBS's relentless pursuit of ratings is as bloodthirsty as the "Survivor" contestant who was apparently chosen because he was willing to stab an animal to death in by LEONA K. HAWKS and STACY THOMAS According to a recent survey conducted conduct-ed by the Ogden City Fair Housing Issues Committee (FHIC), the Greater Ogden Area Association of Realtors, and Ogden City's Neighborhood Development Division, there is a lack of knowledge in regard to fair-housing rights among Ogden's residents. Many residents were not aware that they had the right to choose a place to live without being discriminated against because of race, color, national origin, religion, gender, gen-der, disability, familial status (families with children), or the source of income. These are sometimes called protected classes under the Fair Housing Act. Housing discrimination is rarely blatant. bla-tant. More often it is subtle and cleverly disguised with a smile and a handshake. Your fair-housing rights are violated when you are prevented from viewing, renting or buying a home or an apartment apart-ment due to your membership in any of the aforementioned protected classes. If a realtor, landlord or loan officer alters the terms or conditions that are placed on the purchase or rental of a housing unit, or if they offer different privileges or services because of membership in a protected class, that is also housing discrimination. dis-crimination. Prospective buyers or renters should be suspicious when they hear lines like these: "This building is for adults only." "I don't really want all those changes a ramp, grab bars; that's too much." "We can't have mentally retarded people living liv-ing here. Who will take care of them? It will make the neighbors uncomfortable." "You don't want to live in this neighborhood, neighbor-hood, and I will show you another neighborhood neigh-borhood where you will feel more comfortable." com-fortable." These lines may seem reasonable reason-able or sound fair, but they may also be "excuses" to keep people from renting the apartment or buying the home of their choice. The need for fair-housing education extends beyond Weber County. According to the Anti-Discrimination Division of the State of Utah Office of Fair Housing, other areas of the state are also in need of fair-housing information. The Anti-Discrimination Division of the State of Utah released information, in October 2000, showing the three most common types of complaints registered with them in the fiscal year (Oct. 1, 1999 to Sept. 30, 2000). There were 96 complaints com-plaints filed. The first and most common type of complaint surrounded the issue of unequal choice or treatment for persons per-sons with mental or physical disabilities. There was rn overall feeling that persons with disabilities, who are most likely the ones in need of protection, seem to be the least safeguarded of all the protected classes in Utah. The second most common com-mon were complaints that reported discrimination dis-crimination based on familial status. The third largest groups of complaints were classified as retaliation. This was where the person who complained about discrimination dis-crimination was punished in some way (retaliation) by the person being complained com-plained about. Seeing the need for fair-housing information infor-mation and education, a coalition of housing specialists from Northern Utah, Salt Lake and Iron counties, and headed by the Utah State University Extension, have come together to provide educational educa-tional programs to raise public awareness about housing discrimination. They will inform the public about their rights and obligations under the Fair Housing Act, and advise victims of housing discrimination discrimina-tion on how to file a claim with the state of Utah and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). If you would like to know more about your fair housing rights and responsibilities, responsibili-ties, or if you or someone you know has been a victim of housing discrimination, call the Anti-Discrimination Division of the Office of Fair Housing in Utah at (801) 530-6435. Walk-ins are also welcome wel-come at 160 East 300 South, 3rd Floor in Salt Lake City. Should the investigation results show substantial proof of discrimination, discrim-ination, measures will be taken to rectify the situation. Leona Hawks, EdD, is a professor at the College of Family Life, Utah State University, Logan. Stacy Thomas is a Fair Housing Project Assistant at USU. pursuit of money. While CBS is earning a reputation s the network of animal hater, growing numbers of former fans are turning turn-ing off "Survivor" and visiting PETA's web site, PETA-online.org for a free vegetarian veg-etarian starter kit. For more information on the investigation into what really happened hap-pened in Queensland or for humane, neaitny veggie recipes, please contact us. Sincerely, Karin Bennett PETA correspondent New music format on KPCW Editor: I would like to address the recent decision deci-sion by KPCW to change to a pre-select-ed format of music and to eliminate the classical portion of the programming. First of all, I am not a big classical music fan, although I do very much enjoy it at times. I know that if I need to relax, it is an option for me and I know where and when to find it on KPCW. I also am aware that the "numbers," based on the research, show that while the classical audience may be in the minority, there is still a very loyal contingent in the Park City area who are basically being screwed by this decision. There must be a middle ground here that can be reached, rather than the complete elimination of the programming. pro-gramming. Now, as far as the proposed "AAA" formatted programming, I'm sick. KPCW, for me, has always been about tapping into the various deejays' personal wealth of knowledge about the music they play on air. Maybe it doesn't hit home with 100 percent of the listening audience for the entire day, but when it Park CitySummit County Government Directory Park City Council Members Peg Bodell, 649-2636 Candy Erickson, 649-0500 Roger Harlan, 649-2624 Fred Jones, (801 ) 322-3300 Jeff Mann, 658-51 32 Mayor Brad Olch, 649-8352 Summit County Commissioners Shauna Kerr, 649-6718 Pat Cone, (435) 783-5778 Eric Schifferli, 645-8145 Summit County Planning Commission Chairmen East side: Arlin Ovard, (435) 336-2865 Snyderville: Donna Vanburen, 649-5351 Park City School Board Colleen Bailey, 649-1346 Kathryn Adair, 645-0819 David Chaplin, 649-9613 Jim Santy, 649-9285 Supt.Nancy DeFord, 615-0225 Carol Murphy, 649-3385 State Government Governor Mike Leavitt, (801) 538-1000 Sen. Lyle Hillyard, 752-2610 Rep. David Ure, (435) 783-4650 Sen. Beverly Evans, (801) 454-3494 U.S. Congress ReP- Chris Cannon, (801) 379-2500 (202) 225-7751 Reg. Jim Hansen, (801) 393-8362, (202) 225-0453 Rep. Jim Matheson, (202) 225-3011 Sen. Bob Bennett, (801) 924-5933, (202) 224-5444 Sen. Orrin Hatch, (801) 524-4380, (202) 224-5251 The opinions expressed in our guest editorials do not necessarily reflect the views of the Park Record. SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION 1 Year inside Summit County, $32, outside Summit County, $60 Mastercard Exp. or Visa No. Name Date: . Mailing Address Mail to: The Park Record, P.O. Box 3688, Park City, Utah 84060 does, it has a lasting effect that keeps listeners lis-teners coming back for more. The deejays are not all about their "on-air presence" and ability to talk and carry on. Rather, they are more about expressing themselves them-selves through the music that they play. Public radio is about having the community com-munity involved and Park City is about a lifestyle that cannot be attained elsewhere. else-where. The new format will have some great new music and that is a plus. But taking away the freedom of the various deejays to create a mood and a flow for their shows is a major mistake. I will now be selecting the music I play from the same pool as every other deejay at the station. I believe an appropriate term (as brought up at the town meeting on Monday night) would be "homogenizing the music". The research conducted proved that an alternative rock format during the day and a classical format during the evening hours were the choices of the respondents. respon-dents. The reasoning given for not going with the alternative rock is that it did not fit the needs of the news-listening audience. audi-ence. Is it not possible that there is an audience in Park City other than "news junkies"? Is it not also possible that at least a part of the success oFthe award-winning news portion of the programming can be attributed attrib-uted to the numbers of listeners who are already tuned in to the music? I support the notion that change is a good thing, but only with a healthy dose of common sense. It all boils down to maintaining our local flavor. Thanks for tuning in Joe Cauceglia Thursday deejay on KPCW The Park Record Staff PUBLISHER Andy Bernhard Editor Nan Chalat-Noaker Staff writers Bruce Lewis Jay Hamburger Jennifer McKenna Vanessa Conabee Sterling Clifford Karri Dell Hays Tim Sullivan Contributing writers Tom Clyde Rick Brough Teri Orr Gary Weiss Jay Meehan Editor's assistant Courtney Herzinger Office accountant Christiana Komma Classified advertising Ian McNeil Wendy Dunn Reception Patti Christensen Circulation manager Cathy Vanderweghe Advertising director Valerie Doming Advertising sales Gayle Seaman Inkarna Thomas Anne Cummings Wendy Halliday Leslie Schag Shanelle Russell Tito Trujillo Wade N. Hall Tricia Hintze Editorial production Kat James Photographer Stephen Zusy Scott Sine Production director Amy Hobbs Matt Gordon Kristi Masters Yvonne Ruth Scott Aste Trish Graham Rory Lewis Kristin Thomas Michael Ascani Karen Yetter Cartoonist John Kilbourn Contents o the I he I'ark Record are copyright O 2(Mtl. Diversified Suburban Newspapers. All rights rein ed. o portion may be reproduced in any u o) the managing editor USPS 378-7.)) (ISSN 0745- 9483) is published twice weekly by Diversified Suburban Newspapers. 1670 Bonanza Dr.. Park Cilv. Utah Periodicals Postage paid at Park City. Utah POSIMASIf K Send address changes to The Park Record, Box .3688. Park City. Utah 84060. Entered as second class matter. May 25. 1977 at the post office in Park Cilv. Utah 84060. under the Act of March 3. 1897. Subscription rates are $32 inside Summit County. $60 outside Summit County. Utah. Subscriptions are transferrahle: $5 cancellation fee. Phone (435) 649-9014 or fax (435 ) 649-4942. 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