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Show 7" ' ' ' "' 1 111 1 "' '""'TMT """" '" i f Geneva ii aZa(&o) I Volume 62 Number 14 l 1 1 Mj I 4.i w .i i .rWm-. " M, HH!U " I Orem' s Jake Mangum (9 Center) goes for the ball against Pleasant Grove. Mangum scored one for the Tigers on the way to Or em's 5-0 victory. (Photo: Terry Blackwell, Geneva Times Staff) See story on page 6. 35J Wednesday, April 8, 1992 Shooting victim tells students to meet challenges with optimism By Jeanne Thayne Mike Schlappi, Utah Director of Wheelchair Sports, says he never thought about his legs before he lost use of them in a split second shooting accident. But with tires instead of gym shoes he's managed to achieve the impossible. Schlappi attributes his success to attitude. He told students at Lakeridge Junior High last week he decided early on to be optimistic. optimis-tic. 'You have to see the peaks and not the valleys; see what you have and not what you don't have." A former studentbody president presi-dent at Lakeridge, Schlappi says he has gained a knowledge of disabled dis-abled persons through his career. "Some have good attitudes and some have bad." He said it's "harder "har-der to deal with being handicapped hand-icapped in the head and heart, than to deal with being in a wheelchair." Schlappi uses plenty of cliches in his motivational presentations to youth and to other groups. But they are cliches he has proven worthy through experience. He says challenges should make a person better, not bitter. With one story after another, Schlappi had the Lakeridge students stu-dents laughing with him. There was a time when he thought people were laughing at him, he said. Shortly after he was released from the hospital following the accident, Schlappi's family decided to take him water skiing as was their custom. This time instead of giving Mike the water skis, they bought him a round board he could hang onto as they pulled him around the lake. "Everybody was laughing at me," remembers Mike. "I thought they were rude. Even my usually serious dad was hysterical and I could see people on shore laughing laugh-ing also." When the boat came to a stop Mike discovered his swimming swim-ming trunks had been whipped off during the excursion and his legs over which he had no control had been flapping wildly behind him. "I decided it really must have looked pretty funny and I laughed too." He told the students to use common sense when dealing with disabled people. "If you want to ask about their handicap, do it. When in doubt, help people out. If they don't like it, remember they can't catch you anyway." Schlappi says to "never give up." Because he follows his own advice he received an undergraduate under-graduate degree in business at Brigham Young University and earned a masters degree in business busi-ness administration at Arizona State University. He is married to a beautiful girl he met while trick or treating in a wheelchair. "She never saw the chair as a problem. It was just part of me along with my hazel eyes and good looks," he laughs. They have two children, Matthew 4 12 and Megan 1. Following the assembly at Lakeridge, Mike was presented with $200 from the studentbody to assist him in his trip to Barcelona, Bar-celona, Spain to participate in Wheelchair Olympics. United Way showcases services at open house Ty Detmer, local Heisman celebrity, was there along with 20 local non-profit charities showcased show-cased in an open house held last week at United Way of Utah County, 148 N. 100 West, Provo. formerly the Seventies Bookstore location. Under the executive direction of Bill Hulterstrom, United Way of Utah County networks services and raises funds to help meet f' - -1 ; fZ? I Jjd J hundreds of health and human-care human-care needs in the valley. United Way is an autonomous organization, governed by a local volunteer board of community business leaders. This year's Campaign Chairman is Dr. Sherm Cloward with Bob Parsons and Co-chair, and David Hatton and Art Sandgren as Division Vice Chairpersons. "Our 1992 fundraising goal is $1.2 million," says Cloward. "The money raised will stay in Utah County to fund local social services." Last year public support of United Way of Utah County equalled $920,000. According to Hulterstrom, United Way is second only to the federal government govern-ment in funding social services. Seventy percent of all donations come from payroll deduction, 29 percent from corporate donations and 1 percent from individuals. One of the toughest jobs we have, says Hulterstrom, is to filter fil-ter down the information to many who need it most. These could be people who don't have access to public information such as newspapers. They may not have a television or even a telephone. They may not have transportation. transporta-tion. That's why we need so many volunteers and we use all kinds of ways to pass on information. People need to know that United Way tackles critical issues such as drug abuse, illiteracy, domestic violence, and other problems that threaten the very core of community and family. United Way works with other community organizations and local and state governments to identify and collectively address W" '" Paul Gourdin, right, teacher and student advisor at Lakeridge Jr. High, introduces Mike Schlappi, left. The chair for Gourdin was a prop. For Schlappi, the chair is his transportation to life and success. Ty Detmer joins Mountainland staff members, LynAnn Pas-sey, Pas-sey, left, and Gayla Muir, right, at open house celebrating United Way services and fund raising campaign. SEE UNITED WAY... on page 2 Progress chips away at Orem home on 1200 North By Jeanne Thayne When Jon Danielson purchased pur-chased his home 15 years ago at 107 W. 1200 North, he had a large piece of ground with fruit trees. "I thought I could really leam to work that orchard when I began working less," said Danielson. He also had a huge back yard. Enough to keep him busy for a long time and a good place for children to play. First he lost about five feet of side yard on the east when the 100 West street went in next to him. No problem. The street was needed. Then a development planned on the south and took about 36 feet from the back yard. That construction will begin this fall. Well, Danielson still had a pretty good yard and the fruit trees. Now Orem City is planning to improvements on 1200 North in front of his home. You guessed it. The improvements will bring the busy 1200 North Street within 10 feet of Danielson's front door and also will take half of his fruit trees. Furthermore, he will lose the use of his garage and driveway. To ease the situation the City Council members discussed various options over the past two weeks. They could move the Danielson home further to the south. That would leave him with a less than adequate back yard and would require a variance from the Board of Adjustment. But at least he could park in his own driveway. And it would be cheaper than buying out the home. Councilman Keith Hunt heard it all and commented, "We might just as well admit that the Danielson home will be severely impacted and work out a buy-out. The Danielsons should be made at least as well off as they are now." Negotiations between the family and Orem City are now in the process. The problems began when Public Works Department developed a plan line to widen 1200 North, designated a collector collec-tor street. "Normally collector streets are 50 feet wide," said Ott Dameron, Public Works Director. 1200 North is only 44 feet in many places. Traffic engineers determined that bringing the street to a minimum of 47 feet in the tighter areas will ease projected traffic flow along the street and will still allow residents resi-dents a turn lane. "Less than that will not satisfy traffic movement in the future," said Dameron. The proposed plan includes asphalt variance from 47 feet to 50 feet bounded on each side by a two foot curb and gutter and a four foot sidewalk. Sidewalk and curb and gutter shall be constructed con-structed the entire length of the project along both sides of the roadway. Costs of widening the street are estimated at $500,000. "That's a lot of money to add an extra three feet," said Councilman Council-man Hunt." Public Works convinced the majority of the council the plan line was necessary for future needs. A motion by Councilman Kelvin Clayton to accept the proposed plan line at 47 feet passed 6-1. Council Member Judy Bell voted nay. 1 poor HI |