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Show NION Page 13 Times Newspaper Wednesday, March 25, 1998 Editorial mmiim mem &m mi mmm m e COMMENTARY odd m wi wmyv In a perfect world, an organization or-ganization such as the Boy Scouts of America, with its promotion of character development de-velopment and belief in God, would not be under attack. But in our increasingly topsy-turvy world, where what used to be considered "wrong" is too often now "right", and vice versa, the organization has found itself in court, being Bued to accommodate ac-commodate atheists or those seeking to change traditional tradi-tional definitions of "morally straight", A question for the times is whether the courts of the land will ultimately rule that the organization is a private entity with the right to set its own standards stan-dards for membership, or if, 'dim mm Pmty M B resses the issues byREVABOWEN City Editor State Democratic Party chairwoman chair-woman Megan Holbrook was not dodging the tough questions when she was in Provo last week to speak to a gathering of the Democratic Women of Utah County. Holbrook's visit came just after af-ter the Democratic Party failed to field a candidate to oppose Republican Re-publican Rep. Chris Cannon in Candidate profile corrections Profiles of two of the Miss Orem candidates pictured in last week's issue of the Times were not presented with clarity. Liberty Peterson, 18, is the daughter of Leland and Judyth Peterson. She graduated from Mountain View High School in 1997 and is attending Brigham Young University. She has had training in piano, voice, and dance. Her hobbies include community com-munity theater, dancing, garden-" ing, foreign languages, and singing. sing-ing. Liberty has been a member of the National Honor Society and the German Honor Society and was listed in Who's Who Among American High School Students. She was a Rotary Exchange student stu-dent in Holland. She has a dual major in German and travel and tourism at BYU. For her pageant talent, she will present a display of foreign languages she knows. Marisa C. Peterson, 18, is the daughter of Andre and Pamela Peterson. She graduated from Orem High School in 1997 ! and is attending BYU. She has 'had training in voice, tap and modern dance, and musical the-jater. the-jater. . ; Marisa's activities include sewing, sew-ing, swimming, cooking, and playing football. Her honors in-Iclude in-Iclude high honor roll, a service award, national group winner -Constitution speech competition, and academic letters in math and social science. She was awarded a University Scholarship at BYU. Marisa has received two blue ribbons for sewing in county fair competition and a runner-up prize in the "Make It Yourself With Wool" contest. She hopes to graduate from BYU in business management and design and sew professionally. Her talent number num-ber in the pageant competition will be a vocal solo. The two Miss 6rem candidates are among a field of 16 who will compete for the title Saturday, April 4, at 7:30 p.m. in the Canyon Can-yon View Jr. High School auditorium. as its legal opponents maintain, it is a "public accommodation" that cannot "discriminate". Another question for the times is, "What has happened to our values and ethics?" According to a press release . from Ronald E. Nyman of the Utah National Parks Council, a recent study commissioned by the Boy Scouts of America revealed both some alarming statistics and some positive facts with regard re-gard to the current state of values val-ues in America. The study was conducted by New York-based Louis Harris & Associates, and "represents a thorough, critical, and objective -evaluation of the values of men and boys", according to the press release. The study "incorporated interviews with a national ran this year's Third Congressional District race, and the chairwoman chair-woman was up front about the situation, seen by many as a major ma-jor setback for the already beleaguered belea-guered minority party in the state. Holbrook tackled the "What happened?" question first. "You've got to know when to hold, and know when to fold," Holbrook remarked, explaining that money was part of the problem prob-lem in putting forward a candidate. candi-date. She said that Cannon is a millionaire who was able to put $L5 million of his own into, his i race against former congressman Bill Orton two years ago, a daunting daunt-ing obstacle for potential Democratic Demo-cratic candidates to face. Until "something happens" with campaign cam-paign financing reform, Holbrook MEG HOLBROOK Letters to Light rail may help traffic To Whom It May Concern: Hello. My name is Spencer Allen. I go to Lakeridge Jr. High. Recently, in debate, we have been discussing current problems in Orem. We came up with the issue is-sue that the traffic in Utah is very bad, and with the Olympics coming quickly, it will only get worse. I think that the problem needs to be fixed as early as possible, pos-sible, and one solution that my class came up with is a light rail system. I think that this is a wonderful won-derful idea, and it could lower the traffic problems in Utah a lot. The time it takes to get from Orem to Salt Lake City is horrible hor-rible during rush hours. It can take from one hour to two and one-half hours. I think that if we could get a light rail system installed, in-stalled, we could have many people take the light rail system instead of driving. This would not only lower traffic problems, but would also lower pollution, be SCt ... . 'tjJ'IA 111 LU.I.IIOI.ltJ dom sampling of men age 18 and older, male students in grades four through 12, as well as a cross-section of men listed in Who's Who in America''. It was found that of the boys surveyed, during the past year: Almost a quarter (24) have shoplifted. More than half (54) have cheated on a test. Almost three in ten (28) have been drunk. Almost one in five (17) have used illegal drugs. Five percent have carried a gun to school. Those findings were termed "disturbing" by Louis Harris & Associates CEO Humphrey Taylor. Tay-lor. "Today, many youth are being forced to assume significant per eh&hwomQn asserted, the situation won't change. Holbrook said it was a "hard decision" not to field a candidate, but party leaders felt "strongly" about not "just putting a "warm body' up." "That sends a message," Holbrook declared. The party wanted to either go in and try to win, or to put resources into a race where they have a legitimate chance the Second Congressional Congres-sional District where educator Lily Eskelson is taking on ihcum-bentMerriH ihcum-bentMerriH Cook. Eskelson has Raised twice as much money as Cook and is close in the polling data. Holbrook said the party is still "seriously considering" having a write-in candidate to provide more of a choice in the Third Congressional Con-gressional District race. Cannon is being opposed by Republican Jeremy Friedbaum, Libertarian Kitty K. Burton, and Independent-American Will Christensen. A looming concern for the Democrats is redistricting in the year 2000, when whoever is in control of the State Senate will draw up new district boundaries. Holbrook said that unless the Democrats are able to pick up more Senate seats, they will be subject to gerrymandering again. Cutting up districts erodes candidate can-didate support, she said. Holbrook is also making the case for having more women serve in state elective offices. "We absolutely have to have more women," she said, noting that all the Editor cause it doesn't run on gasoline. A light rail system is much less expensive than a monorail system sys-tem or a subway system would be. Also, a light rail system moves much faster than most cars; depending on stops and distance, dis-tance, it could transfer people from city to city much more efficiently effi-ciently and quickly. If the light rail system had four cars and each car could carry 30 people comfortably, and if we had five systems going at once, and each system made five rounds a day, that would be 3,000 people in one day! Although most cars probably wouldn't fill up completely all the time, it would still transport a lot of people. Many cities around the U.S. have already put light rail technology tech-nology into action, and maybe Orem representatives could look at some of these systems in use and determine whether or not a light rail system is in Orem's best interests. Thank you for your time. . Sincerely, Spencer Allen sonal responsibility at a very young age," Taylor said. "The final fi-nal outcome is manifested by deteriorating de-teriorating values, feelings of alienation, and often damaging antisocial behavior. What is worse is that the-ethical and moral values of boys decline as they mature." The survey results indeed called the morals and values of American men into question as well: Only 62 strongly agree that "a person should not resort to a means that he or she knows is wrong, even though it may lead to success". Only 38 strongly agree that "helping others should come before one's own interests", One in four (25) strongly agrees that "being honest with any woman who fears speaking up in the State Legislature needs to do to banish her fear is "to listen lis-ten to the speeches of the men". "It is important to have more women in the Legislature because be-cause women tend to be more reasonable," rea-sonable," Holbrook said. She observed ob-served that while the men seemed to hold firmly to party lines in considering, for example, eliminating the sales tax on food, women legislators were willing to look at the idea more closely and with more flexibility. 1 Holbrook also sounded the Democratic Party theme that without another voice, the state . does not get "good government". "This state is better served when you have more than one voice in the Legislature," the chairwoman declared, citing several sev-eral examples. Even though 88 of the state's citizens wanted changes in the concealed weapons law, no bill even made it out of committee in the just-concluded state legislative legisla-tive session. And Holbrook charged that the Republicans did not have a single open caucus as they considered laws and funding. fund-ing. "That's wrong," she said. 1-15 reconstruction was noted as an example of "crisis management". manage-ment". Democrats have said that the roads need to be done, but should have been done a long time ago, and planning done with vision. The tax system has not been overhauled since 1973, and the middle class is bearing an unfair burden. , Where ballot initiatives had to have petition support from 15 counties, they now have to have 20, an "almost impossible" requirement, re-quirement, Holbrook said. "I think we should make it easier for people to say what they want, Use IRS e-file and get your tax refund in half the time it usually takes. Even faster with Direct Deposit. IRS e-pte is simple and secure. There's quick proof your return is accepted. And ifs so accurate, there's less chance you'll get a letter from the IRS. To find out more, see your tax professional or look in your tax booklet. CLICK. ZIR FAST ROUND TRIP. www.ire.ustreas.gov A PuMk Sfrvw Mtttife M ffe lutrnwf Rrnnw Srrvfcf everyone is not something that pays off in the kind of world we live in. More than one-third (35) do not classify "not declaring all of one's income to the IRS" as "absolutely "ab-solutely wrong". Almost four of ten (37) do not classify "keeping excess change given at the store" as "absolutely "ab-solutely wrong". The positive aspect of the stuv vey, according to the news release, re-lease, was that it "revealed that former Scouts tend to be better-educated better-educated and have higher ethical ethi-cal standards. Former Scouts indicated in-dicated that Scouting taught them to be a team player, care for the environment, and respect the elderly." Thomas C, Powell, Scout executive ex-ecutive with the Utah National not harder." Despite the challenges, Holbrook said she is optimistic and proud to be a Democrat in nrJN ft Timpanogos Green CLfU & -flU ft. Silken Seasons of Spring The winter snows on Timpanogos peaks Are sending rushing waters to the creeks In unexpected torrents. Icy foam Salutes the rocky crags that line the streams. As winter's frosting finds its canyon home. And. as we say farewell to winter dreams. We hail the happy harbingers of spring: The flying flowers, we call butterflies; The meadowlark that teaches us to sing; Spring showers, falling from celestial skies; The pussy willows, sending forth their fur; The daffodils, displaying burnished gold; The darts of love that vanquish him and her; And tender feelings, happy hearts may hold. One magic morning, right before your eyes. Miss Spring reveals her ultimate surprise: A hummingbird appears to flit and hum To tell the universe that Spring has cornel As Spring appears and wakes the sleeping land. The time for resurrection is at hand: All creatures answer, great and small. They flood The landscape with their offspring, bright and new On lofty peaks, or in primordial mud. They bring new life to life. The magic brew That Spring creates, intoxicates them all With heady wines. The velvet blossoming That blesses trees and flowers, large and small. Gift-wraps the land, no longer possuming. The secret winter time has tried to keep Is outl The temperature is on the risel The calendar says: "Wake up from your sleep. And be a precious part of nature's prize!" 7oo short, the silken season of the Spring, No matter how devoutly we may clingl For solar Summer waits his certain turn To torture tender skin and make it burnt And with the sun in logical pursuit. The time arrives to taste the Orem fruit. Although prodigious days have long since passed The Orem land is1 ripe to bloom and grow. As homes and condominiums, at last. -Are shooting up, like merry mistletoe. The strawberries, the peaches and the pears Are getting scarcer on this rocky plain. As irrigation ditches send their shares To guarantee that lawns don't grow in vain. Though Summertime may soawn a discontent. The canyon streams, as well as Utah Lake. Seem promising, as well as heaven-sent. v As temperatures may soar and over-take. And yet. the magic of this Orem bench Produces four Incredible new seasons: Jach one, designed to quicken and to quench The thirst of those who stay for those good reasons. One magic morning, right before your eyes. Miss Orem shows her ultimate surprise: The world has beat a path to Orem's door. And things are not the same here, any morel Parks Council said, "Those of us who serve youth are especially espe-cially gratified by the results of this study. It substantiates what we have been saying since 1910 Scouting does have a positive impact on young lives." If there is ever a national soul-searching and effort to reverse the downward trend in values and ethics, it would be well to remember the contribution con-tribution that Scouting has made in setting high standards stan-dards for moral development, and to turn to values and ethics eth-ics as a way out of the moral "wilderness" that seems to be enveloping us today. Utah. She wants to see citizens "wake up", become more edu- cated, and say, "We need to have a two-party system again." -L. |