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Show E Submit a Guest Editorial or Opinion at our office, located locat-ed at 538 South State in Orem. Deadlines are Monday 10:003a.m. All submissions are subject' to editing for length, and Th$ Orem-Geneva Times reserves the right to publish or not to publish a submission. A2, Thursday, January 22, 2004 ( Editorial ) 6 T I (VI E 5 (ohhwiw &oDinion The simple action of wearing How many of us realize that some of the simplest thingB we do in life can have a big impact on our health, happiness, or our lives? Such simple actions could include flossing teeth, washing wash-ing hands, or getting enough sleep. Although these actions are simple and easy to do, many of us neglect them or toss them to the side as being trivia things. Would we consider a simple action trivial if it took only three seconds to do, but at the same time, could save our life? The simple action that is referred to is the wearing of seat belts. Even though putting on a seatbelt is quick and easy, how many of us neglect wearing them because the driving distance is short, we are worried that it might wrinkle our clothes, or we are under the false assumption that "it won't happen to me"? Although wearing a seat belt should be a personal responsibility, too many people do not wear them causing injuries and fatalities that could have otherwise been prevented. Where personal responsibility responsibil-ity has failed in decreasing SFC Bert Gividen (Secretary First Class) The Orem-Geneva Times 538 South State Street Orem, UT 84058 An edition of The Daily Herald, Pulitzer Newspapers, Inc. Subscriptions & Delivery 375-5103 News & Advertising 225-1340 Fax 2251341 E-mail oremtimesnetworld.com USPS 411-711. Published Thursdays by Pulitzer Newspapers, Inc., 538 South State Street, Orem, Utah 84058. Periodicals postage paid at Orem, Utah 84059. Postmaster: Send address changes to P.O. Box 65, Orem, UT 84059. Member: Audit Bureau of Circulations NEWSSTAND PRICE $0.50 SUBSCRIPTION RATE 1 year-$36.40 (in county) (Sunday & Thursday plus Holiday deliveries) Holiday deliveries include delivery the week of Easter, Memorial, Independence, Pioneer, Labor, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day. ' 1 year- $45.40 (out of county) NEWS We welcome news tips. Call 225-1340 to report news tips or if you have a comment nr a ni.pctinn We welcome letters to the editor. All letters must include the author's name (printed AND signed) and a telephone number. We reserve the right to edit letters for clarity, punctuation tast anri lonnth Letters are welcome on any the number of preventable injuries and fatalities, a pri-mary pri-mary seat belt law may have success. The legislative session in Utah begins on January 19, 2004. During this session Senate Bill 71 will be proposed, pro-posed, which bill is to change the current seat belt law from a secondary offense to a primary offense for those 19 and older. This primary seat belt law will enable law enforcement officers offi-cers to issue citations any time they observe an unbelted driver or passenger. passen-ger. Our legislators can help reduce the injuries, fatalities, fatali-ties, and medical costs that are associated with car crashes by passing Senate Bill 71. Currently in our country, 18 states and the District of Columbia have primary seat belt laws. The states that have implemented primary pri-mary seat belt laws have found a 10-15 increase in seat belt use and greater reductions in fatality and injury rates. The National Safety Council has estimated estimat-ed that 172 lives were lost in Utah between 1995-2002 Dr. Bert Gividen 1998 Retired Administrator Brigham Young University topic. due to the lack of a primary seat belt law. The main opposition to primary seat belt laws is that it is an infringement on personal rights. Those who, are concerned about not having the right to choose should also consider how unbelted drivers and passengers pas-sengers affect society as a . whole. The National Safety Council has estimated that Americans are paying $14.3 billion per year in injury-related injury-related costs for people who do not wear seat .belts. Society ends up paying 70, or $10.1 billion; through higher car and health insurance insur-ance rates and through public pub-lic assistance programs that are funded with our federal and state tax dollars. As citizens of Utah, let us consider the issue on a more personal level, by looking at the state statistics. The Utah CODES program pro-gram has estimated that $7 million were spent on medical med-ical charges for unbelted Utahns in 200L Of those charges, $6 million were needlessly spent if unbelted Utahns had been wearing their seat belts. This pro The Korean "war" was really not a war, and it has never officially offi-cially "ended" -even though 33,000 Americans lost their lives, and other thousands were wounded. There is a truce, but no treaty. It was a United Nations conflict, the U.S. contributing con-tributing heavily. The mass media often glamorize military life, but that glamour quickly fades in combat. Bert Gividen was on the front lines in Korea when peace negotiations failed and the Chinese threw tens of thousands of its best troops into the front lines. As I recently wrote this section sec-tion of my history, my hands became very clammy, my adrenalin started to run again, and my muscles tightened. The nervous energy made me quit writing and go for a walk before returning to the task at hand. It has been difficult to relive these experiences, yet I have also felt a flood of something some-thing release inside me, and I have a feeling it is time to let go. I now feel a calmness regarding these matters that I have never before experienced. Negotiations at Panmunjom reached a standstill, and the war was back on again. I was an experienced veteran by this time, with more intensity than ever before, because both sides had been fortifying their positions, posi-tions, digging in, and supplies were plentiful. One night, one I will never forget, we heard the bells, whistles, claxons, cymbals and chimes begin to bang as peasants peas-ants were forced into the concertina con-certina wire in such numbers that we could not stop them. Under the flare-illuminated sky, we saw the beginnings of a bridge of human bodies across the wire and in the minefields. Chinese "crack" army troops poured across this bridge of bodies, through the minefield, through our brutal fire, into our positions, and right into our trenches. The trenches had been dug zigzag, so that no one could shoot from one far end to the other. The Chinese were too much a seatbelt gram has also estimated that unbelted crash occupants occu-pants were 17 times more likely to die in a crash compared com-pared to those who were wearing their seat belts. Also, unbelted Utahns were 8.8 times more likely to require inpatien hospitalization and 3 times more likely to need emergency care than those who were belted. Failure to wear seat belts is the biggest contributor of, fatal crashes than any other traffic-safety-related behavior. behav-ior. This is a problem that affects all of us. - Only through passing a primary seat belt law can the injuries and fatalities that occur during car crashes decrease. We can help improve this problem by calling or writing to pur legislators leg-islators to encourage them to support Senate Bill 71. Injuries can be prevented and lives can be saved. Kristin Hawkins 780N.750W.bsmt Provo,UT 84601 801-607-9679 for us, and some broke through . . . into the trenches beside our bunker . . . firing up and down our trenches . . . and then they were upon us. We had to defend ourselves with whatever whatev-er means available ... we were each on our own ... I set my .45 by my machine gun . . . brought two clips out of my pouch . . . kept firing ahead . . . tried to listen for rifle fire to the right and left of our bunker, in and out of the trench . . . heard screaming . . . hollering back and forth . . . and my machine gun got so hot it jammed and was useless. It seemed like the firing in front of us diminished the enemy . . . what was happening? hap-pening? ... it seemed like an eternity, though it couldn't have lasted more than half an hour . . . We were holding our position, but at what cost? I heard screams (not English) and running in the trench to our left ... I turned to the rear of the bunker in time to see a Chinese enter the bunker, his bayonet lowered for a charge . . . he was out of ammo or his gun had jammed . . . Cliff and Roger, my ammo bearers, turned ... I hollered ... the Chinese bayoneted Roger in his right leg ... I caught the rifle with my left hand and with my right hand, the ball of my palm open, drove the ball into the base of his nose with great force. . . Ill never forget his eyes . . . black . . . slanted . . . skin color going small ... he was small . . . wore a funny looking helmet with a chin strap ... I outweighed him by 50 pounds . . . and he was dead, right at my feet ... I released his rifle and let it fall to the bottom of the trench. Another charge . . . more Chinese in the trench . . . this time the reinforcements kept the Chinese from penetrating our line. If you would like to help with the Orem Veterans Oral History Project, as an interviewer, inter-viewer, informant, or transcriber, tran-scriber, phone Don Norton, 225-8050. Timpanogos Lrreen Snow Dancing on Sundance The ebon-feathered Indian erupts, As Sundance diamond-studded snow corrupts The canyon springs. His native headdress droops Ice cycles from his head, that melt and flow, Like sullen tears into the pond. A rush Of silver spray begins to splash and gush Its frozen droplets on a stone. The snow, In rivulets, defies the sun. In groups, The silent trout are shadows in the pool, And do not splash. In winter they may rule! Presiding over Sundance and its pond, The ancient Chief looks heavenward beyond And sends his plaintive prayers into the skies. His pipe pours ghostly smoke on winter's fog. As benedictions settle in the hollows, A mountain marmot wakes, and slowly follows The shadow of an eagle on a log, And trembles, as the eagle fills his eyes. The shadows and the shades, now, take a chance, And dance the snow that covers all Sundance! Th e jagged pines hang heavy, winter-swept, As if protecting hills, where summer slept. The Sego Lilies hide their bulbs. The Paints Await the royal rapture of the spring. The Columbines recall the shards of sky, Which fall in summer, when the Bluebirds fly. The leaves of calendars are tied with string, To keep the winter sacrosanct. Complaints Of Sundance temperatures are quickly drowned, As skiers and snowboarders take the ground! Ski-scalded frolickers invade the hills In search of finding this day's Sundance thrills. A puzzle to the Indian of stone, Who prays in silence on the nearby pond, They, raucous-bound, strap on their skinny skis, And tackle Ray's Lift, like a true trapeze, Which hauls them up the hill, and then, beyond The summit. Deers disturb them, winter-blown. A single autumn leaf, no longer red: Politely, pummeled by the skiers' tread. Snowboards of plastic, now, approach the slope, Where, eighty years ago, Ray reached his rope, And towed the rustic racers through the snow. No eyes of Indians, that daunting day,' Astonished any single braves or chiefs, Who were amazed at white meti's strange beliefs! Now, as the long years tumbled," far away, The Sundance legend, soon began to grow. It fell to Robert Redford's benign reign To name this paradise, where snow had lain! This ski resort, named "Sundance," came to be. Preserving the Environment: the plea! The snow became the catalyst for change, As sheep were moved away, and wilderness Was blessed to thrive. Wild flowers flourished well. In winter, skiing here was non-pareil! Snow dancing, now, achieves a great success! And, no one, ever stops to think it strange, Even in snows, an Indian, here, prays, When sunset shows, that Sundance is ablaze! "Be courteous to all, but intimate with few, and let those few be well tried before you give them your confidence. 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