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Show American Fork CitizenLone Peak New Utahl - Wednesday, May 16, 2001 - Page 2 Opinion r rrrymn win wnpmwiwpiii iuiiwwiriiifnwniMnrrnririTr-fi mm- 1 i n 1 Take time to honor armed forces Our government sets aside this week in May each year to honor those who serve in our Armed Forces the Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard. It isn't an accident that the United States has remained relatively rela-tively free from direct threats to our national survival throughout this century. There were a few who made plans to invade here, but they were so soundly thrashed in conflicts far from our shores that they never got close enough to worry about. Even if that were not the case, however, history both ours, and that of other countries has proven the necessity of keeping a standing force ever at the ready. This hasn't come without cost, of course. Millions of men and women have given their lives and untold natural resources have been lost in 20th century conflicts alone. The politically divisive war in Vietnam was a notable exception, but for the most part, Americans have always gone willingly, not only to defend their own country, but to help others who did not always have the means to help themselves. While the military services do not have the same high profile today as they have had during protracted periods of war, they have been called upon repeatedly in the past couple of decades to respond to problems throughout the world. Grenada, Panama, Desert Title IX did produce progress A young friend of mine and I got into a discussion recently about Title IX, that controversial controver-sial legislation which was designed to attack discrimination discrimina-tion in opportunities for women. She is a former state champion champi-on at one of our local high schools who went on to compete on scholarship at a Division I university and is now coaching. She was upset because Title IX has forced the demise of wrestling and gymnastics at the collegiate level, affecting some of her friends. I agreed that result was unfortunate, but said the overall effect of Title IX has been a staggering stag-gering success story. I offered to find an article I had previously written on the topic for her to read, butmy search for it has proved fruitless. However, the end of the present pres-ent high school sports year still seems a good time to revisit the subject at the community level, so I've decided to share some of that information with her here. The original legislation was passed in 1972, the year I started start-ed college. It says simply this: "No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any educational program or activity receiving federal financial assistance." Although there is no specific mention of athletic programs in the wording, the Congressional debates at the time made it clear that the law was intended to apply to all such programs. As is often the case in sweeping sweep-ing legislation such as this, the devil has been in the details. Having witnessed the entire unfolding of the process as an adult, I can declare with certainty certain-ty that the law was never intended to take away anyone's opportunities, only expand those available to women. The continued popularity of body count-heavy football is the real culprit in the demise of other male collegiate programs, but that's a topic for another day. The fact is, in 1972 there were fewer than 300,000 girls in the entire United States participating participat-ing in interscholastic sports, which amounted to one in 27 at the high school level. Today, the American Fork Citizen Newlltah! (ISSN No. 1521-6845) (U.S.P.S. No. 018-580) A member ol NATIONAL NEWSPAPCA ASSOCIATION Shield, Desert Storm, Somalia, Bosnia and Kosovo are only a few of the far-flung places where our troops have been dispatched in recent times to aid the cause of peace. Right here at home, many members of the Armed Forces, mainly the National Guard and some reservists, have also been called upon to respond to emergencies emer-gencies such as natural disasters and terrorist activities. And, as always, lives are lost in training exercises every year. There have been considerable improvements in pay, benefits and living conditions for today's service serv-ice members, but the nature of the work remains as dangerous and difficult as it has always been. While donning a uniform has usually carried some social status with it in this country, there is nothing glamorous about most of the day-to-day work that our service serv-ice members do. They keep challenging hours and are constantly under stress, both physical and mental. Long periods of boredom are occasionally occasional-ly punctuated by moments of sheer terror, as a veteran in our office has described wartime but it applies in peacetime as well. They train endlessly to hone skills they may never be called upon to actually use, but that is the price of vigilance, and we owe them a debt of gratitude for it. The staff of New Utah! joins all Americans in saying 'thank you' to each and every member of our Armed Forces. number is approaching three million, with about one out of every three girls participating. Research has shown that ath-, letes of botli- genders tend to have increased health, higher self-esteem, better grades, and more aspirations to leadership in the community than non-athletes, and the huge increase in female players has meant great gains in these areas as well. It's hard for today's women athletes to understand what things were like 30 years ago. Except for the occasional high-profile high-profile Olympian, females at every level played without financial support, adequate facilities, or decent coaches. Hoping for a college athletic scholarship? We were as likely to get one of those as be invited to join the space program. The progress hasn't been universal, uni-versal, and it isn't done yet, but a lot has happened locally even in the past decade or so. During that time, the number of girls' teams has increased at the high schools, and pay and the number of coaches has been equalized. There are challenges remaining remain-ing in financial and fan support for women's teams, but even that is changing, and the number num-ber of competitive opportunities for school-age girls has never been greater. Incidentally, we have one local practice that requires modification mod-ification to meet certainly the spirit, and probably also the letter, let-ter, of the law. I'm referring to the scheduling schedul-ing of double-headers in the same sport where the boys' teams always get the prime-time prime-time slot. This should be alternated alter-nated the way gym space is. Schools where it's been done have reported often-unexpected success with the experiment, so maybe we ought to give it a try here. Title IX wasn't a perfect answer and has become somewhat some-what warped in application over time, but it has still been one of the most potent drivers of significant signif-icant change to benefit not just women, but all athletes even when that's hard to see. Published weekly by llie ewlaliiews 59 West Main American Fork, Utah 84003 The ever-changing signs All the names are changing. It seems like you can't go places, even familiar places, anymore and still expect to see things that look familiar. A few days ago, Sharon and I were driving to University MalL and on a very familiar building ahead of us was a very unfamiliar name. Where we were used to seeing the large letters of ZCMI, we saw the words Meier and Frank. It was a jolt, even though we knew the store had been sold some time ago, and the name had been changed recently recent-ly so this once-familiar business could open on Sunday. But still I wasn't prepared for the effect of not seeing those familiar old letters gracing the store. They were near and dear to me. My oldest daughter had read them to us once, when she was first learning learn-ing to read. "I know what that says," she told us proudly. "It says 'zeemie,m she sounded out. We explained that it didn't really say that, but we were still amazed since she was not in kindergarten yet. That's a feat she could not have achieved, had she been looking at the words "Meier and Frank." I'm glad they didn't change that name some 20-plus years ago. The same evening we were sur- Our aloof Moose will be missed It was nearly 15 years ago that he came into our lives. Very small, very fluffy, very cute -he was called "Caramel" by the family fam-ily who let us adopt him from them. The other kittens in the litter were "Licorice" and "Honey," based on their colors, of course. Caramel was for our twin sons' tenth birthday. He arrived two days late, but that's OK After the birthday birth-day celebration we found out that one thing the boys really wanted was a cat of their own. Mom had a cat, one who had been in the household longer than the 10 years they had been alive. We don't know her breeding since she was just a stray kitten who came, saw, and demanded to be made part of our family. . . . , : Partly because of her voice, and partly because we've heard it's a Siamese trait to choose one person and one person only - to be her own, we thought she might have that particular ancestry. Whatever the cause, she was extremely devoted devot-ed to me. She tolerated my husband knd stayed as far away from the kids as possible, j She was extremely jealous. If she saw me hold or pet another cat, she would hiss at me for days after as the memory crossed her mind. Naturally when we brought a kitten kit-ten into our house ! who would remain there on a permanent basis, we had to be very careful not to Wo response brings citizen response Editor: Why do we have a Neighborhood Neighbor-hood Watch? When finding several packages of new tools, covered with a lot of blood, which had been thrown under our automobile, I called the police. They never came to investigate. investi-gate. Three days later, upon reading the police report in New Utah! and realizing Bradshaw Auto Parts had a robbery with broken windows, win-dows, we felt these packages of tools probably belonged to them. As we visited Bradshaws and found indeed these had come from the robbery, we were given a grateful grate-ful thank you. Many times the police have responded to our needs but this time, no response. Carol H. Harmer Citizen asks for a public apology Dear Editor: On May 8, I was very disappointed disap-pointed by the high-handed and abusive manner in which Mayor Barratt treated Councilwoman Telephone Numbers Advertising & Circulation 756-7669 News 756-5273 Publisher . ; .-. .Brett Bezzant Managing Editor . , .Marc Haddock AF City Editor Barbara Christiansen Lone Peak Editor .Beky Beaton Periodicals Postage Paid at American Fork, Utah POSTMASTER: Mnd (ddran ctanot to 59 Wnt Main, Amrian Fort. Utah 84003 Z Deadlines Classified Advertising ". . .Tuesday, noon Display Advertising . . . .Monday, 5 p.m. News Monday. 2 p.m. Missionaries Monday, 2 p.m. Weddings , .Monday, 2 p.m. Sports ...... r ..-. :-. .Monday, 10 a.m. Community Calendar . .Monday. 10 a.m. Letters to the Editor ... .Monday. 10 a.m. Obituaries Tuesday. 1 1 a.m. Subscription price $24 prised by the loss of our familiar ZCMI sign, we were in downtown Provo, going to the Provo Theater Company's production of "Shadow; lands," and there on a building ahead of us in an unfamiliar location loca-tion were the words Wells Fargo Bank, replacing the comfortable and familiar sign of First Security Bank. Like everyone else in Utah, I'd followed the corporate soap opera as Zions Bank and First Security had courted and then split, only to see First Security take up with Wells Fargo on the rebound. So I knew the banks had merged. But it was tough to see the old First Security logo gone from our presence forever. After all, this had been my first bank not in Provo, but in Montpelier, Idaho. My mother had worked there as a teller once I was grown and she could drop her job as full-time mom and jump back into the workforce. When I first moved to Provo, my offend the queen of our felines. We kept the other kitten mostly with our boys, in the downstairs area. I was careful to be as aloof with him as cats have a reputation for being with people. By the way, that's greatly great-ly undeserved. The two cats didn't meet very often. It took quite a few months for them to get used to each other. I still . had to be careful not to pay much .attention to, him. , So he grew up sort of ignoring me and I of necessity had to ignore him. Years later, when our sons went to college and then on LDS missions, mis-sions, their cat somehow began to transfer his loyalty. Our first cat had developed cancer can-cer by then and had passed on to the eternal catnip field in the sky. So we were free to show a little bit of affection affec-tion to the other cat. Somehow we quit calling him by his actual name and started using only his nickname, nick-name, "Moose," based on how large he had grown. He began sleeping with us and trying to monopolize my lap any MiM'immfiiiiinwtnw mmMmmmmmmmmmm Reader's Forum Belmont, the only woman on the City Council. Belmont had asked Carl Wan-lass Wan-lass why he had intercepted a memorandum the architects specifically brought to the city hall for her. Barratt cut her off in mid-sentence and did not allow her to finish speaking, numerous times. In the previous meeting, the Mayor had advised the Council-woman Council-woman to deal directly with the architects because Carl Wanlass had prevented other communications communica-tions between her and the architects. archi-tects. " Apparently, Barratt was defending City Administrator Wanlass; however, in the past, the Mayor has routinely allowed Coucilmen to abuse Council-woman Council-woman Belmont without defending defend-ing her. Councilwoman Belmont does her homework, speaks her mind, and constantly works for the best interest of the citizens. " Since the mayor abused Councilwoman Coun-cilwoman Belmont in public, he should apologize to her in public. In the future, the women at city council meetings should be treated treat-ed with the same respect as the men. George Brown received via e-mail We welcome letters to the editor. All letters must include the author's name (printed AND signed) and a telephone number. num-ber. We reserve the right to edit letters for clarity, punctuation, punctua-tion, taste and length. Letters are welcome on any topic. HOW TO REACH US By Mail P.O. Box 7, American UT 84003 In Person 59 W. Main, American of our times , First Security account had followed Now the old bank was no more; replaced by a name that was just aa familiar, thanks to Wells Fargo's place in western history. But the name wasn't family, like First Secu-i rity was. Lots of names have been changing chang-ing lately. My cell phone company changed from AirTouch to Verizon, but since neither name makes any real sense nor has a long history, I didn't care much. I just changed the way I write my checks. And my home Internet Service Provider changed its name from AirSwitch to Switchpoint, although my home e-mail address is still at AirSwitch. I don't get this change at all. But these changes don't rock reality like the changing of a historic his-toric logo like ZCMI or First Security. Securi-ty. When these familiar names are lost, it's like losing something personal per-sonal or losing a connection with a part of your past. It makes a once-familiar once-familiar landscape look strange and foreign. I guess the changes can be good ones. But I wonder if the marketing geniuses who make these changes realize how they erode the faith of consumers when they rewrite our landscape to match their changing corporate structure. time he saw me sitting down. But somehow the old habits remained. Although I enjoyed his company and realized that it was fine to be friends and companions with him, it was hard to feel that Moose was not as aloof as I had always imagined him to be. As he approached his 15th birthday, birth-day, the fairly large cat started losing los-ing some weight. From time to time, we discovered tufts of his hair scattered scat-tered around the carpet. We thought the other cats were picking on him, but finally discovered that for some unknown reason he was pulling his own hair out. The situation continued to deteriorate deteri-orate and our once sleek tabby became little more than skin and bones. The eventual trip to the vet had the.xonsequence we djeaded, but knew had to come. : 1 " Moose is now gathering catnip to his heart's content. I imagine he's already putting on a little bit of weight and his bones are no longer rubbing together. The people who always tried to be so aloof with him haven't succeeded to any extent. A life is a life, and that one was assigned to us. He trusted us and devoted his entire span of years to our family. We didn't expect to miss him so much, but his absence certainly leaves a big hole in our hearts. Bye Moose. We look forward to meeting you again. Consumer liked his old Airswitch Editor: Microsoft, Schmicrosoft. What about Airswitch (Switchpoint)? ! ...I do feel I've got a little more input on Airswitch's (oops, now Switchpoint's) monopoly. Since the Switchpoint name-change or change in managementowners, the services and customer support have continually continu-ally gone down, while the number of outages and downtime have gone way up and the pricing has recently doubled. , While I am very glad that they haven't gone out of business com-pletely...their com-pletely...their service is undepend-able, undepend-able, and I doubt they will reimburse reim-burse me for the times they are down. As I write now, I don't have web service again. Yes, I like (love) my Airswitch when it works. Yes, I wish it would work more often. Yes, I depend on it a lot for my work. No, I'd rather not switch to DSL and No, I don't want to go back to a 56k modem. To Spanish Fork residents, I hope your city fiber network plans jare better. - Joel Galbraith Springville Editor's note : This letter in its entirety is on the Web site at www. newutah.com Fork, - - Fork By Fax 756-5274 By E-Mail editor newutah.com 1 |