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Show New IJUih American l ink CitizenLone Peak New Utah - Thursday, August 29, 2002 - Page 2 Opinion Keeping competition a positive experience The beginning of the school your moans the renewal of competition com-petition among our young people peo-ple - for grades, and in the entire range of extra-curricular activities, from the arts to wrestling. It seems a good time to take a step back and remind ourselves of the purposes and limits of these activities. There is no denying that ours is a competitive society through and through, and success is often measured by whether individuals, indi-viduals, groups or companies etc. are perceived as "winners." What constitutes a "winner" varies widely, however, depending depend-ing on who you ask. To make it even more confusing, confus-ing, opinions are frequently different dif-ferent even in the same set of circumstances. For example, success in the classroom is often measured in terms of high grades, especially by parents and college admissions officials. However, grades don't always measure how much a student has learned as well as they measure how carefully a student stu-dent has followed instructions. In addition, some students simply sim-ply don't take tests well, and their results may never fully reflect what they actually know. Kffort is another matter entirely. Some students will labor long and hard to achieve less than perfect grades in difficult diffi-cult subjects, while others breeze t hrough classes which don't challenge them, but earn them a higher GPA. Forward-thinking Forward-thinking colleges now look at the nature of t he coursework as well as tin? grades; parents and teachers ought to do the same. Sometimes, parents also pres Something's fishy in Am. Fork I hope I'm not the only one who has had question marks written all over my face as I have driven around town. We are being invaded. Yes, that's right. Little green fish are taking over our city. American Fork's roads, particularly particu-larly in the central city, have had fish painted on them. Not artistically, artisti-cally, but just an outline or stylized styl-ized version of a fish. That's where the advantage of being a reporter comes in. Being naturally nosy is also good, but doesn't necessarily give you a license to ask questions. People, at least in most of the books I read, generally think that reporters are always obnoxious anyway, so we may as well live up to our image. So I went to some of my sources. That's the other advantage advan-tage to being a reporter. A regular citizen may be nosy, but not know who to ask. I have contacts who seem to know everything - at least until now. I checked with the director of the public works department, thinking it had something to do with some sort of road project. Perhaps the fish marked areas to be patched at some future date. Sometimes it seems that they delineate certain sections for work, like manholes which need to be raised after a repaving job. Good try, but no cigar. '. He told me he had been wondering won-dering about the little fish himself. him-self. If I found out, I should let him New Utah American Fork Citizen, Pleasant Grove Review, Lehi Free Press, Lindon New Utah, Lone Peak New Utah 59 W. Main American Fork, UT 84003 An edition of The Daily Herald, a Pulitzer, Inc. newspaper USPS 01 8-580 (ISSN: 1521-6845) NEWSSTAND PRICE: 50 cents SUBSCRIPTION RATE: 1 year - $26 (in county) $35 (out of county) (Thursday and Sunday plus Holiday deliveries) Holiday deliveries include delivery the week of Easter, Memorial. Independence. Pioneer, Labor, Thanksgiving, Christmas & New Year's. sure teachers to raise grades when students don't merit the higher marks, just so they can keep up appearances or earn scholarships. This only teaches students how to manipulate the system, wears down good teachers, and is likely to mean consequences for the parents too when children chil-dren seek for solutions to other problems by looking for shortcuts short-cuts rather than working them through. On the playing field and court, the debate floor or the stage, competition can provide players with varied experiences that can help build character, but only if the whole business is kept in perspective When anyone - coach, participant, partic-ipant, official, parent or spectator specta-tor - can't maintain their self-control self-control because of what happens in a contest, everybody loses, no matter what the outcome of it is. Screaming, taunting, rude gestures, foul language and disparaging dis-paraging comments of any kind, no matter who they're directed to or how much provocation there is perceived to have beijn for them, are totally inappropriate inappropri-ate in any setting, particularly ones that involves children --even --even if t hey are 300-pound linemen. line-men. We hope that all members of our communities will examine their competitive attitudes and behaviors, and make a fresh commitment to changing whatever what-ever needs to be changed so that our children, and others in attendance, can enjoy a friendly spirit of competition and all the healthy outcomes it can provide. know. A suggestion to check with the police department also brought no leads. Not only didn't the chief know what the fish were for, he had been spending a lot of time in the office and not on the streets, so he hadn't seen the fish. Another dead end. I tried tine more source and checked with a friend in the engineering engi-neering department. There was no answer for me, but he at least had seen the little invaders and had taken more careful note than I had. Apparently Apparent-ly the little fish have numbers painted on the inside of them. Perhaps Per-haps they were for some bike rally or other similar event. Participants Partici-pants would select one to ride to, then hope it was the winning one for some prize. We haven't found out the answer yet. I wish I had, so I could report it to you. Then those of you who are as curious as I am could get to sleep at night. This is a plea for anyone with information to contact New Utah at 756-7669, ext. 12. I'll be waiting for your call, so I can relay it to the public. We welcome news tips. Call 756-7669 to report a news tip or if you have a comment or a question. 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, taste and length. Letters are welcome on any topic. Published Thursdays 84003. Periodicals to 59 West Main, American Fork, Towards a fitting legacy Like most things in life, having a sense of community has both positive and negative sides. On the plus side, when we care about where we live and the people peo-ple around us, we are more likely to be participating citizens, better neighbors, and more involved parents par-ents (that is, more involved with other children besides our own), creating a safer and more supportive support-ive climate for all. We generally take better care of our property, have some regard for the property of others, and feel obligated to help maintain public facilities as well, creating a living environment that can be enjoyed by everyone. Our schools tend to be superior because we demand them to be, and we're not afraid to put our muscle and other resources to work, when necessary, to see that they meet our expectations. Crime tends to be lower because we watch out for one another. Also, adolescents who may otherwise be tempted to do something wrong, whether on a dare or just out of sheer boredom, may resist if they know a report of Life always gets better, someday Two weeks before school start ed, we had a son enter the LDS Missionary Training Center, the MTC. Immediately, his sisters wanted to begin redecorating their bedrooms bed-rooms and at the same time go school shopping and get registered for school. Both parents suggested this might not be a good idea. As expected, they listened and then proceeded to make a plan of attack. We set a budget. Which explains why, while we were picking out hues and shades of purple and blue satin sheen interior paint; they were at the same time asking friends where the best deals on jeans and tops were. It was tiring and chaotic. During this period of stress, at work we temporarily lost a journalist jour-nalist with the Pleasant Grove Review and the editorial staff was madly trying to find an adequate replacement in time for the next city meeting. We were also able to welcome three other journalists on board to help with the Lindon Edition and Pleasant Grove news and features. fea-tures. It was at the same time, the City should finish 560 W. Editor: The residents of northwest American Fork need to push an issue. The road at 560 West was planned, designed and built as a minor collector. It should have been opened years ago and connected to Pacific Drive. It will relieve some of the pressure on 900 West, which will only get worse once Wal-Mart opens on State Street. Also, 400 West was never built to carry the traffic volume it now carries. Trying to turn east onto Pacific Drive from 400 West is an accident waiting wait-ing to happen as cars DEADLINES Classified Advertising . . . , .Tuesday, noon Display Advertising Monday, 5 p.m. News .Monday, 2 pjn. Missionaries, Weddings . ; , . . . . . .Monday, 2 p jn. Sports, Letters to the Editor . . . . .Monday, 10 am. Community Calendar ......... .Monday, 10 son. Obituaries , . .Tuesday, 11 a.m. by Pulitzer Newspapers, Inc., 59 West postage paid at American Fork, Utah. Postmaster: Send address changes UT 84003. Member: Audit their misdeeds is very likely to get back to their parents because someone who knows them will find out. Then, there is the other side. We get more upset about intractable community problems, because they affect our daily lives directly. When long-time friends are found on opposite sides of civic issues, the consequences often go far beyond the matter at hand and create difficulties for other mutual acquaintances. There are other examples, but perhaps the hardest thing is when the loss of some member of our community really hits home. In the wider world, we can maintain some distance from the reports of death and destruction which happen in faraway places to people we don't know. It's not that we don't care; it's just that for most of us, these things don't penetrate pen-etrate our emotional defenses water stories were breaking in Lehi and Alpine City. Dad had to pitch in and help with back-to-school and redecorating redecorat-ing errands. We couldn't use the living room or the family room for two weeks, because of all the furniture furni-ture and clutter stored there. Those rare moments when home, I would collapse in a chair and moan about life. It took a new seventh grade student stu-dent writing to her "Elder Heath" at the MTC to remind me that life "as it is" could always be worse. After all, I should be thankful we have the money to buy the paint so the girls can get it on the carpet, the furniture and maybe, just maybe, the walls. The fact that I have a fiscal limit hasn't occurred to them yet. For this, I am not thankful. Here's her letter: Hi, Elder Heath. Getting back in school has its ups and downs. My locker is not cool, I carry my books around all day. And my math teacher is completely com-pletely evil. I've gotten lost a thou Reader's Forum back up almost one full block. The residents of northwest American Fork now have to wind their way through several sever-al subdivisions to get to either State Street or I-15. I-15. We need 560 West completed to spread the growing traffic volume out over several roads, not just a few, and make access easier for more people in that part of town. If the new fire station goes in at 300 East and Main Street, the city could tear down the old station, close Church Street permanently and make the area a pedestrian pedes-trian plaza and create some of the much-needed apd wanted downtown parking that the businesses busi-nesses are trying to get. One local business owner is against the closing of Church Street. The railroad has said American Fork needs to close two crossings to open a new one. Church Street has been closed for the past one and one-half one-half years with the construction con-struction of the Police and Courts Building. The people of American Fork are already used to it being closed, therefore no damage is being done to this one local business because they have plenty of access from State Street. The City of American Fork owes it to the majority of the residents of the northwest part of town over one business, Main, American Fork, Utah Bureau of Circulations , because we know there's little or nothing we can do about them. It's different when an accident takes our daughter's best friend, when cancer claims a still-young father, or when our teacher suddenly sud-denly is gone after treatment for a medical condition we didn't even know she had is unable to save her. Such events are always followed fol-lowed by shock and sudden uncertainty, uncer-tainty, but shared mourning can draw a community even closer together, even as painful as it is. The very fact that we miss a departed member is all the evidence evi-dence we need that their life, however how-ever brief or long it was, did indeed count for something, if nowhere else but here. At such times, we often gain a new appreciation for all the many people and things we tend to take for granted. I think we honor our departed loved ones best when we recommit ourselves to doing all we can to improve ourselves, as well ad to make our communities a better place to live for all of those they left behind. sand times. Now, what were the ups? Hope you are having a better time than I am. Love, Jeni. Life does get better. Jeni is now able to open her locker every time she needs to put something in or take it out. Next, she just has to learn to bring the books home on the weekends in order to do her homework. She is keeping a journal on her evil math teacher's antics. She said he laughs like the Tasmanian Devil. I'm hoping after a few weeks, she will discover "Mr. Smith" just has a very colorful personality. per-sonality. As a teacher, he at least has her attention. The girls' rooms are almost done and order is beginning to return at home. At work, 111 keep my fingers crossed that our new writers will hold up under deadline dead-line pressure, criticism and the unknown. And me? Well, my son just offered a bribe. Hell send more MTC photos, if well send a care package. I don't think so. The last photos he sent were of a closet, an empty bed and an MTC walkway. Next hell be asking for more film. What nerve. Cathy Allred can be reached at callrednewutah.com. to close Church Street and open 560 West. The management of Smith's has said they would be willing to even change the access to their parking park-ing lot to align with 560 West at Pacific Drive to make a safe intersection. A grass roots movement move-ment needs to begin in northwest American Fork. Get involved, get organized, come out to City Council and Planning Plan-ning Commission meetings meet-ings and let's have standing stand-ing room only. Let them know what the majority of people want and need over the whims of a single sin-gle business owner. Make it happen - get 560 West across the railroad rail-road tracks at Pacific Drive. -John Woffinden Subscriptions & Delivery Service . . 375-5103 Mews & Advertlslej 75S-7CC9 Fax 755-5274 E-mail . . . .BueditornswutaSi.cca PQ City Editor ...... .Cathy Allred Lehi City Editor ..... .Cathy Allred AF City Editor . .Earfcara Cfcrtetteaa Lone Peak Editor . . . .Bcxy Beaton |