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Show Pleasant Grove Review New Utah! - Wednesday, April 7, 1999 - Page 2 Opinion f Winning the pornography war Snow storm throws a wrinkle into sprin After two-and-a-half years and two trials, the public screening of dozens of hours of sexually explicit videos, Utah County is no closer to having a legally-defined pornography pornogra-phy standard than it was before police raided the American Fork and Lehi Movie Buffs stores in October of 1996. The first trial ended after a single sin-gle juror felt it was inappropriate for him to lay down that kind of standard for the community as a whole. The second ended in a verdict of not guilty for Larry Warren Peter-man, Peter-man, the former Movie Buffs manager man-ager who rented cable-edited versions ver-sions of X-rated videos in many Movie Buffs outlets, including those in north Utah County. Peterman was found innocent, not because the jury didn't think the videos were obscene, but because the cities in question gave Peterman a permit to do business even after he had told them he would be renting videos with adult content hard-core X-rated films that had been edited to meet cable television standards. Lehi city officials now claim they didn't know what that meant. Nevertheless, their approval of a business license for Movie Buffs was significant enough that the jury didn't think it could convict Peterman of intentional wrongdoing. wrongdo-ing. What remains unanswered is the critical question: Where do we draw the legal line when it comes to pornography and obscenity? One Supreme Court justice summed up the problem succinctly when he said of obscenity: "I can't define it, but I know it when I see it." Well, the fact is we are seeing more of it each day, whether we want to or not. One thing the second Moyie: Buffs trial has taught us is that there is more sexually-oriented i material available in- Utah County today than there was in 1996 in the form of adult magazines, sexually sexu-ally explicit videos for rent and pay-per-view movies in some local hotels, and on-line pornography over the Internet. We have also seen that we cannot can-not rely on the courts to stem the tide of pornography and obscenity. There are too many variables to get a clear ruling in a courtroom setting of what is and what isn't obscene. The Movie Buffs trial also tells us that we can have a powerful effect on our communities by our behavior. We can make a difference differ-ence and keep our community free of salacious material. We can do that by refusing to patronize businesses busi-nesses that market this material. While it is true that our city officials should work diligently to keep sexually-explicit material out of local businesses, there is only so much cities can do. The absence of clearly defined limits makes this even more difficult for local governments. gov-ernments. As individuals, however, we can make a difference. If we give our financial support to these businesses, busi-nesses, they will thrive. If we don't, they will go somewhere else. After all, who sets the community communi-ty standard if not the members of the community? We do that most effectively with our pocketbooks and through our vocal complaints to store managers who stock questionable ques-tionable material. The war against obscenity will be won or lost in our own homes and businesses not in protracted protract-ed legal battles where unrelated issues can sidetrack clear-cut decision deci-sion making. Long before Movie Buffs won in the court of law, they lost in the court of public opinion, when they saw their customer base fade away largely because of the kind of material they stocked in their stores. That was a victory for the Utah County community as a whole, and it should serve as a model for the ongoing struggle to keep obscene material out of our towns and cities. We fight this battle every day and a concerted, continuing effort by the community is the only way to win the war against pornography- It has been a pretty good winter and it looked like it was going to be a pretty good spring. That is, until last Thursday. March had acted like a lamb most of the month but decided to go out like a lion and April Fools Day was just that a fools day. We were all April fools caught in the reawakening of winter for a few hours. We had the heaviest snow fall of the year so far on Thursday and I was not ready for it. Oh, sure, I had listened to Mark Eubank and the weather forecast. I saw him wear his white coat. But he has done that several times during the winter and not much happened here in PG. Some of the other communities to the north of us got a lot of snow but we fared pretty well. I liked this winter. It had been very tolerable. Then Thursday came with its nearly a foot of snow. In front of our garage was a drift of snow, mostly caused by the snow falling or blowing from the roof. It was about two feet deep or more. (It seemed like more.) I had to clear this area from snow before I could even attempt to get the car out of the garage Thursday morning. Then when I got to the bottom of our steep driveway I had to slow to make sure no cars were coming and this left me stuck at the bottom of the driveway. I could not go forward and I could not go backward. My grandson (he is off track right now as he goes to a year-round year-round school) and I really worked hard to get the snow from under and behind the tires in order to get out onto the road which was pretty well clear of snow by 5 : W I then as it had been plowed. It took 45 minutes for us to get out of the driveway. I finally called for help and we got the car unstuck about two minutes min-utes before my son-in-law arrived. Once we were out into the road, my son-in-law helped us clear the driveway so that when I came back I would be able to get up the hill without difficulty. The city streets by that time were just wet as the streets had been plowed and 'the snow was nearly all gone on them and it turned out to be a pretty good day, driving-wise. I could have gotten along very well without that trying and tiring experience. My grandson said, 'We were getting ready to do an April' Fool's Day trick on someone and we ended up having the April Fool's trick on us." He wanted to do an April Fools trick on his uncle and my husband had helped him concoct a scheme. They would arrange to have a flower delivered to him that said "From a secret aclmirer" and let him be perplexed all day. It worked. The whole experience kind of reminded remind-ed me of an experience I had when I was a junior in high school H. ., weekend with my girlfriend ' family in Afton. Wvo. A , at on Sunday afternoon, it k,., . : Her cousin was driving and hi' careful driver, but as wp bend in the highway, a car He put on the brakes and th very slowly right into the J stalled car. It did no damage i ..- ond i-rmlr 1, i. ,1 uiii l-cu. aim tuun. uei io the nevt-J -" b- wiLii Her car Then as wg were pnmi mountain from Bear Lake thLl seiiii ui&i, uau ouu un the road motorists had stopped to try andi the big rig back on the pavement My girlfriend and I stayed in-but in-but her cousins got out anrl wj ' As they were all trying to pusW. trucK, someone supped and the went right under the rear whj-' sella aa il si-oi ;u lo Slowly moye; Everyone screamed and my st fell into my shoes but the persoi lees were run over, mt m j away unhurt. The pressure of ft had pushed the leers down int ,1 snow and went over the top ando-' some taint tire marks on their if- ii was iiK.e a miracle ana 1 qjv forgotten it. Another reason T rpmpmkai.;i .v.uucl was because I had broken out r three dav measles in Afton nn tu day morning. It was definitely a wJ to rememoer. From here to the Republic of China eader's Forum py to be a part of Pleasant Grove Editor: As the rumble over Manila's annexation annex-ation to Pleasant Grove continues with a small contingency, Norm and I want to thank Cindy Boyd and others for their efforts in getting our area to be a part of Pleasant Grove City. We, along with many of our neighbors, neigh-bors, are very pleased with the annexation annex-ation and want the Pleasant Grove public officials to know that. We appreciate appre-ciate the long hours of debate and deliberation on the Manila Township's behalf and we want to thank you for allowing us to become a part of the city of Pleasant Grove. We have lived here over 20 years. That was long before Cedar Hills came into being. Pleasant Grove is where our hearts are and we are absolutely thrilled to be apart of it. Thanks, too, for your willingness to bring the sewer up to this area. I understand that has not been an easy task either. We appreciate everything that has been done and is being done in our behalf. Thanks. Norm and Gloria McAllister My wife and I recently returned from a week in Taiwan or the Republic of China (ROC), courtesy of their Government Govern-ment Information Office (GIO). (They like acronyms as much as we do.) We met personally with several government officials, offi-cials, scholars, and business leaders, who taught us about their highly successful democracy and free-market economy. All of these men had spent many years in the United States and many held Ph.D.'s from prestigious U.S. universities. And why would they do this? Probably the shortest answer is: 'PRC" or the Peoples' Peo-ples' Republic of China, home to 1.2 billion people, approximately; one fourth'of t.ho world's population. As far as communist Beijing is concerned there is one China and Taiwan's mere 22 million are part of it. PRC's calculated strategy is to diplomatically diplo-matically cut Taiwan off from virtually all other countries. Therefore to maintain their de facto independence and to keep from being absorbed into the amoeba of China, Taiwan needs friends in the rest of the free world lots of them! The U.S. position, officially and necessarily, neces-sarily, recognizes the PRC, but through an act of Congress (Taiwan Relations Act) seeks to maintain the economic, military, mil-itary, political and peaceful status quo. When the only geographic buffer is a thin ribbon of water about 70 miles wide, the ROC could not defend itself very long (without U.S. intervention) against the most populated nation on earth. However, both sides, it seems, want a united China, but the people of Taiwan, having experienced democratic freedoms, free-doms, want a united democratic China. An individual example is Mr. W. P. Chuang, Assistant General Manager in the Public Affairs Department of China Steel. Mr. Chuang fled the communist takeover of mainland China with thousands thou-sands of other nationalists in 1949. He later came to the U.S., as part of a government gov-ernment selected team, to learn how to make steel. Among other places, they spent a considerable con-siderable amount of time at the US Steel Plant in Orem, Utah. In fact, since my own father worked some 30 years as a security guard at the Orem plant, much of China Steel looked very familiar the administration building,, the. dispensary, dispen-sary, the. rolling mill, etc. -. . . : .Mr. Chuang, Hterally, saw China Steel rise from the dust to become what is now a'pnVately owned and still profitable steel plant. Ironically, he told us that they . originally went to the U.S. to learn how to make steel, but some 20 years later, U.S. steelmakers came to them to see how they had managed to stay profitable. Nevertheless, to return to my point, when Mr. Chuang left mainland China, he left much of his family there. Like millions mil-lions of others in Taiwan, he has since been back to visit. However, they can't just jump on a boat and go 72 miles across the strait, they can only visit through the free port of Hong Kong. Though not nearly so many, fortunately Beijing has allowed some mainlanders to also visit family in Taiwan. Millions of family ties and tradition bind both peoples peo-ples together, hence the continued hope for one united China. Space here will only allow a few examples, but here are some other things I observed in Taiwan: The Republic of China is a new and enthusiastic democracy. What we wouldn't would-n't give, for example, to have 75 percent voter turnout! Unfortunately, as our democratic republic has "matured" beyond its Christian constitutional roots, too many have lapsed into a coma of per sonal license, i.e., let others voluir others do the government and H dirty wont so 1 can be tree to purs-.; sonal wealth, pleasure and leis Taiwan, all national issues are personal; it is their country andfc pie govern. Taiwan has preserved mam most, of the mainland's priceless sures. The National Palace houses artifacts from the dyni-: many Chinese Emperors. Some date back to 4,000 B.C.! The entire it changes every three months ant i j i i everyumng, one wouiu nave to 7t museum every quarter for overlLf The Government Informatior held a dinner for us with goverJ- media and university dim: Because they knew we were LD: also surprised us by graciously k two missionaries from the local rJ office. We were so pleased to vis:: them and the ROC officials wen impressed with how these Elder mastered the very difficult Chines guage in such a short time. At every stop we were give: we returned the favor with, amon; things, the Book of Mormon ar. Proclamation on the Family (in darin Chinese, of course) andmiE the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. We also visited the LDS Ten; Taipei and attended church in ward. (Yes, they do write in Chine top to bottom on the blackboard.' Wong (from Logan, Utah) transla: us. with the kind assistance of Eli ton (from American Fork). Smal world that.it is, I learned that Elds ton had dated mv niece. In our short visit to Tarffi learned that people are much the everywhere and we gained a p appreciation and love for these w- cious and ambitious people ... time. There are easy ways to make a great prom date It's prom season around the valley this month, and preparing two boys for the big event has proven to be an interesting inter-esting opportunity, to say the least. In the first place, this is the first formal for-mal dance for both of them. Second, we've only had to help daughters prepare pre-pare for this in the past. With a few days left to go, the jury is still out on which will prove to be more work. I know that our challenges aren't unique, though; as I've shared some of our struggles with the mothers of other prom-bound high schoolers, I've taken an informal survey of their experiences. Here's a few things I've learned: Utah teens feel genuine pressure to cook up some elaborate way of asking for any dance date. Just calling up and making mak-ing a request simply won't do. I have told four successive children now that this is silly and they needn't participate, but it doesn't do any good. I have to admit, though, it was still sort of fun to be in on the planning this time, and they were able to come up with something that was cute and didn't cost a slice of the reserves at Fort Knox. The girls took the cue and answered in an equally creative but low-budget way. I guess I can live with that. It's next to impossible for girls to find a decent dress in this area, let alone one they actually want to wear. One of our son's dates confided her despair after several fruitless shopping trips, complaining com-plaining that the dresses were either too skimpy, too ugly, or both. Other mothers have reported needing to make alterations on dresses they did find; adding sleeves and raising necklines neck-lines were the most common modifications. modifica-tions. You would think that store managers man-agers here would get a clue, but they say they can only get in what can be ordered. Somewhere out there, there must be one or more enterprising women who could launch a store or home business providing formalwear for Utah's modesty-conscious teens. There's a genuine business niche just waiting to be filled. We've had the difficult experience of trying to find something suitable for a teenage girl, but now I'm even having trouble finding something for my seven-year-old that doesn't look like it's trying to imitate an adult fashion in a smaller size. Help, anyone? The boys are not removed entirely from the girls' struggles over dresses either. One young man we know who is now serving a mission advised his sister before he left to make sure her choices did not leave her date guessing where he could put his hand without touching skin or seeing things he didn't want to see when they were dancing. It was very sound advice, and something some-thing we hadn't considered in our household house-hold until now, when we are dealing with the opposite side of the equation. I hope my sons' dates were able to find something some-thing that meets those standards. A lot of students are scared away from dance dates by what can become prohibitively high expenses. This is a shame, because it's possible to have a lot of fun, even the favored all-day dates, without spending a fortune. Here's a hint, gang: your dates will be a lot more impressed by your manners and kindness towards them than they will be by how much money you spend. If you want to make a lasting impression, try being considerate and genuinely interested in them. Many budget-conscious teens have addressed this problem by getting family members involved in activities and meal preparation. Some of our children's fondest fond-est dating memories were created on such occasions, and they have the added benefit of hnildinf family bonds as It's pretty hard to get a to: i r . l on P.. surea lor a tux wnen ne andor has an after- school job. someone rmild consider stayt later one nieht a week during sons like this one. I finallv P-ot mine in when Nature shortened their prachf week, but I knew we wereni ones with the nroblem. because was jam-packed the entire time there with you guessed ii- letes. ., . nDcn:tQ f,Q ,.iai it. was reall) l-J OJJl Ull tlM) w ' 1 . see how tuxes transformed tn : a : l . rltV,oc mav D"1 thoman Vint tVioir cnrP Can gl suggestion. I can't imagine tno- ; il n menfl' iiul inspiring uie yuung , them to live up to the best tiw them. , There are those who claim tn planned prom date can easily Pj. exception to the rule. I wish au safe and glorious evening- Pleasant (Sroue Seutctu (ISSN No. 1521-6861) (U.S.P.S. No. 435-780) A member of 7 PP H NATIONAL NEWSPAPER b ' ASSOCIATION Published weekly by TT?ie T jewtahjews fjroup 59 West Main American Fork, Utah 84003 Telephone Numbers Advertising & Circulation 756-7669 News 756-5273 Publisher Brett Bezzant Managing Editor Marc Haddock City Editor Marcella Walker Subscription price $24 per year Periodicals Postage Paid at American Fork, Utah POSTMASTER: send address change to 59 West Main, American Fork, Utah 84003 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. Letters to the Editor . . .Monday, 10 a.m. Sports Monday, 10 a.m. Community Calendar . .Monday, 10 a.m. Obituaries Tuesday, 11 a.m. We welcome letters to the editor. Ail letters must include the author's name (p AND signed) and a telephone number. We reserve the riqht to edit letters , uolc le.iym. Leners are welcome on any topic HQ W TO RFAPH U S for dant) By Mail P.O. 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