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Show Page HILL TOP TIMES 6 November 22. Pebp 1974 I mm People Line is back after a two week absence. Donna N. Harvath replaces Rayda Hamby as People Line monitor. Mrs. Hamby retired in late August and People Line was kept going by other members of Inspector General's office. Mrs. Harvath believes that People Line "takes care of rumors you hear and clarifies how things are." "Action Line columns rate high on all surveys of Air Force papers. There are, however, many complaints about the timeliness of responses and responses that quote paragraphs from a regulation. Readers expect rapid and reasonable answers or explanations of their questions. Are you providing them in your action line column?" Air Force asked this November. 1971 as "a means civilian-cou- ld exry Hill AFB or personnel-militawhich by the reviewed them and or have by press problems complaints Ogden ALC commander." "We have dicovered a new and truly efficient means ,of y communication," said Timothy Rowan, conducting Media Branch, Secretary of the Air of Internal chief deputy Force Office of Information. "Action Line is the modern day relative of letters to the editor. Letters to the editor are fine.. ..But they have a drawback. Letters to the editor seldom have an answer on why or what happened. "Our Action Line otters do. Under the Action Line concept, commanders and their staffs announce they will answer any letter sent to them. The best letters are printed in the base newspapers. In any case, every letter is answered on why or why not a commander can or cannot do this, that or anything." People Lines, Action Lines. Hotlines and other similiar columns became popular in most of the 151 Air Force newspapers. A recent survey by Air Force found that only one base newspaper in live did not have either a commander's or action line column. INCLUDED WERE comments from other bases. major wrote: "I think the action line section is about the funniest thing in print. I never cease to be amazed at the stupid things some people ask, and sometimes at the stupid answers they receive. One thing for sure, no commander e should every answer a question by stating that Air Force Regulation says so. If you can't explain the reasoning behind a directive then perhaps the directive is no longer valid and should be changed." A sergeant wrote: The action line "is chiefly interested in the number of ways that can be found for constructive suggestions to be found impossible, impractical, unnecessary, or against existing policy." PEOPLE LINE began at Hill AFB in May two-wa- 1 A ANOTHER airman wrote: "The area which receives the most criticism is Commander's Action Line. I find that it is not' positive in its actions and finds more ways not to do things than to do things. It. in plain language, does not have a 'will help' attitude. I can appreciate many of the difficulties encountered in such a venture but when an action takes three months to be of the program is the effectiveness acknowledged questionable. While the commander is the spokesman it is the Hill Top Times are from the Base All photos in to Hill Top Times OI. We reserve the right to edit and-o- r ONE OF THE questions dealt with People Line. 72.9 per cent of the respondents said that the People Line provides a valuable service. 17.7 per cent were undecided and 7.8 per cent found no value in the column. When the People Line monitor retired. Hill Top Times readers complained about the cut back and occassional suspension of the column. During the past year, People Line received over 1,100 inquiries. January 1974 with 217 calls was the peak. Most of the January calls concerned car pooling and aided management in reaching decisions on Hill AFB car pool policy. Mrs. Harvath followed the column when she worked in Distribution. She had never called in a question but felt that People Line covered areas of interest to large groups of people. She is' now taking care of the backlog and coordinating inquiries and answers. vice. of any in questionable taste. Office of Information, Hldg. Room 108. Ext. 7321 1102. Copy deadline, including is Monday photographs, before publication. If Monday is a holiday, the deadline is 10 a.m., Tuesday. Advertising deadline is Wednesdav. . Times subscribes to the American Forces Press Service. 1117 N. 19 St., Arlington, Va. 22209; Air News Force Service, SAFOIIB. Washington, D.C. Wright-Patterso- AFB, n Ohio 45433 r Audiovisual Services Branch or other Air Force sources unless noted. The Hill Top refuse publication material which d, August 1973. 20330; and AFLC News Ser- Contributors This page is reserved each week for any Hill AFB employee who has something to say. We welcome a reply to previously published guest editorial or commentary on nearly any other subject worth writing about. Just type it out, triple spaced and send it well-prepare- hot-lin- Editorial policy any the details. apparent that the staff (as it should be) provides in actions cited, may inthe in instance this Unfortunately stances, are never followed up. One only has to research transient quarters of this base to realize how ineffective the program has become. It's a joke." Are people line columns a joke or are they still a truly efcommunication? ficient means of conducting two-wa- y AFLC Office of Information, in January 1973, said: "In AFLC base newspapers. Action Line columns run the full scale. Some answers are thoroughly researched while others would have been better left unprinted." A readership surveyof the Hill Top Times was conducted in Advertising Mor Media Sales, Inc.. 354 N. Main, Lay ton. Telephone: Ogden; Layton. or Salt Lake City, Sorry, classifieds by mail only: P.O. Box 186, Kavsville, Utah 84037 621-444- 2; 376-50- 65 277-693- 8. Everything advertised in this publication must be made available for purchase, use or patronage without regard to the race, creed, color, national origin or sex of the purchaser, user, or patron. A confirmed violation or rejection of this policy of equal opportunities by an advertiser will result in the refusal to print advertising from that source. ' I called you last spring concerning the traffic island that is out in front of the Roy Gate that was too long for cars turning left off Frontage Road into the gate. It is hard to which is the normal type served went to over $1 per pound. We are going to try a cod used by a local restaurant chain. We hope this fish will be acceptable. The salad dressings now used are the same az we have always used except roquefort. We have changed the recipe and the change has met wilh some customers approval and others saying the old recipe was the best. The next we make we will use the old recipe in an effort to try and please our customers. keep from swinging into the right hand lane instead of the left hand lane. I was informed that the Highway Department would take out about 10 feet of the island as soon as warm weather permitted. So far there is just an X on the island back to the point where they are going to cut it. It is still hard to get in the Roy Gate. I'd like to know if the Highway Department is really serious about it. When you go in the Base Exchange why must you show your ID card twice, once when you go in the store and again to the cashier when you check out? The Ogden District of the State Highway Department was contacted last spring to correct the problem area noted in your suggestion. The base has no jurisdiction over off base facilities, nor are we authorized to spend our e funds for construction work on facilities. The now informs us that the extreme Highway Department shortage of the operations and maintenance funds has prevented the accomplishment of this work. They will do the work when resources become available. -- the Base Exchange is restricted to authorized personnel. Personnel in uniform are not required to present their ID cards to gain entry to the Base Exchange. Certain restrictions have been imposed for members authorized to utilize Base Exchange facilities; for example, CAP Cadets are authorized to purchase uniform items only and Air Force Reserve personnel may purchase only basic items listed in AFR .Appendix B. Therefore, ID cards must be presented to the cashier in order to determine that only authorized items are being purchased. This enforcement of purchasing policy is for the benefit of all authorized customers. Entry into Will an employee who has used all his use or lose annual leave at the time of the Christmas phase down be required to use a portion of his reserve annual leave? Employees will be required to use their reserve annual leave, unless assigned to priority essential missions, without regard to the remaining balance of annual leave. On March 4. 1974, the Ogden ALC vice commander issued instructions to advise all employees to schedule annual leave for the regular workdays of the holiday phase down period Dec. 21 through Jan. 1. This requirement applied to all AFLC employees unless the individual was assigned to priority essential missions which could not be curtailed during the phase down period. The advance notice thus provided ample opportunity for employees to adjust their 1974 leave schedules for the remainder of the leave year to allow for the scheduled holiday phase down. It is pointed out that supervisors are responsible to insure each employee has the opportunity to use leave which would otherwise be forfeited, but it is not his responsibility to insure the employee maintains the maximum amount that can be carried into the new leave year. We ha ve recently noticed the quality of some of the food items in the Base Restaurant that we used to enjoy seem now to be of an inferior quality. The breaded fish normally served' on Friday was delicious. The salad dressings aren't as good. WTiat is the reason for this? The Base Restaurant buys no inferior quality food. All USDA inspected. The fish the Base Restaurant has served for the past three weeks was purchased because cod off-bas- I ride a motorcycle and park in Lot 23A on the southeast corner of Bldg. 225. Every day there are more cars parked in that area. I know that bike usage has dropped off but there are still manyof us that ride a bike and have to hunt for a parking spot in our own area. 147-1- I have submitted Employee Position Change Request, Ogden ALC Form 582 in the past and have not received any response from Civilian Personnel as to whether lam eligible or ineligible for the positions indicated on the form. When an Employee Position Change Request is received in the Civilian Personnel Office, the top section is detached and returned to the employee to acknowledge receipt. The form is then filed according to the type of job for which application was made. When an appropriate vacancy occurs, records are reviewed and eligibility is determined at that time and the employee is notified through use of Page 3 of Ogden ALC Form 582. If an appropriate vacancy does not occur, the eligibility rating is not accomplished. This is explained further on the reverse side of Ogden ALC Form 582, Block 2. Ogden ALC Form 582 expires six months after receipt in Civilian Personnel and must be resubmitted if you wish to be considered after expiration date. y Recently a moveable sign was manufactured designating motorcycle parking for Parking Lot 25A. As the number of motorcyclists decreases during the winter, the sign will be moved to reduce the size of the motorcycle parking area and increase car parking. The lot will be enlarged again as good weather returns next spring. This will insure maximum parking for all employees. "People Line" is part of the two-wa- y communication rwj;rani at Hill AFB. Persons with questions or problems are invited to dial People Line", ext. "ooo. where their inquiry will be recorded and later answered. Not ail inquiries can be published. Answers to unpublished anon) motis inquiries may be obtained by calling ext. 5305. |