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Show Tbe IX&j yuk Ouaiclc Thmndrnj, Brasher t, ItH VpSf Seven J EDETORIAL inreaopiriis poMccst pmaosss 7ith the exception of one Utah congressional rece, the verdicts are all in. The political rhetoric has subsided and it is finally time to stop the verbal ping pong among opposing political camps. Utahns have been inundated with political advertisements, phone calls, polls and dirt for as long as anyone cares to remember. The last thing we need, two days after the election, is more political talk. There remains, however, something that has to be said before the door on the '84 campaign is closed. Utah voter turnouts were higher than in recent elections, in part because of several controversial issues on the ballot, and a few races, including the presidency. The number of voters across the nation appeared also to be growing over past years numbers. Nonetheless, the turnouts were simply not high enough. The incumbent for the Idaho 2nd Congressional District, George Hansen, apparently lost his race to Democrat Richard Stallings by 67 votes. That's right 67 votes. That miniscule amount determined the outcome of a congressional race, one of the most important in any election. Frances Farley and David Monson's fate may be determined by approximately 140 votes. That amounts to less than one person every four precincts. Who can justifiably say that their vote does not count? Personal political leanings are irrelevant here. What does matter is the issue of an official serving the public when elected by such a narrow margin. The public confidence so crucial hotly-contest- ed to effective representation is severely compromised in such close races. The citizens who did not vote could have made a difference. And another thing ... The election is over and for the most part we have selected our leadership for the next four years. That is a fact we must accept. This year's phenomenal Republican sweep of the state, and the strong showing across the nation, discouraged many Democrats. Every voter, regardless of party, is probably experiencing a sense of defeat over one candidate or another or one issue they supported adamantly that was defeated. But it really doesn't matter anymore. What matters is that we have charted the course for the next four years. It is our duty to how accept the voice of the majority (no matter small) and to put concern for the welfare of the state and the country before our own political concerns. This is not to suggest we abandon dissent and diversity. It is time, however, to redirect our focus. Our nation faces too many grave problems to spend our time criticizing pur leadership. It is time to unite and propose constructive solutions. ArTVC?OALYUTAH ager, Daily Utah Chronicle, 240 Union, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112. . 'Dewey defeats Truman' rerun? we were trying to give students the most complete information possible. If Hindley had not had his figures Gambling is a dangerous business. Sometimes you win big, other times you lose big. Tuesday night, the Chronicle staff gambled and we lost. The race between Frances Farley and David Monson was tight all night long. Knowing the outcome would be late, we warned our printers that the issue would be past deadline. A core of dedicated Chronicle staffers held on until the wee hours of the morning, waiting until a victor was finally declared. At 3:02 a.m., we thought we had finally heard what we had been waiting for. messed up, we wouldn't have had problem. Just we with time the went the at remember, story, it was was minutes. 45 for it And accurate accurate, It is sad that such an honest mistake tarnished what was otherwise a superb effort by the Chronicle staff. KUTV deserves kudos: At Chronicle Election Central, in addition to having our reporters at both the Republican and Democratic headquarters, we had people watching all three networks to make sure we didn't miss anything. Consequently, we had a rare opportunity to judge the performance of Salt Lake Gty's three televisions stations. Without doubt, the winner was KUTV, Channel 2. OPINION BY Jeff Ar ring ton monitor the race, along with a few radio stations and the wire services. At that time they reported that all the votes had been counted except for around 1,000 absentee ballots. Farley was on top by 760 votes at the time and Salt Lake County Clerk Dixon Hindley said it would be almost impossible for Monson to make up that large a deficit with the remaining absentee votes. KUTV said it, the radio stations said it, and one of our reporters down at UPI said it. All indications were that Farley was the winner. We figured so many heavyweights couldn't be wrong. So we took Hindlcy's word for it and wrote our captions and copy as if Farley was the apparent winner. We then sent the paper off to the printing presses keeping our fingers crossed. Then our worst nightmares became reality. At about 4 a.m., Hindley came back on the air to announce that more than 4,500 absentee ballots had been te discovered and the new totals gave Monson a lead. However, Hindley said, even more absentee votes have yet to be counted. The actual winner may not be known until next Tuesday. Visions of "Dewey defeats Truman" danced through our heads. We did have time to knife up a headline before it went to the presses to make it less embarrassing. But we could not salvage the story and the captions. As a staff, we apologize to our readers for the confusion the story caused. But I want everyone on campus to know that it was an entirely honest mistake made only because ef Managing Editor Associate Editor News Editor Editorial Editor Sports Editor Arts Editor City Editor Night Editor Photography Editor Asst. Sports Editor Asst. Copy Editor Asst. Arts Editor Asst. Editorial Editor int 143-vo- politics provided entertaining and informative commentary. Marva Bickle Shauna Bona Lisa Carricaburu Mike Prater Darren Hawkins Margaret Hess Jeff Arrington Peter Behle Richard R. Adams Debbie Eldredge Milne Laura Adams Mark Saal Kathryn Samuel Marilyn Abildskov Scott Woodruff Alan Overmoe John Youngren Dory Donner Fara Warner Matt Lalli V . . Reporters . Earl dine Steve Griffin Photographers Accountant Accountant Assts. , . . . ...... Production Manager Asst. Prod. Manager Production Assistants Rob Forsgren Robert McOmber . . Julia Jenkins Steve Hausknecht Jerry Stanger Jill Aggeler . . Classifieds Jay Krajic Business Manager Ad Representatives a KTVX started off strong. ABC News was the quickest out of the starting gate and provided valuable first impressions of the magnitude of President Reagan's impending landslide. But once the local polls closed, Channel 4 inexplicably began to slide. Unlike the other local stations, KTVX did not have any polling information, and it opted to broadcast a movie to election coverage. instead of devoting all of prime-tim- e It was a poor showing overall. KSL, Channel 5, is generally considered the city's top dog. But its reputation suffered somewhat Tuesday. The minute the polls closed, the station brought in Dan Jones to announce his projections. He said Monson would defeat margin. Farley by a relatively comfortable However, minutes later, KUTV announced the results of its own exit poll, and it forecast Farley as the victor. Channel 2 had some fun with it; its reporters talked about the pros and cons of polling, and just waited through the night to see who would be right. But Channel 5 refused to back down. The station bent over backwards to stand behind Jones. Perhaps the loyalty was admirable, but it compromised the coverage of the race. The net result was that KSL-Tlost some of its credibility. KUTV turned out to be the shining star. Randall Carslile and Michelle King did a superb job of anchoring election coverage, and Rod Decker known affectionately around the Chronicle as the Howard Cosell of Utah KUTV stayed on the air throughout the night to Editorial Board: Laura Adams, Richard Adams, Jeff Arrington, Peter Behle. Editor-in-Chi- The Daily Utah Chronicle is an independent student newspaper published during fall, winter and spring breaks, quarters, excluding test weeks and quarter Editorials Council. Publications by the University reflect the opinion of the editorial board, and not necessarily the opinions of the student body or the administration. Subscriptions are $25 a year, $10 an academic quarter. All subscriptions must be prepaid. Forward all subscription correspondence, Manincluding change of address, to the Business Mff BE CLAD IT'S OUER Typesetters Cartoonist . . . Kay Andersen. Ron Jackson Mary Sail Lori Baucum Holly Miller Robb Welch Audrey Anderson Heather Allen Todd Crosland Julie Lund Janice Austin ...... Rodney Dallin Marianne Macfarlane ...... Mark McCune |
