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Show Tuesday, January 10, 1989 Chronicle - Page Five EDITORIAL Idueattooi) a Sim pretty gireat' J . fox The Utah Board of Regents wants money. The Utah Legislature holds the purse strings. The " : o o rules of this game are clear. Trie regents bemoan the fate of higher education in the state, the Legislature is supposed to cry poor and offer less money than the regents require. But this year's version of the game has a particularly ironic twist-actua- lly Gov. Norm Bangerter's 80 million twists. recommend-- ' 1989-9- 0 ed budget contains an estimated $80 million more than anticipated. He intends to return nearly $19 million to the taxpayers-a- nd they don't want it! Realizing the amount returned would only be about $30 per household, an overwhelming majority (67 percent) rejected the windfall, preferring it be spent on education or social services. The crux of the discrepancy is whether the faculty and staff at Utah's colleges and universities will receive the regent's proposed 4.5 percent salary increase or suffer with Bangerter's 3 percent offer. Given there is a surplus, Utah residents want it to go to higher education, it is ludicrous that the governor is rejecting the regent's proposal. Even- - if the regents are granted the $9 million (4.5 percent) increase in the salary fund they are seeking, ,the, amount would not com- pehsate for inflation. Even the best scenario ignores trie issue of equity. The faculty of k Darren Hawkins Alcoholism rooted in advertising : grossly underpaid in comparison "witli ihstitu tions in other states.. , w fi v In addition to this pay inequity, benefits may suffer. At the University of Utah, health insurance costs will go up 17.5 percent and dental Insurance will increase 12.3 percent; These are mandated expenses, they must be met. The regents are asking for an additional $1.56 million in taxes to supplement $3.6 mil- ' - ; - ; faculty and staff. Utah . already-underpai- . professors and administrators will begin a mass exodus from the beehive state. As more of the state's intellectual base is depleted by professors, seeking employment across the border, the value of a college degree from the region's schools will plummetThis, will drive the brightest of the state's native sons and to mention transfer students-t- o daughters-n- ot seek their educations elsewhere. The promise of life in a "pretty, great state" ; G HRONICLE The Daily Utah Chronicle is an independent student newspaper published during fall, winter and spring quarters, excluding test weeks and quarter breaks, by the University Publications Council. Editorials reflect the opinion of the editorial board, and not necessarily the opinions of the student body or the administration. Subscriptions must be prepaid. Forward all subscription correspondence, including change of address, to the Business Manager, Daily Utah Chronicle, 240 Union, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, 84112 Editor in Chief. Managing Editor. News Editor. . . . . ... Edtorial Editor Sports Editor , . . .'. ........ ...... . ' Koop. One of the principal proposals called for, a com- plete ban of alcohol advertisements on college because "a high proportion of audience reached is under the legal drinking age." ' As editor of the Chronicle, I have sometimes i wished the state would allow us to advertise beer. We could make a killing, buy our badly needed equipment and even pay our reporters a little more than $2 an hour. Many other college papers nationwide can advertise alcohol and do make a lot of money off it. But it's not worth it. Helping to spread the ills of society is not the business we're in. Koop's other recommendations also make a lot of sense. They include: -- Elimination of alcohol advertising and promotion and sponsorship of public events where the majority of the audience is under the legal drinking age. --Banning sponsorship of athletic events by the alcohol beverage industry. -- Blocking the use of celebrities who have a strong appeal to young people in alcohol advertising and promotion. They all make sense because they merely weed out the deception the alcohol industry uses to sell its product. Advertisements don't tell of the lives ruined by alcohol abuse. Low alcohol taxes don't nearly pay for all the health problems alcohol causes. Changing the status quo will lead to a healthier, happier and more educated society. cam-pus'- . . ....... Feature Editor Photography Editor ....... ........... Copy Editor Night Editor. Assistant News Editor . . , . Assistant Editorial Editor Assistant Sports Editor .. . Assistant Feature Editor. . i . . .. .Darren Hawkins i . .Andrew Hunt Lori Bona Hunt . ,. . .'S Justin Toth . . . .Kent Condon . . . . . . . ... ... .... .Deanie Wimmer ........ . Assistant Photography Editor Assistant Copy Editor Administration Reporter. ASUU Reporter. . . News Reporters. " : , .Guy Elder .Ellen Carff Hawkins . ... . . Amber McKee Ed Ruiz . .Tamarah Hardesty . .Dirk Facer . . i . , . . .Sharon Deckert ............ ... ........ ... . . ........... Feature Writers. Sports Writer. Photographer. Business Manager Accountant Classifieds Columnist.'. . ...... . Aaron Ashcraft .Steve Moore .'. . .Ken Southwick .Scott Stone .... Mike Allsop .'; Vic Garcia Christian Aggeler . ; Arlene Calkins Jennifer Peterson Isaiah Stewart . . . Loren Jorgensen . Andrew Holloway . . Robert McOmber .Kay Anderson Kerry Murphy Ami Jean de Montreux . ,v. . es , ' .- Editorial Board: Lori Bona Hunt, Tamarah Hardesty, Darren Hawkins, Andrew Hunt, Justin Toth The Daily Utah ' C ize does not outweigh economic concerns. It takes more than a pretty decent slogan to solve the state's educational crisis. ' : This method of raising taxes and decreasing alcohol consumption is quite popular also. A 1987 news poll showed 75 percent Washington Post-ABof Americans favor raising the "sin" taxes. alcohol The second attack, that of commercials and restricting their audiences, was recently proposed by Surgeon. General C. Everett 11-year-- facto salary cut for some of the least appreciated, most economically ignored proponents of must begin to take higher education seriously. d educators in the If the state are asked to take a salary cut, the results would be catastrophic. The more marketable smoking.:." ld lion in tuition funds to meet these costs. Bangerter is offering a mere $980,000 in tax dollars and $2.5 million in tuition funds. Obviously;" this amount is insufficient to meet the mandated expenditures. Vicki Varela, spokeswoman for the regents, fears that the shortfall will have to be paid from the salary fund. In effect, this would result in a de education-univers- ity Simply restoring taxes to the level of 25 years ago would save many lives, decrease alcohol consumption and raise billions of dollars in federal or state revenue. Studies have shown that higher alcohol taxes reduce drunk driving and alcohol-relate- d fatalities. For every four drunk-drive- r deaths prevented, three innocent victims wjll be saved. It is also known that the higher alcohol and drinking and cigarette taxes go, the more people stop ' big-nam- Utah's nine colleges and universities ;are l Coursing through the veins of this country, a deadly evil finds its way through the' hearts and souls of many Americans. e Promoted on TV by celebrities, the evil disease cuts across all levels of society and all age groups. abuse-oft- en Indications of this disease-alcoh- ol show up in children. Symptoms at this early stage lack the sting of the later stages, but nevertheless provide a valuable insight into causes. A survey conducted by the Center for Science in the PublicTnterest recently underscored one comcan usumon indicator of future problems-childr- en ally name more alcoholic beverages than they cair name American presidents. As one example of the study, a girl ticked off 14 different alcoholic products and k four out only presidents. squeezed lad came up with Not to be outdone, a 10 brands of beer, wine coolers and liquors while such beauties naming only six presidents-includi- ng as "Ragon" and "Aprilham Lincoln." Then one boy rattled off eight brands of beer and knew that, of course, there are 16 inches .v-in a foot. 'v ,.; In short, children grow up learning all about alcohol. They see their favorite football players downing beer as they crush cans and crack jokes on TV. They see beautiful women and handsome men touting the ; pleasures of alcohol in magazines. They then go to high school where the pressure to "just try a little bit" is enormous. College is even worse because they rub shoulders with students over the legal drinking age. They go to parties where alcohol is everywhere. They join fraternities where underage drinking is practically part of the program. All of this adds up to a huge alcohol abuse problem in the United States. About 13 million. Americans are alcoholics and 3 million of those are in the 14 to 1 7 age group. These statistics can no longer be ignored. Further control of alcohol distribution is not the answer. It seems the tighter the control becomes, the more glamorous it is to drink. A better solution would consist of two parts. The first would be to raise taxes on alcohol and the secalcohol advertisements and v ond to restrict them to a more adult population. . terms, taxes on alco'- In real or inflation-adjuste- d hol are less than half of what they were in 1951. . . . . . . ...... .... t Artists. Accounting Clerk Collections Account Executives Byron Williams Kim Bartel Wes Pack . ... .Tammie Bostick ..................... ; .............. Sara Wilson Matt Dalton Jina Sanone Sean Buckley R. Kenny Watanabe Production Manager. . . . Assistant Production Manager Abbie Hall Production Assistant. .David Lew Stanford Hirai Sridip Nag David Orchard Distribution Chris Popeye (TSM) Stratford ? .......... ............. |
