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Show I Tuesday, February 19, 1991 The Daily Utah Chronicle - Page Four Editorial Networks should get over their jealous infighting and corner of the market in the Gulf War coverage, arsenals of Sens. Alan Simpson, NBC, ABC and CBS immaturely turned against Jake Gam, against CNN's coverage. While the senators have called CNN's Peter what should be their most important Arnett an Iraqi sympathizer and Saddam's objective informing the American public. Upset that some of "their" correspondents had mouthpiece because he reported what they been shown on CNN before they appeared on termed Saddam's propaganda, the allied ABC, ABC officials, letting competitiveness get bombing of a bomb shelter and chemical plant, the better of them, whined that "we were keeping the networks are attacking CNN for allowing the Cable News Network to change the rules CNN on the air with our people." Iraqi government to use CNN's satellite telephone At a time when all information from the Gulf is in exchange for reporting from Iraq. governing the news-poo- l reports so that only the Given the United States is at war with Iraq and video and script of a report filed by a relished by skeptical Americans who don't correspondent of one network would be believe they are receiving the full truth from the all diplomatic ties between the two countries available to the other three networks. government about the events, it would seem that have been severed, CNN's actions would have In the past, if a story were in the news pool, the news networks should be able to transcend been questionable if they had yielded nothing in with the Iraqis not networks could use the script and video of the their petty jealousies and concentrate on return. However, the trade-off- s filed report along with the corespondent's name, providing information about the war. only allowed CNN's Arnett to receive the Pulitzer face and voice on their stations, even if the But, not willing to miss the opportunity to rake Prize for his reporting, they also allowed the in as much revenue as possible from the war, the public to receive the information they deserve correspondent worked for another network. However, concerned that CNN was holding the three networks added their own missiles to the about the war in the Gulf. After complaining about the censorship of their reports from the Middle East for more than three weeks, American journalists can no longer attack either the Pentagon or verbose senators for opposing their coverage of the war without being just a little bit hypocritical. Last week the three major news networks, NBC, ABC and CBS voted 3 to 1 against the I HEAR R-Uta- UEA SHEATHE should support teacher evaluations HALL OP FAME ONLY ONE WHO h, FITS 7HFIR The fight over education is one of the most consistent annual debates to be found in Utah. Every time John B. the legislature comes into session there is a big row between the Utah Education Association (UEA, the public school teacher's union) and various If unable to give them everything they want (demand?). Most of the time the argument is over money; the teachers always want more and the legislature is never able to give After reviewing the critical Paul Mulder remarks of the peace movement in Timothy Tenpas' letter ("Protesters simply unoriginal bleeding hearts, Feb. 11) I feel compelled to respond to his disturbingly jingoistic remarks. Mr. Tenpas' message in his article is that the current anti-wa- r movement is characterized by vain, "spoiled children" who search for personal aggrandizement by participating in a "fake and unoriginal rebellion" hallmarked by snowball fights with ROTC cadets and the seemingly ludicrous proposition that the United States could be viewed as an imperialist At the end of this scathing power. indictment, the author issues a plea to "pray for the gutless, because the gutless die a thousand deaths, the brave man dies but once" and a g promise to his audience that when called, he will heart-warmin- "become the baddest ass-kicki- freedom fighter you have ever seen." In light of such misinformed and naive fanaticism, I must rush to the defense of his "bleeding liberal" victims and their irresponsible movement. Just what does the peace movement here on campus and nationwide its throughout extensions represent? Granted, one can get the initial impression when attending the variety of anti-wa- r demonstrations here in the valley that they serve as a cheaper alternative to a Grateful Dead concert or provide any and every obscure coalition group with a market for their books and information Granted, one can also Eamphlets. with some of their zealous requests for unilateral withdrawal of U.S. troops from the Gulf desert, an option many agree is unworkable now that actual hostilities have begun and would reward, Israel $13 billion for its continence in absorbing Iraqi missile attacks. Chronicle Guest Columnist cause more harm than good in the long-ter- m future. Granted, one could even argue that the cries for peace on the home front could have a debilitating effect on troop morale and confidence in the field, or perhaps could place strain upon the tenuous bonds holding the allied coalition together. But is this the extent of what the peace movement offers? Certainly not. Tenpas is correct in that he accuses the members of the peace movement of attempting to attract attention. But this spotlight is not directed toward themselves, but rather goes to illuminate a sad fact: in a little less than six months, the United States has dispatched a force of more than 400,000 men and women and a giant arsenal of weaponry halfway around the world; yet, in six years, we have made no real progress on a growing array of domestic problems, but instead choose to pay lip service to these issues just as we create new ones. For one, the United States is the wealthiest state in the international system, yet it has a giant mass of poor and homeless that burgeons into the millions and an infant mortality rate that is higher than countries. those in President Bush sees the answer in programs designed to reduce this infant mortality rate by taking less-afflue- nt money away from existing programs established to help the poor children and pregnant women. Meanwhile, the domestic homeless wait in vain as the United States clothes and houses a half million troops and prepares to reimburse, or more American Secondly, public education is in a crisis. Our children enter the information age far less educated than those of many European and Asian countries. The "Education President" answers this challenge with a plea to the American public to volunteer, just before he announces the renewal of interest in SDI after $24 billion resulted in the test of one ABM hitting a single inert warhead 100 miles in space. Furthermore, the U.S. system of Medicare is the most expensive system in the world, yet it leaves many unsure of actual coverage and many others with no real coverage at all. We have no universal medical insurance and share this dubious honor with no other industrialized country except South Africa. But with the exception of minor repair, the system remains paralyzed just as the burdens of many already inadequate social programs are shifted to the states because the federal government can no longer afford them. Moreover, the Gulf War has inspired a renewal of the American search for alternative sources of energy. But instead of exploring truly new sources of energy such as solar power and natural gas, the U.S. energy industries scramble for new sources of petroleum, particularly through redoubled efforts to wells and to reactivate wilderness. Alaskan the open up Finally, the Gulf War has spawned a particularly disturbing treatment of the American press. Our media are dominated in the absence of real off-sho- re facts by sketchy, "unconfirmed" details, shallow analyses by retired army officers and a sickening see "Mulder" on page six them all they want. This year there is an added twist to go along with the money squabble. A proposal is being considered by the legislature that would give more power to school administrators to check up on, and evaluate, teachers. Of course, the UEA is adamantly opposed to this. They don't seem to like the idea of being judged or having other people decide how well they are doing their jobs. The UEA should be respected for what they are trying to do. Their people put a lot of time, effort and money into the fight for improved education. As a result of the efforts of the UEA, major changes have been made have that dramatically improved the lot of Utah's school age kids. Their goal of bettering the education of America's future may be one of the noblest to be found. However, in the process of doing these noble things, they have become one of the most powerful special interest groups in the state. Several former. state legislators are no longer in office because they incurred the wrath of the UEA. The noble goals and aspirations which the UEA was founded upon are now clouded by the political antics which have become the group's trademark. Utah's school children are used as by the UEA to wage terrorism on the rest of the state. The UEA would have us believe that since they are trying to help children, anyone who disagrees with them on any issue must be trying to hurt children. The UEA Chronicle Asst. Editorial Editor government leaders who are Protesters draw attention to issues Wilson hides behind the children of the state and uses them to try and get the things they want. Since nobody wants to look like they are anti-kidit is almost impossible to get anyone to speak out against the UEA. For a government official it is political suicide. s, As the UEA goes around waging war on the state, they overlook some of the most basic problems in education. Money is important to education, but if the UEA wants to really improve schools in Utah, they need to admit the fact that some teachers just plain suck. I attended public schools in Jordan District for twelve years. During that time I had a few teachers that should not have been allowed in the classroom. When I was in sixth grade I had Ms. X as a reading teacher (names have been changed to protect me from a lawsuit). Ms. X had taught at the same school in the same classroom for over 20 years. I don't think she had experienced an original idea for at least 19 of them. She ruled the classroom with an iron fist and everything had to be exactly her way. Even the books we read had to be special ones on her approved list. She was one of the bitterest old ladies I have ever known, and the kids in her classes did not learn much. When I was in 10th grade my world history teacher was Mr. Y. He was really the sophomore football coach but he taught history in the mornings so he would have something to do. The man was the most incompetent teacher I had ever had. His lectures disagreed with the textbook on a regular basis. He was biased against certain groups of people (Catholics, Jews, and Africans) and he was sure to emphasize any mistakes they had made in history in order to make them look bad. When you asked a question in class you were taking a big chance. Chances are he wouldn't know the answer, and in order to save face he would dodge the question and attempt to make the student who asked it look stupid. Most of kids in his classes didn't learn much, and by the end of the year they had a strong dislike for history in general. Anyone who has attended public schools will be able to |
