| OCR Text |
Show The Daily Utah Chronicle - Page Thursday. January 16, 1992 Five Opinions The Daily Utah Chronicle Editorials y Mnk amid drive? Sggf USA Plan arbitrarily revokes teens' licenses They've taken over the streets. From inside walking at the side of the road, they are Utah's worst nightmare. They are the alcohol-saturate- d adolescents who are wretched too young to legally drink, but who are old enough to possess a driver's license. With this image of Utah teenagers in mind, state legislators proposed a preventive solution to the problem of teenagers who unlawfully consume alcohol. The proposal states that anyone underage and caught with the slightest amount of alcohol in their bloodstream automatically has their license revoked for 90 days on the first offense, and one year on the second offense. Although lawmakers proposed it with noble "Not a Drop" bill intent in mind, the creates more problems than it solves, mostly so-call- ed because it leaves the door to wide-ope- n discrimination against teenagers based solely on their age. Police officers, under the proposed bill, can tests to teenagers who administer blood-alcohare pulled over for speeding or who have been driving irregularly and are suspected to be driving under the influence. But determining irregular driving patterns is XLHUK-BUUtTiU Gambling, like alcoholism, harms families and degenerates society of the more unique proposals One come before the legislature during this session regards the legalization of certain types of gambling in Utah. When I first heard this idea was being presented was kind of surprised. Everyone knows that the I f-J- J ol the completely arbitrary. The bill welcomes officers harassment of teenagers by police who can claim suspicion of drunk driving as a reason to pull over anyone between the ages of 16 and 21. Any teenager who then enters a. car runs the risk of a police confrontation. The "Not a Drop" bill thus suggests that all teenagers are irresponsible in their drinking habits and so must constantly be checked to ensure that they stay within the limits of the law. If the goal of the bill is to discourage alcohol abuse by teenagers, Utah legislators should consider harsher punishments for violators and not begin a program that punishes everyone. AIDS spokesperson seen it on Geraldo, Donahue, and Sally Raphael. But we have yet to see the AIDS epidemic discussed by George Bush. Without support from the president, the AIDS issue has no legitimate political forum, so AIDS patients have no legitimate political voice. tried. It isn't as though AIDS activists haven't Despite repeated testimonials by AIDS sufferers We've to Congressional committees, the federal the public government has done little to enhance AIDS. of awareness to Realizing this, Magic Johnson urged Bush take a firmer stand on resolving the AIDS crisis. Johnson's own bout with the disease has made him a spokesperson for AIDS awareness, but his voice alone doesn't cause federal funding for research to increase. The American public needs to see Bush before they proclaim his dedication to the issue see it as a national epidemic. Until then, AIDS victims appear to most as only images on the talk show circuit. ' yfe CXJ V aJ John B. Wilson Chronicle Columnist vast majority of people in the state oppose gambling. But alas, 1 guess some legislator out there wants to get some attention drawn to himself by bringing the subject into the spotlight. I didn't really think anyone would take the measure that seriously at first, but after tuning my radio in to KALL 94.1 FM on the way to school a few times, I found that there were some folks out there who were really getting all riled up about it. I'm referring to Utah radio fossil Tom Barberri and his morning show groupies. Mr. Barberri has been doing his before most U. since show morning students were even potty trained. He has become a household name in Utah and has a large following of loyal listeners. I usually enjoy listening to his show. He is the kind of guy that is fun to listen to even when you disagree with him. Unfortunately, when he takes up a cause he has a tendency to distort reality so that it will be more to his liking. That is exactly what has happened since he became the spokesman extraodinaire" for legalized gambling in Utah. During his own show he plays political commercials he has made that tell of all the virtues that come from horse betting. In the name of a group called Citizens to Put Utah First he waxes poetic about all of the benefits that will come from having various types of gambling in the state. Sorry Tom, you've missed the boat. While listening to the debate that has been going on over the past couple of months regarding the gambling issue, I've noticed there are a few aspects of reality that seem to keep getting distorted and misrepresented. One of them is when people claim that you can't legislate morality. You hear this cliche quite a bit in Utah, and it has been passed around enough lately to make me sick. The fact of the matter is that morality is the only thing you can legislate. Laws by definition are the codified forms of our accepted societal morals. Every law that is passed in our state and country deals with morality. The way our country operates is that the morality of the majority is the law, unless it takes away the rights of the minority. For decades people all over the country (you see, this is not just a Utah issue) have agreed that gambling is morally detrimental to their communities and have banned it. That is the way democracy works. The second distorted reality has to Letters Column lacks intelligence Editor: I am about as leftist, anarchist, and libertarian (or is it libertine?) as it is possible to be without worrying aboutI philosophical consistency. But found the Friday, Dec. 13 column by Judd Hillman and Jason Woods to be totally lacking in originality, creativity and intelligence (I avoid calling it tasteless or offensive, because I recognize that on a certain level, Andrew Dice Clay, for example, attributes can be these appreciated). I also faultin the the Chrony for publishing this last issue for three weeks, which is a scurrilous attempt to duck response to it. Several years ago, John Pecorelli wrote "Good Reasons to Kill the State" (meaning .Utah). This was a classic. I still have it tacked to my wall. How dare Hillman and Woods compare themselves to him. The words that these two monkeys at a typewriter hacked out are as far from Pecorelli's as jello is from aspic. What they wrote does not even qualify as trash. Their ain't comment that "the too all was town" to coming Hate-Cla- us accurate. It was already here, and it is them. Who is going to drown these two in a bucket, and save the world from two more vicious alley cats? Bryce Jones Senior history do with the economic benefits that allegedly come from legalizing some types of gambling. The claim that revenue generated by horse racing, raffles, or other gambling will help out some worthy cause are not based in fact, but in pure speculation. Ana besides that, the claims to economic gain totally ignore the ill side effects that gambling brings. Even if horse racing were to help enlarge Utah's horse industry, is it worth the human suffering that comes along with it? Gambling in any form is an addiction that can take control of people who are vulnerable to it. For many people it is like alcoholism. They know it hurts them and their families but they are almost powerless to do anything about it. Maybe Tom Barberri and some of the other big gambling supporters would feel differently if they had been raised by fathers who squandered their paycheck at the racetrack. There is an astronomical amount of human suffering in the form of broken families that is a direct result of gambling. You just have to visit our neighbors to the west to find out how serious the problem can be. Even the seemingly innocent forms of gambling (the lotteries, racetracks, etc.) can cause major problems for a compulsive gambler. Since the proposed gambling measures before the legislature have no chance of passing, this issue may seem to be unimportant. However, it is important for people to realize that the distorted reality publicized by Tom Barberri et al. ignore the very real, human side of a very important issue. Letter Policy The Daily Utah Chronicle Business hours: Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. 581-704- 1 The Chronicle welcomes reader response. Please bring letters, typed, double-space- d not exceeding two pages, to 240 Union Building. Each letter should include your name, major, year in school and telephone number (for verification purposes only). Unsigned letters will not be considered for publication. The Chronicle reserves the right to edit letters for spelling, space. grammar and |
