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Show -- 1 Wednesday. January 22, 1992 The Daily Utah Chronicle - Page Six Opinions " r1 I IT AU" S7ARTEP WHEN 7H POUS SHOWS? THAT AM Editorials ftFN T WWAM6P DEMOCRAT fSST OUPBSffBDSH,.,, Children's games Economic bickering results ow, in name-callin- g now boys, this has got to stop. And Japan's Speaker of the House, Yoshio Sakurauchi, you should know better. Economic problems between and within the United States and Japan have reduced leaders of both countries to international mudslinging. Hence the newspaper interview Monday in Tokyo. Sakurauchi called the American workforce lazy and guesstimated that 30 percent of American workers are illiterate. He blamed the United States' trade deficit with Japan on "the deterioration in quality of U.S. workers." He also accused American workers of turning out defective products, making it doubtful that Japanese companies can buy as many American products as Bush requested. But the speaker of the House is not alone in his stereotypical image of the American worker. His right-win- g opinions match those of other politicians in Japan. Stereotyping between Japan and America has a familiar ring to it. Americans did it during World War II. The fear of the unknown was so overpowering that the American government locked s in relocation camps. up And we're doing it again now, though not so Utahns may be able to marginalize Grabher's death, but not causes D ebbie Grabher. During the last five days her name, aspirations and photo have been highlighted in every paper, carried on every channel. She had hopes of being a model but occasionally indulged in chocolate. Although she liked pearls and poetry, she lived on the streets for several months after running away. anti-Americ- an Jennifer Gully Chronicle Associate Editor Japanese-American- overtly. The American media portrays the Japanese as strict, overworked, and money-obsesse- d businessmen a direct contrast to how Japan sees America. Incorrect images of both nationalities will have dangerous consequences. Beneath the polite face-to-fa- ce meetings between Japanese and American leaders, something sinister lurks. And, when the ill feelings between the two countries come to the forefront, our current trade situation will .only worsen. Making amends W In e were wrong. News of her death hit Salt Lake City between the eyes. Perhaps it was because her and doe-lik- e eyes reflected back to Utahns what they most wanted to see: society nurturing a sensitive and young adult who came home to her mother after surviving life on the streets. Last weekend her blanket-wrappe- d body was found dumped in a field. The city was shocked. A symbol of loveliness had been harmed in one of the most innocent and beneficial all of honey-hai- r goal-orient- ed pursuits walking to school. The shocking incident was officials by marginalized immediately. The horror of what had happened was too great. But somehow they had to explain the unexplainable. Faced with the and somewhat depressing yesterday's House Editorial, we chastised University of Utah administration officials for postponing the installation of an emergency telephone system. However, the actual deadline for administrative commitment to phone installation was set by the original ASUU bill for June, 1992. We also stated that the administration was willing to fund only eight phones instead of the more desirable number of 16 phones on campus. However, campus planning officials say they nave matched ASUU's $20,000 bid to pay for the phones' installation a total amount of $40,000 which may or may not cover installation costs. The information for yesterday's editorial was taken from an article written last Thursday, Jan. 16. An ASUU student services board representative stated in the article that the U. administration was slow in activating the project. He also differed with the administration on tne date of the deadline, claiming Feb. 28 as the final date rather than June, 1992. The Chronicle apologizes for not following the information given oy the ASUU representative with an adiriinistrative response and clarification. frightening reality that Salt Lake City is following the rest of the country into a spiral of violent despair, they did what they could to protect the area's sanity of its citizens. self-imag- and the e What happened to Debbie was an aberration from "normal" life in Salt Lake City, they said. She walked down an alley to get to school, an alley frequented by men with le 5 o'clock shadows and bottles of cheap red wine. Besides, witnesses report they saw a "transient-looking- " man pushing a shopping cart with a large and dark bundle the morning that her body was found. Well, my mind is certainly at rest. I can blame society's pariahs for this singular act of violence in River City and move on with my life. Of course, this is the inference the police want us to make. If we stay in our nice suburban neighborhoods and college campuses we don't have anything to worry about. We're safe. Everything's fine. Certainly any community has a right to feel genuine horror over the death of a student on the way to school. And it's probably normal to place the incident at a distance. (Things like this shouldn't happen in our state.) We'd be nervous wrecks if we thought violence could strike our lives at any time. (It can.) But we can't wrap ourselves in safe cocoons about what should and shouldn't happen in Salt Lake City. We should wake up to what does happen in Salt Lake City and, for emphasis, in our antithesis: New York City. If we're frightened about the direction that society seems to be moving (as we well should be), maybe we should do something about it. Utahns envision New York as being torn with economic despair and racial tension, the place where awful acts of violence occur regularly. Unfortunately, attacks against children during the last few months prove it's more than true. n For example, the faces of and Hispanic children were smeared with white liquids and a was raped by two men as she waited for the bus to school. Last week an boy was walking by himself to school when a man forced him into an apartment a few doors away from the school and then raped African-America- him. These are examples representative of the violence New Yorkers deal with every day. (Maybe we're sensationalizing Debbie's death.) A distraught New York father of a was quoted in the New York Times (Jan. 16) as saying: "What is the magic age at which you can envision letting your child go to school by himself? God, this isn't about our schools, this is about what is happening in this city." In Utah, as in New York, there probably isn't a magic age. And we shouldn't assume that magic is going to solve the problem. Increasing acts of violence across the country demand that we address the social and economic conditions at the root of the country's spiral of violence. Until we do, children will continue to pay the cost Letters Parking needs to lighten up Editor: I completely agree with Susan Way's (Jan. 17) complaints about the parking committee. There is no room at any university for a committee of entrenched troglodytes, who rigidly enforce rules and accept no excuses save those that would win in a court case. To them a violation is a violation period. No qualitative judgment. A couple of minutes is as bad as a couple of hours? So the cops didn't ticket other, more flagrant violators. If they got you tough luck. This is pure bull and a main reason lawyers are so unpopular. Furthermore, those guys don't even sound like students. Who are they anyway revenue enhancers for the university? Kick them out! (Why don't they join the Marines if they like discipline so well.) Jim Todd OSH redecorating welcome Editor T annl4iif4 ttta Qmi m' ctf of lira 0JJiauu iii auuiiuiiiaiivc personnel responsible for the recent A the OSH efforts to recld bathrooms. Apparently, an unspoken and widely understood etiquette requires utterance public uaiuiuuiuo aiC 1UI uimauon ana defecation, not copulation, MarkE. Renda Graduate student 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 typed, double-space- d letters, 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, grammar and space. . |
