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Show (2G1Mu1)(iEM Free Press - Wednesday, February 1, 1995 Page 2 A retraction for last Editorial Compromise is the key There are several simple solutions to current controversy over the sale and future of the Harrington School in Amer- ican Fork. But the parties involved, Dr. Carl Bell and American Fork City, need to deal with real issues, rather than the emotional currently being served up as logic, if any compromise is to be reached. Bell bought the property to realize his dream of establishing a privately-ruarts center in the middle of town. He hopes to restore the Harrington School to include a small theater, a reception center, a performing arts center with rooms for various types of classes, an art gallery and an artist in residence. His plans include converting the old administration building into a restaurant to support the restoration project. The city needs the property for a variety of reasons. The parking lot is needed for an expansion of the Public Safety Building, which houses the city Police Department, Fire Department, Ambulance Department and the Fourth Circuit Court. Office space in the administration building and Harrington Building would also solve some of the city's continuing space problems in the nearby historic City Hall. City officials also talk about converting the Harrington Building into arts center with a a theater, similar to Bell's plan. Unfortunately, debateover the project has spawned emotional accusations that have nothing whatsover to do with the issue at hand. For example, American ForkjCity has been accused of not supporting the arts. In fact, the city has the most active arts program in Utah County, and one of the most active in Utah. For more than eight years, American Fork City has supported an arts council that encompasses 12 boards of various types, and has promised to continue that support. Restoration has also been attheheart of the debates. But both Dr. Bell and American Fork City have claimed that preservation of the Harrington School is at the top of their list. This is not an issue, either. Dr. Bell's proposal has been touted as the last, best hope for American Fork's downtown area. In fact, both proposals would bring increased traffic to the downtown area, and would result in about the same benefit for the city. non-argume- n publicly-operate- d ed What is keeping these two sides from reaching agreement is a lack of trust. Dr. Bell has stated publicly that he does not trust the city council enough to deal with them. What Dr. Bell claims he sees here isaheartless government agency ready to crush his dream at any stage. It is a stance from which compromise is not possible and blocks many opportunities for a resolution to the problem. On the other hand, City Council members don't trust Dr. Bell to be able to turn his dream into a reality. It's tough to make a profit in the restaurant business, let alone fund a restoration project the size needed for the Harrington Building. And promises of donated materials often don't translate well into actual funding for such a project. Still in the forefront of the community's collective mind is the experience of the Utah Pageant of the Arts, which took over the old high school building as a private foundation with similar dreams e of converting it into a $10 million for the arts. But adequate funding never materialized, and the building deteriorated until it was finally torn down, several years after the Pageant's dream had faltered. The city doesn't want to see the Harrington School lost in this fashion. A final argument raised is that the Harrington School is no longer public property, but has passed into private hands and its future is no longer the business of the public. But in fact, this building is part of American Fork's heritage, and there is a community interest in its future. In fact, Dr. Bell's plans and the city's needs are not mutually exclusive. They could be worked out together, if the two sides are willing to be part of give and take that usually accompanies progress. The city, for example, could occupy the administration building and manage the parking lot with a simple lease for parking spaces for Harrington Square. That would leave Dr. Bell free to pursue his dream. The restaurant could easily be placed in the Harrington the administration building probably with a lot more atmosphere. The goals of Dr. Bell and the city are not at cross purposes. With cooperation, the dreams of both could be realized. And the beneficiaries would be the residents of American Fork City and the surrounding communities. show-plac- Build-ingratherth- - Baseball players strike out For lo, these many months we have been faced with a strike of the baseball players. I think the blame lies with the owners as much as with the players, the reason being money. We fans have realized for a salaries time that the long paid to baseball players have been exorbitant. So it came to a head. n baseball coach For example, a was asked, "What can you tell us about a baseball player?" "A baseball player is always right, said BPOfJSDBUg) non-baseb- well-know- the coach. "He never makes an error. He never strikes out. He is always safe at first and he's never tagged out at home." The coach was asked, "What kind of a ridiculous statement do you call that?" "It's not ridiculous at all," the coach replied. "A baseball player never does those things. It's the umpire who says he does. All umpires are big liars!" "That's kind of a broad statement also." "Not at all," said the coach. "If you want to prove it to audience, tell them the story ofthe baseball player who died and went to heaven. Having nothing to do up there he decided to organize a baseball team. There was lots of talent - baseball immortals like Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Christy Mathewson, and many others were all available. "While this team ofimmortals was working out in spring training, Satan heard about it and radioed up and challenged the heavenly team to a game. "When Satan began to brag about some -- By TOM GRIFFITHS V of the greats he had in his dominions, Lou Gehrig said, 'Satan, my team will trim the pants off any outfit you can round up down there.' "Oh, no, you won,t' Satan replied. "You havent got anything down there," he was told. "Wehaven't! Hmm, that's what you think. "Who you got," asked Lou. Then Satan let out with one of those diabolical laughs, the kind that shatters the universe and said, "WeVe got the umpires." Of course, this is written in fun. I am not a baseball fan, but I am sure that baseball has its place in American Fork. May they soon iron out their problems. This is a retraction and an apology for, last week's editorial. The editorial, dealing with the Lehi City Council, claimed that a meeting held on Dec. 5, a Monday, had been illegally held because notice of the meeting was not posted the required 24 hours before it was held. Adequate and official notice was in fact made by Lehi City. Several witnesses have told us that the notice was posted on Friday, Dec. 2, in three public places in Lehi at City Hall, the Public Works Building and the Lehi Library. That being the case, there was no factual basis for the editorial's claim that actions taken in the meeting were invalid. The newspaper wishes to make an apology for the error. I would like to make a personal apology, since I wrote the editorial - in a state ofjournalistic fervor and failed to verify that one fact. We came by the mistake honestly. We requested a document that was posted to give notice of the meeting. The copy we received had a WordPerfect footer which indicated it has been printed on Dec. 5 -leading to our assumption that the document was created on that date. In fact, the document was printed twice, on Friday, Dec. 2, for the posting, and then of Monday, Dec. 5, to serve as an agenda for the meeting. When we asked for a copy of the notice that was posted, we were instead given a copy of the notice that was printed for the meeting. What we should have done at that point was call Lehi City to verify our suspicion. There is an old journalistic adage that goes: It - - half-milli- on or triple the time it takes for a city council, county commission or school board to con- Tll f, Editor's By MARC HADDOCK "If your mother says she loves you, check it out." It would have been good advice in this case. We are sorry for the error and any problems it may have caused Lehi City. We stand by the rest ofthe editorial. We believe that we have resolved the problems with Lehi City that led to the misunderstanding, as well as the other concerns mentioned in the editorial. Now, having eaten my share of crow for the day, let me explain why this issue is so important to us. Utah's Open Meeting Laws are designed to make government accessible to the people. Public access to meetings is the best way we have to ensure that our Constitutional guarantees are met. Butpublicmeetingsarealengthy.messy way to do business. People show up to complain. Everyone wants to talk a lot, often for public consumption. All kinds of rules must be followed. It's all very inconvenient. In fact, public meetings probably double duct the business of government. But then, our form of government was not chosen for its efficiency - but because it gives the governed control over those who would govern. Newspapers are especially sensitive to government agencies who want to bypass this lengthy, messy process in order to get more work done. We know the pressure is there to streamline government. After all, when the public is shut out, public comment is eliminated, posturing for the public ends and things get done more efficiently; but that is not the way our government is meant to operate. Decisions made in this fashion are made in a vacuum. Often they don't reflect the will of the people, and they shut the people out of the decision-makin- g process. Dictatorships rule this way, not governments designed to operate "of the people, by the people and for the people." In fact, most people don't pay much attention, because as long as government runs smoothly, they are satisfied. Community-orientenewspapers, on the other hand, send someone to every public meeting. We consider our reporters representatives of everyone else who couldnt didn't show up. We believe the public has a vested interest in keeping public meetings open to the public and we think it's our job to see that this is done. In the case of Lehi last week, we overstepped our bounds a little. But we intend to keep our eyes opened. d - Fee waivers present tough problems A television news report on the issue of fee waivers in the schools caught my interest the other night and made me reflect on some of the changes that have taken place in the schools since my own high school experience. The competition back then, as many of you will remember, included only local schools, including American Fork and Pleasant Grove, Springville and Spanish Fork. In addition, we also played Carbon in Price or Uintah in Vernal. But most of the play was at a school within a very reasonable distance, other than the one or two exceptions. With the changing demographics of the state, we are now pitted against schools that more accurately reflect the size of our own school. But that balancing process has meant greatly increased travel time and expenses as we have had to play Morgan, Park City, Emery, and both Uintah and Union. I've seen on the school calendar where both boys and girls basketball teams have been able to combine many of their games on the same days, ostensibly in order to reduce travel expenses. And ifour youth only participated in one activity, we might be able to get away with putting the debate team or the choir on the same bus. A considerable number of students, though, compete both on the field and on the stage, and would have to give up one for the other if we had to put too many activities on the same slate. These activities consume a great deal of money, whether it is for travel expenses, uniform or costume costs, or funding for materials. Hence, the fee waiver situation, which was designed to allow students to participate even if they couldn't afford the fee for a particular class. The debate is on in the state legislature LLeftGe&'s file ByRUSSDALY has also developed a unique integrated program as students use drafting, English and mathematics skills to complete assignments. What about sports, then? The legislator on the news made it seem like sports programs don't fall into the category of "necessary" subjects like the "three R's." Yet the football coach being interviewed said that the players gain valuable and pride in themselves by participating in the program. I have no problem with athletics, even though they probably can't be integrated with real subject like English, but I have often wondered why we don't allow our teams to receive sponsorship from corporations when it comes to funding the proself-estee- to the fee waiver policy, as well as that of what should be taught in the schools. Before we eliminate the programs, though, maybe we should take a closer look at ways in which expenses might be trimmed. ' The school choirs might choose to outfit the group in choir robes rather than individdressually tailored tuxedos or single-us- e es. Not only could the robes cover a standard white shirt or blouse, but could also be passed down from year to year without the worry of fitting another student. I understand that one of pur particular choirs will be jetting to Washington, D.C. for a "tour." Are such trips vital to a choir program and in what ways will the students' musical education be furthered by going such a distance? When I was accompanying the school choir, our trips were all made within the state. Are there no opportunities in Utah to become more adept at singing? Some groups have performed at Disneyland or other southern California attractions. But they have used bus transportation, and many have teemed up with colleges and universities to take classes from professors of music at the institutions. I certainly laud any of those groups who have combined an enjoyable activity with both performing and learning more about their craft. The drafting department at Lehi High well-know- n grams. A Coke or Pepsi logo on the basketball court would be a nice addition if it meant that our team could get new uniforms. The Bank of American Fork name on the scoreboard in the new gym is a reminder of their generosity toward our community. Is there fluff? Maybe there is. The news story kept showing some high school's drill team in their spangled outfits and caps. And maybe that is where schools and parents will have to draw the line in what is considered necessary for education. The debate doesn't stop with money, either. There is currently much discussion about the teaching of values. I see a problem with determining which values should be taught, and even then, will a teacher be able to teach a value without putting his or her own slant onto the material. The problems are ongoing, and parents must become involved in the education process. Administrators, too, must take a stand, yet be willing to look at the situation from all angles to come up with the most equitable solutions, but ones in the students' best interest. to fiEie editor An argument against the death penalty Editor: In his column of Jan. 11, Brett Bezzant left out at least one argument for opposing capital punishment. I've been troubled by the evidence that the death penalty isn't administered fairly. It's a fact that color particularly the color of the victim is key in determining who is sentenced to death in this country. Approximately 20,000 murders are committed each year. Only one percent of those convicted ofmurder are sentenced to death. Almost half of those sentenced to die are - - A good neighbor's first responsibility States nation's Our misleaders, in recent genff': erations, appear to have given up on us. Instead of demanding and enforcing It discipline in our own country, we have i deferred to the rights of wrongdoers. Yet, in company with the United Nations or unilaterally we chase around the world trying to right the wrongs of others. 1995 Paul Harvey We are choking off our own nation's oil Products Inc. reserves with expensive environmental we while from other import litigation, countries more than half of all the oil we use. And then, we bewail the imbalance Japan "whatever assistance is needed" to help earthquake victims in Kobe. Yet, in our nation's trade. NAFTA was sold to Congress with the when there is an earthquake in Califorpromise that it would end the massive nia, a hurricane in Florida or a tragic invasion of illegals across our southern flood in Midland America, other counborders. Now we're told that with NAFTA, tries offer us mostly only sympathy. It is illegal immigration will likely increase by not one world. this year. another Pope John Paul, during his recent tour We know so much better than we do. of Asia, wearily observed that the end of We know what's right, but we persist in the cold war has not improved things as doing what's wrong because Americans much as he'd expected, he says the naare not guided nearly so much by what tions of the world need to be renewed morally and spiritually, and he's seen they know as by how they feel. is our president promising little of that. Presently, week's editorial There are 7,127 United troops in Haiti trying to control historic enemies. Our Pentagon says the Haiti operation will be turned over the United Nations in March, but the military force there will still be mostly Americans. Except, under that mongrel flag, our soldiers are not identified as ours anymore. One of the saddest sights on television in 1990 was watching American troops arriving in Saudi Arabia, grudgsoldier ingly stripping the American-fla- g patches from their uniforms. Four years later, American forces were rushed back into Kuwait, again without American flags on their uniforms. This compromise is symptomatic of the degree to which Americans have been asked to hybridize their allegiance. President Eisenhower more aware than most of the comprises we make when we take on the world's problems to remind us of our first obligation. He called it "enlightened selfishness." A good neighbor's first responsibility is to mind his own business. black, and 84 percent ofthose were convicted of killing a white person. Under half ofall murder victims are white. Since the United States reinstated the death penalty in 1976, not one white person has been executed for the killing of a black. Of the 16,000 executions in U.S. history, only 30 cases involved a white sentenced for killing a black. In February 199 1, two men were convicted or murder in separate trials in Columbus, Ga. James Robert Caldwell, a white defendant, was found guilty of raping and murdering his daughter and son. He repeatedly stabbing his was sentenced to life in prison. Jerry Walker, a black, was convicted of murdering the son of the white Army commander at nearby Fort Benning during a convenience store robbery. His sentence: death., The severe shortage of high quality legal help for poor suspects is evidenced by the fact that more than 90 percent of the inmates on death row were too poor to hire a lawyer let alone private investigators or psychiatrists. Capital punishmentisa"priv-ileg- e of the poor," said Clinton Duffy, former warden at California's San Quentin Prison. A "National Law Journal" study conducted in 1991 established that lawyers who represented death-roinmates in six southern states had been disciplined, suspended or disbarred at a rate of up to 46 times that of other attorneys in those states. In Louisiana, the state with the highest ld . w rate of disciplinary action against death-rolawyers, the average length ofa capital trial is just three days and the average penalty phase lasts only 2.9 hours. Many defense lawyers are when they enter the courtroom. One Louisiana defendant learned that his lawyer was living with the prosecutor. A man in Florida discovered that his public defender was a deputy sheriff. In Georgia, a black defendant was represented by an attorney who had been the Imperial Wizard of the local Ku Klux Klan for 50 years. He now awaits the electric chair.(Time, April 29, w 1991) Here in Utah, wehave the infamous case a white, middle-clasthe returned missionary who killing of at least one innocent person. He chillingly said of his second bomb, "...the purpose was to establish a diversion...Of course, I knew a bomb left at a residence could kill or severely injure someone, but it really didnt matter to me." This man was allowed to plea bargain and received a sentence of life in prison. Who gets the death penalty is largely ; determined, not by the severity of the crime, but by the race and economic class of the criminal and victim. It is like a lottery. The irrevocable nature of the death penalty demands that it be dispensed with much thought and circumspection - or not be dispensed at all. of Mark Hoffman, - s, -- --Susan Miller Policy on letters to the editor We welcome letters to the editor. All letters should be typewritten and double spaced. Letters must also be signed, and must include the writer's name and telephone number. Please send letters to Editor, Newtah News Group, P.O. Box 7, American Fork, Utah, 84003. . |