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Show Free Press - Wednesday, March 1, 1995 - Page 2 The boob on the outside of the tube Editorial 2002 Winter Olympics would showcase Utah much needed renovation of student Utah has a lot to offer. And the 2002 Olympic Winter Games would housing at the University of Utah - where the athletes can be comgive the state a great opportunity to showcase our state and one of its fortably housed and fed, and then most valuable resources the the facilities can be utilized for "Greatest Snow on Earth." years to come by college students. In addition, Utah has done an Over the past few years, Utah has positioned itself well in its bid extraordinary job of getting the to host the 2002 Winter Olympics. venues ready as well. All of the The payoff should come in June in designated ski courses have been Budapest, Hungary, where memapproved. The Delta Center will host the bers of the International Olympic Committee will select the 2002 hockey and figure skating competition. Speedskating will take place site. Olympic is for well state at the Oquirrh Speedskating oval, The prepared scheduled for completion this year. the bid. An additional practice oval is In the first place, Salt Lake offers an unusual combination of a completed. The Utah Winter Sports Park, large metropolitan area, just 10 which will host the nordic and minutes from an international e ski jumping, has been airport and 45 minutes away from several world class ski areas. Salt operating for two years and just ski Lake City has more hotels, restaufinished holding a world-clas- s The and services rants, shopping, support jump competition. luge bobsled track will be completed and cultural attractions than most there early next year. Winter Olympic venues. In all ways, Utah appears ready The athletes and visitors won't face the transportation problems to host the 2002 Winter Olympics, and to welcome the world in seven that commonly plague Olympic sites. All venues are accessible by years. multi-lan- e This world class event will give highways, and no venues have been placed in the Utah an opportunity to demonstrate it is the home of a world environmentally sensitive Big and Little Cottonwood Canyons. class community. It's an opportuniConstruction of the Olympic ty Utah and its residents should will be welcome. combined with Village -- - free-styl- - Dismal lot of the principal I have often wondered if I had decided to go into the field of education, just how successful could I have been. I have wondered about the life of a school principal, for example. When he is not down at the athletic field cheering for the team, he's back in his office giving advice to young people who admire him. He is also giving out advice or it from some outraged parent. Such is the life of a high school principal. Parents expect him to channel their offspring into study preparations that will insure the lad of becoming the president of a billion dollar corporation. It is not unusual for a mother to anticipate from the principal a statement something like this: "Why, Mrs. Brown, I can tell by looking at Pete's hands that a great career awaits him in the field of surgery -or could it be a concert pianist? Anyway, it's a toss up which road he decides to travel. One appears to be as good as the other." And then another mother hurries down to the school with Willie, anxiously waiting for the principal's analysis, which is certain to be something like this: The principal looks at Willie's pug nose with this exclamatory remark. "I have never seen such a profile! This lad will without a doubt become another Barrymore." And along comes Mrs. Jones dragging in son Archie. Mrs. Jones is expecting a comment something like this from the principal: "My goodness, Mrs. Jones, this boy can't be anything but a judge. Look how his shoulders stoop. Already he has the appearance of having served a lifetime on the bench. After we fill him up with a little algebra and some chemistry, hell be prepared to take up the gavel." Yes, it is quite disappointing to many parents that their children grow up to be plumbers and carpenters and are thereby able to support the parents in their old age. At the beginning of the fall semester, Mrs. Taten Pennyweather appeared at the principal's office to enroll son Wilfred in the freshman class. "What would you advise Wilfred to mite S3 takg taking place? Even if you don't say anything aloud, do you "think" to the TV, trying to send extrasensory vibrations to the characters? One of my earliest recollections of doing that was with the old Gilligan'a Island show, where I desperately wanted to help Gilligan out of his silly situations and get those people off that island. Apparently my "vibes" weren't good enough, because they stayed stranded, and in turn, stayed on the air. I can also remember sharing the Gunsmoke experience with my dad, and although the "sharing" part was more valuable than the actual "watching," I can recall trying to help those frontiersmen see the danger that awaited them from week to Cherrill Satterfield had been told she within 18 months, but she still has a chance: Shecould live indefinitely if she commits a crime and goes to prison. Let me run that by again. Cherrill Satterfield, a grandmother from Phoenix, Ariz., desperately needs a liver transplant. But, she is waiting in a long line in which there will never likely be enough organs available for transplant, and she is informed by state officials that poor people and criminals must come first. That means welfare recipients, the chronically unemployed and prison inmates. They must come first! Most Americans have assumed that organ transplants heart, liver, kidney, bone marrow are available on a e basis. In this Arizona situation, however, something called the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System, a bureaucracy, dictates who is eligible and who is not. And people who have been employed are not. Satterfield cant work anymore and is much too weak, but she has a disability - first-com- first-serv- e, show. Poll PldilSf ByRUSSDALY own personal method of addressing the ball at the foul line, but I think he has an untold number of fans that are trying to help him, too. Speaking ofballs, when it comes to bowling, the bowler doesn't even really come into play when I watch. Instead my "vibes" are directed toward the ball as it travels down the lane. I urge it to move into the correct position, especially for the tricky spares, and finally, after the ball has done the work, then I can cheer for the actual player. When I catch American Gladiators on the tube, I not only talk to the contestants, but I actually start to simulate some of their moves, such as tensing my body in order to help them stop in Atlasphere, or dodging the blows in Joust. Some shows may not involve trying to help the characters, per se, but that still involve some interaction as viewers can either try to figure out who killed the victim, or at least predict the antics of characters like Lucy Ricardo or Barney Fife. With the proliferation of VCRs in homes today, coupled with the ease of renting movies whether it's at the grocery store where you are already shopping or at the places that can satisfy a movie we can now talk to whim at any time week. If you're a Jeopardy fan, maybe you like to shout out the answers (or questions, rather) while you're watching. I do that too, and I figure I've won at least a hundred grand for my correct answers. I've tried to do the same with Wheel of Fortune, but being a crossword and word puzzle fiend, I find that I get too impatient when I see a contestant buy a vowel or guess a wrong letter on a puzzle that seems clear tome. hate to admit it, but I've probably even tried to send "vibes" to the wheel itself, trying to coax it to go one space farther so the contestant could get $1,000 per letter or avoid a bankruptcy. Actually, I While sports fans are likely to cheer when their favorite team scores, most probably also do their own "talking" to individual players during the game. Karl Malone, for example, may have his - 24-ho- - If you've seen Sleeping With the Enemy, youll recall the scene where the estranged wife goes downstairs in her new apartment, and opens the kitchen cupboard, only to find, to her horror..... Well, I won't give it away, but rarely have I ever wanted anything as badly as I wanted her not to open that door. But again, my "vibes" were in vain, and , she opened it. When the first Jaws movie came out, I saw it one night with friends, then the next night or the next weekend with my sister. Knowing the part when a head would come lolling out of the submerged boat, I was able to successfully add my own bit of fright to the scene when I grabbed her just at the crucial time. I also find that my TV or VCR demeanor can also set me up for emotional involvement, sometimes more than I expect from a once-abuse- d, movie. Although I really enjoy Mrs. Doubtfire, I when I see the injustice am heart-broke- n heaped upon the character played by Robin Williams as he pleads for his rights as a father. Even though Fve seen it several times, I find the same feelings surfacing each time I watch it, and I long to do something to change the outcome. All this talk might even be good practice for the time when we might actually be able to talk back to our televisions. So the next time you see a movie on your VCR or something on the TV that stirs something in you, tell it how you feel. Several good reasons for okaying tower Editor: I read the Letters to the Editor in the Free Press ofFeb. 22, about the City Council Meeting of Feb. 14. Some pretty heavy cuts weremade about the Mayor and Council Member Haws. Deploring they were not being treated fairly on hearing their complaints. Under the circumstances and considering the tone of the crowd, I think the Mayor handled it very well. The protesters had elected one person to be their voice. Instead of letting him do the talking like they had agreed,' several individuals had to get up and interrupt the one person who was to speakfor them as a body. This diluted their position because, they were repeating over and over the same things their spokesperson had already talked about. There was talk about reducing their property values from $3,000 to $10,000 a lot. Not once did anyone support these figures with an iota of evidence. The spokesperson took up a lot of time trying to explain how much the city would lose in taxes using some arbitrary figure with no validity. Trying to support an argument with figures that are not based on facts was a waste of time to the meeting. This tower will bring quality cellular phone service to our whole area. Right now there are blank spots where cellular phones will not work. This tower will benefit not only Lehi but the whole area. Cellular phones are one of the fastest growing items being purchased right now. For every phone sold, it will be an extension for the police, fire department and ambulance people to be able to answer and respond quickly to emergencies. Police cannot be everywhere and the concerned citizens must take it upon themselves to help. These pones can greatly reduce the response time for police, fire and ambulance calls. They will also help in getting drunk drivers off the roads and catching graffiti vandals. The saving of one life, or the saving of property from a fire will more than offset any supposed aesthetic deterioration of the neighborhood. This tower will save lives and property. Newell Turner -- Lehi Wilson's sentence is too lenient By TOM GRIFFITHS Sj f study?" asked Mrs. Pennyweather in a tone of voice that might be put to a $100,000 a year New York psychologist. The principal examined Wilfred and was about to say a "bricklayer," when he caught himself. Then he reflected that he himself should have taken up bricklaying many years ago. That same year Mrs. T. Emerson Wright came in with her son Chester. "What are Chester's plans' Mrs. Wright to the punch, chanical drawing, modeling, or" and then, noticing Chester's size, he added, "foot- Editor: As a citizen of Lehi, I am outraged at the lenient sentence given to the former city treasurer Joyce Wilson. She committed a "capital offense" with the possibility of life in prison for the embezzling of public funds. She was given a "plea bargain" and her offense was reduced to a second degree felony, which is ending up to be just probation. What is probation for a woman who is in her retirement years? Is she going to be supervised if she tries to work at McDonalds. And the idea that she will help the city find embezzled funds is ridiculous! What is the incentive for her to help the city find embezzled funds. The more discrepancies she locates, the more she has to repay. The woman embezzled in excess of $250,000. How much more would she have to embezzle and for how many more years would she have to embezzle to get prison time? The citizens ofLehi have not been served well by the county attorney's office now, nor in the recent past. It should be "you do the crime, you the time." -- Name do withheld Editor's note: Former Lehi City Treasurer Joyce Wilson will not be sentenced until AprilThe CountyAttorney's office is asking for a sentence of probation in return for Wilson's cooperation and full restitution of the funds stolen from the city. However, the judge will have final say in the sentence. ss'ss Support county - wide local telephone service ball?" Editor: Ever wonder why you can call all over the county from the Provo-Orephone area but anywhere else in Utah County it is long distance? Ever wonder why if you are in Salt Lake or Davis County you can call anywhere in those counties for free? Is this fair? As Utah County citizens you can change this unfair situation, making it possible to call toll free from GoshenPayson area to American ForkAlpine area. How you ask? In thenearfutureasurvey conducted bythe University of Utah will likely come by mail requesting your feelings on what is called EAS (Extended Area Service) for Utah County. Please fill out this important survey and send it in, hopefully requesting county- m "It will be Latin, Latin, Latin," exclaimed Mrs. Wright. "Latin," said the principal, astounded. "Whenever we mention Latin around here, the students scatter like flies. Mrs. Warbler, our Latin teacher, has only two pupils in her class and one of them is absent about half the time." "It will be Latin for Chester," insisted the mother. "Well," said the principal, "do you know that Latin is a dead language?' "That is very appropriate," said Mrs. Wright, with an air of finality. "Chester plans on becoming an undertaker." Taxpayers take a step to the back will die movies, too. I don't know about you who would admit to talking to your TV, but I talk to movies even more seriously than I do a television talk to the television, hoping in some way to influence the action that is Do you ever gram is somewhatmore orderly andmore fair - yet still imperfect. Piaijl -- M. ErmaBombeck, who has suffered from impaired kidney function for years, has been on dialysis for years waiting for a trans- - plant. She continues her work schedule and has never missed a deadline for her enorC 1895 Paul Harvey mously popular newspaper column. Yet, Products Inc. it has to be grievous when working Americans are discriminated against. The more industrious one is, the more income of $330 a month, making her "too rich to qualify." If such discrimination money one makes and the more taxes one were against poor people, they would pays the fewer public services for which have organizations fighting for their that person is eligible. Youll want to know that, in response rights. But, there is nobody to fight for to much public indignation, the bureauSatterfield. State Rep. Susan Gerard, the Repub- cracy the Arizona Health Care Cost has reviewed lican chair of the Arizona House Health Containment System Committee, called the situation "a damn Satterfield's eligibility. And it has decided that she IS eligible. disgrace." It had to shuffle some numbers to But, even the state's dominant Republican party can't agree on whether the conclude that some of her $330 a month answer is more government aid or getting disability money went to help her disthe government out of the business of abled mother. So, Satterfield is no longer "too rich to deciding who lives and who dies. Nationally, the kidney transplant pro have," though uncountable others are. - - wide EAS. What is EAS and how does it work? EAS is a charge you have been paying on your monthly phone bill, ranging from $4 to $7 for those living in the south and north ends of Utah County (those who must pay long distance charges to call either end of the area county) to $2.80 in the Provo-Orewho can call toll free throughout the county. Is this fair? If this survey shows that all the citizens want to be treated fairly, we can call throughchange the EAS to a toll-fre- e out the county with a standard charge for all of 50 to 80 cents increase to what you now m . have. However, you ask, why do I want an increase in my phone bill? If you look at the number of calls made throughout the county, your bill will drop drastically for many, and you will have the freedom to call ide. It makes good sense for business as well as personal use. Imagine ifthe Micron people knew every call out of Payson was long distance. There may be a few questions asked before they moved their business in to the south end, or for that matter, the north end of Utah County. You may say I never call the other end of the county. Many people attending county-w- the public hearings said the same thing until their lives changed due to job changes, business changes or family changes such as children moving to the "other side of the county" and phone bills suddenly increased by $25 to $100 a month. Is it not time that "both ends" of the county communicated freely. Why should Utah County residents not have the same calling privileges as Davis, Salt Lake and Weber Counties, not to mention many unpopulated counties, all who have county-wid- e EAS? Your county legislators and many hardworking citizens have fought for this opportunity with the phone company and the Public Service Commission for years to have this opportunity. The final decision by thePublic Service Commission will be based upon the results of this survey and nothing more. So please take the time to fill out the survey asking for EAS throughout Utah County. It will pay great dividends county-widmake the phone system fair and convenient for all, and will save you, the phone bill payer, money over all. I e, -- Andrea Powell Thieves stalk Lehi cemetery Editor: It has been two years since our daughter died. We have spent many dollars and time to keep wreaths, flowers and remembrances on her grave. We love her and have not forgotten her. However, there are some thieves in Lehi who seem to think we don't care. I'm tired ofeach holiday going by and the items of any value or worth are stolen. Why would any-- one think it is okay to steal from a grave? What would you ever do with the wreaths and flowers that have been setting out in the weather? Please leave our daughter's grave alone. We will take the items off when we want them off. We do visit often. We may catch you one day and we will prosecute. -- Gary and Evelyn Christensen Policy on letters to the editor We welcome letters to the editor. All letter should be typewritten and double paced. Letters muat alao be signed, and muat Include the wrlter't nam and telephone number. Pleaae send letter to Editor, Newtah News Group, P.O. Box 7, American Fork, Utah, 84003. |