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Show Comments Free Press - Wednesday, February 19, 1997 - Page 2 Keeping the music and the cards playing Editorial AF City should move ahead with bond vote In an apparent case of bureaucratic gridlock, plans for a bond election in American Fork have been postponed again while members of the city council bicker over how much to bond soon. for, and how Like all north Utah County communities, American Fork City is having a hard time keeping up with growth that has city offices bursting at the seams. There is not enough room in City Hall for employees, the police department is cramped, the Public Safety Building doesn't have enough room to house all the fire trucks and ambulances that the city needs and the Public Works offices are woefully inadequate. Everyone agrees that at least one bond election is needed to free up the funds to pay for expanding all of these city buildings. The current area of contention is whether the city should come up with one bond proposal for all the needs, or if it should hold two elections one now for buildings for which the city is prepared to bond and one later for needs that have yet to be finalized. If council members wished, they could move ahead with a bond election now to build a new library and a new public works complex. Engineering and architectural studies for these buildings have been completed. The city owns the property where they would be built. And popular sentiment for a new library is strong. In addition, the proposed bond election would include the necesd sary funds to purchase property near the Utah State Developmental Center and Mount Timpanogos Temple for a public park. Best of all, this particular bond package would be less than $10 million, which means the city could bond for the projects without increasing property taxes for American Fork residents. But some council members feel that splitting the bond issues will doom the second election. That is unsatisfactory, since the public safety and city hall needs are crucial. They claim that one bond election to take care of all the city's current building needs is best. The larger bond election will probably be for around $15 million and will definitely mean a tax increase. The single bond election for all city building needs is a calculated gamble, since any bond election may fail, and a bond election that raises taxes is more likely to fail than one that does not. Unfortunately, there is no guar state-owne- antee that the city can be ready with an inclusive bond even by November. While the library and public works buildings are well along in the planning process, American Fork's council members can't even agree on where to put the new city hall and public safety offices. Until a location is determined, no engineering is possible. And there is a good chance that deciding where to put those new buildings may take a long time. Many of the current city council's recent meetings have been so divisive that agreement on a suitable location may likely be impossible until the city gets some new council members following this year's municipal election. In the meantime, American Fork could face some heavy fines up to from the federal $10,000 a day government because neither the library nor the public works building complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act, which guarantees equal access to public buildings. Finally, American Fork residents are losing patience with a political process that seems unable to move ahead with these issues. Work on the new library has been ongoing for over a year, with tremendous public participation in planning the new building. To see that process bog down now that it is out of the hands of the citizens and into the hands of the council is frustrating. At this point, a bond election for the library, public works building and park would be a tremendous display of confidence in the voters of American Fork. It would give the city council room to discuss the other important building needs of the city while getting started with the buildings that are prepared to move ahead. It would also display confidence in the residents of the community, who are able to weigh the importance of a new public safety building or city hall on its own merits. The philosophy which requires a bond election that offers something for everyone in order to gain votes insults the intelligence and integrity of the residents of the community. it the city to forward, with a prompt bond Clearly, move is time for election to fund construction of a new library and a new public works solucomplex. This is not a band-ai- d tion to resolving the city needs, but instead a realistic approach that allows American Fork to build where it can, and then to prepare for another bond when the city officials are ready. In music, the "theme and variations" form has been around for a long time. The composer would create a fairly simple theme, then play around with the style, key, rhythm, mood, accompaniment or even melody, to make the several variations. Mozart, for example, developed the melody we know as Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" into a theme and variations piece, but composers in all periods of classical music have used the form. Nearly 10 years ago, my sister and her son dropped by unannounced one Sunday evening. She and I came from a card playing family and had spent time together in what served as a bonding activity. When they visited that night, it seemed only natural that we would turn to a game of cards as a way to develop the camaraderie. Sometimes we would play Rook, both the traditional version of the game, as well as some of the variations found in the rule book. We enjoyed "The Golden 10," where you try to avoid all red cards, particularly the 10, and attempt to procure the yellow, or golden, 10, which put you 10 points to the positive side. We also found another version that became a favorite, and although I have forgotten the name of that game, I vividly remember the thrill of holding the Rook card, which was the ultimate card. In some of these games, my nephew served as the dummy hand, not playing per se, but simply turning over the next card in his pile. He really enjoyed participating with us, and didn't even mind that we called him the dummy. (Always endearingly.) But that first night they visited, he graduated from playing just the dummy hand to being his mother's partner. The four of us enjoyed the evening, not know- - Arianna Huffington 1996 Creators Syndicate, Inc. y work-stud- y over the next five years for higher educato be tion and only $100 million more on spent on new charter schools In their timidity, Republicans are too polite to ask. Sen. Spencer Abraham is one of the few Republican leaders pointing out this bizarre sense of priorities. "The presiare the dent," he told me, "says that most important years and then completely belies this by the way he allocates resources." But in our political life, any of proposal that commands popular support joins the untouchables the latest addition to the list being college loans. As a result, other dire needs like those of students not bound for colare ignored. lege "That's why," Abraham said, "I want to target communities that are economically distressed, bringing together teachers, parents and business leaders to develop a curriculum so that students can earn a separate 'American Job Ready Diploma' in high school. That would give them a vital leg up in their job search." But children in troubled communities who go to decrepit schools and then cannot find jobs are not even on the president's radar screen. Instead, he seems much more concerned with subsidizing K-1- n K-1- 2 poll-craz- y two-thir- Daly Planet By RUSS DALY ing what was in store over the next few years. When the evening was repeated a few weeks later, I announced that I had always wanted to learn how to play Canasta. We turned to Hoyle, and attempted to play the game just from the written rules, instead of being instructed by a veteran player of the game. Somewhere along the line, we either started hoping that the rules were slightly different, or we discovered that Hoyle had provided variations to the game. Over the next few weeks, we tried a new version each week, only to create our own variation, which combined all of our favorite parts from Bolivian Canasta, Brazilian Canasta, etc. We added some other players to the a niece and her new husband, game and the sometimes a visiting friend games became an even more important part of our family bonding. Of course, the world did not stop outside of card night, and the phone would usually ring at least once during the evening. Those on the other end would frequently find that not only was the recipient not paying attention to the conversation, but that the other players would make audible suggestions that he or she return their full attention to the game. Regular callers soon areas and conformity of zoning uses according to the general plan. In recent years, our local government has been required to make many decisions, some of them unpopular, regarding annexations, and uses of the lands developments throughout the area. Both contiguity and use seem to be more relative terms these days, and variations on the two formerly fixed concepts may result in residential and commercial developments that will change our lifestyles in the near future. Then again, perhaps the flexibility will provide us with opportunities that were never possible before. As a community, we may have to rely on the bonds that we create among those who share our values just to survive. Theme and variations in music provided us with aesthetic beauty, but, by their very nature, eventually paved the way for overall new styles such as jazz, rock and roll, rap and heavy metal, styles which some people may not espouse. Whatever particular style or styles we like, we must remember that the variations have allowed the music to keep playing. Learning philosophy from a master Brynn's Beat I am sure that I have mentioned more than once, that my father was somewhat of a philosopher. I learned at an early age, that every time dad said something that sounded a little bizarre at the moment, I should try to remember it. It usually came in handy later in my life. My dad was also a fisherman who liked nothing better than to spend the day flyfishing in a secluded stream. It didn't seem to matter if the stream contained any fish. Dad seemed content just to enjoy the process of fishing. However, most of the time he could pull a fish out of any body of water. Just about the time that I became old enough to show an interest in going fishing with dad, my older brothers were at that age when they didn't have much time for anything. My younger sister had to be dragged on the few fishing trips that she went on. So, that left lucky me to be dad's fishing partner. h At the time, I felt like learning to and exploring some great country was the best part of those outings. Looking back, there is no question, the best part of those trips was getting to know my dad, and of course, the philosophy lessons. Anyone who has ever been fishing knows that it is not always a comfortable sport. If you go early enough to catch fish, it will be freezing cold. It is impossible to wear gloves while fishing and your hands will get wet, which makes the cold thing fly-fis- worse. During those cold mornings my dad would remind me that you won't ever get anything that you want out of life if you aren't willing to suffer a little bit for it. He pointed out that those who had chosen to stay home in bed that morning were not Ivory tower sucking machine Remember the "giant sucking sound" Ross Perot heard emanating from NAFTA? Well, I'm hearing sounds too, but they are coming from America's colleges sucking in both money and people. Let's start with the people. In 1965, Congress launched the College Work-Stud- y Program to provide financial aid to students working to help those in need in their communities. But it was not long before richly endowed colleges started brazenly qualifying themselves as needy institutions. Work-studstudents began to meet the "needs" of the ivory tower by working on campus in cafeterias, libraries and offices completely undermining the program's original mission. Today, only 5 percent of jobs have to be in community service. As for money, America has successfully contained inflation with two glaring health care and college exceptions tuition. In both areas, billions of government dollars make it possible to keep raising prices through the roof. Even the American Council on Education admitted as much: "College prices have continued to rise because the market has been able to bear the increases. Most institutions have been able to raise tuitions and still have full classrooms." So there you have it from the horse's mouth. The $40 billion Clinton has allocated in his education package to subsidies for college students will provide only tempofamilies before rary relief to middle-clas- s being sucked in by colleges and passed on to students in the form of higher tuition. It is no wonder that tuitions have dramatically outstripped inflation rising 254 percent between 1980 and 1995, compared to an 85 percent increase in the Consumer Price Index. The president's topsy-turv- y education package will only exacerbate the trend. And how can he justify $40 billion more The learned that Sunday nights were sacred. Card night became especially important when we had difficult times, which covered the whole range of the typical problems of life. Although there were variations in the specific problems each of us faced, what sustained us at those times was the bonds that we had created among the players. Variation seems to be the theme among many issues in our lives. Often what used black or white decision to be a clear-cu- t, now offers a substantial gray area, which people tend to use to their advantage. A request for annexation of land, for example, includes contiguity with existing college loans for kids of couples earning as much as $100,000 a year. And he appears undisturbed by the fact that in 1995, 22 percent of college freshmen needed remedial courses in math, writing and other basic skills, and 27 percent simply dropped out. It makes no sense to keep adding to an educational edifice that is so shaky at its foundation. Clinton's faint nod to the crisis is to propose that 100,000 of the 260,000 newly funded work-studjobs be used to tutor elementary-schoo- l students in reading. This is clearly better than having these students sucked into jobs on campus. But wouldn't it be smarter to reform our local schools so that children can which learn to read in their classrooms is why, after all, they go to school? And shouldn't academia answer the national cry for citizens to be more involved in their communities by fully honoring the ? original intent of There are now almost 1 million work-stud- y positions. Unleashing those college viokids on the toughest problems would have lence, drugs, homelessness a dramatic impact both on the community and the students themselves, who would have the opportunity to round out their learning through service. The largest annual survey of college freshmen, released last month, shows that record numbers are doing volunteer 38 percent volunteering once a work week. Adding in the million-stronarmy of work-studstudents could create a critical mass that would revitalize many of our most desperate neighborhoods. The president has landed on the right education. But the solutions problem motivated not by where are all wrong the greatest crisis is, but by where there resistance is the least special-intereand the greatest opiwrtunity for political y work-study- g y pandering. By BRYNN BECK going to see the sun come up over the mountain top. They were surely not going to catch a "big one" and, most importantly, they were going to miss the fun and adventure of the day. For some reason, on a couple of those cold mornings, he felt it important to add some advice to the conversation by making it clear that no one enjoys being in the company of a whiner. He also told me that whenever someone is considerate enough to invite you to go anywhere with them it is your responsibility to be the best company that you can. After a few outrageous mishaps, I began to notice another of my father's philosophies emerging. His opinion was that as long a no one was hurt, a good disaster could only make the outing more memorable. At first I thought this notion was crazy. Of course I would always remember those idyllic and serene mornings. The funny thing is, of the hundreds of fishing trips that we went on together the perfect ones have all blended into one wonderful composite. But I can recount in amazing detail the time that my dear Dad tried to carry me on his back across a very slippery river bed because I didn't have waders. You guessed it, we both ended up in the ice cold water soaked, but laughing. I remember more clearly than I want to the dusky evening at Fish Lake when my father's expert fly line pulled a bewildered bat out of the sky. That event brought new meaning to the term "catch and release." I wanted to release the entire fishing pole. For all of the perfect and not so perfect fishing trips that I went on with my dad, one outing comes to mind above all of the rest. On this day, we'd pulled off the road d to try a little stream with only one fly-ro- to share. I fished; dad watched. We fished for awhile in silence. After I worked my way through a section of stream dad said, "You fished that just like I would have." I was elated. Almost immediately after that I hooked a fish that seemed large for the small stream that we were fishing. And he was a fighter. Both dad and I cheered as the fish jumped high out of the water. Just before I could bring the fish to shore, the line went slack the proverbial "one that got away." We would have released the fish anyway, but I was disappointed that I lost the fish. I felt that it erased dad's earlier compliment. Obviously, I didn't fish that hole just like he would have, because, he wouldn't have let the fish get away! iui Seeing the look on my face, my dad said simply, "It is better to have loved and Jggt, than to never have loved at all." I couldn't believe that he would say something so cliche' and something so clearly out of place. Of course I wasn't actually in love with the fish. I tried to tell him that it was a weird thing to say, but I could tell the conversation was closed. I thought about losing that fish and dad's strange response all the way home. And I have thought about it many times since then. Slowly I've started to understand the philosophy dad was trying to teach me that day. It wasn't about being in love with a fish. It was about loving the moments in about understanding that just your life because things don't turn out the way you want, you shouldn't allow it to diminish your previous experiences. When my dad was killed in a car accident a few years ago, it took awhile for me to be able to think clearly. When I finally could, one thing kept coming to mind. Although it seemed cliche' and terribly out of place, something inside of me kept repeating, "It is better to have loved and lost, than to never have loved at all." At the same time I visualized that big native trout jumping out of the water, and I can hear my own voice shouting, "I got it dad, I got it!" Letters to the editor YSI misrepresents themselves Editor: An open letter to Youth Services International: While there is no question that residential group homes are needed, to my disappointment, I find you are not what you represent yourselves to be. Your mission statement indicates that your purpose is to provide rehabilitative services for "youthful offenders and criminally at risk youth." I have given a lot of thought to the questions you chose to answer, and am still wondering about the ones you avoided completely. Therefore, I question the fact that placement in your facility be strictly voluntary, and not part of , or in lieu of confinement, rehabilitation or treatment in a correctional facility, when if the youth are not successful here, the next step is a total lock down facility for them. I also question the fact that you will be housing nine year old boys with 18 year old boys for obvious reasons. So I assume the boys will average 17 years of age. When I talked with a state official, I was told that I should set up a plan of safety for my family and my community. You stated that your employees, whom are trained to deal with at risk youth, receive 30 hours of training, most of which is first aid and CPR. Therefore, I couldn't help but compare that to the 2,000 plus hours my sister had to complete so that she could be licensed to cut hair. This definitely helps me to understand why my family's safety is at risk. Not to mention the fact you are putting your own employees at risk when the training you provide for them is so insufficient. If you were to represent yourselves as you really are, a residential treatment center for youth offenders, (which is not permitted in residential areas) and not represent yourselves as a Residential Youth Home for Disabled Youth (which is permitted in all zones), I would have no need of a plan of safety because you would not be located in a residential area. Gail Holbrook 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 or through email at NewtahaoI.com. We |