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Show Free Press - Wednesday, November 19, 1997 - Page 2 Opinion 3 Parents make best volunteers It is little wonder that parents make the best school volunteers. After all, no one has a more direct interest in the education and of the children who attend our schools than those same parents. The best way to protect that interest is to get involved. Thursday marks a national effort at getting more parents involved in their children's education. The event is National Parental Involvement Day, and it well-bein- g is sponsored by a s effort called "Every Parent a Volunteer." With some of the recent events in nearby school districts, it is even more apparent that the best person to have in the classroom to help a teacher is a parent. This is not a new concept. Pres. Woodrow Wilson told us: "As parents we are the owners of the public school system. As owners, we bear a responsibility to participate in the schools. Accountability for the schools, its employees and its funding, rests with us and the rest of the school's owners. Our children's future depends on the improvement of the public schools, and school improvement depends on our participation." Pres. Wilson's words still ring true. No government program can have the kind of impact in the classroom that comes from the participation of a caring parent as a school volunteer. What can parents do? Lots of non-profi- t, grass-root- things. Parents who are available dur Your opinion A friend of mine frequently ing school hours can listen to stu- dents read aloud, tutor a child in math or spelling, give a presentation on their hobbies, culture or area of expertise, teach a class in art or science, or chaperone a field trip, among others. Parents are especially needed to work with students who need the kind of attention that the public school system simply can't afford to provide. Parents who aren't available during the day can still help. They can assist by creating materials for bulletin boards or instructional use, helping teachers with clerical work, organizing field trips and volunteer schedules, helping with one-on-o- clubs, serving on school committees, or helping to raise funds for special projects. The possibilities are endless. So is the work. Most importantly, parents can best create the kind of school environment they would like to have for their children when they are a part of that environment. How can you volunteer? Contact your child's classroom teacher, local PTSA president, or principal. And then make the time. Volunteers are needed at all levels in junior highs and high schools just as much as in elementary schools, although the type of service may be different. Lending a hand at the local school will have a lasting impact, not only at the school but also in society, because the kids you are helping today are the parents and leaders of tomorrow. my opinion says The mailing of America has definitely begun. I hadn't thought too much about it until I found myself walking around the streets of Mesa, Ariz., then the understanding started flowing in like water. The store that opened the floodgates of recollection was, get this, Mesa MRI. I didn't see it the first time because I had browsed through a book store before going into the Fiesta Mall. But as I headed back to my hotel room, I noticed the neon letters two doors down from the book store. My first thought was that I had misread the sign, or that burnt out lightbulbs in the sign had created a bizarre word combination. So my curiosity took me up to their door, and when I saw the medical-typ- e receptionist's office, I knew that the "store" really was designed to offer clients an MRI, or magnetic resonance imaging, a high-tec- h procedure, if you will. Immediately after I had verified what was in the storefront the following questions arose: Is there such a demand for MRI that it has overflowed the hospital scene or is it just part of the demands of the people that such procedures be x-r- iiii.uwni.iiii.il, ...ij.i iiMiMmuii.iiii.ui lit im ..mi., M'liiiMiimHaiiiiiiiimiiiiiii has no streams at all," etc., wouldn't it be wiser "to get together and compare notes as to the different viewpoints?" That's clear, logical, common-sens- e thinking, and it's a useful approach to settling some of those little differences before they arise. differences of opinion. He points out that friendships have been broken, families disrupted and civil wars incited because of those differences of opinion. He says, "The blame does not The best-selllie at the door of the question of all time says, "In the counsel of the multitudes there is involved, nor in the diversity of opinions regarding them, but in the wisdom," so if we do have those differhuman folly of trying to force unwel- ences of opinion, we should carefully come beliefs upon people." listen to what the other person has to He says that "human progress say because they could be right. In the demands great diversity of thought process, we learn something ourand action. We are like dwellers selves, and instead of antagonizing around the foot of a great mountain. someone, we could make a friend of None of us can see all sides of the them. Take that approach to life, and I'll mountain, just as none of us can see all the truth about any matter." see you at the top! With that in mind, "instead of Remember that what you know wrangling among ourselves as to whether the mountain is covered with today, in all probability, will not protrees or is bare of vegetation ... is cut vide what you want and need by torrents and rushing streams or ill made convenient? Picture a couple shopping at the mall. The man turns to his wife and says, "Honey, you go ahead into Dillard's while I get an MRI done." Or the harried housewife who is trying to complete her To Do list before the kids get home from school. "Let's see," she says to herself aloud, "took the books back to the library, dropped off the dry cleaning and got Martha's present for the birthday party. I have just enough time for a quick MRI before I have to pick up Harold from soccer." What other services have or will soon be coming to a store near you? Even in our own area, I've seen the mailing process start with the Driver's License office and the Juvenile Court opening satellite offices in strip malls in American Fork. I suppose the driver's license office is a prime candidate for a branch in a mall since there are often long lines at the home office. And since it is related to driving, they could even add a window and not look too strange. But what is to stop other services from adding such an office? If Mesa can have an MRI store, why can't we put in a mammogram shop or a prostate clinic next to one of r supermarkets? our We must be hopeful that the bounds of good taste would prevent that from happening, because I can already think of some advertising ploys that such facilities might try to employ to gather business. What are the advantages? d After bashing the concept of MRI, I started to wonder if there might not be some real advantages to having such a service located where people spend their time. Do statistics show that people are more willing to have an MRI if they don't have to go to the hospital or drive-u- p super-dupe- mall-base- medical clinic? Are the costs cheaper for the consumer, or does the high mall rent make the procedure just as expensive because of the increased overhead? These questions were starting to drive me crazy, and if there had been an Emotional Recharging Center between Mesa MRI and Bookstar, you can bet I would have gone in for a quick fix. Movie theaters were mainstay of small communities I was talking with Tony Rudman, one x of the owners of the new theater in Pleasant Grove, when the conversation rolled around to personal information. Anyone who knows me is aware that I'm not shy when it comes to talking about my roots. When I mentioned I was from southeastern Idaho, and named Montpelier as my hometown, Rudman was instantly interested. "Yeah," he said. "We own the Center beginning. Theater (or is it Centre Theatre?) there." So the Center Theater was where you could see films in glorious Technicolor. Boy, did that bring back a lot of memmost of them good ones. ories The Center Theater was where you could Every small town used to have a see films period. And we were a commumovie theater, but by the time I was nity of movie-goerWhen I was young, I went to the thegrowing up, television had taken over much of the American lifestyle. Many of ater every Saturday afternoon with the these small-tow- n theaters had closed rest of my friends. As I got older, I went their doors, but the Center Theater was to the theater almost every Friday night. still going strong. It was the only theater There just wasn't much else to do. With a small population to serve, the remaining in Bear Lake Valley. At the time, the theater was owned by movie owner didn't have the luxury of an a man who also owned the Motor Vu extended run for any film. There were Drive-i- n (I'm pretty sure about the two movies a week; one ran Wednesday spelling here). That was the only drive-i- n through Friday and the other ran theater in Bear Lake Valley, so the guy Saturday through Tuesday. That way, had a monopoly on film entertainment. you could see different films on Friday The indoor theater was open through the night and Saturday night. winter months, but during our short Not all of these films were first-rusummers, it was closed so movies could either. Some were made five or 10 years be enjoyed at the drive-i- n without any earlier and brought back by "popular demand." competition. In the 1950s and 60s, that meant a The theater sent out a monthly listing serious monopoly. VCRs were unheard of its movies in calendar form, so you of. Cable television was in its infancy and could tell what would be playing. That was mainly used to get a clearer signal of calendar always hung on top of our regthe three available commercial channels. ular calendar in the kitchen, so we could Although we lived in Idaho, we were so always see what the film of the day was, close to Utah that I grew up with the but it hardly made any difference. We same basic three channels we still have went to the movies anyway. Channel 2, Channel 4 and Channel 5. Admission was 25 cents when I was First-ru- n movies were not a major kid. And every Saturday it seemed like component of television. There were a lot the entire youth population of the comof late-nigmovies but they were old, munity (just enough to fill one small elefilms shot in black and white. All mentary school) would line up to lay television was black and white in the down a quarter to see whatever was six-ple- s. that "everyone is entitled to his own but no one is entitled to the opinion wrong facts." Yet it seems to be universally true that confidence seems to go with ignorance; the less we know, in many cases, the more dogmatic we are in our statements. I love the observations that Lawrence Fargher makes concerning I'll have a CAT Scan to go, hold the Mayo Clinic n, ht playing. Next door to the theater was a candy store where we could buy Tootsie Rolls or candy cigarettes (no kidding), or whatever. All in all, the movie-goin- g experience was a cheap afternoon or evening event. The seats were worn, the floor was sticky, and the sound was terrible. But the screen was large, and to us, the movies were magic. I only remember a couple of the actual films I saw there. As a child, "Gulliver's Travels" captivated me. I begged my mom to let me stay and see it a second time, since once you had paid to enter the theater, you could stay as long Ten "The it as was open. Commandments" and "Cleopatra" came to town with an attempt at the same kind of fanfare that accompanied their national premiers a year or two earlier with commemorative programs and all. For the most part, the movies have faded into obscurity, but the theater experience remains. But after all these years, I was surprised to learn that the old theater was still open and still showing movies. The industry has changed so much and videos are so prevalent, it amazes me that any theater can stay in business, especially one that's been at it for 50 years or more. But people still love to go to the movies. Just visit the new complex in Provo on any weekend and you'll see what I mean. The new theater in Pleasant Grove will films back to north Utah bring first-ru- n County after a long absence. The theater is and it will be a lot of fiin. I don't doubt they will do well. But I doubt any movie theater will become as much a part of the community landscape as the theaters of the 1950s and 60s were, before videos and other distractions took us out of the theater and kept us at home. state-of-the-a- rt Reader's Forum at Gravesite robbers Editor: I went up to visit my son's grave on his birthday, Nov. 1, and I left a beautiful wreath made with grape stems and autumn foliage on it. I went up today to get the wreath to redecorate it for Thanksgiving and his upcoming death date. Much to my sorrow the wreath had been stolen by some very callous person(s). How do you live with yourselves? I'm sure it looks beautiful on your walls. I h'ope every time you look at it you feel ashamed, because you should. I can't even conjure in my mind the type of person who would think this kind of behavior is all right. We are now entering the holiday season. Lots of people go and decorate the graves of their loved ones at this time of year. By Christmas time the cemetery will be very beautifully decked out. Please leave us to our private moments with our loved ones and please leave our mementos alone. Annette McClure What is happening here? Editor: I am incredulous! Nude art has been censored BYU, and a favorite high school teacher and successful coach whose life partner happens to be female, is being condemned. I assume that the majority of those engaged in this censoring and condemning are members of this area's dominant religion. These people are concerned about moral values, and yet venerate some of their early male leaders, who "took" numerous wives. Some of these females, who were "given" to them (presumably by God), were frequently teenagers. Hypocrisy abounds when we refuse to examine our own lives. Kelly Crockett Preventing credit card problems Editor: Most people in the country today have numerous credit cards and use them freely. Problems arise when they can't pay their bill, or when they are charged for a product or service they did not request. I would like to share some information I have learned through sad experience. In 1996 we traveled back east and had made reservations at a Days Inn in New York. I canceled the reservation 24 hours in advance of the scheduled stay because our travel plans changed. The next month the charge for this reservation appeared on my credit card state Published weekly by & Classified Advertising Circulation News 9 309-50- A member 0 iewtalijews of NATIONAL NEWSPAPER ASSOCIATION 59 West Main American Fork, Utah 84003 Deadlines Telephone Numbers Advertising ISSN No. 8750-466U.S.P.S. No. ment. My husband discovered the charge a month later as we were reviewing our expenses for the trip. I called the credit card company (First USA Bank) and disputed the charge. They indicated that we needed to send them detailed written notification. We sent them a FAX and a hard copy in the mail. The charge showed up and as disputed on our next statement. This continued for several months. I called them monthly to check on the status of the dispute. Each time the Cardmember Service representative told me the dispute was progressing. In the meantime, I contacted the people at Days Inn directly. Days Inn of America, Inc., informed me that they do not own or operate any of its properties and that they rely "on the leadership of the individual owner or manager to provide assistance and service..." I was able to contact the manager of the hotel at which we had reservations; he referred me to the property management corporation. Mr. Keith Bartello, PERK Development Corporation, Rochester, New York, was very helpful. He was the one who educated me on the process I would like to share. 1. Check your credit card statements carefully each month and check against your receipts. 2. If there is a dispute, send a detailed written letter of dispute to the credit card company. Publisher Brett Bezzant . . Display Advertising Monday, 5 News Monday. p.m. 2pm. Missionaries Monday. 2 pm. Weddings Monday. 2 pm. Subscription price $24" per year Community .Monday. 10 a.m. Second class postage paid at American Fork, Utah Letters to the Editor Obituaries Monday. 10 a.m. 11 a.m. Marc Haddock PoMrriMtw: tend addrtu change to 59 Witt Main, American Fork. Utah MOOS Calendar . . . puted charge. It is the responsibility of the credit card company to contact the bank which handles the account for the disputed charge. It is your responsibility to be sure they follow through with it. This isn't a pleasant task, but it is important that as consumers we protect ourselves. First USA Bank never did complete the process of the disputed charge but sent us a statement demanding that the disputed charge be paid in full. We did this to avoid further interest charges and then canceled our account. I hope that this information will be helpful. It has been a very frustrating process for me. One more bit of advice: whenever making telephone calls to companies concerning any business transaction or concern, write down the date, time, name of the person you talked to, and information received. Then if you have any future concerns, you will have a detailed account of your actions. Deanne Taylor We welcome letters to the editor. noon .Tuesday, Russ Daly Managing Editor City Editor 3. If the dispute does not show up on your next statement, call the credit card company. 4. Ask to talk directly to a manager or director concerning the dispute. Be persistent and don't settle with talking to a representative. 5. Request a copy of the letter the credit card company sent to the bank concerning the dis- Tuesday. All letters must include the author's name a and signed) telephone number. We reserve the right to edit letters for clarity, punctuation, taste and length. Letters are welcome on any topic. 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