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Show Lehi Free Press New Utah! - Page 2 Wednesday, August 28, 1999 Opinion jlA(r- .ATi. April is dangerous for two good reasons .py , Reducing teen births The rates are falling thanks to several factors, including a greater emphasis on delaying sexual activities, a more responsible attitude among teens about casual sex and births, and more Teen pregnancy is not a growing problem in Utah. In fact, recent studies show pregnancy rates in Utah as well as the nation have been falling steadily ever since they peaked in 1991. awareness about sexually transmitted diseases. Utah's strong economy, with better job prospects for our state's young people, also helps. But that isn't enough. Utah's teen birth rate ranks 35th in the nation 30 percent below the national average. But the state rate of 44.5 births per 1000 young teen women is still too high. Yesterday Gov. Michael Leavitt signed a proclamation declaring May as Teen Pregnancy Prevention But it still is a problem. The causes and consequences of teen pregnancy carry a toll on society that cannot be dismissed. A recent report by the Utah Foundation, a private research firm, points out some of those consequences. One of the trends in Utah is that teen births are more likely to be to unmarried mothers than there were in the past. Currently three-fourtof the teen mothers giving birth in hs Utah are unmarried. Statistics show that these premature moms probably won't graduate from high school and will probably have very limited earning potential throughout their lives. Usually they come from broken homes and poverty, and starting a family while they are very young perpetuates the cycle. Throughout the U.S., 84 percent of teen mothers end up on welfare. For the children, the consequences are staggering. Children of teen mothers score lower on school tests. They are more likely to be school drop-out- s and have poorer health. They are more likely to be victims of abuse, neglect and, as they age, are three times as likely to be incarceratmothed as the children of ers. They are also more likely to have substance abuse or behavioral prob- Dear Lehi, I intensely dislike the month of ApriL Two dates especially irritate me, the 15th and the 16th. The first because of taxes and the second because it is my birthday. Both dates remind me that things are deteriorating rapidly and don't seem to be getting any better. I have always had this superstitious feeling that if I let someone else do my taxes, I would lose track of exactly what the government is taking out I wanted to be in control. I believed that high school graduates or the majority of Americans should be able to figure out month. Throughout the month, groups which deal with teen pregnancy issues will be working to increase public awareness of the consequences of early parenthood, and looking for ways to reduce the numbers even more. The first line of defense in this battle has always been, and must always be, in the home and the family. That where the battle's being won. And abstinence should be the first message. But preaching abstinence alone is not enough, when you consider that many of these adolescent mothers are also coping with substance abuse and other behavioral problems, and are not likely to listen to that message. Other areas of education must be included if the message is to be effective. Efforts must also be focused on givlow ing support to income families and broken homes because these are the homes where we find most of our teen mothers. After all, every member of our communities has a stake in reducing the number of our children who are having children. non-tee- n lems. And they are more likely to start families themselves while they are still teens. The costs to the individual are in terms tragic. The costs to society of social services as well as foregone tax revenue is estimated in the billions of dollars for the nation as a whole. single-paren- t, Hey, what's a motto, Utah? Even though I already know full well that I could never have made it as a pioneer, I think that seeing a desert in the middle of nowhere a pretty, dishearten- would have been ing experience. Fortunately, those who came to Utah before us were much braver and much more full of faith, believing that this desert would "blossom as the rose." And certainly it has, from the actual flora and fauna that now call Utah home to the dreams and ideas that have blossomed from the minds of the people here, the state has been a virtual beehive of industry. Progress is not without its faults, though, as evidenced by the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument. What a political joke that was who made that decision. Perhaps we could say, appropriately enough: The Feds Control 90 of God's Little Acre. The early Mormon settlers of the state took a lot of flack for their belief Polygamy also left another little stone unturned, that of unrealized relatives. If one of the goals of polygamy was populating the area, then the practice could be termed a huge success. Unfortunately, the main goal of practicing genealogy is to find one ancestors, not one's cousins, and most people who have polygamy in their heritage likely only know that their had a certain number of wives, and that their particular was wife number four. What is fascinating is to see what happened to the other children, not just of the other wives, but even the siblings of the ancestor in question. So what happens is that people today don't realize who their relatives are. In fact, a young man of my acquaintance just found out that a young lady friend of his is more than just a friend; she's his fifth cousin. A motto is what we need: Don't Marry Her Til You Find Out if She's Kin. Most of us have probably become accustomed to the road construction throughout the state, particularly in the Salt Lake metropolitan area. And I dare say that most of us cope by finding an alternate route or avoiding it altogether. But one can always spot the novice Beehive State driver, mostly from the sheer look of exhaustion in the face. Why not exacerbate their anguish just a little more with this gem: Your Road is Next! Last, but not least, I can't understand what all the fuss is about the liquor laws in the state with respect to the 2002 Winter Olympics. After all, the way people talk, all the residents are going to plan their vacations for that period in February, then rent out their houses for hundreds or thousands of dollars and be set for life. ' If that is true, why should we worry about how people imbibe? All we need is a motto: Lock the Bar When You Leave. 17-da- , y Published weekly by NewUtah! 309-50- A member of lAli'J NATIONAL 1' ,,- -J NEWSPAPM ASSOCIATION ng & Circulation Publisher jTcwtaIiTcws fjroup 59 West Main American Fork, Utah 84003 Managing Editor City Ednor Last week in the wake of the shooting at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, one of our columnists wrote about gun rights in a somewhat negative fashion. One response we received was a long single spaced) letter from a reader that I could never fit in the newspaper. Most people don't realize e letter would just how long a look if it were reduced to type and run 1 I jsapagsa i 1":-'- it, and to never point it at anyone. A few years later at Scout camp, I turned out to be a pretty good shot on the rifle range. I went hunting a couple of times using a larger rifle, right up until I killed my first and last deer. That was the last time I ever pointed a gun at anything moving. When I left my home, the guns stayed behind. I've been shooting a couple of times since, in Scout groups or in activities. I will be doing so again Thursday night when American Fork 's Citizen's Academy goes to the shooting range to learn how to use handguns and other police weapons. But I've never owned a gun since I left home, and Fve never wanted to. Personally, I can't imagine that our Founding Fathers ever envisioned modern weaponry when they wrote the SecSchool. ond Amendment guaranteeing our Frankly, few issues are as divisive as right to bear arms. this one, or as problematical. Did they ever consider I, for one, grew up with weapons in weapons or guns an my home namely hunting rifles. I got essential element in this right? Many my first gun when I was 10 or so, when of these weapons are designed for one to annihilate other my father won a ,22 rifle in a bowling purpose only tournament. He gave the gun to me, human beings while producing the and then took me out and taught me most carnage possible.. Are these the how to care for it, how to load and shoot kinds of arms they had in mind? In this case, it would be four or five times as long as almost anything else you will read in this week's edition including this column. There just isn't room. The author made a well reasoned argument for our Second Amendment right to bear firearms, with quotes from George Washington, James Madison and Alexander Hamilton, to name a few. His impassioned statements made a strong case for those rights. But I thought this would probably be the worst week ever to carry that kind of impassioned plea, in the wake of the events in Littleton, Colo., last Tuesday. I must admit I even thought the author was a little insensitive to address this particular issue only a few days after what happened at Columbine High . semi-automat- ic rent There are many more government programs and regulations that were intended to help society but as part of excessive taxation are burdening Americans and driving the cost of living continually up. Speaking of driving costs up, did you appreciate the Alpine District's hikes on school fees this year? Whether or not the school fees are justified, the acbiiinistra-tiotries and makes it easy for you. If want to, you can charge you You can now charge federal and state taxes as well. Soon well just have a monthly tax bill to pay through our credit cards and if we're lucky we will have enough money left over to buy our children lunches on Saturday and Sunday. Yes, April is not my favorite month. Next year I will deaden the pain by going to a tax preparer. Now about the age problem. Maybe I can lie about my age the same way the President lied about bis personal life. But that is another topic for another time. n it Hardly. On the other hand, I recognize our rights are fragile, and that efforts must be made constantly to keep the Bill of Rights intact. I've fought often enough for our First Amendment rights to recognize the zeal of gun rights activists. Instead, Fve adopted the attitude of Judge Peacock, the Justice of the Peace in Castle Dale, Utah, when I lived there. I had lived in the community for a few months when some group I was a part of probably a church group was trying to raise money by raffling off a rifle which had been donated for the cause. I was young and trying to fit in, so I joined in going from door to door selling the tickets, promoting it as a good cause and all. By chance, I came to the door of the Peacock home and the Judge answered. I made the pitch and asked if he would like to donate. "We don't keep guns in our home," he said. "Thanks, but no thanks." He didn't accuse or excuse. He didn't contribute and he didn't mince words about his reasons. His convictions were obvious. He had seen what guns could do and he had no use for them. disFor my part, the 's sertation about the history of firearms rights came too soon after some recent history of firearms abuse, abuse which has left a permanent scar on our nation's conscience. The problem is a thorny one, but I'm convinced that if we don't find a way to limit access to firearms designed for modern warfare, more and more of us will be falling in a hail of bullets. letter-writer- Reader's Forum Stop the bombing Editor Please help stop the bombing of Kosovo. We have no lawful standing to do what is being done in Kosovo. It interferes with the internal affairs of a sov- ereign government and is contrary to the laws of nations. The defensive pact which formed NATO was never intended to affect the internal operation of a nation. Overstepping our authority will create hatred and fear among the nations of the earth against NATO and ultimately our own country. We may achieve a temporary goal but it will only lead to more bloodshed. Lawlessness such as this has been the downfall .... Deadlines 9 ....756-527- 3 Brett Bezzant Marc Haddock Russ Daly Periodicals Postage Paid at American Fork, Utah 59 job-relat- sub-machi- Subscription price $24" per year (and sddms change to Wed Main, American Fork, Utah 64003 POSTMASTER: retail costs. Eighty percent of mothers with small children in Utah work outside the home. Her income usually pays for that family's taxes. I believe the family is falling apart not only because of the lack of moral integrity in our nation but because of high taxes. Td rather the government lower some of our taxes instead of being so gratuitous in giving our children discounted or free lunches. Because of this generous federal program, so many Lehi children take school lunch that children taking homemade lunches feel ... well ... diffe- Few issues raise as many concerns as gun rights Telephone Numbers Advertising News 1521-685- (U.S.P.S. No. Well-meani- (four-page- s, er God-forsak- (ISSN No. self-defens-e. in columns. place?" IcfciSmPrws everything that you have." When Utah Congressman Merrill Cook tried to get food taxes removed years ago, I helped pass around the initial petition. I found out the big objections came from government employees because their administrators had told them that the cut in revenue would threaten their job security. Which reminds me about an emotional decision that I made last year with the their taxes. I was wrong. I don't think even someAlpine School District bond. I was thinkone with a doctorate in business could ing about voting yes until a member of decipher all the rules and regulations of the PTA called me on election day and the Internal Revenue Service forms. This inferred that only parents that didnt year we bought a computer program to love their children would vote no. I dont like that kind of tactic, I don't believe simplify the filing process and to hopefully minimize the effect tax time has in that sort of emotional manipulation is our home. It was fun and so much easier appropriate. So I made the only logical emotional (until I started filling out so many new decision: I voted no. And not because I forms I started worrying about my predon't love my children or because I didn't vious years' tax returns). That is why many people turn to a tax want the levy but because I am tired of service, not only for convenience but also government entities and other organizations telling us what to do. Not only is the filing sysfor Lehi-ite- s have comtem too complicated, the IRS and state tax departments are like a genetic mented that while taxes are high, it is still worth it because we have so much to mishap, a mutant fourth branch of government with no checks or balances. The be thankful for and still have more freegovernmental parents that spawned doms than any other country. Excuse me, I don't think so. When was them are overweight and still gaining. Let me tone that down a little. something wrong justified by something Nearly one out of 10 Americans works good? Freedoms are a privilege. They can for the federal, state, or local government be taken away. When did wrongful taxaincluding military and public school tion and government mismanagement employees. And that is not including the become justified by rights and privileges that were earned and defended by our independent businesses that are dependent on government contracts. The gov- countrymen? Did the government ernment is the biggest employer in the administration give us our freedoms? The very freedoms for which we are so nation. thankful for are gradually being taken President Gerald Ford said, "A government big enough to give you everyaway. thing that you want is big enough to take - The early colonists protested over a four-pag- state. For example, given that the comma in one of Utah's monikers ("a pretty, great state") is ungrammatical, we could have the following motto: We Don't Care About No Punctuation. Can you imagine what the Pioneers thought about this area when Brother Brigham led them over the summit and declared that this was "the right Polygamy was Illegal. Ujtjj -- A friend sent me k humorous message withAa list of new, tongue-in-chee- k mottoes for each of our states. The one for Utah read: We Only Bribe When we Have To. Very funny, but unfortunately, only one of many which the jokester could have used to sum up our pretty, unique in plural marriage, and some people think that the divine instruction to stop practicing the practice was simply a means of gaining statehood. Think of that what you will, what I find interesting is that there are people who are still practicing plural marriage and getting away with it. Until one of our counties' sheriffs decided to actually uphold the law recently. I haven't decided on which side of the fence I sit regarding the polygamy issue, but the new attitude could bring a new motto: We Just Realized Cist ! 12 nercent tax and had the Boston tea party. Some time ago Paul Harvey noted a milestone We now pay over 50 percent of our gross income to taxes. Those taxes include state, federal, land, auto, sales, and others. There are also hidden taxes such as corporate taxes that raise our Classified Advertising Display Advertising News . . Sports . S p.m. 2 p.m. .Monday, 2 p.m. ; . . . . . . , . .Monday, 2 p.m. . . . .............. Missionaries ........ Weddings .Tuesday, noon .Monday, .Monday, ........Monday, of all of the great republics of the past. Often we can find answers to today's problems by looking at the past. At our nation's birth, as in our day, European governments frequently sided with one side or another of a conflict. This meddling in affairs of other governments cost many a young man's life but seldom had the effect of furthering the paths of freedom. Because of this George Washington remarked: "The great rule of conduct for us in regard to foreign nations is, in extending our commercial relations to have with them as little political connection as possible. So far as we have already formed engagements let them be fulfilled with perfect good faith. Here let us stop." (Washington's Farewell Address United States, Sept. 17, 1796) army. In short, unless we are repelling forces from invading our homeland or enforcing the good and just laws of our nation, any attempt to ensure peace by force means WAR! Call your representatives and speak your mind. It is well past the time for Congress to take up their constitutionally mandated duty as 'the only body with the authority to declare war. Vincent Newmeyer Lindon We welcome letters to the editor. All letters must include the author's name (printed AND signed) and a telephone number. We reserve the right to edit letters for clarity, punctuation, taste and length. Letters are welcome on any topic. HOW TO REACH US 10 a.m. Community Calendar . .Monday, 10 a.m. Letters to the Editor . . .Monday, 10 a.m. Obituaries Tuesday, 11 a.m. George Washington, as well as many other founders of our nation, believed the only wise role our nation could play in such a conflict is as a respected mediator - a respect won through neutrality and backed primarily by the citizen soldier, not a standing By Mail P.O. Box 7, By Fax American Fork, UT 84003 In 756-527- Person 59 W. Main, American Fork 4 By editor newutah.com Tpoo |