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Show 8 - The Summer Chronicle Wednesday, Jnne 28, 1995 a 11 LETTERS y Church and State Must be Separate n WHERE PO THESE UBERN-- S L ast month's commencement exercises at West I I High School garnered national media attention LZ3when students defied a court order and interrupted the ceremony by singing a Christian prayer. Many people have come out in support of the students' actions, and have condemned Rachel Bachman for filing the lawsuit which triggered the injunction. However, the incident was part of a conflict involving choir director Richard Torgerson's disregard for church-stat- e separation. According to the Salt Lake Tribune, members of the high school choir said that while on school trips, students were encouraged to participate in Mormon testimony meetings and inspirational firesides. Some students say that Torgerson remained extremely insensitive to the plight of a minority of the choir members who were made to feel uncomfortable by the religious content of mormon church hymns they were asked to sing while on a choir trip ENCOURAtfS EXTREMIST BEUMOR ...THEY SHCMJD BE SHOT. 0 m X GfT OFF SRflNS THff OUR 2c f rj OK. ) JJ long-standin- g in 1994. Torgerson has been formally reprimanded for breaking the wall between church and state, and yet the situation in the West High School choir does not seem to have improved for minority students. It seems ironic that a majority of those who disregarded the court order are members of a religion which places high regard on living in accordance with the law of the land. Perhaps the most appalling aspect of graduation night's events was the response of parents in the audience who joined in singing the prayer and applauded. The children will not receive any reprimand for their actions. What they have learned is that it's OK to break the law as long as you don't agree with it. The situation at West High School is not unique. d Even at the University of Utah, a instioffered are before certain tution, prayers regularly functions, and Christian music is regularly performed by our choral ensemble. The issue of church-stat- e separation cuts to the of core if we are not to our However, society. very become a nation of mob rule, we must take steps to ensure that that freedom extends to everybody, especially those in the minority. The Chronicle is an independent student newspaper. Unsigned editorials reflect the view of the Editorial Board which voted unanimously in favor of state-funde- this editorial Class Stratification Leads to Crime Editor: The debate about arms (such as assault rifles and or other modern military weapons) shrouds and obscures the real issue. The real issue is that the balance of wealth and power has shifted from the average middle class American to those in the upper 5 percent income level. The suburban American norm has become an impossible dream for an number of Americans. Families whose income provided comfort, if not affluence on one or two jobs was common (1950-65Today, "middle class" families often work jobs in a mad scramble to make ends meet, or to maintain the illusion of comfort. The great American middle class, once a staple of the American economy, is now a myth everyone wants to ever-increasi- ). 3-- 5 believe they participate in. As numbers of people realize that the lifestyle they had always counted on is slipping from their grasp, frustration mounts, rage results, and the incidence of violent crime increases. The exploited population starving for resources becomes unstable, angry, and restive looking for a scapegoat, while the increasingly wealthy upper 5 percent enjoys gross ever-increasi- resources and looks with increasing fear at the armed and increasingly hostile masses. The armed masses might well decide to take that wealth and spread it more evenly among the populace, but if you take their arms away the masses become much less dangerous and much easier to control. Easier to control; especially if the police can use tanks, gas and machine guns to protect your wealth while people are freezing, starving, and dying on marginalized health care (if any). The biggest threat of all is if the disenchanted, disorganized masses begin to get organized or worse yet form militias. The masses might take back all that wealth you and your grandfather spent so much time scheming, manipulating and associating with groveling politician prostitutes to acquire. Crime is increasing in this country as people have to work ever harder for more money that is worth increasingly less than ever before and people are unhappy but don't know what to do about it ... for now. Scott Jackson Junior, History 2002 Olympics Will Cause More Harm than Good Itristi Patterson Chronicle Editorial Columnist ow that all of the hype and celebration is over, it is time for Utah to stop and take a long hard look at what the Olympics really mean. That does not mean what the Olympic Bid Committee and the Mi media have brainwashed the public into believing; like "putting Salt Lake City on the map". Salt Lake is already on the map. The construction business is booming -especially in Salt Lake and Utah Counties. This means more subdivisions, less farmland and fewer wilderness areas. Not like we need the farmland anyway, milk comes from the supermarket. Take a good look at Park City. So many people asked for building permits last year that the city refused to give out anymore. This year's permits for some areas b Park City are already in moratorium; and things are not getting better. The Wasatch Front has been trying to keep up with the Joneses for some time now. There is always one house that has to be just a little bit higher than the next. Living in the mountains has taken on a totally different meaning because the rest of the United States has decided it would be fun to live there too. This also means more cars on the road, as if the Environmental Protection Agency was not already breathing down automobile owner's necks. The Utah Department of Transportation can always widen the highways, but even that has its limits. The highways can only be widened so far then there is not any room left to expand anymore. Expansion would also cost taxpayer dollars, but they should take heart in the fact that the wiD Olympics vate businesses. be totally funded by pri- The Olympics will create jobs and tax revenue." That is, only after Utahns have forked out millions of dollars to build Olympic arenas that will be used for those jobs that will last about as long as the Olympics do. But luge and bobsledding are such popular sports that Utah will get lots of use out of the arenas. Someone will probably build a resort dedicated solely for those sports and give the ski resorts a run for their money. Or, future Olympic athletes can use the arenas to train for the 2006 Olympics. All ten of them will proba- bly really appreciate it. And so many athletes today consider training for bobslcdding a profitable career goal after their Olympics career is over. "Building the Olympic arenas will be totally funded by private businesses." Most taxpayers are having a hard time believing that Building the arenas may be funded by private businesses, but tax payers will are the ones that pay for road expansion and improvements, water storage, waste removal, environmental cleanup and over crowding costs. Even if businesses do fund the Olympics, the money would be better spent on that Utah is desperately, things in need of, like education, homelessness and charities. "Seeing the Olympics is a once in a lifetime opportunity" Seeing the Olympics in another country would be a once in a lifetime opportunity. Watching people ski in Utah is an everyday event Nobody goes to watch ice skating and luge runs, but since the Olympics are coming, those sports with a limited following are suddenly once in a lifetime opportunities. "The Olympics will benefit the state's economy by adding to business revenues." The only businesses that will really benefit from the increased revenue are restaurant, hotels rental agencies and home or apartment owners. The increased business will, in turn, make rental and cost of living rates skyrocket. Unless wages increase, most people will not be able to afford the added costs, particularly college students. Once the cost of living increases, the possibility of a decrease after the crowds leave is unlikely. Water storage and waste disposal will also be working overtime to compensate for the influx of people using all of the hotel rooms and restaurants. But that is what the Great Salt Lake is for. The brine shrimp already make the place stink anyway. Utah's biggest advantage to getting 2002 Olympics was the environment. After the Olympics are over, Utah's environment yields a dismal oudook "Utah is a pretty great state and a nice place to live. It is not a tourist trap like Los Angeles or New lbrk, that is why it is so nice to live here. Utah does not have the big city problems like gangs, traffic and pollution..." Stop and take a good look around Somewhere in the middle of the Olympic hype, Utah did not notice the tourists are staying instead of coining, seeing and getting the hell out. |