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Show The Daily Utah Chronicle OPINION Shawn Parker Bailey, Opinion Editor: editorchronicle.utah.edu 6 - The Daily Utah Chronicle Letters to the Editor Chronicle Editorial Teach Tolerance,-- Don't Force Editor, Kelly Zeigler made some great points in her article on Tuesday, April 20, 1999. Yes, we should teach our children to ten to another's opinion, and yes we 'should teach them to value those opinions, if for no other reason for the fact that it is the opinion of another human ' being. Progress does come faster for those who consider every aspect of the story that is possible to uncover. But is it my right to take my neighbor's children and educate them in the way that I think is appropriate? Or is it right for my neighbors to impose their lifestyle choices or opinions upon my children? Every person views the world according to hisher beliefs and prejudices. Each person may be conscious of some of them, but inevitably, are unconscious of others. It is important to consider another's opinion to identify hisher own beliefs and prejudices, enabling himher to question and challenge those very beliefs or prejudices The U Could Do More for the Environment should take the today to the beauty and importance of our home planet. We should also think about the global and local environmental problems and potential crisis we are facing. Air quality in urban centers especially Salt Lake is being put at risk with the increase of industrial and transportation pollution. The threat of ozone depletion and global warming haven't gone away. Here in Utah, some of our leaders would destroy crucial wet lands while increasing air pollution and urban sprawl by building the Legacy Parkway. Here on campus, there seems to be a great deal of wasted resources, from the irrigation of sidewalks to massive amounts of wasted paper sometimes including class schedules and unread issues of the Chronicle. It seems that in past years people in the university community were far more concerned about environmental issues. There used to be a far more serious effort to avoid waste and recycle. Now, it is common for the material collected in recycling bins to be thrown out with the trash. It doesn't have to be this way. All University of Utah students, faculty and staff should take the incentive to take better care of planet earth. More of the university l, raunity should strive to ride the bus, walk or ride bicycles to campus whenever possible. Consumers and those who empty the recycling bins should strive to be more con scientious. Don't contaminate recyclable materials with regular waste. Don't just throw away recyclable materials. Interested students should take the environmentally-centere- d classes the U has to offer. Taking one of these classes will satisfy a liberal education science requirement and add real understanding to one's emotibnal response to environmental degradation. w U students should strive to resources whenevuse er possible. The more stuclass scheddents use ules and the Chronicle, the less paper will be wasted. Those willing to do more should participate in environmenwork study tally-centered Bennion Center programs, service projects and join an environmental action group. Finally, the U should consider creating a position of Associate Vice President for the Campus Environment This would ensure that campus resources and green space would have an advocate in the U administration. There is much to be done at We heshe has. In her article, Kelly Zeigler revealed one of her prejudices: It is disheartening to think that there are people who actually believe addressing homosexuality, or any other controversial issue, in mandatory junior high or high school meetings is wrong. Granted, some of these people may fall into some of Kelly Zeigler's stereotype, but has she considered the educated and well thought And they are all absolutely right. Matt Nagel Chronicle Opinion Columnist There ne on-li- ne the U for the environment. Let's do it. is no bright side to look with Tuesday's killing in Littleton, Colorado. It is either devastating, traumatic or revolting, depending on your relationship to the crisis be that immediate involvement or just watching video coverage on ABC's Nightline. On one hand, that is all that can be said about it. What else would you say to the mothers who had to wait until the next day for police to verify that their child was a Trench Coat Mafia target? What else can you say to the mothers of the boys behind the bombing and gunning? And to the kids who witnessed the whole thing? On the other hand, this tragedy and similar ones of recent occurrence, including last week's shootings in Salt Lake City, demand action to follow our initial reaction. We will now be bombarded with ne on-li- It out beliefs of those disagreeing with her point of view? Many of these individuals will have very good reasons as to why they chose to complain about a principle that holds mandatory meetings for their children to address controversial issues. Should this be disheartening or should this be , a valid viewpoint from a parent? The state has enacted laws for youth to be in educational schools. It seems right for the state to teach tolerance for each other. If not, the schools would be filled full of the prejudices and hatred "that Kelly Zeigler talks about. But is it right for the state to teach morals to my children? It is not right for the state to teach tolerance by attacking the controversial issues directly that people will inevitably disagree upon. These controversial issues should be approached when these children are accountable for themselves. These controversial issues should be addressed in higher education, work environments, or some other responsible situation. Our childrens' schools should teach tolerance through lessons that not only satisfy a majority or even a whole community, but can be accepted by the global perspective. This involves teaching our children to listen and respect another's opinion, not by coercing them to sit through any mandatory meeting. Matthew Garff Senior, Accounting Better Parenting Is the Solution car-poo- on-li- Thursday, April 22, 1999 rhetoric regarding gun control, school security, hate crimes, mental illness, juvenile delinquency, juvenile eccentricity, the Anarchist's ' Cookbook, MTV, Hollywood, and Sony PlayStations. The fact that two young men had enough access to violent images and violent weapons to conceive such a brutal scheme is a pathetic commentary on America and American children. The students interviewed for TV and newspapers said the boys were largely ignored. If no parent or school official took drastic precautionary measures after noticing the boys' preoccupation with blackness, hatred, guns and swastikas, this is' also a pathetic commentary on American adulthood. I pray that 15 deaths are enough of a catalyst, since the last episodes were not, to finally rectify some of our system's problems. I thought it was sad when my high school put up a barbed wire fence, instituted random metal detector searches, and made us use mesh or clear backpacks. Now I wish they would have added two or three security guards at the school entrance as well. I pray that 15 deaths will prove to us that consequences are inseparable from freedoms, a lesson applicable to every aspect of our lives, though broadly misunderstood. I hope that these 15 deaths will encourage Governor Leavitt to act immediately, and retract his statement that Utah needs "time to reflect" before approaching the difficult issues of gun control and financial needs of programs for the mentally ill. ' Furthermore, I hope the Columbine High School Massacre will cause parents to ask themselves why it happened, and to confront the disease and not the symptoms. Ronald Reagan once explained the misguided efforts of some government agencies by saying, "If regulators see a fever, they regulate the thermometer." So it is with that logic, and a sincerely straight face, that I submit the following: I will spank my children. I will spank their bare bottoms when they are little, and I will use a the very least they will know that I love them, and they will have a concept of right and wrong. It's possible that they will grow up rebellious or mentally incapable of grasping those concepts. If so, I will do everything in my power to get help. Even then, there is no absolute safeguard restricting them (or anybody else) from using their agency to effect horrible happenings, but I dare say the odds will be in their favor. There's nothing else we can do as individuals to help the Littleton hope the Columbine High School Massacre will cause parents to ask themsel ves why it happened, and to confront the disease and not the symptoms. wooden spoon or a belt when they are a little bit older. And when they outgrow that, I will revoke privileges. Damn the Ph.D.s who tell me otherwise. I will discipline them to respect authority, respect their mother, their siblings and their peers (it was peer teasing peer that gave the Columbine Killers a motive for their violence). I will also cradle my children, read to them, and teach them how to run a perfect pick 'n' roll. I will praise and reward them for their good work. Surely I will make mistakes, but at . community. There's nobody to sue since the losses can't be recovered and the negligible parties dismissed themselves from the temporal (although not the eternal) consequences by adding their own bodies to the death count. The student body here at the university is mostly young, and the kids we do have are young. Let us think about the homes we are raising them in, the values we are instilling within them, and their chances of functioning in today's "civilization." "" Unsigned editorials reflect the majority opinion of the Daily Utah Chronicle Editorial Board. Editorial columns and letters to the ed't' of the author. 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