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Show DAILY THE CHRONICLE UTAH THE CHRONICLE'S VIEW rageay, iioirt 4 ince the Sept. ii tragedy, citizens of the United States ' have demonstrated their willingness to help one another, donating blood and money to the American Red Cross and other for victims of terrorist attacks close themselves to other medical causes, food banks and other charities? Perhaps it's too early to telL charities won't know how much the attacks affected their bottom lines until the high holiday season, when many charities see a surge in donations. We certainly hope they still do. We hope Americans' generosity will continue to help people who weren't the victims of terrorists. Students are always strapped for cash, of course, and donations needn't come in the form of large, novelty checks. Donated time can have a more profound impact upon those who receive the donation, and certainly more of an effect on those giving. Opportunities for volunieerism abound, not just donating blood, although we hope the recent upswing in donation represents a marathon-lik- e commitment to sharing blood, not a sprinter's ted agencies. There is no limit to the examples of service in response to the Sept. n tragedy, whether large-l- ike President Bush's sending $ioo million to help Afghan refugees who have fled to neighboring Pakistan or small like three Cornell Students' driving five hours from Ithaca to New York City to donate blood, ensuring their blood would go to attack victims. donations to charities since Sept. ii exceed more than $500 million. Americans have proven themselves to be an extraordinarily charitable people, as have their allies. The Japanese Red Cross, for example, donated $7.2 million for disaster d Tragedy-relate- relief. The question is: Will this chariincrease in tragedy-relate- d table contributions result in a decrease in other charitable contributions? Should the general economic climate continue its decline, this question becomes even more pressing. Will wallets that opened iling. Just as before Sept. 11, the Center Is still available to help students become involved in local projects or join the Peace Corps. Generosity should not begin and end with the death of several thousand Americans. Ben-nlo- , n Unsigned editorials reflect the majority opinion of The Daily Utah Chronicle Editorial Board. Editorial columns and letters to the editor are strictly the opinions of the author. The forum created on the Opinion Page is one based on vigorous debate, while at the same time demanding tolerance and respeot. Material defamatory to an Individual or group because of race, ethnic background, gender, appearance or sexual oriwill be edited or will not be published. entation J Gwkws fom nwm? LETTER Calculating mo ft TO THE mr smt&- cmce. EDITOR Answers Parking-Proble- m Editor: - per year to buy students bus passes. I argue that since this I would like to take a few minutes to respond to Kristicn Hixson's Sept. 26 column on parking problems. She some- how has this idea that the prices we have to pay are fair and reasonable. Let's assume for a minute that her figures are correct, and it costs $7 million to build a new parking terrace with enough parking spaces for everyone. The recent lawsuit against parking services brings out the fact that parking services made a profit of about $3 million last year. Since prices have not gone down this year, it is likely that their profits will be the same this year. So $6 million has already been raised (note that in a recent Daily Utah Chronicle article, parking services didn't deny this figure, it merely said it wasn't illegal). Where do we get the other $1 million? Simple, the University of Utah spends about $1 million service is largely unused, paying it every year is a bad decision (I know that I don't have an extra 2.5 hours each way that it takes to get to school on the bus). Congratulations! We have a new parking structure paid for in full by the end of two years. You don't need a donor because students arc already paying for it. The fact is that parking services is taking too much money. That every other college and university in the state charges about $20 a year for parking is an indication that is what parking actually costs. Hixson argues that building enough parking spaces would triple the cost of parking twice. The cost of parking has tripled twice. We pay six times what every other student in Utah pays. She argues that students arc not telling the university see PARKING, page 8 everyone lis Mesponsihle for M edistrictina Fiasco JOHN ultra-conservati- ve MORLEY J Chronicle Opinion Columnist & The redisricting plan approved by the State Legislature last Thursday is It's laughable. It's a disgrace to democracy. The process takes place every 10 years in accordance with the U.S. census. The purpose is to make sure each congressional district has an equal number of constituents. But if you're a Republican legislator, of course, the goal is to solidify your stranglehold on power. Until Thursday, Utah's three congressional districts neatly divided the state along North-Sout- h lines. The 1st district represented Davis County and everything above it. The 2nd district included Salt Lake County. The third district consisted of Utah County and everything below. One-two-thre- moving straight down the e, map. Seems pretty logical, right? Not so, say the Legislature's Republican spin-doctor- s. Instead, what we need is an enlightened, mix" in each one of our congressional districts. This will allegedly allow the state to speak with a "unified voice." Here's the If you're a University of Utah student living in west Salt Lake City, you've just been granted "urban-rur- al post-morte- years of political irrelevance as part of Rep. 1st congresJim Hansen's sional district. You get the grand prize of representation by one of the most environmentally unfriendly congressmen in the United States. Don't bother trying to exchange your prize for something Davis and Cache else. With Republican-heav- y same in the counties district, your votes will count for nothing. Second prize goes to the U itself and the surrounding neighborhoods. As part of the completely redrawn 2nd district, your opinion will also count for nothing. In just one year's time, voters in GOP strongholds like Washington, San Juan and Iron counties will make sure that pesky Democrat Jim Matheson no longer represents you. Cast your ballots if you like. You're stuck. Third prize goes to commuter students from Salt Lake Valley's southwest side. Your neighborhood was one of the Democrats' strongest areas in the state. Now you get to rot away in political insignificance while Utah County successfully nukes your chances of electing an opposition party member every 10 years. Many a Democrat in the state is crying in his or her beer over the loss of the 2nd district and its incumbent Rep. Jim Matheson. But the most disturbing part of the whole redistricting fiasco is the failure of the regular political process to ensure a reasonable outcome. Democrat or not, every concerned voter in the state of Utah should be ready to bust some heads over the blatantly partisan, sometimes 10 CHRONICLE OPINION EDITOR dishonest fight over redistricting. did the Why process fail? Blame goes first to the Utah Democratic out-and-o- ut Party. Granted, the Dems did put up a fight, but it could have been larger. When the party organized a rally in front of the Capitol on Sept. 24, Democrats only a few hundred hard-cor- e showed up and the result was unimpressive. Utah Republican Party Executive Director Scott Park, listening at the fringe of the rally, said simply, "I wouldn't call this an uproar." Instead, informed Democrats from all over Salt Lake County should have marched on the Capitol waving pitchforks and torches. People should have been shouting, "Kill the Beast!" Republican Party leaders should have d been shaking in their cowboy boots at the prospect of mass electoral uprisdung-covere- ing. Utah's opposition party has to stick up for itself. It's not enough for Democrats to complain vocally. They have to be screaming. More blame, though, goes to the three Senate Democrats who voted in favor of the plan. Even though the plan may have protected their districts, these Senators should have had the guts to vote against it on moral grounds. Blame goes next to Gov. Mike Leavitt. As a voice of moderation in Utah's totalitarian system, he should have spoken out against the Republican plan early on. But the governor stood by and watched as the redistricting mud wrestle got dirtier and dirtier. Placing a damper on the process would have served Leavitt's own interest. The new ed LAURA B. WEISS LETTERSCHRONICLE.UTAH.EDU GOP-approv- ed plan merges several Democrat-hel- d state legislative districts and divides Democrat strongholds in many others. As a result, the Republican majority in the state legislature is likely to get even fatter. GOP hardliners have been giving Leavitt trouble for years. Fewer minority party members means an even righter right-win- g legislature. The gap between the governor and his party's extremists will glare brighter as a result. The majority of the blame, though, goes to Utah's Republican party. The with which GOP legislators pounded the nails in the Democrats' coffin is disturbing. House West, the head speaker Marty Stephens, mortician at this political burial, used all kinds of underhanded tactics to get the plan passed. After hours of grueling closed-doo- r sessions with minority leaders, Stephens came up with what he called a "compromise" plan. House Lake Minority Leader Ralph Becker, called the knives "more City, though, plan, thrown at Democrats. It does not reflect our discussions, it's a misrepresentation, and Marty knows it." Stephens' "compromising" consisted simply of correcting a handful of the most egregious errors in a proposal busting at the seams with inconsistencies. The Republicans bear special guilt for ignoring the overwhelming tide of informed public opinion. Both major Salt Lake City newspapers pub- ss R-Fa- rr D-S- alt see BLAME, page 8 581-704- 1 |