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Show DAILY A6 Sunday. May 25, 2008 HERALD IMIAL EDITORIAL BOARD Craig Dennis, President & Publisher Randy Wright, Executive Editor Jim Tynen, Editorial Page Editor IN OUR VIEW Smoking ban: Don't bother d eeking a solution where is no problem, the Utah County Board of I -- Health is working up new rules that would ban smoking in public parks. It's part of a trend. Salt Lake City, Sandy, Logan, Spanish Fork and West Jordan have similar rules pending. Orem's City Council is scheduled to discuss the issue. It's not clear whether the health board will seek a countywide ban, or whether it will work with individual cities to implement the smoking ban. It's also uncertain whether new measures would ban tobacco entirely or just limit smoking to designated areas. What is clear is that this is yet another example of government meddling. It's as though officials don't have enough real problems to worry about. The proposed rule would prohibit something that's in the process of disappearing anyway. The Beehive State has the lowest percentage of people who smoke in the United States, and Utah County has the lowest percentage of smokers in Utah: less than 6 percent of the population, according to state figures. And the percentage of smokers statewide has been declining rapidly, dropping s from 1999 by more than to 2007. But the current discussion is not about smoking in general. The target is much, much smaller than so small it's virtually imposthat sible to see. This is about a small number of people who smoke in public parks under the big blue sky, and whose tobacco smoke in that context is said to pose a health hazard to others. The whole premise is pretty farfetched. Where are the data showing that this purported problem warrants the creation of new public policy? How many complaints about secondhand smoke in public parks are actually on record? Our and guess is that there are few possibly even none, This measure raises numerous contradictions. How harmful to the public health, for example, is the smoke from a cigarette compared to the belching output of a charcoal barbecue? Consistency is not a hallmark of the current policy discussioa Come to think of it, the overall air quality of Utah Valley is often unhealthy, primarily because of automobiles, industrial processes, g fireplaces and atmospheric inversions. Just ask the Environmental Protection Agency and the Utah Division of Air Qual ' there rw J two-third- wood-burnin- ity. Ov erall air quality has been terrible lately. How harmful is a dissipated puff of cigarette smoke in a park compared to the dust and ash from last year's wildfires that's been blowing all over Utah County? This gunk posed a health hazard to hundreds of thousands of people on a sustained basis over several days. If government officials are so concerned about public health, they should be turning away such dust storms at the county line, not worrying about the trivial effect of an outdoor cigarette in a public park. Clearly, even a designated smoking area in a park won't of cigasolve the rettes. Offensive smoke from barbecues, exhaust from automobiles and odors of bad cooking will all drift, sooner or later, along with cigarette smoke, to somebody's nostrils. But if smoking in a park is so bad, we'll need to include provisions to prohibit smoking upwind e from any school or center. Smoking will need to be banned not only in parks but within a thousand feet of one. Driving near a park, especially in any vehicle powered by a diesel engine, should likewise be banned. You get the point. The current debate is nothing but politics. Wouldn't it be nice if policy makers once in awhile used a little common sense? We don't defend smoking as good for anybody's health or overall quality of life. It would be nice if nobody Ut up. But the rationale for the proposed ban on smoking in public parks is beyond weak. It's so flimsy that officials are already falling back to the tired old "save the children" argument. Secondhand smoke hurts children more than adults; and smoking sets a bad example. But if we're going ban bad examples by adults, we shouldn't stop with smoking in a public park. We should ban smoking at home, too, along with other things. Every day, adults model bad behaviors such as losing their tempers, cursing, eating junk food, watching too much TV, speeding in an automobile and drinking too much alcohol at home. We'd wipe out our newsprint budget if we listed all the unhealthy things adults do in front of children. Bottom line: Local governments have plenty of legitimate tasks to perform. Harassing the dwindling number of Utah County smokers for lighting up in a park is not one of them. UVT m day-car- ; LETTERS Wider roads really can't wait Based on your own words, only 17 percent of wage earners in Cedar Valley will be heading north for work by 2040. Do you think that those headed East would be excited to drive to 2100 N in Lehi to travel to ProvoOrem just because it is a freeway instead of a 6 or 8 lane arterial (which it will undoubtedly be by 2040)? If we compare apples to apples then the "two-lan- e compromise that Lehi forced on Utah road (two County" is actually a lanes each direction) and will likely be at least 6 lanes within 15 years. In addition, this compromise should be built within 5 years rather than the freeway which would not be started for nearly 10 years. You could hardly expect more. Your own wording that this "will only hasten" a bridge across Utah Lake is a reminder that the bridge is a matter pf when more than if. Is there any extra environmental impact if it is built 5 years earlier? Ironically, it is the Mayor of Lehi, and not the Daily Herald Editorial Board, that has been talking for years about the need for a Cedar Valley highway that you now call an inevitability. I David Miller, ' How to comment letters to dhlettersheraldextra.com 5 Fax to Mail to P.O. Box 717, 344-298- Provo, UT 84603. I Letters must include the author's full name, address and daytime phone number. t We prefer shorter letters. on the "Laws of Nature"; and that the government (including the Court) "derives its just Powers from the Consent of the Governed" not the reverse. Same-se- x marriage is not a universally applicable, inherent "natural right." "gay mare copy of riage" is merely a a divine work. We should ponder the consequences of this abuse of power in both the diminution of the public's trust in the Court's delegated authority, and to public virtue. J. David Gowdy, Alpine "self-evident- man-mad- Herald poll Recently we asked the following question at the Daily Herald Web site, www.heraldextra.com: Choose the answer that most closely reflects your view: Earth is the only planet, with intelligent UJtr 8.5 7 Intelligent liftf they won't i f It's possibly th. being monor extraterresftia 62.46 NOTE: V Results are unscientific and numbers may not add up to 100 percent due to rounding. Total votes: 341 Current poll: "Should Provo restrict 4th of July parade reservations at curbside?" Polling is open at our Web site until Thursday at 11:45 p.m. STAFFDatiy Herald Lehi Gay marriage should not be seen as a natural right In approving same-se- x marriage the California Supreme Court has imposed its will over the voice of the citizens, and has struck a blow to public virtue, which is the foundation of our Republic. The judiciary's Constitutional duty is to interpret and uphold the law, not to make law. The Court's usurpation of legislative authority to purportedly create a new "natural right", in direct opposition to the lawful mandate of the people, is a form of tyranny. History ipiliillillllli teaches that tyranny results from the corruption of the laws by those who abuse their authority over the people. The Declaration of Independence states that our unalienable Rights are endowments from our Creator, based DAVID RUSIN iProvo sale should have been clearly advertised pany will assume bond debt obligation there should be a clean divestment; the idea of holding the debt liability is payments. This is as close as you can extremely risky. I guarantee the Provo get to zero percent down in the telecommunications world unheard of community that if iProvo had been in commercial transactions. nationally advertised and the City had made it clear that it was willing to hold So the $40 million question is this: Who remains on the hook if the bonds the debt, you would have had scores of interested parties to choose between. are defaulted? Some within the political arena of The deal that was struck may not be a very good deal for the taxpayers Provo believe that if the bonds are defaulted the Provo government will just of Provo. I have corresponded with take over the business and its improve- Mayor Billings's office about the way ments. Just a few quick thoughts on the sale process was conducted. I was told by a spokesperson, that the city this logic: I First, if the bonds are in default, attorney has the opinion that what has what condition do you think the busitranspired is legal. ness is going to be in? My antenna goes up whenever the I Second, what were the reasons the first response you get back to a set of questions and observations contains city "rented" the business in the first the word "legal." How about you? place? netI wish to be clear: In my opinion I Third, how much cash will be selling a metropolitan fiber-opti- c work is not like choosing from a box needed to resurrect the broken busiwhat is "legal" in this country is below of chocolates where any set of broad ness model? the standard of what is moral and e Given that Comcast and Qwest are ethical. Too often we equate the legal options masked behind a RFP is viable. dominant incumbents and Provo is a standard as on par with what is moral small market, I can guarantee after or ethical behavior. Just watch the eveMy experience has been different. When an entity chooses to divest any the iProvo initiative was struck that ning news. asset it does so with no strings atwe have now maximized the number Someone locally should be making tached. The seller is getting out of a of physical fiber-opti- c a lot more noise about this important networks for business and wants to cut its losses Provo. No rational thinking telecom strategic asset "sale" by the city of and liabilities. Provo than some guy from upstate company is going to build fiber-opti- c But an asset purchase, as opposed to network No. 4 in Provo as the market New York. Given our legal system, a stock purchase, does not solve the lisize and demand will not justify it. I am sure some other attorney may The point I wish to make is that have a different opinion about the ability issues post sale. The City of Provo has chosen an asset sale for iProvo. without a nationwide process Provo "sale" as well. That said, from what I have read, it is can not afford another failure. not even an asset sale; it is more like A buyer should have a requisite I David Rusin is founder, president an asset renting agreement. track record, stature, really deep pock- and CEO of American Fiber The $40 million price tag as acets and savvy to effectively comete Systems, Inc., which owns and cepted and headlined by the city is not Bgainst Comcast and Qwest. F rom a operates metropolitan fiber optic $40 million in cash. Whut has been networks nationwide, including one fiduciary perspective, your politicians in Suit Lake City. owe this to the taxpayers. Moreover, promised Is that the acquiring com recently announced of the iProvo fiber-opti- c does not parallel any divestment transaction I've seen in my 25 years in the telecommunications industry. The vagueness of the process and poor disclosure are alarming, at least to me. That a national effort requesting bids from interested telecom firms was not conducted through national publications seems an exception to the norm. Networks that have been bought and sold since the great telecommu3 nications collapse of have typically been proffered by third-part- y brokers or bankers that have extensive experience in driving the greatest value for the seller the taxpayer. With all due respect to Forrest Gump, The MEDIA VOICES There's hope for FEC From the Washington Post, Friday, May 23, 2008: n the midst of a presidential election, the country does not have a functioning body to oversee federal election laws. We don't mean we mean functioning at alL Since the beginning of the year, the Federal Dection Commission, which is supposed to be composed of three Republicans and three Democrats, has been down to two members. Four are needed to take any action, from issuing advisory opinions to launching investigations. The breakdown started with Democratic opposition to a Republican nominee, Hans von Spakovsky, and continued when Republicans balked at Democratic vote offers to hold an on von Spakovsky. This month. Bash finally submitted a new slate of nominees; last week, von Spakovsky's doomed nomination wus finally withdrawn. Thursday, the president went a useful step further, announcing his intention to nominate a replacement for von Spakovsky. The path now should be clear to getting a quorum in place. In sending up the new list, Bush axed Republican commissioner David M. Mason, a solid conservative. Bush had given Mason a recess appointment in 2005 and nominated him for a second term in 2007. Mason has continued serving in a holdover capacity as he awaits reconfirmation. What accounts for Bush's change of heart? The White House isn't saying. Could it be that Mason displeased the McCain for President campaign? Mason, as acting chairman, questioned whether the presumptive GOP nominee could legally withdraw from his pledge to abide by spending limits in return for matching funds during the presidential primaries. It's important to get the FEC up and running again Then, after the election, it will be time to renew the question of whether this agency is the best device for enforcing the election laws. 2001-200- mile-wid- |