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Show VIEWPOINTS A-21 www.parkrecord.com Sat/Sun/Mon/Tues, November 19-22, 2016 EDITORIAL Local law enforcement should stand against deportation plans M LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Winter Welcome success secures YSA’s future Editor: Thank you Park City for stepping up again to support the JANS Winter Welcome (JWW) auction and dinner, benefitting nine winter sports teams and more than 2,200 aspiring young athletes under the Youth Sports Alliance (YSA)’s umbrella. This year’s event provided more than an opportunity to celebrate the accomplishments of our junior athletes while raising critical funds to support their dreams; we remembered the namesake of the event, Jan Peterson. Jan was the visionary founder of JWW. Known as “coach”, Jan launched the event 36 years ago to raise money for training, travel and equipment for members of the Park City Ski Team. The event has grown to support all winter sports disciplines including alpine skiing, figure skating, bobsled, freestyle skiing, freeride, hockey, luge, nordic skiing and skeleton. Park City can be proud how it has lifted up its young athletes and encouraged them to reach for their dreams. This year alone, the YSA: • Launched ACTiV8, an after school introductory sports program for middle schoolers modeling the success- The Park Record Staff PUBLISHER Andy Bernhard Editor Nan Chalat Noaker Staff writers Jay Hamburger Scott Iwasaki Bubba Brown Angelique McNaughton Griffin Adams Contributing writers Tom Clyde Jay Meehan Teri Orr Amy Roberts Steve Phillips Tom Kelly Joe Lair Interns Jessica Curley Emily Billow Copy Editor Frances Moody ADVERTISING Classified advertising Jennifer Lynch Office manager Tiffany Rivera Circulation manager Lacy Brundy Accounting manager Jennifer Snow Advertising director Valerie Spung Advertising sales Lori Gull Jodi Hecker Erin Donnelly Lisa Curley Bill Thomason Photographer Tanzi Propst Production director April Hendrix Production Nadia Dolzhenko Ben Olson Patrick Schulz ful elementary school Get Out & Play (GO&P) program; • Reached the initial fundraising goal of $2 million to establish the Stein Eriksen YSA Opportunity Endowment providing more than 250 need-based scholarships annually to junior athletes and after school participants; and • Created a partnership with the National Ability Center to ensure that all local youth — regardless of physical or cognitive abilities — can participate in GO&P and ACTiV8 programming. As a result, we are forging a worldclass sports culture that is innovative and enduring. A heartfelt thanks goes out to the Peterson family, our sponsors, parents, coaches, volunteers, donors, and the greater Park City community. The collective efforts allow our youth to live big and dream big! It’s up to all of us to carry on Jan’s legacy of “Grooming Dreams.” Thanks, Coach! Thanks, Park City! Caron Keim YSA Board President Aimee Preston YSA Executive Director Reader won’t even call him by name Editor: Misogynist, narcissist, xenophobe, fear monger. Without even saying his name, you know who this is. The president-elect of the United States of America. How did we elect him? German friends of mine just left Park City. They are afraid and aghast at “him.” So as I look into the days and years ahead, pondering my role as a citizen, I will lean on the Constitution and on the right to protest and engage peacefully through the democratic process for the common good. The highest office in the land deserves a person of highest caliber who will call us to be better, who will call us to the future and not to some supposed better past. Jeffrey Louden Park City It is time to protect our winters Editor: Over the past decade, our Earth as rapidly gotten warmer, resulting in worse winters. There is a large science behind this, as we create more carbon dioxide the heat gets trapped and our Earth starts to warm. Our planet has been warming a ton over the last century or two. Since 1880 our Earth’s temperature has increased approximately 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit For the record ayors, council members, sheriffs and police chiefs across the country have declared they will not cooperate with President-elect Donald Trump’s proposed plan to deport hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants currently living and working in the United States. Many Park City and Summit County officials have joined that contingent including Summit County Sheriff Justin Martinez who says, unless a crime has been committed, his deputies will not be used to enforce federal immigration laws. On Friday, Martinez stated emphatically, “I will not participate in any sort of roundup. It would tear apart families. It would destroy lives.” According to Martinez, politicians have tried in the past to deputize local lawmen to carry out federal immigration laws but they ran into strong resistance. He hopes police chiefs and sheriffs will maintain a similar stand if the Trump administration tries the same tack again. Martinez agrees with those in his profession who say their communities are safer when local lawmen are trusted by all segments of the population. It is important to differentiate those who are undocumented from those who are undocumented that commit crimes, he said, adding his priority is to protect citizens against crimes. He believes his department can do a better job of that when they are not feared. which is so much, if the temperature keeps rising at that rate, our society will be way different than we know it today. Not only when the snow melts so will our fun, the resorts will lose all of their money. The reason our Earth is getting so warm is because of the greenhouse effect. Which is the production of more carbon dioxide that holds excess heat that should bounce back into space. We can do many things to help our environment. Probably the most important though is cutting down on our use of fossil fuels, for example, automobiles or anything that takes petroleum. What we can also do is stop cutting down trees and plant more, because trees reduce the greenhouse effect. As well, we can reduce our waste and water consumption. Recycling is beneficial to protecting our winters, it keeps us from producing more items and reusing the old ones. If we want to protect our winters we have to do all of these things, soon. The Earth’s atmosphere could rise as much as 7.2 degrees Fahrenheit by the end of the 21st Century, which will be way too warm for snow. All we need to do is keep these things in mind and it will slowly get better. Sam Rafferty Park City Student complains of homework overload Editor: Tests have become the definition of who we are — smart, dumb, educated or unwilling to learn. Tests do not, in fact, measure intelligence, but the amount of time a student will spend studying. Countless nights with no sleep, stressing about a test that doesn’t even matter. My mom has told me many times while I am on the brink of tears because of the amount of homework I have, how much education and schools have changed from when she was a kid. She believes not only that there is more stress on students to perform better, but on teachers as well. She can speak from personal experience as a kindergarten teacher. Parents would Unfortunately, the current uncertainty surrounding the change in presidential administrations has caused a “groundswell of fear” in Summit County’s immigrant community and Martinez is anxious to put those fears to rest. He is not alone. Park City and Summit County Council members have reiterated their commitment that local immigrants will not be heedlessly uprooted. Park City, especially, has a rich history of weaving immigrants into the fabric of the community. At the turn of the century the mines relied heavily on workers who were seeking refuge from collapsed economies and repressive regimes around the world. Many of today’s construction and service industry workers are here for the same reasons and Park City’s economy would certainly falter without them. Right now, as Trump selects his staff, it is import to send a strong message that local communities will not cooperate with his misguided deportation plan. And if he persists it will be necessary to take strong measures to protect our immigrant friends, neighbors coworkers and classmates. Yes, we need immigration reform, but not the kind that will force undocumented residents further into the shadows. We need new rules that will pave a path to citizenship and ensure that those who chose to leave their own countries enjoy the full benefits — and responsibilities — of living in the United States. Most would ask for nothing less. email her with concerns about their children not performing well on tests. They are in kindergarten and already have to stress about tests, let all alone all of the pressure that was put on my mom to increase her kid’s test scores without any help from the school. Standardized tests should be created by actual educators instead of corporations. A lot of the time corporations create tests and homework so quickly that they don’t even review them. While I’ve been working on notes, almost every single day we have noticed a mistake. This needs to change and I strongly believe that there should be less standardized tests. Lara Davies Park City Resident still shaken by neighborhood vandalism Editor: It is now two weeks since two 14-year-old boys broke into the empty home of my neighbor in Thaynes Canyon. The violence of this crime of vandalism was reported the following week in The Park Record. It has taken me these two weeks to compose myself enough to write of the effect this crime has had on me. I am still incensed, aroused to extreme anger and indignation, by the nature of this crime. Such indecent behavior is of a very grave nature, having great importance; as the heavy nature of barbells thrown from a second floor to land on the quartz countertop has gravity! Indecent behavior! What if a person had walked into that house during the rage? What is the likelihood that a person would have been hurt or worse by this insane behavior? Yes, I am incensed and it was not my home. It was that of a neighbor and I would fear their future peace of mind regarding the sanctity of home is shattered. Can they ever walk into their home again, any home, anywhere, without some lingering trepidation? They were violated. Two adults and one 10-year-old child have had a previous perception of personal safety taken away. Asked at Miner’s Park on Main Street I do not buy into the notion that these criminal teenagers are indulging in dangerous and destructive acting out because they are distressed. These boys are clearly undisciplined and disrespectful of others; missing the two elements of self discipline and respect for others required to be a part of a civilized society. The 21st Century and its marvels are not to blame for what is ‘lacking’ in their lives. Let’s not lie to ourselves and each other by proclaiming spurious politically correct reasons for unacceptable behavior. Teenagers should know that their parents and grandparents faced adolescent trials of their own with concerns of acceptance, sufficient self esteem, insecurity and a host of other personal concerns looming large. Their stresses were real and humbling and enriching all at the same time. They got through it. I have no answers; but more lives have been impacted by this crime of Oct. 29, adding to the misery of teenage losses of the recent past. Paula Hurd, Thaynes resident Park City Solar customers should be praised not penalized Editor: Rocky Mountain Power quietly submitted a request to penalize Utah residents using or who wish to use solar power for their homes. Without public input or hearing they are trying to make the cost of solar unattractive for those who care about the environment. Solar power account for about 1 percent of the total power generated in Utah and currently employs over 3,300 folks. Those who wish to improve the environment and help clean our air should not be penalized. I urge our elected officials to make their voices heard to protect our air quality for the sake of our children. Make sure that due process endures and have a public hearing for Rocky Mountain Power’s request. Andrea Barros Park City Photos by Tanzi Propst How is the ski season delay affecting your holiday plans? Catherine Cimos Park City, Utah Simone Olive Salt Lake City, Utah Caitlin Willard & Sophie Islip Park City, Utah Karen Rocha Park City, Utah “I have a college-aged daughter who’s coming home for Thanksgiving to ski ... but now we get to spend more time together.” “I can’t ski on Thanksgiving ... can’t keep up the tradition!” “I usually don’t ski during the holidays ... I’ll be too busy cooking the turkey.” “I have no friends besides the mountain this year because of Thanksgiving ... it’s lonely.” See these photos and more by following The Park Record on Facebook.com/parkrecord. |