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Show VIEWPOINTS A-17 www.parkrecord.com Wed/Thurs/Fri, May 17-19, 2017 EDITORIAL Park City’s cycling season gets rolling Friday: Share the road S LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Resident thanks Robert Hilder for judicious advice Editor: When I read about Judge Hilder’s passing, I was deeply touched. His judgment during my divorce saved me from what could have been a sad future. A very big part of my life has been based on my having my own business and I have been that person since 1976, when at 21 years of age and 1,500 hundred miles from my hometown in Pennsylvania, I started my first business in Wyoming -- a car repair facility in Rock Springs on Interstate 80, just 150 miles east of Park City. Wanting a change of scenery, I left Rock Springs for Grand Junction, Colorado in 1981 and started another repair facility. Not ready to call the Western slope of Colorado home, although it was fun and beautiful, I sold that business and eventually landed in Park City in 1990, buying a home, and once again starting another automotive repair shop from scratch. Obviously, I succeeded in three separate states doing what I do best, fixing cars; all along starting those businesses from ground zero. But because I ended up in a very messy prime time divorce in which she was part owner of my business, (me making her 51 percent owner for the sake of minority ownership financing thru an SBA loan to buy an existing business to get a better interest rate), her with a hotel sales background, and me doing something my heart and soul was into for 25 years and with the possibility, and ultimately, of her getting the chance for a large payout with a forced business sale, Judge Hilder reinstat- LETTERS POLICY The Park Record welcomes letters to the editor on any subject. We ask that the letters adhere to the following guidelines. They must include the home (street) address and telephone number of the author. No letter will be published under an assumed name. Letters must not contain libelous material. Letters should be no longer than about 300 words (about 600 words for guest editorials) and should, if possible, be typed. We reserve the right to edit letters if they are too long or if they contain statements that are unnecessarily offensive or obscene. Writers are limited to one letter every seven days. Letters thanking event sponsors can list no more than 6 individuals and/or businesses. Send your letter to: editor@parkrecord.com 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 Digital Products Manager Mike Boyko Photographer Tanzi Propst Production director Ben Olson Production Nadia Dolzhenko Patrick Schulz Linda Sites ed me to run my business again, ending the court order that kept me away from being at my business three days a week giving me the authority to govern what I thought should happen when on a daily basis, allowing me to earn a pay check again. When I look to the sky, I think of something tangible, his insight. Judge Hilder, you were a great judge of character, R.I.P. Richard Mercer, owner Mercer Automotive Park City Advocates ask community to support DACA students Editor: On June 15, 2012, President Obama created a new policy calling for deferred action for certain undocumented young people who came to the U.S. as children. Applications under the program which is called Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (“DACA”) began on August 15, 2012. This program has allowed recent Park City High School graduates to pursue their dream of a college education. Every individual who is granted deferred action will be lawfully permitted to work. To be permitted to work, applicants must include an application for an Employment Authorization Document (EAD) in their application, which, when granted, will be valid for a period of two years and may be renewed. Applicants must wait until the EAD is issued prior to accepting employment. The total fees for the application (including an application for an Employment Authorization Document and background check) will be $495. In other words, the deferred application form itself is free but individuals must apply for and submit fees for the employment authorization document application and the biometrics fee. To fill out all the paperwork properly there are legal fees of approximately $400 per application. We are in the process of establishing a fund in Park City to fund this process for deserving students. The goal is to raise $20,000 in the next 60 days so that 2017 graduating students can benefit. Donations can be made out to the Park City Education Foundation. If you have any questions, please contact Moe Hickey at 435-729-0233 or mhickey@parkcityinstitute.org. Moe Hickey Park City Athenaeum Club is bookin’ it with new projects Editor: Your article about Jeanie Stone and the Athenaeum Club in the “Way We Were” section was interesting and well-written. Thanks for highlighting Park City’s history in the Park Record. Today’s Athenaeum Club, which by the way has dropped “women” from the title because we encourage male participation, continues to serve our community. Recently we were at McPolin Elementary School for our Bookin’ On Home project, reading with first graders and giving them new books to take home, and on June 5th we will hold the 75th Mother-Daughter Celebration Tea honoring the girl graduates of Park City High School. This event began in 1942, and has become one of our signal traditions. It is notable that Jeanie Stone and the Athenaeum Club sponsored the Girl Scout Camp overlooking Lake Brimhall on Bonanza Flat, built in 1936. Park City recently voted to purchase this beautiful area for preservation, a lovely illustration of how our past connects to our present and our future. Sue Worley Park City Athenaeum Club ummit County drivers may not have to worry about driving through snowstorms for a couple of months, but they still need to be on high alert. Friday is Bike to Work and School Day which officially kicks off the busy summer cycling season in Park City and throughout the county. Throw in a few orange construction barrels along with the cyclists, and you’ve got yourself a pretty challenging obstacle course. Park City prides itself on its Gold Level bike trail status, conferred by the International Mountain Bicycling Association. While those miles are located off road, the region’s rural highways and byways attract tons of riders too. And while the city and the Basin have added bike lanes in many areas, there are plenty of scenic but shoulderless miles that traverse the county. Statistically, local riders and drivers have a relatively unblemished record. But the numbers elsewhere in the state are grim. Last year there were five bike fatalities on Utah roads. One cyclist has already been killed by a motorist this season. The accident occurred in West Valley City. Park City is helping to host Friday’s event and other activities this month with an emphasis on safety. The goal is encourage everyone to share the road. Some upcoming events include the Bike to Work and School Celebration from 7:30 to 10:30 a.m. on Friday at the Park City Library and the Park City Olympic Plaza on Park Avenue and Mountain Trails Madness on Wednesday, May 23 at 5:30 p.m. at The Doubletree by Hilton on Park Avenue. The events include bike inspections, kids helmet giveaways and safety demos. Ensuring Park City’s bike safety record continues to match its vaunted trails status will take a concerted effort from both drivers and riders. Drivers need to maintain a sharp lookout -- which includes staying off their cell phones -- and give cyclists at least three feet of leeway. For their part, riders need to maintain awareness of traffic in front and behind them, and yield additional space to allow traffic to move at a normal pace. Nothing infuriates drivers more than side-by-side riders moseying down the center of their lane. Whether driving, riding or walking, local residents have been itching to play outside. As long as everyone obeys the rules, and perhaps takes one additional measure to share the road, it will be the best summer ever. For more information about the laws regarding bike and car travel go to: http://www.roadrespect.utah.gov/ GUEST EDITORIAL Board members recognize education accolades ANNE BRANSFORD, MICHAEL BOYLE, CHARLES CUNNINGHAM, MOE HICKEY, LISA KIRCHENHEITER, NANCY GARRISON, TANIA KNAUER Past and current members of the Park City Board of Education The students and staff of the Park City School District need and deserve our support. As former members of the Park City School Board, we want to express our support for the leadership of the Park City School District. We have worked directly or indirectly with a majority of the current administrators and staff over the past several years. We recognize how fortunate we are to have such dedicated individuals working to improve the lives of our children. We also realize that it is difficult to address the concerns of every individual community member to their satisfaction. Sometimes we lose sight of all the positives taking place with our children’s education. Here are some of the accolades and recognitions that the PCSD has received recently: • Top AP High School in Utah • PCHS was recently ranked in the top 2% of all high schools in the country • Majority of our extracurricular academic and athletic programs compete for top State honors • Current and former graduating classes have been accepted at top schools nationwide • Ecker Hill received a “School to Watch” designation for excellence • Dual Language Program has been recognized nationally and internationally for excellence • PCSD is piloting a Coding Program and a Dyslexia Program in the elementary schools • Latinos in Action continues to grow and excel at PCHS, TMJHS and EHMS • Bright Futures addresses the needs of our first generation college bound students As a community, we should be proud of these accomplishments and recognize the expertise, vision and hard work taking place on behalf of our children. We ask everyone to model behavior that our children can learn from us, as role models. This does not mean that we don’t advocate for our children. It means that we do so in a positive, constructive and respectful manner. PCSD is facing many growth and improvement challenges in the next two years. This will require our support, involvement and encouragement. Proper staffing, programs and capital expansion are but a few of the important issues. We remain confident that PCSD administrators and staff along with our community, will meet these challenges and ensure the very best outcomes for our children. GUEST EDITORIAL Language extinction should be of concern LEILA BRICKLEY McPolin Elementary student Have you ever thought about what would happen if suddenly, no one spoke English anymore? How about Spanish? German? Mandarin? This is a real thing for many people in the world, whose languages are on the brink of extinction. To give you some idea of why we should save these rural dialects, let’s consider globalization, experts, and people with firsthand experience in language death. Globalization and urbanization are common causes of language extinction around the globe. Major world languages (common speech for business and communications) are not only widely used, but are the languages to speak if you want success. Many children from rural areas move to the cities to get jobs and support their family, and using a tribal language isn’t useful. (John McWhorter, Mar 21 2017). In some cases, parents don’t even teach their children their own first tongue. Since that language is widely unknown, knowing it won’t benefit the child’s future. In this case, parents and grandparents keep their language to themselves. This is how endangered languages start circling the earth. As researched using Google, language types are, “Severely endangered - language is spoken by grandparents and older generations; while the parent generation may understand it, they do not speak it to children or among themselves. Critically endangered - the youngest speakers are grandparents and older, and they speak the language partially and infrequently.” This is a topic of much debate among language professors and linguists. According to multiple experts, languages are a symbol of both innovation and individualism. They represent different ways of thinking. For example, in Russian, there is a different word for light blue and dark blue. In studies, Russians have proven 124 milliseconds faster than Americans on recognizing light blue versus dark blue, as they have practiced their entire life in specifying color shades. Languages also represent community. Having a language all to themselves is a special symbol of community and culture. American Jews who speak Yiddish are, in most cases, a tighter knit community than Jews who do not speak Hebrew or Yiddish. A language is not an essential part of a culture, but most would argue that it is a beneficial part. American Indianism would be much more common and visible today if they still had most of their languages. However, there are some differing opinions. Mr. Kevin Malik of IO Labs says “And when governments try to prop languages up, it shows a desire to cling to the past rather than move forward.” Trying to bring back the past has been shown to be a fatal mistake of many governments. This whole article supports the idea that language death is a part of the world and its timeline. Dying languages have been a large part of history, but don’t you think we should at least try to protect them? There are many elderly people who are the last person speaking their dialect; when they die, the language will as well. One such person is Doris McLemore, the last known speaker of the Wichita language, an Indian dialect. She died on August 30th, 2016, taking the language with her. She recently said, “I would like for the children to know how the Wichita language sounded.” She dedicated 40 years of her life to preserving and archiving Wichita. Another last-language-speaker is John Steckley, who speaks the Iroquoian language Wyandot. His Wyandot name is Tehaondechoren. He recently completed the first HuronEnglish dictionary to be published in 250 years. Now, look around you, at the people of Park City. Look at our signs on the highway, featuring many different languages. Think about our dual immersion schools, educating children to be multilingual. Do you have a neighbor next door who talks like a tongue twister? Or a colleague, communicating in a way you’ve never heard before? Talk to them. Find out a little about their language, their country, and their culture. Learn a little of the knowledge that this person has to offer. Read some books on that language. Try a few words. When you do, you are preserving centuries of culture. Endangered languages need to be saved. They are an essential part of our culture and history of the world. When a language is lost, we lose the thoughts of people who have thought in that language for centuries. People from Greece and Rome, Vietnam and Yugoslavia all have thoughts. Thoughts about the sun and moon, friends and pets, math and writing. All together, languages are the very thing that make us all human. |