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Show "We are dedicated to the public interest, to fairness and accuracy, to innovation and growth, and to the restless pursuit of excellence" OPINIONS Pulitzer mission statement EDITOR: DONALD W. MEYERS mm t Landon Shields Extreme sports translate into extreme injuries jipeoftaftaoiiiis It's no secret that many poor children begin school woefully unprepared to learn. Letters and numbers appear as odd squiggles on the first day of kindergarten rather than as familiar tools to begin reading and adding. A strong foundation of research exists showing the value of a to 3- - and preschool education. At the same time, there have been questions about the efficacy of Head Start, the early education program in the country. And that has begged the question: If early education clearly works in theory, why doesn't it always work in fact? Now comes a broad, long-terstudy that gives more credibility to the belief that a good preschool can make a poor child more likely to graduate from high school and significantly less likely to be arrested as an adolescent, drop out, repeat grades or need services. And lo and behold, this effort has been taking place in the Chicago Public Schools. The study, led by researchers at the University of Wisconsin and published recently in the high-qualit- best-know- y n m Extreme sports. It's not just for Hollywood stuntmen anymore. It's being done at home literally and by all ages. This is not just a superhero comic strip form of a primitive adrenaline rush. It's a major past time that draws in the crowds like a rock concert. Backyard wrestling, bungee jumping, downhill skateboard racing, mortal combat cages, and many other forms of extreme sports have exploded onto the scene like a wrecking ball looking for a new barrier to knock down. Just like anything else that pushes the envelope, it drags in the accompanying sports injuries and an alligator death roll on occasion, i.e., the boy in Florida who just had to bring wrestling fantasy to life by accidentally choking a young girl to death, but hadn't quite mastered the head-loc- k move from his favorite WWF star. People are leaping off the roofs of homes and down onto tables where victims lie prone, waiting for the spectacular smashing special effect that cameras are catching for a few cheap thrills that will sell videos on cable stations. The list and the examples of -a complete-leave-of-my-sense- s" goes on. Kids are imitating art. Everybody wants to outdo the next guy. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Van Damme are not big screen icons anymore. That's child's play. Even they can't compete with the reality shows and the home videos of Junior diving into a wall of flames while dodging a hail of gunfire on one side, and poisonous reptiles on the other. So many activities and thrill rides are getting out of control. We still need to back off a bit and not try to go so fast or hard at everyJean-Clau- thing. You can still have loads of fun while playing it safe. These two thousand and one trends are cause for concern because the younger, more impetuous souls in society are taking their cue from sensational-isti- c shows like wrestling (a really pet peeve of. mine) and others that depict extreme sports as a macho maneuver to heap praise, money and notoriety upon themselves. I understand the desire to want mind-bogglin- g to "be somebody," but at what cost? Got a passion for sky diving, bungee cord jumping, wrestling, snake charming or even dart throwing? Spare me. Chances are, youll never have a serious problem, but there's a growing number of accidents and fatalities among the extremists. There are acres of adolescents out there right now who won't use discretion in this indiscreet world, whoU one day get the recognition they so desperately want in a lonely emergency room or in an occasional hometown eulogy. Landon Shields has roots in Provo and is a regular contributor to The Daily Herald. He can be reached at ldstennisaol.com. MONDAY. JUNE 4. 2001 THE DAILY HERALD (www.HarkTheHerald.com) 4 SPARE ME A6 special-e- ducation " ld cost-benef- o child, including those from families? There are certain elements of the Chicago program that are essential to its current success. One is that the day is highly structured. Another is that the teachers are better trained than e most center instructors. ' Because they are located in elementary schools, the preschools provide smoother transitions into kindergarten and later years. Perhaps the most important factor is the emphasis on meaningful parental involvement. Most centers have four classrooms, one of which (along with a teacher) is just for parents. Those rooms are available for parenting seminars on literacy, potty training, the importance of reading to children and discipline. Some are equipped with sewing machines for parents' use. The point is to involve them in their child's development and create a good educational experience for parents, too. Other studies have shown a few unintended, though certainly welcome, side effects of programs well-to-d- Journal of the American Medical Association, focused on a program here. Nearly 1,500 kids were tracked between 1985 and 2000, when they turned 20. Most of them were enrolled in Centers one of 24 scattered about Chicago's impoverished neighborhoods. Others attended regular preschools. A analysis of the CPC savprogram showed a long-terings of $4.71 for every $1 investChild-Pare- nt it m ed. Gov. George Ryan recently established a task force to study the feasibility of universal access to preschool. This will be a controversial discussion, in no small part because of the enormous cost of adding two more years of school. There will be other critical questions. Can these Centers be replicated to scale? Will quality vary if they become so institutionalized or if they are not funded at the level they are now? Is it necessary to Child-Pare- nt The concept and success cenbehind these be will challenged ters, however, by the goals of welfare reform. Before the historic overhaul went into effect in 1997, CPC's parent classrooms bustled. Today, some centers have to lure parents there with money. With so many more working, albeit often at odd or weekend hours, they're a harder draw. Twenty percent of American children live in poverty. We all are familiar with the extra obstacles they face as they grow up. The message of this study, however, is one of hope. Hope that certain lifetime trends may not be preordained after all. Reassurance that most parents care about their child's education and want to be involved. And a reminder that if one lifts expectaand partions, most children ents will rise up to meet them. child-pare- day-car- child-pare- nt f LETTERS TO THZ EDITOR WS nt This editorial appeared in The Chicago Tribune. OUST 1ANET RENO DOlNfi BUTTLE. DOO- R- Polygamy, gay marriage need same treatment 1 OSI This letter is not intended to defend Mr. Tom Green insofar as he has broken the law but to question the basis of our opposition to polygamy. A man who marries multiple women without their prior knowledge and consent has certainly committed a crime. But I fail to see how a man who enters into a consensual marriage relationship with multiple women should be treated differently than a man who enters into a consensual marriage relationship with another man. Polygamy, like homosexuality, is primarily objected to upon moral grounds. It is hypocritical to say that we can impose our puritan moral ideas on Green and his family via the law but that we cannot do so in the case of homosexuals. If homosexual marriage should be legal then so should polygamy. There is certainly more of a historical and biological precedence for polygamy than for homosexuality. Those who condemn polygamy do so upon the same grounds that others condemn homosexuality: They believe it is wrong. There are various modern cultures where polygamy is permitted and practiced. We value these cultures in the name of ethnic diversity and multiculturalism. If Tom Green had been a black Muslim living in Africa his multiple wives would hardly be news. But because he is a white, Fundamentalist living in Utah he is guilty of a heinous crime and a main attraction in the media "freak show." Why should we value Tom Green s cultural heritage less than any other culture? Why should his ethnicity change our tolerance of his lifestyle? I am not for the legalization of polygamy or of gay marriage. I only want to point out that the liberals who oppose the legislation of morality or support gay marriage should be ideologically compelled to support polygamy as well. Otherwise they should reconsider either their opposition to polygamy or the moral relativity and tolerance they readily invoke to defend their own actions yet refuse to extend to those with whom they disagree. Jonathan Wilson Orem Doonesbury in Freedom threatened The Tom Green bigamy trial was a sham. What we just witnessed was a brilliant manipulation of the Utah judicial system to shut down an embarrassment to the state of Utah. Whether convicted on bigamy, welfare fraud or whatever, Utah just wanted Tom Green to shut up. I found it interesting that the court refused Green to use religion as his defense. In my opinion, religion was his only defense and should have been good enough to escape prosecution. But, there are laws of convenience that prosecutors can use to get rid of undesirables like Tom Green. Does a person have a right, in the state of Utah, to live by his religious convictions? Apparently not. The real crime committed here was an attack on personal freedom. We are allowing our government to assault one freedom after another. It doesn't seem to bother very many of us because the government is attacking someone that we don't approve of. Sometimes we even applaud these attacks because the waters have become so muddied that we cannot see the truth. And when we allow our neighbor's freedom to be lost, we also lose our own. This trial was not about bigamy, it was about freedom; the right to choose and live by our religious convictions. And it was about free speech, to be able to stand for something, even when it is not popular with the world. I would expect the people of By Garry Trudeau ns l , Utah to remember their heritage and to stand up against an assault on religious freedom, even if they no longer believe in the same doctrine their ancestors lived and died for. This people used to know about these things. They used to run from the mobs, firm in their religious convictions. Now, we've become the mobs. Joe Petersen Springville Get facts I was appalled at the Herald front page headline on May 13 saying that the two Provo city officers who arrested two men from Las Vegas should be punished. Yes, the jury chose to believe two transients represented by the ACLU rather than two officers who have spent many hours trying to keep scumbags out of our area. Juries have been known to make some very wrong decisions as evidenced by many high profiled cases we all know about. n law professor One explained to me long ago that the one big flaw in our judicial tem is in the jury selection and some of the decisions. ' Did the Herald journalist" actually check the facts in this case? Why were two men from Las Vegas peddling sound systems out of the back of their van on the streets of Provo? Where did they get the merchandise in the first place? What message is the Herald sending to our citizens by this kind of headline well-know- Mallard Fillmore (JT iVjj y reporting? From many articles published by the Herald, it is quite evident to me that the local governmental agencies, including the police, are favorite bashing targets for the Herald staff. You have done these two officers a great injusr tice. I understand that the police chief and others of the department have denied the charge that these officers did anything illegal. I applaud David Dixon for his guest editorial in the Herald on May 20. It's time Herald reporters get all the facts straight before publishing editorials. Libby Hawkins Orem Luntes' policy " The Daily Herald welcomes your letters to the editor. Please remember to include your full name, address and phone number where you can be reached. Only your name and the city in which you live will be published. All other information will be kept confidential. Anonymous letters will be discarded. Letters must contain 250 or fewer words approximately one page, typed and doubTe' spaced. Your letter will be better read if R . concerns one central theme or idea. All letters will be edited for length, accuracy and clarity. The Herald encourages community discussion of issues in a responsible manner. Please send your letters to: Editor, The Dally Herald P.O. Box 717 1555 N. Freedom Blvd. Provo, UT. 84603 Letters may also be faxed or The fax number is 344-298The address is: Ldeanheraldextra.com. If you have questions, call Opinions Page Editor Donald W. Meyers at 344-254- By Bruce Tinsley -- VWttNft v-- like these that involve parents: the adults honed their own language and math skills and even sometimes improved their guarantee preschool for every ANOTHER VIEW fiff pay woOD " ' 1 A. |
