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Show Thursday, December 24, Of into g)i37 Faster auto no problem in Utah Blair Marsden, traffic safety study engineer, said the reduced FoKT WORTH '1 number of fatal accidents reflects a trend found on all Utah highways. He said there has been about a 10 percent reduction in accidents on the interstate system in 1987. In comparison, last week the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration released statistics that showed interstate traffic accidents increased in 18 of 22 states studied after the 65 mph limit took effect. Of course any statistics reported at this time are premature. It will take years of studies to determine for certain what effect increasing the speed limit had. In the meantime, it is good to note that Utah drivers seem to be driving carefully, even with an increased speed limit. It is hoped that they will continue to do so Soviets ready World War On recorded for the entertainment of viewers of the CBS Evening News. of the assets About four-fiftFADA manages are loans, while the remainder are neighborhood shopping centers, apartment complexes, condominiums, motels, undeveloped land and other real estate. The sale of those assets is imperative because the proceeds are needed to replenish the FSLIC insurance fund that has been depleted by payments made to depositors with accounts at failed or troubled S&Ls. in financial district this city's high-reis the headquarters of an obscure and unique agency, the Federal Asset Disposition Association, v III To add to this, General Henry Mohr (USA Ret) . stated that the Warsaw Pact's conventional military superiority over NATO adds up to more than 2 to 1 combat divisions, 4 to 1 in tanks and artillery, over 2 to 1 in combat aircraft. In an article by Jim Courter, titled "The Gathering Storm Are the Soviets Preparing For World War III?" he, says that the buildup of the Soviet Union goes far beyond ' anything required for defense, that SovietPact forces are offensive; organized, equipped and positioned to project Soviet military power worldR-N- J, wide. A few details he lists are that the Soviets have annually NATO by four times as many tanks (3,700 a year). They have a 12--1 advantage in guns. They have a nearly 9 to 1 advantage in surface-to-ai- r missiles. They have stockpiled three million tons of ammunition along their western borders. ed anti-aircra- ft Courter states that States clearly lacks the defeat the Soviet Union should begin a war. Edgar I have waited hoping someone else would finally get upset enough to do something about it, but too many in issues people hate to get involved do it. will else and hope someone I have watched with interest how the wholesalers of gasoline in this area have gradually increased the prices of their product at the pumps. For three months or more we have had the highest gasoline prices in the whole state. When I go to Salt Lake I pay eight and nine cents per gallon less than in Provo. This is the same situation throughout the state. Basically this is called price fixing and is classified as a felony, punishable by a fine, a jaU sentence, or both. I hope the wholesale distributors realize this. These same people in most instances now own the outlet stations. So any increase in price reflected at the pump goes directly into their pocket. The profit has become so great that these same people have covered our area with what we call In this way they force us to go to these malls to purchase our gasoline, surely with the hopes we will pay extra for the other items they sell. Either that or the profits have been so great they have to do sometaxes thing to avoid paying higher with this additional tax shelter. mini-mall- s. Two years ago when I moved to St. George for parts of the winter, I ran into this same problem. Before I left that winter we were able to force them to drop the price of gasoline over ten cents per gallon, thus saving the public millions of dollars every ten years. I think someone figured it at a saving of between $30 million the United capability to if the USSR A. De Miller Provo nt view of San Francisco Bay are the F ADA's salaries. In 1986, the agency's 17 most senior officers received a total of $2.1 million in salaries and $200,000 in bonuses. That's an average of more than $135,000 apiece, compared with the $115,000 received by Vice President Bush and the $99,500 paid to members of President Reagan's Cabinet. Reagan himself is paid $200,000 per year, but in 1986 FADA President Roslyn B. Payne received a base salary of $250,000 and a bonus of even though FADA lost $3.6 $75,000 million that year and its performance under her leadership has been severely criticized. FADA was created in late 1985 by the Federal Home Loan Bank Board, the government agency that regulates the nation's savings and loan industry. The new agency was supposed to temporarily manage, then sell off the more than $7 billion worth of distressed assets many of them in inFlorida, California and Texas herited by the Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corp. when it rescued mismanaged S&Ls. FADA claims to be exempt from rules requiring that meetings be open to the public even though it has admitted lobbyists to meetings from which the public was barred. Robert Walters Newspaper Enterprise Assn. Further, it initially resisted attempts by the House Banking Committee to examine the agency's work. "Glasnost makes it easier to get information out of the Kremlin than out of FADA," Rep. Frank Annunzio, told D-Il- l., a mid-Octob- congres- er hearing. "My constituents... have a better chance of contacting Greta Garbo than Roslyn Payne." Payne's inauspicious debut on network television occurred shortly before that hearing. During a taped interview, a CBS News correspondent asked about a report that she offered a Florida real estate investor a 0 FADA consulting contract as a bribe to halt his criticism of the sional But FADA has sold relatively few, assets, even though it has built of hundreds of people to process" the loans and real estate. Indeed, it has been widely accused of ignoring, discouraging and antagonizing potential buyers. In one case, it hired a private detective agency to probe into the affairs of a New Jersey real estate developer who became F ADA's most vocal critic after the agency repeatedly rebuffed his offers to buy assets. "To spend federal dollars to investigate private citizens who are unhappy with the performance of any agency... is simply intolerable," says "The man Rep. James Florio, was treated as though we are in a. police state," adds Rep. Fernand J. . St Germain, chairman of D-N- .J. D-R.- L, agency. Payne indignantly rejected that ala "falsehood," then abruptly terminated the interview by a spectacle storming off camera legation as the-Hous- e Banking Committee. $35,-00- Payne has relinquished her position as FADA chief executive officer but she remains the agency's president. Her staff says it has learned from its earlier mistakes, but F ADA's performance still has not impressed anybody. Guest opinion and $40 million in the southern part of the state. We contacted the watch dog of the state the Attorney General's Office, and invited them to come down and meet with these people, which they did. The next morning prices dropped eleven cents at the pump block and have remained at that level. They were told not only would there be a large cash fine but also a jail sentence. This took care of that problem. We can do the same thing in this area. There are only approximately six people that are padding their pockets with this price fixing in our county. I feel it is time to do the same thing here. I believe it is time to identify the owners of the bulk plants, and the companies they are representing, g those then we can start companies. black-ballin- It's that simple. Also, if the Attorney General's Office receives the hundreds of letters you people can write to them in opposition to this practice, the court action will follow, then the fines. This can happen. I will wait until I ask for your letters on this issue. It's time these few people roll those prices back where they belong. I can assure them we will follow up on this and this will happen right here in our communities. We will wait to see what these wholesale distributors do about it first. Then if they decide not to take any action, we will immediately take this issue to the Attorney General's Office. Lee Brooks t hs . Even more spectacular than the slightest bit of interest to halt his war against the West. Gas prices must come down Editor, Herald: r we during this holiday season and throughout the coming year. quasi-governme- This would be WW III. I am not the only one calling attention to this possibility. In a news story 19 Dec, it is stated that even if carried out faithfully by the Kremlin, (destruction of missiles) it will leave Europe far more vulnerable to a conventional Soviet assault. (Human Events, 19 December.) It also states that Gorbachev has shown not the faff Am nt Following these massed units would be infantry divisions to secure and hold all conquered areas. With the hype over destruction or elimination of nuclear missiles, this now is worthy of consideration as a possible event in the near future. 5 TO HAPPEN .. . IT'S TEfcW&lE FOP. OUR X TOLP YOU THtf WAS CONTROL TALKS' IMAGE.., HE'S BEEN PSKEP TO PARTICIPATE IK -towerthe According to the story, the plan included a mass tank assault to overrun all military obstacles. Following the tank attack would be artillery units to shell industrial and populated areas including nerve gas for citizens. As soldiers we all were trained in gas warfare which could kill in one minute if we did not get our gas masks on before that limit. Page KEEP OUT SAN FRANCISCO (NEA) 38th floor of a soaring office Editor, Herald: In the 1950's I was in the Army and stationed in Europe where I had access to a State Department news teletype service. I recall in particular a story which came in one day concerning Soviet plans to overrun and conquer Europe in ten days. THE HERALD, Provo, Utah, The Herald, its readers, syndicated columnists and cartoonists discuss the issues. Herald comment Although some national reports have indicated that traffic fatalities have increased since the 65 mph limit was implemented earner this year, that apparently hasn't been the case in Utah. That is good news for Beehive State drivers who favored the 65 mph limit for many years before it was reinstated. The traffic safety division of the Utah Department of Transportation has compiled accident records on the state's rural interstate highways from May through November 1987 and compared them to the same time period in 1986. During that time in 1986, 35 people were killed in 31 separate accidents on rural interstates. This year, 35 people have been killed in 27 accidents. 1387 Provo Non-drinki- teens, in danger ng One of the most horrifying sounds to parents is a ringing telephone late at night when their teenage child has yet to return home from an evening out with friends. An unfamiliar official-soundin- g voice on the other end of the line then explains that their child has been in a terrible auto accident. As a parent myself, I know full well the restlessness and anxiety that is felt when children have not yet returned home for the evening. I also know the sigh of relief that parents breathe when they hear the familiar sound of keys jingling as the front door is unlocked, their children are home safe. Unfortunately, 85,000 households weren't so lucky last year. Even though most of the 85,000 teenagers who were injured in alcohol-relate- d crashes in 1986 survived, 3,540 of them didn't. Of those 3,540 deaths, half were between the ages of 15 and 19 who had been drinking and driving. Few young people understand the risks of drinking and driving. Teenand death is age years are care-frethe last thing on their minds. As one of the first Members of Congress appointed to the Presidential Commission on Drunk Driving, I understand teenagers' misconceptions of these risks. In a recent survey of over 50 teenagers, an overohelming majority stated they believed the risk of driving after consuming six or more drinks was about 7.5 times the risk of driving sober. In reality, the risks increase to 100. There will be some parents who will disregard this article thinking it doesn't pertain to them because their e, selves. "One quick drink won't kill me." However, hr-- A James w till Hansen V. Utah Congressman 1st Congressional District kids don't drink. To those, I ask that you please read on. It is important to know that 1,700 of last year's 3,540 drunk driving related deaths involved innocent youngsters who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Teenagers who don't drink are not immune to drunk driving traffic fatalities or injuries. Last year, the total number of Drinking Under the Influence (DUI) arrests in the State of Utah was Drunk drivers caused 104 Utah last deaths year. Twenty-seve- n of a drunk because died teenagers driver last year, and 22 of those deaths were caused by drinking teenagers themselves. And, while traffic fatalities due to drunk drivers have declined overall in the last three years, teenage fatalities have increased. Most of the 1,800,000 drivers who were arrested for DUI were social drinkers who probably said to them-- . 13,553. even moderate amounts of alcohol impair visual capacity, judgement, and attention. And yes, the casual or social drinker who has had "just one or two drinks" can kill just as easily as the alcoholic who has had seven or eight drinks. No one is safe when a person-whhas been drinking gets behind the wheel. Fathers, mothers, grandparents, babies and teenagers all can end up as traffic fatality statistics. In fact, last year alone 22,000 of the 44,000 who were killed on our highways died needlessly because someone thought they could handle a few drinks and still drive. With the Christmas and New Year holiday season just around the corner, my message is simply this: Please, if you do drink, don't drive. Think about the person who may be killed or crippled for life. Think about the families who will suffer! Will family and friends understand that it was all just a terrible mistake? Maybe that one additional drink caused the death of just one individual, but obituaries might as well be written on 12 more because of the devastating impact that one lost life will have on others. Mixing alcohol and driving makes for one lethal cocktail to which everyone should t say "no." Let me end with a statement made by one individual who was responsii ble for killing a young boy after he had consumed "just five beers." He said, "I see him die every day, and I feel myself die more every day." ; Let's all have a safe holiday sea-irrev-ersab- le son. , f |