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Show DAILY A10 HERA1D Thursday. August 17, 2006 EDITORIAL H DITOMALS 2mhj$Hcralii run e IN OUR VIEW ; ML ONE f Abandonment law helps kids ive children in Utah are alive today cause their mothers II abandoned them. 1 It's counterintuitive in a place where many believe that "families are lUiever," but it is good news. The children were abandoned , under the state's child relinquishment law, which allows mothers to leave their unwanted newborns at hospi- tals or staffed In an ideal fire stations. 1 I The law may appear to grant bad mothers amnesty, but it is about protecting ' children. In an ideal world, every child would be wanted by his or her parents. But there are women who may not want people to know they were preg nant, or mothers who just can- not cope with a n The only problem with the system is that it has not been well advertised until now. Sen. Patrice Arent, the Salt Lake City Democrat who sponsored the legislation when she was world, a state representa- every child would be tive, told reporters wanted byjiis or her that the mothers likely to abandon parents. But there are their babies don't the Utah State women who may not read Code and would not want people to know know about the program. She is right. they were pregnant, And this is a case in which ignorance or mothers who stitute of International Education. A record number are enrolled in such programs and are studying at Goucher College foreign languages. They're also Freshmen Md., will soon diversifying their choices, with two hot destinations being China and India both countries with Beginning with this incoming class, the college is making study strong economic ties to the United abroad a graduation requirement States. a first in the nation, it claims. Still, the numbers are relaWould that more educators the latest tively small. In 2003-0t thought similarly. year for which data is available, In the old days (kids, that 191,321 American students studied means when your parents went to in other countries. That's roughly 1 college), foreign study was often percent of the total undergradu, for ate student body. language majors. They packed their bags for a junior year in And yes, more students are setEurope and lost themselves in the ting their sights outside of Europe classics and tne experience of be(study in China was up 90 percent in 2003-04- ; ing' overseas. in the Middle East, 62 exwith that, Nothing wrong percent; in Africa, 18 percent; in Latin America, 9 percent). These cept the world is so much wider now. Business has gone truly are regions of surging popular global. The workplace is far more tions, and of environmental, economic, and political urgency. But culturally diverse. And if ever there were a reason to understand again, the numbers of students the international scene and learn studying there are small, and 61 another language, 911 is it. percent prefer Europe. It's not that undergraduates Study abroad is no longer a matter of individual growth, but have no interest in distant lands. of national strategic importance. Polling shows that more people Americans can't expect to lead enter college expecting to go . the world unless they understand abroad than actually do. But they it and not just the charming face barriers: rigidities in curriculum requirements, lack of support parts. Neither can they understand it until they grasp how othfrom administrators and faculty, ers view the United States. and time and money constraints. As Sanford Ungar, president of This summer. Sens. Richard Goucher, told high school seniors and Norm Coleman Durbin, this year: "There is a vast and introduced legislation to disappointing gap between the encourage 1 million students to America we have imagined and study abroad annually in 10 years' the America that is so widely per- time. ceived abroad." That's a worthy goal, but colThe trend in study abroad is leges and universities shouldn't wait for Congress. They can faciliencouraging, and many schools, from powerhouse Georgetown tate study abroad now by making it easier to transfer credits, and University to lesser known Arcadia University, have invested by offering shorter programs and in such programs. Since the acafinancial aid. demic year of 2000-01- , the number Enabling young Americans to of American college and univerlearn about the world firsthand is educawith a sity students studying outside the United States has grown by neartion. It will benefit them and their ly 20 percent, according to the In country. Norton's economic status influence coverage? The frantic search for Destiny Norton and the discovery of her murder were deeply shocking and horrifying. One would hope that during such a disheartening week, the community and the press would have been both . sympathetic and sensitive toward her family and her story. As Jennifer Dobner pointed out in her coverage of Destiny's funeral in the July 30 Daily Herald, the economic status of Destiny's family may have played a role in the community's efforts to find her. I was disturbed by the Herald's decision to bury Destiny's story on page D4 in the section "Our Towns," on the first day after her disappearance, a time when publicity and public awareness often make the difference between life and death for ah abducted child. , The coverage was merely 200 words and was not accompanied by a picture of Destiny to aid the public's search for her. A child disappears, her family's time is. limited, and the Herald puts her story on page D4? I cannot help but wonder, if the missing child had come from a media-sawupper-clas- s family in Federal Heights, would the Herald have considered her material? story "front-page- " Haley Swenson, Payson to let seniors spend last years at home Find ways l, in-st- y - DOONESBURY ' Recently Utah Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt unveiled a grant program that seeks to help the elderly and disabled use Medicaid long-tercare money in order to live at home instead of in institutions such as nursing homes. Kudos to Utah for taking steps to assure that many seniors will be taken care of at home. I wish Tennessee would follow suit. This is good news, but unfortunately many frail elderly people will have no choice but to spend their last days in a nursing home. There was a time when a family member who was not considered community worthy was placed in a back room of the house and left there to live out his or her life. Tragically, too many nursing homes have become the back rooms of our time. Those of us with compassion in our hearts should work to assure that the 1.6 million vulnerable people living in nursing homes in this country receive quality care, that they are treated with dignity, that there will be no more "back rooms" where the most fragile among us live lives of quiet desperation, and that physical death is the only death they will know. Cities sell out t r? h CARRIES THE WEST NILE VIRUS 4 ' m WHweTWi. coach, uesufc The reckless development in American Fork and throughout Utah County during the past several decades has been a great source of grief for me. The equation of land with money, Garry Trudeau magi m. J W&wf.m b&npchnga iosinot 7 t f I l anp anxiety umm f ho. BUT ITS NUT THSA. m bOQU HEWS'" f II M nrp " as though its existence were only important or interesting by virtue of its potential to be turned into more money, has resulted in an ugly, sprawling urban mess, which reflects little value placed on real quality of life. Worse yet, I believe it reflects little sense of reverence and stewardship of the environment around us and of the land entrusted to our use in a community in which one might expect such a sense to be foremost. Someday, and I don't believe the time is too far off, it will be the communities which have reined in unscrupulous development and exercised the foresight to value preservation, green space and a more locally centered community, rather than selling them out for more imme- eberman makes a lot of sense on many levels and will actually strengthen both democracy and the Democratic Party. I Aldon Hynes, Stamford, Conn. Muslim extremists-pos- e threat to United States Under the rigid constraints of politi-c- al correctness, we Americans have failed to understand the fundamentalist Muslim mindset. The terms "Taliban," "terrorist" and "insurgent" are presented on news reports as being isolated groups, not reflecting the attitude of mainstream Islam. Muslims raised in England, Holland, diate gain, which will come out ahead, France, Spain, Canada and America have taken up the cause of jihad commercially and in every other way. I believe it is a question of profound against the Western world. An Afghan importance for the future of our area judge sentenced a Christian convert to whether we will start to value the right death for his belief. And Saudi Arabia's chief judicial officer stated, "It is lawful things while there is still anything left to save. for Saudi men to go to Iraq to raise up t Christopher Wootton, the word of God." American Fork When the dust settles in Iraq, one or more strong men will emerge. Unless that strong man is our strong man, Iraq Iraq deciding will be worse than under Saddam. in war not factor Sen. Lieberman's defeat Lawrence Haas' opinion is I Frank Gardiner, Provo based on falsehoods. Contrary to what he claims. Ned Lamont has released his tax returns to the press. Lamont is a leader in' fighting for education, having earned the endorsement of the American Federation of Teachers and volunteered as a teacher in the schools of Bridgeport. Conn. The only truth that Haas finds is that Lamont has voted with Republicans 80 percent of the time on important issues like whether or not there should be parks allowing dogs 'to run free or where there should be handicapped resentative democracy. Lieberman has lost touch with the voters and values of the people of Connecticut. This, and many more reasons illustrate why Haas is wrong on his basic assumption. Lament's challenge of Li MALLARD FILLMORE I r 1 m smcm,. it really boils down to fighting for rep- . xEl : THE LMK.T TERRORISM ROT HAS EROUSHT rYTK FEAR parking. So, it isn't surprising that Haas thinks Jane Marshall, this is about the war or about people Dover, Tenn. being concerned about Lieberman's incessant cheerleading of President Bush. For many of us who live in Connecticut, residents by choosing urban sprawl W ( CLlMY Did ' , UTAH LETTERS can be deadly. just cannot cope with From The Christian Science Monitor, Aug, 16, 2006 OUrAH&e-INAFlMH-. M0SOJIT0S IN . h MRL1NES? FIVE vices. Make world part of college campuses I PLOT INVOLVING 1 into a dresser drawer to hide the child from her parents. Once a child is relinquished and the mother provides a medical history for the infant, the baby is put up for adoption by the Division of Child and Family Ser- MEDIA VOICES rrigz I ANOTHER TERRORIST w An advertising campaign has now a baby. been launched to get the word out to women that there are better options for their infants. There is also a Web site, www. baby. Without the law, which was utahsafehaven.org, that provides information for the mothers as passed in 2001, these children well as for people who would re- may have been left to die someceive' abandoned infants. where. In the past, newborns It would be nice if there were have been left in such places as a no need for this law in Utah, but bathroom at Salt Lake City International Airport and a miniature Arent's measure has given five little ones a second chance at a golf course in St. George. One teenage mother stuffed her infant better life. P5AU1 SCRZY ABOUT TAKING MK yOUHOFFICE. ' BOARD David Fuselier. interim Publisher Randy Wright, Executive Editor Donald W. Meyers, Editorial page editor Carole Newkirk, Public adviser Jason Bellows, Public adviser j How to comment letters to dhlettersheraldextra.com Fax to 344-298- 5 Mail to P.O. Box 717. Provo, UT 84603. Letters must include the author's full name, address and daytime phone number. ' We prefer shorter letters, 100 and 200 words. Letters may be edited for length. Writers are encouraged to include their occupation and other personal information. I Because of the volume of letters, we cannot acknowledge unpublished letters. Letters become the property of the Daily Herald. Bruce Tinsley MANtu- m m&-WA- UHATMAHS lTHAT?)APfV6IVMi 3 |
