| OCR Text |
Show Tuesday, October 1 2007 DAILY HERALD AS Emtorials EDITORIAL BOARD Craig Dennis, President & Publisher Randy Wright, Executive Editor Jim Tynen, Editorial Page Editor IN OUR VIEW Labor secretary must let light in ark events always IPVv II II need light. That s why the J Daily Herald and other news agencies went to court to force a federal agency to bring its Crandall Canyon Mine investigation into the open, A coalition of news media including the Salt Lake Tribune, CNN and The Associated Press has filed a complaint in U.S. District Court against the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administratioa The media seek II Certainly government officials don't want a media circus. News media have offered several options for avoiding disruption while fulfilling their mission to the public. Besides, MSHA is allowing others to attend all or part of the hearings. The most important thing is that useful information be made public as soon as possible. This is not a case of the news media rehashing some remote event; it is more like asking the police to share information with the public when a killer is on the loose. The a temporary restraining order to killer needs to be caught before he force the government to make its strikes again. Miners are, right now, workinvestigative findings accessible to the press to you. ing deep in the dark recesses of This is not a theoretical debate. mines in Utah and across the naNine men died at the mine. Their tion. They are risking their lives. families, other miners and the They have a right to know the real story behind the Crandall people of Utah need answers, quickly, clearly, be- Canyon collapse so that a yond dispute. tragic repetition may be TheMSHAhas averted. Secrecy been questioning peoPrinter's ink is a woncreates derful public lubricant. ple and poring over documents relating to And is essential suspicion. No here. speed the deadly mine colBut there are other lapses Aug. 6 and 16. matter how Federal mining bureasons the investigation reaucrats fear that the should be transparent. scrupulous news media's involvecreates First, investigators suspicioasecrecy ment might hamper No matter how the MHSA's "law are, hiding a scrupulous investigators enforcement investiare, hiding a probe raises probe raises doubts. gation." That sounds odd. Second, MSHA has doubts. The press is not ask been criticized for its "" '. role in overseeing safety ing to tramp all over a crime scene. We are at Crandall Canyon. Is the MSHA investigatasking to be allowed to do what we do at hearings all ing itself? And can we trust such the time: report the facts. scrutiny? News organizations cover The government says that an hearings to ensure their fairness. independent panel will keep the Bringing the facts out lets the pub- investigation honest. But public lic know what is going on. If any scrutiny, through the news media, newspaper reader or TV watcher is a better way to ensure that the sees something fishy, he or she probe is impartial. can take actionBasic knowledge Indeedclosed hearings could of information is essential if you sabotage MSHA's own efforts to are to exercise your rights. protect miners. It would be a terThe MSHA probe has reached rible irony if the agency's secrecy a stage at which people will be were to impede concrete safety called in to testify in a formal setmeasures that should have been implemented in a more timely ting, and under oath. They bring lawyers with them. A panel fires fashion. Openness to the public does at questions. A court reporter makes a record. times inconvenience bureaucrats. But the federal government Experience proves, however, that openness not only safeguards fairsays the news media are not needed because this is not really a ness but promotes effectiveness. That holds true especially in this hearing. Well, if it isn't, it's a pretty good case, where bureaucratic nitpickimitation of one. ing may be putting lives at risk. PtPtt HBMUCflMCMlUtMt. STARTING ON A SOUR NOTE LETTERS One size doesn't all students ytahns for Public Schools this claim on its "Private schools ... can hire teachers who don't hold a college degree or a state teaching license." We addressed one aspect of this claim on Monday its imputation that private schools will be stocked with unqualified teachers. But let's look at the claim in another light: In a way, it insults parents. Cannot parents assess a school? Do they know a good school from d a bad one? Are they so that they'll pick a school where all the teachers are illiterate, and then sacrifice their children to it? . , dim-witte- We don't think so. The whole point of a parent's choosing a private school would be to get a better education for his or her child. The alleged problem, even it exists, is self correcting. Vouchers give parents more choices. They will enable families the best schools, public or private, whether the teachers are college dropouts (yes, there are some great teachers in this group) or have doctoral degrees. That's why Referendum 1 is a proposition. Let's say the measure passes. If you don't like any of the private schools, you won t send your child to them. Put another way, if any private school doesn't mea sure up, parents won't select it. Those schools will drop out of the marketplace, and any challenges they've posed will disappear with them. But if vouchers pass and private schools succeed, many children will get better educations. Isn't that what we all want? 1 will be voted on Tuesday, Nov. 6. We urge all voters to make their voices heard on this vital issue. I Referendum D00NESBURY krjmYnr . . CAW? a n stastCN KUKCUN. mvmtr) , 5 wS4 msatcg TOAMBCT if to pick no-lo- nvnML, ITSOUNPS i i - i MALLARD FILLMORE Garry Trudeau 60COPOHT. AlrZIPITIS! HOKAl&K UKSn. UHOtZONK. " l I ACtmY i - "want publish textbooks. We limit the political and religious rights of those who want reasonable empowerment of all decent viewpoints in society. Parent Amy Walters, control of primary education also will Spanish Fork continue to suffer unless we promote the diversity that vouchers bring. Let's give our young citizens a hall Tactics deplored pass from overbearing control by inI find the tactics used by Parents secure public school officials. Support for Choice, the vouchers. Vote for Referendum 1. group, ' Kim Shinkoskey, despicable. I heard a radio ad today Woods Cross concerning the NEA, attempting to demonize the organization by association, naming all of the evil liberal Fire the tyrants Democrats that supposedly support I finally had it! I had to write a letter that organization. The only religious aspect to this isto you about Gloria Allred's sham trial. I immigrated to America in 2002, fisue is that if vouchers become law, some of our public tax money will go nally escaping tyranny in the Mideast to support private religious education, where it is not unusual to have a poas many of the private schools in Utah liceman break into your home, arrest are established by groups who want you and throw you in a cell for 30 or 40 years without trial. to promote a particular religious bias Gloria Allred's story struck a nerve among their students. in me. I was disgusted and appalled by As for the NEA, a private organization, supporting one side in this debate, the way Gloria was and is still treated I would by the abominable bureaucracy in suggest we follow the money trail on the other side of the line. Most Orem city government. Even a Middle of the money supporting the Eastern tyrant wouldn't do such a side is not coming from inside thing! The hooligan, disguised as an the state. It is from agent of law, who arrested her should outside interests who want to use Utah have been fired. schools as a test case for vouchers and The city should have withdrawn the case. Since nobody in city hall has think we are naive enough to fall for anything., stopped this sham yet, it is a clue that Karen Longmore, "all of them" should be fired by the Orem electorate. I am skeptical of that happening though because of the general inactivity in political processes. For liberty The ideals that shaped this country The crowd who are against school strengthened me in moments of darkvouchers not only favor Big Education ness. However, I am disgusted by at the expense of little schools, they many city governments in the state, with their tax and spend policies and are also tinkering with religious liberty. All it takes is a little social studies ordinances leading to incidents such as this. to figure this out. In order to secure religious coni Jabra Ghneim. Salt Lake City science, we must provide free speech, free assembly and a free press. All this adds up to freedom in education. How Take the initiative can a church function without it? And With the growing number of credit how can a community? and mortgage situations, it's unfair to If we limit variety in education, we blame the industry. The responsibillimit the ways citizens can assemble at school, speak in the classroom and ity does fall back on each individual Heads or tails, Utah wins 6, the Daily Herald will focus regularly on Referendum 1, the voucher initiative that would help parents pay for private school. Voucher proponents say the plan will improve education for everyone; opponents say it leaves too many questions about unanswered. In this space, we will explore the issue in detail i First of all, the rich people who want their kids in private schools already have them there and wouldn't qualify for vouchers. It is possible to get a very good education from a public school. BUT ... it takes a lot of outside work on the parent's side to make that happen. Private schools, on the other hand, have smaller classes. They seem to attract parents and children who feel like their needs are not being met by the public school system. I mean, who in their right mind would want to pay money for an education that you could get for free? The teachers are able'to work more on an individual basis with the children. The parents are paying a lot of money so they make sure that homework is complete and that the concepts being taught are understood. Education is not a You wouldn't like your choice in religion to be based on how much money you make. Why should education be that way? - I From now until Nov. fit There is no reason to go into bad financial debt to either make a family member happy or to compete with those that have more. The credit industry is also fighting back in two ways. One is that authorized users on any account will no longer be part of the credit score where parents have added their children to their accounts or companies have spiked the credit rating. Second, the lending industry such as banks and credit unions have tighter restrictions. People need to start taking the initiative by paying down their debt, stop applying for unnecessary credit and pay all bills on time. Pull a report with all three credit bureaus. Leave 5 percent balance of your line of credit for three consecutive months in a row before seeking new credit, which will give you a higher score. It's up to each consumer, not the credit industry, so please don't get mad at them when you get denied for a loan. Bob Tackleberry, Orem How to comment letters to dhlettersheraldextra.com Fax to 5 Mail to P.O. Box 717, Provo.UT 84603. Letters must include the author's full name, address and daytime phone number. I We prefer shorter letters, 100 to 200 words. Letters may be edited for length. I Writers are encouraged to include their occupation and other personal information. i Because of the volume of letters, we cannot acknowledge unpublished letters. I Letters become the property of the Daily Herald. 344-298- Bruce Tinsley |
