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Show X Oouuons "Any man should be happy who is allowed the patience of his wife, the tolerance of his children and the affection of waiters." Michael Arlen, English novelist (1895-195- 6) Oct. Monday 1, 1990 ollars and sense The direction of this nation's economy is frequently more a result of perceptions than actual circumstances. Since Saddam Hussein's troops invaded Kuwait, gasoline prices at the pump in Utah have gone up approximately 25 cents a gallon. Maddening and aggravating? Sure it is, but there is not yet reason to predict the end of civilization as we know it. Let's assume a local citizen has a round trip drive to work each day and so puts 100 miles a week on the car. Then let's add another 50 miles during weekday evenings running errands, going to the store, visiting Mom. Now, how about another 100 miles on the average weekend with a drive up the canyon or a trip to Salt Lake City? That adds up to 250 miles a week. If the old buggy gets 20 miles to the gallon many cars get much better mileage than the 250 miles will use 12.5 gallons that of gas and 12.5 times 25 cents comes to about $3.13. In this example, the driver has only added $3.13 cents a week to his le gasoline costs. For big users of fuel such as school districts and police forces, the jump in gasoline prices is going to place a severe strain on budgets. But for most people the increase will not mean a major change in lifestyle. Let's talk about the stock market for a moment. Doom and gloom abounds in certain quarters as the market continues Herald comment a downward spiral from around 3000 to around 2400. But not many months ago the market "crashed" and the players cheered when it once again started approaching 2000. Even though the market crashed the economy did not. Granted, when the stock market declines some folks get hurt. Still, if IBM, or General Motors stock were to drop as much as 50 percent it wouldn't mean IBM would stop making computers or General Motors would stop making cars. It is wise to remember that stock prices are somewhat like the prices of fine art the price is what people are willing to pay. A Rembrandt selling for $200 thousand is no less beautiful than if it were xxxx m vN n byu Rill 11 . fSgsv & to sell for $4 million. We don't mean to be Pollyanish, but the fact remains economists have predicted eight of the last five recessions. A recession may be inevitable, or may already be here in parts of the country. But when there are recessions they are usually caused more by pessimism than any other factor. When the economy gets well and a recession ends, the cure is most often optimism. Maybe it would be wise to practice a little preventative medicine. BfcJ , ; I EMy JU iJ U VCC ,.f jjpiffij' Letters A prayer compromise Editor: Being a high school senior, the issue of prayer at graduation affects me more than most. In my opinion, the whole debate on the subject centers around personal rights. I think that any 30 peop&'s rights do not .essarily override the rights of any 70 people. I also think that it's a fair assump-t- ; that out of 100 Utahns, about 70 support prayer at graduation. However, I believe that the remainder's rights should be taken into account. I feel that what's called for is a compromise. Perhaps past resolutions should be examined. In 1911, IDS church officials in matters of religion. There are no "raging battles" today about seminary, because officially, it exists only as "Release Time." Perhaps the best solution to the issue of graduation prayer would be to "end" a graduation ceremony, and announce that if people would like to stay, there will be a graduation prayer. The principal and assistant principal, meanwhile, do something constructive, like shake the graduates' hands, while anyone who doesn't wish to stay leaves. This way, anyone who hears a graduation prayer does so of their own free will. Naturally, it's not the best solution from either viewpoint, but I'm sure it would be considered a satisfactory result by both top-rank- ed positions. Don Kitchen Orem Cut the fat Editor: The headline in The Daily Herald (Sept. 25) states: "Democrats trying to delay automatic spending cuts." All our "Wonderful Wizards of Washington" (a.k.a., 535 lawmakers) are busy these days avoiding important issues of cutting the deficit and cutting the budget on "Fat City" spending on useless (and wasteful) programs. As a humble taxpayer, may I suggest and recommend the following measures be adopted: Save at least $100 million annually by getting the U.S. Government out of the publishing business. Eliminate public relations programs (more than 25.000 employees receive salaries as high as $75,000) and save another $3 billion annually. Stop the program of printing, processing, and storing federal forms and save another $150 billion annually. At least 200 federal officials in Washington have chauffered government cars, each with a driver earning about $50,000 in salary annually: eliminate this costly waste. the program that permits government departments and agencies to employ thousands of people just to lobby Congress for their programs, thereby saving more bilduly-elect- Eli-nun- te program. I realize that this is tantamount to killing Bush's "sacred cow" but it should be done promptly and with dispatch. One might counter that it is a costly program to maintain military might of no fewer than 100,000 military personnel in the Middle East, but why are they there in the first place? Seemingly, Iraq's Saddam is a master of this game and it could be that "Lips" Bush will be outfoxed in this "watch-and-waigame. Let us hope that the American taxpayer is not bankrupted in the process. The list could go on ad infinitum; I have merely scratched the surface. Most of us pay more for government than we do for food, or housing, or anything else. Most of us are not getting our money's worth. We shouldn't voteto any member uf who can't or or president Congress won't cut back or cut out the hundreds of d billions of wasted taxpayers not. or interests money, special Harold J. BisseU Orem t" ct hard-earne- Did we win? Editor: President Lyndon Johnson declared war on poverty in the 1960s. Did we win? It would seem Adam and Eve are the first poor people on record. But how could they have been poor with the whole word to themselves? They were free to obtain their necessities wherever they chose. They could live anywhere in the world, pick or plant food without limit, make clothes from fig leaves or bear skins with the labor of their hands and by the sweat of their brows. Couldn't they? Who are the poor in today's world? Who are the free? Freedom from want, grinding toil and manual labor began in small trading centers with the invention and development of tools, like James Watt's steam engine in 177C. Great Britain erased 10,000 laws restricting and regulating business, giving wav to the Industrial Revolution and the freedom offered. In 1776, in our country, this freedom had two important parts: "(1) A political system that protected private property, thus making the people willing to practice the saving and self denial necessary to buy these expensive tools, and (2) An economic system that permitted tool owners to produce and sell without government interference. Both of these came out of our Constitution." It will take a return to no government interference to win the war on poverty. Beryl E. Furner Provo Taken for granted Editor: I happened to be in the University Mall late Monday afternoon in the Mervyn's lions. store. Take from the Pentagon their private While being in the restroom to wash my dning rooms for military brass, and numer- hands, I saw that someone had previously ous officer's servants, thereby saving more thrown up in one of the bathroom sinks hundreds of millions of dollars. Congress leaving no sign of cleaning up the residue. charges at least $75,000 for fresh flowers and I was appalled to think that we are of plants which they do not need. Government such caliber. billion least $15 officials spend at yearly for Mervyn's department store, in any of the travel, much of it first class, often with Malls in this state, has always made availawives, and often for purposes so unimporble this resource to the public. They are tant that they don't even bother to write a clean, well lighted and maintained. rt'iHirt. Eliminate this costly and useless Not all stores make this a priority in their practice. public relations. consultants than mure $3 billiuii Why pay I find we are taking for granted too many a year for doing thousands of reports and services without any action on our part, to studies that seldom (if even are read, and let anyone blow how much they add to the most duplicate previous reports. of life. quality Welfare fraud and other abuses in the I would hope that this circumstance is not Department of Health, Education, and Wecommon and that retail stores will not have lfare alone account for about $20 billion a second thoughts about the "necessity to year. Eliminate the billions wasted yearly by provide them" for the public. My heart goes out to the caretaker of that the Pentagon on useless projects, including restroom. She deserves a bonus for that "defense" armament. unnecessary Irom $50 billion to $75 billion could be effort! Connie Hansen trimmed from the military-industr- y complex Elberta without severing an artery in the military Legal system has had one too many Francisco Merino was drunk. He admitted it under oath. He says he got drunk on his own, pouring down several beers after a hard evening of work. That doesn't make Francisco Merino unusual. Every day, when people leave their jobs, a certain number of them stop for drinks to unwind or socialize. Some overindulge, as Francisco says he did. And of those who have a few too many, some will get into trouble. There's no end to the variety of foolish things they do. The cops will pinch some for drunken driving or brawling. Others will get off easier, with a lecture by an An l!rl.i1)pk'v four will run their cars into light poles or trees and end up in hospitals or hearses. Francisco was one of the unlucky ones, although he didn't quite make it to a hearse. The night he got sloshed, Francisco intended to go home by way of the New York subway. He says he stumbled or lurched and somehow fell off of the platform as a train was pulling into the station. The train hit him and the doctors had to remove one of his arms. So whose fault was that? While one can sympathize with Francisco for losing an arm, I think most people would say that he brought it on himself. But that's because most people aren't lawyers. Or members of the jury that heard Francisco's case. You see, after Francisco got drunk, fell off a subway platform, and lost an arm, he did what most people in our society do when they have a problem he looked around for somebody to sue. Actually, his lawyers probably did the looking, since Francisco, 31, is a Mexican who was working as a dishwasher, Mike Royko TDIDI IkIC MFDIA I LitAJ and wouldn't have had the legal scholarship to reason that his getting drunk and falling off a subway platform was somebody else's fault. Meet cf U5 vould wh? 'n the hospital and moan: "Oh, boy, I got drunk, fell off a subway platform, and now I only have one arm. Am I stupid or am I stupid?" So that's why we need lawyers to explain to us that what we did wasn't really our fault. And to find those who really were to blame for what we did and to make them take responsibility. That's what Francisco's lawyers accomplished. And a splendid job they did. A jury recently awarded Francisco $9.3 million for his pain, suffering, loss of wages, medical expenses and so on. And who is to pay the $9.3 million to Francisco? It is to come from the New York Transit Authority, which operates the subway system. Or, presumably, from the insurance companies they pay to protect them when people get drunk and fall in front of trains. If you're asking why the New York Transit Authority should have to pay Francisco anything, that proves one thing: you aren't a lawyer, or you wouldn't ask foolish questions. Lacking a keen legal mind, you would probably say that if a guy gets loaded and falls off a subway platform, tough luck pal, but next time stick to club soda. But that isn't the way it is in the World of Law. There's a rule at the New York Transit Authority that says that if a transit employee sees someone drunk or otherwise messed up, they are supposed to call the transit cops. As it turned out, the token clerk at the station did notice that Francisco was unsteady and the clerk made a call. But Francisco fell off the platform before anybody could come and get him. Timing is everything, I guess. So the jury decided the transit system Francisco. Or, as one of his lawyers put it: "They should have looked out for this guy, because the danger was very great, and (they should have) moved him off the platform." Of course. What kind of cruel society are we, to let someone like Francisco get himself drunk, buy a subway token, then fall in front of a train? Where were the transit police when Francisco needed them? Or, for that matter, where were you? Where was I? How indifferent can we get? The transit authority's lawyers were upset by the size of the award. They say it is an outrageous sum for an unskilled dishwasher and will be appealed. Of course they'd say that. It's obvious that none of the transit lawyers ever tried to get a job as a dishwasher. And this should serve as another lesson in why we should never drink and drive. Nobody ever made $9.3 million by putting his head through his own windone-arm- ed shield. England bans bovine hormone, why don't we? - WASHINGTON In the future, if you want milk that is free from the synthetic growth hormones that are injected into cows, you may have to go to England. The British Ministry of Agriculture, Fishery and Foods is poised to ban bovine somatotropin (BST), a growth hormone that is used experimentally in the United States and that the U.S. Food and Drag Administration thinks is harmless. Across the Atlantic, experts are being more cautious. The European Community has already imposed a one-yemoratorium on BST in its member countries while the effects of the hormone are studied. Last month, the Veterinary Products Committee that advises the British Agriculture Ministry gave a thumbs down to an application from the American company Monsanto to sell BST in Britain. The committee expects to take the same stand on an application from another U.S. manufacturer of BST, Eli Lilly, later this month. British Agriculture Minister John Cummer has not announced the final word on BST, but he told us, "It is my normal policy to accept the scientific advice of the advisory committee." Here in the United States, the FDA has not yet issued a verdict on BST, but has allowed it to be used experimentally in certain herds, and the milk from those cows is sold without any special labeling. BST is supposed to increase milk output from cows. The FDA appears to be leaning in the direction of approving BST for general use in the United States. The current FDA opinion is that BST presents "no health risk to consumers." That's the same thing the FDA said about 102 drugs that it approved between 1976 and 1985 drugs that have since been found to have "serious risks" to consumers, according to a recent, widely publicized congressional investiga- - V. M 5 A humans. The FDA went so far as to fire its top veterinary researcher on the BST project, Dr. Richard Burroughs, after he examined the research data submitted by the industry and refused to rubber stamp Jack js. ezM Anderson & Dale Van Atta Pf f it. UNITED FEATURE SYNDICATE - ar post-approv- A number of American grocery store chains now refuse to sell BST milk products. MIXED MESSAGE Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev has rejected the economic plan of his Prime Minister Nikolai Ryzshkov. Gorbachev sided against Ryzsh-ko- v in a showdown with reformer Boris Yeltsin, the president of the Russian Republic. Ryzshkov wanted gradual reforms and Yeltsin favors a deep plunge into economics. Behind the scenes, Ryzshkov has offered to resign, but it is his arch rival, Yeltsin, who has tried to talk him out of it. Apparently, for all their differences, Yeltsin believes the resignation of the prime minister would have a destabilizing effect. A task force in New York City has wisely concluded that AIDS patients should not be segregated in separate hospitals. The notion was a cocka-mame- y one in the first place. There are diseases much more easily spread than AIDS, and they are treated in general-purpos- e hospitals. With proper precautions, AIDS will not be spread in a hospital. tion. That means the FDA was right less than half the time during the period studied in that investigation. Of 198 drugs approved, 102 turned out to be not as safe as the FDA thought they were. Consumers should be forgiven, then, if they are wary of the FDA's infatuation with EST. Last year we reported on confidential studies we obtained that were conducted by three American BST manufacturers Monsanto, American Cyanamid and Elanco (a division of Eli Lilly). Those studies showed that BST may harm dairy-cowand cause fluctuations in the quality of milk. The studies showed that a .small number of cows injected with BST lose weight, have lower fertility rates and suffer anemia or inflammation of the mammary glands. Sources told us that the British findings were similar to those we found in the secret studies done for the FDA. A spokesman for the British Embassy in Washington told our associate Tim Warner that the decision by the Veterinary Products Committee to reject BST in Britain was "a technical and scientific conclusion based on information submitted by Monsanto, not a political one." Despite the findings in Britain, the FDA and the BST manufacturers continue to mount a public relations campaign claiming that BST is perfectly safe for cows and s free-mark- et - L Letters regulations Address letters to letters to the Editor. PO Box 717, Provo, UT 84G03. They should be typed, double-spaceand less than 400 words in length. letters must be signed and include the writer's full name, address and a daytime phone number for verification. 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