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Show "Wears effectively destroying ourselves by violence masquerading as love. " R.D. Laing, Scottish psychiatrist (1927-198-9) The Daily Herald Friday, February 14, 1992 Toy figures that retch and dummies who lose their heads are just some of the "wonderful" new toys featured at the annual Toy Fair in New York City this week. some 10,000 toy buyers meet to decide what kids will be begging their parents to get them for Once-a-yea- r, Christmas. Apparently G.R.O.S.S. is in. a Gruesome, Rude, G.R.O.S.S. is a toy Obnoxious, Silly Scarfer that makes repulsive guttural sounds, eats plastic bugs and has a clear stomach so kids can watch gastronomic - chemistry in action. And it's "only" $30 retail. Then there is the Trash Bag Bunch, toxic good guys and bad guys. Each figure comes in its own trash bag that dissolves when dunked in warm water. Blood and guts is the theme for many new toys. The Blurp Ball is a collection of hideous rubber balls that regurgitate smaller, blood-spattere- Herald Comment d, eye-poppin- g, equally repulsive projectiles when squeezed. The slogan for this toy marvel is "They retch it! You catch it! " Don't forget Socket Poppers. ' 'These are really sick, ' ' said a company spokesperson. The little robots and bug men have interchangeable parts which allow children to do such delightful tricks as popping off heads and sticking them in leg sockets. There are more examples of the trend, but you get the idea. What's even more sick than the sick toys is that millions of parents will buy them for their little darlings. No wonder we seem to be having more and more trouble with violence, and sick behavior in our society we're training them young. u Hwminu niiiifcuw m .w ii fwr"!""!'"!""!' SAVE! SPEND! NOTHING! DO SOMETHING! "CUT TAXES! RAISE TAXES! DO ii mi ...ANY QUESTIONS?..." Loft a legacy Parent's choice Editor: 1 was saddened to hear of the death of Wanda Scott. My senior year at Provo High School, I was involved in Ms. Scott's typing class. She showed enthusiasm and excitement in her profession. Ms. Scott brought laughter to the room. She, at times, was silly during class. She attempted to keep us alert and involved. Most days she greeted us at the door and returned to the door to bid us adieu when we left. She allowed us to act our age. Wanda Scott affected me more, in a positive manner, than any teacher throughout my years at Dixon Jr. High or Provo High Schools. 1 wish I would have had the guts to let her know how I felt. Presently, my appreciation seems cheap. But I'd like to thank some other teachers who made a difference Editor: tome. Dixon Jr. High physical education teachers. Ms. Cahoon and Ms. Roundy. I swore I'd get back at you for all of those days we had to run around the Dixon school yard. Now, I recognize that you most always treated me with respect. You let me know where I stood with you; you treated me like an adult. Vice Principal Grosebeck, you were fair and encouraged me to do better. Ms. Cooper, although I failed miserably, your botanyscience classes were incredible. I never had a class with Coach Mckay, but you were friendly to me, gave me advice and I felt important. Betty Clark, you tried to teach me common sense. I wish I would have listened. Thanks to Dwanna Riddle, as you opened the world to me and made me want to ask questions. Ms. Blakesly you were my 8th grade English teacher and you were a lot of fun. I hope there aren't too many mistakes in this letter. I had a great sixth grade teacher, Ms. Heaton. I still read the "Great Brain" books. One more person worth mentioning is Mrs. Hepworth. She was the executive secretary at Grandview Elementary. I was able to develop a friendship with her because I was often referred to the principal's office. Most of the kids thought I was "weird" because I liked her. They just didn't understand her or "know" her. How lucky I was to have been sent to see the principal so often. I had a friendship with her even through my adult years. Although she has died, I think of her often. I understand the power of hope that adolescent or adult, bea child, reaching cause several have reached me. Thank you, Wanda Scott. Many of your students are sad. I am sad. too. Kathleen L. Plothow 1 Counselor Utah Alcoholism Foundation Sen. Scott Howell is sponsoring a bill in the Utah Senate that would lower the compulsory school age from six to five. Apparently, the main reason behind this bill is to increase the funding for kindergarten. I am opposed to the government telling me when my child is ready for public school and taking more of my tax dollars to pay for it. Last school year, my eldest child turned five and would have normally gone to kindergarten. After careful consideration and discussion, my husband and I felt she was not ready for a school environment. We exercised our parental rights and kept her home. It was a wise decision for her. She has nourished in a way she could not have otherwise. Now a year later, she is reading above a second-grad- e level, doing math from a fourth-grad- e book, and is much more adept socially than she was last year. Obviously, not attending kindergarten did not hurt her either academically or socially. The right to keep a child home from school until he is ready is a right that should not be taken from the parents. I oppose the bill and any amendment to the bill, which implies that the school, not the pareent, can make that crucial decision. JoyLaudie Pleasant Grove Deja vu Editor: Quote: "The national budget must be balanced. The public debt must be reduced. The arrogance of the authorities must be moderated and controlled. Payments to foreign governments must be reduced, if the nation doesn't want to go bankrupt. People must again learn to work, instead of living on public assistance." Wish I'd have thought those words up. I didn't. Credit the above quote to Marcus Tullius Cicero, a Roman, in 55 B.C. Ron Richardson Orem Editor: The answer to our national health care crisis is: 1 can do for . Ask not what your country you, ask what you can do for yourself, your family and others. 2. Think health, not sickness; love, not hate. 3. Get the facts: The human body heals itself when given what it needs to work with, namely nutritious foods (fresh fruits and vegetables), rest, exercise, pure water and fresh air; excluding drugs, cigarette smoke and excessive alcohol. The need is prevention, rather than cure, of physical and emotional deprivation. , Are we willing to pay the price for the freedom of health, or will we cave in to the Hans of socialist-minde- d people who want for force care everyone, including i equal the irresponsible, and ill the taxpayers ! again Beryl Furncr Provo Mike Tyson has been found guilty by a jury, and that ought to be it. But it hasn't been. All sorts of social significance is being found in his trial and conviction. And some of it I find strange. First, there is the view by some blacks that Tyson is the victim of some sort of white conspiracy to bring down successful black men. On the black radio call-i- n shows, these conspirators are known only as "they," which means white society. The trouble with this theory is that it would mean that white society somehow persuaded a young, black beauty contestant to go along with its plot. And other black contestants were persuaded to testify about what a slob Tyson was. And they also found a few blacks to serve on the jury and join in on the scheme. I suppose it could have happened. But why would white racists go to all that bother? Is there a blond, blue-eye- d heavy- weight contender waiting to become champion? The current champion is also black. And so are all of the other contenders. What is to be gained by putting Tyson in prison? Lookiug at the trial, one could just as Amerieasily say that white, middle-clas- s and it doesn't get any more white and ca middle class than Indianapolis was showing that it would go to considerable lengths to defend the virtue of a young black woman who was set upon by a cruel man. Of course, that's not necessarily true, either. If the victim had been a black motel cleaning girl and the rapist a black lout, it's doubtful that the case would have come to trial. So in a way, Tyson was a victim of his own success at beating faces to a pulp for multimillion-dolla- r fees. If he beat people up only for their wallets and wristwatches, he might be off the hook. Then there is the theory, stated by many women's advocate groups, that this will send a message to society that date rape street-corn- er Mike Royko TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES will be taken seriously. At least that's this week's message. It wasn't long ago that the not guilty verdict in the Willie Smith trial was supposed to be sending a gloomy message that a date-rap- e victim will not be taken seriously. But when that trial began, the message was that because Smith was being prosecuted, date rape will be taken seriously. So we'll just have to wait until the next prominent person goes on trial to see what the next message will be. If there is any message. I don't believe that there is. In the Tyson case, we had a young woman who is inteland not lacking soligent, phistication. She had to be aware of his highly publicized divorce, in which he was portrayed as something that ought to be caged. And she surely knew that he was not the kind of guy who would bring flowers and suggest a movie and a malt. But she still wound up sitting on his bed in the middle of the night. I'm not Mike Tyson's type, but I wouldn't want to be sitting on his bed in the middle of the night. So if any message comes out of this, it should be that you ought to have a movie-and-ma- lt date with a guy before you visit his bedroom. We teach little children to run like hell if a stranger offers them candy and invites them into a car. If kids are expected to show caution, why not young women? It's amazing, though, how much trust people place in strangers. We have a trial going on Milwaukee. Gay young men went to a stranger's house. They were well-educat- ed murdered. The rest of the grisly stuff you'll have to read elsewhere. So the message from Milwaukee to gay men should be that you do not accept an invitation from a stranger to go to his apartment to engage in sex, pose for kinky pictures, or even have a cup of tea, right? Add the risks of AIDS and such visits are unthinkable, correct? Wrong. I recently looked at one of those computer bulletin boards in which people send in messages on all sorts of subjects. You can take part in forums on just about anything. But the single biggest forum, with thousands of messages, is the gay forum. There you will find strangers seeking out other strangers from all over the country for ... well, more than a cup of tea. If the Milwaukee fiend had been a computer hacker, he wouldn't have had to bother cruising the bars. A few strokes of the keyboard would have brought him his next victim. Another goofy reaction is that of some whites who believe that Tyson's behavior shows that blacks, even those who become millionaires, are beasts at heart. Well, Tyson might be a thug, as most successful prizefighters are, but he hasn't cooked and eaten anyone, as that very white young man in Milwaukee did. Or buried them under his house, as the very white John Wayne Gacy did. Or slaughtered women en masse, as Richard Speck did. Is there something in the white man's genes that makes him a potential mass murderer? If you believe that Tyson represents a racial tendency, then it stands to reason that the Milwaukee gourmet does the same. i So maybe we ought to look at it the way the jury did. Tyson is black and rich and famous. But he's still a mean, vicious guy. Michael Milken is white and brilliant, but he is still a swindler. Gacy was an amateur clown but also a fiend. There should be room for all sorts in the prisons. Charity begins with executive perks at United Way - WASHINGTON The nation's largest charity, United Way of America, has a favorite charity of its own its top officials and high-price- d consultants with privileges and perks that fly in the face of an altruistic mission. This umbrella organization that uses workplace tactics to collect $3 billion a year for distribution among charities, spends $30 million of that money at its headquarters in Alexandria, Va., overseeing a tangled web of subsidiaries and double-dippin- g executives. An investigation of United Way's books is obstructed by the agency's consistent refusal to be anything but superficially accountable to contributors. But there is enough information available from troubled employees and from records to put together a disturbing picture. Regardies magazine, in an article scheduled for publication later this month, re- high-pressu- re Think health ace has nothing to do with Tyson Letters policy The Daily Herald welcomes letters to the editor. Address letters to Letters to the Editor. PO Box 717. Provo. UT 84G0.V Letters must be signed and include the writer's full and a daytime phone numname, address ber for verification. letters should be typed, double spaced, and less than 4(X) words in length. The most common reasons for not publishing letters are: loo long, unsigned, illegible, obscene or libelous. 14 PI f"M Anderson UNITED FEATURE SYNDICATE ports that several United Way employees were disturbed enough about what they perceived as problems to hire their own lawyer to make inquiries. They were afraid to tackle the investigation themselves, because they had seen fired after asking too many questions. That lawyer confronted United Way's general counsel and was told that the problems the employees were worried about had been considered and dismissed. But the questions still linger. Earlier this month, United Way executives sent two memos to their top officers alerting them that reporters were swarming over the United Way finances. The Feb. 5 memo says the United Way board "took a resounding vote of confidence" for United Way President William Aramony. United Way was a brilliant idea a kind of bank where donors could give money and experts would dole it out to charities on the "A" list. Under Aramony, United Way has blossomed into a clever business, wooing corporate executives in every community. Hardly a work er in America hasn't had his or her arm twisted on the job for United Way. The system coaxes money out of people who might not otherwise give, and supports charities that would struggle without it. The corporate partnership technique brought in money in such astounding quantities that Aramony diversified, creating subsidiaries to make life easier for the charities that got United Way money. There was an insurance company for emit agencies, a travel ployees of y compaagency, a discount ny, even a company to make promotional and bumper stickers. They all started as subsidiaries of United Way, sharing some of their money with their parent agency, but some have been spun off as private companies, where their accountability to United Way and the donors has entered a murky area. The most questionable of these spinoffs is Charities Funds Transfers, the electronic banking function of United Way that collects the money and distributes it to charities. Sources close to the operation say that as a subsidiary, CFT thrives off the interest from the money while it is in transit. That interest has brought in as much as half a million dollars a year to CFT, some of which went back to United Way to pay for the burgeoning headquarters budget, and in one case to bring expense account out of the red, according to a source who witnessed the non-prof- office-suppl- Ara-mony- 's bookkeeping. Two financial officers for United Way now claim they lost their jobs when they asked too many questions about the spinoff companies. The spinoffs have allowed United Way executives and consultants to make money off the enterprise in more than one way. For example, one employee at United Way was also a consultant to a spinoff. Another financial officer at United Way was demoted, but allowed to keep collecting the equivalent of his $100,000-plu- s salary as an employee and consultant, and is now president of two spinoffs. , Salaries and perks at United Way and its it spinoffs are generous by other standards. The top echelon executives" make about $200,000 a year. Regional directors can make more than $150,000. Aramony makes almost $400,000 a year, according to tax filings. He has an individual budget of at least $ 80,000 a year, and took his key staff to the Super Bowl this year. He has an apartment in New York, which used to be rented by United Way until one of the agency's board members questioned it. The apartment was then pur-- j chased by one of the private spinoff panies, which allows Aramony unlimited access. Aramony did not return our calls. The corporate executives who make up United Way's board of di-- ; rectors are used to big salaries and perk's. When questioned, they don't seem overly concerned that Aramony, the head of a' it charitable endeavor, gets the: ' same treatment. top-lev- el non-prof- 1 . J ; ; ! ! I high-power- ed ; ; ; non-prof- J |