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Show i, 'The; first duy of love is tolistcn. " PauLTillich, American theologian (1886-196- Li The Dally Herald Imagine that a federal official with control over government contracts accepted a free vacation at a posh Hawaiian resort, courtesy of a lobbyist who has a financial stake in decisions the official makes. gress, whether they actually succeed in Under such circumstances, the offibuying votes or not. Such favors uncial would be lucky to escape a jail derstandably are viewed as part of the term for taking a bribe. Yet, members systemic corruption that subverts good of Congress can and regularly do government on Capitol Hill. lobsuch favors from accept generous To reform Congress' lax rules on bying groups with vested interests in gifts, the Senate in May approved the legislative actions. inOfficials of the executive branch are Lobbying Disclosure Act, which a that interest cluded requirement and rightly so from prohibited all benefits worth more groups report than more worth $20 accepting gifts man $20 provided to lawmakers. The from any entity with a stake in governSenate this step with a followed ment operations. Lawmakers, howevresolution, approved 98 to 1 , er, live by much looser standards. the gift rules of the legislafor calling It is routine for key subcommittee tive branch to be brought into conchairmen, along with their spouses, to formity with the stringent standards of be invited to spend a few days mingling the executive branch. with members of a trade association or other special interest groups at a fancy Binding limits prohibiting lawmakers from accepting perks worth more golf and tennis resort in, say, Bermuthan $20 from anyone with an interest da. Lawmakers no longer are permitted to accept $2,500 "speaking fees" in legislation is the only way to clean for showing up at such events. But the tab for airfare, hotel, meals and other pass such a measure and send it to the expenses, often totaling several thoulobsand dollars, is still picked up by Senate, therebv testing whether the resolution adopted earlier was genubyists. These trips have ine. one purpose: to influence lawmakers' But in response to private grumbling votes. from senior House members of both Members of Congress boast that parties, Speaker Tom Foley, they cannot be swayed by such favors. sidetracked the reform legislaBut the candid reality is that most lawtion for further "study." The matter makers are more sympathetic to interlanguished in the House until the holiest groups that have indulged them in floated comprorecess as non-bindi- Foley day mise proposals that would greatly lute the overdue reforms . style. At the very least, the free vacations purchase access that is not available to others. And that insider's entree' alone distorts the legislative process in favor of those who lavish gifts on lawmak- foot-draggi- Editor: In a recent letter to the editor, Mr. Reed Hayes of Provo expressed concern that the bus schedules did not meet his schedule at BYU. UTA is continually working to refine routes and schedules to meet the needs of the greatest numbers of passengers possible. In fact, many Utah County UTA routes and schedules are designed specifically with I . CC J TfTf neeas in nuna,I since ana sum d i u siuaenis BYU is the single largest traffic generator in Utah Valley. UTA has 18 buses every hour serving the BYU campus. Nine of these buses arrive between :35 and :48 minutes past the hour allowing students and staff sufficient time to walk to various campus destinations in time for class or work. The other nine buses leave campus between :05 and :20 minutes past the hour, times which correspond to the end of classes and work shifts. With cooperation from the University, 1 UTA constructed two custom passenger shelters near the Wilkinson Center. UTA would welcome the addition of more stops on campus, however since Campus Drive is a privately owned road that decision rests with the University. Service to campus is so popular in the morning that in addition to regular route service UTA has added a special "Apartment Shuttle" serving apartments west of campus with six bus trips to campus from 7:40a.m. to 9:40 a.m. These special shuttle buses are usually standing room only! UTA also offers service to and from Salt Lake City serving Unversity Avenue just west of the Smith Field House. We would like to apologize to Mr. Hayes if the bus schedules didn't meet his schedule two years ago, but we are constantly ing to improve schedules and access, and would invite him to try UTA again. Kip Billings UTA Planner Salt Lake City Exactly the Issue Editor: In the television trade journal Broadcasting and Cable dated Nov. I, 1993, Steven Bochco, the creator and executive producer of "NYPD Blue" stated: "I'd have a lem with the show airing at 8 p.m. and I nave a prooiem wiw n hi y p.m. octauc there are a lot of kids still around at that time." This is exactly the issue. The owncn and general manager of KTVX, with their "in your face" attitude and irresponsible airing of this controversial show in prime time, family viewing hours in this area, despite tens of thousands of protests, has driven home the need for legislated television "safe harbor" broadcasting hours, times when families can be reasonably secure of not being visually assaulted by naked people cavorting in a shower when "tuning past" KTVX during a commercial di- ng on another network, as my family was. Surprisingly, the FCC allows "indecent material" (their words) to be broadcast between 8 pm. (8 p.m.!) and 6 a.m. (notwithstanding the couple having intercourse in a video clip on Donahue the afternoonof Oct. 25 on KUTV...). Inquiries with a staff member of Bill Orton's office in Provo about the subject of broadcasting "safe harbors" surprisingly yielded the answer that "Bill was not interested in sponsoring this type of legislation." Censorship laws will never pass. Therefore we have two choices: 1 . Call, write, or picket the advertisers of shows like "NYPD Blue," hopefully making them tire of hassles their "NYPD Blue" subsidizingadvertising dollars are buying them. This will dry up the revenues for the network and KTVX. 2. Get sympathetic lawmakers (Senator John Danforth of Missouri is one) to pass laws forcing the FCC to move indecent material to after 1 1 p.m. and enforce it. Thomas Merrill Pleasant Grove Try bus again Kids aren't adults Editor: Regarding Mr. Stephens article of 19 Nov. castigating Payson Junior High School for deciding against teaching children how kids are not to commit a perfect crime adults. Police persons and fiction writers are adults with some experience in their background, with the maturity to make valid judgments. Kids are not adults! As regards children learning these correct principles at home, in any group of 100 students, how many of them have the type of atmosphere where such values are taught? Surely we are not so naive as to think everyone of them have this perfect home life? And How many of them tend to if they did think their teacher must surely be. smarter thanaparent? - Monday, November 29, 18S3 JjRo t- rtLKVl I TOLP ?mm YA NAFTA KEFR YflULPKEAP FOR HMiESS! ng Speaker Foley's audacity in thwarting reasonable limits on gifts from lobbyists should not be tolerated by any lawmaker who cares about the House's integrity. More to the point, this institutional by the House should not be tolerated by voters. ers. Just as important, the expensive trips and other rewards provided by lobbyists erode public trust in Con- - I c nnnnrfnnri 5) haven't the Unfortunately, ability to see the very real danger and damage that can arise when one intelligent young person thinks he could put his paper exercise on trial just for kicks, not really intending any harm. It happens every day. Just read the newspapers. I can guarantee there isn't a day goes by in the U.S. without some youngster having a try at doing something he has seenonT.V. As for the mystery writers mentioned, I've read many mystery and murder stories. The fiction generally has a crime solved and justice prevailing. But most haven't read that many mystery novels yet, so when they are asked at their tender age to plan a perfect crime they have no basis of comparison. Also, a concerned parent should never be belittled or made to feci stupid. There aren't enough of them. Just ask any teacher. The article lacked good research and was arrogant. Shame on Mr. Stephens Clara Arnold Payson Nightmare didn't occur or did it? - WASHINGTON (AP) The nightmare of the Persian Gulf War was the threat that Iraqi missiles might spew chemicals on troops or cities. The worst didn't happen. But something apparently did. So nearly three years later, the U.S. government is investigating, trying to determine the cause of mysterious ailments afflicting some Americans who served in the Gulf war zone in 1990 and 1991 . In previous cases such as this, the government usually has been slow, sometimes grudging, to acknowledge that chemical exposure afflicted men long after they served. It was 20 years in the case of Vietnam, 50 years for World War U veterans exposed to mustard gas in secret U.S. tests. By comparison, this administration is moving fast, wary of the kind of drawn-ocontroversy that lasted until the government agreed to compensate veterans afflicted by exposure to Agent Orange in Vietnam. Ironically, the bill to do that was signed early in' 1991, with American forces deployed for the war against Saddam Hussein. While acknowledging three instances in which at least traces of chemical weapons were detected in northern Saudi Arabia, the Pentagon said that could not be the cause of what now is called Gulf War syndrome. The symptoms include fatigue, weight loss, insomnia, and pain in muscles and joints. Even the source of the weapons gases ut remains a mystery; there's nothing to prove they came from Iraq and the Pentagon is checking with U.S. allies in the Gulf War to see if they know. The official niir AP Columnist Pentagon history of the war had said flatly that ' 'Iraq did not use chemical Or biological weapons." A Czech chemical defense unit detected traces of nerve gas at two sites on Jan. 19, 1991, and mustard gas at another spot on Jan. 24 during the air war against Iraq. U.S. officials checked and concurred with the findings, although there was no other data to confirm them, the Pentagon said. That was done in October, with Congress prodding after hearings with ailing veterans. A panel of medical experts recruited by the Pentagon is to look into the veterans' health problems, and a team is to go back to the area soon to see what other factors, perhaps industrial chemicals like chlorine and ammonia, might be involved. The Veterans Affairs Department is setting up a pilot program at a medical center in Birmingham, Ala., to conduct neurological and other tests on area veterans who say they have ailments because of chemical exposure in the Gulf War. chair Sen. Jay Rockefeller, man of the Veterans Affairs Committee, said he will seek legislation to provide government care for ailing veterans of the Gulf War. He said they are entided to the presumption that their illness is connected to their service, at least "until we unravel this mystery." Nearly gulf 1,500 veterans have filed claims with the V.A. seeking compensation for disabilities they blame on environmental exposure during the war. Fewer than 100 had been approved as of October: The government said earlier this year that some gulf veterans were suffering from undefined ailments that couldn't bp diagnosed, but that there was no firm evidence linking them to service in the war. The topic has been debated in congressional hearings ever since, with demands that the government do more to find tftp cause, treat the ailments and provide information on the problem. That, too, has happened before. Administrations were reluctant, Congress insistent, that there be compensation for veteV-an- s with ailments linked to the Agent Orange defoliants sprayed on the jungles of Vietnam between 1962 and 197 1 . But even now there are disputes as to which diseases can be traced to that chemical, entiding victims to disability compensation. Five, including three types of cancer, are on the list now. " Eventually, there will have to be answers like those about ailments linked 4o Persian Gulf duty. It was a hundred day war, swift and victorious, with relatively few losses; in battle. But it seems there are other casualties still to be counted. women priced out of Norplant Low-incom- e - WASHINGTON Rep. Ron Wyden, that the health care when hopes system is reformed, the government can afford to treat American women as well as it treats women in Third World countries. Last year, the Agency for International Development spent $4.5 million on Norplant contraceptive devices for 167,000 Third World women, yet the government could not afford to provide the same device to many lower income American women. This time, however, the government is not entirely at fault: AID can purchase each contraceptive from its Finnish manufacturer for $23, yet American women have to pay a U.S. drug company $365. After medical fees are figured in, the contraceptive can cost American women up to $1,000. Adding insult to injury is this: American taxpayers have already paid over $16 million to help develop Norplant, a contraceptive that experts estimate only costs $16 to make. "It's one thing if a private sector company shoulders all the risk themselves," Wyden, chairman of the small business subcommittee on regulation, business opportunities and technology, told our associate Andrew Conte. "That's free enterprise and deserves to be handsomely rewarded. It's quite another when the taxpayer does much of the heavy lifting. "It's sad when you've got thousands of women in this country who can't get ac- cess to (Norplant) while U.S. tax dollars are used to subsidize the purchase of the the price,' ' adddrug overseas at one-tened Wyden. th Letters policy The Daily Herald welcomes letters to the editor. Address letters to Letters to the Editor, POBox 717, Provo, UT 84603. Utters must be signed and include the writer's Ml name, address and a daytime phone numberfor verification. Letters should be typed, double spaced, and less than 400 words in length. contraceptives noted that for every woman who receives Norplant, five or more woni-e- n are denied the service of oral contracep- ) I A" v tives. Inch Zlndsxcsn Syndicated Columnist the domestic price of Norplant is set by giant pharmaceutical Wyeth-Ayers- t, which holds the rights to Levonorgestrel, the main ingredient in oral contraceptives and Norplant. Family planning activists main contribuargue that Wyeth-Ayerst- 's to tion development Norplant's phase was the donation of Levonorgestrel for research while the other more significant costs were covered by the government and private donations. 25-ye- ar At a recent hearing of Wyden's subcommittee, one of the defenses for Norplant's current price was offered by a representative who said that the company was afraid that the contraceptive would be seen as a welfare drug. "If the drug came to be seen simply as a product e for public-sectclinics and users," he told the subcommittee, "we knew it would not be anywhere." plans to offer a reduced price for the drug to the public sector when the period after government approval is up. Wyeth-Ayer- st lower-incom- or well-accept- Wyeth-Ayer- st five-ye- ar Until that time, Norplant remains out of reach of many potential users who are neither poor enough to qualify for public assistance nor wealthy enough to afford the drug. Organizations that support family planning once celebrated the development of Norplant as a revolutionary form of contraception, but now helplessly watch the drug priced out of usefulness. One organization that provides publicly funded "I don't think what Wyeth charges (for Norplant) is reasonable," Karen Pataky, associate medical director of Planned Parenthood in Washington, DC, told us1. "Norplant represents much of what does not go right with the American drug induJ stry." As Congress prepares to debate much qf what does not go right with the entire health care industry, Wyden plans to reform the government's relationship with Wyeth-Ayer- st and the way it purchases Norplant. By buying the drug in bulk, rje hopes to drive a bargain with the pharmaceutical giant and recover some of the taxpayers' investment. "We've got to learn a real lesson that the federal government has got to use ils purchasing power to get a better deal,," says Wyden. "Wyeth right now is jt&t thumbing their nose at both the taxpayers and the public." PENNIES FROM HEAVEN Sen. thinks the federal John McCain, government could save as much as $50 million u year if government employees simply enrolled in frequent flyer programs. McCain, ranking minority member of the governmental affairs subcom- - z., mittee, recently wrote to the subcommittee's chairman, Sen. Jim requesting a congressional investigation into the government's curT rent policy. It "urges" federal employees to tac advantage of commercial airlines' bonus mileage plans. Many federal employees ignore the frequent flier plans altogether because there is little incentive to participate or they use the frequent flier credit o upgrade their scats on future flights frcjrn coach to first class. Federal employees log approximately; 6 billion miles on commercial airlines annually at a cost of $1.8 billion a year. That's 240,000 trips around the worW, 4,000 round trips to the moon or just $0 round trips to Mars. Sas-se- r, . T |