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Show "Ws at dedicated to the public Interest, to foil-net- s 1 and eccumcy. to Innevasion and growth, and to the restless pursuit of excellence." PuUtzer missioa itstemest EDITOR: MARK EDDiNGTON 4 THE DAILY HERALD SUNDAY, MARCH 8, 1998 A clean election in South Florida? This is a job for Jimmy Carter The good news is: A judge has ordered a new election to decide who will be mayor of Miami. The bad news is: The election will again be held in Miami. So how do you prevent it from being stolen like the last one? That's the predicament facing local officials. Convicted felons, and even a corpse voted last November. Other citizens cheerfully sold their ballots for $10 apiece. Sleazy history could repeat itself in May unless the voting is more closely supervised. Belie ve it or not, there is a "supervisor of elections" office in Miami-Dad- e and the staff was hard on the job last fall. The problem was, the law saying who gets to vote was so easily subverted, and the fraud so widespread, that authorities were caught unprepared. This time ought to be different. rs O fa n DD0& One intriguing idea, suggested by my son, is to have Jimmy Carter come down and monitor the new Miami elections, as he did in Nicaragua, Haiti and Panama (where he debunked Gen. Manuel Noriega's farcical victory). True, the Miami of today is more politically backward than all those places, so Carter would face a steeper challenge. For security the former president would need several crack divisions of U.N. troops encircling the polls just to keep out all the bogus voters. Carter's past willingness to serve as an elections watchdog stems from his own dismaying experience with voter fraud. In his book "Turning Point," Carter describes how his first run for the Georgia Senate was nearly upended by flagrant and you guessed it a mysterious turnout of dead voters. Surely the former president would ballot-stuffin- g aftao That's understandable. Carter is familiar with South Florida's reputation for tolerating skullduggery and graft. After Hurricane Andrew struck, I told him that while entire subdivisions of expensive homes in South Dade blew to pieces, most of his Habitat for Humanity houses didn't lose so much as a shingle in the Well low-co- 11" storm. 2 "Well," Carl Hiaasen sympathize with all those honest Miamians victimized by last fall's electoral larceny. Yet when I phoned his office in Atlanta, Carter's assistants seemed doubtful he'd be able to fit the Miami crisis into his busy schedule. In their voices one could also detect wariness about sending him into such a messy quagmire. ? 1 st Carter said with a wry 1 smile, "we use nails in ours." He was on an airplane Wednesday when I tried to reach him to ask if ' he'd fly to Miami for the elections. His spokesperson, Carrie Harmon, was diplomatic but cautious. "To narties " she explained. "Thai's the only way to it." it works, if everybody agrees ' date, the Carter Center has only monitored elections outside the United States Africa, Latin America. We've never monitored a U.S. election," she said. I asked what it usually takes to get the former president involved. "Normally, when we're dealing with ; But what about developing cities? Suppose Xavier Suarez and Joe for Miami Carcllo, the invitation a extended joint mayor, then would Carter consider monitoring a U.S. election? There was a pausaon the line, and perhaps the trace of a chuckle. "Well, we've never done it., before," Harmon said, "but we wouldn't absolutely rule it out. Definitely front-runne- rs good-nature- l I developing countries, we have to be the current invited by all parties the and major opposition government d ; not." to the candidates: Pick Now it's up Call now. Jimmy up the phone, guys. If Noriega could do it, you can, too. Carl Hiaasen is a columnist for the Miami Herald. irl'nVWj.Y; if If I I If the recently released Third International Mathematics and Science Study doesn't trigger alarm, then American educators and parents are not merely sleeping thqy are comatose. To those in hibernation, the study revealed U.S. high school seniors lag behind their counterparts in 21 industrialized countries in math and science. Even worse, these were no ordinary U.S. students they were our best and brightest. How bad did America's elite perform on the study's standardized tests? Among the 21 nations tested, U.S. high school seniors ranked 16th in general science knowledge and 19th in general math skills. Of the 18 countries that participated in the physics portion of the study, the U.S. finished dead last. As bad as these results are, they undoubtedly would have been worse if Asian nations, which traditionally fare very well in such comparisons, had participated. William H. Schmidt, a Michigan State University pro- fessor and national research coordinator for the study, said the test "bursts the myth'' many Americans have that our better students can compare with their peers in other countries throughout the world. Gerry Wheeler, executive director of the National Science Teachers Association, was recently quoted by columnist Mona Charen as saying the "study is a wake-u- p call" for the nation. Unfortunately, the alarm bells have been ringing nonstop ever since the United States was declared a Nation at Risk 15 years ago. As yet, no one has emerged with a credible solution to answer the call. While positioning himself for a less than two years and counting until the new millennium, such political rhetoric has produced negligible results. The same can be said of the billions of dollars spent and plethora of educationoutcome-base- d educaal fads tion, bilingual classes, charter schools, voucher schools, whole math, mainstreaming, emphasis etc. on employed. Fads clearly are not the quick-fi- x their adherents have claimed them to be. Simplistic solutions such as hiring more teachers and throwing more money at schools have not resulted in corresponding increases in academic achievement, either. Equally puzzling is the fact the study indicates the longer American kids stay in school, the worse they perform. Two aspects of this educational conundrum, however, are clear: Our educational system is broke, and we here in the United States do not have the answers. Our educators are puzzled, parents are perplexed and, as usual, politicians on the left and right would rather politicize the issue than solve the riddle. What's needed is a rational approach to fixing American eduone based on solid cation research that focuses on results instead of on political correctness or pandering to voters' anxieties and prejudices. If that means we need to look at what other countries are doing right, then so be it. Wa don't have the luxury of trial and error anymore. Now more than ever, we need to know beforehand what works. Then we must have the courage and determination to change. presidential run in 1990, then Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton pledged that U.S. students would lead the world in math and science by the year 2000. As president four years later, he instituted the Goals 2000 program. With This editorial reflects the opinions of The Daily Herald editorial board. Members of the editorial board are Publisher Kirk Parkinson, Managing Editor Mike Patrick, Opinions Page Editor Mark Eddingion, and City Editor Mitch Wilkinson. . i. 1 The Daily Herald welcomes letters to the editor. Letters must be signed and include the author's name, address and daytime telephone number for verification. The writer's name and city of residence will be published, but the writer's address and phone number will net. Whenever possible, letters should fit fh ,;ri ?""4T v xmm m' iiSvw '"a-- - what A does iw 1 I TUAT SAY? W5liaj I self-estee- ,4 l s . , ... . be typed and double spaced. To allow the expression of as many viewpoints as possible, letters must be no longer than 40C words; 250 words or lees is encouraged. The Herald reserves1 the right to edit letters for length end coutent. Please send your letters to: Editor, The Daily Herald, P.O. Box 717t 1555 N. Freedom Blvd., Provo, UT. 84603. r p - LZ- Olympics a s2tew!d event ' A s recent segment on "60 Minutes" dealt with the site selection CBS-TV- process for the Olympics. Specifically, it zeroed in on Nagano. Through the use of direct interviews, the show indicated that Nagano was selected for no other reason than money. If that's true, what was it that determined that Salt Lake, City should be the site of the 2002 Olympic Gaines? Are these sites for sale to the highest bidder? What did we have to give to receive this honor? j Also, why is it called the Salt Lake Olympics when all of Utah is supposed to be represented? Why do we demean this very important honor by communicating to the world that the 2002 Winter Olympics is a event as opposed to a state and national event? Does Salt Lake City have a single venue in the 2002 Olympic Games? These and many other questions must be addressed if the 2002 Games are to be a success. Ron Shaw Orem f.!s?ss Bi&kl Vc3 a mcnssi&Kt n I appreciate Ann Potempa's article in the Feb. 15 issue of well-writte- The Daily Herald announcing that 10 acres of the Bridal Veil Falls' site are for sale for $1.7 million. Those of us who grew up in Utah Valley in the '30s and '40s always assumed that th6 falls were part of the public lands which include so much of our mountainous terrain. It came as a shock many year3 ago to learn that part of the waterfall was privately owned and to see a commercial enterprise built there. The private owners have, in general, respected the site and didn't turn it into a garish tourist attraction such as befell many natund marvels across the country. There is no guarantee that another private owner would be so caring Bridal Veil Falls is one of the jew- - TO - X- IX are of a very different nature here,, than in Salt Lake City or Salt Lakp Tu2 EClTCn v County. A large number of our people have to travel many miles to and from work. This makes their net pay less. Also, they usually make less per hour than big city residents. Moreover, big city life is more complicated and expensive, causing many people who are on welfare or who ifre subsidized in some way to move to small towns. Many of our residents are retirees or older couples who are ' on fixed or limited incomes. At the present time, the town . Mona is about to embark on a pro-- " '" gram of upgrading and adding to their water system. This has been brought about by rapid growth in &e " community. We have been under a ' for moratorium of sorts building about a year and a half now due to' an insufficient water supply. Mona is a town of only about 800 residents! I would ask Poulton how he expect 800 residents to finance a $370,00(j project. Undcr'our difficult circumstances, isn't it reasonable that newcomers should pay at least part of,;, upgrading the eystem? My proposal to Poulton is to leave the impact fees in place. , Allen R, Ri$s Former member of the Moua Town ; , els of the Wasatch. If it were in a distant and inaccessible place, people would travel far to see it. Located just outside an urban area and adja- cent to a busy highway, it may be taken for granted. Yet, it is unique and priceless in its beauty. It must be restored and preserved in its pristine condition. The best way to accomplish that would be to designate the falls and its setting as a national monument. The private owner of part of the site would have to be compensated, of course, but that part of the site which is national forest could be dedicated without cost. With the destruction of the commercial enterprise at Bridal Veil Falls by an avalanche, now is a wonderful window of opportunity to reclaim this site for the people! In my opinion, the beauty and grandeur of the falls and its surrounding cliffs ej;ceed that of Timpanogos Cave, which is already a national monument. I have read that Tirnpanogos Cave was once privately owned and mined for its stone. How grateful we are that someone cared enough to rescue that marvelous cave. Whoever promotes the preservation of Bridal Veil Falls will deserve our gratitude and will leave a legacy of beauty to this and future generations. Stanley E.Abbott, M.D. Orem J , Council Mona Klefeea deserved h The recent action by Congress officially designating Frovo's downtown' post office the Howard C. Neilson Post Office Building is a wonderful'-tributMl to a fine public servant. On behalf of those who have had the privilege to serve within the ' Utah County Republican Party and'i watch Howard over the years, we ate delighted and pleased for Howard i and his family. Rarely docs someone receive such recognition for political service, and rarely is that recognition so deserving. jb Rod Fudge, Chairman, Utah County Republican Party e wtiial feltt0 lavvJ baiiWwl UvJ In a recent article in the Herald, I read that state Sen. L. Steven Poulton was disgusted and frustrated with impact fees imposed by cities and towns on the construction of new homes and businesses. I can certainly relate. However, I don't believe he considered the dilemma small town councils face in paying for improvements. Industry and jobs in small towns POORGOPYf ; |