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Show isfcs. 1 in El LMJlnJCSiU r?j astatec3 f! 1 f f"U I BOpinionsC4 DArtsce j The Daily Herald r- 7 P' r For nearly six years I have tried to write a column based solidly on validated data. I have tried to avoid opinion because we have too many columns already that are r r r r 7 Ef JJ F F F - i ssbssmwbI KKSfl bmhI menumed . r v rFM , ' smwami aasBv PBa8e mtse and Furthermore, I write mostly as a student of science. Science is data-poo- r. opinion-ric- h helpless to tell a society, any society, the directions in which to shape itself. Those choices are made by other factors, such as economics, religion or various social ideals. The best science can 5 I r i ii , ; it v ... , .. ' 1 A 1 'if i Buane Jeffery cij & , j.. A ? Science 1 Monday, December 4, 1995 Disastrous trends can affect Utah 1 v (f ' Society - i do in this regard is to advise the decision makers of the likely con- sequences of various political and social choices, the potential costsrisksbenefits. But events of the past few years are moving too swiftly to permit constant indulgence in that sort of detached academic purity. Our own communities exhibit too many trends that need to be addressed and that are getting little or no attention. In the past three columns we have considered three case histories that seem relevant for us here in Utah, and indeed for the entire planet. One of these dealt with and how by sheer Easter Island dint of human population growth, the people exhausted their resources and were reduced to bare survival and squalor. I suspect that the islanders did try to hold their population growth somewhat in check. Most Polynesians did so usually by infanticide a bitter practice that experience made necessary. Easter Island is a vivid example of where nature took control when the people did not. But Easter was a primitive society. So we turned also to two modern examples. One concerned the Aral Sea in the former Soviet Union. In the name of economic progress, the idealistic Soviet government flouted all the obvious laws of nature, insisting that techwould solve nological know-hothe problems. Short-tergains were spectacular: huge harvests of rice and cotton. But the harvests are now only a small fraction of what they were and the entire area is an ecological disaster. Further, there is now no central government to deal with the issues. Even if the five small states could attempt a solution, the Aral Sea almost surely cannot be restored some to its former condition undone. be cannot things just C. We also discussed the Galapagos Islands, where the central government established remarkably insightful policies to manage a priceless natural resource for ecoperpetuity. But short-vienomics and relentless human population pressures are clearly in the ascendancy to take quick exploitative profits and, "let the future take care of itself." And in Utah? All the above pressures are painfully obvious. We've seen the escalation of legal disputes over water rights entire cities pitting themselves against each other and against major industries, and recent decisions to reject further applications for drilling new water wells. This is unavoidable; water is a limited resource. We've seen our burgeoning population growth, now to the point that several Utah communities this past election placed growth-contr- '1 homeless vet, and his Harry, a "road dog" Jim awake from a chilly night spent on the streets. The two had worked ld the previous day, but their wages couldn't buy them a night in a hotel. After eating dinner at the Food and Shelter Coalition, r 11 mlu i they set up camp near the railroad tracks in Provo. A rule of the road is that there is safety in numbers, and many homeless I i, .; ... r, people will pair up with an acquaintance they can trust. These partners are referred to as "road dogs". - ; . - . Jarron came to the valley from Idaho in pursuit of a job at the Micron construction site. Through Community Action of Provo, he was able to get a brief stay at a local hotel until he can get his first paycheck. Daily Herald Photos by Jason Olson w m w ol policies before their ers. We see disputes over the use of land, both public and private that resource is also limited and will become increasingly precious in future years. We see attempts to establish local control over "our" public lands, with the same mentality that threatens the Galapagos and killed the Aral and is killing its people. In all fields of resource use and management, validated by centuries of documentation, is the concept of "carrying capacity." It seems high time we explored its vot- Transitional housing could solve problems for Utah County's transient population injuries or deaths in Utah County. He sits outside the Salt Lake and Shelter Community Resource Center smoking a cigarette. .He has no home. He left abusive parents while young. He's now sick and fighting an addiction to alcohol. But life can't get any better for Fred today. He's had breakfast and will sleep at the men's shelter under warm blankets and without fear of getting mugged. He says he's there because there's no congregate shelter in Utah County. "Down there (Utah County) you have people who end up freezing to death," he says. ii In August of 1992, a study conducted by a group of human service providers in the county revealed there was disagreement on how to best help the homeless population. Some wanted a congregate shelter and some didn't. Brent Crane, executive director of the Food and Care Coalition, says that although there are some merits for a congregate shelter, there are other programs that have been more successful. He says he's opposed to shelters that house the homeless indefinitely without helping them improve their condition. "It's a band-ai- d approach to the problem. I think we can do more than that." director says The the solution to the problem is transitional housing and that advocates agree it's needed to guarantee the success of their programs. "Transitional housing would allow the coalition's patrons the time to work on underlying problems or barriers that the homeless face," Crane says. "If we think that they became homeless overnight we're wrong. Their homeless situation is the result of a lifetime of events." Bill Hulterstrom, president of the United Way of Utah County, says the area doesn't need a congregate shelter for the homeless low-inco- because it has a sheltering program that is meeting its needs. "A sheltering program is not based purely upon the building or warehouse which may be used. Our program is a very exhaustive effort," he says. "As with any program ... there's always going to be a limitation on the number that can be served. You run out of beds under any environment. You run out of beds if you have a shelter or a sheltering program." He also says nationwide, human service providers are hotel-vouch- leaning toward v r 7 ' a 7 " 7 V . V J ' r f If ' . " L .... J . 7 ' - :f r 5 everj' year. (See HOMELESS, Page C2) ' . 77 ? f 1 er i V'ii irr under the freeway whether there's a shelter or not," Hulterstrom says. "Every community has people who move from one place to the next. We have a lot who come from other cities ... it's an overly simplistic analysis to say that because we don't have a single building for sheltering we're not sheltering." Myla Dutton, executive direcCommutor of the Provo-base- d Action Services (CAS), says, nity estimates put Utah's homeless population at nearly 2,500 men, women and children on any given night. In Utah County, there are about ,000 homeless people traveling through the area ' M X7 if s :X hotel-vouch- people er sheltering programs rather than building permanent facilities to house the homeless. "There are 17 - ck meaning. There have been no By SHEILA SANCHEZ The Daily Herald ' XT1"' '" '7 t ' '; 7 . j . : r; Jason Taylor, left, a Direct Service Worker for Community Action of Provo, works with a client to provide needed medical care. with a 6ign Above, a homeless man stands on a freway asking for help. off-ram- p |