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Show "The world has achieved brilliance without conscience. Ours is a world of nuclear giants and ethical Gen. Omar N. Pradlcy ( 1 893-- 1 98 ). infants. " A ID o)00D0DD 1 6 Uondcy, April 8, The Daily Herald bad Uoiafeomfeeo1 wasn't a mysteiaci T I'll never forget the day Mr. Johnson, math teacher, called us up the white-haire- d to his desk to hand out our final algebra grades. He saved me for last. And before giving me the grade card, he softly said: ' Can I assume that you are not planning a career in engineering, physics or any other field that requires a grasp of mathematics?" I nodded vigorously. "Good," he said, "because I would not want to enter a building or cross a bridge that you were involved in planning for fear that it would collapse." I nodded even harder. "Then I am going to gie you a D. which is a passing grade, even though I'm sure that you didn't have the faintest idea what this class has been about and should have an F. And because you never once Cell asleep in class. I'm coins to make it a I thanked him profusely. Once the card was in my hand. I said: But you know. I was pretty good in geometry. Got a B." He smiled kindly and said: "It's not the same thing." "And an A." I said, "in an accounting " class." "Accounting is arithmetic. It is not mathematics. Mathematics is..." His voice trailed off and he got a dreamy, faraway look in his eyes. Then he said: "But you wouldn't understand, would you?" He was right. I didn't understand then, and I still don't. I've long been convinced that there are two kinds of people: A minority who have true mathematical minds and the majority of us who don't. I haen't felt deprived. Geometry and its angles helped me become a good pool player, and my modest accounting skills earned me a few honest dollars in poker, blackjack and as a bookie's apprentice. But I've always been in awe of those whose mathematical minds let them find wonder and beauty in all those strange ( sym- bols on a blackboard. The nuclear age was created by such people, as was the amazing laptop computer that I'm using to write this. But as smart as they are in their own and I hope it doesn't offend anyway one they also tend to be kind of weird. I've read about math professors who spend years juggling endless X's and Y's and pluses and minuses to prove that some other math genius, who has been dead for 200 years, was right or wrong about his X's and Y's. AnJ when the math genius is done, the only people who understand what he proved or didn't proe are his fellow math geniuses. Unlike geniuses in other fields g painting, writing, singing or the math genius seems to exist in a er confined world located between the left eir. the right ear. the forehead and the hck of the noggin. Maybe that's why we hear about brilliant but drunken poets and painters, brild liant but musicians, brilliant slam-dunkin- drug-addle- but whacked-ou- t novelists. But who ever d heard of a brilliant but drunken, or w hacked out math genius? So I'm not surprised that when the FBI says it has finally caught a suspect who drug-addle- IcrOn' riilto The Chicago Tribune I'nabomber. he might be the turns out to be a brilliant mathematician who seems to have a few X's and Y's rattling around loose upstairs. In looking at his background, we see that even as a kid growing up in Evergreen Park. III., Theodore Kaczvnski. now 53, had remarkable math skills. He breeed through high school. Harvard and the University of Michigan on his way to a math doctorate. One of his mentors said Kaczvnski was so smart that he took only one year to solve a math problem that should have taken at least two years or more. Then something happened. We don't know for sure, and maybe never will, but it seems that as a young math professor in California, he peered beyond the world of X's and Y's and saw what most of us consider to be the real world. He didn't like what he saw all the lack of order, and discipline. And that was when he apparently gave up the world of X's and Y's and developed h social theories about how modern technology was ruining the world. Which is OK. There's room in our society for all kinds of theories, solid or crackpot. But it's believed that Kaczvnski decided the w ay to fight the technology menace was to send bombs that killed or hurt people who weren't to blame for the social messiness that bothered him. So what we seem to have here is a brilliant but certifiable nut. It appears that his own family thought so. which is why they took the painful step of tipping off the FBI to the evidence that led to his arrest in that remote western cabin. It's sad. Had he been a genius is some other field painting, writing or music, for example he might have worked off his rage at the corner pub by getting sloshed and picking a fight with the guy on the next stool. Or had he been a whiz at business or finance or even accounting, his way of going flippo might have been to embezzle corporate assets and blow them at the roulette wheels. But he made the mistake of looking for the kind of order and logic in the real world that he had in the world of math. That kind of thinking could drive anvone nuts. self-contr- ol non-mat- p.S. economy can ill afford to bear brunt of litigation By PIETRO S. NIVOLA damages, doesn't quite settle the issue. "We believe in business. We believe in Sooner or later most companies expect tjie marketplace. We know that economic to get sued. And when their number is up. growth will be the best jobs program this most entrepreneurs simply cannot risk country will ever have" incurring colossal legal fees and dedicat- Bill Clinton and Al Gore put this emphatic declaration in writing during the 1992 presidential campaign. But this time ivund. Clinton has been penning something else: Vetoes of bipartisan legislation (Jf considerable importance to businesses, ing months of their time in open-ende- d found markets and growth. Last Decempretrial discovery and other punctilious ber, the target was a compromise bill that preparations for hearings and trials. So the nought to discourage frivolous lawsuits by prudent course is to settle out (if court. Ihyreholders. Now it's a moderate plan to With the overwhelming majority of cases lestrain punitive damages in product liaending in pretrial settlements, usually for bility suits. Congress managed to override undisclosed amounts, the rarity of punitive ftc president on the first of these damage awards is besides the' point. A lot The second, however, is probably a more money is changing hands as our oner. relentless litigation labors to remedy every At first glance, who cares? Ninety-fiv- e imaginable injustice or misfortune. preent of all tort cases are filed in state Opposition to federal legislation like nurts. The bulk of the caseload involves the Securities Litigation Reform Act and auto accidents. Most of the states have the proposed Product Liability Fairness reformed aspects of their civil justice sys-mAct presumably presupposes that the state The rapid rise in tort filings peaked in governments have done enough, and that Re now the social benefits of the status Contrary to popular lore. quo " in trials cases tort are surely as ry outweigh the costs. But even people relatively rare, e the awarding of punitive damages. The who attach value to (and faith Cedian award for all tort cases is a nnxicst in) the capacity of the American legal sys$52,000. All this might suggest that federal tem to deter negligent producers, nd us of J&ndards, however minimal, are not needed. risks, and redress our every grievance ought to wonder whether we really can 5T Unfortunately, they are. The volume of civil suits in the United continue to have it both ways: liberally States appears to have leveled off, but on a suing in pursuit of more and more safety Cgh plateau. More than a million state tort or satisfaction, while also expecting no Jases a year were still being filed as of significant erosion in civil (rust, economic 5?92. Conservatively estimated, the cost productivity, and incomes. Pietm S. Sivola in a senior fellow at pf America's penchant for tort litigation The Brookings Institution in Washington, jpntinues to exceed the total economic of Sweden. The fact (hat product DC, ami is the editor of the forthcoming Stput disputes are only a fraction of the Brookings book, "Comparative Disadvanturn, and that the defendants in these ca- tages? Domestic Sot ial Regulations and sts are seldom socked with vast punitive the Global Ei om m v. " Gommontajy mea-fiire- s. fcottcso Make golf pay off course that is on a paying basis. My question is: Why can't Provo City do what Ferron. Springville. Spanish Fork, or Payson do? That is, operate in the black, supervise the play on the golf course to make sure the investment is protected, make all people feel they are welcome and have a manager at the golf course during working hours? We need to elect someone who has the proper knowledge to run a golf course. I get the feeling that all we have is an of a hamburger care business w ho couldn't even keep that business on a pay ing basis. When Floyd Giles retired, the city government didn't hire the local employee who had worked for Provo City for many years in the Parks and Recreation Department. They brought a man in from out of state to fill the position. My experience with that man has been (hat he cannot feel the problems that senior citizens hav e. Now we have a golf course that has been leased to a private company with nearly the same managers who were with the city operation. How can the same people who operated the course in the red expect lo change to a lease company and operate the course al a profit? Jack Gammon have a feeling that our tax dollars are not being spent tow ard the benefits of the senior people of the city, especially the ones who are disabled. Allow me to tell you why I feel this way. My family moved to Provo and began paying taxes in 1942. married and started raising a family and began paying taxes in 1951. I started playing golf at the Provo City Municipal Golf Course in 1954. The name of the course w as Timpanogos Golf Course. At this time. Bill Johnston was the manger and was responsible fir its proper peration. Bill had four very able assistants: Earl W ild. Sonny Braun. Jerry Braun and Bill Ruper. To my knowledge, they all did their very best to promote the very best course in operation. Bill was at the golf course supervising the operation during most of the working hours. During this time, the golf course made money for the city. Many thousands of dollars were put into the general fund. Some of this money was used to buy machinery to help the Parks and Recreation IX'partment. After Bill Johnston left to create his ow n golf course in Scottsdale. Ariz.. Provo hired Provo Dave Crow ton to run the golf course. Dave always tried to do the job of head golf professional as well as he could and was always on the job during working hours. The recent article regarding the extreme He was always a friend and a gentleman. To my knowledge, the golf course still environmental organization U.S. PIRG. and its recent attack on Congressman Jim made money under Dave's supervision. Hansen and Sens. Orrin Hatch and Bob After a short while, the assistants began Bennett for receiving money from political Earl Wild Las to went as a leaving. Vegas action committees opposed to "protecting professional. Sonny and Jerry Braun went to the Monterey Peninsula Country Club, endangered wildlife" is the most blatant one of the finest golf courses in the world. demonstration of hypocrisy i have ev er seen. After a few years. Sonny returned to Recently, the Environmental Action L'tah to become the Head Professional at Foundation (EAF) released its annual Hobble Creek Golf Course in Springville. study of contributions to environmental and to my know ledge, his programs make organizations. The EAF is an environmena great amount of money for Springville tal organization w hose charge is to get full disclosure of the influence of other enviCity. He is always on the job during workronmental organizations. What the study ing hours, he always knows what is going on at the golf course and he is a friend and shows is most interesting, in light of the a gentleman to all w ho come to the course. attack by US PIRG on Utah's congressional delegation. After Dave Crow ton's retirement. Jerry Braun. Sonny's brother, applied for the The National Parks and Conservation head professional job al Provo City's Association (NPCA) receives money from course (Timpanogos Golf Course). He w as tobacco giant Philip Morris. Dow Chemicalled in California three times to return to cal. ARCO Chemical. ARCO Oil. BP Provo for interviews, which he did. and America Exxon. Mobil and Waste Manwas not the successful candidate. He apparagement. The Sierra Club, the National Audubon Sxiety. the National Wildlife ently did not play college golf at BYU. Some time later, a golf course manager Federation. Friends of the Earth and the job opened in Ferron. l'tah. al Ferron's Mill-sit- e World Wildlife Fund obtain contributions Golf Course. It is a very enjoyable trip from the likes of Amoco. Chevron. ARCO. down to play Millsite. Each time I've gone Philip Morris, RJR Nabisco. Anheuser-Busc- h down, Jerry and his wife Linda are at the Archer Companies. Georgia-Pacificourse during working hours, and what a Daniels Midland Company and Monsanto. This is not even the tip of the iceberg. refreshing feeling it is to receive their greettrue friends, and As the EAF points out in its report, ing. They act like long-los- t, I feel thai (hey are. I believe they have a golf "unlike campaign contributions which are I 1 Hypocritical attack c. subject to public scrutiny, the contribuare no(. A( (his time a tions to challenge goes out to US PIRG and other environmental organizations with extremist agendas such as the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance to make full disclosure of all of their contributions. It is clear (ha( if (hey believe that contributions have such an unduly influence over people's actions, then maybe all of them should be subject to (he same suict disclosure laws that campaign contributors are under. This attack by the environmental extremists against congressmen Hansen and our two senators is more than hypocritical; it is downright repugnant. Taylor Hansen non-prof- i( New Harmony Understanding gays Ignorance, intolerance, bigotry and indifference have created impossible lifestyles for young men and women who didn't happen to emerge from their mother's womb d with sexual characteristics. Variations in sexuality range from outwell-define- right hermaphroditism (male and female characteristics in the same individual) to subtle psychosexual changes, many of which seem related to chromosomal differences and gene sequencing. People who are labeled "gay: and other unfortunate terms are misunderstood and mistreated out of ignorance in my opinion. We are coming to realize that fetal aberrations create handicapped people with such different problems as epilepsy and brain disorders. When epilepsy was not underskxxl. folks so afflicted were often labeled evil. "Only the devil coukl cause such seizures." ignorance insisted. Religions were especially prone to label anything not understood as evil, especial- ly if fear w as involved. Now. when gender identification is dis- turbed by embryonic errors, the results can impose a lifestyle even more difficult than epilepsy; here are women who feel like men and men who feel like women. All of this w hile society tells them they are evil and produced by the devil. It required vears of education to disnH (he superstitions surrounding epilepsy, but the public has come to realize that epileptics are not inhabited by evil forces. Religions were the last to accept scientific explanations of epileptic seizures, most of w hich w ere genetic or Let's hope religious institutions are not the last to understand deviations in psychosexual lifestyles, recent disturbances in Salt Lake City schools imply students may be ahead of their professors and leaders w here understanding of psychosexual differences are concerned. Eugene J. Faux Provo injury-relate- ! ! ! J d. s. mid-1980- s. near-infinit- I Doonesbury BY GARRY TRUDEAU axxxsr pip you) : fSAY (VERB VOU ' MY6OPIKJMS0NH&B! iOUMQNTME-- 70AXMY OWN &PUWCNP' ( fc'T&M 60T7nausr I USs. I 3V UMU I VOUTSNCHARB&IF CANT SET YOUR: YOU V CHOCS . M&,I0CUHT jlB. 0CtUf THAT PCeS$CM A LOTTO V V V - - t I ; ' |