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Show nvnty lip fljl pg $ T trip p j Page Xlf AS Xtnua-3nbrpfnbr- Thursday, March 16, 2000 nt OURTOWM The Perils of Community Comments Polity by Sam Taylor ably also saved the Utah Press Association. In the early part of the century, warring factions in the press group nearly broke it up. Jones intervention was the only thing that held things together, and it now survives as the oldest trade association in the State of Utah. To have received an award dedicated to this great pioneer in the publishing industry is indeed an honor. Utah Press Association gathers each February or March for its annual convention, and usually I during the summer for a fun time grew up with a number of todays older publishers. My kids grew up with a lot of the younger ones. There are a lot of family newspaper operations in Utah. Our member publishers are almost like family. The best part of this year's convention was the visiting and exchanging of ideas. There was a lot of that. We are looking forward to in Heber City. That this summers mountain community is always a great place to visit in the summer. Our friends who run the newsUtah newspaper paper there are Dick Sue and Sues Dad, Norm Buys. people, of were Richfield wife Fuellenbach and his Marge, some of our best fnends and staunchest supporters when we were getting started. Norm passed away a number of years ago but Marge is still active, and never misses a convention. The Buys have a brand new plant and a brand new printing press they want to show off this summer, and were looking forward to the trip. For all the awards, for all honors, for all the respect, and most importantly for the friendships of our friends in the newspaper business, our sin- We made our annual trek across southern Utah last week to attend the annual convention of the Utah Press Association. It was one of the most relaxing and satisfying sessions we have ever attended Aside from the fact that we took our fair share of awards in the association s Better Newspaper Contest, Adrien and were additionally honored by our colleagues when they gave us the John E Jones award for long service to our proles sion The award is not given every year, only when the awards committee has a special reason to do so This was the first time it has ever been given to a husbandwife team By recogI r. the community newspaper business acknowledged that we truly are a team and have been for nearly 40 years. John E Jones was not a publisher He was nizing us both, our friends multi-generati- in general manager of a paper and printing equipment company that served newspaper and printnot ing operations all over Utah His company it was the probably country press, only supplied responsible for keeping many operations in business, through technical assistance and in many cases liberal credit terms. He was universally loved and respected by publishers all over Utah. didn't know him, but my father spoke fondly of him all his life. By the time came along, the company, Western Newspaper Union was being managed by another man who became one of my y closest friends and exploring partF. on the carried Newman. Julian ners, Julian for his help in Jones tradition Had it not been my early years on the job, would probably not have made it much of a career. Jones, because of his universal respect, prob get-togeth- er third-generati- I I back-countr- I fee Times-Independe- cere thanks. guest editorial nt They could tell me about would never experience the pain or suffering that they have. could never feel their bravery or their fear. could never know how they feel on Veterans Day or about children who know nothing about what they did. I can never tell you abouj bow raycKrespect I have tor people who have gone to war, nor can tell you about how furious get when people walk by and ignore me as sit and sell poppies for veterans. The people at the VA hospital are true Americans. These men and women gave us everyhing. makes me what happened, but n. non-huma- Note the following essay was written by Mallory Murphy, and won first place in the State of Utah in the American Legion Auxiliarys annual essay contest As state winner, she has been awarded a trip to Fret dom Foundation at Valley Forge, PA, to Americanism Youth Conference attend tho three-dasponsored by the Nalonal American Legion Auxiliary ) ( Editor's I I I y Americanism ... Personally Defined I I I often think about what it is to be an American, and every time, come up with something new. have come to the conclusion that its an idea and people are drawn to it. Most people want to be Americans, but we all take our status for granted and truly do not know how lucky we are. think the reason so many people are drawn to America is because its called the "Land of Opportunities. People believe that they can make a better future here, and thats true, because all people in America have the common ethics of hard work and determination. think that in order to find the spirit of Americanism, you need to go to the VA hospital. Many of the people there know what Americanism is. They've seen it staring them in the eye. When go there. I'm often scared that Ill not feel what these people feel, and I'm scared that it almost I I They gave us the spirit that all Americans have. It's the loyalty, faith, trust, desire and gratitude that is inside everyone who stands up to say the Pledge of Allegiance and everyone who has respect for the flag and all the people that died I I defending it. Its inside everyone who loves America and helps to keep it functioning; its in anyone who protects and stands up for America. guess Americanism can be everything from an idea that you believe in with your whole heart, to the way you feel when the National Anthem is played, to the first time you celebrate Independence Day with fireworks, to the way your heart pounds and tears come to your eyes when you listen to Taps and look at the wonderful flag of the United States of America. I I I Brick Bats and Bouquets Accolades and Admonishment with regard to issues in our community Bouquets to the community of Moab for supporting agencies such as Seekhave and The Christmas Box House. The recent "Putting on the Ritz" event was a sue for Seekhaven. Community donations to the Christmas Box Hous cessful of toys, books, handmade clothing and quilts, outdoor play equipment and numei ous other items helps to serve many children. fund-rais- er tHljc tUtmca-Inbcpcnbc- nl (UPS) Entered as Second class Matter at the Post Office at Moab, Utah under the Act of March 3, 1897. Second class postage paid at Moab, Utah 84532. Official City and County Newspaper. Published each Thursday at: 35 East Center Street, Moab, Grand County, Utah 84532 6309-200- address: editor6moabtimes.com Postmaster: Send changes of address to: The P.O. Box 129, Moab, UT 84532 ail Times-Independe- or FAX 435-259-75- Member 435-259-77- 41 NATIONAL NEWSPAPER ASSOCIATION "t Sena T. Flanders Franklin Seal Tom Taylor. Ron Flanders Mary Wright Dorothy Anderson and UTAH PRESS ASSOCIATION Samuel J. and Adrien F. Taylor Editors and Publishers Associate Editor Zane Taylor..... Production Manager News Writer Kelly Encson, Steve Cooper, ....Circulation Mgr., T- Maps Jed Taylor.... Backsbop Ken Dayey. Systems Manager ..Contributing Writer Advertising Representative Green River Correspondent Betty Bailey. Mail Room Supervisor Ron Drake Castle Valley columnist Jose Churampi Distribution -l Idle Thoughts from Mt. Waas by Ollie Harris Gettin' old . . . One thing about getting to be an old guy, it is interesting to examine ail that is happening, to marvel and to wonder. I seem to be enduring some sort of paring process, trimming an old passion here, snipping at an old relationship there, grinding away so much that once bristled with life. Twice during this past week I encountered an old friend. I marveled that my heart did not jump, that we did not immediately propose some great adventure. Steve and I shared some truly memorable times in the old days. We spent a perfectly miserable winter night huddled with Dale under used carpet remnants near the pools by Indian Peak in western Utah. Such misery for a few fish, but what memories. The three of us were hunting deer in an extremely rugged area. I volunteered to descend to the bottom of a steep canyon, to stir up whatever deer might have been there. In the depths of the canyon I came upon the scattered bones of four people mixed with the burned wreckage of an airplane. We climbed Mt. Peale together. In late autumn we camped at Dark Canyon Lake in the beautiful La Sals. We awoke to frost on the ground and a rime of ice on the still water around the edges of the lake. I cast my lure and a part of the reel arced through the air, landing with a small splash into thirty or forty inches of icy water. We built a roaring fire beside the lake. I stripped off my clothes, waded out into the water and retrieved the piece of my reel. I dried myself beside the fire, dressed and continued fishing. We floated down the San Juan River between anowclad banka during one Christmas break. We spent the night in s of the way between Bluff and the hogan about Mexican Hat. We seasoned a duck, buried it overnight in two-third- ' High Country News Writers on the Range The two Grand Canyons By Mary Sojourner For eons, Arizona had only one Grand Canyon, our high desert ocean of rock and light, our beloved Big Ditch. No more. A second abyss is opening, ugly as the original is beautifiil. fry, Pulling Apart, a study prepared by the 7IvJ5ret ard Policy Priorities, and the Institute, announced the gap between the poorest Americans is growing rapidly anaLier Thflg iiaecond for that grim distinction. Thfi AnzSna Republic headline read: Rich, poor chasm widens. Imagine canyon rims, one lavish with landscaping, another stripped of everything. Imagine a retired couple living in 8,000 square feet of Rustic Park Style native wood and stone on one rim; a family jammed into a motel room on the other. i This is 2 1 st Century Arizona Scottsdale, Prescott, Tucson and Flagstaff; forests leveled, deserts scraped raw, intact neighborhoods bulldozed; rents so high working people have to hold two and three jobs to make ends meet; a state where some mothers ask an advice columnist what they should do with the surplus food they stored for Y2K, and others flock to shelters for their kids meals. A state where aging men and women buy new. faces and bodies; and roughly a million Arizonans, one-fift- h of the population, cannot afford health insurance 300,000 of them children. Experts tell us there are reasons for the gap: Wall Streets bull market; rich retirees flocking to our golf e courses and gated developments; service jobs replacing manufacturing work; indigenous people, students and immigrants from Mexico and Central America working for minimum wage, or less. The study understates the incomes of the richest, , not intentionally, but because capital gains, the profits made from the sale of stocks, real estate and other assets, are not included (in 1997, the top 5 percent of American families received 75 percent of all capital gains). and opens everywhere. New So, the abyss widens Mexico weighs in third, the poorest earning $8,720, and the wealthiest, $111,295. And while Montana ($10,762-$99,9Oand Wyoming ($13,238-- $198,450) fare better, the incomes ofthe middle fifth dropped 15.7 percent in Wyoming and 9.9 percent in Montana, while the top fifths incomes continued to grow. In Colos rado, the earnings grew 9.2 percent, while the top 15 low-wag- mid-fifth- y the coals of the fire and ate it for breakfast. So, what has become of this fire in the belly? When I see my old friend now it is just, Hey, how ya doin7 Nice to see you." Then we both go on our way, tending to whatever business it is that occupies old guys. The other day I was shepherding a couple of grandkids at the dentists office after school while my wife was in Salt Lake City helping to tend to her father in the hospital. Toni came in and remarked that we are in that between generation, tending to our parents on the one hand as well as our kids or grandkids on the other. A cattleman friend of mine told me that he is beginning to feel like the old bull on the range that wants to get away from everybody, to escape somewhere over the mountain into a completely different drainage, and live a life of solitude. I met another old cowboy while hiking high on the La Sals. He told me that his dream was to fort-u- p alone for the winter in a cabin high in the snow with a big pile of wood, plenty to eat and drink and a big stack of books. What is happening to us old guys? When I was much s younger, fantasizing about exciting things, I thought that death must be lifes greatest adventure. How could I have known that old men really don't care that much for adventure? Why, I have practically given up looking twice at beautiful women. It isnt that they do not catch my eye, its just that so many of them are the age of my daughters. Worse, my granddaughters are rapidly becoming , beautiful women. This knowledge makes me vaguely uncomfortable to catch myself giving women an appreciative, second look. All of this may explain the deep pleasure I get from long, solo hikes and bike rides. My brain becomes hyperoxygenated and my mind, awash in exercise-induce- d endorphins, drifts away to entertain itself. It indulges long strings of technicolor fantasy, of reverie. It is my way of against the loss of so much that was once so important. L h fifths zoomed 30.5 percent Similarly, Idahos grew a modest 1.9 percent while the top fifth jumped 25 percent Beyond these figures are considerations perhaps more essential, because what lies between the dwellings of the richest and poorest is not the bright mineral air of our Big Ditch. It is the emptiness left after insatiable hungers have fed. How much is enough? How many Range Rovers and Lexi? How many homes? Clearly not one. Sometimes, two, not rarely three or four. Huge, silent houses whose owners occupy them a month, a week, a weekend a year. Flagstaff's temporary neighbors drive up from the heat of Phoenix and Tucson, play a few rounds of pricey golf, dine out, spend a couple of nights in the cabin, and leave. They will tell you they have worked hard for in a country in which over 65 percent of their money the wealth of the top 5 percent of the population is inherited. What they wont tell you is that many of them have made their millions from developing" the deserts and forests in which their vacation mansions squat. We have the right," they say, Its private property. If you want to protect land, buy it!" Their words echo across Arizonas economic chasm. Buy it!" How? Pulling Apart tells us the most wealthy Arizonans earned an average $141,190 annually while the states poorest made $10,801. How do you buy food for your family, shelter, clothing, medical care, school much less land that goes supplies on $10,000 a year? for $60,000 to $500,000 a lot. A few days after Pulling Apart was released, our local daily carried an editorial response in winch we were told: be looking at ways to raise rather than bashing the rich family incomes for newly arrived immigrants. Native Americans on reservations and other groups such as minimum wage service workers." The following morning I learned northern Arizonas only educations Ijob training program geared specifically for displaced homemakers" was gone. The same state politicos that gleefully announced budget surpluses last spang had slashed the programs funds. These days, it costa $20 per car to enter Grand Canyon National Park, to stand on the edge of timeless beauty, to be reminded of how fleeting human fortunes are. For those living on the wealthy side of Arizona's new chasm, the fee is a bargain. For their poorest neighbors across the shameful gap, it is 10 percent of their weekly wage. Mary Sojourner is a contributor to Writers on the Range, a service oTiigh Country News (www.hcn.org). She writes from Flagstaff, Ariz. mid-fift- fPOOR C |