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Show 4A Emery County Progress Tuesday, November 8, 1994 PERSPECTIVE A lesson for Poland No more fences The following essay is a in the Emery High School First Term Essay Contest. The contest is sponsored by the Emery High Language Arts Department. er By KEVIN ASHBY coal for heat. The average wage for a coal miner in Poland is $350 a month. This is up from only $20 a month only sev- Progress publisher Can you imagine living inacoun-tr- y where all transactions are done eral years past. in cash, where only the government Current coal prices range from and big businesses have access to approximately $35 a ton tor coal used in power generation and up to banking services and loans? Poland has recently experienced $70 a ton for residential use. Dick Bracken, Carbon County political and economical changes, some ot' which are Credit Union, commented that when now affecting banking traditions. In you only get paid $350 a month in inflafact, the cooperative efforts affordcash and live with ed by credit unions in the United tion, a lot of people do not see the States are fast becoming the norm necessity of banking services. But for banking services in Poland. there is a movement to help push it where a is land very credit unions in Poland so that the Presently, few businesses accept checksoreven people can save, building cash reknow what a credit card is. The serves that can be loaned. The profuture is presently being molded. cess of people saving and taking out In an effort to gather information loans are actions that will help staabout credit unions that serve minbilize the Polish currency and econin the United communities States, omy. ing The economy is improving in two Polish union mine workers ere Poland and this trend has brought sent to Carbon and Emery counties. much hope to the Polish people, said Here, they discussed through an inof intricacies Silski. the setting up terpreter a savings and loan member cooperBracken described his involveative in their own country. ment in the discussions as very inThe Polish people are working formative. "They came here to learn about closely with the World Council of the chose we do things in America and and the how group Banking Carbon and Emery' location for the specifically in the credit union busiwide-sweepi- visit. Credit unions are not new to Polish people. Before 1947, many existed to serve the needs of the Polish citizens. With the after effects ot war and political takeover, these institutions were closed in 1947. After a wave of reform in the 90s. there are nowover90 different credit unions in Poland. The two visitors from Poland who visited here live in the Salish area. Wesola is the name of the mine and the part of the city where the mine is located in Poland. Wesola means happy . It was renamed from Leni n in recent years for obvious reasons. Located in this area are over 65 mines where 6,000 union miners are employed. The union is apart of the Solidarity Unionin Poland withover 2.5 million members. Adam Byzdra and Stanishlaw Silski. two local mine employees, were assigned by the union to investigate improvements to their newly formed credit union servum the miners m this distnct. Bvzdra was elected chairman ot the board ot directors for the credit union. Silski is the new president ot the credit union. The two rep rese nt at rves me t w i t h local credit union employees and government agencies during their stay. They described their part ot Poland as a beautiful part of the earth. They explained that Wesola is located in a black coal mining district as compared to brown coal. Long walls are used in the deep seam of coal. Most of the coal is used to produce electricity, but over half the homes in the city use 36-fo- ot ness but it was me that came out much more informed about their country, people and services," said Bracken. Bracken continued to say that the tw'o visitors were wearing out the interpreter asking questions about financial record keeping to relating to customer members. The two jet. ms .lO'iui ...ccKine to ,iome .onus. The', also uiscu.sscd the naiance "etween deposits ana loans ana the s.uexeepimz ot members monev tiroimn the savmizs programs oilereu by credit unions. Deanne Bringtiurst. Desenview Credit Union in Huntington, pair the responsibilities ot the employer and the employees and how to manage a financial statement tor a credit union. While in Emery County, the pair visited the Hunter power plant and Cottonwood mine. They met with union representatives for brief discussions about employer relations, wages, benefits and other common goals and problems associated with unions. When asked what impressedthem about life in Utah, both commented about the ability of leaving a car unlocked on the street. The wide open expanses of land with no one living on them was impressive. The desert climate was also a new experience for them. As economic conditions improve in Poland, so will the people's desire for a better way of life. Education is also an important part of life in Poland. Citizens see education as (Continued on page 9) No More Fences By Sundi Decker EHS senior "Affliction comes to us all, not to make us sad, but sober; not to make us sorry, but wise. ..It is the trial that proves one thing weak and another strong. ..A cobweb is as good as the mightiest cable when there is not strain upon it." Henry Ward Beecher Peering down on a picture of a somewhat crooked tree captured solitaire from an encircling forest, the black silhouette lines of trunk and misshapen branches caught my attention. It was not until my second look, however, that a thin, wire fence came to my eyes. It was topped with delicate barbed wire and thought it appeared low compared to the tree's wizened height, I couldnt help thinking it looked offensive and out of place. I wished that I could jump into the picture and bend the wires back, stooping to pull and dig the thick, wooden posts out, my knees brushing against clumps of bushes and baby trees. Maybe it's strange, but that tree leaning with a gentle, hillside forest, although tapering to the sky alone, did not symbolize loneliness. I saw wisdom fingering the sky with maze-lik- e branches. The body of the tree whispered into the gray clouds like a clear, soft prayer. That tree had grown beyond the fence; perhaps its life had been slowed by struggles... now it reached un- restrained. I suppose the fence could have been built long after the bare tree was outlined in the skies. I like to think however, that somehow, the threatening bar- - Goblins magic The following essay is a cowinner in the Emery High School Language Arts Department Nonfiction Essay Contest for first term. Over 40 entries were submitted by Emery High students. Goblin's Magic By Mercedes Murdock EHS sophomore My eyes adjust to the moonlit night. I see their dark shapes everywhere. ..all around me. Some shapes move, and some don't. Are they alive? Dead? Dying? I'll never know. Creeping over to check could prove fatal. I edge my foot slowly upward, feeling around on the crumbly rock for a hold. I silently hoist myself arm over arm until I reach the peak of the rocky mountain. My eagle eyes survey around me, until I am finally convinced that I'm all along at the top. I take a deep breath, and yell at the top of my lungs, "OLLY OLLY OPSEN FREE! I hear their replies echo in the midnight air. "Aw, SHOOT! She won AGAIN!" Welcome to Goblin Valley. I'll give you the grand tour. To your left is the rock formations that seem to twist in the cool, night air. To your right is Mercedes being strangled by her new friends after she wins another game. And all around, you feel the magic that permits the atmosphere. We're not talkingThe-Wonderful-World-Of-Disn- sort of magic. We're the real kind, the kind talking that touches your heart as well as your soul. As long as I can remember, our family would make plans to visit Goblin Valley under the full moon. It was a great excuse to sleep all day and play all night. Wed pile in the car, and get there after dark, at around 10:00. Then Dad would park his truck on the hill, give us flashlights, and make us swear over and over not to fall off the cliffand break our necks. Then he would smile sweetly and brightly chirp, "Have a good time!" We'd be buzzing up and down those formations so fast that our flashlights created a blur. I remember being so little that I could hardly climb even a small mountain side. I'd be sucking my fingers, tilting my head back to look at the sheer stone touching the sky and thinking, "Holy crow! Dad wants me to climb THAT! He must be Loony Toons!" Now I sizzle on up the hill as quick as a monkey. True, I have the grace of a cement truck while doing so, but I get up there. It's all part of the Goblin's magic. My favorite spot in the whole world is up there. I call it The H igh Seat ofAtheria. (You common folk may want to refer to it as 'The Chair.') When I found The High Seat ol Athena, 1 was about beside myself with rier had once intended to hinder the tree's progress. Maybe the tree had been restricted by the fence for a whole lifetime. We face life much the same way that tree does. We are restrained by affliction; we find fences surrounding us, challenging us to defend our need for independence and accomplishment. I propose that we can overcome trials by rising above and extending beyond them. In the long run, we will discover strengths from within ourselves by merely surpassing the trials that face us. Consider people whose lives have been touched with devastating hardship. Many stories of such people describe a miraculous turn of events just at the point when the person feels he or she can no longer go on. People who are told they will never walk again, learn to stand... men plunged into the horrors of war remember gratitude for the comforts of fife... joy. You have to shimmy up to the top of the highest forma- tion out there, leap a ledge, hoist yourself up a sheer cliff, walk on a natural stone bridge about the width of a do the hokey pokey and turn yourself around, and then jump off a precipice and pray to the Heavens that you hit The Chair and don't land a little to the left to dash yourself to smithereens on the ground a zillion feet under you. two-by-fou- r, It takes a brave heart and dense mind to try it. But once you are there, (after you say, "Aw, darn! I forgot my Dr. Pepper!" and you go back, get your drink, and do it all over again,) it's all worth the time and broken bones. The Chair is a smooth seat carved into the stone about 49 feet above the ground. I can lean back in it, and I even fell asleep in it once. (It was rather a shock to wake up with the breeze tickling my feet, since my shoes had fallen off while I slumbered.) I usually have a book in one hand, a flashlight in the other, and a drink between my knees. It makes me feel totally at peace; like the stars could fall out of the sky and bean me on the head a good one, and I wouldn't even care. Everything seems clear, too. The problems that have been plaguing my life are gone. That loser that believes that I think that the sun rises and sets in his biceps? I can parents whose children are stricken by incurable diseases, grow to accept death. The anguishes we know bring understanding, as well as mental growth. Physically we are stronger, better people because we must come to believe in ourselves. Confidence, above all, pushes a person upward and lowliness. beyond self-pit- y become we Though gnarled with age and struggle, we are mightier from the challenge and wiser in our intricate climbing. Where we stand there are no fences, but those that we mentally place on ourselves. Let affliction enter your life and conquer it. The sorrows of trial build to a point of endless strength. Reaching for distant goals and breaking down obstacles with slow, steady speed, will allow us unimaginable growth. but a man 's reach should exceed his grasp... Or what's a heaven for?" Robert Browning "Ah, just tell him that I have to wash my hair for the next 364 14 days. The History test I know I'll flunk? Forget it; their lives are gone and mine will be too, and what will it matter in a hundred years, anyway? My little brother is getting to be bigger than I am? Who cares? Ill always be prettier, and so on. In Goblin Valley, I've practiced my plays. I've been Juliette, Ophelia, Christine and Cleopatra. I've been everyone in the world besides myself. I know all the lines: "Second star to the right and straight on 'till morning." I've done it all, and been it all. (Well, everyone besides Kermit I do have my dig- the Frog. nity.) And when we're all so exhausted that we can hardly see straight, it being 3:00 in the morning and all, I wave a fond farewell to my adoring fans. The magic creatures frozen in the moonlight, destined to be goblins forever. The ones who can only cry when it rains, and can only talk when a little boy or girl makes up voices and personalities for them. They bestow their magic and listening skills on everybody in the world who seeks it; everybody but themselves. I blow kisses and say, "Thanks for listening; you're better than anyone I've ever met for that." It's all part of the magic. Forum Rreading interesting To the editor: It is interesting to read the press reports that come out periodically extolling the capacity of nature to recover from disaster. Environmental writers are now extolling the virtues of fire to renew the ecosystem in Yellowstone National Park for example. One article headline Forests do what comes naturally: they blossom, they burn, they bounce back. Six years after the 1988 conflagration in the park, naturalists use adjectives like luster, flourishing and rebounding to describe areas that were ravaged in the conflagration. Some even laud the value of fire in cleaning up decadent forests. So there is such a thing as a decadent forest. This is an important fact that is deliberately ignored b those who oppose timber cutting under the guise of protecting old growth forests. The fact is that these people often already have their cabin built, their income is secure and it matters not at all to them that others are put out of a job. But an even more important point needs to be made here. If a conflagration like the Yellowstone fires is a healthy renewal of the forest why do timbering or oil and gas exploration or any other use of the land by man result in irretrievable destruction: of nature? The fact is that mans use does not cause irretrievable destruction of nature. These kinds of charges which we hear relentlessly coming from the Sierra Club, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, Wilderness Society and others are merely elitist propaganda. It is elitist because these people generally are of comfortable means and it matters not to them tat Joe Sixpack is out ofa job or serving their tofu for minimum wage. What they want is the nations resources dedicated to their interest. Nothing exemplifies this hypocrisy more than Robert CNP personnel at Canyon View, hope the following will help ease these concerns. In an effort to better serve the needs of our children, the food service personnel at Canyon View, as well as other schools in our district, are constantly taking continuing education classes to further enhance our skills in meal preparation. Through such courses we learn techniques in cutting fat from our menus. In our efforts to reduce the fat content from our meals we practice the following. t andor vegetables, meats. 2. Cut down on the use of butter, removing it completely Redford standing on a patio of when possible. 3. Serve fewer desserts. his Sundance resort at the foot 4. Use whole wheat flour in of Mt. Timpanogos before teleour breads and baked items. vision cameras and complain5. Students are given the ing about over development of choice of whole milk, 2 percent the canyons of the Wasatch. Paul Young orl percent. 6. Serve oven-bakefrench fries and tator tots. School lunch concerns 7. Remove the skins and To the editor: oven bake our chicken. These are just a few of the There seems to be some con- things we do to cut down the cern among teachers, parents fat content in our meals. We and students about the amount are continually implementing of fat in school meals. We, the the new dietary guidelines put d 2 ounce serv- ing ofbread and 8 fluid ounces of milk. Through offer vs. serve, stu- dents have the option to choose three of five meal components. We hope Drain and rinse the fat off the ground beef. We mix half ground beef and half ground turkey in our menus. When possible, we purchase lean and 1. low-fa- out by the federal government. By comparison, school lunch does not contain as much fat as a sack lunch or junk food, such as: candy bars, cakes, chips, bologna, salad dressing, etc. In order to meet the federal regulations, all school lunches served have to have 2 ounces of protein, 34 cups to 1 cup fruit that this informa- tion is beneficial, and if there are any questions or further concerns, please contact any of the districts CNP lunch centers or the districts CNP supervisor. staffers like Matt Asay) who are orchestrating a letter writing campaign. Bill Orton has held dozens of town meetings throughout Utah to explain his positions on issues. He has a record on votes and legislative actions that shows him to be what very objective person knows- - a thoughtful, diligent representative who puts Utah ahead of partisan politics. Mr. Linton, on the other hand, has no idea what he is talking about. To quote from his letter, he says As a member of the Rules Committee he (Bill) votes one way on a bill and then when it is on the floor he votes another way... Fact: Bill Orton is not now nor has he ever been a member of the fence? These so-call- stud- ies each issue carefully and sides with Democrats when theyre right and votes with the Republicans when theyre right. Mr. Linton also says he is tired of not knowing where his congressman stands on issues. Mr. Linton, thats your fault. Orton is available at town meetings, you can call his office, you can write letters and express our opinions and ask for his, you can talk with him personally in meetings or on the phone. Instead you choose to simply perpetuate the ri- diculous, factual incorrect statements of Mrs. Thompson. Vinh Nguyen House Rules Committee. Where does Mr. Linton come LaRene Ivie up with this nonsense? Mr. Linton then goes on to Vee Guymon claim that Bill Orton is tough June Sherman to classify, that he plays both Gloria Wilson sides of the fence and uses as evidence the claim Response to Linton that Orton averages 48 percent on ratings from 12 differTo the editor: ent special interest groups. This letter is in response to What a ridiculous conclusion. the letter by Wame Linton of Since Orrin Hatch scores near Huntington. (Who is the real 100 percent from conservative Bill Orton). groups and near zeros from First of all, the real Bill liberal groups- - also averaging Orton is nothing like the ficti- around 48 percent- - should we tious creation of Dixie Thomp- also classify Sen. Hatch as son supporters (or campaign playing both sides of the statistics tell me that Congressman Orton Adultery is a crime To the editor: Would such a serious tragedy have happened to O.J. is America knew what a heinous crime adultery is? (Job 31:11). Whoso committeth adultery with a woman lacketh understanding: He that doeth it destroyeth his own soul. A wound and dishonor shall he get; and his reproach shall not be wiped away. For jealousy is the rage of a man; therefore he will not spare in the day of (Continued on page 5) |