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Show i BOX ELDER JOURNAL, 2 i 1 Brigham City, Utah A chance to grow Thursday, March 17, 1977 Thats not what Editorially Speaking airplanes People in government as confused as we? are built for J. McCarty Executive Secretary Utah Education Association by Dr. Daryl A student at Box Elder High school Wednesday morning asked of a speaker: Are the people who make laws in Washington as confused as we are about what they are doing? Not being on the scene, we cant answer for the folks who make the legislative wheels turn in the nations capital. But there certainly are some questions to be asked on occasion about the consistency of decisions made at the national level. For example: News headlines this week told of the Carter administrations request of Congress that it decriminalize marijuana possession. THE PROPOSAL as we interpret it from news accounts would remove criminal penalties for possession of small quantities of marijuana for the owners personal use. It would provide a civil fine, which would not result in a criminal record. The argument advanced is that criminal penalties that brand otherwise people for life are neither an effective nor an appropriate deterent. This is somewhat reminiscent of the Utah legislatures recent action which permits motorists to speed up to nine miles per hour in excess of the 55 mph limit without having it reflected on their driving record. The message is the same in each law-abidi- to accomodate those who case prefer to violate the law. Also this past week, The Food and Drug administration announced that it was banning saccharin, the artificial sweetener, because it is believed to cause cancer in laboratory animals. It means the federal government is moving one way on saccharin which may have an adverse effect on health, and another way on marijuana which also may have an adverse effect on health. The extent to which marijuana may be harmful to humans has not yet been clearly established in the laboratory. But we do know that, as an intoxicant, it is becoming a more significant factor in automobile accidents and fatalities. tablished smoking as a Wrong. This is National Employ Older Workers week and locally, Craig B. Stewart, vocational counselor with the Brigham City Job Service, office, suggests that this segment of the work force has a good track record. For example, experience indicates that workers 45 and over quit their jobs less than half as often as younger workers. This means an employer can count on more work years from most older job seekers than from the average younger worker. say, but what about his ability on the job? Doesnt the younger person turn in a higher level of performance? Not necessarily. According to the US Department of Labor, experience does not support they myth that older workers are less capable than younger workers. In fact, studies show that workers over 40 years old Ah hah, you child-raisin- TWb FOR THE ROAD many-facete- d robber of health yet subsidize the raising of tobacco. During a period of unparalleled drouth, states like Utah face the prospect of losing water storage projects while the administration proposes billions of dollars (which the country doesnt have) for make-wor- k projects like development of a soccer field in Brigham City. Yes, we believe youd have to say there is a basis for the young mans 6 . Problems not solved Editor: BOX ELDER A wfttkly 1908, published Ildar Box Letters to JOURNAL nw$ppr vry itabliihtd Thursday 55 t, in b may even surpass their younger counterparts in a number of ways. And these are some: Workers hired after age 40 generally attain a higher performance rating in a shorter time than those hired before the age of 30. Older workers tend to have a more positive attitude toward work than do younger workers. Older workers have a greater job stability and a better record of continued acceptance by employers once they are hired. The number of days lost per 100 workdays for all reasons goes down as age increases. Workers in every lose fewer age group above scheduled workdays than those in i eee Charles "Tuff" Claybaugh Publisher General Manager Bruce T. Keyes, Managing Editor Mike Parry, Sports Editor Sarah Yates, Society Editor Shirley Richardson, Classifieds Betty Claybaugh, Circulation Arland Tingey, Newspaper Supr. Van Claybaugh, Photo-Pres- s Supr. H. E. Anderson, Commercial Piinting Supr. The editor invites and welcomes letters for publication in these columns. However, contributions must be signed and also bear the writers adress and telephone number. It is suggested that letters not exceed 250 words in length. rate $10.00 per year paySubscription in advance in connection with the Box Elder News (published Sundays) in Box Elder County. rate $14.00 per year paySubscription able in advance in connection with the Box Elder News (published Sundays) outside Box Elder County. able Should earn a raise Member Utah State Press Association, National Newspaper Association and Press International. AdvertisUnited ing Representative: Utah State Press Salt lake City, Utah. Association, Editor: NATIONAL NEWSPAPER macuTiow fwiriitf ttv NNA SUSTAINING MEMBER 1972 50 any age group below 50. Surprised? Well, frankly, so are we. Perhaps we can say it just goes to show that rather than worrying about teaching an old dog new tricks, employers who have a prejudice against older workers ought to learn a new that it pays to trick themselves hire those over 40. Editor's Quote Book Life is neither a good nor an evil, but simply the scene of good and evil. Senaca I would like to make a few comments on Mr. Dallas L. Stokes letter. To start with what makes Mr. Stokes think he or anyone else is so indispensible that he cant be replaced. When George Washington quit, we had a John Adams, when he quit, there was a Thomas Jefferson and so on down to Jimmy Carter and it seems we have done alright so far. I realize that people need and should have a raise in pay. Mr. Stokes states he makes $15,000 a year. Raise his pay 10 percent that he would like, that is a $1500 raise. I think if he would check he would find there are a lot of people in Utah that live on less than the raise he wants. Does Mr. Stokes produce $1,500 more work per year? Just because people want a raise in pay is no reason they should get it. If they do not produce more they are not entitled to get more. They should earn a raise not be given one. The only way raises can be given is by raising taxes. When this happens, people that make a lot less than Mr. Stokes aid people that work at jobs that are paid out of tax money lose parts of their wages and make even less. Of course I am sure everyone appreciates what the state employes do for us and think they should be paid for their labor, but they should not be paid so much that it makes a hardship on the taxpayers. I think if Mr. Stokes is unhappy with his job or pay he should quit working for the state and see how much he can make in private industry. 326 Pay raise method 'a disgrace' Sincerely, Oliver Dunn, West Fourth North Brigham City Pay checks robbed also subto action to refused take any sequently disapprove the increase. The present method of determining federal compensation has many problems. Raises proposed by the President are automatic unless specifically rejected by Congress. Also, raises for members of Congress are tied to increases for federal judges and executives, making salary adjustments for top officials, however justified, subject to the political manipulations surrounding a congressional pay raise. I favored the pay hike for federal judges and top level executives because there is a huge discrepancy levels between the federal government and the private sector; it is becoming increasingly difficult to attract and retain well qualified people because of depressed executive salary The House of Representatives (D-Ala- i South' First Wast, Brigham City, Utah, 84902 Class postaga p a!j at tha Sacond post offica, U South First Wast j Brigham City, Utah, $4302. The Garn report The pay raise for members of Congress went into effect March 1. The vast majority of the mail and phone calls being received at my Utah and Washington offices this last week, have dealt with the pay raise so I will take this opportunity to again make my views on the subject known. TTie way the pay increase issue was handled is a disgrace. It is, at best, cowardly for Congress to allow their pay raise to go into effect automatically, without a direct vote on the record. There were three separate amendments in the Senate, all sponsored by Sen. Jim Allen ), which would have rejected all the proposed increase. I three. Unfortunately, one was tabled and the others were not considered before the Senate recessed Feb. 11. - -' f by Sen. Jake Garn v--- question. rt cant teach an old dog new tricks, right? season. Forgotten in all the drama, however, was the fact that Brock set another record that same year. That record was the largest number of times a base runner was called out trying to steal a base. The lesson here is that practically every persons success is preceded by failure. It takes daring to steal a base in the major leagues. Brigham Young universitys Glen Tuckett reminds us that Lou Brock didnt have to set his record of failures that year. All he had to do was sit tight and never try to steal a base. But because Brock did something instead of just sitting there, he stole more bases than any other player. That story has an application to Children may not grow up to be doers if we shelter them from failure. Because we love our kids, its not easy to restrain ourselves from protecting them. However, one wise father, when asked by a son to pay a considerable sum of money for a mistake the young man had made, said this: Son, I wont do that to you. That father was telling his son that bailing him out would be denying him a chance to grow and know. Of course, no parent worthy of the title would refuse to throw a rope to the son or daughter who was sinking in quicksand. The trick is developing the skill of knowing when to watch and when to push the frantic button. How? No thinker has ever developed a textbook to cover every conceivable situation, so were on our own most of the time. But this much is fairly well accepted: Those who never dare to do, suffer from a pitiable paralysis. The airplane that stays on the runway is usually out of danger. But thats not what airplanes are built for. OF COURSE there is precedent for our inconsistency. We have es- Older workers can do the job even better You A major league baseball player named Lou Brock received a lot of headlines when he set a record of 118 stolen bases in a levels. However, this problem will not be remedied as long as congressional salaries are tied to those of other federal employees. To help remedy these dilemmas, I have introduced a bill, S. 723, which would require Congress to consider raises for federal officials separately from their own. It would also require congressmen to approve or reject any congressional pay raise by direct roll call vote. In addition, the bill provides that each member of Congress may defer any raise until after having stood for (There are presently no means available for a Congressman to not accept a pay raise.) I am certain that this bill Editor: May I offer my voice of support to Councilman Burke in his dissenting vote to the proposed increase in our light bills. I am thanltful we have one councilman who has some feeling toward the trapped group of Brigham City citizens whose pay checks are continually being robbed by government bodies whose only recourse, it appears, is to make up for our mistakes by leveling higher utility costs upon the community in a way that if the public dont pay we can penalize them. Of course these increases can be met by the more affluent citizens without hardship, but the fixed income group are compelled to make more and more sacrifices. I am originally from England and after all this time find myself having empathy for the Bostonians who were driven to rebellion! ! ! would el- iminate most of the problems existing our method of compensation. in 154 Eveline Foster, South Fifth East Your article on power rate increases and my third wrong billing in as many billing periods from Brigham City Corp. arrived at the same time. The solutions in both cases havent addressed the real problems and therefore the problems still exist. In the case of the incorrect billing, crediting my account with the amount of the overcharge after rereading the meter hasnt solved the problem as the next bill comes with an incorrect reading, The case of curing revenue deficits with an across the board 20 percent power rate increase will tidt solve the problems of late billing, energy conservation, lower water and sewer revenues. The article does not specifically indicate whether the 20 percent increase will cover the 15 percent boost by Utah Power and Light effective April 1 or the proposed 7 percent boost by the B of R. Since Ive resided in Brigham City less than two and one half months maybe someone can provide some answers to the following questions: How can the city afford to read my meter twice each month, once for the incorrect reading and one to get the correct reading? Why electrical rates have to pay for lost water and sewer revenues when these are billed separately on the monthly bill? Why the city hesitates to spend $20,000 to find the 3 million gallon per day leaks in its water system, water which could be used to generate electric power now? Why the electric rate structure which encourages waste (the more you use the less per kwh you pay) isnt changed to a energy conservation rate (the more you use the more per kwh you pay)? Yours for a fairer, more economical and responsive Brigham City Corp. 583 Gaywood E. Paul Harmoney Place Clarifies statements Dear Editor: At the last regular meeting of the Box Elder Board of Education, I had opportunity to make two statements. Im writing this letter to clarify the separation of the statements and to make a correction, which I feel is needed, relative to wording used in the news summary of my comments. In neither statement did I use the words: Shouldnt knuckle under to salary demands. In my second statements I did ask the board to enhance the publics role of expressing views during the upcoming process of budgeting for 1977-7The steps suggested were (1) inform the public as to the amount of increase in funds to be budgeted, (2) ask the public to express ideas on the use of funds and (3) keep salary agreements with employees tentative until after the budget affected by those agreements has gone through the steps required by law, namely, public notice, opportunity for public inspection, a public hearing and board adoption. My first statement was in response to matters discussed by the board relative to the revision of the budget for the current year and I did say that the board ought to have stood firm in subtracting the deficit and using the balance as expendable funds. In this letter I have explained my statements in reverse order and have give more attention to the one, because, at this point, it is more important to look to the opportunities re district budgeting which the future can bring rather than to dwell on the past. 8. Sincerely yours, Marjorie Childs, Brigham City IkWafito H(li.SiVTlAY...Wtl 1)01 |