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Show Good DESERET NEWS, Thursday, trzm. . P M v I? V s . 1 t it i I J B . ' J ! i I;,. 4 v A S3 October 29, 1970 4 I X? . The News In You may writ ' to Do lt Man, Box 1257 Salt Lake City, Utah 84110 Not all the news is bad In fact, good news probably would fill more pages than bad news, as a Deseret News team discovers in this story today. The team consists of Don Woodward, Cnrtis Burnett, Curtis Starr, Leo Parry and Dennis Read. Photograph by Howard Moore Each day, thousands of good, kind, things are done by people. they are remembered, sometimes they are even commented on but always they happen. For the most part those things are done for the simple pleasure of doing them. No one expects a reporter to show up as he carries a hot dinner to his sick neighbor, and no one really expects to receive a commendation ceremony when he helps, out at an accident. Thats an important thing to keep in mind u'li&e dayst when sur news S'jcius to be full of sorrowful stories of riots, disasters and failures. kidnappings, News, after all, is something unusual, and the very unusualness of these unhappy events makes them stand out. Yet the newspapers are also full of stories about triumphs, of people who care, who do bother to get involved. A Deseret News team took a look at one day in Utah, specifically to focus attention on the happier things that are happening here. It immediately became apparent that it would be almost impossible to chronicle every gnod act as fully as we chronicle every crime. There wouldnt be that much space. They found a heartening series of stories about volunteers in hospitals, drug centers, courts and nursing homes. They saw evidence that the ideal of simply being good is pervasive. Here are a few of the stories they Money Refunded; Keep Building thoughtful Sometimes Ray Smith, right, and Jay Smith begin listing broken toys that will be repaired in program to help underprivileged. full-dre- found: Tha Christmas season started some time ago for the people at IML Inc. Already an old airplane hangar is starting to fill up with bicycles, toys, dolls, clothing and other odds and ends that will ultimatey find their way to a destitute family. IMLs Christmas Club is eight years old, and its one of the biggest such drives conducted in the state. Last year IMLs employes donated more than $5,000, plus uncounted hours of their own time, to help needy families at Christmas. They took care of more than 80 families. Ray Smith, a truck driver who serves of the club, showed one as sample application. Three in this family are in wheelchairs, he said. The fathers been ill, the kids have muscular dystrophy theyre destitute. Theyll obviously be taken care of. IMLs club began 10 years ago when an IML driver was' killed shortly before Christmas. The drivers chipped in to provide a Christmas for his family, and after they had done that, they had a little left over to help someone else. From that beginning it snowballed, and most significant of all, its been done by the workers themselves. IMLs offi-- cers do everything they can to help in the way of providing facilities to clean, weld or paint the toys, but otherwise stay away from meddling with it. Jay Snitfc, another driver, will spend from now through Christmas in fixing up bicycles. Other drivers and their wives will also chip in. Ray Smith is in charge of investigating each familys needs (the names are submitted by employes of IML), and Jim Jumonville, a dispatcher, is in charge of seeing the money is col- lected and disbursed. Generally, the employes are asked if they want to contribute sometime in October, and most of them do. Were hoping to raise $700 this year, said Ray Smith. Utahns are not only free with their time, they also have a reputation for their money. An auditor in the Internal Revenue Services district office in Salt Lake Cty said that people from Utah probably more than their cousins elsewhere to charitable organizations and churches. There arent any real figures on where the money goes by organization, but as a practical matter we know that the contributions run higher here than elsewhere, he said. con-iribu- te Its easy these days to think that students dont appreciate their country, or that they fail to understand what its all abou. The evidence, however, points the other way. People must remember that equal rights also means respecting others rights. This insight into the workings of a democracy was given not by a political scientist, not by a candidate, nor by anyone over 12 but by a sixth grader at Leo J. Muir Elementary School in Bountiful! Adults sometimes view with pessimism this countrys future when their d progeny pull typically-childis- h antics. But sixth graders across the state showed a wisdom beyond their years regarding thsir system of government in an essay contest sponsored by The People Speak Foundation during the Democracy Week. A boy from Boulton School in Bountiful had his own views about Democracy: I think that with all the freedom pint-size- Contractors Share Funds Anti-Pover- ty By JACK ANDERSON - Now that the Nixon WASHINGTON Administration is winding down the antipoverty program, many of the nations poor are wonder- where the ing money went. Much of it went to enrich unserrp-ulou- s contrac- tors a nd anti- officials interested only in a fast making poverty buck. This has . column already re- York City. They contracted with Burwell to construct the exhibits. According to one insider who was directly involved, Burwell did nothing but enlarge some existing photographs, mount them and hang them on the wall. For this temporary exhibit, our investigation shows, Burwell was paid $21,186. VISTA executives, as part of their war against poverty, then decided to construct a series of permanent exhibits. There was no reason the temporary exhibits could not have been used again, one VISTA official told my associate, Joe But that, of course, is not the Spear. way you give away money. Not long after Burwell began work on the permam at exhibits, government auditors discovered that over a span of three years he had been paid $115,301 for unaccounted recruitment materials. This was in addition to $49,823 that he portunity. had collected in direct billings for work At the lower levels, some small conon the VISTA Volunteer magazine. skill at demonstrated tractors equal Burwell picked up another $11,393 for extracting from the taxpayers money intended for the poor. VISTAs dealings the first permanent exhibit, then hastily with two associated contractors, for exdeparted for England . His associate, M. ample, cost the poor $260,000 for some Jack Hirose, immediately took over the contracts for three more exhibits. Again, Specious recruiting materials. A three-mont- h s investigation by this no bids were sought. Another designer, Donald Applegate Column has produced the following find-jog- s: of Mt. Rainier, Md., later learned of Hir-oswork on the exhibits and felt they One contractor skipped the country lifter pocketing almost $200,000. The other were way overpriced. In search of pricing information, yontinued to milk VISTA for an additionApplegate contacted an exhibit builder al $62,000. 4 A VISTA official had part of his home by the name of Emmett Cunningham of i'arpeted at a cost, courtesy of one of Alexandria, Va. Applegate quoted Cunjhe contractors. Indeed, the carpeting ningham as saying that ht and Hirose Jnight have been installed free of charge were partners end that he had built the If another official hadnt learned about it same exhibits before for $5,000 apiece. He called me back later, Applegate and demanded a bill. told this column, and said there was The case of John Burwell, a more involved than he had realized. He on, D.C., designer and photographer yow abiding in England, illustrates how told me that apparently some government officials had gotten their houses the contract game is played. In the fall of 1968, VISTA officials carpeted as part of the deal. He asked me to submit a competitive bid so as not decided to place recruiting exhibits at a National Career Exposition in New to make them look too bad. how Volt Information Sciences, Inc., banked some $30 million in antipoverty money by cashing in on friendships inside the Office of Economic Opported homes, choose someone who has no outside contacts, and then begin visiting them. Its been just as rewarding for the kids as for the older people, she said. They send us monthly reports, and its very rewarding to read them. One girl wrote that she had never had a grandparent, but now shes visiting someone and shes going to be my grandmother. As it turns out, the senior citizens have something to give, too. They exchange their hobbies. Many of the girls who visit are Girl Scouts, and they show what Ihey are doing and show these people how to do various crafts. In return theyre often taught how to crochet or embroider. One girl found herself teaching her d friend in the nursing home how to tyne. In return she was beii.g taught how to speak German. Shelly Shepherd, 15, a Girl Scout who That best portion of a good has been visiting at the Midgeley Manor nursing home for more than a year, said, man's life I used to sort of not realize that I could and I found it a little grow that old His little, nameless, unrefrightening. But after I had been going, I realized that they are not that differmembered acts ent. They are just a little lonely. Shelly has visited five or six people In Of kindness and of love. the last year ranging in age from the seventies to the nineties. One woman William Wordsworth late had & family, Shelly said, but only saw them at Christmas or Thanksgiving. I really got to looking forward to freed the slaves (and) gave us our na- going there, she said. The kids get so excited, said Mrs. tional parks. And one perceptive student, obviously Hutchings. We have a sad time telling concerned about law and order, said: them they can just visit once a week, and that they cant go up and down the Of course you are punished for breaking a law. Yet you kind of have to blame halls visiting all the rooms. And they yourself, because you voted for the law give us too many ideas on how to help out. so if you break it, its not the Presidents fault for punishing you its your Sometimes the good news is bitterfault. sweet. The gap between old people and the The Alfred Olson family, 3042 S. 20th East, acquired a pet dog on a trip to young is perhaps exaggerated, if the experiences of Mrs. Lucille Hutchings at Denver earlier this year. The dog, whose the Metropolitan Salt Lake Services for origins could only be guessed by the the Aging are a guide. Olsons, v.as called Denver to remind Mrs. Hutchings directs volunteers who them of how they found it running loose work with older people primarily near the state capital there. Two weeks ago Denver, just six those in nursing homes. About 40 to 45 of her volunteers are months old, was run over by a about a third driver in Lant of the Olson teenagers. They go into the nursing have, we must have some responsibility, too. People not working and just roaming around in iiie country in ragged clothes ; or people setting bombs to blor up govare turning their ernment builaings backs on their responsibilities. But these things can happen because ,we live in a Democracy. But if it continues, it will become a threat to our Democracy. Most of the entrants condemned "communism, saying that people in Communist countries lived in cities with great big walls around them; were treated as slaves; and were killed or thrown in jail for no reason at all. One youngster linked democracy with womens liberation, slavery and national parks, It means the right to vote for whom I feel would be the right man (or woman) for the job. Democracy is what new-foun- home, nearly severing the left hind leg. The family took him to Dr. Leo Taylor, a veterinarian, who restored the leg using a metal pin. To help defray the surgery costs, the neighborhood teenagers got together to hold a rummage and bake sale m front of the Olson residence. They figured they needed $100 to pay for the doctor bills . . . and they earned $79. Unfortunately, other complication from the accident kept Denver from recovering and he had to be put to sleep. But the kids had earned more than of the casts involved, helped the family and learned something very two-thir- worthwile. Doug Austin of American Fork believes that special training plus the right opportunity can change a mans life. Austin admits that life had its difficulties prior to lJG8. He had a crippling disability from polio and had little special training to help him support a wife and three sons. I had considerable difficulty in finding suitabl' employment, he said. But in 1968 Austin began volunteer Action work with the Community Program of Utah County, where he contributed his talents for six months. He was working with low income groups as a volunteer because he had first-han- d knowledge of their problems. Austin said his life changed in 1969 when he enrolled in Operation Mainstream, a program sponsored by CAP and funded by the Department of Labor. He selected training to be a housing and cooperative specialist for the low income group. During this training program he also made many personal developments. Since that time Austin has been influential in directing many projects for the disadvantaged and people in Utah County. In July of this year he was hired as a housirg specialist with the Governors Office of Local Affairs. He serves as housing program officer for the southern half of Utah, covering 17 counties. Austin is a good example of a man who starts from scratch, learns new specialties and then makes a success of his training, a CAP officer pointed out. self-hel- p low-inco- Congressional Campaign Time Hurts Legislative Process IN WASHINGTON By GORDON ELIOT WHITE - WASHINGTON In the five weeks between Labor Day and the election recess Oct. 14, Congress acted on more than half of the legislation to come to a vote this year. Bills poured the legisthrough lative machinery, with 113 record call votes roll taken in the House and Senate. By any standard, it was a highly-charge- d, ful, congressional period. Unfortunately for theoretical ideas of representative government, most of that time a large percentage of Congress was not even in Washington, let alone the legislative chambers. The demands of election year politics lured away a third or more of both houses of Congress, leaving important questions to be decided by as little as fifteen per cent of the federal legislature. On several division and teller votes in the House last mdnth, fewer than 90 members showed up. An amendment to limit U.S. troop strength in EuA rope to 280,000 men was defeated move to direct a Vietnam withdrawal was beaten, 57-3- 23-6- congressional delegation cast only 40 per cent of the votes to which they were entitled. More Jhan half the Utah votes came from Sen. Wallace who is not up for F. Bennett, four-ma- 60 of These figures do not include House or Senate quorum calls. The House normally records iar more such calls than the Senate, where a call of the quorum is usually rescinded before It is completed. The worst attendance records were those of the candidates for Utahs Senate seat now held by Sen. Frank E. Moss, Sen. Moss, according to the Congressional Record, was present for only 9 of 86 votes a 10 per cent record. meaning- Utahs votes, while Sen. Bennett voted on 86 Senate roll calls. n did Rep. Sherman P. Lloyd, the best of those actively running tins fall, with a 70 per cent mark, the same as Sen. Bennetts 70 per cent. Rep. Lloyd was recoided as voting on 23 of 33 House who Rep. Laurence J. Burton, is challenging Sen. Moss for the Senate, did just about as poorly in casting 4 votes of the 33 taken in the House between the summer recess and the election hiatus. Rep. Burton3 12 per cent record thus in indistinguishable from that of Sen. Moss. To be fair, most of the candidates in both houses had attendance records this fall that reflected far more attention to the voters than to their responsibilities here. Several House roll calls were decided by barely more than a quorum (218 votes). In the Senate several roll calls squeaked by on 8 and similar thin vote counts. 35-2- A few of the most important votes of the fall session showed the following records for Utahs lawmakers: Legislative reorganization passed the Burton absent, Lloyd yea. House 326-1Bennett yea, Passed the Senate 59-Moss absent. Omnibus Crime Control Bill: passed Burton and Lloyd both the House yea. Passed the Senate 59-- Bennett yea, 341-2- Moss absent Recommendations of commission on obscenity and pornography were rejected by the Senate in a 60-- 5 vote, with Bennett voting to reject and Moss absent. Military construction, a $2.1 billion bill: Passed the Senate 65-- Bennett and Moss both absent. Passed the House 316-2Burton and Lloyd absent. Farm bill to limit payments to $55,000 for any one crop to any one farmer: Passed the House Burton and Loyd both absent. Passed the Senate 65-Bennett yea, Moss absent. 191-14- 5, 1970 housing bill passed the House with Burton absent and Lloyd voting yea; passed the Senate 59-- Bennett yea, Moss absent. The 282-3- 2 2, Bill to restrict mailing of obscene ma79-with Bennett voting yea and Moss absent. terial: Passed by the Senate 0 recWhile this sort of ord is common, it does not speak well for the way we combine in our representative system of government the job of legislating and the necessary prerequisite, campaigning to be elected as the peoples representatives. With campaigns that drag on for months before the election, the natural action is communication with the voters at the expense of legislative responsibilities. For good or bad this sort of personal campaigning is demanded by those who vote. One might simply throw up figurative hands and say that therefore the voters have no one but themselves to blame if the job in Washington is left undone. On the other hand, one might legitimately ask if the Congress has so organized itself and its business, and so disciplined its members as to use the portion of the legislative year that is not generally thought of as campaign time to best advantage. We need your help in getting a settlement from Montgomery Ward. Iq July we bought a lawn building for $210. We constructed it according to instructions. The next night the wind blew it down. We put it up and strapped it down and went away for weekend. When we came back it was blown down again. We wrote to MW and said the material was defective. But they denied this and would make no settlement. What about their famous guarantee: If, for any reason, yon are not completely satisfied, etc. G.H, Cedar City. You now not only have your money but also you can keep the damaged building. Not worth' it to thenii; to pay to have it returned. All this even $213.15 back ' though they still claim they were right in their original decision that you were not entitled to the money because you didnt erect the building right. They just didnt want you to feel we would withhold any adjustment that you feel is rightfully due you. : . Yes, They Do, Ma'am Do the ladies who work for the hot lunch program for Juab High School, Levan Elementary School and Mona Elementary make the legal wage and also why cant they receive unemployment during the summer months? These Sdies have to live 12 months of the year on what they make in nine. M.M., Kearns. All salaries are the $1.45 per hour minimum or in excess! Two part-tim- e workers get the minimum of $1.45 per e work- -' hour, or more, and eight ers get $1.60 or more. All 10 are on con-- ', school year and tract for the y to work so many hours during the time. Even though $1.45 is the minimum this school district is paying the $1.60 or more, in most instances because that will be the legal minimum effective on Feb. 1, 1971. No one is covered by unemployment compensation because subdivisions are-no- t employes of full-tim- 181-da- eligible. May Be Court Problem J: I took my $175 pigskin suede coat to a clean-abl- e. S.L. cleaners. It was marked When I went to get it it was in terrible condition. Stiff and the finish on the, buttons mined. The owner said hed make it right. He sent it to California. It came back no better than before. Again' he sent to another place on the Coast. Same story. Since then we moved. They mailed it to me last July but it is still no- wearable. Im appalled. I think they , should replace it because it is unwearnblo. Can you help me get some satisfaction? Mrs. A.M., Alexandria, Va. Besides the coat you were also sent the money you spent in cleaning it. They urged you to try some cleaner back East; ' that they might be able to satisfy you. There are many problems, sometimes', with suede. Not all skins react the same to cleaning processes. Our advice is to ' try cleaners there; if no success, write to the coat manufacturers about your problem-, and as a last resort take your . problem to court if you feel you have a ; reasonable complaint. Ask your attorney tor advice. Order On Its Way On Sept. 20 we ordered an electric blanket and some gloves from an We sent a check for $12.10. It,, came back cashed. On Oct. 10 I wrote. them that wed not gotten the order. Tr date no word. Please help? I.K., Rich&.L-stor- e. . field. They wrote to you explaining that they sold out of blankets and enclosed p money order and apology. But apparently you didnt receive, so as of no sent you the blanket (they just received another supply) and the gloves. Prodding Gets Check Before I came to S.L. I worked in California and I had some savings in the Public Services Federal Credit Union, Los Angeles. I withdrew my money but the check was stolen along with my wallet. They told me theyd issue a new check, but they havent. This has been a couple of months. Can you help nfe? L.L., Salt Lake City. We checked the CU and were told it was mailed last week. We advised you to let us know if it didnt show soon. Just about the time we were going to check back and say whats up, you informed us the check arrived. When? The letter was one day after wed called post-marke- d them. (Editor, Note: Wt'rt sorry the number of tolls and tho volume of mail make it impossible to onswor ovary question. Pteose, no medical or lesal questions. Don't send stamps or envelopes as answers can only be oiven in this column. Only QuesGive tions of oeneril interest will be answered. your name, address end telephone number net lor De-to Tut Man yso.) help help publication |