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Show ,. ivN -- 0 'v'W fC; (H t 1 r-- jf -1 "One path ass-- as an era of bitter and continuing confrontation between the United States and Panama; the other way promises closer cooperation. " "... the security of the Caribbean, the ability of the United States to control the Caribbean in war and to be a dominant influence there in peace, is vital to our country. " , DESERET NEVS, SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH VVe f , WEEKEND OF AUGUST 20, 1977 A5 stand for the Constitution of the United States with its three departments of government, each fully independent in its own field. J ,J . V- - g A better way to correct Utah's young offenders? Isnt there some better system of treat ing youthful offenders than lumping them all together in an institution where the toughest victimize their weaker counterparts? A growing number of Utahns agrees that its time to test community-basetreatment programs for juvenile offenders as an alternative to incarceration at the Youth Development Center (YDC) in Ogden. The 1977 Legislature appropriated funds to study the problem, and the Salt Lake County Commission on Youth has passed a resolution supporting alternative programs. Even so, there are still serious questions about how rapidly such programs can be developed and the residual role YDC should play as a future juvenile corrections institution. Would YDC, for example, become the states chief lock-u- p facility for hard-cor- e offenders who cannot be placed in community programs for security reasons? Until such answers are forthcoming, it would be precipitous, to say the least, for the state to close the YDC immediately, as suggested this week by Dr. Jerome G. Miller, commissioner of the Pennsylvania Office of Children and Youth. Dr. Miller made his recommendations after touring the YDC last April. Dr. Miller argues not only for closing the school as soon as possible, but also for developing alternatives to instituSome of the research tional care. Center for Criminal the generated by Justice at Harvard, he notes, would d indicate that the use of the secure facility in itself stimulates later recidivism in juveniles. It, therefore, should be used sparingly and only in terms of public safety. To suggest it as a 'treatment program is for the most part nonsense. Where Dr. Miller errs is in the precipitous nature of the change he suggests. Theres room for a continuing role for the Youth Development Center, even with the best of community-base- d programs. And any phasing down of the facility should be done in step with development of viable alternatives for those youths who can take advantage of close supervision programs in their own communities. Utah, in fact, helped originate some of the deinstitutionalization ideas now considered the new wave of juvenile corrections. The Provo experiment of a decade ago is influencing corrections programs on both the East and West Coasts. In that experiment, Utah County juvenile judges randomly tagged Industrial youngsters for commtreatment. unity-based half of them staying in the community, the other half going on to the Industrial School. Experimenters found a highly significant difference in recidivism favoring the School-boun- d community-base- d program. Despite its shortcomings, there is much in the Miller report to spur Utah into taking a closer look at what the Youth Development Centers role should be in future juvenile corrections. desert. The wreck also shattered the nerves of Utahns who stopped to think about the possible implications regarding the transportation of chemical munitions in this state. Granted that the western Utah desert is one of the most barren and remote areas in the country, that railroads are among the safest means of transportat- ion, and that there are strict laws governing the movement of chemical munitions by rail. No matter how reasonable the explanations may be, its still hard to dispel some of the emotions summoned up by this episode. Suppose that the train which was on its way to Tooele Army Depot to haul mustard-fillemortar shells from the north to the south end of the depot had d Yet theres little, if anything, the U.S. can still do beyond what has already A been filled with this dangerous cargo instead of being empty. Then theres the report about how the d accident happened: The train pulled onto a siding to let the other train pass and the crew disembarked. Though the hand brakes reportedly had been set, the train suddenly began rolling from the siding without the crew and into a crash with the other train. TAD-boun- This episode does anything but in- spire confidence in either fallible railroad manpower or fallible railroad equipment. It also is a reminder of a simple application of the law of averages: No matter how many safety precautions are employed, the more chemical munitions are moved in and through Utah, the greater are the chances of a mishap here. Or, as the author of Murphys Law might have put it: When anything can go wrong, it will. been done in securing more information on MIAs, given the recalcitrance of the Vietnamese government. At some point, the U.S. must face up to the fact that the chance of these men still being alive is practically zero. If some new information does turn up, surely the Pentagon can be counted on to pursue the issue. Theres another reason for arguing for final disposition of the MIA issue. Pay and allowances for the men still go on, and the families can collect these. But they cant collect government insurance, nor are they or their children eligible for certain veterans benefits as long as the missing men are still classified as MIA. Difficult as the reclassification job is, it should be done with dispatch. While there may be some sense of bitterness and finality about it, there also should be some sense of relief that officially, at least, the long ordeal is closed. $90,000 house? Americans have been healing a lot lately about how the medium priced $40,000 home of today is supposedly going to cost $90,000 by 1986. Now hold on a minute. of AmeriAt that price, cans would no longer be able to afford a two-thir- medium house and would end up in apartments and mobile homes. If the housing industry or anyone else really thinks the great bulk of house- hunting American families would either put up with that situation or have the wherewithal to afford $90,000 for a medium home, they had better think again. The law of supply and demand being what it is. Americans seem likely to Editors note: Abraham F. Low-enth- former director of studies at the Council of Foreign Relations, now heads the Latin American Program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. Milton Charlton is a Ph.D. candidate at Columbia University. Hanson W. Baldwin is a former military correspondent for the New York Times and a Pulitzer Prize winner. CoevrifM 1077 by American Enterprise institute By Abraham F. Lowenthal Clarify status of Ml As No matter how tenuous the thread, families of men long missing in action cling to the slim hope that their loved ones may somehow still be alive. Consequently, theres a brutal finalito those hopes when the status of an ty MIA is changed to officially dead. Thats one reason most of the families of Utah servicemen still listed as missing in action are disturbed at the Defense Departments announcement this week that it would conduct a final tatus review of all MIAs. Most if not all of the men still unaccounted for are expected to be declared officially dead. Another reason for the dismay is that families fear therell be a letup in U.S. efforts to locate additional information on MIAs. That is evident in Deseret News interviews this week with several Utah families of missing servicemen. Panama Canal treaty; pro, con treaty that clearly recognizes Panamas sovereignty in the Canal new Zone and fixes a definite duration for U.S. jurisdiction there are typically based on dangerously low estimates of the costs of confrontation in Panama, on grossly exaggerated projections of the costs of accommodation, or on criteria which are, or should be, irrelevant. The U.S. already has felt it necessary to put down riots in the Panama Canal Zone with military force and to veto a U N. Security Council resolution that was otherwise unopposed. A prolonged co- nfrontation The train wreck's implications Dozens of pigs and a lot of railroad equipment werent the only things that were shattered by the crash of two locomotives Friday in the western Utah Deseret News art bv Charles Nickerson forget about medium homes with high price tags and create a market for other forms of housing housing that is adequate hut does not cost a king's ransom. Among the possible answers is one that involves rehabilitating the tens of thousands of basically sound houses that stand abandoned in many communities. The shells are built, the sewers are in, the sidewalks have been laid, buses roll by their front doors, and with care and careful planning, whole neighborhoods can bioom. So there is an alternative to that medium house the housing industry and building trades unions are insisting will cost $90,000. i and Milton Charlton The Congress must choose between two different approaches for protecting U.S. economic, military and political interests. One way is to in the face of rising cling opposition from Panama on the international scene and even from to the within the United States terms of the Treaty of 1903 which grants to the U.S. exclusive jurisdiction over the canal and the adjacent zone in perpetuity. The other is to forge a modern partnership between the United States and Panama in order that the two countries together can protect an efficient, secure and neutral canal. One path assures an era of bitter and continuing confrontation between the U.S. and Panama; the other way promises closer cooperation. The essential question is simple as that. Today, the canal plays a diminished role in U.S. trade. Air freight has become an increasingly e attractive option for goods of small bulk. With the development in recent years of the minibridge concept of combined rail (or highway) and sea transport, the U.S. rail network has assumed a new importance for interoceanic trade. Another formidable competitor to the Panama Canal for bulk cargo is the growing fleet of supertankers and giant ore ships. These huge carriers are too big to use the canal, but their economies of scale more than compensate for the extra distance they must travel. Militarily, the canals value has also declined. The canal's obvious vulnerability to plane or missile or even sabotage attack means that in a major conflict the canals availability to U.S. forces could not be guaranteed, no matter who has defense responsibility. Admittedly, the-- canal is and will continue to be useful for redeploying smaller surface ships during a period of increasing international tension prior to an actual outbreak of hostilities. Further, though alternatives are available, the canal continues to provide an economical route for shipping supplies to support military activities abroad. No longer, however, can the canal be considered a vital military asset. To protect these continuing U.S. interests, the U.S. can still rely, as some Americans argue, on the provisions of the 1903 Treaty, under which the Canal Zone has been maintained for over six decades. From the start, the meaning of the terms of the treaty has been debated. It is often asserted that the U S. bought and paid for the Canal Zone and therefore owns it in the same way that it owns Louisiana or Alaska. This is false. What the U.S. bought from Panama was not land, as in Louisiana or Alaska, but rather very extensive rights, powers and privileges within Panamas territory. That the U.S. has never had sovereignty as such in the Canal Zone is clear from a number of U.S. court decisions, as well as from such facts as the status of children born to non U S. nationals in the zone (they are not U.S. citizens), the status of the zone for custom purposes, and so high-valu- on with Panamanian nationalism would mean many more such painful decisions, and, perhaps, even the kind of quagmire from which the eventual extrication is traumatic. The risks of sticking with the status quo in Panama are unacceptably high. By Hanson Baldwin The future security and of the U.S. are threatened by the administrations proposed abandonment of sovereignty over the Panama Canal and the Canal Zone. Any such action would have global consequences, nowhere more adverse than in the Caribbean of Mexico area. The vital interests of a nation can be defined in territorial and regional terms or well-bein- Sea-Gu- lf as political, psychological, economic, or military interests. By any and all of these yardsticks, the security of the Caribbean, the ability of the United States to control the Caribbean in war and to be a dominant influence there in peace, is vital to our country. Yet that capability has already been gravely weakened; the turning point was the Communists seizure of power in Cuba, the Caribbeans most important island, only 90 miles from our shores. It is in this broad perspective of the future of the Caribbean-Gul- f that any basic Mexico area change in the status of the Panama Canal must be judged. It is ironic, indeed, that in an era when the U.S. Navy needs the canal to a greater degree than at any time since the end of World War II, Washington is considering its abandonment. The Navy today is in the same strategic bind it was prior to World War II: it is a navy n (in size and power) with responsibilities. While the 13 giant aircraft carriers of the U.S. Navy have too large a beam, to pass through the width of the present locks, well before 2000 a new generation of ships will begin to replace them small, but more effective, with advanced weaponry. one-oce- an two-ocea- 110-fo- Every other ship in the U.S. Navy can transit the canal, a fact of major importance in limited war, the type of crisis we are most likely to face. The U.S. Panama Canal Zone offers facilities unavailable elsewhere under the U.S. flag for training troops in jungle warfare. More important, the zone is oriented towards the problems of Central and South America and the zones army schools and training facilities have fostered and helped to develop a close and productive military liaison between the armed forced of many nations in the Southern Hemisphere and the U.S. The economic factor is also of major importance in the equation. To the American economy, and particularly to U.S. overseas shippers and importers, the canal has major importance; it has been estimated that, of all cargoes transiting the canal in ships of all flags, about 60 to 70 percent are bound to or from .U.S. ports. One of the plans for transporting the oil of Alaskas North Slope to the hungry markets of the lower 48 contemplates shipment by tanker through the Panama Canal to Gulf and East Coast ports. Even more compelling than the military and economic importance of the canal are the political and The answer from those who advocate retreat evades the issue. American supporters of a transfer of sovereignty to Panama try to make the shift seem a minor adjustment which will ensure happy relations with a friendly and stable Panama and stress that control of the canal would remain in our hands. But without sovereignty it is clear that we shall not be able to carry out the terms of the Treaty with Britain, nor Hays-Pauncefo- shall we be able, regardless of the wording of any attempted compromise solution, to control the canal. If we transfer sovereignty over the canal to Panama an act that n seems to be, under the treaty, legally questionable unless Britain agrees we should leave the isthmus, lock, stock, and barrel; our control would become completely ineffective, probably after protracted wrangling, unending disputation, and perhaps repeated clashes. canal-Caribbe- Anglo-America- We cannot insure control without sovereignty; the mere phrase is doublespeak. We cannot provide military security for the canal with sovereignty; to attempt it would be to accept responsibility without One woman's voice They're working for you By Abigail McCarthy Chances are, wherever you are this August, you are within hailing distance of your Congressman or woman. Congress is in the midst of what its members are now impelled to call a district work period. kY tckr : J Periodic returns to the home district used to be known simply as going home to meet the folks. In fact, in the last century and the early part of this one, members used to spend more than half the year in their home districts. But, of late, constituents have been advised by investigative journalists and public interest lobbyists that their representatives do not work a shocking X Mrs. McCarthy number of days. To the journalist Lingering over his long lunch with sources at the Sans Souci, time in the home district may look like vacation time. But to the member of Congress hurrying from county fair to county fair in rural districts, or moving a mobile d office from one hot, neighborhood to another by day in urban areas, and from meeting hall to meeting hall by night, it feels like work. Yet that member strongly feels the need to get away from the pressure cooker of Washington, from the pressures of an overblown executive branch and a to get away, loo, from huge military establishment the blandishments of lobbyists in and to clubs and diplomats in beautiful embassies Live at the grass roots tor awhile. We Americans tend to accept a stereotype of Congress. Remember the standard cartoon figure of old a stout, bald, bumbling, stubbly-beardeyore man messing up things in general? This stereotype over-crowde- d Arguments against negotiating a psychological considerations. As the Pueblo, Mayaguez, and other incidents have shown, even second- - and third-rat- e powers now dare to tweak Uncle Sams nose. This process of losing not only face and prestige, but also control, has gone far in the Caribbean; it will accelerate greatly if we abandon the canal. Contrary to those assertions from public officials who should know better, we did not steal the canel, nor does Panama have residual, titular, or uny other kind of sovereignty over it. The U.S. bought a strip across the canal territory the Isthmus of Panama some 50 at a miles long and 10 miles wide cost to the American taxpayer that far exceeded that of any other territorial acquisition. has been worsened by the personal scandals surrounding powerful chairmen like Wilbur Mills and Wayne Hays. And strengthened by the attacks of the President. What we need to realize is that the Congress of the cartoon, the Congress against which Harry no longer exists. Truman ran for the presidency More than 50 percent of the Democrats and 35 percent of the Republicans, according to Speaker of the House Thomas P. ONeill, Jr., were elected in the last six years. Sixty percent of the Democrats have never served under a Democratic president. They are a new lot and a a new breed, says the Speaker. have had They are young and bright, a place in their professions, and could do better somewhere else financially. In other words more than half the Congress is new to Washirgton and probably ran just as hard against the Washington establishment as President Carter did. Young Congressman Edward Markey of Massachusetts came to Washington a year ago after a special election. He was billed by the press as a new Mr. Deeds goes to Washington. My biggest surprise, he said, was the high level of everything. I came out of a state legislature and I would not have been surprised at corruption. But I was surprised at the level of intelligence and expertise on the part of the members in general. 1 was also surprised at the quality of the help and information available to us. F or example, I am able to have one highly trained staff member working just on the energy problem. Chairmen are no longer because they are elected, not appointed The leadership is responsive. Get to know your representative this district work period. You may be in lor a happy surprise; you may find yourself well served by an able person alert to your interests. If not, remember, he or she works for you and you can always hire someone else next election! d, . |