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Show William F. Buckley Jr. Thursday Morning, October 7, 1971 .College Voters? Draw the Line Page 20 A Its Tough, Bul Keep Viaduct Open During Badly Needed Rebuilding At long last, Salt Lake Citys dilapidated North Temple viaduct is ing to is done be replaced, but getting the job not going to be easy for anyone concerned. The State Road Commission is faced with the dilemma of who to hurt : the taxpayers, to the tune of a half million dollars and an extra year to complete the tourist-relatebusinesses project; or the which could well be destroyed by having traffic detoured away through residential areas. In many cases, public projects unavoidably damage businesses, such as the effect of a bridge on a ferry service, but in this case, the damage can be avoided by keeping the viaduct partially open during construction, which is the course that should be taken. The Department of Highways recommendation is to seal off the route entirely, and build the new viaduct, but its only answer to the problem of fairness to the businesses is to erect signs telling of their location. The point was clearly made at Tuesday nights hearing that tourists dont ' d follow signs; they follow what appears to be the main route. If the viaduct is kept open, then these travelers vdll find a diffiif it is closed, cult, but passable, route will send will which find dead a end, they them floundering in large numbers along the residential streets of the west side. Those who do read signs would be led away to a 5th North that is currently e being worked on itself, or to a 4th South viaduct. Its a paradox, but the best solution is to keep the viaduct partially open. Some proponents of the plan have argued that the situation is analogous to the closing of Parleys Canconstruction, which has yon for brought prosperity to Park City. But the two situations are not the same: North Temple tourist businesses depend on hanging out their shingle, while Park City does business with those who go there as a destination, rather than relying on the passerby. But regardless of how the project is done, it must be completed as quickly as possible. The contract should contain firm deadlines, with penalties for any delay. two-lan- "close-it-dow- n The Case for a Merger Natural gas shortage. The phrase is going to be heard more frequently as supplies of the energy source continue to dwindle at what experts say is an accelerating rate. With the repetition of "gas shortage comes, what will we do about it? Pipeline companies and the distributing utilities, in a gargantuan effort, have increased their exploration efforts to find new gas fields Also, ways of converting coal to natural gas are wing sought. President Nixon in his June 4 message to Congress outlining his proposals for a "broad range of actions to ensure an adequate supply of clean energy called for "an expanded program to convert coal into a clean gaseous fuel. ' Practical application of what is now technically feasible in coal gasification is a long way off. The quickest way to ease the fast approaching gas shortage will be through the traditional way, finding and developing new gas fields. At present those new fields appear to be in Alaska and Canada. Once the gas is found it will have to move to market through pipelines. Already pipelines, owned by El Paso Natural Gas Co., and operated by its Northwest Division, exist that can readily be connected to any lines coming from Alaska or Canada. But the U.S. Supreme Court has ordered El Paso to rid itself of the pipeline properties acquired in 1959 from Pacific Northwest Pipeline Co. because the merger was found to be in violation of antitrust laws. The merger had been approved by the Federal Power Commission, but the Justice Department began the anti trust action on the grounds the merger would tend to reduce competition in California. Twelve years have passed, involving three hearings In U.S. district courts and three appeals to the U.S. Supreme Court, and the merger - divestiture issue remains unresolved. Now the U.S. faces a virtually certain natural gas shortage and the quickest solution appears to lie in large measure under the earth in Alaska and Canada. But without a viable, experienced pipeline company to develop and import that gas, the solution evaporates. Currently before Congress are two bills which would exempt the El Northwest merger from the antitrust laws. Inc., has urged pas10331 and S2404) these of bills (HR sage pointing out "the conditions which may have been persuasive in the first instance in initiating the antitrust action and for causing divestiture . . . has ceased to exist. Since inception of the antitrust suit three major pipelines have been extended into California. This certainly erases any lack of competition. With a gas shortage just over the horizon and the most ready solution lying in Canada and Alaska, it would be unreasonable to deny an experienced company the right to utilize its expertise to help solve the problem. To instead require that a new, inexperienced company handle importation of Alaskan and Canadian gas would be tantamount to hastening the gas shortage, because it would take several years before the newcomer can efficiently handle the work. Exempting the El Northwest merger from further litigation is a provident course. Paso-Pacif- Pro-Uta- ic h, ed So Pretty? Editor, Tribune: As the annual parade of furbearing homo sapiens begins, I would like to ask a question. Just what is so pretty about a fur coat? Why is it considered glamorous to wear the skin of a dead animal? I wmnder if those who strut about in duds realize what they are telling the on world. As though they wore their backs, these people are shouting one thing: Vanity! And what the helpless animals have endured so that people mght satisfy their vanity! Cne choice method of obtaining furs is via steel jaw traps.' Approximately 2,000,000 full-tim- e mainly supported by the trappers fur-cover- loud-speake- rs Public Forum letters must nut be more than must be submitted exclusively to The Tribune and bear writers full name, signature and address. Names must be p'inted on political letters but may be withheld for good reasons on others. Writers are limited to one letter every 10 days. Preference will be given letters permitting use of true name, and to those and short. which are typed (double-space250 words in length, d) U.S. government trap and kill from to animals annually in 100,000,000 30,000,000 Paso-Pacifi- c Move Toward Rhodesian Trade suffer from traps. But even these animals are killed via broken necks or slit throats. Many beautiful simulated furs are now available. People who purchase these rather than natural furs evince kindress and concern rather than vanity. And is anything as ugly as vanity or as beautiful as kindness? From the Christian Science Monitor The United States Senate, we believe, is morally wrong in voting to lift the ban on the import of chrome ore from Rhodesia in defi- ance of a United embargo. Its decision is all the more unfortunate in th3t it comes at a time when the British Government is engaged in extremely delicate negotiations aimed at finding a formula for reconciliation wi'h it rebel It is true that the sanctions impod by the Security Council in 1968 have failed in their purpose of bringing down Rhodesia's .vhite mmoritj regime. But they have probably hurt the Rhodesian economy more than Prime Minister Ian Smith would like to admit. N-.l- Whats the United States. The horror of the traps is unbelievable. A steel jaw trap will crush an animals leg. In an effort to free itself, the animal often chews off its own leg. The animal then dies a slow, torturous death through loss of blood. Many times trappers will not return to their traps for several days. Meanwhile, the animals endure the agony of the traps often freezing or starving to death. Another Mew point Ill-Tim- The Public Forum Inevitably the Senate vote, which seems likely to be confirmed by the House of Representatives, will be hailed as a major victory by Mr. Smith. It could cause him to toughen his stand in the negotiations with Britain. These talks can rndy succeed if Mr. Smith can be persuaded to agree to start his country on the path toward majority (i.e.) black rule. If he thinks he can ensure Rhodesias survival otherwise, he will certainly not yield on this one point. For to yield would mean agreeing to elimination of the verv iaison d'etre of his regime. Now the U.S. congress is in the process of encouraging him to hold out. the Senate decision was Apparently influenced by a powerful lobby representing American metal companies with mining interests in Rhodesia. This will only make it look all the worse in the eyes of the black African countries which have long campaigned for touglmr action agamst Mr. Smiths Rhodesia. Bill Vaughan's Orbiting Paragraphs For zero population growth, it is suggested that families be limited to 1.9 children. The challenge for parents will be to love the as much as the one. point-nin- e Washington gains a culture center and loses a baseball team, and while there maj, be differences of opinion, the exchange can be nothing but good news for the capital's tuxedo rental industry. Federal crime figures are said to be misleading. Maybe there should be some sort of law making statistics illegal. The coach rushes to the hospital telephone to inform friends that his wife has just had a baby to be named later. Animals raised on farms do not, of course, GEORGE WAYNE Deterrents Lacking Editor, Tribune: Mr. Nemelkas midnight raid points out a deep failing in the law governing searches and seizures. In defense of Mr. Nemelka, it must be said that any government attorney may have advised the police, as he did, to conduct a search under the circumstances, even though there is little doubt that the search was illegal. The problem lies in the lack of effective deterrents to illegal searches in some circumstances. The courts have developed the exclusionary rule" as the main deterrent to illegal searches. Under this rule, if police conduct an illegal search, the fruits of the search that is, the illegally seized evidence will not he admitted in court. Had Mr. Nemelkas raiders found the two escaped convicts they sought, the convicts may technically have been able to raise the exclusionary rule in court, but this would v r rsnltpfi nnlv in the exclusion of any evidence seized on the illegally searched premises; the convicts would still have been returned to jail and they still could have been prosecuted for their escape. Only the owner of the property (or the tenant, if the property was rented) wculd have benefitted directly from the exclusionary rule; a case against him for ha boring the convicts would probab- lv have failed. 'I his reveals two serious flaws in the exclusionary rule. On the one hand, it is not adeouate to protect citizens against illegal searches when the search is not designed primarily to gather evidence. On the other hand, d when those who are incriminated by the evidence succeed in excluding the evidence from court, both they and those who conducted the illegal search go unpunished. Courts have adopted the exclusionary rule because they despaired of society devising any other effective deterrent to illegal searches. It would be much more conducive to law and order both among the populace and if illegal searches were deterred the police ille-sue- by direct punitive action and, in turn, illegally seized evidence were admitted in court. Aside from the exclusionary rule, the only deterrents to illegal searches lie in the rather remote threat of successful civil rights damage suits and in the uneven force of adverse publicity. Suggestions have been made for more workable deterrents in the form of civilian review boards or ombudsmen with the power to investigate police conduct and to punish illegal acts performed under the color of law. Were such schemes to be effectively implemented, there is little doubt that courts should drop the exclusionary rule and we would all be safer both from common criminals and from illegal police action. GEORGE S. GROSSMAN Professor of Law and Law Librarian University of Utah Irreversible Game Edktor, Tribune: The present conflict in Albion Basin up Little Cottonwood Canyon merits some attention. The conflict rests with a private developer who wishes to build a large condominium in the area. His arguments have been heard before. They go something like, improve the recreation, accessibility, beauty and help the ecology. All of the arguments culminate in the famous "broaden the tax base folly. The Forest Service and conservation groups oppose the construction of such a unit. After the roadcuts, vegetation removal, and disruption of soil standards take place to build the condominium, the watershed value of the area will dissipate rapidly. AH ending in one large flood, only to be preceded by one large avalanche. Insurance rates go up and emergency relief aid comes into being. The public pays and the tax base is not broadened. Assume, though, the inevitable does not happen. The public still pays various patent costs. Costs such as sewage treatment, garbage abatement, pollution control, schools, and roads. All of which will be maintained, improved, and reconstructed at even higher costs. Even more important is the potential destruction of a very unique subalpine basin inhabited by even more unique and climax vegetation. The aesthetic integrity is threatened by a looming building. If the area is to be developed, then it must proceed in the direction for all Utahns. A museum and nature walks with limited facilities explaining the geology, cultural, and historical significance of the area. And perhaps this would awaken people to the rather foolish and irreversible game being played by commissions, chambers of commerce and many private developers. DICK CARTER Logan The television, the other night, focused on student indignation at Normal, 111., home cf Illinois State University. I remember young man protesting bitterly against the registrars refusal to enroll him as a qualified voter. Do you consider that Normal is your home? asked CBS. Yes, I do he replied, with that special emphasis one gives to big lies. Where do you go on holidays, to your asked parents house? the interviewer. Well, yes. my parents. My home is here. The laws defining residence differ, and it is true that a great deal hangs on what an individual declares his residence to be. Theoretically, you can de lare that the corner of 42nd Street and Broadway is your home. But then it is also here and there required that you make your point plausibly, and the new laws that local legislatures are now consid- or should turn precisely ering will tu-on that point. For instance, there is the point the lawyers raise by which the sincerity of one mans adoption of a place of residence is judged in tight cases, to wit, is there animus reventen-di- ? I.e., is there a subjective intention to return to the residence which you haveostensib- ly abandoned? If John Jones leaves Eureka Springs to matriculate at Illinois State in Norma! or the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, does he intend to return to Eureka Springs after he has completed his education? And the second question, of course: does he intend to settle down at Normal? Whereas most students do not take up residence in the town in which they were brought up, the overwhelming majority forsake the town at which they attend college. The protesters point is that even if Normal, 111., is considered merely a way station between Eureka Springs and that happy place where John Jones will eventually settle, shouldnt he have a normal political role at Normal, 111. Hardly Repressive Legislation I think not. At Madison, Wis., last winter, the legislature sat down to consider a bill which says that a student enrolled at the University of Wisconsin will be presumed to have taken residence at Madison only transiently. It is difficult to see wherein that is a repressive piece of legislation. It is preposterous to suppose that the residents of Madison, Wis., are going to permit, let alone encourage, an enormous body of students to tinker with the towns laws during the few years that the students are in residence. Participatory democracy does not entitle you to demand of the pilot the right to run the airplane during your flight across country. Clearly different kinds of protection are needed by different size towns. Boston and New York and Chicago probably could afford to give the vote to its resident students (though they should not feel under any obligation to do so) and simply absorb the aamage. But if Hanover, New Hampshire, or enfor instance Williamstown, Mass. franchised the student body, they would very simply be playing Russian roulette. One has only to recall the episodic frenzies of the last few years to recognize the seizures to which students are occasionally given. A vote can be a ve-decisive instrument, and the idea of giving effective power to 10,000 students who ' can commit a community to years of indebtedness or to other social fancies, is unappealing. Voters Should Endure Consequences This is not to suggest that students are necessarily zany, merely that the idea of democracy is that those who do the voting, should endure the consequences of their own laws. Again, distinctions can be made on reasonable grourds. For instance, there is a difference between an undergraduate, berthed in a tax-fre- e dormitory, and a married graduate student, living in an apartment or house which is paying taxes to the municipality. There is the tax point, which is itself significant a voter should be helping in an appropriate way to defray the social costs of running the town. Indeed, as for Instance in New Haven, there is great engendered by the refusal of the University (Yale) to pay taxes on such of its buildings as are unrelated to education, e.g., faculty clubs, ice - skating rinks that kind of thing. In any event, the married student develops ties which are different from the undergraduate. Even so, in the history of college towns, individual student bodies are expetransitory riences. They should not be given the power of hit and run drivers. y ll Interlandi .i.niple Issue Editor, Tribune: Commissioner Blomquist has done his best to divert the communitys attention from a crucial moral issue by making two irresponsible allegations in the Oct. 3 issue of The T"ibune. The CO-OSupplemenn food tal Food Program provides which helps prevent malnutrition in the 2,000 women and children who receive the supplement. The moral issue can be stated simply: Is the County Commission willing to subsidize this urgently needed program? We should commend Mr. Medina, director of CO-Ofor making the community aware of the fact that these 2,000 women and chil-- c wiU be denied this necessary food supplement if the County Commission does not act immediately. Mr. Blomquists irresponsible charge that Mr. Medina "wanted to get some press" and his unfounded assertion that the program has been a "financial disaster reflect his unwillingness to deal with the moral issue on its merits. By refusing to engage in such irresponsible political rhetoric, it Dunn and that Commidoners appears McClure may be prepared to deal with the moral issue. One would hope that Mr Blomquist would reconsider and do the same. WILLIAM N. WHISNER, Ph D. P high-protei- P, I hope I he gods do not subtract from the allotted span of mens lives the hours spent watching football games. |
