OCR Text |
Show s 'Y w y f be Quit ' v ri rrr v tm x 't 11, 1973 Page So Why Renew 28 TV License? Utahs 40th Legislative Session ashmgton Fred Suffers From Chronic Faults dom seen feat increasing state spending while cutting taxes. Success depends on revenue growth as estimated by the Republican majority. Gov. Itarnpton, in his budget message to the Legislaure, urged conservative inscrambled around come projections, but the lawmakers apAgain, legislators period, propriated $3 million more than the governor through the last minutes of a statefrantically passing stacked-umeasuies, both recommended. They also reduced the 1.6 to 4.6 wide tax rate mills from property vitally important and marginally inconseon and credit $6 a a state dependent granted hour Eleventh compromising quential. as compensation for delayed final action to the point there is income tax payments, some question whether certain tax legislation state sales taxes on food and medicine. could withstand a legal test. Someday, the The income tax credit is only in effect for the current year, its estimated cost $6 Legislature must get organized better. to be financed by existing surpluses. Through it all, major problems were million attended to. For the first time in 70 years It wont have any noticeable impact on the Utahs criminal and penal code received a consumers buying power at the time purcomprehensive overhaul as the result of this chases are made. Under the circumstances, years legislative labors With but a few, rea- it would have been better to eliminate the sonable, amendments, the states new code statewide property tax entirely, as recomunder which crimes are defined and prose- mended by Gov. Rampton, and studied possicuted, was adopted as the sessions last day bilities for future reductions in the sales tax dimmed. It capped years of work by special rate. legislative commissions and wisely resisted Happily, the money was available for imexcessive changes to its provements in Utahs state parks. Unfortuabortion and death penalty piovisions. nately, the legislature did not fund purchase Moderation was not always the prevailing of 2(15.000 acres in northeastern Utah for the million asking price. The transacprinciple as significant bills reached passage. bargain $8 The insurance law lost so much tion was approved for further investigation, too little, too late. through amendment that it can hardly be but that may be considered a strong entry in the field. By Education at all levels received good fireducing the threshold figure from $2,000 to nancial attention. The public school system $500 at which a traffic accident victim can was particularly favored by alterations in the sue for further hospital cost recovery, the financing formula that shifts the emphasis Legislature all but turned its back on the ac away from daily student attendance. Utah When it comes to seri- should be in compliance now with court retual theory of ous treatment for serious injury, $500 doesnt quirements for equal education opportunities. pay for bandages these days. Quite properly, the Legislature delayed a lt In Utah, it looks as if a federal at the University of Utah between merger law is the best hope. The same can be said the schools of engineering and mining until for protecting the publics right to informathe consolidation can be further evaluated. tion gathered by journalists who must interThat should forestall hasty action which Utah view confidential sources. The State Senate and its state system of higher education bill neglected to concur in a House-passe- d would have long regreted. that would prevent arbitrary court orders And so the mix is as encouraging .as it is requiring reporters to identify anyone supplysession again implemented ing them with data for news disclosures. Con- disappointing. The constitutional a amendment conforming state gress may move where the states are falling the with federal tax income form, while filing down in this regard. an amendment prooverlooking Land use planning is another concept inexplicably would update the constitutions exthat posal apparently too tough for the state legislature ecutive article. In permitting SJR 9 to die, to accept. After juggling a measure that the legislators postponed their own program would have launched such a program in for constitutional revision. Utah, the House let an eventually watered-dow- n version die. And while a promising adThe primary fault, we repeat, is in archadition to local government reform, SB 1, also ic organization. Not enough work is comlanquished in the House, that body managed pleted early, when most routine measures to afford a rescue for metropolitan mass could be rapidly passed. Stouter screening transit. methods should be used and more priority n In two Senate bills as finally passed, given to efforts. urban centers facing the loss of financ ially to Its customary say of a legislative sesdistressed bus lines have a chance to once sion after adjournment that it did the best it more fund and save the service. This was a could. As for the 40th Utah session, it legislative must that the 40th session made excelled in some things and flopped in good on. ' others it wasnt the best, but it could have Financially, the session performed a sel been worse. y p r I can't understand why no one seems interested in our problems , Visiting Cartoonist - Controls tend to curb production at a time when more production is needed and is being encouraged by recent administration directives. Strict price control of food items also requires a sizable bureaucracy to administer and enforce. Nobody likes controls but neither dees anyone like runaway food prices. Unless there is a sharp downward trend in food costs within a reasonable time, price controls on farm products loom as the lesser of the two evils. r- Any Reason? I Tf WtrimA Jtl We have a question, but r first a little back- ground. This department subscribes to a daily information service that is supplied to us by air mad, five days a week Monday through Friday. It is prepared and mailed from Washington, D.C. Up until a few days ago we were receiving, for example, Tuesday's item on Thursday. In the last couple of days we have been getting the Tuesday letter on Wednesday. -L- i ocher In The Chicago Tribune Now the question How come the delivery time on these airmail letters has been cut in half shortly after the Postmaster General of tiie United Stales is called on the carpet before a committee cf the U.S Senate? Just wondering sv r k B V I'i 5 P PC rm ' e- - t i & is. w, K. Beaten by Lobby i Pasiore was beaten by a lobby of consumerists who were intoxicated at the prospect of engaging the attention of the FCC The Public Forum Men to Blame Editor, Tnbune: If Aubrey Howard (Forum. Feb. 15) sees nothing new m the present day lie lacks preception. As Equal Rights movement, the famous quotation says, Weve just begun to fight! I find his fears that equal pay for women will foster a worship of wealth very amusing. Under male supremacy our society has worshipped wealth for a long, long time. Only recently men built fortunes on the labor of underpaid and overworked chddren. Even today men put money above people. If equality with men makes women quarrelsome, as Mr. Howard contends, whats so different about that? Men have quarreled for thousands Forum Rules by the Salt Lake Community Action its publication is certainly appropriate. Program in Its about time someone spoke out against this outrageous pamphlet and the very evident support of the Salt Laze CAPS office in its distribution (allowing their address, telephone numbers and bulk mailing stamp to be nsed). 1 cant imagine the CAP involving itself in any way m such unirue. partisan attacks on our President. Misuse ot public funds is putting it mildly! DAVID ROBINSON Provo Not CAP Work Editor, Tribune: Sen. Bennett has falsely charged tne Salt Lake Community Action Pron brochure. gram with publishing an The flier was paid for and distributed entirely by Central City Publishing, Inc. anti-Nixo- Public Forum latters must be submitted exclusively to The Tribune and bear writer's full name, signature and address. Names must be printed 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 to short, typewritten (double spaced) letters permitting use of the writer's true name. AH letters are subject to condensation. years, over everything from cards and irrigation water to empires. Even churches, all founded by men, have quarreled and fought for centuries, to prove only one thing that they cant agree! I feel sure Mr. Howard is one of many Utahns who profess to believe the U.S. Constitution was divinely inspired," yet pretend to see nothing wrong with inequality for women or for minorities. This myopic stand is not limited to Utahns, of course, but being incurably optimistic, I had cherished the illusion that these dedicated flag wavors and great chanters of liberty and justice for all were really sincere. of JENNIE HOOD Since food prices were mostly responsible for the record February jump in the wholesale price index, it is on that front that the administration is concentrating its action. The most obvious weapon, but one President Nixon has consistently resisted, is imposition of price controls on farm products. fei- But Sen. pre-sessio- disaster. There is good reason for the officials objection because there is considerable doubt that the cost of living increase of succeeding months will be anywhere near as high as those of January and February. The seasonally adjusted increase in the wholesale price index one of several cost of living barometers were 1.1 percent for January and 1.6 for February. The administration hopes to hold the inflation increase rate to 2.5 percent for the year. But unless there is a dramatic downturn in the remaining 10 months that goal is clearly unattainable. Using the discredited formula for projecting the annual rate from the first two months rate, an annual increase of about 16 8o fH chology. no-fau- anti-inflati- consul- the facility, and so on.-Now up until quite recently, the renewal of a radio and television license was pretty routine. But the spirit of consumerism swept the country in the late sixties, and it happened that sitting on the Federal Communications Commission was who has Nicholas Johnson, an amiable Nader-typ- e trouble sleeping at night for fear that somebody somewhere, is making money. As a result, one or two spectacular challenges were made, and the entire industry looked up from its boilelate exercises in narcissism and began to worry. Sen. Past-or- e cf Rhode Island took an interest In the matter and proposed a law that nobody shoiild be permitted to apply for another mans license until that license had been removed from him for delinquency. I found this proposal sound law and sound psy- no-fau- percent could be anticipated. But the administration is counting on decreases in the cost of food in the last six months and on other measures retained in Phase III of the economic recovery program to cut the rate of increase to an acceptable figure. s Syndicate Friendly, professor of journalism, -- no-fau- lt Food Prices Rise Again Star-Ne- of tant to the Ford Foundation, and the originator most provocaa a TV documentary, has delivered he which tive speech, in says flatly and simply that the Nixon administration is out to censor the pews, that it has discovered a way of doing this, that its instrument is Dr. Clay Whitehead, the head of the White House office, telecommunications and that most broadcasters are poltroons. A few obser- - L Mr. Buckley vations: since the Federal. ever 1. It has been the rule was Act passed that owners of Communications radio licenses need to reapply for said licenses renewal, every three years. In the application for it is the practice of a broadcaster to go on quie si broadcast- si incontinently about the virtues of said to the that inure benefits the great er, to describe of administration of his result the as community Considering the ov erndmg fact that it also tried to handle too much in a still inefficient manner, Utahs 40th legislative session adjourned with definite accomplishment to its credit. Administration officials see red when reporters take one months increase in the cost of living, multiply it by 12 and come up with a frightful annual rate that spells economic r William F. Buckley Jr. tia ffilnmc Sunday Morning, March Section A f W" License to Lie Editor, Tribune: The Common Carrier board deserves a special vote of thanks for approving for pubheation Feb. 18 the article by Marvin S. Broomhead, concerning the lack of balance and abundance of biafln (he national news media. If the source of a news story does not have to be revealed or documented, the news media will thereby, in effect, be granted by law a license to he. The syndicated columnists and netwoik TV commentators, in particular, can then be expected to go from about 75 percent unreliable to totally unreliable if the shield law becomes federal law Slanting of the news is lying whether it be through ignorance or rot, and it would be safer for this nation if its citizens would not excuse the news media on the grounds of ignorance, for the consistent slant or bias toward the left might be deliberate and progressively farther left as time goes on Constant media brainwashing or propaganda can change a nation from capitalism, to socialism, to communism, which amounts to the transition from vigor, to senility, to death, for a nation of individuals. Equally deadly to this nation can be news media biases supporting unreasonable environmental controls, static ecosystems, withdrawal of public domain from multiple use. and supporting any policy, cause, or belief that would encourage the continued increase of the population of this nation. Such biases can help pave the way for energy. food, and other raw' matenal crises, one of w hich, the energy crisis, is ahead) upon us aided , and aoetted by mo.--t of the major citv components of the news media DOOLEY 1 WHEELER JR Proper Denouncement should be Sen. Bmnett Editor, Tnbune applauded for his denouncement of the ridiculous leaflet being distributed in Salt Lake. His call for an investigation into the part played The flier effectively described president Nixons budget cuts, and encouraged people to write their congressmen. Sen. Bennett described the flier as President scurrilous. Nixon has illegally impounded appropriated funds it is his actions which are scurrilous. In a recent letter Sen. Bennett defended the housing freeze. There is a senous need in Utah for housing. Sen. Bennett seems to be ignorant of the situation in Utah. We suggest Sen. Benneett begin working lor Utah instead of the administration. The budget cuts will have serious consequences in Utah MARY HEATH Board Member Central City Publishing, Inc. '2. Along comes Mr. Whitehead. He clearly announces himself as a representative of Richard Nixon, protesting against the uniform bias of radio and television news. And he suggests a deal. If the radio and television stations will themselves agitate for better balanced news analysis from the networks, then the administration will support, renewal period a law that stretches the three-yea- r to five years, A Bit Lpset Mr. Friendly and a great many others are quite incensed by this maneuver.'It is their" position that the White House is in fact saying to the individual station owner: look, the news you , are getting out of New York and Washington- from Cronkite, Sevareid, Brinkley, et al, Is slanted (Whitehead's tern was ideological plugola). Now under the Fairness Doctrine, it is your responsibility to see that there is substantial expression of opposing views. If you fail to exercise pressure on New York and Washington, we will not guaranted that your station licenses will be,, renewed. Now And of course if the threat is that plain spo-- ken, then Mr. Friendly is right, the networks would perish from this earth. At least that part of the network news that is not devoted to golf,,, matches or coronations. , - 3. What I wonder, however, is why Mr. Friend- -! ly and his associates have concentrated their ire., on Whitehead. They quite rightly warn that if any broadcaster goes to .embarrassing lengths to en- dear himself with the Nixon administration, he is-- , going to be an especially cvmspicuous target for.,,-administration, and all that w ill result from the mess is a thorough politicalization of the news. ' , a post-Nixo- n ! 'St Theodore Long Whats in a Name, or Maybe Why? Eisenhower Jenkins? John F. Kennedy Davidson? Lyndon B. J. Smith? R Nixon Baumgarten? The, questions are Whether the elders who select childrens names heed such considerations is another mat-- 1 ter. I once had a friend who had been christened Lochinvar because his grandmother doted on the Walter Scott poem, although that may have been3 an extreme case. It is common practice, however. to pick names that become a burden when the. f child grows older. Blossom may well describe a; dear little girl baby, but not the overweight teenager or buxom matron of subsoquent years. And' then there are the names, properly masculine by historical standards, that set off hoot of derision among schoolboys Percy, Chauncey and Rudolph, for example Nomenclature is a matter of taste and, unfortunately, the vicrecipients tims) aren't consulted Most American males named Theodore (juniors are the chief exception) were born during the early years of the present century when Teddy Roosevelt was president. And it seems reasonable to . I assume that the name wasf chosen by the male parent! (women didnt get the vote! until 1920) partly as an exp- ression of party fealty, part- I ly as a tribute to an admired national leader and partly, I , perhaps, in the hope that the L-child would try to emulate J Mr. Long the hero. . -- 1 - This is a practice of long standing. Washington Irving, th author, Jefferson Davis, the Confederate leader, and Lincoln Steffens, the journalist, were born when them famous namesakes were still alive And every subsequent generation has had its share of Washingtons, Jeffersons and Lincolns. Other presidents and folk heroes have had less impact upon the American consciousness. Grover Cleveland Alexander pitched his way into the Baseball Hall of Fame. But that was years' ago, and now the 22nd (and 24th) president of the United States is probably as little remembered at christenings as Martin Van Buren, Millard Fillmore, Chester A. Arthur or Warren Gamaliel Harding. Too Big a Mouthful (t nourish and Fade There are standard names like John. Robert and Henry, Margaret, Elizabeth and Katharine, the latter available in a variety of spellings' Iheie are family names handed down from one generation to another with the holders designated by .Roman numerals, just like emperors and kings. And theie are popular names that flourish and fade as fads and celebrities change. Has anyone ever tried to calculate the number of Garys, Clarks and Carys who might have borne other names were it not for the fame of Cooper, Gable and Grant? . f Someday a Ph.D. candidate m search of a thesis may decide to explore the impact of history on nomenclature The approximate age of the Theodores, as already noted, can be easily determined. The same is true of the Woodrows who arrived whie President Wilson was making the world safe for democracy But what about four-terFDR? Franklin is the last name of a sage as well as the first name of a president And Franklin D. Roosevelt Jones (or whatever) is loo big a mouthful except as the refrain of a fairly amusing song. Other recent presidential names also fail the test of adaptability: , As something to worry about, to be confused with name-calling- ) (not ranks just behind the issue of whether a young woman should be addressed as Ms But it's not likely (o engender nearly as much controversy Those who feel sorely afflicted will grin and bear it those who ate happv with their lot will be amused by those who are not After all. whats in a name9 Bell, our vice president said that his name was not exactly a household word. Today, no one is apt to say.tSpuo T. who'' It's Spiro THEODORE Ague-- 'that s who. C a 4 name-givin- A fr i |