| Show Standard-Examine- Opinion r Letters & Columns To our Readers dress code will do the same thing along with giving control of the classrooms back to the teachers and dealing swiftly in sonal nature without the interferpunishing belligerent students in ence of government But when it a manner befitting their behavior comes to our children that is a If we ever expect to make our different issue altogether schools safe start with the The very idea that a debate schools Start by making it a has ensued over the subject of crime to not behave It’s real easy to spend the taxgay clubs is just plain stupid First off the state of Utah says a payers’ money to make a law that person must be 18 years of age to makes carrying a concealed gun have sex therefore a club that to school a crime Please tell me promotes sex - of any kind - is what criminal is going to be contributing to the delinquency stopped by such a law All a law of myself as an educated person I believe we the people of this great nation have the right to make decisions of a perI think under-1- 8 members Is that not also illegal? Do we say OK to beer clubs? clubs? b How about “It’s only a forum for discussion” and “the members don’t actually participate” Hogwash what it does is give them a “road map” to make decisions they are not prepared to make and should not have to make d It is the same ignorance that argues school uniforms will bring order to our schools Discipline of a regulated pipe-bom- blind-eye- like this does is make it possible for both sides of the political are- na to gain substance to their cause The say anti-gunne- rs “See we voted for safer schools" The say “See we pro-gunne- rs voted for safer schools” Yet nothing has been done to make even one school safer But by all means let’s waste more time and more money legis- lating morality when common sense should have prevailed Thomas E Danks Roy Good and bad people come in all varieties Once again we have been treated to another writer’s version of “Homosexuality Hall Monitor” How privileged we are I read with interest the April 30 letter “Moral choices impact g of nation” and ala brief moment for most thought the writer had a valid point to make regarding morality His points regarding drug addiction and abuse were very informative but alas as usual it all goes right back to the homosexuwell-bein- als If he researched his attacks as much as he thinks he has he would know that a person’s sexuality has little to do with unlawful verted sick individuals who have no conscience about morality or anything else These individuals are not limited to only homosexuals or only heterosexuals Yes moral choices impact the of a nation but great well-bein- g people come in all varieties There are many great countries as well as our own with high populations of “varieties” Before he casts his next stone he might want to be sure it isn’t going to hit someone he knows or even someone he loves If he wants to talk morality he should open his heart as well as his closed mind Jean Kemp activities Crimes against children and beasts are committed by per Ogden Protest the causes of today’s violence AsIf the state sociation and organizers of the Million Mom March believe that more gun legislation (currently 22000 laws on the books) is going to stop juvenile violence they are more gullible naive and ignorant of reality and politics than I want to believe England Canada South Africa and Australia confiscated guns and passed stricter laws Has violence decreased there? No way! How many incidents of school violence involving arson and bombs have been reported since Parent-Teach- er Columbine? Violent people commit violent acts not guns When you take structure and discipline out of society somebody has to pay the consequences People are reaping the consequences of liberal philosophies of the 1960s and ’70s and like then want to blame someonesomething else for the monster they created If you want to protest protest the causes of violence: The lack of discipline in the home and schools parents who don’t teach their kids respect for guns or people violent corrupt and por- nographic movies and videos lack of enforcement of existing gun laws teenage drivers who kill more people than guns every year and kids who scoff at school rules and intimidate teachers and classmates But leave my guns and Constitution alone Command a gun on a table to shoot Nothing happens Put that gun knife bomb or can of gas in the hands of a person who thinks he or she has been wronged and you have a problem Finally there are millions of Jews Russians Kosovars Africans and South Americans who thought it was right to give up their guns or were denied ownership by their government Where are they? Dead Protest the right things for the right purposes Remember violent people commit violent acts not an inanimate piece of metal Ronald Birrell Roy Couple urges physician to remain We have recently signed a petition for Dr Jan Erik Schow and were asked if we would permit our names to be signed to a letter being sent on his behalf to the Standard-ExaminBox Elder News Journal and state Attorney General Jan Graham We agreed sight unseen er We moved to Dr Jeff Lish and die Brigham City Hospital some time ago but the need for a local doctor was evident and many praises led us to Dr Schow We wish he was at the Brigham City Community hospital We appreciate the quality of care Dr Schow insists upon his kindness understanding and conscientiousness He goes the proverbial “extra mile” and now we must help him I’ve lived in the Bear River valley all my life and Rhea my wife since our marriage 30 years Doonesbury in area ago We count six capable and caring doctors in that time Dr Schow is one of those most outstanding With so many unsubstantiated rumors flying we wish there was something substantial we could do We join others in suggesting that Dr Schow find funds to build onto his clinic a operation where he could have six additional rooms (12 beds) and be able to deliver babies and take care of our needs in a manner much like a some doctors in Logan are doing Perhaps Dr Schow could persuade Dr Lish to join him Would Columbia sponsor them? We would be willing to have activities Please don’t leave us we need you here! Blaine and Rhea Rhodes 24-ho- ur non-IH- C fund-raisi- MAIL ng Garland Standard-Examin- Coming up in the: er POBox 951 Ogden UT 84402-095- Please keep letters to 300 words or less and Include your name address and daytime phone for verification Letters must be signed and may be edited and condensed Let common cense prevail of the Saturday May 6 2000 15A FAX Opinion pages 1 (801)625-450- 8 SUNDAY: Our editorial bemoans the fact that Tax Freedom Day was May 3 Lettersstandardnet IL A cybsr Pearl Harbor looms in our future may taka computer meltdown to move Americans to action It lull-fledg- ed GLOUCESTER CITY N J are here to talk about - “We preventing an electronic Pearl Harbor” Those ringing words may seem out of place coming as they do from a politician in a suit and tie as he stands inside a windowless electric power switching station some 8000 miles east of Hawaii But that’s the point that Rep Rob Andrews D-is trying to make: The next big attack on the United r States could hit anywhere even the South Jerof suburbs Philadelphia sey Indeed it’s quite possible that the attackers could be Americans and that their weapon of choice could be a computer In March 1997 for example a Massachusetts teenager hacked into a telephone company computer system and knocked out telecommunications for the western part of the state For six hours air traffic controllers at the Worcester airport relied on cell phones and battery-powere- d radios to direct planes to safety In February 1998 two California teens working with a third hacker in Israel broke into a Pentagon computer that was managing US troop deployments to the Persian Gulf The attack was so effective that the Defense Department initially told President Clinton that Iraq was the likely culprit Fortunately the truth was revealed before the episode escalated into an international incident The US government has long known it has a cyber-securiproblem Three years ago the National Security Agency hired 33 hackers to simulate attacks on the domestic information ty The hackers gained "root access” - the highest degree of penetration - to 36 of the government’s 40000 networks If the attacks had been real the hacks would have caused power outages in New York Los Angeles Chicago and Washington In addition they would have wrecked communications with all US Navy ships in the Pacific Since then Uncle Sam has quietly spent billions to upgrade computer security which is a good thing since the military alone detects some 60 to 80 hack attacks a day Andrews a member of the House Armed Services Committee applauds these efforts but points to a looming paradox: As the government “hardens” its national security networks hackers and terrorists might aim their mayhem toward “soft” civilian targets And so Andrews plans to introduce a bill the Cyberterrorism Prevention Act of 2000 His legislation which expands upon earlier Clinton administration proposals has two main components First he would provide modest financial incentives such as loan guarantees to help critical was simultaneously assisted by a citizen of another country infrastructure businesses to improve their security He suggests a public-privat- partnership sim- e What’s the best way to deal with such transnational crime? As soon as possible with every resource possible according to Andrews ilar to the successful effort that forestalled any “Y2K” catastrophes “You can’t ask the private sector to bear the full cost of providing public goods” Andrews explains in an interview “You don’t make United Airlines pay for the whole US Air Of course any suggestion of bringing America’s national security apparatus to bear on the home front is guaranteed to provoke hostility from both the right and the left Force” But doesn’t such a program risk becoming a boondoggle? “I’d rather risk the creation of a bureaucracy in return for creating a mechanism to keep the country safe” Andrews answers “I want to keep the Fourth Amendment inviolable” Andrews insists Even so opposing groups are unlikely simply to take him at his word But the greatest threat to the Andrews bill is apathy History suggests that countries do little to prepare themselves for theoretical dangers only actual threats wake people up In 1941 it took a disaster at Pearl Harbor to mobilize Americans Second Andrews would allow the Defense Department to immediately investigate cyber attacks against itself current law requires the Justice Department to determine that an attack has come from outside the United States before the Pentagon’s security services can get involved Six decades later the country is even more at ease Andrews But as Andrews observes “Computer crime is instantait ignores both disneous tance and borders” Indeed a Hacker Internationale of sorts already exists that 1998 attack on Persian Gulf troop deployments began in California but it has volunteered for guard duty atop the cyber security watch-towof the nation he will soon learn if people are listening James P Pinkerton is a News-da- y columnist and a member of its editorial board er Where Legacy goes sprawl will follow highway will Expensive 120-milforever determine how Utah grows © By MARC HEILESON Guest Commentary In the April 13 article “Report blasts Legacy Highway” a representative of the Utah Department of Transportation criti- cized the Sierra Club’s report which describes how suburban sprawl is subsidized by taxpayers A UDOT spokesman accused the Sierra Club of “pulling numbers out of thin air” with respect to the estimated cost e of the proposed Legacy Highway 120-mil- In fact the estimate comes from a report published last year by the taxpayer watchdog group Taxpayers for Common Sense The report estimated a total cost for the Legacy ’ Highway at $27 billion based on UDOTs own estimates of the costs of the first segment through Davis County 12-m- ile At that time UDOT had estimated its cost well under $300 million Now according to this article UDOTs cost estimate for the first dozen-mil- e phase has risen to $380 million If the taxpayer group had done its study this year they could have reasonably estimated a total cost of about $37 billion UDOT stated thafsince it has not requested federal hinds for the short initial segment its officials claim they “have Remarkably by carry trudeau flford “The Legacy Higfiway will at eventually connect with 1-- 15 Brigfiam Cityfrom the north and Nephi to the south forming a ” 'loop of the urban areas This is similar to the Phoenix belt route which has resulted in what by-pa- ss may be the worst sprawl through Weber and Utah counties and a 3600 West segment through western Salt Lake County Those segments have sprawl developers licking their chops The Legacy Highway at Brigham will eventually connect with City from the north and Nephi to the south forming a “loop” of the urban areas This is similar to the Phoenix belt route which has resulted in what may be the worst sprawl disaster ever 13 by-pa- ss Transportation choices drive ment The governor’s disaster ever” Low-densi- no plans to request federal funds for Legacy” Should Utah taxpayers now expect to n dollar tab for pick up the entire the Legacy Highway? multi-billio- The UDOT representative also claims e that the proposed Legacy Highway is merely a “vision” of the governor's that may never be built In fact Gov Leavitt 120-mil- himself displayed maps of the entire 120-mifreeway proposal when he unveiled the le project Furthermore the Wasatch Front Regional Council and others are studying many Legacy Highway segments' including routes Fillmore develop- Legacy Highway will determine land speculation prices and the type of development for the areas to automobile-dependethe west sprawl will follow the Legacy Highway 120-mil- e nt ty Once roads are built in open space areas suburban sprawl follows and the taxpayer is left with the cost for most of the supporting infrastructure We pay twice both in a damaged environment and in higher taxes As the Sierra Club report concludes there is a better way based on smart growth initiatives alit and a serious investment in ternatives That's the road we want to take mass-trans- Marc HeUeson a resident of Salt Lake City ir the southwest associate representative of the Sierra Club By Bruce Tinsley |
