| Show Standard-Examine- r Opinion Letters & Columns Saturday December 2 2000 11A To our Readers MAIL Standard-Examine- Coming up in the: r PO Box 12790 Ogden UT 84412-279- 0 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 FAX (801)625-450- 18 the Standard-Examin- Lawsuits could tame West’s wild slopes lesser employee may try to blame er reported a variation of users for failing to notice virus” destroyed the “TXTVES” with their own eyeimportant files stored by Ogden balls Or he or she may try to blame Microsoft for building a City (“ ‘Worm’ virus infects Ogden computers”) It also depowerful operating system Ogvoured time and resources as den’s mayor must resist this ragovernment workers scrambled tionalization By the same logic to eradicate the virus one could blame cockpit crews “love-lett- er Ogden’s mayor should blame the city’s computer security manager for this incident It should not have occurred The government should have seen no damage or down time because of the virus The city’s productivity suffered because a bureaucrat failed to learn a simple lesson The “ILoveYou” virus and its variants use a exploit to hide the true file name from casual observers Ogden's computer security manager should block attachments with two periods in the last eight characters of the file name Because he or she failed to enact a simple protective measure the city suffered for it Ogden’s computer security manager will wince at the idea of taking blame and I suspect will attempt to shirk responsibility A Most skiers accept that resorts can’t eliminate all of the sport’s dangers andor aircraft manufacturers for failing to stop terrorists who I offer an lecture called “Fundamental Problems on Planet Virus” I’ll gladly brief it to the Ogden City government Residents shouldn’t feel ashamed by my offer - I recently did the same for Microsoft and Delta Air Lines Rob Rosenberger Vmythscom editor Wellman Iowa two-part- call Ralph Nader 'hook their monkey tree and now a wake-u- p they are fighting for the spoils It is proof that the people are getting fed up with the inability of government to listen and their unwillingness to perform the tasks required by voters who put them there They are not there to do the bidding of the people but for their own greed Now each day we will see the scene of an undecided presidency Gore should concede let power transfer begin Throw them out of the presiOur republic is endangered by dential election process and elect A1 Gore’s reckless challenges and assault on the integrity of by those states where the system all-othe long-pamay have some integrity presidential election: should develop Congressmen counting invalid and nonlaws requiring inspection and cer- votes (dimpled chads and double tification of every state's election punched) disenfranchising oversystem and process - including seas American service personnel g “voter Utah’s Florida is not the only insisting on state that neglects campaign ex- intent” relentlessly trying to penditure control and election in- overturn the results by sending cadres of lawyers to courts and tegrity politicos to Florida Perhaps the only reason Utah is not having election problems is precincts to keep working (re: because Democrats can never changing) the results of Florida's mount any reasonable challenge election until they get Gore ut st mind-readin- out-of-sta- te Chuck Eddy Ogden tug-of-w- ar move into the courts The question is who is paying for these d ambulance chasers to continue their playground fight? Every highbrow politician and intellectual analyst has looked at the citizens of this nation as cattle with rings through their noses who can be led to believe whatever they shovel out I for one am not so gullible Soon the silent majority will turn their silent screams of disappointment into a fury of anger that will rock this nation’s senses It does not take a proverbial brick to fall on my head to see the idiocy of this situation as I watch these clowns destroy the fabric that binds this nation into the mosaic of wondrous colors that it is today Kirk L Pugmire high-price- Harrisville Lawsuit is about winning not counting votes I’ve listened to the people of Florida speak before the Florida Legislature during a public hearing to determine whether the lawmakers will choose Jthe Florida electors The people speaking were from all walks of life - different ages different mental capacities different skin color etc The one common factor: They were all quite upset Some are going into voter irregularities some into the confusing butterfly ballot Most seem to be telling the legislature to back off and let the voters pick the winner I heartily agree Nobody including Republicans wants the legislature to exercise its obligation to choose electors when the election did not Florida lawmakers could back off from this obligation and leave Flonda without electors Maybe Gore would win then This has become a process I cannot understand a leader of the free world's lack of leadership in allowing this to continue 1 cannot understand misrepresen “ahead” The Florida recount (and not s disqualified-overseaballots) show that Bush won Florida again Every tradition of our re- public demands that Gore con- cede and let the orderly transfer of power begin five-pag- add my voice to the ground-swe- ll of outrage that Gore concede Now Right away Today There is enough damage done I Won’t all readers likewise speak up? Call Washington Send faxes send We should not stand silently or idly for this attack on America's political freedom Vernon Kirk Hooper anyone but himself To try to throughout the Thanksgiving weekend is typical of what we have come to expect from him He has become an anachronism in these continued tantrums Whenever people are unhappy with the outcome of a game or some other event he is brought up He has become the archetype of the sore loser the soccer or little league parent who yells at and strikes the officials because he or she is not happy with a call they made Again I say shame The statement he made before the election is coming to rest with him He would do anything to win He has proven it to be true Aha M May nor confront chaos if and only if we can ski the chutes and risk the avalanches Snow erects its own memorials It is always moving alive disordered That's why we ski or snowboard Whether I'm at a ski area or in the backcountry death brushes by me every time I stand at the top of a gully I pause to assess conditions Then I release myself down a steep pitch where there is only one avenue of escape My survival depends on a combination of wits athleticism and luck Winter mountainscapes are one of the last refuges for freewheeling Westerners If you’ve Eud skied at the ropean resorts you know what I mean Our Western winter-scape- s defy our society's desire to impose order on chaos Coaches and commanders and now lawyers and snow cops try to bring order but it’s a managerial delusion Their obsessions with routes and rules vainly aim to master a larger number of variables than we can ever comprehend All boot-lessl- y pit themselves against the lone hero and warrior we know from war and sport from the art and literature of the mountain West from the very essence of what it means to be alive in an unpredictable world As their skill levels increase skiers and snowboarders should also see their opportunity for decision-makin- g g and grow Given recent changes in equipment and attitudes many more people are dying in the mountains these days I hope that these adventurers are dying happy doing what they love to the best of their abilities I doubt that many of them would want a jury to blow a chilly wind over our mountain sports This is not to say that skiers and boarders don't have responsibilities I applaud the verdict reached in another recent case by an jury which convicted young Nathan Hall of criminally negligent homicide A Vail employee and expert skier Hall was bombing down an intermediate run skiing out of control under extremely poor snow conditions when he struck and killed another skier It's an important precedent that he faced criminal charges But it's just as important that we who endanger only ourselves remain free to meet the challenge of the mountains Tom Wolf is a contnhutor to Writers on the Range a sen tic of High Country Sens He Ines to ski in Taos SM and is the author of "Ice Crusaders' a Memoir of Cold War and Cold Sport " over-groome- nsk-takin- all-ski- er liability I don’t envy the jury It will understandably sympathize with the mother's loss But before it litigates our winter sports out from underneath us I hope it will consider that many Americans see winter's snows as a liberating force as a frontier-lik- e challenge against which we define ourselves The most interesting and challenging winterscapes count if and only if we can freely throw ourselves into them and Kay suite force people to continue counting challenge against which we define ourselves” rhul-ti-billi- Gore’s shenanigans simply not impressive I am extremely appalled at the shenanigans of A1 Gore's team in Florida He makes me ashamed to be an American I have never heard such hypocrisy in my life as what comes from his mouth How dare he profess to want all of the votes in Florida count when he has cynically and selectively targeted only those counties which he feels will give him an advantage while publishing e document explainthe ing how to discredit the military votes Has he no shame? And now that Florida officials have abided with the Florida Supreme Court decision which he heralded as a victory for his side he wants to take them to court? How dare he! He obviously has no concern for frontier-lik- e Heavy early snows have hit the high country and ski industry analysts are predicting one of the best seasons in years But there’s a cloud of a different sort on the horizon Westerners who value personal freedom lawshould track a suit now under way in US District Court in Denver This suit has forced us to ask whether Colorado's venerable Ski Safety Act of 1979 should be amended to further “protect” skiers But to protect us against what? Ourselves? The mountains? Designed to articulate the responsibilities of skiers and resort operators the Ski Safety Act requires that resorts maintain sign systems to warn skiers of dangers other than those inherent in the sport For example a red exclamation point m a yellow triangle marks danger areas like cliffs or roads Even natural obstacles must be marked Failure to do so constitutes negligence This stringent law has withstood many tests in an increasingly litigious society The dollar ski industry might seem like a ripe plum were it not for the fact that the Act limits settlements to $250000 But no one knows whether it will withstand the tragedy that befell Christopher Gifford an expert skier who aspired to join Vail's Ski Patrol One January' day in 1997 the rode the lifts early up to Momingside Ridge in Vail’s advanced back bowls The Ski Patrol had stuck a crossed pair of bamboo poles (but not a yellow triangle) at the top of a natural gully filled with the kind of powder that makes Vail famous As the young man crossed above the poles his ski tips somehow snagged the side of the gully sending him headfirst down into the snow By the tune witnesses dug him out he had suffocated Christopher's mother Sandra Gifford who has a law degree is representing herself in a wrongful death suit after other attorneys declined the case She says that Vail was negligent for not signing the gully Vail says that the ravine was an inherent danger and risk of skiing which would exempt the resort from us Throw Florida out of the election process With politicians you find the biggest liars cheats and thieves Now let's add whiners! On the auction block sits the presidency of the United States ind bidding for the most powerful job in the world enter two immature dolts in a redneck vs yuppie tug of war with the people of this nation in the middle y The system just got liberatingforce as a Writers on the Range A savvy bureaucrat will try to blame anti-virsoftware Again the mayor must resist this rationalization I repeat: The city got hit by a exploit Ogden’s mayor must take charge Blame the computer security manager for the city’s virus woes Election: Redneck vs yuppie “Many Americans see winter’s snows as a By TOM WOLF sneak past lazy guards Presidential race sparks sharp opinions in Top of Utah Why should the rest of the country be held hostage by Florida? Florida has a Republican governor controlling the state operations including elections Florida has a Democratic Supreme Court controlling state judicial matters including elections Both sides have said that Florida’s election process is a mess and seriously flawed So why not throw Florida’s ballots out of the process? After all it’s Floridians who have permitted the neglect of the state election process and it’s Floridians only who should be SUNDAY: David Broder on the renewed reform viability of campaign-financ- e Lettersstandardnet Simple protective measure would have avoided Ogden City’s computer virus woes On Nov Opinion pages 8 tations that votes haven’t counted and that lawsuits are part of the ‘Silent majority’: Most voted for Gore election process Mr Gore has at those people in Congress who Cynthia Mmarik in her Nov an obligation to lead - to lead '21 commentary “Americans rise represent us? If so she should this country out of the confusion and protest election fiasco” rails know that a large majority inhis committee caused The misat the lawyers who are “despoilcluding Sen Hatch are lawyers representations are being made ing” her ideas of our government by profession on an hourly basis along with a She talks about the “silent majorquagmire of legal assaults She also makes a reference to ity” and feels she is part of it My vote counted Even if my separate from those “we have Vice President Gore implying he particular ballot didn’t work cor- chosen to run our country wheth- is unpatriotic because the Demorectly it still counted Nationally er by election or by default” She crats are contesting the vote there are about 3 percent of balthinks it’s high time that politics count in Florida She either does lots that are a combination of ovbows to the citizens’ wishes She not know or doesn’t want to adervotes undervotes and machine interprets these citizens’ wishes mit to the fact that some Repuberrors So my vote is worth 97 as her own licans used public facilities and instead of 10 The vote still What a coincidence! I feel that voter registration lists to fill in counted It has the same relative my wishes are thbse of the majormissing required information on value as everyone else’s vote We ity their chosen absentee ballots know this! We need to quit misIt would seem that a patriotic leading people that their votes citizen would be first to see that Nor does she rail over the use don’t count! more Americans have voted for of ballot forms that did not conThe Seminole County lawsuit Gore than for Bush and that we form to Florida law Nor did she is about excluding votes It need to fairly interpret the votes make any mention of the use of should be called off The other in Florida to make sure the will voting equipment that has proven suits are about winning not of all of the people who cared unreliable in recording a voter’s counting votes Mr Gore con- enough to vote be counted The intention This problem is clearly ceded once and should do so majority has voted so there is no recognized by the voting proceagain silent majority to be catered to dures in the state of Texas Stephen Sparrow Cal Hansen As she states we are a governRoy ment of laws But has she looked Brigham City STANDARD-EXAMINE- LETTER TO THE EDITOR GUIDELINES R B Letters must include your first and last name address and a daytime telephone number No exceptions so we can verify the letter's authenticity 2 All letters published must bear the author's first and last name except under extreme circumstances as determined by the editorial board 3 Letters may not exceed 300 words 4 We reserve the nght to reject letters which are defamatory or inconsistent with good editorial standards 5 No more than one letter from any individual will be published during a month 6 Letters of appreciation will be published based on individual merit as space allows No mention of business names is allowed 7 No event announcements will be accepted as letters to the editor 8 Consumer complaints will not be published 1 By Garry Trudeau Mallard Fillmore Doonesbury By Bruce Tinsley EVERYTHING WAG NICE ANP PEACEFUL UNTIL o? pfeep pent king gent op iHe A INTHE CXXOS' My fo school -- ifte- f 7y VKGET ZZFm&L -- Hcrt 3 |
