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Show y i -f yir unriir -- . 99 rtf lwn Sun Advocate Opiwdom yaffq Muxxstei An open letter from the president Americans: This is the season of Americas renewal. Already, in the first few months of this new administration, we have restored an active purpose to the presidency and renewed Americas commitment to change and progress. After 12 years of national drift and economic decline, we have begun to chart a clear path to growth with my New Directions economic plan designed to create jobs, boost incomes, move our economy from consumption to investment and reduce our deficit dramatically. The investments in my economic plan embrace priorities that will raise the living standards and profits of workers and businesses for the long-terrebuild Americas infrastructure; commit resources and attention to the education and training needs of our students and workers; and restore vital incentives that reward productivity, profits, innovation and investment. The Clinton budget the outline of my economic plan for New Directions passed the Congress It in record-settin- g time. reduces deficit spending by over $500 billion, a plan so credible that the markets continue to reduce interest rates on the American people. These interest rate reductions, coupled with steps taken by my administration to deal with the credit crunch, mean American businesses, farms and consumers have money to save, spend, invest and grow. want to be the president who helps the American people realize their call for change. Enormous changes are sweeping our economy. Inevitable defense cutbacks are forcing military bases to close, causing defense manufacturers to lose markets and cut jobs. Problems in the airline industry have caused massive layoffs in aerospace firms and among the domestic carriers. Americas economic partners abroad are beating American companies in the race for markets in the former Soviet Union. Thats why my economic program will help the American people turn these changes into real economic progress. have offered a $20 billion, five-yeinitiative to reinvest in workers, communities and companies affected by cuts in military spending. I have formed a commission to recommend real changes in federal policy to help restart our aviation and aerospace industry. And I have proaid initiative to save vided an enterprise-oriente- d and Russian the spur American ecodemocracy nomic growth. Beyond growth, Americans want a return to responsibility in our schools, our communities and our economy. And in that spirit, this administration is leading the way: by reforming welfare to make it a second chance, not a way of life; by reforming the health care system to provide health security to every American and bring rising costs under control; by making national service opportunities available to students so that they can exchange opportunities for education with community service. Finally, I am working to give the government back to the American people. At the beginning of my administration, announced my decision to cut the White House staff by 25 percent and eliminate the kinds of perks and privileges which isolate federal workers from the people they are supposed to serve. I have cut billions from the budget of federal agencies and departments, telling them they must do more with less. I have appointed Vice President Gore to head the National Performance Review, which will oversee our efforts to streamline government, eliminate waste and make our government more accountable to the American people. I am committed to bringing this presidency directly to the people through such things as town meetings and electronic mail with the White House. And the vice president and will continue to participate in regional events like the Forest Conference, a meeting which sought solutions for the environmental and economic problems of the Pacific Northwest. Most importantly, am committed to enacting finance and lobbying reform legistough campaign lation to drive special interest dealing out of politics. What will come from what we accomplish here more economic growth, comprehensive health and welfare reform, a new system of national service, a government that once again belongs to the people are new opportunities for achievement, empowerment and progress for Americans who work hard and play by the rules. It means a new direction for us all. It is indeed Americas season of renewal. 4b Tuesday, May 4, 1993 to ttANvrs am? My fellow " Strictly Business How to avoid lazy listening I I ar I I I Bill Clinton Do you have a news tip? Call the Editor 637-0732. By SUZETTE ALGER Guest columnist At 8 p.m. Oct. 30, 1938, about six million people across the United States heard the following announcement on their radios: The Columbia Broadcasting Systems and its affiliated stations present Orson Welles and the Mercury Theatre of the Air in The War of the Worlds by H.G. Welles. The announcement was followed by a weather report and dance music. Suddenly, the music was interrupted ; with a flash news story. A series of gas explosions has just been noted on the planet Mars, said the announcement. The broadcast went on to report that a meteor had landed near Princeton, N.J., killing 1,500 persons. Before many minutes, however, the announcer explained that it wasnt a meteor, but a metal cylinder from which poured Martian creatures attacking the earth with death rays. The program lasted one hour. At the half-hou-r, two announcements were made indicating that what people were hearing was only a fictitious story. The same sort of an announcement was made at the programs conclusion. At least 60 percent of all stations carrying the program interrupted the play to say it was fiction. But at their radios that night, there were about a million people who missed these announcements. Only the word invasion caught their ears, and it - gripped them with fear. Twenty families on a block in Newark, N.J., rushed from their homes to escape what they thought was a gas raid. Their faces were covered with wet towels and handkerchiefs. A San Francisco, Calif., man phoned authorities. Where can I volunteer my services? he said. Weve got to stop this awful thing. In Mount Vernon, N.Y., a man who was considered a hopeless invalid heard the broadcast. With the news of invasion, he rushed from his home, climbed into an automobile and disappeared. Warnings and farewells were phoned by mistaken listeners to their friends and relatives all over the countiy. Telephone lines to radio stations, newspapers, hospitals and police stations were kept busy with people asking about the invasion. In New York, at one point during the program, Orson Welles and his actors looked up from their microphones to see the studio control room filling with police. Before long, Welles and his colleagues realized that they caused a panic of national proportions. Who was responsible for the fear and confusion this program created? Why are so many of us poor listeners? Half of our education is spent learning communication: 40 percent learning how to read; 35 percent learning how to write; 25 percent learning how to talk; and 0 to 1 percent learning how to listen. Much of our listening education was in the form of be quiet and pay attention. It is not sur prising that most of society are passive listeners, geared to react to trigger words and shut out tedium. Anyone can learn to listen. It takes hard work and practice, but the rewards are great. Here are some tips that may help. Know when you are not listening. Check yourself by asking silently: Can I repeat, rephrase or clarify what has just been said? If you cant, the sound is on, but replay is broken. Know why you are not listening. As you define your excuses for not listening, you will systematically eradicate the watching someone talk syndrome. Check the following common reasons for not listening and begin to take silent control of the communication: We hear only what we want to hear. Dislike of the person speaking. We consider the topic or information unimportant. We jump to conclusions. Too many other problems on our mind3. Radical departure from our own thinking. Waiting for our turn to talk. Avoid judgments. Nearly all the reasons for not listening focus on our own ego and our inability to grant equal attention to another person. As soon as the person speaking is elevated to a pinnacle of importance, the active listening process begins and we weigh each thought as if (Continued on Page SB) Guest column Enjoying the Wedge By CHUCK ZEHNDER Guest columnist Getting there is half the that is cer- fun! An old adage tainly true early in the year like this, when one is heading for the San Rafael Swell. The desert is so green early in the year after the snow is gone and there have even been a few spring rains there. The ones who get to enjoy it best are those who can take oft during the week. This time of the year, the desert is getting crowded on the weekends crowded only if you are from the West. If an easterner or a flatlander were to head out to the desert on any weekend of the year, he certainly wouldnt believe it was crowded, nor very green. But we know it is both! The trip out on those dirt roads is great and the dust seems to hang suspended behind as the car moves along. Watch closely when you get to the first bunch of rocks at the road junction up ahead sometimes theres an eagle resting in a juniper there on the ridge. Then you are driving through a low spot that is filled with greasewood and sagebrush. The sage smell this early in the year is strong and sweet. In the early morning sunshine, rabbits dive for cover from the road into the brush. On the left up ahead is a pull-ofand the pinion pine and juniper are thick there as they climb the rocky flanks of Cedar Mountain. A good place to stop for a hike before the last leg on to the overlook. Up through the trees and listening again to the quiet it really isnt quiet at all, with all the birds calling. Suddenly, two deer jump to their feet and bound ahead, as your heart bounds in your chest. You catch glimpses of them as they dart back and forth and, always, away. There on the ground is what an arrowyou hoped for head. Just as modem hunters come to Cedar Mountain to hunt, so did the Fremont so many centuries before and this evidence shows they saw something right where you did. Hiking back to the car, the talk is about the arrowhead f, and guessing at the circumstances that left it there maybe 1,000 years ago. On the car goes, around the mesas and to the junction. Turn left to Buckhom Draw or right to Ferron. Straight ahead is the Wedge and thats your destination today. Past the windmill and water tank, past the road to the right that leads to the San Rafael River where you went rafting last week. Soon, the bare grassy ground gives way to the pinion pine and juniper forest once again. You stop the car and look back. It didnt seem like it, but you have climbed a long ways to reach the trees. On and then the road ahead opens on the rim of the San Rafael River at the you go Wedge. You stop the car back in the trees. This spectacular view deserves every year to be seen while on foot and not from the dusty window of a modem vehicle. The smell i3 always such a greeting here and it doesnt fail again today. The clear, crisp air and the sweet odor of the pines seem to shar pen the senses. Walking slowly forward, you see the opening to Virgin Spring Canyon on the other side of this, the Little Grand Canyon. Sids Mountain is to the right of Virgin Spring Canyon. Slowly, the opposite side of the canyon climbs higher and higher as you near the rim. There it is! Far below the sun reflects off the surging river of the San Rafael. Standing very quietly, you can even hear it in one of the rapids far below. It is involuntary, but a sigh escapes your lips. Also involuntary is your going back to the car to get your camera you have taken pictures from here every year, and this year will not be an exception. This is too awesome to simply sit and enjoy; it must be recorded again. You will spend the next hour walking along the rim to the east to see on down the canyon and then youll have your lunch before heading back home. But for now, you just sit on the rim with your legs hanging over the edge of the Wedge overlook. |