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Show MONDAY/March 3, Opinion Che Salt Lake Tribune 1997 OUR VIEW - The Salt Lake Tribsune’s Editorial Position Page A10 MR. PRESIDENT, ABOUT ) WHITEWATER? eaeee Demand rtion possibly on it claims to for: restricting public sroposal. legislators were flaws UT THESE Nea 2204IGN to let women Killpack’s st know how abortion bei oud IF iySIFFWAS UCH A Bi DEAL,WHY CONTRIBUTIONS2 d DID THE AMERICAN PEOPLE REELECT ME?? feels pain. a cess could bevisually shown tive state rules. ongoing public det and a low abortion rate already mai the state’s preference MISTAKES —~ WERE Since most women seeking abortions MISTAKES WERE have already made their difficult deciof ble to woof an abortion orn “child ¢ the medi cal nd community pro- ¥ p thechild adoption. If the video the absence of informaz fut unplanned most obvious way to rtion. Despite its shortcomings, the cur- ave be n accepted ent o¢ f the community. it heads asst conflict that usually rts time energy and funds from sion, seeing gruesome pictures would only aggravatetheir pain. For tate to then depict childbirth in rosy terms would be to deny various social costs of unplannedchildren, including mothers regrets about adoption. Instead of deterring abortion. H.B. 362 would punish the women resorting If lawmakers insist that needy par- ents must be me to the workforce. then they must get over the fuzzy notion t Iping them obtain child care ehow compromises their parental s. In fact, the opposite is more true: that needy parents who canain child care will be harded to providefor their families. The reluctance to fund child care this session emerged in a couple of forms: the near-death experience of House Bill 184 beforeit received miraculous and deservedpassage Friday. and thecut of $4 million in child-care funding from the base budget H_B. 184. which originally aimed to iate $900,000 for after-school 1s for latch-key children, was amendedto cut that funding in half last Thursday. Even at that, it apparently failed on a 36-36 vote in the House, as opponents contended that it was up to working parents to take care of their children during after-school hours. But the bill was resurrected and passed by That money, as well as funding for a new video. could be much better on family-planning information and services. For the $60,000 or more it would cost for the video, the state could serve at least 300 women. » BF venting at least 12 abortions and averting other medical. social and Soancial complications of unwanted pregnancy That would be a morepositive, ef fective use of the state's resources. “the death of Albert Shanker stills 4 voice of reason in American education.” Such was the teachers-union leader's deserved reputa- tionfor militancy. Twicehe was jailed for leading New York City’s teachers out on bitter strikes. Yet by the time the longtimeleader of the American Federation of Teachers died a week agoat age 68, he long since had become one of education's most re spected elder statesmen — andone of its most credible voices of reason. Always an advocateof firmdiscipline and rigorous academic standards Shanker deplored the educational fads that disrupted soundclassroom teaching the House Thursday, and then the Senate wisely endorsed it Friday As for the $4 million base-budget cut, it won't inhibit the state's child-care obligations for the next fiscal year, but it might thereafter. Legislators figured that a $4 million windfall, the residueof a federal block grant, could fill in the budget needsfor fiscal-year 1998. thus justifying the cutting of that amount from the base budget. But will legislators remember next year to restore that $4 million. which ‘as cut only because of a one-time windfall? Or, faced again with highwayfunding pressures, will they say they can't bump state child-care funding by $4 million? If they dothe latter. Workforce Services officials say shortfalls $14.8 million by 2002 Lawmakers should have taken a more long-term view of how to utilize that $4 million and could have maximized federal matching funds by appropriating another %$593.000. Instead they took a let’s-get-through-this-year approach, which will only assure them a more difficult task next winter This is one social obligation that Utah cannotignore. Thestate wanted to assumefederal welfareresponsibilities; it must fund child careif it is serious about meeting them. Ci Feb. in the name of school reform. It was his membership on various task forces and commissions studying school reform, however, that brought him into contact with mor 25) refers to the group | Utah Eagle Foply opposedto the The ultra-conservative group from the groupin your publication, yet I haveno idea whatthe group is, its makeup, sourceof funding. ete I tried to look the group up in the phone book. Guess what? Theyare not listed. Now why would a group that doesn't even have a public phone listed have “power in the Legislature”? If they are so secret. maybe The Trib une needs to use other sources for arti- cles and the group's powerwill accrue to its properlevel. Do you use quotes from the group because they are easy for your writers to get to? and shakers from the corporate world, Those experiences gave him a new sense of urgency about the need to create the professionally staffed If Shanker, the quintessential militant PUBLISHER people to know whatt victo zens of thestate.” as Jassie is a little hollow I don't believe the se doing. However, this from this lesson and the rush forward once aga sword of righteousnes: and ridin ogance ¢ horse of stupidity. The the taxpayers $26,000. If nount ypeand double space 's are condensed and edited of the volume of mail recived, not all submissions arepublished MH Mail to Public Forum, TheSalt Lake Tribune, P.O. Box 867, Salt Lake City ated. each of the 25 senators w e to ignore the law instead of senting the people of this é she writing a personal chec $840. Utah 84110. W Our fax numberis (801) 237-2316 Gasoline Prices Rocket Petroleum dealers are controlling fuel prices in Utah. Pricefixing is illegal Fuel prices are 11 cents higher than they were two months ago. A gallon of ters. Nazi Germany conferred uponF Theonly expensethey have is transportation. Delivery costs amount to 1 or 2 cents per gallon on the Wasatch Front You can travel to Huntington and pur- the Ford shrine near Detroit. you find no hint of thesefacts Anti-Nudity Crusader Exposed Congratulations to reporter Dan Harrie for “The Bare Facts: Anti-Nudity Crusader Profits From ‘Adult’ Billboard” (Tribune, Feb. 18). What a great example of how a free press can benefit society and help protect us from people who seem toprotest too much. All I can say is I hope that Tom Young and his Citizens for Positive Community Values don’t get hooked on hypocrisy WAYNE A. PETTY West Valley City turing costs, so why $1.28.9 today? 23), writer Paul Rolly has clearly depict- edthe paradoxthat is Utah's Legislature. On onehandour legislators want every woman who becomes pregnant to give birth to the child. On theother hand, they seem to be saying, “We don’t care what happenstothechildafterit is born.” In my experience, that doesnot reflect the attitudeof the general public. Everywhere | look I see people who are concerned about the prevalenceof gang ac: tivity, the lack of sufficient child care. grams andthe quality of education the parents’ responsibility, but what happens when a young mandies and leaves his wife withfive children to raise, or the breadwinner suffers a stroke and can't work, or oneor both parents arekilled in an automobile accident or a drive-by are we paying chase regular unleaded gas for $1.17.9 per gallon: you can buy gas in Afton Wyo., for $1.10.9 per gallon, and in Lehi you pay $1.12.9per gallon. If this outrageous pricing continues, it will severelyaffect the tourist industry Citizens cannotstand this hijacking The current Legislature will soon vote on another five-cent increase. If this passes, our fuel will be 10-15 cents higher than any other western state. Price fixing must be stopped DON SAWYERS Sandy t Visionary Transportation For more than a year. I have read the Public Forum, watching the battle between the transportation visionaries and the transportation Neanderthals. At times it has been amusing andentertaining, but for the most partit has been frustrating to watch primitive Neanderthals attempt to prevent Salt Lake City from becoming a modern and successful city. oneall Utahnscan take pridein. But logic and common sense haveprevailed over fear and ignorance. Salt Lake City's light-rail issue hasfinally been resolved and we're back on track. Because of the courage and dedication of Utah ‘Transit Authority General Manager John Pingree andhis visionary team, we will get the best cost-effective transportation solution in light rail for commuting Utahns. W tch Front Regional Council's re- shooting? Or there is a divorce and one search supported it, parent leaves the family? It seemsincredible to methat our legislators can be so ignorant ofthefact that often, through no fault of their own enjoy it, Light rail is comingtoSalt Lake people need help. To me, “family values’ includes the entire human family and means that we must all help each other. If wedon't, weall will suffer. The current legislators would do well to reconsider Gov. Leavitt's recommen- other cities like a famous anti-Semite. His book The Inter national Jew can still be found in guta decoration so high that only four we ever issued. (Mussolini was another re cipient.) If you visit Dearborn Vil NBCis to be condemned for i ashy previewsat the start of the d time slot. This is an insult to i 1 caust victims. You might evensa feeds off them. If the Ford pecoe ca makeamends anddo so with dignity, can NBC do less? Judging Martin Luther King Jr. From the day I read the comments madeby Raeo Passey (Forum, Feb. 5), I have beenirritated at the unfairness of his attitude. Passey’s comments referred to the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, that the Rey. King should not be honored because of his so-called moral misconduct, that King retained prostitutes who traveled with him from place to place to provide him with sex. Whether King did these acts or not is questionable Since Passey desires to be the keeper of moral concerns and what the children shouldn't be taught, he failed to comment about the moral character of several important historical figures mentioned in American history — for example, the Founding Fathers of this country, the writer and signers of the Declaration of Independence, just to mention a few These men were married. They had mistresses or slave women whom they carried on affairs with o: er, these Founding not judged by moral character, nor should Martin Luther KingJr, be judged moral “ Ttendto think thatthe greater good for all concerned far outweighs an. City. Hooray! First we'll have the Sandyto-Salt Lakeline. Then we'll have spurs ment of moral fault Passey’s view is the problem we Portland and St. Louis successfully use tothe airport andthe Universityof It is If this countryis ever to be the natior Others will follow. The Neanderthals havefinallyset asidetheir egos andgotit through their thick skulls that weall win can be, we must resolve the past, our dif with light rail. in reality, hide behind the guise of moral outrage dations for children and youth-at-risk If any transportation Neanderthals John W. Gallivan (1960-1983) James EB. Shelledy Jerry O'Brien (1983-1994) EDITORIAL PAGE EDITOR programs. It wouldn't hurt to take another look at House Resolution 5 (*Resolu. tion of Commitmentto Gifted Children’) either! S. GROESBECK COLLE Midvale still exist, 1 encourage them to evolve. Don't waste any more time or energy fighting what is good for Salt Lake City. KEARNS-ERIBUNE CORPORATION, 143 8, MAIN ST, SALT LAKE CITY, 4111 mended for tastefully sponsoring televising of “Schindler's List.” It i adays forgotten that Henry Ford was it, and now Utahnswill finally beable to EDITOR Harry E. Puller, Jr Ford Makes Amends The Ford Motor Company is to be com Dealers are making an excessiveprofit ona gallon of gasoline. The rack price at the refinery is the sametoall dealers It’s easy to saythat raising childrenis ment was preferable to confrontation cone open-meetings law, I was process still supports RICHARD YODER Kaysville it will in all probability provide a more balanced base for conclusions for your publication the need for better child-welfare pro- could reach such a wise conclusion, then maybe there is hopefor the teaching pro fession’s crities on thepolitical fringes. mitting their wrongdoin Utah?It may take a little more work. but How about starting to seek opinions fromus non-secretcitizens and voters in public schools that would produce good between teachers and school manage- WhenI read about state s submitting letters to the Public judeyour full name, sigs and daytime telephone Information other than your city in whieh you are kept confidential W Keepit short, Conciseletters develop: single themeare morelikely to be unleaded gas was $1.17.9; now it costs $1.28.9. To my knowledge there have been no crude-oil cost increases, and there has been no increase in manufac- citizens and enable the United States to compete in a global economy. That in turnledhimto conclude that cooperation Expensive Lesson Where to Write Out of Touch on Child Care In “The Rolly Report” (Tribune, Feb Dominic Weleh Fitzpatrick (1924-1960) ay as “the small but rum remains unsha will develop, mounting to as much as UTAH'S INDEPENDENT VOICE SINCE 187! John F. Tribune for the past two years. What is this group? Your front-page article titled “Drop-In Utah County has powerin the TheSalt LakeTribune PAST PUBLISHERS Who Are These People? I have been seeing quotes and comments from the Utah Eagle Forumin The lature far beyondits numbers. doyou saythat? I havenoted that uently carry opinions and quotes Shanker: A Voice of Reason unimaginable to say that Letters from The Tribune's readers state’s legal costs From The Miami Herald seemed THE PUBLIC FORUM would provoke litigation, adding to the ANOTHER VIEW Two decades ago it would have , NY durighte digpaich.com to the procedure. And it undoubtedly The Child-Care Pillar periment of entrusting e states can succeedonly if s meet their responsibilities, tah has been aheadof the veloping its welfare-to-work jators this session have er oneofthepillars of e! fective workfare — child-care funding. a Catchthe vision and climb on board STEVE NEELEMAN Salt Lake City ferences and quickness to judgment With a past like America has, one canne 1 realize no oneis perfect, so why don we chill on the “holier than thou” tude and get on with the at! job of building a nation everyonecanbe proud of JOHNL. HENDERSON Salt Lake City |
