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Show Page A-10 he Salt LakeTribane PINIO SATURDAY/MAY2, 1998 OUR VIEW The Salt Lake Tribune’s Editorial Position Selling Wine the Hard Way Imagine you're a wholesaler and you can’t show your producttoretailers except at a store operated by the state. It sounds like some Stalinist nightmare,buiit's not. That's how wine merchants haveto do business in Utah. Winebrokers whowish to seil a new vintage to a restaurant or a private club can’t take the product to their customers’ places of business and let them taste it. No, they've somehow got to persuade their customers to leave their businesses andsally forth to thestate's liquor warehouse, where they may sample the wine in the cozy atmosphere there. Believeitornot,this situation actually is an improvement. The Legislature loosened therules a bit in this year’s session. July 1, wine brokers will have the newfound freedom to take their customers down to the state warehouse any time of year. Until this reform kicks in, the only time a chef or club proprietor can sample a new wine is at a once-a-year trade show presented by the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (DABC). In fact, a bill was offered in thelast session to allow wine brokers io do what's sensible: take their wares to their customers. But the Dill was amended instead to allow only yearround sampling at the liquor ware- house. Forget about customer convenience Now this is odd, because the proposed law that would have brought door-to-door selling to wine wholesaling would hardly have invited a Bacchanalia. To the contrary, the wine merchant would have had to pay the state for his own samples, which the Utah wine police would have cataloged and labeled with bright stickers. After a tasting, the merchant would have had to return all bottles, opened ornot, to state liquor officials within seven days of their check-out date. Leaving samples with customers was prohibited. The DABC could have decided how manybottles could be checked out. Those rules don’t ieave much room for abuse. Somenations don’t control the ingredients for nuclear weapons this closely. If on-premise sampling had been adopted, a chef at a restaurant could have tasted a new wine and compared it with the stock on hand.But,alas, that would have beentoo sensible, too businesslike, too un-Utah. Bear in mind that none of this would have affected the public’s access to wine, except thatit probably would have improved the winelists in cafes and clubs. Andit would have madelife easier for people running their businesses. Another American Century? Most would agree the 20th century truly has been what Time-Life publisher Henry Luce dubbed “the American Century” back in 1941. Optimists believe the nation will continue to dominate the next century, just as it has come to do in this one. Maybe so, may- be not. One such optimist is Mort Zuckerman,editor of U.S. News and Worid Report, who wrotein the current Foreign Affairs quarterly that America will have the 21st century as well as the 20th, This year’s centennial of the Spanish-American War,which launched the United States as an emerging, confident great power with aspirations around the globe, has raised the question of America’srole in the next century among historians, scholars and many others. Adding to this is the un- deniable fact that the United States has largely dominated the 20th century, just as France dominated the 17th century and Britain the 19th century. Zuckermanoffers a bold, triumpha- list future of American dominancein the world. There is nothing new in this. This sort of optimism aboutthe nature of America andits role vis-a-vis others 4 IT APPEARS To BE JURASSIC, POSSIBLY TRASSIC,mn IN ANYCASE, ALMOSTCERTAINLY PRE-KENNETH STARR INVESTIGATION. ” has been endemic throughout U.S. istory. Puritans colonizing New England built and peopled godly communities, each of them envisioned as a beacon on the hill. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ beliefs, developed early in the church’s history, about a divinely inspired U.S. Constitution and America as a land choice aboveall others also is part ofthis. But whether the United States will retain its 20th-century political and cultural hegemony throughout the nextis iffy. Every great — and not so great — civilization, culture or sociopolitical entity of the past has followed the natural course of life: birth, growth, flowering, decline and death. This factis not to deny the possibility of continued American greatness. The remarkably stable ancient Egyptian civilization lasted several thousand years. The Middle Kingdom — China — flourished for more than a millennium. There are no guarantees, butatthis point, barring internal social disintegration, the United States looks likeit will remain an importantplayer on the world stage in the next century. THE PUBLIC FORUM Letters from The Tribune’s readers Keep Writing Contest One Hub or Two? On May5, the Salt Lake City Council will decide whether to have two hubs or one for commuterrail,trains and buses thatwill interconnect Salt Lake City with the airport, the University of Utah, Proyo, Ogden and other places around and in this city. A Tribune poll showed that Salt Lake City residents, by a 2-to-1 margin, prefer a one-hubtransportation link (Tribune, April 12). Still, the matteris split down the middle in the City Council. Think about what a two-hub transportation link would mean. A person from Provo going to the airport would have to get off at one hub, transfer to another hub, then take another train to the airport, probably adding another 20-30 minutes to his/her travel time. Does this make sense? Add to that the $40 million it would costto build the second hub. Let the City Council and Thevote is on Tuesdayat the City and most assuredlyaffect rail riders for dec- ades. DAN MOSHIN Salt Lake City a From The Washington Post Lewinsky’s Immunity Judge Norma Holloway Johnson has rejected Monica Lewinsky's rather implausible contention that independent counsel Kenneth Starr extended her a binding offer of immunity from prosecution. Her lawyers seem likely to appeal, so the issue probably will not disappear quickly, Because all the key documents related to the matter remain sealed, moreover, the precise parameters of the dispute are still somewhat murky. Still, someof Starr's much-maligned tactics in his negotiations with Lewinsky have won a vote of confidence from Judge John- son. But his prosecutors now face an unenviable choice. They can continue try- ing to obtain her cooperation, or they can indict her. The provocative conduct and state. ments of Lewinsky’s lawyer, William whether President Clinton committed similar crimes. Lewinsky has, broadly speaking, two pieces of information to offer: whether the presidentlied when he denied under oath having a sexual relationship with her, and whether President Clinton (or anyoneelse) urgedhertotestify falsely in the Paula Jones case. Indicting Lewinsky wouldnot, at least in the short term, draw the answers to these ques- tions out of her. The most expeditious way to do this is to haul her before the grand jury and immunize her if she cites her Fifth Amendment right not to in- criminate herself. ‘Thereis, in fact, only one situation in which Starr should contemplate indicting her. That circumstance is if Starr be- Ginsburg, have all but invited charges comes convinced that —evenimmunized against Lewinsky. But the chief public interest in Lewinskylies not in punishing — Lewinsky will not give him credible and complete answers but that she might do so under the pressure of criminal charges. This is not, however, a step to be her for the alleged perjury and obstruction of justice she may have committed It lies, rather, in the light she can shed on takenlightly. It is a moveoflast resort TheSalt Lake Tribune UTAH’S INDEPENDENT VOICE SINCE 1871 PAST PUBLISHERS PUBLISHER John F, Fitzpatrick (1924-1960) Dominie Welch John W. Gallivan (1960-1983) EDITOR James E, Sheliedy Jerry O'Brien (1983-1994) KEAKNS-TRIBUNE CORPORATION, 143 8, MAIN ST, SALT LAKE CITY, M21 he 1 two elementary school students, we are disheartened about the paper’s plan -to reconsider “whether to continue sponsoring the contest and publishing a selec- nature, address and daytime telephone numbers. Information other than your name and the city in which you live are tion of winners.” Wetry keptconfidential. single theme are more likely to be the Junior Creative Poetry Writing Contest chair, Geraldine Felt, that next year published. @ Please type and double oe @ Letters are condensed and edited. @ Because of the volume of mail received,notall submissions are published. § Mail to Public Forum, The Salt Lake Tribune, P.O. Box 867, Salt Lake City, Utah 84110. @ Our fax number is (801) 237-2316. students and parenis be required to — a disclaimer stating that the work is original work of the students. While this may not solve the problem, we hope it When an athlete tests positive for drugs, the contestis net eliminated, The Tribune still publishes the winners. We would hope that you won't throw out the whole contest because of two elementary school students. There were over 1,000 Uncle Sam’s Faith students whodid not plagiarize and who Carma Oliver projects bad karma toward Mormons in her letter (Forum, April 16). Compounding the incredible with utter confusion, she puts her hyste- ria, prejudice, and phobia on display in an unsuccessful attemptto interpret the separation of church and state to mean: Shutup if you believe in God, anytime, A Disenchanted Democrat I'm really getting old. I can actually remember when the Democrats were a viable party in the state of Utah. When you could tell the difference between them and the Republicans. When they had a modicum of integrity instead of being sycophants of high rollers and in- ailing of the religion- phobes lately has reached biblical proportions. Oliver seems to imply she is omnipresentas shestatesas fact that ev- ery Sunday morning in every Mormon church Clinton bashers take to the pulpit and spew venom at William Jefferson Clinton. MayI suggestto Oliver, as well as all The Democratic Party of Calvin others suffering intolerance andall man- Rampton, Paul Van Dam and Scott ner of phobias concerning religion, that Matheson has become the party of Randy the mostintrusive and insidious religion Horiuchi, Deedee Corradini and Blaze Wharton — opento the highest bidder, I to watch is the one being promoted by was especially sickened as a delegate to the convention to witness the anointing of Horiuchi’s successor. All other candidatesfor all offices were nominated and seconded as per the normal rules ofor- der. However, when Mike Reberg was nominated, seven or eight of the power weasels including past and presentoffice holders and insiders stage and, led by he. com, in unison anoi:. say this is the chosen gag. Mostofthe rest of t! the same paternalisti' the good sheep we ar paraded on the -veasel David Yod Reberg as if to one, I wanted to convention had _°1 to it, and like do what we're told. Whoever has the st signs, makes the most noise, has the fanciest freebies is our candidate Guessing the Republicans won't give us anyone who is a dime’s worth differ- ent, count on business as usual, sweet- heart deals to developers and RDAs, and government byand for the special interest. Let the shearing begin. HAL CHRISTENSEN Midvale Oo Bad Timing Well, here we goagain with DST (Day. light Stupid Time). Just when we were able to enjoy getting up when there was light in the sky, we have to change our clocks to go along with this antiquated and asinineritual, Whycan't webe sensible and get rid of this ridiculous procedure? It’s like cutting off the top of the blanket and sewing it on the bottom to make it longer. It just doesn’t make sense, and it messes up our natural Uncle Sam as hepresides over the state becoming the church! In the vacuumcreated by purging God from American life, Uncle Sam, soon to be known as Uncle God,has in the last 40 years created his own version of the 10 commandments and veatitudes. These new laws consist of thousands of thousands of rules and regulations not only to restrict actions but thoughts and feelings as well, Attitudes of political correct- This contest is the only statewide contest thatgives students an opportunityto write for an audience outside the classroom. Because the poem is entered in a contest, students are willing to proof- read, edit and polish because the reader is someone other than the teacher, and the reward ig greater than an A or “nice work" written on the paper. Please don’t withdraw your support. Our students and their parents from Viewmont were delighted by the wonderful write-up and pictures in the paper.It validated their efforts. The Tribune rust care about writing and communication. The contest has al- readylostits short story component and has been merged into part of the Utah State Poetry Society Festival. Please continue to support these young people in writing poetry and let them know you think poetry is a worthy endeavor. We have no other forum in the state. Without your support, we are afraid the contest will die and along with it thelittle emphasis on the arts there is in the schools will be lost. KEN ZEEMAN NONA HORSLEY Viewmont High School Bountiful correct principles. Principles replaced by the greatest of all secular virtues, “tolerance,” for anything and everything that is repulsive and degrading to the human spirit. ‘The most moral man in America wants to orchestrateit all! Quoting scripture to justify the demands ofhis own ego,in the last two State of the Union addresses he likens himself to King David and Jesus Christ, Wants us to believe he feels our pain while he heals the breech. Surely he can do it. Let's give him the honor, an honor he shares with Uncie Sam as we're mandated to volunteer in his name instead of God's name. The real enemy has never been religion but all the counterfeits that try to takeits place, replacing the free agency God offers with enslavement to unrestricted appetites, passions and desires promoted by that PCreligion, secular humanism, and its wealthy and powerful sponsor, Uncle Sam Separation of church and state? You bet! I'll stay as far away from Uncle Sam as I can get! DAVID CHRISTENSEN Taylorsville o Boorish Hockey Fans My family has held season tickets to the Utah Grizzlies since they came from Denver to Utah. We have been fortunate to have this caliber of play brought ito our state. Whatis unfortunate is the be- havior of someof the so-called fans. If the Jazz lose a close, exciting home game, do the fans throw their garbage vut on the floor? I think not, yet thisis the treatment some fans show at the hockey game. | was embarrassed and =e palled at the behavior some people ex. hibited at the recentplayoff loss agalaal the Kansas City Blades. The team de. serves our respect and admiration, s our childish behavior and bad ais manship. ve saad to satehind ots ted 100 percent of the time, win or lose, What kind of message do we send to the children whoa’ the games when we throw garbage out on the ice? Or if the person sitting next to us throws something, does that makeit all right for us to doit also? I for one would nothesiwho engage in this behavior. I hope dll Why is it that every time I see Paula Jones on TV, her nose seems to get longer? GLEN V. RUFF Springville * o tate to swp forward and point out those Longer Noses to another time zone, The original pur- pose of changing the time has long since been eliminated, Can't we now eliminate wrote some fine original poetry. ness, using shame to help us overcome rhythm,just like jet lag does when we go the practice as well? SHARON SIMONSON Salt Lake City to instill in stu- dents a basic honesty and a knowledgeof what plagiarism is. We have suggested to Keepit short. Concise letters develop- ing a cerns. siders. ANOTHER VIEW & When submitting letters to the Public Forum, please include your full name,sig- MayorDeedee Corradini know your con- County Building and the decision will While we share The Salt Lake Tribune’s dismay over the plagiarism by Where to Write T / true hockey fans will step forward jo that a few bad apples will not give hockey fans a bad reputation. MARKAY8. SHIPLBY Rivertbn ¢ = I * POOR. |
