Salt Lake Tribune | 1999-01-23 | Page 6

The Salt LakeTribune OPINIO SATURDAY, JANUARY23, 1999 OUR VIEW The Salt Lake Tribune’s Editorial Position No,in Plain English The Utah House ofRepresentatives spoke in an unambiguous language Thursday whenit properly said “no” to Rep. TammyRowan’s English-only legislation. Now, the only question for Utahns is whether Rep. Rowan will again refuse to take no for an answer. The Orem Republican’s attempt to make English the official language of the state — which, forall intents and purposes,it already is — did not even makeit to the Housefloor the last two years. So, with the help of Washingtonbased U.S. English, she gathered enough petition signatures (nearly 40,000) to force a House vote on her measure this session. That vote came Thursday and it was decisive: 43-31 against the English-only initiative. Twenty-two Republicans, a number that represents more than 40 percent of the House GOP membership, joined all 21 House Democrats to defeat the bill. That's the kind of bipartisanship that is rare on controversial, ideologi- cal issues like English-only, and it should send a message to Rep. Rowan that the matter is not worth pursuing, througheither furtherlegislation or an initiative process to put it on the 2000 ballot Regardless of herbelief in the kind of English-onlylawthat 25 other states have adopted, Rep. Rowan must ac- knowledge at least two realities: 1, Thereis no pressing needforthis legislation in Utah, where, according to the legislative fiscal analyst, only about 000 is spent each year on bilingual printing; and 2, the debateovertheis- sue stirs passionate emotions and creates unnecessarydivisiveness. So, even to English-only supporters,it should be apparentthat the pain is simply not worth the gain. Andthat’s even assumingthat saving $13,000 can be considered a net gain when juxtaposed against the social debitof alienating minority Utahns who are of- fendedby the bill — whichit cannot. Rep. Rowan argues that English- only promotes fairness because the state’s many Spanish-speaking immigrants should not have an advantage over somebody whose principal languageis, say, Welsh. But governments must deal with real needs, not hypothetical ones, and in any event, Utah’s language assistance for its Spanishspeaking immigrants is clearly not excessive. Utah also must be mindful ofits Native American population. Among the Republicans who voted against the English-onlybill was Rep. Keele Johnson of San Juan County, who argued passionately on behalf of the many AmericanIndianshe represents. He is awareof the negative messagethat this legislation would send to those Utahns whose cultures are more than 150 years old. Utah’s conservative House of Representatives stood tall Thursday by rejecting an ideologically conservative idea. It stood up for the diversity ofits people.Its “no” shouldbeclear in any languageto the supporters of Englishonly. The Mailman’s Back Utahns havehad a difficult enough time the past couple of months, what with their honor being impeached by the Olympic bribery scandal, not to mention the other impeachment in Washington.Thelast thing they needed wasa disruption in their Mailman’s WhenMiller bought the Jazz in the mid-'80s, he exhibited a mercurial temperament that made somepeople nervous, But now, morethan a dozen years later, Miller has still never fired a coach — which must be some sort of NBArecord — andhis franchise has delivery service. become a modelof stability. Now, apparently, they can rest more comfortably after Thursday's Malone, who arrived on the Jazz scene about the same time as Miller did, has become infamousfor his vari- teary press briefing, at which the Jazz's Karl Malone, the closest thing Utah has to a statewide athletic hero, apologized for his provocative commentslast summer (he said he had played his last gamefor the Jazz) and made it clear that he wants to play hereuntil the end of his distinguishedcareer. Jazz fans probably havelearnedby nowthat the unique relationship between Malone and team owner Larry Miller involves two people who donot fit into the “do as I say, not as I do’ behavioral model that seems so prevalent today. With both of them, actions speak louder than words, evenif the words comefast and furious. PATIENT| iE F ene MTTEND. ous pronouncementsandthreats about his contract. But, like Miller, the proof of his commitmentlies in his performance:He has missed onlyfive games in 13 seasons with the Jazz. He has played in 1,061 of a possible 1,066 games, and now heis going to playina few more. Thatis good news for Utahns, who knowthat, for all his impuls and his big-kid passions(trucks tling, etc.), Maloneisstill a deliverer, whetherit’s provisions for Navajos or baskets for the Jazz. In this post-lockout period for the NBA, the athlete whois most vital around hereis not Michael Jordan; it’s Karl Malone. WHY, HERE COME THESURGEONS NOW... WERALTRESSSYNDICATE 1999, “THEY ALLTAKE THE Ores ON, OH, HOW DOESTHAT| Co? - > THE PUBLIC FORUM Letters from The Tribune's readers Unfair Competitors I laughed when reading that Utah Republican Party leaders Rob Bishop and Spencer Stokes are taking the lead in the charge against banksinthe current cred- it union controversy (Tribune, Jan. 10). For two good defendersof ‘free enter- dimein taxes ascends heights of hypocrisy. Credit union talking points such as “freedom of choice” or “good service” prove irrelevant as the facts are exam- ined andreality brought to light. For example, the misleading petition campaign talks of defending credit unions from “banker attacks.” Banks simply want large credit unions that act like banks contr to the law and their charters to live by the rules. America First Credit Union kept $16 million in untaxed incomeafter paying dividends to its memberslast year (w neua.gov). thumbing their noses at Supreme Court decisions ordering them to halt their growth. Nothing prevents credit unions their title and receive unfair tax exemptions robbing Utah's Uniform School Fund and those of us who play by the rules. The simple fact of the matter is that credit unions will fall on their own sword as they mislead the peopleofthis state Theissue here revolves aroundtax fairness as th erage person pays more in income taxes than the average large are nothing but a wash, revealing a hidden motive to keep current tax loop holes open andto competeunfairly. grandjury in the most innocent fashion president's lawyers testimony remains credible. Similarly highlighted overlooked material from the grand jury proceedings. corrected the strength of the White House's pre: The distortions of the record by the House sentation on the obstruction of justice article highlights mainly thefolly of the record themselves at times andpolished House's having impeachedthepresident on this count without having done any stitutional arguments. The White House had considerable obstruction e have been apparent since Kenneth Starr's evidence was impeachment managers, distorted the it all off with somewhat overstated con help in making its arguments from the impeachment managers themselves. It was, after all, largely the undisciplined nature of the House's case that fueled the president's defense, The managers would not content themselves with the strongest allegations of perjury they could level; they provided the presi dent's counsel amplegrist for rebuttal There should be no vindication for the president in this, merely the triumph of investigation of its own, The holes in the madepublic. The three days of White House de: fense haveillustrated that many — and perhaps all — of the charges against Mr Clinton would likely fail to produce con victions in criminal court. There was. however, a sad and pathetic quality to the presentation. It seems that the best that can be said in defense of Mr, Clin: ton’s behavior is that it does not warrant impeachment out hearing about thepointless seat of it Lake community. It seems that the past year has been filled with stories of senseless. meaningless, arbitrary deaths of our children. I do not place fault on the parents, rather on all of us adults. It is our job as adults to be adults, And I believeit is our job to takeanactivepartin the raising of the children of our community. | do not fault theparents of thevictims; I am con- cerned about every adult who has the attitude, “If it's not my kid, it’s not my problem Children (and when I use the word children” | refer to all youth under the age of 18) need to have adults in their lives. They need not only parents, but teachers, youth leaders, aunts and un UTAH'S INDEPENDENT VOICE SINCE 1871 PUBLISHER John F. Fitzpatrick (1924-1960) Dominic Welch John W. Gallivan(1960-1983 EDITOR James B, Shelledy Jerry O'Brien (1983-1994) KEARNS TRIBUNE CORPORATION, 143 8. MAIN ST. SALT LAKE CITY, MILD least of these evils Each of these presented options are cookie cutter plans from adreary planning discipline known Ourfax number is [phone] as the “new urbanism.” Its authors have refused to consider that there might be other more attractive options. “There is Mountain Meadows Rebuild Mountain Meadows a ourleaders understand that the problem which confrontsusis not a burdenfor us Marker” (7ribune, Jan. 2) and the to bear, but an opportunity for us to seize? ‘The great Chicago architect. Daniel Burnham, said many years ago: “Make surroundingthis dark incident in Utah's i the Mormonsinvhich brings to nolittle plans. They lack the power to move men's minds.” Rather than seeking to adapt and adopt these schemes which, have not produced beautiful, workable, livable, wonderful and imaginativecities elsewhere, let us begin anew. Let us de- mind the image of protesters shouting angryslogans and carrying placards even a cursory reading of Juanita Brooks’ Mountain Meadows Massacre makesit clear that the Mormon meninvolved were not “militants” but members of the Nauvoo Legion, which at the time was theofficial territorial militia of Utah, and whose commander in chief was the governor of Utah — Brigham Young. Brooks makesit clear that while the militiamen wereordered to the mas- as sounding boards, not to givehypocritical advice or lectures or tolisten halfheartedly They need themto genuinelylisten. One of the “figure things out’ is to verbalizetheir thoughts, Often the right answer will emergeif we are simply al lowedthe opportunity to talk it out Please, start this year to becomein volvedin the raising of a new generation. You don't need to become involved — youjust needtobethere. LOCH ake City thetools to produce we have at our disposal to begin ‘hat vision within the fabric of our own -xisting community Let us preserve what wefind to be the best of what we haveand redevelop our less delightful lands. Let us create a place for ourchildrento play, for birds our streamstoflow. Let us createa place of our own convenience, that works won- derfullywell Let us erect a standard whichthe wise and honest ofall the world can admire andcreate for ourselves a place where our children’s children and their chil- the “just following orders” defensethat was hopefully discreditedfor all time at dren in turn can continue to love and the Nurembergtrials in 1945-1946 cherish Let us begin nowto define, plan Considering the current predicament of the nation’s commander-in-chief, the andbuild our own City Beautiful. ROGER VANFRANK Salt LakeCity escape of those ultimately in authority frombeingresponsible for a crimeof the magnitude of Mountain Meadows and their being allowed to serve out their terms, demonstrates that despite their personal moral turpitude or number of wives or mistr they continued to function andget on with the territory's Useful Facility I was amused byChristopher Smith's article (Tribune, Jan. 3), about the misfortunes of Utah County cockfightet Jack Robertson, whose E Ariz., “retirement plan, business and ultimately achieve state hood. Of courseit took 20 years for John D. Leeto be tried and executed — thank goodness they didn’t havetelevision or radio, or we might not beat the place of closure with the massacre that we sup: posedly aretoday nefowl Club, was recently bush: wacked by the good people of Arizona when two-thirdsof the voters approved Proposition 201, which mi: MINGTON s t Lake City ing and associated breeding a felony GORDON F lack’s reactionto the pending demiseof [ My challengefor thecoming year toall sy andlisten to what they haveto say fine just what would constitute such a community for us here among the Wasatch Mountains. Let us find waysto use to sing, for trees andplants to grow and andtheprivate soldiers — not thefirst and certainly not the last invocation of adults in their lives so they have an idea how to becomean adult Children need adults no time,” I am told. Why cannot we and The article “LDS Church Pledges to and supermarket cashiers. They need ways humans PAST PUBLISHERS Utah 84110. cles, school crossing guards, librarians adults is to treat every child with courte- TheSalt Lake Tribune suggestion that the public chouse the interim officers in the chain of command a child or teen-ager in our conceivable dismal planning alternatives, with the cleared, forall intents and purposes, the Listen to Children fense remained unconvincing, while her Monica Lewinsky — the president's de Having said this, it is disheartening to see our cfficials wrestling with the four themrefused to carry out the order to fire on the Arkansans. Thesubsequent investigation and then execution 20 yearslater of John D. Lee jury allegations — thoserelated to the details of his sexual relationship with days of argument at his Senate impeach recast the record of Kenneth Starr's source, HM Because of the volume of mail re ceived, not all submissions are published W@ Mail to Public Forum, The Sait Lake Tribune, P.O. Box 867, Salt Lake City sacresite under false pretenses, someof MICHAEL A. THOM Salt Lake C ment trial was an impressive effort to m in its initial three sprawl which characterizes the most inefficient and ugliest possible way with which we use our precious land re: etters are condensed and edited is, continue the obfuscationof the facts I havea wishfor the New Year: I wish we could go two consecutive days with- Clinton's legal agencies which exist in our region. For too long, the competition for municipal | ing asingle theme are more likely to be published. Please type and double space rial “Mountain Meadows Monument’ (Tribune, Jan. 7), as welcomeas (he news revealing his adversaries’ ex: On the strongest and most central per. The defense presented by President revenues resulted in the insupportable coherence among the myriad planning to mutual savings institutions. By legal definition, large credit unions outgrow From The Washington Post The President’s Response epit short. Conciseletters develop- from providing customers with the same service they do nowif forced to convert credit union. Arguments of “freedom” ANOTHER VIEW With the enormous growth facing us here in Utah, it is obvious that we need a focused direction to accommodate it Some means must be found to achieve a prise and the American wayof life advocate institutions that don’t pay Plan Our Own Future Where to Write Whensubmitting letters to the Public Forum, pleaseincludeyour full name, signature, address and daytime telephone numbers, Information other than your nameand thecity in which youlive are his $400,000 cockfighting “pit” and chicken coop business was, “ I just don't knowwhat we'regoingto do ae Jack needn't worry too much about A Father’s Role Kids who grow up without a dad are more likely to grow up and beat their family members, They don’t have a man to play with and look up to. If the boy howare they going to know how 0 losing his retirement. The article's accompanying photo of regimented coops and arena resemblesthearchitecture of polygamist communities a fow miles east of Beaver Dam in Colorado City I'm act whenthey are older? Well, like their dad, but they don't have a dad so they follow their friends. That's not good, be: cause it could get theminto # lot of trou ble. sure some young, ambitious polyg important to your kids, and remember they always need you KIRA PEACOCK Salt Lake City children, and an arena, chapel for reli« So dads all over the world, you'revery A ‘ ' with deep welfare money pocke readygot his eye on Sierra Bonita, se ing the minimal structures as a ready-madd polygamist breeding compound with nice rows of coops, houses for wives and giousservices or belt GR Murray :