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Show Page A10 The SaltLake Tribune PINION SATURDAY, FEBRUARY27, 1999 OUR VIEW “MEXICAN- The Salt Lake Tribune's Editorial Position WAR on DRU CONTINUES. Support Housing Trust Fund The Olene Walker Trust Fund is an For the last seven years the Legislature has supported the Olene Walker appropriate use of public funds, It is Housing Trust Fund with astate appropriation. These monies are combined not dissimilar to the federal government’s longtime popular middle-class with those of other sources to provide housingfor low- and moderate-income Utahns. Theproblem is that this fund is not a high priority with lawmakers. Such is the casethis year, where the possibility exists that it will not even receive the $2 million recommended by Gov. Mike Leavitt. Last year, lawmakers appropriated $2.75 millionforit, Backers seek a general fund appropriation of around $3 million this year, but admit that with the tenor of the legislative session, they would be content to get what Leavitt has recommended. The fund’s legislative funding histo- ry has been checkered. Its 1993 appropriation was $1 million. Its hich point came in 1995, when lawmakers earmarked $3.75 million. Housing is a genuine problem for many Utahns. Even in a year when mortgage interest rates are at their lowest in three decades, many cannot afford to get into houses. They simply cost too much for many Utahns. The average homepricein Salt Lake Valley is about $160,000. housing subsidy program knownas the income tax deductibility of mortgage interest. Utah established the trust fund to provide seed money for low-interest loans or grants to affordable housing projects. For each dollar the state puts in, an additional $8 is leveraged through federal funds, private tax credit investments, tax exempt bonds and grants andloans. Foreach $1 million the state invests, 150 households benefit. Lawmakers, state officials and many Utahns of all stripes have com- plained for years about the need for housing that low-incomecitizens can afford. It does not seem that much for the Legislatureto find some additional moneyforthis program, namedfor one of their own whohassince goneon to become lieutenant governor. An appropriation of $2 million, as the governor proposed, should be a bare lawmakers minimum, though THE PUBLIC FORUM should setit at $3 million andstrive to boost the state appropriation each year rather than follow the upand downcycle employed thus far. The program deservesnoless Letters from The Tribune’s readers Unrealistic Requirement Bricks for Higher Education Western Governors University, the computerized, information-age savvy and Internet-connected higher-education institution of the future, is supposedto be a cheaper,more responsive and responsiblealternativeto thefixed brick and mortar facilities of orthodox higher education. Think again. As usual, capitalfacilities requests for higher educationarea stapleof the 1999 Legislature. If lawmakers go along with the recommendation ofthe Legislature's Capital Facilities and Ad- ministrative Services Subcommittee, theywill spend $110million this year on newbuildings and capital improvement projects. Highereducationis slatedtoget the lion’s shareof this sum, about 80 per cent. The remainderwill go to other state-ownedfacilities. lawmakers. Despite the implicit threat to this hoary connection embodied in the idea of WGU, it continuesto thrive. Manyaperson appointed regents in the past chafedat being onthat board’s academicaffairs committee, but lightened up and grewenthusiastic at the idea of placement onits capital facilities committee. Capital facilities expenditures are highly visible. It is no accident that building projects often figure in the plans of ambitious leaders interested in thelegacy theywill leave. Among other digs at American higher educationin the early 20th century, academician andcritic Thorstein Veblen noted aninordinate devotion to physical plant bythe new breed of college president — captains oferudition, he called them — and governing board said membersrecruited from the business world Higher education's interest in the connection between higher education and bricks and mortar. Indeed, higher education building needs invariably physical plant remains. Higher educa- It's a “longstanding tradition,” Vicki Varela, spokeswoman for WGU co-founder Gov. Mike Leavitt, of the are prominent in the ital facilities priority lists compiled each year by tion's shareofthis year’s capital facilities list as well as its share in past ones is evidence of it. Not even WGU, it seems, can supplant it ANOTHERVIEW Fromthe Orlando Sentinel Bugged by Lack of Urgency Just about 10 months and counting ‘That's how long the federal govern. ment and private businesses have to upgrade their computer systems be. fore the new millenniumarrives. And, so far, federal agencies are doing a mediocre job of it, according to a congressional report card on the gov ernment's effort to avoid potential di: saster. Many privately owned business es aren't doing muchbetter U.S, Rep. Stephen Horn, a Republi can from Long Beach, Calif, who heads the subcommittee on govern. ment management, information and technology, gave the government a C plus this week for its overall effort to squelch the troublesome computer bug. And, after nearly a year of study, a soon-to-be-releasedreport by a special select S te committee concludes that all segments of the U.S, economy still are “at risk" of falling prey to Y2K Thereport notes that small- and medi um-size businesses, in particular, are having a hard time adjusting. “In some cases,” the Senate report warns lives could evenbe at stake Theopinionstates that the “measure mildlytightens the requirements for the orders.” Sen. Terry Spencer was proposing changes to the existing law which wouldhaveheldvictims of domestic violenceto a standard of evidencethat few othercivil proceedings require. There- quirement that vietims provideapolice report and medical records would have prevented 88 percent ofreal victims of domestic violence from qualifying for a protective order. The shame andsecrecy which arepresent incases of abuse mean percent of the professionalsorthepolice are intervening in order to save thevictim’s life. The amendedlanguage agreedto by the Sen ate Judiciary Committee on Feb, 23at least recognizesthattheoriginal proposal was punitive and dangerous. Thesystem needs to be strong and crediblein order to providevictims with protection fromharm, or worse, murder Over the past 11 years, 12 women who haveleft our shelter hi been mur- dered. Theyare among Utah’s most tragicstatistics Likethesenator, the YWCA is deeply concerned that sometimes the current systemof obtaininga protectiveorder is if little unlife. They control everything from the corner stop light to airplanetraffie to how much you can expect in your next So cial Security check So what on Earth is everyone wait ing for? Armageddon? Horn’s report card was particularly distressing because it gave failing grades to three agencies — the Depart Executive Director Brigham City promised hastily that their computers TheSalt Lake Tribune od UTAH'S INDEPENDENT VOICE SINCE 1871 PUBLISHER John F. Fitzpatrick (1924-1960) Dominic Welch John W. Gallivan (1960-1985, EDITOR James B. Shelledy KEARNSCTRINUNE CORPORATION, 149 6 MAIN ST. SALT LAKE CITY, ME ‘ ‘ em(NICS) background check, whichis requiredbylaw. If you wantto more questions that need asking If the authorities were familiar with they pursue the matter and take appro- priatesteps to assure that she could not Utah Values Gov. Mike Leavitt has statedthat Salt Lake City will keep the 2002 Winter Games and the meansthat the Salt Lake Organizing Committee used to win the as nothing to do with Utah val pply Gov. Leavitt's concept of values to someother areas in our society Forinstance, how about our justice sys fem? If you are a car thief or a shoplifter you shouldreceivea very severelecture onUtah values, And you should have to give up any appointedoffice, of course And then you should beallowedto keep the stolen car or merchandise JOHN M, EGGERTSEN Murray Leavitt and the Republican legislative leadership in dealing with Jan Graham. Obviously, they are upset about her re- cent public pronouncements and adver- tisements regarding her problems with their handling of the tobacco settlement money. Holding funding hostage didn’t make her buckle, and neither did cutting her budget. The next step? Pass a law (HB139) giving the governor control of almostall of her activities. I have a few questions about this proposed law: 1, If the “problem” of lines of authority relating to the Utah Attorney General’s office have been a problem since Cal Rampton and Scott Matheson (as Lane Beattie and Marty Stephens have been quoted as saying), why did it take until two weeks before the end of this year’s 2. What new problemsare created by making oneelected official (the attorney eneral) the pawnfor anotherelected of- ficial (the governor), both of whom campaign independently from one another? Does this seem to anyone else to make a toady of the attorney general, who is supposedly answerable to the people whoelected her? 3. What happensif the attorney general defies the governor? Can the governor remove the attorney general fromoffice, even though she was elected? If not, what can the governor do (besides encouraging hostage taking and elimina- tion of funds)? 4. Is there a conflict of interest apparent when the sponsor of a bill says he purposefully withheld the bill becauseit would have affected friends of his but submitted it when the person affected was someone he does not “do lunch with,” as West Jordan Rep. Greg Curtis is quoted as saying in The Tribune (Feb. purchasea firearm? It was reported in 18)? Does anybodyreally believe that this ing had made mistakes that could have endedthetragedy beforea treasuredlife has nothing to do with the recent controversies between Atty, Gen. Graham, the governor, and Republican legislative the news mediathat securityin the build- System had theinformation on thesus- leaders? Whatelse are new “lines of adthority” todoif not eliminatethese kinds through. Let me add just one more thought, I of differencesof opinion and prevent the attorney general fromacting in ways not condonedby the governor? I hope the legislative members are pect, the sale would have not gone will not allow myself to feel as if every time asenseless act of violence occurs I have to defend the NRA or mydecision ableto realize that this bill is ill-timed andill-conceived. If it’s going to be debatedatall, then they should makeit sit one of our country’s founding fathers. until next year's session when it can be given thetimeit needs, Better yet, they should get ridof it altogether and disallowthis hostile takeover of the independently elected attorney general's office. MICHAEL HASSETT to exercise my freedom. To paraphrase “Anyonethat is willing to give up his freedoms to achievea sense of safety de- servesneither, GEORGE OUZOUNIAN Sandy Pleasant Grove Oo Bad Proposal We are not sheep » proposal to In LocoParentis As new seat belt laws are being pro- close Main Street is not a benefit to the whole but a parkinglot for a few. Look at posed, | can't helpbut seeabit of hypoe- they the same place? andcruiseon a Harley at 75 mph with no protectionat all, but could goto jail for not being strappedintothe back seat of a the plan andlisten to will be activated to avert a disaster. The federal government and pri vate businesses had best get cranking. Time is a-wasting. that she passed the National Instant 1 suppose that it never occurredto the will be fixed well before the turn of the Officials at all three bureaucracies ted this act apparently did not have a criminal backgroundbecauseofthe fact was lost, If the National Instant Check Turkey Folly I've just readwith disgust of the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources’ (DWR) latest attempt to assuage the ravenous appetite of Utah's hunters, Thearticle (Tribune, Feb, 16) relatesto the importa tion of wild turkeys from Kansas. It hat stocks of this “gamebird have dwindledto apaltry 9,000birds! ‘To accommodate the hunters, the DWR feels that we must have at least 200,000. century. If not, then contingency plans ternational Development I am a memberof the National Rifle As- sociation and have been for most of my life. My heartfelt sympathy and prayers go out to Anne Sleater’s family and loved ones. While the desire to have a perfect world in which wecan all enjoy safety andbesecure in our dailylives is an appealing prospect, I feel that it is impossible to achieve. The person who commit- the suspect's past history, why didn’t reached which does not perpetuate “If you can’t beat ‘em, take ‘em over.” That seemsto be the motto of Gov. Mike ession forthis bill to be submitted? Pertinent Questions In response to Charlotte Miller's letter “Safety Over Freedom” (Forum, Feb. 5), myths about domesticviolence, its victims andthe “wronged” perpetrator. hunters andtheir “private” government agency, that the reason the numbers are low is that they have slaughtered the birds faster than they can reproduce Whenis the last time you canrecall the DWRimporting non-game animals? GENE ARDEN THOMPSON ment of State, the Department of ‘Transportation and the Agencyfor In @ Our fax number is (801) 237-2316 vent your angerat something other than the NRA, I suggest that you ask a few YWCAof Salt Lake City Computers are a huge derstood — part of everyday Utah 84110. abused, The YWCA looks forward to working with Sen. Spencerto studythis issue so that a workable solution is The computer glitch has beendiscussed ad nauseam for years. The deadlineisn't going away. It’s looming ever larger, And bureaucratic mumbojumbo is no excuse. ceived, not all submissions arepublished. M Mail to Public Forum, TheSalt Lake Tribune, P.O, Box 867, Salt Lake City cometo theatten- tionof the police. Oftenthis intervention is not even voluntary. Rather, medical SUSAN SHEEHAN it Bad Bill Where to Write Whensubmitting letters to the Public Forum, please includeyourfull name, signature, address and daytimetelephone numbers. Information other than your nameandthecity in which you live are kept confidential Keepit short. Conciseletters developing a single themeare morelikely to be published M Please type and double space. M Letters are condensed andedited M Becauseof the volume of mail re that only 15 percent of all victims receive medical stance, and only 12 As Hornsaid, that just doesn’t cut PAST PUBLISHERS Jerry O'Brien (1089-1004 Theeditorial “Tighten Protective Orders” (Tribune, Feb. 24) regarding Senate Bill 208 grossly understates the potential impact of the bill and demons’ a poor understanding of the concerns raised about thebill. thesales pitch, Are Werethesethe de signers of the parking under Main Street that left us with more power boxes and exhaust vents than Three Mile Island? risy in the proposal. I can legally go out 6000-pound Suburban going 20 mph. Andif safely is really the only issue, Where are the vents in the new plan? Whereare the quiet meditative spaces? It’s pavement with tokentrees anda lap whystop with a punitive seat-belt law? Let's lower all speed limits to 25 mph theview corridor, The north entrance to our city would bethe mouthto an under eachyear ‘Thepoint being, are weall so incapa- pool I don't hear anything about protecting groundparking garage Wemust remember that we are acity with a Main Stre id many churches and not the theocracy the world per ceives. A good plan can be designated by the whole community, WILLIAM BK. LITTIG 4 ” Salt Lake City ‘ 4 and make wearing helmet mandatory whenever riding in an automobile. Just think of all thelives that could be saved ble of deciding whena situation does or does not require additional safety mea- sures such as reduced speed or seat belt use that the government has to step in and threaten us with imprisonment to save us from ourselves? ROBERT D, PRICE Salt Lake City |
