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Show %! The Salt Lake Tribune OPINION | Saturd A7 CandidatesShould Explain How to Help Parents(Cope With ‘Time Crunch’ WASHINGTON — Familyval- COKIE ROBERTS STEVE ROBERTS ues. You'll hear that phrase a lot as the election campaign heats up, but muchofthe chatter will be off the mark. Candidateswill insist that preserving families requires more prayer,fewer abortions,less drug use, greater respect for authority. Thoseareall estimable goals. important “family value” for many Americans is time. No UNITED FEATURES SYNDICATE household has enoughofit. That’s the politicians who would be president should be talking about it, too. As President Clintontold the graduating class at Grambling State recently, being a parent “will be the most important work you'll ever do.’ And society A newstudybythepresident's Council of Economic Advisors documents just howserious the “time crunch" has become. Over the last 30 years, parents have lost an averageof 22 hours every week to spend with their kids. By the time children reach 18, that's more than two extra years their parents are away from home. Youcandoa lot in 22 hours. Go should be helping parents cope with the “enormous stres: to a game. Supervise homework caused by the competing pres- Talk to a teacher. Perhaps most sures of work and home useful of all, just hang out. Be Those Godforsaken Books WASHINGTON— Booksare on Street Journal’s inside lead teils Stores”; (2) today is the publica- UNIVERSAL PRESS SYNDICATE mere50,000copies can put a book on the best-seller list. Sell more than 1 million and you have a runaway best-seller, even though that means halfof1 percent of the reading public has bought it. The highestsellers in recent years are 1.3 million, Tom’ Clancy; Stephen King; 1.1, Danielle Steel; 850,000, James Michener , Jackie Collins: 450,000, John le making a latte at Starbuck: brags Sprout’s 30-year-old co- Carre; and founget, Henry Topping. other reading publics? John Steinbeck, we learn, v ston: where75 percent of the population doesn't own a VCR, and the 25 less income, and less time,to spendontheir kids than In his Grambling speech. is imperative that your country give youthetools to succeed not by 1996 that was up to 68 percent. Discrimination is declining and while publicpolicy can only help payis rising, making it moreattractive for women tojoin thelaborforce. But in most cases, womenwork because they haveto. not because they're making a ‘“‘lifestyle” around the edges, there are a choice. The hours men work, and the wages they earn, have stayed flat. Anyincrease in a family’s living standard usually comes from the wife's paycheck. number of issues that demand more discussion. Oneis flexibility. Any parent will tell you that the keyto family sanity is not just how manyhours. you work, but who decides which hours you work. When our kids were young, and we were covering politics, we tried to avoidtraveling with can The other main cause of the didates. If our child had a concert, “time crunch” is the explosionof and our candidate ally in Omahaatthe sametime, wehadto single-parent households, upfrom 13 percent ofall families three be in Omaha. But 000, KenFollett. How does that compare with ished that the print run in Denmark for one of his books was identical to the print run in America. Denmark then had a populationof 5 million. Thefigures are most awfully discouraging. A 1993 survey re leased by the Department of Edu: cation tells us that 90 million Americansovertheageof 16 lack percent of the population that ak eS, hasn’ t a clue howto operate the reading and writing skills re- them. hundred thousand students, the The author rubs the gritty data in our faces. Weareanation of 250 Department of Educationgrieves, graduate “without theability to million (as of 1990). The sale of a read their diplomas.” quired for employment. Seven ing figure. It is that to expect a thor must contrive to cause the prospective purchaser to hear about it six times in one week, by whatever means: advertisement, radio/television interview, a neighbororfriend who has read the book andlikedit, mentionofit in society or gossip columns. That isa very tough ignment, much harder than writinga book Speaking of John Steinbeck, I recall the storythat one day in the ‘30s he turned on his publisher, the distinguished Harold Guinzburg of Viking Press, andsaid: ‘*/ write it, you sell it.” That's just great, but you need to be a J.D. Salinger to get awaywith it. He promotedhis books by refusing to do so. The rest ofus laborat Barnes & Noble. Gore has been kidded for men: tioning the topicof traffic. but it is sharply, from 15 percent of all trend, up from19 percent of the full-time workforce in 1991 to 3.3 percent in 1997. But government policies that encourage innova tive technology and electronic commerce will mean morepar. ents avoiding a commutein the certainly something people care about Working at home is still a small The use of flex-time is up full-time workers in 1991 to 28 percent in 197, and the reasonis simple. It works. Employers are ding thatless harried employ sare more productive and more loyal. and the concept should be future, Yes, time is money, but money also buys time. Policies that pro. vide more cash for low-income families from a higher mini mum wageto stricter enforcement broadened. Onepromising proposal: Allow workers to take overtime pay in the form of timeinstead of cash. Another good idea: Expand the Family and Medical Leave Act. of child-support laws give par which now permits 12 weeks of nce leavefor family emergen ents a better chance of staying home a few extra hours a week. ae teacher conferences can do fortheirkids is get married and stay married. Government The single best thing parents medical visits, could be a great stressreliever Commuting time rose 13 per cent from 1983 to 1995, andevery minutespent sitting on a freeway is one less minute at home. Al can't do muchhere, but eliminat ing the marriage penalty from the tax code would beastart So let's hear it from the candi dates. How would they help par ents cope with the time crunch? Bewareof Bill’s Meddling, Hillary No longer Will she or WASHINGTON polls get tight, campaign juices SANDY GRADY run hot and his missus is taking roughneck shots from Giuliani. He’s a born meddler who'll find it irresistible to play Hillary's. Svengali But no way can Bill lend Hill morelike a campaigner eager to rumble. Graduates at New York’s City College, where she worked the who deprive themselves of reading. Howtoachievebest-sellerdom? The author hits us withadis! person to buya newbook, the au- if our assignment was writing about meatpackers. we could hear the concert and fly to Omaha the next day day she looks the aisle and observe passengers will be no more difficult than st to the consumer? About whammy— onlyin the workplace, but also at home.” He's right about that, and eracy is most evident, in everyday life, aboardairplanes. Walk down withheld, for the sake of propriety); and (3) yesterday I completed reading the galleys of a striking exploration of the book scene ne sameasthe originaledition. But consider the ambient scene. “The initia! hurdleto sell ing books,” Vanderbilttells us, andit’s a Matterhornofa hurdle is that nobody reads. Selling books in the UnitedStatesis like selling videotapes in a country Clintontold the graduates that “it lege graduates,is rampant.” Alit tion date for my 40th book(title the chain's stores print high and the single biggest causeis the progress women have madein the read without the desire to do so. “This affliction,” Mr. V. observes, “even among high school and col: on: Printing Books Inside Its quality paperbacks inthe store in about 15 minutes. ‘Making a book parents withpartners. these mothers face a deuble as one would reason, theability to 1s, “Borders to Try a New Weap- lanta start-up company called Sprout Inc. that will eventually let The reasons behind the “time crunch” are by no meansall bad, Vanderbilt goes on to discuss aliteracy, a wordthat does notex: ist in the American Heritage Dic tionaryon which I rely and means, WILLIAM F.BUCKLEY my mind because (1) The Wall called The Makingof a Best Seller From Author to Reader, by Arthur T. Vanderbilt II. The Wall Street Journal story read, “Borders Group Inc., in a deal to be announced today, has taken a minority stake in an At- decades ago to 30 percent today Most are headed by women, and workplace. In 1969, 38 percent of married mothers workedfor pay; But in practical terms, the most what folks really talk about around their kitchen tables, and available when kids — particu larly teen-agers want totalk. At the veryleast, more time at work means anyparent is less patient when she or he finallygets home. ary his gift for crowd like any sweaty pol, chant. ed, “Run, Hillary, run. Not to worry, grads. She's on green light Theriddles get more complex: What kind of race will Hillary Clinton run for the New York Senate seat? Can she handle the heat of Rudy Giuliani's ferocity andthe press wolfpack’sgrilling? Will she bog down in her hus: band’s scandals? What will be Bill's role? That last enigma may be pivotal Lord knows, Hillary’s getting plentyof counsel. She's picked the brains of 200 NewYorkstatepols. Shehas the equivalent ofa Yankee batting order for help: veteran NewYork infighter Harold Ickes, White Housepollster Mark Penn, fund-raiser Terry McAuliffe But I'm going to presume to throw in one moretip: KeepBill away If Hillary's going to be liberated to develop her own voice, substance andpersona as a convineing senator-to-be, she has to shoo Bill out of her hair. Tell him to Saturday, June NEW DATES,SUMMER. audience. all PHILADELPHIA OAILY NEWS debater. But her stumpstyle is a putter around the White House, strident, exhortation. schoolmarm stay on the sidelines ofherpolitical life. Oh, role reversal might be be: musing Bill ing the help: appearances by Hillary's side to squelch rumorsofmarital iciness. Let her stumble and learn Bill's most helpful act is to stay semi-invisible a minimumof arguewith Slobodan or Congress, mate's adoring gaze whileHillary After all, Bill owes Hillarybig: time ickingup for him during Monica Madness put her in Joan of Arc’s league. He's excited that pontificates. But with a president hovering over her on the stump, she'd be an overshadowed first Hillary and Al Gore might affirm ladyandneverher own woman Worse, Clinton's presence would haunt her withall thetattered controversies Monica his legacy. But hehas to let ‘em go. This month Hillary will an nounceanexploratorypanel, start raising $15 million she needs Lewinskyto Kosovo. Yes, | know barring Bill from Hillary's Senate run will be as tricky as keeping an addicted Ww ; meanest rhubarb. She emergeona pedestal with Eleanor boozer out of the Third Avenue Roosevelt. She'll have to win on her own, despite her first spouse's scandals wars and saloons. “Whatevershe’s for, I'm for,” second-guessing. Slinton said of his wife last week. 1 go wherevershe wants me to You'll knowHillary's serious whenshe says, “You're benched go, fromhereon.” from this game, Bill. Gohelp Al. It’s my turn now Somehow I doubt he means stayingsilently at home whenthe Le 8S Utah State connecting to an She's as wonkishly smart as heis, maybe a tougher os XMcc Aa 6 PERSON SPA DUAL MOTORS Fifty’s S Nifty FEATURES Eeay aay Grandpa Tc pe LOADEDwitH Everything for your Bru Peledae e Love Jonathan and Jordan = NATURAL GAS © as Saturday, June 5th through Sunday, June 13th UTAH STATE FAIRPARK If you have beenin a car accident recently, you needthe important information containedinthis free report that reveals your rights! 1-800-799-6539 Call Toll Free (24 Hour Recorded Message) canered Aled luk S TOTAL > JETSII i j COMPARE AT Se000 EZ Eeereg M-SAT 10-7 239 W./,9000S., SANDY NEXT TO EAGLE CUSTOM MADE aswel 801-569-3507 Wesieee ““O0a 7 eIN. GUARANTEED. C wireless wants your used cell phone. Any make. Any Model. 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