OCR Text |
Show ___ The Salt Lake Tribune OPINION All Tuesday, November 2, 1999 Shocking Experience With Public School Underlines Need For Choice WASHINGTON — The American Federation of Teachers is sponsoring a tele- CAL THOMAS vision commercial that suggests concern over the quality of public schools once _tnay havebeenlegitimate, but conditions In Clevelandlast week, four white students were arrested and seven others tioned in whatauthorities say was a last spring’s Columbine High School public school system owns 24 cemetery plots to be used as needed whenone of their students dies from gunshot wounds. »,_ In Joplin, Mo., an elementary school “father said she was only being funny when shetaped a bag containing cat feces to the desk of a misbehaving student. The son, Chris, shows why our family decision in favor of private education has been correct: “Public school was very uncom: second, any houror any day someone can come in and kill us all. This young man has such a well fortable myfirst day. Thefirst thing I The plannedassault was patterned after months while walkingto school. In Chicago, ABC News foundthat the also the things that are virtuous and prc mote civil discours¢ Chris concluded: “I still feel a lot safer heard out of someone’s mouth was profanity. I'm not saying I never heardit bed in a private school, becausethese anything can happen anywhere Iasked someonein the school if they were jally motivated plan to shoot upa preity black high school. Police say In Detroit, as many as eight girls have been sexually assaulted over the past two hools were filled. The childrenwere forcedto attend public schools. Somecried overthe prospect This note from my 13-year-old grand —“aré better now. Are they? massacre in Colorado. of October,thepriv teacher was respondingto the li-year-old student, who reportedly told school class: matesto “suck a turd.” Butit is in heavily Baptist and conser vative San Antonio, Texas, that the con tinuedfailure of public schools to shape ever under the threat of bombs and he ear! So I went alongto whenan adult asked him this past sum mer if he and his classmates had dis cussed the tragedy at Columbine, hesaid, “Yes, ma’am, and we concluded that the two boys were personally responsible for their actions and could not blame anyone class and oneof the kids opened up the locker and there was gunpowder. He tookit to the coach andthe coach said ab- younger idson. told his mother that durin; alisthenics his classmates ap- solutely nothing. He threwit in the trash and told the kid to go and sit down cently moved to San Antonio with their use profanity and I am not comfortable grandchild of mine has attended a public school. Because they arrived near the end modelnotonlythethingsthat are truebut four children. Since 1980, no child or developedsense of right and wrongthat else. At a public elementary school, a character and improve minds became personal. Mydaughterandson-in-lawre- in private school, knowing that [here] any “The other issue is that the teachers that.” Indeed one might expect teachers to pearedto be making mantra-like sounds to pagan gods Thankfully, slots in private schools openedupforall of themthe following day, prompting expressionsofrelief from theadults andanoteexpressinglove and gratitude fromChris The Democratic presidential candi dates want to trap kids in public schools because they are beholden to the teachers unions and the cash that fuels their cam. paigns. Republicans are right to make ed. ucation choice a part of their campaigns for the White House. No child should be in fearof his or her life while in school. No teachershouldbeallowed to use profanity inclass. The television commercial is designed to distract us from what is occurring ir public schools. But news reports and one shocking personal experience in oné school systemfor one day are enough to convince me that all of the money we've sunk into private education is working. President Bill Clinton and Vice Presi dent Al Gore claimto support public edu cation. But when confronted with a choice, they chose private schools for their children while continuing to deny anequal opportunity to parents of lesser means and influence. Aren't Democrats supposedto care for the little guy? |Boctors Should Not Have to Lie to Get Patients the Care They Need j. esa BY ROBERT u NEWSDAY id "A new poll reported by the American pdical Association suggests that a majty of physicians would lie their heads fo savea patient'slife. supposeI will have to check with my or to see whetherhe’s one of them.If n't, I'm going to get a creepy feeling next time he comes at me with a needle. Americans should be reassured by the AMAfindings, which show that among physicians polled, 58 percent would approve if a colleague told a whopper so a patient could get coverage for a coronary bypass. Only 3 percent would bearfalse witness to get a patient a nose job. This was reassuring, too. It shows doctors think about something besides fees. And who among us wants our insurance premiums inflated to pay for such cosmetic foolishness? ; Still, only 48 percent approved of lying abput symptoms so a dying woman could j@Af intravenous pain drugs and nutrijtignal supplements.I supposetheother52 percent would let the poor old darling , paiffer even ifshe was starving and moaning.in agony. And what about the 42 per- gent who wouldn't lie for a coronary by- pags? Have they ice water in their veins? 191 Have HMOs so frightened them that commercials to persuade us to run out I prefer tobelieve that these fastidious truthtellers were afraid to givea straight answer in thepoll. Maybethey suspected it was a trick bylawyers for the insurance industry who wanted to catch and expose doctors who believe their Hippocratic some new drugwith a list ofside effets that may include sudden death, ure, insatiable itching or loss of baeal they've becometheir simpering oath supersedes their contract with an HMO. Similar previous confidential polls have showndoctors are engaged in what ioethi ‘a huge outbreak of civil disobedience.” And I suppose HMOshaveevery right to claim they're being deceivedandvictimizedby the bald-faced lies of doctors. But good luck to themif they seek public sympa- thy. Americans have a curious way of siding with the sick and the dying. It’s a perversenationalquirk. But thereit is. Anyway, this is what our wretched medical-care systemhas degeneratedin- to: HMOs pretending to insure our wellbeing but fighting like junkyard curs for the health-care dollar and doctors lying like rugs. Add to this television commercials paid for by the insurance companies, which stretch truth like a banjo string by suggesting the government wants to crawlinside our medicine cabi. nets. Then there are the pharmaceutical companiesspendingmillions on other TV and pester our physician to prescribe 1 rh1s52t ae pocorn wits & control, Eyeen THe MOUSEP Thewholelying messis confounded by patients wholie to their doctors, swear that they don’t drink or carouse,fib about their cigarette and cholesterol consumption, claim they exercise regularly and fudge their livesall because they don’t want tobetold to go home, takean aspirin and behave themselves. Otherlies that riddle the system includethefiction that the uninsureddon’t get treated when everybody knowsthat muchofthe costof their care is simply shared by or passed on to the insured, premium-paying population. Thereis also the pious fraud that Medicare insures a reasonably worry-free old e erybody knows it won't pay for the drugs that can makea difference betweenliving and croaking. And the biggestlie ofall maybethat private, profit-driven insurers are natu. rally more efficient than public bureaucracies. This may be true in manufactur- ingorretailing. But the overhead and ad- ministrative cost of the private medi insurersfar exceeds the overheadof the Medicare bureaucracy THE EVOLUTION OF HEALTH CARE A medical-care systemstaggering un: derthe baggageofso manylies cannot be goodfor ourself-respect, not to mention everything in spotting symptoms, in ourhealth. Besides, it isn’t fair to go on laboratory analysis, in diagnosis, in reading an X-ray,in surgery, in getting a simpleprescription right it is blasphe- In a profession where accuracy is tools of their high and expensivecalling, expecting our doctors to lie for us They're putting their licenses ontheline. mousto demandthat physicians resort to subterfuge and ambiguity as accepted lence KER o City nie year, there are going to be more feasons than everto find the right dress for that special occasion.Dillard's has the look that will suit any social event as you countdown to the New Year. A. Floral velvet burnout dress over B. Scoop neck,long sleeve,stretch knit velvet dress with godet bottom. From JR Nites.*In black. Women's World sizes 14W-24W. 140.00. father seling not a mito a ae eae A POOR COPY) h ra Shop Monday-Saturday 1048 and Sunday 12-6 a a Diter's locations. City: Fashion Place and South Towne Center. in Ogden: Newgate Mail. In Provo: Provo Towne Centre. We welcome yourDillard's Credit Card, The American Express® Card, Diners Club International, Mastercard? Visa* and The Discover Card. |