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Show AA2 The Salt Lake TribuneOPINION Sunday, January 9, 2000 West Side Angst, Religion, Molly — — Just a Few Leftovers from 1999 Best wishes for a happy 2000! Butbefore we tackle the new year, here are a few leftovers from 1999: READER ADVOCATE SHINIKA SYKES also is writing a book about Texas Governor and GOP presidential candidate W. Bush. Because Ivins tends to write mostly about Texas politics, The Tribune looks for and publishes only those columns that have a broader subject. hood, city or state associated with mis- deeds. This is one ofthe reasons whythis paper had made serious efforts to identify the location of a crime by an actual address and city — be it on the west, east, north or south part of the valley. Still, we are living in highly sensitive times and some folks are quick to perceive almost anything as some kindof a put down. In this case, I believe the caller might be a tad overly sensitive about the socalled negative view of the west side. Kirby lives in Springville so his reference to a “west side” just might be about his own little haven in Utah County. @ Christmas Services 1999: On Dec.18, The Tribune published a list of Christmasservices held byvariety ofreligious denominations. Included in the list were Assemblies of God, Baptist, Catholic, Disciples of Christ, Episcopal, Greek Or- thodox, Lutheran, Lutheran Wisconsin Synod, Methodist, Non-Denominational, Presbyterian and Protestant. One caller, whoidentified herself as an Episcopalian, said her faith was woefully underrepresented since there was only one mention of services at the All Saints Episcopal Church. “As an Episcopalian,I find so little about us in the newspaper, soI like to know how [does The Tribune] get this information? Do you call us or should we you? If it’s the latter, I would like to make sure my churchcalls. I go to St. Paul [Episcopal Church] and we have quite a few things happening for Christmasservices.” “Wesent notices to churches in the Salt Lake Valley in early Novemberasking if they were planning Thanksgiving and Christmas services,” said Religion and Education Editor Terri Ellefsen. “Some churches responded and some did not.” @ Where’s Molly? In her column on Dec. 20, syndicated columnist Molly Ivinstold readers she had “contracted an outstanding case of breast cancer, from which I fully intend to recover.” Ivins also said she did not need get-well cards, but wanted her beloved women readers to “go get a mammogram.” Since ie column there has not been anything else about her — or from her — in The Tribune. This is why a numberof readers are inquiring about Ivins’ health and whetherornotsheis still writing. According to desk editor Ron Bow- man, Ivins is still writing columns, although shedid take a few weeksoff during the holidays. She continues to wage her battle against breast cancer and she @ How They Voted: With this being an election year and with thestate legislative session beginning this month, readers have urged The Tribune to provide regular listings of how elected offi- cials vote on importantbills in the U.S. Congress and the Utah Legislature. An excellent suggestion. The Tribune used to include a “Utah Vote,” a sidebar brief that told how the Utah congressional delegation voted on specific bills. Now a reference to how Utah senators and representatives voted on keylegislation is included in the newsreports. @ When Editor James E. Shelledy told readers that last week's Sunday lack ofadvertising,one frustrated reader left a lengthy voice mail message = issue with that decision. “This is th kind of stuff that drives readers crazy. 1 am so tired of these little nit-picking changes all the time that end up ruining the paper, instead of making it reader friendly,” said the caller. “We readers get used to where things are and how we read the paper. I enjoy the Sunday Mag- azine,I usually savethatsection to read last. It's the candy to everything I've read in that day’s paper. Why not put Debbie Hummel’s columnand the other things [now] in Utah Living in the Sunday Magazine and return [Utah Living) back to what it is anyway, the Classified section?” “T like the Sunday Magazine,as well, butlack of advertising support left us no choice,” said Shelledy. “We made an ef- fort to transfer mostofthe features to two othersections.” The Tribune does seem to be in a con- No Monopoly up”notices to readers when changes are in the works. But with advance notice comes the understandable anxiety that readers will lose something or get less than whatthey currently have. To tackle these concerns, The Tribune may have to called ita monopoly. From whatI recall of myU.S. history classes, anti-trust suits have occasionally been necessary to break up huge oil and railroad trusts telephone numbers. Information other than your name andthecity in which youlive are kept confidential. which actually drove competitors out of business through illegal means such as price fixing. Howcan the governmentrule that Mi- crosoft is a monopoly when there are 57,000 other software makers.in this nation? Unlike the robber baronsofold who used their monopolies to gouge consum- ers, Microsoft must keep prices competitive orlose sales quickly. I wish that the government lawyers would go back to their dictionaries and find the accurate definitions of monopoly andanti-trust. Provo Questionable Legacy “Envisioning a goal and then driving relentlessly toward it” is not the essence of political leadership (“Corradini’s Legacy,” Tribuneeditorial, Jan. 2). It is dictatorship and basically says that the end justifies the means. Political leadership The Reader Advocate’s phone number for the last 18 monthsof her administration. Gateway will be built, but at what is (801) 257-8999. Write to the Reader Advocate, The Salt Lake Tribune, P.O. Box 867, Salt Lake City, Utah 84110. E-mail: reader.advocate@sltrib.com includes integrity and involvescitizens. Having the Olympicsin Salt Lake Cityis no honorbecauseof the way in which we obtained them. It was the Salt Lake City Council that savedlight rail. The mayor wasout of the city on extended absences price to the long-term, loyal, local, down- town businesses and low-income housing? The pursuit of the Olympics, Franklin Covey Field and selling of Main Street, methods you state may have “sometimes alienated people” were not conducted in any way I wantto think of as a legacy deserving of admiration. I hope Salt Lake City can overcomethis “huge legacy.” DIANE FLOREZ POINT OF LAW In the past1,000 years there have been many changesin the law,but in manyof Salt Lake City short” conditions of most of them, were EDWARD McDONOUGH and in the 17th century had foundits way into the decisions of English judges. In the Eighteenth Century the Ameri- cans enshrined the notion in TheDecla- Greece and Rome to the Christian cos- asserted the powerto reviewlegislation for consistency notonly with the Consti“eternalprincipals ofjustice.” Twentieth Century babble gave us the classroom and will be seen as educated geeks. How doyoutestfor the art of human relationships? ‘Throughoutthe chaos of thefirst cou- ple of centuries ofthe first Millennium, when governmentas the Romansknewit and as we knowit now didnot exist, the philosophy ofuniversal law applicable to all men, and therefore of government by law, and not by men, was preserved, teenth Century American judges tution but also with natural law, the many new reasons for recognizing that there was a law that applied to all men, many of which have nothingto do with the idea of God. But by whateverphilosophy it is supported, the notion that thereis such a thing asjustice stays with us because wecontinue to be human. The Nuremberg trials after World War Twowere prosecuted not for violations of the laws of wartime Nazi Germany, but for crimes against humanity — crimes against a natural law that we all instinctively recognize. And whether it is called divine law, natural law,or jus gentium,law that applies to all, not just to Roman citizens, learning. In spite ofdivergences such as Machiavelli’s notion that the source of law was the power of the ruler, the idea that natural law is the test of the validity of man-made law stayed with us humans, Revenue Sources I have seen a numberofdifferentletters in the Public Forum regarding the high taxes Utah continues to impose on taxpayers.I have a coupleideas to gener- ate more revenuebesides taxation. If Utah hada lottery, those people who wanted to participate could, and those that don’t want to wouldn’t haveto. Ev- eryone would havefree agency to choose whatthey wantto do. Taxes are a forced revenue,a lottery is not. The people who buy lottery tickets are already buying them from otherstates that offer them. Idaho, Wyoming and Nevada would probably be the most unhappyabout Utah having a lottery, because the people who live in Utah would be spending their moneyin their ownstate instead of trav- eling to neighboringstateslike they have been doing. Theother source of income would be to havean individual head tax,for families with more than three children using the public education system. Weshould atleast be given the oppor- tunity to put these ideas to a vote. Let the peopledecide if they want another source of revenue.If the people vote against a lottery or head tax, then we shouldn’t the persistent human ideal of universal justice goes with us into the Third Millennium. Edward McDonoughis a Salt Lake City attorney and a member ofthe Utah Bar. 19). To suggest that governmentregulation of the insurance industry constitutes “the government's coercive apparatus to Government's properplace is to do for citizens what they cannot do for themselves. Those whosuffer from mental illness are most often unable to demand reasonable treatment because of the devastatingeffects of their illnesses. Activists are primarily family members andhealth-care providers who daily experience the enormous suffering “wash”with kids. Higher education must precious little headway with insurance cellent teaching is into the classroom and tries their masterful understanding of what education is, they need to humbly say, “I will trust those who spend huge amounts of time, emotion, heart, and their own money to help young people (some of whom really don’t care about whatis being taught)to learn and grow.” CHIP and SANDY HAYES Kamas rest of the week. As for those who do travel on Sundayandtravel farther than they travel during the rest of the week. they prefer to drive their cars. Utah Transit Authority has already stated several times, when ridership numbers make it economicallyviable,light rail will start running on Sunday. Theother pet-peeve, people who com. plain about masstransit “subsidies” or not being allowed to votefor or against a mass transit system. City roads, state highwaysand the entire interstate high: way system are 100 percent idized. If you don’t pay a toll on it, for and maintained entirely through tax dollars. At least on masstransit,thereis a user fee. Before you suggest it, the gaso- linetaxis not a usertax for roads. People buygasolinefor things other thandriving cars. A busticket can only be usedto ride the bus. Mr. Cracroft wants public votes on masstransit systems.I'd like to ask Mr. Cracroft, whenwasthe public vote on I-15 construction? When was public vote on Gov. Mike Leavitt's legacy highway? Whenwas the public vote onthesale of Main Street to the LDS Church? Faceit, Mr.Cracroft, very few public votes are taken on majortransportation decisions. Whyshould mass transit be singled out? JACK COOK Salt Lake City : Q Legitimate Intervention Ireadwith astonishmenttheeditorial “Treating MentalIllness” (Tribune, Dec. give opportunities for prospective teach- Until the Tribune editorial board or the main writer of this specific editorial walks in the shoes of a teacher, rubs elbows in the classroom or, even better, brings their vast knowledge of what ex- Ms. Anderson suggests, because of the LDSChurch. Lightrail is not running on Sundayfor the samereason that mostbus routes have either reduced or no Sunday service. The reason being, fewer people travel on Sunday when comparedtothe LAURETTE OLSEN Salt Lake City Q caused by these illnesses. Whoelse would constitute “the market”thatthe editorial advises to be in charge of changes in insurance coverage? “The market” makes than“student teaching” does, in Seattle and Denver. Ridership in these cities started higher then originally pre- Light rail is not running on Sunday, as You can train information into a person, but until they are in the teaching situation, youwill never know how theywill ers to be in the class and with kids more Light rail is not an “untested disaster” as Mr. Cracroft suggests. Light rail sy: temshave most recently proven sticce: dicted and have only continued to rise. force open a place for them at the insurance companytrough”is ludicrous. oris, an excellent teacher. Teachingis far more art than science, and many geniuses in their field who would test out very high on standardized tests will never “fly” in who think driving a car makes them a qualified transportation engineer. ® Mail to Public Forum, The Salt Lake Tribune, P.O. Box 867, Salt Lake City, Utah 84110 ‘@ Ourfax numberis (801) 257-8950. Thereis no test now or ever(including all of those wonderful West Coast tests) thatcan tell you whether someonewill be, In reading theletters by Paul Cracrofi and Margaret Anderson (Forum, Dec. 24), I am reminded of my two greatest pet peeves as a civil engineer: First, people published. allowing mental health advocates to use not excellent. ration of Independence, and in the Nine- human reason. Natural Law wasdivine law as mankindhadthe mind and soul to understand it, and the laws of governments were legitimate to the extent that they were in harmony with Natural Law. @ Please type and double space. '§ Letters are condensed andedited. ®@ Because of the volume of mail received, not all submissions are The impotence of your editorial (“Better Teachers,” Tribune, Nov. 29) was. incredible. You speak asif the following things were correct: 1, You can find what an excellent teacher is by testing; 2, excellent teachers can betrained by the existing methods in higher education (if more effort were just put into the equation); and 3, the vast majority of the already existing teacher pool is inept and In the Middle Ages, Christian philosophers adapted the wisdom ofclassical it was accessible to man by the use of likelyto be published. to pay outrageoustaxes. Teaching Is an Art understanding of whatis right and just, has not changed, and that the men and women of the year One Thousand, in spite of the primitive, “nasty, brutish and God's reasonas well as God's will, and so @ Keepit short. Concise letters developing a single theme are more continue to complain about being forced It would seem that mankind, and our mology and came up with the notion of Universal Law. St. Augustine of Hippo taughtthat divine law was the productof name,signature, address and daytime CYNTHIA DAW revisit somedecisions. For example, editors oughtto create moreefficient ways to escort the reader around the paper. This might include expanding and relocating the Index, as well as putting more informationin “Also Inside” teasers atop sections’ fronts. Keeping The Tribune reader anny oughtto be at the top of itors’list. ™ When submittingletters to the Public Forum, please include your full u An Engineer’s Peeves Where to Write I just can't believe that the federal gov- ernment ruled against Microsoft and stant state of change and a good dealof that has to do with the paper's “heads the most important ways, the law has changed very little. leastin theideal. Letters from The Tribune’s readers Magazinesection wouldbe thelast due to Rules Have Changed ButLittle In the Past Millennium of Law humanbeings like us — exactly like us. In the year One Thousand,the structure of Roman Law wasstill present in Western thinking. The Romans jusrisconsults (lawyers) and praetors (judges) had become a permanent heritage, and the Roman idea of a jus gentium, a law applying to all people, survived at THE PUBLIC FORUM companies without government intervention. Is advocating adequate mental health care somehow different from advocating care for heart disease,diabetes or cancer? ‘Theeditorial fails to mention that one of the emphases of the report, as reported in The Tribune's own pages, is that mental illness is a physical illness like any other, not a moral failing. Current insurance standards do not allow mental health hospitalizations unless a patient is an immediate threat to himself or others, as evidenced by a specific plan or action. The terror of living with a child who is too young to articulate such a plan, except to talk about death every day, is unbelievable. My family lived with that terror every day for two months. Fortunately, whenour 9-year-old daughter did act, I caught her and removed the material she had lodgedin her throatto suffocate herself. Previous to my daughter's suicide attempts (yes, there was more than one), the insurance company said that hospitalizations without a specific threatis not “cost-effective.” Myquestion is, would it have been cost-effective if she had succeeded at her first attempt at suicide? Would it have beencost-effectiveto treat the mentally ill individuals who have committed deadly crimes before their illnesses impelled them to act? How manyofthese incidents are required before adequate treatmentis Seen as a common-sense and cost-effective benefit to society? It is much less expenae to prevent tragedies than to react to m. The measure of a society is how it treats its most defenseless members, Utah is a state whose citizens make more than the usual claims of belief in compassion and active service to others. How ironic that the segments of society mostin need oflife-saving assistance are those who are looked down upon as a distasteful burden, guilty of failing in their duty ofself- reliance. In reality, for the most part they are working families like others in the state, paying taxes like others, but suffering exponentially more. MELANIE A. LAHMAN Spanish Fork % |
