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Show TheSalt LakeTribune TUESDAY, MAY9, 2000 OUR VIEW TheSalt Lake Tribune’s Editorial Position Conservative Firestorm Utah Gov. Mike Leavittis a seasoned, durable and popularpolitical leader. He probably will easily survive next waffled on gun control last year and, throughhis desireto settle long-standing public land disputes with the federal month's primaryelection and enter the government, alienated many southern fall campaign strongly positioned to win a third term.as governor, thoughthere‘nt state Republican Party convention showsthat he needs to pay more atten- his seeming acceptance of compromises that would dramatically alter their way tion tothe ’s conservatives. rly was evident when delegave GOP newcomer Glen Davis votes to force Leavitt into a primary. The action surprised the governor and his people, though he may have { that he had alienated conservatives when his supporters, after thefirst ballot, started touting his conservative credentials amongdelegates. Leavitt's big problem with the conervative segment of Utah Republicans largely has been the mixedsignals he has been sending it. Generally speaking, he has appeared too eager to triangulate in Utahresidents — his own people— over of life vis-a-vis the land. Despite this, Leavitt has accomplished much during his tenure as governor. Oneof his greatest achievements has beeneffecting an accord with the federal government over Utah’s school trust lands. With the exchanges and consolidation of same, he has effectively positioned these trust lands into becoming a major money-makerfor Utah's ed- ucational efforts, which is whatthe federal governmentintended whenit doled them outto Utahat the time ofstatehood. He remains a viable force in Utah government.If he likely emerges victorious next month in the primary,Leavitt will remain a formidable challenge for tlie directionsthat pollsters and the news media suggest. This does little to promote constanc trait that most con- formerRep. Bill Orton, the Democratic Party’s gubernatorial candidate. servatives cherish inpolitical leaders. Weathercocks are great on buildings, but resent a messageto the governorthat he make uncertainleaders. ought not take Republican conservatives There have been several specific gu- bernatorial gaffes that bother conservatives. Unlxe several other GOP gover- hors ofthe 1990s, Leavitt cameoff as a spender, not tax reducer, in a Cato Institute analysis last year. He has publicly This said, the convention results repfor granted. Whether GOP moderates like them or not, they are a part of the party and a loud, rowdy and energetic Everybody was interested in providwhen heart-rending, poignanttelevision images of starving children dominated the television screens of people in the Western world. Members ofThe Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints were no different: Church members wanted to help and their church obliged. Two one-day fasts raised more than$10.5 million. It was a significant expansion of aiding the needy In addition to these items, the church is shipping clothing and plans to send morefood, supplies andclothes. Manyof the church’s humanitarian relief efforts have taken place quietly, with little fanfare. From its earlier forays into international — and evenSalt Lake Valley — relief efforts, the church has often worked with or through longestablished relief agencies, even some associated with other churches like Catholic Relief Services. fora church that for decades before was Many Latter-day Saints have wel- noted mostlyfor howwell it took care of comed this expansionofeffort to aid the its own. It also wasnofluke, no one-time needy and thosetrying to rebuild shat- thing to court the worldly legitimacy of political correctness, but an expanded tered lives after natural and humancaused disasters. Aid recipients have welcomed it. And, no doubt, others with viewof charitable work that has continued unabated to this day. a long tradition of humanitarian giving Most recently, the LDS Church is working with ate aid organizations have welcomedit, too. This salutary effort has made a difference in the lives and attitudes of and the Indonesian government to rush hundreds of thousands of poundsof rice and 20,000 hygiene kits to strife-torn limor, where more than 150,000 refugees have been displaced since violence erupted over proposed independencefor Kast Timor. School Success Story ™@ When submitting letters to the beenstruggling to find ways to improve Public Forum, please include yourfull name, signature, address and daytime telephone numbers. Information other than your nameand the city in which education. Charter Schools have been created, Centennial Schools designated and countless theories put forward to bring about change. A few years ago a mandate proclaimed that kindergarten throughthird-grade class size would be limited to 15 students (hasn’t happened). Currently there is a great emphasis on school accountability — being sure that all students can read by the time they leavethird grade, and on and on. Today, there is great concern that Beacon Heights Elementary School may be closed. About half the 500-plus students attend that particular school because ofits high academic reputation. Parents -willingly drive their children youlive are keptconfidential. ™@ Keep it short. Concise letters developing a single theme are more likely to be published. @ Please type and doublespace. @ Letters are condensed andedited. ™@ Because of the volume of mail received, not all submissions tion, a forward-looking principal, and a staff that is getting the results we have been crying for. comea mature, world faith. school that is accomplishing the goals we shame to even consider dismantling a Theletter from Lily Eskelsen (Forum, March 31) was an exercise in common sense and sound judgment. Wetruly erred whenwefailed to elect herto publicoffice. Shameonus. Lily, won't you give us an- other chance? Resist Lobbyists’ Snow Job right way and early on. There would be no snowmobiles in anypart of the park from 1974 on. That should have been the ise as well in Yellowstone, Grand Teton ind other parks across the country, But the Park Service winked at an executive order to limit snowmobiles dating back to 1972 and allowed the noisy, highly polluting beasts anyway. Now they have become such a problem spooking wildlife and creating freeway-like smog that the Department of the Interior has ordered anendto their recreational use in the parks, with some important exceptions. There is noisy opposition, and Interior officials need to be strongly urged to stick with this action,If the federal order can be pushed back, separate actions to deal with snowmobiles in Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks where the most serious problemsexist may also be at risk. The order from Assistant Secretary Donald J. dress Bi does not directly ad- Yellowstone and Grand Tetonbe: cause those parks already were conduct- ing areviewof the machines’impact and their appropriateness. A YellowstoneTeton decision is expected in November, out the machines in 2002-2003. Yellowstone will be a battleground. Western senators and House members are planning hearingslate this month at which they are expected to raise an uproar. They will support protests by snow machine associations and business owners from West Yellowstone, Mont., said its analysis of the Yellowstoneingly tl are not compatible with park values, such as the qualityofthe air. The snowmobile forces will complain about being locked out of public lands, Yet they have hundreds of thousands of acres of national forest lands surrounding both Yellowstone and the Tetons to crash through snowbanks and roar throughthe forest as muchastheylike. What snowmobiles should notbe al lowedto dois to spoil the national park experienceas it was meant to be: crisp, clear air, wildlife in a natural setting and, ahhhh,silence. UTAH’S INDEPENDENT VOICESINCE 1871 PASTPUBLISHERS John P, Fitzpatrick (1924-1960) John W. Gallivan (1960-1983) Jerty O' Brien (1983-1994) PUBLISHER Dominic Welch EDITOR James E. Shelledy KEARNS-TRIBUNE CORPORATION,143 8, MAIN ST, SALT LAKE CITY, 84111 7 ) ) essary force for his freedom from the confusion of the shouting, disturbing The Mormonchurchsaidit would stop crowds of hysterical adults back to the certain love and calm security in the arms of his “papa.”Asa boy, especially, he may now that U.S. District Judge Tena Camp- even become proud to show this over- bell has ruled in favor of gay clubs in the high schools? Will all Mormonyouth be taken out of the high schools? GORDON HILL Chubbuck,Idaho Q displayed picture of how he was rescued and brought back with his father! Good sense may now be for the news media, of all sorts, to display pictures showing the joyful smiling face of Elian with his father and brother.In Little Havana, thefrantic and fanatic shouting and manipulationofthislittle boy is over. He Stay and Pay Just when you think there might be i thinking in the state of Utah, along comesa letter from Yvonne Eisenmann of West Jordan (Forum,April 28) asking all who do not think like her to pull the old U-haul up to the front door and moveout. I say to those who might be so influenced by Yvonne, please reconsiderit. Asanon-breederin this state who pays more than myshare oftaxes into the system here,I beg you — please do notleave. Maybe Yvonne wouldlike to makeup the tax difference herself from all who decided they really have had enough and do leave. So it becomesnecessary to have an X-ray to find out if one has TB. I personally consider not being able to havea skin test to be a worthwhile price to pay for 70 percent protection against TB. is where he shouldbe, with his loving and caring father. It was finally achieved. Now standback! BARBARA MOWER EVANS Salt Lake City a Morally Straight Howdare the LDS Church give the U.S. government an ultimatum. Anyone who wants to should be allowed to join the Boy Scouts. It should notbe a religious issue. After watching documentaries about the Holocaust, it seems to me that the churches involved are no different than the Third Reich. Aside from mass murder, everythingelse is the same.If you’re different, persecute, if you're notlike us, country suggests to me that most doctors have heard of the BCG, but most nurses have not. I would be very interested to hear from a knowledgeable doctor (perhaps onewith experiencein otherparts of the world?) about why this glitch in American medicine has never beencorrected. Wouldn'tit be worthwhile to give this shot to the American public, espp- cially with the recent drug-resistant strains of TB that we are being warned against? ANNETTEF. WILCOX Salt Lake City Foreign Image As I looked at the front page of The Tribune (April 23) andsaw the picture ofia Justice Department stormtrooper fetch- ing Elian Gonzalez, I wasforthefirst time ashamed to be an American. I amconfused. Did I go to sleep and wake up in Soviet Russia, Nazi Germany, or Castro's Cuba’ THE REV. ERIK J. RICHSTEIG Helper Q ‘ Reallocate Funds In 1996, $83.7 million was distribut by United Way to Scouting councils across America (Robyn Blumner’s col- umn, Tribune, April 28). The LDS Churdh has more than 30,000 units with 400,090 plus Scouts and the Methodists have moi than 424,000 Scouts with the Cathal April 26). And further referencingo he Regarding the many letters in The Tribune complaining about other letters to the editor that knock Mormons,hey, it's a free country.If you don’tlike people writing mockingletters to the newspaper, you can always leave Utah so you won't haveto read them. Grouping any gay person with pedophilia is an insult in the highest degree. Statistics show most pedophiles are straight menwith wivesandc Being a Boy Scout has nothing to do with sex, being gay, straight, black or white. Wher someone is “morally straight,”I take that to mean that person does not kill, steal, intentionally inflict harm on another humanbeing, our oust someone because they are different. End the witch huntalready. Tribune article on April 28 on our United Way,stating that needs exceedresout and more funds are needed to assist social programswhere “efforts have only scratched the surface”: It would seemthat if the United Way channeled their contributions to these social programs, aid away from subsidizing discriminatory Scouting programs run by various. religious organizations, the community dt large would be better served. And we haven't addressedthe issueof the inequitable distribution to Boy Scouts vs, ie Scouts, PHIL PEARL Salt Lake City, §.B, LLEWELLYN West Jordan JUDY MILLER Salt ake iy DENNIS 8. WEAVER Salt Lake City The Salt Lake Tribune Turn it around and think about this: already to Elian Gonzalez — when “that picture” mayrepresentthe good andnec- allowed to join. What are they going to do and conducttoursinto the park. Teton situation “ ‘clearly and convine- Where He Belongs supporting the Boy Scouts if gays were and Jackson, Wyo., who rent machines In its winter recreation plan, Yellowstone officials were. leaning toward a compromisethat fell short of a ban. But the Environmental Protection Agency a RON JOHNSON Salt Lake City The time may come —. andit may have What Next? BCGis that a skin testis givento see ifthe shot has “taken,” and thereafter one is advised notto have a skintest ever again. Thirty years of experience in this It RUTH DRAPER Salt Lake City everywhere in the world exceptfor in the: US. ry Someyearslater I read anarticle mm Reader’s Digest about the BCG. Theyre: ported that a large-scale test of the BCG was conducted in Florida in the 1920s and researchers concluded that the shot was only marginally effective against TB, but that this conclusion was researched because the study was flawed. The re- The one disadvantage I know of the Shame on Us step back to maintain a median of mediocrity. Let excellence be rewarded — not destroyed. a thereabouts. Supposedly this shot is used: not the subjects were being exposed to TB in their homesor environments. wouldindicate a certain fear of success: a From The Los Angeles Times I am writing to reply to Scott Leck+! man’s letter about tuberculosis (Forum; April 8). In the early 1970s I was living in Switzerland and wasgiven a shotagairist TB called the BCG.I wastold thatthe shot! is 70 percenteffective against TB andthat: it has been around since the 1920s or searchers forgot to control for whether or in a school with a truly diverse popula- Isn’t there a wayforthe school board to declare Beacon Heights a Magnet School for Excellence and keep intact this unit that is functioning so well? It seems a and it almost certainly will be to phase are published. ™@ Mail to Public Forum, The Salt Lake Tribune, P.O. Box 867, Salt Lake City, Utah 84110 @ Ourfax numberis (801) 257-8950. from manyparts of the city to participate look for in our educational system. ‘The overseers of Yosemite National Park handled the snowmobile issue the Tuberculosis Protection Where to Write Forat least the last decade we have Latter-day Saint giversas great as that of recipients. It has demonstrated as much as anything, if not more, that the faith of a relatively small band of pioneersettlers some 150 years ago hasindeedbe- ANOTHER VIEW : Letters from The Tribune’s readers ignore. International LDS Aid ing aid to starving Ethiopians in 1985 THE PUBLIC FORUM enough bunch that prudent statewide Republican candidates should never Q Read or Leave you are not allowed to be one of us, |