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Show AA2 The Salt Lake Tribune OPINION Sunday,April 15, 2001 Glitches and Mistakes: Was Full Moon to Blame? READER ADVOCATE SHINIKA SYKES made the Jews “Christians,” a handful concerns, submit to a bit of humbleness and hope for times in the coming week. First, the weekly television .pamphlet, produced by the Newspaper Agency Corporation (NAC) for The Tribune and Deseret News, had quite a few folks in a huffwhen it arrived with Sunday’s paper in a new — well . a the proper word here is “jum: — format. The daily program ma ran Serie network and cable channel The alphabetical lineup of movies did not vary in type style for titles daly channels and omitted There ted are many Tribune readers whorely on the beWek guide to select programs they will watch. The Tribune and NAC ie hit with hundreds of phonecalls and letters ofcomplaint. “The new format has to be a committee decision because no one person in their right mind could possible dream up such stupid changes,” said Gordon Buchi.“The only wayit could be more confusing is if it was printed in Chinese.” And this tongue-in cheek, albeit matter-of-fact message from reader C.J. Welle: “Please send the magic decoder ring for the new TV listings.” Information for the weekly TV booklet is compiled by a national media firm and sent by computer: However, now that The Tribune is printing ona narrower web,the proper format codes were not in place before the text was sent. At that point, NAC Advertising Director Ed McCaffrey and his staff had two choices: either print the weekly TV booklet with its jumbled layout or chuck the entire thing, leaving Suey's paper without a TV Reewers should see much improvementin the grit shading and layout ‘ney, said McCaffrey. “We expect to have the adjustments made to the movie listings, which include info about each movie, the following week.” (Give McCaffrey time to make the necessary format changes. He can be reached at(801) 237-2712.) Then there was Saturday's announcementthat Utah’s Jewish com- of individuals in the Greek commu- vices were not included in Saturday’s full page of Passover and Easter Season Services. The Greek church’slistings did not arrive at The Tribune on time. Amends were made for that, too, on Tuesday. Could things get any worse? Apparently. Readers whofollow the precipitation totals in the daily weather report soundly boxed my ears when the paper reported the water totals for Monday (a daythe state had little or no moisture) as having the same accumulation as Sunday(it snowed most of that day). Sandra McCullough ofAccuWeather, which provides weather data to most of the nation’s newspapers, said the companyblew it. First, it sent incorrect precipitation numbers for Utah cities. When that mistake was discovered, it then sent correct numbers to The Tribune via computer. However, AccuWeather did not call and/or send an “urgent” notice, to alert The Tribune thatthefirst set of numbers was incorrect. McCullough promises more supervision in this area ofdata collection and appropriate notification. Andit did not end there. On Tuesday, April 10, the “On This Date” feature proclaimed itself (gasp!) “Wednesday, April 11" — obviously a sign that some folks were doing their part to put the week behind as quickly as possible. Whatdoes all ofthis mean? Simply that each day’s newspaperis written and edited by mere moruals on tight deadlines. Mistakes? Yes, they make them. Oversights? Yes, they get by. As with anything produced by humans, somedays are better than others. Still, there are no excuses. The goal is and always has been to make the next day’s paper better than the day before. Readers, for their part, ought to recognize that — although un- doubtedly there will be a few faux pas from time to time — each day’s paper contains thousands upon thousandsof munity would observe not only Pass- words, phrases and facts that are, in essence, absolutely correct. over, but also Palm Sunday, Good Friday and Easter. That’s right! Some folks said it gave them a chuckle. Others were not amused. clarification was published in Tuesday's paper. Alas, if some believe the paper The Reader Advocate’s phone number is (801) 257-8999. Writeto theReader Advocate, The Salt Lake Tribune, P.O. Box. 867, Salt Lake City, Utah 84110. Email: reader.advocate@sitrib.com. Hate Crime and Animal Rights Become2 Strange Bedfellows JEAN HILL There are times when the merits of a piece oflegislation deservefull de- THE PUBLIC FORUM Wrong Strategy I read reporter Heather May’slat- est article titled “High School Bans Items Linked to Drugs” (Tribune, March 28). The article was written based on how someof Utah’s public schools have or are in the process of banning clothing and accessories associated with the illegal drug ecstacy. This attempt to decrease drug use in schools will be a fruitless, short-term solution to a growing plaguethat continues to haunttoday’s youth. To be short, clothes and accessories really do not have much to do with why youth today are involved in substance abuse. It appears that manyofficials, with all their schooling, really have no clue where to start in helping kids that use drugs. School officials need to change their focus from pointing fingers to that of a more caring fashion. Some teen-agers use drugs to escape reality, family life or to simply fit in with a crowd. We as teachers, friends and family members need to go to the root of the problem,whichis the family. If we started critiquing parents, as we do the youth, we wouldsee just as manyfaults, if not more due to their personal involvementwith their kids. This would show usthetrue results on whyteens are using drugs. The adults that point and blamie teens need to stop critiquing the youth and ask themselves how their own lives are. They should ask, when was the last timeI told mychild that I loved them? Whenwas thelast time I went to my son’s football game? When have I taken my child out to dinner? When was thelast time we talked? Thelist is endless. Studies have shown thatparents need to get involved in their childrens’ lives. Parental involvement has a larger influence on children prosecutors and the attorney general, from finding its way outof the House Rules Cor Proponents and opponents, howev- er, should have recognized thattheissue needed final action, whateverthat action might have been. And theywill notlikely have a chance to dothat in the uj special session,either. The original bill provided for an enhanced penalty ifa prosecutor could prove that a crime was motivated by bias or prejudice. Enhancements such as this are not new to the code. Currently, enhancements exist for use ofa firearm within 1,000 feet of a school, possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance within 1,000 feet of a school, church, parking lot, mall, or theater, or in the presence of anyone under 18 years of age, or for criminal offenses intended to interfere with mining, timber or agricultural industries, among others. against the timber, mining oragricultural industries, or the newly created ee for ranchers and Obpaiants asked ifperson whois beaten for no reason feels less pain than a person beaten because of bias. Perhaps not, but such feeling is not required by any of the other enhancements. A person arrested for possession with intentto distribute might be attempting to sell a controlled subStance to an adult in the middle of the night with no minors present. But he is still subject to an enhanced penalty if the attempted sale occurs within 1,000 feet of a school. The enhancement exists because the message is important. A mink farmer whose animals are “liberated” mayfeel no differently than the store owner who is burglarized, but the Enhancements can only be used if message to animal rights groups was deemed important enough this session the prosecutor can prove beyond a reasonable doubt that, for instance, the person who commits an offense actually intended to stop a timber harvest. The standard rules of evidence apply, so an enhanced penalty ee: apply withouttangible evidence tent. Opponents of SB37 = the Senate to require an enhanced penalty. yysomepointin the past, members of the Legislature,or their ancestors, understood persecution based on something like relig religious belief, and this session they understood the difference between a crime intended to send a political message about animal rights and other crimes. Yet Frm is no difference a random crime and one auipole to send a political message of hate. This may or may not be true, but consistency required that the Legislature give SB37 as much debate as the other bills that created enhancements for crimes committed against, or potentially in the presence of, different groups. bay8” Hs member of the Dia ™@ Letters are condensed and @ Because of the volume of mail received, not all submissions are published. @ Mail to Public Forum, The Salt LakeTribune,P.O. Box 867, Salt Lake City, Utah 84110 @ Our fax numberis (801) 257-8950. @ Our email address is letters@ sltrib.com. Winning Programs I am responding to an article con- cerning the faith-based initiative (Tribune, March 20). I wantto set the record straight concerning the social programs of the Church of Scientology. These are programs supported by the church,utilizing technologies developed by L. Ron Hubbard, but which are not operated by Scientology as re- ligious activities. Let’s take the Narconon drug rehabilitation program,for instance. This program, whichis a secular program, has greatresults. A study of the program in Sweden showed that 84.6 percent of the Narconon graduates remain entirely drug-free. This program has saved more than 250,000 lives. There are other programs such as help. a and supported by law enforcement, @ Please type and double space. edited. Brigham Young University is a pri- neo-Nazi group and the Eagle Forum R. JARED BUEHLER Bountiful of people. Those misunderstandings prevented a bill, opposed only by a city in which you live are kept confidential. @ Keep it short. Concise letters developing a single theme are more likely to be published. Brass Suspend Two Gays,” by Kirsten Stewart (Tribune, March 29). I know was vastly misconstrued by a number Sen. Pete Suazo’s B37 Hate Crimes soendments was oneof those pieces of legislation. This bill represented a law enforcementtool, but it Unproductive Attitude When we moved to Salt Lake County from Leadville, Colo., in 1969, we went to a Sunday picnic at Fair- “The Way to Happiness,” a commonsense guideto better living, aiding individuals to find morals in a confused society; Criminon, reforming criminals so they become contributing members of society; and Applied Scholastics, educating youth to the highest standards. All show amazing results. Wethink it is past time for real results in the social betterment arena which our programs accomplish. We will continue to operate these programs as our social responsibility, as wehave for more than 30 years. Ifthe Bush administration sees fit to support these through his faith-based initiative, we would gladly accept the than peers and social figures com- bined. Parents need to talk to their children andlet them know that they are loved. Telling the youth today how to dress,in hopes thatit will solve the drug problem, is about as smart as taking sandto the beach. bate by both houses ofthe Legislature. Where to Write @ When submitting letters to the Public Forum, please include your full name, signature, address and daytime telephone numbers. Information other than your name and the Persecuted Co-Religionists Iam writing aboutthe article “BYU vate institution and can set its own stan , but I would like to comment anyway. Do gays and lesbians have the right to exist in Utah? Do Mormon gays and lesbians have a right to be educated? Should a celibate gay Mormonbe suspended because he is seen holding hands ata mall? Being half German, I am amazed that during World War I Germans executed fellow Germans if they were Jewish. Some of my ancestors were German Jews and were killed by the Nazis because of their religion. My German grandparents joined the LDS Church and moved to Utah in 1928, before the war. ‘Today, Mormon gays and lesbians are being persecuted by fellow Mormons. Many gay Mormons have served missions for their church and are still disrespected by fellow Mormons. I ask the church leaders and membership to have an open mind and heart. Don’t blame the child for aanborn into = world gay or LORA MENGUCCI Church of Scientology Salt Lake City Support Radio Change I support the programming changes at KUER radio,I've read several Public Forum letters expressing dismayat the loss of midday classical music. I'm sympathetic with those who don't like the change, evra Gene Pack'sclassical fellow parishioners told. me, “Here in Utah westick together with the Protestants and Masons against the Mormons.” Such a remarksurprised me then, andI still do not understand it. Our family has lived in three distinctly different areas of the county and, without any plan on our part, the three were predominantly Mormon.In all three areas we have beentreated as neighbors andfriends. The Tribune news department(not the editorial department) has always seemed to be interested in dividing members of the community along the line of all non-Mormons against the Mormons.This is a counterproductive attitude. Having spent 30 years as a Methodist and47 years as a Catholic,I know from study of both congregations that they are not the same. Believeit or not, noneofus knowall of whatis right for all others as for ourselves. On March 29 there was a story in The Tribune about what seemed to be a new giantplanet orbiting whatseems to be star. It is many light years away. Paul Davies, the well-written astrophysicist, a in the Creator. He explains his thoughts in his extremely interesting book, The Mind of God. Davies contemplates the universe in arriving at his own beliefs. At the sametime, many of us who believe think in terms of this world and our own solar system andofJesus Christ wholived, worked and taught in Palestine. We donottry to undereenal tat te now asin ee lieved aboutthe entire universe in order to believe in the teachings of Christ. Too often, perhaps, some people seem to seek and exploit differences among people for their own ends. As Timothy Mitchell likes to ask, Cui Bono? THOMAS BREITLING Holladay Q Policies of Greed In a mere three months as president, George W. Bush has deliberately anim back existing air and water juality standards, repealed the mucheat federal ergonomic standard, and now pulled out of the international pact to reduce global warming by lowering emissions of greenhouse themsel the ideas of his daddy and his daddy’s cronies, with whom he has sur- short-term economic lusts of his business associates. What a deal. In the ‘wake ofBil Clinton, we have elected e man who is faithful to his wife, but not to his constituents, WILLIAM BROUGH Sandy programs ‘There are other alterna- a Bending Over Pie eas culsies bon cy ob ak an. Why would you choose to be persecuted? These gay and lesbian Mor- In response to Questar raising the price of natural gas, I'd like to put in edee ae cere ee en siderably. We are on the eq monthly payment plan and ourvil ting are bending over backward to help their needy customers, I'm also bend- a committed relationship, for they too have a right to be happy in this life. STEPHEN CURTIS DRABNER Salt Lake City wont from $88 a month to $94. 'msure that Questar and its board ofdirectors ing over — but it ain't backward. SHARON HODSON Salt Lake City |