Salt Lake Tribune | 1995-05-28 | Page 2

The Salt Lake Tribune NATION/WORLD Sunday, May 28, 1995 HE ROLLY REPO Utah's Political Newsletter by Paul Rolly DEMOCRAT COOK? Merrill Cook began his political career as a tough-talking, tightfisted Republican conservative who bashed big spending, out-of-touch Democrats. Thenhesplit from the GOP and formed his own Independent Party, claiming there waslittle difference between the Republican and Democratic “establishment policies.’ Now, after losing his sixth election in 10 years, Cook may join the Democrats and bring his 200,000 followersalong. “T have morefriends and sympathizers on the Democratic side than the Republican side,” Cook said, “There are factions in the Democratic Party that probably could not accept me — the hard-core pro-choice group. But I really like [Utah Democratic Congressman] Bill Orton's approach andI really like [Salt Lake County Commissioner] Randy Horiuchi. I’ve talked to a numberof Democrats and that is the party that could fit the populist approach I espouse. If they could take moderate stands on spending and taxes, I could help them.” Cook also said he has burned too many GOP bridges. He has run against former Gov. Norm Bangerter, Gov. ORE Mike Leavitt and Congresswoman Enid Waldholtz. “There are Republicans whowill never forgive mefor running against Bangerter and Leavitt,” he said. “So beit. I don't apologize for that.” He announced earlier this month he was leaving the Independent Party because heis convinceda third party can’t win in today’s political environment. He encouragedhis followersto re-enter one ofthe established parties and work for changes within. However, he will not be a candidate again. a THE PRIVATE SECTOR Republican adviser Bud Scruggs considered running for Congress in 1996 against Democrat Bill Orton, but he called Ortonearlier this month and told him he would notchallenge the threeterm incumbent. Possible reason? Sources say Scruggs is in discussions with Ilan Cumming, owner of the conglomerate Leucadia Corp. and a financial godfather to the Democratic Party in Utah, to become an executive in Salt Lake City-based Leucadia Film Co., producer of family films. S PEOPLE OF COLOR Scruggs now is on a research and teaching sabbatical from Brigham Young University, That ends in June, andhestill has a year left on a teaching contract. Scruggs worked on campaigns of Sen. Orrin Hatch and formerSen. Jake Garn and governors Norm Bangerter and Mike Leavitt. He was chiefof staff for Bangerter and partner in a politicalconsulting business with Leavitt. Thepossible collaboration with Cumming wouldbea testimony thatpolitical differences can sustain within business relationships. Cumming and his wife, Annette, have been supporters of several Democratic candidates, including former Congresswoman Karen Shepherd and Utah Atty. Gen. Jan Graham. Ethnic Boundaries Fall killed 200,000 head of cattle and are. Does that make us less committed to things Chicano? Things Latino or Mexicano? Andrea Otanez University of Utah History Professor Jeff Garcilazo, who has inspired many Utah Chicanostudentsin his relatively recent arrival in Utah, has a theory. Hetells the story of a group of Salt Lake City high school students who wanted to form a Chicano political group on campus. There was a meeting and a young man showed up, wanting to take part. They told him he wasn’t Chicano enough. Who knowsif they were referring to his looks, his clothes, his speech, whatever. According to Garcilazo,it's a mistake. “That's been an error of the Chicano movementall along,” he says. “If you didn’t speak Spanish, if you spoke Spanish toowell, if you didn’t speak a certain kind of Spanish, if you spoke English too well, you weren't Chicano enough. Even the way you combed yourhair.” Being Chicano isn’t fulfilling a biological requirement, it’s ‘‘a political consciousness, a view of re- ality.” Garcilazo is quick to point out that skin color is a factor in the mainstream as people are discriminated against and labeled because of the way they look. But from the inside of an ethnic group or a political movement, he saysit is motivations and actions that count, “We've got to get away from the narrow view of who a Chicano is. The boundaries are changing every day.” So why didn't I explain all this to my friend the other night? There probably are a number of reasons, the least of which being that I was hungry and eagerto get back to my dinner. But you know, it's odd anda little luxurious to have a printed forum in which to belatedly answer an annoying yet valid personal uestion. To my friend at the pub, ks for the columnidea, Andrea Otanezisabook editor and a native of Salt Lake City. can be empowered by their chil- She is a former news editor for dren. And still others of us never The Salt Lake Tribune. more than 50 years has severely depleted water supplies. The drought wasestimated to have caused more than $72 million in damageto the states of Chihuahua, Coahuila, Durango, Nuevo Leon and Tamaulipas. Officials in the neighboring U.S. state of Texas rejected a plea by the Mexican gov- ernment to make water available from the Rio Grande Riverregion. A severe drought affecting parts of China's Guangdong provinceis seriously damaging sugarcane, peanuts and other cash crops, the official China Daily reported. Rain- NZ fall has beenless than 20 percentof normal during the past two months in the worst-affected areas. storms kept floodwaters high over partsofthe Mississippi and Missouri rivers. Several agricultural levies around St. Louis collapsed, flooding farmlands but lowering the Mississippifrom its highestlevels since the devastating 1993 inundations. At least two people havedied from the flooding in Missouri. Illinois's governor asked President Clinton to declaretwoof his state's hardest-hit counties federal disaster areas. about 5,000 acresofgrain crops and hundreds of wind-driven generators, as well as leaving about 300 wells buried under sand. Local meteorologisis blame the disaster ‘on an extended drought. |e) \ : ~S @N5.01995 Chronicte Features Another week of wade endless wavesoftorrential rains and severe thunder- A one-hour sandstorm that struck the north China regionsof Ningxia Hui and Inner Mongoliakilled 6,000 head of livestock and left 105,000 others missing. The storrn also damaged ee Antarctica ie May 26,1995 Spring Floods Sandstorm Vostok, (Russia) For the week ending 2 Earthquakes indoors, seeking refuge in air-con- A powerful temblor and Eq numerous aftershocks struck the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, injuring at least ditioned offices, homes and shop- 38 people and damaging more than 300 buildings. Indonesia's Flores Island was rocked by a quakethat killed a child and wrecked 15 buildings in the Adonara district. In Alaska, a series of strong tremors shook Anchorage, but only minor injuries were reported. Quakeswerealso felt in Japan's Hokkaido Island, Colombia, Slovenia, Switzerland, the eastern Philippines, Greece, the Alaska Penin- sula and Southern California. ANG Record-breaking temperatures in Israel sparked I brushtires ping centers. Jerusalem reached a and forced schools across the country to cancel outings. The oppressive heat, causedby a strong desert wind, kept many Israelis and Palestinians also urged city residents to avoid exercising and cautionedthe elderly and young not to go downtown, record 112 degrees Fahrenheit. where air quality is poorest. The Subsidence rain and a temperature inversion. smog was made worse by lackof Illegal pumping of underLh) ground water reserves in Taiwan is causing about seven percentof the island to sink into the ocean, a government agency reported. The report said 400 square miles along the western shoreline and Taipei basin have beensinkinginto the Pacific ata rate of aboutnine feet during the past 14 years. Emergency funds of $224 million were spentlast yearto build support structures along the coast, and to relocate nurnerousbuildings, including schools. Heat Wave Santiago Smog i.e Facing a sharp increasein c | air pollution, Chile shut down 187 factories and ordered a quarter of a million cars to stay off Santiago's streets, Officials PowerPoaching A poacher electrocuting E32 fish on a lake in central Poland fell into the water and suffered the same fate as his quarry, police in Wloclawek told reporters, The 24-year-old man was oneof four who wentfishing with a high-voltageline attached to a net, designed to stun and capture the fish. “For a while everything went according to the poachers’plan, and they hadfish in their bags. But sud- deniy, one man holding the net tripped andfell into the water,” the agency said. The other fishermen tried in vain to revive him,it added. Additional Sources: U.S. Climate Analysis Center, U.S. Earthquake Information Center and the World Meteorological Organization Cool Star: Water in Sunspots Astonishes Astronomers It is hard to imagine finding water on the burning hotsun, but in research released Friday in the journal Science, the experts report finding water on sunspots. “One is surprised that water can exist on the sun becauseit's so hot,” said Peter Bernath, a chemist on the research team, Hydrogen and oxygen molecules both exist on the sun, which is about 10,200 degrees F. They apparently combine to form water in sunspots, which are about 5,200 degreesF’,he said. Becauseof the heat, the water molecules form vaporor steam. Bernath and his colleagues analyzed data from the spectrometer on Kitt Peak National Observatory in Arizona. He confirmed the theory by comparing the infrared spectra of the hottest water he could obtain in a laboratory to the pattern in the sunspots. The findings, he said, prove “that the sun, as you would expect, is a typical cool star.” — Reuter News Service o ECO-REVIEW Compiled by Pepper Provenzano ESSENTIAL PROTECTION “Sunshine State” soundsbetter than “Skin Cancer State," but they're equally accurate monikers. No matter whatstate you're in, when it comes to summer, the stakes are high. Onein five Americans will get skin cancer. The lighter the skin, the higher the risk, but no matter whatcolor yourskin is, long-term sun exposure will damageit, That's why dermatologists strongly advise everybody — and especially those with sensitive skin — to apply sunscreen to exposed skin every morning, every day of the year. They know most people won't listen. Keep in mind, however, thatit's still best to stay indoors or in the shade between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., when the sun's ultraviolet rays are most intense. erhaps the most importantar- ticle of clothing in battling the sun is a hat. About 80 percentof all skin cancers occur on the face, head and neck, and a broadbrimmed hat — a 3-inch brim or better — provides protection for all three. Baseball caps leave bare yourears and neck. Keep in mind, however, that even a goodhat won't protect you from reflected rays. If you're going to spend extended timein the sun, there's no way aroundit: A good sunscreenis a must. Good" meansit has a sun-protection factor, or SPF,of 15 or better. — OrlandoSentinel Oo HAPPY ENDING Ukraine and a consortium of Western eae signed a memorandum Saturday to plan the closure of the Chernoby! nuclear-power station and build a gas-fired plantto replace it. The memorandum aims to ensure that Chernobyl, site of the world's worst nuclear accident nine years ago, can be closed by the year 2000, The explosion andfire in Chernobyl’s fourth reactor in April 1986 sent radioactivity throughout most of Europe. Ukraine and nearby Belarusstill devote large parts of their budget to cleanup. Official statistics say 5,722 people whobattled the blaze and built a concrete “tomb” around the reactor have died. Thousands also died from radiation poisoning and 3.7 million people were affected in some way. Initial estimates put the cost of decomissioning Chernobyl’s two working reactors at up to $1.7 billion and building the plant at a further $2 billion. Officials in impoverished postSoviet Ukraine say they cannot close the plant on their own, Ukrainian and Western officials told a news conference a thermal plant to be built near Chernoby! could be functioning within two years, — Reuter News Service meas Soe Provenzano welcomes e-mail at [e-mail]. HOW TO GET CONNECTED By Mall 4-week perlod) Cartier Delivery (4-week pertod) Daily/Sunday (Utah) 414.00 Dally 96.70 What: The entire news, sports and feature content of today's Salt Lake Tribune is available in- Second clase at Salt Lake City, ‘Utah, ‘ address changes ‘The Salt Lake Tribune at the above address, Dally Only (Utah) « $9.60 Sunday Only (Utah) $12.00 Daily & Sunday (Outside of Utah)... $26.80 er by 7 a.m. with a Utah OnLine connection. You also receive: Dally and Sunday 4 Sundays vavenaee Me Member Audit Bureau of Cirewlations steatly on your personal comput@ Updated AP news/stocks etivery Information, new miberiplons restarting vbseripons, can- 0 BACK-ROOM SMOKE Former Congresswoman Karen Shepherdrecently returned from trip to Bratislava, Slovakia, where she served on an education team to work with the Slovakian parliamenton several issues, including how to deal with a free press in a Democratic society. She is completing a six-month fellowship with the Institute of Politics in the Kennedy School of Governmentat Harvard University. She was chosenalong with a memberof the British House of Commons for the project. ... earthweek @aol.com and Sanday bythe Kearne‘Tribune Corporation, 149 South Main St, Salt Lake City, Utah 84111, CIRCULATION NUMBERS ee reas. to hit northern Mexico in SUBSCRIPTION RATES same-day ee ee weekdays nnd Saturdays, Gites hanbomen Deets 3 fax Poe vata tad hoes erat Karen Shepherd, who was defeated by Waldholtz last fall. But neither Shepherd nor her congressional office manager, Robyn Matheson,recalls the offer. Former Congressman Wayne Owens maintained an office at the South TowneCenterin Sandy for which he paid market-value rent. Shepherd closed that office to keep her promise of reducing her personal office costs by The most severe dry spell CheSaltLakeTribune (USPS 478-360) Sumas Certant puna ba says heoffered the same deal to Demo- By Steve Newman WhoIs Chicano Today? publicly claim ourethnicselves. I supposeI never could haveeither. My skin color doesn’t broadcast my ethnicity and my mother isn’t Latina. She is from dyed-inthe-wool, Utah-grown, Mormon pioneerstock. Her history also is mine and something to be cele7 brated. It’s the rest of who I am, whoa lotof us RUMBLINGSIN SANDY? Democratic legislators were grumbling during a recent interim committee meeting that Sandy Mayor Tom Dolan, a Republican, has given a special deal to Congresswoman Enid Waldholtz, R-Utah, to help her run forreelection next year. Dolan has agreedto rent an office to Waldholtz in the elaborate Sandy City Hall for $1 a month. This allows Waldholtz to maintain a separateoffice close to a significant portion ofher electorate and keepoffice expenses down. Democrats are anticipating a statement from Dolan during the election year about Waldholtz’s accessibility to the people of Sandy. Dolansaysit simply is an effort to get the congressional representative for Sandy closer to the concerns of the peopleandit will be good for Sandy. He Natta alas Drought By Andrea Otanez I ran into a friend the other nightat a pub, a person I haven’t seenfor a while, and among other things he asked me: “Why do you do that? Why do you write that column for the paper?” He wasreferringto this ‘‘Utah’s People of Color” column and I tried to change the subject, not in the moodto justify myseif, which by his tone he was asking me to do He persisted: “Why DO you do that?” I didn't press him on what he meant and said something halfhearted about‘needing the money,” which, while helpful, is minimal. J babbled on about it being fun and something I’ve always wanted to do and the chatter meanderedto othertopics. In fairness, I’m still not sure what my friend meant, but his question made me uneasy. He seemed to imply that the column — notjust mine butall five of the different columns — is unnecessary, wasted spaceandsilly. Maybe evenracist. It could also be that when we first met 12 years ago, he didn’t think of me as an outspoken Mexican American or Mexicanonly insofar as he is a Midwesterner — an identity trait among others such as female, college student, aspiring writer, skier and Utah native. And Chicana? Wasn't that anachronistic in the early '80s when mostof us young, quasi-intellectual, budding cynics eschewed anything organized and, well, different from our mainstream? Whether my friend meant any of this, he obviously hit a nerve. About evolving political consciousness and identity. Aboutbeing bold enough to demand space to develop when our convictions won't allow anythingelse. My ethnic and political consciousness — the two forever entwined — were awakened through a university education. Ask ethnic-studies professors how many times a year they see the light comeonin the faces of ethnic students when they learn there is a body of literature, historiography, art and demographicalstatistics reflective of who they are. Whentheylearn that their grandparents’ and parents’ stories are connected to others across the nation and through time. Other Latinos, African Americans, Asian Americans, American Indians and so on, embark on their ethnic identities through community involvement, poetry, a film, a discussion at a restaurant. Someofus are aware much earlier because our parents or community leaders insist on it. The converse also is true, as parents He also has given to Republicans. Scruggs started outas a liberal Democrat, campaigning for former Democratic Congressman Wayne Owens and presidential candidate Ted Kennedy. Scruggs demonstrated his ability to mingle among Democrats whenhe acted as master of ceremonies this month for the Attorney General Law DayBall, a political fund-raiser for Graham. a NEWSROOM NUMBERS Reader Advocate Recreation . 287-2018 37-2000 Ray et am Hr var i mn Seores (08¢/min) 1. Utah OnLine... 9% i @3-month library access S Downloading capabilities @ Classified/personal ads @ Internet mail address @ Weather mapand forecasts @ Past, present movie @ E-mail to editors/ Who: All Tribune subscribers can receive 45 minutes daily of Utah OnLine free, (Sunday-only su bers receive 25 minutes sey Non-subscribers Utah How:Call [phone] with your PC's 1200 baud modem or better and your telecommunication software. 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