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Show Davis Edition Citizens January 31, 1996 Applauding students DearEditor: I am writing to voice my support of the brave East High School students starting the Gay/Straight Alliance. In spite of what a couple interviewees suggested in “Citizens on the Street,” Jan. 10, the purposeofthis club is not to recruit “new’’ members, but to create a support network for the gay/lesbian/bi students already at East. Anyone who does no. believe that such a club is necessary, I suggest they review the statistics for teen-age suicide in Editor’s Note: Tireless in the quest for citizens’ opinions, editor Vernon recently ambushed a few regular folks shopping downtown, pointed a camera at them and asked: Should criminal charges be filed againstBill Clinton now orafter his presidency is over? “The authorities should probably wait until the presidency is over, because we can’t have a leaderwhois in trouble right now. > Weshouldn't convict President Clinton while heis still the president.” Joey Babinsky Kaysville “No oneis above the law. President Clinton should be treated g like a normalcitizen. The allegai tions (of sexual harassment) against him (by Paula Jones) should have been more timely. Whydidn’t she complain sooner? She should have complained back whenit allegedly happened.” Lanny Raymond Bountiful “If President Clinton is accused of something, he should answerto it right then and not when heis released, because then heis getting away with somethingjust because he's the president.” Emily Hanberg Taylorsville Joey Babinsky “It doesn’t matter, If the authorities have enough information to charge him, thenit's irrelevant whether or not he's the president.” Danica Aase Stewart West Valley City “I didn’t even know it was up for debate. I always thought there was presidential immunity, Maybe that’s not the case anymore, but I thought that was the way it was, When he’s not president anymore, then he's fair game.” Don T. West Valley City “It’s completely ridiculous for anyone to think about prosecutDanica Aase Stewart ing the president on anything related to that issue. There's no basis for herallegations,therefore, there should beno prosecution.” foe C. Salt Lake City “We should treat President Clinton like anyoneelse. If he’s guilty, he should be prosecuted. The authorities wouldn't wait for meto finish college to prosecute meif I cheated on exams.” Francine Goodman Mill Valley, Calif. “President Clintonis not above the law, but the allegations need to be handledwith discretion. He needs to be held accountable for his actions like any othercitizen as long as they don’t interfere with national security.” David Beagley Magna “President Clinton should be prosecutedif the authorities find Francine Goodman sufficient evidence to bring charges against him, butso far, I haven't read aboutanysufficient evidence to prosecute the president. It’s all been hearsay and innuendoes.” John Roark Bountiful “T think the authorities should wait until the presidencyis over. It won't be too long beforeit's over, so we might as well wait to prosecute him.” Josh Piper Kaysville “I think the authorities need to fully investigate while President Clinton is still president, and if the evidence indicates the need for prosecution, then I don't think he should be exempt from that.”” Gary Adams Bountiful “If Paula Jones was sexually harassed by President Clinton, she should have come forward Josh Piper sooner, and like any other law, there should be statute of limitations about bringing charges against somebody for a crime." Jaimie Martin West Valley City Editor's Note: If you are interested in writing an article for future publication in Citizens about this week's question, please send your submission to Citizens, 135 S. Main St., Salt Lake City, UT 84111, or fax us at 237-2519. AIDS cure still eludes researchers Continued from page 1 ition, by immuniza- aaa pox, for exammiition prevent or by trans- both techniques (viruses transmitted by insects, sewage, etc., for example). my Peterson apparently recognizes that most viral hu- man diseases which are not lethal are “cured” by action of the body’s own immune system, but he doesn’t seem to realize that much of the research on AIDSis already directed al the immunesystem, and attempts have been made to develop a vac¢ine and find ways to prevent HIV injury to the im- the reason AIDSis so deadly, and it is the reason that prospects for a cure are so remote. Even the developmentof a safe immunization may not be possible. _ Peterson failed to reeognize the value of preveniion. We now have sufficient knowledge about AIDS so that it can be eliminated. We can identify (by use of extensive mandatory blood tests) most HIV carriers. ‘Their contacts can be identified and tested. If all the carriers were to follow wellknown methods to prevent transmission ofthe virus to others, thedisease could He about two generations. a ae ere and witfori. thee meTaehe d of the disease, on laws to protect their privacy and researchers th In all the history of man- kind, AIDSis the first infee- tious disease ever to be protected by law. Keeping secret the identity of ane our region, and particularly of gay/lesbian/bi teenagers. in spite of howinsular ourlives are, we all know people who are fay and lesbian. They are our riends, our co- workers, our brothers, sisters, daughters aud sons. Gays and lesbians do not wantspecial treatment. Like everyone, they simply want to be loved and accepted. They want the same basic humanrights that others in our society enjoy, to associate freely and to not be dis- criminated against in work, school orsociety. I long for a future in which all people are accepted fortheir con- tributions and qualities, and not for irrelevant details of their lives and personalities. Sadly, we are a long way from that world, perhaps even further here in Utah than in manyother places in our nation. That shortcoming means thatit is the responsibility of our courts and school systems to ensure that these rights are upheld. It is ironic that many in our state support changing the Constitution to prohibit burning a particular piece of cloth while also trashing the very principles that cloth stands for — therightto associate, the speak freely and to be the person you are regardless of how many myopic membersof the community disagree. The beauty of our system is not that the “majority rules;” it is that everyone is guaranteed equalaccess to the protection of the law. This debacle makes me ashamed of many of myfellow Utahns and demonstrates the challenges these students face. I applaud them; I am proud of them; and I pray that these students will have the courage and commitment to follow through with their plans. Pete Kolbenschlag Salt Lake City Positivism can heal body of disease Continued from page 1 must maintain a continual ritualism in his or her daily activities. And the problem with that is that selfishnessis more negative thanpositive, which creates a healing process thatis at variancewith itself. This eventually causesit to breakdown becausepositivism and negativism are incompatible. Negativism usually winsin this case since it can grow spontaneously like rust, and rot and decay, whereaspositivism mustbe consciously practiced everyday. Thatis practically impossible to do when negativism has such a dominantpart in placebopositivism. Placebopositivism can be compared to an addiction to tobacco, aleohol or drugs. To maintain their euphoric effect in one’slife, they must be consumed every day. Whentheir carcinogens accumulate faster than the body can eliminate them, the body eventually breaks downinto various forms of cancer, and one often dies prematurely withlittle hope. Even if science could develop an anti-body for the AIDSvirus, for example, it would soon becomeineffective because the virus can mutate so rapidly. Antibodies such as sulfa drugs and penicillin, that were effective for years against ailments, have now becomeless effective because genetic mutations have developed resistance to them. Artificial medicines, as marvelousas they are for as long astheylast, are similar to placebo positivism. They both haverelatively short lives of effectiveness. Logie may be telling us that generations in the nearfuture mayhaveto rely solely upon the powers of charitable positivism in their lives to maintain their health and strength. The human anatomyhasall the abilities and capacities of all the colleges and universities in the world puttogether, plus much more.It can instantly provide whateverit needs to honorablysustain itself to the last breath. The primary thing it needs is the power of charitable positivism. To think positive thoughts, to make positive comments, to perform positive deeds, to see the positives in life and to participate in wholesomeactivities that inspire positivism. If we cannot or will not commit ourselves to a charitable lifestyle, we may be aiding and abetting the bankruptcy of our great country. Those of us whoinsist that the government continue to pour hundreds of millions of dollars downthedrain to try to arrest the AIDS virus that can mutate faster than scientists can develop anti-bodies, may be our own fe. worst enemies. The moreweinsist that the governmentaddtoits rapidly growing $4.69trillion national debt, the more we jeopardize our lives and the lives of every other American resident. The things that made Americagreat in its past battle between right and wrongin the world wereloyalty, patriotism and the selflessnessofits citizens for one another. It's almost unbelievable to realize that there are millions of Americans who seem to be saying by their attitudesandactionsthatall the problemsinlife are the other person’s fault. We seem to be waiting aroundfor a government‘‘Messiah” to solveall our problems. Probably no one could help ussolve our problems any faster than weare willing to use our innateabilities to do good by helping each other learn how to developcharitable positivism in our lives. Our existence maybeoflittle valueif all our doings have to be done by someoneelse. One of the best things we could do to help each otheris to cease to rationalize away the disquieting feelings of wrongdoings. To do this, we would do well to recognize shame, embarrassment, guilt, remorse and sorrow forpoor decisions and judgments even though they may be inadvertent. We may never learn to use our innate abilities and to solve our problemsunless we honestly feel the poignant repercussions of negativism in our lives. Negative repercussions are the logical consequences offolly commissions. Unless we fully experience their bitter impact, so that we caneliminate their carcinogens from our lives, no one can help uslearn to develop charitable positivism and to enjoy its benefits in our lives. Another important thing we could do to divert selfishness from ourlives is to give our fellowmen the benefit of the doubt no matter how depraved his or her perceptions may seem. Since everyone's perceptions representhis or her best understanding and ability, we may have to learn to graciously endure their impact uponsociety until we can help him or her improve them by our empathic persuasion.If we can’t or won't help him orherto do the logical thing for society, then if we must blame anyone for the discomforts they might cause us, we should blame ourselves. These types of repercussionsare the logical consequencesof responsibility omissions. Eventhoughtruth is logical, logic may not always seem true. Whenit doesn't seemtrue,butit is true, its a paradox. Anyone whohasa little experience in life knowsthat you can find as manypositive solutions to problems in the paradoxasin the rationale. Natural Gas yi Rc>Fireplace Insert C30by SO that HIV is not under con- trol; it is stili rap- idly. Althor there are many conscientious HIV carriers who faithfully avoid those acts which may transmit the virus to others (no unprotected sexual acts; no contamination of others with their blood, urine, tears or saliva; illicit intravenous drug use,etc.), there are others who do not want to know their own HIV status, and ifit is known, they lifestyle or cause them to become depressed. Such ® Clean, safe Natural Gas ¢ Thermostatically-contrulled Burner — works like a furnace # 21,000-30,000 BTU — depending on your heat requirement ° 74% efficiency — as efficient as many furnaces ¢ Thermostaticaily-controlled bloweris standard ¢ Heat by-pass damper for cool evenings GAS ALDESIGN 292-0413 BY DESIGN 621 West 800 South BOUNTIFUL |
