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GheSatt Lake Tribune 8 e THURSDAY,February 1, 1996 PAGE A8& OUR VIEW The Salt Lake Tribune's Editorial Position Quick Semester Switch Whoa! What happened here? One week Utah Commissioner of Higher Education Cecelia Foxley recommended a statewide switch to semesters, and the next, the decision was made. Opponents apparently were right when they said the fix wasin. A semester system has its advantages. When terms are 15 or 16 weeks, students can study subjects in greater depth than during 10-week quarters. More colleges and universities across the nation use semesters, so a change would put Utah students in step with most others when transferringtoa different school and job hunting. The switch itself will force schools to review and revise courses, possibly improving education quality. Then again, quarters also offer advantages. Studentscanenroll in a wider variety of classes, and theyarelesslikely to get bored in 10 weeks. They can pay tuition in smaller chunks and lay off a quarter to workif necessary. Various surveys indicate most students and faculty across the state prefer the quarter schedule. A semestersystem also could reduce registration costs, since students might enroll in fewer terms — three (including summer)instead of four. But with the early semester calendar now planned for Utah,schools ordinarily offer four terms, two of them shortened. So administrative savings might not be as high as imagined, especially when addedto the $3.4 million to $5 million expense of making adjustments. Utah's Board of Regents has reviewed this issue repeatedly the past several years, and in 1988, regents let Utah Valley Community College adopt semesters to conform with nearby Brigham Young University’s calendar. But a compelling need never seemed to justify disruption of the rest of the State's public system. Thenlastfall, Commissioner Foxley raised the issue again. Regents held a public hearing in mid-December, when most witnesses opposed a change. A timetable for voting on the issue was to be adopted at the regents’ January meeting, last Friday. Before that meeting was held, however, Commissioner Foxley had publicly recommended a change to semesters and regents had made up their minds. By Friday afternoon, regents adopted the policy and asked legislators for a $500,000 planninginstallment. Regents apparently decided there wasno point in dragging out debate on this issue because most opponents simply resist change, no matter how beneficial. They could be right, but by suddenly cutting short their discussion, they invited suspicion about the process. By failing to publicly debate this issue, regents created the impression they either overlookedits complexity or decided the matter privately, in violation of the state's open meetings law. That is, they encouraged more doubt and opposition. Force for Justice The NATOforce in Bosnia must protect investigators for the international war crimes tribunal as they unearth mass graves. Otherwise,efforts to bring warcriminalsto justice will be frustrated and the Muslims in Bosnia will be morelikely to return to warfare seeking vengeance. Admittedly, asking NATO to perform this added task poses hazards, Providing protection for war crimes inyee as they exhumegraves does not fit neatly into the international force's mission, which, basically, is to separate the opposing armies and militias. NATO commandersare right to worry about “mission creep’ — taking on new assignments that can be contradictory or to which the military is not suited. The internationalforceis not in Bosnia to right all wrongsorto rebuild the country. It is net a police force. To be successful, its mission mustbe clearly defined and limited. However, the NATO soldiersare in Bosnia to facilitate the Dayton peace agreement and, generally, to provide a secure environment. The agreement commits all sides to cooperate with the internationa! warcrimestribunal based in The Hague. So,it is not a huge stretch to suggest that NATO soldiers protect investigators as they go abouttheir grisly job. Adm. Leighton Smith, the NATO commander, has said that his troops cannot guardall of the suspectedsites of mass graves. He estimates between 200 and 300 of them exist, too many to protect withoutstretchinghis forces too thin and jeopardizing its main mission. Norwill NATOforces carry out the investigations themselves. He is correct on both counts. However, the admiralalso has said heis confident his troopswill be able to ensure security whereinvestigators will be working whenthe time comes, The preliminary evidence now argues overwhelmingly that Serb forces massacred thousands of Muslims, mostly men andboys, in mass executions after the Serbs overran Srebrenica last July. The civilian and military leaders of the Bosnian Serbs now are underindictment from the war crimes tribunal. The NATO force must doall it reasonably can within its present mandate to aid in bringing these criminals to justice. ANOTHER VIEW IN ASTIRRING SPEECH THE Flock oF THE LEGISLATURE, REP DUMPTY RwPLe CAS FOR THE COMPLETE AND IMMEDATE WITHDRAWL OF U.N. PEACEKEEPING FoRCES STATONED IN UTAH . THE PUBLIC FORUM Letters from The Tribune's readers Promoting Prayer in Schools The Utah Legislature is again attempting to pass a ‘Periodof Silence” law for Utah schools. Sponsor Rep. Nora Stephens deniesit, but if passed, every student will know that its purposeis to encourage them toprayin class, Most people understand that an organized,ritualistic period of silence that is “observed” in schoolis simply a bad idea. It will create divisiveness among the students over the question of prayer, and that will only cause trouble. Utah schools, dominated as they are by the Mormon majority, have too much divisiveness to contendwith now,andthelast thing they needis anotherintrusivereligious demonstration like this to aggravate things. As commonly implemented in other states, the teachertells the class to rise and observe a moment of silence. They muststop all classwork. They can’t even read. Peer pressure and publie pressure is thus applied to coerce them into participating in the Legislature's momentof prayer. Many students and teachers will resentit, because they know the governmentis not supposed to be forcingreligious ritual on them. The bill was amended to supposedly give teachers a choice about a period of silence,butthis too is a sham, Few teachers in Utah are going to jeopardize their careers by bucking the system. They also will be coerced by the Legislature into conforming. Isn't it time the Legislature did something positive for the schools, instead of trying to turn them into Sunday schools? CHRIS ALLEN Society of Separationists ParkCity oO From The Chicago Tribune Air Bags Cause Injuries Dominating TV Sports Guess what sport an ABC executive was referring to when he said, “Except for the NFL,blowseverything away.It virtually dominates the world ofsports television. It .. . just keeps growing.”” The answeris one that would have been unimaginable a couple of years ago:figure skating. And thereasonis thatit appeals to women like no other sport. It sounds funny, but Tonya Harding may have been the best thing that ever happenedto the sport — and maybe even the best thing that ever happened to Nancy Kerrigan,therival skater who had her knee whacked by a henchman of Harding's then-husband. The lurid incident created a surge of public interest in the once-obscuresport, andit has yet to subside. Kerrigan, who got the silver medalat Lillehammer, hasgotten nothing but gold ever since. She now earns up to $300,000 for a single appearance. Forthe sport asa whole, reports USA Today, revenues beauty, drama, stirring music and, well, Would you knowingly choose to seat yourself or yourchild in front of a device that explodes toward you at 200 mph with 2600 poundsof pressure behindit? A device that can break your neck or cause severe injury whenit deploys with such force? A device that is so sensitive that it can go off by bumpinga curb,hitting a chuckhole ortraveling over railroad tracks? A device that only gives 10 percentto at best 15 percent extra protection to you anyway? Would you con- book, /nside Edge, the competitors also protection worth the possible death orinjury risks associated with its use? have grown from $20 million to $600 million in just 10 years. A lot of men may have trouble understanding the appealof a sport performed in sequined costumes. Butit’s really no mystery. Figure skating has plenty of pure athleticism but also offers grace, sequined costumes. As Christine Brennan notes in her doastonishing things. Lots of people can hit a golf ball straight down a fairway. But most of us could practice for years and never managea doubleaxel. Unconverted male sports fans should consider its other attractions: no labor disputes, no franchise relocations, no Jerry Jones, no overblown halftime shows, no Astroturf, no running out the clock. And those guys whoare still unconverted? They'd just better hope no one ever schedules the figure skating nationals opposite the Super Bowl. TheSalt Lake Tribune UTAH’S INDEPENDENT VOICE SINCE 1871 PAST PUBLISHERS | PUBLISHER Dominic Welch John W. Gallivan(1960-1983) | | James E. Shelled: Jerry O’Brien (1983-1994) | EDITORIAL PAGE EDITOR John F. Fitzpatrick (1924-1960) EDITOR Harry E. Fuller, Jr. KEARNS-TRIBUNE CORPORATION,143 S. MAIN ST. SALT LAKE CITY, 84111 sider that extra 10 percent to 15 percent Would youlike to be told you have no choice whether or not you want to use such a device, then not be given a true pictureorrealistic information as to how the device works or the risks involved with its use? Be told by the manufacturer you have to sit at least 15 inches away from it, hold your hands in a certain position, and have to use anotherelective component forthis passive device to even work properly? Also be told you should hide your children in the back seat away from this device to be sure they aren't killed or injured byit, sinceit has already killed eight children in the past 10 months? Well, if you haveair bags in your vehicle, you are already being subjected to this situation. You and especially your children areatrisk of having one of these bombs in your dashboard or steering wheel explode in yourface. Since 43 percent or more ofall air bag deployments cause death orinjury, I hope you are one of the lucky ones whodon’t get killed or injured when yours goesoff. Mylittle boy wasn't that lucky. He was one of those eight killed byan air bag MARKA. OLIVER Bountiful Santa’s Wheels Where to Write @ When submitting letters to the Public Forum, please include your full name,signature, address and daytime telephone numbers. Information cther than your name and the city which youlive are kept confidential. @ Keepit short, Concise letters developing a single theme are morelikely to be published. @ Please type and double space. @ Letters are condensed and edited. @ Becauseof the volumeof mail received, not all submissions are published. @ Mail to Public Forum, The Salt Lake Tribune,P.O. Box 867, Salt Lake City, Utah 84110. @ Our fax number is (801) 237- 2022, Fuller Picture of State Pay After reading George M. Wagner'sletter (Forum, Jan. 23), I felt compelled to tell my side of the story regarding state employees’ cost-of-living adjustment. I have been a state employee for more than 15 years, so | am writing from experience andnotjust guessing. There have been many years when state employees didn't geta cost-of-living raise, or if we did, it was a drop in the bucket comparedto the increasein living expenses. More often than not myraise wouldbe only a few dollars a month and sometimes less. When Utah Public Employees Association quotes a cost-of-living adjustment of 4 percent, we usually only get 2 to 2.5 percentin actual money. Therestis given in benefits (i.e., not raising our insurance co-paymentor lowering our insurance coverage). I believe there is usually moreofa difference between state employees and people on fixed incomes than just age. I raised children and kept a homegoing on my income, and J am sure there are many state employees in the same situation. Yes, weall have bills to pay, but for some of us, the money has to go a bit further than for just one or two people. To add insult to injury, Utah state employees also have had to deal with budgetcuts, which meanta lot more work on the same incomeandwith less people doingit. So Wagneris not getting the whole picture. I don’t think this is caused by ignorance but because he has never worked as a state employee in Utah. CATHERINE ROGERS Salt Lake City Words as Weapons Every day we hear our politicians and presidential hopefuls using their words as weapons to attack eachother. It's the Republicans bad-mouthing the Democrats; one contender for president criticizing another. Even Orrin Hatch, the clean” this gift. x The owners and employees of the trucking companyjoined other helpers to. provide me with a newcar. I have been told stories of people who searchedfor a car for me and of mechanics who worked for free. People I don’t even know united~ to makethis gift happen. After hearing of the Sub for Santa project, Ruff-Tuff Products aidedin getting seat covers. Ap-| parently, many peopie got into the act. . Each person contributed what he or she» could, The collective powerof these Santa helpers was enormous. oa} Santa, you accomplished with your helpers what was impossible for me alone. I am so thankful for each person } who gave money,time and/ortalents for this gift. This ChristmasI received a new } car andI received love and concern from + people I have never met. i MARY LESHER | Murray | Qo COLAShortage George Wagnerbelievesthat state em- | ployees should only receive a 2.6 percent cost-of-living adjustment becausethatis whattheinflation rate is and that is what he will receive. Wagner and all those on Social Security, assuming Wagner is quoting the Social Security increase,will receive and has received a COLA every year based on the governmentinflation } | | ; | } ' rates. ‘ State employees, on the other hand, have received one cost-of-living adjustmentin the last five years (1 percentin 1994). Some have received merit increases based on performance evaluations (2.75 percent), and oihers are only eligible for increases every five years because they are in the longevity portion of the pay plan. Public employees have received some benefit enhancements overthelast sever- | | ' : | | ' | } al years, which The Tribune and other | publications call pay increases, butas far + as receiving any real dollar amounts in? Qa “squeaky 1 l apologize for the delay of this thank-;» you letter. I have beenill and unable ta, complete this task until now. The Christ,, mas of 1995 wasoneof mybest. On top of myothergifts, I was the beneficiary of a Sub for Santa project. te Generousfriends pulled together what,. I consider an amazing feat. Onefriend sent out the call at her work to help a single womanwith multiple sclerosis ob-,, tain transportation. Godfrey Trucking, Company’s donations andskills in pur-, chasing, repairing and providing trans-. portation acted as the catalyst to give me, senator from Utah, called the Democrats “the party of homosexuals.” Is it any wonder that many of today’s children imitate our leaders and do whatever they think is necessary to get what they want? They don’t yet have the verbal skills to use their mouths as weapons; consequently, lacking good and honest role models, they choose the weapons available to them. Thenegative is constantly pounding at our minds and rubs off especially on the young. Whereare our leaders leading us? As the tide goes, su goes the sea. PETER MOLLENSTRONG Salt Lake City our paychecks, that has been non-exi$_; tent. Public employees have had to pag_} their bills on the same amount of earn- * ings for several years without the benéfit » of a cost-of-living adjustment. ; § GLENN SCHULTE; andy | BILL DEGEUS B Salt Lake City | Diversity Applauded ' Ina recent letter (Forum, Jan. 8), G.F. | Eddings laments about too many stories ; about homosexuals andother “quasi-po- + litically and socially correct themes” ia The Salt Lake Tribune. MayI then sug? gest that Eddings subscribe to the other 5 local news in order to gain information + onselective subjects. As for me, I ap. plaud The Tribune for reporting onsto: Ties that includeall peoplein the commu. nity and encourage continued diversity in the future. . ERIC DAVEY § Holladay." |
