OCR Text |
Show The Salt Lake Tribune COMMENTARY Sunday, February 25 1996 Variety of Compliments and Complaints READER ADVOCATE with a Utah social service agency applauded Sunday's news story “Dad: Utah Adoption Agency Stole My Baby,” by Nancy Hobbs. She urged the young man to ‘keep fighting for your child @A WestValley City man complimented The Tribuneonits coverage of women’s sports. He has a ae ae) SHINIKASYKES Readers contacting me last week registered a potpourri of concerns ranging from a Sunday newspaper missing several sections to a question about getting a birthdaygreeting in The Tribune. Here's a sampleof last week's bouquets and brickbats: @ Salt Lake womantookissue with the term “Coma Cop” being used in headlines to describe the police officer who emerged from a comalike state after 71% years. Shecalled it “tabloid usage and in poortaste.” One caller was upset that Monday'sfront-page picture was of children celebrating the Chinese Lunar New Year. She said such a picture on the paper's front page for Presidents’ Day showed a lack of patriotism because the photois from China —a “communist country.” She said something more appropriate should havegraced The Tribune's front page on Presidents’ Day. (She hadn't noticed the photo of the U.S. flag with the Wasatch Mountains in the background that also was published on Monday's front page.) @ A woman whowentinto great detail about experiences she had son and daughter who play basketball. Now, his daughter is as proud as his son to see her team mentioned in the newspaper. @A man whoidentified himself as an American Indian accused The Tribuneof not making efforts to cover American Indianissues. @ One caller was upset by what Whenthey write a headline that may conveyemotion, they are accused of sensationalizing theis. sue. Whenever a headline leans toward being wittyorclever, it is said to be putting a “spin” on the story. And whenheadline writers writeit straight, they are accused of trivializing the story or being boring. Readers should understand that headlines area collection of words that tell something about the stories they introduce. They do not and cannot tell the whole story. a] Last week, a reader asked where she could write s; columnist Mike Royko. E Page Editor Harry Fuller said readers may write to syndicated columnists in care of The Trib. une, from wheretheywill be for- Oo A Salt Lake man did put an interesting spin on anissue. He said Thursday's front-page headline, “Clinton’s Answer to Abuse: A Victim Hot Line,” trivialized the president's response to an impor- tant issue. The article details how a “teary-eyed President Clinton stood at the side of a woman who told a hushed White House audience of being pregnant and punched, terrorized by the man she loved.” The caller explained that he believed these words to be the essenceof the story, but ‘*the headline just didn't capture what 1 read as an emotional and moving moment,” hesaid. Headline writers are caught in Russians Show Interest in U.S. Politics the Catch-22 of newspaper work she described as the long, sarcas- tic letters in the Public Forum. She wasespeciallycritical ofletters poking fun atthe latestaction by some Utah legislators. “Sarcasm is not literary,’ she said “It's simply sarcasm.” AA3 warded, Send mail to: The Salt Lake Tribune/Syndicated Columnist, P.O. Box 867, Salt Lake City, Utah, 84110. a I also heard from two history enthusiasts who wanted to set me and the recordstraight — as well as answerthe question, wheredid baseball legend Jackie Robinson play basketball? Robinson played baseball, football, basketball and ran track for UCLA (1939-41). Clearly, he was anall-around athlete The Reader Advocate’s phone numberis 23 15. Write to the Reader Advocate, The Salt Lake Tribune, P.O. Box 867, Salt Lake City, Utah 84110, substantially more curious about it than before this coun- to realize that despite their nu merous problems, t till have thousands of n' m siles and powerful, if not t occupied with their ownpoliti strength only to the U.S. mili tary: and that they'd better fol who the next £ American presi dent will be. In fact, they appear RUSSIAN VIEW try’s 1992 elections Then, they wereentirely pre (a “ey * MICHAEL NAKORYAKOV Not everything is bad about the U.S. presidential campaign At t, unlike the Russians, Americans don’t have to choose between a communist who wants to revive censorship and cal and economic struggles, and couldn't care less who would be the next White House tenant ‘There were news reports from the U.S., but most ran in syndi of all the Republican front-runners Now. despite their own ap- ington bi nents and regain Alaska pages. That might reflect the fact that after five years of dra mati¢e changes, Russia finally is entering a morestable andpredictable stage. when domestic troubles, no matter how deep. standing your troubles,” the popular we Argumenty & Facty said sarcasticallyin its recent editorial “Wejust hope those federal shutdowns are the worst thing that ever happens to you and your country, and please, no matter how angryyouare with your cong) , don't ever try to Shell it with tanks — trust us, it’s no fun. That is not to saythe Russians are uninterested in knowing on theirlocal front federal government to get their nose and their camel out of our tent and reinstate this board of education to the top of the totem pole.” The legal background for the EDWARD McDONOUGH Salt Lake City public high school graduates may have a harder time next year listing allimportant extracurricularactivities on their college entrance applications since, to keep gay and lesbian student clubs out of the public schools, the Salt Lake City chool Board voted Tuesday night to ban all noncurricular clubsfrom district high schools. The five-hour public hearing and school board meeting had certain highlights. In proposing a resolution denouncingthe federal Equal Access Act, which requires that student high school clubs have equal use of public school facilities, board member Kent Michie employed one of the most amusing mixed metaphors I have heard in some time. His resolution, Michie said, ‘calls upon the Salt Lake City School Board action is rather complex. A “forum” is an opportunity or amedium for the open expression and exchange of ideas, including symbolic speech (as raising a clenchedfist). The U.S. Constitution's First Amendment protects freedom of speech and guarantees equal access to public forums. Giving a speech in a public park or handing outreligiousliterature in public airport lobbies, for instance, are protected activities underthe First Amendment. If a forum isn't public, then equal access maybe denied. Not too long ago, a federal judge decided there was nothing public about the St. Patrick's Day Parade in a large Eastern U.S. city, so it was OKto prevent participation by a gay and lesbian marching group. Extracurricular activities at public colleges could be examples of “limited public forums.” A college doesn't haveto let the general public in, but they can’t constitutionally ban a particular student group from participation dispatch from Washington, Iz vestia’s U.S. correspondent Vladimir Nadein offers profiles Hedescribes Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole as “the last top U.S. politician to take part in World War IT, who is widely respected but lately spoken of in past tense Publishing heir Steve Forbes” most important achi aecording to Nadein ment that aren't as exciting to the general public. After all, formerSoviets “he chosehis parents wisely never were moreinterested in foreign affairs than during the mar Alexander sleepy and quiet 1970s, when sucking the bloodof a naive and rigid communist control prevented domestic turmoil Or it may be that with the post-Cold War “America and Russia — Friends Forever” ex- tries to be in chargeofthat pro- avaganza dying down, Rus- sians have started reassessing their country’s role in the world again. The formerSoviets seem Former Tennessee Gov. trusty America, but by running for president apparently simply cess.” As for Pat Buchanan, he might be radical, but he “is not {ultranationalist Vladimir] Zhirinoysky.” At least Clinton’s chances against him look substantially higher than Boris Yeltsin's chances against “Mad Republican wannabes arebarely mentioned — andthe bottomline remains unchanged Wish wehad their problems. When John Kennedy his fellow attack him for being a racist, sexist, xenophobic, homophobic anti-Semite, whichis not their native turf, asit were CREATORS SYNDICATE AUSTIN — Setting aside that Pat Buchananis a racist, sexist, xenophobic, homophobic antiSemite, what wonderful news from New Hampshire! It’s the nuts!It’s the berries! Yes, well, that is rather a large mound of manure there connected with his name, muchof it justified, I’m afraid. There's even more — he defends old Nazis or Something. But since Buchanan has just gent the entire Republican Establishmentand half the Democratic Establishmentas well into a walléyed, blue-bellied snit, what can we do but rejoice? The good news is that Pat Buchanan — aside from being a racist, sexist, xenophobic, homophobic anti-Semite — is a fairly likable human being. You'd much father have a beer with him than Bob Dole or Phil Gramm. Ask good liberals like Barbara Carlson of Minnesota or Al Franken, who works with ComedyCentral — they can’t helpit, in fact. They'd rather not, but they like him Numero Two-o, being of the frish persuasion, Pat Buchanan joys in a good fight, just loves biff-bam-pow,rejoices in a slugfest, gets off on a mudfight. Good thing, since he’s in one now What'll bereally fun is watching Somewhere in the Old Testament, it says, ‘I would that mine enemy had written a book,” and Pat Buchanan has.Init, he notes that his father’s heroes were Francisco Franco and Sen. Joseph McCarthy, which is enough to frizz myhair right there. On the other hand, I'd hate to have a lot of the stuff I wrote yearsago takenoutof context and twisted to represent my thinking. But Buchananis in for it, so he might as well keep up hisleft. Asnearas wecantell, Pat Buchanan’s Republican presidential primary victory in New Hampshire is a pretty much pure win in a forum opento other student groups. Before Congress passed the Equal Access Act of 1984, spon- sored by Utah’s Sen. Orrin Hatch, a school board would probably have banned somestudent clubs while allowing others to convene on campus. Courts would allow school boards considerable discretion in deciding what was and was not in the best interest of young pupils, as opposed to adult college students. School boards before ‘84 often bannedstudent Bible study clubs Salt Lake Tribune writer Mi chael Nakoryakov was a jour nalist in Moscow until Novem ber 1991 curl to avoid establishment-of-religion Coe problems. The Equal Access Act was designed to overcome that difficulty, The Salt Lake City School Board'saction eliminates all noncurricular clubs, including the previously approved Bible study group, “HIS club,” as well as Students Against Drunk Driving, bowling and ski clubs. The football and basketball teams, which are also noncurricularin that students don’t get gradesforparticipation, are not considered bythe school board to be student clubs subject to the newprohibition. But the pep club is. What a long way we haveto go. I Edward J. McDonough practices lawin Salt Lake City for economic populism. Neither the Christian Coalition nor the anti-abortion movementcountfor muchthere, especially compared to Iowa What's even moreinterestingis that thestate is not in an economic recession. Thatvote is a direct reflection of just how worried people are about their future in this two-tier economy. And there's what Bob Herbertcalls “a cosmic disconnect” between what people are actually worrying about and what the Republicans are doing in Washington There are two problems with Buchananasa populist. One is all the divisive garbage he brings with him. It’s exactly what has been used to destroy populist surges in the past — setting whites against blacks, natives against immigrants, men against women, straights against gays, Christians against Jews — divide, divide, divide — andlose. Look, Hispanic farm workers are not responsible for the sav- 4 ings and loan mess,blacks on welfare are not moving factories to Taiwan, lowering the tax on capital gains is not part of the “gay agenda,” and Jews, having been historically discriminated against, by and large support raising the minimum wage. The second problem is that Bu- chanan’s economic populism is rudimentary. It’s one thing to recognize that the gap between the rich and everybodyelse is growing like a cancer; it's another thing to comeup with usefulsolutions. It's fine to jump on trade and economic globalization, but that’s only part of the problem, andnot ATRT 60 PHONE : a verybig part at that. Nor is git- Includes 120 Minutesof Evening and Weekend Calling Each Month! Compiere CELLULAR PacKACE tough jingoism the solution. Buchananstill favors trickle-down economics — he wants to cut inheritance taxes, the capital gains tax andtaxes on therich. Theonly peopleI see in public office trying to address what's wrong with this economyare Labor Secretary Robert Reich and Massachusetts Sen. Ted Kennedy Reich has beenvaliantly struggling to get raising the minimum wageonhis boss’ agenda and coming up with one improvement and suggestion after another on workertraining. Kennedycameout with a multipronged plan earlier this month to attack what he calls “the quiet Depression,” containing lots of Includes: @ @ @ @ @ AT&T 3812 Phone Overnight Charger Rechargeable Battery 95 Minutes Talk Time 22 Hour Stand By ae carrots and sticks to get corpora- Sarr SKU # 2644959 tions to Do the Right Thing. Kennedy’s plan covers the Fed- Wireless Siervices Authorized Retailer eral Reserve Board, proposes a two-tier corporate tax plan to favor those that treat workers well closeslots of stinky corporate tax loopholes, puts brakes on mergers and acquisitions, helps small business, helps labor, helps secure pension plans and more. Buchanan would dowell to studyit was running against Richard Nixon one well-known U.S. columnist sighed, ‘Oh, America must be doomedif that’s the best choice of candidates it can come up with, Nadein writes. ‘Now, both Kennedy and Nixon are considered ‘great Andthelate columnistis. too Buchanan’s Populism Is Another Loser MOLLY IVINS La- “says Washing- ton is a spooky vampire that is Vlad.” Other S Salt Lake School Officials Go Overboard POINT OF LAW In any case, renewed interest proaching presidential elec promises to jail all his oppo- We aresorry, Mr. Clinton, that we have a problem under- low U.S. political life ain, not necessarily viewing Americ an enemy. but certainly as a worthy opponent exists. and, in a recent lengthy tions, war in Chechnya andcontinuous economic uncertainty Russians find news from Wash can problems seriously second ir cated entertainment-oriented columns similar to ‘“Headlin ers” or “News of the Weird food rationing and a fascist who No wonder many former Soviets refuse to take the Ameri- smart armed forces, i S _7 BeautifulStoreLocations To Serve You! oe age SvRUCumE SYRACUSE reoAR eg LAME OREM KEARNS(W. VALLEY MRM SO.SALT SLSHTLAKE WEAYL 774-2800261-8900 _461-3800_227-88 Set MALONE LATE “e7-2200 279-5800 ™™n ee "Credit card ve , een thal win 4 Ga: heh Weck etic SSS) cnc \ |