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Show DAVIS REFLEX JOURNAL, MARCH 13, 1985 page two THE DEBATE: Suspending a Beer License Last Wednesday night the Bountiful City Council suA" beer license of two Bountiful stores for Illegal sale of beer to minors, persons under 21 years of age. spended the Class The seven-da- y suspensions were a result of Smith Food King being cited four times In one year, and Andy's being cited three times during 1984. Employees arrested in the undercover investigations were fined $50 for each offense. After a second offense, employees are automatically terminated (according to store policy). What should be done to control the illegal sale of beer? Should the store managers be held responsible as well as the clerk who actually makes the sale? Do stores need a better training program for employees needed? When a store is cited for illegal sales, when and for how long should a license be suspended? When should a license be revoked? Finally, what effort should be made to make arrest of minors who attempt to purchase beer illegally? We want your response to these and other matters of interest in Davis County. Write to Letters to the Editor, 76 South Main, Bountiful, Utah Clipper and Reflex-Journa- l, 84010. Maligning Integrity In reference to the following sentence published in the column The Lighter Side Feb. 27, 1985. If a person were really bright, hed find a government job at Hill Air Force Base where he could sleep 30 years and then retire with a full pension. Maiming The Swift Birds OTHER positions include local control, responsible for all local air traffic and the runway; and clearance and delivery, a position Hill just took over from the Federal Aviation Administration which issues clearances to all aircraft leaving Hill. At any given time when base aircraft are in the air, at least five officers fill those positions, with others in the tower for backup. In addition, two officers man radar screens below the tower which monitor takeoffs, landings and approaches of all aircraft in' the area. HILL FIELD also presents other problems which make it unique, given its traffic. Most prominent is the weather. Weather affects different aircraft in different ways, Maj. Coombs added. TheF-16tendsbe affected more than others because of the ice and fog problems we have here. to BUT HE ADDED that Hill Field seldom falls below instrument-approac- h minimums, and said that only one time in his three years has the airfield been shut down because of weather. That was two years ago when we had strong canyon winds, he said. Because Hill does get a lot of snow and ice each winter, the field management has a large number of snow plows, blowers, brooms, sweepers and vacuums. The base cannot use sand to melt ice or ties under which aircraft can land snow, due to possible damage to it uses other chemicals instead. aircraft, so HILLS RUNWAY is 13,500 feet long. Ass wth any pavement, it develops chuckholes and other problems. Thats why we anxiously await summer. Its our repair time, Maj. Coombs said. He added that the 2849th Civil Engineering group is responsible for maintenance of the landing surface. The field also e has a electrician who, among other things, maintains the more than 600 taxi way lights and landing lights on the airstrip. full-tim- THERE ARE a number of priori at Hill. In the case of an emergen- cy, civilian planes have landed at the base. But there is one aircraft that has priority over any other. Air Force One. We of course had President Reagan land here two years ago, and that was quite an event. He always has priority to land here, Maj. Coombs explained. ONE POPULAR event at Hill Field is the bases open house, which is held every other year. The next open house has already been set for Sept. 7 this year. In the past, tens of thousands have crowded into the base for the event, which features a flying exhibition and Showcases a number of aircraft. A PERSON who is caught sleeping can be reprimanded or dismissed. To say otherwise is to malign my integrity as a government employee. I would like to inform you what constitutes a full government pension. Thirty years service does not qualify a person for a full government pension. A full government pension requires forty one years and eleven months service. Hal C. Parkin Thanks for apology Thanks for the apology for the Hill Field remark by Cyclops. George Van House Resigned without regrets After reading your apolgy to the workers at Hill Field I felt I should write you. I must admit that I did not read the article by Cyclops which generated the mail causing you to apologize, however from reading this weeks issue I understand something was implied that all Hill Field employees do not put out their full share in the course of the work week. If this is what your apology was for Im not sure it was justified. I SPENT several years at Hill Field while in the Air Force and then five more years as a civil service worker. While I cannot speak for the base as a whole, 1 can tell you what I found while working for the aircraft maintenance side of the base. I recently left the civil service due to my disagreement with the system. I found many, many people kicking back and relaxing, just putting in their time till retirement. I spent a great deal of my week waiting for people to finish their book, or their knitting, so that they could get off their chair to get parts for me. THESE people definately have their priorities. I also found that complaining to management about these things just gets one a bad name, and consequently, a low appraisal. I watched people walking the hallways for hours, spending more hours in the breakrooms drinking coffee and sitting around (under the planes they were supposed to be working on), shooting the bull, and then getting awards for this. Its a wonderful system for someone who is not too energetic. Unfortunately, this frustrates the employee who wants to keep busy, who wants the high appraisals so that he mayay advance. If given enough time, the industrious person finally gets to feel like hes wasting his time, and becomes like all the rest who tried to fight the system and got nowhere. LET ME say again. I cant speak for the whole civil service system in general, or the whole base, only the part I was involved with. As a result of my difficulties with the system, I chose to resign and go elsewhere. I gave up 15 years of Federal service, and I have no regrets other than that there are hundreds of people willing to do a good job, but who are as discouraged as 1 was and who eventually will stop fighting the syetem, and become a part of the system. Im not sure that your apology was as necessary as you thought, or that your article was as wrong as many people told you it was. Ive found your writing in the past to be based on facts, and to be written with the belief that what you print is the truth. Keep up the good work. IF YOU should decide to print this letter or any part of it, request that I remain anonymous for reasons of my I must own. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR CONTINUED Rich in mystery, but no message A word about the former Bountiful Area Chamber of Commerce and novthe Benchmark Region. I LOVE my city of Bountiful. Im pleased and proud of its qualities and those of our neighboring cities and communities. Having eliminated all specific reference in favor of The Benchmark Region bothers me. For example, in the current issue of the Ogden Business Herald a nearly full page ad does not contain the name of any city, refer to Davis County South, or define in clear cut terms the area involved! Under Central Location, the copy does give us the clue of between Utahs two largest population centers. IT MUST be a clever scheme to stimulate curiosity. Yes, that must be it, a message rich in mystery to create curiosity. For myself I am curious about the research, analysis and preparation that has gone into this. What is the perception of the message aimed at the business community and based on what experience, knowledge of attitudes and values with the business community audience? Assuming a business becomes curious, what do they do? The final line of the copy tells me for more information on the Benchmark Reegion call or write: and then there is no telephone number, no address, and no contact WELL, THERE you have a couple of my thoughts. In my communication about this Benchmark Region and this advertising copy I find Im not alone in my questions. The money the cities of The Benchmark Region have contributed (whoever they are !) wont break the bank but I think the jury is out on this approach. I for one will continue to look for evidence that it is a viable, effective approach but 1 have my doubts at this time. Robert Robinson Freeloaders exist in private sector too. You Pays Your Money, You Takes Your Chances was published in the Feb. 27, 1985 issue under Lighter Side (a humorous look at serious problems) by Cyclops, guest writer. The last sentence in paragraph four says If a person were really bright, hed find a government job at Hill Air Force Base where he could sleep 30 years and then retire with a full pension. However, what one actually feels is often spoken in jest, and I feel Cyclops was taking a verbal swing at me and many others. YES, IM retired from Hill AFB after 33 years of service but at 92 percent of full pension because I took a voluntary, early retirement. I was encouraged by management to retire so as to prevent a younger employee from being RIFD (Reduction in Force) out the gate. Now about this sleep. I, like many other young men, qualified for Army Air Corp employment (Federal civil service) by passing a mechanical aptitude test. It was considered an honor to qualify for the first group of mechanic-learner- s (June 1941) and be paid $50 a month (actually $48.24 because 2 'A percent was withheld for retirement), 44 hours a week, and be taught the hows and whys of aircraft engine maintenance. IN 1941 war was declared and I was drafted. Because of and junior my mechanic-learntraining, mechanic-helpe- r aircraft engine mechanic experience, I was sent oversees after basic training. The military felt I needed no additional training to be a productive mechanic in combat (26 months of that). NOW WITH the war over, it was back to that sleep. But wait, there were new weapon systems coming into our war machines arsenal. Maybe if maintenance experience was considered in the design of new equipment, it could experience more of its life as combat ready and not down for maintenance. So off to the designers-contractor30-ye- ar er 30-ye- ar s. NOW WE can really live going to a contractor. Yep, one gets to fly to the contractor on the Air Forces personal airline. That is in a 20 or more year old 7 cargo aircraft which were starting the habit of losing wings. Yes, a technical order came out to eliminate this problem, but a C-4- Name Withheld person. True! I read it slowly and carefully several times and there just is no telephone number or address. ADMITTEDLY I dont know the campaign in total. This ad certainly made me wonder and question the message and to quote from a leading book on advertising copy with respect to curiosity and gimmick headlines: If you have any logical, believable approach to the readers interest it. through a straight forward presentation-u- se There is a real question if the main headline could be factually proven, a question of accuracy and integrity and of being believable. The headline reads Heres why more businesses like yours are moving up to the Benchmark Region. If the word are was replaced by should be would be credible in my mind. 1 Montana lieutenant governor lost his life because a 7 he was in wasnt told about the order. Some more of the goodies about going to the contractor (1) Aircraft will depart Hill AFB at 6:15 a.m., Sunday so the employee receives only 3A day per diem because he left after 6 a.m. By going on Sunday you dont have to pay his wage until Monday (normal work day). The pilot is an experienced weekend warrior who has to get in his proficiency flight time for the month. (2) Return flight will be by military air with touchdown at Hill at 11:30 p.m. on Friday. (3) Regulation XYZ forbids a Federal civilian employee from accepting any gratuity (gift) from a contractor. This includes meals. Everyone knows an employee is paid per diem when he is away from ones normal location of employment. NOW IF youre lucky and there is no military aircraft going to where youve got to be on Monday morning, you get to go commercial air. Yes, you can accept the free meals from the airline. During my travel years at Hill, there was one year I was away from home 101 days. That really helps one to take care of his personal responsibilities. That sleep was also interferred with by such happenings as the Berlin airlift and the Korean policing action. The required and didnt get from storage to combat by themselves. It took long hours by mechanics at Hill and other depots to get the aircraft to fly once again. No, the mechanics didnt do it ready alone, they needed the support of supply, utility and payroll personnel. YES, THERE are etc. in Federal civil service; but wait they also exist in the private sector. Thats a people problem. Im proud that Im a retired employee from Hill Air Force Base. I entered into a contract with my Federal government at the age of 18 and very conscientiously, honestly, and diligently kept my part. Hope they continue to keep theirs. C-4- 30-ye- ar C-5- free-loader- B-2- s, gold-brick- s, LETS STOP this shot gun technique of condeming all retired government employees. Robert J. Sward I |