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Show JULY 22, 1986 K Takes more than a diploma A reader in Layton stopped by last week with a copy of a national magazine article and a personal story. First the story: It was several years ago at a Layton High School graduation ceremony where I heard a speaker make a crack about the graduates not having to be garbage collectors. I didnt think much about it until my husband said, The world needs garbage collectors. Its a job that has to be done--antheres dignity in every job. The more I thought about it, the more annoyed I became about the speakers frivolous comments. Years later she clipped out the article, headlined A Salute to Ph.D. Burger Flippers. It was written by a who heard her graduation speaker say it is better to be here than to be out flipping burgers for a living. The writers response in the article was that the burger flippers should be honored. Her mothers contribution to her education, she wrote, came to the grilling of 344,775 hamburgers (five hamburgers per minute x 10 hours equals 3,000 burgers). It similarly cost her brother 888 burger flips for a tank of gas so he could drive from his job at McDonalds to attend hergraduation ceremony, 2100 burger flips so her aunt could send the graduation bouquet, etc. d recently-graduate- d And the writer angrily proclaimed that the educated look up from their textbooks and positions of privilege to thank the burger slingers, taxpayers who help support the nations costly public eduacation system. Future valedictorians should salute the employee instead of making insensitive and flippant remarks. it brought to mind a comThe authors thesis is correct--anment made by a Davis County junior high principal. I was telling him that graduation requirements should be stiffened for high school seniors when he cut in to say, Youd have 33 percemt of the students not graduating. What would you do with all of them? pseudo-intellectu- blue-coll- al ar d My answer was easy. Why, youd put them to work. A high school diploma doesnt magically make a person a good employee. 1 chuckle everytime I hear Utahs boast of having the highest graduation rate in the nation. The statistic is true. ..but its also meaningless. If education is made easy enough, then even Arkansas could boast of a 100 percent graduation rate. And what good would it do? Arkansas would still need so many people to collect garbage, flip hamburgers and do countless chores. Ideally, evother essential but otherwise in with a masters cum student could laude Utah graduate ery it wouldt change our society one bit. We would still degree--an- d need some of those Masters grads to collect the garbage, paint the houses, install the glass and repair the disposals. Thank goodness not everyone can be a lawyer, doctor or an accountant. For every chemist, we need 13 waitresses. ..For every geologist, we need a meatcutter...For every MBA we need two printers. And we wont get them if we continue to demean significant work as suitable only for someone else, not for our own sons and daughters. We won't get them if teachers tell students the only way to get ahead is to get a college degree. The key is not the work one does, but the skill one has in last week, I performing it. When my car broke down on driver if he had a diploma. He was as didnt ask the deft in his work as I am in designing a brochure, and to place him in a different caste is the height of So I'm happy the reader sent along the article. ..and Im happy there are men and women available to empty my trash and repair my furnace. And Im happy to have friends such as the printer I frequently visit. Last month he drove to a restaurant in his new Mercedes and told me of his sons college graduation. Hes got a degree in history with a minor in computers, said the man. Great! I replied. Whats he doing now? Hes unemployed, still looking for work. He didnt like this work. He wanted something better. His Mercedes cruised down Main Street. ic tow-truc- k hard-workin- g, ink-stain- blue-coll- - LAYTON Layton is now facing the same decision that all communities must face at least once each year - what kind of liability insurance should the city carry? There are three options open to commercial cities; -- e, insurance or pool insurance. Acting on the advice of City Manager Bruce Barton and City Attorney Mark Arnold, the Layton City Council has decided not to attempt Salt Lake City with million dollar reserve for a one-hainsurance is the only city in Utah that carries their own insurance. The other two options were considered at length at the Thursday meeting of the Layton Council. Presentations were made by Fred Schroeder, commercial agent who has carried Layton's insurance for many years and Bryce McKuen, lf Library board adds Laytonite FARMINGTON A Layton resident well acquainted with libraries has joined the countys library board of trustees. Frank S. Blair was recently named to the voluntary, nonpaving four year post to represent Layton. That city rejoined the county system in early June. Calling the library a community resource" Dr. Blair said I believe in education, in people learning all they can. New talents and interests can be pursued in a public library, he said with reading a vicarious way of having experiences you cant gain in other ways. Kids should be taught, encouraged to read and have access to facilities where books are available, he stressed in a telephone interview. Libraries tend not to have a top priority when it comes to funding. Anything I can do to help spread those funds wisely I will try to do. Dr. Blair said he felt Laytons joining with the county should aid in providing services that can only be achieved on a larger scale, through a system approach. Professionally, Dr. Blair serves as the state specialist for cooperative education programs at the Utah State Board of Education. He holds a doctor of education degree from Brigham Young University, a masters in curriculum development from the University of Utah and a bachelors degree in education, also from BYU. In addition, he achieved the rank of Commissioned Ensign at Reserve Officer Candidate School. For many years, Dr. Blair taught in the Ogden City schools where he also served as an elementary and junior high school principal. He currently teaches education courses for the BYU Ogden Center. Dr. Blair is owner and developer of the College Mall Shopping Cenand ter, a rancher, and former manager of Meadow Brook Dairy. He is a member of many educational societies and a commander of the U.S. Navy Reserve. In addition, he served as Weber County Library Board chairman for eight years, in various political party leadership roles and is active in his church, bit Reflex News Deadline one-thir- individuals to collect all pertinent information and get it to the council members as soon as possible. A decision about insurance coverage will be made by the council at a special meeting on July 29. Laytons current policy expires July 31. The present policy cost $140,000 annually. Mr. Arnold indicated the cost for either a commercial or a pool policy would probably not exceed this amount. Layton has a good claim record which is important when joining an insurance pool. Layton is only one of about five cities including Salt Lake that has not joined an insurance pool, dmg -- Published weekly by Clipper Publishing Co. Inc. 96 South Main, Bountiful, Utah 84010 Weekly newspaper published at laylon, Utah every Wednesday in the interest ot Davis County and colonies formed by former residents. Address all correspondence to 197 North Main, Layton, Utah 84041 Subscription rate 25 per copy, $6 50 per year, mailed in county $7 50 per year outside. Pres, Manager John Stahle, Jr. Vice President Lucile S. Stahle Noel C. Stahle Advertising Manager Tom Haraldsen NewsEditor Keith Duncan SportsReporter Production Manager Martin Lee 544 9133 fund-raisin- Scouts helping library project - KAYSVILLE Derek Loveland, son of Glen and Judy Loveland from Kaysville 21st Ward, Kaysville Stake, organized his troop into a great sales force and sold chocolate candy to ward mem- bers. The proceeds were given to Kaysville City Librarian, Joan Christiansen, who then turned the funds over to the city, to be used for the library expansion project. Derek got his Eagle project idea from his dad, and with the help of the following troop members, raised the large amount. Those helping were Brandon Brownson Mathew Loveland, Jared Allen. Steven Tibbetts, Brett Nelson, Darron Schryver, David Isaacson, and Eddie Mitchell, jw Literacy training available - FARMINGTON Up to 2,000 Davis County residents over age 18 could be considered lacking in basic literacy skills. That means they possess reading levels akin to a third grader and most likely cant read or write adequately for many of todays jobs. The Davis County Private Industry Council, in conjunction with the Clearfield Job Corps, is operating a pilot literacy training program currently enrolling 36 students. A lot of people are stepping forward, seeking help already, says Richard Nelson, Employment and Training Director. People have realized theyve messed up on opportunities so they seek us out. They say they'd finally like to learn a skill, learn to read and write. The Davis Area Vocational Center is seeing many similar clients who lack in basic survival skills, says Larry Brice, assistant center director. If plans become reality, that Our center established miniprogram could expand to train mum academic standards for entry into our programs. Becuase of the many more, from to others involved in individualized instrucsummer youth employment prog- tion, we require remediated skills rams. Legislation is currently that go d with trainbeing considered on a federal level ing, he adds. to fund an expanded program while With our program (those needstate officials are closely watching ing help) they come in unsolithe Clearfield effort, says Donna cited, Mr. Brice continues, estiSato, Davis County Employment mating nearly a third fall below and Training assistant director. the basic survival skills level. Efforts are geared at assisting By students accepting work the economically disadvantaged, assignments, they must take input at around 6,300 in the county. structions related to basic skills, self-pace- hand-in-han- says Walt Ulrich, Davis School Districts vocational education supervisor. Maybe students will have a bet- ter understanding of whats expected, he adds, emphasizing desire such an education program should be implemented into the summer youth employment dule. sche- Mr. Nelson notes a basic training program for literacy is part of efforts to provide staff for the new All American Gourmet set to open within two months in Clearfield. The state is watching to see what success comes of that effort, Mr. Nelson indicates. People hide it from the outside world a lot of times theyre ashamed they dont possess proper literacy skills, says Carol of the PriTaake, vate Industry Council. Further information about basic literacy skills may be obtained by calling Ms. Sato at 451-334- Family trips arent always vacations!! Wed. 5 P.M. representative from an insurance d pool which includes about of all Utah cities. The council directed these two Davis Keflex Journal DEREK LOVELAND, SECOND from left, presents Kaysville City librarian Joan Christiansen a cashiers check for $250, for expansion of the city library. Derek, along with Brandon Brownson, left, and Mathew Loveland, right, are part of Boy Scout Troop 521 that pitched g in on the project. er ar Layton fathers ponder city liability coverage e. DR. FRANK S. BLAIR Senior ladies keeping busy Continued from page one the Salt Lake Tribune" newspaper to about 300 Layton customers. Mrs. Roueche never missed a morning even when her husband died. She has been a widow for 27 years. After the death of her husband, Mrs. Roueche moved into her grandfathers home, one of the finest historic homes in Layton, to care for her mother who was 90 years old. She assisted with her mother until her death almost five years later. Mrs. Roueche still lives in this impressive home that overlooks Layton. Nearby, are her two sons, Wren A. and Darrel A. She has nine grandchildren and nine greatgrandchildren. Mrs. Roueche enjoys the outdoors. She still drives a car. At the July 4th parade, Mrs. Roueche commented, "This is the first time I have ever been in a parade." With her youthful attitude, there will be many more parades for Mrs. Roueche. By TOM HARALDSEN Editor Reflex-Journ- al A wise man once said, You can have a family, and you can have a vacation, but you cant have a family vacation. I wonder if that man could have foreseen what was about to happen to me when I left two weeks ago. As you'll soon see elsewhere in this edition I made the trek to of the Nauvoo, Illinois two weeks ago, traversing s miles of interstate highway and s in pursuit of the great American family vacation. My experience for the most part was enjoyable. Considering I had four children confined to the backseat of a Plymouth Voyager most of the time, I felt pretty good about the outcome of the trip. No one fell asleep at the wheel, we didnt personally have any mechanical problems with the van. and we made it home with 45 cents to spare. Still-w- as this a vacation? I grew up in northern California, where my idea of a vacation was to drive to the beach or mountains and relax. I like kicking back. Maybe that's why Im a writer. But when you are trying to visit five states in 10 days, snapping photos and grabbing postcards, setting up and then taking down a tent trailer every night, and still trying to come up with new games to keep your passengers entertained while driving through fields of corn, soy beans and abandoned oil wells, vacations arent very relaxing. A trip through Americas farmland leaves you with many impressions. Colorado is traditionally thought of as mountainous, green and scenic. But not eastern Colorado, with its fields pnd flatlands. When I finally reached the Kansas border, nothing changed. For 500 miles across the state, the scenery looked like eastern Colorado. But I was impressed with the amount of corn I saw, and the fact that, according to bill Reflex-Journa- 3500-plu- l, back-road- boards along the way, one Kansas farmer feeds 76 Americans for a year. I just wonder where those 76 Americans eating all that corn are. Kansas City jumps out at you after 10 hours of this highway chloriform. The twin city (it shares two states) has a lot to offer, but I was looking forward most to finally reaching the campground for the evening, which we did shortly after midnight. Last summer, when tourists were busy driving through Kansas and Missouri, the weather was gorgeous. This summer, bicyclists could fall off their bikes and drown. To say a little rain fell on my parade would be to Exxon made say a little profit last year. Were talking cats and dogs. Illinois proved little help, as the humidity along the Mississippi was miserable. And even in St. Louis, as I made my way from the float- s res,auran! (the only floating Big Macs in the world, they tell me) to the famous Gateway Arch (which wasn't golden, but much bigger), a monsoon hit. is mosquitos (a ,t0 daughter looked like a pin cushion after two nights in Nauvoo), two tire blowouts on a trailer in our traveling party, daily rising at 5 a.m., and fighting strong crosswinds along Interstate 70 that almost blew us to Interstate 80, and it's I easy to see couldn t wait for my vacation to end. why Actually, it was a good time. And any days away from home helps you clear your mind. You come back appreciative of your domain. You actually look forward to seeing your pet cat. And everything seems comfortable again. My batteries always get recharged on vacations, whether Im in the Sierras or the Missouri valleys. And when next February rolls around, and there is two feet of snow on my front lawn, and the temperatures are in the low 20's, Ill long for those hot, humid nights that were part of my summer vacation of 1986. |