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Show Page Two - The Pyramid - August 18, 1993 A Penny's-wort- h by Penny Hamilton r Ensuring schools for all students is a moral debt Dear Editor: I think Teri Tuttle (Pyramid, August 11) is right about the desirability of being free of debt. It is for that reason that I am supporting the school bond election Aug. 31. I attended school in Utah, my parents attended school here, and my children have and continue to attend school here. All of us were educated in buildings financed by school bonds. Those bonds were often paid for during times that were economically difficult. I have an obligation to students in the future, that they be housed in adequate buildings, because someone in the past gave me and mine the same opportunit- Facilities are lacking have been impressed with many fine teachers in this disI trict. It is difficult, however, to do the best teaching job in crowded conditions. It might be compared to a family of six driving to Salt Lake in a small car. You do get there, but it may not be a pleasant experience, and there is considerable wear and tear on the driver. There seems to be a feeling that if the school bond is not passed, somehow the state will step in and help build what is needed. That just wont happen. The way Utah school funding is set up, property taxes fund school buildings. Without the passage of bonds, the district doesnt have the large amounts needed to do building projects of yI live in Spring City and we any size. have a lovely elementary school, The district receives a relaen joyed not just by those who go tively small amount ($80,000) to school there, but by the whole from the state per year for capital community. improvement. Those who have been involved in building during That building, Fairview Elethe last few years can realize how middle the little can be accomplished, in this mentary School, school and the high school were day of strict building codes for all approved and are being paid public buildings, with this kind of for, not just by the communities money. We could save every dollar of that use them, but by citizens in Moroni, Fountain Green and Mt. that yearly state money and, in 10 years, be able to finish MorPleasant. I have a moral debt to make oni Elementary School. By then, what kind of shape will Fountain sure that those towns have equalGreen Elementary and Mt. Elenice school facilities. ly The middle school and high mentary be in? school are fairly new. The probPassing the school bond will lem in both of these buildings is cost us more than $5.8 million, counting the interest, over the overcrowding. Both schools are d next 20 years. We, as citizens, more now housing students than they were built to will hopefully do what we need to do and approve this obligation, hold. because the consequences of not Students at these schools will be taught. I have been teaching in caring enough to do it would be this district for eight years and worse. Katie Parnell my children have been in school here during the past 15 years. Spring City one-thir- Changes proposed by Clinton are alarming fees and other proposed changes Dear Editor: The Clinton Administration threaten much of this income. President Clinton recently has demonstrated some ambivalence concerning agriculture. called Western grazing fees e stuff" (NewsWhile acknowledging that agriculture is, "Americas number week, Aug. 9, 1993). That simone industry," providing 21 ply is not true. These actions of million jobs and the "single the federal government affect the largest contributor to our net lives of tens of thousands of citizens, particularly in Utah trade balance" (Presidential proclamation, Mar. 20, 1993), some where the federal government owns 69 percent of the land. As actions including the recent proKenneth Galbraith said, John to double more than grazposal ing fees, are less supportive of "...the public lands of the United States exceed the combined areas agriculture. The proposed increases in of Germany, France, Italy, BeSwitzerland, grazing fees and the proposed lgium, Holland, controls on water rights could Denmark, Hungary and Albania. deliver a devastating blow to Where socialized ownership of land is concerned, only the Utahs economy. About of the states income is U.S.S.R. and China can claim derived from agriculture, and 45 company with the United States." Government ownership of percent of that is due to beef and is accompanied by enormous land sheep production. The grazing power. This authority should be In the exercised judiciously. interest of fairness and economic nnpvta'a LawMiig Newspaper good sense, grazing fees should THE PyRRfillD give our fanners and ranchers an opportunity to make productive use of public lands. (USPS 365-58- 0) All of us will benefit. Published Weekly at Mt. Pleasant Rodney J. Brown Dean of Agriculture Utah, 84647 Utah State University 49 West Main Street and H. Paul Rasmussen Telephone: Director FAX: Ag. Experiment Station Utah State University Publisher Craig Conover "nickel-and-dim- one-four- th 462-21- 462-24- 34 59 Penny Hamilton Managing Editor ...Associate Editor Lynda Grover Shirley Christensen Office Manager SUBSCRIPTION RATES fair parade (In Advance) $18 per year-SO- C $21 per per copy year outside Sanpete Gouty CORRESPONDENTS Fairview, Shirley Christensen 462-287- Moroni, Barbara Gordon 462-21- Ftn. Green, Jessie Oldroyd 445-34- Wales, Colleen Lamb 436-880- Snow College 5 8 Dean O' Driscoll Photographer, Holloa Anderson ... 462-313- 1 Send change of address to The PpmA 49 West Main Street, Mt Pleasant, UT 84447. Second doss postage paid at Mt. Pleasant, UT and additional moling officei POSTMASTER: New time for MANTI-- - The Sanpete County Fair Gigantic Parade will be held on Saturday, Aug. 21, at 5 p.m., an hour earlier than usual because in previous years the end of the parade interfered with the rodeo. This year, the Fairboard has passed a resolution whereby NOTHING may be thrown from any parade entry (i.e., candy, money, frisbees, mugs, etc), because several have occurred in previous years when children followed the entries. y items may be distrib- near-miss- es Give-awa- Dear Editor: I have respect for the opinions of those who are in opposition to the School Bond, and I, voted against the bond in the last election. However, since that time I have become educated to the stressful situation that our school district is in because of a lack of classroom space and other facilities at all levels of education in our district. The need for a new school building in Moroni and in Fountain Green is obvious. At the middle school, the sixth grade has no place to hold physical education classes during the winter months. There is not enough classroom space to house all of the students. There are only four restrooms each for boys and girls respectively, with two toilets in each to serve approximately 600 students. At the high school, students have no lunchroom. There is a Commons area that will seat 120 students. The enrollment at the high school is close to 770 students this year. The facility was built to house 550. More classrooms and a new gymnasium are needed so that the school can offer state required physical education opportunities. Our children spend a large part of their waking hours at school, and I want then to spend them with optimum opportunities. The facilities that we now have are insufficient. They are overcrowded, and in my mind that poses a health risk, creates a situation where students will have difficulty getting along with one another, and where teachers will be frustrated and forced to compromise some teaching methods. Even if - the upcoming bond election passes, our children and faculty will be in an undesirable situation while waiting for the facilities to be completed. We should not delay any longer. After the first bond election failed, my husband and I discussed alternative methods of funding the needed facilities, and we couldnt find any that were realistic. I havent heard any suggestions made by people in opposition to the bond - only criticism of the plan proposed by our school board. Ive been to meetings with our school board and Ive aired my concerns and asked questions, and I feel that they are listening to the constituents of our district. When the first bond failed, they talked to patrons and tried to find out why they couldnt support the bond, and now theyve restructured their plan and have worked out a proposal that they hope will be more acceptable to patrons. They arent trying to plunge us into irresponsibly high debt, but are staying within a percentage of indebtedness which doesnt pose a risk to the solvency of our district. I think that many of us feel helpless to stop the spending and debt in government and that when we were given a choice of whether to support spending at a local level, we voted "no" because we felt that this was an issue where our voices could really be heard. But in making this local statement against taxation, we cheated our own children. I wish we didnt have to pay Federal Income Tax, and I disagree with wasteful spending in Congress, and with a lot of the Foreign Aid that our government is spending our dollars on. I think we should do all that we can, within the law, to reject irresponsible government spending, but lets not reject our own childrens needs for adequate school facilities. Please vote "yes" for the school bond. Shelley Washburn Wales of-the- ir state-regulat- ed Halos and s hot seats can shift I "Why dont you write about the Sanpete Sheriffs Office if youre going to complain about law enforcement," a reader commented after one of my columns recently. I replied that when the Sheriffs office did something worthy of "A Pennys Worth," they would have their "claim to fame." After all, theres no reason to rattle the chain if its secure. Well... Would you believe their halo slipped a little this week ever so slightly? Last Saturday an automobile accident occurred around 4 p.m. on the Water Hollow Road near Fountain Green. An anxious message was dispatched to law enforcement that a woman was trapped under her car, which had overturned. The womans identity was not revealed on the air which, for courtesys sake, is customary. An ambulance was dispatched and law enforcement hurried to the scene. As quickly as possible the woman was rescued and brought to Sanpete Valley Hospital. It must have been tense for all concerned, especially since (because of the location of the accident) part of the emergency radio transmission was not audible to all personnel working on the incident. I assume the victim survived the accident and is recovering somewhere. I dont know. I dont even know who she is or where she is from, because that information is being withheld by the Sanpete Sheriffs Office. The information I do know is what I heard while listening to a police scanner in The . Pyramid office. It is the only information I have been able to obtain. Now why do you suppose the information is being withheld? Beats me, unless someone either doesnt know or isnt telling. Following up on the accident Monday for the paper, one of our staff called the sheriffs office only to be told by the dispatcher that he didnt work over the weekend and didnt know anything about it. Arent dispatch records kept? They are in law enforcement offices in other counties, why not Sanpete? Our staff member then called the Utah Highway Patrol thinking there would be some information about the accident there. What we learned was that the Sanpete Sheriffs Office did, indeed, handle the report. So we went back to the Sheriffs Department thinking that if we jogged the memory of the dispatcher, someone would own up to a report of some kind. Not so. Instead, we were told that the secretary was the only one who could give out that information and she was on vacation until Wednesday. On vacation! Really! Does that mean the secretary is running the Sheriffs Office? What happened to the investigating officer? It was time for meats. A cll to our publisher verified that, yes, if a report was filed, this was public in successful was getting the investigating deputys name, however. You guessed it. He was also unHe -- available. i r r So what is going on at the Sheriffs department? Are the lights on? Is anybody home? Does the elevator go to the top floor? Sorry guys, but you earned this one. Its a shame that we can contact sheriffs offices in any , other county and talk to real live people who know whats going on and where information is kept. Most of them realize that lic, public information is just and by making information readily available they build public trust (and friendly relationships with the local media). I wonder if the Sheriff is aware that his term is up for grabs next year. Perhaps his secretary should file, she seems to be the only one whp knows whats going on. Just to let our uniformed friends in Manti know they are not all bad, we do appreciate the booking report (which we probably wont get anymore) and press releases like the one about the training class held last January which we got in August (so it was a little late). In the meantime, if anyone knows who the woman .was in the accident, how she is, and ' where she may be, will they please call the county sheriffs thefe office, ' would like .to' know.,,afrd.-so;- i would we. v f that-pub- UNITED FOR OUR CHILDRENS FUTURE BY MEETING THEIR NEEDS TODAY RESOLUTION Supporting the $5.5 million school bond issue lor North Sanpete School District Facility Improvements WHEREAS, the Citizens Committee for a Better Education has studied facts, alternatives, needs, and financial committments necessary to meet the needs of our children, We, the undersigned, unanimously support the upcoming $5.5 million bond election to provide necessary facility improvements for our North Sanpete schools. Kathy Lloyd, Keri Ivory, Victor Rasmussen, Mark Coombs, Joe Blain, Ron Christensen, Katie Panell, Cynthia Allred, Boyd Blain, Shelley Washburn, Kathryn Chlarson, Dorothy Miller, Diana Lott, Vern Fisher, Shelley Simms, Daria Meyer, Dennis Slack, Carl Winters, Blake Madsen, Eddie Cox, Ted Madsen, Bryant Madsen, John Farnsworth, Sonja Farnsworth, Chymel ClufffRuby Oakley, Jeff Cox members of the Citizens Committee for a Better Education. We urge the members of our comunities to study the issues and votelFORlthe bond on Aug. 31. ' uted by participants walking near the entry along the parade route. Parade entry forms can be obtained by contacting Kerry or Ann Deuel, or by stopping by Deuel Builders in Mt. Pleasant. Information is also available at the Sanpete County Courthouse. 462-253- 7, Paid for by the Citizens Committee for a Better Education t IIJIi information and should be available (was a report filed?). He also called the Sheriffs Office and got the same routine we had been given earlier. 1 Ht ) WiiiiWW) WM WHuWN il.il WLqjULUUJI m |