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Show 2 THE GREEN SHEET Thursday, September 17, 1987 You Want A Watchdog's Protection, Let Him Bark If Kearns Seniors Need Center There's a critical need for a senior citizen center in Kearns. The population of the community is aging. It is not realistic to pect seniors to drive to Magna or to the Redwood Center in West Valley. Many are not comfortable driving long distances on our busy roadways; others have no available Editorial ex- transportation. Kearns believe that the responsibility lies with the county. They are The seniors in correct. The number county of Murray and South Jordan come immediately to mind as doing a fine fob. Seniors have good services from the Redwood Center, another county-operatefacility. The seniors themselves have scouted out a facility they believe would be ideal in Kearns - the former roller rink in the center of the business district. Certainly it bears looking into. If costs are prohibitive, it would seem logical that until a separate facility could be provided, the County Recreation Dept, could make space available at the Kearns Recreation Center for some sort of ongoing programs for senior citizens, especially during the day. Companionship, meals, games, crafts are real needs for people who have given so much to society. The seniors have vowed to become a squeaky wheel until they get some action. They need the support of the Kearns Town Council and other members of the community. After all, we're all headed toward seniorhood. Stop passing the buck Salt Lake County and find a way to provide for these people. d The question of who is responsible for meeting the needs of the seniors must be settled. Officials of Service Area No. One indicate that legislative action would be required before they could come up with additional funding. Expansion of existing senior programs is prohibited by lack of space. Currently the Service Area provides a weekly luncheon and swim program, but space is severely limited. The only other senior program in the community is a nondenominational effort at one of the Protestant churches in the area. successfully senior citizen operates a programs throughout the valley. Magna has a fine facility and an ongoing program. Several incorporated cities offer superb programs. -- Dear Editor, In response to a letter to the editor on Sept. 3 from K.S. Bowen, I must say that I am also a paid subscriber to this paper. I read each issue thorougly and I patronize your advertisers. However, unlike Mr. Bowen I find Michele Bartmess column interesting, entertaining, witty and exemplary of good journalism and freedom of speech. As to Ms. Bartmess editorial concerning Elvis Presley which seems to have caused some readers to become angry, I add the following: Its a shame more Americans don't turn their crazed attention to the real King" as in Martin Luther King. If more people practiced the ideals established by this man we would all certainly live in a better place. This King died because of his belief and struggle for mans equality not from a drug overdose. If Mr. Bowen truly wishes to be absorbed into the community quietly then perhaps he should avoid Ms. Bartmess column and quit writing letters to the editor. That way he doesnt have to read what he considers trash and the rest of us will be spared his letters. Robyn Bishop Sandy Supports Abortion Dear Editor, In response to Does Anybody Care? by Sandra Anderton of last week: Keep executions. End a life. People unite to finish a soul. These were the cries I heard for a murderer about to die. What world to come into, filled with common sense toward a killer. Wishing to take a life. Wishing to remember those he killed. I waited anxiously to meet this world. To share in this intelligence. I started to grow in a place surrounded by alcohol and drugs. As I grew I felt pain unknow to me. I couldnt bear it. I was forced ito the world and cried out. No one cared. I reached out and my mother was so deep into drugs she left me in a garbage can. Someone took me to a hospital where I had to go cold turkey to get off drugs, then I was placed in an orphanage and abused so much that I wished my life had not begun. I wish my mother had been smart enough to have an abortion. Another child by Donna Welle Sandy P.S. I hope you are brave enough to publish the other side of the issue. I worked in Detroit with children who were abused and volunteered in Murray at the Family Support Center and 1 have seen the hurt and pain of unwanted children. Abortion is better than abuse. Ired By Candidate On Saturday evening, Sept. 12, an LDS ward sponsored a neighborhood party. Food and games were planned with the idea of neighbors socializing. Into this congenial group came a political candidate for the sole purpose of campaigning. She is not a member of the neighborhood, but came anyway. M.J. Ashton then began to campaign for election as city councilman in the 5th District. She stayed and for 30 to 45 minutes talking with the party-goer- s left tracts on the table when she left. is socialThis incensed many people. d ly unacceptable. But campaigning at a event that has not been announced for campaigning probably hinges on being illegal and certainly is unethical. This definitely was not a separation of church and state. I would say at the least she was guilty of poor taste. She may have been guilty of more. She lost my vote, and I hope the vote of all those who were present. party-crashin- Party-crashin- g g church-sponsore- Name Withheld by Request Stormy Times Dear Editor: years ago our forefathers gave us a system of government and some principles to live by that could protect our freedoms. Those who lived in Philadelphia saw the creation of the first banks. The idea of protecting and wisely using the assets of citizens was one of the paramount principles that helped to found a strong 200 and lasting nation. 200 years later we find the principles of the constitution being challenged. We find that the banking system is also going through stormy times. Banks and thrifts throughout the nation are failing at an alaraming rate. In Utah there are nearly 20,000 depositors who had faith in the banking system, but who were abandoned by the state in its attempts to head the system in different directions. The principle of government for the people is often put on the back burner these days in favor of protecting the institutions of government. Such an example is the The state has seen fit to thrift crisis of 1986-8withdraw its support of the banking system and unload the burden of suffering and financial failure on the 20,000 depositors, rather than put the burden on the majority. This kind of thinking is wrong, and goes against the history and philosophy of the system of government we won in America 200 years sago. It is time to sure up the principles we believed in, the principles that have worked so well for us all these years. It is time for the state to rescue those whom they have abondoned in this thrift crisis. The governor, the department of financial institutions, the state legislature all need to work together to defend and protect those who deposited their fortunes in the banking system of Utah. In doing so, there would be a restoration of trust and dignity in elected officials, and a healthier, stronger, more constitutional way of government. It is time for those wdio have been abandoned to step forward with phone calls, letters, and other ways of communication, to help those in power regain their dignity and restore the trust in the banking system that this state needs to have, in order to remain viable. Persistence in this matter is the key to success for all. Nancy J. Butcher Hazardous Waste Dear Editor: Disposal of hazardous waste - one of the most serious problems facing any modern technological society. California charges $49 per ton. Nevada charges $20. Are you sure you want to know what Utah charges? $3. Thats right, just $3. This tells us that California understands something about the gravity of the problem, and equips herself to inspect and control to her own standards, tougher than those established by EPA. Compare $49 to $3 again. We may want to ask ourselves if Utah is a modern technological society. Surely a very naive one. What is the obvious implication? The entire western United States wants to dump on us. Our absurd $3 fee allows them to transport the stuff hundreds of miles to Utah and still come out ahead. Iron County has been chosen by the Rollins Company for this purpose, but this is more than a county or even concern. The problem was created by a multi-countthe State of Utah, willing to forego safety to make a nickel, begging to defile our birthright for the inglorious destiny of becoming dumpmasters to the west. The experts of the Rollins Company assure us that all is well and they will protect us. But we have seen before the results of expert testimony, we known Rollins is here to make a buck, and we know something of the persuasion of large vested interests. Rollins track record will not bear scrutiny. While Rollins and California count their dollars and Utah counts her pennies this unsupervised plague will be on our state for all time, menacing our air, water, highways and railroads. There will be no turning back. Consider well and act quickly. Owen Walt The Green Sheet welcomes contributions to both " Letters to the Editor and "As 1 See It." Letters should be confined to a length of 250 words or less and not contain libelous comments. They must be signed, but the writers name will be withheld for adequate cause. We welcome lengthier correspondence for possible use as As See It commentaries. Primary consideration will be given to those submitted by people with expertise in the topic about which they write. A brief description of that expertise should accompany the submission. All submissions are subject to editing for space and clarity. They may be addressed to: The Green Sheet, P.O. Box 7187, Murray, Utah 84107. Erroneous statement is inevitable in a free debate . . . and must be protected if the freedoms of expression are to have the breathing room they need to survive, said the court. tion. Patrick Henry, the fiery patriot, voted against ratification of the Constitution in the Virginia Legislature because it contained no guarantees of individual rights and there was nothing to prevent the government from abusing its powers. Stung by the criticism, James Madison, widely acknowledged as the Father of the Constitution, responded quickly, proposing the Bill of Rights. John Peter Zengers New Journal cried fraud over an Eastchester, N.Y. election. Zenger was promptly arrested for bringing the Colonial government into disrepute. At his trial in 1735 (see, justice has never been swift) a jury decided for the first time that truth was defense against libel. Perhaps freedom of the press was born that day. Still, it wasnt until 1964 that the Supreme Court ruled that the First Amendment protected critics from 1733 ty- - Criticsm of government is not unhealthy. Neither is criticsm of the press. Would you believe that the founding fathers held no greater love for the press than do its critics today. But in their infinite wisdom, they recognized its role as necessary to insure that the Bill of Rights would survive the ages. . time there is an Irangate, a Grenada or Each similar incident, freedom of the press will be challenged by the government and by society- Freedom of the press in America did not magically appear in 1791 when the Founding Fathers put the first amendment in the Constitu- York Weekly y Dear Editor: If you want a watchdog to warn you of intruders, you must put up with a certain amount of mistaken barking. But if you muzzle him and leash him and teach him decorum, you will find that he doesnt do the job for which you got him in the first place. Some extraneous barking is the price you must pay for his services as a watchdog. A free press is the watchdog of society. Those are words of Alan Barth of The Washington Post, concerning a subject we hold near and dear. In Letters The 'Real King' retaliation by public oliicials whether the criticsm was fair or not. Segregationists had tried to stop The New York Times from carrying a paid advertisement from a civil rights group that criticised police behavior in Brimingham, Ala. Let the dog bark! Justice Lewis Powell continued that a free press which carries conflicting ideas to the public provides that breathing room. Freedom of the press was never granted as a reward for good behavior or as a special privilege. Rather, the founding fathers realized that an independent press, whatever mistakes it might make, remains an essential ingredient in ensuring a balance between government authority and individual liber In a national survey regarding changing the First Amendment by removing freedom of the press and placing restrictions on the press met with a thumbs down reaction from three out of four people surveyed. One out of four would have that freedom restricted and that is too many. Some say we are too free. I agree with those who say you can never be too thin or too rich. Nor can you be too free. Sometimes our freedom collides with the sensibilities of another. Those who try to force everyone to conform to their notion of good behavior usually end up eroding the personal freedom of each of us. Laws must be obeyed. Those laws apply to the government as well as to individuals. Sometimes the press and govern- ment are violently at odds. Sometimes the press is wrong. More often it is the government which has overstepped its bounds. Freedom has never been absolute, but what we have in this country is the best there is. As controversial or unpopular as the opinions expressed on the pages of Americas newspapers are, they are the essence of democracy. Let the dog bark! Utah Cannot Afford Tax Limitation Initiative And Keep Pace With Citizen's Varied Needs As a Utah legislator for 22 years (I retired in 1986) and a Utah businessman for 45 years, I am deeply disturbed by the rhetoric I hear from the Tax Coalition of Utah. Their opposition to tax increases passed by the legislature in the 1987 General session shows some serious misunderstandings of essential facts. I am particularly troubled by some of the initiatives being proposed to supposedly solve state problems. The proponents of these ideas seem oblivious to two major facts impacting the Utah economy and Utah residents. I would like to discuss these two facts. Fact 1 The growth of the Utah economy has slowed considerably in the 1980s. During the 1970s, Utahs economy had an annual average employment increase of 4.4 percent. In the 1980s, the Utah economy has grown by only 2.3 percent annually. Though this growth rate is half of the 1980s, Utahs employment growth rate is still well ahead of the national average annual rate for the 1980s of 1.7 percent. Wages in Utah have also shown slower growth than in the past. This is a result of Utah companies having to compete in a very tough international market. Kennecott is one example of a Utah company having to meet international market prices. I am pleased to see Kennecott back to work. However, it took a $400 million modernization project, a major workforce reduction and employee wage concessions for Kennecott to be competitive with foreign producers. Such economic adjustments have caused a slowdown in the Utah economy. It has also affected state government revenues. State revenues, when adjusted for inflation and excluding the 4 percent surcharge tax, fell by over $113 million from fiscal year 1985 to 1987. Utah is not alone in this adjustment to the international market. State governments across the nation are struggling with declining revenues. Twenty-thre- e states cut their 1987 fiscal year budgets in order to balance at year end, and thirty-on- e states raised taxes. Fact 2 Though we are not alone in the problem of slowing state revenue growth, Utah is unique in our It is this issue that makes Utahs population make-up- . situation so different from any other state. Two major groups in our population play the biggest role in shaping our state budget. They are our school-ag- e population, which demands school funding, and our working age population, which as to pay the taxes. Lets compare these two population groups with the other 50 states. Utah ranks first in the nation in the percent of our populayears of age, or our school-ag- e population tion. Providing education for this group takes half of our state revenues. The reverse side of the coin is equally significant. We rank last in the nation in the percent of our population of working age, or ages Put very simply, these demographic numbers mean this: For every two school age children the adult population of the nation must support, Utahs adult population must support three. Already Utah is in the paradoxical situation of spending more money on education as a percent of the state budget and as a percent of personal income than almost any other state. At the same time, we spend fewer dollars per pupil than almost any other state. 5-- 18-6- What the leaders of the tax protest movement also fail to realize is how incredulous it is to think that repeal of the tax increases can be done without any real harm to essential services. I have been told that all that needs to be done is to cut the fat out. I am supportive of creating any efficiencies we can find. But, as the Senate Chairman of the Appropriations Committee for 10 years, I can tell you that the kind of cuts necessary to balance the budget without the tax increase would have been extreme indeed. Let me i As I See If The General Fund and Uniform School Fund Budget for fiscal year 1987 is $1.3 billion. The tax increase for this fund was $121 million or an increase of about 9.2 percent. To cut the budgets by this amount one could take two alternatives: (a) require all three major sectors of state government (state agencies, higher education. public education) to take across the board cuts; or (b) say that certain agencies are more important and should be protected, thus requiring the unprotected agencies to take the entire brunt of the cuts. Lets look at both alternatives. Across the Board Cuts - Public education absorbs about half the budget so it would have to eliminate $62 million. How would they do that? One scenario is the following: eliminate new textbooks $9 million; educational supplies, library books, periodicals, and audio visual materials $17 million; kindergarten $29 million; substitute teachers $6 million; health services $1 million. Total $62 million. Higher education is about 20 percent of the budget so they would have to cut $24 million. One scenario would be to close Southern Utah State College, $9 million; Snow College $5 million; Dixie College $5 million; and College of Eastern Utah $5 million. Another scenario could be to eliminate both community colleges in Provo and Salt Lake. Either option adds to the $24 million. Finally, an additional $34 million would have to be eliminated from state agencies budgets. Prioritized cuts - Lets say education, social services, health, corrections, and economic development are areas too important to take cuts. If these were all held harmless, the $121 million cut would have to come from the rest of state government. The problem is the rest of state governments budget totals only $123 million. In other words, it would be necessary to eliminate virtually the rest of state government to balance the budget. That means elminating the legislature, elected officials, state courts, and the following state departments - administrative services, tax commission, business, labor, agriculture, as well as all state funding of the departments of natural resources, public safety, and transportation. Such options are simply not reasonable. Until the coalition discusses the budget reduction side of the issue, their tax repeal proposal should carry little weight with Utahns. As a Utah resident and businessmen, I pay taxes too. One must remember, however, that taxes are payments for services rendered by the public sector. The single biggest service that state government funds is education. As long as there are so many children needing education, pressure for adequate funding will be intense. Those are the simple facts that we all must face. They are our children. In this increasingly competitive world, it is more important than ever to give them a quality education. Finally, it must be remembered that school-ag- e children ultimately enter the labor force. Between 1990 and 1995, Utah s labor force will grow by over 10 percent while that of the nations will grow by less than 3 percent. What a tremendous advantage Utah will have over other states if it can boast of the fastest growing, labor force in the nation. The tax increase wrns an investment in the future made by a visionary Governor and a courageous legislature. I am one Utah businessman who is proud to support it. -- -- d Warren E. Pugh Barren Pugh is a former legislator and a businessman, choimmn of Cummins Intermountnin. |