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Show 2 THE GREEN SHEET Thursday, March 24, 1988 E wood High Scnooi Credit Behavior? Its About Time l--or Give the principals at Granite School Districts eight high schools an "A" for unanimously rallying behind the concept of cit- V Hospital Decision Hurts EDITORIAL -- well-behav- Once students realize they cannot graduate without passing citizenship grades, disruptive behavior will no doubt improve. Experience at American Fork high school, where a similar program has recently been introduced, proves that absenteeism can be cut in half and tardies can be reduced more than 60 percent by enforcing citizenship credits. Getting students in school - and on time teachers make better use of the class time with far less disruption for the majority by students who drift in at all hours. While some of the details of the "citizenship credit" system have yet to be ironed out by the board of education, The Green Sheet supports the concept of citizenship credit not only in the Granite School District, but as a program all educators in the valley ought to be seriously considering. But the concept should not be limited to -- high schools alone. Discipline problems also exist on both the elementary and intermediate levels and some way should be found to extend the "citizenship credit" idea to all , problems at most private schools because have strict they guidelines ' both relating to behavior and to academic progress that must be followed or the student is ousted. Existing rules prevent public schools from following suit. If the classrooms were not so overloaded, some of these problems might not seem so insurmountable, but because they are, you know which children will suffer while the system deals with the problem students. I know that sounds harsh. The right to a free public education is a sacred cow. But why should we let to continue disruptive influences diminish the effectiveness of educating those who truly want to be there. And dont you think that many of those teachers who leave the profession are influenced at least in part by the escalating discipline problems? I know for a fact it has cost us some of the best. Perhaps we dont need a tax credit for those who opt for private schools. We need to make the public schools a place where children are safe, well educated and their varied needs met, weeding out those who make the environment bad for other students and teachers. Let parents find a private school willing to deal with their out of control offspring and let them pay out the additional money. Our education systems hands are too often tied. Young people who respond not at all to conventional are discipline allowed to disrupt an already Unfortunately, those who suffer overloaded classroom, creating an make up the vast majority. The environment that more and more kids we are going to count on to parents are opting to escape. take over this world some day. Its a small minority who are robbing Too many parents are them of the benefits of the system unable or unwilling to deal - benefits you, their parents, are with their problem student for through your taxes. paying and the public schools are "stuck." Our society is a mess. The And lest you think this is only national news tells you that ask an on a secondary level, all the time. elementary school teacher about As you know, Utah is a little some of the problems they are facing on a day to day basis. It behind the rest of the nation in fads. Well trends and might shock you. You wont find many of these unfortunately, some of societys Theres A Better Solution To E-9- 1 committee on 1 should indeed have an "increasing level of frustration" as reported in the Green Sheet. Mr. Goff reported one of the members saying, "We need some specific direction as to what can and cannot be done." It is evident that even after two years of effort on the 911 problem there is no agreement. Could it be because the solution is and has been so simple that they are overlooking the obvious? A member of the committee suggested that the current 911 county-wid- e system was "a joke. A joke perhaps because the Council of Governments committee has neglected the current system replaced over two years ago. There is no one, including the people that operate the current 911 center, who wants to continue the manual process of The offices. You have petitions with 1,000 names on them. As I Dear Editor, understand it, that is maybe five percent of the population of Magna. Could it be that the majority Last year the State passed legislation questioning of the people are getting what they want after all? I the status of Utah Hospitals. I wonder if the petition had been taken at the current applauded this effort since many of our hospitals are library using only library patrons how it would have not meeting their individual community-base- d turned out. requirements. Of current note is the Alta View Hospital in Sandy. Recently, without notice, this IHC hospital unilaterally eliminated its education department. This department provided ,an invaluable service to the community. Such classes as first aid, child care, Boy Scout Merit Badge classes and many others contributed to the overall benefit of the community. These classes were not offered freely. They were offered on a for those wanting to attend. What Alta View Hospital was providing was the organization and forum for these classes to be held, it also lent legitimacy to the concept that these health care facilities had a responsibility to provide community service beyond the management decisions made on the basis of profit and cost. In a time when it is difficult to sustain interest in our youth for such worthwhile organizations as the e Boy Scouts, it would appear to be to the goals of our community for such institutions as Alta View Hospital to eliminate the BSA Merit Badge program. The high quality of merit bade instruction in critical subject areas assisted many young men in the attainment of their eagle rank in Scouting. The objectives of scouting build our society, and provide a basis on which strong citizen characteristics are based. From these ranks come newspaper editors, mayors and hospital board is 1 What Alta View Hospital did in eliminating the department was to throw the burden of community health care education and enhancement back to the taxpayer. As citizens problems are beginning to make their way here. Some of the ugly participated in the educational process, the ability of incidents that we dont think can the community as a whole improved in responding happen here are occurring in our to health care problems. It also provided information to the community on child care, scouting emergency schools. The worst thing we can to is procedures for contacting agencies and many other buiy our heads in the sand and worthwhile subject areas which ultimately improved pretend they dont exist. That the quality of life in Sandy. What is so sad about this particular case is that seems to be a talent Utahns have developed over the years. Because the system was working, a hospital was providing of a strong family influence we community support, people were participating, think that there are no drugs, no education was being accomplished. All of that was decision. alcohol, no sexual problems, no eliminated by Alta Views serious behavior problems. Douglas Wadsworth Sandy education providing Dear Editor, I have gone on Donnas Tours for years and have found them to be the best. They go out of their way to help people, with a personal touch you dont find on other tour buses. Some of the buses do get messy, but they are cleaned every day and that is all we can expect. I am looking forward to many more happy trips from Donnas Tours. Mary Alice Keener Kearns. Opposed Incorporation Dear Editor vote, I am In reference to the Taylorsville-Bennio- n Committee the in Incorporation disappointed quite and some citizens for taking the defeat so personally. They are quick to blame it on one group and county employees. I live in the Bennion area and one week prior to the election received three fliers loaded with information attempting to get my "yes" vote. In these fliers it was stated "Even if we incorporated our taxes would be raised." I received one flier which listed five reasons why we should vote "no." I do not think this one flier would change the minds of the residents to the point of causing a defeat. I also feel it a county employee is a resident of this area, he has the right to cast his vote and voice his profit-motivate- Supports Magna Plan submitted as things different proposals "we" had done. With all due respect, what is Governor Ramptons interest in where the Magna Library is located? To my knowledge he is not a resident of Magna. I dont understand why he is suddenly chosen to be a spokesman for a group that has consistently claimed to be a voice of the people of Magna. Shouldnt a Magna resident be the obvious choice? I would also like to express an alternate point of view in response to LaRee Pehrsons letter in opposition to the expansion. I am glad she was able to avoid hitting the child who ran out in front of her car. If you look at the donated ground on Magnas Main Street, you will notice more than one bar or tavern in very close proximity. Would you feel safer having the children walk there? I am not suggesting that everyone who drinks would drive drunk, but I dare say the odds would be and-paper- that Well, there are. They need to be dealt with before they reach the schools proportions of inner-citin the east. They need to be responded to by you, the parents of those good, solid average kids who are being robbed of their rights because of a few who insist on stepping on everyones toes. You need to ioin with educators, law legislators, enforcement, whatever it takes to make sure the system works for your children. Now, not in five years. The silent majority needs to rise up and be heard. Before it is too late. y Frustrations I Likes Donnas Tours opinion. I called one of the listed phone numbers on one of the fliers for incorporation and received information on how bad we are being treated by county government and the informer wasted and spared no words in attempting to get me to vote for it. d I moved to this area from an incorporated city to get away from the high taxes, franchise taxes on my utilities and very poor services. I felt the citizens were very misinformed about what the reality would have been if we had incorporated. I am one citizen who would like to say I am happy with county government and the way we are treated in this area. If you have a good thing, leave it alone. To the editor: I do urge the County Commission to come up with a way to stop annexation of our area. I think the I was in attendance this morning at the County voters proved we want to be left alone. Commission meeting. I was there to show my Susan McDermaid support for the library expansion in the Arbor Park Bennion Shopping Center. Also in attendance was former Governor Calvin The Green Sheet welcomes contributions! Rampton who spoke in behalf of the Magna from readers for either Letters to the Editor Community Council. He kept referring to the four-cit- y AS Donna Rasmussen Magna cdunter-productiv- directors. Majority Can No Longer Afford Silence Its time we started treating education as a privilege rather than a right. greater than in a shopping center or near Hercules non-taxab- le izenship credit. Under their proposal, students would earn a citizenship grade as well as an academic grade for each class. The citizenship grade would be determined by attendance, promptness and behavior in the class - and if the student flunks his citizenship grade, he flunks the class. It's about time educators were given the tools to properly discipline unruly students. The courts have managed to take away the yardstick which teachers used to enforce classroom discipline, but Granites current system of "citizenship grades" is a joke ... and students know it. A certain segment of the student body know they will not really be penalized for poor citizenship marks, and consequently behavior by some of these students is just shy of barbaric. As one principal put it, "they learn how to play the game." While putting some "teeth" into the citizenship policy by tying it to high school graduation may seem a bit harsh at first glance, it is the vast majority of students who have ended up paying the price for the unruly few. OUR READERS WRITE SEE IT well trained center serving all of the county entities could. I would prefer that a highly qualified operator with direct connection to all dispatch points was on duty, than a part time operator, dispatcher calls. or others answering To recap then I would suggest the following: l. That the current centralized, single 911 system be replaced as soon as possible with the 1 equipment. This would result in an immediate improvement in speed and response time. It would also result in all the necessary interconnections being already in place, thus resulting in reduced questions and answers that the current system cost to the taxpayers. 2. That the various elected officials put their requires. It appears to me that Mayor Newton has been individual biases and desires aside and collectively using an apple example of 911 to support an deal with the needs and economical realities of Salt "orange," "Valley Central Dispatch." Lake County as a whole. I am concerned that the unique system of 911 3, Further that to extend additional savings, they which crosses all jurisdictions and therefore has no also attempt to put jurisdictional problems aside limitations of turf protection is now being broken up to satisfy the political fancy of individuals and combine as much as possible the current throughout the county. plethora of dispatch points throughout the county, In one the operational further example the life of a neighbor thereby enhancing was lost, possibly because of the time required for capabilities, and doing away with the many 911 to get all of the necessary information to get the overlapping service areas now in place, 4. That they also make a commitment to deal right people to the person. I wonder how many other lives have been lost in the last two years because the effectively future the with technological elected officials have been unable to simply replace a improvements for the use of telecommunications which would that will provide better police, fire, local government very old system with the new have benefited every citizen of Salt Lake County and and medical services in the future, its many cities and towns. 5. I would strongly recommend that elected What most citizens of Salt Lake County dont officials utilize the various telecommunications realize is that all of the proposed (4 or 5) systems, people, that live in the county and perhaps that are now envisioned are already greatly throughout the state to provide a sound increasing the cost to everyone. A cost, by the way, technological answer to this telecommunications that is collected as a hidden tax. A tax that is problem. (As a consultant I had volunteered to work with others.) incorporated in each taxpayers phone bill. I also wonder how the various entities in the The solution to communications problems could feel in or small can groups, perhaps be better resolved without the difficulty of that, individually county independent trying to protect and being required to meet political they can operate the 4 or 5, centers with more efficiency, less solutions, dispatchE-91- 1 jurisdictional problems and more quality than one Miiton L. 1 1 oft-quot- 1, E-9- Davis, Consultant or As See It. Letters should be confined to a length of about 250 words and not contain libelous comments. They must be signed and must be received in our office no later than 10 a.m. Tuesday for publication that I week. Longer correspondence may be used as As I See It commentaries on a space available basis. 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 may ac- company 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, Ut. 84107. His Family Chose To Live In Magna This may surprise astute "Magna Watchers" but my wife and I actually chose to reside in Magna and raise our family here. In fact, I was bom and raised in Magna. And, in my growing up years, I never felt any of that "I just cant wait to move to the Big Time stuff!" You see, just the opposite has been true. Because I like Magna. Always have. Thats why Im still here. Thats also why, after college, etc. I came back to stay. And I can tell you a bit about how prior generations of Magnuts also felt about "the place." Without reciting a genealogical liturgy just let me say that my parents, my grandparents, AS I SEE IT contemplated. Fact is, I hear that theyre building a wall on the east side of Magna aimed at preventing another Sooner stampede our way from West Valley and The Cove." Weve got to retain some semblance of order and maintain a bit of our pristine beauty, ya see. Magna has long been rich in historical lore. Stories abound that intrigue and titillate. One of my favorites I recall from long ago. The way we see it in and all found something to their liking about this little Magna, if Christopher Columbus had sailed when he bit of turf that we call Magna and set their roots should have, hed have ridden the waves of old Lake deep in its rocky soil as a testament of their Bonneville to Magna rather than lost himself approval. I guess that makes me about a "Fifth somewhere in the West Indies, his loss! As for the latest ruckus over Generation Magnut." So being from Magna takes on territory. If the some added meaning for me. When I say "Magna proper facts were considered, there wouldnt be a Pride is on our side" Im confident that I am also court in the land, Supreme included, that would give speaking of those other generations. You see, West Valleys claim to Hercules half a shake. Magna "Magna Pride" is nothing new. can claim Hercules rightfully with as great a So it rankles me to hear astute "outlanders" who veracity as Africa can claim the Sahara. A simple, pride themselves on being "Magna Watchers" bad time honored formula will suffice. I refer to mouth this unique little "berg. Kind of reminds me Ordinance One, Magna Rule of Rights. Sort of our ' of the UofU - BYU feud. Each side totally unabashed own Magna Carta. If you can find tailings dust on about the "rightness" of their cause. But bias has your window sill, of Magna." Its youre never been my forte, so let me give it to you straight irrefutably obvious. Herculespart is Magna territory. about Magna. Here it is as clearly defined as Not to mention Hunter and even some of those West someone with a pure perspective can present it. But, Granger window sills. All over illegally expropriated before I continue, let me just add one little comment. the years. Go big blue! As to why the latest land grab. Thats obvious too. O.K. Here goes. First, beneath Magnas slightly Its a pure case of envy. Not having the class to move rumpled facade there lies a heart of gold as pure as to Magna those responsible have chosen to any vein ever lifted from the "Mother Lode." It just dismember us piecemeal instead. But, in my book, takes a little magic to recognize it. I mean those the entire annexation decision in favor of West "Mark Twainian" qualities that permeate the place Valley wont hold Magna water. Just another and fill every nook and cranney with wonderful example of the miscarriage of justice. But, like most Magnuts, Im not going to stoop to mystique. Every kid worth his salt has found it and Im just another kid at heart. In fact, the letters reacting. Call it Magna Pride or call it class. One Magna stand for "Mans Absolutest Grandest and the same. Well just keep on plugging until one Notions Achieved" and there aint (if aint is now a day in our favor. I think it was word) nothin that a true, blue blooded Magnut cant Emperor Magnus Utahnus who once "All do when he or she leans to the task. Nothing, that is, roads lead to Magna, cause theres declared, still room to Rome. except swallow the ridiculous notion that existence outside "The Place" could ever be rationally W. Kent Goble great-grandparen- ts nght-will-preva- il |