OCR Text |
Show 2 THE GREEN SHEET Thursday, Sept. 8, 1988 1 tAUULt Politicians Shouldnt Lie, Orrin Shame on you Orrin. Your slanderous remarks about the Democratic Party were bad enough, but then, having stuck your foot in your mouth, you denied even having a foot. Video tape doesnt lie, Orrin, and neither should politicians. For the uninformed, Utahs junior senator, on a campaign swing in Southern Utah, blasted the Democratic Party as being "the party of homosexuals, the party of abortion," etc. Understandably, the states Democratic Party was quite upset. It is also likely that gay Republicans, and women who are Republican who differ with the senator on the abortion issue, were also upset. From our viewpoint, we wonder why the incumbent stooped so low. Hatch must have realized his mistake because he denied making the comments. But unless comic impersonater Rich Little was also in St. George that day, a tape .produced EDITORIAL iy- - Hatch then found himself explaining himself, or trying to', on national networks. He maintained that his comments were taken out of context from a speech. Then he explained why he felt the Demoradical crats appealed to those on to went conclude but types, weakly that he didnt believe all homosexuals were bad. Were confused. Is your new stance that a good homosexual votes Republican and a bad one votes Democratic, or should none of the people you offended vote for you? Hatch might have been better off to remain in Washington. His lead in the polls has seems asbeen so wide that his sured. Perhaps this faux pax will give Brian Moss a bit of impetus, but it is unlikely that the senator will feel the sting he deserves. -- te anti-famil- a local radio station indicated that the by senator had indeed said them, quite forceful- - Businessmen Enlist y, Drug War In While everyone debates how to handle the drug problem among the nations youth, a pair of Sandy businessmen are taking some action. Alan OUR READERS WRITE Education $ Not Wasted Farr and Beau Gordon of Related Resources Maintenance and Construction claim that pushers selling killer drugs such as crack to school children are "under the gun." In waging war on criminal elements the pair and an organization called Concerned Businessmen of America (CBBA) are armed and ready. Their bullets are books, their cannon, morals and their battle cry, set a good example. The artillery being fired includes copies of a common sense moral code booklet entitled "The Way To Happiness." Gordon and Farr say the book "forwards time honored values such as honesty and trust, honor and help of parents, being temperate, not using harmful drugs, being competent, being industrious, fulfilling obligations, etc." The book contains practical know-hofor dealing with many areas of life. w CBBA was founded by a grandmother of eight who has managed to enlist of grass roots troops numbering in the millions nationwide. Over 20 million copes of "The Way To Happiness" have been distributed. The businessmen, who have enlisted troops of students, are zeroing in on drugs on school grounds. Their battle cry is set a good example. Students in more than 3,000 To schools nationwide are involved. CBBA is offering a $5,000 first prize in a contest to get drugs off the school grounds. A survey of students by CBBA indicated that young people are more likely to listen to their peers than to people in authority. Mr. Farr noted that "it seems the most workable way to block the enemy assault was to utilize youth on the front lines of our schools to divert their own friends away from drugs and into constructive moral activity." , .. ...3 Members of CBBA are concerned about the future work force. They believe that drugs and alcohol reduce the desire to learn and inhibit the development of employable skills, threatening the future of society. Farr and Gordon noted that common sense morals are the solution to winning more than the war on drugs. When people know the difference between right and wrong and conduct themselves accordingly, they have the strength to hold their ground when it comes to making crucial decisions. "This war will be won, Gordon said. "It will be won in the trenches of our neighborhoods and communities. Drug dealers have no market with people armed with common sense morals." To contact Alan Farr or Beau Gordon and enlist in their army of volunteer commandos or obtain copies of "The Way To Or if Happiness," call you want to contact CBBA directly, dial Although far too many of us are unwilling to admit there are problems right here in our own society, its refreshing to see a group of businessmen looking at the long-rang- e effect of what is a veiy real problem. If their efforts pay off, well all benefit. 355-779- 2. Should Demand Answers I want to give an update on the progress of safety improvements on 8400 West. First, I want to say that Im angry about the continued opposition and misrepresentation of our efforts for needed safety improvements on this street by certain people in our community. The opposition started in 1984 and still continues today. If they had been successful in such obstructionism, this community would not have the signalized intersection that is now in place on 8400 W. 2700 South. Can anyone honestly say that we did not need this intersection upgraded? Can everyone agree that the overall safety of this area has clearly been improved? It has helped in slowing down the trucks that travel the road as well as moving traffic safely and smoothly through it. Magna now has a legitimately safe intersection that has been long overdue at this crossroad. What prompts these remarks is an article in the Aug. 11 issue of the Magna Times which reported on an Area Council meeting at which Sheldon McConkie, Director of District 2, Utah Dept, of Transportation (UDOT) was asked and encouraged to transfer the federal funds for the safe sidewalk project on 8400 West to sidewalks on other Magna streets which are patently ineligible. These federal funds have been designated only for traffic and safety improvements on 8400 West. Any calculated attempts such as those to divert the safety expenditures from 8400 West only damage the welfare of the community. I want to refresh our memories on the merits of the intersection improvements and proposed sidewalk project. The Magna Community Council has- gone after the funding of these improvements for the right reasons and has no apologies and have only to be proud of the councils success in the community. The council was first approached in 1980 by UDOT to help close the curve between 2700 South and 8400 West because of the safety hazards it created. In the council 1984, applied for Community Development (CD) funds to upgrade the intersection and close the curve. The funds were approved and a project capital budget number was assigned. Also, agreements were made to the understanding of the County Dept, of Public Works that when the first phase of the intersection project was completed, the county would put in for the safe sidewalk funding for the completion of sidewalks on the west side of 8400 West from the Sinclair station to the intersection on 3100 South. The county fulfilled its agreement and a new funding number NF 65 (5) was initiated by the state. Designs were drawn and contracts were signed. Property was deeded for the - AS I SEE IT the hue and cry of its citizens for years. On Dec. 18, 1987, a letter was sent to Tosh Kano, County traffic engineer, and to UDOT, from Marlene Norcross, vice president of the Area Council and chairman of the capital improvements committee. Norcross knew of the advanced stages of design and contracts made on this project by the state for deeded property that stated the use of safe sidewalk money between 2770 and 2910 South cannot be justified as there are no children living north of 2910 South and 8400 West, nor would any school-ag- e children use this route to go to any school. However, the statistics show that there are over 200 school-agchildren living in the area north of 3100 South and east of 8400 West who attend schools west of 8400 West (Brockbank junior high and Cyprus high school). Students are actually using this frontage corridor daily on their way to these schools. In January 1988, after reading about the "Magna Death Strip" in the local papers, an aide of Congressman Wayne Owens called me to see if there might be something the Congressman could do to help solve the traffic and pedestrian hazards on 8400 West. We discussed the problems and he said the matter would be looked into. I forwarded letters of concern and support to Congressman Owens that I had received from the superintendent of Granite School District, the principals of Brockbank junior high and Cyprus high school; PTA presidents, and the president of the Magna LDS Stake. With this community support, Congressman Owens sought appropriations for $1,000,000 to fund the safety improvements on all of 8400 West. In spite of all these efforts and progress, why is the community still facing prejudicial opposition to the completion of these needed improvements? Let us ask why have lies been spread about the merits of these needed improvements? Why has doubt been cast on the validity of the project to the point of character assassination of members of our council and the motives of their efforts? Why would anyone in the name of community leadership actively work to divert funds from these improvements? Any further delays to this project are tantamount to signing a death warrant in Magna. Irresponsible actions such as politicizing the needs of the community must be assigned its liability responsibilities. Does not Magna need and deserve these improvements? The community should ask these questions and demand answers. right-of-wa- y e acquisition and property easements. Everything was ready to go to give Magna an Laura Jo McDermaid, President upgraded road to improve the safety which had been Magna Community Council right-of-wa- y the Editor, I am a graduate of the Utah public school systems. The learning opportunities that were available to me just for the asking have proven invaluable in helping me become a successful, taxpaying member of the community. Not all of my peers took advantage of the system to the extent that I did, and consequently, many of them are now burdens on, rather than contributors to, the tax base. I have heard much talk recently in the media which the importance of a good public education system. Some people have gone so far as calling it a I find it hard to consider something as fundemental as the education of our children as only being important to a few. The entire economy depends upon the education of future taxpayers. The school system in Utah is by no means wasting the money that we are putting into it. We spend less per child on education than 48 other states, and yet are still producing test results that are above average. The success of the system to this point is due mostly to the dedicated teachers who are literally subsidizing the system. Teachers salaries are not much more than half of what other professionals with similar educations make. They pay taxes just like the rest of us. Also, many teachers end up spending a good percentage of that salary on teaching aids and supplies. The school system in Utah has been cut to the bare minimum. Future cuts in funding will result in special-interest-grou- p. an inferior educational opportunity for the next generation. We cant afford not to increase our support for the educational systems. Milton Watts Scare Tactics Used Its now clear that the tools being used to try to defeat Utahs tax initiatives are confusion and fear. These tactics are manifested daily in media reports from bureaucrats and politicians opposing the initiatives. I just finished sifting through a collection of newspaper articles and discovered what the opponents are actually doing. Theyre arousing fear by claiming that police protection will be severely cut and fire stations will be closed. They claim that the mentally ill will be turned out on the streets and that public assistance grants will be cut for 15,000 families. They say they will cut health care to the age, blind, disabled, and to 30,000 children. They threaten to eliminate the state fair, do away with bookmobiles, close the libraries, and no longer repair potholes in our streets. They say 10,000 government employees will be off, college tuition will be doubled, and 10,000 college students will be turned away. They put fear in the hearts of parents with threats that kindergarten and 12th grade will be eliminated, that school lunch will be dropped and busses will no longer pick up their kids for school. One school official actually claimed that money to repair school buildings will be gone and "Our buildings are going to be falling down around our necks." They frighten the unwary by claiming that our most holy bond ratings will be desecrated and that bond payments will be unbearable as a result. They have even claimed that every National Guard Armory in the state would have to be closed and that federal grants will be have to be turned away because state matching funds will be gone. I cant believe that these things are all said with a straight face. Tomorrow theyll be telling us they have to tear up the freeway between Salt Lake and Wendover and shut down all the sewage treatment laid plants. Opponents try to confuse the people on the petition language, saying the initiatives are unconstitutional. the people They confuse concerning the amount of taxes which will be cut and explain them in ways nobody can understand. They do everything possible to exaggerate the cuts. It looks to me like every department head thinks all the cuts will fall on his department alone. The hope of the opposition is that this fear and confusion will kill the initiatives. If this happens, my worst fear is that failure of tax limitation will be taken as a mandate to hike our taxes even higher. I can imagine how a freshman legislator would react to the pleas for steeper taxes from the Utah Education Assn., the Utah Public Employees Assn., college administrators, and welfare recipients if they argued that the people, by rejecting the initiatives, have sent the lawmakers a strong directive to further hike both government spending and taxes. They would say, "See, the people by their vote do not want their taxes reduced or limited. What they want is more and better government services." Taxpayers should ignore the tactics of opposition and just remember that if the property tax initiative passes it will only cut $80 million or 1.5 of Utah state and local spending and if both initiatives pass they will cut total spending only Jack A Olson Executive Vice President Utah Taxpayers Association Crash Will 3.8. Be Devastating It seems all too rare that politicians from different to the tax Opposition parties can agree. limitation-rollbacproposals appears to have gained support from both camps. I cite the July 28 editorial in the "Cache Citizen" as a strong example of bipartisan agreement. While Democratic senatorial candidate Chris Coray may blame some of the impetus for tax rollback initiatives on bad government, he said passage of the initiatives will have "disastrous effects on all government activities." "Maybe bad legislation" is responsible for a desire to roll them back, he wrote. But then Mr. Coray added,' "I sympathize with protestors themselves who are responding to the changes in Utahs tax structure. The tax initiatives represent the final turn from which we cannot recover and for which the crash will be devastating." " He cited the many possible ill effects including the and environment" business the destabilizing virtual wiping out of incentives for new business in Utah and crippling the potential expansion of ,i. existing ones." Veteran legislator Lyle Hillyard agreed. "Reducing taxes usually has a positive impact for increasing economic growth, but change must be phased in carefully to avoid serious damage to existing necessary programs," he wrote in the editorial. He praised the governors efforts at cutting taxes in a "planned" fashion, adding that "as planned cuts take effect and the economy continues to improve, continued planned tax cuts can and must be made." As one whod be in a better position to know than most, Sen. Hillyard wrote further, "I find waste in government or high administrative costs are rare exceptions and do not significantly add to the tax k yo-y- o - burden." Who wants taxes, anyway? But then, who doesnt want the trappings of civilization that they help to provide? Lynn Sorensen Income Is Not Concern Taxes are a pain and something we all wish we didnt have to pay. I too feel the pinch as of my pay check is taken out in taxes. However, as a former school teacher, I am very much aware that one-thir- d tax dollars are used and needed to provide instruction for our children. When I say I am oppossed to the passage of tax initiatives most people assume that I am complaining about low teacher salaries. If I had gone into a career to make money I would have chosen another line of work. I love children and my concern isn t income. It is the low supply of classroom materials, which are stiffling our childrens learning. Im talking about paper being so scarce that recently we have had to finish out the last months of school using the back side of used print out from local businesses. Art paper computer was a delicacy. We cut back on handwriting assignments because of no paper. Children had to bring pencils from home because we could provide only two a year. Books weret all that plentiful either. Children had to store them-a- nd thats in first grade, where its cniaal for students to get a chance to get acquainted with books. I personally spent over $300 each year to supplement books and supplies, to get them just into the children s hands. Our children deserve the same opportunity to learn their three Rs that we had. Karen C. Watts Murray from readers for either Letters to the Ec or As See It. Letters should be confinec a length of about 250 words and not con' libelous comments. They must be siqi and must be received in our office no than 10 a.m. Tuesday for publication I l I week. Longer correspondence may be used As I See It commentaries on a av able basis. Primaiy consideration space will be en to those submitted by people with exp tise in the topic about which they writo brief description of that expertise mav company the submission. All submissions are subject to editina They may be addresi faThrd C arK; Box 7187, IV 7)? r,en Sheet- - p-- |