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Show the west mountain Times October 22. iqsi page . wo Opinion and Commentary A new member of the community committed to making the Times the newspaper of record for the area. We wont be able to do it alone. A good community newspaper depends on participation from those in the community. Well be asking for your input. The West Mountain Times has already begun a comprehensive subscription drive to expand our readership. Some of you are helping us. Weve also task of expanding our adbegun the vertising base, which determines whether we grow or die. A good newspaper is both a reflection and a leader of its community. The area is healthy, with many stories to be told and a bright future ahead of it. Were going to keep you informed of who is doing what and why. We hope youll keep in touch. With this issue, the Magna Times becomes the H'esr Mountain Times. The name, however, will not be the only change. Expanded local coverage and a bigger staff will be part of our high hopes. The former Magna Times was purchased recently by Allied Press International, a Salt Lake-base- d news service. A lot of planning and expense went into the decision to revamp the paper. The Salt Lake area is growing. There is little coverage of the area. In short, there is a needs be filled. We at the Times void to that great fill it. to plan This is what you can expect from us: More news coverage of the three communities, including new columns, features, and weekly staples such as police news and school news. We will be kearns-Hunter-Klag- th The businessman's safety net July-Jun- day-by-d- Utahns are ar ay d The democratic litany Voters in Hunter will be asked November 3 to choose a mayor and a set .of councilmen. We arent going to recommend any candidates, only a method for choosing them. But first, we should make what has become a biannual plea to citizens: Get out and vote. Only those who do will be able to legitimately complain later. Those of what we hope will be a heavy turnout in this year should also make sure their votes are cast with a maximum of education. Read carefully the articles that appear in this issue of the Times and in the next issue. But dont stop there; it isnt enough. Try to meet or see the candidates in person. Make an effort to be sure of their qualifications and their plans. Dont be satisfied with vagueness and noncommitment. Make November .3 a message to municipal government and those who will run it. It may make some later messages unnecessary. well-inform- ed off-electi- Letters Your opinions matter Dear Reader: This space has been reserved for you, since the letters section of a newspaper belongs to its readers. Tell us whats on your mind, and well help you tell the rest of the community. There are no restrictions on subject matter or length, only on taste. Type or print neatly on standard-size- d paper and send letter West The Mountain to Times, Box Editor, your 248, Magna, Utah 84044. Included must be a telephone number for verification and a signature. Names will be withheld upon request if a reason is given. We hope that not only will the Tima let you know whats going on, but that you will let each other know whats on your minds. Take advantage of the space weve provided for your thoughts. All it costs is the price Thanks for the accurate news story express my sincere thanks and appreciation to Debbie Curry for the news coverage on my recent appointment to serve on the Salt Lake CounMay A ty Commission. It was my first experience of such magnitude with the media and will be remembered as a most pleasant one. Thank you again for your ac- curateness and kindness, and please know that if I can be of any help or service to you, I will do my bed to accommodate you. M. Tom Stumizu, Commissioner Salt Lake County Commission Hunter By TERRI POTTS Mn)2$MD WEST MOUNTAIN TIMES Pubtther JOHN RANDOLPH SENS Acting tailor RONALD J. DESJARLAIS Annmm Publisher AOrorhmg Mtntgmr DEBRA CURRY Kb rnt pos'aye DOUG LINCOLN 6415 Sootn m on Thuroyrs, rtn ofttoM 4rl 4140 Utan 84H8 "Tetepnorw 001) 86444 Scono-c- s 1 Magna UU All nghi Mrvd 18 110 oolOC Ulan AOvrtimg sutitcnplKsn Ob'h't 5 pm Mor3a, tor tn touowmg Thursday aOrtron for ram can (SOI) bfa correspondence to Bor 248 Vea-- i, Mag- - Ulat 84044 item trom c'utri eftwrenea. and otnar organization S bm Tne oeaettma adition Call (801) e mponsitne tor onaoircrtaO picta-- welcome tt following tr aeance pa, rate Mono, tor and ne tor a-- 4 TNa-aoa- Nc4 listed for people to serve. People helping people, a good concept. it is Peculiar might be a better word for the inhabitants here. Peculiar in the sense it is mentioned in Titus 2:14: . .a peculiar people, zealous of good works. After all, this is the beehive state. One hears about bad Utah drivers. One hears how Mormons have taken over the city. (They were here first, not counting the Indians.) One hears about the terrible liquor laws. For examEat, drihk and be merry, for ple, see the tomorrow you may be in Utah. It is hard to find a kind word. , There are a lot-o- f good works in Salt Lake City, and it gets rather dull when none are mentioned. It has been rightly said that talk is cheap. It costs nothing to spread some kind words now and then. The good schools here arent much talked about as something to be thankful for. Coming from Los Angeles, it is a relief to find quality education here for the public. If students are terrorized there, private schools are available, for those who can afford them. Volunteer programs thrive here, both within the LDS church and without. The Womens Guide to Salt Lake, published with the help of the YWCA, lists 19 different programs needing volunteers. A local newspaper has a weekly feature with opportunities By Cindy Burks The environmentalists seem to forget the beautiful scenery here when the talk focuses on air pollution on the Wasatch front. The conversation turns to the Kennecott smokestack beside the Great Salt Lake. Then Kennecott gets kicked about in the conversation as well. Some air pollution comes about verbally, not just from Kennecotts smokestack. Wages are low here, some say, but they dont notice that the unemployment rate here is lower-tha- n the nations average. Utah attracts a great deal of outsiders." Perhaps we wought to resurrect the saying (paraphrased): Utah, love it or leave it." An old folk saying went something like this: If you cant say something nice, shut up. Positive strokes bring about change a lot faster than constant unconstructive criticism. Or we can bring back the trite phrase: Utah, change it or lose it. Just dont badmouth it, please. They aren't bounded by state lines Utahns are strange. So are Texans, New Yorkers, Virginians, and Californians. Theyre strange because Im not from any of those places. After a week here, it would be easy for me to come up with a thousand reasons why Utahns are strange. First of all, none of them have dark hair. Second of all, theyre all married andor pregnant. Third of all, like me to kill a they make it hard for night in a bar with a few drinks. Whether this should be attributed to Mormonism, I dont know or care. The important question is not Are Utahns weird (i.e., do they really differ from the but Do Utahns differ from rest of the country)? Is noncomformity allowed? Arc new themselves? ideas suppressed? Are those who are different from Utahns thought to be weird? I dont know the answer to these questions, but if any of them are Yes, then Utahns are not only strange, but weird. While I find Utahns to be different from the types of people I'm familiar with (this is my first time west of the east coast), I dont find them weird. Really. And even if I did, I wouldnt be one to say, because I know that if I took a few Utahns back east with me, theyd find New Englanders and New Yorkers pretty strange. And theyd be right. First of all, they all have dark hair. Second of all, they all care only about their careers and try hard to fend off marriage. Third of all, there are too many bars there. Fourth of all. Utahns arent from there. This has no more to do with the Catholics in southern New England and the Jews in New York than it has to do with the Mormons in Utah. It has to By Ron DesJarlais do with what the people themselves need and want. The east happens to be economically depressed, and getting worse. The opposite is true here. But if and when this area starts to resemble the east, Utahns will change a little, because they will have d, to. In the meantime, people from New York, California, Texas, Virginia, Rhode Island, and Utah just to mention a few will go on thinking they are normal, and that everyone else is strange. This kind of tame prejudice could be an example of larger prejudices: like racism, sexism, and nationalism. And it will continue, until we have to change. But right now, this country is too big for all of us to seem normal to each other. 1 council Serving Kearns, Hunter, end Magna come to Utah and find that At least thats what some folks Dear Editor: of a stamp. The Editor weird. . . say. We would urge our congressional delegation to support the movement to tighten the federal bankruptcy code so that it no longer is an incentive for an easy way out of ones obligations. But we also would suggest that they attempt to fashion a mechanism by which the honest debtor could repay his debt and not be permanently disabled. Such a mechanism could include, first, a counseling service to guide the indebted person who becomes so desperate he or she secs no way out except through bankruptcy; and, second, perhaps a way to consolidate the debt such as through a loan at interest rates just government-backebelow the slightly going rate, if that is workable for a given individual. Such provisions would encourage individual responsibility while offering a practical means of satisfying the creditors. non-mortga- five-ye- Some Those who have no means to repay should not be punished beyond what fate has dealt them; and in fact the bankruptcy code rightly ought to be designed to accommodate those who have tried, failed and have no chance to complete their obligations. But for a federal law to actually encourage individual irresponsibility is an insult to that majority of people who, through plain frugality in the face of discomfort, a normal measure of sheer and grit, dig in and dig out. pride Since the revised federal bankruptcy code took effect in October 1979, personal bankruptcies in this country have soared. Nationwide, they rose 43.8 percent last year; in Utah alone they have e nearly doubled from 2,907 in the period in in 1980 the comparable period to 3,774 ending ending in 1981. Some people blame inflation and unemployment, and no doubt that has been a basic factor in bringing people to that point when hopelessness starts to set in. But it's obvious that a key reason for more filings is simply the more lenient personal bankruptcy code an easier way out. A Purdue University study just released finds that four of 10 Americans who filed for personal bankruptcy this year could have paid half or more of their debts over five years and still met their mortgage and other basic living expenses. The study, commissioned by the National Coalition for Bankruptcy Reform, found that 29 percent of those filing for bankruptcy, listing debts of SI 0,500, could have average repaid 100 percent of these debts over the period. Because the 1979 revisions allow debtors to keep many assets they previously might have been required to sell to help settle their debts, many people apparently have been enticed by the law to avoid economic hardship by throwing in the towel. Kind words. rmaCmywUnr HUNTER Committee reports and the coming West Valley City election highlighted the Hunter Community Council meeting last Thursday, October IS. Qvic Improvement Councilman Albert Robinson said money has been allocated for widening 3500 South near 6400 West. Sidewalks will be installed along 3500 South from 5600 West to 6400 West, and along 6400 West from 3500 South to 3785 South. They are waiting for bids, and work should begin in early spring, Robinson said. Health, Welfare, nod Safety Negotiations between the County Commission and Wed Valley City have been completed to sell the fire station on 4100 South. County personnel will stay in the station until a new one is built. Wed Valley City firemen will stay in a trailer in the back until the county relocates. From Page One. Watt over federal land for community expansion. A federal district court in Salt Lake City is now considering a September 21 request by Watt to return to him for review a decision by the former Interior secretary to ban strip mining on the Alton coal field near Bryce Canyon National Park. Times 4140 West in Kearns. The price of a copy of the paper, which will continue to be published on Thursdays, will be dropped from 20 cents to 15 cents. A years subscription will cost S8. Randolph-Sen- g hopes to nearly triple the current number of paid subscriptions (nearly 1,500) by the end of the year. This weeks edition has been mailed to an additional 8,000 homes in the area to promote the circulation drive. A series of radio ads has already begun on KALL. School clubs and organizations have been enlisted to help with the campaign on a commission basis. Future features in the West Mountain Times will include several tabloid inserts originating from Washington. The inserts which will deal separately with consumer news, features, and national issues will be part of the Times beginning this month with The General Store, a er-oriented insert. By the first part of next year Small World," the features insert, and the national insert will be included. consum- . . All this has Eppich concerned that change will evolve too quickly for Utah to adequately adjust. Particularly grating, he said, is a feeling that Watt "just wont sit down with conservation groups. Some of Watts plans for federal land include increasing oil, gas, and coal development; reducing lease restrictions; processing drilling permits more quickly; and increasing leasing in wilderness areas. He has already slashed deeply the Interiors conservation budget The birth of the West Mountain Times coincides with the slow deterioration of many inner-cit- y dailies and the growth of suburban weeklies. While newspapers Lke the Philadelphia Bulletin, the Detroit Sews, the Boston Herald-- mencan, and the Sew York Post seem destined to join the Washington Star in newspaper heaven, .advertising revenues for suburban weeklies is expected to grow significantly in this decade. One reason for this phenomenon is a shift in the direction of the advertising dollar, which is the only real measuring stick for a newspapers success or failure. Until recently, a papers circulation has determined its price for advertising. Advertisers sought papers if they could afford them. The new trend, however, is more toward who the readers are, not how many of them there are. In short, advertisers are now beginning to look at how much disposable income a papers readers have, not how many readers it has. This trend, inevitably, points away from inner city poverty and toward middle- - and suburban dwellers. And because advertisers want to reach the more affluent suburban resident, newspapers have had to wage a stronger effort to please those readers. Consequently, the poor inner-cit- y dweller is beginning to be ignored editorially in some places because of the financial reality of crucial advertising dollars. Many metropolitan dailies switched to "zoned editions, with each suburban area of the city getting its own section of local news. Weeklies have countered the five- -, six-- , or eek dailies with more local coverage and an increase in features the dailies cannot easily include, such as brief notes on local people, business, churches, and dubs and organizations. This approach is what Randolph-Sen- g meant by a "strongly community-oriented newspaper. Because the dailies have recently begun to compete for local news, weeklies have had to respond by becoming more local reporting; specialized in they have begun to be more careful not to duplicate non-locservices provided by dailies. A while increasing the budget for development. Several major conservation groups have called for his ouster, along with some key senators and representatives, but President Reagan has not shown any indication that he will replace W'att under fire. Watts land management policies will affect the western third of the country and Alaska, since nearly all land in the of the federally-owneUnited States is located there. d ufjer-middle-cla- seven-times-a-- w th al ss |
