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Show Tut WEST MOUNTAIN TIMES. NOVEMBER 12. 1981. PAGE TWO Opinion and Commentary Voluntarism: empty slogan or feasible alternative? staggering we could not begin to describe it in a short space. But it is real and growing. In that light voluntarism sounds like a cruel joke. And it may become that. But if those who could make it more than an empty slogan the large corporations, the large foundations were to take the movement seriously, it would do more than government could ever accomplish to excise that societal cancer. President Ronald Reagan appointed a task force last month to promote voluntarism in America. The noble idea is for citizens groups to help their fellow citizens who are in need. Government, with its avaricious bureaucracies, could not do the job. But, the thinking goes, volunteers can do it or at least as much as should be done. Thats one of the caveats. A lot of people dont deserve to be helped, the new thinking goes, and once they find out they are not going to be helped, they will like you and we, naturally do for ourselves what they should have been doing in the first place. This is all very wonderful in theory this but new way of thinking but it does not coincide with reality. It is true that there are undeserving poor, for example, and people who are not so poor but who will fleece the system because the opportunity is there. But it is truer that there are more people who not only deserve to be helped by the rest of us but who in fact must be and not just for their sakes. For what we have is a cancer that is eating away at the body politic at the very fabric of our society and it affects all of us. It is not immoral in fact is quite just to Only by going into the homes and teaching values along with healthful hygiene, basics in education and practical economics will we ever arrest the growth of this cancer. And none of us no matter what our political persuasion could tolerate government acting in that fashion. Only private organizations, and only those organizations committed to helping people help themselves without ulterior motivations that is, specifically, pledged to do this without proselytizing for either political or religious reasons can make such a movement work. If an amalgamation of such organizations as the Ford and Rockefeller foundations and various church denominations and established social rights groups were to concentrate on a variety of specific pilot projects in inner cities across the nation you might begin to see the first real signs of progress in the fight against this cancer. Such an alliance would have to be committed to a program aimed at inn values with which all stilling basic the participating groups could be comfortable and which all could support; providing basic educational programs to supplement and complement the public y schools and to help families learn practical, survival techniques; and building neighborhood and inner city economic programs through private capital and expertise. Anything short of such a monumental movement ill become only a palliative; worse, a nostrum that uses hope but soon is uncovered. Then you have ieeper cynicism, resentments that spread through he nmion and a profound setback in any attempt separate the opportunistic parasites from the innocent helpless. It is immoral and unjust to use blanket judgments to condemn all those who cry out for help from the rest of us. Among those deserving our help are many labelled economically and culturally deprived. Extremists often despise the label because they think it is bureaucratic gobbledegook used to justify bureaucratic empire building. The emphasis should be on the culturally," for that is at the heart of the problem. Our inner cities are crowded with people people generations of culturally-deprive- d who have been taught no basic moral values. If a youngster is taught to take it for granted that the state will supply his basic housing and food needs, give-m- e can that child be blamed for a built-i- n attitude? The depth of this cancer of valuelessness is so Judeo-Christia- day-to-da- h p'aress. Marriott's tar sand legislation gains unanimous approval WASHINGTON, D.C. Congress has passed legislation making it easier for industry to mine and substance refine tar sand, an believed to hold up to 30 billion barrels of fuel in the United States, mostly in Utah. An estimated 97 percent of the tar sand in the country is in Utah, predominantly in its eastern By Ron DesJarlais Allied Press International half. The state, however, is not expected to feel the legislations effects for quite a while. Tar sand is a viscous, oily substance which must be heated in order to be drilled from deep inside the earth, where much of it resides. According to the Department of Energy, it is the "largest known petroleum resource in the United States. Its relative importance, however, to domestic fuel supplies is illustrated when compared with oil shale, of which 100.8 trillion barrels exist under American non-flui- d soil. According to the Congressional Research Service, optimistic estimates peg tar sand production at only 100,000 barrels per day by 1995. There is no production today on federal lands, although there is some on private tracts. Sixty-fiv- e percent of the known tar sand sites in Utah is on federal land. The legislation just passed allows industry to obtain leasing for both oil and K MICE SLOISyf BIT DOtf T SlJtyE ITS k LOttf? Vbirrtfctiiifs liTTlE TOO sale. As an innocent consumer, I approached the sale with hope and good faith that I might emerge a few cents richer for my insight in choosing this store to shop. Ha! By Debbie Curry ' '' y When I arrived, 1 discovered that throngs of other parents were also insightful. The crowd could have Filled the stadium at a NFL football game. To my dismay, all the toys my little boy had personally ordered had been snatched up. I ended up with a Wet the Bed Dolly, and a Barbie Beauty Salon. I should have realized that my son would not be happy with such gifts (not to mention his "macho father) but in a toy sale the mind is frazzled and very, very rushed. I timidly approached the counter with my selections, uttering a silent prayer that they would accept my check. The store across the street had refused it, although 1 carried 15 forms of I.D., my birth certificate, my Red Cross blood donor card, my passport and was personally bonded for S3, 000. After waiting in line for 30 minutes, I earned the senority of being second in line. (The lady in front of me had been there for six months.) Finally, my turn. The clerk slowly entered the prices into the cash register. She was in no rush because she was being paid by the hour. I unveiled my checkbook and explained that I was a noble and trustworthy person. After telephone calls to the Credit Bureau, several banks and my mother-in-lathey were per , , "" CD Tat 9 three-year-ol- in THg BfES knhs . ble cause its tmfki q -- V ro Bee-utif- md (11 .4tT yt'y'y fit CUK000 Jts V rrn? spurious tOtut Reporter REGINA COATS SENG Amsiant Publisher JR. use our Classifieds call West Mountain Times 966-444- 4 WEST MOUNTAIN TIMES W GLEN FAIRCLOUGH. BLAH Why not Serving West Valley, Magna, and Kearns JOHN RANDOLPH swes TIMES (ISPS I25MO; in Kearns. Utah 64118 Telephone 1601) 966-444- 4 All right reserved Second-clas- s Application pending at Sait Lake City, Utah 84119 and additional office at Magna, Utah 64044 POSTMASTER sent change of address to 4140 West 5415 South, Keams. Utah 64116 vea-isubscriptions are 68. 610 outside Utah. Advertising deadnne 5pm Monday for the following Thursday edition. For rate call 8Ci1( Send correspondence to Bos 248. y Magna, Utah 64044 New Hems frepn chib, churches, and other organizations are weicome The deadline is 6 p m Monday for the following Thursday edition Call 801 9664444 for freelance pay rates. Not responsible for unsolicited picture and news d suaded to accept my check. How much do I make as a down payment to put those toys in layaway," I asked the clerk. What, she blurted, you want layaway? The layaway line is on the opposite side of the counter. At that moment I knew the thing to really layaway was this sales clerk. I smiled through my teeth and remorsefully took my place at the end of the layaway line. After another 30 minutes expired, the new clerk slowly plunked the prices into the computerized cash register. Unfortunately, I could not see just what prices she plunked. How much are you putting down," asked the clerk. I answered Twenty-fiv- e percent of the total, (store policy). The clerk bellowed, There is no way Ill know I total until your ring up how much youre going to down. put I chose not to argue with this logic but was beginning to wonder if the Wet the Bed Dolly" was worth it. Seven dollars, I said. Ten," she snapped back. I said. (I expected Monte O.K., 10 dollars, Hall to jump out and say, Hey, youre on Lets Make a Deal!) It was only upon my exit from the store that I thought to examine the receipt. 1 should have known. She had not charged me the sale prices but had me pay the regular retail amount! After 30 more minutes, a lot of persuasion, costs and attorney's fees, finally got the matter straightened out and saved my two dollars and fifty cents. However, from now on, in order not to ruin the spirit of good cheer and love that is on everyones lips at Christmastime, I am going to do my shopping in July. 1 Dear Reader: Advertising mantger RAND GREEN postage at Magna. Utah 24-3- 0 Your opinions matter Letters DEBRA CURRY Published on Thursday, with offices at 4140 West. 5415 South ), Shop early - avoid yuletide insanities The other day 1 fell victim to one of the most a toy seducing webs of the Christmas industry 'y's gas and tar sand for the same site. Since I960, when the Mineral Leasing Act was amended to include tar sand, only five leases had been granted, all between I960 and 1965. Industry was able to obtain either an oil and gas lease or a tar sand lease for a piece of land, not both. This created legal problems, which included defining oil and tar sand when the company initially was not sure what it would find upon drilling. As a result, companies opted for the oil and gas lease and processed whatever oil or gas they found. The litigation grew to such that the Interior Department declared an informal moratorium on tar sand leases in 1965. None of the five granted ever resulted in commercial production of oil. The new law, introduced by Rep. Dan Marriott allows industry to develop a tract of federal land for either oil and gas or tar sand. The measure passed the House of Representatives 416 to 0 and the Senate without debate. It is unknown how much of the estimated billion barrels will be able to be developed or how or when Utah will be affected. According to Congressional staff, special refining facilities will have to be built, or existing ones modified, to treat tar sand. It is also unknown how deep most of the tar sand lies and how difficult it will be to heat it so that it will flow to the surface. The leases for the federal lands will last for only 10 years, staffers said, with no extensions. President Reagan is expected to sign the bill into law. small town. Dear Editor: Lois Dallof A rate increase for Magna water? Is this a joke? As one who has (and that is one reason I would never live in Magna) I Dear Glen: find it hard to believe they can get away Congratulations on being named with charging anything for it. Mountain Times. editor of the H Not only does k taste nasty, k is also It sounds like a great opportunity. I did the same thing a number of years (indirectly) unhealthy. It may be safe enough, but I know people in Magna ago left a metropolitan daily to who have gotten fat from Kool-aibecome editor of a weekly. I loved it. because they couldnt stand to drink Good luck. the water any other way. Tell John Randolph-Sen(Publisher Cant something be done to make of the Wesf Mountain Times) he was Magnas water more palatable? right. The two issues of the paper I If it could, then a rate increase might received do look 1000 percent better. be justified and well worth it. Steve Bennett, If not well, at least thats one way Allied Press International to assure Magna will always stay a Washington, D C. bureau chief d g ( 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 your letter to The Editor, West Mountain Times, Box 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 Times 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 of a stamp. The Editor |
