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Show THE WEST MOUNTAIN TIMES, DECEMBER 10, 1981, PAGE TWO Opinion and commentary situations different real-lif- e Dangerous, exploded Thursday, causing about $1,000 damage in a mens restroom. Through their cooperation with the school administration and police investigators to identify the culprits, the majority of Granger students demonstrated they are responsible citizens who are appalled by the actions of a few classmates. Probably every student has had a similar fantasy, particularly someone who didnt complete an important assignment or one who received an unsatisfactory grade. time or It is most common around report-car- d or final examination, just before a however it also happens during drills or other circumstances when anxious pupils are evacuated from the school building, interrupting class for an mid-ter- m We are pleased they didnt remain silent out of loyalty to individuals who placed their lives in jeopardy and wantonly destroyed public property, or out of fear of retaliation. mis-guid- ed period. As we remember, there was usually a lot of joking and laughing on occasions like that. Conversations included remarks like: Anybody see smoke? Wouldnt it be great if suddenly the building really did catch fire (or blow up, according to the circumstances surrounding the evacuation of students) and bum to the ground. No more school. Super! YVe applaud the student body officers for willingly facing up to the severity of the situation and organizing groups for discussion. We also commend the administration for allowing the student body officers the freedom to implement their plan. that the handful of students involved in the bombing be punished sufficiently to act as a deterrent to any possible bombing at Granger or other Utah high schools in the future. We also encourage Granger and other students to remain vigilant and cooperative. This will help deter future acts of vandalism and terrorism, not only at school but in the community as well. Although regrettable, the bombing may have some positive after effects if the students learn from this unfortunate experience. It Speculation about whether the alarm was the real thing this time was exciting, but we were always confident it was just another routine drill and we werent in any danger. It was a school-child- 's game and we had the luxury of letting our vivid imaginations run wild. But things are different in a dangerous, real-lif- e situation. We doubt that Granger High School students felt any satisfaction when a vandals homemade bomb is necessary Roving reporter Management, union should compromise Of bread crusts and economics once met a man who had all the answers. As a reporter, 1 meet a lot of people who think they have all the answers. But none compare to my nameless counselor. 1 TAYLORSVILLE version ten-year-- of a of myself was gnawing the peanut butter and banana sandwich on Roman Mol bread. I see you like the crust best too, he said. Knowing better than to talk to strange men, 1 discarded the crust onto the table and sunk my teeth into the exact middle of the other sandwich half. middle diagonally-slice- d And it failed miserably because inflation had already gone too far. If the same freeze were put into effect now, it would debilitate millions whose current wage increases are not keeping up with the cost of living. And it would not affect those who make more than enough to cover Some people arent very smart, disregarding my lack of attention. the crust because they dont like it. know that the crust is the best part for last he continued, They dont eat But you and I So we save it, I hated the crust, but 1 wasnt about to let this odd grown-u- p get away with thinking that 1 was So 1 silently one of the unsmart crust-hater- s. finished my sandwich, then ate the crust All of it could tell you were a smart girl, he said. l'U tell you something else: someday the is because everybody wants going to crash economy 10 raise a percent every year, and nobody increases their productivity by 10 percent any year. 1 pretended my mouth was cemented shut with butter and hopscotched back to school. peanut I didnt understand anything hed said about the economy, and I didnt care. I was thinking about bread crusts and the astonishing new concept of saving the best for last. Ten years later, my budding journalists selective memory for quotable quotes recalled his statement. Wrapped in 20 pages of verbal padding and disguised as a term paper, it earned me a A in Economics 201. 1 still believe that man had the answers. Both of them. Inflation wasnt initiated by OPEC, just accelerated. Inflation is inevitable in a system where people wages are increased 10 percent each year, while their productivity may rise only two or three percent per year after they are trained probably less if theyve been on the job 20 years. On a national scale, prices must follow wage increases or companies win not be able to pay employees. And wage increases must follow price increases or employees win starve. Richard Nixon tried a freeze. 1 badly-need- wage-and-pri- ed expenses What if the wage freeze was limited to that group? It wouldnt attack the root of the problem so neatly capsulized by my sandwich mentor, but it would be a pinprick in the overblown blimp of our economy. It might even be effective. Think there arent many people who pull in more than $50,000? 1 thought so too, until I called 20 friends who, fanned out across the nation to become corporate peons. ' Each of them reported the same conclusions I had reached at the corporation I was then working for: the l20th of their corporations employees who gross more than $50,009 $60,000 is the same group which receives 20 percent wage increases, plus bonuses, for delegating most of their work. view of corporate Naturally, this is a worms-ey- e economics. And my low-lev- d friends, whose increases had averaged four percent, were certainly grinding axes as well as gnashing teeth. Regardless of bias in my example sources, the point is valid: the domestic bottom line of inflation, the simple but unmentionable (especially among politicians trying to remain popular) crux of the issue, is that almost nobody deserves a 10 percent yearly wage increase. Attitttnt Publittm JR. DEBRA CURRY Reporter Mrortiung Utnagtr RAND GREEN REGINA COATS Published weekly on Thursdays, with offices at 4140 West 5415 South ia Kearns, Utah 841 IS. Telephone (801) 966 . AH rights reserved. Application to mail at second daw postage rates is pending at Salt Lake City, Utah and additional offices. POSTMASTER tend change of address to 4140 West $415 South, Kearns, Utah 841 IS. e neighbors. On the surface, the problem Valley residents in last week's public hearing on the proposed site for the house, 2560 West 2365 South. You have a responsibility to these people, they said again and again. One board member spoke of the Saviors admonition to Love thy neighbor. But many West Valley residents think its high time citizens on the east side of the Valley be given these same grandiose opportunities for service to coroer-of-the-pa- Letters Just a note to thank you people ending the nears clipping to u on Operation Patriotism program presented at Inkeridge Elementary Nov. J. of continuing to print our news of Magna. I wont recite the things that I for the we on We enjoy doing the programs for the children and hope they gain a greater sense of patriotism from this. hoped would be included. I realize the blame isnt all yours. You cant print it if you dont know it. Perhaps you need to contact Cyprus to get afl their news. (Lois) Knutsen worked hard and long hours to get responses for other sorts of news. We certainly appreciate your reporter 1 worked on a weekly when 1 was bring on hand that day to take care of younger, so 1 know some of your pictures and news articles. We win add problems. 1 know that you cant afford this to our scrapbook. one person to take the time k would take to make the photographs and do all the news gathering here. Sincerely, PhyQis Sandstrom President Ex Officio Chapter 9. NOO Academy Graduate Association Perhaps you could offer several local people the chance to do reporting for a remuneration. The paper is looking better and seeing other improvements. Im 966-444- Dear friends: Im disappointed in the paper. One, you are not fulfilling the promise t their fellow man. Commissioner Renee Mackay got to the heart of the matter when she said West Valley police would have a difficult time backing the facilitys security. As a state institution, Mackay said the facility will pay no local taxes. And increased burden on local police with no increase in funding does sound a trifle unfair. Another resident said West Valley City incorporated because citizens were tired of all the housing and other similar projects being into the west side of the Valley. pushed Those who oppose the halfway house as a matter of principle deserve to have their position taken into consideration. State as well as county and local governments should deal in a balanced way with each portion of the community. But those who oppose the proposed halfway house simply because with all due respect I dont want them around me, need to take a long hard look at themselves and see if maybe that charge of hypocrisy isnt being leveled directly at them. low-inco- Your opinions matter Dear Editor, 966-444- 1 looks obvious. of Corrections officials seemed to be pointing out a certain amount of hypocrisy among West Board Yearly subscriptions are it, SI0 outside Utah. Advertising deadline: $ P . Monday for the following Thursday edition. For rates call (801) Send correspondence to 4140 West $41) South, Kearns, Utah 841 18. News items from dubs, churches, and other organizations are welcome. The deadline it J p m. Monday for the following 4 for freelance pay Thursday edition. Call (801) rates. Not responsible for unsolicited pictures and news articles. raise. asked Manic Heavy Nobody's getting what - within West Valley City limits. Area residents seem to concur on the need for such facilities. These houses offer inmates a transitionary period in which they prepare to enter the work force while still retaining dose contact with rehabilitation officials. But although everyone seems to recognize the need for the facilities, nobody wants its inmates for Worse yet, I still eat the pizza crust first, and the cheesy middle always slops off. And I eat the outside edge (yes, the crust) of the pie first, which attracts stares. And the (yuk) lima beans first. n brownies first. And the And, of course, the peanut butter and banana sandwich crust first. RANDOLPH-SEN- cost-of-livi- ... ... The Utah Board of Corrections will decide by today whether or not to put a new halfway house Grim? Indeed. Economics always is. Especially when youve been staring at an inevitable-cras- h theory since you were ten. Pubhther a demands. Im in favor of the drivers, government spending needs to be cut said Cileta Scaw of Taylorsville. back, and American people need to They showed up for work in good work harder . . . and demand less. faith and they should be allowed to Thats why prices are so high if work but it the federal subsidies are we'd all take a little less, wed pay a little less. gone, I can understand. It's a very difficult situation. But, said Pidcock, its too bad the bus It's not fair to lock people out of drivers are getting cut first, because they jobs, said Jim Davenport of Salt Lake make less money than most employees of large corporations or the government. City. Both the union and management are at fault. But the driven should settle Its got to stop somewhere, said Thu Krogh of Midvale. now. Some said they hope the contract If the driven dont Othen agreed. shuts down the bus system dispute If the give, theyll lose their jobs. As soon as they get the altogether. R said isn't isnt there, there, money buses off the roads, ID be happy, said DavM G. Psurssu of Taylorsville. But, said Pearson, be thinks that UTA a father from West Valley City. But most residents expressed concern should try to find a way to get the and sympathy for both union and UTA. money. If 1 was in the union. Id squawk. If I Pearson, like many others, wants to was in management, Id do the same see the bus system replace the federal did. They had to force their funding. He and most of the residents I thing they talked to said they would be willing to hand. What else can they do? asked N.G. Knight. '; pay an increased sales tax, perhaps Perhaps the most significant' dement another quarter of a cent per dollar,- to to be considered here is that none of the subsidize the bus system. people quoted above rode the bus But some said any increase in taxes regularly. In fact, in an hour and a half was too much. I'm not ever in favor of stopping shoppers, I didnt find one of taxes going up. said Pal Pldcack of person who depended on the bus for Reagan sns right in transportation. Taylorsville. in federal money. AH cut that nuking Perhaps they couldnt get there. Opposition based in hypocrisy? restraining leashes. i get they need. Other residents supported the drivers' economics has ReaganStockman only hastened the pace by removing the few supply-sid- dont of Taylorsville. tad-chas- e. WEST MOUNTAIN TIMES Cditor W. GLEN FA1RCLOUGH, 1 Why should they? winner basis, that 10 percent is a for survival. But on a national level, its a requisite futile, scrambling Msa& JOHN cost-of-livi- per-bre- ad Serving West Velley, Megne, end Keernt msnus-Mo- But nearly all sympathized more with bus passengers than with either the union or UTA. N.G. Knight of Its worst for the Taylorsville said, people who ride the bus. They're the ones being economical, and they're the ones getting hurt. Shoppers interviewed Tuesday evening by the West Mountain Times in shopping centers along southern Redwood Road said they sympathized with the drivers because they, too, were not getwage increases. ting I'm having a hard time keeping up said with the cost of living myself, Face it, these Joha Lay of Murray. are hard times economically. Everybodys getting behind. those who clear more than, say, $50,000. On a Mott area residents say that both UTA management and the Amalgamated Transit Union Division 382 members who were locked out of their buses Sunday night should give in and be willing to compromise. (See Bus riden stranded tory on page 1.) ng He sat down at the picnic table where the 1969: B?AmeKdt Yours truly, Alice Murphy 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 your letter to The Editor, West Mountain Times, 4140 West 5415 South, Kearns, Utah 84118. 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 |