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Show The Magna Times, West Valley News, Thursday, September 21, 2000 3 Editorial Letters to the editor Battlo for custody fought in court Toxic woodchips deadly to hamsters Editor, I provided a succession of hamsters with spacious cages they enjoyed well-ventilate- d, climbing, treadmills, wholesome food, regular cage cleanings and time. Nevertheless, they all died far frequent out-of-ca- short or normal life span. After adopting two mice, I learned about the pine shavings I had used for the hamsters bedding. Softwood shaving, particularly cedar and pine, have been linked to respiratory, liver and skin dis- eases in animals constantly exposed to them. This has been confirmed by veterinarians. Initially, you notice nothing unusual. Later on, it never crosses your mind that the animals illnesses or deaths could be' related to traditional bedding. But autopsies have revealed afflictions associated with softwood exposure. People report improvement in animals conditions after switching to other bed- given free choice animals reject softwood shaving in favor of other types of bedding. Most animal research laborato-ries-eve- n though they often do horrible things to animals avoid softwood shaving. But people who are devoted to their pets are largely uninformed. Editor, Giildren lose again! Our wonderful courts cant seem to get it clear what they want when it comes to the so called Dead Beat Dad. In one court they will punish, put warrants for their arrest (which keeps them away from their children), harass and hound them. Studies have found that people in the woodworking industry who are exposed to softwood dust have higher than usual incidences of squamous cell cancers of the But let one of these fathers decide to pay the child support,-includin- paying on the back supThen should ask to see his port respiratory tract Softwood shavings can aggravate other human respiratoiy ailments or allergies. My mince are doing will with a non-toxbedding made from reclaimed wood pulp waste. They also like soft tissue paper. ic Other safe bedding include those made from pressed paper pellets, alfalfa, grain aspen, straw, or recycled newspaper printed with soy ink. Joel Freedman Canandaigua, NY ding. D One study found that when children! The ex decides that now that she cant have him arrested she can then take him to court (since she has been able to keep him away because of the warrants) and have his rights terminated so her new husband can adopt these children and the courts do this. In Utah all you have to do is not see or talk to your child fro six months and your rights can b terminated. It doesnt make sense to me to terminate the rights of a father to his kids who has started to pay child support including on the back support. I fell this sends out terminate their rights anyway? Why should they put themselves through that HELL? When will the judges and the system realize that it took TWO to create the situation that keeps them away and set up a grace period for dads who decided to start to pay so that this cant happen? At least this would give the, incentives instead of reasons for NOT paying. When one of these dads starts to pay and wants to be a part of their childrens lives we should encourage this, even shout it from the roof tops so to speak, no punish them by terminating their rights. The saddest part is it is the children who lose again since they are now denied the love of their natural father and the stabling factor of knowing that their father loves them even though the parents are divorced. CJD (Editors Note: Name withheld by request) for water floridation Understanding the support these that needs more people endorsing Editor, In terms of fluoridation, the average voter relies on the endorsement of what fluoridation by various organizations and also by most dentists. Trying to understand how this came about led me to do research and ultimately to writing a book. A fuller understanding of the support that water fluoridation has is available in Fluoridation: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, a publication. In brevity, what one will find is that the endorsing groups have done little or no research on their own. I have a statement from the AMA th'atSays that even they ifclVfc rtobdorfe research." '"! The American Medicaf Association is not prepared to state that no harm will be done to any person by water fluoridation. The AMA has not carried out nay research work, either long-teror short-terregarding the possibility of any side effects. Organizations support fluoridation because the US Public m Health Service supports it Brain Martin articulated this point in his book. Scientific Knowledge in Controversy: The Social Dynamics of the Most of the endorsements. Martin Writes. Have been made on the basis of earlier endorsements by a few key organizations. In particular the USPHSandtheADA. At best, endorsing bodies relied on advice from a small number of experts, almost all of Fluoridation Debate. whom were committed promoters of fluoridation. A central question is, can all fluogood ridation be wrong? The answer is, yes. It has happened before. It takes time for the complete nature of some things to reveal itself. This is the case of fluoride. It is a slowly accumulating toxic substance. It accumulates in the Editor, I knew we could count on the tremendous support to children wonderful folks of Magna! and adults in Utah and to families across the country. Thanks to you, MDA main- - Lewis MDA Telethon raise a record, $54,6 10,289 in pledges tains 230 clinics, including the clinic at the University of Utah Thank you for helping the Jerry and contributions. Hundreds of celebrities and nearly a million volunteers worked Labor Day weekend to help my kids. Yet, all our hats are off to you Magna residents for phoning in pledges to the KTVX-T- for sup- porting fire fighter drives and other local Fill-the-Bo- ot MDA events. Your caring gives Medical Center in Salt Lake City. These havens of help are staffed by top medical experts dedicated to giving people challenged by care to muscle-wastin- diseases. Thanks to you, MDA will g con- - tinue to accelerate worldwide research seeking treatments and cures for devastating neuromuscular disorders which affect people of all ages, both sexes and Not surprisingly, healthcare has become a hot issue in the 2000 presidential campaign. It should be, because for too long, the plight of Americans who have insufficient or inadequate medical coverage has been relegated to the back burner. It is time to stand up and address the issue. More importantly, it is time that something substantive be done about it. Not to mention the prescription drug issue. The fact that our senior citizens, in particular, have grossly inadequate coverage or no coverage at all for prescription drugs is absolutely intolerable. I have a suggestion that could help resolve the problem while mitigating the impacts by spread- ing the costs across the entire spectrum of our community. Heres the idea. I call it the Adopt a Parent or Care and Share program. However, that is only one aspect of it In its broadest application, it would be a pro- gram that would enable any insured American to help another who is under insured or unin- sured. Ill start by addressing the needs of the elderly but we need to visualize the concept as something that can be applied across Ac board. Any insured American being able to adopt any other individual or family who is under insured or uninsured. During my growing up years, I always had excellent medical coverage thanks to the benefits provided by my parents through their employment. Today, I provide similar coverage for my unmarried children under the age of twenty-siMy wife and I both work and have coverages as a benefit of our employment Now x. the rhetorical question... Why cant I return the favor for my parents or have my children subsequently return the favor for my wife and I? Why isnt it possible for me to include my ninety-tw- o year old widowed mother on my coverage as well as my children? Why cant I adopt my parent? Imagine if every elderly or disabled person in the United States was adopted by someone who could claim them on their coverage be they a parent, child or not! Now let us extend the concept, imagine my wife and I being able to extend our coverage to an uninsured child or even another family that has no coverage! What if we could help each other in this country by using the resources we already have in place? I think it would work. All we have to do is figure out how to ship of date that the political leadership has not wanted to go to the public. This is the information process or pipeline through which flows information to enlists and local However, the Washington based EPA scientists-thos- e doing unanithe actual research-hav- e mously come tout against fluori- Editor, I am a 12 year old boy and I will be entering Junior High next year. I am concerned about violence in schools. Ive heard seme talk about kids bringing guns and knives to school. Do you think it would cost too much to install metal detectors? i think metal detectors would help - . . - There is 'an obvious gulf between those at the head of the EPA and those who do the research work. Why, is a question every nationality. Youll be inter- ested to know that the breakthroughs being pioneered by MDA investigators may also soon lead to therapies fin heart disease, cancer, AIDS, Alzheimers, Huntington's, Parkinson's, and Lake Junior Highs Strassburg has selected as Granite School Districts Teacher of the Year. Her impact on our community is immense. West Most children that have attended West Lake have taken the opportunity to become part of her choral groups. Jennifer has taught music at the school for more than 25 years, directing the largest advanced choir of any junior high in Utah. Along with Miss Rounds and Miss Hagen, Jennifer has put on some of the best school plays in the nation. They have the youth from the school perform the music live instead of using taped recordings like some schools do. who has tried to a major presentation knows how difficult it is, but it doesnt stop these marvelous individuals from giving their all for the youth of our com- Anyone munity. Jennifer mentors new teachers at the school, serves on West d committee as Lakes well as always encouraging students to strive for the highest of Ken Howard Highland Violence in schools because kids wouldnt even try bringing guns or knives for fear of being caught. Do you think it would help if every school had a full time police officer? Spencer Crowther , Magna goals. The Granite School Board is proud of Jennifer and know that we have thousands of other Jennifers teaching in our schools. Congratulations Jennifer! short time we were at the school. Journeying the from and English math building in the back of the school, we found our way to the next classroom located on the second floor of the main building. and Peterson Senator the new stopped science lab rooms and addressed concerns from the biology teacher who stated that the district and the legislature have provided money for the hardware, but the need for more money from the legislature to buy software was critical. Our second period class, consisting of approximately 27 students, was a typical history class. Peterson found that some students do pay attention and asked some pointed questions regarding her presentation. She remarked how pleased he was about the astuteness of the young individuals and encouraged them to get involved in the process. We received our results for the Criterion Referenced Test (CRT) school year. for the 1999-200- 0 The good news is that all the scores either were up or maintained the same average as last year except for one. Only the e math was down but only by one percentage point. have been using this data help teachers review the results and see how they can meet the instructional requirements of students. Each test result shows the level of mastery of the individual components. Every teacher has received the results of the students who make up their current year as well as the results from the class that they taught last year. Parents are also encouraged to analyze the results with each teacher and develop a plan to help each student gamer the best educational experience possible. fourth-grad- Friday, Sept. 22 was Americas Legislature Back to School Day. Several elected cials chose to participate by offidis- cussing the legislative process with students. I had the opportunity to go to Granger High with Senator Millie Peterson. The experience was an educational highlight. The first group was an English as a Second Language History class. Most of the approximately 20 students had little mastery of the English language, but listened attentively and asked questions. of the individuals had Severalin the United States for only a short time and have corne to Granger from all over the world. The changing demographics of our district were extremely evident in the classroom and the challenges that our teachers face every day were evident in the We forward to hearing the readers, you me at contact may write this newspaper, or me at judyweeksuswest.net. Other board members welcome your calls also. Check out the diweb at stricts page Looking 966-557- www granite.k 1 2.ut.us. cystic fibrosis. For more information or to get involved, call your local MDA office at (801) 278-620MDA 0, Cyprus Credit Union national headquarters at (800) 572-171- 7, www.mdausa.ca-g-. or, visit Visa Jerry Lewis, MDA National Chairman, CCiccEi Sard 520-529-53- Use it at the pump. Lets care and share for seniors By KENT GOBLE Staff Writer space. However, there is a lot of evidence of cover-up- s and censor- health officials. dation. unlft Judy Weeks site-base- bones, the teeth and the organs. After decades of commitment to water fluoridation, the proponents are in a state of denial regarding the latest research. It usually takes huge bureaucracies a long time to change. Thank you from Jerrys kids Telethon on the wrong message. Why should they come in and pay child support if the courts are just going to make it happen. Costs? Of course there would be costs. Perhaps our premiums would increase. The give an offsetting tax exemption or credit or deduction, or whatever. Yes, there ought to be something to off-set some of the potential cost incurred because we are willing to care and share. Ve do that all of the time. Why not for health care and prescription drugs. We could do it up front before the government has to get involved. Government funding (using our tax dollars) would be the indirect result of the exemptions or credits or deductions. And government funding would be reserved for any circumstances that might not otherwise be covered. I say, why not! If we want to have universal coverage as a goal in the country, why not do it in a way that can really make a difference. Why not United Way' concept of sharing our resources and benefits with those less fortunate than ourselves. I The card that works like a check e plus checking account today and apply for Open a Cyprus Credit Union a Visa check card. The Visa check card has no annual fee, is easier than no-fe- information stop by writing checks and is accepted anywhere Visa is. For more the nearest branch or call us at 250-585- 8. ij Z i t I ,Jr O 1 ) 'J . think every American who is able would be willing to extend a helping hand to those in need if we were smart enough to make it possible. George W...Al...why not give this idea a chance? Let us really Care and Share in a way that can truly make Lwww.cypruscu.com 7, |