Show Sj Oh Horrors The Salt akc Tribune Tuesday September A 13 6 1988 i The Public Forum Oil 11ULLX 1 Tribune Readers’ Opinions Talk Shows Don’t Basil Rambo By Jim Wright Dallas Morning News At the screening of The Last Temptation of Christ I found the protestors behavior more offensive than the movie could ever be One over zealous man went as far as to tell a mov legoer she was going to hell hat an incredible gift this man has If one movie could influence people we would have a million kids irving to imitate the antics of Fred Kruger and Norman Bates It s bad enough the' children tend have the Rambo mentality It s OK to kill someone so long as thev re bad guvs Yet as long as I ve lived here in Utah not one of these demonstrators has ever protested a Rambo or a slasher horror movie JUDY HAAKSMA Stop the presses' Tear out the front page' Lock and load' Just when we all thought this was going to be a slow news year The Associated Press has broken a big story on a major civil liberties outrage V Somebody’s been shamelessly duping television talk show producers Or maybe thats shameFULLY duping the wretched producers There’s certainly plenty of shame in there somewhere Whatever it is the kind of thing that no decent society can allow if it wishes to continue to call itself civilized According to the AP story two actors have come forw ard and revealed that they went on several TV talk shows and — 1 m quoting AP here — “posed as guests with sexual problems ” Thank heavens we watchdogs of the media on the prowl as usual have turned up this threat to our talk show industry’s credibility It is not too late to take steps According to the AP revelations the female suspect has confessed to “posing as a woman who had been married 14 years and hated sex " On “The Oprah Winfrey Show” can you believe it? Then not content to have deceiv ed Oprah and millions of sob story fans the suspect several months later recruited a male henchperson for a veritable duet of diabolical deception on “The Sally Jessy Raphael Show ” The AP reports that the pair allegedly appeared “posing as an impotent husband and his sex surrogate ” The latter job title described in the report as “a stand-isexual partner” is used by practitioners of one of those new health care professions Presumably the pair is now in deep trouble with the medical society trade association or other standards-momtonnorganization that polices that career field But imitating impotence and impersonating a sex surrogate on national TV apparently had grown too g tame for this team once they had fooled Sally Jessy The duo decided to strike at the very foundation of our Republic According to the female suspect confessing counterfeit carnal concerns provides the same sort of slippery slope as any other addiction “After you go through the first one they get really easy” she told newsmen Well that's what they all say In no way does it excuse the pair’s next and most heinous offense The two had the gall to practice their deception on the nation's TV talk show of record the legendary “Geraldo ” In this third fabrication the female suspect merely repeated her previous role as a simulated sex surrogate But the male claimed before a audience to be a virgin' Two decades deep in the Sexual Revolution it may or may not be a federal offense to be a virgin — someone will have to look that up However there can be little doubt that going on “Geraldo" and falsely claiming to be chaste is an extremely serious matter When this kind of enormity is perpetrated on broadcastings foremost investigative reporter small wonder that citizens are beginning to 'ose faith in major institutions as disparate as television ministers and the Social Security system Terrible as it was that the pair put one over on Geraldo” about the male suspect s sex life — or lack of d one — according to the AP the sos also lied about his age Even had his problem been authentic the AP notes that the most he could have accurately claimed was that he was a virgin that being his true age The act amounts to a compound TV fib and considerably aggravates the basic crime of bamboozling Geraldo Rivera which is probably not by itself a felony It would be nice to note some remorse for all this duplicity but no such contrition is apparent The female suspect 37 saucily pointed out that Geraldo" tapes at a little studio on 42nd and Broadway so now I can say I ve appeared on Broadway The remark strongly suggests that she at least has become a hardened hoaxer a menace to the entire industry Yet the justice system seems totally unable to provide equal protection of the laws to the poor talk show producers who earn their daily bread peddling this stuff The senior producer of Geraldo spoke for her colleagues in warning talk show viewers that if someone really has the intention to put one over on you I m not sure what all the safeguards are to pro tect yourself Truer words were never spoken on any talk show If the tw o presidential finalists ae as quick on the uptake as Dick Gephardt was one of them will surelv grab th's new issue and run w Oh it It was Gephardt recall who seized the day earlv m his candidacy and pro posed legislation to protect us masses from colorized b'ack and white movies At anv rate something must be done and fact If line about libido cn the T i' al'owed to spread this nation m ght sorn rfav see its cri7en even begmo rg to d uvt A Mow frnm which rf Donahue course American lournchsm could never hcpe to mr"! er n g tale-tellin- 1 Bush Serves Swiss Cheese on 'Wry’ New York Times Service NEW YORK — George Bush got a big laugh from the mostly affluent Republicans who heard his acceptance speech w hen he derided Democratic references to “a Swiss cheese economy ” Now the Census Bureau has confirmed that the economy is indeed riddled with holes and that s no laughing matter Nor is it just three bund mice” — Bush’s term for the Messrs Dukakis Bentsen and Jackson — who are aware of those holes Millions of Americans not least the working poor have learned about them the hard way — by falling m — while Vice President Bush has been in office That surely includes many of those ‘ Reagan Democrats of 1980 and 1984 that both parties see as a key to this year s election It’s no wonder however that George Bush’s Republican audience laughed most of them have got theirs and are getting more The richest one-fiftof American families took 43 7 percent of the nation s total income last year compared to 40 4 percent in 1967 while the poorest one-fift- h got only 4 6 percent as against 5 5 percent in 1967 It wasn't just the poor who suffered at the hands of the rich either Those m between the richest and the poorest are worse off too they had 54 1 percent of the national income 21 years ago but only 51 7 percent in 1987 Republican presidents sat in the White House for 15 of those 21 years George Bush s tutor in trickle-dowpolicies for seven of them The Census Bureau report was not Bush will find numbers that he no doubt will crow about — for instance that the overall proportion of Americans living under the poverty line ($11611 cash income for a family of four) in 1987 dropped by a hair from 13 6 percent in 1986 to 13 5 percent Tom Wicker ’ h n one-side- d Forum Rules Public Forum letters must be submitted exclusively to The Tribune and bear writer’s full name signature and address Names must be printed on political letters but may be withheld for good reason on others are limited to one letter every 10 days Preference will be given to short typewritten (double spaced! letters permitting use of the writer's true name All letters are subject to condensation Mail to the Public Forum The Salt Lake Tribune PO Box 867 Salt Lake City Utah 84110 nanced Economic Policy Institute It shows that even those with jobs were worse off economically in 1987 than they were at the end of the Carter administration For example — Since 1979 weekly wages ad justed for inflation have fallen by 9 percent and the incomes of married-couplfamilies without a wage earning wife have declined by 4 percent — In the same period 85 percent of newly created jobs have been in the lowest paving industries while the number of jobs in the highest-wagindustries — service as well as goods producing — has declined — From 1979 to 1986 the number of full time year round workers who earn less than the poverty level increased by more than 600 000 ' — The average familv headed bv a person between 25 and 34 years old had 12 percent less income than such a family in 1973 Even the real drop in joblessness has a cheesy lining Whi'e unemployment rates returned to the levels of 1978” the Census Bureau report prompted Robert Greenstein of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities to observe “poverty levels are far higher than the 1 1 4 percent figure for that year and eight million more Americans are poor So despite the complacent oratory and laughter in New Orleans these sad figures tell us plainly that for eight years George Bush and Ronald Reagan have kept their eyes upon the cheese and not upon the holes rit-er- e ‘ He won t point out however that the bureau called this decline statistically insignificant and he 11 have to be careful where he makes his brag That s because the proportion of blacks in poverty rose from 311 percent in 1986 by a full two points to 33 1 last year in the same period the percentage of Hispanies under the line climbed from 27 3 to 28 2 Only whites broke the dismal pattern with 10 5 percent in poverty compared to 11 percent in 1986 Altogether after five years of the economic expansion Bush touted so fulsomely at New Orleans and with unemployment substantially down 32 5 million Americans black white of and brown more than the population lived under the poverty line in 1987 Worse 40 percent of them were children under 18 of all American these were one-fiftchildren The poverty rate for ale-headed households was 34 3 percent — more than a third The poverty pattern was repeated — more holes in the cheese — in the median income statistics up for whites down for blacks and Hispan-ic- s Median family income for the whole population though it will be trumpeted as the highest in history actually was onlv a few dollars better than in 1973 — $30 853 to $30 820 in 1987 dollars The Census Bureau report was underlined this Labor Day weekend by the release of a new study of “working America by the privately fi- ore-sevent- h h fem- and Air Force all of which are honorable and necessary It would be different had he been one of those voting men who fled to Canada or rioted or tore up draft cards or burned selective service offices or claimed conscientious objector sta tus without having a conscientious belief He in mv opinion was a pa triot to be applauded and not condemned The assault on Sen Quavleandthe Guard is a cheap shot and I for one resent it suspect that some of those newsmen who challenge his patri otism couldn t withstand a $5 investi gation regarding where they were and what they did during the 60 s JACKSON HOWARD e s ‘ To Be Applauded The rerent slander of Dan Quayle and vicariously the National Guard by his opponents and members of the press is offensive to the great majority of the American people Service in the Guard is honorable decent and patriotic National Guard units were the nucleus of our Army in World War II and Korea and suf- ‘ fered enormous casualties Th'1 Guard is always amenable to the president s call and immediate mobilization I for one am proud of the Guard its officers and men In regard to Sen Quayle while he did not go to Vietnam his enlistment in the Guard was no different from the thousands of other young men in the reserve units of the Armv Navv ’ 1 Needed Quickly I am amused bv all the bureaucrats and politicians who are warning us that California is in such bad shape now because of the Proposition 13 tax referendum there in the 1970s If California is so bad oft why are our citizens leaving this state bv the thousands to get jobs there’ If California is in such bad shape because of their tax limitations then why did my parents (who are taxpayers there) get a sizable tax refund from a tax surplus last year” During mv recent vacation to California I read in the San Diego newspaper that La Jolla is trying to limit construction of new houses in that city to only about 9 000 units per year Woufdn t it be wonderful to talk about limiting new construction for a change instead of wondering how we are going to get rid of all our homes we can t sell because our economy is going down the drain” Or wondering how we are going to rent all the empty office space around Salt Lake City” If California in 1988 is the product of a tax limitation initiative then please let us get tax limitation as soon as possible ALLAN MAXWELL What’s the Fuss? i Whv is it so hard for us as adults to follow the same advice often givenTo our children” "It s only a movie" and that s not real are terms we forggt all too quickly As far as I know not one person associated with the production of ’’The Last Temptation of Christ was actually there nor is Jesus really in the movie So what s pH the fuss about” Well lots of fusp equals lots of ticket sales May be thats the answer We will never learn BILL TALBOT ’ Ynim JS Jack C Landau coast-to-coa- ‘ so-an- ‘ ‘ ‘ Enjoyment of Living Also Worth Awards New house News Sen ice WASHINGTON — A few courts are starting to change the old legal rule that it is cheaper to kill someone than to seriously injure them While a person injured in an accident may collect for a lifetime of lost earnings plus $1 million or more for serious pain and suffering m most states a dead person s familv is limited to loss of earnings Nothing can be aw arded to a dead person s estatp for loss of the enjoyment of life Now that o'd rule is being questioned Several recent cases have started to evolve a new doctrine that the family of the dead person — or his or her estate — should be compensated for the deceased s inability to enjoy life to live with his familv to see his friends to enjoy his hobbies and so forth according to an article m the American Bar Associa tion Journal While there hasn t been a Supreme Court test case vet the Connecticut Supreme Court the U S Court of Appeals in Chicago and a few other courts have upheld enjov ment-o- f life damage awards accord mg to the ABA Joumal article which predicts that states such as Illinois California Alaska and others mav soon begin to recognize these new claims One major obstacle is the difficul tv of financially evaluating the lest pleasure of human existence Who enjoys life more in lerms of a dollar amount A poet or a mail clerk’’ A judge or a bailiff A football star or a locker room attendant” And how much is each vear worth” While we might suspect that the dead successful professional had a more rewarding and exciting life ahead than the dead mail clerk did our basic democratic values don t allow us to say so publicly in court Furthermore there is the age dilemma Is the life lost by a old worth more or less than the life lost by a dead infant or by an 50-ye- A Chicago economist Stanley V Smith who testified m one case wrote that the enjoyment value of a decedent s life should not depend on wealth gender education or social sta’us But it should he said depend on life expectancy so that a younger person s estate should collect more than an older person s In most states for the dead and the surviving accident victim the law recognizes lost earnings lost com panionship for spouse and children medical bills and punitive damages if the injury or death was intentional A survivor can be awarded a lifetime of pan and suffering damages for lost enjovment of life but pain and suffering damages cannot be award ed fer the period after death But in one recent case a 19 v ear-olblack auto repair shop owner was accidently shot by a policeman in Jo liet 111 After awarding $700 000 to the dead man s parents for various economic injuries due to lifetime los of earnings the jurv awarded an additional $850 000 for hedonistic (life enjovment) loss to his estate A federal appeals court upheld the verdict and noted Loss of life in eludes deprivation of the pleasures of life In a case from Connecticut an ac cident victims estate was awarded $400 000 which included a claim of loss of life s enjov merits England which developed our concert of no pavments for loss of enjov merit now recognizes damages for loss of expectation of life There are problems m attempting to Lnannallv compensate a person estate for the dpstruct’on of his verv existence — one of which is the al readv high turv verdicts in accident raes Perhaps some formula for pavnents might be wnrkid out to She’s not addicted to drugs She’s not addicted to alcohol She’s addicted to people She has a prob'em know n as co etpendenev and has lost control of hat she thinks and She feels responsible for the people around her — their feelings thoughts choices and well being She w onde-- s w those around her don t an h d keep juries within reasonable w how she feels ticipatt her needs the she anticipates wa thei-- x She feels safer go irg than reoetv mg and feels inadequate and somehow different w hen she c to those around her he-s- impart She i 'hen sav s es w hen she real's mean n and ends lp doing things she doesn t w i ant to do have an ir'ensne Charter Summit Hospital we can he!p ach Our to nc co thempv cons vis of a dependt inpatient appr v w LI schedule of aciv it ex hich he'p m lenrn about ur ilhe aM At She ma’ be the v ictim of sexual emotion abjsf and she fea-- s ph s al er retention She pmtun ' is ur has been m an rpittions'-'- mmaie with someone who is addicted tc p drugs nr a) ihn She is of mahirg mistakes and vet af-a- id peels hemelf to he If 0i T fee wnr is expenence proven Like addiction co dependency is h ghlx trt3‘a” Vthouidi the pr cess max be dffiat recovers leads to a heahhier For sut r g ’be u gn help now nh Fac the (H ou R ler'amlv Op cs'a'e nf t dm Id! sfrrs unfair to deev th d‘ ad p rsm anv fi i11 if llt- d n o'u il e siif'rr re Ilf rn i r wh'i rg pan and Mir nrg ra n v How was ibr hefh" hosf w ho sij- i i C on 1"5 t H er sp ta information on thus program please call Charter 1 ' Assessment ( rter todav at 561-818- session starts Thursday September 8th The next 21 tu s U isuO bounds g-- eal da happier Ue e pe'Cl orewhosho'dtnn-- i wha and how s cst ”200 South Midvale CHARTER SUMMIT HOSPITAL e m |