Show 1? 20 A The Salt Lake Tribune Sunday December 13 1987 -- f— i&g££Z- W4 :‘j - &- - 'fp 5Sgif ' The Public Forum Common Carrier Tribune Readers’ Opinion To Improve Education Lower Utah’s Taxes Merrill A Cook President Reagan told a joke to a group of us from the American Legislative Exchange Council at the council s yearly briefing at the White House recently He said "A teacher asked one of her young students which was most important the sun or the moon The young pupil re- sjwnded ‘The moon is most important because it is so light during the day you don't really need the sun but at night it would be very dark if we didn't have the moon” 1 often think government consid ers small business in the same way the young student considered the ' 'sun Without small business (the Sun) there would be no financial basis for government (the moon) vjhose very foundation would melt away if it were not for the financial Underpinning of small business activity The economic wealth generated about 80 percent by small business is the reason government can even exist in the first place and the reason the citizens can then enjoy the benefits of well-rugovernment At the state level this means primarily being allowed the opportunity to get a first rate education After all about 70 percent of our state govern-'meri- t is education Bv How to Submit Articles To Common Cairier Board of Lay Edi tors Opinions expressed in Common Carrier do not necessarily reflect those oThc Salt Lake Tribune or the Common Carrier Hoard of Lay Editors Articles in this department are selected by the lay board of editors which operates independently oThc Tribune editorial and policies The - Common Carrier board representing a cross section of the ! ' the author Utah will spring to life again eco- nomically and educationally over the next five to 10 years if our political leadership can show the kind of courage skill and dedication required to lower taxes and increase the educational achievement levels of our young people What? Lower taxes and expect the quality of education to improve? Most politicians are trying to “educate” the public on the need to raise taxes to help education However given Utah's fragile economy at present the best way to really help education in this state is with the more indirect approach of lowering taxes to beef up the economy and utilize the rising tides of economic growth tofproperlv fund the crucial needs of Education Our economy is fragile for two primary reasons First we are in the throes of change from a moderate wage- - manufacturing- - and industri- e al state to a community is composed of Dianne Hesleph principal Wasatch Junior High School Granite School District Fran executive director Governors Council for Handicapped and Developmentally Disabled Persons Judy Vogel member Bountiful and Utah State League of Women Voters Maxine P Hughes president Communication Workers of America Local Schwan-inger-Mors- e 7 704 search ‘ goods-producin- low-wag- g state While net jobs have been increasing They are primarily jobs and the average wage or pay in real terms has been service-good- s take-hom- e People may have jobs but increasingly they are and underpaid Small businesses in basic manufacturing or in high technology usually pay substantially more to their em- ployees than large businesses in the s service-goodareas The sad fact is that in real purchasing power terms Utah's workers have less pay now than they did 17 years ago The second reason for our fragile economy is that Utah has a very large portion of its population in school and a relatively small portion of its population in the work force This is because Utah ranks number one in the nation in the percent of population under age 18 and number 50 in the percent of its population aged 18 to 64 Many politicians argue therefore that raising taxes is mandatory since we have so many youngsters to educate On the contrary the truth is that Utah's demographics have been this way for decades and actually point up the need to protect the incentives to the employers who offer the good jobs to our working-agpopulation Perhaps the most burdensome tax to small business has been the of the federal income tax deduction in computing state income tax Small business has always had this incentive until the Utah Legislature pulled it away during the big tax hike of 1987 Many small businesses have been hit with a state income tax increase in excess of 30 percent benew state cause of this law No wonder some high technology companies and manufacturing concerns are looking elsewhere to place their investments The losers are really the many thousands of workers w ho may not have the higher paying job opportunities When a businessman is serious about making a larger total profit he will often lower the price of his product in order to generate greater sales and even with a lower profit margin can make a larger total profit for his firm In California and Massachusetts the cutting of marginal tax rates caused a rising economic tide which resulted in higher total government receipts in spite of lower tax rates and substantially more money available for education What often works for a small business ran also work for a macro economic system like a state Because Utah taxes are at an all time high and certainly among the very highest in this part uf the country we are ripe fora tax cut that would really stimulate Utah s economy and solve our educational funding requirement in a wav that would not be burdensome on the Jdvpinking dramatically and Dr James Stmzier reprofessor and associate chairman for undergraduate studies in the University of Utah department of mechanical and industrial engineering The board seeks articles from all segments of the community Articles need not be professionally prepared but should be between 950 and 1200 icords long and be typed and double spaced They should pertain to the economic political and social wellbeing of the Intermountain Area Articles should be timely have a basic idea promote dialogue and be challenging "open letters" are not acceptable d Material should be mailed to Common Carrier The Salt Lake Tribune PO Box 867 Salt Lake City Utah 84110 e Point of Law Dogma Is For Government Only Church-Stat- e Edward McDonough is a lawyer practicing in Salt Lake City Fern had the park constructed to match the planning department's plans right down to the huge stone plaque of the Ten Commandments at the end of the flower-linepath When the Citizens Committee Involvement Against Church-Statsued the Town of Yourton to have the plaque removed from the park the county attorney responded with d e Senator Soaper For every person who wants to borrow trouble there are a dozen willing to lend it A three-daweekend does little more than spread out the precipitay tion thank you note for a Christmas present can only mean the kid's birthday is coming up In this unfair society we honor soldiers for bravery in combat but do almost nothing for school bus drivers It seems like you can't even get egg on your face anymore without worrying about cholesterol You're not in shape if your body keeps jiggling after you stop jogging A ic! tax menus' ijpufwy-"’- - SfLLOUm ttora’ n vrwe The question of serving booze by the drink in Utah eateries has reared its ugly head again I am reminded often that one of the difficulties involved is an attitude of "prevailing is culture" that a trek to the mini-ba- r no big deal I wonder if it would hasten resolution of the whole ludicrous s:tua‘ion if apple juice and ginger ale also w'ere available only at the mini-barEARL GATES Murray s ? JOHN MD Associate Professor Internal Medicine University of Utah Consultant to the Surgeon General of the United States Here’s the ’Chances’ John Sky's letter entitled "About That Smoke" raised several important questions and criticisms about the kinds of health information given to the public concerning the hazards of smoking It is difficult if not impossible for the average reader to understand the relative risks of harmful behavior and exposures Mr Sky asks "What are the chances as a smoker of dying of lung cancer what are the chances for a nonsmoker?" A cigarette smoker who chooses to smoke more than 20 cigarettes a day for a lifetime has a 15 to 20 percept chance of dying of lung cancer The comparable risk for a nonsmoker is less than one percent The same male who smokes more than 20 cigarettes a day for a lifetime has up to a 40 percent chance of dying prematurely from a smoking-relate- d disease Most of these deaths are due to premature aging of blood vessels cancer and chronic lung disease I hope Mr Sky and other smokers who have been confused by statistics on smoking will understand that no other harmful behavior leading to premature death from chronic disease comes remotely close to the risks associated with cigarette smoking Male cigarette smokers who smoke more than 20 cigarettes a day H HOLBROOK 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 Writers are limited to one letter every 10 days Preference will be given tb 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 Hard to Respect I have always respected police officers They do a job which most people would be terrified of Risking their lives to save the innocent and apprehending the guilty Yet a few have taken their role one step further They've taken it upon themselves to reform the immature and immoral youth of the city tc My friend and I were driving school playing with a toy hand-horA police officer pulled me over He began yelling at me insisting that had called him a "pig" that I should the law" and was a "young y "respect " After 15 minutes of this he punk allowed me to leave warning me that he would be waiting and watching t n 1 5 forme How can I a impres- - y sionable teen "respect the law" when the law enforcers are telling me I cannot make use of my freedom o( speech’ Every 20 seconds somebody it is being robbed killed or brutalized and this officer took precious time off from saving these people to lec- ture me about something did noUJ no longer defend the law en-- t do forcement agency when my friends put it down I wish I could but the ’ bad things people say about the po-- ' lice I now have personal proof of be- -- j 1 1 -- ing true f‘ still appreciate the job they do but I no longer respect the people 1 NICOL SMITH Time to Balance One hundred and twenty-twyears after the end of the American Civil War we are again "engaged in a great civil war testing whether that nation or any nation so conceived and so dedicated can for long endure” as President Lincoln said at Gettysburg Our present struggle however is not one of physical combat but is instead with our own greed immoraland studpi-ditity y s The recent stock market crash was merely a “shot across the bow" warning us that if we do not cease our mindless and inexcusable federal deficit spending we may precipitate a major economic catastrophe which because of the enormous debt could be we have accumulated worse than the Great Depression of the 1930s The forthcoming AIDS holocaust (which may eventually cost several hundred billion dollars and more lives than all of our wars combinedi the drug abuse epidemic and a possible communist takeover in Latin American (which could result in tens of millions of helpless refugees being dumped in our lap) combined with such an ' economic collapse would certainly bring into question the survivability of our nations as we now know it It is therefore imperative that we all be willing to make the relatively small sacrifices necessary to balance the budget and to assure that communism does not win in Latin America ED GOMER West Valley City a motion to dismiss stressing that the town couldn't remove the plaque because it didn't own it The committee then amended the complaint to name Fern Storey as a defendant Fern Storey’s lawyer Samuel P “Judge" Curruthers moved to dismiss the complaint because as a matter of law it didn't state a valid claim against her "It's pretty obvious what must have happened here" the committee's lawyer Milton W Tophence III told Judge Elmo Hardy at the hearing "The county attorney undoubtedly advised the town council that a town “Ten Commandments" park would be a violation of the establishment clause of the First Amendment because it would constitute state action promoting religion So they must have prevailed upon the Fern Storey to do it for them It's nothing more than a sham and a subterfuge” "An order from this court such as the plaintiffs are asking" responded "that would prevent Mrs Storey from keeping the Ten Commandments plaque on her private property would be a violation of her rights under the free exercise clause of the First Amendment And more to the point the pleadings in this case show that there is no state action here The town contributed nothing to the park except the plans Mrs Storey paid to have the lot landscaped the way it is and it is still Mrs Storey's lot " "I agree" Judge Hardy said "and I am going to grant the defendants' motion to dismiss There is no state action involved here This court is not going to tell private citizens what they can say on signs on their A LIBRARY OF WISDOM Favorile Quota! ions f rom the Collection of Thomas S Monson Car-ruther- s property" (Point of Law is published for information purposes only and should not be used as legal advice You should see your own la user for specific legal opinion) 5DI IS HOT A UP! CORTMSWwi'r WMMtUW d Booze Resolution -- “Congress shall make no law" the First Amendment says "respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof It is a limitation on government not individuals For a violation to occur there must be some “state action" involved some participation by government in the circumstances of the case It works like this When the town council offered to buy the vacant lot next to Storey's Fine Furniture for a downtown minipark Fern Storey said no "I like the park plan" she told Councilman Williams when he showed her the site plan and drawings that the planning department had prepared "but I don't like giving up the lot Why don't you just leave the plans with me and I'll have the lot landscaped into a little park like that It will be the Storey family's gift to the town — until I need the lot to expand the store " shorten their lives an average of more than seven years It is also important to emphasize that several of the tobacco-relatediseases such as chronic lung disease produce periods of disability extending over many years before terminating in premature death In general smokers experience more acute and chronic medical problems than nonsmokers They are also absent from work significantly more frequently than nonsmokers The good news is that have decreased risks of disease and disability compared to continuing smokers With some diseases the benefits of quitting begin almost immediately For example within six months of giving up cigarettes the risk of experiencing a heart attack drops by as much as 50 percent Smoking cessation is the single most important preventive health measure available in the United States to prolong life and reduce disease and disability It is an achievable goal as as evidenced by the more than 35 in the United million States most of whom quit without seeking formal professional assistance I hope my observations have answered some of Mr Sky's questions and that I have encouraged smokers who are seriously considering quitting to join the growing ranks of The justifications for improving the Burr Trail are incomplete and narrow in perspective An editorial Dec 3 declared that the economy of Garfield County will prosper and that access to Bullfrog Marina will be easier with improvement of the Burr Trail Just as an environmental impact survey was sidestepped so are reports showing proof of economic benefits for Garfield County As for ease of access to the marina to what price will we pay for our recreation? Is the world ours to align for profitable reasons? Unfortunately the belief that land is merely a resource for human use is prevalent The Burr Trail and it’s adjacent lands mav soon fall to this belief JEFF LAPLUME low- - and moderate-incom- e citizens of our state — people who under present rates of taxation may abandon their traditional support of education Political leaders can rightly debate how best to lower taxes while increasing the educational achievement levels of our young people but getting a broad political consensus that each of these two things need to be done is half the battle in getting Utah moving again economically n Today's Common Carrier author Is Merrill A Cook 2989 Sherwood Dr Salt Lake City Utah 84108 A Salt Lake City native and business- ‘man Mr Cook received a degree ‘ in economics from the University of Utah and a master of business administration degree at Harvard ' University He has been active in local polities and has been an un- successful candidate for the Salt Lake City mayor's office and for a Salt Lake County Commission seat The views expressed In the article are the personal views of Narrow Perspective 5 ft HCWtowNnw SflEMWER sumkw ‘ Timeless messages from Thomas S Monson Favorite Quotations from (be Collection of Thomas S Monson Enliven a talk wiih a pointed proverb Close a lesson with a poem Tell the perfect story for a holiday ouasion Anyone who talks teaches or simply enjoys inspiring anecdoles will be this new book filled with over nine hundred quotations Fuionte Quotations from the Collection of Thomas S Monson is a perfect gift for speakers readers and leathers on who holiday list $9 95 to Perfection Conference Classics Pathways Three volumes of memorable conference talks by President Thomas S Monson second counselor in the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Saints Volume one Christ of Latter-da- y $4 95 Volumes two and three $5 95 Using real-lifexamples and stones from the siripturex literature and each Boxed set $16 Be Your Best Self 85 Christmas Gifts Christmas Blessings touching Christmas message which illustrates the importance ol sincere A giving history President Monson outlines specific guidelines lor reaching eternal life $10 95 $125 A blueprint for self improveinent in the constant struggle to become more Chustlike m this life 28 chapters all designed to help the mailer real h Ins trim potential $7 9s Deseret Book" Available at all Bnuk stnr WWWl 1 1 i |