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Show UuuH.t Jalt akf (Tribune Tuesday Morning Section 'gj. r,;.T 21, 1986 January Page 10 A Utahs Public Education Load Again Graphically Illustrated Once more, the point is inescapUtahs exceptionally ably made large population of children requires an equally heavy commitment of state and local tax resources. The latest such confirmation is from the Utah Foundation, reported in a January publication answering the question, Where Does Utah Stand? The research organization demonstrates with 3V2 pages of comparison maps that no other state in the Union carries the public education burden Utah does. One of the foundations maps accompanying this editorial shows that no neighboring state surpasses Utah in the percent of state and local expenditures made on education. Beyond that, as the statistical calculations also confirm, in this particular category Utah exceeds the national percentage by almost 10 percent. Utah in 1984 stood at was higher than in Idawhich $17,118, Mexico New and Montana, but ho, lower than in Nevada, Arizona, Wyoming and Colorado. In fact, the mountain states personal income earned by adults averaged $18,041; the nations, in 1984, was $18,710. Most of the foundations statistics for this report used Per Adult data. And although that year the adult personal income calculation generally matched the nations, the cost per $1,000 of personal income for education certainly did not. In this category only Wyoming and New Mexico of surrounding states topped Utah. The national figure for educational costs per $1,000 of personal income was $64. The 1984 mountain states amount was $79. Utahs was $98. But no other surrounding state approached Utahs 1984-8- 5 percentage of total population enrolled in public schools. The mountain states figure was 18.98; the nations was 16.67. Utahs: 23.6 percent. In virtually every category of taxation for public education, Utah again leads the pack. Interestingly, the property tax comparison is fairly level. Utahs Property Taxes per $1,000 of Personal Income was $35.82 in 1984. The Mountain States figure was Percent of State & Local Expenditures for Education 1984 TxwVXi $35.57 and the LOWER THAN UTAH HIGHER UTAH Mountain States 37.80 34.99 United States - This, as the foundations studies conclude, in a state which does not boast exceptional opportunities for easily generating public financing. Another of the comparison maps verifies Utah personal income is about average. Another foundation map reveals that on the basis of Personal Income countrys was $35.26. However, in the combined State and Local Taxes per $1,000 of Personal Income category, only Wyoming of the surrounding states surpassed at $213 for 1984, while the Utah mountain states calculation was $120 and the United States amount was $117. Utahs was $128. When almost a quarter of a states population is enrolled in the public schools and annual adult income struggles to be just average, clearly the local tax load for education is going to be heavy. If this has escaped anyones notice, the Utah Foundation again has issued a reminder that conveys the message graphically and clearly. A Rockport Garbage Dump? Its possible to dump garbage above Rockport Reservoir without posing any great danger to ground water in the area. Thats what the Utah Bureau of Solid and Hazardous Waste says, so Summit County officials can start making their proposal a reality. But one agencys permission shouldnt be interpreted as support for such an environmentally insensitive venture. Finding an acceptable landfill location has become an acute headache for Summit County. Park Citys dump closed last summer, forcing commissioners to establish a new site to stash their constituents refuse. Thats been easier said than done in a county with few places where people dont want to live or spend their leisure time. A year or so ago, the county commission thought theyd discovered just such a spot in Browns Canyon. But it turned out that owners of undeveloped property in that seemingly desolate area had big plans and enough clout to erect a heavy roadblock. Robert Garff, speaker of the Utah House of Representatives, and friends filed suit. After an extensive search, the county came up with the Three Mile Canyon solution. Unfortunately, that site threatens the aesthetics of existing development. Boaters at nearby Rockport probably won't appreciate the sight, smells and sounds associat-'ewith a garbage dump any more will. s than ' If they have an influential or Rockwealthy member among them, the as as likely port users are just d cabin-owner- Orbiting Paragraphs Absenteeism is heavy in December because of colds, flu and the need to use up the remaining sick leave. After suffering through a losing football better season, you really deserve something than winter. he came The guy down the street says had polythe goose even from a town so poor insulation. ester Remember back when all a kid needed to was a parental dime go to the movies Browns Canyon crew to raise a howl, legal or otherwise. They may even be able to recruit support from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and Utah Division of Water Resources, which also oppose the Rockport site. Then where will the county be? The county desperately needs a place to put the waste of its rapidly growing population. It cannot afford, in terms of time or money, many more deadends and delays. But given the considerable established interest, private as well as public, in maintaining Rockports unsoiled condition, the Summit County Commission should expect stiff resistance to its latest choice of landfill sites. Perhaps commissioners should have stuck with their first choice a little longer. Browns Canyon a faced They legal challenge there, but interests in the area were fewer. And the price of establishing a Browns Canyon landfill probably would not have exceeded the time and dollar costs of pursuing the Rockport proposal. thats enough dieting for one day Well, 1984 non-prof- it THAN Mur release me, guard . guard? . . Sandy Grady Canceled Russkie Series No Loss Knight-Ridde- r - Newspapers WASHINGTON Face it, like most working stiffs on newspapers, I suppress a jealous twinge toward the big television networks. Sometimes they seem like the New Mandarins of journalism, pampered, rich and powerful. I mean, while were scrambling around with notebook and ballpoint, their cameras at least on the surflash a story instantly face. And, OK, Ill confess some envy of nademi-star- s tional TV reporters, those blow-drie- d whose salaries and fame match some NFL quarterbacks. That prejudice toward Tubeland out in the open, Ive got a couple of words for the boys in the executive suites of the American Broadcasting Co. One is boo! and the other is hoorah! The raspberry is for the way the ABC folks caved in to the Soviets and deep-sixe- d Amerika, the networks planned miniseries on life in the U.S.A. after weve been captured by the Russkies. The hoorah! is for ABCs having ditched rubthe idea for such bish. More simply, the good news is that ABC Russkie-baiting junked its simple-minde- d melodrama. The bad news is the timidity with which ABC truckled to official In case you missed it, the Soviets warned ABCs Moscow bureau chief, Walt Rodgers, that the networks news operations there would be jeopardized if Amerika hit the airwaves. Thats an implied threat to heave ABCs reporters out of the country. So ABC reacted by waving a flag. Brandon Stoddard, ABC Entertainment president, said "Amerika was being postponed because the network couldnt raise the $40 million. (When has a network ever been short of dough?) Then he admitted ABC was giving in to the Red honchos. "The Soviet warning will be part of the consideration whether or not to go ahead, said Stoddard. It was a dumb, embarrassing and disheartening surrender. You never like to see journalism cowed by official mugs, whether the bullying comes from the White House or the Kremlin. Fortunately, nothing seems lost in the disappearance of Amerika, which sounds like $40 million worth of cardboard bunkum out of the feverish anti-Re- d imaginations of Jesse Helms, Jerry Falwell and Sly Stallone. From Invasion USA to Rambo to White Nights to Rocky IV, weve had a of Hollywood flicks puffing e nasties. Reds Commies as have replaced the swaggering Nazis and sa white-capitali- mini-epidem- bigger-than-lif- distic Japanese of World War II films as allpurpose villains. So it was no surprise when Soviet officials groused last week that U.S. and film makers were "selling hatred creatand whipping up anti-Re- d hysteria ing . If Hollywood and the makers of TV want to picture the Soviet Union for the drab, closed society it is, let em emulate the tough techniques of Reds or "Gorky docu-dram- Park. Us vs. Them acIf they want bang-bantion, make a movie of Tom Clancy's submarine thriller The Hunt for Red October, in which the Soviets have their share of bumbosses, and yes, heroes. blers, power-ma- d g The current crop of Red Menace flicks in which the Russian villain is 10 feet high (Rocky IV) and Americans are soft, pathetic dopes (Invasion USA) are as real as a roller derby or pro rassling match. Maybe its a historic moment for both if the spirit of the Geneva summit sides to tone down the stereomeans anything types. All censorship is bad news. So it was a response for ABC to do an El Foldo when the Soviets threatened to jerk its weak-knee- d press passes. But killing its $40 million turkey more yawner about big bad Russkies nobodys loss. one was Speeches About King Clarify History Universal Press Syndicate WASHINGTON Every once in a while, there is a sudden, unexpected clarification of history such as we never in our wildest dreams expected. It was that way this last week with Secretary of Education William J. Bennett talking about the 57th birthday anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr. Bennett is the most obvious and vociferous public conservative these days, right? Conservatives were the ones who fought men like Dr. King in the 1950s and 60s, right? Given those factors, how have things changed so much? one at Secretary Bennetts speeches Spelman College, a black womens college in Atlanta, and one at the Martin Luther King were little short of brilliant, Center there but his message was a curious one. The man much criticized for injecting conservative values into the schools, praised Spelman and acclaimed Dr. King in particular for immersing himself in dead books along the way to changing American society in the most live way since Abraham Lincoln. Why, he asked, did Dr. King immerse himself in what some call esoteric and "irrelevant" writings when there were so many urgent problems that he himself was determined to confront? Was his study of philosophy a form of escaping, perhaps a means of evading the problems of real life? Of course not, Secretary Bennett answered. On the contrary, Martin Luther King turned to the great philosophers because he needed to know the answers to certain questions. Questions like, What is justice? What should be loved? What deserves to be defended? What can I know? What should I do1 What i tay I hope for? What is man? These questions are not simply discussions for intellectuals or playthings for the idle. These questions face thoughtful human beings in all places and in all ages. Now, what strikes me about the speeches the controversial Secretary Bennett, whom many people look upon as narrowminded and prejudiced, is that he is talking a remarkably unprejudiced game. But, more than that, his carefully crafted words showed the final, true respect for people who have been persecuted and oppressed. What Bennett was saying, to me, was: You black Americans were certainly op- of Georgie Anne Geyer Liberalism in terms of civil rights for all Americans in those days meant equality of opportunity opportunity for dignity, for jobs, for an education that placed you respectfully within those corridors of Western civilization. And conservatives, too often in league with the status quo and stressing only states rights, were out of step with the glorious changes of the times. Liberalism and much of the civil rights movement, Im sorry to say, then slipped from equality of opportunity to equality of results. Black Americans became pawns in social experimentation, as with busing of students. Culture, and black Americans right to it, became lost in the new era, which I think is basically demeaning to my fellow citizens who have played such a crucial role in our history. At heart, the new message became, Blacks cant succeed the real way. pressed. That doesnt mean that now you should be patronized. You stand as nobly in the corridors of civilization and culture as any men or women on earth, and it all depends upon your will, as it did with Dr. King. As Bennett described Dr. King, he finally answered some of his own questions, saying, Martin Luther King turned to the liberal arts because he was in search not only of knowledge but of wisdom. . . . To put an end to the world of Jim Crow, Martin Luther King did not look away from our civilization. Rather, he drew from the best in our heritage. He refashioned the world with what was best in it. If the conservatives generally played a and they negative role in the beginning did it seems to me that today they are playing positive new role. Secretary Bennetts words incorporate part of that new role. The new message is that black Americans really are equal not only legally if they want to equal but culturally equal be, as Dr. King wanted and willed himself to be. I dont mind, you see, that there is a little hypocrisy involved on the part of many people on many sides. Our country works and finally includes where most countries exclude and then explode because of our dialectic, in which yesterdays excluding conservatives become todays including new pacesetters. Crockett and Tubbs Find Miami Vice at White House The producers of the hit TV show "Miami Vice ore considering making an episode to feature Vice President George Bush, who heads the administration's drive m Florida News item ever since I bought a "cigarette" speedboat just like yours for my summer place up in Maine. Whats coming up? CROCKETT: Its not coming up, pal. It's "coming down. Anyway, this aint a boat Fer bust. Were going to use my police-issu- e Chicago Tribune Service CROCKETT. OK. Bushy, were glad to have you along on this bust Normally on this show, we treat Feds like a bunch of zipheads, but you seem to know where its at Aint that right, Tubbs? BUSH: And another thing. How come I can never understand what Mr. Tubbs is saying? CROCKETT: His hero is CIA Director Bill Casey. But dont worry. When he gets to his big line in the show Its going down, Crockett" youll hear him loud and clear. But let me ask you a question, Bushy. Didnt I tell you to dress for action on this bust? Youre not wearing socks, which is cool, but are those white Ferragamo loafers? BUSH: Gosh, no. Theyre Sperry-Top-sider- TUBBS: Mumble, mumble, mumble. BUSH Well, gosh, Detective Crockett, In our administration, we think Feds are too. How big a bust is this going to be? CROCKETT: The biggest, pal W'eve had this joint staked out for months. Yoj see that big mansion there behind the fence? Man, they've got stretch limos moving in and out all day. And there are guys with sunglasses and Uzi submachineguns all over the place, This is heavy city, right, Tubbs? TUBBS: Mumble, mumble, mumble BUSH. Detective Crockett, Ive been wanting to make a bust with you fellows d BUSH: No, but I brought this designer .38 special by Bijan of Beverly Hills. I borrowed it from Nancy Reagan. gold-plate- CROCKETT! Perfect, pal. Bingo. may make you a regular in the cast. TUBBS: It's going down, Crockett. that mean its time to roll? CROCKETT: Just the opposite, pal. It means the left front tire of my Ferrari is BUSH: Does flat. Well have to make it on foot. Come on, over the fence. BUSH; Wait a minute. We CROCKETT: Gucci suit? rari. These guys have been shipping billions of dollars down to Bananaland for the last five years. We figure they must be bringing back 400 or 500 keys a day. They bring them to the mansion in jelly bean trucks. BUSH Keys? Phi Beta Kappa? Whats coming in CROCKETT: Its down," not "in." And keys means kilos. Cocaine. Snoot shoots, pal. Now get ready. We gotta move as soon as they start playing the weird music on the sound track. And is that a white Pucci BUSH: Gee, no, its a pair of Brooks Brothers gray flannels and an L.L. Bean Baxter State parka. CROCKETT: wooden ducks? And whats with these BUSH. They're from Abercrombie Fitch. You said you needed decoys. & CROCKETT: Bushy, youre a disgrace to the war on drugs. Ill give you one last .45 chance. Did you bring a silver-plateautomatic? d We mansion. cant bust that CROCKETT: What do you mean, pal? Weve got tapes on these bozos. Theres one guy who keeps saying that pollution comes from trees, that owing $2 trillion is sound economics, that we should welcome an invasion from outer space because then we'd be friends with the Russians, and all kinds of stuff. And theres a woman in there who wont talk about anything but drugs. BUSH: Youve got it wrong, er, pal. Those jelly bean trucks are real. Thats not a drug kings hideaway. Thats the White House. |