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Show Just Slav Home The Eternal Message There is enduring irony in the fact that both major Christian holidays are dogged by pretenders whose presence are long on tradition but woefully short on religious legitimacy. The solemn rituals of Easter that attempt to recapture the aura of awe surrounding Christs rising from the dead are shadowed by the fantasy of a rabbit who dispenses colored eggs. Christmas celebration of the miraculous virgin birth is plagued by an attention-divertin- g g red suit. fat man in a Both the Easter Bunny and Santa Claus can claim distant religious origins but neither enhances the devout mood which should attend observance of the holy events to which they have become attached. Yet both are by now fixtures and, for many of modest or faith, are the raison d'etre. This paradox is noted once again to deflect attention from the silly to the sacred aspects of Easter. St. Luke, revered as author of the Third Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles, wrote the story of Christs ressurection first and best in less than 100 lucid words. funny-lookin- non-existe- nt Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came upon the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them. And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre. And they entered in and found not the body of the Lord Jesus. And it came to pass, as they were much perplexed thereabout, behold two men stood by them in shining garments. And as they were afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen It is not known with certainty whether St. Luke actually wrote these words but there is little disagreement over the inspiration they provide for Christians. The message of lifes triumph over death, of hope over despair, the everlasting promise that the tomb is not the end of it, are as welcome and needed today as in the days when Christianity was taking form and St. Luke accompanied St.Paul on his travels in its behalf. ... Folly In Nicaragua If there is anything encouraging in President Reagans latest proposal for revising United States involvement in Nicaraguas civil strife, it may be signs of his own wavering. Taken literally, the plan itself is a Reagan said he would support cost of living increases for Social Security. Facing a budget stalemate in Congress, he has now backed a compromise which would suspend Social Seincrease for three curity years, substituting a two percent anIn his struggle with Congress, over nual increase which could become U.S. funds for Nicaraguas countergreater only if inflation exceeded four revolutionaries, Mr. Reagan clearly percent. must either change votes now arrayed Seeing a possible rebuff for his fik posiagainst him, or find a nancial support of Nicaraguan contion that can save him from total detras, the president may be, with a nefeat. His proposal to conditionally gotiating plan he must know would authorize the $14 million for the con- never fly, saying hes ready to deal. tras could be either such tactic. should answer Congress by, first, disSaying he would allow the money daining the Reagan plan and, second, to be used only for humanitarian endorsing a policy which gets the to buy food, clothing and United States directly, seriously inpurposes medicine for contra forces until a volved in multi-laterefforts at depeace negotiation period ex- claring Central America to pired, the president appears an olive branch bearer, a figure congressmen outside intrique and subversion, such might feel awkward opposing. But he as the Contadora talks, which the Nicalso may be indicating a willingness araguan government is willing to join. to veer away from full contra support. Whatever the White House intenNo one familiar with the Nicaraguan tions, Congress, the House particularsituation would expect a break- ly, should remain adament against through based on the new Reagan ini- further funding of the contras. Under tiative. It is merely a painted-ove- r no circumstances, can these guerrilla version of an offer previously made units, heavily manned by former Nicby contra spokesmen, a proposition araguan dictator Anastasio Somoza immediately rejected by Nicaraguas Dabayles hated national guard memSandinista government And just as bers, expect U.S. taxpayer support for quickly rejected again when touched their terror-typ- e killing and destrucup by Mr. Reagan. tion. The terms are fatally flawed as As chief spokesman for conservagrounds for negotiationsThe contras tive Americas fervent are making little progress in attemptMr. Reagan is never apt to stray ing to forcibly break the Sandinista far from his enmity for Nicfronts hold on Nicaraguas governMarxist-Leniniinfluenced, araguas ment. As much as Sandinista loyalists Sandinista-controlle- d government. might want the fighting to end, they But a less Congress and are not yet at the point of granting U.S. can prevent ideology and public contras an equal place at any bargaindemogoguery from plunging this ing table. country into major error and infinite in his Mr. own Conceivably, way, regret, an insistence on responsibilty is direcwhich should brand Mr. Reagans Reagan actually changing tion, as he has before. During last funding of Nicaraguan contras the folyear's election campaign, candidate ly it is, under any guise. non-starte- cost-of-livi- r. fall-bac- al 60-d- ay self-containe- d, off-limi- g, oft-stat- Anything Beats Moving, Even A Bad Marriage By Steve Knickmeyer Dallas Times Herald Writer Fewer Americans are getting divorced. Last year the divorce rate hit its lowest level since 1975, dropping 2 percent from 1983, according to the National Center for Health Statistics. Experts are busy trying to explain this phenomenon. One theory: Hard economic times have made divorce impossible to afford. Another: People are waiting until theyre older to get married and oldsters lack the energy for divorce. Such theories are false. I know the true cause, and Im not even an expert. There are fewer divorces because people have realised divorce entails Moving. Whenever a couple divorces, someone must Move. Thats such a miserable ordeal people will put up with almost anything to avoid it. You guessed it: Ive spent the past few days Moving. I dont recall the reason we decided to Move. My wifes still around, so I guess divorce wasnt involved. But whatever reason we had couldnt have been compelling enough to justify the pain of Moving. Remember Donald E. Westlakes novel "Brothers Keepers? Its the comic tale of some Manhattan monks who spend their lives contemplating Travel. They know Travel is perilous and usually unnecessary, and they consider Moving the ultimate form of Travel. Naturally, a developer wants to replace their monastery with an office building. The hero monk must Travel to save the monastery. Id provide more details, but my copy of Brothers Keepers is somewhere inside a box inside my new house and I may never locate it again. The point is Im now in full agreement with Westlakes thesis that contemplating Travel is vastly preferable to Moving. Think about it. Wouldnt life be simpler if everyone just stayed home? We could quit studying North Central Expressway. My latest Move reinforced my belief in the old rule: The agony of a Move is inversely proportional to the distance Moved. You follow? Its easier to Move across the country than across the street. When Moving long distances, you tend to be You locate solid boxes that are correctly sized. You label everything precisely. You pack like items together, clothes with clothes, dishes with dishes. It takes you just as long to unpack at the other end, but at least you know where everything d. is. Short Moves are a different story. I just Moved 2.4 miles. When youre within shuttling distance of your target, planning seems unimportant and any box will do. For days Ive haunted alleys, pawing through dumpsters,' confiscating any box without rotten vegetables in it. The boxes didnt have to be sturdy; they were only Going a couple of miles. Now my new home is full of crumpled boxes full of crumpled possessions. You don't really pack to Move two miles; you fill up boxes. Theres a difference. Oh, my wife carefully packed the dishes we never use. She even packed her clothes carefully- Sadly, I was forced to do my own boxfilling. I was quick but disorganized. After the Move, it took me an entire day to get dressed for work. I looked through every box in the house before discovering my ties in a Measure for Measure Iron County and Cedar City officials have launched a bold and excitcreation in southern ing enterprise of cultural Utah permanent, year-lonon centered the attractions, already successful Shakespearean Festival. Providing essential, initial support, the impact fund grant will make a nrw. larger festival theater possible, adding two more months to Cedar City's Shakespearean season g From that beginning, the plan is to add an outdoor amphitheater, capable of hosting musical and other perfor- - Scrubbing walls, mopping floors, these fun way to spend a week- arent my idea of a end. Moving is as depressing as it is tiring. Makes you realize how little of the stuff you possess ip really worth hauling from one place to another. Yet you must haul it because its all you have. Ive made a vow not to Move again until Im completely unpacked. That should take several years and give me plenty of time to rest up. I intend to take up residence on my couch (one of the few possessions Ive been able to find) and contemplate Travel. The only Moving Ill do is to the refrigerator and back to the couch. Well, I'll unpack a box now and then. I need to find my socks before cold weather returns. Problem Long-Ter- m Acid Rain Control ts Necessary at Once By David Graber Special to the Los Angeles Times America's failure to implement controls on acid rain remains a relations, despite protestations of mutusticking point in al good will between President Reagan and Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney during Reagans recent Quebec visit. The Reagan administration persists in saying that there is insufficient understanding of acid rains causes and effects to justify imposand hugely expensive ing new pollution controls on industry. Acid rain, created when sulfur and nitrogen oxides from auto and industrial pollution react with water in the atmosphere, is no more nor less than air pollution dissolved in water. Canada blames the rain for progressive deterioration of freshwater fisheries and forests, seeing it as coming from Americas Midwest industrial belt. But wherever the source, the long-terconsequences of acid raid are as much an American as a Canadian problem. U.S.-Cana- David Graber is a research scientist working in California Sational Park. 's Sequoia over-wroug- ht ferred insightful endorsement on the project. Its also tougher to Move from a rented domicile than from one you own. If you own the place, you can simply set fire to it and collect the insurance. If you rent, you must clean the place up. ed st A hearty "bravo has been earned by the Permanent Community Impact Fund Board of Utah's Department of Community and Economic Development. By awarding the Utah Shakespearean Festival $2.75 million for theater expansion, the board con- suitcase. I suppose I put them there. My socks still havent turned up. The conservation community long ago concluded that acidification of lakes and forest diebacks in the Northeast (and Europe) have results are been caused by acidic pollutants, and that the long-terthe consequences both ecologically and economically devastating of failing to impose stringent pollution controls that would far outweigh their costs. On the surface, it appears that the scientific community has, albeit uncomfortably, come to the same conclusions. Scientists such as Gene Likens of New Yorks Cary Arboretum and James Galloway of the individuals of impeccable reputations and University of Virginia argue that we can afford no further delays in imposing credentials reducing pollutant emissions. The president has stoutly maintained that more research is necesmonths. generating before dislocating controls are imposed. Few sary visitor interest in a region of Utah workers in theeconomically field would dispute the first half of that argument. We also rich with incomparable park-land- s are now in the fifth and midpoint year of the National Acid Precipitaand recreation opportunities. tion Assessment Program created by congressional act in 1980. This the president's Because the concept is a deliber- year the budget for that program is nearly $65 million; for next year is more than $85 million. request budget ate attempt to rescue Iron County and At least we have acid rain to thank for finally provoking a systemits surroundings from economic de- atic environmental monitoring program in this country. One of the pression caused by closed iron mines, many reasons why answers about acid rain are in short supply is that impact funds, sustained by previous little comprehensive data exists on undisturbed ecosystems. A piostate mineral lease collections, are neer ecological research project at Hubbard Brook, N.H. 20 years of is what alerted and monitoring a forested watershed appropriately being used for recovery surveying Likens, F. Herbert Bormann of Yale and their colleagues. efforts. Optimistically as well. Over the years, surface waters had acidified and aquatic organFormal studies project that, with- isms had declined or disappeared entirely. Likens wrote of his concern in five years of full operation, the two in a landmark 1972 article for Science magazine, initiating a heated into something approaching planned theaters could return at least debate that only recently has settled there was little government or $977,000 a year in sales tax. Only the scientific consensus. Until this decade, for the unromantic business of measuring and desupport private enlarged, indoor theater is assured by scribing the components of an ecosystem plants, animals, soil, bedthe impact grant, but it is a vital, im- rock geology, surface and ground water and what is entering and portant beginning. An advent the sort leaving the system. Rewards in the scientific community rarely apof which the Bard from Stratford-on-Avo- n plied to such basic descriptive work Yet without much understanding of constituted naturally functioning ecosystems, trying to assess might have meant when he howwhat humankind is changing the world has been extremely difficult alawrote for Richard III. "Our stern Comprehensive monitoring has suddenly become legitimate. Prorums changed to merry meetings; our ecosystemthroughout North America are establishing long-terdreadful marches to delightful jects research Findings to date suggest that acid rain - but one -level measure " , element of ? planet-widpollution problem including o jne. carbon ever-increasi- e dioxide, pesticides and herbicides, industrial and agricultural toxic waste and radioactive isotopes. The U.S. problem was underscored last week by the results of a The congressional survey ordered by Rep. Henry A. Waxman, survey of 80 large chemical companies found that thousands of tons of agents and other highly hazardous materials are being released into the atmosphere from hundreds of factories, and that no uniform emission standards apply to most of the materials. A flood of investigation continues to unearth new and disturbing evidence. In Europe, a recent pattern of forest dieback has spread with alarming rapidity; now some timber stands in the East symptoms. Whether one of more of the suite of pollutants has caused this phenomenon or whether it is a manifestation of climatic change, naturally occuring pathogens or the interactions of several of is so far unclear. In Northern Europe and the American there Northeast, where soils are poorly buffered against acidity, the number of lakes that have become too acid to support fish and amphibian life is growing implacably In California, there is little evidence that acid rain is as yet a World Resources major danger. But a study by the Washington-baseInstitute last week reported that the Sierra Nevada, Washington's Cascades and the Colorado Rockies are especially vulnerable because those mountain lands are poorly suited to buffer the effects of acid precipitation already falling there. John Harte, a University of California, Berkeley, scientist who was a of the study, compared the threat to the West with one that confronted Northeastern states a decade or two ago. The study concluded that Western precipitation is only 25 percent to 50 percent as acidic as rain and snowfall in many Eastern states In an unusual example of cooperation, a number of agencies are working together in Sequoia National Park to describe and monitor ecological communities. California's Air Resoi rces Board is conducting its mandated watershed research here, the U S. Geological Survey agreed to contribute its skills in hydrologic measurement and lake chemical analyses, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, initiating its own Global Biology program to assess planetary movements of important nutrients, selected the park as a work site Scientists from the University of California were funded to execute much of the research Congress assigned the National Park Service the task of monitoring several wilderness areas. Joint programs like this offer some hope of understanding the profound and complex changes humankind is imposing on the planetary landscape, the lessons learned apply far beyond park boundaries And w bile such understanding is no solution to complaints from Canada or elsewhere it a necessary basis for correction action cancer-causin- g show-simila- r - d i |