| Show CO Editorial Desk: 11 fr I TY 17N Al6 SUNDAY September 12 1993 237-201- 9 I I rw14priAlc&-ralliz- (7rbra1t akta'ribunt MIT° I I 11tV na ii trA IALS 1 " I E 1 4 1 : (Th 1 I 1 Before Helping Pay School Activity Fees Taxpayers Should Demand Cost Controls 4 I 7- 010 It would be practically impossible to persuade the average taxpayer to dig deeper into personal finances to support public schools that encourage if not require students to spend hundreds of dollars a year to join school clubs and teams The State Board of Education wants taxpayers to fork over $12 million annually for the fees of academic and extracurricular programs An education task force is making a more modest request for statewide taxes to cover the fees of students who cannot afford them Last year Utah public schools waived $14 million in fees for those students and contend they cannot continue the practice without either reducing activities for all students or raising more money A task force subcommittee would make these proposals more palatable by capping the costs of such activities as cheerleading drill team dance team athletics and marching groups At the same time it would eliminate at least textbook and laboratory fees for all students As long as public schools are going to sponsor activities they must give all students a chance to participate regardless of family income It is not only the fair thing to do it now is state law However nothing in the law says that these activities must be elaborate and expensive if they are offered at all non-academ- ic There are advantages to involving students in athletics and other outside activities of course They may teach students social skills and boost their rounding out their personalities and building a foundation for future leadership But the development of these talents does not require fancy team wardrobes and extensive travel self-estee- m If Utah schools need more money which can hardly be denied it makes much better sense to ask state taxpayers to cover such academic costs as books and lab materials than to expect them to pay for optional activities open to select students The extra activities could be supported with surcharges on right to scrutinize and improve government When someone has a traffic accident in Utah state or local police send a report to the Utah Department of Public Safety which stores some of the details in its database Meantime initial reports are available to insurance companies news reporters lawyers and anyone else willing to pay a $4 fee Because traffic volume figures are added to the database UDOT says it must remain confidential to avoid government liability for accidents The Tribune like most newspapers is in the business of disseminating infor funding possibilities including taxes on soda pop beer and tickets to sporting events The sale of school memorabilia and corporate sponsorships could add to the pot The closer the revenue source is to the school to be supported the more likely the school's activity expenses will be voluntarily controlled If extracurricular programs do become the recipients of statewide levies taxpayers must be protected against runaway program expansion But no matter how plentiful the school activities or how they are financed membership fees should be restricted The subcommittee suggests a $50 limit per student per activity Jennifer Lee a task force member said it is costing her $640 for the uniforms and training clinics associated with her daughter's cheerleading at Hillcrest High School That's ridiculously out of line for an activity on the periphery of education The same could be said for the hundreds of dollars each student pays for uniforms and training in competitive sports Holding spending levels and participation prices to reasonable levels would not only reduce the general burden of fee waivers it would make costs bearable for families paying full fare It also would help make high schools in Utah less exclusive and more inclusive promoting the American principle of universal education and opportunity mation to the public not supplying evidence to private parties in lawsuits As far as that goes UDOT already has given database information to attorneys for people involved in particular traffic accidents What's more federal law specifically prohibits the use of state traffic data as evidence in court Yet traffic statistics might interest the public for such reasons as identifying dangerous intersections If that kind of information now worries agencies managing Utah roads perhaps it's time for a refresher course in representative government The US Constitution guarantees press freedom to encourage public participation in an open ethical government The exposure of problems provides opportunities for correction GRAMA was enacted to foster government openness in Utah It presumes that records are public unless otherwise specified But a major state agency now has spent a year — and many taxpayer dollars — trying to thwart it in court The Tribune was able to challenge government's use of the law but an individual might lack the necessary resources Government can — and should — shield information more important to personal privacy than to other public purposes But accidents occurring on public roads and investigated by law officers are public events Reports on them always have been and should continue to be available to anyone who asks whether the words are written on paper or a magnetic tape Permitting government agencies to suppress such information without just cause threatens all Utahns Nature Brings Back Fall Beauty Some Utahns may be whining or g weeping about this summer's "chill" which followed on the heels of a soggy spring But most folks can start counting their blessings Open Ranks of NATO to Eastern European Nations discretionary purchases The task force has mentioned a few State Secrecy Disserves Public In what may be the first lawsuit over Utah's new law governing access to goyermnent records 3rd District Judge David S Young has supported openness If his decision discourages state and local agencies from misusing the law to lock up public information all Utalms can claim a victory Last year The Salt Lake Tribune requested 1991 traffic accident records computerized by the Utah Department of Transportation UDOT refused citing Utah's Government Records Access Management Act (GRAMA) If traffic records are given to The Tribune UDOT argued they could be illegally used to sue the agency Fortunately Judge Young rejected the state's baseless claims ruling Friday that the records in question belong to the public Unfortunately UDOT might appeal the decision — at significant public expense Besides having to pay already extensive legal costs in this case the agency is trying to restrict residents' - FOR THE WASHINGTON POST An event of symbolic significance took place in Warsaw last month when President Boris Yeltsin became the first Russian to visit Poland as the leader of a free and equal country rather than as an imperial master The Polish government used the occasion to advocate a measure with practical consequences for the future especially for the United States Polish President Lech Walesa issued a joint statement with Yeltsin noting Poland's desire to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization the Western security alliance that had opposed the Soviet Union during the Cold War and stating Russia's "understanding" of this desire The idea is a good one The inclusion of Poland and of Hungary and the Czech Republic the two other formerly Communist countries most firmly committed to democracy and free markets — would be good for them good for the West and good for Russia too provided it is accompanied by a clear definition of a new NATO policy toward the former Soviet Union Poland Hungary and the Czech Republic seek full participation in NATO along with membership in the European Community as a way of anchoring themselves firmly and irreversibly in the West Their governments wish to pro-Weste- strengthen the forces wiLhin their countries committed to consolidating democracy and building market economies Poland the largest and strategically most important of them faces no immediate threat Membership in NATO is for the Poles a way to ensure no threat will arise in the event that Russian political forces opposed to Boris Yeltsin and democracy and interested in the Soviet empire should take power in Moscow Because Poland Hungary and the Czech Republic face no imminent threat the West would not risk war by admitting just 687 degrees But few tears have been shed by the many Utahns who saved on costs slept in cool comfort and to got spend some time on their own Forest fires were patios few and far between this year giving fire fighters and taxpayers a welcome mid-Augu- st post-Col- d port for it especially in North America may wither As Sen Richard Lugar of Indiana the most influential Republican voice on foreign policy and a supporter of expanding alliance membership recently put it "The choice is not between the current NATO and a new NATO but rather between a new NATO and no NATO" Were it to accept the three Eastern European countries the alliance would have to establish a timetable for their accession to membership The most important issue this prospect raises however is NATO's relationship to the countries to its east Specifically expansion to the borders of the former Soviet Union unavoidably raises the question of NATO's approach to that vanished empire's two most important successor states: Russia and Ukraine The suspicions and multiple sources of conflict between them make the relationship between these two new and unstable countries both with nuclear weapons on their territory the most dangerous and potentially the most explosive on the planet today An expanded NATO must contribute what it can to promoting peaceful relations between them while avoiding the appearance either of constructing an coalition or washing its hands of any concern for Ukrainian security There is no more difficult task for the United States and its European allies and none more urgent To the extent that their accession to NATO provides an occasion for addressing that task seriously Poland Hungary and the Czech Republic will have performed yet another service for the West anti-Russi- Michael Mandelbaum is a professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and director of the ProRelations at the Counject on cil on Foreign Relations East-We- st Pesticide Control: How About Putting People First? processed foods such as fruit juice or tomato paste Rather than complying the administration is seeking legislative revocation of Delaney The validity of the law's basis that there is no scientific way to determine safe levels or tolerances for carcinogens has been repeatedly examined and endorsed over the last three decades by a succession of independent expert committees Nevertheless the Clinton proposal recommends replacing Delaney designed to prevent any avoidable exposures to dietary carcinogens with standards that would allow residues posing "acceptable" or "negligible" risks of cancer generally one in 1 million extra cancers Such risks are determined by what's known as "quantitative risk assessment" a based on questionable assumptions and mathematical models derived from animal carcinogenicity tests While those tests reliably determine whether a chemical is carcinogenic there is no way of predicting the relative sensitivities of humans and animals In fact recent studies suggest that humans may be many times more sensitive to particular carcinogens than are rodents The administration has indicated that it will use a cancer risk as its standard but refuses to make it part of the law Even using that standard the Environmental Working Group a Washington think tank estimated that "by the average child's first birthday the combined cancer risk from just eight pesticides on 20 foods exceeds the EPA's lifetime level By Samuel Epstein and Laura Yeomans FOR THE LOS ANGELES TIMES When the National Academy of Sciences concluded in June that current levels of pesticide residues on fruits and vegetables may pose high risks of cancer and other disease to infants and children the Clinton administration promptly pledged to tighten regulatory policies However the administration is expected to seek congressional approval for what amounts to weakened regulation of carcinogenic pesticides in the nation's food supplies The administration's proposal: 0 Would allow economic benefits for the agrichemical industry to outweigh health risks to consumers 0 Fails to set goals and incentives for phasing out carcinogenic pesticides 0 Gives the Environmental Protection Agency discretion to set safety standards at any level of cancer risk 0 Is based on safety standards that regulate each pesticide in isolation rather than cumulative residues on a plateful of food 0 Is based on Food and Drug Administration monitoring that misses half of commonly used pesticides 0 Ignores the safety standards for children recommended by the NAS The pressure to weaken pesticide regulations stems from agrichemical industry pressures and from a 1992 ruling by the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals The court at that time ordered the EPA to enforce the 1958 law known as "Delaney" which bans residues of those carcinogenic pesticides that concentrate in ' break tioVi Wti record-breakin- Farmers can Justifiably lament a cool spell that has cut their crop production short Businesses dependent upon a sweltering summer to send people in search of a swim an air cooler or an icy drink can't be blamed for singing the budget blues as temperatures in Salt Lake City June through August stayed below triple digits and averaged these countries to NATO Nor would their membership saddle the alliance with internal territorial and political disputes of the kind that set Greece and Turkey at odds with each other during the Cold War Including the three Eastern European countries in NATO would bring benefits not only to them but to the West as well It would ensure stability on Germany's eastern border It would extend the zone of stability and democracy in Europe eastward thereby consolidating some of the gains of the Cold War Perhaps most important NATO membership for these three countries would begin the long complicated and necessary process of transforming NATO from a defensive alliance against a threat that no longer exists into a broader security community capable of contributing to the establishment of democracy and the maintenance of peace Part of that process may well involve undertaking "out of area" missions such as policing a negotiated settlement in the former Yugoslavia Here Poland could be particularly useful As a country with a proud military tradition and a strong sense of international responsibility Poland would likely be more willing to furnish troops for such operations than many Western European members of the alliance NATO's European members are not unanimously enthusiastic about opening their ranks to Eastern Europe Many in Western Europe want the alliance to remain exactly as it is as an insurance policy against the revival of a threat from the east and as a mechanism for preventing the "renationalization" of defense policy by which they mean independent German foreign and defense policies The only way to perpetuate NATO however may be to change it Unless the alliance adapts to the new circumstances of the War world public sup By Michael Mandelbaum And now everyone gets to enjoy a September show that hasn't passed this way for several years: Vibrant red orange and yellow foliage reflecting fluorescent light in the afternoon sun i IK PANstED KOr K 111-11:bP- The colorful spendor of Utah's upper elevations is startina to lure resi- dents into spending a few extra moments of leisure in the mountains this season Ther probably don't even mind having to ptill on their sweaters a little sooner than usual HE APG 10c) clizRiorc il-T- (11 Can 13V:Re- KallaVe5 1- During the drought of the past few years Utah's autumn leaves have been a drab disappointment hardly worth a second glance This year summer is building toward a bright bold conclusion Just last week the first splash of red hit hillside maples A tint of yellow can be detected in the aspen stands -1- e pseudo-scienc- t 5? r d - - 1 people to eat a diet rich in fruits and veeetables without increasing their risk of cancer To this end the administration should learn from Clinton's book Putting People First and not be misled intd M putting pesticides first Ill or : 4 wo e 4 risk" Federal policy should aim to prevent cancer by reducing avoidable risks The administration should phase out the use of carcinogenic pesticides within five to seven years change government priori(or-- j ties to favor sustainable ganic) or farming method-ancreate health-basestandards for' pesticide residues geared especially to protection of fetuses infants and chil:dren Many farmers have already begun' the transition to and organic farming In California some of the grape growers are reducing pesticide use as organic techniques move into the mainstream Enactment of the administration's policies would provide a powerful stimulus to growing consumer devmand for labeling of produce grown with' carcinogenic pesticides A March 1993 poll by the consumer group Public Voice found that 79 percent of those polled "strongly favor tough laws requiring clear labeling of the chemicals and pesti cides used to grow a food product" It would be a rash administration and an equally rash Congress that permitted the use of carcinogenic pesticides but disl missed the public's right to know about carcinogens in their food There is growing concern about the ing war against cancer which now strikes more than one in three and kills more than one in four Americans up from an incidence of one in four and mortality of one in five in 1960 Over the last decade 5 million have died in this cancer epidemp lc by comparison deaths in the AIDS ca tastrophe number fewer than 300000 The escalating cancer rates largely reflect avoidable exposures to industrial carcinogens of which pesticides are a major class that have permeated our food air water and workplaces The rect and indirect costs of cancer—early death lost wages costly treatment — are estimated to be at least $110 billion ally or nearly 2 percent of Gross Nation' al Product These costs are a key factor hi' ' the current health-car- e crisis Pesticide regulation must enable 4 0 h yo 4 of acceptable 46 tt Samuel Epstein is a professor of occupational and environmental medicine at University of Illinois School of Public' Health and chairman of the Cancer Prevention Coalition liura Yeomans 17an environmental policy analyst for the cony' sumer organization Citizen Action ' le Z1 r:7ki t:KS41 C 11 : I( Otrodirlitit 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