Show COMME T l'W ''''''-- 4- Editorial Desk: 237-201- ------ '1 EDITORIALS -- and events acquires expanded meaning Challenges found in unfamiliar or intimidating circumstances may be as great but demands on initiative relentlessly change When the vanguard of Mormon settlers entered the valley of the Great Salt Lake July 24 1847 they chores assumed wilderness-taminCreating a place that could welcome and sustain permanent human habitation became a constant effort immediately and for much of the ensug decades It was definitely pioneering in the purest sense — clearing land planting crops building homes organizing government establishing anew all those relationships and amenities which nurture the sort of civilization for which human nature seems to ultimately yearn In the case of the original Mormon arrivals inventing an irrigation system for food cultivation in a naturally arid climate called for additional exertion and skill That each difficulty was overcome in ways that steadily expanded manifold opportunities for community achievement and individual advancement makes the annual holiday celebrating those original Days of '47 especially appropriate But it also demands a deepening attention focused on what succeeds the prologue midIn his precedent-settinState last address of the State year week Gov Mike Leavitt implied a revised interpretation of modern-da- y pioneering By citing the obligations that growth and development impose on a visionary people the governor made a necessary and cor ing g Ir too-usu- ig fl TTHE GovEpNo c 1 AI"' :Ay - ' - in a mid-yea- r address Thursday talked of preserving Utah's virtues and quality of life Whether he realized it or not the staging of his speech sent a louder message than his words Gov Leavitt stood proudly at the podium of the Mormon Tabernacle in Logan and spoke to state legislators and citizens gathered for a government Anyone offended by the meeting choice of venues was invited to listen via television at a nearby restaurant isDisagreement over church-stat- e Utahns sues once again separated Wishes of the religious majority again while concerns of the minority were not just dismissed but treated with disdain That may be part of Utah's quality of life but it's not a virtue worth preserving Weeks ago when objections were raised about the lawmakers' intention to use the tabernacle for a town meeting legislative leaders scoffed House Speaker Rob Bishop said the matter didn't rank in his mind with "thermonute clear war" The American Civil Liberties Union was accused of making some- ' ' ' thing out of nothing And in the end the meeting was held in the tabernacle Only four legislators joined outcasts at the restaurant two to protest their leadership's exclusionary gesture Never one to miss a chance to make matters worse Rep Bishop referred to the tabernacle as the "Logan Civic Center" and said controversy over the issue - Muslim-do- minated 114 ok11?-7- ) It NTLPUD1 1 11 1 am I 41 lit A 13 Al I P 1 S GA1 i : tit0 1 lpt A 4 Pk I ° 1!'4 1bivQ JAC 01 - w tisV 11 I : 3 :: ' NISI K Ct t3 '3-- 14! 0 11' IF ' $: kf 041-"- Ifa i''' A le41111 i0 itoe k ' f 1 ni IA it k (A fi ottpo -- -- 4 A THE PUBLIC FORUM Letters From The Tribune's Readers Question Shepherd's Record population make unreflective exploitation obsolete Commemorating significant historical moments properly exalts the past and those frontier folk who distinguished it Now and during subsequent such celebrations occasion must be made for thoughtful concern about the future and how contemporary pioneering will secure it Lately the media have been inundating us with wild stories of Rep Karen Shepherds accomplishments as of the Democratic Freshman Reform Task Force It discourages me that our news agencies aren't sharp enough to rerepreport more than what our sentative gives them in her press releases If they bothered to look they would have found that instead of demanding that Congress obey the laws they pass as was reported she voted completely to the contrary On Feb 3 Rep Shepherd voted against applying the Family and Medical Leave Act to Congress They sent it back to committee and then ceremoniously version passed a watered-dowRep Shepherd proved that she has quite a skill at deceiving the electorate ("I promise that I will not vote to raise taxes") but it is a sad day when her artful deception includes the media that many of us would like to trust STEPHANIE HALLIDAY West Valley City would not affect the choice of future meeting sites He was implying either that Mormon buildings are less than spiritual or that church and state are one in Utah Either way he undoubtedly stirred up more resentment The trouble with these kinds of issues is that people in the majority rarely perceive a problem They don't really listen to their critics so they fail to understand their concerns They then make complainers out to be cranks and the community divides into "us" and "them" By honoring this particular meeting with one of his most significant public statements of the year Gov Leavitt tacitly endorsed the Legislature's insensitive decision to gather in the tabernacle At the same time he talked about rekindling a sense of individual responsibility and community values He should know that an individual's and acceptance sense of within the community are fundamental to those values A community divided along religious lines — one that promotes the interests of the religious majority at the expense of the minority — sets people apart It harms individual incentive and discourages many from identifying with and supporting local communities Gov Leavitt's address at the Mormon Tabernacle undermined his intended message — and many Utahns' sense of community — by telling them that their own religious concerns don't really count h Lawful Society Under Attack Our city has become a city without law The streets are taken over in daylight and in dark by mobile packs of armed and sullen adolescents When youth are caught in illegal acts we shield their names and their crimes and turn them lose to commit as many more depredations as they can conjure up Unfortunately all too many of the par ents of these youth also exhibit thug-likbehavior as they frequent the beltways barrooms and sports events of our town But the decline in manners restraint ethics — whatever you want to call it — has invaded the more hallowed haunts of our community too One need only consider the bedrooms of homes the boardrooms of industry the bureaucracies of government also the hallways and classrooms of schools the manicured stages of the news and entertainment industries and even the sacred sanctuaries of the churches Law needs consensus and seriousness to survive When there is no longer any concern to establish and enforce minimum standards of ethical behavior there is no workable law and little safety for the people e bear-baitin- g KIM SHINKOSKEY Salt Lake City Clinton Health Plan Equitable President rejecting the international peace plan for Bosnia the Bosnian Serbs have once again called the worlds bluff If the five nations that proposed the settlement are going to establish any credi' bility they must follow through on the measures they promised they would im pose on the Serbs if they rejected the plan To do otherwise will allow the Serbs to once again thumb their noses at the West and will reinforce their belief that they can get away with anything That will only heighten their irrational bypernationalism and make a peace that -much more difficult to attain The United States Britain France :Germany and Russia threatened to im: pose a tighter international embargo Serbia to expand the weapons- against free zones around Bosnian cities threatened by the Serbs and to arm the Bosnian government if the Serbs did not accept the peace plan : Frankly it is questionable whether the contact group nations are willing to commit the force necessary to expand the arms exclusion zones around the cities with arm the Bolan Muslims Both T 1 VP -- Don't Back Down to Serbs By Ur CR IS " 1) -4- counts and the accompanying need for jobs services and livable space self-wort- 11 DO WSNY "11 -- g g 7 141 " al augmented conservation and innovation an acknowledgment that for instance building and expanding infrastructure should rely on whatever new communication transportation and knowledge-sharinconcepts can husband finite resources provides welcome leadership Pioneering whether in Utah or other parts of the United States is no longer a matter of settling and taming surroundings It calls instead on the ingenuity to protect and preserve what has been successfully bequeathed with new sensitivity revised attitudes surely a realization ever-increasin- v ‘ - Church 'Meeting Shakes Up State Gov Mike Leavitt - ( 4- - V r‘b : more government more public spending more regulation and law His expressed preference for that k ay) 040 o' 1110 :41111cGTAer ( 0 Waisg0'd IVE001tqackBovas- n state-of-the-sta- 4 14IVIEssAGee 4 ( 'A4) bli t 1T WL A‘ i :i---- From now on as long as the state enjoys bustling prosperity an emphasis must be placed on asking how certain resources should be conserved and how community cooperation must constantly account for a preferred quality of life The governor's view is that increased sharing of responsibility and awareness will be a guiding principle joined with wise use of technological enterprise rather than a response that encompasses - 11 -- sv J( - t- - 1 -- V7) rect public assignment t N 1 ye° Pioneers Past and Future Pioneering influenced by time N7 - akeZtibunt lEbte-ial- t A20 July 24 1994 SUNDAY 9 could put United Nations forces including those of France and Britain at risk US air troops also will come under fire if NATO air power comes into play The Serbs are aware of these misgivings But unless the five nations carry out their threats the possibility of peace likely will be lost The great concern of the other four nations in the contact group is that Russia will break ranks and refuse to enforce the sanctions or allow the Serbs somehow to wriggle out from under them At the same time Russia may apply pressure to the Serbs to accept the actions proposed settlement The Russians may indicate which way they will move between now and July 30 when the foreign ministers of the five contact group nations are scheduled to meet to consider how to deal with the Bosnian Serbs' rejection of the peace accord If the Russians are able to persuade their traditional allies to reverse field and accept the settle-milt fine If not the other four nations with or without Bus a must arm the Bosnian government Clinton's Health Security Act and its requirement that all employers contribute to health care will give Americans what we need — an equitable way to spread costs while providing quality coverage Opponents of the Health Security Act argue that the employer mandate will hurt small business but that argument is just one more smoke screen to shield big profits Today 62 percent of businesses with fewer than 100 employees offer health insurance Not only are these companies doing the right thing but they are paying top dollar to do so Small businesses spend up to 40 cents out of every healthcare dollar for administrative expenses — far more than big business Plus they are carrying the weight for those irresponsible employers who don't offer insurance As a result health-car- e providers charge people with insurance more to offset those patients without coverage The Health Security Act will stop rewarding irresponsibility and give responsible small business the break they need DAN PEAY Chairman United Steelworkers of America Legislative-EducatioCommittee n Magna AlRAW 11k 101k 401 English Unites America Where to Write When submitting letters to the Public Forum please include your full name signature address and daytime telephone numbers Information other than your name will be kept confidential Preference is given to original letters of 300 words or less that are typeand permit written double-spacepublication of the writer's true name (Names may be withheld for good reason) All letters are subject to editing Mail to Public Forum The Salt Lake Tribune PO Box 867 Salt Lake City Utah 84110 d In a congressional committee languishing no doubt unto death lies a bill of vital interest to the future of the United States: It would proclaim English to be the official language of government It would mean that the federal government would provide notices keep records and conduct business in English only It would mean that the federal government would not mandate state governments to provide notice keep records or conduct business in any other language It would not mean that anyone would ever be required to abandon the use of other languages in their lives It would not mean disrespect to the use or users of other languages It would not mean that the government is trying to extinguish disuggest versity as some An official English proclamation is the only equitable way to deal with public business in a nation populated by more than 380 distinct ethnic groups Further it is the only financially practical way Speaking a common language is also an important ingredient of national consciousness and unity Linguists know the Whorff hypothesis which says the language of a people shapes their culture The culture of personal liberty in America was shaped by people and expanded by them to include more cultural diversity than any other nation on earth One day this nation may have more speakers of Spanish than of English Perhaps at that time the official language of the US will become Spanish No human hand can stay the extinction of the language that no longer meets people's needs No human hand can extinguish the language that helps people to meet their needs Let happen what will but let Official English happen now AL CLARKE Blanding panic-monge- rs GOP Hogwash Have you ever heard the Republican Party state it was for less government and lower taxes? The reason they continually use this phrase is because they know these are important concerns to most people They know when they have a good thing going and they know that many people are gullible enough to believe them if they keep bombarding them long enough with this GOP propaganda During the Reagan and Bush years government bureaucracy grew instead of decreasing as promised We know what happened to our national debt It went from less than $1 trillion to more than $4 trillion A lot of this money was used to subsidize and to protect corporate America and their wealthy friends years the taxDuring the Reagan-Buses for the wealthy were decreased and the taxes for the poorer people were increased and I believe it was the largest tax increase in recent history So can we believe all of this hogwash about less government and less taxes that the Republican Party keeps preaching? Shouldn't it be evident by now that it is just that hogwash? We know that they are going to continually protect the interest of the wealthy at the expense of the common people and this country When are we going to wake up? DENNIS MCCLUNE Layton h No Drive? No Guts Well the Utah state government is at it again They have offered another "hearts and flowers" solution to the critical problem of air pollution The Voluntary Days program will have about as much impact on the reduction of smog as banning the sales of candy cigarettes to s from smoking prevent I guess it's a political decision Nobody is inconvenienced We demonstrate to the EPA that we are really trying and state officials make the six o'clock news Of course just complaining about state government would be unwarranted without offering my own solutions Here are three: Car pool lanes on during peak traffic hours Sales tax penalties and credits up to 50 percent on motor vehicle purchases based on an EPA fuel economy ratings scale Make commuting by bicycle feasible and get this resource off automotive bike racks and on to pavement But at the end of the day this isn't about solutions real or imaginary It's just another manifestation of the gutless state government failing to take action so the feds will have to do it for us That way we can blame Washington for unpopular regulations and Gov Leavitt can continue to successfully exploit federal intervention to promote his forum for state rights ROBERT V WESTON J West Jord 1 No-Dri- teen-ager- er 111 user-friendl- y English-speakin- g Support Safe Drinking Water Last year more than 940000 people became ill by drinking contaminated tap water More than 900 of these people died Most who died were the elderly the sick pregnant women or infants These numbers are definitely disturbing By strengthening the Safe Drinking Water Act though we can eliminate most of these casualties What is more frightening than the current statistics though is the fact that the industries that pollute our water are pushing for even weaker restrictions on our drinking water quality In fact a bill now in the House of Representatives would allow even more chemicals in our drinking water than is currently acceptable just to save money This bill will be passed on the condition that there not be a "significant increase" in the illnesses caused by these chemicals "Significant" is not defined by the bill But if even one person in 10000 dies from drinking tainted water the protection is not strong enough This bill would also reduce the drinking water quality in water systems (serving fewer than 10000 people) again because it would be too expensive to provide clean water This provision is of particular interest to residents of rural Utah By supporting this bill our government is sending a message to our country: If it costs too much to providc clean drinking water then we won't dc it What is quite ironic is that while Congress is considering weakening our drinking water standards more than 88 percent of those representatives responding to a survey actually use bottled water in their offices Clean drinking water must not concern them Let's strengthen the Safe Drinking Water Act and drink to healthier life ADAM r Mit Arak 11 Ant S I IAW Sargy |