Show The Herald Journal Logan' Utah Tuesday July 28 1987 j fl I Olsen challenges Herald editorial about liquor laws Guest commentary Evan By Rep R L Olsen Young Ward Thank the Lord we live in a free land where we can disagree and not be sent to jail for speaking out The editorial of July 19 asking that we change and relax our alcohol and liquor ordinances in Cache Valley to attract tourists cannot go unchallenged Two years ago in an effort to stop the killing of innocent people on our highways I introduced a bill in the Legislature to prohibit the sale of alcohol and gasoline at the same outlet I was contacted immediately by lawyers from one of the largest law firms in Salt Lake ana by other lobbyists asking me to kill the bill saying it would put people out of business I ask the question what is more important lives or business? They had more influence than I did and the bill died in Committee by a small margin Let me quote from a press release dated Feb 19 1986: “My bill 1433 was successfully stalled by big alcohol and oil business A recent study showed that 84 percent of those who purchased their alcoholic beverages at consumed them immediately Another study showed that 50 percent of alcoholic beverage sales at gas stations are to minors Over 40 cities and three counties have banned the dual sale of alcoholic beverages and gasoline" This was not my press release but one 'from Assemblywoman Jean M Duffy 5th District California I know of at least six other states that have introduced the same legislation in an effort to reduce the consumption of alcohol by those who drive If states such as California and its 40 cities and three counties have tightened their regulations on the sale of alcohol why should we in Cache Valley relax ours? True this is different than “those who would like a glass of wine with their meals" However when it gets into the bloodstream alcohol slows reflexes distorts judgment causes accidents cripples and kills I also asked the Utah Police Officers Association to add a couple of questions to their accident reports and then publish the results to let the public see those accidents which were alcohol-relate- d Nothing will happen until the public at large becomes so incensed at the total waste that alcohol causes in people's lives that they rise up in mass and demand that something 'mini-mart- s’ bedone Local police officers have told me their estimate is'that over 70 percent of the accidents and fatalities in Cache The costs are overwhelming County are alcohol-relate- d Yes it is 1987 It should be the year we get tougher with these regulations rather than relaxing them in the name of economic development I have been told that one of the reasons Tupperware came to Cache Valley and to Utah State for so many years was that alcohol was not readily available My advice to local policy makers is don't sell our unique quality of life to satisfy a few tourists’ pleasures Sardine Canyon is not the place to have another liquor outlet This is not directed solely at Sherwood Hills but goes much farther Why should we in Cache Valley or in the state of Utah listen to people who tell us we must change our liquor laws to attract conventions and tourists? If people-wanto come to Utah which has some of the most beautiful parks and scenery in the United States some of the best skiing in the world whose lifestyle promotes a healthier people with less heart attacks and less cancer they should know that our liquor laws are more restrictive If they want to stay away for that reason let them stay My guess is they will come for what Utah has to offer not stay away for what Utah restricts From one who lives works and has raised my family in Cache Valley and has traveled to other parts of this country let's not make Cache Valley like Phoenix Denver San Francisco etc Each part of the country has their own culture Let’s not destroy our own unique way of living to conform with outside pressures t Our powerful generational links BOSTON — At first it seemed like an aberration The political focus group that wouldn’t Wouldn't focus that is Stan Greenberg a political pollster' would gather a mixed group of strangers together in Michigan or Delaware or Iowa His role was to foster an conversation about the country the candidates and the campaign of 1988 A typical evening might begin with one man Introducing himself as a auto worker with two kids 23 and 28 still living at home The secretary next to him would then talk about her son who had to leave the state to find work The auto worker only half in jest would turn to the secretary offering “I’ll give you mine" Before the “real" discussion could even begin the entire group was off and running on an animated often humorous ana deeply felt dialogue about kids: the adult kids who never left home the ones who were having trouble getting a foothold into adulthood an economic grip on independence How can they afford an apartment? th A marriage? first Greenberg head of The Analysis Group would try to get the conversation back on track But after it had happened six times 12 times 24 times he realized that this was the track a track that lead directly toward a center of strong anxiety At Greenberg who is not an entirely disinterested observer (he is the father of two college-ag- e children)' decided to add a question to two of his statewide surveys How often he asked in one Midwest and one East Coast state do you get upset about kids who are not able to leave their parents' home and set up their own? A full 50 percent said “frequently or very frequently” This was a startling figure since nowhere near that number of people actually were suffering from the syndrome It turns out that this issue runs deeper through society than expected It doesn’t swap tests of just exist in middle-age- d anecdotes about the younger generation — “My teenager has a ring through his nose" “Oh yeah mine has green spiked hair" Rather as Greenberg says "Kids have become the idiom for a broad range of economic concerns" They are the way we talk about the future the way we express our worries about an economy even a world that doesn't promise anymore that things will get better for us or for the next generation The oldest of the baby-boogeneration parents who were independent at a young are particularly conage themselves scious even about the difficulties their young are having taking hold The “idiom" they speak is often muddled one part psychology two parts economics “To parents a at home may be seen as pretty visible evidence of failure" muses Greenberg “Maybe they haven’t succeeded in their parenting role helping these kids get out and on their own Maybe they're unable to pass on what full-ne- m self-conscio- st they’ve achieved" But parents also talk with sadness aboaut children who were forced to leave hometowns and home states to find work “It is very perverse" says Greenberg “We have people concerned about kids when they go off to get decent jobs and people concerned when they don’t go" These anxieties about the young even cloud the horizons of the elders who are doing well The Analysis Group polled one state with only 25 percent unemployment and found that the majority nevertheless believed that “the country is on the wrong track" This sentiment correlated highly with concern about their kids' futures In Michigan even voters optimistic abopt themselves believed that “something Is wrong with an economic contentment that cannot be passed on to one’s children" What is coming home in all this information? More than the “children" We each know some young person facing the high price of a starter home and the low wage of a starting job We know parents who give them what they can: a room But most politicians have regarded the young as a small demographic sample whose problems wield little political clout What these anecdotes these tales from the runaway focus groups suggest is how powerful our generational links are how deeply the anxiety about the future affects attitudes about the present Our connections are ultimately and politically as real as the hallway that leads to a “child’s" room 0 1987 the Boston Globe Newspaper Company Washington Post Writers Group Letters to the editor First visit Supporting Bork To the editor: To the editor: Recently we had a surprise visit old friends from Torrance Calif We wanted to impress them as they were not LDS and it was their first visit to Utah and Cache Valley We planned what we thought would be entertaining and fun during their three-da- y vacation stop here in Logan The first day we took a lunch and our cameras to Tony Grove Lake The wild flowers were in bloom like you've never seen before We took pictures of that high mountain country It was refreshingly beautiful The next day we showed them our own Utah State University and then a scenic view of the temple They could hardly believe the foresight of those early pioneers who settled in Cache valley and developed the roads east and west north and south all over the valley with the equally impressive irrigation systems all dug by hand following nearly every road — watering many gardens and lawns all over Logan Next and the last day we took our guests to beautiful Bear Lake We went to the “Old Western Cookout” at Pickleville and then had the time of our lives seeing “The Lady in White” Pickleville Theater Several at the television personalities have been there this summer including Don Olson from Channel 5 who was sitting in front of us To say the least the LeGrand Larsen family with almost all local talent put on the funniest most entertaining melodrama you could ever see Our guests from California now want to come back next summer and spend 30 days instead of three They can see why we love it here too now-famo- Don Wolford Logan I believe Senator Biden to be in error when he denies the judicial committee the members of the Senate the president and the people of the United States the right to judge the merits of Robert Bork to be a Supreme Court Justice before September It is a disservice to the nation Senator Biden is playing politics — dangerous politics He doesn’t deserved to be a candidate for president in my opinion As a conservative I have as much right to have a conservative on the Supreme Court as does a liberal have a right to have a liberal on the court Senator Biden along with Senator Kennedy and others do not have the right to force their political ideology upon me nor upon the people of this nation Past experience indicates that honest judges consider the legal and constitutional issues and made decisions accordingly Sometimes those decisions are In the liberal philosophy — at other times in the conservative philosophy Except for Justice Marshall He seems more interested in a member of his race than in basic legal issues Earl Warren is a good example of a conservative who came to the court His court was anything but conservative Mr Warren became a liberal in my opinion I believe Mr Bork to be very qualified to serve as a justice of the Supreme Court Quoting James J Kilpatrick “Bork’s qualifications are impressive In the almost unbroken tradition of this century he deserves confirmation "by a lopsided vote" Quoting again from Mr Kilpatrick “We ought to understand what these two influential senators are up to (referring to Edward Kennedy and Joseph Biden) They seem determined to destroy a system of constitutional checks and balances that has worked from the beginning of the Republic" I believe both Senator Biden and Senator Kennedy are wrong Someday they will have to answer to a higher authority for their actions Politics and political philosophies have no place in determining the qualifications of a Supreme Court Justice the Hornets have amassed so far this year We were a team with no real manager consisting of I sincerely hope that Robert Bork is the next justice of the Supreme Court in the Hornets' short history Lee Stenquist Logan Hornets corrections mainly local players who were able to consistently defeat everyone but the Blue Sox in the thenNUL Third you commented on win streaks In 1980 we won six games in a row between July 4 and July 29 This is by far the longest winning streak We the 1980 Hornets would appreciate it if you would correct these errors not because the current Hornets are not deserving but because history is history and the paper needs to get its records straight I'm sure if you check your copies of the summer of '80 editions of the sports page you will discover your mistakes To the editor: regarding an article that was in The Herald Journal on 71787 that Erinted do with the Hyrum Hornets baseball team Although the article itself was enjoyable I'm afraid that you have unknowingly made a few mistakes that need to be corrected regarding the Hornets I am writing First you stated that the Hornets have never beaten the Smithfield Blue Sox in the team's history Hyrum has beaten Smithfield In the Beehive State Baseball Tournament of 1980 Hyrum beat the Blue Sox 1 In Smithfield's own on a thrown by a pitcher that Eark never taken the mound before In his life 1 believe this loss prevented the Sox from winning the state title for the first time In who knows how many years due to a subsequent loss In the n tournament at the time 5-- two-hitt- er double-eliminatio- Second our season record ended up to be 11 wins and 11 losses quite a few more wins than Allan Maughan Wellsvllle Letter policy The Herald Journal welcomes letters to the editor Letters should be legible no more than 600 words in length and in good taste Polentislly libelous letters — or letters of more than published 600 words In length - will not be The editor reserves the right to edit all letters to conform to the length and style requirements of the newspaper Letters must be signed and Include the writer's address and a telephone number Letters of excessive length will be edited or returned We do not publish poetry on the Opinion Page |