Show Don’t be so quick to accept stereotypes The of Cache Valley was tested again recently when a Logan man sent police on a wild goose chase looking for a Hispanic man he accused of shooting him following a traffic altercation It turns out we all know now that the wound was self inflicted The man shot himself — no Hispanics forcing him off the road: no Hispanic crazy-maout of control No one but himself the white guy Who believed the story? Who failed this test? broad-mindedne- ss rifle-wieldi- The incident of racial discrimination is troubling mostly because it is not an uncommon scenario across the nation Susan Smith kills her two children in South Carolina — she sends police and the rest of the world chasing a black kidnapper Charles Stuart shoots his pregnant wife in Boston — he picks a black man from a police lineup and everyone mourns w ith Stuart Then the ploys are uncovered and people hang their heads in shame for being so quick to swallow the stereotypes Until that is the next ruse and the next Our view and the next If there is one positive element in these cases it is that the incidents should serve as banners to remind people that being quick to judge can come back to slap those stereotypes right out of your face The idea that minorities are criminals persists here and it obviously persists in South Carolina and Boston But the truth of the matter is that for every one crimi nal there are dozens of other highly productive culturally rich caring individuals who are minorities in this country Language and other cultural differences sometimes make it a little tougher to understand people but that does not make them any more criminal There are legitimate reasons to be cautious in some areas of this world That’s a fact But it also is a fact that those reasons are not based on race Just because South Central Los Angeles is a war zone and is home mostly to black people does not mean you should fear all black people Fear South Central LA not African Americans in general Don’t dally too long north of Central Park in New York but not because the area is dominated by Hispanics Stay away because there are as many guns as human beings on the streets of Harlem In other words do not stay away from minorities Stay away from dangerous people They are not one and the same The Herald Journal's mOur View" represents the opinion of the newspaper’s Editorial Board: Publisher Bruce Smith Acting Managing Editor Tim Vitale and City Editor Jennifer Hines Letters to the editor Just another interstate truck stop To the editor: Legal and procedural mistakes and gaffs aside I'm still confused as to w hy the Westons w ould choose that particular sign for the entrance to their resort It seems like such a bad business decision Did the Best Western motel chain pick up the tab? It's so beautiful there and that sign r seems to misrepresent what the resort has to offer I don't think that the Old Faithful Lodge at Yellowstone Park would be quite as attractive with neon lights and rate specials flashing on and off It's my understanding that the resort had a lack of visitor problems in the past due to very poor marketing choices It wasn't that people didn't ' know it was there it was that they chose not to go there So if the Wcst- ons have set out to lick the previous owners' problems and mistakes "'and it seems they're trying why not make the place all the more invit- ing with a sign that reflects how beautiful that little spot of earth is and ‘‘ how well your resort complements it The present sign looks like just interstate truck stop I don't sec how that will attract customers Kevin Doyle North Logan Right is right wrong is wrong : i To the n editor: Morality and the difference between right and wrong Those two are synonymous where I come from But here in Utah in Happy Valley ' i there seems to be an amendment to the wording “If it's right for me it 'must not be wrong” We have another light blinding example of such hypocrisy with the now infamous “sign” recently erected by the owners l of Sherwood Hills : While I can understand the Westons’ frustration with the county i council there is no excuse for breaking the law Right is right and wrong is wrong It was clearly spelled out in the zoning ordinance Instead of trying to compromise they put up a lighted sign in which blatantly says “If they can't bend the rules for me to hell with - -- ! i 50-fo- ot I the system” Let's consider the following in finding a resolution to this fiasco: 1) Instead of voting to make the owners temporarily cover up the sign which is of course the typical reaction to controversial issues the county council needs to demonstrate it has a backbone This will be '‘extremely important when dealing with future growth issues Sherwood i Hills should be slapped with the proper fines and penalties as designated by the council's own written ordinance 2) The Westons need to recognize that when it comes to the resort business they have the best of both worlds A pristine location and no competition but the precedence set by their actions if approved could eventually bring in unwanted competition and further destruction of a “ beautiful canyon Perhaps a better marketing strategy that doesn’t break the law should be considered 3) If we as a society arc concerned about the proper message being "conveyed to our children shouldn't we back our words with actions? By supporting a business that knowingly breaks the law we are in turn supporting illegal activity I would therefore suggest a boycott of Sher- -' wood Hills particularly on New Year’s Eve until they comply with the Taw There arc many other fine establishments more deserving of our business this state loves to tout is its morality This g Onebeofsothebutvirtues where I come from we’re taught at an early age to give may the environment and the law more respect They are after all part of ' our future ‘ ( law-abidi- ng so-call- ed jTim Wagner Logan ij iThanks for supporting Wasatch Gospel Singers 'To the editor: Ji We of The Wasatch Gospel Singers sincerely thank the people of Cache Valley for your enthusiastic support of our Christmas concerts in the Logan and Wcllsvillc Tabernacles It is a pleasure to perform for such appreciative audiences We offer a special thanks to Dr Willard Kesling for his excellent guest singing performance at our concert We also thank The Herald Journal Q92 KVNU KUSU Kinko’s and the many other local organizations and churches for their kind assistance in publicizing the concert We thank The Wellsville Foundation for inviting us to perform in the historic Wellsville Tabernacle and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-da- y Saints for making the Logan Tabernacle available for our concert When we organized The Wasatch Gospel Singers we had only a hope that people here would enjoy our music The overwhelming response has been both gratifying and unanticipated Personally I appreciate the contributions of the fine singers and musi-piain the choir I share the joy of so many others when we hear you erform such music to stir one’s soul ns lichard L Ratliff director The Wasatch Gospel Singers forth Logan the editor: It might be 11 ii pm midnight or 4:30 am but when it snows the icupants in the proximity of 700 S and 500 East can hear our good icighbor John Olsen 658 S 500 East River Heights with his snow lade on his truck making our lives a little easier He is cleaning the now from our driveways and in front of our houses He has been doing his for many years since moving to River Heights In the mornings when he is cleaning our driveways and we happen to up and outside we all get the pleasure of a smile and a “good morn-ng- See LETTERS on page 17 n mm VifflabliMm Mnonri vllirjviiiinij ' K)i 1 1 I a JmiiI n Time to confess to the ugly mistakes BOSTON — As a journalist I have long been a connoisseur of corrections I am drawn to the little boxes in the comer of the newspaper to see what errors of omission and commission were committed by some writer or editor I find the corrections particularly appealing now that public apologies are so few and far between The art of begging pardon has become an endangered species of speech Having a lawyer means never being able to say you’re sorry Politicians and CEOs offer only their most choked regrets: “If I may have inadvertently said or done something that you may have misconstrued as something that offended you ” Companies pay enormous settlements to clients employees and customers as long as they don’t have to admit guilt Corrections are equally rare in the broadcast world where many words go into the air and few are taken to task How often for example are pundits forced to match one month’s prediction against the next month’s reality? But here in Ye Olde Gutenberg world of the printed work we tend to hold ourselves favorite accountable Indeed my correctionapology of 1994 come from the Chicago Tribune which omitted the last line of a Mike Royko column: The last line should have said: ‘Eeeeyaaach’ The Tribune regrets the error” Well “Eeeeyaaach” is what I shriek when I make a mistake So each year in an attempt to wipe the slate clean I fess up to the errors that have snuck misstatements and mix-up- s error-chec- k software And past my private therefore I once again offer my Media Culpas This being a political year three culpas were In civilian life I wrote that what America y Bunch era was a needed in this family A reader offered this footnote: The Bradys were a family of sorts: Mom Dad and Alice the longtime nanny Do you suppose they paid her Social Security? In honing my skills this year I also let a “camera hone in on” its subject Unless the camera had a very sharp edge I was wrong The camera “homes” in So do the word police who let me know of my error The word police also caught me making two other whoppers I spoke of a pat on the butt” Oops I meant perfunctory I also said the Bangladeshi writer Taslimi Nasrin “boldly maybe foolheartedly spoke out” I only misspoke I made up a word That was indeed foolhardy of me but not foolhearty My language problems followed me into translation While the French were talking about banning Franglais I thought we should ban Englcnch But in that column I used the French singular le airbags and le jumbo jets when I meant the plural les airbags and les jumbo jets Pardon my French Pardon my Eskimo too In writing about the white stuff I repeated common wisdom that the Eskimo had 21 words for the white stuff The common wisdom is wrong According to a linguistics professor there are just two Eskimo words for snow: qanik meaning snow in the air or snowflake and aput meaning snow on the ground On that note I shall now pull on my boots walk over the aput and through the qanik and into a brave new year One last work before I go: “Eeeeyaaach post-Brad- Ellen Goodman culled from election coverage This doesn’t count by the way the miscalculation that led to my defeat in the office pool Media Culpa 1 In a daze I put the right words in the wrong person’s mouth It wasn't Ellen Malcolm of EMILY’S List who said that many women were reluctant to run for office “because they see the process as totally unappealing” It was Harriet Woods of the National Women’s Political Caucus Not all political women are joined at the head Earlier in writing about Bob Massie Jr the candidate for lieutenant governor of Massachusetts I created a double byline where none existed I said that the book “Nicholas and Alexandra” was by his parents Robert and Suzanne Massie Nope They another book Robert Sr did this one by himself The third wrong I am happy to right In October I thought that the Massachusetts Senate race was turning into a beauty contest and Ted Kennedy was a fading contestant Oh me of little faith By November Kennedy turned the voters’ heads Now onto sexual politics I also though Lt Paula Coughlin had been sunk in the TaUhook sexual harassment scandal Well the Navy brass got away with the gauntlet gambit but irony of irony Paula did win a case — against the convention hotel not the conventioneers post-electi- on three-pare- nt three-pare- nt “pre-empto- 0 1994 ry The Boston Globe Newspaper Company White House disarms war on drugs Bv Joseph Perkins The nation’s war on drugs has taken a turn for the worse Two separate surveys released this week show that an increasing number of have fallen prey to illegal American narcotics Nearly one in three high school seniors has used marijuana at least once in the past year teen-age- rs le appreciate our ‘good neighbor’ To i according to the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research And one m six eighth-gradeaged 13 or 14 has smoked rs grass Some may not find marijuana use among teens particularly distressing After all many baby boomers smoked pot at some point or another in their youth — including the president of the United States the new speaker of the House and at least one Supreme Court justice But Lee Brown director of the Office of Commentary National Drug Control Policy cautions against a cavalier attitude toward pot smoking He notes that the marijuana on the streets today — which is known in rap culture as “the chronic” — is up to 10 times more potent than the strain that was available to teens a generation ago That is why Columbia University’s Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse predicts that of the 18 million teens repotting marijuana use in 1994 nearly half eventually will e become regular users of such drugs as heroin cocaine and LSD What has happened in the past few years that has reversed the trend of declining drug use among American teens? hard-cor- Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala and Education Secretary Richard Riley — seem to agree that the entertainment industry bears much of the blame for glamorizing drug use in movies and song lyrics But Hollywood is only partly culpable (after all drugs have been celebrated in films and music for decades and not just in recent years) The ultimate responsibility for the disturbing rise in teen drug use resides with Washington specifically those charged with waging the war cm drags It seems clear that the Ginton administration really does not consider the war on drugs a national priority Last winter the White House announced an 83 percent staff reduction in Brown’s drug policy office from 146 employees to 25 Meanwhile the president acceded to a $231 i Clinton administration officials — like f See PERKINS on page 17 ' t ' VI |