Show ''&??&& ar TWCWT:-- ' I iniwimmuM - T55S -- J f s re VWV' ssFvrr Zgmea V 7?gM conclusions are more likely be gathered out of a multitude of kind of tongues than through any ‘ to authoritative selection — Judge Learned Hand American urial (1172-106- The Harald Journal Logan Utah Friday October 1996 1 1 Page 13 Oor view mrmmm IWNKNSUNMr Stinging commentary? I's a curious thing that letters to the editor of The Herald Journal criticizing the state of public education often contain poor grammar fractured sentence structure and Now comes a myriad misspellings written state- ment to the newspaper from a local school board candidate — w ho the declaration “Go Home” One would assume the words were meant for newcomers to Utah and Cache Valley But if the vandals were also targeting the builders and developers involved in area housing projects going “home” would probably he only a few blocks' drive since much of money being midc in the recent housing boom here is going into the bank accounts of Cache Valley natives also sees a No there is not going to be a Target department store in Richmond at least not anytime soon A lot of equally horrendous writing Among the candidate's misspellings were the words “oppertunity” “collage” (for college) and “exscponally” (presumably for exceptionally) people driving through the north need for a more disciplined education system — with Of course the newspaper isn’t perfect in the English department either as our critics will quickly point out when they read this But that's another story It simply seems worth note that for whatever reason the people who complain loudest about today’s schooling often appear deficient in that category themselves d Among the sages left recently by mes- spray-painte- anti-grow- th Cache Valley town have seen a sign at a construction site along US Highway 91 with a bull's eye painted on it next to the word “Target” and rumor has circulated that the big discount chain is coming to town What is actually being built on the site is a home compliments of Target Builders and Construction out of nearby Lewiston And then there was the Herald-Journ- al photographer who got stung a by wasp in the rear end this week while getting into bed Is there a message there somewhere? Women find equality in rude-drivranks er By Dale McFeatters I hanks to an insanely complicated schedule involving the upljill task of educating our children I now have a long commute involving an interstate suburbs inner city and downtown I have discovered an amazing new social development: At one time the rudest drivers on the mad were young men driving alone No longer Now 95 percent of the time a rude aggressive obnoxious driver will he a woman — usually but not always a young woman gloomy-face- d thug driving heat-u- of standard-issu- commuter Most of the routes use art so jammed and the ' lighfs so badly programmed that the Andretti family couldn’t make lime Something deeper is at work Just last night a woman in a gray Taurus twice tried to pass me by pulling up on my right at a stoplight and trying to beat me across the intersection so she amid cut hack in front of me She ultimately passed me by just about standing the Ford on its door handles on a short two-lan- e stretch of downhill curve Once in front she slowed down to a speed less than we had been traveling the first time she had tried to pass me She just wanted to be first You can bet that a young woman in a Jeep with a “Save the Whales" sticker doesn't care at all about your continued survival If the driver is in a Saab she is almost guaranteed to be rude and if she is on a car phone it is a certainty My conclusion that the ranks of rude obnoxious drivers have been overrun by women is based on what is called anecdotal evidence meaning I don’t have a shred to statistical or documentary evidence to back it up Still it is incontestably true My wife says so my mechanic says so a random survey of coworkers says so (and uncovered a perpetrator or two) Your own coworkers will vouch for the observation I have no idea why this is At first I there thought might be a connection involving birth dates sun spots and British Prime Minister Maggie 1 hatcher's war with Argentina But the wide age range of ohnoxiousness ruled that out May lx1 it's because commuter traffic is so boring Maybe it's an unintended side-elleof Title IX water has lluoiidalcd Maybe drinking altered the female ihiomosomes When you drive to and trom work today waith who cuts you olf or drives down the shoulder or pulls Iront-way- s into a pai king spue you'ic backing into Nine will gel you HI it's a (emale is sort Scripps Howard News Service A a pickup truck decorated p with such uplifting bumper stickers as I II Give Up My Gun When 'I hey Pry It From My Cold Dead Hand" will wave you ahead of him into a line of traffic A suburban matron in a station wagon with stickers boasting that her child is an honor student and urging “Random Acts of Kindness” will spot your turn signal from two blocks hack and stand on the accelerator to shut you out of traffic One woman on my route lb work has tw ice tried to pass me on the right — on road no passing and bumper-to-bumpa two-lan- e traffic Her tactic is to try to edge the nose of her car between your right rear fender and the curb and then honk madly I have seen her go down a city street in the oncoming traffic lane and then cut hack in the correct lane by the simple expedient of yanking her steering wheel hard to the right Perhaps there was an emergency you I followed migli argue No there wasn't her once and she pulled into the employthat speees' parking lot of a think-tan- k cials S in warm gooey tracts urging that we all be more sharing caring and nurturing The problem is ntit my driving which er mind-numbingl- v Mallard Fillmore virtATl? zrni It AMmIT3 vandals on Logan's cast bench was I jp TOKWWSCfl MQrtr WitH Afjy W — 77 KiP WHo WAV m -- unit -- tffey iy tfc mrr to? e Your view Is anyone really home at City Hall? To the editor: Sometimes I wonder whether our city really has its priorities right At our outside border to the southwest we find a large willow hedge that looms hundreds of feet into the sky Our city has a reputation of protecting every tree If anyone should dare trim prune or remove a tree we will put our attorneys to work and sue them for every penny we can get As we pass the railroad tracks we sec a willow tunnel! That's right the trains are pruning our precious trees I wonder whether our attorneys are preparing to sue the railroad Our tunnel is kind of cute but as I have talked to several area bus drivers from Logan Transit Laidlaw and Cache County schools the bushy trees create a very big problem for them Well at IS feet all that is visible is the entrance to our Logan city “willow tunnel” In fact we cannot sec 1 (KK) feet until we arc in the middle of the (racks! Bus drivers cannot sec the l(KH) feet until' they are in the middle of the tracks Yc's our city protects its trees! In defiance to requests from all three busing entities Logan city has refused to cut a single branch Maybe the city feels (hat all buses should just use another crossing in another city? Maybe they would like on a all the buses to make a crowded divided highway? I have not yet figured it out hut one thing is for sure: They have saved the trees! As we move on we see a fine new sign at the "gateway’' to Ijigan This very large sign reads “Welcome home" This sign obviously cost a lot of money perhaps some extra money from a lawsuit ov er someone cutting a tree down Next we see the golf course this must be our front yard I must compliment our city on an impressive landscaping job for our ftonl yard We next approach the river bridge at MKI South and Main Street I have heard it said many times that this river bridge is our front door the very threshold to out city I guess you could say that the bridge lights arc really the lights at the front door Do we have such a bridge? But what do we sec currently at our front door? Well again it is obvious to see what is important to Logan city About the lights if you stop in broad daylight and push the precious willow branches aside (Do not cut any or we will sue) you will sec what is left of our front-dolamps With so many signs of neglect disrepair and disregard for safety at our front hedge and front door and with our frontdoor lights not even on one is left to wonder whether anyone is really home at City Hall? once-beaulif- ul or Murrell Marlin Logan plan called for Interspersed throughout their com- menting periods were favorable reports about Democrats and what they were doing Some were staged such as Clinton's mine deal in Montana and Perot's “convention” Cougars my foot! On radio they even interviewed To the editor: Anyone who thinks that foubdegged predators arc responsible for “decimating" the deer herds needs to go walk along the road in Logan Canyon and count the number of dead fawns that are there We found eight in one mile including a set of identical twins Cougars my foot We need a faster road like a hole in the head Cheryl Brunson Millville rn Here’s some proof of liberal media bias To the editor: Since election day 1994 it has seemed that the majority of the media have been waging a successful campaign against Gingrich and House Republicans for their Contract with America and never giving a clear picture of Republican budget proposals or who really shut down the government twice In 1994 Sen Hatch said that if the Contract with America were kept and the president signed the bills it would greatly improve Clinton's public image But because of extremely negative press the Congress hasn't received the good credit it so much deserves the Democratic Parly chairman to get a dearer picture of Jlcpublicans I watched part of the Democrat Convention and looked in vain for the positive comments about the Republicans It was handled differently n So after the debate I timed the positive camera time each candidate received in the evaluation period Focus on Clinton: total was six minutes 35 seconds Focus on Dole: total was two minutes 15 seconds Can you imagine how the debates between honest Abe Lincoln and the polished Stephen A Douglas would have been on TV? A correspondent of that day for the New York Herald said of Lincoln " a plain blunt unostentaIn all of the photographs tious man his face wears a stony rigid corpsclikc ” Few doubt that that was expression an honest observation But what a great president he made Media bias has probably been with us since the first town criers and we just need to enjoy the fact that wc do have great coverage observe the space-tim- e devoted to positive reporting on each of the candidates then make time to check the facts for ourselves Dolc-Clinlo- Hazel Sicltlcr North Uigan Other views Back to the good ol’ days of Dick and Jane St Louis Post-Dispatc- h liih boomers searching for a comin their one found have niemorv forting old frieiiiN Irom grade school Dick and Jane The heroes who taught millions of American children to read are back not in textbooks but in museum exhibits a documentary a new retrospective book and the thoughts of anyone seeking a gentler lime After all even disagreements among Dick Jane and their little sister Sally — what was their last name anyway? — were solved in swift sensible and serene ways Their adventures and the words used to describe them were enticingly familiar to children eager to learn new skills To a generation whose first recognizable words came in the company of such soothing play- mates the phrase “Sec Dick run" ranks right up there with “In the beginning" and “Call me Ishmael" as an opening phrase flush with significance Herald Journal eeeebeczzz The Opinion page intended to acauamt readers with a variety of viewpoints on matters of puMc importance and provide members Of the community with a forum tor the views Personal columns cartoons and letters trom readers reflect the oprmons of the writers and creators Editorials under the heading “Our View" represent the views of the Heraid Journal edSonal board Members of the editonai boam are: BRUCE SMITH publisher CHARLES McCOLLUM managing edtor JENNIFER HiNES'city edtor RAEANNE THAVNE'news edtor R COPY The Republican increasing student loans by 50 percent increasing Medicare spending over the next seven years by 40 percent increasing Medicaid 4 percent per year increasing school lunch programs by 45 percent and giving a $500 per child tax credit having Congress live by the same rules as the rest of the citizens etc etc They just didn't increase things as much ' as the Democrats wanted the some of Watching Republican Convention on TV and hearing parts of it on radio focused my attention on the media bias favoring the Democrats Of course the filter of experience often makes the past look brighter No one should yearn for a time when equality of the races and the sexes was a distant dream and differences were buried rather than confronted and solved — even if those efforts sometimes go punished for a astray like a peck on the cheek Still the simplicity of that world can be alluring Who wouldn't want activities no tougher than playing ball and going to the store with Mom and Dad? first-grad- utterstpoii The Herald Journal welcomes letters to the editor Potentially libelous or offensive lettem will not be published however and the edtor reserves the right to edt aH lettem to cnr 'orm to the length and style requirements cf the newspaper Letters should be Typewritten and double-spacew No more than 450 words m length w Addressed and include daytime phone number for purposes of verification Signed by the author Indnnduais am limited to one published let- penod Address com Guest am also welcome and am run at the edior s dwembon ter wthm any let'em to 30-da- y hietterinews |