Show I “Right conclusions are more likely to Be gathered out of a multitude of tongues than through any kind of authoritative selection " “"Judoc Learned Hind American urM (1A72-1M- Page 29 Our view To the tune of The Brady Bunch Powerball winners not only ones to hit jackpot S ince all of you obviously failed to win last week’s $293 mil- lion Powerball lottery jackpot here’s another idea for getting your hands on some serious cash compliments of the government: Become a college basketball coach While a group of Ohio machinists last week celebrated some phenomenal lottery luck former USU basketball coach Larry Eustachy hit a jackpot of another sort accepting a Seriously isn’t anyone anywhere asking whether the job of coaching college basketball is really worth that much money? Especially public money? Apparently the question isn’t being asked loud enough to be heard over the rabid cheers of college sports fans Governors attorneys general college professors college presidents police chiefs mayors city managers — none of these handsomely paid public employees receives a salary anywhere near the pay job at Iowa State University that Eustachy and scores of other colpays $300000 a year coaches get for their work At a news conference Eustachy lege work that though tied closely to talked about the honor and chal- school spirit and revenue is clearly lenge of being selected to lead the nonessential if not meandownright Cyclones but he didn’t say a word about the financial bonanza he hit ingless in the larger scheme of in the process Perhaps that’s because a half a million bucks a year isn’t that big of a deal in the college coaching world Had any of the rest of us working stiffs fallen into that kind of money we would have been whooping and hollering our heads off — that is after we To USU’s credit coaching salaries here have not escalated to the obscene level Larry Eustachy has now graduated to In Logan he received something on the order of $120000 per year with a $230000 recovered from fainting But no that wouldn’t be dignified for someone as important as a college basketball coach and goodness knows dignity is important when you’re pocketing large chunks of taxpayer money things bonus arrangement he did not stay long enough to collect Of course you can’t blame a person for parlaying his or her skills into as much currency as possible But you can blame our public institutions and society as a whole for buying into it Your view FAA public hearing took surreal shift To the editor: Those who attended the FAA public hearing regarding airport runway extension were treated to a new surreal change in the conduct of public hearings After a presentation by the FAA representative he stated no questions would be answered during the public hearing Questions inevitably arise in such settings and it was most disconcerting as queries and concerns were voiced to be greeted by deathly silence — a most awkward and unsettling policy which I hope is not continued Another change (at least to me) in public policy and procedures was described by Mr Walt Steinvorth of the Utah Department of Transportation as he outlined the budget of the Cache Valley Corridor Study In a preliminary budget Of approximately a half million dollars nearly a sixth ($80000) was listed as cooperation” What this means is that the bureaucrats that are inter-agen- cy already on the public payroll supposedly conducting the people's business will now be paid twice to do their job What this means is die bureaucrats have now a way to pass the money around among themselves without oversight rtf responsible public bodies UDOT for example can now not only request a wetlands Analysis from the Corps of Engineers as an example but can grease me request with a little cash All for work and services these public agencies are theoretically already being paid to da As I say this is new to me It has probably been going on for some time but it u a new and disturbing trend in the ever (pore complex game of setting public policy Also these were early monetary figures no doubt it has gone up It always does I asked Me Steinvorth to explain this budget item to me but as you can tell he m was not able to supply a satisfactory answer If this Orwellian twist to the process intrigues you or if you have other questions or concerns about transportation highways bikeways etc the Cache Metropolitan Planning Organization (CMPO) is having a public hearing shortly after 3 pm Monday Aug 3 on its Itansportation Improvement Program (TIP) Haven't heard pbout it? True to form the CMPO has done the absolute minimum to publicize it After much fanfare announcing the hiring of a new transportation planner and a change in attitude at CMPO it seems the old habits of working behind closed doors ami involving as few as possible remains in force Russell Goodwin North Logan issue alone They were adults living altogether in a small country home It's a story of this man named Brady Who thought six wives was simply next to heaVn and the more he thought the more he wonder’d If six is good Then let's make it sevenir - the one day when he married number seven and brought her none to meet the other wives And thatTs when It finally hit him he had only bathroom space for five Until capyritfit Wl Man GwWmt Romance gone out of journalism? By Ted Pease 13 eing a journalist has never been a particularly comfortable thing Aside horn die lack of financial ease there has always been a sense of apartness in the persona of the reporter by definition detached from the rest of the community the objective observer who plays a role that places him or her on the sidelines watching noting judging In the old days journalists saw themselves in the warm fuzzy persona of Father Knows Best — or as Woodward-Bernstei- n gunslingers — wise sage even committed to Truth Justice and me American Way Journalists’ self-ima- ge some surveys have found looks like the good doctoral truistic priestsmall-tow- n sheriff a Look who played reporters in the movies — the likes of Spencer Tracy Clark Gable and Cary Grant: smart hon- est and somehow dripping integrity charm and world-wis- e cynicism at die same time These people woe pillars of the small-tow- n reporters and editors who had priests and lb the editor The May 1998 issue of National Geo- mayors and bankers as friends (or enewho crusaded unashamedly to do graphic has a good article on global mies) to good protect truth justice and the warming that poses some very interestAmerican way to afflict the comfortable Clinton-Gor- e the to ing questions theory of panic There is so much data that we and comfort me afflicted “What makes a good newspaperman?" don’t have that jumping to conclusions is nothing more than politics Radicals as Stanley Walker of the on both udes of the issue do nothing to New York Herald Tribune one of those le journalists promote good science in it 1924 put clilb quote from the article “Global “The answer is easy He knows every- mate depends on combinations of factors interacting in subtle and complex ways that we do not yet folly understand It is possible that the warming observed during this century may have resulted from natural variations even though the increase has been much more rapid than what the planet has witnessed over the It is possible past hundred centuries that around 1860 when scientists first Scrippa Howard News Service began keeping dependable temperature records die planet was still recovering Since it was first publicized that she The present from die little ice age warming might be a continuation of that had gone to independent counsel Kenrebound and enhanced greenhouse neth Starr telling him of her taped conwarming may be superimposed on and versations with Monica Lewinsky Linda It is Tripp has been constantly endlessly subcamouflaged by that trend remarkably difficult to detect a definitive jected to scrutiny innuendo outright ‘signature’ of human activity in the accusations and even jokes by the Hollyworld’s widely fluctuating climate wood crowd about her appearance record” No good deed somebody once said I don’t think that the writer of this ever goes unpunished and Tripp has National Geographic article had the been surrounded by a general miasma of information from two Alabama scientists unpleasantness because of her willingwho have been collecting satellite data ness to step forward with stories concerning presidential conduct As she See YOUR VIEW on Page 30 pointed out the Pentagon her employer long-defun- old-tim- ey he has the physical strength which enables him to perform great feats of energy He can go for nights on end without sleep He dresses well and talks with charm Men admire him: women adore him tycoons and statesmen are willing to share their secrets with him He hates lies and meanness and sham but he keeps his temper” Wowl sign me up! That’s how we people of the press like to think of ourselves — wise and devoted to the little guy a blue-collkind of boy scout who is of the people and for the people (Of course some of you will recall that Walker's quote concludes: “And when he dies a kit of people are sorry and some of them remember him far several days") I find myself thinking more and more about the press's these days as the epitome of the modern journalist ar has somehow shifted from the noble Spencer Tracy persona to that of some- Father Flanagan and John Wayne their communities thing He is aware not only of what goes on in the world today but his brain is a repository of the accumulated wisdom of the ages He is not only handsome but self-ima- combination of Marcus Welby and Clark Kent handsome charismatic discerning Global warming a multi-facet- ed It's a story about a man named Brady Who was busy with six wives all ct crusty-but-iovab- one called Matt Drudge The comfort zone for journalists seems suddenly much narrower and meaner than it used to If I were Luke Skywalker I’d be aching from more than just a little tremor in the Force that attracted me to journalism in the first place Part of why I'm thinking in this vein I guess is recent conversations with various people in our community who are angry hurt disgusted and confused about what they see as a press that is either irrelevant to people’s lives or unremittingly negative more prone to and pettiness tear down with half-trutthan to perform public service Among people of this view ‘journalism” has become a four-lettword While most journalists can discount polls dealranking journalists below used-cers and members of Congress we're not hs er used to the notion that so many of our friends and neighbors actually see us as much worse than that — more like con-me- n and People who get that disgusted with the press cancel subscriptions tunc out and ultimately both they and the press are disconnected with the process of democracy The other reason 1 was thinking about all this is my meeting in Baltimore this week titled “Communicating in the ‘Public Interest' — Which Publics and Whose Interests?” As implied by the quote marks the “public interest” of journalism appears in doubt At least the child-molestc- rs public doesn't perceive our role that way Truthfully in the wake of more and more evidence to the contrary these days it is hard to tell that the press acts in the public interest For example CNN just retracted as Untrue a sensational story that US commandos used nerve gas to murder our own troops during the Vietnam war Then there's Stephen Glass the New Republic reporter who kept coming up with amazing scoops for die simple reason that he made up most of them Boston Globe’s fine Pulitzer Prize-finali-st columnist Patricia Smith admitted doing the same In June the Associated Press usually the definition of excruciatingly careful journalism accidentally reported the death of Bob Hope which came as a surprise to the comedian himself And then the Cincinnati Enquirer issued both a page-on- e apology and a $10 million mea culpa check for its story about unsavory business practices by Chiquita Brands even though no lawsuit had been filed In this context it's hard to maintain the argument that the role of the press is to do good No wonder “civilians" do incredulous double-take- s when we jourabout our nalists talk ar See PEASE on Page 30 Other views Linda Tripp punished for good deed had gone as far as to illegally release confidential information about her “I'm just like you” she said as she stood with reporters gathered around her on a Washington sidewalk “I'm an average American who found herself in a situation not of her own making” The words rang true Here was no super-ambitio- us politically conniving egotistical careerist of the sort some- times encountered in Washington corridors but a mother trying to support a couple of kids someone who got caught up in events and did what she thought was right Tripp was also trying to protect herself she made clear A presidential attor-- Mallard Fillmore Herald Journal Editorial policy The Opinion papa It Intended to acquaint raadsra Mh a vensty of viewpoints on matlsra of pubic Importance and provide members of McomnwywiftafaramlorMviews from cartoons Msi Feroonal columns snd random railed As opinions of their wiHsm snd craslom Edaorids under Aeheadng "Our visor raprassm me views 01 ora nsran journal cononsi dosto Momonn or ve sononai ooeiu BRUCE 8MITH)MbWwr CHARLES MoGOULUMAnanaglngadNor MKEWENNERGRENMyadSor CINDY YURTHleatoms edSor ney had said she was lying after she told a reporter about another White House incident “Imagine how you would feel if your boss’s attorney called you a liar in front of the whole country" she said Her critics don't buy that explanation They say she acted instead to make big money off a future book and probably too out of political spite Tripp is not like that her friends respond but speculating on motives is a cheap game that anyone can play In this case it amounts to one more slap at Tripp a woman who says she just wanted to tell the truth — and then found that the telling can have steep costs Letters policy ins nerara journal wenomee miera v me M nonor raenoasy neous or ononuve istvsra wB not bt pubRehed however and tha editor imaivaa tie right to adR al Mara to eontom to the length and style requirements of toe newspaper Letters should be: s TypamIUsii end double spaced No more Stan 450 words in length Aooraesoo eno noun osynms pnons number tor purposes ol variScaSon Signed by the autoor IndMduals are Imbed to one pubished wShtnsny30-de- y period Addrass Morale hponsrhnowt4om Guest commentaries era also welcome end era ran at ve eoRon oiscrason let-1- st M |