Show Oninion The Herald Journal Logan Utah" n tonguMthanthm&amUndct atihoritatlve selection Arnhcun JufM ) (1070-1101- Page 14 Friday August 28 1998 Our view PAC bucks from Cache D local residents make dona- tions to presidential campaigns? You bet And the funny thing is that many of the Cache Valley people you'd think would be trying to buy influence or at least partici- pate on the national political level are indeed regular contributors not only to presidential campaigns but to congressional candidates from both Utah and afar not to mention political action committees of all kinds One local heavy hitter for instance gave $1 000 to the 19 campaign of a US House candidate in Texas along with a donation to a PAC representing the interests of his multimillion dollar local business The names and varied contributions are too numerous to catalog here without risk of leaving somebody off the list — thus giving the appearance of singling certain other people out for public eyebrow-raisin- g But if readers want to investigate this matter themselves it’s easy Simply call up the World Wide Web site of RiCInfo (“the nonpartisan federal candidate campaign money page”) at Contribu- wwwtraycomfecinfo tions can be tracked by name or zip code Have fun A recent caller to the national radio talk show Coast to Coast am with Art Bell spoke in late-nig- ht outraged tones about a “conspiracy” in Cache Valley to keep die public in the dark about crop circles At the heart of that conspiracy of course is the local newspaper which the caller pointed out has failed to fully inform the public about a rash of the mysterious phenomena in the valley this summer So you see you will be assimilated Honesty might be scarce in the White House but it isn’t rare at Utah State University TWo incidents on a recent campus police log prove it On Aug 18 at Valley View Tower: “Some money was found and turned into police” And on the same day at Taggart Student Crater: “A small sum of money was found and turned into police” There aren’t many campuses where that would happen once — let alone twice — on any day Drivers soon to be obsolete too And lastly an observer of Aggie football practices and scrimmages notes thru the players this year serai to be holding nothing back in the way of celebration when a play has been pulled off perfectly and a touchdown scored That’s all well and good but by way of counterpoint may we offer the following famous advice from Oakland Raider great Fred Biletnikoff who knew a thing or two about standing in the end zone with a ball in his hands: “Act like you’ve been there By Dale McFeattors Scrippa Howard Newa Service w hat with the cell phone the commuter cup the sound system with 200 tiny tiny controls the drive-thr- u breakfast and die need to gesture to fellow motorists it’s asking a lot of the modern driver just to steer the car let alone shift gears Thus the stick shift is disappearing from the automo tive world and the ability to use a manual transmission will be one before” Your view What about petitioners at the Salt Lake County Fair who were cited for trespassing because they refused to pay a fee to gather signatures on their petitions? Let’s consider: 1 If merchants want to rent a booth at the fair they would pay for the booth which had to be constructed for them and also possibly a rental fee for commercial space 2 If a vendor wants to walk around the fairgrounds carrying merchandise cm his back would he be forced to buy a booth or pay only the commercial fee? 3 if a political candidate wants to buy a booth would he also pay a rental fee? Since he is not selling for money this might be negotiable but rules should be the same for all and not depend on whether the fair manager likes him 4 If a political candidate enters the fairgrounds wearing a big button with his name on it and talks to people should he pay a fee? Or is he simply a citizen visiting the fair? 5 If a citizen petitioner enters the fairgrounds with his petition and talks to people should he pay a fee or is he simply a citizen visiting the fair? Is gathering signatures (votes) more taxable than a politician soliciting votes by being m Lawmakers SENATE-UTA- that these “advances” will one day skill like adjusting rabbit ears or paying allow government agencies to take tic lb the editor: US ed more anachronis- Petitioners at fair due right of free speech friendly? There is a difference between selling trol e cash will craft fairs have demonstrations o: merchandise and the exercise of free push starting fair to a speech “Privatizing” by leasing A dwindling number of drivers manager does not change the fact that remember that dramatic advance in the fair is a public event cm public propwhen the gear shift erty the demand that petitioners pay a motoring technology Old-tim- fee appears to be inspired either by greed or envy Is buying a booth a free choke? Or are we now to be forced to buy? The was moved from the floor to the steering column and then in a further revolution- day we start making citizens pay for the right to petition we have overstepped our constitutional bounds Ruth Lehenbauer Logan ary improvement moved back to the floor again Even big nigged sport utility vehicles which presumably have some kind of macho appeal are becoming completely automatic Why not? The Army’s main battle tank has an automatic Many SUVs now have Where you goiiY with that pen in your hand To the editor el drive depriv- - 44 524-593- of their con- cars Under the guise of fighting traffic congestion and pollution bureaucrats will control how fast your car goes and where it goes There will be no opting out of the system by simply disengaging the clutch The car makers try to conceal the fact tint die driver is leu and leu important to the actual operation of the car by dis- tracting him with all sorts of useless information Many can now come equipped with tachometers as if the computer actually going to let die driver redline its engine The tachometer now entertains & driver by showing at what rpms he would shift the gears — if he were able to shift the gean The automatic What? Joe Sorenson's last scheduled column? Take that back! Do whatever it takes to make him stay Get him a new trowel A new piano (or an old one) Let him show his ponytail Do anything but keep him IBs columns are always brilliant even the ones where he’s not right (oh I mean the ones I don’t agree with) He’s ratio- nal contemplative creative and fair Hey letter writers: he’s FAIR Please don’t go Joe We need you Tim Vitale Logan Asahi Shimbun Sydney Morning Herald® 1 OKYO — The United States has resorted to a very rough gambit It cannot complain if it is accused of having been unable to conduct diplomacy The fight against terrorism cannot be achieved without the understanding and cooperation of the international community Diplomatic efforts are more important than anything else in that fight But it appears that Britain was just about die only country that was informed of the military action by the United States beforehand and Japan and almost all other countries learned about it from American officials after the event AHO US SENATE-IFor the United States it must be Dirk Kempthorne Republican — unbearable to hear talk that the use of SD-3 40 Room Washington DC 2 Idaho office: force was designed to draw attention 20510 (202) B 1 he simultaneous US attacks on suspected terrorist targets in Afghanistan ana die Sudan on Thursday were a harsh but necessary response to die anti-U-S bombings in Kenya and Tanzania on The targets — training camps Aug 7 in Afghanistan and a small chemical factory in the Sudan — were associated with Omnia bin Laden a wealthy Saudi believed to be living in Afghanistan Bin Laden is a private individual but he has declared his own war on the United States and is the prime suspect in the Nairobi and Dar es Salaam bombings Installations used by him are legitimate the United States in its own countries that harbor him and his operations must know that they cannot expect to be unaffected by that Sot 224-614- 303 N 8th Street Room 338 Boise ID 83703(208)334-177- 6 Larry Craig Republican — 302 Hart Building Washington DC 2051 (202) 224-27Idaho office: 304 N 8th St Room 149 Boise ID 83702 (208) 334-15- a 52 6a 524-438- from the scandal surrounding the president It is hard to imagine dud the fight against international terrorism can be fought efficiently against such a back- ground We cannot help but wonder how much consideration the president gave to this before he made the momentous deci- sion Dagens Nyheter i - ' will surely have an easier time talking to the Duma than Kiriyenko It’s possible that he can get a majority erf die Duma to understand that it cannot wait to take Herald Journal iopy-teAc- H Editorial policy £ft£U(Nfr AND X inWeNttf j MAlH W&tete ofiiy wittt ife vritH Bur co&esfwm& x Iftfc vtyo m m u go see Grinding the gean was once an audible sign of a bad driver But today thanks to technology there are so ways to be a bad driver maybe die shift is obsolete i - tytofrjwoi ftmA&eni wrtH ttfe Tha OpHon page la Mended to asquint readers wtth a variety of viewpoints on matters of pubic Importance and provide members ol the community wtth a fonan lor Mr views Personal columns cartoone and Mats from loaders reflect ttie opHona of Mr writers and creators EdRotMs under too hoadhgXfcr View represent too views of too Hatwd Journal Wboord Members of toe odttortal board: BRUCE SMfTHflpuMeher CHARLES MoOttlUMrtwanaglngodttor MP4 MKEWENNERGRENMyodtor I'Crlfir su -- measures against the acute economic crisis with a bank panic possible But Russia’s political crisis is more fundamental No party stands behind Russia's government The base is a president who has lost all the people’s confidence The Kiriyenko government had the bad fortune to be hit by the waves from the Asian crisis and the fall of prices for oil Russia’s large export prod- uct La Repubblica Rome- - Hie American and British proposal to try the Libyan suspects of the 1988 Pan AM bombing in The Hague sounds a lot suspicious Until now Washington and London insisted that the trial take dace in Scotland This new proposal is a compromise Yes the trial mil be in The Hague but not in front of the International Court a division of die United Nations but before a Scottish court with Scottish -- STOCKHOLM — Chernomyrdin judges and under Scottish law While official for Mallard Fillmore e&cds shifts gears when it damn well pleases The driver is further diverted from meddling in the car's business by digital displays that show outside temperature and other weather data a feature that would have made sense on a Model T whose occupants needed some forewarning of storms so they could get out put up the buggy top and hang the side curtains with uunglau windows With the clutch pedal gone the high-beaswitch on the steering column and the emergency brake on the center console the Irft foot is for all practical purposes unemployed The left foot hu no further use in driving Not so the left knee With the hands occupied by communicating personal grooming and eating tiw driver needs the left knee to steer with The loss of the manual transmission will be a spiritual lou well A driver with a stick shift stuck in stop-and-traffic going up a really steep!hill on a slippery road can embarrass himself any number of ways: stall spin the wheels roll into the car behind violently overrev while burning up the clutch That driver has stared into an abyss that the driver who puts it into “D" will never transmission meanwhile Other views D H Sen Robert Bennett Republican — US Senate Washington DC 20510 Utah office: 4225 Fed(202) 224-54eral Building 125 S State St Salt Lake 3 City UT 84138 (801) Sen Orrin Hatch Republican — US Senate Washington DC 20510 Utah office: 8402 Fed(202) 224-525-1 eral Building 125 S State St Salt Lake 0 City UT 84138 (801) ing the driver of even that choice The disappearance of the stick shift is part of a huge plot to take all the really important decisions about driving out rtf the driver’s hands The old heater and air conditioner are now a “climate control system” maintaining constant temperature and humidity so the driver no longer even has to decide whether to raise or lower die window Headlights on newer cars come on automatically so die driver no longer has to determine whether it’s dark outside Dim-wittcar buyers happily subscribe to options like cruise control and global positioning systems not realizing CMOY YURTHfleatoree odttor waiting an rryponre from Libya the Secretary ofState Madeleine Albright has threatened an international oil embargo not accept die proposal Letters - if Libya should policyrfjprt The Herald Journal watoomee Mem to too odnor Potonttatty Moue oroffenaivo Man w not tw puMahad however and too odRor toeotvee too right to edttatt letters to conform to toe long and stylo requirements of toe Letters should be: typewritten and double apoood No more toon 450 words In length Addressed and Include dayttmo phone number for putpoeee ol varilctoton Styied by toe autoor IndMduals are fended to one puMehod letter vritoin any a04ey period AddreaoE-ma- l letters to tyottof hnowaoomQuoet commentaries are also wsloomo and arena at tooodttor'sdtarsflon JWVS 4' ' IT j 1 i Hi C" i fjuft it Triili"TryriifriiTiiirn'nr liiriiiiifeiisiiri i‘ yi "i n "“ ——— — t— -- r flPOOR CO i |