Show We do not trust because we are armed The battle that should have been won or lost long ago has resurfaced This battle should have been won in the courts or lost in the legislature Unfortunately the battle has been lost in the streets The battle is over assault weapons When I say it was lost on the streets I mean exactly that Murders and the increased fear of crime have caused the US congress to ban the manufacture sale and possession of assault weapons People who support the ban claim it will decrease crime The National Rifle Association Joshua Ulibarri viewpoint editor argues that all the ban will do is keep citizens from arming and protecting themselves Who is right when no “common ground" was reached? Probably no one when you consider the arguments of both sides The battle lines arc drawn but they arc anything but clear The war over gun control used to be republican versus democrat This is no longer the case Republicans who had never voted against the NRA did so last week Dorn Bill Orton called the bill ineffective He said it would he like “spilling into the wind" Former Presidents Ford Reagan and Carter wrote a joint-opeletter to congress urging representatives to pass the bill They wrote that the ban would “dry up" the supply and make assault weapons “less accessible" The word liberal does not describe Reagan or Ford and calling Carter conservative would be a mistake Though most republicans opposed the ban the hill passed by a single vote The war would seem to be over Nineteen guns have dcfinatcly been banned and as many as 184 more could fall under the definition of “assault weapon" New York Rep Charles Schumcr said "It is pretty much over The House has spoken the Senate has spoken the American people have spoken" The NRA would say wrong They are preparing for the battle to continue in the courts “It's not over until it's over" said spokesperson Rill McIntyre To the dismay of the NRA the advocates aren’t done George law-abidi- n gun-contr- Stcphanopolous senior adviser to President Clinton said “We're not done yet" I hope not do not know about you but I feel forgotten The bill is to supposed protect the average American like me Both sides agree that it will not In fact the former presidents “recognize ihui!cgislaliun will n not slop all crime" What will? Let's figure it out Prisons will not slop criminals I believe quite simply that when we send young offenders to prison all we are doing is facilitating their education They arc not learning math or English though They arc learning how to be better criminals They learn how not to get caught next time The death penalty is not the answer While crime on average has decreased violent crime has increased It appears that politicians have forgotten who really is being affected by the laws they pass Still I agree the ban on assault weapons should have been passed All representatives should have had the courage to vote against the NRA Guns should be banned Like nuclear weapons no one should have them Their only purpose is to kill to maim or to permanently injure Anyone who passes this off as “sport" should contact nic I have a bridge I need to sell Two hundred years ago the “sportsman” needed only a musket and one shot Now they need: Coll s Steyr Augs Uzis and clips that hold more than ten bullets That really docs sound 1 assault-weapo- AR-15- AK-47- s exciting That description of “sport" sounds ridiculous to me Yet that is exactly what the NRA is arguing They claim that these banned weapons arc needed for sport They also claim that they are not any more dangerous than a rifle They convinced me I am easily distracted from the simple fad that a rifle can put a pretty big hole in me Jeff Muchnick legislative director of the Coalition to Slop Gun Violence told USA Today “They (assault weapons) are designed to be easily concealed They have pistol grips so you can fire without aiming accurately And they have the ability to accept silencers" Arc we really kxiking for the “sport" in hunting when we need silencers or when we no longer have the skill to aim accurately? My opinion would be “no" The strongest argument against control is that it is a violation of the Bill of Rights The Second Amendment allows for a welled-arme- d (See Ulibarri page 8) The College of Eastern UtahJsn't that in Ephraim? This editorial is not one of warning and anger but more of needed attention and frustration towards the current political attitudes of the state legislature towards Carbon County and the apathy (which is to some degree justified) fell by many individuals from Utah Ryan Hoglund viewpoint writer J Carbon County which is basically a democratic island floating in a republican sea seems to be fighting an uphill battle for recognition and stale funds normally devoted exclusively to the Wasatch Front We are sadly the land ion forgot separated not only by a mountain range and a small population but by political views While this viewpoint could easily become (or may appear to be) an attack on the conservative or religious population of this state that is not my intention or necessarily my views I cannot explain (or would want to understand) the political ignorance towards this area of the state it could be economical religious geography or a combination of these and other unknown factors My real concern is the lack of attention and deserved notoriety to this area and this college "You go where? College of Eastern University no wait is that in Ephraim?” No I go to the College of Eastern Ulahin Price But to be honest I did not know about the College of Eastern Utah until I attended a forensics institute in 1992 1 have become quite fond of this area and many of the individuals I have had the honor of meeting It is hard for me to realize why it would be hard to sell this area it is beautiful When I think of Utah I think of the blue sky the rock formations and the open arcacvcrything Price and the surrounding areas have hi offer Just two hours from Salt Lake is a whole other world—one that makes sense Listen to me sound like a real estate agent trying to sell this area to prospective buyers Well I am to some degree It all amounts to Jim Schampcl's correlative: money The College of Eastern Utah and this area is caught in a frustrating vicious cycle: to get people to come and spend money to stimulate the economy it takes money that is not there to advertise what is offered This is where slate discrimination is felt the hardest With mines losing valuable contracts to mines and Carbon County's population rate decreasing by 88 percent in the last ten years a mutual dependency relationship is going to develop between the college and Price City This aspect has been realized by officials according to President Michael Peterson He said Price City and CEU have developed Carbon County Future a cooperation and pool of college and city resources and facilities striving to help this area face the changes and challenges that may be faced The college is expected to double its student ratio in 12 years and will continue to be one of the biggest employers in this area The job now is to advertise the area to increase the population to become a stable enough foundation ensuring development and future prosperity The College of Eastern Utah is starting to get the credit it has deserved for quite some lime With such guest lecturers in the realm of New York artist Allan McCollum and author Jeremy Rilkin a forensics program and professors like Don Burge Burge not only leaches everything from geology astronomy and archery he directs the only accredited museum in the country owned by a junior college Archaeologists working for CEU's museum led the discovery of the Utah Raptor what the January 1993 issue of Time magazine called the sixth most important scientific discovery of 1992 With all these kudos CEU is beginning to forget the term “junior college" The Wasatch Front needs to know we are here Continuing to have our students and professors doing incredible achievements is one way to increase the word advertising that will help CEU and this area I out-of-sta- nationally-recognize- h (See Hoglund page 8) d Letter to the Editor Dear Editor: Every time I pick up an edition of the "Eagle" I seem to be fed a diet of only your liberal bias when it comes to the "Viewpoint" section It seems to me that I recall someone once saying “A truly intelligent person will look at both sides of an issue And that delicate balance and then not veer to cither side” Seeing both sides of an issue is quite important and reaching a common ground leads to unity and peace found your “guilt by association" attack on William Bcnnct quite narrow minded and bigoted towards conservatives Liberals claim to be the group of change the defender of the downtrodden and the most correct view of any issue This sir is quite narrow and to me bigoted I as a moderate you know one of those “middle of the road" types think that just because Mr Bcnnct served two republican presidents docs not imply any ethical or moral wrong doing It should be evident that you and your liberal PCcr's are the ones who only care about tme side of the story and ignore I facts The "Eagle" should reflect the views of the entire student body not just the views of the writers If you take a dose look at what you write you will And that you fall within that 77 percent of students that do not care about their community Yes you should take those studies carefully and introduce them into your columns But most of your columns arc just finger pointing and blame giving Let's look at facts There arc traditions granted that had to go but some should stay Family values patriotism and the ideal of free speech these are part of the foundation of this country Yet these arc being attacked and eroded at an alarming student rate I as an older do not think that the push for some of the liberal agenda is good while the conservative agenda is no better So I intelligently seek the middle ground of moderation and hope to better my nation because of it -- Fred Cotterell (see "Letter to the Editor" page 6) h should be noted dial the writings that appearon this pagearo merely the opinions" of the writcrsThc section lit called after all "Viewpoint The 'authors do hot writear tides and they do not file rcpons-Thcy cxprcss how they feel A ' ' s ' £ v ty :v : enuqueof thciropinionrniybc warranted but criticizing them because th haverae STn&' jamei Madison ' stated inl832"Apopular government: without popular information or the meant of acquiring it is but a prokigue to a farce or a tragedy or perhaps both" Joshua Ulibarri editor ' viewpoint v v r Zi |