Show I ' Thursday March 13 2003 y iV L' A4 - c The Herald Journal Your view A message for rally organizers Tq the editor This letter is intended for those who sponsored the recent anti-wdemonstration on the USU Campus Hopefully some of them will read this Do you really know what you have done? One of you said that die demonstration was “the pinnacle of an academic experience” An observer from the press s'aicf that it “was the zenith of my career as a journalist — so far” Well I am reminded of the philosophical question If a stone is hurled into the ocean does the ripple effect reach the other shore? Well because of the press coverage that this little academic experiment in civil disobedience received the ripple will most certainly reach the Other shore On the other shore stands an American soldier He is sworn to uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States unto death He believes in and risks the ultimate sac- rifice to defend our way of life and America's beist interest for he understands that we have been attacked and we now must take the war to the enemy: This soldier must now bear an additional burden He now must stand for the consequences of your action For he faces an enemy that has felt your ripple too The enemy this soldier faces has interpreted your ripple as a sigh of weakness for he does not understand democracy or the concept of ihalien-- : able rights Your ripple has embold- ' cned this enemy and filled him with a new resolve: This enemy will respond Oh it may only be a little thing and far away to you but he will respond This enemy may only fake one extra shot at an American soldier before he scurries away in retreat or Jhis soul is committed to the bosom of Alla where he will live in paradise because he has killed ' another American Infidel In the face of all of this you had a foreign national address the assembly condemn our policy of troop deployment and refer to those pre- sent who did not agree with your point of view with the use of degrad- jng vulgar profanity Well isn’t it precious that you had such a fulfill- ' ing time and had a few laughs from ar : your experiment A very wise man once said something to the effect of forgive them for they know not what they do When the body bags start coming home filled with those young soldiers who defended your1 freedom of speech then the consequences of your actions will come home to you For you must then at least in part forgive yourselves Jerry C Simmonds Trenton Keep mega-store- s out of downtown ' To the editor: Although I shop in Logan I don't live there So I won't be able to participate in the new survey that will ask city resjdents what kind of stores they'd like to see downtown I'd like to remind residents the Downtown Alliance and new downtown manager Bob Marcolese that are poor planning and two big reasons why smaller downtowns lire dying In the blur of sales tax dollar signs it might be tough to see that a downsized lottery Barn with lots of window s and polished woodwork is still a big box store mega-retaile- rs Nurturing homegrown businesses takes time and effort but it’s the only way to assure that the downtown you create is closely tied to the community- Please keep mega-stor- es out of his- - toric downtown Logan Diane Bush Richmond Following the right God home To the editor Recently for the first time I attended a book review at a local bookstore because the title and subject of the book “Following the Wrong God Home: Footloose in an American Dream” by Clive Scott Chisholm intrigued me — particularly after having read Mr Chisholm's somewhat controversial newspaper commentary not too long ago I’d pictured in my mind beforehand a cordial informal gathering of book-lover- S and the simply curious and browsing visiting then sitting in a attentively cozy room as they listened to the author speak Afterwards I figured they’d chat some more and perhaps have refreshments My expectations proved correct The atmosphere was pleasant and the audience enjoyed the story of Mr Chisholm’s trek across the Mormon Trail and his encounters with many memorable Americans He gat a lot of laughs when he told funny stories of “Mormons” and Mormon history I chuckled a few times myself and basically enjoyed the presentation but I also couldn’t help but wonder if I were the only LDS person in the room — and therefore perhaps the only person present who understood the uniqueness and strength of the organization many others find strange dull or even worse I couldn't help but wonder also if anyone else there had read journals and historical accounts by people who actually “kept the faith” rather than just by those who forsook it in bitterness or simply looked at it from somewhere outside as through a small dosed window’ — for only by look- ing carefully into both the correct teachings of the church and the hearts and souls of its members who remain committed despite opposition and often through great personal sacrifice can one begin to under- stand the power that fuels their testi- monies brings them peace and happiness and moves the work forward Mr Chisholm’s comment that the LDS Church is an example of “the bland leading the bland” was well received but I felt a little sorry I couldn’t share with those around me stories of members I know personally have read about or simply look up to from a distance whose lives are anything but mundane as they tackle new challenges expand their horizons and involve themselves in the lives of others The evening’s remarks ended with the speaker's opinion that the church's emphasis on The Book of Mormon will pretty much fizzle out within about the next 40 years My own prediction however would be that within that time period The Book oif Mormon will be translated into even more languages and be carried into many more countries — including some which presently have little or no religious freedom — where it will continue tq change people's lives and bring peace understanding and love of God : DenaRock Logan In praise of Bush’s fire policy By Rocky Barker TX here isn’t much I can praise about the Bush administration’s approach to Western resource issues But its instincts on firefighting policy are just about right If it can fill in its knee-jer- k act of cutting the polibudget with a sound long-tercy it could lead the West out of a quagmire that has been deepening since the Yellowstone fires of 1988 m The problem : with most of the administration’s policies for the West is that they are politically driven to please supporters in the oil mining ranching and timber industries They are also a reaction to Bill Clinton’s approach which was designed to please his environmental constituency: politics for politics tit for tat Now libertarians in the Office of Management and Budget have slashed the funding slated to fight' forest fires in a year when the West is expecting another huge burning season This gutsy act already under attack — could lead us to a rational forest-fir- e policy for the first time in more than century Congress allocated the Forest Ser-- 1 vice $420 million to fight fires this year about $1 billion less than the agencies spent last year Congress only gave the Forest Service $636 million in the budget to coyer the $919 million it raided from other programs like forest restoration watershed protection and yes even forest fire prevention programs such as thinning The message Bush and Congress have sent the Forest Service is that it ing the career paths and the tools to fight fires when necessary and control fires when they make sense In easy years and during off season Writers on toe Range these professionals would conduct controlled bums to manage forests at significantly less cost than commercan’t keep sending a blank check to cial thinning They could do mechanfight fires This is a radical change ical thinning around park from a policy that began after the developments like Mammoth Hot 1910 fires which burned 26 million Springs in Yellowstone acres and killed 85 people in two Right now the government condays in Idaho and Montana The poltracts private air tankers to fight fires icy has continued in the face of 'next to communities We don’t do indisputable evidence that fighting this because it’s cheaper we do it fires leads to larger more dangerous because the fleet would not pass the and more costly fires So what strenuous safety regulations we should the Forest Service do --r let for our military and other expect the fires bum? fliers This is a great time to turn the The public simply won’t Stand for job over to the military and develop such a policy Western politicians airplanes specifically for the job who have provided die political musinstead of using old planes Smart cle to keep throwing money on finest bomb computer technology also fires will revolt especially when the could make the planes more effihuge conflagrations-w- e regularlycient reducing the costs and need for experience threaten towns and cities firefighters on die ground in their districts But we know this The Fire Corps would eventually isn’t good for forests and it costs be smaller than the giant force we ‘ more than we can stomach employ today and the cost of fire We must act We need to get the management would drop Forest Serbacklog of fire plans in place so land vice employees currently siphoned managers can allow fires to bum in off to fight fires would get more the backcountry and places like the done in the summer Forest manageClearwater National Freest in Idaho ment would become more efficient We need to fireproof communities The problem for the Bush adminisand follow the lead of California to tration is that such changes won’t make homeowners — not the federal save money in the short run But it government — responsible for pro: can’t be more costly than the current tecting their own homes When fires of letting the fire season dicsystem are burning we need to reward a tate our spending on fires In fire polland manager who wisely allows a as is often the case good fiscal fire to bum for good reason not sting icy is also good environmental policy him of her (This doesn’t mean we policy reward poor decisions like the one that led to the burning of more than Rocky Baiker is a contributor to Writers 600 homes in Los Alamos on the Range a service of High CounNM in 2000) try News in Paonia Colorado lb make this happen Congress (hcnorg) He is a visiting fellow with needs to create a National Fire the Andrus Center for Public Policy in Boise Idaho where he is writing a hisCorps setting firefighters apart from land managers Give them the train tory of the Yellowstone fires - World view Put Iraq on weekly compliance deadlines The Observer London TX he world stands starkly divided on the brink of war Yet even now more unites the two rival factions at the United Nations than meets the eye That the coalition can argue for more time for Hans Blix’s weapons inspectors depends on the threat of military action Without the threat of force there would have been no inspectors and no cooperation from Irttq however grudging The immediate crisis could have two undesirable outcomes One would be for the pressure on Saddam to evaporate enabling the Iraqi dictator to cooperate less and less flout- -' ing die will of the United Nations The more likely is that Washington will lose patience leading a coalition of the willing into war without explicit UN authorization That might deal with the threat posed by Saddam however a Iraq will require sustained UN engagement That will be less five if the UN is seen as a broken post-Sadda- m institution equally incapable of dealing with other crises from Kashmir to Palestine Britain’s approach to the proposed second resolution seeks rightly to bridge these divisions Its amendment would create a much clearer process by which ‘full and immediate’ compliance could be tested Ibis will be credible only if there are weekly deadlines and ‘tripwires’ on identifiable issues so it can be transparently demonstrated that Iraq is complying Non Sequitur BtRT Herald Journal nwx ’ The Opinion page is intended to acquaint readers with a variety of viewpoints on maMen of public importance and provide members of the community with a forum tor their views Personal columns cartoons and tetters from readers reflect the opinions of thair writers end creators Editorials under the hearing 'Our J View" represent ins views ov nsreia journal £ I n 11 wl tinn—l DOfllu MOnVOre 01 VIS SOROnBi DOflfu J— I S DARRELL CINDY 6GUilvjR EHRUCWdlyecfitor YURTHfaatursssdtor BRUCE SMITHpubfisher 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