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Show THE ZEPHYRJAN-FE- B PAGE 3 1996 science. After months of vacillation, I decided to make major changes in the Zephyr (see page 7) in 1996, and wondered if I hadn't just made the greatest blunder since Lee told Pickett to charge Cemetery Ridge near Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. And then I discovered that in 1996, November 22 falls on a Friday and every time that has happened since 1963, doom and tragedy have befallen me within 90 days of that date. I started contemplating the idea of not leaving my house until the Spring of 1997...but who would bring me hot peanuts? What about the cats? Who would Marooney torture? What if JB got sick of Nietzsche? And who would tell me they qftfe fa mmirm ifimm SSBB sofaai niii)wgat jptfls) iesm iim tlteiM 3h loopjjjjjjjjjjh'hegriotpmbjyep'iov'mekhovev.. (Ladies and gentlemen. This is Dr. Bob Monbouquette, Mister Stiles? Amygdala Analyzer. We found Jim slumped over the keyboard late yesterday afternoon in a state. He " "I 'honey-bunnyis .' We have tlx have and it name a words, kept muttering given my pain what idea tins means. The publisher was flown to the Pleasant View Rest Home near no Ephraim, Utah where he is being kept sedated. The following diatribe about Nike was written just before he went completely nuts. Please think of Stiles during this long dark dreary winter tomatlttmaim ifflif semi-comato- se season.JThank you) A New Year's Complaint about Nike When I think about Nike, the sports equipment shoe company, I can't say that environmental responsibility and stewardship of the land comes to mind. This is the company who's motto is "just do it" and the company that sponsored a team in the notorious EcoChallenge race held here last spring. In national ads it encourages its customers: "Don't steer around the bits that scare you. Go over them. Go through them. Do something the guys in the bowling league would be terrified of." What's a little trampled desert among adrenalin junkies, right? Well, apparently their gonzo approach to recreation and their blatant disregard for environmental ethics is giving them a bad name in some circles ...sales must be slipping. Because now Nike wants to be known as the shoe company that cares. Just in the nick of time!, I'd say. Nike was in Moab last month, trying to put together a video, to be shown at the Outdoor Retailer Trade Show in Reno, Nevada on January 31. The video will include comments from a variety of Westerners, talking about thdr environmental concerns. The video won't include Ken Sleight and me. ..we opted to stay out of it The 5 to 7 minute video will include comments from maybe 20 people, which means that out of the 20 to 30 minute interview Nike planned with each participant, maybe 5 to 10 seconds, of Nika's choosing, will actually make the cut Some of those who chose to participate were Canyonlands NP. Superintendent Walt Dabney, BLM District Manager Kate Kitchell, Wilderness Society Rep Dan Gloeck, and local rancher Rose Fryer. The video will introduce Nika's First Annual Earth Write Award for journalistic excellence in the field of environmental reporting. Call me a cynic but I have a hard time believing Nika's newfound concerns are ' anything more than a desperate' effort to reverse its image so it can sell more shoes. I believe that companies can produce a product, make a profit, and be environmentally and socially responsible. I always look at Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream as a classic example. They cared from the beginning about more than the bottom line and, in fact, because they cared, they've done well seems Nika's change-of-hea- rt And, to me, those who participated in the video were unwitting pawns in nothing more than a new promotional campaign. But it gets worse. I learned recently that the National Park Service and Canyonlands National Park did its best while Nike was here to solicit a significant contribution to fund its Moab Outdoor Education Program (MOE). Superintendent n Dabney can't find a measly $45,000 to fund MOE out of an enormous dollar budget and so he has asked Nike for some help. Is corporate sponsorship of programs like this what the NPS really wants to do? It's going to accept money from an environmentally irresponsible corporation so that the company can improve its own image. It reminded me of the BLM's most recent efforts to resolve the EcoChallenge ct debate. EcoChallenge was supposed to present an environmentally sensitive, message to the MTV audience when the event was aired. There was nothing even close to such a message and the BLM has threatened to withhold EcoChallenge's $80,000 bond. But now the BLM has offered to let them oft the hook by allowing the company to assemble a curriculum for environmental education at Wasatch Front high schools. What in the hell does EcoChallenge know about environmental responsibility? About as much as Nike. Accepting money from Nike sets a bad precedent and I hope that the NPS can find a way to fund its environmental programs without accepting tainted money. An environmentalistapologist for Nike friend of mine told me the other day that if the Park Service didn't get the money, somebody else would. Fine. Let the shame fall on someone rise's shoulders. for-pro-fit self-servin- g. multi-millio- low-impa- So lon- gAnd that's it. This paper will see some dramatic changes next year. To tell you the truth. I've lost a lot of sleep, wondering whether I've made the right decision. For more details on the changes, see page 7. Take care, all of you, and thanks. IS STILL ON OUT WFRE TOO LAME AND TOO WORM OUT FROM XMAS TO SHOW OURSELVES i it. tj; ' I.' |