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Show I suppose we all knew even then that the pristine would be ravaged eventually by greed. It's the capitalist (American) way to eulogize the "natural world" then supplant it with Disneyland, leaving those who are old enough remember to lament the passing. Perhaps it is the role of the artist and writer to hold up the mirror and ask, "What have you done to the Garden that was entrusted to you?" This is the Letter of the Month. Dear Jim: One of the most fundamental rights of a free society Is the right of citizens to feel safe and secure In the privacy of their homes. Within the sanctuary of their homes lies the most private location of all, the bathroom. Besides sex, bathroom functions are perhaps the most private activities in which people engage. As of last year, the National Park Service in Grand Canyon requires all professional river guides to submit to invasive chemical searches of their urine for residue of illegal drugs prior to guiding any trips. The Constitution of the United States expressly prohibits this sort of government invasion of privacy. Article IV of the Bill of Rights states that "The right of people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures shall not be violated; and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched and the persons or things to be seized." The mere act of guiding a commercial river trip hardly constitutes probable cause. The Constitution specifically forbids the government from conducting an unwarranted search that a law breaker might be discovered. If human dignity and a simply on the constitutionally guaranteed right to privacy mean anything, it must certainly include the right to urinate in private The very foundation of our judicial system is to presume innocence until proven guilty. The Park Service compels guides to prove their innocence without an accusation or even suspicion of wrongdoing. This is not a safety issue. Commercial boating in Grand Canyon d accident. Mandatory drug has an outstanding safety record without a single and unconstitutional. is testing unnecessary, expensive, ineffective, Has our society degenerated so far that we violate citizens to provide an illusion of public safety? A free society can function only by mutual trust and observance by its citizens of mutually agreed upon laws as guidelines to govern behavior. A society that permits violation of individual rights without just cause is not a free society. Our government has spent trillions of dollars for national defense and shipped young men and women overseas to fight and die to defend rights guaranteed to us by the United States Constitution. Now, individuals within our government are subverting constitutional rights for an illusion of public safety. They wrongly portray those who challenge them as supporting drug use. A group of us who have guided professionally in Grand Canyon for up to 20 years each founded Guides Defending Constitutional Rights to seek redress through the judicial system. We feel it is our right and responsibility as American citizens to challenge this unconstitutional governmental invasion of privacy and abuse of power. As soon as citizens possible, we will file suit in federal court to halt urine testing of without probable cause. Unfortunately, justice is expensive. Generous friends and fellow guides have contributed about 30 of our estimated court costs, but we need to raise about $10,000 more, which is what our government spends each second for national defense. Please send contributions to: What a strange culture we've become; To perpetuate this paper chase in this game of monopoly that we play in the middle of Eternity, We enslave ourselves and justify destroying all that is sacred and nurtures our spirit And what do we leave behind us in our path? A petty facsimile of all that was beautiful and had meaning. Keep up the good work, Jim! Bill Howard Moab Editor's note: This blade and white reproduction of Bill's beautiful color painting of the Portal really doesn't do it justice, but at least it's a reminder of the way thing s were. Thanks Bill off-chan- ce drug-relate- law-abidi- ng law-abidin- g Guides Defending Constitutional Rights P.O. Box 1123 Flagstaff, AZ 86002 Pete Gross, Member of Advisory Board Moab, Utah Hi, Jim I just finished reading your article, "Return to Moab 2020 A.D. and thought that you might enjoy looking at this piece. It was painted on early August mornings in 1986 out in the fields across from the Old Ranch House before the first light had reached the valley floor. The alfalfa was in flower and they were beginning to cut it off in the distance. Each morning as I set up my easel and rolled out my Indian blanket to sit on, a young doe could be seen out grazing in the flowers. Those cool mornings were serene and quiet and the pace of things was slow and innocent. Editor Just the other day I asked myself this blasphemous question; should I stop subscribing to the Zephyr? On the one hand, its editor writes and draws and thinks with both hands-h- e's involved and committed and it would be a shame if lack of support helped trundle him oft to Benkelman where one or more of those talents might begin to atrophy. Small To the publications need each and every subscriber to survive. And I'll always be curious as to doings in and around Moab; although never a resident, Igpttoseealotofthe canyon country in the 80's, just ahead of the hordes. But I've been seduced by other landscspes; I don't return to the slickrock any longer; there's so much I want and need to read, and time is a strangler; that's how my thinking was running until I read Cherie Gilmore's column. We all remember President Bush's "thousand points of light" sloganeering. Well, Cherie Gilmore is the real item, and there are damn sure fewer than a thousand like her when you begin to narrow your territory. I've always looked forward to her slice of the Zephyr, her humor and humanity, and in the most recent 'Subject to Change," she touched upon a tendency which I'd like to ramble on about at some length here. She noted the hypocrisy-- or obliviousness-- of a group of environmentalists as they discussed low predator while in the comfort of their leader's habitat-carvin- g suburban sprawl home. populations She didn't use the would have been superfluous-h- ut let's all own up to its hits It it? It doesn't does sure with a home, applicability. me, whose seniority increases at an unsettling pace. How damning-ho- w relevant-a- re our large or little hypocrisies in the scheme of things? Can we legitimately argue against the status quo without taking steps to divorce ourselves horn its advantages? What percentage of our time should go toward getting pure, vs. time spent sparring with the system that abets, creates, even demands our impurity? Is it proper to use the conveniences of our econom- yhypocrite-in-good-standi- ng ,rf ACTION SHOTS 331 NORTH MAIN Still ST. 259-808- 6 capturing ycur most crazed moments for the amusement of your descendants. |
