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Show ye ene eran miny MI GT - PROPOSITION 5: For the Deadfromtheneckup ere By Alexandra L. Woodruff Last year, November elections came and went and voters made some choice decisions. They reelected Merrill Cook. Yes, the 24 Congressional District voters chose a man who was not aware of his own victory a week after the election. The 3'4 Congressional District sent millionaire Chris Cannon without Democratic opposition back to Washington for another two years. The Utah Democratic Party did not want to bother fighting against his personal fat wallet. They knew, he who has the most money wins, and voters have never done anything to prove them otherwise. Jim Hansen has represented the 1" District for so long that voters hardly knew that political opponents were allowed on the ballot. On the same day that voters punched out their ballots to keep wealthy, male, white, bark at the scared cat and the car climbs a tree to flee the canines. The hunters then aim their rifles, shoot the cougar and they have a new head to mount on their wall. There might be a little hiking involved, but really, where is the sportsmanship? The challenge level is about the same as scaring a house cat into a tree and shooting it. Do we really need cougar hunting just so hunters can prove to themselves they are part of a superior species? out a Massachusetts and Colorado outlawed body-gripping traps. Colorado, Oregon and Washington state banned hunting bear with bait and dogs. Alaska has a ban on airborne hunting of certain predators. These laws limited certain hunting practices, but they did not, as hunting groups preached, ban hunting. Prop. 5 supporters realized that if voters knew the exact workings of their bill, they They voted for anglers and rural legislatures saturated the D.W.R advisory council. They did announce Proposition 5, an amendment that requires a 2/3 majority for any ballot initiative dealing that the Constitutional Revision Commission voted 7 to 5 to oppose the amendment to the Utah Constitution. They whitewashed their proposal and made themselves look like heroes protecting Utah. Mormon Republicans in every state-wide office up for reelection, they punched change for Utah's Constitution. Thousands of voters went to the polls to limit the power of voters. would not pull off a successful campaign. with wildlife. Ballot initiatives are the only way that citizens can pass legislation without the support of elected legislatures. If citizens can collect enough signatures, their initiative can show up on general election ballots. When voters voted for Prop. 5, they chose to limit their power to participate in direct democracy. Now, wildlife issues require 67 percent of the vote instead a simple 51 percent. It let 51 percent of 1998 voters say what 67 percent must do in subsequent elections. Voters chose to limit their voice and leave their power HOW DUMB WAS THE VOTE? A look at how some Utah Counties voted on Proposition 5 YES NO in the hands of special interest groups. We live in a democracy, so if the majority chooses to vote for somethingI don't agree with, I can accept it. But I can still regretfully look back at a vote that was won through misconceptions, hypocrisy and a lot of money. Grand San Juan Garfield Kane Wayne DWR & SPECIAL INTERESTS For the last century, the Division of Wildlife Resources has managed Utah's wildlife. Passing Prop. 5, will make sure that no one but this organization can develop management policies. Cheerleaders of this initiative, proclaimed it would ensure that only scientists and biologists would make decisions about our how wild animals were managed. It would keep special interest groups, namely animal rights activists, out of our state's wildlife policies. But if you dig beyond the wildlife biologists at the D.W.R., you find an agency saturated with special interest groups. The regional wildlife advisory council, designed to hear public opinions before decisions are made, consists mostly of hunters, anglers, rural legislators and agricultural interests. Anglers and hunters pay 90 percent of the wildlife management budget. Data on bio-diversity and balanced ecosystems come into the decision making process only after the advisory council gives their stamp of approval. Prop. 5 was really just a way to make sure that these groups stayed in power and the populace vote wouldn't get in the way of their objectives. Voters fell prey to their spin campaign. Only five percent of Utahns actually hunt, so it is pure hypocrisy for hunters to say special interest groups wanted to come in and dictate the way Utah runs things. So, who are these wacky outsiders that wanted to infiltrate and control Utah's sovereignty? Supporters of the initiative branded them with labels like outsiders who don't understand Utah, animal rights extremists and fanatics that wanted to ban hunting and fishing. The words, “animal rights activist,” conjures up harsh stereotypes of fanatical groups releasing minks from fur farms or spraying red paint on fur coats. Some activists campaign against animal testing and talk about the horrors of spraying perfume into dogs’ eyes, shoveling laundry detergent down cats’ throats and rubbing Draino on rabbits. To many, these groups have an unrealistic view of how we should run our world. But really, would it be that great a tragedy if less people wore fur and animals were not tortured out of human selfishness? Prop. 5 organizers simply tapped into a stereotype to create an enemy to achieve their goal. Animal rights groups could not be considered a political force by any definition. They have never started a signature campaign in Utah, the first step to getting an initiative on the ballot. So, organizers exploited a perceived enemy and stereotype, but they failed to mention the actual laws that were passed through the initiative process in other states. So, what They did not want to blast the fact that hunters, Salt Lake 1330 2202 1280 1516 915 1230 872 2il 392 193 87,834 112,855 Salt Lake Co. was the ONLY county to vote against Prop 5 MONEY TALKS... g The first thing they did was raise money, lots of money. Prop. 5 advocates raised around $600,000 for their successful campaign. They out-raised their opponents 12 to 1. The most blatant evidence of hypocrisy lies in their funding sources. While they were busy keeping some outsiders out of the state, they were courting out-of-state groups for campaign donations. Their selective logic led them to accept money from the National Rifle Association, the Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers Association and Safari Club International. They took more money from out-of-state funders than opponents raised from all of their sources. This fund-raising discrepancy made it impossible for the Utah Voting Rights Coalition (the main, organized opposition to the initiative) to even put up a fight against their opponent's campaign wallets. Television ads have become the principle way of targeting voters. Thirty second spots have become the determining factor for winning successful campaigns. Thirty seconds is not long enough to explain any issue or candidate. Yet election after election, people cast their votes based on name recognition and television commercials. If candidates do not have enough money for a commercial campaign, they should announce their defeat before any ballots are cast. Advertising consultants and focus groups target what the people want to hear. Then, campaign organizers construct their campaigns around that. They are selling a product like any other advertiser. Campaign organizers don't really care if people really were the laws that these’ organizers were so afraid of? believe in or understand something; they only care that voters check the right box in the voting booth. THOSE ‘RADICAL’ INITIATIVES SEARCHING FOR AN INFORMED ELECTORATE On the same day that Utah constituents gagged their own voting rights, Arizona voters banned cockfighting. They put an end to that fun-loving sport where two cocks fight to the death with razor blades strapped to their feet. I don't think that the absence of this study, exit polls found that 19 percent who voted “yes” on Prop. 5 did not support it once sport is going to destroy the lives of anyone. And why should anyone be fearful of a group who tries to ban an unnecessary, inhumane practice. California voters banned cougar hunting and poisoning of coyotes. Cougar hunting consists of hiring a guide with a group of dogs and tracking down a large feline. The dogs j Most voters do not research what they are voting for. In a Brigham Young University surveyors explained exactly what it was. 5, so why didn't these people take a few minutes out of their lives to figure out what they were voting for before they cast their ballots? Aki DT aNSAN \ i) \y POTTERY * JEWELRY * THE UNUSUAL 135 North Main Street 259-1601 SOLANGE IS INTO HEAVY METAL We MOABILIA are the vortex of steel sculptures in Moab Uninformed voting is the most egregious abuse of the democratic system. These voters decided to participate in democracy without filling their obligations as citizens. It probably did not take that long for pollsters to explain Prop. ee a aN aCe SOUL FOOD 137 N. 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