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Show DAILY HERALD Wednesday, August 29. 2007 AS EDITORIAL BOARD Qraig Dennis, President A Publisher Randy Wright, Executive Editor IN OUR VIEW race yourself: Calif today's adults survived childhood government quite nicely with bare heads while could be on the way enjoying bikes, roller skates and skateboards. right here in Utah v. But that was before. Today, County. For those of you government at every level seems ho don't know what this means, aver more inclined toward the it is the proposition that govem-- . regulation of personal choice, and ment is better suited to make per- especially if its "for the children. sonal decisions for you and your The fact is that the vast majorfamily than you are. ity of situations involving human-propellWord on the street is that wheels even on the Utah County Commissioners are , Provo Parkway are benign. considering an adjustment to a re- They are unlikely to result in se- cently enacted measure requiring nous injury of any kind. People ; ' helmets for longboarders, bicy-- 1 laboring uphill go slow; and most clists and other riders of wheeled who coast down keep their speed Vehicles (excluding baby strollers) within reason, especially around on the Provo Parkway Trail, the , pedestrians. What mishaps have occurred in the past have been adgentle paved grade that runs for miles along the canyon floor be-equately addressed by the County neath Bridal Veil Falk , Commission with the creation of The code adjustment under con- special zones and other measures. sideration would make helmets Commissioners should stay a matter of personal choice for out of the helmet business. Utah adults hut require them for chilCounty is no more likely to be suc- -,' dren. In other words, you could ; cessfully sued because somebody be found guilty of a crime if your fell off a bike or longboard on the kid on training wheels isnt wear-- . Parkway than Provo city is when ing a commercially manufactured somebody falls off something at a hard hat. skate park. (In fact, if the helmet What commissioners should do requirement is retained it will is repeal the helmet law across only apply to the countys portion of the ftukway Trail, not to the the board. The only impediment to doing so is an old political saw, Provo portion. Retaining a dual Its for the children!" that is so ' standard would amount to politioften used to get a camel's nose cally correct silliness and with .. no true public safety value.) into a tent. It is worth emphasizing this ' We readily agree that helmets .'are a good idea for anyone who - point: Individual safety is not rides a wheeled vehicle very fad. the same thing as public safety. or in risky terrain. Any mountain Government acts properly when biker would be foolish not to wear it makes laws to protect people one. Cities like Provo recommend from other people. It steps out of line when it attempts to regulate helmets in their skate parks, a is choices that involve purely indi- universal that virtually practice " vidual consequences. And it is far throughout local communities, where posted signs urge park Us- - out of line when those individual ' ers to wear protective gear. consequences are likely to be .. But the wisdom of wearing a minor, as they are on the Parkhelmet in some circumstances way, even for kids, and especially when those kids are under the .. should not lead anyone to believe that helmets are equally advisable watchful eye of a parent. to all or even most or that Consistency demands that if . commissioners retain a law to government should be the one to step in to protect people from protect an individual longboard-er- s or bicyclists head, they must themselves in any event. Back in the late 1980s, much to enact laws for personal safety the delight of its helmet manufac- equipment in ail manner of sports on county lands skiing, rock . turers, California passed a law climbing, mountain biking, snow requiring that all children must ' wear a hard hat, The law applied tubing," sledding and other activi-ties. universally, even kids wobbling on around the They could check the California code for suggestions how to take wheels never mind that there was never an epidemic of children the next logical step. bashing out their brains and turnI Public meeting tonight at ing into vegetables. 5:30 p.m. at the Utah County .... Even the Utah County Health Administration Building, 100 E. Department admits that serious Center Street, Suite 2300., brain injuries are rare. Most of. I I . . ed . . LETTERS . . . Quick response to local fire appreciated . . ' . , : On behalf of the Bull River Neigh-- ; borhood in Highland, we would like to thank the firefighters from Alpine, Highland, American Fork and Lehi that responded to a recent fire in our -- area The fire directly threatened four homes and, because of the dry condi- tions, could have spread much farther. . In addition, our families, pets and possessions were in danger. Because of incredibly quick action, we only lost a ' few trees. A special note of thanks goes to the United Parcel Service (UPS) driver that saw the fire start. This individual stopped, tried to put out the fire with his extinguisher, and then called 911. Because of his quick action, the fire department was on the scene very quickly and, we believe, that made a huge difference. "To the person driving the tow truck that threw out the cigarette: We hope you realize that your unbelievably stupid action could have killed people. Thanks to all of the neighbors, police officers and friends that jumped in to help. We have the best neighborhood in the world! I Brad and Linda Walton, i Highland : . . - . . . ' You just dont get it. Being 70 years old does not give you a free pass to do as you wish. Do you live next to Betty Perry? Do you know what a pistol she is? I don't Care what generation you are, there is no excuse for rudeness and disobey ing the law. You can bet the comedians who have vilified Orem will never retract their mean-spiritjokes, and you will never print the whole story without putting your own spin on it. Living in a house for nine months without running water is totally unacceptable.. Poorly kept yards decrease neigh-- . borhood values.' They are a breeding place for weeds and insects that are shared with all the neighbors. It invites a less desirable attention to the neighborhood. I live in a neighborhood that is slowly going to seed because hom- -' eowners are getting lazier and don't care how their yards look. investiDid you conduct a gation or did you just pick and choose from the released report to spin ft your own way? Your left side is getting out of hand. t Richard K. Orr, Orem . MEDIA VOICES un-Gonza- les a new attorney . Choosing win be easy if follows a simple rule: Look for the opposite of Alberto R. Gonzales. . Apparently Gonzales finally recognized the damage caused g explanaby his tions cl his role in the firings of nineUS. attorneys and a bizarre episode in which he tried to pres- sure his ailing predecessor, John Ashcroft, into approving a legally dubious surveillance program." His news conference Monday was emblematic of his tenure at the Justice Department: He refused to answer questions and flirted with self-pitnoting that "even my worst days as attorney general have been better than my .father's best days. Those comments closed a cloying circle that began 2 12 years ago when Sen. introduced Arlen Specter, Gonzales to the Judiciary Committee as "a Horatio Alger story Hispanic background, seven siblings, the first to go to college ... That biography didn't prevent Gonzales from presiding over a justice Department that Specter mind-bogglin- ; called close to being dysfunctional The next attorney general shouldn't be chosen because of an inspirational life story or because he is a close friend" of the president (Bush's description ). The Senate shouldnt accept anything less than a distinguished lawyer who can be trusted to insulate criminal prosecution from even the appearance of partisan meddling. But Senate Democrats should be careful not to demand more a nominee whose policy views match theirs. The attorney general isn't simply the nation's top prosecutor; he's also a member of the presidents Cabinet. Sen Charles E. Schumer, D4M.Y., recognized that reality Monday when he declined an opportunity to oppose one 'possible successor to Gonzales, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chert off. Chertoff is hardly apolitical. In the 1990s, he was counsel for Senate Republicans in the investigation of Bill and Hillary Clinton's Whitewater real estate deaL He has been an evangelist for the administrations immigration proposals and the target of valid complaints about the bungled response to Hurricane Katrina later . Aug. 28, 2007 . R-P- a., . D00NESBURY iatsufBHCsvsw T( SCHOOL, nuctswmomH ' SeMNOKK iron THE 9WPOH9 MtfretWB ed : - . full-sca- le f We should support unity in our communities . - . Letters section should only showcase sincere opinions I write for my high school's newspaper. Even at the high school level of journalism 1 understand that an editorial page is a place to express sincere opinion, not a front for hate speech. Apparently the Daily Herald edito? rial board doesn't understand that. , They continue to publish letters full remark and the sort of of s from vocabulary used by a certain MichaelR. Kelsey. This is a newspaper,' not a Ku Klux Klan rally;! call oh the Daily Herald to start publishing professional letters to the editor, not hate speech. Even a high school student can tell the difference between the two. I Devon Fisher, Provo anti-Semit- third-grader- How 344-2985- ftwa UF 841303. MALLARD FILLMORE TO Wool " I Letters must include the . The result is that we have a group seeking an education so they can get paid for using their heads, a group that already holds those jobs, the lazy looking for someone rise to pay their way, the few Caucasians who are willing to work something other than a highpaying job and the group from south of the border who are willing to do the jobs no one else wilL to continent letters to dhtettersheraldcxtra.com Fax to Mail to P.O. Box 717, . author's full name, address and daytime phone number. I We prefer shorter letters. 100 to 200 words. Letters may be edited for length. I Writers are encouraged to , include their occupation and other personal information. I Because of the volume of letters, we cannot acknowledge unpublished letters. I Letters become the property of the Doily Herald. Bruce Tinsley SHOHSUtrOUtlWS the nurmx eoour urn snic&ns FIACB UKt CO fK . . . . : . Gary Macomber and others with answers to the immigration problems should disclose how many of the supposed available American while youth they are employing. I look the grunt jobs are befilled Latinos. Businesses have by ing their help wanted signs up and jobs go unfilled. Our unemployment rate is so low that anyone, particularly white, who wants to waritcan. Our welfare system is so easy and accessible that many of the Caucasians who could work get welfare, or some other state or federal assistance, so they don't have to hold down a grunt , . . those with quick fixes for illegal immigration: Prove it job- - The failure of the immigration legislation this year, and other immigration issues recently covered by the media, lave helped people realize the growing population of Hispanics we have in our county. Currently 37,500 Hispanics live in Utah County, which accounts for nine percent of the total population in the area. During the past 10 years, Utah . , To Garry Trudeau 4JHK4 OftHriCOT. J - Take the Latinos out of the economic equation in this country and it implodes like the Key Bank building in Salt Lake City. I A. V. Robison, Orem County has experienced a Hispanic dilation grcnvth that is 143 percent ber than the national average. However, numbers are not enough ; when it comes to finding out more about who they are. For this reason, it is important to seek opportunities ; where we can learn and share our cultures and values, where we can establish a relationship of mutual understanding and where we can all contribute together to develop our community. Fortunately; we have organizations like Centre Hispano in Provo that help us build those bridges between Hiscommunities panic and so we can benefit from each other and all contribute to our community. We should support Centre Hispano and other organizations in our com-- ' munity that are working to help us all understand each other and become one united community. . I Shdila Sarmiento, Provo . Herald missing point with editorial on Betty Perry . t the Crandall Canyon Mine1 : . . From the Loe Angeles Times, "Bumps : cul-de-s- The , W AigOrtPIftNNr . t |