Show r IMS OUR VIEW The Salt Lake Tribune's Editorial Position && A New Year of Civility After a year celebra- tion of their state its heritage and its scenic splendor Utahns might greet 1998 today on a more even keel moderating their shouts of praise and whines of complaint that marked the year just passed Utahns commemorated the centennial of statehood in 1996 and the sesquicentenmal of the Mormon pioneers' trek in 1997 accompanied by much fanfare and for their good fortune of inhabiting such a wondrous landscape during a period of sturdy economic prosperity But with no equivalent milestones in the coming year except the last congressional elections of the century perhaps Utahns can turn down the volume in 1998 from the exultant cheers over the states celebrations and over the NBA finalist Utah Jazz to the excessive groaning over the disruptive construction project and the Olympic movement that has helped to accelerate it to the hateful carping over gay rights in Spanish Fork and Salt Lake City Wasatch Front motorists will be entering the second year of their 4'2year highway construction headache and their experiences in 97 should help them defuse their road tension and to resolve that they will practice greater patience courtesy and common sense in the new Similarly with last years convulsions within the states Olympic committee now remedied perhaps the Olympic discord that emerged among Utahns in 1997 can be muted by the quiet efficiency of new leadership and by the pride that should accompany next months passing of the torch from Nagano to Salt Lake City as the worlds Winter Olympic city If Utahns could generate greater patience on the roads and greater joy in their Olympic destiny they would temper two of their main irritants of 97 and perhaps find a quiet moment to reflect on an event from the past year that deserves to resonate into the new year the volunteer summit that Gov Mike Leavitt and Gen Colin Powell staged in Utah last October On this day of making New Years resolutions Utahns might try to rekindle some of the volunteer spirit that the governor attempted to sow in the fall whether it be in the form of a commitg ment to or in a simple offer of help to a neighbor Perhaps ir a lyy8 devoid of milestone commemorations and othevents undistracted er Utahns can take a moment to conand tribute to their communities to create a happy new year of respect and civility time-consumi- Another testimonial to Terpsichore Hartleys survival Christmas eve in Utahs cold dark mountains Hartley is the wayward skier who found herself alone stranded without return conveyance at Northern Utah's Powder Mountain as night fell and temperatures plummeted Rescuers found her hiking the next morning having apparently eluded a cruel frozen fate by doing what came naturally dancing Not from building a snow hut? Not because she sheltered under quickly assembled pine boughs? No the resource- ful developer computer-softwar- e ex- plained but by recalling every show disco and popular tune shed ever heard so she could occupy mind and body with either singing them or dancing to the remembered melodies For 18 mostly frigid hours Well physical activity circulates the blood warming the extremities in the process The task for Hartley was to keep at the exercise long enough Sitting one out in her circumstances could have been lethal Marathon dancers of the 1920s proved such exertion is achievable they did it for days Music as Hartley knew accommodates the dance and as rock n rollers demonstrate a partner isnt essential to energetic improvisation Jazz dancing tap dancing show dancing ballet dancing modern dancing dancing with wolves and ice dancing are among the variations that can inspire solo performances of imaginative and uninhibited interpretation Now to the possibilities add dancing in ski boots Broadway composers Alan Jay Ler-ne- r and Frederick Loewe had My Fair Ladys Eliza Doolittle proclaim in celd ebration of love that she could have danced all night and still have begged for more According to Karen Hartley she did dance all night and if that saved her life who could ask for anything more? new-foun- ANOTHER VSEW From The Los Angeles Times Anarchy in Chiapas For four years the Indian citizens of Mexico's Chiapas state lived amid uncertainty and anxiety Their brief January 1994 rebellion against distant rule from Mexico City and steady oppression by land barons had ended in political failure and broken promises Then last week the cloud that hung above them thundered into violence again The slaughter of dozens of Indians at a church sent fears surging to new heights and triggered an exodus in which 6000 Tzotzil Indians are reported to have left their impoverished villages to seek refuge in the forest Only the presence of President Ernesto Zedillo in the region can still their flight Zedillo should go to Chiapas to offer his condolences to relatives of the massacre victims and to establish himself as a personal guarantor of the safety of the people there A presidential visit and orders would underline Zedillo's demand for a investigation to find not only those who pulled the triggers but those who issued the orders As it stands today there is little legitimate power in Chiapas There is no cen tral rule but there are many strongmen s and throughout the state This is clearly anarchy Zedillo should reaffirm the power of the national government to revive the peace agreements that were signed after the 1994 rebellion To implement them Zedillo his aides and the citizens of Chiapas could examine the model of countries like Spain where leaders committed to peace and democracy found a workable approach by recognizing the cultural values of distinct regions Zedillo should require that the federal army be absolutely neutral in ensuring fair implementation of the peace agreements Once the army establishes itself as the protector of peace and the rebel Zapatista army is dissolved military weapons would be turned over to legal authorities This is a chance for Zedillo to expose the opportunism of those politicians seeking to use this tragedy to advance their own agendas He must not refuse the responsibility mini-armie- d $lirj?altalf$ribunf UTAH'S INDEPENDENT VOICE SINCE 1871 PUBLISHER PAST PUBLISHERS Dominic Welch John F Fitzpatrick John W Gallivan Jerry O'Brien ) CORPORATION 1 EDITOR James E Shelledy EDITORIAL PAGE EDITOR Harry E Fuller Jr (1960-198- (1983-1994- KEARNS-TRIBLN- T (1924-196- 143 Letters from The Tribune's readers high-decib- Dancing in the Dark That is Karen THE PUBLIC FORUM foster-parentin- MAIN ST SALT LAKE CITY 1 4111 Encouraging Dysfunction The Dec 13 letter by Morgan Miller comparing homosexual teachers to the great homosexual artists of the past is as misleading as its supposed to be If we wish to do so we can ignore artwork shut off the music or leave literature on the shelf Homosexual teachers as role models are promoting the acceptance of that lifestyle by their very presence in the classroom This is forcing kids (with no concept of behavioral conseand quence) to see homosexuals as socially therefore their behavior acceptable In failing to present (or even make available) unbiased factual oppositional information promoting a dangerous lifestyle among the innocents is both cowardly and criminal The origin of homosexuality isnt the issue the issue is destructive behavior! Does heterosexual orientation justify rampant irresponsible sexual behavior? Certainly not and society has written laws to confine sexual behavior to circumstances beneficial to society and protective of the individual Homosexuals however are exempt from these laws (and therefore responsibility) Miller wants us to believe that the invalidated biological origin of homosexuality justifies the unrestrained sexual behavior that defines homosexuals Every alternative lifestyle in our history whether voluntary or by necessity has led to some degree of social dysfunction The numbers of special education teachers special programs and grants to study problems are represented by billions of taxpayer dollars but weve seen no improvement because social dysfunction is the teachers gold mine! Theyve simply learned how to expand funding create jobs and improve salaries by defending and promoting dysfunction (and withholding basic education) Homosexual behavior is a social problem and expanding this problem by bringing it into the schools will create the statistics that demand more funding and were watching it happen! We now know why teachers never insist upon the absolute right to promote traditional family values! JACK W PACE Lincoln RI Idyllic Grouse Creek Where to Write B When submitting letters to the Public Forum please include your full name signature address and daytime telephone numbers Information other than your name and the city in which you live are kept confidential B Keep it short Concise letters developing a single theme are more likely to be published B Please type and double space B Letters are condensed and edited B Because of the volume of mail received not all submissions are published B Mail to Public Forum The Salt Lake Tribune PO Box 867 Salt Lake City Utah 84110 6 B Our fax number is (801) 237-231- Perils of Overpopulation I am writing in response to Town Wont Die Without a Fight (Tribune Nov 17) I found it and inaccurate in expressing the views of the majorone-sid- ed ity of the residents of Grouse Creek As a member of one of the families that were brought in to work on the Simplot ranch in that area I can tell you that I have strong connections to that community Simplot and other corporations that bought ranches there did much good in the years that I lived there When money was needed to buy a defibrillator for the ambulance those companies were the first ones asked to donate and they did pay over half of the money needed They also were very generous to donate their stock for the annual rodeo held on the Fourth of July As a former director of the Grouse Creek Co-o- p I can tell you for a fact they were also far bigger supporters of the store than some of the longtime residents that you quoted in your article My family and I lived in Grouse Creek for 11 years and though we owned no property there it was our home Our children went to school there and most of our friends live there We recently moved because we had a chance to have a place of our own and we needed a place where our children could go to high school without leaving home It has been difficult to adjust to life outside of Grouse Creek because it was a life you dont find in many places L too hate to see the town die but articles like this that portray the people as fearing large companies coming in dont help and frankly are not true Most of the residents realize that some change is und avoidable and are in finding solutions LAUREE MARTIN Emmett Idaho Just when I thought I had come to terms with the quirks of LDS group-thin- k I see an amazing letter like the one Edwin H Beus wrote (or channeled perhaps from some prophet?) in the Dec 15 Public Forum It is rare to see such a combination of condescension ostrich-lik- e d and lunacy and it would be funny if it didnt have such a stench of righteousness Edwin in your world why do we have eyes and ears? Why do we have rational minds? Are we supposed to ignore the undeniable destruction that overpopulation wreaks upon this fragile planet and are we supposed to ignore the cries of starving children who will never have a full meal before they waste away into oblivion? Why do you insist on ignoring the larger harsher truths about overpopulation that are revealed to us through reason and compassion? Look in your own backyard Do you rejoice in the mindless growth of this valley the choking traffic the filthy haze and worst of all the Never a Footnote gradual inexorable loss of civility that An article in your Dec 20th Religion inevitably occurs when too many people compete for too few resources? Or is this section began thus: There was a time all part of the Master Plan? And how can when Hanukkah was nothing but a footnote on the larger Christmas page you ignore the problems that get passed down from generation to generation What time was that? when two loving people who could have Hanukkah celebrates an event that easily raised one or two normal happened 165 years BC (before Christ) children bow down instead to the It is a custom of Judaism a religion commandment ignore their own psywhich has been around for well over chological limitations and bring nine or 3000 years according to my Encyclope10 unhappy dysfunctional survivors into dia Americana the world? VALERIE P COHEN Like you Edwin I think that people Cedar City are the most important thing in the world To me being a person means making as many conscious choices as posChurch and State sible: from how many children we bring into the world to how much we consume someone please explain to me Would to how we treat others to how we treat a plaque of the Ten Comwhy having the earth But it all just seems to be a mandments mounted on city property numbers game to you: The more people separathe better and anyone who doesnt agree somehow violates the tion of church and state yet its OK even simply doesnt understand demanded by some that the city maintain And Edwin since you call out the Creator as the ultimate example of father- a stairway access to what some consider a shrine? hood can you explain to me why he had I think the next time the city pours a only one Son? sidewalk it should make sure there's an TIM FITZGERALD Salt Lake City image of the temple carefully drawn in one of the squares Or better yet lets make the city responsible for plowing aH the walkways inside Temple Square Recruits for ZPG Seriously theres no wry the city After reading James R Franciscos should be expected to mamma a stairsarins" and exway access to this Benefits of large Families (Forum pose itself to lawsuito 7 aad when someDec 18) and Edwin H Bens Commandone should fall Take away the stairs and ed to Multiply (Forum Dec 15) I would folks want to visit and view the if venture that both these gentlemen are shrine let them do it the best way they Zero in candidates enrollment for prime can Population Growth CURT WILBUR DAVID E HIRSCHFELD 19th-centu- single-minde- open-minde- God-give- n once-beautif- well-adjust- Paying for Good Ideas President Clinton had a good idea put a computer connected to the Internet in every classroom in the country There was a problem Who would pay for it? It takes lots of bucks to put a if the phone line into every classroom phone companies were able to support that many more lines without major capital expenditure So now comes another good idea Instead of trying to get Congress to add a tax to pay for it let s just issue an executive order or maybe we can get it done without the publicity of an executive order to add the cost to all of the telephone bills and hide it in the Telephone Assistance Fund charge without identifying what the charge is for The cost would only be $50 per month! The telephone companies heard about it and started their own uproar because they would have millions of irate customers calling them So comes another good idea: Well lower the total cost and wait six months for it to appear in the bills' You might want to contact your senators and congressman to ask what they will do to stop this unconstitutional tax ROBERT W ENGLISH Salt Lake City ed -- e7 r Bountiful'' |