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Show sTIMES October 16, 2008 Hill civilian mints coin for all military heroes coin that commemorates all services, all states, all Americans. Then there Hilltop Times staff are heroes who are not just injured or killed, there are an Gomez, a lead enheroes that come back gineer with the 526th from deployments as ICBM Safety Enwell," Gomez said. hanced Reentry Vehicle Even though program, has a lot of pride the planned Hisin the military his unit suppanic Heritage ports. Using his own time Month banquet did and money, he has designed not become a realand minted a coin to comity, Gomez continued memorate all military heroes to pursue his idea for from every service and war. an "American Hero" coin. The idea of creating a comGomez's finished coin design ilmemorative coin to honor all mililustrates an American flag with parts tary heroes came to Gomez Front side of the pledge of allegiance printed after he attended the unveilin the red stripes of the flag. "A key ing of the bronze busts cer©2008 Point Emblems, All Rights Refoundational block for which the emony for Utah's fallen heroes served. Reproduction of this artwork United States was built, and it is someon June 21. in any form may only be done so with thing that the military is fighting for, "I came across the Mike's the written permission of Daniel E. liberty and justice for all,'" Gomez Guardian Eagle Foundation at Gomez. explains. the bust unveiling ceremony, The reverse side reads, "In remembecause (the foundation's origibrance of your courage and sacrifice," and symbols of a nator) is a father of one of the fallen soldiers," explained blue star, Purple Heart and a missing soldier are disGomez. To commemorate the unveiling they had a coin played in the center representing deployed, injured and with the faces of the fallen heroes and the date of the unveiling. "I really liked the coin. It was a beautiful coin, fallen heroes, respectively. but for a specific event." The proceeds of each sale go to a military charity of the purchaser's choice. On the order page of the Web Gomez served on the Hispanic Advisory Council site, www.operationhoah.org, the purchaser can choose of Utah from 2004 to 2006 during which time he reto donate the proceeds to Helping Unite Gold Star Sursearched, created and presented Oct. 8, a slide presentavivors, Gold Star Wives of America, Operation Never tion entitled "Hispanic in the U.S. Military." This year, Forget, Silver Star Families, Homes for Heroes, or any he served as the Hill Air Force Base Hispanic Heritage other "military hero-oriented" nonprofit organization. Month Committee chairman. The committee planned to host a banquet to honor Hispanic military members of Another feature of the Web site includes the contact Utah in honor of Hispanic Heritage month in September. page that allows a person to input information about their own military hero. He had pondered the idea of generating a "Hispanic "When the person tells me where their hero is from Heritage" coin to commemorate Utah heroes. "As I (city and state), then I can put a star on a digital map started working with Point Emblems (the company that that will be displayed on the Web site to show where our designed the Utah fallen soldiers coin) with a design that heroes are," Gomez said. He further states, "I long for would include all five military branches, I decided that the day that the map is full of stars because it will reflect would still be too specific. I thought there should be a BY LEE ANNE HENSLEY D that all 'American Heroes' would have been acknowledged." The latter part of the organization's name, Operation H.Q AH., is a reference to the informal sound Army and Marine troops make in a mass response and it also serves as an acronym for "honor our American heroes." In a way, it is also homage Reverse side to Gomez's father who served as a World War II Army medic. A picture of his father and his father's dog tags are displayed as background art on the Web site. "I tried to somewhat personalize the Web site but at the same time reflect all of the services," he said. When creating the commemorative coin, Gomez did not realize what his motivation was until recently. "As I reflect back, it was probably to commemorate my dad because he's my hero." The coin and the Web site are still in their infancy, Gomez said. The first coins were minted a few months ago and the Web site became active less than a week ago. Gomez plans to expand the Web site to include other such commemorative pieces as money clips and hat pins, but he realizes it will take time. However, Gomez thinks the sacrifices of his time and money are minute compared to the sacrifices made by the recipients of the coins. Gomez understands that there are numerous events to commemorate our organizational and local heroes. "Yes, it's nice to appreciate the people who are here locally, because we see them day to day and have firsthand knowledge about what they do," Gomez said. "But the ones you don't see are out there, in battle, and I think it would be nice to do something to commemorate those heroes." Danger averted 'by that much' with 'Get Smart' BY STEVE SALLES Standard-Examiner movie critic T Photo Illustration by Airman 1st Class Robby Hedrick Energy for workforce? 1 ST CLASS ROBBY HEDRICK 75th Air Base Wing Public Affairs G etting up earlier and staying up later have become more prevalent than ever in today's society. With the standard eight-hour work day and demand for higher productivity, people are consistently consuming more caffeinated beverages to aid them through the day. Whether you reach for a Doubleshot Energy+Coffee drink from Starbucks or any of the hundred-plus energy drinks for sale at convenience stores, their impact is undeniable. They have become one of the quickest growing supplements of our time and can be seen advertised in almost every magazine, TV ad and sponsorship imaginable. In essence, these drinks provide a boost of energy along with mental alertness through the use of caffeine, vitamins, minerals, herbs, sugar and sugar substitutes. The usual amount of caffeine in these products tends to range from 150 milligrams to 200 milligrams, in addition to the other ingredients, to provide pep. Their coffee counterparts usually go with a more moderate dosage of caffeine, generally staying near a 100 mg per eightounce serving. Coffee also tends to lack the vitamins and minerals for the extra sustained boost of energy. Some people prefer the "old faithful" of straight caffeine pills, which come in many forms such as NoDoz, Jet Alert and Yellow Jackets just to name a few. The pill form generally sticks to straight caffeine with no additives or derivatives. Red Bull, Rockstar, Starbucks and the pills on the counter at any gas station are competing for your business, and with so many different choices and nearly unlimited supply of energy products, which one really provides the best bang for your buck? Energy drinks The energy drink phenomenon continues to grow strong without any sign of abating. The increasing appetite for more business and stronger competition has produced a myriad of flavors for the consumer. Fierce rivalry makes the energy content stronger each year which can be a good and bad thing. Energy drinks are not required to list the amount of cafSee ENERGY I page 10 here's always a built-in danger when converting a popular old TV show into a big-screen movie. The filmmakers must provide a proper tribute while attempting to put their own stamp on the project. In this case, very little of "Get Smart" emerges, aside from a few memorable one-liners, and more of a Steve Carell Warner Bros. Pictures giggle-fest comes forth, which is not Steve Carell plays Maxwell Smart, necessarily a bad thing. It's just not Agent 86, as he takes on KAOS in what I was expecting from a movie "Get Smart." called "Get Smart." The original Maxwell Smart, played by Don Adams, had an overinflated ego in direct opposition to his bumbling agent abilities. CareLTs version is much humbler, but he actually has skills — a complete reversal. Carell says he didn't want to imitate Adams, but you don't have to do Don's voice to play the charheadquarters is compromised and acter. agents' identities are revealed. Max is Smart's eventual partner, Agent 99, promoted to field agent, but is not asplayed originally by Barbara Feldon signed to work with his buddy, Agent (who, BTW, I read wasn't even asked to 23, as he'd hoped but with the recently do a cameo) was more submissive but surgically altered Agent 99. quite competent to save Max's bacon on The two will be sent to Russia in a daily basis. search of a nuclear weapons cache Anne Hathaway's 99 is a lot tougher that KAOS has indicated could be used and more self-assured. That's not as against the United States. Pretty heady glaring a difference, but different nonestuff for a supposedly lighthearted theless. show. Even the KAOS villain is more sinI did enjoy Alan Arkin as "The ister, with Terence Stamp playing a Chief," the Bill Murray drop-in and cranky Siegfried, in contrast to Bernie some of the office antics, but I missed Kopell's TV version, who was just as big the flavor of the original "Get Smart" a goofball as Don's Smart. (Kopell gets and frankly resented the filmmakers for a cameo in the movie as a driver Smart not staying a bit truer. tries to carjack.) As a simple Steve Carell vehicle, In this update, Maxwell Smart isn't it works fine. So, for those of you not even an agent. He's an information anafamiliar with the TV "Get Smart," you'll lyst who's thorough to the point of boreprobably enjoy this much more than I dom. He wants desperately to be a field did. agent like his handsome friend Agent 23 However, just throwing in lines like (Dwayne Johnson), but CONTROL chief "missed it by that much" or "sorry (Alan Arkin) thinks Max is more valuabout that, Chief doesn't make it a "Get able behind a desk. Smart" movie — it simply makes a fan That will change when CONTROL miss the original material all the more. |