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Show The Emery County Review, Tuesday, May 6, 2008 VIEWPOINT A9 Opinion and Letters to the Editor MY VIEW Established January 2, 2007 James L. Davis, Publisher & Editor w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w Colleen A. Davis, Co-Publisher, Office & Advertising Manager Josie Luke, Assistant Editor Lyndsay Reid, Advertising Design Charlotte Williams, Advertising Sales Kathy P. Ockey, Staff Journalist Judi Bishop, Staff Journalist Editorial Submission Guidelines The Emery County Review welcomes and invites letters to the editor and guest opinion articles on public policy or current events. We welcome letters of thanks to individuals who have helped make our community a better place to live, work and play. The editorial staff reserves the right to edit all submissions for space constraints, clarity and errors in fact. Submissions must include author’s name and contact information. Contact information will not be published. Letter’s and opinion articles can be sent to jldavis@theemerycountyreview.com, mailed to The Emery County Review, P.O. Box 487, Orangeville, UT. 84537 or faxed to 435-748-2543. CONSIDER THIS With Graduation Comes a Time to Consider Your Future Path Cardell Sacket It is time for graduation and though it has been a few years, I have not forgotten what a special time in my life that was. It is a right of passage for many, and it is the beginning of adulthood. Now that it has been over 30 years since I graduated high school, I wanted to share a few thoughts with those of you who are just now experiencing this awesome time in your life. 1. Remember where you have just been. You have come from the days of learning the ABC’s to being the senior at the school. Don’t forget those teachers, principals and people who have helped you along the way. There have been many. You wouldn’t be graduating if they didn’t cross your path and pass on something. This wasn’t just the basics either. 2. As you accept a diploma, remember the many sacrifices of your parents and others who have supported you with their ever ready pat on the back, or more importantly their ever ready wallets that have paid for all the extra curricular experiences that school has offered. Maybe they have spent time with you doing homework, or maybe they were the ones who were always in the stands cheering every effort you made. What used to embarrass you will soon be a treasure. 3. Don’t forget the wisdom of the ages in the “Golden Rule.” As many have passed on to you, please pass on to others. Take the time in your future to look back and when you can, help out a younger brother or sister. Perhaps you will have an opportunity to volunteer at a library or in a school class. Take the chance and give back a little of what has been given to you. 4. Remember that the education you have received is now your foundation. You can now begin to build the real future you want. For many, you will be entering college. Never underestimate the value of an education. In the “Desiderata” it reminds us to seek and be proud of a career. It is of great worth in an ever changing world. Be proud of your career, whatever you choose. And remember that you are only limited by what you choose! 5. Last, but not least by any means, please choose your education, careers, lives and family with wisdom and integrity. You are the future of this community, state, and nation. You will be the ones making the decisions that control the lives of many others. There will be great responsibilities placed upon you. Be involved in your community. Always strive to be honest. One of the best things you will be remembered for long after you are gone, will be the difference you made on the lives of others. Many will look to you for an example. Be a good one. In fact, be the best one they can find. “Let your light shine.” You have the choice to use wisdom and opportunity to open the doors of the world. You will also experience much in this world that will want to push you off course and rob you of the plans you have made. Take control of the wheel and don’t let anyone else drive your life. Lead out in breaking the chains of drug abuse, family abuse, dishonesty and destruction of values. Be strong and God bless you on your future endeavors, whatever they may be. Consider this. (Cardell Sacket resides in Carbonville.) Cutting Back on Everything Kathy Ockey Following are some disturbing facts about the economy from USA Today and MSNBC: A survey shows: “We’re in a recession today”. Unemployment in April was higher than expected. Consumer spending was up in April but it was because the higher prices reflect inflation. Foreclosures double, home prices tumble. Bankruptcy filings are up. Housing construction is in a downward spiral. Food costs are at an alltime high. Gasoline costs are rising and affecting all travel-land, sea and air. But guess what? Exxon Mobil Corporation, one of the largest oil companies in the world, showed a 2008 first quarter profit up 17 percent to $10.9 billion dollars. This is the second biggest quarterly profit ever. The highest was the final three months of 2007, also by Exxon. They increased $11.7 billion dollars that quarter. Something is wrong with this picture. Oil prices affect every aspect of our lives now. The cost of food is up because of the cost of transporting it. Truckers are struggling trying to afford the fuel they need to survive. Small businesses are suffering and the high costs are not allowing them to grow. Consumer spending was up in March, but this only reflects the higher prices of gasoline and food. Shoppers are confronted with a number of problems with the high gas and food prices that are rising faster than their wage gains. It is no wonder that credit problems are also at an all-time high. What if you are unemployed? The Labor Department reported there was a large drop in jobs in recent months. The government is now issuing the “Economic Stimulus” payments. Will that help us? Probably. Will we use it the way the government assumed we would? Probably not. The government’s idea was the consumers would use the stimulus payments to buy electronics, furniture, and luxuries. How many of you are going to spend it this way? Most of the people I have talked to are going to spend it for food, gas, and paying bills. If you are lucky you might be able to put some in savings or pay down credit card debt. Will this help the economy? Probably not, but it will help John Q. Public. We are already cutting back on everything. Going out to eat and to the movies will be cut back. Driving will be for necessity only. People are tightening their budgets. But can this be all bad? Have we not been an over-consuming nation? We have all been spoiled with our overabundance. What is wrong with cutting back and staying home? We could watch some of the old movies that are gathering dust in the cabinet. We could go on walks, exercise, work around the yard as a family, play baseball, basketball or even croquet. How about teaching your children to play board games, read together or do jig saw- puzzles? Long trips will probably be out for most people but we could enjoy the many sights and scenes in our own area. Last summer our family had a very fun trip. Where did we go? From one end of Emery County to the other. We started at the Rochester Panel (Indian writings) and the dinosaur tracks on the Moore road and ended up at the Dinosaur Quarry. Some of us hadn’t been to the quarry since all of the improvements. We went home, made sandwiches and watched a stupid movie. The kids are still talking about the fun they had. Expense? Very minimal. We can complain about the high prices, and yes they are high and we are going to have to deal with them. But do they have to ruin our lives? No. Just like the pioneers, we can make the best of what we have – and be thankful for it. The Effects of Those Who Surround Us Casey Wood As a species humans instinctively depend in some way or another on other humans. In the last few weeks as I have look around me I have realized that without those who surround me, I would never have become the person I am. Every person goes through trials and hardships in life. It is the way that they deal with those trials, and thank those people who have taught them how to meet new demands in different ways, that make instinctively similar people develop into hundreds of thousands of differing personalities. Look back to all the people who have impacted your life. Your parents, teachers in school, your friends, your religious leaders or even people you meet just once on the street. All of these people can impact who you are or who you will become. As we see other people handle situations and dilemmas, we take parts of them with us. Each different person has some desirable and valuable traits to offer, along with bad or unproductive traits. Those around us try to teach us and help us, and we take those pieces and lessons that we most desire and incorporate them into ourselves, sometimes taking many traits, and other times only taking one or two. Some of these traits we realize we take and do so because of the positive impact we know they will have in our lives, while others we subconsciously take, all of which create us as individuals. Now, with the opposite perspective we have to look at the effects and traits we are passing onto others. Are they traits we want others to have? Considering this makes us want to do our best to only display and share those positive traits we have. We want our families and our friends to be the best they can and if we are sharing our bad traits we are continually running the risk of tainting them. I personally am so grateful for those around me and for all that they have done for me and taught me. My parents taught me how to respect others and work hard. They taught me that anything worth doing is worth doing well, and they taught me that it is important to give all you have in everything you do. My teachers at school give me knowledge, they have taught me to work my hardest to get the best possible education I can and to go as far as possible in life. My friends have taught me to stand up for what I believe in, and to be true to myself at all times and in all situations. My religious leaders have taught me to do what’s right, whether others are watching or not. Even strangers have taught me to treat others continually with kindness. The majority of these people have supported me in all I do. They have loved me and treated me as an individual and as an equal, and have given me the opportunity to prove myself by who I am and what I do, rather than by how I look. The people around us make us who we are, and we influence and change those we spend time around. I have realized that we need to keep these things in mind no matter where we are or what we do and realize the good in others. In turn, they will see the good in us and it makes us all closer. Lucky for me, I was born into a family and have been raised in an area where it’s harder to find someone who will drag you down than it is to find someone who will raise you up. |
