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Show Cyan Magenta Yellow Black Wednesday, August 24, 2005 A5 Sanpete Messenger-Sanpete Messenger/Gunnison Valley Edition Movie filmed in Mt. Pleasant gives locals chance for 15 seconds of fame Off the Wasatch By Suzanne Dean Publisher By Roger Baker Kids have it easier (but don’t tell them that) Despite the fact that kids today study set theory in elementary school mathematics and some get into calculus in junior high, they certainly have it easier than we, their parents, did when we went to school. It isn’t just that they have computers now, either. We have tried to explain this on a number of occasions, but somehow the story about walking 10 miles to school in two feet of snow uphill both ways lacks credibility with unbelieving youth. When I related this account to my grandkids for only the second time I added, “and we didn’t think a thing of it.” The answer from the kids who think ancient history is last week’s top 40 was “We don’t think much of it, either.” As a public service to parents who wish to explain the facts of life and hardships, I offer the following to supplement the trek to school in the snow tale. What these kids don’t understand was that the walk in the daily blizzard was complicated by the fact that we had to walk in galoshes. Tell your kids what a galosh is to get real sympathy. Be sure they understand that you are not talking about a Romanian casserole. These giant rubber basins were fastened on the feet with adjustable buckles that only worked in warm weather for the pure in heart. Since man had not yet walked on the moon, there were no moon boots, which are now also obsolete. And back then teachers were required to take boot buckling along with mitten matching as part of teacher certification programs. Today’s kids have shoe tying, which used to be an admission requirement to kindergarten, solved too. Velcro has replaced the bunny comes out of the hole runs around the tree and does a loop back to form two ears. And if Velcro fastening isn’t easy enough, kids can wear flip-flops. (Note to parents: Don’t call modern flip-flops thongs like we used to. Thongs are an altogether different article of clothing, and they don’t go on the feet.) With the shoe tying task now unnecessary, our kids should be on to more complex tasks even in kindergarten. The downside is that they never master an important developmental task. The teens who wear fashionable runners (formerly known as Keds or Converse Allstars) that must cost over a hundred dollars to be in, have obviously never learned to tie them. It all began with the introduction of Velcro in the early grades. It is no challenge to learn to tell time anymore, either. We used to have to be able to tell a big hand from a little hand, but this new generation just reads the numbers from the digital face. Reading the watch used to teach math, since when we looked at the old fashioned analog (new fashioned word) face we mentally calculated the time. Digital watch readers just discover the time. They don’t do the mental gymnastics that calculate elapsed time or time until a major event like the end of the class period. This, by the way, doesn’t even consider the fact that we had to remember to wind the watch every day. If the kids still don’t believe that it was tough back then, show them a slide rule. They can be seen in the Smithsonian but don’t even turn up at garage sales or at the Deseret Industries any more. The clincher is to explain that the principle behind this sliding ruler within a ruler is quite simple. The uneven scales on the ruler actually do a multitude of mathematical functions using a medial slide and rule that is graduated with similar logarithmic scales labeled with the corresponding antilogarithms. I tried this on members of the Sesame Street generation and was told that computers use a binary number system and that the ruler looked stupid because marks were not evenly spaced. No one could measure anything with this. I don’t think either of us understood the other or perhaps even ourselves. I put it in more practical terms and told them that the math jocks of my time wore these big rulers on their belts and carried a briefcase, which is much more difficult than carrying a handheld calculator in a backpack. The real convincer is the most dangerous to use. Here is a warning. If you tell the kids that they have it better today than we did because they have television, they will know that you are definitely old. It may be safer to stick to the simple arguments and explain that 50 years ago there was no plastic, frozen food, polio shots, penicillin, copy machines, ballpoint pens, dishwashers, clothes dryers, air conditioners, radar, credit cards, laser beams, pantyhose, electronic calculators, Velcro, digital watches, and school buses to take us through the two feet of snow the 10 miles to school uphill both ways. Compare Our CD Rates Bank-issued, FDIC-insured to $100,000 1-year 4.05% APY* Minimum deposit $5,000 18-month 4.10% APY* Minimum deposit $5,000 2-year 4.30% APY* Minimum deposit $5,000 *Annual Percentage Yield (APY)—Interest cannot remain on deposit; periodic payout of interest is required. Early withdrawal is not permitted. Effective 7/11/05. Subject to availability and price change. The amount received from a sale of a CD at current market value may be less than the amount initially invested. Call or stop by today. Brian Crosby 39 W. 700 S. Ephraim, Utah 84627 283-8182 www.edwardjones.com MT. PLEASANT—Do you relate to song, “I really wanna be in pictures?” If so, opportunity is knocking. Tomorrow at 3:30 p.m., a Los Angeles-based movie crew that has been filming a movie in the Mt. Pleasant area for the past three weeks, is staging a parade down the town’s Main Street. To have a chance to appear in the film, “Last of the Mustangs,” just show up in western clothes. You’ll be cast as a parade spectator. And you won’t even need to try out, says Jimmy Anderson, spokesman for Tag Entertainment. The company has spent 18 days in Sanpete County filming the movie about a city girl who decides to photograph wild horses as a school project. She goes to a western ranch, where she falls in love with the people and the horses. But things get complicated when she learns about illegal activities that are threatening the survival of the mustangs. About 80 percent of the movie has been shot at the Bear Mountain Ranch 3 miles east of Mt. Pleasant. Other locations have included the front of the Mt. Pleasant City Hall, a parking lot next to Skyline Pharmacy, and the Flat Mountain Campground, located 4 mile beyond the Fairview Canyon summit. LLOYD CALL / MESSENEGR PHOTO Miranda Cosgrove, playing Hannah, an urban teenager who wants to photograph horses, and Fred Ward, her father, arrive in a small Utah town and head to the sheriff’s office to seek permission to photograph wild mustangs. Anderson describes “Last of the Mustangs” as a “valuecentered, family film.” Plans call for the film to be released to movie theaters and on DVD, and aired on Animal Planet, a cable TV channel. Stars include Miranda Cosgrove, who plays Hannah, the teenager who goes to the ranch, and Fred Ward, who starred in “Tremors” and who plays Hannah’s father. Robert Wagner has a “great little part, ” says Anderson, but he wouldn’t give specifics for fear he might spoil the movie for viewers. Lamont Christensen of Fairview, owner of Christensen Livestock Co., has supplied horses used in the movie. “He’s been helping us out a great deal,” Anderson says. Tag Entertainment’s interest in Sanpete County may stem partly from the fact that the wife of director Craig Clyde grew up in Ephraim. In fact, Clyde and his wife are out-of-county subscribers to the Sanpete Messenger. Health Fair offers chance for all types of checkups By Suzanne Dean Publisher MT. PLEASANT-More than 200 people received various types of health checks and participated in safety education at the Sanpete Valley Hospital health fair Saturday, Aug. 13. Participants had a chance to get a blood pressure check, have a physical therapist measure their body fat, talk to a respiratory therapist about sleep apnea and even have a dentist look at their teeth. The Utah Highway Patrol brought a crash simulator so people could experience the impact of a 10-mile-per-hour car crash. Gus German, a volunteer from Fountain Green, directed a bike rodeo designed to teach kids how to ride bikes safely. The hospital gave away about 150 bike helmets. Other highlights included the chance to peek inside a Life Flight helicopter and free checks to make sure child safety seats were installed correctly in family cars. SUZANNE DEAN / MESSENGER PHOTO Heather Ashton, Mt. Pleasant, gets a thorough workup, including temperature, pulse and blood pressure checks, from her mother, Malinda McPherson, LPN, during Sanpete Valley Hospital health fair Saturday, Aug. 13. SUZANNE DEAN / MESSENGER PHOTO Sanpete Valley Hospital administrator Ned Hill and his family show some of the health supplies they picked up at the hospital’s health fair Saturday, Aug. 13. Rear (L-R), Jay Hill, Ned’s brother who was visiting from Evanston, Wyo.; Ned and Emily Hill. Front (L-R) Kiley Hill, 3, and a friend, Rebekah Nunn, 8, with her pet rabbit, Fudge. SUZANNE DEAN / MESSENGER PHOTO Kent Hart, Fountain Green, licensed massage therapist, administers a massage at Sanpete Valley Hospital health fair Saturday, Aug. 13. Cancer survivor named Woman of Achievement By Karen Buchanan Staff writer MT. PLEASANT—Barbara Woods is a woman who loves to serve her community and does so out of pure love. While quietly struggling through the difficulties of her own life, she has devoted herself to others in need. At the Miss Sanpete pageant earlier this month, Woods received the Sanpete County Woman of Achievement award. A three-time cancer survivor, she was first diagnosed when she was 24 years old. At one time complications of the treatments for the disease put her into a coma for five months. During her recovery she was confined to a wheelchair for many months. But the wheelchair and constant pain didn’t keep her from serving as a missionary trainer to the Mormon Miracle Pageant cast. The young people there loved her. She has served as executive director of “Turning Point” in Ephraim, an assistance program for abused women. She has helped many women get back on their feet to become self-sufficient members of society. As an extension of that service she finds homes for children in need of a safe environment where they can succeed in school and have their needs met. She also helped start the Sub for Santa program in Sanpete County. Utah Legal Services, which serves low income people, gave her its “Give-A-Damn” award. Barbara Wood |