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Show Review - Tuesdin . Nov. lit, 1 !),S7 - Page 2 Sex education policy needs overhaul for AIDS JL Even as the Alpine School District struggles with creating policies to deal with students or employees who might contract AIDS, an existing policy is preventing any real education about the deadly illness. Early drafts of the proposed policies, which will be considered for adoption by the school district in its regular meeting this evening, call for isolating victims of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome until a board can determine how to deal with the case in essence deciding not to decide until the district is faced with an actual AIDS victim. But an existing policy, written as a guideline for sex education classes, makes it impossible for teachers to supply students with important information about how the disease is transmitted. The policy spells out explicitly that any discussion of AIDS cannot include a discussion of the sex act, or of the prevention of pregnancy by artificial means. In other words, teachers can tell students that AIDS is sexually transmitted, but they cannot use any descriptions of the sex act to enhance that explanation. Also, any discussion of contraceptives, including condoms, is prohibited by the Alpine School District policy. The existing policy was a guideline for what could be taught in sex education classes in the Alpine School District, and pre-dat- es the outbreak of AIDS across our nation. It is a policy designed to meet what the school district felt was the prevailing attitude towards sex education in Utah County -- - that parents should be the principle providers of information on sex for their children. It is based on the philosophy that it is improper to teach the mechanics of sex without talking about the morality of sex, and that parents are best suited to teach both. It's a good philosophy, but unfortunately it doesn't always work, usually because parents find it un-comfortable or inconvenient to discuss sex in any context. As a result, most information about the subject comes from fellow students and other unauthorized sources who are not concerned about policy, or even accuracy. This is inconvenient. In the case of AIDS, it could be fatal, because AIDS is not transmitted in the sa as other sexually-transmitte- d diseases. And if cannot discuss some of the details of the syndrom1" students will not become educated lh-- The United States Surgeon General has recopni, a , seriousness of the AIDS epidemic, and has specific recommendations about how to deal iV?f including adequate health instruction in the classr but the current school district policy makes suT struction impossible. 'n- - While the Alpine School District ponders an Am policy, school board members should also cons'H updating the sex education policy in such a wav th students can get needed information about AIDS other health-relate- d concerns from qualified sources This is not a call for wholesale discussions of sex in th classroom, but a plea for a more enlightened policy h ! will not tie teachers' hands when it comes to address one of the most serious public health concerns fa Cln our nation. Any other approach is a disservice to the students wh rely on the schools for an adequate education. And that's the latest in world of computers p.g. blab dancers. Nearly everyone had something to give away. There were the usual handouts and flyers, all done in great style with quality printing and color, and there were prizes. Drawings were held on a regular basis. Pens, pins, key chains, hats, chips and a variety of other items were all given away free to those who wanted them. This show is down to a science. First of all, you have to go into a big tent and fill out a form that tells them who you represent, etc. Then they give you an identification card. This is a plastic card that looks just like your Visa or Master Charge Card. You get to stand there and see it come through the machine as it prints your name and all on it right before your eyes. If you are a serious attender at the show, you come equipped with a bunch of your own business cards. These business cards are used to give to the company representatives so that they can call you or send you more information on the items you like. The business cards are also used to drop into containers for the various drawings. Now, suppose you wanted to get more information from a vendor and you didn't have a business card, or maybe you just were in a hurry, or whatever. Then you would hand them your plastic badge you had received in the tent. They will run it through one of those little gizmo's that reprints the info on a paper and they will send you what you want. It was all very smooth and easy and well organized. But, because of the number of booths and displays, it takes days to see them all and even then you wear out before you have seen all you would like. With all the give aways and other materials you accumulate as you venture from display to display, you need something to carry it all in. The vendors are ready for this. Many of them offer you a free bag, just pick one up at will, at their displays. Some of the bags are better than others. The hard plastic han-dles can begin to cut into your hands after lugging them around for a few hours, and they do get heavy, So, i some of the vendors provided a b- I with a cloth handle. One even had' long soft plastic handle that could f' ' over the shoulder. Of course the benefit of this is to " the vendor's product is written at over the bag and as you walk aroav n the show the company's name e seen all over the place. It is w; I advertising. Since I know so little ate computers and since I'm not all tk: d excited about all the new invention) A' I spent my time the last two days i fo the show reading a good boci tn watching TV, and watching peop gamble. be Even after watching, I still fa ha understand craps, seven-car- sit: poker, roulette, or Keno. I barely understood "Chickens: Pot," a midway game on then Q zanine at Circus Circus. This mi; new game since we went there k p011 You try to get a plastic, leg looking, chicken into a regn: kitchen stew pot by placing it oa pro catapult-lik- e device, hitting It pron device with a rubber hammeu: s(x'c sending the chicken, hopefully, ar 'Jjs a pot, for which you would receiff ' " prize. We got a lot of good laughs t y of watching people try this game. ' To brag a little, we got to set Pro-Exe- c tennis tournaK sponsored by Citizen which feate Billie Jean King and V; Gerulaitis. It was exciting wait!:-- ( them play and they were sop: ( They were humorous and refe V(,'nu(i enjoying the tournament and p. their partners, who wereeK rK-an opportunity to hit the ball? Four( They jested with the audience;: signed autographs. ic(. It was fun. Mitutic We saw "Omni-Max- " at Ca& fair (f Palace. If you have not opposii already, be sure and go "they are in Vegas. It was well gg(,r) money and very, very enlerfc 0g(t.n Since we had such a good t: Schroei guess it was not so terrible Ach. home and find out the ne' the ogt had to come out a day early. , iwo. And if you can't findsone- "The you wanted to know ate h;,vc h call and - sorry. Give me a wh,.het fill you in on anything I can- opinions But I think you will be str.. Jcision see that nearly everyth.ng will find meK;- -;. The Zewhere between Anew- - n, yo, and Pleasant Grove. J Inal i critmue ii. . By MARCELLA WALKER There is nothing like returning from a few days away from home on a brief vacation to find that the newspaper will be coming out a day early due to Veterans Day falling on Wednesday and there being no mail delivery that day. In the newspaper business where you rely on mail delivery for the weekly issue, you need to be sure you get the newspaper out in time for the advertisers' specials. So the paper is a day early this week and no one was more surprised than me when I found out late Saturday af-ternoon when we returned from Las Vegas. I tremble to think that we almost stayed one more day. Someone upstairs was watching out for me one more time. You would have really seen a harried person if I would have just had a few hours to get the paper ready. We had been to the Comdex Conference in Las Vegas from Wednesday through Friday. For all of you who are novices like me, this is a gigantic computer show. I mean, this is really a gigantic ' computer show. The displays filled the Las Vegas Convention Center, with additional displays at the nearby Hilton Hotel, Bally's, the Riviera, Caesar's Palace, and the Sahara Hotel. Now, this is not a show that you walk through in just a few minutes and see all the new computers. There are hundreds and hundreds of displays. You have to stop and listen to the spiel of the ones you are in-terested in knowing more about. There are no places to sit and you walk and walk and stand and stand, and your feet get more and more sore and tired. As I waited while my husband talked with these vendors, I overheard lots of dignified men and women say their feet were killing them. By Friday, many of them were calling it a day early in the afternoon because their feet were about shot. I heard them say so. What I know about a computer you could put on the head of a pin. Oh, that's right You can put a lot of data on the head of a pin and I don't know a lot of data about computers. I do know, now, that the optical disk is the latest thing. It is just like watching TV. It produces the neatest picture. I asked my husband if there were little tiny 35 mm slides reproduced on the disk to make those neat pictures? He gave me a strange look and walked on. Some time ago he showed me the latest in color reproduction on computer screens. I was amazed as he showed me how he can do graphs and have it all color coded. It looks wonderful and is a lot more in-teresting than just your usual pale green letters on a black screen as I am doing right now. Some of those computers at the Comdex Show advertized a wide variety of colors to make their pictures look perfect. One of the most popular items at the show was the "mouse." Everyone had a "mouse." In case you don't know, this "mouse" is a little electronic box on which you can push buttons to direct a little marker on the computer screen. This little marker comes in a variety of shapes and sizes, depending on the brand. As you direct this little marker, it can paint a picture, make a drawing, create a graph, or whatever you want it to do, using a variety of patterns, lines and circles to achieve its goal. Desktop publishing takes ad-vantage of this little "mouse" a lot. So do a large number of other, computer services. Not only did this show feature hundreds, if not thousands, of computers, it also had all the companies with related material. There was software, hardware, paper, furniture, electronic sup-pliers, and on and on and on. The best exhibits I saw were by Word Perfect of Orem and IBM. Word Perfect put on an entertaining program and attracted a crowd as big as what was at IBM. ' When we arrived in Las Vegas on Wednesday morning, airplanes were skywriting "Thanks a Million." I thought it was the pilots at Nellis Air Force Base practicing a new skill they had learned along with bom-bing targets. At the IBM show that afternoon I learned differently. The IBM theme for the conference was "Thanks a Million" for the public's acceptance in a big way of their PC II or something like that. How much do you think it cost to write "Thanks a Million" in the sky with five air-planes doing the job at once? They had a movie which featured Father Mulcahy and Radar from the television series "Mash." It was enjoyable but not any better than the live musical show that Word Perfect did. I didn't get to see the Novell display which is also from Orem, but I am sure it was very good. If you are a computer nut, like nearly everyone in my family but me, this conference would have been a real treat. Not only were there exciting and extravagant displays to attract the attention of all the computerites, but there was good entertainment. Several places had magicians and I heard that someone had female f letters to V the editor J Mountain Bell explains 976 service Editor: This letter is in response to Larry Goff's letter regarding ScoopLine telephone ads that are viewed via TV. He suggested that Mountain Bell is party to fraud because children call call numbers after viewing the ads on TV and the customer whose telephone line that was used is charged for any calls. Mountain Bell does not advertise or promote any of the services. It is up to each sponsor to design their own media advertising and advertise the service they are sponsoring. Each sponsor of the different services advertises in different mediums based on their own advertising budget. As a common carrier, Mountain Bell is required by law to remain neutral about information services transported over the telephone lines. Mountain Bell is required to provide service on a basis to all applicants. The two exceptions are an-nouncements that are considered pornographic or obscene. Mountain Bell has done extensive advertising, bill inserts and brochures to in-crease public awareness of charges for services. Sponsors are required to an-nounce within the first 45 seconds of a call the amount of charges for the first minute and each additional minute of each call. All sponsors must respond within 24 hours to any complaints, disputes or con-troversies with respect to program content, advertising or charges. We believe every effort should be made to inform parents that these competitive services are available in the expanding information in-dustry, at a cost to the customers. We will be running ads later this year to alert parents that Santa services are going to be offered by different 976 sponsors in Utah this year. We are waiting for a pending Public Service Commission order that would give customers the ability to subscribe to a service that would allow them to block the services from their phone lines. This would give customers in areas where we have the equipment ; needed to block different services another option. We don't know at this time what the charge would be, however as soon as we get an order we will be notifying our customers. Hopefully this will provide Mr. Goff with a better understanding of services. -- Carol A. Dunlap Manager-Publi- c Relations Mountain Bell Thanks to gardeners Editor: Thanks to the people who take care of the flower gardens at the entrance to Pleasant Grove on Wester Center Street and on Main and State. Every time I drive past these gardens, I admire their beauty and eye catching color. I feel that this special effort put forth each year to make the city more attractive reflects the image of the people of Pleasant Grove. So specials thanks for a job well done. --Lynn Seely Tomorrow Veteran's Day President Reagan has proclaimed Nov. 11 as Veterans Day and has called upon all Americans to recognize "the hardships and sacrifices demanded from and faithfully accepted by the millions of men and women who have defended our land in war and in peace." This year's Veterans Day theme is "Veterans, You are America," and the president urged Americans to let veterans know that their service is not forgotten, that their sacrifices are appreciated, and that America salutes its defenders. : Veterans Administration Chief Thomas K. Turnage, who serves as iChairman of the Veterans Day INational Committee, said, "The ifoundations of American in-dependence, liberty and freedom were built and preserved by those ;vho served." Turnage will preside ;at the 34th annual Veterans Day observance at Arlington National Cemetery, which begins with the tradition of honoring the Unknown Soldier on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month with a Presidential Wreath Laying Ceremony. It was at that hour on Nov. 11, 1918, that the world celebrated the end of World War I hostilities, and which later became known as "Armistice Day." In 1954, Congress renamed it Veterans Day to honor all those who have served in America's armed forces. In his proclamation, the president said, "Our observance of Veterans Day this year, the Bicentennial of the Constitution, reminds us in a special way of the service men and women who have made liberty's cause their own. Our fundamental charter lives on because through the years countless brave Americans have gladly willed to 'provide for the common defense.' No one is more responsible for securing 'the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity' than our veterans." The proclamation calls on federal, state and local government officials to display the U.S. flag and to encourage and participate in patriotic activities nationwide and to support the observance of Veterans Day with suitable com-memorative expressions and programs. Various Veterans Day ob-servances will be held throughout the nation at many of the VA's 111 national cemeteries. "- - aj.si nature o Garbage pick up schedHj r-- Laidlaw Waste systems has an-nounced their holiday schedule for the remainder of 1987 for local customers in Alpine, American Fork, Pleasant Grove and Lindon. According to company management, there will be no garbage collection on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 26; Christmas Day, Dec. 25; or New Year's Day, Jan. 1. normal H Anyone who collected on these a LveUcoUectedthefoo The company is ,- - V customers that ash , Plastic or paper W;can be collected . cool be sure the ashe are f put in the truck. burn v UidlaWs trucks Column keeps a promise to self the etlitor's column ofasplitpersonalirf often inl'maVaV'l feelings through J anoddco.PS understand, one ' j Never m.nd "? p ; taking WSSy,p forced to HuJindtW ,l nolice- SuSiy-.- ' - i;e Ifs keeping s Ptant3 and that's as imp" 1 458, gets. II is late. I'nbeliovably kilo. Nevertheless. I am writing a column. Against all good sense, against all reason, here I sit writing a column, when I should be putting together the Ironl page you just got through looking at That fact is. I should have skipped Ibis exercise in sell indulgence this week No one would notice. I thoiighi No one would real v care. I could go in an old newspaper and pick out a column which already ran. anil put it in the newspaper, and no one would notice except myself. Dear Alihy did il. Or what it Ann Landers. Whoever il was. they make a lot more money al il than ! do, and they gel away with il Whvcau'l ' Simply because I won't let myself even when I should Kven when il would mean gellurg home at a That's going some. The fact is. I have come to view filling this space as a sort of a personal challenge. It's the hardest thing I do every week. It's also the most fun. And it's rewarding. For example, last week I wrote about politicians, and used my own father as an example of the small-town politician who ran and lost. The next day I got a telephone call from a woman I have never met. I don't remember her name, but she is from my father's home town and went to school with him - even dated him. He wrote her some letters while he was a missionary many years ago, letters she came across not long ago while looking for something else. She offered to send them to me. What better gift could a son ask for? As a writer, I find I am possessed By MARC HADDOCK decent hour so I could have a warm meal and watch television min-dlessly for a while before hitting the sack. Senior Citizens get $3,000 Kay L. Jacobs, representing Eldred Sunset Manor Foundation, presented a check in the amount of $3,000 to Ruth Hassenfritz, director of the Pleasant Grove Senior Citizens group, to be used in their program. Mrs. Hassenfritz indicated that the grant was very much ap preciated and will be used in helping to furnish and equip the new Senior Citizen's Center. Eldred Sunset Manor Foundation is a foundation which annually distributes its earnings to wor thwhile organizations throughout Utah County. |