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Show Review - Wednesday, Oct. 14, 1987 - Page 2 Public should know what happenedin Kurtz case The manner in which the Alpine School District is handling the investigation of Pleasant Grove High history teacher John Kurtz does little to instill con-fidence in how this public body carries out its business. Kurtz has been accused of making racist remarks to a black student in his class -- - and according to school district officials, an investigation into the charges was scheduled to be completed this week. Any disciplinary action against Kurtz was also scheduled to be deter-mined this week. But district patrons may never know what happened, if anything, regarding the investigation of Kurtz's alleged racist remarks. District officials justify their silence by saying any investigation or discipline is a personnel matter, and not subject to public scrutiny. The district can keep such matters quiet - but they do themselves and district patrons a diservice in this in-stance in doing so. In the first place, the Kurtz matter has been widely reported in the local press. It is no secret such charges have been made, or that an investigation took place. By failing to report the findings of such an in-vestigation, the district leaves a lingering doubt in the mind of district patrons about the allegations. Also by failing to inform the public about the outcome of the investigation and any subsequent actions', school district officials create an atmosphere of uncertainty about how personnel matters are handled. If the investigation found some action was warranted, , what action was taken? Are the rights of students in the district being adequately protected by district off How can a public that is kept in the dark judgment about such matters? mae a If the investigation exonerated the teacher th needs to know that as well, as do other teachers LUt)lic be wondering, are the rights of the teachers 111 district being adequately protected by district off'" thc The charges are serious. School district nl deserve to know if the school district is tak' 5 seriously. ng them But when the school district insists on conduct-busines-without informing the public, it creates : mosphere of distrust and uncertainty that s31' neither the public or the Alpine School District It's an odd way for a public body to conduct public's business. the ' i Cliff looks a lot taller from the top the editor's column v t i I ' . j ..,. & $ i J ! ; v . i '' i From the other side of the wash, (he cliff didn't look that big -- especially with all those ropes hanging from the top. In a couple of places climbers were working their way up the cliff face. Off a taller portion of the cliff, an inexperienced climber was rappelling to the ground, lowering herself backwards down the cliff in little hops. (Experiences climbers do this in big hops.) On still another part of the cliff face another amateur slowly inched his way up a rope using some simple mechanical devices and some complicated contortions. I watched the climbers and felt the first tinglings of fear. But, after all, the cliff didn't look that big, from the other side of the wash. The people who were showing us the ropes, so to speak, assured us there was nothing to worry about. After all. we would be secured by safety lines throughout our ascent or descent - whatever the case. Of course, people who climb mountains for fun or for serious are not like we acrophobiacs, who spend a good part of the time staying away from high places -- - like step ladders. And they are so well equipped. All that equipment was on display, and I took my time looking at the boots, cross country skis, insulated clothing and other accoutrements that mountain climbers collect before taking the plunge and ' climbing the cliff. The occasion was a meeting with the press by the members of the Hansen Mt. Everest Expedition. A n team, led by Pleasant Grove's Doug Hansen, will attempt to scale the world's purportedly largest mountain in Autumn of 1992. Admittedly, it was a publicity stunt by the climbing team to bring some attention to their efforts - but it was quite tempting to be invited to do a little climbing with the men who hope to climb Everest. It sounded like a pleasant way to adventure. I realized it when I was a teen-ager scaling the cliffs above Bloomington Lake. That beautiful blue crater lake at the top of Bloomington Canyon was a fun place to get away -- - and good for fishing. One side was quite ac-cessible, but the other side of the lake was bordered with cliffs that looked like fun climbing. I joined my friends in a climb by kids who had no equipment and didn't know what they were doing. For a while it was fun as we searched for hand holds and foot holds and moved higher and higher on the cliffs. Then the hand holds ran out, and the foot holds weren't too secure, either. That's when I looked down and realized I didn't like heights very much. I'm not sure how I got down from there, except I did it slowly and carefully. And I promised myself never to go up again. Now here I was, looking at another cliff from the other side of a small wash. But it didn't look very big, so I wasn't very worried. Doug Hansen helped me put on the harness that would save my life if I did something stupid. First one leg, then the other, then cinch it up -- carefully. Then a helmet to stop falling rocks before they stopped me, and some good gloves - and I was ready to go. I walked across the wash to the ascension rope - which hau been secured earlier by someone who could climb the cliff without a rope. Doug explained that this technique is used when a climber has gone up a difficult portion of a mountain and the other climbers decide to take an easier route. The harness is attached to one part of the rope with a device that will move along the rope if there is no weight on it, but which holds fast on the rope when weight is applied. .My right foot was secJ similar device, and I was k theclirnbbystandinguponJ foot, which allowed me toj! device attached to my waiafcj up the rope. Then sitting harness, I would reach dor" move the device attached up the rope. By doing this in the right pi ' wassupposedtobeabletocK "You don't have to go all Jj" to the top," said the climber . was giving me instructions t just want you to get a feel 0rJ But the guy before meh' , the way to the top, and he ii 5 correspondent. I'm an editor ' !' to go all the way to the lop. I- 'll didn't take long to get ih , of climbing the rope, and up In and up and up and up. i I could see the top of the where the rope was attached j? , more pulls and I would be How high was I? I looked out, and stopped, j I hung there, taking in Hits with all my senses. There,; ' and mountains were beaui'i was very quiet in the canyw ? peaceful. The ropes were set? holding me snugly, even where it might be better not snug. And I could smell, quite fir the scent of my own fear. I felt very secure. I also!!!' afraid. It was a long, longw; jvc ground. ' " ' I got back to thelaskoriuch: 'eT way to the top of the di touched the top with a mi!'.' TJ triumph and relief. 1 ( To get to the bottom I haP both devices so they wouli 1 Hi on the rope and then let fe 1 1 the bottom lower me Joyc It was nice to be baci; ground. Looking up, the-p. so big. clerk a Maybe I'll go climbing another lOyearsorso.Yoyte- Joyci By MARC HADDOCK spend a Saturday afternoon, so Ann Shields and I headed up American Fork Canyon in search of high (sort of) adventure - even though I've never really been much for high ( letters to y the editor J Thanks to EMT's Editor: We wish to give a special thanks to the Pleasant Grove Ambulance Service and the Emergency Medical people, Mark Gibbons, Boyd Swensen, Carol Shumway, Keri Jorgensen and Terry Sorenson and to Vicki Anderson, a nurse at the American Fork Hospital Emergency Room for giving assistance and saving the life of my husband, who suffered a cardiac-arres- t at a recent Pleasant Grove High School football game. This is just one more case of the life giving services these people render throughout the valley. We are also grateful to the American Fork Hospital for the efficient care my husband received there. He was later transferred to a Salt Lake Hospital for special tests but the care there didn't compare to that received at our local hospital. This area is fortunate to have such caring nurses, doctors, and out-standing facilities. --Mrs. Del Thompson and Family Let's boost band Editor: Last Tuesday night I sat in the BYU stadium watching as our own Pleasant Grove Band competed against some 17 other bands for the honor of being the best school band in this area. From Bountiful down to Payson they came. Even though I thought we did great, we didn't win nor did we place or take any trophies for that matter. The most amazing thing about that evening was the overwhelming support that the American Fork band had.- School cheerleaders, students, grandpas, grandmas wearing hats in red and white, proudly showing they supported their home town band. Moms and dads with red and white on, calling themselves "boosters." Red and white balloons. Other bands moms and dads wore and borught balloons but when they announced that American Fork was coming onto the field, nothing equaled the excitement that mounted across the huge crowded stadium. It was awesome. The crowd went wild. American Fork had the town behind them, their school was behind them. It was fantastic. They took second place in their division but not even the overall winner, Mountain Crest, could compete with the outstanding display of affection American Fork had for its band. This was our first year out there on that field and our kids did great, thanks to Dave Fullmer. He has really brought these kids a long way and has given them something to believe in. They need our support. They need the support of every mother and father that have kids in that band and they , need .SCHOOL SUPPORT, something American Fork doesn't lack. They need the support of every member of this town and every parent who has a child in Pleasant Grove High, and Pleasant Grove High students themselves. Come on Pleasant Grove, even if we didn't get a trophy this year, those kids need our support just to show that this town is proud of them and Pleasant Grove High. It isn't just the band that needs our support either, it's everything that our high school becomes involved with. Elaine Hansen's dancers were out there, as well as the drill team, flags and batons. Many groups of kids were involved in this great production. Get behind Pleasant Grove High and show these kids that we can be a town for them to be proud of. Catch the excitement - I guarantee you won't regret it. --Gail Gentry This column is full of bugs walking across our fe j floor in slow motion. W --j watched him for a mp , our son came with a bp Joyce mouse was caught and ; Our little granddau p. fascinated by bugs. eD':: plication walk we have to stop single bug. W. and look at the bugs city they special interest, au.--' doing abundance, are ants bugs. 'y They like to trytotff ..l and spiders look pre" ork mo We sawacw:la-oaclia;.;::'ii(ii"bu-l other day. We w'hin big apes and this c. , One oft. running out from kinj The kids hadn't seen openj so they were tryuigtgf-- g been at this guy. ..R After living and hearing about W , United States I here in good old FieaJ and i n our few bugs blessed. Believe me U Thev say that SanJ... but I'm sure ltn d j. Anyway, v01ff Kuts, , proaching, keep windows shut or ' U. winter with a ew ' 5ib. or mice trying fg cold. f By MARCELLA WALKER I can tell it is getting to be winter because a sticky fly is trying to help me write my column right now and there are 10 million firebugs (Box Elder Bugs) trying to get inside for the winter. We have spent a lot of time at the University Hospital lately and as we sat in a waiting room this past week there was a zillion of them trying to get inside the building and a couple of them had made it. The snow on Timp Tuesday morning was a tale in and of itself and it finally rained in the valley, bringing (hopefully) all the muck out of the air so that we can see across the valley again and take a deep breath safely. Yes, winter is bound to come, although I have heard several people say they would chance low water next spring just to get out of having winter. Well, back to the bugs. I don't believe I had one mosquito bite this past summer. Of course I steered clear of the Uinta's and the lake. We saw few flies, except when we visited a pig farm in Arizona and when you have pigs you have flies, they go together like peanut butter and jelly. I only saw one lady bug this past summer. She sat on my lap as I drove somewhere, I forget where, and I let her sit there. Remember when we used to say, "Lady Bug, Lady Bug, fly away home. Your house is on fire and your children p.g. blab will burn?" I wonder why we said that? Anyway, Lady Bugs are nice and they eat aphids which are bad. I was in on two occasions when far-mers took boxes and boxes of lady bugs that they had ordered and let them loose in their fields to eat the aphids. I like good bugs. I do not like gigantic beetles. Have you seen some of those big four-inche- rs that they have in collec-tions? I can't believe it. How would you like to run into one of those on your sidewalk? I do not like wasps, either. They like to build their little nests under the eaves of our house. A black wasp crawled up my pantleg once and stung me on the knee. It hurt like crazy and I got a firey red line up my leg from my knee and I had to take some medication for it. Have you seen a swarm of bees when they light on something as they are out looking for a new house? That is a sight and a very interesting one at that, as long as you do not get stung. I hate spiders, but, other than a Black Widow, I cannot bring myself to kill one. They are basically harmless and they eat bugs but I do not like them to come indoors to visit but they do. I can remember one time when I was a teenager and I was sitting in a chair in our frontroom. A spider walked across the coffee table and stopped on the edge which was about three inches from my leg. Suddenly I could read that spider's mind and I knew he was going to jump on me and he did. Clear across those three or four inches. I jumped straight into the air. Probably scared the poor guy to death. One of the prettiest sights in the world is the sun shining on the dew on a garden spider's web. It is so symmetrical and distinct and the shining dew looks like jewels. I haven't seen one of those for a long time. I wonder what has hap-pened to all of them? My neighbors and I were talking the other day about the mice and how they like to live under the evergreen shrubs. They are warm and cozy in there and even through the winter the branches of the plants keep the snow off and the mice can have a hey-da- y in there. They strip the bark from the evergreens sometimes and then the branch will die. The mice are well hidden from the cats in there, too. But my neighbor said he has solved the problem with a mouse poison that is in a block and you sit it under the bushes and it is not ruined by moisture and it'll get those little Mickeys and Minnies for sure. We have to keep Dcon around on our rafters and floor joists because we have mice get in the house oc-casionally. Last winter one must have chowed down on a little too much of the Dcon and he was People, Politics & Policy LDS Conference affects Pleasant Grove issues By E. MARK BEZZANT Sunday, October 4, at 4 p.m. the 157th Semi-annu- Conference of the Mormon church came to a close. Thousands of Mormon faithful had gathered for two days to listen to the counsel and teachings of church leaders, including those of the Latter Day prophet Ezra Taft Benson. Here in Pleasant Grove the vast majority of citizens are members of the LDS church. At the junior high school over 90 percent of LDS students subscribe to released time for one period of the school day to be taught by Mormon doctrine. At the high school level, over 80 percent of the students are registered to take the optional seminary class. A solid majority of adults, who are Mormons, are active par-ticipants in their local wards. A good many of those who are not considered active are still sup-portive of the basic tenants of the church including the belief that Ezra Taft Benson is a living prophet like Moses or Noah. His words are revered as those coming from God. This being the case, the events of the Mormon conference have a potentially big effect on the behavior of the citizens of this city and the policies necessary to govern the people. For example, school officials should note a marked decrease in the use of swearing by Mormon youth. Employers and others in the work place should also note the absence of off-col- jokes and cursing by members of the Mormon faith. Gordon B. Hinkley, member of the church's first presidency, talked very frankly to church members at the Saturday evening session about the evils of such language. Fortunately, this year a poor tradition was eliminated at the high school, where football players had been in unison using a vulgar expression prior to each game, mind you these are mostly Mormon boys. Such things as this are not only unnecessary but repugnant in an educational setting. Following Apostle Boyd K. Packer's talk on Saturday, faithful Latter-da- y Saints will be dropping a lot of grudges, law suits, and other cantankerous feelings they have been harboring for years. Packer counseled church members to "Leave it alone." He went on to talk about the proliferation of law suits, and ugly feelings that ruin peoples lives as they become obsessed with getting their pound of flesh. Translated into reality, the Mormons on 700 East will forgive the city council and Mayor. The people on Grove Creek can forgive the city council and mayor for putting in the improvements to that street. Others can forget the fact that Manila was or was not an-nexed. The people in Lindon who supported pressurized irrigation, but lost, can move on and be sup-portive of other things. In other areas Mormons were instructed in ethics and honesty, perseverance, looking beyond the mark, and it was the Prophet President Ezra Taft Benson who told the Saints to do something about these and other things. In his Saturday morning address, President Benson told church members to get involved, start studying, start reading, start speaking out about that which they believe in. Tying all of that together, we will see the people along 700 East who believe what they heard to persevere, and stay actively involved. They won't be found bad mouthing city officials as much as they are found supporting and holding them accountable in a positive way. If the Mormon people took to heart the Prophet's message we will see a lot more people involved in civic affairs, other than at the time of crisis. Instead of opposing everything they will be proposing things, even if it takes some time and resources. If there are weaknesses in the Mormon people, it would seem that it is not a result of having poor advice and instruction. Rather, it would seem that it is the inability of the people to take seriously and apply what has to be excellent advice and instruction. It took Moses 40 years to bring his people along before they could enter the promised land. These modern prophets must feel some of the same sense of frustration as they continue to prod their people along. Like Noah, it must hurt to hear the people laugh and mock. Imagine the Utopia it would be if the Latter-da- y Saints in Pleasant Grove took the teachings to heart line by line. ISSN So- Published ..jj .jj Telepiv Han, Advertising ..... f. . a ' News BlfSf.; Publisher ' llt j Editors " ya. Second il |