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Show ' arl Sometimes its hard to believe in hearing Process K It's hard to maintain trust public hearings when it seems that the powers that be have already made up their minds regardless of what the people may say. And frankly that's the way a lot of local residents feel about the decision to turn the operation of the laundry facility at the Utah State Training School over to Utah Correctional Industries, where local labor will be replaced with inmates from the Utah State Prison. When the proposal was first made, many area residents were concerned. After all, some 23 jobs will be lost if UCI takes over the laundry. That's a negative factor for the local economy. Even more were concerned about the fact that con-victs would be used as the labor force - and placed in-side the community on a daily basis to operate the facilities. Others have objected to the plans to put a 10- - to 12-fo- ot fence around the laundry, changing it from a training school facility into a corrections institution. Arguments in favor of the proposal are strong ones. Yes, jobs will be lost, but the savings to the state budget will more than make up the difference. And besides, we have been told, it's not the state's job to make sure people are employed when the cost is greater than the benefit. . been eliminated Thousands of state jobs in Utah nave to o penses. in recent years as the Jcut uu & Urging the state to save compelling argument. be Money saved in the laundry 0Petl0n the cs han-use- d to to provide more direct care dicapped residents. inmates who will in addition, UCI assures that a come to American Fork to operate the laundry who art near the ena dangerous, but prisoners of trust- - sentences and who have earned a degree sue Other similar programs have been operated cessfully with inmate labor in other V marketable skill Such programs help inmates learn a for when they return to society. will the True, the razor-wir- e topped fence give rather man a laundry the look of a prison compound facility for the handicapped. But the fence UCI maintains, is designed as much to keep training school residents out as to keep the inmates in - and will aiiso help control contraband that might filter into the prison from the laundry as prisoners are moved back ana forth. issue. 91e n However, they fail to address the issue that . dovV has not really been involved in this decision :?ran' a hearing scheduled for last night. ' p i're True, some have spoken up at city council i At the American Fork City Council m loV" Tuesday, many people were in attendance M&( 10 were told that the meeting was no public hLlfi that the public-at-larg- e could not particinaKtei discussion -- - only those listed on the agenda 1J than Nevertheless, that meeting must have ,Jshin! impact, since the city's official position, asZ 'V Mayor Kent Evans, was against the proposal : dei But the promised public hearings came down. KJet night's meeting at the training school. Xils And while it remains to be seen if public onDo t , the plan is going to make any difference, at2MH many feel as if their participation in the hearb P be an exercise in futility, since the decision willC L i out of the public sight. (Q J That won't encourage public input in the future A f could damage our basic faith in the way our syster government works . g1 ' t E Kite flying sure sign of spring By MARCELLA WALKER jp.gr. blab We saw some kids with their kites in the sky last weekend. There is nothing much unusual in that, ex-cept it is a sign of spring. Don't you think it is interesting that the stores put the kites out for sale come March, regardless of the weather? That is optimism on the part of the merchants for sure. Of course, it is in keeping with the custom of putting out the valentine things as soon as Christmas is over and the Easter things two weeks later. I have not been one to buy anything for any of these holidays too early, although I have wished I did when Christmas creeps up too fast and the Halloween treats are all sold by the time I arrive to get them at about two hours before the will come. The high school baseball team has been selling their chocolate bunnies as they do every year and there are several that call us, probably because they know I am a soft touch. At least one Young Womens organization in : town is selling Easter baskets and, you guessed it, I got a call. I wanted to get a basket for each of my grandchildren but my husband discreetly reminded me that this is sort of the parent's territory. He nicely told me to back off. So I did. I am a fool when it comes to soft plush bunnies and duckies and chickies and such. I love the green grass that go in the Easter baskets of the street and then run all the way to the other end with the kite nosediving and flipping behind us in the air as we tried to get them to fly. I was never successful and neither were many of the others. Kite flying takes a special knack. My dad could get them up in the air but he did not have much time at home during the day to help us. Of course, it is no wonder that I could not fly them. I can't even understand how a big huge Boeing 747 stays in the air without falling down. Aerodynamics are not my forte, to say the least. It is a little easier to understand how a Piper Cub or Cessna stays up there. I do understand how kites stay up there, it is just getting them caught in the breeze just right that is tricky. I notice that a lot of other people have the same problem as you watch all the broken kites being picked up by heart-broke- n children who have just crash landed their kites which . never got more than 12 feet of the . ground at their highest. It is also evident when you look at the gaily colored kites adorning the power lines, especially around a park. Kites are not easily governable and may decide they want to come down, or at least take a dip, near the power lines. , Kites used to be diamond shaped figures which came in plain colors. Then they evolved to designs and now they are in every shape under the sun with all kinds of colors and designs and the strangest tails you have ever seen. Kites must have tails in order to be stabilized in flight, I am told. So we always put a tail on. It was usually made from strips of old sheets but we were told that dad's old ties made good tails. Helping yourself to dad's ties in order to make a good tail for a kite was not easily accepted by the fathers. Come Sunday and they needed their tie, they found it per-manently knotted to the end of a kite. A spinoff from kites are the wind socks that people tie to the strings of their kites or put on their front porch. I don't quite understand this but we fit right in. The only differenc is that our brightly colored windsock is on the patio. We had trouble with it all last summer because when the wind caught the streamers hanging down . they would fly up and get caught on the hummingbird feeder and get soaked with red sugar water. - In fact, we forgot to bring it in last fall and one of the streamers is still caught on the birdfeeder, although now, of course, it is empty, Like' I said at the first, the kites are a sign of spring. So even though it is snowing outside as I write this, I am clinging to the faith of the merchants who are trying to sell those kites and I really do believe that spring will come. Maybe in June. A. . W " but dislike the yellow and pink. Don't you? But I have not bought anyone in the family a kite this year. I never could get a kite in the air when I was a child. My kid's Uncle Kent would take them out to fly a kite. He is good at it. My son-in-la- is really good at flying kites, the best I have ever known. He makes his own out of newspaper and balsa wood and they work fine. In fact, we splurged and bought him a colorful round kite while we were at the beach in California and it wouldn't fly,- at least hot as good as his homemade ones. We like to go to Lincoln City on the coast of Oregon. They have some good beaches there and lots of good agates to pick up. They now have all the kite salespeople displaying their wares on the shore and the sky is filled with a rainbow of colors and all shapes and descriptions of kites. When I was young, all of us neighbor kids would go up to the end ' 1 ' ' i f V v( ractice I-- : f ;: Durin ' : ( f' i ' CP 'Jf "'to h f Kple Gentry Lassen, standing, watches while her teacher B Victor Williamson, checks over her assignment. Gentn c0j has won a trip, largely because of the efforts of Jit. tic Williamson. Deserving student L ' to be 'Disney Child' By MARCELLA WALKER Thanks to an interested teacher at Central School in Pleasant Grove, Gentry Lassen and her family will be taking an an paid trip to Walt Disney World in Florida. Victor Williamson, Gentry's teacher, wrote a letter recom-mending Gentry for the Disney's Child program being sponsored by Disney World and KSL-T- and she was among 26 others chosen from thousands of entries. Williamson sent the letter without mentioning it to anyone. He was surprised as the rest when he was notified that Gentry had won. Gentry was born deaf. She is the daughter of Paul and Janice Lassen of Pleasant Grove. She has been mainstreamed through grade school with hearing children and has been a very good student. In his letter, Williamson noted that Gentry's story is one of a day to day struggle to achieve in school. Her only means of communicating is by signing. "Her fighting spirit drove her to function with the hearing kids and to do well," he wrote. "Gentry's story is one of a mother and daughter team. Gentry's mother has been at her daughters side from the beginning of her schooling" he added. Janice was not paid in the beginning, but came to school to interpret for her daughter and also work as a teacher's aide on a volunteer basis. Later the district gave her one-ha- lf day aide status but she still spent the entire day at the school. He said that Janice is known for her willingness to go the extra mile for any teacher she has worked with During the morning, Gentry's mother interprets for her. In the afternoon she is on her own as her her(Lwants her to learn to cope her all day. "She is in a classroom with a teacher who has no training in signing," Williamson wrote "She sits during the lessons attempting to piece the instruction together from what is put on the board After assignments are given. them her best effort. She musf ask any questions in written form and wait for a re Williamson added. Gentry's school day doesn't end at 3.30 p.m. After school Gentry goes home and begins her homework Her hearing classmates have around one or two hours of homework every mght. For Gen.ry, that one or two hours ,s four to six hours per night. Her friends know that available to play on nights. Gentry wants good and knows that with her hanc it's going to take lots of time effort on her part and oi mother's part, Mr. Wilfc noted. "Gentry doesn't expect ; special considerations. Shedofc same work as her classmt Williamson explained. "Herat and determination has paid t Gentry is on the sixth grade h" roll," he said. He also stated that Gentry: example by coming to s always prepared. She has r come to school with an u assignment. "Gentry's1 attitude, & mination, sense of humor j example is what truly mate Disney Child," he concluded. Gentry's mother said family hopes to' make the n? Disney World in the latter pi April over the spring break. Gentry was very written the letter to KSL. m excited when she learned t was a winner. The winning J were selected by a panel judges. Gentry's story is scheduled aired on Prime Time Weds., March 16, at 6:30 P KSL-T- The television cre to the school and filmed W her classroom. Right after her parents she was deaf, at age 13 mow began to teach her to si6 entire family learned to eluding her grandparents-uncles-cousins, etc. Janice said that Gentry!1 at all she does. She p'aP softball, basketball, and is ; involved in the Young Program at Central Scnw requires another three nou alter school time. Gentry loves to work computer and her favorite' do math problems on is her favorite su school. Although she does not what she would like to be would i grows up. Gentry tend BYU after comF1 school. The plans for next year attends junior high school up in the air as to which s will attend, but whereevei one has any doubts about success. She will work happen, you can bet your W l Holy frijole quacamole have you seen Pedro? grassroots - if 3 - n Copyright 1985 Becky Grass Johnson The world seems to be getting smaller all the time and now in many colleges and universities it is a prerequisite for students to know a second language. Three years ago my kids brought home a flier from school that in-troduced a Spanish Immersion program which was being offered. It's a program which (beginning with first grade) instructs the children all day in Spanish so that upon leaving elementary school, the kids are fluent in a second language. This threw me into panic mode! I was torn up inside! I want my children to have every educational advantage, but they have a mother who is a bilingual illiterate. I have a hard enough time speaking English. For me, just walking into Taco Time and ordering a burrito is a great cultural accomplishment. How would I ever help them with their homework? How could I an-swer their questions? After doing some reading about the development and success of the program in other parts of the country, I concluded that this program would enhance my children's education. I signed up my first daughter. behind them and eavesdrop. Bet-ween aisles my daughter would translate. "What are they saying?" I whispered. My daughter cautiously strained her neck to catch every word. "They're talking about the price of steak," she said. "Wait! Listen, they're talking again," I hissed, "What did they say?" "They said 'That weird woman is following us again.' " I looked around but couldn't see anyone. I think they were just trying to throw us off. Overall, I couldn't have been more pleased my daughter's progress in school. She learned to pledge the flag in Spanish, play the maracas and sing La Cucaracha. Although there wasn't anyone else in our home to support her conversational Spanish, I gave it my best shot. Once in awhile I'd surprise her with something I'd learned on Sesame Street. When she asked for a drink I'd hand her the glass and say "Here's your agua." As she left for school I would kiss her on the cheek and say, "Adios, amigo." I started calling the cat Pedro. Speaking Spanish wasn't as hard as I'd thought. I found it's just a matter of talking a little faster, slurring my words together and occasionally throwing in words like "guacamole and holy frijole." three years have passed and now my second daughter is in the Spanish Immersion program. This is good news, bad news. The good news is that at last daughter number one has somebody else in family that speaks Spanish. The bad news is that when they're chatting, I haven't the foggiest idea what they are talking about. There've been days when I've wondered if they've lost their comprehension of the English language all together. They act like they haven't understood a word I've said when I've asked them to clean their room. But my Spanish is improving. I've learned to say, "Hey, bambinos, get your bedroom picked up, mucho pronto, or it's 50 lashes on the back of your taco!" "Bambino is Italian, Mom," they moan. Maybe I'll just forget the Spanish and orush up on my pig Latin. by BECKI GRASS JOHNSON Luckily, my daughter caught on to the Spanish right away. It seemed to be consistent with the research I had read; smaller children have an easier time at picking up a foreign language. It wasn't long before she could repeat to me the Spanish spoken in some of the old westerns we watched on TV. I encouraged her to use her second language as much as possible and we always got excited if we heard anyone speak Spanish in the grocery store. We would in-conspicuously push our grocery cart letters to the editor Judge sends message: 'Children are fair game' Editor: Judge Christensen has just sent a message to Utah County, if they don't already know, that all good active Mormon child molesters will never spend time in prison. All children are fair game. How could Judge Christensen say molesting your own children, as Hadfield did. was not as great a crime as molesting someone elses child? This is apparent to me why Judge Christensen would not grant a " change of venue to the Attorney General's office. This way control of this particular case stayed in District Four. The law is very clear, but Judge Christensen chose to write his own interpretation of the law. Now thanks to him, all children in Utah will suffer. I wonder if Judge Christensen, Attorney Bradley Rich, Allan Hadfield an all the Allan Hadfield supporters can live with their conscience, if they have one, each time they see a little child, or hear one cry for help. --Clerece Neil Murray People power : drive to SLC to buy your gas Editor: In People there is Power. On March 9, I bought regular gas in Salt Lake County for 85.9 cents. .. Unleaded was 2 cents more. " These thieves in Utah County are stealing us blind. I have a few suggestions. 1. These convenience stores which sell gas-le- t's boycott them. If you need milk or bread, just go around the corner and buy it at a grocery store. Let the gas stay in the pumps and let the milk sour on the shelves. If those cash registers quit ringing, within 30 days the gas prices will equal those in Salt Lake County and we will all benefit. In People there is Power. When you go to Salt Lake, buy your gas. 2. I appeal to the people in Lehi-- do us all a favor and go to Draper, just 8 or 10 miles away, and buy gas. Within 30 days the gas prices in Lehi will drop to Salt Lake level. Then people from American Fork, Pleasant Grove and Orem go to Lehi to buy gas. In People there is Power. -- F.M. Young Orem |