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Show (EQD'mmcBMti , , , ,,, '- -: Communitv has not become 'laughing stock' I also whole-heartedl- y J that editorials as strongly 0D as the ones printed in this 1 recently must contain a sig and any paper that does not t!l such signatures stands in qife: If a person believes strongly 1 in an issue to have it publish should stand behind his nam --Stacey Ha4 Lehi because I believe that if I ever needed help, the townspeople would support me. I do not believe that a principal and stake president have abused their positions in publically sup-porting Hadfield's cause. In fact, I believe it is their responsibility, as leaders in our community, to aid in such a function as the rally held in Hadfield's behalf. Editor: I am writing in response to a letter published in this paper last week. I entirely disagree with the point of view expressed by the anonymous writer. From following Alan Hadfield's case, and from studying the facts, I believe that Alan is innocent. Alan Hadfield and his supporters must still believe in the judicial system, or else why even work for a retrial'' If the writer of last week s letter believes in the judicial system so emphatically, then why did he even mention the possibility of court negligence in a retrail? I do not believe that Lehi has been stock," but that it made a "laughing has gained recognition for its cohesiveness during times ot trouble. I feel very secure living in f letters to V the editor J There are better ways to upgrade Lehi's image Editor: I am very angry and disappointed over the activities regarding the Hadfield trial. The major concern seems to be towards improving the town's image and showing the rest of the world what a nice place Lehi is to live. That's all well and good, but Lehi isn't any different than any other town or city in the United States as far as child abuse is concerned. Improving our community's image is a noble cause, but I think there are better ways to accomplish this other than rallies and fund raisers for a man convicted of child abuse. I question the integrity of a town where its citizens are more concerned with their reputation than with the safety of their children. It is very disturbing to me when innocent children who have been victimized are shunned while those implicated as perpetrators are revered. Maybe it's time to re-evaluate our priorities. Where are the fund raisers and support systems to help the children? Long-ter- therapy is expensive. It is difficult and painful, but a necessary process if one is to heal the emotional and physical wounds caused by the abuse. I think Barbara Snow should be praised for her efforts to help and protect the children. She may be in the in-fluencing source by which the children will be able to put their lives in order. Even if Hadfield is innocent, child abuse is happening in our town and by people we know and respect. And it's not just in our town, but every town. My concern is for those victims who are still silent. Will they ever find the courage to tell their terrible secrets if they see that the word of an adult is automatically believed over that of a child? This town would be a better place to live if we channeled our energies towards protecting our children and worry less about how we appear to others. -- Vicki Andersen Letter campaign should not influence judge . Hadfield to help vindicate him and of the jury's decision, thetinJ effort spent by our invests' and prosecutors, and the jj" judicial system. I certainly hJt, judge will not be influent impose a mild sentence or sentence. The jury convicted vT Hadfield on a felony charge, I parking ticket. The sentence posed should befit the J committed. I have faith in i Christensen and believe that it ?.nei --Joyce (MisdomiJ Lethe l despell the negative image of Lehi that has arisen from all this. I am sure the image of Lehi has been tarnished, but Mr. Hadfield is responsible for that, not all the Lehi citizens. I find it hard to understand how the image of Lehi will improve if we all support Mr. Hadfield, a man convicted of sexual abuse of his own children. If this letter campaign sponsored by friends and family of Mr. Hadfield does influence Judge Christensen, it will make a mockery Editor: As a resident of Lehi I feel compelled to point out that not all Lehi residents support Alan Had-field and I resent the implication that we do. I certainly do not sup-port him. The man is a convicted felon. If I support anyone in the Hadfield "family" it is his ex-wi-and the two children. No one seems too concerned about what has happened to them, what they are now going through and what they will have to live with the rest of their lives. We are all supposed to be concerned and show support tor Mr. Hadfield. Mr. Hadfield was convicted by a jury and should be sentenced ac-cordingly for his crimes. The sentence should be the maximum allowed by law and I will feel shortchanged by the judicial system if Judge Christensen does not im-pose such a sentence. We in Lehi have been encouraged through a letter from Mr. Hadfield's attorney to write letters to Judge Christensen on behalf of Mr. Public opinion can help make changes in laws ? r, j n, ,,ih ho 90 front seat. As we Dass ttw J .. DOOieS. OOIIieud nicy wuu.u Would they still be confusing realities? Holding on to created fantasy? Would their dad still be in prison? Would they be able to face him? A friend had said he had no feeling anymore for the adults who had become so bitter. They had made their choices and would have to live with the consequences. But the children. OK, the children. Someone, somewhere, someday is going to have to pay an incredible price. It's the next evening now and my wife and I are traveling to Salt Lake. Our son is between us on the lights of the prison complex abwk Point of the Mountain, my songcoi sleepy and rests his head on i shoulder. I try to imagine betsei behind those prison walls and Wi being able to be with my family carry on our hopes and dreams. It's not fair what's happen' my friends. In spite of my absolidiE knowledge of their innocence, alik wheels of government grind o; Soon I may have to visit them then'de I feel a yearning to help them.'hol share their grief and pain. ) Hoping and praying doesn't ses ( to be enough. Hesitantly I afc See LETTERS on pari Editor: It's late evening and as I lay pondering recent events, my seven-year-ol- d comes into the room. He has seen a spider in his room and wants to be with his mom and dad. We welcome him into the bed between us and as he lays his head on my shoulder and hugs me, I am filled with the joy of parenthood. How would it feel, I wonder, to have this special moment taken away and somehow turned against you? My little boy's mind is so trusting and believing. I am so careful to put only truth there. But what of someone else's truth? What does he learn from others at school? From friends in the back yard? What if he were being carefully led and taught by a stranger behind closed doors I could not enter? Could special times together be somehow changed, enlarged upon, seen as something other than what they were? Times of love and closeness all parents cherish now seen as exploitation and usery? Thereby, justifying exageration, inventiveness, even lying? Love would die, replaced by disbelief and anguish. A wave of pain fills me, my senses quickly shut it out. For a moment I was there. There with my friends and neighbors. How were they able to bear it? I didn't know if I could ever have the strength. Our boy hugged his mom and went off to bed, but I couldn't sleep. I thought of the children. Not really children anymore. Innocence gone. The time of loving and teaching stolen away. Strangers in small Rattlesnake lets you know when he's coming Editor: To Name Withheld, whose letter was in last week's Free Press : I'd hate to be your son if he was accused of a crime he hadn't done. With your attitude, you would kick him out to the wolves, but he might be lucky enough to run into a caring principal and a special stake president. As for the public building, it belongs to everybody, to me, to you, and also to our friend, Alan Had field. If you are so concerned about paying your share of the lights, I'd gladly chip in 10 bucks. Oh, but I can't, can I? Because you are so ashamed of your name you just couldn't sign your letter. Makes one wonder what you have done. Even a rattlesnake lets you know who and where he or she is before striking. Johnson Lehi Government grabs our attention and then some ... By MARCELLA WALKER p.g. blal It is that time of year again when every governor feels he has to give his state of the State address and it won't be long before President Reagan will give his state of the Union address. It is the time of year when the state legislatures and the Congress begin battling with the budgets. It is the time of year when the IRS starts to collect its dues from us all. It is the time of year when all aliens have to report their status to the government. It is the time of year when all citizens would like to cover their ears and not have to listen to it all. Gov. Bangerter said that he will not tolerate any kind of tax increase at all from the legislature this year. The tax protestors are already trying to get enough signatures for a tax rollback vote next fall. Look at the governor of Arizona. He has a whole passle of people out for his job. I was plumb shocked when Hart the race for president, but, then, why not? Someone keeps uncovering dirt about all the can-didates, so he is in a majority. Did Jesse have some problems in college or didn't he? Will Donna Rice vote for Gary Hart? Will Bush and Dole join forces or keep on sparring on a "friendly" basis? Will Ted Kennedy find anyone he likes to vote for? Will Alexander Haig get more involved in the election? Does anyone care? The cities and the state cannot spend more than they bring in. Why can the federal government? As I have grown older, not much older though, I have seen the National Debt grow from a bunch to a whole lot. The elderly would get all medical help they need wifcH; having to go through tons of red'- and forms that are enough to EM. a younger person, let alone elderly. It would be unlawful for anyot j bring suit against another until tj involved had sat down, discusss matter rationally and cometos agreement if possible. This r of everyone suing everyonfltj ridiculous. We are sure becom greedy people. la Hospitals would be require:, give aid to anyone in need, rsje, dless of ability to pay. jc; The street people who are ?n tally ill would be placed in host until they could be cured, re street people who can work, ' work or go without a shelter i soup kitchen. j I don't mean to sound hard when we saw a long line of r$ mostly able bodied men, wai a soup kitchen to open at noor I past summer in Portland, Ore J a bit upset. Those who are unable to' because of physical or f; handicaps should be in a prt environment. Those who can ' A should be earning their slc'l) space and food by doing c"l community service. J If you didn't mind only lA rare showers, this could be a cushy life. I mean, you could ft all over. Never work. Eat at a; soup kitchen. Sleep in a bed ;S, warm shelter. Hey, you n) have much spending money could exist and see the counts visit with cohorts and never', day in your life. J This has been my rare P column. But if it makes mes' may make you sore, too. Son ( we need to vent our steam "d' did. This is the time of year wj can say with confidence, spr" not come in Utah but summer' here either in March, April- June or July. Here's to you! ! I think it ought to be a law that the teds cannot overspend their budget any more than a city or state can Anyone in their right mind knows tnat the government wastes more money than it should. As long as we have senators and 3nd GVen legis'ators on the state level, who only look out or themselves, who only are in- - Every once in a while I get to thmking that if I were governor or president be a whole lot of changes. FirsT the i he healthy who are on welfare' would be put to work The featherbedding in federal J S would cease. The Posi nrr be handled by pri 7 WU'd the senator's broZr fn1aw J 'n0t I would try to get the senators and congressmen to have just Why we print anonymous letters the editor's column J By MARC If II HADDOCK Letters to the editor are an in-tegral part of an editorial page, like this one. By providing everyone access to the opinion page, the newspaper provides a forum for the discussion of public events that can't be found anywhere else in our society. Television can't do that. One Utah station does have a regular editorial comment, and viewers with dif-fering opinions are invited to respond. But not many do. Television, by its nature, limits this kind of discourse, because only one differing opinion is available per opinion expressed by the station. But newspapers and magazines provide a forum for the free ex-change of ideas to everyone. This concept troubles some people who view the expression of personal opinions as a dangerous concept -- especially if they don't agree with the opinions being expressed. To be quite honest, I don't always feel comfortable with some of the opinions expressed in letters that find their way to my desk, and eventually into the pages of this newspaper. But I don't let that determine whether a letter will be run. I went through this exercise a few months ago in response to a group of letters I received from students at a local high school. Despite that, we are getting a lot of questions about our policy regarding letters to the editor - and why we run some of the letters we do. The object of concern is a letter in last week's newspaper which was written by someone who didn't want their name to appear in the newspaper, but felt strongly about an issue. But every once in a while it in-volves someone who has a con-troversial opinion, and who fears that if his name is put in the paper, ' he will be harassed for simply speaking his piece. While that approach might protect the writer of the letter, it usually puts the editor in the line of fire when a letter to the editor strikes a nerve. When we decided to run a letter in last week's newspaper by Name Withheld about the Alan Hadfield trial and the subsequent support in wake of his conviction, we knew we would get some negative reaction, since the letter writer admittedly was taking a strong position on an emotional subject. Our decision to print that letter was not based on how we felt about the subject matter, but on how we felt about the writer's right to ex-press his or her opinion. And we feel very strongly about that, whatever the opinion may be. The decision to print the letter without the author's name was based on our understanding of how some people might react to the letter's contents, and our conviction that someone should be able to express an opinion with being subject to verbal or other types of abuse for doing so. After the reaction to the letter, we decided we were right. Oh, the numbers calling in didn't come close to those we got when we left out the Storm Testament one week. But the feelings were very strong. One man told me I was more of a coward than the author of letter for not printing the writer's name, right after I told him that if I had printed the name, he would be calling that person instead of me, wouldn't he? Several others commented on the author's lack of courage and questioned our policy - which, by the way, will remain as it is: letters must be signed, but the name will be withheld for a good reason. The letter also prompted a number of other letters supporting the unsigned letter - which sur-prised me. Our impression was that the Lehi community is solidly behind the efforts to clear Hadfield. Several letters show that is not the case, and apparently a number of readers identified stongly with our anonymous letter writer. Some of the letters were signed, and we will print as many of those as we have room for. If some were signed, and the authors had asked us to withhold their names, we probably would. So far, none have. Other letters weren't signed, and we won't print those at all. That's our policy. On a personal level, I'm looking forward to the day I can say, "Dear . readers, we have printed enough letters on this case to examine all sides of the issue, and at this point we will not print any more." As far as I can see, all the con-troversy this case has generated simply continues to polarize Lehi residents - and its resolution lies in the courts and not through public comment. Until then we will print those letters that aren't libelous and that are signed, with or without the author's name, as he or she wishes. Not because we agree with them, but because we agree with their right to express an opinion. Most newspapers have a policy that permits them to protect the author of a letter by keeping his or her name secret. That policy protects the person who expresses a controversial opinion from undo attention from people who have a different opinion. To prevent letter writers from abusing that policy, newspapers also require that letters be signed by a real person. That lets the editor know who is expressing the opinions so they can make sure the newspaper isn't being used by an individual simply to further his own interests. Usually the people who ask to remained unidentified are people who want to give an anonymous note of thank you. People, Politics & Policy Guy Hillman a PI. Grove institution By E. MARK BEZZANT On Saturday afternoon, Guy Smith Hillman was laid to rest in the Pleasant Grove Cemetery. With his death, ended a life that is richly entwined in and with the history of Pleasant Grove. In fact, it was Guy Hillman who helped to piece together some of the critical history of the "G" on Little Mountain when the cement borders were added. Modern opportunists would have difficulty capturing the simplicity and yet the greatness of such a one as Guy. His on earth made him something of an in-stitution in Pleasant Grove. For 39 of those 80 years, he taught at Pleasant Grove High School. Thirty of those years, he was the faculty member in charge of the yearbook and school newspaper. After that, he spent another 13 years teaching adult education classes. Following that, he substituted at the Pleasant Grove High School almost until his death. When he would enter the office area of the school, he was always smartly dressed and carried himself with an air of dignity. When I last saw him in the school at the age of 79, there was still that spark and fire in stride and eye. The gulf stream of his youth had flowed richly into the arctic region of his life. There was something about the classroom that kept him young. There was something about the literature he loved that made him rich, beyond man's ability to measure wealth and learning. With that love of fine things came a love of lowers and particularly roses. In a multitude of public and private places you will find roses whose origins can be traced to Guy Hillman. Throughout the city of Pleasant Grove are trees that Guy fought to save as he served on the shade tree commission. Guy had a deep interest in the city of Pleasant Grove, but his eye for finesse went beyond the obvious. The casket spray from his beloved Rosie spoke eloquently of that finesse. In that spray of flowers was an assortment of beautiful varities that many folks might overlook in the garden. It represented the love that Guy Hillman had for all that was beautiful in life. The Hillman neighborhood, and Pleasant Grove for that matter, will never be quite the same. The Hillman corner will never be quite as beautiful, without the master gardener. The elderly and the children will not cross the busy streets with the same assurance as when their good neighbor was there to assist. The kids on the block might never hit the ball as good as they might have without his coaching. There are children and others who might never hear or learn of Longfellow, Emerson of Dickinson as they would if Guy were here. The great Duke Giles will be absent a daily golf partner. For a man who shunned the limelight, it would be fitting in his absence for the people of Pleasant Grove to honor this man. It would not be too much for the city to move with increased vigor to care for the roses near the historic library building. It would not be improper for the flag at the high school to fly at half mast for a day It would not be improper at all for a city to honor a man who gave 39 years to the young people of this community. It would not be improper at all when the "G" is lit again, that just .for a minute or two we pause to say "Thank you, Guy Hillman, thank you!" |