Tuesday Musing
A Kinder, Gentler SUWA?
Deeda Seed, who works for the Southern Utah Wilderness Association, is very concerned about off road vehicles tearing up Utah’s wild country. But she also tells this story: She was driving in Emery County’s San Rafael Swell with her 4-year-old child, and got a flat tire. She was also a little lost, not quite sure of her location or whether she was on the right road.
While contemplating her predicament, she heard the roar of engines and up drove a group of ORVers. They pulled over, fixed her flat, gave her directions and a map, and cheered her up. She discovered they were a bunch of really terrific people. She found they love the wild country as much as she does, and not all off-roaders want to rip up the environment.
Seed asked me to go to lunch a while ago because she heard that I didn’t especially like SUWA. I admitted to her my lack of fondness for her organization. Years ago, when I worked for Gov. Mike Leavitt, we embarked on a fair-minded effort to address the wilderness issue, calling on the Coalition for Utah’s Future (which included a lot of Democrats and moderate environmentalists) to act as honest broker in bringing the sides together to negotiate. I was extremely disappointed when SUWA refused to even come to the table to talk. They felt they were winning, were in no mood for compromise, and declined to even participate in discussions.
Seed says that was the old SUWA. Today’s SUWA, 25 years later, is different, she says, and really wants to talk. “I think the culture of SUWA has changed,” she said. “Evidence of that is that I’ve been empowered to proceed with something we call the ‘Wild Lands Dialogue’ project.” Seed says the new, nicer SUWA even wants to talk to off-road enthusiasts to find common ground and “bring people together to respectfully talk about the future of Utah's wild lands.”
Seed says her outreach effort may not be “in keeping with our organizational reputation, but SUWA has been around for 25 years and we think it's time to explore new approaches to public land conservation. … Times change, people change, organizations change and over the course of my career I've decided that conversation among people with differences is extremely productive and essential to our well-being as a community.”
So maybe it’s time to take another run at resolving the decades-old fight over wilderness in Utah.
Voucher Program Doing Well
A new report by the Legislative Auditor General finds that parents are highly satisfied with the Carson Smith Scholarship, Utah's voucher program for children with disabilities. Some 89% of parents say their child's academic performance improved while at a private school. A full 100% feel the program should continue. The report also finds that the Carson Smith Scholarship is meeting its program goals. To read the full report, click here.
Washington Watch
Delegation Praises Hinckley
In press releases, Sens. Orrin Hatch and Bob Bennett and Reps. Chris Cannon and Rob Bishop pay tribute to deceased LDS Church President Gordon B. Hinckley.
Today in Political History
Jan. 29, 1834: Pres. Andrew Jackson orders first use of U.S. troops to suppress a labor dispute.
Jan. 29, 1861: Kansas is admitted to the Union.
Jan. 29, 1919: The 18th Amendment, banning the manufacture, sale or use of alcoholic beverages, is ratified by the states. Prohibition begins within a year. (Source: Perspicuity)
Wise Words
“All that the law can do is to shape things so that no injustice shall be done by one to the other, and that each man shall be given the first chance to show the stuff that is in him.”
—Theodore Roosevelt (Patriot Post)
Communications Tip
E-mail Subject Lines
E-mail has become an important tool for every communicator. Remember that your e-mail message is only one of scores of messages in your recipient's inbox. If the recipient does not know you, your subject line determines whether your email is opened or deleted.
Good subject lines for routine correspondence are specific and tell the reader what to expect in the message. Lines such as "Product launch announcement at 10:00 today" or "Complaint from ABC Inc." telegraph the emails' content and motivate the reader to open them. By contrast, subjects such as "New Product" or "ABC Inc." say little and prompt no action. (Source: Access Consulting)
National Politics
Best Stories From . . .
-- New York Times: "Facing an unstable economy and an unfinished war, President Bush used his final State of the Union address Monday night to call for quick passage of his tax rebate package, patience in Iraq and a modest concluding agenda that includes $300 million in scholarship money for low-income children in struggling schools."
-- The Hill: "Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) said in his endorsement of Sen. Barack Obama on Monday that the Illinois senator 'truly has the power to inspire and make America good again, from sea to shining sea.' All of the Democratic candidates had vied for the support of Kennedy, one of the biggest names in American politics, and getting the endorsement is a major win for Obama."
-- Wall Street Journal: Obama still trails Hillary Clinton "by large margins in polls in most of the big states voting Feb. 5. And he lacks the time or resources to campaign intensively in many of those far-flung races to close the gaps."
-- Weekly Standard: Columnist Stephen F. Hayes says of John McCain's accusation that Mitt Romney hedged his bets on the surge policy in Iraq by supporting timetables for withdrawal: "It's not that important that McCain prove Romney was for secret timetables. The effect is that Romney must now try and prove that he wasn't. Politically, it could be a debate McCain wins simply because they're having it."
Lighter Side
Favorite Headlines
(From James Taranto’s Best of the Web at OpinionJournal.com)
-- Lowest-Rated Super Bowl Ever: "Six to Watch on Super Bowl Sunday"--headline, New York Sun, Jan. 25
-- We Thought It Never Rained in Sodden California: "Still More Rain in Sodden California"--headline, Associated Press, Jan. 27
-- It's Lonely Out in Space: "Asteroid to Miss Earth Tonight"--headline, Washington Post, Jan. 28
-- Raising New Doubts About the Lone-Gunman Theory: "Kennedy Autopsy Shows Heart Disease"--headline, MLB.com, Jan. 15
-- 'That's Right, Your Honor, I'm Immortal': "Alton Man Pleads Guilty in Beating Death"--headline, Associated Press, Jan. 15
-- We Blame Global Warming: "Frustrated Maple Leafs [sic] Fend Off Hurricanes"--headline, CBC.ca, Jan. 16
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