Editor:
On Saturday, March 18, our five-year-old son fell from a ski lift at one of the local resorts. We are overjoyed to report that he survived the 25-foot fall without so much as a scratch. To the anonymous man who stayed with our son while he was at patrol, we are forever grateful to you!
We would very much like to publicly thank Scott Sunderman and Isaac Morfin of Park City Fire Station 31 for their rapid response and complete professionalism. In addition to driving their ambulance safely in a snowstorm to Primary Children’s Hospital, both men were very sensitive to the fears of our little boy and took special care to acknowledge our fears as well. Isaac and Scott were kind, generous with information and even went so far as to provide their own home numbers and to alert our friends as to what had happened.
Allow us to please also thank Dr. Howard Kadish at Primary Children’s Medical Center, Dr. Leslie Webster at Summit Pediatrics and especially Dr. Thomas Higgins and Simone Nixon of the University of Utah Hospital for their time, energy and, above all, compassion.
Thank you all so much!
Sincerely,
Brooks and Steve Addicott
Park City
Treatment of prisoners
Editor:
Two articles gained my attention today. The sentence handed down to the dog handler at Abu Ghraib prison and the rescue, unharmed, of three kidnapped people from Iraqi captors. The contradiction here is hidden but gives food for thought. First the rescue: The location came from a source — a prisoner captured by American forces barely three hours earlier. Think of it, was the prisoner, who yielded information leading to the rescue, tortured? Was a barking dog placed in front of him to secure the information leading to the rescue. I would put an elephant in front of him — if he could bark — as long as I got the three peaceful kidnapped people out alive (they were there to help Iraqis — bear that in mind, too).
I disagree with the term in prison for the soldier (albeit too enthusiastic) doing his job if he got a smidgen of information that saved, or helped save, one innocent life, soldier or civilian. If the same language was spoken between us and the enemy I could see the parlance, and please correct me if I am wrong, was there a lawyer present when Mr. Pearl was beheaded? Was he read his Miranda rights? (Oops, sorry, Miranda is a small Island off Dubai.) I did not hear the cries then, but I still hear the noise about how we treat our prisoners/bombers/slayers/killers of the innocent.
Try and try if you must, but reciting poetry to an advancing rabid dog will get you dead. A bullet will get the dog. There is no common language here and I find it very painful to learn a language the enemy will understand. Spoken logic works two ways, not one way. If we are the only logical people involved, we are talking to ourselves — the enemy understands us not.
Jack Karmel
Park City
Appreciated warm up
Editor:
On March 15 and 16, the PTSO, with the generous donation by Rob Hibl of Park City Roaster, served hot cocoa to Park City High School students who must travel outside to the portables for their classes. It was a real blizzard Wednesday and a perfect day to provide hot cocoa. The kids greatly appreciated the kindness. Thanks again, Rob Hibl, Mr. Park City Roaster.
Kim Keffer
Brenda Lake
Co-presidents, PCHS PTSO
Allowable absences
Editor:
I’m writing about the government program, No Child Gets Left Behind. No Child Gets Left Behind is a program that states that middle school students are only allowed to make up five days of absent work per quarter. I think the number of allowed absences is too low. Some kids are involved in sport teams that travel a lot for competitions.
I myself have traveled four times in the last two months for skiing competitions, causing me to miss seven to eight days of school. This has caused a dramatic drop in my grades, having missed many assignments that are hard to make up, such as science labs, learning new math and Spanish concepts, etc. I think that the program should allow more absences or have a special exception for those involved with traveling sports teams.
Sincerely,
Nic Quilter
Park City
Generous community
Editor:
The Layton family would like to thank all of you who so generously and graciously donated their time and money to our family. Words cannot express how we feel towards all of you. The generosity of all who participated have touched us deeply, we cannot thank you enough.
A special thank you to Jeff and Jill Little, Julie Finnegan, Alan Finnegan, Ben and Stacey Farquarson, and Dan Paulk.
The Layton family thanks you all again!
David Layton and family
Riverside, Calif.