Utah roads can be a jungle

After a long day of lectures and study groups on campus, the last thing you want is to get hit by a car when you cross the street to get to the TRAX stop. The shock of seeing a car bolting 20 mph toward you, the impact, flying 20 feet and bruising your body, isn’t all that pleasant.

Even if a pedestrian is in a crosswalk and has the signal to cross, it doesn’t mean he or she will be spared from being hit by an oncoming car. Pedestrians should especially take note of cars making turns because you never know when a Chevy Astro will be trying to beat the light and not see you in the crosswalk.

Utah’s Heads Up program is intended to raise driver awareness and prevent distracted driving. You’ve probably seen the billboards along I-15 that show a woman with tears running down her face and the ad copy that reads, “Hit a pedestrian, change your lives.”

Zero Fatalities, another state task force, reports 199 traffic fatalities to date with the cause of many of the accidents being drowsy, distracted, aggressive or impaired driving. Another cause is passengers who often do not wear seat belts. In the United States, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that 16,626 people died in traffic crashes between January and June. Considering how many cars are on the road, those numbers really aren’t very significant, unless you were one of the pedestrians sent to the hospital.

According to a Utah Crash Summary Report in 2007, pedestrians are 11 times more likely to be killed in a motor vehicle crash than occupants of a motor vehicle, and 87.5 percent of pedestrians in pedestrian/motor vehicle crashes are injured. According to the website of the Utah Department of Public Safety Highway Safety Office, 28 percent of drivers who hit pedestrians were turning, and the place where pedestrians are most often reported being hit is in a crosswalk. Crashes occur most often between 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.

Vehicles making a left or right turn on a green light must yield the right-of-way to any pedestrian in a marked or unmarked crosswalk within the intersection, giving the pedestrian the right-of-way. Utah Code (41-6a-1006) states that a motorist must always exercise due care to avoid colliding with a pedestrian, regardless of the situation.

The bottom line is we all need to be better drivers and pay attention to what we’re doing when we’re behind the wheel. Many people say it’s the journey that counts, not only the destination. Be courteous along the way and enjoy the journey.

http://www.dailyutahchronicle.com/opinion/utah-roads-can-be-a-jungle-1.2044480

No easy solution to panhandling

Panhandlers hang out in high-traffic areas. Be it the 1300 East exit off I-80, the northeast corner of Temple Square or somewhere along the TRAX line, they wait and shame you into surrendering your pocket change. It’s not illegal. In fact, panhandlers are simply exercising their right of free speech, but the city wants to shut panhandlers down.

In a Homeless Summit conference earlier this month, city leaders unveiled the End Panhandling in Utah program. Because they are asking for a free handout, it is assumed that panhandlers are homeless. The Downtown Alliance said homeless shelter resources are strained by 14 percent of the tenants who use 64 percent of the beds. These people stay for six months or more and are considered chronically homeless.

It is estimated that 15,525 people will experience homelessness in Utah in 2009, an increase of 8 percent since last year, according to a report from the Utah Department of Community and Culture. It isn’t as though the government isn’t doing anything to help people hurt by the recession get back on their feet. As part of the stimulus bill or American Reinvestment and Recovery Act, $1.5 billion dollars was allocated to a Homeless Prevention Fund, and Utah got $8.4 million. The fund is intended to help those between paychecks cover rent and mortgage payments so they don’t lose their homes.

“Most panhandlers have places to live and frequently use the money they are given to fuel chemical addictions and other self-destructive behaviors,” said Jason Mathis, executive director of Downtown Alliance.

Interestingly, the city’s push to end panhandling probably won’t accomplish the goal. It’s highly unlikely that people who beg for money will be thrown in jail or deterred from asking for free money. The fact that they are begging shows they probably lack the incentive or ability to pursue a more productive means to provide for themselves and frankly wouldn’t care about being thrown in jail for a few days. They’d appreciate the free meals.

It’s more likely that the city’s purpose is to educate those who feel intimidated into giving their pocket change to a panhandler. Rather than feel the obligation to give because someone’s hand is in your face, give that money to an organization that will help people who are really in need. If panhandlers are sincerely in need and want to pull themselves out of homelessness, they are well aware of the resources available to help them.

http://www.dailyutahchronicle.com/opinion/no-easy-solution-to-panhandling-1.2032085

Smart deserves praise, not backlash

Seven years ago, the nation anxiously awaited the Smart family press conferences to provide updates on the kidnapping of their teenage daughter Elizabeth. Nine agonizing months followed and many had all but given up hope in ever finding Elizabeth. The outcome is usually less encouraging in similar kidnapping cases after so much time has passed. Thousands of people cried in relief and joy as initial reports came that Elizabeth had been found, alive and relatively healthy.

Emerging details identified Smart’s captor as Brian David Mitchell, a homeless religious zealot, who took her at knifepoint in the middle of the night. Since his capture, he has demonstrated bizarre behavior that has, for now, allowed his attorneys to argue that he is incompetent to stand accountable for his crimes. That is a crock and clearly demonstrates a major problem in the legal system.

Laws exist to protect and create harmony within a society. When an individual violates a law, a consequence or punishment will follow so that society can be preserved. Mitchell has presented himself as incompetent to defer accountability, but evidence shows he committed the crime of kidnapping and raping a minor. It’s sick, and he should be put away for a long time where he can’t hurt anyone else.

Smart took the stand last week to testify at Mitchell’s competency hearing before the U.S. District Court. It is expected that her testimony will help convict Mitchell at his Nov. 30 trial, as she was able to better paint the portrait of who he really is. She said Mitchell’s singing is a tactic to manipulate and gain control of others and the situation—it doesn’t mean he is incompetent.

Sadly, backlash against the Smart family has come from people who don’t like that the Smarts have money, are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or held daily press conferences to find their daughter. A common gripe is that if this had happened to someone without money, that person would have been just another silent victim.

These small-minded individuals couldn’t be more wrong. People who can overcome abuse deserve recognition because they exhibit the traits that can only benefit society and raise awareness about the issue. Deeply examining your past, particularly moments of abuse that keep you in a dark place, is courageous and will only help you to move on to create a better future for yourself.

People who take cheap shots at someone who has been abused and is trying to move past the pain need to take a hard look at themselves. Elizabeth Smart’s composure and maturity to use the experience to help others is admirable and praiseworthy. Her efforts since the kidnapping have facilitated national programs that help other kidnapping victims so these cases don’t go unnoticed and result in more happy endings than sad ones.

http://www.dailyutahchronicle.com/opinion/smart-deserves-praise-not-backlash-1.1946562

We can all help prevent theft

It’s a little unnerving that you have to leave your backpack alone while you shop at the University Campus Store. The intent is to prevent theft in the store so people don’t sneak out with a MacBook or a $500 textbook in their bag. If these items were routinely stolen, the cost of goods stolen would be absorbed by students in the form of higher prices.

For a bookstore shopper, it’s unnerving because you can’t see your bag and have no control if someone decides to walk off with your stuff. In essence, you’re trading levels of risk with the bookstore. Unfortunately, the no-backpack policy creates negative externalities, as unattended bags are often stolen.

During the course of an average school year, about 30 backpacks are reported stolen from the cubbies that line the entrances to the campus store. Sure, the campus bookstore has up-to-date security measures, such as plain-clothed guards and 64 strategically placed cameras, but that doesn’t seem to prevent backpack theft. In fact, the store’s security guards often don’t guard the backpack cubbies because it is impossible to tell whether people are stealing or just taking their own backpack. The surefire option is not to stop shopping at the store, but rather to leave your bag in one of the lockers—the bookstore will even give you a free quarter to use it.

Theft or burglary on college campuses is nothing new. In fact, it’s the highest crime statistic for all institutes of higher learning in the state. According to the Department of Education, burglary far outpaces reports of murder, rape, motor vehicle theft, assault and arson. In fact, burglary represents 77 percent of on-campus crimes in the state.

Maybe the U should play a card used by the school down south and implement an honor code policy so 30 backpacks aren’t stolen each year.

The U Police Department said transients are increasingly responsible for crimes committed on campus because TRAX gives downtown drifters greater access to the university. Regardless, we can all do a better job of keeping our eyes open to potential crimes and not be personally responsible.

Theft is a matter of integrity, which some argue represents everything you can ever offer to the world. Will you tell the truth, will people be able to count on you, will you be able to count on yourself? Integrity is a decision.

Stealing property from another person is a cheap violation of integrity and a cowardly act. Even though it isn’t practical to expect zero violations each year, the U can do better than 30 stolen backpacks. It is everyone’s responsibility to be aware of the issue and try to stop theft from happening.

http://www.dailyutahchronicle.com/opinion/we-can-all-help-prevent-theft-1.1934247