Sapulpa Daily Herald (Sapulpa, Okla.), Vol. 81, No. 274, Ed. 1 Monday, July 31, 1995 Page: 4 of 8
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PAGE FOUR - Sapulpa (Okla.) Daily Herald, Monday, July 31,1995
Knmntm.s
Fore Sapulpa
“This is really something,” words overheard at the newly-revamped
Sapulpa Municipal Golf course this weekend as, first, area media people
and others teamed with pros on Saturday to give the course a try and then
on Sunday when Sapulpans in general and former annual membership fee
holders to the new greens
The course finally and officially opens to the general public on Tuesday
... and most everybody is ready. And as the wife of one golfer said at a
city commission meeting, she and others are tired of hearing so much
about the golf course and are anxious for the city to move on to other
things.
And the paper. One reader said, “I’ve read enough about the golf course
... some of us don’t even play, tell me what's going on with the streets and
sewer.
That prompted us to launch a series of updates. We’ve done one detail-
ing work on the street program, street by street.We also have done updates
on the Collins Building and the Highways 97 and 66 expansion. Coming
are updates on sidewalks, sewers, etc.
There are a lot of things happening in Sapulpa, and the golf course has
been one of them. Who is to say if too much time has been consumed on
the issue? There were a lot of things that had to be ironed out... the course
really is more than golf.
We too are glad it’s completed and opening Tuesday. There's one more
commission meeting tonight to determine if special five-month member-
ships for $500, can be paid out $100 per month. There will be other adjust-
ments along the way
At any rate, on Tuesday, the wraps come off the renovated Charles C.
Hamilton Municipal Golf Course. We predict the facility is an asset that
will bear significant returns to the city in the future.
Planners, the golf committee, members of the city commission and the
dedicated staff at the course have put together a first class 18-holc golf
course.
For golfers, the course measures 6,574 yards in length from the cham-
pionship tees. And, with the variety of tee box and pin selections available,
the course will test even the low handicap golfer.
Prior to the overhaul, the city was saddled with a plot of ground that had
only been made to resemble a golf course.
The task was not an easy one.
Some critics (those not on the constructive side) made the chore more
difficult. A person less dedicated to the project or thin-skinned probably
would have thrown in the towel.
We think that in years to come, the facility will be recognized as a major
community asset residents will point to with pride.
Well done Sapulpa .. . fore.
- The Sapulpa Herald
Property taxes
The state Supreme Court decision that allows the property tax initia-
tive petition to go to a statewide vote adds urgency to the current task
force study of that tax.
A report to the Citizens Advisory Task Force by an expert from the
National Conference of State Legislatures provided some interesting food
for thought. Among other things, Scott Mackey touched on the effects of
Proposition 13 in California, the initiative that started the continuing
national tax revolt.
The Oklahoma petition, to be on the ballot as State Question 669,
resembles Proposition 13. SQ 669 would freeze real property taxes,
already among the lowest in the nation, at 1993 levels.
Mr. Mackey used California as an example of a state in which state
taxes have risen sharply after local property taxes were reduced. The
result in California, he said, has been “very high sales and income
taxes.”
It is disappointing that SQ 669 is coming along at a time when an
expensive effort to correct inequities in the property tax is on the verge
of succeeding. The property tax, which has always been reserved for
local governments and school districts, provides a desirable degree of
local control.
Furthermore, SQ 669 would reduce revenue at the local level that
Oklahoma could not replace at the local level with state taxes as other
states have done. State Question 640 makes raising state taxes all but
impossible.
It is a cause for optimism that the task force is headed by Don
Davis, president of Cameron University. He was recognized as an
expert on governmental finance and a supporter of education when he
was a member of the Legislature
It would be within the province of the task force to come out against
SO 669
- The Norman Transcript
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NATIONAL NEWSPAPER
ASSOCIATION
Opinion
I'VE DECIDED TO SUPPORT
AFFIRMATIVE ACTION BECAUSE.
UMFOETUNfllElXRACE IS STILL
A MAJOR OBSTACLE FOR
A MANY TO ,
A OVERCOME!
n
especially
THE'%
PACE!
What’s next on cable TV?
More and more people wonder
where the revolution of home comput-
ers and on-line services will take con-
sumers in the future. A good clue may
be where what happened just recently.
Twenty years ago, Oklahoma
received television on four channels:
ABC, CBS, NBC and PBS.
Then came cable, deregulation and
independent stations: two in Tulsa and
three in Oklahoma City. Some inde-
pendents became “superstations,” on
cable to cities outside of their broad-
cast area.
In the 1970s, channels such as
Nickelodeon appeared without com-
mercials. Today, customers pay much
higher fees to receive channels sup-
ported by advertising. On some chan-
nels, the cable company programs its
own local commercials.
The Fox network signed up inde-
pendents. Low-power stations came
on, and local-access channels on
cable. More and more cable channels
entered the market. Some did not last.
Paramount and Warner Brothers, to
expand the market for their programs,
linked stations to form two new net-
works.
Ten years ago, equipment was
cable-ready for 98 channels, but the
Lines from Lower
By
Greg
Lower
Herald News
Staff Writer
systems provided 36. Today, cable-
ready equipment goes up to 125 chan-
nels, but TCI provides approximately
45, about 36 percent of capacity.
Currently, cable carries nine Tulsa-
arca broadcast stations. By doubling
up with some channels, it carries pro-
gramming from 15 other channels.
Channels that customers might
receive, but don’t, include The Car-
twin Network, The Sci-Fi Channel,
FX Movies, Turner Classic Movies,
Court TV, Home and Garden Televi-
sion, The History Channel, The Trav-
el Channel, ESPN 2, C-SPAN 2,
Request 2, Playboy, Home Shopping
Channel, Comedy Central, Flix, The
Movie Channel. The Encore system
provides six additional channels of
movies in different categories and
HBO has two.
Recently, attorneys for the cable
industry argued that customers are
deprived of desirable channels
because of the “must carry” rule.
Local stations are also allowed to
charge for programming, but if a cable
system refuses to pay, stations can
invoke the “must carry” rule to keep
themselves from being shut out of the
system. Revoking the “must carry”
rule would let cable companies get
local programming either for free, or
drop the local station to make room
for another channel without investing
in new equipment to carry additional
services that consumers want.
Cable companies face increasing
competition from new smaller satellite
dishes. Yet one of the advantages
cable claims over satellite is that cable
carries local stations. Several long-
distance telephone companies have
swung agreements to purchase cable
systems.
An industry that once offered such
promise seems to leave more and
more consumers dissatisfied. Maybe
the “information superhighway” will
do the same, but both still offer
tremendous advantages over what
existed before.
A blow against racial preferences
Fate seems to have a way of mock
ing President Clinton's highest-
minded pronouncements
Seeking to condemn the National
Rifle Association, Mr Clinton invited
his audience to “look at the level of vi-
olence in America." Less than a week
later, 15 members of the gay activist
organization ACT UP broke into the
office of the Republican Party of San
Francisco and trashed it, causing
damage in the thousands of dollars
Trying (again) to discredit the NRA,
this time for describing certain agents
of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and
Firearms as “jack booted thugs.” Mr
Clinton praised the BATF and other
federal law enforcement agencies.
Within days the media were carrying
accounts of a Tennessee encampment
attended by BATF agents, at which
racial slurs (including a sign reading
“Nigger Check in Point") abounded
Finally, on July 18 Mr Clinton un-
burdened himself of his long-awaited
policy declaration on “affirmative
action," coming down on all sides of
the issue but leaving the impression
that affirmative action was a basical
ly good idea that just needs “mend
ing " Within 24 hours, the regents of
the University of California — the most
prestigious state educational system
in the country — voted to abolish race
preferences in both admissions pro-
cedures and hiring practices
Make no mistake The regents' vote
(which was backed by California Gov.
Pete Wilson) is a blow to the solar
plexus of the system of race prefer
ences that has quietly overtaken mgjor
aspects of American society — em-
ployment, college admissions and busi
ness contracts — in the past 20 years
Conservative Advocate
By
William
A. Rusher
Newspaper
Enterprise
Association
For example, the California Civil
Rights Initiative, aimed for the ballot
in November 19%, would outlaw pref-
erences but has had trouble getting fi
nancial support from many
ousinessmen who are ordinarily de
pendably conservative Having knuck
led under to pressures for racial hiring
preferences in their own businesses,
they are understandably reluctant to
start opposing them elsewhere
But Wilson, who has made the abo
lition of race preferences in state af
fairs a major feature of his bid for the
Republican presidential nomination,
knows that polls indicate that Califor
nia voters are overwhelmingly op
posed to the current racial spoils
system. He can vindicate his regents
by putting CCRI before the California
electorate, and will therefore make
sure it gets on the ballot in 1996
For supporters of the current system
of race preferences, everything de
pends upon confusing the voters As lih
eral pollster Lou Harris excitedly told
the National Organization for Women,
research indicates that most Ameri
cans are favorably disposed toward the
term "affirmative action,” but strongly
against "race preferences"
The reason is, of course, that "affir
mative action” is a grab bag of policies,
some good and some bad Most Amer
icans are all in favor of "outreach" pro-
grams dedicated to finding talented
minority members and training them
to compete successfully They also
favor Head Start and other programs
designed to compensate for unfavor
able background influences If that is
what “affirmative action" means (and
it’s certainly what it sounds like), most
Americans are all for it.
But if “affirmative action” is broad
ened to include preferences for
individuals belonging to certain “dis
advantaged" ethnic blocs over other
individuals who are better qualified but
have the "wrong" ethnic background,
Americans are overwhelmingly op
posed to it.
In his speech on the subject, Mr
Clinton managed to mush-mouth
these vital distinctions But the CCRI
is explicit: It would simply write into
the state constitution a prohibition
against "using race, sex, color, eth
nicity or national origin as a criterion
for either discriminating against, or
granting preferential treatment to,
any individual or group In the opera
tion of the state's system of public em
ployment, public education or public
contracting.”
Arguing againgt the regents' deci
sion, Barbara Lee, a far left black
member of the California State As
sembly, proudly described herself as
“a product of affirmative action.” If so,
there may be someone flipping ham
burgers today because he or she,
though better qualified for admission
to the University of California, didn’t
have the luck to be Ms. Lee's color
"THIS WEATHER ISN'T HEALTHY m 4NVTHIN6
‘Smoke’ and
mirrors on
racial issues
It’s just conceivable that Americans
can find “common ground” — Presi
dent Clinton's new favorite phrase —
on racial issues, although 19% election
year pressures make it very tough.
The good signs lie in a great new
movie, “Smoke”; in Clinton’s inching
toward the center on affirmative
action; in the recent stunning defeat
of an attempt by Sen. Phil Gramm, R
Texas, to make political hay on the
racial front; in the stated policies of
House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga.;
and in a forthcoming road map toward
a “new bargain” on race written by
“New Democrat” Will Marshall of the
Progressive Policy Institute.
Capitol Roll Call
By
Morton
■ ■
Kondrake
Newspaper
Ik
Enterprise
w _,s
Association
The bad signs lie in Clinton’s failure
to do any more than inch away from
the existing racial-preference system;
in California's steps to dismantle af
firmative action; in polls showing
Americans strongly divided on racial
issues; in Gingrich's actual legislative
priorities; and — most of all — in the
impulse of GOP presidential candi-
dates to exploit racial, divisions.
First, the good news. Go and see
“Smoke.” Through a tobacco haze, this
is a picture of America as it might and
ought to be, with ordinary Americans
resisting evil and helping each other
toward redemption regardless of race
— in Brooklyn, no less!
Regrettably without equivalent
hoopla and box office, “Smoke” is the
moral equal of last year's blockbuster,
“Forrest Gump.” In fact, it’s an even
better movie because it delivers its mes
sage of human decency more subtly
Less openly political than “Gump,”
it still has political implications: Con-
servatives will say that the characters
— played by William Hurt (as a
blocked writer), Harvey Keitel (the
mildly crooked owner of a tobacco
store), Forest Whitaker (a one-armed
black mechanic), and Harold Per-
rineau (his brilliant, confused son) —
achieve their fulfillment without any
government intervention. But the
movie also puts to shame anyone who
tries to sow racial division.
The good news in President Clinton's
speech on race was that he acknowl
edged affirmative action “has not
always been perfect” and “should not
go on forever ” He indicated that he
would fix it and move toward “common
ground” in a polarized nation by bar
ring quotas, fraud and reverse dis-
crimination, which most white males
closely associate with affirmative action
Unfortunately, probably out of both
personal conviction and a desire to
keep Jesse Jackson from running
against him, he took no more than a
token step away from the existing
system of preferences and set-asides
based on race and gender
Bolder steps are advertised in Gin
grich’s promises not to dismantle af
firmative action until the GOP replaces
it with a system to help the disadvan
taged rise out of poverty
Gingrich just appointed a four
member GOP “Equal Opportunity
Task Force,” consisting of Reps. Gary
Franks (Conn ), Henry Bonilla (Texas),
Sue Myrick (N.C.), and J.C. Watts
(Okla) to draft the plans
However, both Gingrich's and
Franks' sincerity are open to question,
given that the two are intent on
amending fiscal 19% appropriations
bills to end minority set asides even
though no compensatory minority-em
powerment program has yet been in
vented.
What’s more, the GOP fiscal agenda
calls for slashing existing education,
job training and income programs for
the poor while retaining middle class
and corporate “welfare''
Amazingly, the Senate recently
trounced Gramm's first effort to pass
an appropriations amendment drafted
in collaboration with Franks and Gin
grieh, 61 to 36.
The road map toward true common
ground will be published shortly by PP1,
the think tank of the Democratic Lead
ership Council. Marshall's proposed
“new bargain" on race includes a phase
out of ethnic and gender preferences
and set asides and a parallel phase in
of economic “empowerment" strategies
for the disadvantaged, including dra
matic improvement in inner-city
schools, new emphasis in HUD pro
grams on homeownership, and help for
poor minorities in asset accumulation
and business development.
Marshall’s proposed “third way” on
race - the alternative to the status
quo or its dismantlement — waa pro-
posed to Clinton but evidently was re-
jected. Gingrich la talking about
something like it, but acting against it.
And bo are most Republican candi
dates for president, driven by the
prospect that California will over
whelmingly pass an initiative barring
discrimination for or against any group
in the provision of state services
Formerly moderate Gov. Pete
Wileon, a Republican, just succeeded
in eliminating ethnic preferences in
California's university system and is
baaing his presidential campaign on the
{ablative's national appeal. Every other
leading GOP contender also la cam-
paigning against affirmative action.
Polls indicate that by wide margins
-«1 percent to »In a recent CBS/New
Yoiv Times poll — American* onnooc
racial preferences, even to corracApsud
discrimination
i
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Lake, Charles S. Sapulpa Daily Herald (Sapulpa, Okla.), Vol. 81, No. 274, Ed. 1 Monday, July 31, 1995, newspaper, July 31, 1995; Sapulpa, Oklahoma. (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc1500699/m1/4/: accessed July 18, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society.