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Show HELP SOLVE THE HOUSING CRISIS Newspapers and television are filled with stories about housing problems across the nation. Utah has housing problems too, although some of them are hidden to most of our population. In the 1970's the League of Women Voters published reports that defined housing problems at that time and detailed the programs available for housing assistance. LWV/Utah has started a 2-year housing study chaired by Laura Landikusic, Housing Planner for Salt Lake City, which will be invaluable in helping to solve Utah's current housing problems. League members at the local level are needed to gather data, such as programs offered by local housing authorities . Please contact your local president or the State Office by October 31 if you are interested in working on the study. Laura Landikusic (SLC) 596-7183(h) HUNGER PSA WINS PRIZE The Hunger Awareness public service announcemen t, which was produced in conjunction with the National Meeting Basic Human Needs Study, won second place in the Utah Broadcastin g Association contest. This PSA was one of the results of a statewide project under the direction of Georgia Yardley, from the Weber League. She worked with many organizatio ns and corporation s to fund and organize this project. Two public service announcemen ts were developed and aired on local television stations trying to make the public aware of the issue of hunger in Utah. A pamphlet was designed to provide basic nutritional guidelines for citizens to follow. The culmination of this project was a statewide conference on networking in the community to help alleviate the issue of hunger. The entire project was extremely well done, and the LWV-U thanks Georgia for her hard work in making the entire League known throughout the state. The major way to conquer fear is to make a decision. Reshad Feild VOTER PARTICIPATION PROJECT The LWV Education Fund believes that a combination of factors in recent national elections has prevented citizens from seriously evaluating candidates and their ability to govern effectively . Practices and processes commonly cited as problems include the negative nature of campaigning , the use of attack ads, the over-report ing of polling data, the lack of issue discussion and coverage, the "packaging" of debates, the skewing of the intent of public financing or presidentia l elections, and the length of the primary and pre-primary seasons. All Americans have a direct stake in addressing the decline in participatio n. There is a growing recognition - on the part of citizens, private and public sector leaders, educators and elected officials that the disconnectio n between the practices used for getting elected and the skill required for governing is making it harder and harder for any one person, party or group to confront the country's considerabl e policy challenges. What State and Local Leagues Can Do To Complement the Advocate For Voter Project in 1989 1. Observe and document campaign conduct and practices in state and local level elections held this year. To be highlighted : Overall tone and substance of campaigns compared to previous years. Media coverage of campaigns, candidates' participatio n (or lack of) in debates, etc. Existence/e ffectivenes s of any state or local level campaign monitoring or watchdog groups. Analysis of voter turnout. 2. Spark public and media discussion of campaign trends and practices, and provide local/state impetus for changes, as warranted. |
