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Catalyst Magazine

June 2007

Kennecott Land has embarked upon an 80,000-acre development on the valley's west bench that will include 150,000 new homes, transit lines, ski resort and more. Dubbed Daybreak, the project has an outstanding opportunity to develop in ways that will simultaneously accomplish citizen needs, economic viability and pioneering environmental sustainability. The extent to which the west bench development is on the front lines of environmental design will set standards for how we live in the Wasatch Front for many years to come. Read more...

Features & Occasionals

Running the City: IVCATALYST reporter Zach Abend wraps up his series of interviews with Salt Lake City mayoral candidates this month as he focuses on the race's three top contenders: Keith Christensen, Jenny Wilson and Ralph Becker.
-by Zach Abend Ralph Becker

After representing District 24 in the Utah House of Representatives for the last 10 years, Ralph Becker wants to come in from the cold. He hopes to be elected mayor of Salt Lake City, where he will have a much greater say in governing Utah's capital city than he does now in directing the course of the legislature.

A 54-year-old Democrat and grandfather, Becker has the lean, athletic frame of a man half his age. Becker isn't just a pretty face though; he has a law degree as well as an M.S. in planning from the University of Utah. Besides being a legislator, he has worked as a planner and is an adjunct instructor at his alma mater.

Environmental issues are important to Becker and he is emphatic about global warming. "Climate change is the most significant issue of our era in looking toward the future," he said. "If we don't address it, our children's lives will be in jeopardy."

When asked about Salt Lake's abysmal air quality, Becker says the automobile is the primary source of air pollution that contributes to smog. However, since we live in the geographic equivalent of a giant bowl, Salt Lake can't solve this problem alone. "We should be working in concert with our neighboring communities and the state to reduce vehicle miles traveled in the valley and the region," he said. To accomplish this, Becker says we need to reduce emissions by creating a more accessible transit system, strengthening our walkable communities, designing safe bike paths and making green buildings the standard in Salt Lake.

Unlike our air quality, Salt Lake's water is some of the best in the country according to Becker. "We have protected our watershed and water supply very well," he said. To preserve this increasingly scarce commodity, conservation efforts will need to focus on water usage for landscaping. "More yards should be converted to native plants that do well in this environment," Becker said. "We live in a desert. We need to move toward a landscape that matches our climate."

On economic issues, Becker says the linchpin is the redevelopment of downtown Salt Lake City by the LDS Church, which will impact all of Salt Lake's economy. "To me, the key to [economic] success in Salt Lake City is for us to finish tying the pieces together downtown," he said.

For Becker, the most important piece in that puzzle is increasing residential development so that more people live downtown. Once there is greater population density, both a cultural district and a circulation system must be developed for downtown. Additionally, city government, the business community, the visitor's convention bureau and the tourism division all need to work together to showcase the city to outsiders with a common approach instead of competing with each other, according to Becker.

Utah has an advantage that few states have, which, if harnessed, can have far-reaching consequences: Almost all of its major political, educational, religious, economic and cultural institutions are located in one city. "We need partnerships with the University of Utah, Westminster College, LDS Business College and other institutions of higher learning and use that to help us build the city and region economically," Becker said. A good example of these kinds of partnerships is the Utah Science, Technology and Research (USTAR) economic development initiative.

Nourishing local businesses is another priority for Becker. "We need to look very carefully to helping our small and local businesses," he said. "They are what's unique about our city." In a survey of the Salt Lake City mayoral candidates by the Vest Pocket Business Coalition, Becker said he would investigate the possibility of allowing small businesses owners to buy into the city's health program, and, he would ease the permitting and regulatory burdens carried by local businesses.

Social and economic justice issues are dear to Becker's heart. He spoke about "trying to end discrimination in all segments of our population, including the LGBT community." If elected, Becker would push contractors that work with the city to pay their employees a fair wage and offer them benefits. He is also in favor of raising the minimum wage. "The minimum wage needs to be meaningful, something that people can live within," Becker said.

Becker clearly has progressive bona fides and his fundraising has been competitive to date. He has fairly high name recognition among voters, and he has endorsements from politicians such as State Senators Scott McCoy, Fred Fife and Ross Romero; Utah State Representatives Jackie Biskupski and David Litvack; former State Senators Patrice Arent and Paula Julander; and by Salt Lake City Council members Søren Simonsen and Eric Jergensen. He is also supported by Hatch challenger and XMission founder Pete Ashdown. (See indepth Q/A interviews with candidates on his blog, peteashdown.org/journal.) On the con side, he lacks experience in city government and some say he possesses a sometimes-prickly temperament.

Ralph Becker's website: www.ralphbecker.com

Jenny Wilson

Jenny Wilson's candidacy for mayor of Salt Lake City has an air of inevitability. She is an unabashed lefty in a city that likes that in their mayors (she describes herself as a "progressive Democrat, and proud of it"), she enjoys very high name recognition because former mayor Ted Wilson is her father, and, it doesn't hurt that she is smart and photogenic, too.

Wilson, 41, is a Democrat and first-term Salt Lake County Councilwoman At-large. She attended the University of Utah, attaining a bachelor's degree in mass communication, and then Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, where she received a master's in public administration. Interspersed with her schooling, Wilson worked in Washington D.C. for various national organizations and elected officials, returning to Utah to work on the 2002 Winter Olympics.

Wilson says she would be neighborhood-focused, providing essential services efficiently and with the greatest possible tax savings to citizens. On a more philosophical level, she would seek to ensure that Salt Lake maximizes its potential as a progressive city.

A good example of how Salt Lake has made a commitment to progressive values is by recycling. According to Wilson, "Recycling loses money. So we are making a long term value decision [to decide to do it anyway]." There is room for progress though. "The better we are at expanding recycling services to everyone, the more benefits we will see," Wilson said.

Similarly, by reducing water use we are making an investment in our future here in the desert. According to Wilson, we have made progress in conserving water but can improve on that. "I like changing our idea of what's beautiful," she said. "We should have landscapes that reflect our native vegetation." Wilson supports rate structuring that would charge more for water use that goes beyond what is reasonable.

Wilson is a proponent of paying a living wage to all city employees. "It's an absolute failure and weakness when we have people working who can't make it," she said. "We need to have better social safety nets for people who are willing to work," which would include providing adequate child care for working parents. Wilson acknowledges that Utah is not a standard bearer when it comes to helping the needy. "It's a hard battle because we are in a conservative state," she said.

Treating people graciously is something Wilson feels strongly about and was exposed to by her father. "What I respect about my father most is that he was so good at dealing with people," she said. "He was always respectful. I would adopt that approach." She would cultivate good relationships with members of the city council as well as city employees.

The redevelopment of downtown by the LDS Church will help the economy grow, but it's still missing an arts and culture district, according to Wilson. "We need a master plan to fit the arts into the development downtown," she said. Other things that will help the economy is increasing the amount of hotel space and housing downtown.

According to Wilson's responses to a survey of the Salt Lake City mayoral candidates by the Vest Pocket Business Coalition, the ever-increasing number of big-box stores in Salt Lake, which municipalities want for the revenue they generate, disturbs her. "When you have a single company with that much volume, you are really changing the equation," she said. "I think we need to be migrating back, for the sake of the heart and soul of our small businesses, to better support for local business."

That support would translate into easing the permitting process and increasing start-up support for small businesses, safeguarding the character of Sugar House and bringing mass transit to the area, encouraging walkable communities, and vastly boosting development for the west side. Wilson would also be careful to create redevelopment agencies only when they actually spur development and not in instances where they would enrich developers who would build anyway.

Wilson's membership in a political dynasty gives her very high name recognition, which is political gold. In addition, she is gracious, has progressive politics, has been competitive in her fundraising and has endorsements by Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon and fellow council members Hatch and Horiuchi. Notwithstanding her limited experience in city government, the race is hers to lose.

Jenny Wilson's website: www.votejennywilson.com/ index.php

Keith Christensen

Keith Christensen describes himself as a "socially progressive, moderate Republican," and touts his years of experience in the corporate world as the reason to elect him mayor of Salt Lake City. "I know how to read a legal document and do a business deal," he said. "I have been in business all my life."

A 56-year-old entrepreneur and former city councilman for District 7, Christensen has a B.S. in management and finance from Brigham Young University and a law degree from the University of Puget Sound Law School (now owned by Seattle University). He left the legal field in 1988, after practicing law for 10 years, and helped start Wind River Petroleum (gas stations and convenience stores), Christensen Industries (airplane parts), and also began dabbling in real estate development. He is active in all three areas today.

If elected, Christensen said he would invite mayors from along the Wasatch Front to his home to speak about issues their cities have in common: education, the environment, crime and economic development. "Education doesn't know city boundaries, nor does pollution, nor does crime," he said.

Notwithstanding his regional focus, generating economic development will require concentrating on local businesses here in Salt Lake. "Locally owned businesses are the lifeblood of the community," Christensen said. "When there is a recession, locally owned businesses survive. It's the big companies that lay off people indiscriminately."

In a survey of the Salt Lake City mayoral candidates by the Vest Pocket Business Coalition, Christensen said he would make sure small businesses are not overwhelmed by the taxes and fees they pay the city. He also said that more parking is needed to ensure access to downtown businesses, incentives used to lure big-box stores must be ended, and "local businesses should have the advantage in bidding on city contracts."

Christensen would continue lending money to small businesses, provided they are viable. "It's a delicate art," Christensen explained. "I will not favor lending money to small businesses if they have never done business before and don't have a sustainable business plan."

Another way to spur the economy is through tax cuts, says Christensen. If we can increase our business base, we can cut taxes on individuals and businesses. "Utah in general is one of the higher taxed states in the nation," he said. "If we can reduce taxes on businesses, they in turn hopefully pay their employees more."

On November 14, 2006, Mayor Rocky Anderson formally endorsed Christensen's candidacy. In his endorsement, Anderson said that Christensen "is the only candidate for mayor with the legal training and business experience so vital in performing the work of a mayor." Christensen is quick to say that by electing him voters would not be getting a Rocky clone. "Keith Christensen is his own individual," he said. "You would not be getting Rocky III. I think difference is good."

Indeed there are differences. While on the city council, Christensen voted to rescind an ordinance that would have outlawed discrimination against city employees based on sexual orientation and also voted to allow the Salt Lake Police Department to enforce immigration laws. Christensen, however, is on the record, repeatedly, as saying both votes were mistakes and that if given the chance he would vote differently. He currently espouses positions on social and environmental issues that are very similar to the Democrats in this race. He says he is for ending our infatuation with gas guzzlers ("We must reduce emissions and focus on cleaner fuel alternatives"), for enhancing public transportation ("Mass transit is so clearly good"), for water conservation ("After all, we live in a desert"), for raising the minimum wage ("The minimum wage is so far below reason") and for buying locally ("If I had a choice, every store that ends in 'mart' would go away").

Christensen has many people convinced. Besides the mayor's support, he raised well over a quarter million dollars by the middle of February. No other candidate has come even close to matching that.

Christensen's strongest support has come from the business community. Several individuals from companies that are decidedly national in scope have signed onto Christensen's steering committee (as detailed in the April 27, 2007, "Friday Buzz" by LaVarr Webb & Associates), including Brad Baldwin, formerly of Bank One (now part of Chase); Byron Barkley, of Wilson-Davis & Co.; and Ascencion Vera, of JP Morgan Chase. Also supporting Christensen is Stan Parrish, a former state GOP chair, and Stephen Goldsmith, a former Salt Lake City planning director.

As Christensen conceptualizes it, the mayor's job is not to advance a partisan agenda. "The job is administrative," he explained. "It's about making certain that the management of the city is effective. I will review every department in the city with an eye to best practices."

Christensen is sitting on the mountain of cash he has raised so far, which by itself makes him very formidable. Add to this his endorsement by Rocky Anderson, his business connections and his charm, and you have a potent candidacy. On the con side, he is perceived as changing his political beliefs whenever it suits him (a la Mitt Romney), and certain voters will hold his business connections and his party affiliation (Republican) against him.

Keith Christensen's website: www.keithformayor.com...Read More >>

The Hippies Were Right!Green homes? Organic food? Nature is good? Time to give the ol' tie-dyers some respect.
-by Mark Morford

Go ahead, name your movement. Name something good and positive and pro-environment and eco-friendly that's happening right now in the newly "greening" America and don't say more guns in Texas or fewer reproductive choices for women or endless vile unwinnable BushCo wars in the Middle East lasting until roughly 2075 because that would defeat the whole point of this perky little column and destroy its naive tone of happy rose-colored sardonic optimism. OK?

I'm talking about, say, energy-efficient light bulbs. I'm looking at organic foods going mainstream. I mean chemical-free cleaning products widely available at Target, and I'm talking saving the whales and protecting the dolphins, and I mean yoga studios flourishing in every small town, giant boxes of organic cereal at Costco and non-phthalates dildos at Good Vibes and the Toyota Prius becoming the nation's oddest status symbol. You know, good things.

Look around: We have entire industries devoted to recycled paper, a new generation of cheap solar-power technology and an Oscar for "An Inconvenient Truth" and even the soulless corporate monsters over at famously heartless joints like Wal-Mart are now claiming that they really, really care about saving the environment because, well, "it's the right thing to do" (read: It's purely economic and all about their bottom line because if they don't start caring they'll soon be totally screwed on manufacturing and shipping costs at/from all their brutal Chinese sweatshops).

There is but one conclusion you can draw from the astonishing (albeit fitful, bittersweet) pro-environment sea change now happening in the culture and (reluctantly, nervously) in the halls of power in D.C., one thing we must all acknowledge in our wary, jaded, globally warmed universe: The hippies had it right all along. Oh yes they did.

You know it's true. All this hot enthusiasm for healing the planet and eating whole foods and avoiding chemicals and working with nature and developing the self? Came from the hippies. Alternative health? Hippies. Green cotton? Hippies. Reclaimed wood? Recycling? Humane treatment of animals? Medical pot? Alternative energy? Natural childbirth? Non-GMO seeds? It came from the granola types (who, of course, absorbed much of it from ancient cultures), from the alternative worldviews, from the underground and the sidelines and from far off the goddamn grid, and it's about time the media, the politicians, the culture as a whole sent out a big, wet, hemp-covered apology.

Here's a suggestion, from one of my more astute ex-hippie readers: Instead of issuing carbon credits so industrial polluters can clear their collective corporate conscience, maybe, to help offset all the savage damage they've done to the soul of the planet all these years, these commercial cretins should instead buy some karma credits from the former hippies themselves. You know, from those who've been working for the health of the planet, quite thanklessly, for the past 50 years and who have, as a result, built up quite a storehouse of good karma. You think?

Of course, you can easily argue that much of the "authentic" hippie ethos - the anti-corporate ideology, the sexual liberation, the anarchy, the push for civil rights, the experimentation - has been totally leached out of all these new movements, that corporations have forcibly co-opted and diluted every single technology and humble pro-environment idea and Ben & Jerry's ice cream cone and Odwalla smoothie to make them both palatable and profitable. But does this somehow make the organic oils in that body lotion any more harmful? Verily, it does not.

You might also just as easily claim that much of the nation's reluctant turn toward environmental health has little to do with the hippies per se, that it's taking the threat of global meltdown combined with the notion of really, really expensive ski tickets to slap the nation's incredibly obese ass into gear and force consumers to begin to wake up to the savage gluttony and wastefulness of American culture as everyone starts wondering, oh my God, what's going to happen to swimming pools and NASCAR and free shipping from Amazon? Of course, without the '60s groundwork, without all the radical ideas and seeds of change planted nearly five decades ago, what we'd be turning to in our time of need would be a great deal more hopeless indeed.

If you're really bitter and shortsighted, you could say the entire hippie movement overall was just incredibly overrated, gets far too much cultural credit for far too little actual impact, was pretty much a giant excuse to slack off and enjoy dirty, lazy responsibility-free sex romps and do a ton of drugs and avoid Vietnam and name your child Sunflower or Shiva Moon or Chakra Lennon Sapphire Bumblebee. This is what's called the reactionary simpleton's view. It blithely ignores history, perspective, the evolution of culture as a whole. You know, just like America.

But, you know, whatever. The proofs are easy enough to trace. The core values and environmental groundwork laid by the '60s counterculture are still so intact and potent even the stiffest neocon Republican has to acknowledge their extant power. It's all right there: Treehugger.com is the new '60s underground hippy zine. Ecstasy is the new LSD. Visible tattoos are the new longhairs. And bands as diverse as Pearl Jam to Bright Eyes to NIN to the Dixie Chicks are writing savage anti-Bush, anti-war songs for a new, ultra-jaded generation.

And oh yes, speaking of good ol' MDMA (Ecstasy), even drug culture is getting some new respect. Staid old Time mag just ran a rather snide little story about the new studies being conducted by Harvard and the National Institute of Mental Health into the astonishing psychospiritual benefits of goodly entheogens such as LSD, psilocybin and MDMA. Unfortunately, the piece basically backhands Timothy Leary and the entire "excessive," "naive" drug culture of yore in favor of much more "sane" and "careful" scientific analysis happening now, as if the only valid methods for attaining knowledge and an understanding of spirit were through control groups and clinical, mysticism-free examination. Please.

Still, the fact that serious scientific research into entheogens is being conducted even in the face of the most anti-science, pro-pharmaceutical, ultra-conservative presidential regime in recent history is proof enough that all the hoary old hippie mantras about expanding the mind and touching God through drugs were onto something after all (yes, duh). Tim Leary is probably smiling wildly right now - though that might be due to all the mushrooms he's been sharing with Kerouac and Einstein and Mary Magdalene. Mmm, heaven.

Of course, true hippie values mean you're not really supposed to care about or attach to any of this, you don't give a damn for the hollow ego stroke of being right all along, for slapping the culture upside the head and saying, See? Do you see? It was never about the long hair and the folk music and Woodstock and taking so much acid you see Jesus and Shiva and Buddha tongue kissing in a hammock on the Dog Star, nimrods.

It was, always and forever, about connectedness. It was about how we are all in this together. It was about resisting the status quo and fighting tyrannical corporate/political power, and it was about opening your consciousness and seeing new possibilities of how we can all live with something resembling actual respect for the planet, for alternative cultures, for each other. You know, all that typical hippie crap no one believes in anymore. Right?

Mark Morford is a columnist for sfgate.com and the San Francisco Chronicle. He also teaches yoga, subscribes to magazines, admires trees, detests shrill alarmism (including his own) and sleeps naked.

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Getting Help: Drug Addiction Series Part IVWhat can a family expect when their child enters an outpatient recovery program? An interview with Michael Odom, director of Clinical Consultants.
-by Kim Hancey Duffy
In the Salt Lake Valley we have substance abuse treatment programs which focus on Native Americans, Asian Americans, Pacific Island Americans, immigrants and refugees, pregnant women, homeless people, Catholics, Mormons, people who work nights, gays and lesbians, adolescents, women with children, deaf people, veterans, criminals, the chronically mentally ill, and people who fit into none of these categories. There are outpatient programs which can occupy one hour a week of the patient's time, and others in which the patient lives in residence for weeks to months in settings resembling a clinic, or a high school, or grandma's house. There are apartments where recovering addicts live together and go out to work, school, or all-day treatment. Addicts can get treatment for any sort of substance in this valley, and it can cost anywhere from nothing to more than $15,000 a month.

For direction, many are turning to government-run agencies to have their substance abuse problem assessed (for little or no cost) after which they can be referred to an appropriate treatment program. The Salt Lake County Assessment and Referral (468-2009) and Assessment and Referral Services (532-1850) are two such agencies that can guide families before they plunk down thousands of dollars.

Many addicts choose an outpatient program for their first treatment because they can still work or attend school. Depending upon the level of intensity needed for the addiction, an outpatient program can run from one hour a week to more than 20 hours a week.

What can a family expect when their child enters an outpatient recovery program? To answer this question, we were referred to Michael Odom, administer of Clinical Consultants. Odom is a licensed substance abuse counselor (LSAC) who has worked in the addiction field for 25 years. He recently developed Clinical Consultants, which is a group of LSACs, social workers, psychologists and psychiatrists who serve 1,200 clients a month in six offices around northern Utah. He intentionally located outside Salt Lake City's center in order to serve neighborhoods - like the doc-in-a-box medical clinics which started popping up in neighborhoods 20 years ago.

Do you have a set program that you offer, of a certain number of hours a day or days per week?

Treatment is organized by the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) guidelines, and the services we offer match the client's needs most responsibly. That's a result of the assessment typically done by Assessment and Referral Services. They advise what level of care, frequency of care, types of services, and types of interventions that are needed, then we try to match the client to them. We begin at that level, and as the client progresses in treatment and begins to respond, we decrease the level of services. It's individually paced rather than relying on a formula.

It seems that most programs now tout evidence-based therapy. What therapies do you employ?

We use programs with cognitive restructuring, commonly referred to as "thinking errors," for clients who rationalize, or blame, or won't accept responsibility for their problems. We see that with many people who are substance-dependent - things are externalized, problems are blamed, and there is little owning of responsibility. The cognitive restructuring program approaches these kinds of thought disorders. We offer individual psychotherapy with one of our clinical social workers or psychologists and also a substance abuse therapy group where folks can identify high risk situations. This is where we provide the substance abuse education, health-related risks, and recovery information.

We also offer an intervention group which is rather unique. When we're seeing someone who relapses, we place them in a group where we begin to structure more of their time and help them identify some of the drivers that caused their relapse. It's an assignment-focused group, where we help the clients figure out what's really going on in their life. This allows us to help those who have stumbled, but continue them in treatment without some sort of punitive message - that they are bad, they used drugs, so we can't serve them anymore. It's kind of odd, the way some programs discharge their clients when they relapse. I understand they have to have some limits, but it kind of contradicts the concept of caring for someone in need. It's our opinion that this is the moment when we need to take out the tools. We don't cut them off.

In the cognitive behavior therapy you provide - is the aim to restructure the addict's brain by getting them to think differently?

Yes, that is the process. Identifying old, dysfunctional thoughts and attempting to replace that with healthy, productive thoughts. There is a lot of evidence to support this approach.

Is it hard to introduce the idea to a person that their thinking is damaging them? Don't you lose a lot of people?

No, it's not presented in that fashion. We tell them we're going to look at thought processes that contribute to their addiction. We pick an easy topic like blame. How does blame fit into their dependency? They can tell you. Each person has a long list.

Then there is rationalization. Take, for example, the client who gets a DUI, but then continues to smoke pot and drive. They say, "It doesn't matter anyway. Pot shouldn't be illegal. The world shouldn't be coming down on me just because I made some promises to a judge. I still smoke pot. Pot is okay." They redefine what promises mean, rather than looking at it like most folks would, which is that if you say you won't break the law, that includes smoking pot.

Sense of entitlement is another problem we need to address. One thing we see frequently is, "I've done real well for a month. I got out of my financial troubles but I'm not having any fun. No one appreciates what I've done. I got paid, it's my birthday - I am owed a good time! I didn't relapse, I planned to use drugs and have a good weekend."

What do you say to them - "how did that work out for you?"

Yes - "Now your probation officer wants to lock you up. How do you feel about that good time?" It's a sense of entitlement. They have their own definition of equality. These are some of the things that drive substance abuse.

How do you deal with shame?

Shame generally has to be approached in individual therapy. There is a lot of shame around the carnage that the addict has caused for their family. But luckily it's something that folks can recover from. They can go back to people and make amends. More importantly, given time, people can forgive them. Shame is overcome with trust - which has to be earned - and it takes a while.

Do you have programs for the families of the addicts?

Family therapy is an integral part of the program; it's not an add-on. Abuse or addiction problems exist throughout the family system; everybody has a contribution, and everybody suffers the consequences.

Do you find that families are generally willing to come to meetings?

Most are fairly resistant because they don't see it as their problem. And that's understandable, but at the same time there are dynamics between the members that they all need to understand. While an adult child's addiction is not necessarily the parent's responsibility, it helps everyone to understand what triggers them to use drugs.

How do you broach that subject with families? Some parents might take offense at the idea that they contribute to their 25-year-old's addiction.

That's one of the biggest difficulties with treatment. And when you look at all the research, involving the family is one of the most effective treatment interventions - but it's one of the least used. Most families would rather go to the ball game than to group with their child. Yet if their son had a flat tire Dad would pitch in - but because it's a drug problem, he's going to the ball game.

Do you see stigma lessening in families or in society at large? Is there more understanding of addiction as disease rather than a failing?

I don't. Politically, yes, we have seen a shift within the courts. But I think that most families don't see it as a disease.

Do you use drug therapy here?

We don't - we specialize in a drug-free treatment approach. There are other programs that offer medications. We're relatively new; we've only been in this location two years and we have yet to find a physician to work with. It's kind of difficult to find physicians who want to work with addicts.

Do you encourage your clients to go to Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meetings?

Treatment is designed to be an intervention, a service that interrupts something that may have been going on for months or years. So in three months time we can't put a fix on all of that. We can't say, "You've been an addict for 20 years so we'll see you in outpatient for 20 years." What you're doing in treatment is selling a lifestyle. How do you create a lifestyle of recovery? Treatment is costly, so that's where AA and Narcotics Anonymous (NA) come in. It's a support system throughout the nation that is virtually free and offered seven days a week. The best likelihood of a client's long-term success is a long-term involvement with treatment. Whether that's treatment or AA - the longer some sort of treatment is delivered, the more likely they are to succeed.

Do you have groups that people can continue long-term?

Yes. In addition to trying to place patients with AA or NA after they've completed treatment with us, we offer them up to one year free access to weekly support groups. That way they're still connected with their therapists, their recovery network, they still have their foot in the door.

Kim Hancey Duffy is a freelance writer, and a member of Salt Lake City Mayor's Coalition on Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drugs. Contact Clinical Consultants at 233-8670.
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The Geography of the SpiritFrom LDS ward house, to punk, then Goth nightclubs, the building that has become Urgyen Samten Ling, the Tibetan Buddhist Temple on Third West has been a gathering place of various sorts for many decades.
-by Leslie Proctor

I had a friend in Los Angeles who believed that geography influences the spirit of a place and its people. I remain skeptical. I think it's more plausible that people influence the spirit of a place. We would debate the issue, him saying that mountains and rivers and hills make people what they are and me saying that the people - why they came to the place, who they were - create the spirit of a place.

But I have proof for my argument - Urgyen Samten Ling, the Tibetan Buddhist temple near downtown Salt Lake City. I found this amazing place after my closest friend died last year. "Friend" doesn't adequately describe the connection between us. She was more like a twin sister-the one person in the world I could count on to understand me. She lived in Portland, Oregon and I lived in Los Angeles or here in Utah. Yet, even if we hadn't spoken for a month or so, the next time we'd talk we'd find we were reading the same book, thinking the same thoughts. Losing her felt like someone had torn me in half.

When the first anniversary of her passing came, I decided to take the day off and do things I knew that she'd love. It was a day dedicated to my friend Patty.

I have fond memories of sitting in on Patty's meditation classes when I visited Portland. When I found that Urgyen Samten Ling had a meditation class on "Patty's Day," it felt almost like fate. The non-denominational classes, called "calm abiding," are open to anyone.

I went to the class and left feeling I had turned a corner that day. I've returned to the class almost every week. I'm becoming convinced of the veracity of the studies that tout the health benefits of meditation.

And what a space to meditate in! The beauty and peace of the temple is made all the more amazing by the building's history.

The structure at 740 South 300 West started life as a Mormon church. Then it became a punk nightclub called The Pompadour, which was probably a considerable shock to the venerable place of worship. The club changed hands, and the building eventually became The Sanctuary, a Goth nightclub. The entire interior of the building was painted black. Cages and whipping posts were scattered throughout the building.

When Urgyen Samten Ling took over the building, volunteers spent countless hours restoring the building, stripping the black paint from the floors, walls and windows. Kalsang Diwatsang (Ah-Dih), a Tibetan refugee, built an amazing shrine at the front of the sanctuary, intricate craftsmanship in wood held together with dovetails and tongue-and-groove, not nails.

"Urgyen Samten Ling is a place to come and practice compassion, joy and love," said KC Stevenson, a meditation student. "I used to come here when it was a club. Now it's completely different. I come here to get in touch with my spirituality and to take time for myself."

Tibetan Buddhists believe that color enlivens the spirit, so bright colors are seen throughout the temple. While it seems counter-intuitive to a Westerner to think that bright colors could be conducive to meditation and prayer, the space is serene.

"The funny thing about this place is I used to watch bands here when it was a club," said Dustin Robbins, a meditation student. "When I started trying for a spiritual journey, I came back here. Back then it was a place where I went to make connections. Now I still make connections, just a very different type."

The building also gives a home to Tree Utah; Living Joy!us, a Theta Healing group; the practice of Andrea Morgan, MSW, CSW, a therapist; and Unified Source Healing Arts, a cranio-sacral and traditional massage studio.

On Saturdays, when I arrive for my class, the place is hopping. The building also houses the Red Lotus School of Movement, a Tai Chi and Wing Chun Kung-fu studio. Students of all ages come and go. Volunteers work on the building and grounds. But the minute you take off your shoes and step into the chapel, the sounds fade and peace takes over.

"I have been a part of the Red Lotus family for 10 years," said Toni Lock, a student and teacher at the Red Lotus School of Movement. "To me, our building is a place where one can leave behind the daily grind and find peace. It is also a place where a person can "enjoy being slow," taking time to notice, observe and relax. Also, when you come to either Red Lotus or Urgyen Samten Ling, you have automatically expanded your family."

"Urgyen Samten Ling is a rare place that attracts high Rinpoches and Lamas to teach," said Jay Moreland, M.D., a senior student at Urgyen Samten Ling. "Many of the teachings brought here are even difficult for Tibetans to get; they can hike the Himalayas for days to hear a Rinpoche for once in a lifetime. We don't have to wade through snow to get the teachings from the land of the snow lion!"

The work on and in this building has also changed the neighborhood.

"When we first arrived, there were homeless people sleeping behind the dumpster and trash everywhere," said Arwen Ek, a meditation instructor at the temple. "Now there are art spaces and music venues in the area, and the students from the Red Lotus often go out into the neighborhood to practice. The area has really changed since we arrived."

So does geography affect the spirit of the inhabitants or do the people affect the spirit of a place? While the debate with my friend may never be resolved, I think that once you visit Urgyen Samten Ling, you'll come over to my side of the argument.

Prayers for Compassion
The people who helped transform this space now need help to make it their permanent home. They will be holding a "Prayers for Compassion" event July 6-8, 2007 to honor the birthday of His Holiness, the Dalai Lama. Monies raised from the event will go toward a building fund.

If you haven't been to the temple, this event will be a perfect time to visit. You can join in at any time and meditate for a while, have some tea and view the sand mandala which will be created by visiting monks from India.

During the three-day event, continuous prayers and mantras for compassion and harmony will be said. Donors can sponsor malas (108 repetitions of the mantra) for $1 per mala. Sponsorships and donations are tax deductible.

Prayers for Compassion runs from 7 p.m Friday, July 6 through 2 p.m. Sunday, July 8. For more information on the event and to donate or sponsor malas, visit www.urgyensamtenling.org.

Leslie Proctor is a writer and columnist who lives in Holladay....Read More >>

Daybreak: A Bright New Dawn?Daybreak Feature
Kennecott is up to something big. Along with a host of government entities, private developers and NGOs, the company is set to remake the face of western Salt Lake County. Again.

While the name is synonymous with open pit mining in Utah, it may not be for long. A new sister company, "Kennecott Land," is doing the developing this time-and lots of it. The largest suburban project ever to hit Utah is full steam ahead. Over an ambitious two-generation timescale, the west bench is slated to transform from a largely undeveloped 80,000 acres (with an industrial site here, wetland there) into a bustling, pre-planned suburban metropolis. Before long, the landscape will include over 150,000 new homes, transit lines, a ski resort and much more.

Kennecott has an outstanding opportunity to develop in ways that will simultaneously accomplish citizen needs, economic viability and pioneering environmental sustainability. The extent to which the west bench development is on the front lines of environmental design will set standards for how we live in the Wasatch Front for many years to come.

Kennecott Land is on a mission to trail-blaze the Salt Lake Valley's west bench sustainably. The development will be housed on the largest block of private land next to a metro area anywhere in the United States. It's an area twice the size of San Francisco and comes in at half of all the developable land remaining in the valley. As Salt Lake County's population doubles in the next 50 years, the timing may be perfect for Kennecott's massive new mixed-use urban corridor.

Kennecott plans to build about 162,800 homes along a north-south corridor of densely-packed community centers, with villages radiating outward in layers of supportive design elements. Features will include commercial ventures interspersed with houses, condos and apartments, diverse and plentiful open space, a college campus, 100,000 new jobs, at least 100,000 trees, a ski resort and much more.

The first west bench community to be developed is the southernmost, Daybreak, which sits within the outskirts of South Jordan. In 13 years, Daybreak will be made up of several distinct neighborhoods and will almost count as a city itself, with approximately 13,600 homes across Daybreak's 4,100 acres.

The first Daybreak neighborhood, Founders Village, already nears completion, which makes it a good model to understand how the entire west bench will be developed. A few thousand homes, several parks, a community garden, community center, elementary school and many other features create the new landscape.

The homes at Founders Village are constructed using low volatile organic compound finishes, low conductivity windows and granulated insulation materials, which come together to create a relatively energy-efficient and healthful house. You won't find aluminum siding but mostly natural materials on house exteriors, large porches that invite the family to enjoy time outdoors and garages mostly hidden behind the houses. Architecturally, the houses owe some of their look to dwellings built in the Salt Lake valley earlier in the 20th century.

The lots are smaller, about 0.1 acre, and the streets are narrower, than most suburban Utah roads. It all fits together nicely in a community distinct for its reduced waste and space. During the construction process, Kennecott is making a concerted effort to reuse materials: "About 33% more than other suburban developments," says Kennecott's director of sustainable development, Francisco Benavides.

On track to be the largest suburban development in the country 100% certified by the EPA's Energy Star program, Daybreak will eventually save the equivalent of about 55,000 tons of CO2 per year. Benavides says that this is "about the same as 12,000 passenger cars being taken off the road." Plus Kennecott has made it easy to save energy and ditch the car by planning shops, recreation opportunities and schools in close proximity to homes.

Founder's Village used Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) building principles at the elementary school and community center including use of ground-source heating. It is yet undecided if LEED will pave the way for future public spaces or residential construction, but Benavides and colleagues stress that additional methods of sustainable development will be adopted for the next Daybreak villages and future communities.

With the growing interest in and availability of sustainable development techniques, Kennecott has plenty of room to expand their offering in future communities. Whether it's solar energy, geothermal farms, sustainably harvested wood, a stronger commitment to xeriscaping-the list is long indeed-Kennecott has potential to build a visionary west bench with broad impacts on the entire Wasatch Front. The west bench may become a model for future communities-but only if Kennecott is encouraged to move beyond "the drawing board."

Open space

One way Kennecott has chosen to observe a radical approach to urban design is preservation and cultivation of open space. Of the 80,000-plus acres that Kennecott owns on the west bench, at least 30% will be preserved as "open," including 37 miles of interconnecting trails and parks. While most open areas are and will be landscaped, Jeff Hawes, landscape manager for Kennecott, says that this is often done with water-wise plant groupings, including "many species native to Utah." Eventually, hundreds of millions of trees, shrubs, grasses and other plants will grow there.

Ivan Weber, a LEED-accredited environmental planner retired from Kennecott Utah Copper, says this approaches "exactly what the Oquirrhs require in order to remotely resemble what they should be."

According to Weber, consideration of wildlife and the broader ecosystem is a critical component of creating enduring, sustainable communities. Stressing the importance of a holistic approach that puts urban design in the context of a natural ecosystem will have plenty of benefits, says Weber, including mitigation of wildlife-human conflicts.

Open space plans for the west bench accommodate seasonal deer migration from the Oquirrhs. But wildlife, of course, is more than just deer and more than just seasonal migration. Concerning the needs of most species, there are, as yet, no plans available. Such plans could include restoring natural drainages (which once supplied wildlife and plants with water) that have been diverted and contaminated, averting harm to species as development approaches core habitat, or finding ways to minimize the effect of unfortunate wildlife-human relations such as unlawful poaching.

Few developers, if any, address these issues. But such a massive project as Daybreak-one that intersects key portions of migratory routes and will undoubtedly be cemented into the center of critical wildlife habitats-has more potential to inflict damage or harmoniously engage other species than other smaller projects.

Another component of Kennecott's open space plans is already visible to the naked eye. It's called Oquirrh Lake.

Oquirrh Lake was created for recreation, not to preserve habitat. It is a human creation that has thus far resulted in the transport of 35 million cubic feet of soil and 25,000 tons of rocks-and that's just for the first of three phases of its development. Perhaps the most curious element of counting Oquirrh Lake as open space is the threshold Kennecott has set for its sustainability-that of a golf course.

Besides contributions from precipitation, Oquirrh Lake was created and is maintained with water from Utah Lake. Since Kennecott enjoys the largest privately held water rights portfolio in the state, coming in at around 162,000 acre-feet per year (af/y), the company has enough to fill and maintain the 85-acre, 250 million-gallon Oquirrh Lake -with plenty to spare.

Enter the golf course analogy: Kennecott believes that approximately 255 acre-feet will evaporate from the lake each year, equivalent to about three feet in depth across the surface area of the lake. To keep the turf of a golf course green, by comparison, a minimum of five feet of water must be used. But should a golf course's water needs set the par for open space environmental sensitivity?

While scenic, Oqquirh Lake's place within the spirit of open space is in question for ecological reasons. Engineering ensures it will not come into contact with run-off waters. Engineering feats will also minimize the presence of species such as ducks and geese (which Greg Rasmussen, director of land development for Kennecott, called "sky cows" in a Deseret News interview). Species such as trout and bass will be stocked for recreational fishing.

The cost of the lake, of course, is more than the dip in Utah's lakes and streams and the splash in Kennecott's water rights portfolio. More than 767 average Utah families of five could be supplied with the initial water pumped from Utah Lake. Then, each year, the amount of water that evaporates could supply in excess of 250 additional families with their water needs and desires. If the families were to reduce their water needs, even more could be served.

One conservation commitment Kennecott has already made is to reduce water use by 25% before 2025, in accordance with "Slow the Flow" guidelines.

Landscaping

With trees, shrubs and perennials, Kennecott tries to plant species on the lower end of the water-use table in open spaces, according to Jeff Hawes. The company also provides guidance for homeowners, suggesting plant species suitable to Utah's climate.

The strictest landscaping requirement for residents is to plant less than 60% of their yard with traditional sod-the remaining 40% is up to residents. Then, turf areas must be larger than five feet wide (the radius of the traditional pop-up spray is about eight feet).

Once residents develop a plan, Kennecott advises on species grouping, spacing and other choices that will minimize water use and maintain an attractive look. In addition to educational presentations made by Kennecott and a volunteer neighborhood coalition, Kennecott has created demonstration plots that show how attractive xeriscaping can be.

In accordance with "Slow the Flow" guidelines, Kennecott offers ongoing educational efforts that stress when and how to water. Kennecott permits watering only between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m., though there are no fines for violations. Founders Village uses pop-up sprays, complemented by drip systems for some landscaping.

Kennecott is also experimenting with a system that Jeff Hawes believes will "automatically detect acceptable times to water" according to measurements such as temperature, wind speed and cloudiness.

According to the Deseret Morning News, homeowners must sign a disclosure stating, among other items, that houses may sit on the site of a former evaporation pond. By signing, residents acknowledge that their property may be affected by lasting soil contamination that "could cause damage to metal objects and/or certain types of concrete" and "make it difficult for certain types of plants to grow."

Conclusion

For better or worse, Kennecott will continue forging a massive impact on Utah's environment, citizens and economy. While the west bench development will conserve energy, propel walkability and reduce water use, there's still a great distance to travel to create a truly environmentally trailblazing development. Dozens of sustainable techniques are left out. The primary reason, it seems, is profitability.

So that Kennecott and their parent company, Rio Tinto, can remain loyal to the capitalist spirit and maximize profit, economic incentives that ensure sustainable building must improve. The market for green communities has to become more profitable.

Among the chief ways for citizens to see that the west bench becomes more eco-friendly is to take greater acts of sustainability in our own lives. If compact fluorescents become the norm, ecological landscaping takes seed and every garage houses a hybrid (as we increase our use of bikes, carpools and mass transit), Kennecott will take notice. If we do what is necessary to reduce our ecological footprints, and elect leaders who also prioritize sustainable development, Kennecott will have a convincing model to follow and demand to meet. But until more leaders arise, developers like Kennecott will have little interest in pioneering any more risky trails in sustainable development.

Government entities must step up to their role as leaders in crafting socially responsible policy. If city, county and state bodies create rewards for efficiency and conservation with tax breaks and subsidies-and disincentives for wasteful practices -citizens, investors and corporations will see that it is in our own self-interest, and the interest of our neighbors, to take the most sustainable pathways.

If the conservation threshold of a golf course is startling, and another freeway makes you wheeze, higher standards must be set for the west bench and the future communities this project has the potential to inspire. Until then, movement toward greater sustainability may be stuck in the mud while entities like Kennecott -just like Rio Tinto, UDOT and Larry Miller (see sidebars)-continue along on their roads to develop our planet.

Jason Hardy is a student working towards animal rights, environmental sustainability and education and media reform. He has published in the Daily Utah Chronicle and the Journal of Biosocial Science.

Sidebars appearing in the print version:

Transportation: Which comes first?

The choice between transit or freeway could make or break Daybreak's sustainability

As Daybreak develops, Kennecott's plan is to construct a central transit corridor with room for busses, light rail stations, sidewalks, bike lanes and vehicle travel. This is consistent with the company's purposeful mixing of residential, recreational and commercial space that minimizes automobile use.

UTA expects a light rail line to Daybreak by 2010. The track will diverge from the existing Downtown-Sandy line at the 6400 South station and stretch along a southwesternly trajectory for 10 miles. The project will add 10 stops to the light rail system and is already being praised nationally as highly innovative.

Building a TRAX line early in the development of Founder's Village and in advance of the next Daybreak villages is consistent with a "transit-first" approach to development, according to Utahns for Better Transportation's Roger Borgenicht.

Relying on studies of cities around the country, Borgenicht is confident that the transit-first approach would have outstanding benefits for Daybreak. Vehicle miles traveled per person, vehicle trips per household and vehicle ownership would all fall below the county norm. "Household behavior follows transit investment," Borgenicht says, and he predicts activity-rich areas popping up around the light rail stations.

So long as future investments in public transportation produce a safe and reliable service that is perceived as high quality, the west bench development would have significant impacts on air pollution relative to population, exercise levels, community spirit and more. Simply put, this transportation approach enables a dense, vibrant and diverse urban corridor centering on walkability and reduced automobile use to become reality.

But the Utah Department of Transportation has other plans.

UDOT and the Wasatch Front Regional Council (WFRC), a coalition of elected officials throughout the region, are prioritizing the development of roads, lots of roads, for the west bench and region. Along with a northern expansion of the Legacy Parkway, planners are banking on a familiar option for the future-a new freeway. Even more powerful allies are lobbying for the new freeway, including vehicle-dealer Larry Miller, Zions Bank Corp. President Scott Anderson and three former Utah governors.

Called the "Mountain View Corridor" (MVC), this new freeway is proposed to run from near the Salt Lake International Airport south along 5800 West, eventually curving toward and meeting with I-15 in Lindon. Plans are to have four lanes in each direction, which may later expand to six, with an initial $2 billion price tag.

The MVC is a cornerstone of the just-released Wasatch Front Urban Area Regional Transportation Plan: 2007-2030. This authoritative report can be found at WFRC.org, where comments may be submitted.

UDOT plans to release a draft environmental impact statement for the MVC this fall. After a public comment period, suggestions from the Federal Transit Administration and a few inevitable touch-ups, UDOT is to publish a final EIS in 2008, all but cementing the long road ahead.

The impacts of yet another Wasatch Front highway are hard to overstate. Wetlands will be bulldozed, private property will be seized and air pollution will surely grow. A high school and two elementary schools sit in close proximity to the planned route of the freeway, a fact that public health studies suggest will affect lung capacity and other health indicators of children who recreate in the school's fields.

Borgenicht believes a road-first development scheme ensures that development will occur around exits and intersections of inevitable arterial roads. This approach ensures that land with potential uses such as open space, high-density structures and pathways (walking, biking and public) is slated to become parking lots and big-box stores. Borgenicht predicts the freeway may force residents to reduce their transportation options to: "Which car should I take?"

"Once you lock in automobile-dependent big-box stores," says Borgenicht, "you lose the ability for the transit system to provide more choices for more people."

The current plan is to complete the freeway by 2015-2020 and for public transit to arrive on the scene after the year 2030. A freeway must be the region's top priority, its advocates assume, because traffic congestion is on the rise and increased automobile use is inevitable. In today's Salt Lake County, each house is responsible for 12 car trips per day. The WFRC report predicts that not only will trends like this continue, but that miles traveled will actually increase by 70% (notably ahead of the projected population rise of 42%) over the next two decades. This means that roads must be built-and with construction costs ever on the rise, better sooner than later.

The WFRC report also considers the scenario of a north-south high-capacity transit corridor a few blocks down, along 5600 West. If it is built by the end date of the study, the year 2030, 5,000 to 6,000 daily riders will board the train (or bus or trolley). This relatively paltry transit demand necessarily leads to its devaluation. A decade ago, the same ridership model projected that 2007's Downtown-Sandy light rail line would serve 16,000 riders per day. In actuality, TRAX now serves 55,000 to 60,000 daily riders.

If we assume that automobile reliance will continue and even accelerate over the coming decades, and we then build to suit this assumption, Salt Lake County is going the opposite direction of the transit-first model that has been so successful in regions such as Portland and Dallas.

The freeway-first approach seems antithetical to the will of multiple citizen groups, including Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment. Their recent meta-analysis of medical studies indicates that thousands of Utahns die prematurely every year because of air pollution. Third on their prescription list to combat this "health crisis" is: "Plan for major expansions of mass transit service throughout the Wasatch Front. Make it free to the public." After all, vehicles currently account for 65% of air pollution along the Wasatch Front.

Kennecott's vision for a walkable community has the potential to develop a vibrant and energy-conservative west bench corridor, but the likelihood for success is diminished if the Mountain View Corridor is developed as planned. Borgenicht believes that Daybreak and the west bench have the necessary components to indeed reduce resident vehicle use to just six or fewer vehicle trips per household, but only if public transit is put first.

Transportation is a critical component in determining whether Daybreak and the west bench are to become an environmentally conservative and sustainable model for other developers around the region to follow-or just another homogenous suburban community.

Aquifer cleanup
Attempting to solve one pollution problem creates new ones

Can Kennecott Land make up for the sins of its sister? Kennecott Utah Copper continues to add more than 80% of all chemical pollutants in Utah's environment each and every year. Then there's the question of the soup of mine-related contaminants in the aquifer below much of the southwest portion of the valley.

While based in Utah, both Kennecotts are actually a subsidiary of Rio Tinto, a massive multinational mining corporation headquartered in London. The company's motto: "A world leader in finding, mining and processing the earth's mineral resources." Just like Kennecott, Rio owns its own controversial history (in the areas of ecological destruction and human rights). Similarly, it recently embarked on environmentally friendly projects.

Not as easy to see as the tracts of open space being developed and set aside is the plentiful supply of water below the earth's surface. Kennecott has begun treating an aquifer that supplies culinary (drinking) water. Alas, the treatment is a bit of a headache due to decades of contamination from a stunning cast of mine-related pollutants.

The skeleton of the aquifer's tale starts with evaporation ponds. Used for storing water contaminated with mine tailings, the ponds were improperly lined and, as a consequence, both highly acidic and contaminated water leaked from the ponds into the aquifer at rates estimated as high as seven million gallons a day from the 1960s onward.

Two contamination plumes, named A and B, together cover about 72 square miles, or three million acre-feet of water. This is about one-seventh the amount of water held by the Great Salt Lake.

In 1986, the EPA and state of Utah filed a natural resources damage claim against Kennecott for the mess. Over time, a consent decree was formed among stakeholders; among other things, it requires Kennecott and the Jordan Valley Water Conservancy District (JVWCD) to treat enough water to provide for the needs of about 3,500 families.

The EPA estimated that pumping all the water out, treating it and then pumping it back into the aquifer-a process called full remediation- would cost $2.2 billion. But, thanks to the consent decree, it won't be necessary to invest such a large sum. The plan Kennecott is banking on will come in at around $184 million.

Among the differences between full remediation of the aquifer and the bare minimum required by the consent decree is the remaining contamination. The process by which the water is treated, reverse osmosis, doesn't nullify the byproduct of decades of spill; it simply treats water, leaving a byproduct behind. Since on-site storage is not feasible, the treated water goes to the taps and the acidic waters and contaminated byproduct is traveling-somewhere.

For now, it's en route to an existing tailings pond near Magna, but the byproduct is not expected to rest there forever (indeed, the master plan calls for houses to be built in this area). Like most Utahns, you are probably familiar with how the story of hazardous material storage ends. Let's see ... how did that go? Oh, yeah. No one is entirely sure.

Kennecott and JVWCD had applied for a permit to dump the acidic water and concentrates directly into the Jordan River, which would ferry most of the soup to the Great Salt Lake. The permit application was recently withdrawn amid questions of how this would affect other wells and aquifers and, most importantly, the delicate Great Salt Lake ecosystem.

No one is sure what to do with the byproduct. The decisions await recommendations from the new taskforce charged by the state of Utah with determining if selenium (and other contaminants) concentrated at these levels may be harmful to the Great Salt Lake environment. Results are expected this fall.

Since selenium and other contaminants bioaccumulate in organisms of fin and feather-meaning that as more selenium is stored in a given species' tissues over time, those who feed on them will consume even more selenium, which stores in their tissues for consumption by the next level-members of the taskforce have their hands full.

A cursory search of environmental health literature yields multiple, field-documented case studies of toxic effects of selenium at well below the level deemed safe by the EPA (5 parts per billion).

Perhaps the strangest aspect to the story of selenium concerns the tailings pond in Magna: Just like the sites that led to contamination of the aquifer in the southwest valley, the pond is unlined. Weber points out that the tailings pond was not built to be a holding pond for selenium or any other byproduct concentrate. "It's too close to the lake for me," he says.

Because sand is the essential filter for the Magna tailings pond, most concentrates will be safe on site. But according to Weber, this particular form of selenium stays in solution with water and will inevitably migrate. "In geologic time," he says, "it will be in the lake. And if an earthquake hits... it will travel even quicker." Combine several plausible scenarios, like an earthquake and higher lake waters due to climate change, and you're looking at a greatly polluted Salt Lake.

Now add this to the mix: Kennecott and other industrial polluters currently pump selenium and other diluted byproduct concentrates directly into Great Salt Lake (from other contaminated sites). If the addition of aquifer contaminants isn't enough to affect the lake's ecosystem, how much is?

The contaminants are of concern while in the aquifer, but Weber believes that they are not currently causing any demonstrable harm to species. If allowed to be deposited in the lake, the contaminants may be interfering with brine, birds and a broader ecosystem. Weber's argument is that since the lake provides critical habitat for nesting shorebirds and water fowl, this matter is "hempispherically important and arguably globally important."

Just as with radioactive waste, public policy should be applied to solve current problems in an anticipatory manner that assures minimal impact on any other systems. In this case, the "solution" of temporary storage at the Magna tailings pond and eventual placement in the Great Salt Lake (this is, at present, the only long-term option being discussed) may be just as bad, if not worse, than the original problem.

The issue of contamination is much larger, however, since selenium isn't the only byproduct worth examining. The south arm of the Great Salt Lake already has the highest level of mercury measured by the U.S. Geological Survey in any water nationwide.

The aquifer cleanup is a complicated issue. Even if $2 billion is a hefty fee to fully remediate the polluted aquifer, it would have theoretically allowed for the use of 100% of the aquifer's water. Instead, the consent decree dictates a partial splash of treatment and lets Kennecott pack up after 40 years.

Not all stakeholders can be consulted, either. Future generations along the Wasatch Front will have very few new water sources to consider; thus, the remaining aquifer waters may be considered as a culinary source. If so, who will supply the dime for clean up? JVWCD engineer Mark Atenzio believes that less than 10% of the current contamination will remain after Kennecott ceases treatment, but remediation of that remaining contamination-at some future point-is likely to be a costly matter.

...Read More >>

Regulars & Shorts

Editor's Notebook: A Car, a Bike, and Two Sturdy Legs-by Greta Belanger deJong On Monday morning, May 7, my car was stolen from my driveway. A quiet neighborhood, near the University. Who would think to steal a 20-year-old Saab? And "why me?"

That's an interesting question that I'll contemplate tomorrow, after we go to press. The truth is, I'd been riding my bike so much that I didn't even notice my car was gone until someone pointed it out to me.

Maybe I've anthropomorphized my car enough that it's acquired a mind and will of its own: If it wants to take itself on a little vacation, so be it. But it's over three weeks, now. I really need to make a CostCo run. Besides, the dogs are jonesing for a hike in the foothills. And they'd really like their retractable leashes back.

Or maybe it has to do with the Universe dealing me a relatively gentle lesson in loss. No dead bodies, no blood, all limbs still accounted for.

Of course, I still half-hope to look out the window one morning and see her back in the driveway. Maybe with a note of apology taped to the steering wheel, and a full tank of gas.

Yeah, sure.

While of course I'm annoyed at my car's disappearance, and wouldn't mind dumping a week's worth of fresh dog turds in the thief's bed, should he ever be found, in the meantime I'm having a blast riding my bike. On the night of May 19 I rode to the Pedal Pushers Film Festival at the Depot, where dozens of others had also ridden their bikes -no parking problems that night. Afterward, a swarm of guys, not the Lycra crowd, hopped on their single-speed bikes and flew down South Temple en mass. A beautiful sight. My friend Keith, who owns six bikes (which is to say he is a pretty hard-core athlete and gearhead) speedily guided me through the ins and outs of urban night-riding as we zipped through and around traffic, to places it seemed appropriate to visit by bike in the night: the amateur burlesque show and bake sale at Bar Deluxe, the curb of the State Street Chevron station where we ate microwaved burritos and watched the "real" bikers, to the highlight of the evening, my first visit to the Republican, an Irish pub with a loaded bike rack inside. Ours made 10. Not that I could lift my heavy old bike onto the overhead rack.

I love my bike, a red Specialized with streamers, a bell and a blue crate on the rear. It was a gift from a whole bunch of friends about 10 years ago. It serves me well, daily.

I was content until this past Saturday, when Pax suggested we drop by Wasatch Touring to test ride a new-style road bike he saw in the window. Sure, why not?

I rode this new bike east on First South, the same route I take at least once a day. It moved twice as fast, with half the effort.

Now, when I climb onto my own serviceable bike, it seems... old. It has made me stronger, without my even noticing. (You should feel my thighs.) But will I be able to resist the siren call of this new toy (which also happens to be red, and a Specialized)?

Ah. That's just it. Since my car was stolen, I can fake a serious look and say we're now talking not about toys, but about transportation. And $500 for a new bike sure beats any car payment.

Do you ever find yourself saying and thinking one thing... and, before you know it, doing something else?

I need a week of simple peace and solitude, I said. Torrey? Boulder, Utah? Within a week, I was on a plane to Honduras. What? I didn't even know where Honduras was.

A week in the town of Tela, on the Caribbean, in a $13.50/night room, private bath with hot shower if you're clever enough to get it to work. Nary another American in sight. The type of solitude I'd had in mind was not on the agenda, except for one afternoon in a cabana on the beach, pictured here. I rented a mountain bike and spent an adventurous day in the Lancetilla Botanical Garden, which is far more rugged (and, apparently, dangerous) than its genteel name allows; twice, got caught up in parades around the town square -something to do with "municipal corruption"; and was awakened at 4:54 a.m. by a man with a bullhorn beneath my window, accompanied by a drum- as I speak no Spanish, I had no idea what he was enthusing about. It was a delightful, if unexpected, week.

Sitting in the sun, on a rock, maybe by water, still sounds good-and necessary. One joy of living in a place like Salt Lake City: I can bike to it.

Greta Belanger deJong is the editor and publisher of CATALYST. greta@catalystmagazine.net.

...Read More >>

Slightly Off Center: The Zen of the CarAuto aphorisms.
-by Dennis Hinkamp
Love them or hate them, automobiles have a revered place in our society. They are held in such high regard that it's surprising we have not written them into scripture. To fill that void I humbly offer these aphorisms:

Live your life as though you were a car with a broken fuel gauge; uncertain when the end will come, but careful to refill yourself at regular intervals.

We all eventually rust - which can be hidden, but not stopped, with a little putty and paint.

It's not the age, it's the mileage. Many young people are old in this respect and vice versa.

It's best not to be the most attractive car in the lot lest you draw too much attention and be stolen, anesthetized and sold for parts on the black market.

Likewise the most attractive car in the showroom may fetch a high price but may not be the best value. New cars devalue faster than those of moderate age.

Having a loud engine draws much attention, but it does not have anything to do with performance. Run your engine quietly and sneak up on people. If they disdain your quietness, sneak up on them and run them over the next time.

It does no good to carry a spare if that spare is flat. Likewise your food storage will serve for naught if it is old and spoiled.

There is little difference between recycling and reincarnation. You can find some good deals in the junk yard. You might as well shop there because we all end up there eventually.

When your life starts to skid, steer into it and pump the brakes rather than slamming on them, lest you end up a total wreck.

There are windbags and airbags. Know the difference. Choose more of the latter and fewer of the former.

Everyone needs a little help getting started in the morning, and we all need to get jumped once in a while. It's better if it's by someone you know and love.

Some relationships are like the little spare tire, just meant to get you to a place where you can find a long-lasting replacement.

Ethanol is not chemically different than 200-proof grain alcohol. Try not to get drunk on either.

Drive not with distraction. Would you want your dentist talking on the cell phone and eating a burrito while he worked?

Driving fast gets you there sooner but often not as relaxed. It's call rush hour for a reason.

Seat covers, especially those that stretch, can hide a multitude of defects.

Life has many opportunities to set the emergency brake, but most often ignore them.

Be not mysterious. Use your turn signals.

Pass on the left, slower traffic on the right: I think this aptly describes our political system. u

Dennis Hinkamp owns two cars that he listens to intently.

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Enviro Update: June 2007Environmental news from around the state and the west.
by Amy Brunvand
"Outstandingly remarkable" Utah rivers: Forest Service seeks input

Which, if any, of the eligible river segments in Utah national forests should be recommended to the U.S. Congress for inclusion in the National Wild and Scenic River System? The U.S. Forest Service currently seeks public comments and suggestions to answer this question and prepare a draft environmental impact statement for rivers that flow through the Ashley, Dixie, Fishlake, Manti-LaSal, Uinta and Wasach-Cache national forests. Eligible segments (listed on the project website), must be free-flowing and have at least one "outstandingly remarkable value." Inclusion in the National Wild and Scenic River System means that these river segments and surrounding environments would be managed to preserve the character of the river.

Information and map of eligible river segments: www.fs.fed.us/r4/rivers/ Comments due by June 30, 2007 to r4_utah_rivers@fs.fed.us

Little Hole saved from resort development

It took $1.625 million to save Little Hole on the Green River near Flaming Gorge from commercial development, but in the end the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources won the bid and saved 336 acres for wildlife, anglers and all Utah's present and future citizens. The Little Hole property was put up for auction by the Utah State Institutional Trust Lands Administration after a resort developer expressed interest in buying it, even though the area is a world-famous trout stream and one of the "outstandingly remarkable" river segments under consideration in the U.S. Forest Service Wild and Scenic Rivers suitability study. Money for the purchase came from the Utah Reclamation and Mitigation Commission, and from Questar Exploration and Production Company after the Utah Nature Conservancy helped negotiate a deal.

The threat of losing a public treasure like Little Hole has demonstrated a compelling need for better public accountability and government oversight regarding the way SITLA manages 3.5 million acres of Utah real estate. The land in question was donated by the Federal government in 1896 to generate revenue for public schools, and the SITLA mission statement specifically says that "beneficiaries do not include other governmental institutions or agencies, the public at large, or the general welfare of the state." As a result, SITLA refused to consider selling the Little Hole property directly to DWR, insisting that maximum short-term profits overrode any public interest in preserving the outstanding natural and recreational area (in fact, SITLA employees get cash bonuses for land sales, so they have a strong motivation to put profit over public good). Although SITLA money does help Utah school children, Utah's natural heritage is certainly equally valuable (and potentially more precious) to kids as classroom learning. Governor Jon Huntsman Jr. and the Utah Legislature could choose to avoid the sorry situation of a state agency battling against the interest of Utah citizens by changing the mandate of SITLA so that sensitive lands can be sold for conservation, not development.

DWR news release: wildlife.utah.gov/news/07-05/little_hole.php

Utah Moms for Clean Air

In 2006, the Wasatch Front had 16 "no drive" days when air pollution levels made it unsafe for children to play outdoors. Since air pollution is linked to asthma, low birth weight, childhood cancer and environmental mercury (which may cause autism), a newly formed activist group called Utah Moms for Clean Air asks Utah citizens to eliminate at least one car trip per day in order to help keep air safe for children to breathe. More information and calls to action are on their website.

www.utahmomsforcleanair.org

Sierra Club reports on Utah Legislative session

Big green tree-hugging kudos to Utah Representatives Ralph Becker, Christine Johnson, David Litvack and Roz McGee and State Senator Scott McCoy-the only five members of the Utah legislature to achieve a 100% pro-environment voting record on the Utah Sierra Club 2007 Utah Legislature Environmental Scorecard. Find out how your Utah legislators voted on key environmental issues.

http://utah.sierraclub.org/legislative.asp

Museum to build on foothills site

The Utah Museum of Natural History has finalized plans to build a new museum facility in the foothills east of the Bonneville Shoreline Trail near Research Park with a large parking lot replacing the gambel oak stand just west of the trail. The plan will result in significant changes to a popular, easy-access natural area which is heavily used for outdoor recreation. An estimated 59% of gambel low oak, 23% of tall oak and 58% of sagebrush on the 17-acre site will be lost. However, the plan does contain some environmental accommodations. Scheduled shuttles will make the facility accessible from TRAX, and sidewalks will be built for pedestrian access. Parking may be shared with Red Butte Garden to reduce the size of the paved area. An attempt will be made to preserve tall oak communities; the Utah Native Plant Society will relocate species such as sego lily and Viola beckwithii. The Red Butte Garden fence may be realigned to accommodate deer migration.

The decision to build on the site was partly based on an assumption that if the museum didn't build there someone else would (with even less environmental sensitivity). The Record of Decision for the project contains an overdue recommendation that the University of Utah begin a cooperative long-range foothills planning process geared towards preservation of remaining open space, native vegetation, wildlife habitat and recreation.

Utah Museum of Natural History Final EIS and Record of Decision: www.umnh.utah.edu/

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Eco House: Awnings & Window FilmSave energy and keep sun damage and heat under control with adjustable awnings and efficient window films, both available in DIY kits.
by James Dulley
The sun's heat and glare are pretty intense through our windows and my furniture is fading. I have seen some attractive adjustable awnings. Are decorative window awnings really very effective?

-Kay M.

New awning designs are effective for shading windows, blocking 60% of heat. Awnings with decorator fabrics are becoming quite popular for use on homes, both for shading windows and for protection over doors.

Installing awning kits will lower your air-conditioning costs and improve your comfort. It can also increase the life of your furniture, carpeting, books, artwork and drapes. The same ultraviolet (UV) rays that cause fading actually degrade and weaken fibers.

The new lightweight awnings, with strong aluminum frames (hidden under the fabric), require little maintenance. An occasional brushing of the awning fabric and rinsing with water and Ivory Flakes keep it looking like new. Many awnings have a five-year warranty on the hardware and the fabric.

The basic design choices are adjustable and fixed. Adjustable awnings give you precise control over the level of shading year-round. In the winter, you may want to let more sun in for free heat. Keep in mind, though: Furniture fading occurs in the winter, too.

From indoors, using a pull tape or a switch, you adjust the awning position to cover as much glass as you wish. A half-inch hole is required. For the ultimate convenience, install a remote-controlled electric motor. The motor is hidden in the awning fabric tube.

As you open an adjustable awning, two spring-loaded arms keep the fabric taut for an attractive appearance. For privacy, security or during storms, some models (like the Solaro and Perma System) adjust nearly all the way down (160 degrees) so the awning lays almost flat against the window.

Fixed designs, because of their simplicity, are less expensive. They are also the easiest to install. When choosing one, be sure it's sized properly. The correct size depends on the window size, your area's latitude and the window orientation.

One new design, Poncashade, is delivered in a flat box with a preassembled hinged frame. The acrylic fabric is already attached to the frame. You just drill four holes to attach the awning to your house. It took me about 10 minutes to install one over my own back door.

If you are primarily interested in the appearance of awnings, English-style canopy designs are a good choice. These are available in three-, four- or five-rib, ellipse or circular designs. Retractable canopy designs are available, but they do not adjust. They are either fully up or extended.

The sun's heat and glare are uncomfortable coming through the windows and it is also fading my furniture and carpeting. Will applying clear inexpensive insulating window film minimize these problems?

-Jack N.

New insulating window films can reduce heat and glare by more than 50% and block nearly all the sun's ultraviolet fading rays through your windows. True insulating window films also reduce heat loss during winter and make sitting by a window more comfortable year-round.

Insulating window films are not totally "clear," but the tint in some is so slight that when applied to the window glass, it is barely noticeable. All window film makes glass more shatter-resistant. Some heavier films can also enhance security against window break-ins.

Window film is available in rolls or single window boxes for do-it-yourself (DIY) application or from professional installers. Installing it yourself can save up to 75% compared to professionally installed film.

Residential window films are considered permanent because, with proper cleaning, they can last 10 years or more. If you decide to remove the film at a later date, the manufacturers offer removal solutions that quickly dissolve the adhesive. The window glass surface is not harmed.

The primary difference between DIY and professional films from companies that offer both is the type of adhesive used. On all but the largest windows which require more installation skills, DIY application looks as good. Professional installation does have the advantage of a long warranty.

True insulating window films derive their energy-saving/comfort properties from a low-emissivity (low-e) coating in the film. This is the same low-e technology used on new super-efficient replacement window glass.

This low-e coating is a microscopically thin layer of metal on the film's inner layer. Visible light passes through this layer. Heat energy from the sun and reflected from walkways, patios, and other surfaces is a different wavelength than visible light; the low-e film blocks it. During winter, this film also keeps heat indoors.

Energy-saving qualities vary widely for different window films, so don't just buy the cheapest film on sale. Compare the film properties first. The emissivity is a key property to determine year-round insulating/comfort value. Shading coefficient indicates how much heat/glare are blocked.

If you can wash a window, you can easily install insulating window film yourself. You purchase the film, in pieces from a roll or in boxes, and a simple installation kit. Most films have a water-activated adhesive on one side.

Download (from www.dulley.com): Update Bulletin No. 736-buyer's guide of adjustable and fixed window and door awning kits (canopies, small and large adjustable awnings, adjustable vertical awnings), widths, projections, fabrics, features, suggestions on measuring for an awning, recommended cleaning of acrylic awnings, benefits of a fabric awning, explanation of how awnings save energy, prices and illustrations. $3.

Download (from www.dulley.com): Update Bulletin No. 617-buyer's guide of do-it-yourself and professional window film manufacturers (34 films) listing colors, properties (total solar transmittance, total solar reflectance, total solar absorption, visible light transmittance, ultraviolet rejected, U-factor, shading coefficient, emissivity, total solar energy rejected), prices, definitions/technical terms of the properties and installation instructions. $3.

Send questions to James Dulley c/o greta@catalystmagazine.net.

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Chef Profile: Vertical DinerSage's Cafe owner Ian Brandt opens a new joing; SLC gets another vegan restaurant.
-by Mandy Jeppsen
I first met Ian Brandt four years ago when I interviewed him for a CATALYST piece about his vegan eaterie, Sage's Cafe. I was pleasantly surprised by his voracious energy- the man could talk the talk on subjects ranging from organic foods and farming to vegan cuisine and ways to make a restaurant more sustainable.

Brandt's new Vertical Diner, just three months old, is located in the "new South Salt Lake Arts District" (a term coined by Brandt himself, and picked up by plucky Utah media outlets including this one), the industrial neighborhood seems a risky choice for a vegetarian diner. But Brandt says the locals are responding very well, and of the 25% who may wander in hoping for beefy burgers and fries, he says the majority leave happy and satisfied with a vegan meal.

The "arts district" is slowly becoming a happenin' spot just outside of downtown; SLC Bicycle Collective and Poor Yorick Studios also live there. Brandt says cheaper rent allows sustainable local business in the neighborhood. He has recently spoken with the Salt Lake City Arts Council to find out if they might provide resources to further flesh out an arts district, perhaps even supporting a Winterfest or other ventures, but the verdict is still out.

The Vertical Diner building, a 1920s diner, housed several other restaurants before Brandt took on the lease. Brandt himself gutted and redid the interior, using his ingenuity to create a unique space. He recycled and reupholstered booths discarded by Todd's Bar and Grill, and he hand-painted Asian wall hangings acquired from a defunct Midvale Chinese restaurant. Some of the windows are recycled. Brandt painted a fabulous cityscape on the south wall to tie the whole Asian-diner theme together. Adding to the fun is a free jukebox spouting hits from all genres, creating an eclectic variety of sound.

Cuisine at the Vertical is around 35% organic, and all coffees, teas and cocoas are fair trade. Brandt uses no hydrogenated oils or preservatives in his food. His cuisine concept is similar to Sage's, but this time, he is focusing on providing vegan food at affordable prices and at a faster-serviced pace. Menu items include combos, where customers can choose from biscuits and gravy or hash browns and then add choices to create a breakfast or lunch. An example might include hashbrowns plus two choices, say, sausage and the tofu scramble, for $6. Brandt hopes to attract a younger crowd with his less expensive options. Other menu items include pancakes, philly cheeze steak sandwich, salads, chicken strips, rice bowls with tofu or tempeh, burritos-even milkshakes and cheese fries for those with a diner appetite. (All made with plant-based alternatives to meat and dairy, of course!) Brandt's shoofly cake is delicious. It's his grandmother's recipe based on an Amish coffee cake made with blackstrap molasses, a common dessert in his native Pennsylvania, but unique to Salt Lake. The Vertical also offers 17 beers, mimosas, wine and sake. It might seem a little out of the way, but at about 22nd South and West Temple, the Vertical Diner is a fun place to eat, and, hey, the location may soon be the coolest neighborhood to hang out in since Sugar House.

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Animals Animals: Pit BullsGood dogs may get a bad rap.
-by Sunny Branson
For some, the name alone conjures up negative images of snarling, ferocious, uncontrollable dogs. But many pit bull owners know the truly sweet and devoted family pets they can be. Are pit bulls really "hard-wired" to attack? Will the animal turn on its owner, triggered by a crazed subconscious instinct? Pit bull advocates are convinced these are myths and that the big problem is not with the breed itself, but with pet owners and breeders.

History

It is believed that breeders developed pit bulls during the Elizabethan Era (1558-1603) specially for the entertainment called the "bull pit." The dogs were placed in a pit with a bull, bear or other large animal-forced to fight or be killed. The dogs perfected the method of lunging for the jugular, sinking in their teeth, and hanging on until the larger animal bled to death. In the mid-1800s, bull pit fighting was banned, so the promoters came up with a new form of entertainment-fighting dogs against dogs in smaller rings that could be kept inconspicuous.

One requirement for winning these dog fights was to prove the dog's obedience to its master.

The dog's owner would enter the ring near the end of the fight and pick up the still-battling dog. Only if the dog didn't turn on its master was it declared the winner. The dogs were bred for strength, fearlessness, tolerance to pain, resolve and - most of all - 100% obedience.

Today dog fighting is outlawed in the United States and many other countries, but there are still underground organizers. Those breeding pit bulls for this "blood sport" focus on aggression toward other dogs in their breeding choices.

Banning the breed

Aggression toward humans is not a normal pit bull trait; however, pit bull assaults on humans have increased in the last 10 years, mostly because unscrupulous breeders have concentrated on aggression traits to appeal to people wanting a mean-looking guard dog. This has been the downfall of the pit bull breed.

Due to fatal or near-fatal attacks on humans by pit bulls or dogs looking like pitbulls, many cities have issued bans on the entire breed. Denver issued a ban in 1989, and animal services seized pets right from their homes for euthanizing. Frantic pet owners sent their dogs out of state to stay with relatives, or moved themselves, to save their pit bulls.

The problem with this type of regulation is that it's based on looks and not real issues of behavior or temperament. A pit bull, as it happens, is not a single breed. The name refers to several breeds including the American pit bull terrier, the American Staffordshire terrier, the Staffordshire bull terrier and several other breeds that have physical similarities, not to mention the thousands upon thousands of mixed breeds. The animal services agent is left to decide whether the dog looks "pit" enough, which critics call arbitrary and unreasonable.

Another city to ban the breed is Utah's own South Jordan. In 1997, the City Council declared it to be unlawful to own or harbor a pit bull, or any breed that strongly resembled the physical traits of a pit bull, within the city limits.

Critics of these ordinances say that a blanket ban on an entire breed is misguided. They hold that the law should instead target irresponsible owners and breeders, and only dogs proven dangerous.

Friends and owners speak to the friendliness of the breed. One man said he's afraid of all dogs except his roommate's pit bull because she's just so sweet. Many say their pits make wonderful family pets and claim they are very protective of small children. They praise the devotion of pit bulls, their trainability, and their eagerness to please. Another man talks about how he uses his pit bull as a pillow when they nap together. There is no doubt of the special bond between many pit bulls and their families.

A 1991 study in Denver compared dogs with a history of biting people with a random sample of dogs with no history of biting. No pit bulls were included in the study because of the ban. Among other things, the study found that biters were more likely to have a history of long-term chaining, which begs the question: Are the dogs chained because they are aggressive or aggressive because they are chained? The study concluded it's a bit of both.

Many dogs that are chained most of the time are not socialized to people. They may not realize that children are small human beings and simply see them as prey. The Denver study showed that in many cases, vicious dogs are hungry or in need of medical attention, conditions that owners of frequently chained animals may miss because the dogs aren't part of the family environment. Often, vicious dogs had a history of aggressive incidents. However, the strongest connection of all was between the trait of dog viciousness and certain kinds of dog owners. In about a quarter of fatal dog-bite cases, the dog owners were previously involved in illegal dogfighting.

Pit bull rescues

The staff of Wasatch Animal Rescue has the task of finding homes for adult pit bulls, usually with little or no history provided about the animals. Many animal rescues won't accept pit bull breeds, and some that do euthanize hastily without determining whether the dog is friendly and well-trained or vicious.

Most people don't realize that nearly all pit bulls dropped at a shelter never leave. This makes the need for no-kill pit bull rescues especially great. The Wasatch staff and a few other no-kill Utah rescues assess the temperament of each animal and then go about finding an appropriate home.

"Because of the inconsistency in pit bull breeding, we have to treat each animal individually," says Heather Franc, owner of Wasatch Animal Rescue. "If the dog proves to have a strong prey drive, we recommend a home without cats or other pets. However, the one warning we give to any potential pit bull adopter is to be vigilant on walks with the dog. If another dog starts a fight, even a well-trained, friendly pit bull has a very strong drive to succeed in a fight."

Transforming aggressive

pit bulls

The ASPCA suggests early socialization of pit bull puppies. Puppies of all breeds need to be socialized with other dogs in order to learn how to interact, play and communicate with them. But they say pit bull puppies need more than the average amount of socializing to modify their natural play behavior, which is often rougher than that of other breeds.

A puppy is one challenge, but an adult dog trained to be aggressive is a completely different animal. If you have a pit bull showing aggression, call a dog behavior specialist. It can make a world of difference.

Heather Beck, owner of K9 Lifeline, is a dog behavior specialist who has three pit bulls of her own. She was trained in the methods of Cesar Milan, the famous dog whisperer seen on the National Geographic Channel.

"If you don't give the dog something as physically and mentally stimulating as what it was bred to do, you will end up with a frustrated dog," says Beck. "I have met a lot of troubled pit bulls with obedience issues, some with aggression issues, but I've never met one I couldn't train. It's usually about correcting the mistakes the owners are making. My job is to educate people about how dogs think and why they act the way they do."

Beck believes that dogs in leadership positions act out in aggression. They are bored, and one form of stimulating activity is to fight or attack. Consistent, disciplined training can solve this problem.

Owners can provide many stimulating activities for their pit bulls. Many turn to agility exercises or training the dogs as therapy animals. Some pit bulls find fulfillment working with law enforcement.

One benefit of Beck's training is that even older, ill-behaved pit bulls can be transformed into obedient pets. A dog-aggressive pit bull should not be taken to basic obedience classes with other dogs, for obvious reasons. But with the one-on-one behavior training, pit bulls can transform within just a couple of weeks. Beck says her clients see a difference after the initial consultation.

Because of the stigma associated with this breed, the lack of qualified responsible owners, and the lack of no-kill shelters that will take them, pit bull breeds are in great need of adoptive families. If you are considering bringing a pit bull into your family, please check your local animal rescues, or go to www.petfinder.com.

Adoptable Pit Bulls

Diego
Diego is an 18-month old male pit bull mix. He is very sweet, but needs training. He likes to jump and body slam, so should not live with children. Diego is good with most dogs and with cats that will ignore him. He is crate-trained, but still working on house training. Contact Community Animal Welfare Society: 801-328-4731.
Diego and other pit bulls can be found at
Pet Samaritan in Salt Lake:
(801) 277-9263
Humane Society of Utah: (801) 261-2919
Camelot Pet Resort: 801-292-8228
Community Animal Welfare Society:
801-328-4731

Sunny Branson is co-owner of Single Malt Media, volunteers for Wasatch Animal Rescue, and sponsors two pot-bellied pigs at Ching Farm Sanctuary.

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Good Dog: After "Sit" Comes "Down"Gradual steps will help your dog get it.
-by Johanna Teresi
I bet your dog listens to "sit" but "down" is more of a challenge.

Or maybe your dog will only "down" from a sitting position, but not from a standing one. Maybe your dog "downs" with no problem, but your back is beginning to hurt from bending all the way over to the floor to signal the down.

First, let's start with the basics. With a treat ready in your hand, ask your dog to sit. Then take the treated hand and immediately place it directly under your dog's muzzle and move your hand down to the floor. Keeping it on the floor, move your hand away from your dog. Do not say the "down" command. Your dog will probably follow the treat. If your dog "downs," reward with a C/T (click and treat). Repeat 5-10 times. Now add the "down" command immediately before you lure your dog into the "down" with a treat. C/T when your dog is in the "down" position. Repeat 5-10 times. Then switch to occasional rewards.

If your dog pops up from the sit when you try to lure him into a "down," you may need to first move your hand downward in a straight line instead of down and out. Gently hold your dog from popping up by placing your free hand on your dog's back with very little pressure.

Maybe your dog just doesn't want to go into a "down" at all. Sit on the floor and raise one leg with your foot still on the floor so that your leg forms an arc. The goal will be to get your dog to crawl under your leg. Your leg should be just high enough so that when your dog is under he is forced to stay in the "down" position, but your leg should not be exerting pressure on your dog's back. First, you will reward your dog for inching toward your leg. Repeat this step 5-10 times. Next, reward your dog for inching toward your leg again, but this time your dog should be a bit closer than in the previous step. Repeat this 5-10 times. Gradually increase the distance that your dog needs to travel until at least his head is under your leg. Repeat each step 5-10 times. Keep going gradually until your dog's back is under your leg, which gently forces the dog into the "down". Remember to repeat and C/T each step closer 5-10 times. Once your dog readily "downs" with your leg, try to remove your leg and lure your dog into the "down" as described in paragraph two.

Some dogs will only "down" from a sit but not from a stand. You can use behavior catching to solve this problem. Watch your dog throughout the day, and when you see that your dog is about to "down" voluntarily, immediately say "down." Then C/T the "down." If this doesn't work, then try luring your dog under your leg as described above.

The final step after your dog will "down" without a treat lure is to change your hand motion to the floor to a hand signal. First ask your dog to ""down"" by lowering your open hand, palm down, to the floor. Gradually lessen the amount you lower your hand until the motion becomes a subtle signal which you can make without bending over. Remember to change in gradual steps and C/T each step 5-10 times before changing to the next. When your dog "downs" reliably with the hand signal, switch to occasional rewards.

Great! Now your dog really does know how to "down!"

Johanna Teresi is a professional dog trainer and owner of Four Legged Scholars LLC. fourleggedscholars.com.

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Dance: Dance for JoyInstructions for everyday expression.
-by Amy Brunvand
People talk about "dancing for joy," but in real life you almost never actually see anybody (aside from dogs) spontaneously break out dancing just because they are so happy they can't keep it inside. I don't mean to say that dancing people aren't joyful. It's just that it usually seems like the dancing comes first and joy follows from it. To me, "dancing for joy" implies that joy is the cause that makes dancing irresistible. Maybe a lot of people out there actually feel intense joy deep down inside, but they repress the urge to dance because they feel too shy to dance in public (I sometimes feel that way myself), but lately I've been thinking that there are periods in life when it's just very, very hard to connect with joy.

Of course dancing is not always meant to be joyful, and there are plenty of dances that express the hardships of life: Tango is for people with broken hearts; flamenco taps into duende, a spirit which draws on a universal power of sorrow and intense emotion. Even polka, the world's happiest dance, has a punk side which strongly hints at the manic half of manic-depression.

However, in her book "Dancing in the Streets: A History of Collective Joy" (Metropolitan Books, 2007), Barbara Ehrenreich suggests that today's epidemic of depression could actually be cured by more opportunities for communal pleasure such as carnivals and other traditional festivities. She views the suppression of public celebrations as a power-play for class and race dominance, and writes, "Elite hostility to Dionysian festivities goes beyond pragmatic concerns about the possibility of uprisings or the seduction of the youth. Philosophically, too, elites cringe from the spectacle of disorderly public joy."

Well, perhaps it is a cliché that innocent, unaffected children are more capable than adults of finding joy in everyday things, but one thing they can get away with is being disorderly in public. My two-year-old daughter Rosalie doesn't talk much yet, but certain things make her extremely happy, and she communicates her delight through ecstatic dance. Her dances aren't just random movement, either. The steps and patterns seem deliberate since she nearly always does the same dance to celebrate similar occasions. (Her big sister eggs her on by pointing out opportunities to dance.) It seems that dancing for joy is infectious. If an opportunity for joyful dance arises but Rosalie isn't nearby, her big sister performs Rosalie's happy dances herself and announces, "If Rosalie were here, she would do this."

I suppose one of these days Rosalie will outgrow her dancing, but I'll be sorry when she does. For one thing, the sight of a cherubic toddler dancing for joy is one of those unremarkable but wonderful moments that add a spark of joy to an otherwise dreary day. More deeply, her dances remind me to notice joy when I might have missed it. Very rarely, when I don't think anyone is looking, I'll sneak in a Rosalie dance myself.

If you have been feeling a need to reconnect with joy, give it a try. I'm sure Rosalie won't mind if you do her dances. Here are the instructions:

Joy of Spring: Find a blossoming tree and get a tall person to shake it so that petals fall like snowflakes. Raise your arms towards the falling petals and spin.

Joy of Puddles: Find a place where sprinklers or rain showers have left a shallow puddle of clear water. Jump in with both feet and dance with small, rapid, flat-footed steps so as to create a splashing percussive sound. (Note: This dance is best accomplished in rubber boots, river sandals or other waterproof footgear).

Joy of Manhole Covers: When you see a manhole cover, utter a cry of joy, run to it and jump on. Dance with small, rapid steps while turning in a small circle. At the end of each rotation, spring into the air.

Joy of Doughnuts: Upon approaching a doughnut store, run quickly forward, taking very long steps with your right foot and very short steps with your left foot. The desired effect is a syncopated mazurka step with an aspect of galloping.

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Babying the Buddha: Take TenKindra looks at "Take 10: Meditations for the Hurried Parent," by local author Robyn Pratt.
-by Kindra Fehr
For parents, memories are always in the making. Many of us have a burning desire to record them because we know each experience is fleeting and will quickly be forgotten in the next new exciting milestone. In "Take Ten: Meditations for the Hurried Parent," local author Robin Lynn Pratt has preserved and shared these very moments.

Thirteen essays offer tasty morsels of a mother's experience weaving her own childhood stories of mother and grandmother into her present experience as the mom of two growing boys. Each essay is short and sweet, a 10-minute retreat from the hurried life of a parent. It provides a moment of recognition for the reader and a bond with all mothers who have lived through these scenarios with their own unique spin.

Robin addresses the decision to switch careers from a job with pay to stay-at-home mom: " I now see my house as one giant 'In' basket, piling ever higher. I no longer get a lunch break, and I have two bosses threatening me with temper tantrums at a moment's notice." She also acknowledges, "I had no idea how much my identity had been wrapped in what I did for a living until I left the traditional working world."

She writes about the tender, quiet moments with her boys telling stories on a sleepless night or gently sifting through a treasure box of salvaged holographic fruit roll wrappers and yogurt tops. She consoles herself when her son Miles becomes too old to sit on her lap and outgrows cuddling with mom first thing in the morning. It couldn't be an accurate parenting book without pulling over the car, engaging the emergency brake and dishing out discipline of the same sort her mother used.

Although this is a series of parenting meditations, it also includes moments of finding and nurturing herself through music and writing and how these loves play into her parenting. She recognizes that "In addition to parenting, I was always scrambling to supplement my personal needs: being in a book club, a writer's group, quilting and sewing for home and for hire."

When asked, "What would you like your readers to take from this book?" Robin replied, "I hope my readers will gain a sense of companionship and inner peace, the things I was searching for as I wrote each story. Many of us question ourselves, our decisions, our courage and our stamina as we raise our children. But we don't always give ourselves time to reflect on our experience. I tried to be very honest about the conflicts I experienced, and especially about the elusiveness of resolutions. I also hope that my readers will take a little time to watch for their own family's "forever moments," because I think these are what help us define our relationship with our children." I believe that Robin has achieved these goals in an eloquent manner. I recommend that you "take ten" to see if you agree.

Kindra Fehr is an artist and mom to toddler Aria Hancock. She co-instructs the Salt Lake Art Center's KidsmART program.

"Take Ten: Meditations for the Hurried Parent," by Robin Lynn Pratt is available at the King's English Bookstore (1511 South 1500 East), Sam Weller's (254 South Main), and amazon.com. See more information about the book at www.robinlynnpratt.com.

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The Artful Kitchen: Sisters, Sisters...Judyth deviates from food this month to tell us about the heartbreak (and joy) of "psisterness."
-by Judyth Hill
When she was good
she was very very good
and when she was bad....

All I know is Mother Goose must have been talking about me when I am around my sister.

With no one else, ever, do I see red, go ballistic and start swinging a barbed cudgel of words and recriminations, including bringing up an arsenal of 30-year-old grievances as fresh as if they happened that morning, all the while weeping bitterly as if she were doing it to me.

I go from calm to Caligula, from Namaste to Miss Nasty in a nano-

second.

Of course, it is all her fault. It must be - she is my sister.

Does this make a single iota of sense to you? If not, your years of therapy and kergillion sesshins have paid off. If, however, your behavior can zoom into the certifiable over one innocuous remark about your weight, your shade of eyeliner, or (oh no, not this) your children...then you too are one of the million suffers of the Heartbreak of Psisterness.

What is it with us and our family members, anyway? We should be careful and tender with the ones that love us, instead, it's the no-holds-barred, all-bets-off version of love. We are kinder to perfect strangers, and even better to people who hate us.

OK, here's the story.

I went Back East. And back it is, emotionally atavistic more like; I'm amazed I didn't end up grunting and pointing, dragging my knuckles on the ground and craving huge gobbets of wooly mammoth tartare, or more to the point, a diary with a key, Clearasil and a subscription to Seventeen.

Have you been back in the Other America lately? No need to really go; just call there. Everyone is on the phone. Every minute. I was shocked at what looked like hundreds of outpatients muttering and gesturing, until I realized they were all plugged, ear- and mouthwise, into their pocketed phones.

Go out for dinner with friends, and everyone at the table, phone set on vibrate, is text-messaging other people they would probably prefer to be with, but because they are with you, they must settle for E-contact with everyone else in their circle.

It's as if every moment of the present must be charged with the exciting potential for a brighter future, or at least, a better date. That makes for intriguingly weird dinner atmospheres and a sort of partially scintillating conversations that are not actually occurring with you.

This revision of every rule of pre-existent mealtime etiquette would have Miss Post spinning - though her great-granddaughter Miss Manners might prescribe leaving the table to "take your calls" - in which case restaurants would have to set up tables for the sole purpose of enabling you to not be at yours.

What did I just say? Who knows? But I swear it's true.

Being really good friends with, or related by blood to, today's modern person means that an at-home evening hanging out together includes emailing, IMing, SKIFING, taking calls on cell and landlines, and checking messages on both, with the dispassionate fervor of diabetics monitoring blood sugar. If you can understand all the communijargon in that sentence, you probably have either been there or done that.

So I'll shut up right now, which is what I should have done then.

The mortifying truth is, besides my sister having the audacity to continue to live her own life while I was there, I Didn't Get My Way.

Following an evening when my sister took a call from a guy she hadn't met instead of watching "Memoirs of a Geisha" and drinking martinis with me (the nerve of her), we didn't get to go to the Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore because there would be too much traffic, and we could get dressed up to look extremely hot and go do Karaoke instead.

So, there you have it. That was my cue to go incendiary. I went insane. I do not exaggerate.

In a state of righteous indignation, a tantrum tornado, I packed my bags and marched them out to her driveway. Despite being two hours from anyone else I know, and from any form of even vaguely possible transport to the airport, not to mention that my ticket was for two days later, I went storming off in a huff, in a snit; I was leaving and no one can't make me.... Remind you of anything? Ever seen a five-year-old run away from home?

Ms. Demento slamming around and almost - almost - saying every awful thing that came to mind. While basically a raving maniac, I was also a good houseguest - I stripped my bed, put my sheets and used towels in her washer. Did I think I would later be evaluated on my ability to remain polite while utterly out of my mind? Was I worried my mother, rest her soul, would peer down from Death and see what I was doing to my Little Sister? Well, wouldn't she?

So are you getting this? There was no Incident.

I could easily decide there was - that is the whole point - because then I could be deliciously and thrillingly right, as only the Older Sister can be, and also, create a year, maybe two, where we don't speak, necessitating the inevitable sobbing, groveling middle-of-the-night phone call begging forgiveness, because I need her. Because she is, well, she is my sister.

And she was there for so many truly awful times growing up, the ones only we know, the times we had only each other to hold on to. We developed our dark Jewish humor to laugh and live through it, and it's the weight of all that history, isn't it? We share the unfathomable, intricate depths of our family mythos: We know, we were there; we love each other dearly. Damn, I hate when that happens.

We are privy to each other's secrets and stories, and it's not her fault she had a speaking part in my personal drama. And still does.

The question is how to find a way to, well, not exactly start fresh, because much of what is so precious is the density that is always between us. And do I behave unforgivably, just to prove I will be forgiven, to test again the temper of the metal that is our love?

So, maybe it's to learn to be at least semi-here and now, without the semi being the Mack truck of emotional baggage I'm still trying to hit her with...while simultaneously needing the EMT people myself.

This time I stopped myself. Before saying the terrible stuff, the "You Always...", and the "I Never...", the unforgivable that is part of the bedrock of sisterness. I walked down to the creek by her house, where we had gone for Tashlik on Rosh Hashanah, to toss our past failures and our gratitude into the moving waters, and I stayed quiet and breathing until the Blame and Shame storm had passed. Then I went back and made my bed and dragged my stuff back inside. What else?

Siblinghood is the triathlon of love. Just when you think you swam your fastest and jumped your highest, you now need to race a 30-geared bicycle along a course that ascends mystically up a crazy grade in 200% humidity.

In the end, we know we will be there; we will go the distance. We always have. That is what being a sister means. This is the short, and I hope, the very, very long of it.

So we got totally dolled up, and she did my makeup and let me borrow her Prescriptives Magic and gave me her eyelash curler and I gave her my honest and of course, correct, sisterly opinion on half an hour of wardrobe decisions, until she looked utterly fabulous, and we were both entirely cute.

We met her friends at the Karaoke bar, which turned out to be very wild and a major blast, and we downed huge cheeseburgers and thick, perfect fries, and drank big very pink Cosmos, and it was divine.

There was a 'way cool troupe of gay women, and one talk/crooned a quirky, sooo sexy version of "I Feel Pretty" to her girlfriend, and then my sister stood up and sang a throaty, heartstopping version of "Someone to Watch Over Me."

I was so glad, and relieved, to know I would.

Judyth Hill is a stand-up poet, living at Rockmirth, her 111 acre Eco-Arts Atelier in Northern New Mexico. She is the author of six books and the internationally acclaimed poem, "Wage Peace.

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Profile of a Goddess: Boann, Goddess of WaterGoddess Boann is here to invoke creative inspiration and to give you courage to go beyond what is comfortable in order to gain knowledge.
-by Carol Koleman
Boann: Goddess of Water
Translation: She of the White Cow
Religion: Celtic, approximately 12th century
AKA: Boand, Boannan, Buan

AKA in other mythologies: Approximately 46 water goddesses correspond to Boann, ranging from Nyai Loro Kidul (Javanese) to Atanea (Polynesian). Half of them appear in only four traditions-10 Celtic (Abnoba, Adsullata, Ancamna, Boann, Clota, Danu, Nantosuelta, Sequana, Nabia, Tamesis) , five Inuit (Arnakuagsak, Arnapkapfaaluk, Aulanerk, Nerrivik, Sedna), five Greek (Ceto, Harpina, Praxithea, Leucothea, Naiad) and four Aztec (Atlacamani, Atlatonin, Chalchiuhtlicue, Huixtocihuatl). While these goddesses represent different aspects of water such as rivers, oceans, lakes, hot springs, rain, wells, creative and destructive aspects of water, the womb, birthing, and so on, they are all one element. Why do these particular mythologies have so many goddesses associated with water?

Symbolism: A white cow. (Cows are sacred to Celts and the color 'white' is associated with illumination.) Hazelnuts, salmon and water all represent wisdom.

Mythology and interpretation: Long ago, in the time of the Tuatha de Danaan, there existed a sacred well, named Segais, which was the source of wisdom. The well stood hidden in the shade of nine hazelnut trees, its magical waters inhabited by salmon who ate of the nuts as they fell into the water, providing them with the knowledge of the universe. The keeper of this well was Nechtan, god of water. Because this was a sacred place, only he and his three cupbearers were allowed to approach the well. They were the guardians who kept anyone from entering these sacred grounds and possibly obtaining knowledge no mortal or other god should understand.

But curious Boann, the goddess wife of Nechtan, challenged this law by approaching the well to partake of its wisdom. She walked counter-clockwise around the well, causing the waters to rise up and rush after her in response to the violation of this sacred place. The raging waters chased her through the land toward the ocean. As Boann was swept along, she lost an arm, a leg, an eye and ultimately her life to the churning waters that consumed her. At once the water became Boann, Boann became the water, and their merging created the river Boyne. Boann realized her quest for knowledge and she was from that moment on universal wisdom, inspiration to poets.

Boann's thirst for knowledge was her downfall because she lost her life, but ultimately it was her (and our) blessing because she received, and thereafter provided, illumination. Her story is reminiscent of the biblical Eve who rebelled against God's word in her quest for knowledge.

Disregard for the law exacts a great price; Eve was expelled from the garden, and Boann suffers significant losses as she tumbles in the raging waters. She essentially loses half her body (an arm, a leg and an eye), a symbolic image suggesting that she is half of this world, half of the other. Is there a moment where nature and divine being merge, each giving up half in order to accept the other? This sentiment runs deeply in Celtic belief; that the land, or more precisely, the genius loci (spirit of the place) and its people are one and the same, much as in Australian aboriginal belief; there is no separating the two.

The term Tuatha de Danaan (where Boann is), means "land" and also "people." The people of this land were considered a divine race of poets, seers, and warriors incarnated in this world to ready the earth and its inhabitants for an awakening. They were called the "Salmon of Wisdom;" those who had been exposed to the sacred salmon in Segais well and who then beheld the wisdom of the universe. Boann is of this race; and as goddess of water, what other fate would be hers but to completely enter the spiritual realm of the Tuatha de Danaan and reach us through water so that she may inspire us? In doing so, she embodies all the purposes of this sacred people/place. She becomes the vessel where we may swim and absorb all that she has to offer: awakening of the mind, inspiration, illumination, courage, creative power, knowledge, poetry, wisdom.

Meditation: Goddess Boann is here to invoke creative inspiration and to give you courage to go beyond what is comfortable in order to gain knowledge. Go to her when you need to access this energy. Remember that Boann does not borrow illumination from some outside source, rather, she brings what you already have within yourself to light. The best atmosphere to meditate on Boann is near a stream or river. Find a peaceful, comfortable spot close to the bank where you may be alone and without distraction. As you sit with eyes closed, inhale deeply and smell the breeze that follows the water's current, allowing Boann's breath to flow into your body and become part of you. Imagine her swimming like a water nymph through your external and internal rivers. See her darting in and out of light and shadow, attaching to the greater aspects of both and showing all to you. Hear her flowing toward you, through you, past you. Boann enters you through all senses and flows in the currents of your body, awakening the creative powers that reside there.

If you are unable to access a stream or river, you may supplement your meditation by listening to Boann's Clan (a musical group) which offers an entire album dedicated to Boann's story called "Dance of the Water Gods." You may listen to/purchase it through iTunes.com or Rhapsody.com. The following songs in particular may inspire you: Morning Mist on the Boyne, Ebb and Flow, Whitewater, Death of a Goddess, and Song of Boann.

In her spare time from teaching kindergarten, raising two mini goddesses and managing a band, you may find Carol Koleman Taiko drumming, shooting some photos, making talisman necklaces or spinning fire machetes in the desert.

References: Dictionary of Ancient Deities, Turner and Coulter, Oxford Press; Dictionary of Irish Mythology; Berresford, Oxford Press; Book of Leinster; The Divine Races of Ancient Ireland, Eloise Hart; www.druidsutterance.net, Jason Kirkey.

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The Herbalist Is In: Leaky WHAT Syndrome?Herbs that heal in the digestive tract.
-by M.L. Harrison
I am concerned about my digestive tract. The doctor examined my stomach with an endoscope last week and diagnosed me with acid reflux disease, and there are early signs of a duodenal ulcer and colitis. I feel run down and have a hard time getting a good night's sleep because of the discomfort I feel. I am sure I don't eat right. Are there any herbs that can help me?

Living in a stressful culture where you can have French pastries for breakfast, pizza for lunch and Chinese food for dinner, combined with too many cups of coffee, glasses of wine and/or sweets makes for a sure-fire recipe to disrupt and distress the gastrointestinal tract. This can do more than create physical discomfort, it can also lead to irritability, headaches, mental fogginess, exhaustion, depression, nutrient deficiency and more.

When I see a client with a diagnosis like yours, I consider a condition herbalists call leaky gut syndrome, which is brought on by chronic irritation, inflammation or injury of the wall of the GI tract. Constant inflammation erodes the gut lining, creating permeability that allows toxic wastes and chemicals from the digestive tract to leach into the blood stream. When this occurs, the body starts working to eliminate the foreign substance. This reaction taxes both the body systems and our energy and may develop into an irreversible, systemic condition that some practitioners believe leads to debilitating autoimmune disorders.

This condition is complicated to rectify, but herbs present us with the perfect opportunity to heal the damaged tissues, or at least improve their quality and function. We must address the situation from as many angles as possible.

First make the effort to identify the offending substances or stressors that cause the irritation. Is there a food allergy? If the digestive tract is already sensitive, eating the wrong kinds of food, large quantities of food, or too many varieties of foods can set off a reaction. Check in with yourself; you probably have a pretty good idea of where to begin managing your intake to minimize harm.

Reducing inflammation is the first order of business with this botanical approach. Turmeric is very useful here. I saw an item on the news recently that said studies are being done to determine whether turmeric may help reduce the risk of colon cancer. Turmeric has many other benefits: It is an antioxidant and it supports liver function, among other things.

Demulcents help reestablish the health and integrity of the mucousal lining of the gut. Slippery elm and marshmallow root can be used interchangeably.

People with the harmful digestive conditions mentioned here will actually double over or at least put their arms around their stomach when a sudden offense occurs, such as the wrong kind of food or a bitter argument. Antispasmodics such as wild yam and passionflower are good herbs to use for this.

As for herbs that can help you manage stress and actually reduce the physical stress response, ginseng, lemon balm, eleuthro, and kava kava are just a few that I would recommend depending on how you react to stress.

Once the lining of the GI tract begins to heal, astringent herbs can tonify the tissues. Goldenseal is especially useful, as are white oak bark and witch hazel.

During detoxification, protecting the liver while supporting its function with herbs is essential. Some to consider are milk thistle, schisandra, dandelion, Oregon grape and burdock. The diruetic properties of nettle, cleavers and celery seed help clear toxins.

Licorice can also play a useful role. Its properties operate on all these therapeutic levels.

The inclusion of daily doses of probiotics, beneficial bacteria that live in the gut, like Lactobacillus acidophilus and Bifidobacterium bifidum can help maintain healthy gut flora. Supplementing digestive enzymes and essential fatty acids can be helpful, too.

Finally, don't be too hard on yourself about eating right. I always tell my clients, "When you feel better, you can do better." As your digestion gradually improves, so should your energy. Then you can turn your attention to eating food in ways that won't tax the digestive tract and your body. Eat consciously. Avoid coffee, tea, and colas, fatty or spicy food, mint, chocolate, onions and tomatoes. Using herbs and food together allows the body to do the healing work necessary to resolve your chronic ailments. It probably took years for it to set up in the body, so it usually takes a long term protocol to turn it around.

Merry Lycett Harrison, RH (AHG) is a clinical herbalist and owner of Millcreek Herbs, www.millcreekherbs.com.

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Aquarium Age: June 2007Push, pull, stop - a dynamic month is on tap.
-by Ralfee Finn
The planets are multitasking this month and as the stars tackle a multitude of astral operations, earthly operating systems-thee and me-face the challenge of keeping up. Translation: We're busy. Uber busy. Maybe too busy. All month long. Which means overload easily turns into overextension and overextension just as easily morphs into overwhelm. What's more, emotional intensity mimics the physical and mental brouhaha, making meltdowns likely, especially by the middle of the month when-dare I say it?-Mercury goes retrograde, and we go into a pile up on the Information Highway. The good news is plenty of planetary support sustains multiple processes and maintains sanity. But riding June's positive currents requires knowing your limitations and having the discipline to stay focused despite what at times might feel like an excessive amount of attractive distraction.

Several major themes weave through the entire month, but let's handle Mercury retrograde first. From June 15-July 9, Mercury retraces its path, and as it seemingly moves backward, so do we-sort of. Mercury symbolizes all things related to communication, travel and commerce, and when it's in a retrograde phase, Mercury turns its attention to the past, culling through the details of what's been said and done. That's why Mercury retrograde is a great time to review, reflect and reconsider what's already in motion, and also why it is the best time to edit, correct and revise. Under a retrograde, forward motion is definitely hampered by any number of snafus, from frozen screens to streaming screaming-as in "my computer never made that sound before" -to system shutdowns.

And this Mercury retrograde promises to be a techno-doozy, given that Uranus also goes retrograde eight days later, and whenever Uranus changes direction-forward or backward-tremors shudder through nervous systems, personal and collective, and those electrical impulses often manifest as computer viruses and crashed networks. So please, back up everything-everything-at the beginning of the month, and try not to install new software after June 12, when Mercury begins preparations for its change of direction. Also avoid buying a new computer, printer, fax, phone, or anything else even remotely related to data flow.

The second major theme this month, a Sun/Mars sextile, is all about forward motion, and supplies the vital pulse of ambitious aspirations. This positive alliance pushes hard for progress and success, another reason there are bound to be more than a few teeth-gnashing moments when its forward momentum collides with Mercury's backward glance. Best be prepared for scheduling collisions and clashing agendas.

But don't expect Mars to cave under a retrograde-Mercury may be more facile, but Mars is mightier and its craving for victory is multifaceted.

(1) 1st-11th : A Mars/Jupiter trine sets the tone for June's over-the-top pattern. When Mars and Jupiter combine their energy, we think big, maybe too big, and exaggeration feeds the tendency to be overconfident and cheeky, as the Brits would say.

(2) 1st-12th: While the Sun sextiles Mars, it also opposes the Jupiter, which inflates what's already puffed-up with even bigger schemes. Be careful you don't squander energy that might be better spent on more realistic goals.

(3) 4th-20th: Fortunately, a Mars/ Saturn trine tethers many of those pie-in-the-sky aspirations to solid ground-well, as solid as the ground can be when there is a grand trine in fire, which happens for a nano-second (June 4-6). The fire element is notorious for visionary idealism, and when Jupiter is involved, that perspective can be so broad, it's too broad. Focus on the Saturn piece-the reality of not only the idea, but also your ability to execute the plan-and you'll experience a toes-to-the-earth certainty about what you can accomplish.

(4) 4th-19th: Fortunately, again, the Sun sextiles Saturn, an angle that translates into reliable, tangible support, and the capability to stay focused.

(5) The day Mercury turns around, Mars moves into a trine with Pluto, and from the 15th-28th this positive alliance supplies extraordinary reservoirs of strength and power, making it possible to accomplish great feats. But-and this is a big but-Mercury retrograde is sure to interfere with the full throttle of this force, which means efforts to spend this energy are likely to feel thwarted by interruptions and complications. Try not to let that stop you from allowing the heat to feed your passion.

From the 3rd-13th, a Uranus/Sun square amplifies the already intense atmosphere, sets the pitch at "fever," and then, catalyzes surprising twists of fate. Expect impulsive behavior, yours or others'. Also anticipate a strong desire to revolutionize stagnant situations. Again, yours or others. Also be prepared for the collective caldron to surpass its already volatile state. A Uranus/Sun square thrives on revolution regardless of whether the cause is just.

13th-25th: A Sun/Pluto square exacerbates the tendency to use force as a means for consolidating "influence." It spawns a compulsive, consuming appetite for power that encourages despots of every ilk to take advantage of others' weaknesses. This pernicious configuration picks up where the Sun/Uranus square left off, and as it combines with the frustration of Mercury retrograde, the last two weeks of the June could turn into a free-for-all of ego-driven dynamics.

The third major theme of June is the Saturn/Neptune opposition, which is exact on June 25. This is the last pass of a difficult configuration, and frankly, I'm stumped as to how its potential is likely to manifest. Some astrologers suggest health epidemics; or perhaps a mental health epidemic as many-or most-of us struggle to keep our sanity in a world that just grows stranger every day. For other astro-experts, it's about the tension between dreams and reality. I'm fairly sure this opposition reflects the collective state of despair and paralysis that has infected many hearts with a lack of hope about the power of an individual to make the world a better place. As we move through the last days of this influence, what may come to light is the degree to which inaction serves despots who are only too willing to capitalize on despair.

If you know your Ascendant and/or your Moon sign, read that too.

Aries March 21-April 19

Issues of identity-how you see yourself and how others see you-as well as themes of home-where you live, and how you inhabit your life-dominate. Make every effort to avoid ego-indulgences or ego-excursions, and your attempts to redefine yourself will be successful.

Taurus April 20-May 20

If you brood over disturbing discussions, you'll get snagged by the Brain Worm, that famous mental parasite who compulsively chews on the same situation and steals your energy with its insatiable appetite. 'Nuff said? Or, do you need a more severe reminder to just let go?

Gemini May 21-June 21

Try not to let frustration interfere with your progress. Be patient, polite and helpful, no matter how long it takes to work through negotiations with partners, personal and professional. If you bide your time, the focus will move away from petty details and on to more important matters.

Cancer June 22-July 22

Continue to handle the intensity with integrity and refuse to engage in any unbecoming behavior. If you're true to yourself, you'll set a positive example for others to follow, and that will make it easier for all concerned participants.

Leo July 23-August 22

You're in the mood for a makeover and really, there's no reason why you shouldn't take the time and spend the money to create a new look. You could use the healing balm of self-care, so don't hesitate to give yourself what you need.

Virgo August 23-September 22

It may feel as if your life is spinning out of control, but it's not-you're just moving at an accelerated personal pace that takes some getting used to. Give yourself the time to make minor adjustments, and you'll relax into the new rhythm.

Libra September 23-October 22

It would be wise to contemplate the notion that a relationship is not something you own or possess; it's something you participate in. And if you could frame it that way-as a verb rather than a noun-you'll have an easier time handling all sorts of interactions with all your relations.

Scorpio October 23-Nov. 21

Spend your personal magic wisely, using clear intention and focused follow-up, and you'll not only move through obstacles with ease, you'll create a positive precedent for future reference. Sure, there's bound to be a glitch or two, but nothing that really interferes with your joy.

Sagittarius Nov. 22-Dec. 21

Read "Libra" above, and then add this: Rather than polarizing with partners, personal or professional, maintain a flexible attitude that includes and allows for differences of opinion. And you'll do fine.

Capricorn Dec. 22-Jan. 19

You need to replenish your reserves but there's no time to rest-not even an opportunity for catnaps-unless you make the time. You can run on empty for just so long, but eventually you'll have to stop, so before exhaustion forces you to take a break, give yourself one.

Aquarius January 20-Feb. 18

While you may not think it's possible to balance all the necessary responsibilities with all the things you love to do, if you spend some time making a careful plan, you'll be able to pull it off. All you have to do is create a schedule you can stick to.

Pisces February 19-March 20

There is no guarantee the intensity will completely disappear, but there is every reason to hope that life will calm down just a bit, which will allow you to catch your breath. Use this time to take care of all the details you've been putting off until you had a break.

Visit Ralfee's website at www.aquariumage.com or e-mail her at ralfee@aquariumage.com.

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Comings & Goings: June 2007What's new around town.
-by Tamara Rowe
Ballet West débuts short film contest
Ballet West, in collaboration with the Salt Lake Film Society, announces its first-ever Short Film Contest. Subject categories for film entries based on Ballet West's upcoming 2007-08 season performances and include: "The Three Musketeers," "The Nut Cracker," "Cinderella," "Nine Sinatra Songs," "Innovations" and ballet in general. Deadline for submission is August 1. Best of Show will be screened at the Salt Lake Film Society's Open Mic Night on August 15. Free to enter.
www.balletwest.org, 232-6966,
mrasmussen@balletwest.org

Eagle Gate College to offer three new health & wellness programs
Eagle Gate College is enrolling now for their three new health and wellness programs: professional massage and bodywork, spa and resort management, and professional fitness training. Classes begin July 11 at the downtown campus. The student clinic will open in September offering massage, bodywork and personal fitness training to the public. Yoga and t'ai chi classes have already started and are open to the public. Open houses are scheduled June 7 and 27 from 2-8 p.m at the school.
333-7120, 405 S Main St, www.eaglegatecollege.edu

Soul Spun Yarn moved to new location
Soul Spun Yarn outgrew its former location and has moved to larger dig. Their helpful staff continues to offer free knitting classes available by appointment to fit your schedule. Learn how to knit!
Soul Spun Yarn, 3955 S. Highland Dr., 272-7685.

Cucina opens second location at Old Mill
Dean Pierce, owner of Cucina, 1026 2nd Avenue, has just opened the second Cucina restaurant in the Old Mill #1 Building at the corner of 3000 East and 6322 South. Cucina is open from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. five days a week.
365-2222, www.cucinadeli.com

Squatters brews first certified organic beer in Utah
Squatters brews the first USDA-certified organic beer in Utah. Owner Peter Cole states it's "a natural parallel to Salt Lake Brewing Company's goal to support our community and the environment." Squatters Organic Amber Ale is now available on tap at Squatters Pubs in Salt Lake City, Park City, and the Salt Lake City International Airport.
328-2329 x 244, www.squatters.com

Clarity Coaching announces new assistant director
Rebecca de Azevedo Overson brings 10 years of healing and transformational education with her to Clarity Coaching. She has instituted a weekly ongoing open work group open to the public focusing on the work of Byron Katie. See Catalyst Events Calendar under Ongoing/Tuesday or call.
Rebecca de Azevedo Overson, 467-1862.

Vest Pocket Business Coalition welcomes new board members
Three local business owners have been voted to the Vest Pocket Board:
Sabina Zunguze, owner of Beautiful Options USA-which manufactures locally and markets fairly-traded African art and home décor.
Andrew Stavros, partner in Jenson, Stavros & Guelker, a law firm dedicated to providing health care, employment and litigation solutions for its clients.
Marci Rasmussen, owner of Retro Rose-an antique and collectibles shop, and Especially For You-a flower shop.
Vest Pocket: 581-0369, www.vestpocket.org.

New chiropractor in town utilizes "directional non-force technique"
Lacey Picard introduces this diagnostic patient-oriented approach in Utah. As a long-term health practitioner, she discovered that Directional Non-Force Technique best served "health, peace, and life flow" for her patients. The technique appeals to many because frequent follow-up is usually not necessary. Lacey describes her technique as "gentle, works deep within the nervous system, and is great for chronic pain victims."
www.powerfullifechiro.com, 303-549-3797

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Ask the Swami: Turban AskewQuestionable advice with a ring of truth, from Swami Beyondananda, regarding affairs personal and political.

Dear Swami:
Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers,” but frankly we don’t seem any closer to the blessings of peace than we were 2,000 years ago. Will we ever overcome this deadly habit? Or are we doomed to the damnation those fundamentalists talk about?
—Amanda Lynn Plucker
Clearfield, Tennessee

Dear Amanda:

Yes, the relationship between warfare and damnation is unassailable. For what is warfare but one damn nation fighting another damn nation, the world and the planet be damned! With soldiering being the second oldest profession, the battlefield is one of the most persistent fields going. So maybe the best approach is not to try to do away with war itself, but to change the rules of engagement. As a devout FUNdamentalist — accent on fun — I have proposed three new rules of warfare:

1. Fight all wars with

cream pies.

Imagine a new campaign against Iraqi insurgents—Operation Dessert Storm. And then imagine sending in our pie-seeking K-9 squad to lick the pies off the faces of our opponents. That way, our soldiers can return home safely, proudly proclaiming, “We sure licked ’em good!” Meanwhile, “getting licked” won’t have its usual sting.

2. Use only life-enhancing chemical weapons.

Instead of the toxic, death-dealing weaponry we use today, how about life-dealing weapons that leave people happier and healthier? It’s a scientific fact: The Insurgin’ General’s Report tells us happier and healthier people make lousy insurgents. So if we must use chemical warfare, how about weapons-grade nitrous oxide? I don’t know about you, but I would get great pleasure watching our enemies explode with laughter.

3. Switch to virtually harmless virtual warfare.

With the breakthroughs in simulated warfare, don’t you think we’d be doing the whole world a favor by confining all warfare to virtual reality? That way we can have as much war as we want at a tiny fraction of the cost. Imagine what a change it would be with Pixar being the government’s largest defense contractor instead of Lockheed.

Adopt these rules, and warriors would be able to fight their wars in peace without leaving the rest of the world in pieces.

Dear Swami:
As longtime lightworkers, we have devoted our lives to selflessly helping others, yet we ourselves feel very unsupported. We’ve read every one of those prosperity books, and don’t have a nickel to show for it. In fact, if we had a nickel for every time we helped someone and didn’t accept a nickel for it—we’d have lots of nickels. Is there a prosperity secret we’re missing here?
—Emma & Nate Light
Santa Cruz, California

Dear Emma and Nate,

If it makes you feel any better, a lot of folks are in your situation. I don’t know if you’ve seen the latest Greenspan Report, but the average American family these days doesn’t have enough green to span the average month. As for prosperity secrets, they can be summed up in four words: “Write a prosperity book.” That’s how those people got rich, so why not you?

Actually, I’m hearing a lot from folks like you two these days, people who’ve helped themselves to heaping helpings of self-help—yet still are left helplessly hoping and hopelessly helpless. You appear to be suffering from a condition called “Selfless Helplessness,” where you are helpless to help yourself because you are too busy selflessly helping others. Now of course, helping people at your own expense is fine—until your expense account runs out.

Time to stop selfishly hoarding all the selflessness for yourself, and let others selflessly help you. Put yourself in your own shoes for a change, and help yourself to a helping of what you’ve been helping others with. Just think. If you can help just one individual—yourself—that’s one less helpless individual needing help from others.

©Copyright 2006 by Steve Bhaerman. All rights reserved. www.wakeuplaughing.com.

Coach Jeannette: Vibration TherapyImprove your vibe to improve what you attract.
-by Jeannette Maw

Simply put, your vibration is the energy you broadcast according to your thoughts and feelings. We know that everything in the Universe is made of energy, including us and our thoughts and feelings.

If you're feeling hopeful, you've got a "hope" vibe going on. (And you're attracting things that will bring you more hope.) If you're thinking about how awful your job is, your vibe is "awful" and attracts more reasons to feel awful.

So your vibration dictates what you experience in life. What you vibrate, you attract. Paying attention to your vibration- and more specifically, improving it - is time well spent.

Tending to your vibe allows you to deliberately dial into an energy that attracts what you want in life. This is all in relation to the Law of Attraction and how "form follows thought."

Since we get what we vibrate, virtually everyone can benefit from a little vibration therapy. How do we do that? Boiled down to the basics, vibration therapy is about feeling good. Here are four tried and true methods to easily move up the energetic spectrum, putting you in better alignment with the good things you want. Which is, of course, how you get them.

Release resistance

Whenever you push against something, you're actually vibrating it. When I don't want my boyfriend to be late, I'm vibrating "late boyfriend." When we lobby for stronger laws against cruelty to animals, we vibrate "cruelty to animals." When we complain about drug-dealing neighbors, we vibrate exactly that. So resisting anything actually tangles you up in it even more. Remember, we get what we vibrate.

One of the best ways to rehabilitate your vibration is to stop pushing against what you don't want. Make peace with what is, and stop fighting against reality.

That doesn't mean you're stuck with what is, or that your current reality is what you're doomed to live forever. It does mean the first step in changing what you're living is giving up the fight against it.

I've found that's particularly alarming information for women at war with their bodies. They're often afraid if they stop hating something about themselves (big thighs, fat belly), they won't be motivated to continue the battle against it.

Yet, when you fight against "what is," including your body that you perceive as overweight or otherwise less than perfect, you actually reinforce that state.

Releasing the resistance to what you're fighting against offers immediate relief to your vibration. You'll feel an instant boost when you make peace with what is.

Eliminate tolerations

I used to believe tolerance was a virtue, a trait to embrace. But it turns out a toleration isn't necessarily good for your vibration.

The word comes from the Latin tolerare, which means to "bear" or "endure"; you can get a sense for why a toleration would be a drag on your energy.

To tolerate something means to "allow the existence of, to permit or endure or put up with something." This implies that the something (or someone) is less than ideal and tends to drain a person's energy. Thus, a toleration is often a hindering influence to the vibration.

So how do you eliminate tolerations? First you identify them. Jack Canfield suggests making an "irritations list" of the things that bother you or otherwise siphon off your energy. I've found it best to start with a top 10 list, and knock them out one by one. You'll likely find irritations in all areas of life: physical environment, financial, relationships, personal health.

After you've identified what's bothering you, get each one handled in whatever way feels best. Clean it, repair it, throw it out, hire help, delegate it, change your habit, or even just change your mind about letting it bother you. There are a variety of ways to eliminate the tolerations in your life. Get creative!

As you unload what doesn't feel good, you'll notice a significant improvement in your vibration.

Find your "feel good"

Your inner guidance speaks to you throughout the day, giving its two cents worth about what actions to take, what to do or not do, what direction to take. Most of us have learned to tune out that information, but reconnecting with it is a fabulous way to find your "feel good."

As you follow your "feel good", your vibration naturally buoys up to the heights that will serve you best. You know this feeling, right?

It's how it feels good to say no to the invite for the event you hate going to. Where you give away the jeans that make you feel big each time you wear them. Where you take off your shoes to walk barefoot in the long green grass at the park. When you hold up traffic behind you to let the other car in who'd never get in otherwise. That's good vibe therapy there!

Sometimes finding what feels good may be too far a stretch, and the best we can reach for is what feels better. Wherever you're at currently, just reach for something that feels better. That will move your energy up the vibrational scale.

Get selfish

As if it weren't bad enough suggesting that you end tolerations, now I'm asking you to raise your vibration by practicing selfishness? That's exactly right.

Here's the deal. Most of us are well-trained to put others first-our family, employers, spouses, neighbors. We often end up last on a long list of higher priorities.

And yet, if we aren't doing ourselves first, we don't have much to give anyone else. If you are not fulfilled, who are you for others? Empty, unsatisfied, tired and joyless. In that state, what do you have to offer?

Realizing you can't give away what you don't own makes it easier to release reluctance to put yourself on the front burner. Treating yourself as well as you do others allows your energy to hit lofty heights. And once you're in that territory, you are of much more benefit to the rest of us. Funny how that works, huh?

Remember, the reason it's important to manage your vibration and work up the energetic scale is because that's how we get in alignment with the good things we want. Whether it's material possessions like an Avenues loft, hybrid car and new iPod or more abstract things like a fulfilling relationship, optimal health and satisfying livelihood - vibrating at the higher end of the scale is what allows those things to manifest.

As dictated by the Law of Attraction, good things happen when we feel good. Indulging in some vibration therapy will elevate you to the heights that allow those good things in. As always, don't just take my word for it. Test it out for yourself.

Here's to enjoying your vibe therapy and all that life has to offer when you choose to feel good!

Jeannette Maw is an attraction coach and founder of Good Vibe Coaching in Salt Lake City. Your comments are invited at www.catalystmagazine.net or jmaw@goodvibecoach.com.

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Spiritually Incorrect: June 2007Sex is the answer - Come back from Egypt.
-by The Lover
Does anything else so grab our rapt attention, incessantly pursue us, occupy our daydreams, fantasies and yearnings? Sex is the answer.

Sex is not Eros. The failure to understand the relationship between the sexual and the erotic lies at the root of much of our confusion and pain around both. Sex models the erotic; it does not exhaust the erotic. The erotic at its deepest is synonymous with the holy, the sacred.

When I use the phrase erotic sex, I mean heart. We all know that titillation of the sexual instruments feels good. That is not what the erotic sexual is all about. Fleeting feel-good is for people who are afraid of the full divine power and pleasure of the erotic sexual. Sex is not a path unless it cracks you open to the divine.

Interiority

The first face of Eros is the way of interiority. In the erotic sexual, we are invited to abandon the superficial games of fractured ego and fragmented identity and enter the interior castle of reality. Only inside that interior reality is the heart set free, allowing vision deeper then the flatland of surfaces.

Eros means to be on the inside, not physically, but on the inside of experience. It matters little whether the experience is jogging, conversing, playing sports, engaging in commerce, writing a book or fixing the kitchen sink. When you enter the zone, when you cross over from the outside and enter the inside of the experience, you are in Eros. To live erotically is to live on the inside.

Presence

The second face of Eros is the way of presence. The erotic sexual invites us to a realm which we do not recognize easily in our daily struggles to prove we exist. In the erotic sexual, existence is a given, the gift of the divine cosmos. Beyond mammalian fight or flight instincts, the erotic takes us to the deepest feeling and knowing of our radiance and aliveness. We feel no need for any explanation; existence simply and joyously is. Eros is our opening to the presence that always is and always will be.

In the Kabbalah, the divine force is often referred to as Shekhina, which translates from Hebrew as presence or eros. The Shekhina is always present and alive in everything, but most people never enter her healing expanse. They are contracted into false hopes, building edifice complexes to assure their survival. But in holding on to their comfort, they are betrayed. Everything they know as their life will one day disappear. They are lost in the superficial pleasures of mere sex.

One can have sex one's entire life and never experience the ravishment of opening to Shekhina. This opening means becoming fully present without clinging to past, resisting the present or grasping for the future. In such a life eternity is realized. To have is to close. To be is to open.

In Hebrew mysticism, exile is called Egypt - Mitzrayim. It literally means the place of narrowness, the place where your heart closes. When you close, you suffer. Eros is called by the mystics Merchavim, the wide place, the vast expanse, the place where you open. Lost in Egypt, in the narrow images of constructed reality, one never touches joy and never experiences rapture. Redemption is opening in love. There is really only one choice to make, to open and live or to close and die. Openness is presence. Closure is absence.

The Maggid of Mezritch, a Hassidic master, late in his life revised his earlier asceticism, teaching, "If you only feel the Shekhina in the arousal of your sex, then you are already dead. If the arousal of your sex ravishes you open to God, you are being born."

The lover in Psalms says to the God who is the All - in what for the Kabbalists is understood as a blatantly sexual moment - "Open for me your gates... I will enter them... I will moan your praise."

Let yourself open all the way and know that only then, in this radical openness and vulnerability, are you safe. In the erotic sexual we show up, we are present in ways we barely even imagine possible in our daily routines. Every gesture, every caress, every shiver of our body, every fleeting touch is invested with the infinite love and fullness of living presence.

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Metaphors: Fast Moving FunAdding spice to the continuing spiritual journey.
-by Suzanne Wagner
Arthurian Tarot: The White Hart, Taliesin
Mayan Oracle: Chuen, Manifestation
Aleister Crowley: Queen of Swords, Queen of Wands, Failure
Medicine Cards: Buffalo, Turkey
Osho Zen Tarot: Experiencing, Receptivity
Healing Earth Tarot: Nine of Rainbows, Grandmother of Rainbows
Ancient Egyptian Tarot: Queen of Wands, Prince of Disks
Words of Truth: Authenticity, Home, Terror

The coming of summer brings with it a mixed bag of spontaneous fun and fears arising from outside sources. For the most part, this month is holds good omens and the harbinger of change. Events will seem to unfold rapidly, and it will feel as if some decisions must be made in haste.

June initiates a journey that will bring a spiritual lesson. It will be important to remember that one's actions carry consequences. At times, you may feel as if you have set out on the right course but ended up losing your way. Do not be discouraged. Come back to what is true for you inside and allow your spirit to guide you.

During this time, you may feel constricting pressure to live up to the expectations of others. You may be examining your habitual interpretations and your perceived need to conform to a system or organization.

Summer is a time of expansion and warmth. Yet, the pulse of the season may illuminate old rigid thinking patterns that have not allowed growth. Notice where you withhold or distort information to retain your control or power over a situation.

You may notice patterns of impatience, intolerance, and propaganda in government and politics. Now we need to look at how we use our mistaken moral superiority to justify the persecution of others. In the past, governments and systems have used fear to bring everyone into agreement. Now, the tide is turning, and we see that people would rather trust their appointed leaders and learn to work together. Expect the political situation to get interesting as emerging new patterns confront old patterns of leadership.

This month, notice if you are pushing too much in your external life to avoid reconnecting to the deeper aspects of yourself. Are you respecting yourself as much as you respect others' wishes? Are you allowing spirit to move you at least once a day to connect to someone in need? Remember to keep it simple. Small loving gestures are tremendously powerful when we are suffering or overwhelmed. Be sure to practice gratitude for your friends and family, your possessions and talents, your growth and spirit.

In June, enjoy fun gatherings with friends and family. Reconnect to the true meaning of life and the value of world peace. Remember that sometimes you have to honor another's pathway even if it brings you pain and sadness. Give your gifts to those open and receptive to them. Do not be distressed if they are not completely understood by others. The gesture and heart are the true gifts.

Suzanne Wagner is the author of numerous books and CDs on the tarot. She lives in Salt Lake City.

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Urban Almanac: June 2007Day by day in the home, garden and sky. JUNE 1 The Sun rises at 5:58 a.m. today and sets at 8:52 p.m. June's average maximum temperature is 82°; the minimum is 63°. Average rainfall is 0.93 inches. Fertilize roses monthly now through September.

JUNE 2 Why not call the Jordan Valley Water Conservancy District's "Slow the Flow" program for a free water check? A horticulture intern will come to your house and analyze the efficiency of your automated sprinkler system and provide you with a customized watering schedule. Contact them at slowtheflow@jvwcd.org or 1-877-SAVE H20.

JUNE 3 Look for Mercury, hovering between Venus and the western horizon, for the next five days.

JUNE 4 The ancient Greeks believed that paste made from squashed-up house flies, rubbed on the head, was a cure for baldness.

JUNE 5 It's time to plant basil, beans, beets, carrots, corn, cucumbers, eggplant, kale, kohlrabi, melons, peppers, pumpkins, squash, tomatoes and turnips. Bachelor buttons, cannas, cosmos, dahlias, gladiola, marigolds, morning glory, sunflowers and zinnias, too.

JUNE 6 Most vegetables can be grown in a container: eggplant, peppers, tomatoes, lettuce, onions, carrots, cucumbers and herbs do particularly well. Containers should be made of something other than clay and have unblocked drainage holes in the bottom. Group containers so they shade each other; water often; and fertilize every other week with a water soluble organic fertilizer.

JUNE 7 Jupiter is at its closest point to Earth tonight.

JUNE 8 LAST QUARTER MOON. Unlike most birds, which are omnivores, doves and pigeons are vegetarians, dining primarily upon seeds and fleshy fruits.

JUNE 9 Turn compost piles every two weeks for the rest of the summer.

JUNE 10 As early season crops are harvested, plant warm-weather veggies, flowers, or cover crops in their place.

JUNE 11 A typical freshwater pond can house as many as 10 different leech species. Bloodsucking leeches are fond of ducks and often dwell in their throats and nasal passages, which is why ducks are frequently observed sneezing or scratching their bills. Leeches are superb swimmers, able to swim upside down, skim the contours of rocks and tread water. (Leonardo da Vinci sketched them for his studies of locomotion.) I'm guessing that the burly bloodsucking leeches in my backyard pond were brought by visiting ducks. Needless to say, I've avoided submersion in my pond since discovering them.

JUNE 12 Like other woodpeckers, the northern flicker can climb up the trunks of trees and find food under the bark, but it prefers to forage on the ground. Ants are the flicker's preferred favorite food, and it uses its long barbed tongue to lap up as many as 5,000 a day.

JUNE 13 Thin vegetable seedlings to provide adequate airflow and growing room. The largest broccoli head on record weighed 35 pounds; the largest carrot 18 pounds.

JUNE 14 NEW MOON. Fishing will be good now through June 30.

JUNE 15 Slugs exude thick, gooey mucus from their front foot which gives them the traction to climb, and watery mucus greases their way on the ground. Slug eyes sit at the top of rubbery stalks, are retractable, and can be angled into dark corners. Gray garden slugs mate acrobatically, at the end of slime bungee cords.

JUNE 16 Mint gets its name from the Greek nymph, Minthe, who tried to seduce Pluto, god of the underworld. When Pluto's wife, Persephone, found out, she turned the little hussy into a plant.

JUNE 17 There are no plants with long spurs in Europe or the Eastern Hemisphere, so no hummingbirds travel there.

JUNE 18 The waxing Moon is sandwiched between Saturn and Venus tonight.

JUNE 19 Now's a good time to prune spring-flowering shrubs, shear evergreens and divide phlox and other early-blooming rock garden plants.

JUNE 20 The ubiquitous earthworm, Lumbricus terrestris, is not native to the U.S. It immigrated in potted plants brought by early European settlers and rapidly adapted to our environment, which had been rendered wormless by ice-age glaciers.

JUNE 21 SUMMER SOLSTICE. Summer officially begins at 12:06 p.m., when the Sun is directly overhead at the Tropic of Cancer.

JUNE 22 FIRST QUARTER MOON. Tweak basil and greens regularly to keep them from flowering out.

JUNE 23 Thin melons to one or two plants per hill. As the vines develop, toss soil over each runner at two or three leaf nodes to encourage additional root growth.

JUNE 24 Don't overfeed vegetables; excess fertilizer causes plants to develop soft, disease-prone foliage. Fertilize no more than once every two weeks, preferably with liquid fish emulsion.

JUNE 25 The green darner's Latin name, Anax junius, translates to Lord of June.

JUNE 26 After the natural fruit drop late this month, thin apples, pears, peaches and apricots. Fruit trees need 30 to 75 leaves per fruit to manufacture sufficient food for both fruit production and tree maintenance.

JUNE 27 Some millipedes spray cyanide from their defensive glands, which are arranged in rows along the sides of their body.

JUNE 28 Many male butterflies and moths spend much of their brief life-span sucking down enormous quantities of water and then expelling it from their behinds. Called puddling, it's a means of extracting sodium from the water, which they later bestow on females during mating. The females, in turn, donate the prized ion to their offspring. Male Gluphisia moths can take in and spurt out 20 jets of water per minute, each nearly a foot in length. To perform an equivalent feat, a human would have to consume and expel 45,500 quarts of water, at a rate of 3.8 quarts per second, and blow it out their rear with the force of a fire hose.

JUNE 29 Look for a close encounter between Venus and Saturn tonight and tomorrow night.

JUNE 30 FULL ROSE MOON. The Sun rises at 5:58 a.m. today and sets at 9:03 p.m. In summer, the song sings itself. -William Carlos Williams

Diane Olson is a freelance writer, proofreader, and wanna-be full time naturalist.

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"The Moon Dance"
by Michael Leu

CURRENT MOON

moon cycle

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