The Daily Herald from Provo, Utah • 4

4 Page A4 THE HERALD, Provo, Utah, Saturday, January 23, 1993 fNf1. ni loved stint In Cirai rse i Tanja strikes crushing blow in baby hippo production ErisD. 1 1 1 I 'T- m0" Herald PhotoPatrick J. Krohn he thoroughly enjoyed his four-month teaching stint in Ukraine and had the opportunity. He said his journal, on desk at left, is his most A lot of people have been coming up to me lately and saying, in unison, "Eric, you are certainly one heck of a funny guy, and I enjoy reading your column immensely, but when are you going to stop goofing around and start writing about serious issues? "Like, for instance, mother hippos who accidentally crush their babies." Well, you asked for it.

There is an extremely over-protective mother hippo at the Amsterdam Zoo, and she has crushed 10 of her babies to date, and she is still going strong, as she is apparently going for the record. While this at first sounds like the plot in a G-rated Disney movie, "Honey, I Crushed the Kids, it is of course no laughing matter. I learned about it in a brief item in a recent edition of The Daily Herald. The headline reads, "Tanja the hippo kills her 10th baby," as if hippos killing their own babies is some kind of exciting contest that Tanja, against the Las Vegas odds, has just pulled ahead in. The story states that Tanja is very afraid that the zoo people are going to hurt her babies, so she sleeps on them.

The babies, I mean. If she slept on the zoo people, that would be another matter entirely, and wouldn't seem nearly as funny, I'm sure, unless the zoo people were real jerks, like the circus people in 'Dumbo' who abused Dumbo's mother. Any the zoo people don't want Tanja to go on suffocating every baby she has, largely, I imagine, because crushed baby hippos probably are not exactly what you would call a big tourist attraction there atthezoo. Little Boy: "Daddy, what's that?" Dad: "Well, Timmy, it's either a crushed baby hippo, or a mangled loveseat." In fact, the zoo people have taken a firm stance on this subject. "This has got to stop," is what a zoologist named I swear Dick Dekker said.

"She just sits on them," he added, just in case the initial image we had received of a 3-ton hippo sitting on another hippo had somehow escaped ivessof UVCC professor Steve Teeter said would go back in an instant if he prized possession from the trip. computer simulation activity to see which team could earn the most money, he said. The groups faxed information back and forth and the Ukranian students used Teeter's computer for their calculations. A UVCC team won in the end but the next three ranking teams were Ukranian. UVCC has sent over 19 computers from a discontinued campus lab.

They will be networked with Novell programs and Russian WordPerfect. "They loved our program," Teeter said. Ukrainian students obtaining a certificate or diploma from UVCC will be in high demand, he said. Eventually UVCC may be able to offer a degree to the Ukranian students. The Ukranian students pay a tuition to help maintain the UVCC program.

The generous donations of Utah businessmen made it possible to pay for the teachers' salaries while they were away. The Kiev College paid Teeter and Moffitt a meager salary. Two more faculty members left recently to teach for this semester: Ellen Hall and Frank Barrus. They will be teaching management, hospitality, English and computers. The experience has been like planting a garden, Teeter said.

"I don't know whether we're planting carrots (with a long germination) or beans (with a short germination)." there is not And it purports to be written secretly to district IRS directors. It talks about a 1985 tax evasion suit, claiming that defense attorney Lowell Becraft of Huntsville, Ala. presented irrefutable evidence that the 16th Amendment was never properly ratified. "The effects of this is such that every tax paid into the Treasury since 1913, is due and refundable to every citizen and business," part of the letter reads. It has Egger advising his directors not to publish or advertise the situation, but quitely expedite refunds for citizens who find out about the refund opportunity.

"Advise each of your managers that they are not to discuss this Japanese writers who wrote on themes that were understandable to Western readers," Viglielmo said in a telephone interview from Honolulu. "Japan had just begun its economic miracle, and he was already seeing that this miracle had its dark side," he said. Abe's works of the 1960s and 1970s had the most impact. He had many new works planned, Toru Takemitsu, Abe's friend and a noted compose, told Kyo-do. Abe's son-in-law, Junichl Mano, told reporters the writer had believed he would recover from the hemorrhage, but his condition had deteriorated abruptly.

His wife and daughter were with him when he died, Mano said. There was no immediate word on funeral arrangements. Albert Habib Houranl OXFORD, England (AP) i-T Albert Habib Hourani, a Middle East historian whose "A History of the Arab Peoples" became a best seller in the United States after the Persian Gulf War, died Sunday at 77. From 1958 until his retirement in 1980, he was director of Oxford University's Middle East Center, helping build a unique collection of papers on the modern Middle East. He was also a visiting professor at Harvard University, the University of Chicago and universities in Europe Bnd the Middle East.

His 1962 book "Arabic Thought in the Liberal Age" and his 1991 "A History of the Arab Peoples" have been hailed as classics for students of the Middle East. I By KAYLENE NELSEN Herald Senior Reporter OREM Ask Utah Valley Community College professor Steve Teeter if he wants to return to the Ukraine. His eyes start to dance and with no hesitation he responds: "I'd go back in a minute!" Teeter spent about four months there last fall teaching financial accounting and marketing. He, along with retired BYU professor Wel-don Moffit, taught at the College of Hotel Management in Kiev during the first semester UVCC had a program there. "Of all the experiences I've had in my life," Teeter said, "there was no greater experience than going to the Ukraine.

Kiev is the oldest city in the Ukraine and. is located about 60 miles from Chernobyl, the site of a nuclear reactor that failed in April 1986. The Kiev College of Hotel Management struck a deal with UVCC last year to bring classes to Kiev. Teeter willingly went to teach during the first semester, leaving behind his wife and seven children. Moffitt taught principles of business and business math.

In Kiev, Teeter found a campus of 500 students and 100 faculty that was way behind the times. Students sharpen pencils with a razor. Blackboards are erased with a cloth; no one has ever seen an ordinary eraser. Students use abacuses for calculations; even professors don't have calculators. "It was like a step back in time 50 years," he said.

Teeter took a copy machine and modern computer with him, neither of which the college has. "The president of the college wanted to see how a copy machine works," he said. Still, Teeter said he had 28 students who generally have better math competency than American students. In fact, his Ukrainian accounting students did better on their final exams than most of his UVCC classes do. That wasn't the earlier in the semester when he prepared the midterm exam, he said.

He had the test translated into Russian, something he had to do on a daily basis during his lectures, but the students found it difficult to understand what he wanted. "So what did they do? They cheated, with the professor standing right there!" He said he later tore up the exam and then spent two hours lecturing the students on ethics and values. Four teams of marketing students competed last semester against four UVCC students in a No Virginia, By PAT CHRISTIAN Herald Staff Writer PROVO Since the 16th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was improperly ratified, taxpayers can get a refund of all the taxes they have paid since 1913. Not! No way! Fat chance! The 16th-Amendment-get-a-giant-refund message was sent in an anonymous letter to The Daily Herald recently.

Clearly a clever cut-and-paste fabrication from the bowels of a photocopying machine, the 262-word letter dated April 4, 1985, purports to be from IRS Commissioner Roscoe L. Egger, Jr. Kobo Abe TOKYO (AP) Kobo Abe, a novelist and playwright who had a major influence' on postwar Japanese literature, died today at a Tokyo hospital. He was 68. Abe died of heart failure, according to Toshiro Shimura, director of the department of neurosurgery at Nippon Medical School's Nakayama Hospital.

He had been rushed to the hospital on Wednesday after collapsing. It was believed he had suffered a cerebral hemorrhage, Sliimura said, but that was not confirmed. Abe, often mentioned as a contender for the Nobel Prize for literature, was best known for his 1962 novel, "The Woman in the Dunes." Like many of his works, the book portrayed modern man's struggle against alienation and loss of identity. "It's a serious loss to the world of letters, not only Japanese literature but world literature," said Dr. Valdo Vigliel-mo, a professor of Japanese literature at the University of Hawaii.

Abe's "The Woman in the Dunes" was 4 made Into a 1964 movie. Its schoolteach-ler protagonist is hunting for insects in remote sand dunes when he is trapped in a deep pit along with a woman who is I being kept there by villagers. 2 Be first resists his captivity, but ventually realizes that his prison of sand allows him Intellectual and spiritu-; al freedom that had been denied him in the outside world. "I felt he was particularly significant in terms of dealing with problems Dixit "are universal, the first of the major On The Light Side our memory. What the zoo people are doing is trying to keep Tanja from having more babies.

Tanja probably does not agree i with their decision, but I think she relinquished her say in the matter somewhere around squished hippo No. 3. The article states that zookeepers have tried everything, "from separating Tanja and her mate, Joop, to using an injectable contraceptive." This raises a number of interesting questions, namely: It says they've tried separating Tanja from her mate, Joop. Why, pray tell, didn't that work? If Tanja and Joop are separated from each other, how in the world did she get pregnant anyway? Did it perhaps have something to do with the way flowers reproduce even when they are on opposite sides of the field? Right now, are you imagining two hippos sneaking out of their little simulated habitats and meeting clandestinely in a motel? I know lam. Why aren't there any injectable contraceptives for humans? Perhaps because it would be uncomfortable to carry them in your wallet? Unfortunately, these questions do not have answers.

All we can do is hope that Tanja gets over whatever problem it is that she has, and that peace and quiet will once again be restored to the Amsterdam zoo. At least until Joop finds out his mate has been sitting on their kids. Then, I imagine, all heck will break loose. Eric D. Snider is a freshman atB YU.

He is originally from Lake Elsinore, and he has always wanted to have a hippo for a pet. to cSialr The commission voted to recommend to the county commission Plat A of a two-lot subdivision in the Agriculture-1 zone at 9600 South and 800 East near Salem. The subdivision is being developed by Vera Pulley. A favorable recommendation also went to Alberto Lensi to join his property as a one-lot plat' to. Sundance Recreational Resort on the Alpine Loop Road, Asper GroveSundance area.

Planning commissioners voted to recommend to the county commission a text amendment to the zoning ordinance which would, reinstate office structures as a peK mitted use in the Industrial-1 They continued for one month discussions on two other applications: BYU Alumni Association's request for permission to make changes in the current plat for As-" pen Grove Family Camp. They include: Expand the kitchen and eating area with new septic facilities' as approved by the State Health Department. Add four family cabin units with kitchen and restroom facilities, with 16 beds in each structure and water and septic facilities as approved by the State Health Dc: partment. Indicate a cabin replacement area near a new septic facility recently installed. Make a water line connection into the North Fork District line to give added pressure for culinary and fire supply; OBITUARY FEES The Daily Herald charges for obituaries.

Death no tices, brief items Identifying the deceased and the funer al home Involved however, run free of charge. Information concerning The Daily Herald obituary rates Is available from the news paper's Classified Ad department, 373-6450 or from any Utah County Mortuary. arming commission The Ukrainian people still have a long way to go on the road away from communism. Such simple ideas as service need to be taught, he said, noting he received terrible service while in Kiev. Shopkeepers close up when it's break time, no matter how many customers are waiting, an example of the problems they face there, he said.

Teeter said his greatest experiences, however, were outside the classroom when he got to know the people. "The people in the Ukraine are genuine people," he said. "They would put on a spread when they had us come for dinner, knowing they wouldn't have food tomorrow." It is the love of the people he developed that would take Teeter back to the Ukraine. "The people are great. They're warm, once you get to know them." On the outside, the houses, which they do not own, are dingy and run down but on the inside, people go to great lengths to have a lovely home.

Teeter also praised the cultural arts like the opera and the ballet, and exceptional performances he saw several times while there. "They spend a lot of time retaining theif culture." He said he loved the countryside, the folk art, the folk music, the folk lore and most of all the people. Still, there are many sad and a tax-refund situation with anyone. There will be no written communications and you are to destroy this memorandum," it advises. "It's obviously a forgery," said Washington, D.C., IRS spokeswoman Johneli Hunter, after she examined a copy of the letter faxed to her from The Herald.

Hunter said she had never seen such a letter, but said the 16th amendment argument is an old and ongoing argument. She said the IRS is aware of a number of tax protesters who reside in Utah and speculated that one of these may have forged the document or be responsible for distributing the 16th Amendment letter. Jan Hadley, an IRS spokeswoman in Salt Lake City, said she believes that she may have seen the same or a similar letter several years ago. One person who says he has seen the letter so many times it makes him see red, is Alabama fax attorney Larry Becraft. It is he who is identified as Lowell Becraft in the forgery.

Becraft affirms the letter is a forgery that he and an acquaintance have tried to play down since it first surfaced in 1985. "It spread like a hot item for about two years, then kind of subsided," Becraft said by telephone from his Huntsville law office. Becraft said about a year and a half ago the letter seemed for a difficult things about the Ukraine. The "mafia" is a terrible problem. A student who went with the two professors, Andrew Moleff, was robbed while they were all away for a weekend.

When Moleff discovered someone wearing his clothes he reported it to authorities. But his girlfriend was harassed until he dropped the entire matter, Teeter said. He told of visiting an orphanage and hugging a child whose swollen neck indicated radiation poisoning from the Chernobyl disaster. Families have given up these children because they, cannot care for them. "I wasn't prepared for it emotionally," he said.

For these children there are no parents, no hope. "You hug a child and you know he's dying because of man's insanity." He said the people of Kiev weren't told about the disaster until 12 days after it happened. Many of their children had marched in a parade down the main street just a few days after the reactor failed and deadly radiation spread across several countries. The government has cut off funding to the orphanages so there are inadequate supplies of medicine, clothes, toys and almost every necessity. The need has spurred Teeter to work with UVCC students in adopting the orphanage and trying to meet some of the needs of the children.

Santa Claus reason he doesn't understand to pick up in circulation "I sometimes get 20 calls a day about it, he lamented He said it's true that he raised the 16th Amendment issue while defending one of his clients and truely believes the amendment wasn't properly ratified. But he said the judge didn't buy the argument and his client was convicted. And even if the judge would have bought his 16th Amendment argument it wouldn't have meant a tax refund, Becraft said. "There's a principle of law that states that taxes tendered voluntarily need not be refunded," Becraft said. The Alabama lawyer said, besides being a clear forgery, there are factual errors in the letter.

For example, he cited diat U.S. Attorney George Duncan, mentioned in the letter is actually Roger Duncan. Proper ratification or not, the bottom line is that the 30-words of the 16th Amendment "The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several States, and without regard to any census or enumeration" is still being accepted as the law by U.S. federal judges, And those 30 words speak with a bigger stick than the 262-words of the forgery. Creek Hi, 126; Mill-D North, 155; Brighton, 149; Beaver Divide, 163; Lookout Peak, 124; Timpan-ogos Divide, 177; Pay son Ranger Station, 154; Daniels-Strawberry, 143; Clear Creek 2, 123, and Parley's Summit, 132.

Highest level recorded was in southeastern Utah in the LaSal Mountain-East Willow Creek drainage, which is at 198 percent of average. Lowest is the Escalante River drainage, at 98 percent of average. By JOSEPHINE ZIMMERMAN Herald Staff Writer PROVO Elaine Englehardt, Provo, was elected chairman of the Utah County Planning Commission for 1993 at the commission's recent meeting. George Tripp, Lehi, will serve as vice chairman. The commission voted to deny an application by Dennis Finch for a master plan amendment from "Greenbelt Area" to "Highway Service Area" designation and a zone map change from Mining and Grazing-1 to Highway Service Zone-1 in the Colton area.

The property, which consists of 49.87 acres, is located approximately 40 miles from the. southeastern limits of Spanish Fork City, and approximately 22 miles from Helper. The site is the old railroad settlement of Colton, which no longer exists. The Hill Top County Service has been in business since 1974 for food and gasoline sales, and has been a nonconforming use in the zone. Finch told planners that he wanted to establish a recreational vehicle park near his store.

Planning commissioners expressed concern that Utah County cannot adequately provide fire and safety services to this area because of its remote location. They also stated that the area proposed for rezoning is too large for the indicated need for an RV Further, the proximity of commercial uses at Helper City, Scofield Town and Soldier Summit do not warrant additional commercial uses at this site. While denying Finch's request, the commission waived his fee in the event he should want to reapply for rezoning as a Critical Environment-2zone. PROVO LORAL "Our Flower Say What The Heart Whispers" 107 North 500 West Provo 373-7001 Snow levels above average By JOSEPHINE ZIMMERMAN Herald Staff Writer Snow levels on the Provo River-Utah Lake-Jordan River watersheds average 140 percent of average, according to the U.S. Soil Conservation Service.

The measurements based on mountain data from SCS SNOTEL sites recorded the levels as of Wednesday, Jan. 20. The measurements are as follows: Trial Lake, 132 percent; Snowbird, 120 percent; Clear..