An occasional series of short editorials on issues of interest to Daily Herald readers.

Help all U.S. downwinders

In 1990, the federal government reversed decades of denial and accepted responsibility for the human suffering its nuclear tests in Nevada caused by enacting the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act.

RECA offers compensation to people who contracted radiation-related illnesses due to fallout exposure. The act awards $50,000 to downwinders, along with $75,000 for those who worked at the Nevada Test Site. It also covers uranium miners, who are eligible for $100,000 payments.

While it sounds generous and suggests that the government is taking responsibility for its past lies and denials, it doesn't really go far enough.

RECA classifies each downwinder by geography and by disease suffered. In Utah, only those in Beaver, Garfield, Iron, Kane, Millard, Piute, San Juan, Sevier, Washington and Wayne counties who have an illness traceable to radiation exposure are eligible for RECA payments, despite the fact that there is a lot of scientific evidence showing that downwinders live elsewhere.

A 1997 National Cancer Institute study shows that northern Utah, Idaho and Montana received similar levels of radiation exposure as did the areas traditionally associated with downwinders.

Two years ago, the National Academy of Sciences Board of Radiation Effects called for the government to remove the artifically-drawn borders defining who is eligible for RECA compensation. The fallout didn't respect county lines or state borders, and neither should the compensation.

Utah's congressional delegation should lead the push to expand RECA to anyone who can prove they were sickened by radioactive fallout. This isn't about cost control. It's about a moral debt.

Ignore Soulforce's immature tactics

They're baaack!

The Soulforce Equality Riders come to town today for yet another rally against Brigham Young University's policies on homosexuality.

For those of you who missed it last year, 24 activists were arrested for conducting a "die-in" claiming that BYU's policies cause gay and lesbian students to commit suicide.

Oh, please. While Soulforce claims it wants to promote dialogue and understanding on gay and transgender issues, it seems more interested in getting its members arrested on the campuses of religious schools and military academies. It strengthens the cause (so the group's members suppose) to show how mean these schools are by arresting people who just "innocently" walked onto the campus.

Tomorrow, Soulforce is planning a six-hour walk around BYU's perimeter, billed as a "Walls of Jericho" march. Chances are, some of the protesters will attempt to stray onto campus and maybe get arrested.

We have some advice for BYU officials: Ignore the protesters. Campus police should keep an eye on the demonstration to make sure the publicity stunt does not disrupt traffic or classes, and that no violence erupts. But the cops should just let them do their thing and leave.

Last year, BYU played into demonstrators' hands by calling out the goon squad -- a group of Nixonian Secret Service types with little radios in their ears -- to make arrests. It was ridiculous. Let the demonstrators "die" on the lawn, for heaven's sake. It's just not worth the trouble.

Polygamist cops under suspicion

Utah and Arizona police authorities are deciding whether members of an eight-member force patrolling Hilldale and Colorado City, Ariz., should turn in their badges.

It may be that the officers are more loyal to the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints than to the laws of Utah and Arizona.

At the very least, the officers should be relieved of duty while the accusations against them are being reviewed. The evidence against the officers includes a letter to Warren Jeffs from Town Marshal Fred Barlow pledging his loyalty to the incarcerated church leader. Barlow even deferred to Jeffs's judgment in a police hiring decision.

The officers are also accused of ignoring court orders regarding the property being held in a church trust and refusing to participate in depositions.

Police officers in any other community that behaved this way would be placed on leave until charges were thoroughly investigated. These should, too.

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page A5.

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