Our hat is off to Olene Walker for being one of Utah’s greatest Stateswomen. The timing of this Hat’s Off was brought on by her op-ed piece in the Salt Lake Tribune (Sunday, March 7^th and is re-printed on this blog elsewhere) in which she endorsed the Fair Boundaries Initiative that would bring to an end the very visible results of the blatant gerrymandering partisanship of the Utah Republican Party.

Her opinion piece is another in a long list of courageous stands this great woman has taken in opposition to her beloved Republican Party. It is a must read. Aghast, she also has endorsed the Ethics Reform Initiative that will result in greater dignity and respect for her former legislator friends, dignity and respect that they are fighting against tooth and nail. (Her statement on the Ethics Reform is also found elsewhere on this blog.)

To second this Hat’s Off find a copy of the two Initiative Petitions and sign your name. You will be doing your state and the political climate a great service. Out of respect for her you could also sign online, although the current Lt. Governor has ruled online signatures unacceptable, a position that in all likelihood Olene would not have taken.

Fairness and civility are two of her greatest trademarks, the two least visible traits in today’s Republican Party.

Watts Cookin’ has known and admired Olene and her husband Myron Walker for many years. They are kind, thoughtful, soft spoken, industrious and generous. Their donation through their Country Crisp potato chip company was the boost that was needed to initiate the Utah-Arizona Shootout, an inter-state golf tournament that has become one of Utah’s premier golfing events and is now nearing its 20^th competition.

Olene Walker, at 72, is the oldest person to ever become governor. She is also the only woman to be governor, and also had the shortest term of office, 17 months. In 2003, when Governor Mike Leavitt was invited to head up the Environmental Protection Agency in the Bush Administration it, aghast, elevated a woman to be Utah’s Governor.

She performed wonderfully and gained high approval ratings state wide, but she didn’t have the gender and the required right wing lingo to be deemed worthy for re-election by her Republican Party and she was forced aside ‘to let a man do a man’s job.’

She wouldn’t approve of Watts Cookin’ taking these ‘pot shots’ at her beloved Republican Party, and she would probably call them ‘unfair’ and if she says so then we will concede that fact and still tip our hat to her for her marvelous example to all of us and for generations to come.

She is suffering from an incurable disease, pulmonary fibrosis, and is advocating for greater research in finding a cure for it. It is a disease that seems to be escalating rather rapidly throughout the nation, and we extend our best wishes to her and Myron and their family in her challenge to conquer it.

A brief sketch of her achievements is listed below.

She also served in the Utah State Legislature from 1980-1989 and was Appropriations Committee chairperson during her second term in the Utah House of Representatives.  She was the Assistant Majority Whip from 1985-1987 and Majority Whip from 1987-1989.  Prior to her positions in Utah State government, Gov. Walker worked with Worldwide Education and evaluated the U.S. Department of Education Title 111 projects throughout the country.  She was the Director of ESAA Programs in the Salt Lake City School District and was the Director of the Salt Lake School Foundation.  She was the Director of Community Development for the state of Utah and previously served as Vice President of Country Crisp Foods.  She graduated with honors with her Bachelor’s of Science degree from Brigham Young University where she served as student body vice-president, a position that may have been the earliest look at her strong leadership skills.  She was also captain of the debate team. The Governor received her master’s degree from Stanford and her Ph.D. from the University of Utah.

Gov. Walker and her husband, Myron, served as Public Affairs Missionaries for the LDS Church in New York City from June 2005 through December 2006.  Their assignment was to make friends and build bridges with the United Nations Ambassadors and government officials in the Northeast.  Gov. Walker was born in Ogden Utah.  She is the daughter of T.O. and Nina Smith.  She lived in Wilson Lane, which is now West Haven.  She and Myron have seven children, twenty-five grandchildren, and eleven great-grandchildren and now live in St. George.

Gov. Walker has received many prestigious awards including:

• 2005 Utah’s Person of the Year
• Brigham Young University Outstanding Graduate Award
• Business Woman of the Year
• University of Utah Hinckley Institute Hall of Fame
• Legislature of the Year
• Child Care Lifetime Service Award
• Child Advocate Award
• Romney Institute Manager of the Year Award
• Graduate School of Education Outstanding Service Award,
• Woman of Achievement Award.
• Salt Lake Chamber Athena Award for outstanding public service.
• Utah Business Women’s Outstanding Achievement Award.

She is also the recipient of a National Honor: Points of Light National Service Award

Highlights of Tenure as Governor State of Utah 2003 –2005

Initiatives included:

• Connecting interoperability of technology of the state law enforcement and health services to all areas of the state.
• Reading initiative focusing on primary grades and encouraging parents to read with their children for Twenty minutes a day; included $30 million for Utah schools to make certain every child could read by the end of 3rd grade; included a public awareness portion that used the theme, “The most important twenty minutes of your day, reading with a child”  Raised over $5 million more to support the importance of reading
• Watershed environmental enhancement in a large portion of the state
• Tax reform
• Resolution of public land issues
• 211 line for human services throughout the state
• Establishment of a community forest conservation policy
• Created a international trade policy
• Formulated a university and colleges economic development enhancement program
• Developed an education and scholarship program for foster children
• Developed a preventive health program for all state employees.

National leadership positions:

• President of National Secretary of States Organization,
• Chairperson  National Lt. Governor’s Organization,
• Chairperson  International Relations Committee National Council of State Governments
• Chair:  Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice
• Chairperson:  Quality Childcare in Utah
• Committee on Community Development
• Health Policy Commission
• Welfare Reform Task Force
• Higher Education Task Force
• Community Services Committee

Boards and Commissions:

Boards of Directors:

• Marriott School of Management Advisory Board
• Weber State College Advisory Board
• Romney Institute of Public Administration Advisory Board
• Utah Valley University Advisory Board
• Utah Constitutional Revision Task Force
• Coalition for Utah’s Future
• Ballet West
• Utah Symphony and Opera Committee
• United Way
• Red Cross
• Road Home Committee (Utah Homeless Committee)
• YWCA Board
• Salt Lake Convention and Visitor Bureau Executive Committee
• Envision Utah
• Home Nursing Advisory Committee,
• University of Utah Hospital Board
• Heart and Lung Research Advisory Committee

National Boards:

• National Park Conservation Advisory Board
• National Public University and Colleges Foundation Board
• Director Sallie Mae Industrial Bank
• Park City Public Policy Center

Honorary Degrees:

• Weber State University
• Utah Valley University
• Southern Utah University
• Westminster University
• Salt Lake Community College

Hats Off to Gary and Millie Watts

Our hat is off today, and everyday, for Dr. Gary Watts who, after 35 years, had his last day of work Christmas Day at the Utah Valley Hospital as one of the state’s premier radiologists. The recognition also goes to his sidekick in all things—-Millie, his wife of 47 years.

There are thousands upon thousands who will join with us in this Hats Off recognition, from the thousands in Utah County who have benefited by his medical attention to the tens of thousand throughout the state and across the nation who have benefited from their highly visible and personal campaign to change the attitudes of the world toward gays.

Gary’s medical practice was inspirational and worthy of emulation by all physicians everywhere. He was well compensated for his expertise, but his devotion to his patient’s care went around the clock every day, mostly uncompensated except in the satisfaction that he received from helping others by easing their burden and fears. He is idolized by many of his former patients and numerous of his physician friends for his knowledge, his wisdom, and his caring, and the unselfish love he has shown to them at all hours of the day and night.

Radiologists are supposed to be able to punch a time clock and then go home. They don’t have patients. Doctors are their clients. But that wasn’t the way it was with Gary. He was available around the clock with soothing counsel for those in fear regardless of whether the news was good or bad. He didn’t sugar-coat anything, but he made the medicine easier to swallow.

In the lives of many people Gary’s medical career has been heroic, and it has been his life’s work, and he has touched so many lives for good through his role as a physician that it should not be discounted in the least—-but truly, when the last bell is rung, his most significant contribution, one that will stand forever, is his partnership with Millie in their joint campaign to change the attitudes of the general public towards gays.

Their standing in the community as a family of merit, his credibility as a trained physician, and their history as worthy members of the Mormon Church, added significant impact when they decided to go public in defense of gays. That one decision, and the unrelenting dedication they have given to that cause, will define their lives.

They did it knowing full well that they would be going against the teachings of their church, and straining relationships with long held friendships. They didn’t know where their journey would take them, but they knew it was the right thing to do and they didn’t worry about the fallout. It was full steam head, and they will tell you that their crusade has brought them untold happiness and enriched their own lives more than they could have dreamed.

They joined forces with a few other like minded Mormons and founded Family Fellowship, a group of Mormons dedicated to giving support to gays and their families within the Mormon Church. They also joined a fledgling unit of Salt Lake PFLAG which became a positive force in the advancement of gay acceptance. One of their PFLAG projects was a billboard campaign declaring “Someone you know and love is gay.”

Gary and Millie have counseled with hundreds of Mormon gays and their parents and eased their burdens through love and hope.

Through their visibility and strength to go public the gay movement in Utah took a giant leap forward almost immediately. Gays throughout Utah watched in awe as Gary and Millie campaigned in the print press and through television interviews encouraging the public to re-think their negative attitudes and to take the high road in their view of gays.

They were the go-to couple when the press needed comments from the gay point of view on various issues. Their public presence and courage emboldened gays and they began coming out of the closet in ever greater numbers.

When they first started this personal campaign the movement was just a snowball on the top of the mountain, but support gathered and momentum inched forward and the snowball got to rolling and it will eventually fill the valley with fairness and equal rights for gays.

It’s been a worthy cause, and one that required pioneering leadership. It has also had enormous success. Where we are now and where we were then in our attitudes towards gays represents a monumental shift in public acceptance and understanding. The remaining chasm is rapidly narrowing and the world is better off for it.

Gary and Millie were married shortly after his return from a Mormon mission in New Zealand. He was a first team Academic All American on the Utah State basketball team that featured the late great Wayne Estes. By the time he entered radiology practice at Utah Valley Hospital they had five of their six children. His training included four years at Utah State, four years at the U of U medical school, three years of internship and residency at Harbor General Hospital, and two years as a captain in the Air Force at Warren Air Base. Two of their children are gay and all the siblings are loving and supporting of one another and are the personification of true family values.

Hats Off to Gary and Millie for a balanced life well lived and being an example for all to emulate. You’ve inspired many!

Our hat is off today to Parley Petersen, 75, the general manager of Riverside Country Club for the last quarter of a century and then some. He has announced that he is retiring at the end of the year. Parley has been the face and voice of Riverside Country Club to the members, the broader golf community, and to the people of Utah Valley. He has personally greeted thousands of visitors to the club and made them feel welcome and comfortable.

Parley’s charm is in his courteous, graceful style. Never in a rush, but always on time. Never in a panic, but always prepared. Never flustered, Always immaculate in dress and manner. His quiet, gentle tone of voice (radio quality) and reassuring smile calm all ruffled feathers.

He is keenly observant of the needs of others, many times before they even realize their need. He fixes distractions without distraction, and turns unease into comfort with a kind word and an inclusive wink.

He has been the consummate general manager and helped make Riverside CC a beautiful, comfortable, relaxing places to be in the midst of a world in too big of a hurry.

Parley, thanks for your service to others in so many ways.

(For more on Parley we recommend visiting the following links:

http://www.uga.org/news/news.cfm?article=3961

http://www.uga.org/news/news.cfm?article=2540

http://www.uga.org/news/news.cfm?article=2552

He is now self-employed doing web pages and teaching people how to use a computer. His ‘mySportsPEN.com‘ site  is a template for bloggers who want to write about their favorite teams. His program organizes their blog and teaches them the necessary skills to maintain it. His “yourTECHworker.com‘ site is a program for individuals seeking instruction on how to use a computer and all the little tricks that improve efficiency.

His Westie dog, Barney, is the best dog in the world and shares this Hats Off. There has never been a dog more kind, gentle, enthusiastic, consistently good natured, and even courteous. Barney lights up a room with joy and warmth. He is a real gentleman.

So a special Hats Off to Minty and Barney. Thanks guys!

With a stroke of his pen Friday afternoon, President Obama cemented a political victory by reining in a credit card industry widely condemned for snaring consumers in financially crippling traps.

When the new law takes full effect next February, card issuers will no longer be able to impose sky-high penalty interest rates on customers whose payments arrive a day or two late. Consumers will still face late fees, but they will have to be 60 days late to be pushed into default.

Barred, too, will be retroactive changes in terms affecting cardholders who had committed no infractions at all. In urging Congress to act, Obama sharply criticized those sorts of “any-time, any-reason” rate increases that can suddenly double or triple the interest rate on a customer’s existing balance. Many consumers complained that such tactics amounted to bait-and-switch.

Critics say the credit card industry’s outrageous practices caused its fall from grace even as it made Visa, MasterCard, and American Express into synonyms for the good life and enabled U.S. consumers to build up nearly $1 trillion in balances on revolving credit accounts.

The credit card industry did not accept defeat quietly. To the end, it argued that its detractors did not understand the sophisticated business model it had evolved: pricing credit according to risk, and repricing it continually as consumers’ circumstances changed.

One thing both sides agree is that the new law reflects a shift in the political pendulum – away from the laissez-faire lending environment that allowed practices that federal regulators and lawmakers ultimately deemed unfair and deceptive, and toward a more regulated marketplace.

In interviews last week, advocates representing consumer groups and lenders both said the bipartisan success of the legislation, which will force credit card companies to revamp their business models, was a sign of the political moment.

They said the credit crisis, economic meltdown, and bank bailouts made credit card lenders a politically juicy target and undercut the finance industry’s vaunted ability to get its way in Washington.

“There was a need for Congress and the president to appear tough on banks, and an easy and politically expedient way to do that was to crack down on card issuers,” said Mark J. Furletti, a credit card company attorney at Philadelphia’s Ballard, Spahr, Andrews & Ingersoll L.L.P. and a former researcher at the Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank’s Payment Card Center.

To be sure, the industry has hardly lost its clout. Less than a month ago, Congress disappointed the same consumer groups that pushed for credit card reforms when it refused to allow bankruptcy judges to adjust, or “cram down,” the principal owed on primary residential mortgages.

Supporters said that allowing judges to reduce mortgages to the level of a home’s actual market value – as they already can do with commercial properties, vacation homes, and autos – was crucial to stemming the foreclosure crisis and the collapse of housing prices around the country. Bankers said it would reduce the availability of credit and raise its cost for everybody – the same arguments they made against the new credit card rules.

Why the difference? One reason is that the cramdown proposal was opposed by a broad group of lenders, including credit unions and community banks.

Far fewer lenders remain in the credit card business, which became increasingly consolidated in the 1980s and ’90s as it turned to costly marketing and pricing models based on the now ubiquitous FICO score.

But a bigger distinction was the difference between troubled homeowners and card users.

Rightly or wrongly, opponents of the cramdown proposal portrayed those who would benefit as irresponsible people willing to walk away from their debts.

“They were able to paint them as deadbeats,” said Ed Mierzwinski, consumer program director for the U.S. Public Interest Research Group.

That did not work in the fight over credit card abuses, because such a wide swath of victims was affected.

Some were responsible citizens who got into trouble with credit card debt because of a personal crisis such as a job loss or medical problem – much like the profile of consumers who get in over their heads and eventually wind up in Bankruptcy Court.

Advocates such as Mierzwinski say the connection is not coincidental. As such borrowers struggled to stay afloat, their credit card lenders may have sounded sympathetic. But the lenders’ risk models showed they were more likely to default, so they were socked with rate increases even if they had managed to stay current on their cards. If treading water is tough at 12 percent, it is even tougher at 29 percent.

But it was another category of borrowers who surely became the industry’s worst nightmares. People like Larry Hrebiniak.

A management professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, Hrebiniak was among tens of thousands of consumers who complained in recent years about sudden and unexplained changes in interest rates and other credit card traps.

Six years ago, Hrebiniak was a fairly typical “convenience user” of credit cards, like about 4 in 10 Americans, including a MasterCard from MBNA (now part of Bank of America Corp.). He paid off its balance every month, enjoyed an interest rate of 8 percent, and had a credit limit of $15,000.

His mistake? He decided to use of some of his MBNA credit to pay off some unusually large expenses over several months. His balance went as high as $10,000, and suddenly his rate jumped to 15.99 percent.

Hrebiniak complained to MBNA and bank regulators. Both reached the same conclusion: It was a contractual matter between Hrebiniak and his bank, and the terms of Hrebiniak’s card allowed MBNA to raise his rates at any time for any reason. All that mattered was whether it was properly disclosed.

But complaints like Hrebiniak’s kept coming, and two years ago key regulators decided it was time to act.

In new rules scheduled to take effect in July 2010, the Federal Reserve finally declared that disclosure was not enough and said it could bar practices such as “any-time, any-reason” rate increases under its authority to stop unfair and deceptive trade practices.

Now Congress and the president have gone further. The 33-page law that Obama signed mostly takes effect in nine months and bars a whole slew of traps that credit cards’ critics have identified over the years – including irritants such as vanishing grace periods, shifting due dates, and the imposition of “over-limit” fees on customers who would rather just have a purchase declined.

To Travis Plunkett, who pushed for the new rules on behalf of a coalition of consumer groups, perhaps the most remarkable aspect of the turnaround was how it ended – with protections being added, not taken away.

Plunkett said congressional debate usually “gives industry lobbyists and special interests more time to work their magic” to weaken proposals. “But in this case the dynamic was the opposite. Public anger was so high, and concern in Congress was so broad, that the overall impact was to strengthen the bill.”

Hrebiniak said he was happy lawmakers had acted, even if it took a crisis to push them.

“A lot of people have been yelling against the issuers of credit cards for years,” he said. “But I think it all resonated, it all came together, when the economy collapsed.”

Hrebiniak said he expected the market to adapt to the new rules. Despite card issuers’ recent dire warnings, he said he expected competition to keep offers flowing to creditworthy customers.

At the same time, he said the new law would not be a panacea for financially stressed borrowers.

“Despite these protections, there are a lot of people who still can’t handle credit,” he said.

New Credit Card Rules

Some of the requirements of the new Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility, and Disclosure Act:

Cardholders must be 60 days late before considered in default.

Except in cases of default, rate changes will generally apply only to new purchases, not existing balances.

Banks must send a bill at least 21 days before it’s due.

Payments received by 5 p.m. on the due date must be counted as on time.

Lenders must give 45 days’ notice before raising rates. (Consumers may opt out and pay under the old terms.)

Payments above the minimum must be applied first to highest-interest portion of the balance.

People under 21 must offer proof of income or have a co-signer to obtain a credit card.

“Over-limit” fees cannot be triggered by purchase unless cardholder agrees that lender should permit such a purchase.

Gift cards cannot expire in less than 5 years. Inactivity fees must be prominently disclosed.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – President Barack Obama strode head-on Sunday into the stormy abortion debate and told graduates at America’s leading Roman Catholic university that both sides must stop demonizing one another.

Obama acknowledged that “no matter how much we want to fudge it … the fact is that at some level, the views of the two camps are irreconcilable.” But he still implored the University of Notre Dame’s graduating class and all in the U.S. to stop “reducing those with differing views to caricature. Open hearts. Open minds. Fair-minded words. It’s a way of life that always has been the Notre Dame tradition.”

One of the noisiest controversies of his young presidency flared after Obama, who supports abortion rights but says the procedure should be rare, was invited to speak at the school and receive an honorary degree. “I do not suggest that the debate surrounding abortion can or should go away,” the president said.

The Rev. John Jenkins, Notre Dame’s president, introduced Obama and praised the president for not being “someone who stops talking to those who disagree with him.” Jenkins said too little attention has been paid to Obama’s decision to speak at an institution that opposes his abortion policy.

Ahead of Obama’s address, at least 27 people were arrested on trespassing charges. They included Norma McCorvey, the plaintiff identified as “Roe” in the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion. She now opposes abortion and joined more than 300 anti-abortion demonstrators at the school’s front gate.

More than half held signs, some declaring “Shame on Notre Dame” and “Stop Abortion Now” to express their anger over Notre Dame’s invitation to Obama.

Obama entered the arena to thunderous applause and a standing ovation from many in the crowd of 12,000. But as the president began his commencement address, at least three protesters interrupted it. One yelled, “Stop killing our children.”

The graduates responded by chanting “Yes we can,” the slogan that became synonymous with Obama’s presidential campaign. Obama seem unfazed, saying Americans must be able to deal with things that make them “uncomfortable.”

The president ceded no ground. But he said those on each side of the debate “can still agree that this is a heart-wrenching decision for any woman to make, with both moral and spiritual dimensions.

“So let’s work together to reduce the number of women seeking abortions by reducing unintended pregnancies, and making adoption more available, and providing care and support for women who do carry their child to term.”

He said he favored “a sensible conscience clause” that would give anti-abortion health care providers the right to refuse to perform the procedure.

Before taking on the abortion issue, Obama told graduates they were part of a “generation that must find a path back to prosperity and decide how we respond to a global economy that left millions behind even before this crisis hit an economy where greed and short-term thinking were too often rewarded at the expense of fairness, and diligence, and an honest day’s work.”

Obama’s appearance appeared additionally complicated by fresh polls that show Americans’ attitudes on the issue have shifted toward the anti-abortion position.

A Gallup survey released Friday found that 51 percent of those questioned call themselves “pro-life” on the issue of abortion and 42 percent “pro-choice.” This is the first time a majority of U.S. adults have identified themselves as “pro-life” since Gallup began asking this question in 1995.

Just a year ago, Gallup found that 50 percent termed themselves “pro-choice” while 44 percent described their beliefs as “pro-life.”

A Pew Research Center survey found public opinion about abortion more closely divided than it has been in several years.

Pew said its latest polling found that 28 percent said abortion should be legal in most cases while 18 percent said all cases. Forty-four percent of those surveyed were opposed to abortion in most or all cases.

Gallup said shifting opinions lay almost entirely with Republicans or independents who lean Republican, with opposition among those groups rising over the past year from 60 percent to 70 percent.

The abortion issue also is front and center as Obama considers potential nominees to fill the vacancy left by the retirement this summer of Justice David Souter. Abortion opponents are determined to see Roe v. Wade overturned, but only four court justices out of nine have backed that position. Souter has opposed arguments for overturning the ruling.

The Catholic Church and many other Christian denominations hold that abortion and the use of embryos for stem cell research amount to the destruction of human life, are morally wrong and should be banned by law.

The contrary argument holds that women have the right to terminate a pregnancy and that unused embryos created outside the womb for couples who cannot otherwise conceive should be available for stem cell research. Such research holds the promise of finding treatments for debilitating ailments.

Within weeks of taking office in January, Obama eased an executive order by President George W. Bush that limited research to a small number of stem-cell strains.

On the Notre Dame campus, members of an abortion rights group also protested while a plane pulling an anti-abortion banner circled above. Tara Makowski of Seattle, who received a master’s degree Saturday from the school, said she was dismayed by the way Notre Dame was being characterized.

“Seeing us being portrayed nationally as radical conservative has been really tough,” she said. “People need to realize that the majority of students and faculty” favored Obama’s visit.

But Bishop John D’Arcy, whose diocese includes Notre Dame, skipped commencement. He attended an open-air Mass and rally. He said he wanted to support the students protesting Obama’s speech.

“All of you are heroes, and I’m proud to stand with you,” he said.

Obama was the ninth president to receive an honorary degree from Notre Dame and sixth sitting president to address graduates. Other commencement speakers have included Dwight Eisenhower, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush.

Before returning to Washington, Obama stopped in Indianapolis for two fundraisers. About 40 people attended a $15,000-per-couple Democratic National Committee event, which raised between $300,000 and $400,000.

About 650 people attended a second fundraiser for four Indiana Democratic congressmen. That dinner cost $250-$5,000 per person.

Indiana is a traditionally conservative state that Obama carried in the presidential election.

___

Associated Press writer Tom Coyne contributed to this report.