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Expressions of Pride

Marking the Mountains


By Lucy Burningham, 7-18-05

The practice of putting permanent letters of the alphabet on the side of mountains has always baffled me. While it seems like a Utah tradition because of how many letters cover our foothills, I’m aware that other parts of the country share the Beehive state’s penchant for these large-scale installations that represent school and hometown pride. But to me, even the most intact letters just look like ugly pieces of graffiti.

I was reminded of these alphabetical eyesores by an article in The Salt Lake Tribune today about a controversial 40-foot “K� in the southern Utah town of Kanab. A new Kanab resident, Rick Lewis, wrote a letter to the editor in the Southern Utah News complaining about the plan to install a new “K� on a mountainside. (The town’s “K� has been consistently disintegrating since 1920, when the first version was erected.) While Lewis initially complained about the merits of the project, he now says he’s upset about the fact that the Boy Scout spearheading the project didn’t go through the proper channels.

Enter the BLM, which took public comments on the topic until last Friday and will now review the application for a permit to erect the “K.� The Tribune reports that most of the town thinks Lewis is a loony newcomer who is trying to change a valuable tradition. But I propose that Lewis may just value his new mountain view. Why don’t towns, high schools and universities start new traditions that don’t involve scarring visible foothills? Can’t we learn to be satisfied with simple t-shirts and bumper stickers? And don’t tell me we’d be missing out on hiking to something on the side of the hill—knolls and peaks work just fine.



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By Raymond Takashi Swenson, 7-19-05

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