In response to Linsey Robinson's plea of "not trying to make a statement" when creating her family's "Bud" tree for the Festival of Trees, I offer the following. She should think about her bad judgment for this type of venue.
According to a recent study by the American Academy of Pediatrics' Committee on Substance Abuse, alcohol has the following repercussions in teens: impaired relationships, poorer school performance, increased problems with authority, involvement in high-risk behavior causing death and/or injury. It is the leading cause of death and injury among adolescents; those using alcohol have an increased incidence of sexual activity, a higher incidence of unintended pregnancy, a higher acquisition rate of sexually transmitted disease. They are involved in higher rates of sexual and physical abuse; alcohol is associated in one-third to two-thirds of sexual assault and date rape cases in adolescence and college students.
With alcohol being the new "epidemic" drug in this nation, maybe she sees no harm in making a "fun" tree of empty beer cans, but others do. She says they were simply turning something they enjoy into a project for a fund-raiser. It seems easier for them to blame Utah for censorship than to say she used poor judgment on this one.
William R. Gooch
Salt Lake City