Incivility, it could be argued, is a companion to domestic abuse. Naturally, an abusive partner is not being civil. But incivility goes much deeper into the fabric of a society. When people post rude or vulgar bumper stickers on their vehicles, they are being uncivil. When they act badly in public or try to make a point by profaning the sacred or otherwise provoking people to anger, they are being uncivil. And when people approach political discussions by attacking, defaming and castigating without addressing issues or respecting differing views, they are being uncivil.

Civil people lift everyone through their manners and their attitudes. They respect differing views and celebrate differences in culture and thought, even as they express their own well-considered opinions with passion. A civil society is a civilized society. Unfortunately, there is much around us, from popular television shows to the way people interact on the street, to indicate that incivility is gaining an upper hand.

As we did last year, we intend to be a catalyst in restoring civility. We will spotlight both the good and the bad. This is an election year, which makes this goal all the more important.

Rest assured, we do not intend to abandon any of the issues we have held up as goals in years past. Faithful readers of these pages will no doubt wonder whether we still support a broadening of education choice in the state's public school system. We do. The issue of tuition tax credits seems to be gaining momentum as the Legislature prepares to meet, and we intend to be part of the debate. We also plan to continue our emphasis on ending the plague of drunken driving. Much progress has been made since we first took on this goal, and we don't plan to give up now.

And, of course, there are many other issues affecting Utahns. We will continue to speak out on all matters of concern throughout 2004, but we intend to keep domestic abuse and civility in the forefront of public debate.