Have we got a project for you.

In conjunction with KUER public radio and KUED public television, The Tribune has launched an Internet project that lets the taxpayers determine how the budget surplus should be spent over the next three years.

Think most of the money should go to education? Then use the interactive Web sites to let the government know. The budget surplus calculator is ready to go on three different Web locations.

The Salt Lake Tribune address is http://extras.sltrib.com/specials/budget/index.asp.

The KUER address is http://extras.sltrib.com/specials/budget/index.asp?ref=KUER.

The KUED address is http://extras.sltrib.com/specials/budget/index.asp?ref=KUED.

Those who do not have home access to the Internet can use computers at the public libraries or send your choices to The Tribune. Please put a notation on the envelope: "The State Surplus - Your Money, Your Choice." Address your preferences to Tom Baden, Executive Editor, The Salt Lake Tribune, 90 S. 400 West, Suite 700, Salt Lake City, UT 84101.

A town hall meeting is planned for Feb. 13 at the KUED studio. To be in the audience for the public debate on where to spend how much, call 581-7777. The meeting will be taped and shown on KUED.

Ken Verdoia, director of production at KUED, said this kind of cooperative program has been tried successfully in other parts of the country - New Hampshire, Minnesota and San Francisco - where the governments were dealing with large deficits and citizens were asked to make cuts in the budget.

"Utah has the rare opportunity to deal with a budget surplus," Verdoia said.

Information will be collected and tabulated from the Web sites and the letters until the beginning of March when it will be presented to Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. and the members of the Legislature. "This will be a tool to gain information on the state's future," Verdoia said.

He feels this is the perfect project for three different media to present. The daily presence of The Tribune, the thoughtful radio presence of KUER and the longer programming of KUED can reach the public with all aspects of the budget debate, Verdoia said.

Baden said this cooperative program will give Utahns a way to weigh in on how the money should be spent. "Should it go in the rainy day fund, to roads, to education? Or should there be a tax cut - and how much?" Baden said.

Write or e-mail me your opinions of this project, after you get online and use the interactive Web sites.

Comics deja vu: Those of you who thought some of the color comics on Sunday, Jan. 8, seemed familiar were correct.

The color comics for both The Tribune and the Deseret Morning News are compiled and printed by an outside vendor, who apparently made an error.

According to Deputy Editor Tim Fitzpatrick, "Due to a production error, one page of last Sunday's color comics repeated the comics from the previous Sunday. For those who want to catch up on those comics, they can be found on The Tribune's Web site, www.sltrib.com/utah."

See? You are not crazy if you thought you had read them already.

---

The Reader Advocate column will resume its normal Saturday publication Jan. 21. The advocate's phone number is 801-257-8782. Write to the Reader Advocate, The Salt Lake Tribune, 90 S. 400 West, Suite 700, Salt Lake City, Utah 84101. E-mail: reader.advocate@sltrib.com.

People unhappy about sloppy grammar.

35

People upset about long wait to talk to NAC circulation.

12

People who want a different bridge column.

11

People who want no fluffy A-1 stories.

8