NEWSBRIEFS

Between tomorrow’s dream andyesterday’s regret is today’s opportunity.

— Quips & Quotes

See BRIEFS, Page 5

SERVING ANTHONY, VINTON, CANUTILLO, EAST MONTANA, HORIZON, SOCORRO, CLINT, FABENS, SAN ELIZARIO AND TORNILLOVOL. 31, No. 20 MAY 13, 2004

nineteenseventythree

two th o u s a n d four

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SOCORRO — What has been one ofSocorro Mayor Irma Sanchez’ goals sinceshe took office — an internal audit of theCity of Socorro — is getting closer to be-coming a reality.

Members of the Socorro City Council are inagreement with the need for an internal auditand Mayor Sanchez said the process will makesure that taxpayer’s monies are being spentappropriately.

During the regularly scheduled City Coun-cil meeting on May 6, 2004, members of Coun-cil agreed to meet with the top three candidatesthat responded to requests for qualifications,to negotiate on a price to conduct the audit,going back as far as 10 years.

It was the hope of Mayor Sanchez to havethe audit done for the past 18 years, but in aneffort to save money, Council agreed to go backonly 10 years. The Socorro City Charter statesa yearly internal audit should be conducted, andsince the Charter has been in place since No-vember of 2001, Council would be in compli-ance if they elected to get an audit for onlytwo years, but they felt they should go backfurther.

Community member Ricardo Ortiz voicedhis approval for the internal audit. LorenzaFraire, a concerned citizen, said she thinks itwill be a miracle if the audit ever takes place.

In other business, some community mem-bers in the audience continue to express theirconcern over the items being placed in con-sent agenda they feel are not routine items. Theconsent agenda allows routine items to be ap-proved with one single vote without indepth

discussion.There were 26 items in the consent agenda

and Council pulled out five items for discus-sion and approved the rest of the items in onevote. These items approved included some thatwere being protested, such as pay increases foremployees that did not stipulate if the increasewas hourly, weekly, monthly or exactly whattype of increase was intended.

In another agenda item, some members ofCouncil and Mayor Sanchez selected citizensto sit on the Charter Amendment Review Com-mittee. The committee will consist of 11 mem-bers, seven of whom have already been se-lected. This committee will review the Char-ter and make recommendations for any amend-ments needed. The City of Socorro will holdthe Charter Amendment election on May 15,2004 to decide if the committee may begin re-viewing the Charter.

Socorro council agrees to move forward with internal auditBy Arleen Beard

Special to the Courier

Clint Independent School Districtannounced the District Secondary andElementary Teachers ofthe Year for 2003-2004 ata banquet held at EmeraldSprings Golf Club on April22. Assistant Superinten-dent for Instructional Ser-vices, James Kelch, an-nounced the winners to acrowd of family, friends,colleagues, administratorsand board members.

The Clint ISD Dis-trict ElementaryTeacher of the Year honor wasgiven to Eva Quezada from C.T.Welch Intermediatewhere she has beenteaching the last twoyears. Quezada, whohas been an educator forsix years, is currently asixth and seventh gradescience teacher. She hasgiven much of her owntime to be involved innumerous committeesand coordinate campusscience fairs.

The Clint ISD SecondaryTeacher of the Year honor went to

EAST EL PASO COUNTY —April 22 marked the beginning ofa busy year for Montwood HighSchool’s Pat Arellano and RobertR. Rojas Elementary School’sYolanda Nieto. The teachers wereselected as SocorroISD’s 2004-2005Teachers of the Yearduring the annual din-ner and ceremony atDowntown’s CaminoReal Hotel ballroom.

Arellano is the mediatechnology instructorat Montwood, andteaches students how touse video and audioequipment and com-puters. Nieto is a second-grade bi-lingual teacher at Rojas, and hastaught there for three ofher 16 years as ateacher.

Nieto says she was“pleasantly shocked”to be named Elemen-tary Teacher of theYear. “We have somany powerhouseteachers here at Rojas.I really didn’t expect towin beyond the cam-pus level.” And whydoes she think she was picked? “Iam not really a joiner; I often ar-

School districts name Teachers of the YearClint ISD picks Quezada and Sanchez as top teachers Arellano and Nieto named top teachers in Socorro ISD

By Laura CadeSpecial to the Courier

Amanda Sanchez from HorizonHigh School where she has beenteaching English for the past year.Mrs. Sanchez is involved at hercampus as a Cheer and freshmansponsor. She also serves as the Lan-

guage Arts DepartmentChair.

Also honored at thebanquet were the ClintISD Campus Teachersof the Year: LuisRamirez, Clint HighSchool; Tom Dean,Mountain View HighSchool; BelindaPendell, Clint JuniorHigh School; LorenzaMarquez, East Montana

Middle School; Michelle Payne,W.D. Surratt Elementary; Ernesto

Esparza, Montana VistaElementary; EstherCastor, Desert Hills El-ementary; YolandaReed, Red Sands El-ementary; LorenaAlvarado, FrankMacias Elementary.

The Campus Teach-ers of the Year wereawarded a plaque anda check for $1000. TheDistrict Teachers of the

Year were awarded with a plaqueand a check for an additional $2500.

rive at 6:30 a.m. to begin creatingthe environment that allows mystudents to learn.”

“It’s beyond surprise,” Arellanosaid moments after the announce-ment. “It was utter shock.” She

came into teaching fouryears ago from corpo-rate America, afterworking in manage-ment at Intermec Cor-poration and anotherfirm, Paxar Corpora-tion. She was also chiefoperations officer andpartner in the El Pasocompany, Turnkey So-lutions and also workedas a freelance photog-

rapher and videographer.“But nothing, nothing that I have

ever done in the corpo-rate arena compares tothis,” Arellano says.“Here, you’re touchinglives not rolling salesfigures or crunchingcommission checksyou’re touching lives.”

Arellano and Nietoeach received a checkfor $1,000, a plaque,and the opportunity tocompete for the Region

19 Teacher of the Year title laterthis year.

Eva Quezada

Amanda Sanchez Yolanda Nieto

Pat Arellano

Deputies honoredEl Paso County Sheriff’s Deputies MiguelMarquez, Michael Lara and CesarAnchondo were among officers honoredin an Awards Presentation Ceremony onMay 6, with a presentation from SheriffLeo Samaniego of a Certificate of Meritfor the rescue of 14 children from aflooded home in Tornillo, Texas on Aug.17, 2003. The ceremony was to presentawards to Sheriff’s Office personnel andEl Paso Community citizens for serviceand extraordinary actions. Deputy JoseDaniel De Anda received the Purple HeartMedal earned in the arrest of two violentgang members; and Deputies ManuelRubio and Alex Medina were noted fortheir efforts when they saved two lives onOct. 20, 2003 during a mountain rescueon Trans Mountain Road.

Around the worldThe Horizon High School freshman classwill be holding their first annual World’sFair on Wednesday, May 19, 9 a.m. to 3:30p.m. in the Gym Foyer. If you have everdreamed of seeing the world, this will beyour chance. Dozens of countries spanningthe seven continents will be representedin addition to food, games, prizes and evenan Olympic Tournament! The event isopen to the public — admission is 50 centsfor anyone 7th grade and under and $1 foranyone 8th grade and over. Call 926-4200and ask for Pete Wagner or AmandaSanchez for more information.

Top Cats BanquetThe Second Annual Top Cats Banquet willbe May 20, recognizing the top 10 studentsin grades 8-12, with UTEP President Dr.Diana Natalicio headlining the event asspecial guest speaker. A total of 50 FabensISD students will be honored for outstand-ing academic achievements, and a specialdinner will be served. Additionally, theTeacher of the Year from each Fabens cam-pus will be honored.

In other news� A fundraising concert featuring theFuentes del Bravo band and Aladdin Discowill held on May 22, 8 p.m. at the Mis-sion Valley Ballroom to benefit VirginiaGarcia, who is awaiting liver treatment atBaylor Hospital in Dallas. The event isbeing sponsored by five Socorro women,all relatives of Garcia who is SISD Spe-cial Education coordinator. Tickets areavailable before the concert at the SISDTransportation Services Department,12300 Pine Springs Drive. Admission is$10 donation. Contact Josie Trillo at 937-0547 for more information.

� The No Limits Track Club, which par-ticipates in Junior Olympics track and field

EL PASO COUNTY — Despite an increasein revenues this past year, El Paso County isstill spending more than it collects in taxes andfees and will have to continue its fiscal restraintfor five more years, Auditor Ed Dion said, dur-ing a budgetary special session last week.

Dion commended elected officials andcounty departments for their efforts toward

increasing the growth of revenues by 9.5 per-cent. Unfortunately it’s still not enough to re-duce the gap between expenditures and rev-enues, he said, crediting last year’s budgetarycuts and the County’s new cost-saving andenhanced collection efforts for some of thegrowth in revenues.

“But we cannot continue on this path, sincethis will be our third consecutive fiscal year ofshortfalls, “ Dion said, explaining that evenwith the planned budget reductions, thecounty’s projected shortfall for fiscal year

2004-2005 is estimated at $13.8 million and at$12.6 for 2006. “At that rate our reserves, ex-pected to be at $30.8 million by the end of thisyear, will be completely wiped out by 2007.Unless the county’s revenues and expendituresare aligned in the near future, we’ll be forced toborrow money to keep operations going in thebeginning of each fiscal year, starting in 2007.”

Most of last year’s budgetary cuts will con-tinue this year, Dion said, except for those that

El Paso County Commissioners urged to continue fiscal restraintBy Guadalupe Silva

Special to the Courier

See BUDGET, Page 7

WEST TEXAS COUNTY COURIERPage 2 May 13, 2004

SERVING ANTHONY, VINTON, CANUTILLO, EAST MONTANA, HORIZON, SOCORRO, CLINT, FABENS, SAN ELIZARIO AND TORNILLO

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HomesteaderEst. 1973

nineteenseventythree

two th o u s a n d four

31YEARS

One perspectiveBy Francis Shrum

They sayyou aren’tsupposed tolook a gifthorse in the

mouth but this one needs a real gooddental checkup.

The new “government-sponsored”Medicare drug discount card is noth-ing short of a good smack in the faceto the folks to whom we owe themost. Our elderly.

Good old Uncle Sam says that vir-tually every drug is covered by the26 nationwide drug discount cards —or maybe one of an unspecified num-ber of cards of “regional” origin —of which a senior citizen is allowedto have only one.

But how many hoops are we go-ing to require our older folks to jumpthrough to find out which card theyneed? Instead of honoring our seniorcitizens, this program is going to re-quire them to go through a long, com-plicated and demeaning applicationprocess — worse than applying forfood stamps, I figure — to find outwhich card they need, whether or notthey can get it, whether or not thedrug company they need services thearea they live in — and whether ornot they must prove they are unableto stand on only one leg whilescratching their left ear.

Okay, so I made that last one up.But it fits right in with the rest of

the gobbledygook that is being of-fered as a “benefit” to our olderpeople just so they can get a 25 per-cent discount which is still, in somecases, more expensive than drugsobtained via the internet or a tripacross the border.

And who knows how many cardchanges they’ll have to go throughdepending on how many times the docchanges their prescribed medicines.

Sorry about that, but this onedoesn’t even get close to passing the

Aw, just keep itsmell test. As many tax dollars as aresent up the pike every year, this drug“discount” program would be wor-thy of a good chuckle if it weren’t soserious.

The magnanimous attitude of thefolks who put this thing together justblows my mind. For instance, if youare a “low income” senior citizen —good luck figuring out whether thisdesignation applies to you and prov-ing it to Uncle Same — you will getan “extra” $600 “credit” on your card,provided that you have actually fig-ured out which one actually applies toyou, if any at all. Then you get theprivilege of paying a fee, $30 or so, tosign up for most of the cards, thoughsome do charge less or nothing.

Don’t understand the process?Uncle Sam is there to help confuseyou further. Simply log on to theirwebsite on your computer or call a1-800 number. Now, how many ofour older folks actually use theinternet or want to spend the uselesshours — and I do mean hours! —wading through the telephone an-swering system that will inevitablybe required?

Further, Uncle Sam will show hisunlimited generosity by allowing se-niors to keep whatever existing drugdiscount cards they may have froman insurance or drug company.

C’mon, boys and girls who are sup-posed to represent us, you can do abetter job than that. This program hadto have been written by lawyers sinceit requires a lawyer to decipher allthe regs in it. If the U.S. governmenttruly wanted to be helpful to its olderfolks, all it had to do is take a ganderthrough the list of people who haveand use Medicare cards. Then theycould have simply issued cards withdrug credits on them, much like atelephone card or a gift card from adepartment store, to all our seniorcitizens in the amount that is avail-

Reyes Reports By U.S. Rep. Silvestre Reyes

able for this program.What’s that you say? We can’t do

that because why? Oh, I see. It wouldput all those lawyers and administra-tors out of a job — all that personnelneeded to power this unwieldy andunworthy governmental monster.

Like all other government pro-grams that some genius dreams upto “help” us, this one is destined tofall flat on its face. It is custom-de-signed to be useless and unused bythose who really need it, and forabuse by the thieves among us whowill play hide and seek among thenumerous and confusing guidelines.

They had a program here in Texascalled the “Crime Victim’s Assis-tance Program” to reimburse victimsof violent crimes for their financiallosses. Unfortunately, it died of un-natural causes — namely the stan-dards that a crime victim had to meetto “prove” they deserved every singlepenny were so great that nobody ap-plied for it. I don’t imagine that awoman who has just been seriouslybeaten by her husband is going toremember to record the mileage tothe doctor or hospital.

CHIP (Child Health Insurance Pro-gram) is intended to assist familiesin obtaining medical care for theirkids, but it is already suffering fromthe same malady — it’s just too hardto qualify and keep up with all therequirements which change as oftenas the weather.

The vast majority of the moneydesignated to fund these kinds of pro-grams never makes it to those inneed. Instead, these funds are si-phoned away to pay for printing ap-plication forms, for the little girl onthe phone who tells you she will sendout the forms right away, for the ad-ministrator-types who will look overthose forms until they come to an ir-regularity and stamp them “re-jected,” and for the travel expensesto send officials out to give you a“fair” hearing if you feel like pursu-ing it that far.

More than likely, though, the folkswho most need a little governmenthelp to pay for their medicines willsimply say, “Aw, just keep it.”

As a com-munity with a

large military presence, El Pasoknows the sacrifices our soldiers andtheir families make for the safety andsecurity of our country. Military lifeis not easy. Families move constantly,spend extended periods of time sepa-rated from each other, and often donot spend priceless moments such asthe birth of a child or a high schoolgraduation together. In times of warand peace, those who stay behindhave an equally tough and stressfuljob as those who leave home.

This is why a bipartisan group of333 members of Congress co-spon-sor the Military Survivor BenefitsImprovement Act, which has the sup-port of numerous veterans serviceorganizations. This Act would ensurethat military spouses receive the re-tirement benefits that were promisedthem through the Survivor BenefitPlan (SBP).

Congress established the SBP in

Military spouses deservefull retirement benefits

1972. When enrolling in the program,service members agreed to pay pre-miums to provide their spouses witha retirement income — 55 percent oftheir retirement benefit — in theevent of their death.

However, under current law, whenthese spouses reach the age of 62,their benefits are reduced from 55percent to 35 percent. The offset isintended to account for Social Secu-rity payments and other subsidiesprovided by the government; how-ever, those offsets have not material-ized and servicemembers were noteven made aware of this changewhen enrolling in the program.

While the Military Survivor Ben-efits Improvement Act, which wouldphase out the penalty over five years,enjoys broad bipartisan support in theHouse of Representatives, the recentRepublican-backed fiscal year 2005Budget Resolution, which passed theHouse in March, does not pay forending this penalty.

Many of my colleagues and I inCongress are fighting to end this un-fair penalty. These surviving spouses— many of whom are elderly womenstruggling to meet basic living ex-penses — must make painful choicesconcerning food, fuel and housingcosts. Through the use of a dischargepetition, a congressional procedurewhich will force a committee — inthis case, the House Armed ServicesCommittee — to act on a bill twoweeks after the petition gains 218 sig-natures, we hope to end this unfairpenalty. This discharge petition cur-rently has 201 signatures and garnersmore support each day.

Military spouses play an importantrole in the defense of our country andoftentimes do not receive the recog-nition they deserve. As a member ofthe House Armed Services Commit-tee and the House Veterans’ AffairsCommittee, I will continue to urgemy colleagues to fight for our mili-tary families.

May 13, 2004 WEST TEXAS COUNTY COURIER Page 3

EyeonD.C.

By U.S. Rep. Henry Bonilla

Por la Gente By State Rep. Chente Quintanilla

Hola migente. This

week the Republican leadershippassed House Bill 1 (HB1) — bet-ter known as the Public EducationBill. I believe its name should be theTax Bill, due to its context and driveto hike up sales tax to one of thehighest in the country. With notableopposition, I am proud to report thatthe entire El Paso House delegationvoted against it.

With one vote, Republican lead-ership killed good ideas and turnedtheir backs on Democrats and Re-publicans who wanted to work to-ward improving public education inTexas. This bill is a sham — the pro-cess was a sham.

On Tuesday, May 4, 2004 duringthe bill’s second reading, let it beknown that the Republican leader-ship chose to silence members, shutdown the democratic process, andignore 200-plus amendments to thebill. Democrats — and many Repub-licans who voted against the bill —were denied the opportunity to de-bate important issues and presentgood, constructive amendments thatcould have made the bill better thandisastrous. Only two of the 200-plusamendments sitting on the Speaker’sdesk were deemed worthy of discus-sion by House Republicans.

A number of changes were madeto HB 1 on the second reading.

• Sets a uniform local property taxrate of $1.20 per $100 — up from$1.05. A resident in the Socorro ISDwill have a miserable tax reductionof approximately $50 a year in propertytaxes — but will make it up by pay-ing a very high sales tax of 9 percent.

• Raises the state sales tax to 9 per-cent — up from 6.75 percent in thecommittee substitute and up from6.25 under current law. No statewould have a higher sales tax ratethan Texas under HB 1. Most Tex-ans will pay a total sales tax (includ-ing local city/county/transit author-ity tax of two percent) of 9 percentunder this proposal. A family thatspends an average of $100 a weekwill spend $468 annually in salestax. So where’s the savings whenyou must pay almost the same prop-erty tax and much more on sales tax?Our economy will regress for thesole purpose of saving 139 propertywealthy school districts money butsorely affecting 1,040 property poorschool districts. In addition to rais-ing the sales tax and spending $800million more than the bill raises, thebill will be carried on the backs ofworking families by taxing newspa-pers, magazine subscriptions, bill-boards, the internet, bottled water,

concerts and sporting events.• Under Rep. Grusendorf’s — au-

thor of HB1 and chair of the PublicEducation Committee — amendment,school districts are prohibited fromraising money for enrichment. Thebill falls far short of providing a fairlong term solution; implements afunding system that will allow the gapbetween the very wealthiest districtsand poor districts to widen; will notgrow with the economy; is based onunstable revenue sources and shiftsthe tax burden to those who are leastcapable of shouldering it. Out of the$6.2 billion in new revenue proposedby this bill, only $1.35 billion wouldgo for education — much of it goesto unproven incentive plans.

Above all, there were many no-table amendments that Republicanschose to ignore that were supportedand filed with the Speaker’s Officeby various House Democrats. Theiractions have failed our kids, failedour teachers, failed our taxpayers,and trampled over Democracy. Godhelp us!

I thank all my constituents whocontacted our office regarding theirconcern for public education and weencourage you to contact us atChente.quintanilla@house.state.tx.us.Until then I remain your friend andpublic servant, Chente for la gente.

High taxes and NO new moneyto fund public education

This month the Department of Health and HumanServices (HHS) will introduce new Medicare-approvedprescription drug discount cards. The new cards willoffer seniors discounts of up to 25 percent off the costof their medications.

This is a fantastic opportunity for the seniors of ournation. Like any new program, thereis an abundance of information thatparticipants should know and under-stand. What follows is a series of fre-quently asked questions regardingthe prescription drug discount cards.

1. What kinds of discounts do thecards offer?

The new Medicare-approvedcards will offer seniors discounts ofup to 25 percent off the cost of theirmedications. Better yet, low-incomeseniors will be eligible to receive a$600 credit on their cards to defraytheir drug costs this year. They will also receive an ad-ditional $600 credit in 2005.

2. Who is a low-income senior?Under the new law, a low-income senior is a person

who makes less than 135 percent of the federal povertylevel, roughly $12,900 annually for an individual or$16,600 for a couple.

3. When can seniors begin to sign up for these cards?Seniors can begin to sign up for their Medicare-ap-

proved discount cards on May 3rd. The cards will be-come active on June 1.

4. How will they sign up?Seniors will be able to enroll with a drug card of their

choice a number of ways. They include calling theircongressional office for assistance signing up, and vis-iting www.medicare.com or calling 1-800MEDICARE.

5. How much will it cost to sign up?Some discount card sponsors will charge an enroll-

Medicare drug discount cards:Important facts to know

ment fee of around $30. However, other card sponsorswill offer a lower fee or no fee at all.

6. What drugs are covered?Every drug, any drug, all drugs, are covered under

this program. Though all cards may not cover all drugs,every drug is covered by at least one of the cards of-

fered.7. How many cards will be offered?Currently, 26 cards will be avail-

able nationwide and still others willbe available regionally. The num-ber of cards available to seniors willdepend largely on where they live.

8. How will a senior know whichcard is best for them?

Because participation in this newdiscount card program is voluntary,choosing a card will require someresearch on the part of seniors orcaregivers. First, whether or not a

card sponsor charges an enrollment fee will be a factorfor some seniors. Second, which drugs the card coversand how much of a discount they offer will be otherfactors. Finally, which pharmacies in a senior’s areaoffer which discounts will be a another factor.

9. What if a senior has an existing drug discount card?Seniors can have only one Medicare-approved dis-

count card but they CAN KEEP discount drug cardsthey already have from drug makers or groups. In manycases the savings these cards offer will be greater thanthose the Medicare-approved card can offer. What typesof cards a senior has should be a factor when choosingwhich Medicare-approved card to sign up for.

I hope the information in this week’s column proveshelpful when making a decision about this new resourcefor our nation’s seniors. For more information on theprescription drug cards, visit www.medicare.gov or call1-800-MEDICARE.

www.Big8.com

Dear Editor:Village of Vinton is getting ready

to elect a new mayor. Voters shouldlook very closely at who is runningfor mayor. One of the candidates thatis running has cost the taxpayersthousands of dollars in legal fees dueto the constant allegations againstcouncil members and employees ofthe Village of Vinton. Juvencia RiosOntiveros has filed three complaintswith the Sheriff’s Department.

Do we want a mayor who will costthe taxpayers money in legal fees dueto her constant allegations? We needa mayor that will look out for the in-terest of the Village of Vinton.

Carmen GaunaCanutillo

Dear Editor:To the registered voters of the City

of Socorro BEWARE! On May 15,2004, an election has been scheduledto vote on a petition which wouldamend our current Charter of the cityof Socorro.

The city council is asking for thispetition to be passed as it will givethem the authority to enact anychanges which they deem necessarywithout the input of us, the registeredvoters and residents of the city ofSocorro.

If we give away our right to voteon any changes to the Charter thenwe are granting the city council ablank chack and the authority to com-mit our city into financial situationswithout our vote. Thus, we the resi-dents of Socorro, will end up respon-sible for any future indebtedness,which the city could incur. Pleaseexercise your constitutional right tovote and vote against the petition.

Rudy OrtizSocorro

Dear Editor:I would like to invite my friends

and neighbors to join me in votingfor John Page to hold the office ofSocorro ISD trustee, District 2.

John Page of Horizon City hasstepped forward to volunteer his ser-vice to our community. It is some-thing he has done throughout his life.He served our nation in the U.S.Army for 20 years and then went intothe classrooms of Socorro andFabens to teach our children.

In recent years, he has worked asthe Energy Manager for Socorro andYsleta districts. By definition, his jobrequires him to examine every pos-sibility for saving the taxpayermoney while making the classrooma comfortable learning environment.

When he set his feet upon the pathfor an elected office, Mr. Page facedan important choice. How would thatcampaign be financed? He chose atthat moment to be a Trustee and nota Politician.

He decided not to accept contribu-tions in excess of $50. Most of hisdonations are no more than $25. Hedid not invite contractors tofundraising dinners and he refusedover $2600 in contributions from dis-trict vendors.

He paid for his campaign with lessthan $500 in donations and the bal-ance from his own pocket.

Mr. Page sees the need for estab-lishing a strong ethics policy thatholds the Board to the same standardsof accountability to which teachersand students are held. The currentboard has refused to consider onedespite continued requests frommany community members. He un-derstands that a Trustee must makedecisions that balance the interest ofthe students and taxpayers. Donors,

especially vendors and contractors,consider their sizable contributionsto school board campaigns as an in-vestment for their companies. Theyexpect a return in new contracts andrenewals of existing ones.

He has felt the effects in the class-room that decisions made by the Boardcan have. With the many changes ineducation funding, he is concerned thatany dollar wasted will diminish theopportunities of our students.

Our community recently passed abond issue to finance $189 milliondollars in new construction. Heknows it is imperative that our Trust-ees intelligently examine and debatepolicies and expenditures before de-cisions are made.

John Page is worthy of our trust.He does not seek personal gains orglory. He is not a politician. He is anhonest gentleman and we need hon-est people at our helm.

Danelle IveyEast El Paso County

Dear Editor:The taxpayer pays for water twice,

on the tax bill and on the water bill.The taxpayers in the Horizon Mu-

nicipal Utility District (MUD) votedfor a $15 million bond and a $60million bond. These bonds have beenused to help the developers create atown without industry. The taxpay-ers will pay increased taxes to payfor these bonds. Industry will not re-locate to an area with a high tax rate,no guarantee of future water suppliesand no services.

Each director of the Horizon MUDgets paid a director’s fee recently in-creased to $600 a month. They oftentake trips to other states for uselessconferences. In addition, they get $50for attending other meetings. Ms.Bonnie Moorhouse was paid an ad-ditional $500 for attending manymeetings during July of 2003, a totalof $1,000.

Often they stay in expensive hotelsduring their out-of-town meetings. Ms.Moorhouse charged the MUD $120 anight for a fancy hotel on the water-front and for other luxuries.

The sitting MUD board votes 5-0on most issues. They signed a con-tract with ECO Resources to managethe water district and they usually dowhat ECO wants. ECO makes aprofit on construction projects theydo for the water district.

The developers will keep buildinghouses as long as ECO will chargethe taxpayers for the water and streetdevelopment. When we run out ofwater, the developers will be longgone.

VOTE THEM OUT, and vote forBruce Godfrey and Howard Buck.We need better management and weneed to save our water.

Mark ConnollyHorizon City

Dear Editor:We are days away from the

Canutillo school board election inwhich two positions are up for grabs.The two positions are currently heldby Margarito “Mago” Arellano andGonzalo “Chalo” Garcia. Membersserve three-year terms. One of theseats was left by Carl Frietze who didnot fulfill his obligation as a boardmember because he resigned his seatfor personal gain. Why schould weelect a person to the board whoseonly interest is for personal gain?Last weekend, campaign signs weregraffitied — someone is not too sureof their campaign or uncertain they

See WRITE STUFF, Page 4

Write stuff

WEST TEXAS COUNTY COURIERPage 4 May 13, 2004

City of SocorroPUBLIC NOTICEA PUBLIC HEARING will be held at 6:30 p.m. during aSpecial City Council Meeting of Thursday, May 13, 2004at City Hall, 124 S. Horizon Blvd., Socorro, Texas. Pur-pose of the public hearing is to allow any interested per-son to appear and testify at the hearing regarding the fol-lowing:

1) Determine as nearly as practicable, the popula-tion of the respective single-member districts andrevise the boundaries of all or any said districts tomaintain a substantial equality of population ofeach by redrawing voting districts within the Cityof Socorro, Texas, for submission and approval bythe Department of Justice following the May 15,2004 Charter Amendment Election.

Those that are unable to attend the public hearing maysubmit their views to the City of Socorro. Accommoda-tions for handicapped persons will be available; handi-capped persons in need of special assistance for attendingthe hearings are encouraged to contact the City Secretary(915) 858-2915, forty-eight (48) hours prior to thismeeting.

The City of Socorro promotes Fair Housing/AffirmativeAction and is an Equal Opportunity Employer and doesnot discriminate against race, color, creed, or national origin.

YOLANDA RODELACity Secretary

WTCC: 05/13/04

Tornillo lndependent School DistrictNotice of 2004 Summer Food Services ProgramThe Tornillo Independent School District announces thesponsorship of the Summer Food Service Program. Mealswill be provided free of charge to children 18 years of ageand younger at the Tornillo l.S.D. Elementary School Caf-eteria, 19200 Cobb Street, Tornillo, Texas. The programwill begin June 7, 2004 through June 25, 2004, with break-fast being served from 7:15 A.M. to 8:15 A.M. and lunchbeing served from 10:45 A.M. to 12:45 P.M., Mondaysthrough Fridays. Transportation will be available by regis-tering with the Campus Administration Offices. Dailymenus for the Summer Food Service Program will be avail-able on May 24, 2004. People who are eligible to partici-pate in the program must not be discriminated againstbecause of race, color, national origin, sex, age, disability,religion, or political belief. Anyone who believes that theyhave been discriminated against should write immediatelyto: Director, Civil Rights Division, MC W-106, TexasDepartment of Human Services, P.O. Box 149030, Aus-tin, Texas 78714-9030 or the Secretary of Agriculture,Washington D.C. 20250. NOTE: Discrimination com-plaints based on religion or political beliefs must be re-ferred only to the Director, Civil Rights Division, TexasDepartment of Human Services.

El Distrito Escolar Independiente de

Tornillo Da Aviso Programa de Serviciospara Comida en el Verano para 2004El Distrito Escolar Independiente de Tornillo anuncia elpatrocinio del programa de servicios para comida en elverano. Almuerzo y comida de mediodia se va servir en lacafeteria de la escuela elementario del distrito de Tornillo,19200 Cobb Street, Tornillo, Texas. Es gratis para todoslos niños de 18 años y menores de edad. El programa deservicios para comida en el verano empieza el 7 de Juniohasta el 25 de Junio, 2004, Lunes a Viernes. Almuerzo seservira de 7:15 A.M. hasta las 8:15 A.M. y la comida se vaa servir de las 10:45 A.M. hasta la 12:45 P.M. Va habertransportacion si necesitan, pero tienen que alistarse en laoficina de la administracion de la escolar de el distrito deTornillo y proveer su domicilio. Los menus van estar listosel 24 de Mayo, 2004. Gente que califiquen para participaren el programa no deberan ser descriminadas por su raza,color, nacionalidad, sexo, edad, incapacitacion, religion,o creencia politica. Cualquier persona que pienze que lohan tratado mal injustamente puede escribirinmediatamente al: Director, Civil Rights Division, MCW-106, Texas Department of Human Services, PO BOX149030, Austin, Texas, 78714-9030 o Secretary of Agri-culture, Washington D.C. 20250, Aviso: Quejas dediscriminacion basado a religion o creencia politicadeberan ser dirijidas unicamente a el Director, Civil RightsDivision, Texas Department of Human Services.

WTCC: 05/13/04

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will get elected. This type of cam-paigning looks very bad on the com-munity and candidates. There is go-ing to be a lot of finger pointing. We, thevoters, need to look at the candidatesvery closely and see what they havedone for our school and community.

Use your vote wisely — yourchildren’s education is riding on thiselection.

Johnny GaunaCanutillo, Texas

Dear Editor:When considering the best person

to elect as the trustee of District 2 inSocorro ISD, one needs to lookclosely at the marked differences be-tween the incumbent, MarthaContreras; and the challenger, John

Page.They have distinctly different phi-

losophies as it applies to the raisingof campaign funds. On the first setof forms, covering donations andexpenses through April 5, Mrs.Contreras raised $19,950 from manysources, including vendors and con-struction companies who stand togain contracts with SISD for thebuilding of future schools.

Mr. Page received slightly over$500, the largest donation being$100. Word has it that he will evenreturn that donation, as his desire isto not be beholden to anyone whomight later come back to him for apolitical favor.

Which candidate do you thinkwould be the most impartial and fair-minded in deciding which companiesand vendors receive contracts withSISD? It will either be the one whoreceived thousands of dollars or theone who refused any donation over

$50. Vote for integrity by electingJohn Page for District 2.

Ron ThompsonEast El Paso County

Dear Editor:After reading Bonnie Moorhouse’s

campaign flyer and letter to the edi-tor I am compelled to respond. I thinkshe means well, but just doesn’t com-prehend, bless her heart.

Is it really necessary to demeanone’s opponent by questioning his sin-cerity, credibility, stability and capa-bility. Does she really believe that theonly qualification for an elected offi-cial of the Horizon Regional MUD isto have been an elected official of theMUD? Perhaps in her future requestsfor votes she could provide back-ground information concerning her“non-elected official” experience, ca-pabilities and qualifications.

Is it really necessary as an electedofficial of the MUD to tout land de-velopers? The developer’s employ-ees can handle this. Some of herpraise for growth and land develop-ment is misleading. An elected offi-cial should know that land develop-ers only put infrastructure on the landthey are developing and then pass thecost to the lot purchaser. Taxpayerspay for existing infrastructure main-tenance and capacity upgrades. Shestates that developers are cost-shar-ing for infrastruture. What she is re-ally saying is that taxpayers are hav-ing to cost-share for the development.In fact, the developer that profitsfrom the development should pay forall the increased capacity/upgradedue to the development.

Is it really necessary to spotlightthe many meetings attended? Arethey necessary meetings? Did shemake any written reports as to thevalue and worth to the taxpayers?Would she attend if she didn’t getpaid $50 a meeting by the taxpayers?

A cursory review of financial state-ments from the last budget year re-veals that she charged the taxpayersand received payments averagingover $500 a month for attendingmeetings. This is in addition to con-ference fees and travel expenses,which are also paid for by the tax-payer. A trip to Corpus Christi costthe taxpayers $806.54 — hotel alonewas $120 a day. In addition to travelexpenses, $50 a day in cash paymentto her was charged for each day sheattended meetings.

Al TopeHorizon

Write stuffFrom Page 3______________________

TORNILLO — The community ofTornillo had the opportunity to meetand listen to the candidates runningfor school board at a district-spon-sored forum and debate, held recentlyat the Tornillo High School cafete-ria. The event was moderated byUTEP Professor Dr. Gary Brooks.

A crowd of over 100 were treatedto dinner and then heard openingstatements and responses to writtenquestions. Fully participating in thisforum were incumbents GloriaBlanco, Hector Luna, Joe Tittle andLetty Trejo, as well as challengersRachel Avila and Rosalee Silva. Onecandidate, Porfirio Aguilar, was un-able to attend. By mutual agreementwith Trejo, his opponent for place

Special forum in Tornillo gives community access to board candidatesone, arrangements were made for hiswife, TISD teacher Loretta Aguilar,to read his opening statement andprepared response to one questionsubmitted by school employees.

Javier Escalante and Bertha Brewhad communicated in advance of theevent that they would not participate.Escalante is a former TISD Boardmember who is running against Luna,Avila and Silva for place seven. Brew,

who is running against Blanco forplace two, did come to the forum butrefused to answer questions from heropponent. With Blanco’s agreement,she was allowed the same participa-tion as Aguilar; an opening statementand one prepared question response.

Candidates answered questionssubmitted in writing by school em-ployees, members of the audience,and the candidates themselves.

Brooks, who invited his Thursdaynight graduate class to attend the de-bate, screened the randomly selectedquestions to ensure their appropriate-ness and legality for the debate. Dis-trict employee Estella Pacheco pro-vided translations for questions andcandidate responses.

Early voting, which began April28, continues through May 11. Elec-tion Day is Saturday, May 15.

Fabens High School student council honoredFABENS — Fabens High School

Student Council was named Out-standing Student Council at theSpring Convention held March 30 atAndreas High School.

The group also received “Excel-lent” on their Scrap Book and Sec-ond Place on Name Tags.

Marilu Lopez, senior, was namedas the scholarship recipient for a $500scholarship. “I was surprised, yetthankful,” said Lopez. “… and I felt

very special because it was my lastStu-Co meeting.

The council is sponsored by En-glish teacher Renee King. “The Stu-dent Council here at FHS is an ex-tremely hard-working group. Theyshould be as proud as I am for all theyhave accomplished,” she said.

Lopez, who is also president of thegroup, said, “In the entire six yearsof being involved with Stu-Co, I havenever seen a group of individuals so

dedicated to achieve their goals, andI am glad to be a part of it.”

A total of 15 of the 24 membersattended the convention whose themewas “Dive Into Leadership.”

Officers include, Lopez, president;Naomi Magallanes, vice-president;Krystel Ortega, treasurer; JenniferRamos, secretary; Krista Popham,community service; Joe Castro, prideand patriotism; Gabriel Lopez, TEED(energy); and Patty Olivas, DASH.

May 13, 2004 WEST TEXAS COUNTY COURIER Page 5

Anthony ISD OffersSummer Food Program

The Anthony Independent School District, Anthony,Texas announces the sponsorship of the Summer FoodService Program. Breakfast and Lunch will be provided atthe Anthony Elementary School Cafeteria from June 7,2004 to July 30, 2004. Breakfast will be served from 8:00a.m. to 9:00 a.m. and lunch from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30p.m. People who are eligible to participate in the programmust not be discriminated against because of race, color,national origin, sex, age, disability, religion, or politicalbelief. Anyone who believes that they have been discrimi-nated against should write immediately to: Director, CivilRights Division, MC W-106, Texas Department of Hu-man Services, P.O. Box 149030, Austin, Texas 78714-9030or the Secretary of Agriculture, Washington, D.C. 20250.NOTE: Discrimination complaints based on religionor political beliefs must be referred only to the Director,Civil Rights Division, Texas Department of HumanServices, at the address above.

El Distrito de Anthony OfreceComida en el Verano

El Distrito Escolar Independiente de Anthony, Anthony,Texas, anuncia que va ha ofrecer el Programa de Comidaen el Verano. El desayuno y comida seran servidas en laCafeteria de la Escuela Primaria de Anthony a partir del 7de junio 2004 al 30 de julio 2004. El desayuno se va aservir de 8:00 a.m. a 9:00 a.m. y comida de 11:30 a.m. a12:30 p.m. Las personas que tienen derecho a participaren el programa no deben ser discriminadas por raza, color,origen nacional, edad, sexo, incapacidad, religión nicreencia política. Cualquiera que crea que lo handiscriminado debe escribir inmediatamente al: Director,Civil Rights Division, MC W-106, Texas Department ofHuman Services, P.O. Box 149030, Austin, Texas 78714-9030, ó la Secretaria de Agricultura, Washington, D.C.20250. NOTA: Las quejas de discriminación por religióno creencia política deben presentarse solamente ante elDepartamento de Servicios Humanos de Texas a ladirección antes mencionada.WTCC: 05/13/04

— Pol. ad paid for by EL Ivey

SUPPORT ETHICAL AND HONEST LEADERSHIP

ELECT JOHN PAGE SISD TRUSTEE, DISTRICT 2for

— Pol. ad paid for by R. Ortiz —

Socorro Charter Amendment ElectionMay 15, 2004

VOTE AGAINST“Keep Your Right To Vote Alive”________________________________________

Eleccion Para Amendar La ActaConstituva De Socorro

15 de Mayo, 2004

VOTE ENCONTRA“Mantenga Sue Derecho De Votar”

events, has begun practice at theJohn O. Ensor Middle Schooltrack, 5:30 to 7 p.m., Mondaysthrough Thursdays. Boys andgirls, ages eight to 18, are invitedto participate. For more informa-tion call Dick Harshberger at 852-9082.

� A play group for children agesbirth to five years is being formedin Horizon City. From 10:30 to11:30 a.m. each Tuesday morn-ing the group will meet to play atSt. Brendan’s Episcopal Church,14999 Darrington Rd. Call 433-7727 or 637-1982 for more infor-mation.

� Montwood High School isscheduling physical exams forstudents in athletics in the 2004-05 school year. Exams will beheld in the Green Gym — girlsbeginning 4 p.m., May 17; boy 4p.m. May 18. Fee is $20 cash.Information: 937-2400.

� The El Paso County Sheriff’sPatrol Unit arrested PhillipGeorge Schneider, 53, at 13171Soleen Rd. in East El PasoCounty on Monday, May 3, andlater charged him with murder inthe first degree following theshooting death of Lee MichaelRoss, 40, at that location. Ross isidentified as a resident of Indio,California, and was reported to bestaying with Schneider at theSoleen address. Schneider’s bondwas set at $150,000.

� Marine Corps Pvt. Matthew J.Ryan, a 1999 graduate of ClintHigh School, recently completed12 weeks of basic training at Ma-rine Corps Recruit Depot in SanDiego California. Navy SeamanRecruit Erick R. Herrera, a 2000graduate of Socorro High School,recently completed U.S. Navy ba-sic training at Recruit TrainingCommand in Great Lakes, Ill.

� Three Socorro ISD senior stu-dents have been awarded theDistrict’s 2004 Dr. W.G. BarberScholarship for Teacher Training.Jacqueline Cornelius is a studentat Americas High School. CarlaPadilla is about to graduate fromMontwood High School, andNancy Chavira is a senior atSocorro High School. The schol-arship committee is awarding$4,000 to each of the winners,which should pay full-time tuitionfor the student’s first two semes-ters at UT El Paso. The commit-tee includes counselors CarolMcKinney; Sonia Ugarte-Gil,Phil Thornberry and Donna Liner,parent Rachel Tarango, volunteerSusan Hill and Director of Stu-

dent Services Ken Mearns. Thewinner must attend UT El Pasowith the intent of becoming a pub-lic school teacher, and an alternatestudent is chosen in case the firstrecipient does not attend UTEPduring the freshman year. Alter-nates include Brian Gameros fromAmericas; Erika Ortega fromMontwood and Silvia Rodriguezfrom Socorro High. The scholar-ship is named after the father offormer Socorro Superintendent Dr.R. Jerry Barber, a longtime profes-sor of education at the UTEP. Therecipients will be introduced to theBoard of Trustees during theboard’s regular meeting May 18.

� After interviewing a pool of 55applicants, the following individu-als have been promoted to variousadministrative positions in the ClintIndependent School District: JosiePerez, associate principal for Hori-zon High School - Mrs. Perez iscurrently the principal of C.T. WelchIntermediate in Clint ISD; CharlesVass, principal C.T. Welch Interme-diate - Vass is the current assistantprincipal at Santa Teresa HighSchool in Gadsden ISD; DagobertoGonzales, principal at MontanaVista Elementary - Gonzales is cur-rently the assistant principal at EastMontana Middle School in ClintISD; Michael Phillip, Coordinatorfor Fine Arts - Phillip is currentlythe Head Band Director at El PasoHigh School in El Paso ISD; JanPalmer, Coordinator for Career andTechnology - currently, Mrs. Palmerserves Clint ISD in an advisory ca-pacity for Career and Technology.The coordinator and associate prin-cipal positions are new to the dis-trict. As associate principal at Ho-rizon High School, Josie Perez willmove with the students to the newHorizon Middle School in the 2005-2006 school year. During the 2004-2005 school year, Mrs. Perez willhelp Horizon High School make thetransition to a 9th through 12th gradecampus. At present, Horizon HighSchool serves 7th through 10thgrades.

� The Texas Department of Health(TDH) confirmed today thatYersinia pestis , the bacterium thatcauses plague, has been detected inwood rats found dead in a rural lo-cation near the Midland-Glasscockcounties border in West Texas.Plague is usually spread by fleas thathave bitten an infected rodent. Theillness can be transmitted to dogs,cats and humans, and in humans canbe effectively treated with antibiot-ics if detected early. Infection alsocan occur by breathing in respira-tory droplets from a live animal thathas the pneumonic form of the ill-ness. TDH is issuing a plague advi-sory to veterinarians and physiciansin these areas and the public is askedto report large die-offs of rodents topublic health officials. Personal pre-cautions include: removing food and

shelter sources for rodents aroundhomes, work sites and recreationalareas; using safe insecticides to killfleas around property; applying aDEET-containing repellent to ex-posed skin and clothing when inrodent- and flea-inhabited areas,and treating pets with long-actingflea control products. TDH alsoadvises wearing gloves and be-cause some rodents also carryhantavirus, rodent nests in closed-in areas should be aired out beforeremoval. Any rodent nests and drop-pings should be wetted-down with a10 percent bleach-90 percent watersolution before removing.

� Celebrate National TourismWeek, May 8-15, with free travelguides from the Texas HistoricalCommission that highlight thepeople and places that shapedTexas history. These guides takevisitors through such places as theTexas Forts Trail Region in WestCentral Texas where travelers canexperience first-hand the westernfrontier; or to Los Caminos del Rio,which highlights Spanish Colonialvillages, unique architecture andnatural beauty in the Lower RioGrande Valley of Texas andMexico. The THC offers eightthemed travel guides — TexasForts Trail Region, Texas Indepen-dence Trail Region, Texas ForestTrail Region, Texas Lakes TrailRegion, African Americans inTexas: Historical and CulturalLegacies, The Chisholm Trail,Texas in the Civil War and LosCaminos del Rio: Legacies of theBorderlands. To request a freecopy, call toll free at 866/276-6219or visit www.thc.state.tx.us/travel.

� USDA Rural DevelopmentState Director Bryan Daniel has an-nounced that the Agency is offer-ing low interest loans to help fi-nance storm shelters for very-lowincome homeowners living in ru-ral Texas. “Severe weather canstrike Texas unexpectedly, andwith serious personal conse-quences. As Texans know, violentstorms and the unfortunate loss oflife underscore the need for im-proved home safety measures. Theinstallation of an approved stormshelter can provide rural Texansadded safety and security.” saidDaniel. Eligibility requirements forthis program includes a family in-come of less than 50 percent of themedian income for their respectivecounty, an applicant must live intheir own home, and the familymust reside in an eligible ruralcommunity. The USDA Rural De-velopment financed shelters mustalso meet Federal EmergencyManagement Agency (FEMA)standards in design, constructionand installation. The USDA RuralDevelopment local office thatserves your area can be located athttp://www.rurdev.usda.gov/tx/officeinfo.htm.

BriefsFrom Page 1______________________

WEST TEXAS COUNTY COURIERPage 6 May 13, 2004

King Super Crossword

By Steve EscajedaSpecial to the Courier

ANIMAL TAILSACROSS

1 Messina orMorrison 4 Address abbr. 7 Pass into law 12 Pillager 18 Vein contents 19 Historic org. 20 Mideastern mall? 22 Herbivorousreptile 23 Stocking shade 24 Indefinite pronoun 25 Benjamin Bunny’screator 27 TheologianThomas 29 Director Sergio 30 Lumberjack tools 31 Rocker Ocasek 32 “God’s Little -” (’58film) 35 Wordless greeting 38 Musical medium 43 Dolls up 47 “Whether _ noblerin the mind…” 48 Groom’sgangplank? 49 He’ll give you asqueeze 51 Baltimore bird 53 Maestro Leinsdorf 56 Slipperycharacter? 57 Source of ills 59 Like King’s fans 61 “Ritorna vincitor!”

singer 63 Mr. Mineo 64 Military chapeau 65 Uruguayan title 66 Adjusts an alarm 68 Undiluted 71 Provide rooms 72 Software 77 Duval’s org. 80 Mailer’s “The -Park” 81 Stick in the mud 82 Daze 86 Marinelandperformer 88 “The _ DabaHoneymoon” (’14song) 90 Court order? 92 Compensation 93 Genesis peak 97 After taxes 99 Ravi-shinginstrument?100 Scott role101 Mil. base102 Slanted104 Expert105 Doesn’t have to107 Myron Floren’sboss111 Stroke’s implement112 Seldom seen113 Joan Van _114 Blind part118 Emit122 Spock’s specialty126 “Roseanne”actress

131 Pablum variety132 Conduit fitting133 Stang orSchwarzenegger134 Author Collins135 Buckingham(Abbr.)136 Spider’s snare137 Tangled138 Gravel-voiced139 Ending for Capri140 Boot part

DOWN 1 Spanish dance 2 Tigris-Euphratesland 3 Computerselection list 4 Classical hunk? 5 Cure-all 6 Very, in Versailles 7 Subside 8 Rob Roy’s refusal 9 Showy shrub 10 Blanchett of“Elizabeth” 11 Starch source 12 Bigwig 13 Give it _ (try) 14 ’87 Streisand film 15 Base stuff? 16 “_ Leaf” (’71 film) 17 Ulrich of Metallica 21 _ Tin Tin 26 Lucy Lawless role 28 April initials 32 Perplexed 33 Ma, for one

34 Hwy. 36 Smell 37 “DavidCopperfield” character 38 She brought outthe beast in men 39 Oriental 40 Equal anopponent 41 Cops’ org. 42 Forever, so tospeak 44 Jeopardize 45 Dynamitephilanthropist? 46 Stowe sight 47 Hardy heroine 50 Hersey setting 52 Way out 54 Gator’s cousin 55 “Salome” role 57 Hale or Revere 58 First name infashion 60 Knight’s betterhalf? 62 Believe 67 Nimble 69 Part of MA 70 Gogol’s “_ Bulba” 73 Compotecomponent 74 Metropolitan 75 End a space flight 76 French Sudan,today 77 Ostentation 78 React to a pun 79 Intense

83 South Africanprovince 84 Pottery defect 85 Thornfieldgoverness 87 Poker stake 89 Inland sea 91 Notre Dame’s river 94 Fuss 95 Moffo or Magnani 96 Fit _ fiddle 98 RN’s specialty102 Coach Parseghian103 4 p.m. vehicle?106 In good shape108 Inflicts109 Twist and turn110 Scrape by, with“out”114 Act like a wrestler115 _ Flynn Boyle116 Em or Bee117 Jogger’s gait119 Emulate BetsyRoss120 Recipe instruction121 West Coast sch.122 London district123 Salamander124 “The People’sChoice” pooch125 Czech river127 _ de France128 Hall of FamerRoush129 Mouth piece?130 Enchanted

Answer Page 7

There’s a concept that I’ve always consid-ered important. It’s called “substance overstyle.”

When it comes to celebrities, televisionnews, politics or just about anything nowadays,the line between what is “real” and what is “realsuperficial” is being clouded more and morewith each passing minute.

Since the 1980s, the Professional Wrestling-Jerry Springer-National Enquirer phenomenonhas taken over the country, and not for the bet-ter.

It’s no longer important to make sure thatmajor media outlets get out the news as quicklyand as accurately as possible.

Now, it has to be wrapped in 30-secondsound-bite form and delivered by a person wholooks like they spent way too much time at thebeauty salon to have had enough time to fullyinvestigate the story.

There’s a scene in the movie Schindler’s Listthat says it all. Oskar Schindler explains thathe is better at style than substance. “That’s whatI’m good at. Not the work, not the work… thepresentation.”

And sadly, especially in the media, that is

ABC finally hits the mark with Tafoya on the sidelinethe case. But at least one network was smartenough to learn from its mistake, and got itright.

ABC, broadcasters of Monday Night Foot-ball for years, have finally seen the errors oftheir ways. It just took them longer than most.

First there was the hiring of Dennis Millerin the booth a few years ago. That was one ofthe worst moves in the history of, well, his-tory.

Then ABC hired Eric Dickerson as the side-line reporter a couple years ago. Dickerson wasa great running back. What the heck that hadto do with being a sideline reporter — as wewitnessed game after excruciating game — wenever knew.

Then last season, ABC replaced Dickersonwith the sexy Lisa Guerrero. Again, what inthe heck does being sexy have to do with be-ing a good sideline reporter?

Guerrero was easy on the eyes, but a strainon the brain. She always had that deer-in-the-headlights look. Maybe it was the factthat she had great headlights. Who knowswhat ABC was thinking. Who knows if ABCwas thinking.

But, at least, as I said earlier, they finallygot it right.

ABC recently hired Michele Tafoya to re-place Guerrero.

Now I hope Michele doesn’t take this thewrong way, but she isn’t gorgeous. She isn’t asupermodel or even a mortal-model.

What she is though, is an excellent sidelinereporter.

She knows her sports and she reports it in away that the public can accept without sound-ing coached or like she’s desperately trying toremember what she spent the week memoriz-ing. She is spontaneous and thinks on her feet.

In this era of superficiality and style, it’s goodto see a little common sense put into play inmaking an intelligent decision.

I hope other networks will follow suit andgo with a little substance — even if it meanssaying goodbye to The Osbourns and ParisHilton.

Where’s the beefThe price of fame can be painful sometimes.

It can even leave you with a bump on the head— just ask Mandy Block.

Who is Mandy Block, you ask? You mayrecognize her (or at least her Italian sausagecostume) as the Milwaukee Brewers’ racinggiant sausage that got plunked in the head asshe raced against others in costume at a Brew-ers’ baseball game last summer.

The Pittsburgh Pirates’ Randall Simon, inone of his more cerebrally-challenged mo-

ments, whacked Block with his bat when sheraced by the dugout.

I’m sure you remember her falling to theground amid a pile of other packaged meatsincluding a giant bratwurst, a huge hot dog anda gigantic Polish sausage.

It was hard to watch and hard to swallow —literally.

But though Mandy Block came through theincident like a trooper and continued to racethe other cured meats the rest of the season,she is apparently hanging up her deli-friendlyracing shoes.

Block has decided to take off her sausagecostume forever and dedicate her time to herstudies.

After the traumatic incident atMilwaukee’s Miller Park, what else wouldshe be majoring in but psychology. She isfocusing on her classes at the University ofWisconsin-Madison.

One of the many awards and accolades Blockreceived after the incident, was being recogni-tion by the National Hot Dog and SausageCouncil, with a certificate of bravery.

Boy, I’ve never received a certificate of brav-ery — and I’ve eaten the stuff.

So, goodbye to Ms. Sausage, Mandy Block.I will always relish your story and you will al-ways hold a special place in my heartburn.

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EL PASO COUNTY — A hundredand fifty rockets will compete for thehighest altitude record during theSixth Annual Rocket Festival, 10:30a.m. to 2:30 p.m., Friday, May 14, atthe UTEP Sun Bowl.

By Alfredo VasquezSpecial to the Courier

Sixth annual rocket festival to be held at Sun BowlAbout 650 eighth grade science

students from Canutillo MiddleSchool, San Elizario Middle School,Fabens Middle School, Clint JuniorHigh School, and Horizon Middle/High School will participate in therock festival.

For six years, the annual rocket com-petition has been coordinated by ToddMartin, Canutillo Middle School sci-

ence teacher, with support from HarrySchulte, event supervisor for NASA-MUSPIN/NRTS (NASA’s MinorityUniversity Space InterdisciplinaryNetwork and the Network ResourcesTraining Site). One of MU-SPIN’sgoals is to strengthen science capabili-ties in schools.

“This program is supported bySchulte and funded by NASA-MUSPIN/NTRS. They have beeninstrumental in providing funds forequipment and materials for ourschools and students. With their as-sistance we have gone from a 35-rocket event with 50 students to aregional event involving over 600students and four school districts,”said Martin.

A contest that will be added to thisyear’s festival is the egg drop. “Stu-dents have been challenged to design

and engineer a vehicle to safely carrya raw egg from a vertical drop as highas possible from the top of the SunBowl. The winner will be the eggdropped from the highest altitude andstill unbroken,” explained Martin.

Students are engaged with a vari-ety of science concepts by participat-ing in this type of hands-on activityincluding Newton’s laws of motion,variables associated with flight, useof computer simulation programs,construction and launch of rocketsusing hydro-power, and use of anapogee scope for calculating altitude,stated Schulte.

Winners will be treated to a specialviewing of the Amigo Air Show com-pliments of Larry LaRose, manager ofELP-FOL at the NASA hangar.

For more information, call Martinat 877-7901 or Schulte at 747-5401.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — TheCenters for Disease Control (CDC)at the U.S. Department of Healthand Human Services (HHS)awarded a $700,000 federal grantto the U.S.-Mexico Border HealthAssociation to improve outreachand testing for people with HIV/AIDS and promote awareness ofthe disease in the El Paso com-munity.

“HIV/AIDS — and many otherdiseases — have a higher inci-dence in the Southwest border re-gion than in other parts of the coun-try,” said Congressman SilvestreReyes. “Relatively high povertyand low literacy and educationrates challenge health-care organi-zations to serve the needs of thearea.”

Border Health Institutegets $700,000 federal grant

May 13, 2004 WEST TEXAS COUNTY COURIER Page 7

ComixOUT ON A LIMB By Gary Kopervas

AMBER WAVES By Dave T. Phipps

THE SPATS By Jeff Pickering

R.F.D. By Mike Marland

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I am.And I mean that literally — toe-

to-toe — my big toe vs. his big toe,my middle toe vs. his middle toe,and so on.

It’s not that I have extraordi-narily good-looking toes —though they are, I like to think,moderately handsome toes thathave about them a certain dashand joie de vivre — a Frenchphrase that translates roughly as“something de something” —rendering them attractive to toesof the opposite sex.

Not so with Brad Pitt, who, I amvery sorry to report, has hideousfeet, topped with ridiculous look-ing toes that are the laughingstockof Hollywood.

This is all true, at least some ofit.

Pitt, who is starring as mytho-logical hero Achilles in the movie“Troy,” reportedly asked if hecould wear boots, as opposed to themore historically accurate sandals,because he “didn’t want his fellowcast members looking at his toesbecause he thinks they’re ugly.”

Isn’t that the saddest thing?OK, so it’s not, but it is notewor-

thy that Brad Pitt, the handsomeand widely acknowledged King ofBad Movies, suffers from a clas-sic case of Obsessive Ugly ToeComplex, the debilitating fear thateverybody is looking at your toesand laughing at them.

But this revelation raises seriousquestions:

Do his boots conceal the facthe’s some kind of “Creature fromthe Black Lagoon” webbed-footfreak?

For “adult” scenes that call forfull foot nudity, does he use a footdouble?

And, finally, did JenniferAniston know the truth about hisfeet when she married him?

(Coming soon to a supermarkettabloid: Jennifer’s Secret Heart-break: “I was all set to have chil-dren — till I saw Brad’s feet!”)

And speaking of foot doubles, isBrad Pitt the foot model for thoserepulsive foot fungus commercialsthat cause you to lose your appe-tite for up to three months?

It’s not like Pitt has a ton of mov-ies coming out. He can’t just be sit-ting home all day, with his disgust-ing feet propped up, waiting forJennifer to bring home the bacon.

(Before you go out and blow abunch of money on a big-screen,high-definition television, askyourself: Do you really want to seeVery Clear and Larger Than LifeFOOT FUNGUS commercials?)

Sadly for Pitt, this foot contro-versy comes at a time when men,because of the popularity of ugly,open-toed sandals, have startedtaking more of an interest in theirfeet.

Some men are even signing upfor pedicures.

But don’t worry, these aren’tyour girly-girl pedicures of yester-year. These are no-nonsense, pro-fessional appointments, aimed athighlighting the manly splendor ofthe male foot.

Some spas — and this is true —are even calling them “sportsmenpedicures.”

I’m not sure why “sportsmen”need pedicures — perhaps it in-volves painting the toenails withspecial “camouflage” designs —but if you’re a modern man you’llwant to make sure that your feetadhere to highest standards of malebeauty.

You might even catch JenniferAniston on the rebound.______________________________________________________(c) 2004 King Features Synd., Inc.

Going toe-to-toe with Brad Pitt

LEGAL

Town of ClintInvitation

to Bid

Sealed bids/pro-posals to furnishthe the followingitems/services forSTEP Project#722056 will beaccepted at the fol-lowing times:

• Material for newwater lines andsewer connections.

• Contractor for theinstallation of sewertap, hydrants andwater service con-nections.

Detailed specifica-tions are availablebeginning Monday,May 10th , 8:00 AM- 4:00 PM, TownHall, 200 N. SanElizario Rd., Clint,

Texas 79836.

Proposals will bereceived at theabove address un-til THURSDAY, May20, 2004, UNTIL4:00 PM.

Late proposalswill not beaccepted.

WTCC: 05/13/04________________________

BARGAINS

Drum set, greatquality, condition.Call 852-2610 fordetails.________________________

HELPWANTED

AttentionStudents!

SUMMER WORK$11 base-appt.

Flexible Schedules

Cust. sales/srve,conditions

exist, all ages 18+915-779-2129

www.workforstudents.com________________________

REALESTATE

BY OWNER: InSan Elizario, good1997 mobile home,3/br, 2/ba, centralheat/air, with land,$31,000. Call 1-817-579-5965.________________________

SELF-HELP

Persons who have aproblem with alcoholare offered a freesource of help locally.Alcoholics Anony-mous - call 562-4081for information.

Tiene problemascon el alcohol? Hayuna solucíon.

Informacion: 838-6264.________________________

SERVICES

• ALTERATIONS• EMBROIDERYTees & More14010 Horizon

Blvd.852-8956

________________________

5-Star DrivingSchool

Drivers EdClasses begin

• May 24• June 1

598-1898________________________

AMERICASDEFENSIVE

DRIVINGTicket Dismissal &

InsuranceDiscounts

English y Español$25

(915) 630-8474

________________________

AVCONSTRUCTION

Additions &RemodelingKitchen &

BathroomsGarage Conver-

sionsExtend Any Room

of Your HouseDeck & Porches

for Mobile HomesReplace Existing

WindowsFREE

ESTIMATES433-4102

_______________________

WINDOW TINTOffice • Home

• CarFree Estimates

(915) 549-5774________________________

“Windshield Ding—

Gimme a Ring”JIFFY GLASS

REPAIR

Windshield RepairSpecialists

By appt. at yourhome or office:

(No repairs withinHorizon City)

R.V. DickHarshberger

915-852-9082________________________

BERT’SAUTOMOTIVE

REPAIRDomestic and

Foreign852-3523

1558 Oxbow,Horizon City

________________________

HORIZON CITYPLUMBING852-1079

•Electric rooterservice for sewers

and drains•Applianceinstallation

•Many otherplumbing servicesLicensed, bonded

and insured foryour protection.

impact employees and the county’s goals of investingin its workforce. Last year, for example, salary step in-creases were frozen, and employee workdays were re-duced by two holidays without pay. Last week, the Courtapproved reinstitution of the salary step increases for2005, which means employees will get their plannedincrease for this year, but will continue to lag behind intheir step plan by one year. The Court also reinstated thefull holiday schedule, with no days off without pay.

Among the cost saving measures for next year pro-posed by the auditors and approved by the Court, whichoffered some suggestions of its own, were:

• No operating budget increases.• No new positions.• No funding of outside agencies.• Funding reductions of non-mandated programs.• Evaluation of health care premium costs to the

county and its employees.• Consolidation of equipment maintenance contracts

for cost-saving measures.• Participation in a consortium of government enti-

ties to increase purchasing power.Commissioners Court continues to encourage all de-

partments to review their revenue generating oppor-tunities, such as fees and other collections.

BudgetFrom Page 1______________________

WEST TEXAS COUNTY COURIERPage 8 May 13, 2004

Social Security Q&A By Ray Vigil

MORE POWER.

LOWER PRICES.WHAT’S HOLDING YOU BACK?

BIGGER ENGINES.

With more power, better features and rugged construction, Cub Cadets are just plain gutsier than the rest. We buildour tractors with only the best, heavy-duty features. You’ll find engines ranging from 18.5 to 25 horsepower, easy-to-operate hydrostatic transmissions, heavy-duty welded steel frames and cast-iron front axles. Plus, mostmodels feature shaft drive. And they’re backed by a 5-year limited warranty.***

Check out the 2004 Cub Cadet lineup.

*Deferred Interest until April 2005–Deferred Interest with Payments–Must request promotion at purchase. Offer is subject to credit approval by GE Capital Consumer Card Co. and applies to purchases of $799 or more made between December 3, 2003, and May 31, 2004, on your Power Credit Card. No finance charge will be assessed on your promo-tional purchase balance if you pay the promotional purchase balance in full by the end of the promotional period. If you do not, periodic finance charges will be assessed on the promotional purchase balance from the date of purchase. Minimum monthly payments will be required on your promotional purchase balance during and after the promotionalperiod. If minimum monthly payments are not paid when due, all special promotional terms may be terminated. Standard account terms apply to non-promotional purchases and, after the promotion ends, to your promotional purchases. Annual Percentage Rate for purchases is 18.99% (18.99% minimum) as of December 1, 2003, and may vary afterthat date. Minimum Finance Charge $1. Variable APR of 22.99% as of 12/1/03 will apply if you fail to pay your minimum payment by your due date for two consecutive months. Financing promotion for residential customers only.**Product price–Actual retail prices are set by dealer and may vary. Taxes, freight, setup and handling charges may be additional and may vary. Models subject to limited availability.***Cub Cadet will provide an extended limited warranty for a period of 5 years or 500 hours, whichever occurs first, for the frame and pivoting cast-iron front axle on all new Cub Cadet Series 1000 tractors retailed after December 1, 2003. Cub Cadet will provide an extended limited warranty for a period of 5 years or 500 hours, whichever occurs first, forthe frame, pivoting cast-iron front axle and drive shaft on all new Cub Cadet Series 2000, 2500, and 3000 tractors purchased after July 31, 1998. This additional limited warranty is available only to residential users and not commercial users. For complete details on 2-year and 5-year limited warranties see your Cub Cadet retailer. C11135-04-55080-1

GREAT TRACTORS. GREAT PRICES. STOP IN TODAY.

Knowledge. Selection. Financing. Delivery. Service. Visit the Cub Cadet dealer nearest you.

ZEROZERO INTERESTFINANCING

until April 2005.*

Model GT 3204$112/mo*

$5,598**

• 23 HP Kohler engine• 44" shaft-driven VersiDeck™ • Heavy-duty shaft drive

• 18 HP Briggs & StrattonV-Twin Vanguard™ engine

• 42" QuickAttach™ deck• Heavy-duty shaft drive

Model LT 2180$65/mo*

$2,599**

• 18.5 HP Briggs & Stratton Intek™ ELS engine

• 42" QuickAttach™ deck• Hydrostatic transmission

Model LT 1018$48/mo*

$1,599**

To learn more about Cub Cadet equipment and to find the dealer nearest you,

visit www.cubcadet.com or call 1-877-282-8684 (1-877-CUB-TOUGH).

SERIES 1000 TRACTORSSTARTING AT $1,599 **

CART AVAILABLE

THURSDAY

Mostly sunny.

84°� �

THUR. NIGHT

Breezy in theevening; otherwise,

clear.

FRIDAY

Sunshine andpatchy clouds.

84°� 56°�

SATURDAY

Partly sunny.

88°� 60°�

SUNDAY

A mix of cloudsand sunshine.

90°� 63°�

MONDAY

Partly sunny.

92°� 60°�

TUESDAY

Times of sun andclouds.

88°� 59°�

WEDNESDAY

Partly to mostlysunny.

86°� 56°�

WEATHER AccuWeather.com

SEVEN-DAY FORECAST FOR EL PASO

TEXAS WEATHER TRAVELERS CITIESUV INDEX

REAL FEEL TEMP™

AGRICULTURE

Statistics for noon.

Thursday .......... 10 ..........Very HighFriday ................ 10 ..........Very HighSaturday ............ 10 ..........Very HighSunday .............. 7 ....................HighMonday .............. 9 ............Very HighTuesday ............ 10 ..........Very HighWednesday ........ 9 ............Very High

The higher the UV Index, the greaterthe need for eye and skin protection.

Albuquerque 77/47/s 76/49/s 78/53/s 80/55/pc 81/53/pcAtlanta 82/64/t 82/64/t 82/62/pc 80/62/t 78/58/tAtlantic City 80/61/r 86/60/pc 88/60/pc 75/53/t 69/50/rAustin/San Antonio 84/71/r 84/66/t 83/65/t 85/67/t 87/64/cBaltimore 86/64/r 88/64/pc 88/62/pc 79/56/t 72/51/cBoston 62/58/pc 74/60/pc 76/58/pc 72/54/pc 68/51/pcChicago 78/60/t 72/50/t 66/48/pc 70/52/pc 70/52/cDallas/Ft. Worth 84/68/r 78/60/t 75/58/t 80/64/t 83/65/rDenver 54/37/sh 64/40/pc 67/44/pc 73/44/pc 75/49/sFlagstaff 65/28/s 68/33/s 72/35/s 73/36/pc 73/36/sHouston 82/70/t 82/68/t 82/68/t 82/68/t 82/68/tKansas City 71/57/t 65/46/t 69/52/pc 74/56/pc 76/59/rLas Vegas 84/60/s 88/65/s 90/67/s 92/67/s 92/65/sMiami 84/74/sh 84/74/sh 84/72/t 84/73/t 85/72/tMinneapolis 60/46/t 55/37/pc 61/43/pc 62/49/sh 72/53/cNew Orleans 80/70/t 82/70/t 82/67/t 84/68/t 85/64/cNew York City 76/65/t 86/68/pc 84/62/pc 76/56/t 68/54/rPhiladelphia 84/66/t 88/68/pc 88/62/pc 76/56/t 71/54/rPhoenix 92/64/s 94/68/s 96/70/s 96/71/s 97/67/sPortland 68/48/pc 74/50/s 72/50/pc 68/49/c 66/46/shSan Francisco 68/51/s 66/51/s 66/52/pc 66/52/pc 65/48/cSeattle 64/44/pc 66/44/s 68/46/pc 64/47/c 61/43/shTucson 90/55/s 90/61/s 92/61/s 94/63/s 94/63/sWashington, DC 86/68/r 88/66/pc 88/64/pc 80/58/t 73/55/c

City Hi/Lo/W Hi/Lo/W Hi/Lo/W Hi/Lo/W Hi/Lo/WThur. Fri. Sat. Sun. Mon.

High pressure will continue to control the weather and bring a mainly dry week to the region. One or two spots could have a pop-upthunderstorm. High temperatures will be in the 80s through Friday and then rise into the 90s during the weekend and early next week.Lows will be in the 50s and 60s. Weather (W): s-sunny, pc-partly cloudy, c-cloudy, sh-showers, t-thunderstorms,

r-rain, sf-snow flurries, sn-snow, i-ice.

Thursday .................................... 82°Friday .......................................... 77°Saturday ...................................... 78°Sunday ........................................ 79°Monday ........................................ 87°Tuesday ...................................... 89°Wednesday ................................ 87°

The exclusive AccuWeather composite of theeffects of temperature, wind, humidity, sunshine,precipitation, and elevation on the human body.

Shown is Thursday’sweather.Temperatures areThursday’s highs andThursday night’s lows.

All forecasts and maps provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2004

Anthony 84 54

Canutillo 85 55

Fabens 84 56

Clint 84 56

E. Montana 84 56

Socorro 83 55

Horizon 85 56

San Elizario 81 53

Tornillo 84 56

Vinton 85 54El Paso84/56

Santa Fe72/37

Albuquerque77/47

Alamogordo84/45

Las Cruces83/51

Deming84/44 Carlsbad

89/55

Amarillo76/50

Lubbock86/56

Alpine84/53

Odessa88/59

Lajitas90/55

Ruidoso72/44

Cloudcroft67/37

CiudadJuárez84/54

56°

Mexico

Q: Does the Supplemental SecurityIncome (SSI) program pay benefitsto widows?

A: Many widows collect SSI ben-efits. But they are not getting thosebenefits because they are widowed.They get SSI because they are poorand either 65 or older, or any age anddisabled.

Q: I am moving to a retirement com-munity and need to let Social Secu-rity know about my change of ad-

dress. What’s the easiest way to dothis?

A: You can change your addressonline by visiting http://www.socialsecurity.gov/coa and pro-viding us with some required infor-mation. You can also change youraddress on the Internet if you haveestablished a permanent password. Ifyou would like to get a password, youcan apply online by visitingwww.socialsecurity.gov/password oryou can call us at 1-800-772-1213.

If you do not want to answer thequestions that are asked online andyou do not have a permanent pass-word, you cannot submit a change ofaddress online. Instead, you can ei-ther speak to a Social Security repre-sentative by calling our toll-free num-ber at 1-800-772-1213 or you cancontact your local Social Securityoffice.

Q: I wanted to start receiving mySocial Security benefits as soon as Ireached age 62, and I filed for ben-efits early. However, I turned 62 onApril 4 but my first check came inJune. Why?

A: The law says you must be eligiblefor Social Security for an entire cal-endar month before you can receivethat month’s benefit. You were not62 the entire month of April, so Mayis the first month you meet the agerequirement for the full month, andwe pay in the month following themonth you are entitled.

Q: I have done quite well financiallyand really do not need my Social Se-curity check. Can I make arrange-ments to have it donated to a localcharity?

A: Social Security will pay you your

Social Security benefit payments ev-ery month. Once the money is in yourbank account, you can disburse thefunds anyway you see fit. But onething that you should probably knowfirst — you will not receive any So-cial Security benefits unless/until youapply for them.______________________________________________________For more information visit your lo-cal Security office, see www.ssa.govor call us at 1-800-772-1213. If youhave any questions that you wouldlike to have answered, please mailthem to the Social Security Office,11111 Gateway West, Attn: Ray Vigil,El Paso, Texas 79935.