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AUSTIN — After amisty morning duringwhich a few raindropsfell, the clouds parted andthe sun shone on thestate Capitol’s newestmonument.

The Tejano Monument,sculpted by local artistArmando Hinojosa and fi-

nanced in large part byZapata businessman Re-nato Ramirez, was un-veiled Thursday on theCapitol’s south lawn infront of thousands of peo-ple. The 525-square-footmonument depicts wild-life, a vaquero and Spa-niard families that settledparts of Texas in the1500s.

The dignitaries who at-

tended Thursday’s unveil-ing of the multi-statuemonument said it wouldhonor the legacy of His-panics in Texas but alsostand as a beacon of hopefor the future of Texasand its people.

State Rep. Richard Ray-mond, the master of cere-monies, said it was “sig-nificant” that historywould show the monu-

ment was unveiled duringGov. Rick Perry’s term.

The monument reflectsthe truth about earlySpanish settlers’ contri-butions to the founding ofTexas, said Perry, who at-tended the ceremony.

He said those contribu-tions would continue tomount in a state where a

HISTORY

The monument

Laredo artist and sculptor Armando Hinojosa, left, looks at pieces of the Tejano Monument he designed as he stands with one of hun-dreds of well-wishers who posed with the artists following the unveiling of the monument in Austin on Thursday.

Photo by Cuate Santos | Laredo Morning Times

Shiny bronze offers salute to Tejanos’ legacyBy JJ VELASQUEZTHE ZAPATA TIMES

See MONUMENT PAGE 7A

AUSTIN — Texas’ unemploy-ment rate fell for a sixth consec-utive month to 7.1 percent inFebruary, and monthly jobgrowth exceeded 20,000 posi-tions for the third straight time,according to state employmentagency figures released Friday.

Texas Workforce Commissionfigures in the Rio Grande Valleyalso showed declining unem-ployment rates. The McAllen-Edinburg-Mission area in Feb-ruary had the highest unem-ployment rate in the state at

11.1 percent, down from 11.7percent in January. TheBrownsville-Harlingen area reg-istered a 10.9 percent unemploy-ment rate in February, downfrom January’s 11.5 percent.

Upriver, Laredo’s unemploy-ment rate was 7.2 percent, downfrom January’s 7.6 percent. ElPaso fell to 9.6 percent in Febru-ary, down from January’s 10percent.

Local figures are not season-ally adjusted.

Statewide, the jobless ratewas down from 7.3 percent inJanuary and has dropped a full

percentage point since August,the commission said. Febru-ary’s unemployment rate is thelowest since March 2009.

The commission says Texasadded 27,900 nonfarm jobs inFebruary, and new claims forunemployment dropped 28 per-cent from January to 69,955.

“Texas’ job growth over thepast year points to a steady andsustained expansion of ourstate’s economy,” said commis-sion chairman Tom Pauken.

Government was the leadingindustry in job gains with ajump of 12,800 positions in Feb-

ruary, followed by trade, trans-portation and utilities at 8,300.Education and health servicesgrew by 3,800 jobs for the sec-tor’s 19th straight month of jobgrowth.

Eight of the 11 major job sec-tors gained positions, “indicat-ing that many different skillsets are in demand,” said com-missioner for labor Ronny Con-gleton.

The national unemploymentrate has been falling fast as welland is now 8.3 percent.

Unemployment rates are ad-justed for seasonal trends in

hiring and firing, which mosteconomists believe give a moreaccurate picture of the job mar-ket. Without the seasonal ad-justment, the jobless rate inTexas fell to 7.2 percent from 7.6in January.

Midland had the only localunemployment rate below 4 per-cent for February at 3.8 percent.

In South Texas, CorpusChristi’s February unemploy-ment rate was 6.8 percent, downfrom January’s 7.3 percent,while Victoria had 6.2 percentunemployed, down from 6.6 per-cent.

TEXAS WORKFORCE COMMISSION

State, Valley unemployment figures show declineASSOCIATED PRESS

Tasked with hosting thelargest family reunion ever,a Zapata group is reachingout to families that wereforced to leave the formertown site almost 60 yearsago.

Flood anniversaryDiscussion began at a

town hall meeting Tuesdayto introduce Zapata Rising,an event planned for latesummer or early fall in2013, which would fall onthe 60th anniversary of theflood that submerged OldZapata in water. Organizersof the event aim to reunitethe townspeople that havelong since been removedfrom the original town.

“There was a lot of emo-tion (at the town hall meet-ing),” said Jose Garcia, whoworks for a marketing firmand has been promoting theevent online and in-person.“It got carried away be-cause everybody startedtalking about their experi-ences.”

If the group reaches itsgoal of reuniting more than2,585 people, Zapata Countywould go into the GuinnessBook of World Records, Gar-cia said.

Now that the concept hasbeen introduced to thebroader Zapata community,the group plans to split itsefforts among subcommit-tees, said Roberto Montes, avolunteer for the organiza-tion.

Of the task forces thegroup wants to assemble,Montes said the onecharged with reaching outto the families that weredisplaced is particularly im-portant.

He would also like fam-ilies without ties to the orig-inal town site to get in-volved.

“We are very enthusiasticand passionate about thisactivity,” Montes said. “We’dlike for more people to getinvolved and get excited.”

The group has not set asolid date for its next meet-ing but plans to hold onetwo weeks from now.

In that meeting, they ex-pect to get closer to setting adate for the reunion,Montes said. The group islooking at holding it in ei-ther August or October of2013.

EyewitnessesMontes said about 50 peo-

ple attended Tuesday’smeeting. Many of themshared first- and second-hand accounts of the floodthat displaced the citizensliving in Zapata and sur-rounding communities in1953.

County Judge Joe Rath-mell said the event has thebacking of the county. Sever-al months ago, Commission-ers Court passed a resolu-tion that paved the way forthe reunion.

He said news of theplanned reunion was stilltrickling into the communi-ty.

“As more people find outabout it, we’ll get better par-ticipation, I’m sure,” Rath-mell said.

Anyone wishing to parti-cipate can call GraphitiksAdvertising Design, theagency marketing ZapataRising, at 723-4389.

For more information,visit www.zapatarising.com.

(JJ Velasquez may bereached at 728-2567 or jjve-lasquez@lmtonline.com)

ZAPATA RISING

Group tells ofplans for flood

anniversaryBy JJ VELASQUEZTHE ZAPATA TIMES

PAGE 2A Zin brief SATURDAY, MARCH 31, 2012

TUESDAY, APRIL 3TELPAS testing for the 4th

grade will take place at Fidel and An-drea R. Villarreal Elementary School.

An airway clearance seminar isfrom 8 a.m. to noon at Laredo Spe-cialty Hospital, 2005 Bustamante St.The class is open to all LVNs, RNs andRTs. Limited space is available. Formore information, call -753-5353.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 4Easter pictures will be taken at

Fidel and Andrea R. Villarreal Elemen-tary School, Room 24. Cost is $2.

TELPAS testing of the 5th gradewill take place at Fidel and Andrea R.Villarreal Elementary School.

FRIDAY, APRIL 6Easter holiday for Zapata ISD

students.

MONDAY, APRIL 9Last day of Easter holiday for

Zapata ISD students.

TUESDAY, APRIL 10The Zapata County Commission-

ers Court meets today at 9 a.m. inthe Zapata County Courthouse.

Last day of Easter holiday forZapata ISD students.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 11The American Cancer Society

and Doctors Hospital will offer I CanCope, a series of educational classesfor people with cancer, along withtheir families and friends. I Can Copehelps patients meet the challenges ofcancer by clarifying cancer facts andmyths. The classes are offered from 6p.m. to 8 p.m. the second Wednesdayof every month at Doctors Hospital inthe Women’s Center ConferenceRoom. Classes are free. To RSVP 523-2658.

SATURDAY, APRIL 14Saturday academies will be held

at Fidel and Andrea R. Villarreal Ele-mentary School for 3rd grade mathand reading, 4th grade math andreading and 5th grade science.

SUNDAY, APRIL 15The 4th annual Falcon Lake

Tackle-Bass Blast takes place from 7a.m. through 2:30 p.m. Call 956-765-4866 for more information.

THURSDAY, APRIL 19Power of the Purse is at 6 p.m.

today at La Posada Hotel, 1000 Zara-goza St. It will feature a silent and liveauction of purses of every size andstyle at a cocktail reception to benefitthe Girl Scouts of Greater South Tex-as. Funds raised will support local out-reach in Laredo schools. Tickets are$75 each, and sponsorships are availa-ble. The council invites all former GirlScouts to participate. Call Norma at723-7251 for more information.

SATURDAY, APRIL 21Saturday academies will be held

at Fidel and Andrea R. Villarreal Ele-mentary School for 3rd grade mathand reading, 4th grade math andreading and 5th grade science.

The March of Dimes March forBabies is from 8 a.m. to noon today.Begun in 1970, it has raised $2 billionto benefit all babies. To register afamily or company team, visit http://www.marchforbabies.org/.

TUESDAY, APRIL 24STAAR testing for 3rd- and 4th-

grade math will take place at all Zapa-ta County ISD elementary schools.

The trustees of the ZapataCounty Independent School Districtwill meet a 6 p.m. at the ProfessionalDevelopment Center, 702 E. 1770.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 25STAAR testing for 3rd- and 4th-

grade reading will take place at all Za-pata County ISD elementary schools.

THURSDAY, APRIL 26STAAR testing for 5th-grade sci-

ence will take place at all ZapataCounty ISD elementary schools.

SATURDAY, MAY 19The Bass Champs tournament

takes place from 7 a.m. through 6p.m.

To submit an item for the calendar,send the name of the event, the date,time, location and contact phone num-ber to editorial@lmtonline.com.

CALENDARASSOCIATED PRESS

Today is Saturday, March31, the 91st day of 2012. Thereare 275 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in His-tory:

On March 31, 1932, Ford Mo-tor Co. publicly unveiled itspowerful flathead V8 engine;while not the first eight-cylin-der engine, it was the first tobe affordable to the generalpublic, and proved very pop-ular.

On this date:In 1889, French engineer

Gustave Eiffel unfurled theFrench tricolor from atop theEiffel Tower, officially mark-ing its completion.

In 1931, Notre Dame collegefootball coach Knute Rockne,43, was killed in the crash of aTWA plane in Bazaar, Kan.

In 1933, President FranklinD. Roosevelt signed the Emer-gency Conservation Work Act,which created the CivilianConservation Corps.

In 1943, the Rodgers andHammerstein musical “Okla-homa!” opened on Broadway.

In 1949, Newfoundland (nowcalled Newfoundland and La-brador) entered confederationas Canada’s tenth province.

In 1953, Stanley Kubrick’sfirst feature film, a war dramatitled “Fear and Desire,” pre-miered in New York.

In 1968, President LyndonB. Johnson stunned the coun-try by announcing at the con-clusion of a broadcast addresson Vietnam that he would notseek re-election.

In 1976, the New Jersey Su-preme Court ruled that KarenAnn Quinlan, who was in apersistent vegetative state,could be disconnected fromher respirator. (Quinlan, whoremained unconscious, died in1985.)

In 1986, 167 people diedwhen a Mexicana AirlinesBoeing 727 crashed in a re-mote mountainous region ofMexico.

In 1995, Mexican-Americansinger Selena Quintanilla-Pe-rez, 23, was shot to death inCorpus Christi by the founderof her fan club, Yolanda Saldi-var, who was convicted ofmurder and sentenced to lifein prison.

In 2005, Terri Schiavo, 41,died at a hospice in PinellasPark, Fla., 13 days after herfeeding tube was removed in awrenching right-to-die dispute.

Ten years ago: IsraeliPrime Minister Ariel Sharonvowed to smash Palestinianmilitants in a broadcastspeech that came the sameday as a suicide bombing inHaifa that killed 15 Israelis.Pope John Paul II used hisEaster message to call for anend to violence in the HolyLand.

Today’s Birthdays: ActorRichard Chamberlain is 78.Actress Shirley Jones is 78.Country singer-songwriterJohn D. Loudermilk is 78. Sen-ate Judiciary Chairman Pa-trick Leahy, D-Vt., is 72. U.S.Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass.,is 72. Actor Christopher Walk-en is 69. Comedian Gabe Ka-plan is 67. Former Vice Presi-dent Al Gore is 64. Author Da-vid Eisenhower is 64. ActressRhea Perlman is 64. ActorEwan McGregor is 41.

Thought for Today: “Anoptimist may see a light wherethere is none, but why mustthe pessimist always run toblow it out?” — Rene Des-cartes, French philosopher(born this date in 1596, died1650).

TODAY IN HISTORY

McALLEN — Several school districts inthe Rio Grande Valley closed Friday after se-vere storms packing heavy rains and hail re-portedly as large as baseballs battered thearea.

The McAllen and Mission public schoolswere among districts shut as NationalWeather Service officials surveyed damageto determine whether there was a weak tor-nado on the south side of McAllen.

“We’re still looking but we cannot confirmany tornados in McAllen at this time,” DonButts, science officer with the NationalWeather Service, said late Friday morning.“It’s just amazing, 10 to 12 hours after theevent, we’ve got two to three-foot hail drifts.”

The heaviest hail damage was aroundMcAllen as slow-moving storms late Thurs-

day dumped more than 5 inches of rain insome areas and piled up hail 6 inches deepat a one site four miles north of McAllen. Intown, cars stalled out in intersections flood-ed after hail clogged gutters and struggled toescape piles of the icy deposits.

Corridors in McAllen resembled the dam-age of a minor hurricane. Trees werestripped clean of their leaves. Signs weretwisted, flags shredded. Parking lots glis-tened with shards from countless broken carwindows and small dirty drifts of hail.

Preliminary reports collected by the Na-tional Weather Service included quarter-,golf ball- and even one report of baseball-sizehail. The airport recorded a top wind gust of74 mph as thunderstorms advanced from thenorth.

Thousands remained without power Fri-day morning in McAllen.

AROUND TEXAS

This NOAA satellite image taken Friday shows clouds developing across the Central US. That storm system dumped rain andhail in McAllen late Thursday.

Photo by Weather Underground | AP

Storms close schoolsASSOCIATED PRESS

Texas firefighter chargedwith setting wildfire

ABILENE — A volunteer fire-fighter has been charged withsetting a wildfire last year.

Taylor Dupree Partain wascharged with arson, a second-de-gree felony, in connection with aMay wildfire in Jones County.The 24-year-old has been a lieu-tenant with the Hamby Volun-teer Fire Department.

He was arrested last week af-ter a fire at Hamby United Meth-odist Church.

Ex-FLDS leader sentencedto 10 years in prison

MIDLAND — A former polyg-amist leader found guilty of biga-my has been sentenced to 10years in prison.

A Midland County jury sen-tenced Wendell Loy Nielsen onFriday. He will serve the threesentences concurrently.

He was once a top lieutenantto Warren Jeffs in a polygamistgroup.

Home where Holly’s bandformed to be preservedLUBBOCK — The Lubbock

home where Buddy Holly andchildhood friend Jerry Allisonco-wrote “That’ll Be The Day” isbeing moved to a site that memo-rializes the famed 1950s rock androll pioneer.

The house where Allisonspent some of his teenage yearswill find a home at the BuddyHolly Center in Lubbock, saidBrooke Witcher, the center’s di-rector of museums and specialevents.

Texas unemployment ratedown to 7.1 percent

AUSTIN — Texas’ unemploy-ment rate fell for a sixth consec-utive month to 7.1 percent inFebruary, and monthly jobgrowth exceeded 20,000 positionsfor the third straight time, ac-cording to state employmentagency figures released Friday.

The jobless rate was downfrom 7.3 percent in January.

Blogger arrested forposting address onlineCLEAR LAKE SHORES —

The operator of a suburbanHouston blog has been arrestedfor posting the email address of acity council candidate’s wife andinviting people to send virusesand spam to her email account.

Allan Batchelor was free on$2,500 bond following his arrestWednesday at his home in ClearLake Shores. He’s charged withmisdemeanor online imperson-ation.

Securities adviser hit with$719,000 restitution

CORPUS CHRISTI — The Tex-as State Securities Board has or-dered a Corpus Christi securitiesadviser pay $719,000 in restitu-tion and serve 10 years of com-munity supervision for withhold-ing information from investors.

William Erik Byrne sold about$1 million worth of fraudulent in-vestment contracts.

— Compiled from AP reports

Obama: Oil supply enoughto keep squeeze on IranWASHINGTON — President

Barack Obama said Friday hewas plowing ahead with poten-tial sanctions against countriesthat keep buying oil from Iran,including allies of the UnitedStates, in a deepening campaignto starve Iran of money for itsdisputed nuclear program.

The world oil market is tightbut deep enough to keep thesqueeze on Iran, Obama ruled.

Jump in US spendingbrightens outlook

WASHINGTON — U.S. con-sumers boosted their spending inFebruary by 0.8 percent, themost in seven months, raisingexpectations for stronger growthat the start of the year.

Americans spent more even astheir income barely grew. Tomake up the difference, manysaved less.

House candidate can noteastronaut past on ballotSACRAMENTO, Calif. — A

congressional candidate in Cali-fornia’s Central Valley can note

on ballots that he used to be anastronaut.

A Sacramento County judgeruled Thursday that DemocratJose Hernandez can use the bal-lot designation “astronaut.” Heis challenging Rep. Jeff Denham.

— Compiled from AP reports

AROUND THE NATION

Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romneygreets the crowd during a campaign stop at Lawrence University in Appleton,Wis., on Friday. Romney leads all other GOP candidates in the race for delegates.

Photo by Steven Senne | AP

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CONTACT US

Fourteen IBC Bank em-ployees recently completedtraining for the JuniorAchievement Zapata/SanYgnacio Pilot Program,scheduled to launch thisyear for the first time inZapata. The program willteach JA curriculum tomore than 350 studentsfrom kindergarten through12th grades and was madepossible thanks to the sup-port of the Guadalupe &Lilia Martinez Foundation.

“Year round, IBC Bankteaches elementarythrough high school stu-dents across Texas and Ok-lahoma saving and spend-ing habits through theMoney Buzz financial edu-cation program, so we seethe Junior Achievementpilot program as an oppor-tunity to expand our finan-cial literacy efforts and in-vest in the future of Zapa-ta,” said IBC Bank-ZapataCEO Renato Ramirez.

JA is the world’s largestorganization dedicated toeducating students aboutwork readiness, entrepre-neurship and financial lit-

eracy through hands-onprograms. JA programshave proven to be success-ful at raising students’ edu-cational and career aspira-tions and teaching stu-dents to createopportunities to achievetheir goals. During the2011-2012 school year, about75,000 students are expect-

ed to participate in theeducation programsthroughout South Texas.

“Our mission is to in-

spire and prepare youngpeople to succeed in a glob-al economy and IBC Bankhas been a strong support-

er of our efforts,” said Ora-lia Bernal, district directorof Junior Achievement ofLaredo.

Bank to teach financial literacy SPECIAL TO THE TIMES

Zapata employees recently completed training to help launch the Junior Achievement of Laredo’s Zapata/San Ygnacio Pilot Program,which is expected to reach more than 350 K–12 students in the Zapata area during the spring semester.

Courtesy photo

CORPUS CHRISTI –Irene Cornejo, a 2008 grad-

uate of LaJoya HighSchool andformer LaJoya Jew-elettes danceteam major,receivedthird place inthe soloist

competition at the 2012American Dance/DrillTeam Collegiate Cham-pionship held March 24 atthe University of NorthTexas.

Cornejo, a junior geolo-gy major at Texas A&MUniversity-Corpus Christi,is a member of the TexasA&M-Corpus Christi Islan-der Dance Team, whichtook first place in the Divi-sion I category during thecompetition. The team alsocollected fifth place in theacademic championshipfor classroom performance.

La Joyagrad gets3rd place

SPECIAL TO THE TIMES

CORNEJO

Sheriff ’s investigatorsare asking for help in find-ing a stolen hunting rifle.

On March 26, deputieswent to the 2000 block ofCarla Street in referenceto the rifle. A 46-year-oldman reported a stolen aBrown .243 Savage riflewith a Simmons 9x12scope.

It was taken from a resi-dence in the 3000 block ofEncino Road.

Readers with any infor-mation are asked to callthe sheriff ’s office at 765-9960 or Crime Stoppers at765-TIPS (8477).

Deputiesseek rifle

THE ZAPATA TIMES

ARE YOU INTERESTED IN SELLING YOUR CAR OR TRUCK

$$$ I buy cars for cash even if you still owe money$$$Models 2003-2011

INTERESADO DE VENDER SU CARRO O TROCA?$$$ Compro carros en efectivo aunque todavia deba dinero$$$

Models 2003-2011

Call for Estimates/Llama para un Presupuesto

(956) 237-1621

SATURDAY, MARCH 31, 2012 THE ZAPATA TIMES 3A

PAGE 4A Zopinion SATURDAY, MARCH 31, 2012

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR SEND YOUR SIGNED LETTER TO EDITORIAL@LMTONLINE.COM

In a murky politicalworld, gaffes providerare moments of bril-liant clarity. “A gaffe,”journalist Michael Kin-sley observed, “is when apolitician tells the truth— some obvious truth heisn’t supposed to say.”

During the 2004 presi-dential campaign, Sen.John Kerry, D-Mass., ex-plained his vote againsta supplemental appropri-ation for military oper-ations in Iraq and Af-ghanistan by saying, “Iactually did vote for the$87 billion, before I votedagainst it.” It cementedthe impression of Kerryas a hopeless flip-flopper.

Attracting allMore recently, Mitt

Romney aide Erik Fehrn-strom explained how hiscandidate could win theGOP nomination overhis more conservativefoes and still attractmoderate voters in thegeneral election.

“It’s almost like anEtch-a-Sketch,” Fehrn-strom said. “You cankind of shake it up, andwe start all over again.”

It confirmed, second-hand, the perception ofmany conservatives thatRomney lacks a politicalcore.

Then there is BarackObama. In an unguardedmoment four years ago,he showed his disdainfor Americans who clingto guns or religion. Hehas repeatedly expressedhis frustration that “ourFounders designed a sys-tem that makes it moredifficult to bring aboutchange than I would likesometimes.”

If only the presidentdidn’t have to explain hispolicies to the ignorantmasses. If only he wereunconstrained by a sys-tem of constitutionalchecks and balances anddidn’t need to worryabout the approval ofCongress or the SupremeCourt. A president whoharbored such senti-ments might whisper tothe leader of another na-tion, and not exactly afriendly one, “This is mylast election. After myelection, I have moreflexibility.”

Unguarded momentWhen an open micro-

phone caught this candidexchange with RussianPresident Dmitry Medve-dev last week, it authen-ticated fears about howextreme an Obama presi-dency unmoored fromelectoral accountabilitymight be.

Obama and Medvedevwere discussing a NATOmissile-defense system

based in Central Europeintended to guardagainst the prospectivethreat from Iranian andNorth Korean missiles aswell as rogue or acciden-tal launches.

Cutting misslesRussian cold warriors

view the system as anencroachment on theirnation’s sovereignty. InPoland and Romaniawhere the interceptorsand radar installationseventually would bebased, citizens havefresh memories of Rus-sians trampling on theirsovereignty. For Obama,who is still pressing thereset button with Russiaand accepts as an articleof faith that missile de-fense is offensive, cuttingthe program is a painlessway to trim the defensebudget.

It was in this contextthat Obama confided inMedvedev, asking him torelay to Russian PrimeMinister and President-elect Vladimir Putin thathe needed some space totake care of the missiledefense problem. Obama-bots immediately tried tospin the president’s com-ments into some bril-liant diplomatic com-mentary about election-year politics. But thetruth of the gaffe is inthe clarity of the wordshe wasn’t supposed tosay.

‘Flexibility’Obama wasn’t talking

to Medvedev about howelections influenceAmerican policies. Hewas talking about howhis policies would be freefrom influence after theAmerican elections.

“This is my last elec-tion. After my election Ihave more flexibility.”

To whom else, beyondthe reach of micro-phones, has Obamapledged his flexibilityduring a second term inoffice? And about whatother issues, foreign anddomestic?

As a lame duck, whatwould a president dowho has already strainedrelations with historicallies, who has run upmore debt faster thanany predecessor, who hasexpanded governmentspending to unpreceden-ted levels and who hasthreatened to institute acap-and-trade programunder which he said —in another gaffe — “elec-tricity rates would neces-sarily skyrocket”?

If the election givesObama the flexibilitythat comes with retire-ment, the American peo-ple won’t have to findout.

(Email: jgurwitz@ex-press-news.net)

‘Flexibility’explains the

presidentBy JONATHAN GURWITZ

SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS

OTHER VIEWS

The Zapata Timesdoes not publish anony-mous letters.

To be published, let-ters must include thewriter’s first and lastnames as well as aphone number to verifyidentity. The phonenumber IS NOT publish-ed; it is used solely toverify identity and toclarify content, if neces-sary. Identity of the let-ter writer must be veri-fied before publication.

We want to assure

our readers that a letteris written by the personwho signs the letter. TheZapata Times does notallow the use of pseudo-nyms.

Letters are edited forstyle, grammar, lengthand civility. No name-calling or gratuitousabuse is allowed.

Via e-mail, send let-ters to editorial@lmton-line.com or mail them toLetters to the Editor, 111Esperanza Drive, Lare-do, TX 78041.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR POLICYDOONESBURY | GARRY TRUDEAU

Last year marked the40th anniversary of Presi-dent Richard Nixon’s decla-ration of war on drugs.Since then, the country hasspent hundreds of billionsof dollars attempting tosuppress drug use, and mil-lions of Americans havebeen imprisoned for drug-related offenses at an ines-timable cost to society andthe families involved.

Has the cost been worthit? Are we winning or los-ing the war on drugs?

That depends largely onwho you ask. The federalDrug Enforcement Admin-istration (DEA) has pub-lished a lengthy booklet en-titled “Speaking OutAgainst Drug Legalization”that defends the criminali-zation of drugs and the waron drugs in general. In it,the agency argues thatoverall drug use in the U.S.has fallen by one-thirdsince the 1970s. It cites evenmore dramatic reductionsin the use of specific drugs,such as cocaine, which itclaims has fallen by 70 per-cent.

Other groups, such asthe Global Commission onDrug Policy, whose mem-bers include such notablesas former Secretary ofState George Shultz andformer Federal ReserveChairman Paul Volcker,categorically believe thatthe war of drugs has been amiserable failure. They

maintain that drug use hasbeen on the increase andthat the collateral damagecaused by the criminaliza-tion of drugs far outweighsany benefits.

The federal Centers forDisease Control and Pre-vention (CDC) has issued achilling report on deathsfrom drug overdoses thatsuggests those arguing thatwe are losing the war mayhave the better argument.The CDC found that unin-tentional deaths from drugoverdoses have increasedtenfold on a per capita ba-sis (from one in 100,000 to10 in 100,000) since 1970.

Part of the disconnectbetween the two versions ofthe argument is attributa-ble to the rapid rise in theabuse of prescriptiondrugs. The DEA has tradi-tionally been focused ondrugs that cannot be legal-ly prescribed, such as co-caine and heroin. Andthere does appear to besome pretty good evidencethat the use of those drugsis down. However, theabuse of prescriptiondrugs, primarily opioids,has more than offset thatdecline. The CDC studyshows that the number ofdeaths from opioid overdos-es is now greater than co-caine and heroin com-bined.

Those who favor legali-zation often compare thesituation today to Prohib-ition, arguing that Prohib-ition did not work and nei-ther will attempts to crimi-

nalize other drugs. But thecase for the propositionthat Prohibition did notwork is not as clear as onemight think. Health statis-tics from that time are a lit-tle sketchy, but seem toshow a substantial drop indiseases known at thattime to be associated withalcohol, such as cirrhosis.Crimes associated with al-cohol also appear to havesteeply declined duringProhibition.

And one can hardly saythat alcohol, while legal to-day, does not cause serioussocietal problems. The CDCestimates that excessivedrinking causes about80,000 deaths annually inthe U.S. I sat on a localgrand jury a few years agoand would estimate thatnearly half the cases thatcame before us involvedsomeone who had toomuch to drink.

The damage caused byour other favorite legaldrug, nicotine, is evenworse. The CDC estimatesthat smoking kills morethan 400,000 Americans ev-ery year. Just because wegive up on enforcement andlegalize a drug does notmean that problems associ-ated with its abuse and ad-diction go way.

Yet the mere fact that agovernment agency such asthe DEA would publish alengthy document advocat-ing the continued criminal-ization makes me nervous.The DEA’s budget this yearwill be more than $15 bil-

lion. Multiply that manytimes for all of the stateand local law enforcementbureaucracies that make aliving off the war on drugs.

It reminds me of Presi-dent Dwight Eisenhowerwarning in his farewell ad-dress of the military-indus-trial complex. One of ourgreatest generals turnedpresident warned the coun-try that the military andthe defense industry had afinancial incentive to exag-gerate the threat of commu-nism, to persuade the coun-try to spend vast, unneces-sary sums on defense.

When you see the DEApublishing a nearly 100-page report on why itneeds to stay in business,you cannot help but won-der to what degree there isa “drug-law enforcementcomplex” doing the samething.

One thing on which ev-eryone seems to agree isthat there must be a bettersolution than our currentstrategy. The estimates ofthe economic costs of sub-stance abuse and addictionrun in the hundreds of bil-lions annually. The cost inhuman terms is incalcula-ble. We have every incen-tive to come up with themost efficient program pos-sible to reduce these costs.

Is there a better way?There are some optionsthat lie between our cur-rent system and outrightlegalization.

(Email: weking@wek-ing.net)

COLUMN

There should be a better wayBy BILL KING

HOUSTON CHRONICLE

On the last day of oralarguments on PresidentObama’s health-care law,the Supreme Court grap-ples with a couple moreissues, including whetherthe law’s expansion ofMedicaid unlawfully co-erces states to participate.

Medicaid is a state-fed-eral program that pro-vides health care to the

disabled and the poor. Thepresident’s health-careinitiative expanded Medi-caid to include singleadults considered indigentunder federal povertystandards.

Twenty-six states havechallenged the expansionas a coercive use of thefederal purse. AlthoughMedicaid remains volun-tary, the 26 states arguethat they are being forced

to acquiesce to the expan-sion with the threat of los-ing not only additionalfederal funds to cover newenrollees but also the bil-lions of Medicaid dollarsthey already receive.

This argument — thatthe federal government’sgenerosity in subsidizingMedicaid amounts to coer-cion — falls flat.

States that support thechange note in a brief that

11.2 million adults wouldbe covered under the ex-pansion. The federal gov-ernment will pick up al-most the whole tab; ac-cording to these states,Medicaid enrollment is ex-pected to jump 27 percentby 2019, but average statespending will increase byonly 1.4 percent. Andstates will still have dis-cretion to design pro-grams to meet their needs.

Battle over health, MedicaidWASHINGTON POST

SATURDAY, MARCH 31, 2012 THE ZAPATA TIMES 5A

BURGLARYA man reported at 5:47 p.m.

Thursday in the 600 block of Mira-flores Avenue that someone brokeinto his vehicle and stole an ampli-fier.

A burglary of a habitationwas reported at 3:41 p.m. March 22in the 400 block of Laredo Avenue.

DUIOsiel Alaniz, 20, was arrest-

ed and charged with driving whileintoxicated at about 7:15 p.m.March 23 at 10th Street and VillaAvenue. The man was taken to theZapata Regional Jail, where he waslater released for court appearance.

DWIJose Guadalupe de Leon, 44,

was arrested and charged with driv-ing while intoxicated with an opencontainer at about 2:30 a.m. March22 at First Street and Texas 16. Theman was taken to the Zapata Re-gional Jail, where he was held on a

$2,500 bond.Deputies arrested and

charged Jose Arnulfo Vargas, 41,with driving while intoxicated atabout 8: 15 p.m. March 23 at 17thAvenue and Alamo Street. The manwas held at the Zapata Regional Jailon a $5,000 bond.

POSSESSIONLuis Daniel Peña, 18, was ar-

rested and charged with possessionof marijuana at about 1:15 a.m.Monday in the 600 block of Mira-flores Avenue after a traffic stop.Deputies say the man had a plasticbaggie containing more than 7ounces of marijuana. Peña was heldat the Zapata Regional Jail on a$65,000 bond. In the same inci-dent, deputies arrested Jose RubenPeña, 46, and charged him withpublic intoxication. He was later re-leased to appear in court.

A juvenile was detained andcharged with possession of a con-trolled substance shortly before 8a.m. Thursday at Zapata Middle

School. Deputies turned over the al-leged offender to juvenile probation.

RECKLESS DRIVINGFrancisco Javier Villarreal, 20,

was arrested and charged withreckless driving at about 4:30 a.m.Monday at U.S. 83 and Park Drive.The man was held at the ZapataRegional Jail on a $1,500 bond.

RESISTING ARRESTJose Isidro Campos, 29, was

arrested at about 9:30 p.m. March24 in the 1400 block of GuerreroStreet after an alleged domesticdisturbance. Deputies charged Cam-pos with misdemeanor assault andresisting arrest. He was held at theZapata Regional Jail on a $10,000bond.

THEFTA 41-year-old man reported a

theft at 5:26 p.m. March 25 at theZapata County Boat Ramp in theFalcon Lake Estates.

THE BLOTTER

Scientist and best-sellingauthor David Eaglemanwill delve into the myster-ies of the subconsciousmind as he presents a lec-ture Thursday at 7 p.m. atTexas A&M InternationalUniversity.

Eagleman’s lecture, “In-cognito: The Brains Behindthe Mind,” will be held atthe Center for the Fine andPerforming Arts RecitalHall and is part of the A.R.Sánchez Distinguished Lec-ture Series. It is free andopen to the public.

In his presentation, Ea-gleman, often known as the

Carl Sagan of neuroscience,will delve into the questionof the subconscious mindand why the consciousmind knows so little aboutit.

If the conscious mind,the part you consider you,

accounts for only a fractionof the brain’s function,what is all the rest doing?This is the question thatEagleman has spent yearsresearching and which heanswers in this up-to-the-minute talk.

The mind is topic of talkSPECIAL TO THE TIMES

Hábitos como limitar laexposición por tiempo pro-longado en el sol y alentarun mayor consumo de lí-quidos, son la respuesta pa-ra evitar enfermedades.

De ignorarlos, se incre-mentan las probabilidadesde que una persona sufrainsolación, quemaduras ygolpes de calor.

Inician las vacaciones deSemana Santa 2012 y, portanto, la Secretaría de Sa-lud de Tamaulipas reco-mendó a la población evi-tar mantenerse en las áreassoleadas por tiempo prolon-gado.

El Secretario de Salud,Norberto Treviño García-Manzo, señaló que dentrodel programa Semana Ma-yor 2012 se busca informary auxiliar a los vacacionci-

tas en el fortalecimiento delas medidas preventivas.

Dijo que se dispondránde los insumos necesariospara atender de manera in-mediata a quienes lo re-quieran y enfrentar cual-quier contingencia.

Pidió a la población to-mar muchos líquidos comoagua potable y en cantida-des suficientes para niñosy ancianos; usar ropa lige-ra, de colores claros; prote-gerse con sombreros, go-rros o sombrillas; utilizarcremas con factor de pro-tección solar 15 o más; ydar a los niños Vida SueroOral.

Treviño dijo que al in-crementarse la temperatu-ra corporal a más de 41grados, se produce el golpede calor, que puede ocasio-nar fallecimientos si no setrata a tiempo.

Informó también que lainsolación aparece despuésde varios días de exposi-ción a altas temperaturas ycuando no hay una ingestaadecuada de líquidos quepermitan la rehidratación,lo cual es frecuente enadultos mayores, hiperten-sos y cuando se trabaja ohace ejercicio en lugarescalurosos.

Finalmente, Treviño re-comendó seguir las medi-das de prevención a fin deevitar cualquier tipo de en-fermedades asociadas a lasaltas temperaturas y solici-tar atención médica inme-diata si presentan cual-quier malestar como pulsoacelerado, dolor palpitantede cabeza, mucho sudor, ca-lambres, cansancio, respi-ración rápida y profunda,mareos, confusión, nause-as, entre otras.

Exponerse por tiempos prolongados al sol pueden causar problemas graves a la salud de los vacacionistas. Éstas y otras medidas están siendo informadas por el Gobierno deTamaulipas para que sean tomadas en cuenta durante la Semana Mayor.

Foto de cortesía | Gobierno de Tamaulipas

SemanaMayor

TIEMPO DE ZAPATA

CONSEJOS ADICIONALES

En el vehículoColocar el equipaje de forma que no moleste a la conducción.Durante el viaje evite realizar periodos muy largos de conducción

y haga paradas de descanso.No ingiera alcohol y tenga cuidado con la medicación que pueda

producir somnolencia.Respete al máximo las normas de tráfico y especialmente los se-

ñalamientos y los límites de velocidad.Una vez en el destino, evite relajarse respecto de las medidas de

seguridad, los desplazamientos cortos también producen accidentesgraves.

En el hotelNo deje a la vista dinero u objetos de valor y para ello utilice las

cajas de seguridad.En las zonas comunes, vigile su equipaje y objetos personales.

En la vía públicaNo pierda de vista sus pertenencias.Vigile su bolso o cartera en las aglomeraciones.Proteja su cámara de video o fotográfica en los lugares de espar-

cimiento.Evite los juegos de azar en la calle. Son un fraude.Desconfíe de ayudas sospechosas (aviso de manchas en ropa, de

averías en vehículo, etc.).Eluda los negocios fáciles. Podrían ser un timo.Si utiliza algún vehículo, no deje ningún objeto de valor a la vis-

ta.

En la playaCuando vaya a la playa o a la piscina, lleve lo estrictamente ne-

cesario y de ser posible, acuda sin objetos de valor.No duerma en la playa. Si lo hace, es aconsejable estar en grupo

protegiendo los objetos personales.No dejar nunca solos los objetos personales cuando se va al

agua. Existen bolsas herméticas para llevarlas encima. Si no quedamás remedio, no perderlos nunca de vista.

NUEVO LAREDO03/31 — Estación Pala-

bra Gabriel García Márquezpresenta: “Bazar de Arte” alas 12 p.m.; Lecturas Antesde Abordar “Feliz Cumplea-ños Octavio Paz” a la 1 p.m.;“Celebración del Día Interna-cional del Libro” a las 2p.m.; Taller de Creación Lite-raria con Jacobo Mina a las3 p.m.; y presentación del li-bro “¿De qué color es la pielde Dios?” de Eduardo San-doval Sandoval a las 2 p.m.Eventos gratuitos.

03/31 — Museo para Ni-ños presenta “La Primaveraen el Arte” a las 4 p.m. enla Sala de Servicios Educati-vos del Centro Cultural. En-trada gratuita.

04/01 — Visitas guiadasa los Museos “Reyes Meza”y “De Historia Natural” delCentro Cultural, de 10 a.m.a 7 p.m. Entrada gratuita.

04/03 — Cine Club pre-senta “Melodías Inolvidables”a las 6 p.m. en el Teatro Lu-cio Blanco de Casa de laCultura. Entrada gratuita.

04/03 — Grupo de Tea-tro Expresión del ITNL pre-senta la comedia “Cero IVÁNTres” en el caso Torreblanca,a las 7 p.m. en el Teatro delIMSS. Donación: 20 pesos.

04/04 — Cine Club pre-senta “De-Lovely” a las 6p.m. en Estación Palabras.Evento gratuito, exclusivoadolescentes y adultos.

04/10 — Grupo de Tea-tro Expresión del ITNL pre-senta la comedia “Cero IVÁNTres” en el caso Torreblanca,a las 7 p.m. en el Teatro delIMSS. Donación: 20 pesos.

04/11 — Taller de Dise-ño de Modas para Jóvenes,de 16 a 30 años, en Esta-ción Palabra de 5 p.m. a 7p.m., hoy, el 12 y 13 deabril. Cupo limitado. Inscri-birse llamando al (867) 712-7844.

LAREDO04/01 — Easter Lotería

en la Biblioteca Pública deLaredo de 2 p.m. a 4 p.m.en la Sala de Usos MúltiplesH-E-B de la biblioteca, 1120E. Calton. Evento abierto alpúblico en general.

04/01 — Concierto deBaile de Primavera 2012 alas 3 p.m. en el teatro delGuadalupe and Lilia MartinezFine Arts Center. Abierto alpúblico en general.

04/01 — El pianistaEliud Nevárez presentará unrecital de música clásica alas 3 p.m. en el Center forFine and Performing ArtsRecital Hall de TAMIU. Even-to gratuito abierto al públicoen general.

04/04 — Intérpretes deCámara de TAMIU y el CoroMixto de LCC participarán enel Concierto de Primavera enel Center for Fine and Per-forming Arts Recital Hall alas 7:30 p.m. Evento gratuitoy abierto al público en gene-ral.

04/05 — El escritor Da-vid Eagleman, considerado elCarl Sagan de la neurocien-cia, participará en la Seriede Lecturas A.R. Sanchez alas 7 p.m. en Center for theFine and Performing ArtsRecital Hall de TAMIU. Even-to gratuito y abierto al públi-co en general.

04/07 — El grupo mexi-cano “Maná” ofrece concier-to como parte de su gira“Drama y Luz” en LaredoEnergy Arena, a las 8 p.m.Adquiera su boleto en Live-Nation.com, en la taquilla deLEA y por teléfono al 800-745-3000.

04/07 — Época de OroSocial Club invita a bailarcon Noe Esparza y TheDells, de 9 p.m. a 1 a.m. enel Salón de Baile del LaredoCivic Center. B.Y.O.B. Costo20 dólares en la puerta. Ga-nancias se destinarán a be-cas. Informes en el (956)724-8702; 718-0024; y, 723-9809.

— Tiempo de Zapata

Agendaen Breve

El viernes arrancó la campaña electoral fede-ral para elegir Presidente de México, Senadoresy Diputados Federales.

En Nuevo Laredo, México, donde se ubica elI Distrito Electoral, cuatro candidatos a la dipu-tación federal habrán de buscar el voto ciudada-no.

El Distrito Electoral I lo componen NuevoLaredo, Nueva Ciudad Guerrero, Miguel Ale-mán, Ciudad Mier y Camargo.

“En esta elección federal vimos equidad degénero de las mujeres predomino. Solo treshombres y el resto son mujeres en las candida-turas”, dijo el Consejero Titular del InstitutoFederal Electoral (IFE), Manuel Moncada Fuen-tes. “Hay tres hombres y una mujer como can-didata”.

En las listas nominales de Nuevo Laredo, ac-tualmente se encuentran registrados 285,000electores. El total de la lista nominal es de330,000 votantes.

Los candidatos son:Por el Partido Acción Nacional (PAN):

Glafiro Salinas Mendiola y su suplente, Veróni-ca González Huerta.

Por el Partido Revolucionario Institucio-

nal (PRI): Verónica Flores González y su suplen-te Patricia López Moreno, de Miguel, Alemán.

Por el Movimiento Progresista (que agru-pa al Partido de la Revolución Democrática–PRD-, Partido del Trabajo –PT- y MovimientoCiudadano): Lisbeth Denisse Marín Sánchez ysu suplente Pettry Gulianna Gutiérrez.

Por el Partido Verde Ecologista (PV): aMaría Elena de Anda Hernández, así comoNery Guadalupe Calderón Rivera.

Por el Partido Nueva Alianza: Bruno Del-gado Almaguer y su suplente, Noe Pérez Cedi-llo.

El proceso electoral federal inicia el viernesy deberá concluir el 27 de junio. Las eleccionesserán el 1 de julio, instalándose 570 casillas.

En la elección federal pasada votó el 45% delpadrón electoral.

Inclusive, a partir del viernes la publicidadde las obras del gobierno federal, estatal y mu-nicipal no podrá contar con difusión oficial.

Los candidatos y sus equipos han expresadoa través de sus voceros que estarán en disponi-bilidad de trabajar intensamente para conven-cer al electorado que sus plataformas políticasmarcan las opciones que reclama la comuni-dad.

(Localice a Miguel Timoshenkov en el (956)728-2583 o en mramirez@lmtonline.com)

Arrancan campañas electorales POR MIGUEL TIMOSHENKOV

TIEMPO DE ZAPATA

TORNEO DE PESCA

Foto de cortesía | Gobierno de Tamaulipas

Este fin de semana, sá-bado 31 de marzo ydomingo primero deabril, se celebrará el se-gundo torneo del GranSerial de Pesca Deporti-va Lobina 2012 en elcampamento La Isla dela presa Vicente Guerre-ro, en el área central deTamaulipas. En elprimer torneo celebradodel 21 al 22 de eneroparticiparon 104 pesca-dores de Guanajuato,Puebla, San Luis Potosí,Nuevo León y Tamauli-pas.

En un esfuerzo estatal, los municipios de laentidad se unieron en una acción simultáneacon la Secretaría de Salud de Tamaulipas parasumar esfuerzos en la prevención y en la erradi-cación del dengue.

Se pusieron en marcha las medidas preventi-vas contra el dengue, en el marco de la jornadanacional de acciones contra la enfermedad.

“El interés es mantener baja la incidencia decasos por este padecimiento y recuperar espa-cios saludables para las familias”, dijo el Secre-tario de Salud, Norberto Treviño García-Manzo.

Según datos de la Secretaría de Salud del Es-tado, hasta el 26 de marzo estaban confirmados10 casos de dengue clásico en Tamaulipas.

Inclusive, el 2012 es considerado un año epide-miológico, por lo cual se intensificarán las medi-das preventivas de control larvario, eliminaciónde criaderos y fumigación en las 12 jurisdiccio-nes sanitarias del Estado.

Durante la campaña se realizarán más de 800elementos de vectores, que recorrerán unas 130comunidades y visitarán más de 80,000 vivien-das, principalmente en los 13 municipios de ma-yor incidencia.

Uno de los municipios que arrancó con las ac-ciones fue Nuevo Laredo, México, donde la Di-rección de Medio Ambiente y Cambio Climáticodesplazó su personal bajo el Programa Descacha-rrización Integral Contra el Dengue “ContigoTransformamos el Medio Ambiente”, en las colo-nias Juárez y Guerrero.

En ambas colonias la jornada de limpieza seextendió durante toda esta semana, arribandopor sectores, hasta cubrir la totalidad de dichaszonas habitacionales.

Se retiraron enseres domésticos de desechocomo refrigeradores, salas, lavadoras, botes, bal-des y envases inservibles, entre otros.

Hoy sábado culminará la jornada visitando elsector de Lincoln a 5 de Febrero, entre Guerreroy Jesús Carranza.

Fortalecencampaña

contra dengueTIEMPO DE ZAPATA

PÁGINA 6A Zfrontera SÁBADO 31 DE MARZO DE 2012

SATURDAY, MARCH 31, 2012 THE ZAPATA TIMES 7A

third of the population identi-fies as Hispanic.

“As I’ve said before, the futureof Texas is tied directly to thefuture of our Hispanic popula-tion, and I believe we have a glo-rious future ahead of us as astate,” Perry said.

The monument turns the pag-es of state history back to the1500s, when Spanish settlersfirst arrived in what is nowcalled Texas.

The advisory board members,including Ramirez, rallied be-hind the need they saw to depicttheir ancestors positively, some-thing seen too rarely in monu-ments and statues, they said.

At minimum, they hoped toreveal the truth about Texas’origins. State history class cur-ricula do not adequately coverthat, said Cayetano Barrera,who came up with the conceptfor the monument.

“It’s kind of like the Biblewithout the Book of Genesis,”Barrera said at an artist’s recep-tion the night before the unveil-ing.

Efforts to build the monumentbegan in 2000 when, during avisit to the Capitol, Barrera no-ticed no monuments honoringthe legacy of Tejanos. In thesculptures and other artworkthat did depict them, he saidthey were cast negatively — asbandits, in defeat or as poor im-migrants.

In August 2001, Hinojosa wascommissioned to sculpt thepiece. Four other artists helpedshape the concept and sketchedit out in drawings or madesculpted clay models, accordingto a program handed out at theunveiling.

By 2005, funding and authori-zation had been secured. Theboard was given the green lighton the project, but the questionthen was where to put it.

Perhaps the biggest hurdlethe organization behind the Te-jano Monument faced was inconvincing legislators it wasworth a place on the southlawn, in front of the Capitol andwhere the Battle of the Alamo ismemorialized.

“We easily could have put it

in the backyard, so to speak,”state Sen. Judith Zaffirini said.“But to put it in that particularlocation … I consider (the southlawn) the singular most promi-nent spot on the campus of theTexas Capitol.”

In 2009, the Legislature passeda law that allowed the monu-ment to be put in front of theCapitol.

Once the location was set, thepeople behind the monumentworked to raise more funds, andHinojosa worked against an ear-nest deadline.

Barrera and others whobreathed life into the projecthope the monument’s impactwill seep into state publicschool curricula and textbooks.They also hope it can re-educateadults who studied Stephen F.Austin and Davy Crockett, butnone of the Tejano settlers whopreceded them.

“It’s going to be a chapter inthe history of Texas, in the his-tory that’s been omitted,” Barre-ra said.

The retired McAllen physi-cian points to the street namesnear the Capitol to illustrate hispoint. Many of them come fromTexas rivers, which were namedby Spanish settlers. Neches, Col-orado, Guadalupe and Trinityare among them.

Before Tejano history is in-jected into the standardized cur-riculum for the state, though, itmust first be approved by thestate board of education. Thatcould take years.

That’s why the Tejano Monu-ment organization took leftovermoney for the project and fash-ioned it into a program for a Te-jano history curriculum to beimplemented in select schooldistricts.

Austin Independent SchoolDistrict was the first to takepart in the program.

A. Marcus Nelson, superin-tendent of the Laredo Independ-ent School District, attended theunveiling.

Nelson said he spoke with aUniversity of Texas professorabout implementing the curri-culum at LISD.

Regarding the unveiling, Nel-

son noted the emotion thatcame over people in the audi-ence as the statues were re-vealed. He said it reminded himof attending black pride events.

“This kind of took me there,”he said.

Zaffirini asked every Lare-doan at the unveiling to standand be acknowledged. Zaffirini,who attended high school in La-redo with Hinojosa, recountedstories about him, such as whenhis wife bought him a 25-centwatercolor set.

For Hinojosa, the monumentunveiling hadn’t sunk in evenafter the ceremony.

He said he was thankful forthe opportunity to sculpt themonument.

“There are a lot of good art-ists out there,” Hinojosa said.“Some get breaks; some don’t.Hopefully a lot of other artistsget breaks in their (lives).”

Hinojosa’s former students at

the Vidal M. Treviño School ofCommunications and Fine Artsmade the trip to the Capitol, ina reversal of roles.

Usually, they said their teach-er was the one visiting as hemanaged time between teachingthem and sculpting the statues.

They were able to witness thebehind-the-scenes work Hinojo-sa put into the monument.

“I hope that one day, all of usstudents end up doing some-thing as great as he has (done),”said VMT senior Ana Muñoz.

Sanjuanita Martinez-Huntercame to Austin on a charter busof 50 members of the Villa SanAgustin de Laredo GenealogicalSociety. The Drury Inn, wherethe genealogical society stayed,was full of Laredoans, she said.

Martinez-Hunter said she andothers in her organization want-ed to witness the event, whichshe said would firmly entrenchTejanos as an integral part of

the state’s history. That historyhad been ignored, she said.

“We’ve always been there,”Martinez-Hunter said of Teja-nos. “But now, when touristscome to the Capitol, they willsee where Texas actually began— with us.”

In the keynote speech, AustinCommunity College professorAndres Tijerina said Texanstake for granted how muchtheir culture is influenced byTejano and Mexican culture —in their vocabulary, diet, land-marks and values, among otherthings.

He said the history of Texas“cannot be told without the Te-jano.”

“The discourse is not aboutbronze or stone,” he said. “TheTejano Monument is a state-ment.”

(JJ Velasquez may be reachedat 728-2567 or jjvelas-quez@lmtonline.com)

MONUMENT Continued from Page 1A

Armando Hinojosa, left, poses with Cayetano Barrera, president of the Tejano Monument board of directors, on Thursdaymorning on the South Lawn of the State Capitol Building in Austin following the unveiling of Hinojosa’s work.

Photo by Cuate Santos | Laredo Morning Times

AUSTIN — Gov. RickPerry’s failed run for presi-dent has cost Texas tax-payers more than $3.6 mil-lion — and counting — intravel expenses and over-time pay to agents assignedto his security detail, ac-cording to an AssociatedPress analysis of state re-ports released Friday.

The Texas Departmentof Public Safety spent morethan $1.8 million on air-fare, food, fuel, lodging andother travel expenses be-tween Aug. 10 and the endof January as it protectedthe governor on the cam-paign trail.

That tally includes sec-ond-quarter accounts on se-

curity-related travel ex-penses, as well informationfrom previous months theAP obtained using open re-cords requests.

The agency said thatthough Perry’s campaign isover, the latest figureswere, “a snapshot in timeas of Feb. 28, so it is possi-ble additional expenses fortrips during this time peri-od will be included in thenext report.”

Perry spent 160 daysrunning for president, for-mally entering the race inSouth Carolina on Aug. 13,2011, and calling off hiscampaign in the same stateon Jan. 19, two days beforeSouth Carolina’s primary.

Security travel expensesare separate from the morethan $1.8 million in over-

time compensation DPSpaid agents assigned toPerry and his family be-tween August and January,according to Department ofPublic Safety records. Thattotal, as of Feb. 27, alsocould increase as moreagents file for previouslyworked overtime.

Perry spokeswomanCatherine Frazier said,“Governor Perry is gover-nor of Texas wherever hetravels.”

“It’s unfortunate that welive in a world where secu-rity is a top concern, butwe do,” Frazier said Friday.“Providing security detailto the governor and hisfamily is a policy that goesback many administrationsand is no different fromwhen Governor Bush ran

for president.”Indeed, when Perry’s

predecessor, George W.Bush, ran for president in2000, his security detailcost the state nearly $4 mil-lion in 1999 and part of2000, before the Secret Ser-vice took over.

Perry most frequentlytraveled to early-votingstates, including Iowa, NewHampshire and South Car-olina, though he also madefundraising stops in Wash-ington, New York and Cali-fornia. Some of the listedexpenses included in-statetrips to places such as Dal-las and Houston.

For security reasons, thestate does not reveal howmany troopers accompanythe governor or how far inadvance they arrive at a

destination. The state ac-counting reports also oftenlist multiple destinationsgrouped together as part ofone trip with single entriesfor travel expenses — mak-ing it difficult to track ex-actly how many places thegovernor visited.

Still, a December trip toWashington, Des Moines,Iowa, and Boston alone islisted as costing $50,536 intravel expenses for the gov-ernor’s security detail.

Not included in the secu-rity travel expenses orovertime tabs are the 126days Perry spent outsideTexas while running forpresident, which forced thestate to pay the lieutenantgovernor or Senate pro tem$32,466 as acting governor.

When Perry is out-of-

state for a full day, $410.96in acting governor pay goesto fellow Republican andLt. Gov. David Dewhurst,or, if Dewhurst is also ab-sent, to state Sen. MikeJackson, R-La Porte. Dew-hurst collected $29,589while Perry was a presi-dential candidate, andJackson got $2,876.

Perry is paid $150,000per year, no matter howmany days he spends out-side Texas.

Of the 160 days as a GOPpresidential hopeful, Perryhad no scheduled stateevents on 128 of those. Andhe logged only approxi-mately 27 hours and 30minutes of actual worktime on the 32 days Texasmatters did appear on hisofficial schedule.

Perry security bill for presidential run growsBy WILL WEISSERTASSOCIATED PRESS

In press releases andads, colleges love boastingthey’re “military friendly”and “veterans friendly” —and that isn’t just becauseveterans are good studentsand campus leaders.

It’s also because the ex-panded Post 9/11 G.I. Billwill pay colleges around $9billion this year to educatenearly 600,000 veterans,and virtually every schoolwants to expand its slice ofthat pie.

But some schools tout-ing their spots on prolifer-ating lists of “militaryfriendly” colleges found inmagazine guides and web-sites have few of the attri-butes educators commonlyassociate with the claim,such as accepting militarycredits or having a veter-ans organization on cam-pus. Many are for-profitschools with low gradua-tion rates.

The designations appearon rankings whose rigorvaries but whose methodsare under fire. Often,they’re also selling ads tothe colleges. Some web-sites help connect militaryand veteran students withdegree programs that maymatch their interests, butdon’t disclose they are leadaggregators paid by the in-stitutions — often for-prof-it colleges — whose pro-grams they highlight.

“They’re not real rank-ings,” said Tom Tarantino,a veteran who is deputypolicy director of the advo-cacy group Iraq and Af-ghanistan Veterans ofAmerica. “What they areis advertisement cata-logues.” Labeling them “ahuge problem,” he calledfor standards to be estab-lished for proper use of theterm “military friendlyschools.”

There are signs some-thing like that may hap-pen. But as with the U.S.News & World Report col-lege rankings, demand for

signaling devices to helpconsumers shortcut com-plicated choices couldmake such lists tough todislodge. Many experts saythe lists are symptoms of awider problem: Servicemembers aren’t getting theadvice they need to makesound decisions on usingthe substantially expandededucation benefits. It’s nosurprise businesses arestepping into that void.

At a large military edu-cation conference lastmonth in Florida, someeducators criticized thelists and pushed for asharpened definition of“military friendly” colleg-es, to be developed eitherby the federal governmentor an education coalitioncalled Servicemembers Op-portunity Colleges.

Meanwhile, Washingtonis paying increasing atten-tion to the broader prob-lem of veterans getting re-liable guidance. In recentweeks a slew of bills on thesubject have surfaced.

The latest, unveiledTuesday by Sen. PattyMurray, D-Wash., is calledthe “G.I. Bill ConsumerAwareness Act” and wouldpush colleges and the De-partment of Veterans Af-fairs to disclose more in-formation on questionslike licensing and jobplacement rates, and poli-

cies against misleadingmarketing.

Another bill would boosteducation counseling re-sources at the department,and separately, 14 senatorshave asked the departmentto trademark the term“G.I. Bill” so it will havemore power to crack downon misleading advertising.

“It’s not only these ma-jor lists, but all of thesepay-to-play websites thatcome up with these nefari-ous rankings,” said JimSweizer, vice president ofmilitary programs atAmerican Public Universi-ty System. APUS operatestwo for-profit online uni-versities, American Mili-tary University and Amer-ican Public University.Founded in 1991, it calls it-self the largest provider ofeducation to the military,with two-thirds of its110,000 students in the Re-serves, active duty, or vet-erans. But last year it boy-cotted the best-known

“military friendly” list,published by G.I. Jobsmagazine, saying the sys-tem had too many short-comings.

“The people who sufferfrom this are the servicemembers who don’t knowany better,” Sweizer said.“They see an ad that says,‘No. 1 ranked school,’ butthey don’t say, ‘by whom?’”

Officials elsewhere saythey don’t like the lists butcan’t afford not to be onthem, for fear of appearing“military unfriendly.”

“Some schools feel ‘I’m

damned if I do, damned if Idon’t,’” said Ramona McA-fee, assistant dean of mili-tary and federal programsand Columbia College inMissouri, a critic whoseschool still participates.

But for some lesser-known colleges, such listscan get their names infront of prospective stu-dents — which, they say,expands veterans’ hori-zons. Last year, when G.I.Jobs magazine publishedits list, a flurry of collegesshared the news in pressreleases, and local newspa-

pers often followed withstories.

“We certainly aren’t go-ing to change the land-scape of our campus byseeking out tons of veter-ans but we wanted to makesure we were giving themevery opportunity andmaking this transition eas-ier for them,” said SarahPalace, assistant dean foradult enrollment at oneschool that put out such arelease, the College ofNotre Dame in Ohio (notto be confused with thelarger University of NotreDame in Indiana, which al-so put out a release). Thesmaller Notre Dame hasonly about 20 full-time vet-eran students but hopes torecruit more. Palace listedpractices she says makethe place military friendly:encouraging transfers, ex-amining military tran-scripts, working with a lo-cal veterans service center.

‘Military friendly’ colleges prompt concernsBy JUSTIN POPE

ASSOCIATED PRESS “The people who suffer from this are the servicemembers ... They see an ad that says, ‘No. 1 rankedschool,’ but they don’t say, ‘by whom?’” AMERICAN PUBLIC UNIVERSITY SYSTEM VICE PRESIDENT OF MILITARY PROGRAMS JIM SWEIZER

8A THE ZAPATA TIMES SATURDAY, MARCH 31, 2012

Sports&OutdoorsSATURDAY, MARCH 31, 2012 ON THE WEB: THEZAPATATIMES.COM

The Zapata base-ball team hasn’tmissed a beatsince its last tour

of District 32-3A, when itearned a title at the endof the season.

The Hawks (9-6, 5-0) areon a 17-game winningstreak in district play,dating back to 2011, and

have continued to steam-roll through this year.

Zapata accomplishedthis feat with great hit-ting, tearing the leatheroff the ball with a solidlineup at the plate.

“Right now, we are hit-ting the ball well and get-ting on base,” Zapatacoach Rene Alvarez said.“Our pitching has alsobeen coming through forus. We just seem to be

getting better as the sea-son goes on with up-beatpractices and greatgames.”

Junior third basemanAndy Gonzalez leads theteam with a .547 average,four triples, eight doublesand 19 RBI. He has scored13 runs in district play.

Senior Manuel Salinasis not far behind, with a.510 average, four dou-bles, 17 RBI and 19 runs.

Louie Ramon has a .456average with four dou-bles, 13 RBI and 20 runs,and senior Eddie Gonza-lez is hitting .500 withfive doubles and threeRBI.

Sophomore sensationMario Ramirez is rightbehind Ramon, with a.363 average, a double and10 runs.

HIGH SCHOOL BASEBALL

Hawks soar to5-0 in district

George Garza has been a stand-out at the mound and the plate for Zapata, which is on a 17-game winning streak in district play.

Photo by Clara Sandoval | The Zapata Times

Zapata starts strong in title defenseBy CLARA SANDOVAL

THE ZAPATA TIMES

See BASEBALL PAGE 2B

The basis of anyhigh school pro-gram and its suc-cess starts even be-

fore students step on cam-pus, and it involves howmuch the district values itsmiddle school programs.

Many times, middleschool programs are treat-ed like second-class citi-zens. Some districts holdonly a handful of events.

Zapata is very fortunateto have strong middleschool programs and coach-es with the time to spendon making their teams bet-ter.

Zapata has an “A” and a“B” team and plays a varie-ty of sports, but what I lovethe most is those teamshave full schedules just like

their high school counter-parts.

In Laredo, that is not thecase. Teams only playteams in their school sys-tem, so UISD sticks withUISD teams and LISDsticks with LISD teams.

Middle school sports aretreated differently here inLaredo from where I grewup in the Rio Grande Val-ley.

Everything the highschool teams did we also

Zapata doesmiddle school

sports right

“CLARA SANDOVALOVAL

See SANDOVAL PAGE 2B

The time has come toput all that tennis educa-tion to the test as the Dis-trict 32-3A tennis meet un-folds Tuesday and Thurs-day at the H-E-B TennisCenter at Pendleton Parkin Harlingen.

This is the first timetennis players will have awhole day’s rest betweencompetition days; a bandcompetition is Wednesday.

“It is unusual to skip aday like this tournamentwill, but there is a concert

band competition beingheld on Wednesday, April4, that impacts some ofour players and we havethe Easter holidays thatweekend, so this scheduleis what was decided at themeeting,” Zapata coachRobert Alvarez said.

La Feria is the clear fa-vorite heading into themeet, as the Lions arecoming off an appearanceat the 3A state meet. TheLions have been ranked inor near the top 10 in theTexas Tennis Coaches As-sociation poll all year.

Last year, La Feria took

eight players to the statetournament, in Austin.

“Coach Juan Hernandezdoes a great job,” Alvarezsaid. “They have a year-round program. In the fall,he schedules every 4A and5A team he can to reallybuild up his team’s experi-ence and skills.

“Taking eight kids tostate when our region isloaded with the likes ofWimberly, Wharton,Boerne, West Columbiaand La Vernia is remarka-ble, but I think our kids

HIGH SCHOOL TENNIS

The Zapata tennis team competes in the district tournament on Tuesday and Thursday. Team membersare (from left) Alex Reyes, Trey Alvarez, Manuel Benavides, Jaime Terjada, Collin Moffet, and (sitting)Chris Davila and Tony Mendoza

Courtesy photo

Zapata tennis ready fordistrict tournament

By CLARA SANDOVALTHE ZAPATA TIMES

See TENNIS PAGE 2B

The Zapata golf team isin full swing as teams nav-igate the preseason inpreparation for the Dis-trict 32-3A golf meet, to beheld April 10 at the TierraDel Sol Golf Course, inPharr.

The Hawks finishedfifth in the final standingafter the two-day competi-tion out of 13 teams at theHidalgo Invitational lastweekend.

On the girls’ side, theLady Hawks came in sec-ond place out of 12 teamsbehind the strong perform-ance of Leanna Saenz.

“Both teams are work-ing hard and putting extraeffort to improve,” Zapatacoach Clyde Guerra Jr.said. “I’m extremely proudof all our golfers.”

Two golfers have startedto emerge for their respec-tive teams and are countedamong the best golfersheading into district.

Tony Gutierrez andSaenz played a great roundof golf last weekend andwalked away with somehardware.

Gutierrez placed first af-ter shooting 151 for thetwo-day tournament, beat-ing out 71 golfers.

HIGH SCHOOL GOLF

The Zapata boys and girls golf teams each finished in the top five atthe Hidalgo Invitational last weekend.

Courtesy photo

Zapata golfplaces fifth

By CLARA SANDOVALTHE ZAPATA TIMES

See GOLF PAGE 2B

PAGE 2B Zscores SATURDAY, MARCH 31, 2012

It was Gutierrez’s firstgold medal of the seasonafter being a constant fix-ture in the top five at othernotable tournaments.

Gutierrez shot a 78 onhis first day to take thelead and finished the sec-ond day with a 73.

Saenz has been cominginto her own as a golferand continued her season’ssuccess with a fourth-placeoverall finish.

Saenz shot a two-day 179to claim fourth place out of74 golfers and pace the La-dy Hawks on the course.

On her first day of com-petition, Saenz shot a 94;she stormed back to betterher score by nine strokeswhen she hit an 85 on hersecond day of golf.

On the boys’ team, RickyPrado shot a 90 on his firstday of competition and fin-ished with a strong 86 forthe second day with a 176

for the tournament. Victor Garcia had a 100

on his day one and better-ed his mark by threestrokes for a 97 on the sec-ond day of competition fora 197.

Ramiro Torres roundedout the Hawks scoringwith a 122 on the first day,then improved his markby 26 strokes for a 94 onthe second day for a 216.

The girls’ team had Jes-senia Garza with a 99 onthe first day of competitionand 112 to round out hertwo days, scoring 211.

Leann Hughes had a 111and 110 for 221, whileKrysta Lozano shot a 127on her first day and fin-ished the tournament witha 115, for 242.

The Zapata golf teamwill back in actionWednesday for a pre-dis-trict tournament at theTierra Del Sol Golf Course.

GOLF Continued from Page 1B

are looking forward to the chal-lenge. We have really worked hardon conditioning and our skill levelthis year, so I am optimistic. Eventhough our team (members are)young, they have more tennis expe-rience than any other team I havehad. They have been playing opentournaments since seventh gradeand have begun to play USTA tour-naments also.”

Coaches meet Thursday in LaFeria for to discuss district seedingand hold the draw meeting that de-termines the order of play.

The district meet will be held inLa Feria.

In boys’ singles, sophomoresTrey Alvarez and Chris Davila willcompete for Zapata.

Alvarez drew the top seed, whilePort Isabel’s Peter Christiansen, atransfer from Los Fresnos, was thesecond seed of the tournament.

The third seed will be Chris Ro-driguez of La Feria. Oliver Salan-der, of Port Isabel, will be thefourth seed.

“Trey has had a good year,” Al-

varez said. “He has won one tour-nament and advanced to the quar-ters or semis in all the others ex-cept for two, but he won both ofthose consolation draws.

“If the seeding holds, it willmake for some exciting tennis.”

Davila will open with Rodriguezof La Feria.

“Chris has really begun to im-prove,” Alvarez said. “He hasworked on his serve and forehand,and I am hoping he can pull off asurprise or two. He has worked ve-ry hard and is improving in allphases of the game.”

In boys’ doubles, sophomoresAlex Reyes and Manuel Benavidesare seeded second.

“If everything goes according toplan, they will face Moraida andWarner of La Feria in the semiswith a trip to regionals up forgrab,” Alvarez said. “They havewon one tournament and playedsome of Laredo’s top teams reallyclose.”

Seniors Tony Mendoza andJaime Tejada also will compete in

the doubles division. Competing in mixed doubles will

be sophomores Gabriella Alvarezand Carlos Poblano, who are seed-ed third.

“They also have won a tourna-ment and played well most of theseason,” Alvarez said. “They ad-vanced to the quarters last week atthe LISD tournament before fallingto a real good LBJ team.”

Also in the mixed doubles willbe juniors Jose Molina and JackieUmphres.

In girls’ singles, seniors PaolaJasso and Dominique Wayda willbe competing for a trip to region-als.

In girls’ doubles, seniors DanielaLopez and Jeanna Cabugos and ju-niors Erica Gonzalez and Christi-na Medina will represent the LadyHawks.

“These girls have not had the re-sults I would have liked, but thecompetition in Laredo has been ve-ry strong,” Alvarez said. “I thinkthey can do well at our districtmeet.”

TENNIS Continued from Page 1B

Pitcher Oscar Flores isdeadly on the mound but al-so carries a big stick at theplate, with a .352 average.

Sophomore Alfonso Gu-tierrez has a .385 batting av-erage, three doubles, fourRBI and five runs and is alsoa great defensive player.

Designated hitter Rene Al-varez Jr. is totting a .350 bat-ting average with two dou-bles, a home run, six RBIand eight runs.

Guadencio Mata was hit-ting .545 with six RBI andfour runs in eight at-bats be-fore going down with an in-jury, but he is making a re-turn to the team.

George Garza is carryingaround a .364 batting aver-age to round out Zapata’shitters averaging .300 or bet-ter.

Javi Eruguato is batting.286 for the Hawks.

Rounding out the Zapatateam are Oscar Gomez, Al-len Garcia, Conrad Herreraand David Hinojosa.

BASEBALLContinued from Page 1Bwere allowed to do on a smaller scale at the

middle school.The high school mascot was the Lady Kats.

In middle school, we were the Lady Kits andcould not wait to play for the varsity team.

As a seventh-grader, I wanted to play at thevarsity level as soon as possible and was notafraid to go to the high school and play inopen gym against those high school girls.

I was on a mission to be on the varsity teamas a freshman, and I accomplished that goal.

During basketball season, we had a presea-son schedule and a district schedule that usu-ally totaled around 20 games.

Yes, we played 20 games in seventh grade;in addition, we played in one or two tourna-ments.

I know tournaments are foreign in Laredo;middle schools can’t travel out of town be-cause of budget cuts. Heck, sometimes teamsdon’t even take buses to games, instead askingthe basketball players to meet the coaches atthe gym.

Zapata middle school sports travel out oftown, and they should be lauded for the effortZCISD makes to include them in their athleticbudgets.

I never, in my six years of playing organizedbasketball, had my parents drive me to onesingle basketball game.

We were very driven, instead, to become theseventh grade district champions and prac-

ticed hard.At the end of the season, we had a regular

district champion and a tournament districtchampion because, at the end, they wouldrank the teams according to their district re-cord and play a double-elimination tourna-ment.

Then I arrived in Laredo, where middleschool sports are treated like second-class citi-zens and are played with a small schedule.

The two local school districts do not playagainst each other until the end of seasontournament, which was brought in aroundtwo years ago.

Why not have a real district schedule andhave a true Laredo champion, not what wecurrently have?

In Zapata, the middle school has a districtchampion at the end of the season.

This year, Zapata Middle School teams werecrowned district champions in cross country,girls’ basketball and tennis.

I love when middle schools in Laredo haveT-shirts made that say, “City champions,” orthat they went undefeated.

They might have gone undefeated in theseason, but did they play everyone to be thecity champion? Probably not.

The tournaments UISD and LISD put on forvolleyball and basketball at the end of the sea-son are a step in the right direction, but somuch more can be done, starting with a mid-

dle school district schedule that includes bothschool districts.

Nowadays it might come down to money.Everyone has heard how tight it is for thenext few years, though, so it might not be fea-sible.

I also recall having a full track schedulethat included six meets.

We were out in the hot sun practicing withthe high school runners because we wanted toimprove.

The middle school track meets were justlike the high school’s; we ran Saturday morn-ing, and it lasted all day.

We never had a track meet during theschool day because they did not want us tomiss school.

Laredo middle school includes three meets,and they are run on Thursdays, unlike in Za-pata, which has a full schedule.

All the Zapata Middle School coaches, in-cluding Ana Villarreal, Paul Soto, Rene Cha-pa, Eligio Garcia, Josue Luera, Laura Villar-real, Amanda Perez, Belinda Vela, Yanira Lo-pez and Gaby Montes, should be lauded forthe effort and the dedication they put in tomake Zapata High School successful.

Next time you see them around Zapata, givethem a pat on the back for all their hard workyear in and year out.

Laredo could really learn from what Zapatadoes with its middle school programs.

SANDOVAL Continued from Page 1B

HOUSTON — ElvinHayes hasn’t visited theNaismith Memorial Bas-ketball Hall of Fame sincehis induction in 1990, andhe even turns down invita-tions to attend specialevents affiliated with it.

The former Universityof Houston star will onlyend his boycott if his col-lege coach is enshrined,but there’s no guaranteethat day will ever come.

Guy V. Lewis will bepassed over again when anew class of inductees isannounced before Mon-day’s national champion-ship game in New Orleans.Many of his former play-ers, including Hayes, ClydeDrexler and Hakeem Ola-juwon, have unsuccessful-ly campaigned for theircoach for years, and theirfrustration builds witheach passing year.

“It’s a sad situation,”Hayes said, “because when

I look at the people theyput in the hall, and thenlook at coach, and what heaccomplished, it justdoesn’t make any sense tome.”

Television sportscasterJim Nantz, a Houstonalumnus and a recipient ofthe hall’s Curt Gowdyaward, has also gotten in-volved, writing letters tomembers of the votingcommittees on behalf ofLewis, who turned 90 onMarch 19.

“He’s qualified in a mil-lion different directions,”Nantz said in a phone in-terview. “It’s been hangingover his head for a longtime.”

Lewis has never lobbiedmuch for himself, true tohis humble personality, ac-cording to Drexler and Le-wis’ daughter, Sherry. Nowin a wheelchair and inpoor health, Lewis nolonger does interviews.But Sherry Lewis provid-ed a statement from her fa-ther in an email sent to

The Associated Press. “I appreciate the inter-

est,” Guy Lewis said abouthis exclusion from thehall. “It has not botheredme; it bothers my family.”

It’s certainly irked hisex-players, and they sayhis body of work makesthe compelling case forhim.

Often clutching a redpolka-dot towel duringgames, Lewis won 592times across 30 seasons inHouston and guided theCougars to 14 NCAA tour-naments and five FinalFours. Houston’s high-fly-ing “Phi Slama Jama”teams of the 1980s madethree consecutive FinalFours between1982-84, los-ing in two championshipgames.

The 1983 loss to NorthCarolina State is consid-ered one of the greatest up-sets in tournament history.It’s a glaring stain on hisresume, but his formerplayers don’t think it’s thereason he’s been left out.

“His statistics speak forthemselves,” Olajuwonsaid. “He should be inthere. One game shouldnot measure an entire ca-reer.”

The Cougars lost whenLorenzo Charles snaggedDereck Whittenburg’s air-ball and dunked it just be-fore the final buzzer. Noteven Whittenburg thinksthat game should over-shadow the rest of Lewis’accomplishments.

“Of course, one of thecriteria is winning cham-pionships,” said Whitten-burg, now an ESPN ana-lyst. “But he’s got such alegacy. Before that game,we (N.C. State) understoodwhat he did with thatHouston program, what ateam that was.”

Whittenburg is involvedin making a film aboutthat game, due to be com-pleted by next year. Hesays the first step in get-ting Lewis into the Hall ofFame is spreading word ofmouth.

Hall snubs Lewis againBy CHRIS DUNCANASSOCIATED PRESS

COLLEGE STATION,Texas — Ryan Tannehillcould be a top 10 pick innext month’s NFL draft,less than two years afterlining up as a receiver forTexas A&M.

Tannehill returned tohis old high school positionof quarterback halfwaythrough the 2010 seasonand caught the attention ofNFL scouts despite startingjust 19 games behind cen-ter for the Aggies.

On Thursday, he workedout for representatives of 22NFL teams, including Sea-hawks coach Pete Carroll,Miami coach Joe Philbinand Cleveland offensive co-ordinator Brad Childress. Itwas their first offseasonlook at Tannehill after hemissed the combine whilerecovering from foot sur-gery.

Tannehill ran a 40-yarddash and threw about 70passes, putting on a per-formance that Carroll saidhe should be pleased with.

“I felt good,” Tannehillsaid. “The foot felt greatmoving around, moving inthe pocket, escaping. Theball was coming out goodand the guys were makingplays for me. It was a goodday.”

Childress, whose Brownshave the fourth overallpick, raved about the work-out.

“He made every throwthat he needed to make,”said Childress, who wasjoined at the workout byCleveland quarterbackscoach Mark Whipple. “The

leg didn’t look like an is-sue. It was an impressiveworkout.”

Tannehill is expected tobe the third quarterbacktaken in the draft behindStanford’s Andrew Luckand Heisman Trophy win-ner Robert Griffin III ofBaylor.

Tannehill was moved toreceiver as a freshman af-ter losing the quarterbackbattle. He had 1,453 yardsreceiving and nine touch-downs in his first two sea-sons combined at A&M andhad 143 yards receiving asa junior before returning toquarterback.

“It was a frustratingtime for me,” he said of histime at receiver. “I had alot of fun being able to helpthe team out at the receiverposition, but I still wantedto be a quarterback. Sowhen I finally got that op-portunity, I wasn’t going tolet it slip.”

Tannehill went 12-7 in 11/2 years at quarterback.He threw for 1,638 yardsand 13 touchdowns in 2010and had 3,744 yards passingwith 29 touchdowns lastseason.

NFL personnel like thathe played in an NFL-stylesystem at A&M under for-mer coach Mike Sherman,who coached the GreenBay Packers for severalyears.

“With just 19 starts hecan’t possibly know it all,”Childress said. “I think it’sremarkable that a guythat’s a wide receiver couldcome in and play as profi-ciently as he did in a big-time program against big-time competition.”

Tannehill’sdraft stockon the rise

By KRISTIE RIEKENASSOCIATED PRESS

ZAPATA SOFTBALL DISMANTLES LA GRULLA IN DISTRICT PLAY

Photo by Clara Sandoval | The Zapata Times

Zapata senior catcherMichelle Arce went 2-

for-3 with an RBI tolead the Lady Hawks

to a 14-4 victory overRio Grande City La

Grulla on Tuesdaynight. Ally Solis went3-for-4 with two RBIfor Zapata, which is

4-1 in district play.

DENNISTHE MENACE

DAILY CRYPTOQUOTES | HERE’S HOW TO WORK IT:

JUDGE PARKER

REXMORGAN M.D.

FOR BETTER OR WORSE

HINTS | BY HELOISE

SATURDAY, MARCH 31, 2012 THE ZAPATA TIMES 3B

Dear Heloise: Can youplease help me? My sonwas in school, and some-one shook a bottle ofTYPEWRITER CORREC-TION FLUID and gotstains all over his brand-new shirt, and he is veryupset. Is there anythingthat can help remove thistype of stain? Thank you somuch! — Keisha, via email

Oh no! Try rubbing acitrus-based, grease-cuttingspray cleaner on the stains.This type of cleaner con-tains petroleum distillates,so work in a well-ventilatedarea. This hopefully willemulsify, or break apart,the spotting. Then launderas usual.

You also can take it toyour dry cleaner and saywhat the stain is. It shouldbe treated as would an oil-based paint stain. Goodluck! — Heloise

P.S.: If the stains don’tcome out, use the shirt asan “artist’s smock”!

PET PALDear Readers: Kate and

Abby in San Antonio senta picture of their pet, ablue mystery snail namedDarryl. They say he’s thebest-looking snail to everexist! He lives in the tankwith his friends, a bettafish and a catfish. To seeDarryl and our other PetPals, visit www. Heloise-.com and click on “Pets.”— Heloise

STORE HOURSDear Heloise: Most

stores post their hours ofoperation on their doors. Itake a picture with my cell-phone of the hours at thestores I shop at frequentlyso I can check them at amoment’s notice. — Jill inTustin, Calif.

A great way to save timeand frustration! — Heloise

SHAPELY SHAMPOOBOTTLES

Dear Heloise: Shampoobottles seem designed withno place to grip. I solved

this by pouring my sham-poo into a small, empty,plastic honey bottle shapedlike a bear. It is easy tohold, doesn’t slip out ofyour hands, and the lidpops open to dispense theshampoo. Just be carefulthat the bottle doesn’t findits way back to the kitch-en! — Marcia B., Spring,Texas

ELECTRIC-BLANKETHINTS

Dear Readers: Do youown an electric blanket?Here are some hints aboutthese blankets:

Check for signs ofwear or damage to the wir-ing. If you see any, throwthe blanket away, and donot use it! It’s a fire haz-ard.

Don’t use safety pinson the blanket; this couldlead to shock or fire.

Never use an electricblanket with an infant.

Completely unfold theblanket before using.

Always unplug theblanket after each use.

— HeloiseCLASSIC LETTER OF

THOUGHTDear Readers: Below is a

classic Letter of Thoughtfrom the files:

Dear Heloise: As soon asmy two sons showed theleast curiosity to helpMommy, I let them. Now,as older teenagers, doingany household chore, fromcooking to cleaning, seemsnatural. They also knowhow to do outside chores.

My reward? Two appre-ciative future daughters-in-law who will someday mar-ry these knowledgeable,willing househusbands! —Donna J., from 1981

— Heloise

“HELOISE

4B THE ZAPATA TIMES Basketball SATURDAY, MARCH 31, 2012

DENVER — The rust-colored sign in the are-na’s loading dock servesas both a welcome and awarning for playerswhen they step off theteam bus.

The greeting part —“Pepsi Center WelcomesYou ...” — hardly regis-ters. But the other por-tion of the message is de-signed to catch your at-tention, maybe evenmaking the pulse race alittle bit more: “... to theMile High City. Elevation5,280 feet.”

Purely a mind game,though. A ploy to plantelevation as a seed ofdoubt when visitingteams arrive.

Although this versionof the women’s FinalFour really is up in theair, the higher altitudeshouldn’t bother Baylor,Stanford, Notre Dame orConnecticut on the courtover the weekend.

That searing sensationin the lungs after a fewtrips up and down thefloor? Think of it asimaginary.

The difficulty of tak-ing a deep breath beforea crucial free throw latein the game? Again, justa figment.

Or so research indi-cates from high altitudeperformance technicians,who say proper hydra-tion and nutrition are al-most bigger obstacles inthin air than the altitudeitself.

“If one team is reallyhung up on elevation —‘Oh my gosh, we’re at al-titude!’ —and loses itmentally, the opposingteam who keeps it togeth-er mentally can use alti-tude as a sixth man,”said Scott Drum, associ-ate professor of exerciseand sport science and di-

rector of a high altitudeperformance lab at West-ern State College of Col-orado in Gunnison,where the elevation is7,700 feet. “But if theycome in and believe intheir skills and theirreadiness, they should befine. It should not affecttheir game.”

Getting players to buyinto that concept,though, is a little moretricky. Because feelingthe burn in the lungs isbelieving.

“It definitely is a realthing,” said Irish seniorguard Natalie Novosel,whose team faces BigEast rival Connecticut onSunday. “Honestly, at thatpoint, we’re going tohave to suck it up andplay through it becauseit’s the biggest stage andwe can’t let climate andaltitude get in the way.”

UConn coach Geno Au-riemma thought he had asolution to the altitudesituation, only to havehis idea quickly quashedby the team doctor.

“I suggested turningthe oxygen off in theplane on the way overthere for about an hourand get them used tosucking for breath,” Au-riemma said. “But he ad-vised us not to do that.

“So, I guess we’ll haveto deal with it when weget there.”

And hopefully not this:headaches, nausea, dizzi-ness and lethargy. Thoseare all symptoms ofacute mountain sickness.But don’t worry, Druminsisted, those signs typ-ically only manifest at8,000 feet and above.

Typically.“If players eat on a

regular schedule anddrink water, they’ll befine,” Drum said. “Theyneed to deliberately staywell fed and hydrated.”

That could be the se-cret to reaching collegebasketball’s mountaintop come Tuesday night’stitle game.

Oh, and minimize dis-tractions. No sightseeingexcursions since a well-rested team could be thedifference in the cham-pionship game.

“Everybody is on thesame level playing field,”Drum said. “They’re allwell trained already, butnobody is well acclimat-ed.”

For Baylor coach KimMulkey, the altitude pre-sents a different predica-ment. She was recentlydiagnosed with Bell’s pal-sy, a form of facial paral-ysis.

Denver altitude maybe factor in tourney

By PAT GRAHAMASSOCIATED PRESS

Baylor’s Brittney Griner, left, listens as head coach Kim Mulkeyspeaks during a news conference in Waco on Thursday. Baylorwill play Stanford in a Final Four semifinal on Sunday.

Photo by Rod Aydelotte | AP

NEW ORLEANS — Twoof the most replayed shotsin NCAA tournament histo-ry. Two terrible mistakesthat are played over andover. Freshmen redeemingthe most painful loss inschool history.

That’s what New Orleanshas given college basketballfans in the first four FinalFours it has hosted.

No. 5 starts Saturday, andas sure as there will be hotsauce in your jambalaya,you can expect New Orleansto add to its tradition ofthrowing a great party —on and off the court.

To start with the posi-tives, a freshman fromNorth Carolina named Mi-chael Jordan made the firstbig jumper in 1982. Fiveyears later a junior collegetransfer from Indiananamed Keith Smart hitwhat turned out to be thegame-winner from almostthe same spot on the Super-dome court.

If you haven’t seen eithershot, just watch the com-mercials and teases for col-lege basketball.

Jordan, still known asMike then but with histongue sticking out just abit, made his with jumperwith 17 seconds to go to givethe Tar Heels a 63-62 leadover Georgetown. Whenthose 17 seconds ticked off,North Carolina coach DeanSmith had his first nationalchampionship.

Jordan’s shot was fol-lowed by one of the biggestmistakes ever seen insports.

Georgetown’s FredBrown had the ball inside

the midcourt line, setting upthe Hoyas’ chance at a winin their first Final Four ap-pearance ever and first in athree-year span with centerPatrick Ewing. Inexplicably,Brown turned and flippedthe ball to James Worthy ofthe Tar Heels who wasfouled but missed both freethrows.

One of the lasting imagesof that NCAA tournamentwas Georgetown coachJohn Thompson hugging adisconsolate Brown afterthe game, telling him theHoyas wouldn’t have gottento that point without him.

When the Final Four washeld in New Orleans in 1993,North Carolina again madeit to the championshipgame, this time facing theFab Five of Michigan, whowere playing for the title fora second straight season.

The Tar Heels led 73-71when Michigan got the ballwith 20 seconds to go. ChrisWebber, the best of the Wol-verines’ young team, tookoff like a runaway train and

finally stopped in front ofhis own bench and called atimeout Michigan didn’thave. Under the rules at thetime, Michigan was chargedwith a technical foul andlost possession of the ball.Donald Williams made allfour free throws, and NorthCarolina had another na-tional title in New Orleansthat was sealed by anothermajor mistake by its oppo-nent.

In one of the most stand-up news conferences ever,Webber, still a teenager,faced every question thrownat him.

“I just called a timeoutand we didn’t have one andit probably cost us thegame,” he said. “If I’d haveknown we didn’t have anytimeouts left, I wouldn’thave called a timeout.”Steve Fisher was the coachof the Wolverines then. Nowthe coach at San DiegoState, he said Thursday thatthe NCAA tournament al-ways stirs up memories ofthat night.

In this April 5, 1993 file photo, Michigan’s Chris Webber stands byas North Carolina’s Eric Montross celebrates during the Tar Heels’technical foul shots in the final seconds of their title game victoryat the Superdome in New Orleans.

Photo by Susan Ragan | AP

HistoryfollowsFinalFour

By JIM O’CONNELLASSOCIATED PRESS