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El Campo Leader-News • Wednesday, April 2, 2014
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Viewpoint
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L-N Editorial
Love thy neighbor, everlasting reward A $100 prize isn’t usually a life-changing event that you dwell on for years and years – especially in today’s inflationary economy. But the feelings of violation and intrusion that come with the burglary of one’s home can last a lifetime. We were pleased right before the holiday season to award one of our long-time subscribers with a $100 cash prize after her entry was the winner randomly selected in our Readership Survey a couple months ago. Unfortunately, we were reminded of the kind lady with the warm smile while perusing the most recent tally of court arraignments. It seems a local n’er-do-well broke into the elderly woman’s house during the holiday season and stole some of her belongings. It’s always quite tragic, we believe, for anyone’s home to be violated and their possessions stolen. But we were especially saddened that the crime happened to such a kind, giving person whom we’d just visited with in our office days beforehand. Around the same time of year, some local knuckleheads vandalized and heavily damaged the elaborate Wharton County Electric Cooperative’s award-winning residential Christmas lighting display. As of this date, no arrests have been made in that vandalism. Another case that caused us to be sick to our stomachs was the report that a local popular war hero had a large collection of keepsakes and rare antiques stolen from his domicile. Also in 2013, vandals attacked various areas of Myatt Elementary. In keeping with the adage that the guilty return to the scene of the crime, arrests were made recently after a second round of damage at the school and subsequent confession by those responsible. As newspaper employees, we sometimes become a bit desensitized to the tales and details of crime. We’re faced with it on a weekly basis. But these cases certainly affected our emotions on a number of fronts. Most of all, the crimes were senseless. What kind of heartless grinch destroys a Christmas lighting display for crying out loud? Those neighbors of ours exhausted their most valuable and irreplaceable commodity for that lighting display – their time. No one asked them to do this, but rather, with joy in their hearts they put in the effort as a tangible example of their holiday spirit and to spread the good tidings of Our Savior’s birth. Sadly, when that giving couple thinks back on this past Christmas season, their foremost thoughts won’t be all the admiration and appreciation the rest of us had for their hard work and creativity. Instead it will likely be that feeling of disgust to wake up to a yard full of broken reminders that not everyone in our great community is motivated by love and goodness. As we look back on some of the events of the past calendar year – which not only includes these nauseatingly senseless cases, but also some very violent crimes including murders – we hope the remainder of this year results in more positive news for us to report than negative. With the holidays a few months in the rear view mirror, and Easter closing in ahead, it doesn’t hurt to be reminded of the prevalent message of Christ – love for fellow man and the promised, everlasting reward for good behavior provided by his sacrifice. We’re confident that application of those approaches will result in a lifetime of memories that are overwhelmingly more good than bad – regardless of the knuckleheads. – Jay T. Strasner
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Opinions or views expressed by individual columnists or in Letters to the Editor are those of the writers and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper. Also, while the Leader-News strives for accuracy, errors may occur, and will be promptly corrected once they are brought to the attention of the editor.
Letters to the Editor Local picks up the nail bill Editor, the Leader-News: On March 28, I had taken my wife Dorothy Bubela to get her nails done at Fancy Nails about 12:30 p.m. Through the kindness of Shelby Rod, my wife was blessed with the payment of her bill and Shelby also tipped the employee who did them. We would like to thank Shelby Rod for her expression of kindness. Sincerely, John and Dorothea Bubela
Have L-N rules changed? Editor, the Leader-News: This letter is to reference a post in the Bulletin Board on Saturday, March 29 advising the public that First Baptist Church will have a garage sale Friday, April 4 to raise funds for their mission trip to Belize. Let me emphatically say I am a member of First Baptist Church, I support the youth in their efforts and am in full support of this being in the Bulletin Board to advertise and make the public aware of their efforts. However, back in October 2013, my son, Jeff Wilson, and I were having a garage sale with all proceeds going to Wharton County SPOT. Fundraisers for Wharton County SPOT have to be approved by the SPOT board and its president Sarah Hudgins. I took the information which requested donations to this worthy project and advising of the future date and asked that it be put in the Bulletin Board. The Leader-News informed me that no garage sales would be listed in the Bulletin Board – (they) could only be placed in a garage sale ad in the Classified Section. I told them an ad would be placed in the Classified section closer to the date of the garage sale. To no avail, rules were rules. We, as citizens of El Campo, are always encouraged to shop at home. The businesses of El Campo should reciprocate and support the causes sponsored by us. Wharton Journal-Spectator called me requesting information so it
could be placed in their newspaper. I guess my question for the El Campo Leader-News is have the rules changed since last October? Or do the rules change as the Leader-News sees fit, depending on the organization or cause? Sincerely, Sharon Sifford Jeff Wilson Editor’s note: As a service to the community, the Leader-News offers the Bulletin Board free of charge in an effort to support the dozens, if not hundreds, of area fundraising efforts and community events. Unfortunately, not everything can be printed – it simply wouldn’t fit in the space we provide. Our policy is for garage sales to appear in the Classifieds section. This particular garage sale ad slipped through the cracks, so to speak. When we err, we hope the error results beneficially.
Support creates success for annual Hospice event Editor, the Leader-News: I would like to take this opportunity to say a heartfelt thank you to all the people in our area and the surrounding areas that helped us make our 10th Annual Heating It Up For Hospice such a success. Due to the hard work, dedication, generosity and support of so many, we had another successful year. With the funds raised, Hospice Support, Inc. will continue in their mission to facilitate and maintain the availability of high quality care to those individuals who are terminally ill and have limited or no pay source and wish to use hospice care. Words cannot express the gratitude and appreciation we feel to all who participated, in any way, in this event. May God bless each and every one of you. Reneau Gold Executive director for the entire board of Hospice Support, Inc.
Important job titles don’t earn more respect, money My wife and I were watching Wheel of Fortune the other night, and they were introducing the players, allowing them to tell about themselves as they always do. That night, one contestant was an editor of a small magazine, the second was a student studying to be a veterinarian. The third was a woman from Chicago who, when asked what she did, explained that she was a “coordinating facilitator for learning dynamics and technical support services” for an inner city daycare school. Bonnie and I looked at the television, then looked at each other …. We both knew that basically the woman passed out cookies and milk and read children’s books to kids, but “daycare attendant,” in this world of sensitivity, political correctness and hyperbole, was simply not acceptable.
It seems today there’s a lot more emphasis put on what we call our jobs than there is on how well we perform them. There is, of course a huge push by the present administration to expand bureaucracy, and there is a grand effort on sensitivity in all its bizarre forms, so the emphasis is on making room for you, regardless of qualifications, and making you sound important, even if you’re not. This concept of improvised significance has bled from bureaucracy into mainstream business, creating colorful job descriptions for mediocre positions everywhere. Window tinters are now “Solar Control Technicians” or “Radiation Control Engineers.” Receptionists are now called “Directors of First Impressions.” Bus drivers are “Transporters of
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Michael Reisig Learners.” DJs are “Network Digital Presentation Coordinators.” Housewives are now “Domestic Surveillance Engineers.” Those drawing welfare are “Public Funds Economists.” Someone on welfare for a long time is a “Technically Specific Public Funds Economist.” The unemployed are now “Employment Opportunity Research Analysts.” The term, “hair stylists” is passé.
They are now “Hair Art Directors and Engineers,” and those who paint your fingertips are “Nail Technicians.” I love the fast food industry’s comfortable slide into hypogarble: “Hello, I was calling to inquire about your ad for a Burger Assembly Technician?” Subway and Papa John employees are “sandwich artists.” Hello: Could you tell your petroleum transfer technician to get his rear out here and pump my gas? Account Executives are now “Client Services Advisory Managers,” rubbish collectors are “Waste Management and Disposal Technicians.” Nurses are known as “Modality Managers.” Tour guides are “Coordinators of Interpretive Teaching.” Everywhere there used to be “staff.” Now it’s all “team.” It’s sup-
Jay Strasner.............................................Editor and Publisher Shannon Crabtree ..............................................News Editor Nancy Unrein ................................................Office Manager Casey Smith ..........................................Production Manager Quala Matocha ..............................................Lifestyle Editor Kaitlynn Bianconi ...............................................Sports Editor Jody Larimer...................................................News Reporter Keri Mahalitc ......................................................Advertising Stacy Morris.........................................Classified Advertising
posed to make you feel warm and fuzzy and more connected, but it doesn’t change your paycheck or your job security. Unfortunately, I can’t find any evidence anywhere that any of this improves the service I get, the money I make, or the respect anyone receives from the “Supervisional Executive Leadership Personnel” above them. Michael Reisig is a best-selling novelist and an award-winning newspaper columnist. His novels are available at bookstores everywhere, and in paperback and ebook format through Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble.com and Apple.com. Visit his website at michael-reisig.com for information on his latest adventure/ humor novel, The Road to Key West, and his apocalyptic thriller, The New Madrid Run.
THE EL CAMPO LEADER-NEWS (USPS 169520) is published semiweekly on Wednesday and Saturday for $45 per year in Wharton County; $60 per year out of county; $84 per year out of state; and $45 per year for the online edition by Wharton County Newspapers, Inc., 203 E. Jackson St., El Campo, Texas 77437. Periodical postage paid at El Campo, Texas. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to the EL CAMPO LEADER-NEWS, P.O. Box 1180, El Campo, Texas 77437. © 2014 Wharton County Newspapers, Inc. Email address: lettertoeditor@leader-news.com
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VIEWPOINT
El Campo Leader-News • Wednesday, December 17, 2014
www.leader-news.com
lettertoeditor@leader-news.com
‘Torture’ quite necessary in times of conflict involving terrorism Critics and defenders of the harsh interrogation methods applied to captured terrorists can argue forever over whether those methods were “torture.” But any serious discussion of a serious issue — and surely terrorism qualifies as serious — has HOMAS to move beyond OWELL semantics and confront the ultimate question: “Compared to what alternative?” If you knew that there was a hidden nuclear time bomb planted somewhere in New York City — set to go off today — and you had a captured terrorist who knew where and when, would you not do anything whatever to make him tell you where and when? Would you pause to look up the definition of “torture”? Would you even care what the definition of “torture” was, when the alternative was seeing millions of innocent people murdered? Senator Dianne Feinstein’s recent release of a massive report on the CIA’s severe interrogation methods, used against captured Islamic terrorists, has set off a firestorm of controversy. It is hard to see what benefit the United States of America gains from releasing that report. But it is painfully obvious what lasting damage has been done to the security of Americans. One of the most obscene acts of the Obama administration, when it first took office, was to launch a criminal investigation of CIA agents who had used harsh interrogation methods against captured terrorists in the wake of the devastating September
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EDITORIAL
Superintendent’s legacy at ECISD full of positives We learned this week that Mark Pool will retire as superintendent of El Campo ISD at the end of the school year. The list of accomplishments that occurred under Pool’s watch is lengthy. But we know this: the true measure of any executive’s success is to leave the group that they managed in better shape than when they arrived. It’s pretty amazing to experience the symbiosis of things in our lives. Before talking to Pool about his departure, he echoed that very statement about leaving things better than you found them, a lesson learned from his father on camping trips. A quick tour around the ECISD campuses reveals that Pool’s time with the district can only be considered a rousing success when judged by that criteria. “He loves El Campo and that shows in his commitment to his job,” ECISD board member JJ Croix said. “He never put himself above others. That’s the sign of a great leader, no matter what profession you’re talking about.” School buildings – especially those at the high school – have been renovated, improved and added onto during Pool’s tenure. When more room was needed for the explosive growth at Myatt Elementary, portable buildings were added and restrooms improved. And with the newly passed $12 million bond issue, more permanent brick and mortar solutions are on their way. Though budget cuts in 2011 created the need of drastic and at times perhaps unpopular decisions by the ECISD board and administration, they always tried their best to give our students every opportunity at academic success. Amazingly, all these things were accomplished while also making sure the tax rate declined, Croix pointed out. Ultimately we will remember Mr. Pool as someone who always kept the best interests of the students in mind. Oftentimes his job required tasks to be done after hours and he never shied away from that. “He is a hard-working guy,” Croix said. “If you ever drove by the administration building, you’d see that Ford truck with the dog kennel in the back of it at 6:00 in the morning and sometimes until 10:00 at night.” Much like those boyhood campsites, there can be no doubt that Pool is leaving the ECISD in much better shape than he found it. Thank you, Mr. Pool, for all your hard work for our students. You’ve left some very big shoes to fill. – Jay T. Strasner
Jay T. Strasner......................................Editor & Publisher
THE EL CAMPO LEADER-NEWS (USPS 169520) is published semi-weekly on Wednesday and Saturday for $45 per year, for print and online, in Wharton County; $60 per year out of county; $84 per year out of state; and $45 per year for the online edition by Wharton County Newspapers, Inc., 203 E. Jackson St., El Campo, Texas 77437. Periodical postage paid at El Campo, Texas. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to the EL CAMPO LEADER-NEWS, P.O. Box 1180, El Campo, Texas 77437. © 2014 Wharton County Newspapers, Inc.
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Opinions or views expressed by individual columnists or in Letters to the Editor are those of the writers and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper. Also, while the Leader-News strives for accuracy, errors may occur, and will be promptly corrected once they are brought to the attention of the editor.
11, 2001 aerial attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Right after those terrorist attacks, when there were desperate fears of what might be coming next, these CIA agents were trying to spare fellow Americans another attack that could take thousands more lives, or perhaps millions more. To turn on these agents, years later, after they did what they were urged to do, as a patriotic duty in a time of crisis, is both a betrayal of those who acted in the past and a disincentive to those in the future who are charged with safeguarding the nation. Other nations, whose cooperation we need, in order to disrupt international terrorist networks, see how their involvement has now been revealed to the whole world — including terrorists — because supposedly responsible American officials, in the Congress of the United States, cannot keep their mouths shut. The public’s “right to know” has often been invoked to justify publicizing confidential information. But is there any evidence that the American public was clamoring to learn state secrets, which every government has? I don’t know where our nuclear weapons are located and I don’t want to know, certainly not at the cost of letting our enemies know. The ease with which politicians are willing to pull the rug out from under people whose job is to safeguard our lives — whether they are CIA agents, the police or the military — is not only a betrayal of those people but a danger to us all. People who are constantly de-
nouncing the police, including with demonstrable lies, may think they are showing solidarity with people in the ghettos. But, when police hesitate to go beyond “kinder and gentler” policing, that leaves decent people in black communities at the mercy of hoodlums and thugs who have no mercy. When conscientious young people, of any race, who would like to help maintain peace and order see that being a policeman means having race hustlers constantly whipping up mob hostility against you — and having opportunistic politicians and the media joining the race hustlers — those young people may well decide that some other line of work would be better for them. High crime areas need not only the most, but the best, police they can get. Taking cheap shots at cops is not the way to get the people who are needed. When people who volunteer to put their lives on the line in the military to defend this country, at home and abroad, see their buddies killed on the battlefield, and sometimes themselves come back minus an arm or a leg, or with severe physical and mental damage that they may never get over — and then see some headstrong politician in the White House throw away everything they fought for, and see enemy forces take back places for which Americans shed their blood, that can be galling to them and a deterrent to others who might otherwise take their place in the future. If we cannot see beyond the moment today, we will pay dearly tomorrow and in many more tomorrows. Copyright 2014 Creators.com
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Many contribute to El Campo FFA students’ success Editor, the Leader-News: On behalf of the advisors/teachers of the El Campo High School Agri.-Science department, I take this opportunity to thank everyone that has helped make this LDE (Leadership Development Event) season a success for the students of the El Campo FFA. The overwhelming dedication, competitiveness and hard work that the students of our chapter exhibited throughout the three plus months of preparation, that required over 1,000 hours of practice ( all teams combined ) is what has defined them as the state champions today. We thank the parents for their support. The late afternoon and weekend practices were sacrifices that you as a family endured to contribute to our chapter’s success. We thank our fellow teachers for their support by going above and beyond their normal duties to accommo-
date our sometimes unorthodox scheduling and for working with our students to assure their success in so many ways. Last, but not least, we thank our administration and office staff at the high school and the administration building. Without their support, our department would be unable to get our jobs done. On a personal note, it has been an honor to be a part of the El Campo FFA and the high school Agri.-Science department, that is made up of Shawn Peters, Ashley Jett, Clint Love and myself. The level of cooperation and support for each other is only matched by their competitiveness and high level of desire for the success of their students. This is a rare quality in an Ag. department of this size. I am proud to be a part of this team. Craig Hardin