Laredos bews march 2009

Lare DOS A JOURNAL OF THE BORDERLANDS

march

2009

Est. 1994

Vol. XV, No. 3

In America today you can murder land for private profit. You can leave the corpse for all to see, and nobody calls the cops.

Locally Owned

Paul Brooks

64 PAGES

Aftermath of City defoliation easement:

Mexican opposition to aerial herbicide slows carrizo project.

Citizens of Barrios de Colores sue CBP/Dept. of Homeland Security.

Council member Narvaez wants new vote.

ISSUE GALVANIZES ENVIRONMENTALISTS UP AND DOWN THE FRONTERA

Why you want to hurt my leetle friends?

Business

IBC promotes McKenzie, Rodriguez, Romero, Samaniego, and Torres I

nternational Bank of Commerce (IBC Bank) - Laredo has announced that Jorge McKenzie, Cynthia Rodriguez, Norberto Romero, Arnoldo Samaniego, and Hilda Torres have all been promoted to positions of advanced leadership. u

Jorge McKenzie, sales facilitator for the bank and part of the bank’s Strategic Growth Committee, has been promoted to assistant vice president. In his new role, McKenzie also serves as an employee trainer and assessor for the retail division, managing the development of sales associates and tellers. He manages all H-E-B in-store locations in Laredo, working handin-hand with H-E-B to drive traffic to branches while also offering customers increased convenience and quality customer service.

McKenzie has been part of the IBC team for the past five years, and throughout his tenure has dedicated time to giving back to the Laredo community. He is actively involved with the Washington’s Birthday Celebration Association (WBCA), helping to plan and coordinate elements of the IBC Youth Parade and other events. Additionally, McKenzie has worked with Ducks Unlimited and assisted with the organization’s yearly fundraisers. He is a graduate of Texas A&M International University (TAMIU) where he received a bachelor’s degree in business administration.

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Cynthia Rodriguez has been promoted to assistant vice president serving three IBC branches including Banquito South, the Wal-Mart in-store on Loop 20, and the Wal-Mart in-store on Hwy 83. Rodriguez has been with IBC for more than eight years and previously served as a bank officer. As assistant vice president, Rodriguez oversees and manages daily operations at each of the branches while working to create and increase new business opportunities that will contribute to the growth of

IBC Laredo’s market. She works as a market trainer, serves as an active member of the IBC hiring committee, and is involved in the planning and implementation of corporate initiatives like the market’s employee “SELLebration.”

Her commitment to the community includes involvement with the March of Dimes, the WBCA, and the American Diabetes Association. She earned a bachelor’s degree in communications from TAMIU and serves IBC as a Licensed Bank Employee (LBE).

Arnoldo Samaniego has been promoted to the rank of bank officer, a role that will have him assist with the management of a more than $60 million retail banking portfolio with an emphasis on international clientele at IBC’s Downtown, Plantation, and Jacaman branches. He works with other IBC managers to conduct employee training and sales certification.

Samaniego has spent the past eight years working in the financial industry, while also serving the city as a member of Leadership Laredo, a program implemented by the Laredo Chamber of Commerce to train and identify future leaders in the Laredo community.

He has worked closely with IBC’s Human Resources Committee and serves IBC as an LBE. He has a bachelor’s degree in business administration and is currently pursuing a master’s degree in international trade.

Norberto Romero has been promoted to assistant vice president. In his new role, he will be responsible for managing daily sales and operations at three IBC branches including Mines Road, Banquito Del Mar, and the Wal-Mart in-store on San Bernardo Avenue. Additionally, he works hand-in-hand with IBC management on staff development and market training for both FDIC and IRA courses.

Hilda Torres has also been promoted to bank officer. In addition to the responsibilities she carries as executive assistant to Chairman and CEO Dennis E. Nixon, she serves as a trainer during IBC’s New Hire Orientation for new employees and works with the Human Resources Committee. Torres supervises the sales associates in the commercial and international loan departments at IBC’s main bank. To continue her education of the financial industry, Torres works with the commercial credit department to learn more about the bank’s lending practices.

Torres has been part of the IBC team for the past 10 years, serving in various capacities that earned her employee recognitions in 2007 and 2008. She is a dedicated volunteer with the March of Dimes and is currently attending TAMIU pursuing a bachelor’s degree in management.

Romero serves on the Strategic Plan Committee and acts as co-chair for the bank’s referral programs. He has been a member of the IBC family for nine years and has served as an IBC Employee Recognition Committee Member and is instrumental in the planning and execution of IBC Boot Camp. Romero is actively involved with the Laredo Chamber of Commerce Bienvenidos Committee.

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publisher

María Eugenia Guerra

meg@laredosnews.com Editor

Monica McGettrick

mcgettrick@laredosnews.com Staff Writers

Catherine Archer John Andrew Snyder

editorial@laredosnews.com Sales

María Eugenia Guerra

ads@laredosnews.com

Circulation, Billing & Subscriptions

Jorge Medina

circulation@laredosnews.com Layout/design

JM Design

M ailbox L

etters to the publisher

Hello Meg, This is past City Attorney Jaime Flores just dropping you an e-line from Austin to say hello and to say that I just read online the Ed Gonzalez story in your current issue. He mentions that while he served on the USS Kitty Hawk, there were two other carriers in the South China Sea rotating duty with the Kitty. I was on one of those two carriers that he mentioned, for two tours of duty at the very same time. I also served in Vietnam for a little over two years and a total of five years in the U.S. Navy, and I just wanted to thank him for his description of duty on a carrier during the war. It took me

back in a flash.

I was aboard the USS Enterprise CVAN-65 (“the Big E”). I find it very interesting that here these many years pass and I come to read in LareDOS that two Laredoans were serving their country in pretty much the same barrio, except that barrio was the Gulf of Tonkin. And, by the way, I recall one time happily running into another Laredoan serving aboard a tin can (a destroyer) at that time who came aboard when we pulled into Singapore (I think) and that was Eddie García, a Nixon grad of around 1966. I myself am a proud MHS ‘64 grad.

Anyway, thank you and reporter John Snyder for the story, and may I take this

Randy Koch Charlie Loving Alex Mendoza Salo Otero Andy Porras Jennie Reed Sanjayan Roger Sanchez Silja J. A. Talvi Steve Treviño

Read a pdf version of at www.laredosnews.com

ShuString Productions, Inc.

www.laredosnews.com 1812 Houston Street Laredo Texas 78040 Tel: (956) 791-9950 Fax: (956) 791-4737 Copyright @ 2008 by LareDOS Write a Letter to the Editor: meg@laredosnews.com

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Re: Review of He’s Just Not That Into You Dear Ms. McGettrick: No, all men are not dogs. We are just as confused as our opposites.

For relationship inspiration may I suggest Annie Hall or When Harry Met Sally?

Jorge George Paez

David Palmer Ph.D. addresses Kiwanis about SCORE counseling

By JOHN ANDREW SNYDER

A

recent Kiwanis meeting featured guest speaker David Palmer Ph.D, graduate of Northwestern University, retired college professor, and captain in the U.S. Naval Reserve. Palmer currently serves as assistant district director for SCORE “Counselors to America’s Small Business,” a resource partner with the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). Counselor Tony Reyna, a retired U.S. Marine Corps colonel, accompanied him. SCORE is a business counseling service that operates in 50 states and presently has 389 chapters nationwide.

Palmer said, “SCORE is a resource that will help Laredo; we help existing entrepreneurs and we help new businesses get their feet on the ground, and all of the advice that we provide is given by our counselors free of charge, adding, “We help people formulate a business plan.” He said that SCORE’s efforts have been praised and endorsed by Senator John Cornyn, U.S. Representative Henry Cuellar, State Senator Judith Zaffirini, and State Representative Richard R. Raymond, who said, “SCORE helps keep business owners strong and steady through face-to-face counseling and workshops.”

SCORE’s 1,200 counselors, who can be contacted at www.score.org, help thousands of people online. By accessing this website, business people can sign up as

Courtesy Photo

Contributors

Take care, Meg, Jaime L. Flores

Kiwanis Club Notes

design@laredosnews.com Juan Alanis Cordelia Barrera Jesús Cadena María Eugenia Calderón Bebe Fenstermaker Sissy Fenstermaker Denise Ferguson Neo Gutiérrez Steve Harmon Jay Johnson-Castro Henri Kahn

opportunity to salute all fellow servicemen and servicewomen who served in Vietnam and at all other times.

Lady Kiwanians Kiwanis regulars Mary Garza, Inez Medina, Elva Boubel were noted by Kiwanis President Miguel Zuniga for their consistent presence at Kiwanis meetings. volunteers and also obtain a list of SCORE services and available SCORE courses, as well as technology information. He also said that SCORE puts out two newsletters at SCORE.org, and added that SCORE has conducted 14,000 workshops and created over 25, 000 new jobs via this route. “All you need to do is sign up online,” Palmer said.

One of Palmer’s special goals in Laredo

is to set up a Laredo office for SCORE. “There are SCORE offices in Harlingen, Beaumont, Texarkana, San Antonio, and other cities, and it’s time we had one in Laredo, Palmer said. He added that temporary offices had been set up at Laredo’s ACCION Texas office at 902 E. Calton Road.

He also named Jorge Cedillo of San Antonio National Bank’s Laredo branch as a local contact person. u WWW.LAREDOSNEWS.COM

News

Gateway Book Lovers to discuss Gustavo Arellano’s Orange County

T

he Gateway City Book Lovers Club will meet Wed., April 25 to discuss Orange County: A Personal History by Gustavo Arellano. The event is set for 6 p.m. in the Laredo Public Library’s first floor conference room.

Arellano, a first generation American, is the author of the biting, widely popular, controversial, and acerbic syndicated column ÂĄAsk a Mexican! which has appeared since 2005 in The OC Weekly.

Orange County, Arellano’s memoir, is also a narrative of the cultural history of Mexican immigrants who settled in the first decade of the last century in the once-bucolic paradise of orange groves. Orange County is considered the sequel to the collection of Arellano’s columns in the volume entitled ¥Ask a Mexican!

In Orange County Arellano looks

back at the days his great-grandfather and grandfather worked the citrus groves and his father labored in a tomato cannery. The underpinning of all Arellano’s stories is the sharp, rich insight he casts on immigration and the host of accompanying political, cultural, and social issues.

Publishers Weekly praised Arellano’s structure for the telling of Orange County and the “snappy pace� he maintained by contrasting odd chapters as memoir and even chapters for the history of the mythologized place, now a bastion of conservative thought.

Orange County promises to evoke lively discussion at the April 25 meeting of the Gateway City Book Lovers.

For further information, please call Pam Burrell at 795-2400. u

Opinion

A Rush to extinction

College dropout Limbaugh wants Harvard educated President to fail

By JOHN ANDREW SNYDER

T

he day after repulsive Republican Rush Limbaugh said he hoped that President Obama would fail, MSNBC’s Keith Olberman asked ex-DNC chairman Dr. Howard Dean to identify Limbaugh’s adoring audience, outside of fawning Republican legislators. Dean answered, “They’re a hard group of individuals, and they make up a fair amount of the Republican hate base.�

That nobody could get any Republican lawmakers to disagree with Limburger-breath Limbaugh, much less denounce his treasonous pronouncement, is a sign of these sick times.

Newsweek columnist and senior editor Jonathan Alter called the GOP “the party of Jello� on Olberman’s show the very next night. Some of us might call it the party of something else.

Now you just know that this Southeast Missouri State reject, Limbaugh, the retrograde radio ranter that the current batch of hapless Republican solons find so cuddly, you know, I say, that Rush the Gush voted for Richard

“My President Right or Wrong� Nixon back in the bad-old-day. Remember ol’ Tricky Dick -- “Droopy� jowls, Vietnam, 5-o’clock shadow, Vietnam, weasel smile, Vietnam, “Now More Than Ever,� Vietnam, “Love it or leave it,� Watergate, the Nixon Tapes, the “Plumbers,� Deep Throat, “Stonewall it,� David Frye’s impersonations, the final pathetic wave of the arm from the stairs up to Air Force One, and, of course, V-i-e-t-n-a-m. I’m sure you’ve at least heard of the bastard. Well, Limburger Limbaugh voted for him, early and often, and still supports the party of “My President Right or Wrong,� except that the President we have now is black, opposes U.S. involvement in brutal foreign wars, insists on transparency, never offended Eisenhower or his memory, seeks advice from both sides of the aisle, and insists that we learn the lessons of Vietnam!

Even the Tricky One didn’t say, “My President Right Wing or Wrong.� What a Bush-league bunch of losers! Remember the good old days when if somebody said “Crawford,� they were probably talking about Joan Crawford?� u

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Rotary Club Notes

Prep Interact Clubs give high marks to RYLA event

By JOHN ANDREW SNYDER

T

he Laredo Rotary Club recently hosted the prep Rotary Interact Clubs from J.W. Nixon High School and St. Augustine High School and heard reports from the members and sponsors on their recent visit to the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA) event in Mathis.

LRC president Ed Gonzalez said, “The camp is designed to give attendees a chance to interact with other motivated young people so that they can learn more about project management and the goals of Rotary International. It is also a great opportunity for them to meet other young leaders and sponsors, to hear motivational speakers, to share ideas, brainstorm, and socialize.” Gonzalez praised the efforts of charter Rotarian Arturo Barrera for obtaining financial backing from

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Photo by John Andrew Snyder

Rotary Club Notes

J. W. Nixon High School Rotary Interact Club Members of the Nixon HS Rotary Interact Club -- Juan Mascorro, Martín Rodriguez, Juan Villarreal, Christina Muñoz, and Esteban Rodriguez -- attended a recent Rotary meeting to give a presentation on the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards event. The group is involved in multiple public service projects around the city. the Fernando Salinas Trust, which enabled the two schools’ Interact groups to attend this year’s RYLA gathering. “Mr. Barrera has always been there to support the club in any way he can, and he deserves our gratitude and recognition for

his tireless efforts,” Gonzalez said.

Each individual student from the two visiting groups commented positively on the RYLA event. Cristina Muñoz, J.W. Nixon High School Interact secretary, said, “I en-

joyed every aspect of the event, the place itself, the leaders, the people, the conferences, the training, and just the time spent together with a lot of interesting people -- it was great.”

WWW.LAREDOSNEWS.COM

In observance of Dr. Seuss birthday (March 2) and Read Across America Week, Laredo Independent School District students Sergio Benitez of Cigarroa High School and Vanessa Zamudio of Martin High School read a Dr. Seuss book over several BMP radio stations. The students read One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish as a way to promote the importance of reading and literacy. Radio personalities Al Guevara, Sammy “the House,” and El Tigre stressed that reading is the backbone to a successful career. Benitez joined Guevara in the studio.

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Courtesy Photo

Courtesy Photo

LISD and BMP partner for Read Across America Week

Gerardo Piña named Code Enforcement Officer of the Year City of Laredo code enforcement officer Gerardo Piña was selected as the Code Enforcement Officer of the Year for the Code Enforcement Association of Texas. Piña was unable to attend the ceremony, held in Abilene. City of Laredo code enforcement inspector Elda Rivera received the award on his behalf.

Rivera joined Rusty Basham of Emory, president of the association, and Morris Williams of Dallas at the event.

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Santa María Journal

Emily and Amandita: our hearts beat to the same measure, the measure of knowing we belong to each other

By MARíA EUGENIA GUERRA

M

y granddaughters Emily and Amandita and I have a band, a pot-banging, drum beating, harmonica, xylophone, clarinet, accordion, piano, guitar, güiro, and hand pipes band. We play in the small apartment attached to their home, away

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from all their other stuff and anyone who might take issue with the pitch of our performance. It is our time alone to play, to make a din of not necessarily mellifluous harmonies on some instruments that are toys and some that are not.

Emily, nearly five, and now a student of ballet and jazz, has some cool moves to share with us -- some dizzying swirls and something beautiful and graceful she does with her arms and hands. Clutching the toy clarinet, she manages to be airborne, ethereal, a butterfly, and even in her jammies she resembles one of the lovely pop-out princesses from one of the many books she owns on the subject.

Amandita, who is 18 months into this blessed life I can share with her, is not messing around with interpretation. She is very direct about eliciting sound from the hardwood bars of the xylophone, at first striking random notes and then running her little mallet up and down the washboard of the bars to hear the noise of every bar.

Now and again she sings with all her heart, “E-i, E-i, O!” There are no princesses on her pajamas. There are instead pollitos.

I hand Amandita the harmonica and am floored that she knows exactly what to do with it, and that she dances in place to her own music. She pauses to tell me the wooden güiro in my hand is a fish and then returns with much exuberance to blowing and sucking on the harmonica.

Emily chimes in on the toy accordion I bought for

her in Nuevo Laredo. Nana’s on the ivories. We are in the zone. We play with abandon. We play to hear each other. We play to make one sound.

I become lightheaded with love for my grandchildren. I love their faces and their brown hair. I love their smell and the beautiful wells of their eyes that are spirited, curious, and loving.

Somewhere in the racket, our hearts beat to the same measure, the measure of knowing we belong to each other. They are my heart. . u

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Photo by Monica McGettrick

Staffing the phones for charity Volunteers and BMP Radio staff manned the phones for the annual St. Jude’s Research Hospital pledge drive. While volunteers covered the phones, BMP DJs made on-air appeals for aid. After two days of hard work, the team raised $251,157. “We were hoping to raise at least $100,000,” said Arturo “A-Train” Serna, one of the station’s DJs. “This was completely awesome, especially considering the way things are right now,” he added.

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Inside the Checkpoints

Consider your place on the food chain when you contemplate BP’s use of Imazapyr to eradicate carrizo cane, contaminate the Río Grande, and kill all flora and fauna (within hours) of the chopper’s overspray By jay j. johnsoncastro, sr.

Jay J. Johnson-Castro, Sr. is a human rights activist and founder of www.FreedomAmbassadors.com.

C

itizens and elected officials all along the Río Grande have fought shoulder to shoulder to prevent the Department of Homeland Security from building the infamous “border wall.” Some have called it el muro de verguenza (wall of shame), an iron curtain being built supposedly to prevent terrorism from entering the U.S. from Mexico. Others have called it the “wall of death” because of all the men, women, and children who die as refugees trying to make it into “the land of the free.”

Instead of building a border wall and offending our neighbors in Mexico, champions in opposition to the border wall, like Mayor Chad Foster of Eagle Pass, have long called for eradication of the carrizo cane, known scientifically as Arundo Donax, in order to provide more visibility for the Border Patrol.

Historically, carrizo cane is foreign to the banks of the Río Grande. It was brought to America by the Spaniards and has since taken over the banks of many rivers like the Pecos and the Río Grande. It is referred to as an invasive species because it chokes out native vegetation.

Additionally, a square meter of carrizo can consume some 500 gallons of precious water a year. Essentially carrizo is a grass, much like bamboo, and can grow to 30 feet in height.

The scientists at the Río Grande International Study Center (RGISC), who are not opposed to the eradication of the carrizo or the topical application of herbicide, agree that it would require a treatment of herbicide in order to actually eradicate it. The question is how to do it in a way that will not destroy the beautiful trees and native vegetation that provide habitat to a wonderful va-

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riety of birds and animals.

Instead of building a border wall in Laredo, the Department of Homeland Security, through Border Patrol, has appropriately decided that they want to experiment with eradication of carrizo.

That is a good thing. However, what they are going to do is a different kind of “wall of death.” Starting in downtown Laredo, and right across from Nuevo Laredo, they will aerial spray the banks of the Río Grande by heli-

experimental. In the process of experimenting, the soil along the banks of the Río Grande will be contaminated and will potentially contaminate the river itself, the source of drinking water for millions of citizens on both sides of its banks. No one knows what effects the helicopter turbulence will have on the vegetation on the Mexican side of the river. The chance of there not being over spray is highly unlikely.

One thing is for sure -- taking such

Vegetation destroyed by Imazapyr

Cutting cane nature’s way copter this month, in order to kill the carrizo with the herbicide Imazapyr.

Imazapyr, when applied, will halt any growth of any plant within a few hours and totally kill the vegetation. Not just the carrizo but all plant life, including the forest of beautiful trees that line the banks of the river.

On the other hand, this is also very

a dramatic “kill it all” approach will decimate the habitat of over 1,000 species that thrive in the Laredo-Nuevo Laredo area. There are on record 633 bird, 184 mammalian, 65 amphibian, and 156 reptilian species. That does not count the vast variety of native trees and plants in which these species live and survive. Four of these species are

endangered, like the jaguarundi and ocelot. It is in March that the hundreds of bird species begin nesting. What will happen to those nests is nothing short of destruction.

The Border Patrol plan calls for an aerial spray or a burn and then aerial spray of most of the 16 miles of Laredo project section of the Río Grande in order to eradicate the carrizo. That will indeed spell death to the flora and, at the very least, displace the thousands of creatures that rely on that habitat for existence. How do the smaller creatures survive burning by fire and aerial herbicide?

If the herbicide Imazapyr can do that much damage to all the other life forms wouldn’t it be reasonable to conclude that there might be adverse affects on humans on either side of the Río Grande? Scientists from the Northwest Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides, based in Eugene, Oregon, have documented that it “causes irreversible eye damage.” “Imazapyr moves readily in the soil. It has contaminated surface and groundwater following aerial and ground forestry application.” They also mention that it “caused stomach ulcers and intestinal lesions at most doses tested.

Treatment to remove pesticides from drinking water is not successful with Imazapyr…”

Irritating to the eyes, the respiratory system, and skin, Imazapyr is also a neurotoxin, causing nerve lesions and symptoms similar to Huntington’s disease.” For more information, check out http://www.pesticide.org/imazapyr. pdf.

In preparation for such destruction of vegetation of the banks of the Río Grande, a chemical company that produces an herbicide with Imazapyr performed an experiment on a private ranch just south of Laredo. They aerial sprayed some 80 acres of vegetation along the banks of the Río Grande.

The evidence shows that all vegetation was “burned” by the herbicide.

Possibly there was overspray to the vegetation on the Mexico side of that test area.

Continued on page 15

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Opinion

Aftermath of City’s decision to allow aerial defoliation on banks of the Río Grande: Mexican opposition to aerial herbicide slows carrizo project.

Citizens of Barrios de Colores sue CBP/Department of Homeland Security.

Council member Narvaez wants amendment to ordinance & new vote.

ISSUE GALVANIZES ENVIRONMENTALISTS UP AND DOWN THE FRONTERA

By MARÍA EUGENIA GUERRA

E

mploying an incomprehensibly shortsighted lack of judgment -- and failing in its mission to protect Laredoans, natural resources, and the fragile riparian ecosystem -- a majority of the Laredo City Council on March 16 gave the federal government the green light to spray the systemic herbicide Imazapyr on a 1.1 mile test strip along the banks of the Río Grande, the only source of drinking water for Laredo and Nuevo Laredo and millions in downriver communities. What part of risk must these individuals who live here with their families and drink from this river not understand? Why do they discount the environmental input of citizens, and how can they think decisions of this magnitude bear no consequence -- not just environmental impact, but also the impact of bad decisions on their own political fortunes?

Immediate consequences of the March 16 vote include citizen outrage and the same kind of environmental mobilization that fought for the Casa Blanca wetlands; a lawsuit filed by the Texas RioGrande Legal Aid against CBP/ Department of Homeland Security on behalf of Barrio de Colores, a citizens group comprised of the residents of the barrios El Cuatro and De Colores, neighborhoods near the proposed river bank test strip; City Council member Juan Narvaez asking to re-visit the March 16 Council vote with a proposed no-aerial-spraying amendment to the ordinance and the call for a new vote; and a halt as of March 24 to the project as a result of the Mexican component of the International Boundary and Water Commission’s (IBWC) assertion that Mexican environmental authorities should be part of an undertaking that could have serious bi-national environmental ramifications.

At that March 16 meeting, the Council heard the polite, cautionary anti-aerial spraying comments of Nuevo Laredo Council member José Guadalupe Bautista and Nuevo Laredo’s environmental services director Gustavo Pantoja who asked that the council give more thought to the use of the herbicide so close to the Nuevo Laredo municipal intake for water. Obviously the Council did not consider in its decision the environmental concerns of the two representatives of Nuevo Laredo or any of the other Mexican officials who have previously spoken up against the aerial spraying, including Nuevo Laredo’s health department director Dr. Luis Eduardo Campbell Loa and Carlos Montiel Saheb, Nuevo Laredo’s waterworks director.

Especially dismissive of the Mexican point of view was City Manager Carlos Villarreal who having just heard the comments of Bautista and Pantoja asked not them but an out of town consultant from Houston if the Mexican side of the IBWC had weighed in with an opinion on the aerial spraying.

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BARRIO DE COLORES VS. U.S. CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY The suit filed in Federal Court asks for injunctive relief until CBP conducts an adequate Environmental Assessment (EA).

The suit alleges violation of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and that the FONSI (Findings of No Significant Impact) does not comply with NEPA; that the EA/FONSI fails to assess and analyze five factors required by NEPA in addressing the issue of cumulative impacts; that “off target drift” of aerially sprayed herbicide was overlooked

by CBP’s EA/FONSI; that the CBP’s EA/FONSI failed to consider all reasonable alternatives to the carrizo cane removal; that the CBP/DHS failed to adequately notify the public, including members of Barrio de Colores, in both English and Spanish of their right to participate in the environmental review process that led to the EA/FONSI. Read the entire document at www.laredosnews.com The consultant, Dr. Eric Webb of Gulf South Research, initially hedged and then said the IBWC had issued a no issues letter, however, a few seconds later Tom Novak, manager of the $2.1 million federal Carrizo Cane Eradication Project, gave a version a little closer to the truth, telling Villarreal and the Council that Mexico had expressed concerns for “what you want to do near our water intake.” He further explained that an agreement had been reached to conduct testing before, during, and after the aerial spraying. Novak, who appeared before Council with a contingent of consultants and Border Patrol Agent in Charge Rosendo Hinojosa, quickly produced Carlos Peña of the IBWC, whose presence and comments gave the appearance of a seal of approval for the aerial spraying.

Which as it turns out it was not. Shame on him for being a yes man in the contingent’s hijacking of the discussion of the safety of the aerial spraying when a week later his agency would express serious concerns for the aerial application of the herbicide and the exclusion of Mexican environmental authorities from having a voice in the means of eradication for the carrizo removal project.

As it was no surprise to see City Council member Michael Landeck stand up against the U.S. Border Patrol’s carrizo-aerial herbicide plan on a 1.1 mile sector of the city owned riverbank from south of Laredo Community College to the railroad bridge, neither was it a surprise to see Council members José Valdez Jr., Gene Belmares, Johnny Rendon, Juan Narvaez, and Tito García sell Laredoans and the environment down the river, giving the Army Corps of Engineers a 10-year

easement and the go-ahead to defoliate the riverbank with the systemic herbicide Imazapyr.

The surprise of the March 16 meeting was that Council member Cindy Liendo Espinoza articulated such pronounced opposition to the aerial spraying, along with member Mike Garza, to deter the process, change it, or do away with its possibility altogether.

City Council member Narvaez, whose questions to the consultants at the March 16 meeting indicated his preference for mechanical rather than chemical means to control the carrizo, has had misgivings about his vote.

Narvaez reportedly sought the counsel of the City Attorney’s office to correct his vote. Narvaez told LareDOS on March 24, “God willing on Monday I will be bringing the matter back to Council. We will vote on amending the ordinance to exclude aerial spraying.”

If the matter comes to a vote and Liendo, Landeck, Garza, and Narvaez vote together, the vote could end up four-to-four and would necessitate a tie-breaking vote

by Mayor Raul G. Salinas. Such a situation would force Salinas from the comfort zone of straddled fences and make him a tie-breaker.

A rehash by DVD of the March 16 meeting offers a wealth of insights into how this Council works and some of the shameless things some members say and do. There’s a pattern there. Instead of thinking independently or making decisions from a place of conscience, instead of reading up on the subject at hand, Council members and the Mayor either look to the City Manager for direction or become mesmerized by the dazzle of out of town consultants. Or both.

The Council’s five-to-three decision bore all the indicators that there had been plenty of discussion in advance. Also in place was the usual disdain for the environmentalists present (and the environment) and the wholesale pompis-kissing deference to the gum smacking Border Patrol Agent in Charge Hinojosa and his posse of government experts and consultants who gathered at the podium as though drawn to it by irresistible magnetic powers.

Adhering to this Council’s modus operandi of caving in to out-of-towners in suits who have no stake in our city (except to leave with the check) and following their by rote practice of making decisions in a vacuum of information (shades of their love affair and lack of due diligence with the GEO Group), the majority of the Council voted for the easement for the 1.1 mile test strip where the government will try several methods of carrizo cane control on the fragile ecosystem of the banks of the Río Grande -- aerial spraying by helicopter, cutting and manual spraying, earth moving equipment, and possibly a proscribed burn.

Continued on nexT page

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Opinion Continued from page 11

As usual, Mayor Salinas, happy that he would that evening not have to have a real opinion, held environmentalists to their three minutes of public comment time.

It was, however, open mic night for the BP agent and his cohorts. Some members of that posse were condescending -- not only to the Laredoans who had so clearly and passionately expressed their opposition to the use of the dangerous herbicide on the banks of the Río Grande, but also to the Council members who asked many weighty questions about the safety of the herbicide and the means of application.

The out of towners clearly did not appreciate questions from anyone who might come between them and the $2.1 million contract to denude the U.S. riverbank with chemical herbicide and then revegetate it.

On more than one occasion Agent Hinojosa dismissed the questions of Liendo and Garza with “It’s in the power point.”

Hats off to Council member Garza for the idea to parlay any part of the $2.1 million into green jobs, an idea quickly shot down by the suited contingent.

“The contract has been in the gate since last August. We could lose it,” project manager Novak said of the pilot project

that will cost $361.57 per foot on the 5,800 foot swath of riverbank.

Hinojosa and his band of glib answer men dominated the agenda item with a disjointed power point presentation as the discussion about the easement and aerial spraying of Imazapyr on the riverbanks quickly degenerated into a denouement that seemed almost scripted as City Manager Villarreal and Council member Valdez weighed in.

Jay Johnson-Castro of RGISC returned to the podium to make a point of the time accorded to the USBP and the consultants.

“You’ve given these folks entreé. Citizens came before you one by one within the time allotted. This crowd here has spoken at random with little dialogue with you. You have the people saying no, and you have the federal government here en masse, heavyweights pushing down on you all to do their will. You were elected by the people to do the people’s will.

That’s democracy,” he reminded members of the Council.

The Mayor, himself a longwinded, offthe-charts pontificator, was quick to snap at dissenters Landeck, Liendo Espinoza, and Garza with “We need to move on, really” and “Let’s move on.”

The discussion took a decided turn for

the worse when Council member Valdez called several city administrators to the podium. A discussion of serious dialogue and hard questions about health and safety concerns degenerated into a ridiculous babble of unscientific administrative opinions by which Valdez and others could justify the application of the pesticide. Utilities director Tomás Rodriguez looked embarrassed at the podium, offering that his department did not use herbicides. Suddenly the discussion was about Roundup, a retail home garden defoliant, and suddenly City Health Department director Hector Gonzalez was a tap dancing expert on Roundup and herbicides. Like a Camptown lady, the doo-da of Gonzalez’s “expert” opinion streaked and then fizzled.

CM Villarreal asked Gonzalez, “Is this similar to Roundup?”

“Yes it is,” Gonzalez answered.

By the time Laredo Environmental Services director Riazul Mia told of the widespread City use of a product similar to Roundup, Habitat, on city property at recreation centers and in the creeks that flow to the river, the spectre of a lethal herbicide broadcast near water, killing everything in its wake, seemed such a small thing, and perhaps, if the $256 per gallon Imazapyr was such a safe compound, drinking a stiff slug of it as little citizen Aurora Margarita Martinez had earlier suggested was in order, a toast to thick heads.

Council member Landeck said it best. ìIt is unbelievable to me that this discussion went where it did -- from scientific issues on a scientific level to Roundup and spraying for mosquitoes. The issue is Imazapyr, not fogging, not using some ant killer,” he said, continuing, “There are three or four methods to eradicate cane. Why not just eliminate the helicopter spraying of this chemical? To say we have to do this so we won’t lose a contract, that is an unbelievable argument to me.”

Landeck said, “Purposefully no one will overspray. It would be an accident, but there are dangers to consider. The community is split on this. My job and the job of all of us is to protect the community...let’s find middle ground. Let’s start using all the other methods except the aerial spraying.”

Public Comment Those who spoke at the March 16 Council meeting for the environment and against the prudence of defoliating the river bank by aerial application included citizen Eva Delgado; biologist Dr. Jim Earhart, a founder of the Río Grande International Study Center (RGISC); Jay Johnson-Castro of RGISC; Nuevo Laredo regidor José Guadalupe Bautista; Nuevo Laredo environmental officer Gustavo Pantoja; studet Ricardo Perez; El

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| LareDO S | M arc h 2009

Azteca Neighborhood spokesperson Rafael Torres; LCC educator José Bernardo Salinas; activist Danny Gunn; Father Bill Davis of San Francisco Javier parish; Webb County Commissioner Sergio Martinez and his six year-old daughter Aurora Margarita.

Citizen Delgado made a plaintive plea to the Council members to read the studies on Imazapyr. “We believe you are people of conscience and that you know we have to consider Mother Nature. I am confident you will use your education to get us out of this problem,” she said.

Earhart, who over the last year has worked to reach common ground with USBP about the carrizo removal, argued against the aerial broadcast of Imazapyr.

Both José B. Salinas and Commissioner Martinez made the point that the waters of the Río Grande at Laredo, and what happens on the river’s banks, should be the responsibility of the City of Laredo. Martinez likened Imazapyr to Vietnam era defoliant Agent Orange, whose wholesale aerial application bore immense consequence to human health and rendered parts of the Vietnam jungle to resemble the surface of the moon.

Torres spoke on behalf of the residents of the Azteca Neighborhood, and reading from the federal government’s final environmental assessment, said, “I’m here to ask about the protection of 800 households and what advisories will be in place if there is an evacuation.” He added that he was against the aerial defoliating measure in terms of the Río Grande being the region’s only source of drinking water. He, like nearly every other citizen who spoke against the aerial spraying, asked that public comment be re-opened.

Rancher Carroll Summers of the Webb County Soil and Water District and Jim Mutz, foreman of the Zachary Ranch in southern Webb County, attested to the safe implementation of herbicides by aerial spraying.

To put into perspective the environmental record of the USBP/US Army Corps of Engineers on the very area earmarked for the aerial test spraying, consider their imploding, silt-streaming washouts of the riverbank into the river. Give them a zero for building a river road (from the railroad bridge to LCC) exactly where they should not have, a road that washed away in the 1998 flood. Give them a zero for all the craters and washouts they’ve created since then that have dumped hundreds if not thousands of tons of silt into the river. Give them a zero for trying to tame the raw, natural beauty of the river with chemical applications in complete disregard of the people who live here.

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WWW.LAREDOSNEWS.COM

News

El Metro Union at odds with pension benefits; Members angry at terms of new collective bargaining agreement

By JOHN ANDREW SNYDER

N

obody is happy.

For three-quarters of a year now the United Transportation Union (UTU) that represents Laredo’s El Metro employees has been trying to settle a disputed “illegal” move on the part of Laredo Transit Management, Inc., the City’s transportation arm under general manager Feliciano García Jr. The contentious issue centers on LTMI’s May 9, 2008 initiative to alter the defined benefit plan that went into effect July 1, 2003 under the terms of a collective bargaining agreement. Employees, including UTU general chairman William Koehn, were notified via paycheck letter on May 27, 2008 of the changes that LTMI was seeking to make.

Frustration among El Metro employees has been building, and there has recently been much heated opinion about the two different interpretations of the collective bargaining agreement that LTMI apparently no longer wishes to honor. The frustration was palpable at the February UTU meeting at which members expressed strident objections.

One El Metro employee who wished not to be named for fear of retaliation

said, “We really don’t know what’s going on -- the company says one thing, and the union says something else -- we need to know where we stand.” Another union member stated, “All I know is that we’re paying for a benefit plan out of monthly deductions from our paychecks, and now they’re telling us that we’re paying for something else -- not what we agreed to.” A third member said, “It’s hard to tell who is really to blame for this confusion, El Metro management or the Union.”

The infamous paycheck letter from the LTMI (El Metro) general manager stated, “Under the terms of the collective bargaining agreement, LTMI is required to contribute $250,000 annually to the Plan on behalf of union employees. For the plan years starting July 1, 2006 and July 1, 2007, the employer contribution required under IRS rules was substantially higher than $250,000. We have been advised by an outside actuary that the higher level of required employee contributions will continue unless substantial changes are made to the Plan. Therefore, it is necessary to change the Plan effective July 1, 2008.”

The letter further states: “Effective July 1, 2008 the monthly benefit multiplier will be reduced from $52.08 to $28.05

per year of service. Additionally, the normal retirement age will be increased from age 50 with 20 years of service to age 65 with no service requirement.”

Dissatisfied with this communication, UTU local chair Koehn sent off a letter of grievance on May 21, 2008 to Kevin Randall, LTMI assistant general manager.

Koehn’s letter reads as follows: “The Union is in receipt of the Official Notice, dated May 14, 2008. This is well after the Notices were included in all Employees’ paychecks, on May 9, 2008.

Not giving the Union Advance Notice.

The Company and Union signed a New Collective Bargaining Agreement, on January 10, 2008. There were no changes negotiated in multiplier or retirement age at that time. The Union did agree to co-pay that has not been implemented and that in July, the Company and the Union would negotiate co-pay for upcoming fiscal year, but only the co-pay.

The Union wants the Bargaining Unit made whole, by bringing the Multiplier back up to $52.08 (fifty-two dollars and eight cents), per year worked, and the Retirement Age back to 50 years after 20 years of service.

“The Grievance Complies with Step 2, of Section 2, of Article VII of the Col-

lective Bargaining Agreement.”

In a written reply, dated May 27, 2008 Randall denied the grievance on the grounds that the union missed the deadline for choosing from among “several options” for making a decision “to keep the Retirement Plan fully funded.”

Unconvinced by these arguments, Koehn called Randall’s reply “bunk,” and fired off a second letter, this time to García. In this letter Koehn said: “The Company illegally changed the Terms of the Defined Benefit Pension Plan,” adding that “In Article XXI of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, it states, ‘A Defined Benefit Retirement Plan will be provided for Employees’ and ‘The company’s minimum contribution will be $250,000.’” He further stated, “The Company knew the cost of the Defined Benefit Pension Plan would be more than $250,000,” adding, “About the same amount was calculated by the Principal Finance Actuary, Karen.” Koehn also stated, “The Union did not agree to reopen the Collective Bargaining Agreement.” Koehn closed by insisting on behalf of the union that the company reinstate all benefits of the Defined Benefit Pension Plan. u

News

Commerce Bank promotes Apolonio Santos

A

polonio Santos Jr. has been promoted to vice president of Commerce Bank’s commercial credit department. In his new role, Santos is responsible for managing operations of the bank’s loan review, credit administration, and collection functions. Additionally, he assesses risk levels of Commerce Bank’s loan portfolio, ensuring the accuracy of the allowance for loan and lease losses.

Santos has eight years of experience in the financial industry, including service to IBC Bank as a loan review offiWWW. L A R E D O S N E W S . C O M

cer and commercial lender for the past three years. In addition to his banking responsibilities, Santos is a member of the 2006-2007 Leadership Laredo class and remains actively involved in the organization. Santos received a bachelor’s degree in economics from The University of Texas at Austin and an MBA from St. Mary’s University.

“By hiring and training qualified financial advisors, we are continuing to offer our customers the highest level of customer service paired with easy access to financial services in Laredo,” President and CEO of Com-

merce Bank Ignacio Urrabazo said.

“Apolonio’s strong work ethic and dedication to his civic responsibilities and to the financial industry make him a true asset. We are pleased to offer him an opportunity for professional advancement.”

Commerce Bank is a member of International Bancshares Corporation (NASDAQ: IBOC), a $12.4 billion multi-bank financial holding company headquartered in Laredo with 265 facilities and 420 ATMs serving 101 communities in Texas and Oklahoma. u LareDOS | M arch 2009 |

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News

Briggs folklore collection dedicated at Killam Library

By STEVE HARMON

A

folklore collection was dedicated to a much-revered former English professor at TAMIU’s Sue and Radcliffe Killam Library Great Room. Family, friends, and colleagues gathered at a special reception earlier this month to recall the late Dr. F. Allen Briggs, the first English professor hired at the former Texas A&I University at Laredo in 1970 and the first professor emeritus at its successor, Laredo State University (LSU).

The program featured a welcome by TAMIU president Dr. Ray Keck; an introduction by recently retired TAMIU College of Education faculty member and former Dr. Briggs student Dr. Lem Londos Railsback; a presentation on the importance of folklore by former Briggs student and now University of Texas

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| LareDO S | M arc h 2009

Folklore collection dedication Dr. F. Allen Brigg’s children and granddaughter -- Garrett Briggs, Caris Thetford, Marylyn Senechalle, Jan Welch, James Briggs -- attended the recent dedication of the Dr. F. Allen Briggs Folklore Collection at TAMIU’s Sue and Radcliffe Killam Library. at San Antonio faculty member Dr. Norma Elia Cantú; and a short history of the Folklore Collection by TAMIU faculty member Dr. Frances Gates Rhodes, another Briggs student.

Briggs, who passed away in 1982, was a member of the founding faculty of both the former A&I at Laredo and LSU for 10 years. Overall, his teaching career spanned 40 years.

Organizer Dr. Rhodes, who coordinated the initiative in collaboration with the Killam Library as part of its community outreach program, said the event was a fitting opportunity for the many whose lives Briggs influenced to pay homage to the popular educator.

“Dr. Briggs was always very committed to teaching, and some of his favorite areas of focus were children’s literature, Shakespeare, bilingual education, folklore, and linguistics. He also enjoyed interacting with his students, including at parties that he and Mrs. Briggs held at their home,” Rhodes recalled.

Briggs’ legacy at the university has lasting testaments. Many of his students have gone on to become top educators, administrators, academicians, and writers. Many, like Rhodes, followed in their mentor’s footsteps. She now teaches classes at TAMIU that Briggs himself initiated.

“He was someone who had great wisdom, great passion for his profession, and a great heart for his students,” Rhodes recalled. “He was an inspirational role model for us all.”

Jeanette Hatcher, TAMIU Reference/ Special Collections librarian, said the Briggs Collection will continue to grow and currently includes student projects that focus

on Folklore, Family Trees, and Languages.

“The Folklore projects include short papers, oral history interviews, photographs, examples, or illustrations. Family Trees projects include beginning genealogies of student families that incorporate family stories. Language projects focus on misuse or different use of language in society. All have tremendous potential to encourage and inform additional research,” Hatcher explained.

Briggs, originally from Nebraska, earned his BS in education at Central Missouri State University and undertook graduate studies at Baylor University and Indiana University, where he would earn his Ph.D. in English in 1954. He met his future wife, Mary Ruth Garrett while she was a teacher in Conroe, and the couple married in 1940. The couple had four children and four grandchildren: Jan Welch (grandson Carl Welch); twins Marylyn Senechalle (granddaughter Matina Matasci) and Garrett Briggs (grandson Nathan Briggs and granddaughter Caris Thetford); and Jim Briggs. His four children and one granddaughter, Thetford, were present for event.

Prior to his service to then A&I at Laredo and LSU, Briggs held faculty positions at Sul Ross State University and the University of South Florida. A Fulbright Scholar, he also taught at Greece’s National Polytechnic University and the Graduate School of Economics.

For additional information on the F. Allen Briggs Folklore Collection contact the TAMIU Office of Public Relations, Marketing, and Information Services at 326-2180, e-mail prmis@tamiu.edu, visit their offices in room 268 of the Killam Library, or click on tamiu.edu. u WWW.LAREDOSNEWS.COM

Opinion

Playing dodge ’em in Laredo

By DENISE FERGUSON

W

e may live in a desert, but on the street it’s a jungle. I was recently reminded of Laredo traffic when I meandered through the Washington’s Birthday Carnival and saw the bumper cars we used to call dodge ’ems in amusement parks back in Rhode Island.

The most recent curious behavior I have observed among local drivers is their dismissal of traffic lights. A case in point is the intersection of Mines Road and Muller Memorial Blvd. There is no question that what we have there is a light that would try the patience of a saint. One can count on waiting at least five minutes to access Muller -- even on Saturdays and Sundays when there are no other vehicles to be seen in any direction. Whenever I am first in line at the light, drivers negotiate around me and have probably finished their supper before I pass through. While I would love to follow suit, I have learned from past experience that I would get nailed.

Another oftentimes-rejected streetlight is at Del Mar and Country Club. And, further up the road, drivers making a left turn do not want to stop at the “turn left on green arrow only” at Bob Bullock and Del Mar coming from TAMIU. As long as the straight path green light flicks on, many drivers zip to the left also.

Continued from page 10

Unfortunately, the citizens of los dos Laredos have not been informed about this decision. Not even the City of Laredo or the City Council had the final environmental assessment when Border Patrol asked for permission to begin helicopter spraying of Imazapyr by the end of this month. Although the City Council approved two previous readings of the Border Patrol’s request for permission to begin the spraying, fortunately, the City Council had the presence of mind to table the decision until such time as they could obtain and review the final version of the environmental assessment.

Most of the City Council had no idea that aerial spraying was the plan. Prior to 9/11, the initial area of helicopter aerial spraying was going to be one of the most beautiful parks lining the banks of the Río Grande. The Border Patrol’s plan says that it would come in later and WWW. L A R E D O S N E W S . C O M

Another dicey habit I have noticed is that some drivers are using the lower part of the HEB parking lot at McPherson/Del Mar as a short cut. That includes drivers who whiz past Starbucks toward McPherson and those coming from McPherson to zip out near Starbucks.

Quite a dismaying turn of events when it was recently reported that a driver taking a similar short cut a few months ago killed an individual. I sometimes like to walk from McDonald’s to HEB, but one of these days… In fact walking or bicycling anywhere in that neighborhood is a challenge.

That particular corner doesn’t need any more excitement, but yet, as was noted in an article in the January issue of LareDOS, a large number of children were out soliciting at that very corner and having a great time bumping each other with balloons while drivers negotiated which of six or seven possible lanes they could cut through. I decided to drive three or four miles out of my way to avoid that minefield.

And speaking of children, a school bus full of children cut in front of me without notice on McPherson and skirted around Calle del Norte on two wheels!

Since moving west, I have noticed a single-minded attitude on the part of drivers who have the right of way. What they don’t seem to recognize is that we

are all capable of mistakes. So if I happen to misjudge the speed of an oncoming car and stall my car at an intersection, you feel it is okay to continue speeding right toward me because you have the right of way? I think several people have been killed or injured in the past few months because of drivers who were apparently “in the right.”

I come from a state where it was regularly acknowledged that we were the worst drivers in the nation. But now I don’t think Rhode Islanders really need to beat themselves up about that. For one thing, I have discovered that dozens of people out west don’t even know Rhode Island exists! So how can we be the worst drivers? Albeit it is true that Rhode Islanders are famous for running caution lights, not making full stops at stop signs, and driving inebriated. But it was not until I saw the insurance cost of a relative who lived in Dade County, Florida that I became aware that, at least to some auto insurance carriers, Rhode Islanders are not the worst drivers in the nation. It’s rather a toss up I suppose as to which state deserves that dubious honor. One thing we all have in common, nationwide, is the inevitable teenage drag races.

Actually, I think Laredo police have done a better job of minimizing the drag race danger as compared to Cumberland, Rhode Island where the police officers

replant native plants, but the toxicity of Imazapyr will be prolonged in the soil.

The public should not let itself be deceived. How do you replace thousands of beautiful trees? The amount of water and care will require an exorbitant amount of taxpayers’ already stretched dollars. Why not just cut out the carrizo in the first place and save the beautiful trees?

Why not create jobs, use manpower, and assign some willing workers to the task? Such a project would easily involve hundreds of workers. Not a bad deal in an era of high unemployment. Just recently, 7,000 people turned up to apply for a stadium job that had 700 positions available. People want to work. Working in nature and with nature is not a bad job. The banks of the Río Grande could be transformed into a very beautiful park for all citizens, residents, and tourists to enjoy -- a place where life could flourish.

There is a Biblical parable about undesirable weeds that were allowed to grow amongst wheat, so as not to disturb the good plants. Once the good plants were mature enough to handle it, the Master separated them. How did He accomplish that? He didn’t destroy all the wheat in order to eradicate the weeds. That would make no sense. What He did do was send His angels who carefully uprooted the weeds and disposed of them, allowing the good plants to flourish.

This principle should apply here. In fact, it already has.

Following the practices of Dr. Jim Earhart and Professor Tom Vaughan of RGISC, along with Professor Tom Miller of the Lamar Bruni Vegara Environmental Science Center on the Laredo Community College campus, some six dozen Texas A&M International University students joined forces on the LCC nature trail on the banks of the Río Grande. Under the leadership of Student Body Presi-

seem to desert popular destinations by 1 a.m. on Sundays when the draggers come out. In Janesville, Wisconsin the races down the main street start around 10 p.m. on a Saturday night. There, the police officers seemed to exercise benign neglect, and people set up deck chairs on the sidewalk to watch the races. And Westheimer Boulevard in Houston turns into a melee where the police officers end up getting in trouble themselves when they overreact to unruly racers.

In Laredo, we occasionally have a hydroplaning problem when soft rains cover the dusty roads. Truckers passing through often ignore the situation and find themselves separated from their trailers. A similar situation happens in the winter in Wisconsin where drivers like to drive 60 mph on black ice and end up causing a 30-car pileup.

Seemingly contrary to my observations, KGNS announced recently that an insurance agency noted Laredo as having one of the best driving records in the country.

Maybe it’s because it doesn’t snow (or rain) here very often. Or, maybe it’s because Laredo’s population is young, and therefore has good reflexes? I have noticed some quick-witted saves while on the road.

So to compensate for my age, maybe I should have bought some tickets for the dodge ‘em rides at the carnival to learn some evasive techniques. u dent, James Cortez, these young citizens responded to the passionate plea of a young, bright 17 year-old fellow student, Charlotte Jackson, to save the trees along the river from aerial spraying.

These willing students joined Charlotte in exercising democracy by showing the officials from the city to the national level that they do not want their world to be environmentally mistreated.

In the early hours of Saturday, March 7, they enthusiastically embarked on a carrizo removal project.

Cutting and stacking. Gloves and band-aids. In a matter of hours of upbeat teamwork, they cleared nearly an acre of carrizo, opening up a view to the Río Grande and sunlight to native plants.

Sadly, city and federal officials could not put politics aside. On March 16, City Council, despite the sound protestations of citizens and environmentalists alike, voted to allow the Border Patrol to spray the banks of our river. u LareDOS | M arch 2009 |

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Opinion

To drink and drive is to risk a life -that is unless you live in Laredo

By MONICA MCGETTRICK

T

here’s a mythological creature lurking in the back of every Laredoan’s imagination: it is called “the designated driver.” With all the hoopla surrounding Laredo’s El Protector Abraham Diaz and his rather sad tale of adult peer pressure and poor decision-making, it’s easy to lose sight of the fact that drinking and driving in this city is par for the course. Here, the designated driver is actually the designated party pooper -- a horrible beast that prefers common sense and rationality to bacchanalia.

Despite the size of our city, there is a depressing lack of entertaining distractions besides bars, and thus, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights often end with last call, dudes peeing against walls, and girls stumbling around on their heels. I’m no teetotaler, so you can believe me when I admit that I don’t care if the folks around me drink themselves into a state of oblivion. I don’t care if folks waste thousands of dollars a year on drinks that pickle their livers and murder their brain cells (but I reserve the right to make fun of them for it). I don’t even care when they participate in asinine events that lead to some sort of self-harm (like pepper spray to the eye). I do mind, however, when those drunkards hop into their cars and drive themselves to another location in order to continue the debauchery and no one lifts a finger to stop them. The motto in this town isn’t “friends don’t let friends drive drunk,” it’s “friends don’t let friends be a buzzkill.”

If you’re unwilling to take me at my word, I suggest a little experiment. Head down to what I like to call Drunken Row on W. Village Boulevard and set up a chair cattycorner to the Sprint store. Wait there until the bars close. When the appointed hour arrives, watch as Laredo’s youth stumble forth, keys in hand. Keep watching as they laugh, shout, swear, and generally consider themselves on top of the world. Then watch as they pile into their cars and screech out of the parking lot, most of them on their way to houses to keep the party going. Watch as the girls hang out of car windows, screaming and swearing at girls in other cars in a manner their grandmothers would be heartily ashamed of while the drivers run the light on Springfield. But more importantly, watch as not a single police car drives by.

There’s a house on Bartlett that I used to drive by. I use the word “house,” but really, it was just a wooden carcass.

For the longest time, the giant tree in the front yard held a sign that read something like this: “A drunk driver did this to our house. Please don’t drink and drive.” I don’t know the story behind the house. I don’t know if anyone was injured, but a house burned to the ground is pretty heartbreaking in and of itself. An entire livelihood destroyed by one reckless evening.

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But what’s more heartbreaking than losing a house?

How about losing a child. A friend. A parent. Perhaps you remember the November 16, 2001 death of 17 yearold Melissa Casiano, whose Mitsubishi Galant ended up wrapped around a tree after King Mills III plowed into her and her friend Dora Juarez, who was gravely injured? Casiano was a bright-eyed student who was only two years younger than me. She would be making her way through the world right now had Mills, who was well over the legal limit for alcohol consumption, been prevented from driving. Where was his designated driver? Where were his friends? Where was PD? What about Afton Miller, who was severely injured after being run over several times in the parking lot of Drunken Row by José Luis Sandoval, an intoxicated youth behind the wheel of a giant truck?

In comparison with these, the case of Abraham Diaz is not a particularly spectacular one, unless you count it as spectacularly pathetic. He was allegedly found intoxicated, locked in his car with his gun belt on, snoring away. He admitted to the officer investigating the matter

to having had two drinks, which doesn’t seem too bad, unless you take into account his doctor’s order that he only have one drink a month. According to his attorney George Altgelt, the reason for this order was because of a heart attack Diaz suffered five years before.

If it weren’t so serious, the situation allows for a certain schadenfreude -- after all, the man who preaches the importance of sobriety to students around our city caved to peer pressure. As stated in the memo sent by Police Chief Carlos Maldonado outlining the reasons for Diaz’s suspension, Diaz “told Inv[estigator] Magana that [his] friend made threats of dialing 911 if [Diaz] did not consume alcoholic beverages with him.” Even if Diaz wanted to prevent his friend from getting in trouble for improper use of an emergency call, a man in his 50s should never be so cowardly as to allow a friend push him around. No means no, after all.

The complete lack of character that excuse implies is almost heartbreaking.

Despite the skewed thinking of the Valero employees who found him and didn’t call it in (what if he had actually been ill), preferring instead to wave down a patrol car to avoid embarrassing the department (what’s one more scandal -- it’s not like he found himself intoxicated after collecting hush money from a maquinta owner), no harm came to anyone on the streets. The employees flagged down Officer Homar Solis, who, as a courtesy to a fellow officer, recruited a stranger to drive Diaz home, with Solis following behind. Diaz then called in a personal day. For six months PD and El Protector were able to evade detection by the public, but it was Diaz’s appeal that brought the matter to light.

This delay, however, is itself a bit of an oddity.

Diaz was found in his car on October 2, 2008, but the Disciplinary Review Board hearing was not held until February 2009, a full five months later. Bureaucracy may run slowly, but that’s ridiculously slow for someone who was accused of “public intoxication.” A source close to Diaz mentioned that this might possibly be because Laura Montemayor, also of the Community Relations Unit, is gunning for the position of La Protectora. If this is true, mommas, don’t let your babies grow up to be cops.

So what does this leave us with? If 23 year-old Olympic superstar Michael Phelps could publicly apologize for smoking pot, how is that a 50+ police officer can’t even humbly admit to making an erroneous judgment?

Personally, I like Diaz. I’ve met him and found him to be an amiable man, and I’ve never heard a bad word spoken about him (until now, of course). But this fiasco only reinforces the ridicule and mistrust cast in the general direction of police headquarters.

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Thanks to all who participated Washington’s Birthday Celebration 2009 January 22 - February 22, 2009

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News

Charlotte Jackson, other students, act to prevent an environmental disaster: RGISC backs effort

By JOHN ANDREW SNYDER

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group of about 70 concerned Laredo students combined forces to alert the government and the local population about an imminent threat to Laredo and Nuevo Laredo’s ecology and a health threat to the populations of both cities. With solid backing from the Río Grande International Study Center (RGISC) at Laredo Community College, TAMIU student Charlotte Jackson led the concerted student effort of mostly LCC and TAMIU students in hand-clearing the land along the LCC Nature Trail on the west side of the campus of invasive carrizo cane on the last Saturday of February.

This is not “just another chapter” in the annals of Río Grande of history and folklore, because it ranks among the most significant. Rather than a legendary Indian or cowboy tale set in the colorful, bygone days of yesteryear, what has been unfolding is an old-fashioned showdown in the “very now,” to borrow a term from Shakespeare, set in legendary Laredo.

The plot of this real-life drama has been in the air for weeks -- the Department of Homeland Security through the U.S. Border Patrol wants to eradicate the carrizo cane along a 16-mile stretch of the Río Grande’s banks at Laredo by spraying it with the herbicide Imazapyr. The government’s stated goal is to better prevent “terrorists and illegally smuggled weapons and other contraband” from entering the United States from Mexico.

Imazapyr, which is effective on carrizo, a non-native species imported from Spain hundreds of years ago, will also eradicate native plant species.

There has been no outspoken opposition to the carrizo eradication effort per se, as the government’s need to better control the border by eliminating the carrizo cane is a public safety issue of which most people approve.

There is only one hitch to the spraying project -- the indiscriminate pattern of destruction of Imazapyr -- as pointed out by Dr. James M. Earhart and Jay Johnson-Castro, executive directors of the RGISC. “We don’t ob-

Laredo students help clear carrizo from the riverbank. ject to the clearing of the carrizo -- it chokes out native species -- nor to the use of Imazapyr, but rather to the way the U.S. Border Patrol plans to apply the poison, which will potentially do a lot of harm as well as kill the carrizo,” Johnson-Castro said.

The “Imazapyr Fact Sheet” describes this herbicide as “a non-selective broad spectrum systemic herbicide, absorbed by foliage and roots.” Therein lies a key bone of contention for environmentalists and other citizens who oppose the spraying project -- it destroys flora indiscriminately.

The U.S. Border Patrol proposed four methods of carrizo eradication-- 1) aerial application by helicopter, 2) burning, then aerial application, 3) mechanical removal, and 4) cut stem, then topical application of herbicide. “If they feel that they have to use herbicide, we approve of only option four, so that only the target plant, carrizo, is destroyed,” Johnson-Castro said.

Johnson-Castro pointed out that by

destroying all plant life with which it comes into contact, the poison Imazapyr will destroy habitat of native birds, insects, and animals, including endangered species like bobcats and ocelots. “It will contaminate drinking water and affect aquatic life adversely, and it is a seRíous eye and skin irritant to humans, as well as being a neurotoxin,” he said.

The Mexican federal government, the government of Tamaulipas, and the government of Nuevo Laredo have officially opposed the spraying project.

“We appealed to all entities who are part of the equation,” Johnson-Castro said, “including Congressman Henry Cuellar, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Laredo City Council, Texas RíoGrande Legal Aid, interim Border Patrol chief Rosendo Hinojosa, and Jesus Chan, special operations officer for aerial spraying. Our legal counsel is Dinah Baer, who has served four Presidential administrations in vaRíous capacities on environmental issues.”

Johnson-Castro added, “The Border Patrol intends to do the spraying before the end of March; Congressman Cuellar has the power to prevent this action and the Laredo City Council could help by tabling the issue one more time. We highly commend Charlotte Jackson and the other conscientious young people who came out to take a stand for their planet, for the Río Grande, and for the people of this area.”

Note: Despite the efforts of RGISC, on March 16 the City Council voted to grant the Border Patrol an easement for carrizo eradication along 1.1 miles of the Río Grande. Council members Mike Garza, Cindy Liendo Espinoza, and Michael Landeck voiced opposition to the aerial spraying of the herbicide. According to Johnson-Castro, tabling the issue one more time would have allowed the RGISC attorney to petition the federal government to reopen the issue for public input, which might have had a considerable impact on a final decision. u WWW.LAREDOSNEWS.COM

Feature

Gus García wasn’t just another tall Texas tale

By ANDY PORRAS

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ven by Texas standards, larger-than-life characters the likes of lawyer Gus Garcia exceeded all such expectations.

I first learned of his heroic courtroom brilliance through my father José’s vivid recollections.

My father was my first and best history teacher. He would detail García’s various exploits to me, ending each with this approximate phrase to affirm his respect and awe: “Few men live a life of greatness and leave positive imprints on the lives of others, on society, and, in some unique instances, the world.”

Many of my father’s lessons revolved around Mexican American experiences that are still slighted in state textbooks. In his day, discrimination against Latinos was a given, overt and rampant throughout the state. Latinos were barred by custom from many schoolrooms and courtroom juries, and by vicious signs posted in Texas eateries, stores, public swimming pools, beaches, and restrooms. In one case, a funeral home in Three Rivers refused to bury a Latino soldier, Félix Longoria, killed in World War II “because the whites would not like it.”

García resurfaced in my life last month through a patchwork of old news accounts, historic photographs, and film clips in the television documentary A Class Apart, about a landmark but little remembered civil rights case that was dusted off on PBS’s American Experience. He was the lead attorney in the case.

“We were not considered intelligent,” explained the narrator.

García’s life story shredded that lie over and over again. After graduating from high school in San Antonio, he attended the University of Texas on an academic scholarship, earning a B.A. in 1936 and an LL.B. in 1938, passing the state bar the following year.

“Gus was a member of the university debate team,” my father told me one day. “The Texans met Harvard WWW. L A R E D O S N E W S . C O M

in competition, and Gus outdebated another great American, John F. Kennedy!”

Drafted during World War II, García became a first lieutenant in the Army. He went to Japan assigned to the Judge Advocate’s office. When the United Nations was founded in 1945 in San Francisco he was part of the U.S. legal team. Then he returned to San Antonio, where he set up his legal practice, diving into several civil rights projects.

After the more celebrated 1946 Méndez v. Westminster Independent School District case ended segregation of children of Mexican descent in California, García filed a similar suit, Delgado v.

Bastrop ISD, in Texas, along with Robert Eckhardt and A.L. Wirin of the American Civil Liberties Union. The García team won.

In the case explored in A Class Apart, Hernández v. State of Texas, García and fellow attorney Carlos Cadena challenged the conviction of a MexicanAmerican defendant by an all-white jury that intentionally excluded Hispanics, not an uncommon practice at the time. They argued that the defendant was denied a fair trial.

It was the nation’s first Latino civil

rights case to be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court. So invisible were Latinos then that the Justices asked García if the people he represented “spoke English at all” and if they were U.S. citizens.

“Garcia wrote a crucial chapter in our Latino history,” my father told me then. “Here he was confronting the 12

most powerful judges in the land at a time when our country didn’t even respect the remains of dead American soldiers because of their skin color!”

So impressed were Chief Justice Earl Warren and his fellow judges that they allowed García an extra 16 minutes to voice his argument.

Never before had the Court granted such permission.

“Not even the great Thurgood Marshall, when he went before the Court to argue the historic Brown v.

Board of Education case had been granted extra time,” my father told me.

Sadly, as the PBS documentary concludes, the bottled demons García had battled for much of his life led to his untimely death at age 49, alone and broke on a park bench near San Antonio’s famed Mercado.

(Texas native Andy Porras is publisher of Califas, a bilingual monthly journal in Northern California. Email him at andyporras@yahoo.com.) u

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Collegiate Challenge volunteers awed by Habitat for Humanity’s hospitality

By DENISE FERGUSON

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arol Sherwood, executor director of Habitat for Humanity, was immediately impressed with the young volunteers who arrived from all over the country during the recent Spring Break. “I could tell this group was particularly diligent from the first day’s orientation meeting,” said Sherwood. “We had one group that had driven 24 hours from Illinois and were experiencing fatigue, but they were at the Tierra Prometida work site at 7:30 a.m. putting out hay to dry the soil after a rainfall and digging ditches in the hardest soil in the world.” They worked rigorously right up to the end of the Habitat workday at 4:00 p.m.

Collegiate Challenge is an alternative spring break Habitat for Humanity offer for students to go outside of their usual space to serve people in all parts of the world. It is a structured, worthwhile alternative to self-indulgent partying alternatives.

Sherwood explained, “The students pay $100 to help with expenses and building materials. They also pay for their own transportation and raise their own funds.” Local churches, which this year included First Baptist, United Baptist, San Martin de Porres, St. Patrick’s Catholic Church, Christ Church Episcopal, First United Methodist, and First Presbyterian, helped by providing sleeping quarters for the industrious 112 volunteers who staffed the work site

Spring break immersion New York students Greta Anarson, Charlotte Kaye, Mia Ritter, Stephanie Sousloffe, and Liz Moore, as well as their teacher Sean Ryan, forwent the usual spring break partying to assist Laredo Habitat for Humanity in constructing a house in Tierra Prometida, off of Hwy. 359. off Hwy. 359 alongside Laredoans and new Habitat homeowners.

Mutual admiration between Laredo Habitat members and the student volunteers was evident in the comments of Kemllen Lee, a group leader from the New York City Brearley School. She said, “We have found the hospitality in Laredo especially impressive. We were met at the airport, and all our needs

were provided for, including accommodations.” She said that every year since 2001 Brearley students from the all-girl K-12 school make Habitat trips to a different location. Lee added that the junior/senior leaders determine the location and that in the past students have worked at Habitat sites in Mississippi, Kentucky, New Mexico, and South Carolina.

“We have been working side by side with the families,” said Lee of the Laredo experience. Chores have involved digging, mopping, sweeping, and building. “We do whatever is needed in the community. It is an opportunity to explore what is happening in the country,” she said.

Sherwood said, “Habitat has worked all over the world. Internships are available. Laredo has a particularly great program, right from the initial contacts; follow-up; reaching out and providing anything that is required.” She added, “We pray and prepare for students for a year in advance. Our aim is to complete our goals so that the families can get into their homes.”

Five of the houses under construction were targeted for completion during Spring Break.

Tierra Prometida subdivision is unique in that all of the houses have been built by Habitat, a factor that helped the student volunteers feel more comfortable at the site since the families in residence allowed the volunteers to use their kitchens and bathrooms.

Sherwood continued, “There is a tremendous need for housing. We are taking applications for home ownership for the 50 planned homes in Tierra Prometida. Eight of the homes are occupied, and eight are under construction.”

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Preservation

Photo by Monica McGettrick

Landmark lotería

A sterling example of historical preservation 1503 Farragut The old McKnight-Fish home (1503 Farragut), which was built in the years between 1890 and 1895 in East Lake architectural style, sits at the edge of the St. Peter’s Historical District and looks to be in a state of decline as evidenced by the peeling paint of its windows, shutters, and trim and window glass replaced with wood. While the owners of other historical homes in the district have exerted an effort to maintain their properties (the Fernandez property across the street), the owners of 1503 Farragut -Victor M. Flores, Victor Flores Jr., Tax Flow, and Carlos Esquivel, according to Webb CAD, have offered the exterior of the building a bare minimum of stewardship. The building features an intersecting gable roof, a hexagonal bay area of single hung windows, stained glass on its double doors and the clerestory windows of the first floor bay, gingerbread detail, front and rear porches, and an upstairs porch to the rear. The 1981 state survey of historical buildings in Laredo called the McKnight-Fish home “one of the best houses of style and period in Laredo.”

Offering over 115 years of service as a home and now a business, the structure begs the favor to be returned in stewardship.

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Built of 30-inch thick sandstone walls in Mexican Vernacular style, the old Leyendecker residence at 204 Flores, has been meticulously cared for by attorney Ricardo De Anda. The home was built for John Z. Leyendecker around 1890. It was the home of architect Alfonso A. Leyendecker and his wife María Estela Palacios Leyendecker and their family until 1980. The structure’s original stone chipchil roof sits under a newer metal roof.

The historically significant landmark, which houses the DeAnda law firm, sits to the east of San Agustín Plaza.

The facade of the one-story masonry house was scored to resemble ashlar stone blocks. The base and lintels are of a more rusticated treatment. The openings are heavily recessed and rounded at the edges.

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WCHF to celebrate the arts and inauguration of E.H. Corrigan, President of the Republic of the Río Grande

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he Webb County Heritage Foundation (WCHF) will host a Founders’ Day luncheon on Saturday, May 16, to celebrate the 254th anniversary of Laredo’s founding and to honor the descendants of founder Don Tomás Sánchez and all the founding families of this historic community. The luncheon is set for 12 p.m. in the Student Center Ballroom of Texas A&M International University. The event is open to the public, and all descendants of founding families are cordially invited to attend.

This year, the Foundation will pay special tribute to the arts. “We are happy to showcase Laredo artists who have made a name for themselves outside of Laredo and also to honor local arts organizations that have shown such outstanding commitment to fostering this most important facet of our community’s heritage,” said Margarita Araiza, WCHF Executive Director.

In the spirit of celebrating the arts,

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the Foundation has selected local arts patron E.H. Corrigan as the 2009-10 President of the Republic of the Río Grande. Corrigan will be inaugurated at the luncheon and present his cabinet that day.

In addition, the annual presentation of Heritage Awards will honor those individuals and organizations that have shown outstanding commitment to historic preservation with special emphasis on preserving our artistic heritage.

To close the event, the annual Grand Raffle will be held to help underwrite the programs and services provided by the WCHF. All Laredoans, current and former, whether from original families or newcomers, as well as all friends and neighbors are invited to this celebration.

Tickets for the luncheon can be obtained by calling the Foundation office at (956) 727-0977 or by email at heritage@webbheritage.org. u

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Sherwood said that Habitat is a member of the Laredo Builders Association, adding, “Three of our homes will be in the Parade of Homes for the first time this year.”

Sherwood, originally from northeast Louisiana, feels blessed to be in Laredo.

Even though she didn’t speak much Spanish when she arrived in 1984, she found that one could “communicate with a smile.” Upon her return from out of town, she said she feels “blessed to be home.”

At the Tierra Prometida work site, Greta Anarson, of New York State said, “My high school makes a Habitat trip every spring break. It is interesting. We put on siding last year; another year we finished a roof. Each time we are working on a different stage of development and see new aspects.”

Anarson continued, “This week we have been offered shelter by the First Baptist Church. On Tuesday we are going to the Emperor Garden; Wednesday to the Bucks hockey game, and Thursday to Lake Casa Blanca for a Mexican fiesta.”

She added, “We haven’t had to cook because all our meals have been provided.”

Not surprisingly, one of the local Habitat families made tamales for the fiesta.

On a Wednesday “Spring Break” morning at Christ Church Episcopal, 12 or so sleepy students rose from their bedrolls and grabbed some cereal and juice for breakfast in the kitchen. “Our experience here has been better than expected,” said Collegiate Challenge leader Jeff Tillapugh. He said his group from Wells College in New York and St. Joseph College in Connecticut “did not know what to expect because of the different culture.

It turned out that the people are very wel-

coming. The church has a nice amount of space, and it is beautiful.” The only glitch that this group encountered was the late shipment of their bedrolls. They attempted to rearrange pillows around their room until the bedrolls arrived.

“The experience in Laredo was awesome,” said Stephanie Melnick. “We did a lot of work, but we also had time for entertainment.” The New York / Connecticut group worked on outside trimming, cutting wood; putting in trimmed doors, carrying dry wall, and making measurements.

The Family Selection Committee selects Habitat homeowners. Sherwood said, “In a time of economic crisis, it is comforting to be working on a new home with zero interest mortgage and no profit added in.”

In order to qualify for Habitat’s noprofit, no-interest, affordable payment housing, interested families are required to put 500 hours of sweat-equity into the construction of their house and into other Habitat houses. Individuals who have been residents of Webb County for at least two years and who have acceptable credit history and are willing to partner with Habitat for Humanity may be eligible. Sherwood said, “We are now also taking applications for the Río Bravo area.

“Likewise, we are always looking for volunteers,” she said, noting that the late José Guerra, the father of LareDOS publisher Meg Guerra, was a founding volunteer who made substantial contributions to the organization. The Laredo Habitat organization first started about 15 years ago. For more information regarding volunteering, donating, or applying for a Habitat for Humanity home, please contact Habitat for Humanity at (956) 724-3227. u

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Perspectives

Mexico’s drug war bloodbath: guns from the U.S. are destabilizing the country

By SILJA J.A. TALVI (This article first appeared on March 18 on alternet.org.) minute is all the time that it takes for an employee in one of almost 7,000 gun shops dotting the U.S./Mexico border to accept a wad of cash from an eager customer, fill out a triplicate sales slip, and slide a nice, new Taurus .45 caliber pistol across the counter. Or two, or three, or twenty, as the case may be.

Add those handguns to the countless tens, perhaps hundreds of thousands of pistols, sniper and assault rifles, semi-automatic machine guns, shieldpiercing bullets, grenades, plastic explosives, as well as anti-tank weapons outfitted with self-propelling rockets passing illegally through the hands of drug cartel foot soldiers and assassins. Throw in the array of weapons favored by DEA and CIA agents, Mexican federal police and military units, and other ‘drug warriors,’ of one sort or another. These are all people who are ready, willing, and able to use violence to get what they want.

If it looks like you’ve got a battle on your hands, you do -- the Mexican drug war has hit boiling point. Mexican authorities have been quite vocal in the past year about the role that the U.S. is playing in the escalation of gun violence in Mexico. Last year, no less than 20,000 weapons were seized in drug-related actions, raids, arrests, and shoot-outs; nearly all of them were sold in the U.S. (The Mexican government has finally been given electronic access, by the U.S. Department of Justice, to be able to trace the origins of registered weapons, but only if they are used in the commission of crimes.)

Last month, the U.S. government’s own Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, released its policy-shaping “2009 International Narcotics Strategy Report.” As the bureau had to admit, “U.S.-purchased or stolen firearms account for an estimated 95% of Mexico’s drug-related killings.” Nowhere in the report was it emphasized, however, that there are at least 6,600 licensed gun dealers in the four states adjacent to the Mexico border. Or that legal loopholes grant

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thousands of other unlicensed gun “enthusiasts” and collectors across the country to sell their wares, without inspection or oversight, at weekend gun shows across the country.

“A vast arms bazaar is rampant along the four border states, enabled by porous to nonexistent American gun laws,” The New York Times editorialized on February 27, 2009, after the indictment of George Iknadosian, a gun-shop owner facing federal charges for knowingly providing weapons to members of the Sinaloa cartel.

“There should be immense shame on this side of the border that America’s addiction to drugs is bolstered by its feckless gun controls.”

The shame is warranted, and worth pondering. The action that needs to be taken, on the other hand, can afford no such luxury, because the people who have the misfortune to live in one of Mexico’s deadly drug war zones have already become the casualties of our demanding drug habits, our orgiastic worship of guns, and our obsession with profit without concern for consequence. In the international munitions and intelligencegathering marketplace, the U.S. is the #1 supplier/dealer of arms, military transport, law-enforcement and detention equipment, surveillance technology, and “non-lethal” weaponry.

On the higher end, weapons deals are usually on the up-and-up, insofar as they’re attached to complex military aid packages, contracts with private contractors, and international “drug interdiction” agreements of the sort that Mexico has with the U.S. through the $1.3 billion Merida Initiative. Other times, the large-scale transfer of weaponry is far less “legitimate,” as in the urban battleground that Mexican law enforcement and military forces now find themselves contending with, courtesy of the weaponry provided to Reagan and Bush-era Central American “allies.” These weapons of war have found their way back up north -- and into the hands of Mexican drug cartels.

Nearly every governing body or law enforcement entity imaginable (including Mexico’s equivalent of the FBI, its federal drug control agency, and Attor-

ney General’s office) has been infiltrated by the cartels and wracked with espionage, graft, and corruption scandals.

But Mexico is right to insist that the U.S. truly acknowledge the extent to which its own citizens (and policies) create and sustain the consumer market for illicit drugs. There’s no getting around the fact that Americans have the highest illicit substance use and abuse rates in the world, and Mexican drug cartels are but the latest of our transnational network of “suppliers.”

In the 21st century, the drug trade is like any other major industry in that it has been fully globalized -- sin fronteras. It just so happens that Mexico’s narco-cartels are now in the lucrative position of picking up where other players in the transnational drug trade have left off -- or, more to the point, were temporarily or permanently forced out because of individual arrests, sting operations, asset seizures,

or other interdiction efforts. Even if the Gulf, Sinaloa, Juárez, and Tijuana cartels were to be completely dismantled tomorrow, there will always be some enterprising individual, group, or fullfledged criminal syndicate to step in where others have been derailed. Why? Americans have a seemingly insatiable appetite for mind-altering substances, whether in the form of cocaine, heroin, hallucinogens, tranquilizers, uppers, downers, and painkillers of all kinds.

And what a profit-generating market this is. According to the National Drug Intelligence Center, wholesale drug profits amount to somewhere between $18 billion and $39 billion annually for the Colombian and Mexican drug cartels. Internationally, the illicit drug trade is estimated to generate at least $320 billion per year.

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In light of that, the international drug war coordinating agency known as the United Nations on Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), has become a bit more forthcoming about pointing out the causal and interconnected variables linking the U.S. with their “supplier” nations. Leading up to the International Commission on Narcotic Drugs, which was called into session on March 11th in Vienna, UNODC Executive Director Antonio Maria Costa oversaw the preparation of several reports to measure the extent of progress toward a “drug-free” world, as outlined by a United Nations meeting and strategy in 1998. These reports, “The Threat of Narco-Trafficking in the Americas” (October 2008), and “Organized Crime and its Threat to Security: Tackling a disturbing consequence of drug control” (March 2009), are unsurprisingly opposed to the decriminalization or legalization of drugs.

But they do, somewhat surprisingly, sing a different tune about the U.S. role in the international drug trade than in previous years.

Noting that 95% of the world’s population does not engage in illicit drug use, and that there are far more deaths attributable to alcohol, tobacco, and legal drugs, the “Organized Crime” report highlights a “disturbing consequence of drug control,” by way of “creation of a lucrative black market for controlled substances, dominated by powerful crime cartels and resulting in unprecedented violence and corruption.”

“Drugs are a commodity,” as the UNODC states. “Profits are ploughed back into increasing the capacity for violence and into corrupting public officials. Together, violence and corruption drive away investment and undermine governance to the point that the rule of law itself becomes questionable.”

In his preface to “The Threat of Narco-Trafficking in the Americas,” Costa makes another bolder-than-expected statement: “Tackling the threat of narcotrafficking in the Americas is a shared responsibility. No country is immune from the problem: all participate, either as a source of drugs, a transit country for trafficking, or an importer.”

On this point, Costa is absolutely right. By now, it has been clearly and abundantly demonstrated that Americans aren’t just the biggest consumers of illicit drugs in the world, but that the sheer number of our gun shops -and the ease with which weapons can

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be purchased -- are significantly responsible for the level of gun violence in Mexico. Still, as recently as August 2008, by comparison, FBI Director Mueller’s speech at the 5th Annual Border Security Conference made no mention whatsoever of the role of American-sold weaponry in the violence on Mexican streets. (Instead, he attributed the situation, as many American drug warriors do, to “gangs,” “stronger border security,” and “progress” by the Mexican government in taking down drug cartels.)

The cartels are swimming in money, while everyday Mexican citizens in several parts of the country are swimming in terror and fear, edged in between violence between the narco-traffickers (and their School of Americas-trained assassins, the Zetas), the federal police, and the military.

But never mind all of that, because there are bigger things for Americans to worry about. For the past month, the crisis of drug-related violence in Mexico has (finally) become the focal point of numerous Congressional subcommittee hearings, press conferences, and high-level Cabinet meetings.

(It took nearly 6,300 murders last year, and more than 1,000 since the beginning of 2009, to get this country to start paying attention.) U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder has called Mexican drug trafficking cartels “a national security threat,” while President Obama met with Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Admiral Michael Mullen to discuss options to support the Mexican government, including surveillance and reconnaissance. And last week, Roger Rufe, director of operations for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), appeared before a Congressional subcommittee to explain that DHS is ready to act, if necessary, to secure border towns. The Defense Department and National Guard would only be called in, he assured members of the House, if a “tipping point” were reached -- without explaining what such circumstances would entail.

For their part, television news networks ranging from FOX to CNN have set about creating a hysterical flutter of speculation about the likelihood of teenage Latino “sleeper cells;” hypothetical collaborations between Hezbollah and drug cartels; the “nightmare scenario” of a crazed, drug-fueled invasion from Mexico; and the perceived need to militarize our border to new heights.

None of this would seem to be of par-

ticular comfort to the people of Ciudad Juárez. They wouldn’t have much time to contemplate why CNN anchorman Don Lemon would take the time to argue with a Texan mayor about the “spillover effect” that the town of McAllen knows isn’t taking place; or why FOX News’ Geraldo Rivera turned to “terrorism expert” Bernard Kerik (disgraced Homeland Security nominee, former Taserexecutive, and multiple felony-charged former NYC police commissioner), for his opinion on whether the U.S. federal agencies and military forces should be moving into Mexican territory to get the situation under control. (Although the connection was never made clear, Kerik and NYC comrade Rudy Giuliani were hired in Mexico City, several years ago, as high-level policing and counterterrorism preparedness consultants to the government.) And that’s because, across the border from El Paso, Texas, the people of Ciudad Juárez (pop. 1.5 million), exist for this moment in time underneath the unyielding thumb of Mexican military occupation. Daily life is being dictated by the commands and checkpoint interrogations of nearly 8,000 federales (black-riot-gear-clad federal police officers) and fatigue-greenclad military troops (nicknamed the “green tsunami” by Juárez media), who have taken complete control over local law enforcement agencies.

Stationed across the state of Chihuahua, but concentrated in Juárez, most of these troops are exclusively trained in wartime offensive strategy and tactical maneuvers that leave little or no room for anything but a violent outcome.

Although barely reported in the U.S. press, citizens of Juárez (and other cities or towns) have accused the military of serious human rights violations since President Felipe Calderón launched his 2006 crackdown on narco-trafficking, including beating people for “confessions,” electrical torture, rape, and the practice of enclosing heads in plastic bags filled with water to simulate (or achieve) drowning.

Calderón wasn’t without public support for the crackdown on drug cartels, who were battling each other -- with increasing displays of public violence -- for dominance in the drug business.

Indeed, crime had long since been an issue in border cities like Juárez owing, in large part, to the constant influx of hopeful migrants and dislocated workers looking for employment in one of the legions of foreign-owned factories, assembly plants built by foreign com-

panies looking to cash in on the lowwage workforce handed to them by the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

Among other developments in the post-NAFTA border region, hundreds of young women have disappeared, raped, and been murdered in Juárez, and they still do. Drugs are readied for cross-border journeys here in ways that are both mundane (e.g., kilos of cocaine hidden in the frame of a car) and mindboggling (e.g., 140 pounds of marijuana strapped to the back of a man flying, in darkness, in an “ultralight,” a motorized aircraft resembling a hang glider.)

Increasingly, many of the drugs stay in Juárez, and other parts of Mexico, something that has led to large-scale addiction the likes of which the nation has never seen.

But just as the acts of gruesome sexual violence, murders, and disappearances of young women in Juárez have gone beyond the realm of random sexual violence, so, too, have the escalating cartel v. cartel-military v. cartel battles over ‘narco-turf’ gone beyond what anyone would reasonably consider “drug-related crime.”

In this border city, nearly 2,000 drugrelated murders have occurred since January 2008, including more than 200 murdered in the first two months of 2009. In this sense, the people of Juárez are the actual, immediate victims of (our very own) drug war “spillover effect.” It’s too late for the thousands of people who have already lost their lives to related violence, but it’s not too late to pull the plug on the easy flow of weaponry to Mexico. And it’s certainly not too late for the American people to recognize and resolve, once and for all, that this is a war that cannot be won: not under any circumstance, not by any country, not by any political leader, and not with all the firepower in the world.

For the sake of the Mexican people, the welfare of all of our global neighbors, and yes, for ourselves, it’s time to close this ill-begotten book on the war on drugs, once and for all.

Silja J.A. Talvi is an investigative journalist and the author of Women Behind Bars: The Crisis of Women in the U.S. Prison System (Seal Press: 2007). Her work has already appeared in many book anthologies, including It’s So You (Seal Press, 2007), Prison Nation (Routledge: 2005), Prison Profiteers (The New Press: 2008), and Body Outlaws (Seal Press: 2004). She is a senior editor at In These Times. u WWW.LAREDOSNEWS.COM

News

World Austism Awareness Day set for April 2; annual walk May 16 at SAC

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aredo’s celebration of World Autism Awareness Day is set for April 2 at Lara Academy, 2901 E. Travis Street from 4 to 8 p.m.

According to Veronica Orduño, president of Families for Autism, “This will be a family celebration featuring a pachanga, entertainment and games for kids, and information for families about autism rehabilitation.”

Several private therapy organizations will be on hand to provide information, including Wiggles Children’s Rehab, Mercy Kids Rehab, and Kid’s Therapy. Local schools will provide entertainment, including cheerleading squads, dancing groups, and the Cigarroa Mariachi Band.

Activities for children will include a Moon Walk, fishing game, and face painting.

The event is sponsored by Families for Autism Support and Awareness, a local group that was created nine years ago to fill a void in support and knowledgeable

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professional information in Laredo for families whose children were diagnosed with autism.

The group holds monthly support meetings that include discussions of effective strategies and advocacy. The group’s objectives are to empower parents and caregivers to better serve their children’s needs; increase community awareness about autism; offer more social activities for families; and work hand in hand with the local school districts to provide the best education for the children.

In addition to the autism awareness celebration, the group is also holding the Fourth Annual Autism Walk on May 16, 2009. The walk begins at 8 a.m. from the UISD Student Activity Center (SAC) on Hwy. 359. Those interested in the walk should visit www. familiesforaustism.org for more information and an entry form.

For more information, call Veronica Orduño at 763-6044. u

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News

Voz de Niños: advocacy as mentorship for children in need

By MONICA MCGETTRICK

A

pril is Child Abuse and Neglect Awareness month, and in honor of the occasion, the board and volunteers of Voz de Niños-CASA Laredo are holding a celebratory fundraising event at IBC’s Lago del Río on April 5. The event is sponsored by IBC, Trevino Eye Clinic, Southern Distributing, Sherfey Engineering Co., Southern Distributing, Southern Sanitation, Transmaritime, Inc., and the Webb County District Attorney’s Office.

After several starts and stops, Voz de Niños (VDN) is finally building up a strong foundation within the community. The organization, aimed at acting as a voice for Webb County’s foster children, first started in the late 80s. Fading out very shortly thereafter, another attempt in 2002 also failed. However, VDN is up on its feet and helmed by Executive Director Edgar Ricalde. A graduate of Texas A&M International University, Ricalde meant to be a teacher, even passing the exam, but he did not immediately find a job within the field.

Eventually, he found his way to Voz de Niños and was hired in February 2008.

“Most of these children come from homes with abusive parents or guardians, or parents who are drug abusers, and some of them have been sexually abused,” said Ricalde.

The program (Court Appointed Special Advocate - CASA) is designed to match volunteers from within the community with a child on a one to one basis. The volunteers serve as “the voice of the child” in court proceedings, at school, and with foster parents.

“Our volunteers act as advocates and mentors, and this program is driven by volunteers. Our hope is to one day have one volunteer for every child,” added Ricalde.

With so many children in the foster care system, the county has a very active foster community. Foster parents have thus far been very receptive to having volunteers in their homes, understanding that these people are key to keeping children from falling through the cracks of the legal system. Child Protective Services (CPS) removes at-risk children from destructive home environments and places them in a previously approved foster home. However, with enormous caseloads, CPS has limited resources, and caseworkers rarely have the opportunity to connect with the children and their foster families the way a CASA volunteer can.

Laredo Community College student and CASA volunteer Aurora García sees her work with VDN as a way “to get as much information as possible from the child and the foster parent as well as the biological parent and see what is best for the child and not the parent.” Garcia emphasizes the enormous caseloads CPS faces, and she, like all involved with VDN, sees this as an opportunity to make a real difference in a life of a child who could very easily disappear within the system.

All board members and volunteers stress that each child is the heart and soul of the program. Their needs come first.

Fortunately, no foster parent thus far has denied access. Fostering is merely a temporary and immediate solution, with the ultimate goal being to reunify a child with family, whether that means parents or relatives. As part of this reunification process, VDN offers the Family Service Plan, which includes psychosocial assessments and employment assistance -- helping parents who wish to regain custody find steady employment.

“More than half the parents manage to get their children back,” said Ricalde.

CASA volunteers interact with everyone.

“They’re another set of eyes and ears,” he added. “They gather all pertinent information from the child’s foster parents, their school, and the court and report their findings to the judge.”

The judge, Paul Gallego, runs the Child Protection Cluster Court. The judge appoints CASA volunteers by court order per case. Ricalde credits him as being very supportive of VDN’s work. This court order allows the volunteers direct access to the child at school, at home, and in court.

Four volunteers have been sworn in so far, with another four in preparation. Each potential volunteer is screened by national and state background checks. They are interviewed, and must submit three letters of reference. During training, their reactions are gauged to make sure they are a proper fit.

Volunteers offer no opinions but merely relate the facts. One of the four volunteers who have gone through the training and have been sworn in is Jayne Hogan, who sees her work with these children as an answer to her prayers.

“I always felt inspired to help children.

I’m a huge admirer of Mother Teresa and her work with the poor, and if I work towards providing a safe home for these children that would be a great reward,” said Hogan. As a mother, Hogan identifies with the need to protect the vulnerable.

Inspiration is a common theme amongst volunteers and VDN board members. Volunteer and Assistant U.S. Attorney Graciela Lindberg describes her work with VDN as reward that cannot be matched.

“I became involved because I believe our current foster care/CPS system is not a perfect system, and many children, regardless of our system’s best intentions, are not given the care they deserve. I felt

instead of wishing for a new system and/ or complaining of the problems, I’d be a part of a solution.”

Liza Guzman, another volunteer, views her work as a way of showing children that they are important.

“We need to show these kids that someone does care, and we need to give them the chance to survive and break the cycle.

The odds against them are huge, but when one child makes it, that is the reward, for the child.”

Board members and volunteers alike emphasize the enormity of the job and the need to recruit more volunteers to help do the work of many. Denise Longoria, President of VDN’s board, has been a clinical social worker for over 18 years. Having worked with people of all different walks of life and situations, she finds the most heartbreaking cases involve those with children who have been abused or neglected.

“These children are completely innocent victims who have had no choice about who their parents or caregivers are or what they do. Abused and neglected children are a vulnerable population who are not able to make choices for themselves, but rather have many people (mostly strangers) making decisions for them. These include caseworkers, supervisors, attorneys, and judges who aim to have the child’s best interest at heart,” she said. Longoria added that while the intentions are always for the best, caseworkers very often have to deal with many other children. The CASA volunteers give these children what the others cannot: trust. Through these relationships, children who are facing confusing and painful ordeals have someone in the ring with them.

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Alzheimer’s Support Group Meeting Tuesday, April 7, 2009 at 7 p.m.

Laredo Medical Center, Tower B, Meeting Room 2

call 723-1707

Parkinson’s Support Group Meeting Monday, April 6, 2009 at 7 p.m.

Laredo Medical Center, Tower B, first floor, Community Center

call 723-8470 or 285-3126.

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WWW.LAREDOSNEWS.COM

News Continued from page 30

“I strongly believe in the mission of Voz de Niños, and my hope for the organization is that we are able to expand the program so that every child can have a volunteer who is assigned specifically to him or her.

While I realize this is a seemingly unreachable goal at this time, I am a firm believer of setting high expectations,” Longoria said.

She believes that the key to reaching this goal is partly through educating Laredoans about the abuse and neglect occurring so frequently in Webb County. It is easy to ignore the issue if not confronted with the harsh reality of it.

Another board member, Tina Treviño, also has experience working with abused and neglected children.

“Previously, I had been a CPS mediator. During the mediation cases sent to me, I had the opportunity to not only have the CPS attorneys, case workers, and parents and their attorneys in front of me, but, most

importantly, someone who knew about the child and only wanted the best for the child -- the CASA volunteer,” she said.

Treviño appreciates the fact that these volunteers often can discover family members who had been overlooked and who can provide a healthy environment for a child, thus ensuring that they remain with relatives.

Those interested in helping out but are not able to volunteer time as an advocate can participate in Voz de Niños Family Field Day. The event offers a family picnic with games, a petting zoo, arts and crafts, and fun as a family -- mother, father, children, and grandparents. The event is from 1 to 5 p.m. Tickets are $20 each or $80 for a family of four. The ticket includes food, snacks, and drinks, as well as the events. Those interested in volunteering can obtain more information at the event.

For more information about Family Field Day or volunteering, call (956) 727-8691 or visit www.vozdeniños.org. u

Create your Future!

Laredo Community College

Linking College to Careers For more information call the Employment Assistance Services at 721-5461.

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Tuesday, April 7, 2009 LCC Kazen College Center 9 am to 1 pm

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Discover Your Interests Decide on a Major Find Employment Register to Win Prizes SOUTH CAMPUS

Wednesday, April 8, 2009 Billy Hall Student Center 9 am to 1 pm

Laredo Community College West End Washington Street • 5500 South Zapata Hwy. • Laredo, TX

www.laredo.edu

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Feat

Ice to Ocean: A trek along the Aysen Glacier trail Patagonia sin represas

By RICHARD SAMES

I

“May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view.”

Edward Abbey. Earth Apples: The Poetry of Edward Abbey (1994)

n a 2006 journey to the tail of South America, my flight to Punta Arenas on the Straits of Magellan passed over the Patagonian Campo de Hielo, and the aerial image of those vast fields and rivers of ice has held sway in my imagination ever since. I knew I had to return to see them up close, and in January of 2009 I had my chance on Patagonia Adventure Expeditions’ Ice to Ocean excursion. The trip was a guided backpacking trip of a kind I had experienced in other places -- rugged enough, I thought, to qualify as an outdoors adventure, but safe enough for a middle-aged out of shape American with a desk job. I liked the idea of fleeing the phone, evading email, eschewing economics, postponing politics, shunning society, and focusing on those soul-redeeming intangibles -- the poetry that nature offers us all.

To scorn all strife, and to view all life With the curious eyes of a child; From the plangent sea to the prairie, From the slum to the heart of the Wild.

From the red-rimmed star to the speck of sand, From the vast to the greatly small; For I know that the whole for good is planned, And I want to see it all.

Robert Service, Rhymes of a Rolling Stone Billed as a study of the hydrological cycle of the Northern Patagonian Ice Field (Patagonian Campo de Hielo Norte) the Ice to Ocean trip is into the Aysen region of Chile. Located in Chile’s Region XI (Chile is divided into 12 non-autonomous regions, plus Santiago), and formally called Region Aysen del General Carlos Ibañez del Campo, Aysen is a completely undeveloped area of far southern Chile containing 45,519 square miles, with a population of about 1.2 persons per square mile, located, geographically, at the point

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where the Andes mountain range that forms the spine of South America falls into the Pacific Ocean.

Patagonia Adventure Expeditions Nature abhors a vacuum, and if I can only walk with sufficient carelessness I am sure to be filled.

Henry David Thoreau, Early Spring in Massachusetts Patagonia Adventure Expeditions (PAEX) is the fulfillment of a dream of Colorado born Jonathan Leidich, who traveled to the Aysen area some 15 years ago and never looked back, and a group of river and mountain guides, outdoor enthusiasts, naturalists, and ecotourism students. Jonathan and his merry pranksters dreamed up the idea of establishing a trail through portions of Parque National Laguna San Rafael -- a seldom visited national park in Aysen that protects a vast area of mountains, glaciers, lenga forests, and lakes and rivers, and of course the Campo de Hielo, all so vivid in color, texture and contrast that one’s imagination, even after two weeks in their midst, fails to render a fully formed vision of the landscape. Expeditions have occasionally crossed the ice fields in the course of a month or two, but there has never been -- until Jonathan arrived -- an organized trek through this region. Only the truly adventurous and well informed and equipped would have considered taking a week or 10-day excursion to graze against the ice fields through what is essentially complete wilderness. There is just no support -- few inhabitants, no easy access, and no way to reach the outside world in the event of trouble. Nevertheless, three years ago Jonathan and the PAEX

team did just that with a view towards constructing semi-permanent campsites each a day’s walk from the next. This is their third year now, and PAEX has hosted something less than 200 people on the trail in that time.

One of the reasons the Aysen area is so undeveloped and unpopulated is that it is so remote. It is bounded on the north and south by the Northern and Southern Patagonian Ice Fields, the third greatest concentration of fresh water in the world (behind Antarctica and Greenland), on the west by the fragmented archipelagos of Chile’s Pacific coast and on the East by the Andes. There was no road access into the region until 2000. My own travels involved a flight to Dallas, an overnight flight to Santiago de Chile, a three-hour flight south from Santiago to the community of Balmaceda, and then a sixhour drive on the Carretera Austral to the community of Puerto Bertrand on the Río Baker. That is pretty much the only way to get there, other than by sea. The Carretera Austral, a project initiated by Augustin Pinochet as a way of opening up the southern provinces of Chile, is, in that region, comparable in width, maintenance, and gravelly washboard roughness,

Crossing the glacier WWW.LAREDOSNEWS.COM

ture glacier that runs off the eastern slope of the mountainous shoulder of the campo de hielo, and then a trek following the glacial runoff to the mountain lakes that form beneath the glaciers and finally following the rivers that spill from the glacial lakes on their way to their eventual discharge into the Pacific -hence, ice to ocean.

The Aysen Glacier Trial

Sitting on washes and potholes to one of Webb County’s ranch roads. In the northern areas, from about Puerto Montt to Balmaceda the road is paved, but in the south it is a rough gravel ranch road. The very existence of the road is anathema to many environmentalists who, while recognizing the need for a north south roadway through Chile, have observed that it was constructed without rudimentary planning to take into account the destruction of flora and fauna and its rapid deterioration and attendant erosion.

Puerto Bertrand is the “world headquarters” of PAEX, which makes its home (which doubles as Jonathan’s) in a little A-frame warehouse/living quarters on the banks of Lago Bertrand. Lago Bertrand is located just below and fed by the frigid waters of Lago General Carrera, a massive body of water on the Chile-Argentina border (and known as Lago Buenos Aires in Argentina). It is the second largest lake in South America. The lake is the headwaters of the Río Baker, which is the largest volume flowing river in Chile at 1,100 cubic meters (29,700 cubic feet) per second of pure clean water.

Measures are meaningless in this extraordinary place, as I would come to learn, where the fantastic lies around every bend, but for comparison’s sake, the Rio Grande at Laredo flows about 3,400 cubic feet per second (USGS 1994 study). In contract to our endangered river, at Puerto Bertrand, the Río Baker is the most extraordinary shade of florescent turquoise blue. The Baker is the largest of five rivers in the Aysen region that flow uninterrupted from source to sea.

From the community of Puerto Bertrand (pop. about 50), our trip involved a two-hour boat crossing of Lago Bertrand and Lago Plombo, an adjoining lake fed by glacial flow, then a two day climb up the mountainous valley of the Río Soler. Most of the rivers and valleys in the region have their origins in snow melt and glacial activity -- the valleys are the familiar U-shaped glacial valley, and the rivers are formed by runoff from the still active glaciers up the valley, and each takes its name from the Glacier at its headwaters, in this case Glacier Soler. Many of the rivers, in turn, merge into one that eventually finds it way to the ocean -- the Soler Glacier becomes the Río Soler, which in turn has a confluence with the Río Baker, which runs to the Pacific. After a walk of two days, the trail then involves crossing a WWW. L A R E D O S N E W S . C O M

There are some good things to be said about walking…Walking takes longer, for example…thus it stretches time and prolongs life. Life is already too short to waste on speed…Walking makes the world much bigger and thus more interesting.

You have time to observe the details. The a glacier utopian technologists foresee a future for us in which distance is annihilated and anyone can transport himself anywhere, instantly. Big deal, Buckminster. To be everywhere at once is to be nowhere forever, if you ask me.

Edward Abbey, Walking The Aysen Glacier Trail, as the route is called, is a 52-mile trail involving an eight-day/seven-night excursion. Although we walked with full backpacks, our load was lightened by the fact that all the food and kitchen supplies were already at the campsites or carried by guides, as were the tents and sleeping pads for each site. Unlike backpacking in Texas’ Big Bend, where you almost always have to carry water sufficient for the entire trek, or even the California sierras, where water filtering is imperative because of the girardia threat, in Aysen, the water is so pure you can drink right out of the many mountain streams and rivers along the way.

So we carried only our personal gear and clothing, all told something less than 30 pounds.

There were 10 of us clients on the trail, along with six guides and a Chilean engineer guest of Jonathan’s, Juan Eduardo Cordero, who had come to see the results of his assistance of PAEX and to help plan for their future. The clients included Christian Samesing, a Santiago banker, and his wife, Nuria Pedrals, Dean of Students at the Catholic University of Santiago; Jaime Cisternas Hoces, a Santiago industrialist and my tent partner; Daniel Squirrel, in the publishing industry in the UK and his wife, Katy Wicks, an equestrian horse trainer with hopes of qualifying for the UK equestrian team for the 2012 London Olympics; Gary McBride, a media executive from Florida with extensive business experience in South America and his daughter Jennifer, whose backpacking journey would continue for three weeks to allow her to shed the burdens of a Manhattan advertising career; and, of all things, two guys from Waco, Texas -- Bryan Taylor, an orthodontist, and John Malesovas, an attorney, who would, after an initial (and certainly mutual) concern that Texasisms might take precedence over the journey with so many of us on the team, turn out to be great companions on the trail.

We crossed the lakes and then walked another four hours or so on Day 1, up and around a mountainous outcrop into the Solar Valley, and camped in the Rock

Garden camp, a grove surrounded by massive boulders with, as in all our campsites on the trial, an icy mountain stream running beside it for a refreshing, if bitterly cold, wash at day’s end.

Day 2 involved an eight-hour walk up and over a mountain outcrop overlooking the Soler Valley and then down into the Valley floor and along the river, then through a forest of ubiquitous Lenga trees (the “old growth beech forest” of many a Patagonian trekking catalogue). Lenga trees are everywhere in this area -- everywhere there is vegetation; there are Lenga trees, lots and lots of Lenga trees. Camp 2, however, was at the Palomar Ranch -- land purchased by Jonathan as a part of the PAEX plan for a jumping-off point into the glaciers. Palomar is a rustic, beautiful setting, with a small cook shack and log fences and corrals for the horses that had brought in some of our supplies for the next few days of our journey.

On the morning of Day 3, it was clear that this day would be different. We had been warned by Hector, the lead guide, that the day’s trek would be 12 to14 hours long, depending on the weather, as we would climb up through a mountain pass to Neff glacier, affix crampons and cross the 10 km glacier, then out over the glacial moraine to the far side and our campsite. This day indeed proved long and hard, although the weather was forgiving.

The crossing of Neff Glacier was pretty straightforward. The guides gave us basic lessons in walking with crampons, which, once firmly strapped to hiking boots, are remarkably reliable on the ice. Because the glacier “flows” and moves with time, each crossing by the PAEX team is different and the guides need to find their way along the crests and ravines cut into the ice.

From a distance the glacial top looks relatively smooth, but on the ice it is clearly formed into waves and often broken by crevasses that we must traverse by following the edges of the ices to find the bridge that allows us to cross.

We suffer no casualties along the way, but the icy ridges with long drops on either side of us, at times just wide enough for a single step, make for nervous walking. My friend Gary (the other “viejo” on our trek, and a full month older than yours truly) did slip on one particularly scary crest, with crevasses falling away on either side of him, but he was agile enough to arrest his fall -- laying flat on the razor edge of the ice legs akimbo on either side, before sliding into what could have been a very dangerous crevasse drop of 30 or 40 feet into an icy cold glacial stream below and beyond down the icy valley for an unlimited distance. After that near miss our concentration was elevated, and we paid careful attention to every step, planting our crampons firmly in the ice before shifting our weight for the next step.

The glacier crossing is dramatic, but in the end neither overly dangerous nor exhausting. What was extraordinary, however, was the colors. Anyone who has seen a glacier knows that color -- the deep florescent blue produced by the ice being so densely packed -- and the surreal feeling that it engenders. It is the first thing anyone observes when describing their encounter with a glacier.

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“I do not know what epithet such scenery deserves; beautiful is much too tame; every form, every colour, is such a complete exaggeration of what one has ever beheld before.”

Charles Darwin, The Beagle Diary, June 1, 1832 Superlatives truly do lose their power in the presence of that which is so much greater than ourselves as to dwarf us and our little lives by comparison. The vast rivers of flowing ice coming off of the mountaintops far in the distance that seem to flow on forever; the blue whiteness of the ice against the dark granite faces of the Andes peaks -- it is truly indescribable and one of the great experiences of my life to be in the middle of a scene so truly majestic. Here we headed more or less west, in the direction of the Pacific and after a four to five hour crossing of the glacier we arrive at the western shoulder of this great river of ice and witness the power of nature in one of its most dramatic forms. In geological time, centimeter after centimeter, the flowing glacier has deposited its sediment along its bank. Think of the pebbly sandy shore on the bank at the turn of a great river, except that the glacial pebbles are huge b oulders, and the sandy shore is a vast moraine of ice and concrete hard packs of sand and piles of boulder upon boulder.

Again, we had been warned that this was to be the most difficult part of the trek, and indeed it was. Here our group spent the next five hours, negotiating roll upon roll of boulders piled 20 or 30 feet high or more -- all piled upon a solid ice bottom that required us to keep our crampons affixed as we climbed and descended again and again. Here, as on the glacier itself, the Aysen Glacier trail is remade over and over by the guides, never the same one trip to the next.

I was sure footed enough on both the ice and the moraine that I fell only once -- but once was enough. Hector, walking some distance behind me, watched from the top of a moraine crest and observed later that all he saw was crampons flying through the air as I fell on the rocks and rolled to allow my backpack to absorb the shock of the fall. I was not much worse for the wear, and this was an exhausting but exhilarating day that I will not soon forget.

Fortune smiled upon us on glacier day as we had great weather, and the following day was scheduled to be a rest day. Rain began to fall as we made our way into Camp 3, and the rain fell and the Patagonian winds blew all the following day. It was as if the spirit of the glacier had scheduled the rain on the very day we were to lay low. As we settled in to Camp 3, I made my way to the stream that ran by the camp and lowered my sore legs into the icy water (an old runner’s cure for battered muscles). As I sat pondering the spiritual nature of this journey and the other worldliness of the experience I looked up to find a Humuel deer - an endangered species in the area -- standing beside me. The strange creature by the stream was an exclamation point to the day that began by a nervous campfire and ended in the feeling of having truly been touched by the magical.

If any of our team thought the best, most interesting, or the most difficult days of our journey were behind us after the glacier crossing, the next several days of our trek put those notions to rest. We crossed another valley and then made our way back up to the side of the next glacier flowing out of the mountains, the Colonia Glacier, and then followed along its western bank on the way back down into

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On the final leg of my journey, I had mixed emotions as the rest of the clients had signed up only for the trail portion, and I was to continue for another four days on the Ice to Ocean excursion, rafting on the Rio Baker to its mouth at Caleta Tortel, 100 or so kilometers away on the Pacific Coast. I bade farewell to my trail friends and hello to my new guides, Yoani Arriata, one of the strongest, most thoughtful, and capable men I have ever met, and Sara Donosio, an eco-tourism graduate of Santiago’s Andres Vello University, doing her internship with PAEX for the summer before writing the requisite thesis for her degree.

Yoani and Sara were great guides and companions for the river trip, considerate of my clumsiness with El río Baker at Puerto Bertrand the raft oars and my fly rod, and full of information, the Río Baker valley. Each of the next few days involved opinions, and good cheer on the trip. eight to nine hour treks up and down the mountainsides For three idyllic days we floated down the Río Baker along the glacial valley, at times crossing low spots where -- another superlative -- the greatest quantity flowing the waters cascaded down from the mountainsides, and at water in Chile. We reached the rapids (Class III) and others cresting hills, valley overlooks with spectacular vis- the Saltón, the extraordinary canyons of the Río Baker tas of the glaciers, the lakes, the mountains, and the valley. where the river, normally 200 or more meters wide, is The views were again astounding -- mountain peaks in the forced into a mountain canyon only 25 to 30 meters wide distance covered with ice and flowing glaciers and the gla- from which it spills out in a cascade of falling water to cial valley flowing below us. The shoulder of the Colonia again reclaim banks. Sitting on the rocks over the Saltón rises some 90 meters off the valley floor below us at that that evening, the very earth rumbled with the power of point, and the ice is that same jagged glacier blue. falling water and made me feel very small.

Our trek followed along the ridge and slope of the sides After the Saltón, we spent another two days on the of the lake below Cachet Glacier, Lago Cachet II, which is Río Baker, rafting through magnificent snow capped refilling from a recent Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (see mountain valleys on the river’s course to the Pacific. The Part II of this article next month for more on the GLOF Baker spills into the Pacific at Caleta Tortel, a tiny comevents and attendant ecological controversies). The sides munity that hangs off a rocky outcrop overlooking the of the lake are another challenge, involving four or five ocean and archipelagos. Tortel had no automobile access hours of walking through an unstable rock field -- the “ta- until about 2004, so there are no roads in the town at all. lus slopes” -- taking step by ankle-breaking step at a time, All the wooden buildings are connected to one another careful to test each rock step as the rocks fall away below by wooden walkways. My guide, Yoani, was raised in us, and cautious of the boulders overhead that hang by Tortel where he and his father worked cutting Cypress grains of sand before their inevitable fall to the lake. PAEX timbers and floating them down the river to the ocean.

Camps 4 and 5 are spectacular- perched above the valley The town is still remote and practically inaccessible and with magical views of the landscape. was a fitting end to my ice to ocean journey into the At Camp 5, my personal favorite, the view is of 3,366 Chilean wilderness. meter Cerro Arenales, one of the tallest peaks in the region.

Our guide Carlos (a transplanted Mexican who moved to Yoani Aysen for the outdoor education and adventures it offers) has taken pains to introduce us to Arenales, his “novia,” “There once were men capable of inhabiting a river which he and a group of guides propose to summit later without disrupting the harmony of its life” this year. The eastern face of the mountain is a solid sheet Aldo Leopold, The Song of Galivan (1940) of ice on a granite face, and the mountain has never been summitted by that route. Carlos, naturally, proposes to be Postscript. After my arrival back home, I received the the first to do so, and having spent a little time with him, I sad news that my guide Yoani, one of the mentally and have no doubt that he will succeed. The next-to-last camp physically strongest persons I have ever had the pleaon the trail is reached by a boat crossing of Lago Colonia, sure to be with, and who taught me so much about his and a final trek to Rancho Sol de Mayo, another tract of Aysen region and the river he grew up on, was killed in land owned by Jonathan. Sol de Mayo is a serenely beauti- a kayaking accident on the river the week following my ful site in the Colonia Valley, bordered by the Río Colonia journey. I am so grateful for his kindness and friendon one side and the Río Clara on the other. It is bounded ship and the short time I was able to spend with him,

by Parque National Laguna San Rafael, a UNESCO world and recognize that there are few persons, at least in my heritage site, and hence forever protected from develop- limited experience, of his type in this world -- wholly ment. dedicated to the place in which he was raised. He lived his whole life in complete harmony with the rivers and The Río Baker mountains of his birthplace, and shared a little of that time educating me on the flora, fauna, geology, and “When in the wilderness, all else is forgotten. most of all enlightening me with his passion for the One does not count as wasted any time spent place. Yoani had a love of the Aysen region and his river watching the clouds, the trees or the water.” that was expressed in his every action and I will never Sig Olson, Field and Stream, 1928 forget him. u WWW.LAREDOSNEWS.COM

Feature

The last team to wear the “L” won a championship for everybody; 45-year Championship reunion

By JOHN ANDREW SNYDER

WWW. L A R E D O S N E W S . C O M

Courtesy Photo

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n the public school scene in the spring of 1964, Martin High was still the Laredo high school, because it was the only public high school in town. The players and coaches of the Martin High School baseball team still wore the traditional “L” on their caps that year, a tradition faithfully carried over from old Laredo High. That time-honored tradition would come to an end in September of ‘64, with the opening of J.W. Nixon High School.

I was a reserve infielder on that ’64 squad, and Robbie, my older brother, was a senior and a left-handed starting pitcher who would end up pitching the clincher for the district championship (a no-hitter) against McCollum halfway through May. At barely 15 years old, I was the “baby” on a seasoned squad of great veteran players, mostly seniors and juniors. Our coaches were legends of Laredo sports history -- Albert Ochoa “El Coach de Oro,” head coach, and Eusebio “Chevo” Contreras, assistant coach. The talent, the leadership, and the chemistry were there from Day One, and we never looked back.

The 1963-64 school year was a great one for the Red and the White -- Martin High’s football, basketball, and baseball teams were loaded with exceptionally talented players, guys with a lot of heart. The football team, nicknamed “the Rocks of Gibraltar” by the media, was one for the ages, right alongside the 1954 “Eleven Iron Men,” and the fantastic 1958 squad that featured Mickey Galo, Billy Hall, Marshall DeSpain, and a host of other MHS immortals.

Several guys on our ’64 baseball squad excelled in more than one sport. George Haynes and Ruben Vela played four sports (football, basketball, baseball, and track), Victor Woods, David Sauceda, and Tony Gonzalez played three (football, basketball, and baseball), while Gabriel “Chicho” Palacios, Conrado Hein, Jesse García, and José Luis Gamez competed in two sports each.

It might have been an omen of great things to come when, relatively early

Martin HS baseball team celebrates 45th anniversary The 1964 Martin High School baseball team will be gathering April 3 to celebrate the 45th anniversary of their District 16-AAAA baseball championship. According to steering committee members José Luis Gamez, Robbie Snyder, and Manuel Perez, a hospitality reception, provided by Martin HS, will take place at the school cafeteria at 5:30 p.m. The team will then be formally introduced at a ceremony before the start of the Martin vs. Alexander baseball game. in the District 16 4-A baseball season, we managed to beat Edgewood’s slick mound ace Bob Cervantes. The guy had a lot of presence on the mound, and his reputation preceded him everywhere he went. Cervantes’ blinding fastball tamed our bats and our egos for the first four innings. But when our bats woke up, it looked like a five-alarm fire drill, and we ended up riding a Jesse García home run to victory over the Red Raiders.

From that point on, we weren’t afraid of anyone, and we truly expected to beat everyone we played, and that’s pretty much what happened.

We didn’t have a perfect record -- we lost a game now and then -- but what I remember best of all besides all the winning that we did was all the fun that we had -- winning games, practicing on blistering-hot afternoons

after school on a rocky practice field, riding on the bus to and from our victims’ towns (chauffeured by our beloved “Maestro” Henry Guerra in a toasty, trusty Yellowhound bus), and of course the meal stops at greasy spoon restaurants for post-game meals -- always chicken fried steaks and mashed potatoes, always delicious. An occasional brown-bag special or two might have been thrown in once in a while for good measure, just to keep our digestion honest, but I truly only remember the chicken fried steaks at the diners.

I can’t call it anything but a bonus that our season of triumph ended on the afternoon of prom night with a double-header victory before the hometown fans to ice the district championship. It was something right out of Ripley’s Believe It Or Not -- 17-year

old right-hander José Luis Gamez, one of the greatest Laredo righties of all time, pitched a two-hitter in the opener, and 17-year-old lefty Robbie Snyder pitched a no-hitter in the second game. Those were two games I didn’t mind sitting on the bench to watch.

We loved our school and our classes, but as is probably true for most game-trippers, not a whole lot of studying went on in that school bus.

I guess it didn’t seem to us like the right way to savor the moment. It was like we knew that the books weren’t going anywhere, but at the same time we were aware of the fact that once our little time bubble popped (a time bubble shaped like a school bus), we were going to wake up from this beautiful dream to find ourselves adrift in the currents of the stream of consciousness 45 years down the line, 60+ years old, and still anxious to share a victory handshake, a hug, and a laugh with the brave-and-aging companions of our golden youth.

On the night of April 3, 2009, this time-lapse scenario will unfold at the Martin High School Gymnasium, and then, for the first time in four and a half decades, the roster of the 1964 District 16-4A Baseball Champions will be read over the loudspeaker with all of those Mighty Tigers, including, in spirit, Albert “El Coach de Oro” Ochoa and David Sauceda (God bless them and clutch them to His bosom) present and accounted for, if not quite as spry as we used to be.

Just as we acknowledge and appreciate this wonderful gesture towards us

by Martin High school principal Blas Martinez Jr. and the hosting committee, our presence at this event will also serve as a gesture of love on our part to all our true believers -- our moms, our dads, our Number One Fan, the late Matias Arambula, and to all our schoolmates, especially those who came to watch our games and gave us words of encouragement in the hallways, the hallways themselves, the high arched windows, the un-air conditioned classrooms, our teachers, Colonel August Hein, Mr. Fernando Peña, and the spirit of togetherness and accomplishment that forever binds us together. u LareDOS | M arch 2009 |

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Opinion Continued from page 12

As a city we have rarely acted on behalf our most precious resource, the waters of the Río Grande and its wild riparian habitat. To put into perspective this City government’s commitment to environmental issues, consider that the City has issued more information about DTV converter boxes than it has about requesting public input for the carrizo eradication/control, the herbicide Imazapyr, and what precautions (in Spanish and in English) Laredoans need to take if they live in proximity to the proposed spraying areas.

Even at this late date, the entire City Council could step up to the plate and tell the federal government what we will allow on the riverbanks at Laredo, Texas. And by example

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we can tell Nuevo Laredo and every downriver community that we did our part to safeguard the waters of the Río Grande.

A record of environmental responsibility will be considered by many voters in the next mayoral and city council elections. It will not be enough to have a plank of green promises.

You have my word.

[Note: The recently filed Barrio de Colores lawsuit which challenges the Department of Homeland Security and USBP for violation of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and a host of issues (including that the government’s Environmental Assessment and FONSI (Findings of No Significant Impact) do not comply with NEPA) can be read at www.laredosnews.com along with a fact sheet for Imazapyr.] u

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News

Many local resources available for DTV transition; stations working together to assist viewers

C

ongress recently extended the deadline for the digital transition from February 17, 2009 until June 12, 2009. After this date, most TV broadcasting will be digital. To help answer the many questions the transition to digital television (DTV) raises, the City of Laredo and Webb County have partnered with television media partners KLDO-Univision, KGNS-Pro8 News, and KVTV-13, as well as representatives from Congressman Henry Cuellar’s office, to host town hall meetings throughout the city and county to help inform and educate citizens about the pending digital transition.

The town hall meetings will be held at various City of Laredo recreation centers.

In April, these meetings will take place at the outlying colonias’ self-help centers.

Representatives from each of the partnering organizations will make a brief presentation about digital transition; demonstrate the installation of the converter boxes; help individuals apply for coupons for the converter boxes; air a brief video about the transition and installation; and answer any questions. Additionally, KLDO, KGNS, and KVTV have donated several converter boxes, and one will be given away -- for free -- at each town hall meeting in March and April.

“We encourage all the citizens of Webb County not to wait until the June 12th conversion date and to apply now for the discount coupons available for the purchase of a digital converter,” said Webb County Judge Danny Valdez. “The town hall meetings will be an excellent opportunity for residents to ask questions about the conversion and will also give them an opportunity to learn how to install the converters,” he concluded.

For viewers who have one or more televisions that receive free over-the-air programming (with a roof-top antenna or “rabbit ears” on the TV), the type of TV an individual owns is very important. A digital television (a TV with an internal digital tuner) will allow viewers to continue to watch free over-the-air programming after June 12. However, if individuals have an analog television, they will need a digital-to-analog converter box to continue to watch broadcast television on that set. This converter box will also enable them to see any additional multicast programming that local stations are offering.

Television owners should be aware that even with a digital-to-analog converter box, they will still need to use an antenna to receive DTV signals. It is also important to know that if the television currently receives good quality reception on analog channels 2-51 with a broadcast antenna, it should be able to receive digital television signals, including high definition television (HDTV) signals, with the same broadcast antenna. Individuals do not need to purchase a “DTV antenna” or an “HDTV antenna” to receive DTV or HDTV signals.

“As broadcasters, we have a responsibility to serve and inform this community,” said Univision general manager Terry Elena Ordaz. “We are totally committed to helping the public understand and be prepared for the upcoming digital transition,” she added.

“All local broadcasters have been reminding their viewers of the upcoming transition,” said Carlos H. Salinas, general manager of Pro8News. “We don’t want anyone to lose their television programming, not only for entertainment pur-

Continued from page 17

But Diaz is not the only local cop who is bringing doubt and shame to PD. Take, for example, the strange twist surrounding Officer Solis. LareDOS received an anonymous message, which lead us to a police report.

Weeks after Diaz was discovered at the Valero, 26 yearold Solis was arrested outside Cheers for two offenses: interfering with the duties of a police officer and resisting arrest. According to the Rules and Regulations of the Firefighters’ and Police Officers’ Civil Service Commission of the City of Laredo, Rule 2, no officer is to be drinking intoxicants while on duty or be intoxicated while off duty. That’s right ladies and gentlemen.

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Are Your TVs Ready For Digital?

On June 12, 2009 all television stations will cease transmitting in analog and will start broadcasting digital signals which will require a converter box. The public is invited to free town hall meetings at the locations listed below to learn all the facts about the upcoming DTV transition.

poses, but also and more importantly, for news and emergency broadcasting. It’s a win-win situation for all of us to partner to proCity of Laredo mote this all important change,” Tuesday, March 17, 2009-6 PM he added.

Beginning in 2008, U.S. houseCigarroa Recreation Center 2201 Zacatecas holds were able to obtain up to Wednesday, March 18, 2009-6 PM two coupons worth $40 each toward the purchase of converter Farias Recreation Center 4418 Old Santa Maria Road boxes. The National TelecomThursday, March 19, 2009-6 PM munications and Information Administration (NTIA), a part Hillside Recreation Center 320 Wyoming of the U.S. Department of ConTuesday, March 24, 2009-6 PM gress, which has issued rules regarding the coupon program, East Hachar Recreation Center 1102 North Smith will run the program. Please Thursday, March 26, 2009-6 PM note that these coupons will expire 90 days after mailing.

Tarver Recreation Center 2902 Tilden “We are so proud to be able to Saturday, March 28, 2009-10 AM work with our media partners, and of course, the leadership of Ladrillera Recreation Center 2100 Pinder our local government to all work together for a common cause and inform the community about the June 1-888-CALL-FCC. There is a good ex12th digital transition,” said Gabriel Gon- planation of what DTV is and questions zalez, general manger for KVTV-13. consumers should ask when purchasWith the digital converter box, view- ing a new TV, as well as what programs ers will still be able to receive program- are available in DTV. ming from Mexico. Additionally, viewers Laredoans can contact 3-1-1 for more in Nuevo Laredo, who are not eligible for information about the digital transithe coupon program, may also purchase tion, the town hall meetings, or instalthe converter box to continue to receive lation procedures. The City of Laredo the local Laredo stations. Mexico has Public Access Center at 721-2050 or 1100 begun its transition to digital television Garden Street offers a free demonstrabroadcasting and will complete it in 2021. tion on installing a converter box. AdCable or satellite customers should ditionally, an instructional installation check with their service providers to video, in both English and Spanish, will be assured of a smooth transition after be airing on Public Access Channels 3, June 12, 2009.

13, and 18. KLDO, located at 222 Bob There are many sources of informa- Bullock Loop will also assist any viewtion about the digital transition, but one ers with free converter box installation of the best is www.dtv.gov, or calling demonstrations, as well. u

Another member of our glorious police department was drunk as a skunk and throwing punches.

After holidays, LareDOS usually receives a press release stating that in a citywide dragnet, PD nabbed x number of drunk drivers (the biggies are New Year’s Day and the 4th of July). But what about the other 363 days of the year? Why not be proactive instead of reactive? What happened to that house, to Afton, to Melissa, should have never happened at all. And why would Laredoans obey the law when those charged with upholding it cannot?

The solution is not to ban drinking. The solution is not to close bars. Part of the solution is educating the youth of our city that the perils of drinking and

driving far outweigh the fun that can be had on a night out, which is partly what El Protector did. But even replacing Diaz won’t undo the damage that’s been done. El Protector is now an object of derision, even if the position becomes La Protectora. And if there are no consequences besides the deadly, what reason do our youth have for curbing their excesses? And if the man teaching them about the consequences lacks the character to practice what he preaches, and if the police who are hired to protect us only do so when it is most convenient, and if those same police prefer to hide the truth, what hope do we have that we can prevent another family from suffering the loss of a child? u LareDOS | M arch 2009 |

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Photo by Monica McGettrick

High attendance for semi-annual job fair In the first two hours of the recent Workforce Solutions of South Texas’ semiannual job fair over 1,000 Laredoans came in search of employment. According to Brissa Vela, business services and public relations specialist for Workforce, there has been a marked upswing in Laredoans visiting the center. “We usually had around 100 people coming to the center a day. Right now we have about 350, although many are for foodstamp services,” she said. The fair, held at the Laredo Civic Center, featured governmental agencies like the Texas Department of Transportation and Customs and Border Protection, as well as businesses new to Laredo like T.J. Maxx.

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Literary Classics

Main-Traveled Roads (1891)

by Hamlin Garland Chronicler of the middle border (U.S. - Canadian, that is) “…his eyes…reflected… the beauty and majesty of the sky”

By JOHN ANDREW SNYDER

H

annibal Hamlin Garland was Wisconsin-born and partially Iowa-raised, and he is recognized as one of the most faithful and sympathetic chroniclers of the struggles of Midwestern farmers and the Midwestern way of life.

Garland in his lifespan (1860-1940) had a perfect chronological vantage point from which to research his topic, and he had just the right family background -- he was the son and the grandson of people who worked the soil.

What’s equally important, he loved the Midwest, its farms, and its people.

He saw beauty everywhere he looked, even when he was looking at the ground -- “Red lilies starred the grass with fire.”

He was passionate about his borderlands and its inhabitants -- “…something in the élan of it all; …the air was indescribably sweet, resonant, and stimulating.”

But even though Midwestern farm life was hard (Henrik Ibsen’s brother starved to death on an Iowa farm), Garland refused to be pessimistic in his treatment of it in his stories. He didn’t gloss over the harsh realities, but rather, he preferred to depict the picturesque qualities of the scenery, the lifestyle, the mundane chores, the traditions, and the quaint rural accents of the people.

Hamlin Garland did not invent the ‘local color’ genre of literature, but he may have been its greatest practitioner. His writings are an Impressionist collection of picturesque scenes in a screen-porch gallery with the sunlight streaming in -not formal, stodgy, art academy studies in a marble-walled museum.

Garland struck paydirt with his first book, a collection of stories titled MainTraveled Roads, of which the “The Branch Road,” is the best of the bunch. Although the story’s plot is negligible, that really isn’t important, because Garland is more interested in painting a picture whose elements transcend the traditional action elements of a story -- there are no twists and turns, no thematic intricacies, no

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built-up tensions or anxieties.

What’s important is that a young (20 or so) Midwestern farm boy takes a dawn walk down a typical rural road and soaks in the sights and sounds, loving every minute of it. It is pretty obvious that the farm boy is the young Hamlin Garland, the observant, inquisitive, nature-loving son of the borderlands, whose artistic sensibilities are moved to eloquence by what he sees. His descriptions of what he sees seem to be what the story is really about -- why he is writing at all.

Early in his trek (he doesn’t say where he is going) he says, “Jays called in the thickets where the maples flamed amid the green oaks, with irregular splashes of red and orange.” He is full of anticipation, and has a presentiment that the borderlands are not going to let him down: “The broadening heavens had a majesty and sweetness that made him forget the physical joy of happy youth.”

The youth’s (Garland’s) sunrise trek fills him with joy and anticipation: “… the ever-shifting streaming banners of rose and pale green…made the east too glorious for any words to tell.” He senses that there is something profound in it all: “The youth dreamed as he walked; his broad face and deep earnest eyes caught and reflected some of the beauty and majesty of the sky. He was filled…with a vague feeling of the mystery and elusiveness of human life.”

Garland is a serious writer, and the youth in this story is not simply out on a sightseeing excursion, for he observes, “Human life does not move with the regularity of a clock. In living there are gaps and silences when the soul stands still in its flight through abysses -- and there come times of trial and times of struggle when we grow old without knowing it.

Body and soul change appallingly.”

There are 11 good stories in MainTraveled Roads, and for a century now they have inspired appreciative readers to read Hamlin Garland’s critically acclaimed novels, like Son of the Middle Border and Daughter of the Middle Border. u WWW.LAREDOSNEWS.COM

Dutchman’s Gold

Move over, mutilator-chimp the smartest detective who never lived once pinned a double murder rap on an orangutan

By JOHN ANDREW SNYDER

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hen will the ape crime wave end? I remember an Anthro teacher up at State U telling the class one time about how dangerous adult chimpanzees are. The fact that juvenile chimps are playful and fairly benign creatures is borne out by the fact that Maureen O’Sullivan made six Tarzan movies without getting her lips torn off, or her ears or her nose or her eyelids, for that matter. What happened to that poor woman in Connecticut earlier this month -- her face severely mutilated by a 200-pound adult chimp -- is terribly sad for three reasons: 1) the incident was probably avoidable had anyone read the owner’s manual, 2) the victim had been attacked by that chimp before (she should at least have been ape-rehensive), and 3) the

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chimp was just doing what its genes told it to do, and ended up getting shot to death.

Cheeta, Johnny Weismuller’s pet chimpanzee in Tarzan the Ape Man (1932) and Tarzan and His Mate (1934), was really a Hollywood chimp named Jiggs, who was replaced for the Cheeta role on the Tarzan set by Jiggs II before the first Jiggs reached full maturity. Other juvenile Hollywood chimps were used on many other Tarzan and Tarzan spinoff sets, in addition to the Jiggses. All of these chimps were docile and relatively safe to work with because none of them had reached “dangerous” maturity.

Back in the 1930s, as today, it didn’t take a heck of a lot of deductive reasoning to understand that chimpanzees “go ape” when they reach maturity. After all, the phrase “Elementary, my dear Watson”

was getting a lot of playing time, what with the popularity of Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce as Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson in a run of successful mystery movies based on the novels of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

Doyle wrote scads of other stuff, but regrettably didn’t stick to Sherlock Holmes mysteries, as the rest is pretty forgettable.

Edgar Allan Poe, on the other hand, writing half a century before Doyle, was considerably more successful at “crossing over” from one genre or sub-genre of literature to another and keeping up the quality of the writing. No matter what he wrote, Poe was entertaining -- his poems are odd and anything but boring, his horror tales can freak you out and usually do, his whimsical stories are fun to read, and

his detective stories, all three of them, are compelling masterpieces --“The Murders in the Rue Morgue,” “The Mystery of Marie Roget,” and “The Purloined Letter.”

Chevalier Auguste Dupin outsmarts the cops in all three stories. The narrator of all three tales, a “friend,” says that “no more sagacious agent could be… imagined,” and not even the great Sherlock Holmes, who was modeled after Dupin, might have given him a run for his money, had it not been for the fact that Holmes wasn’t created until 1887.

Chevalier Dupin was definitely ahead of the pack when it came to sleuthing, just as Edgar Allan Poe was ahead of the learning curve when it came to revolutionary change in literary trends.

Continued on page 46

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IN .PDF FORMAT AT WWW.LAREDOSNEWS.COM ADVERTISERS: YOUR AD APPEARS IN THIS VERSION AT NO EXTRA CHARGE

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Movie Review

Slumdog Millionaire -- worth every penny

By JOHN ANDREW SNYDER

T

hey got it right. I’m not that sure what “it” is, but whatever “it” is, they did it full justice in the movie Slumdog Millionaire. In fact, this whole movie is about justice -- poetic justice.

This is technically an artistic term, often used to describe “fair returns” in real life situations. Artistic terms for things artistic.

There’s no mistaking Slumdog Millionaire for anything but a work of art.

In fact, the term tour de force comes immediately to mind. This is a work of cinematic art that serves itself up to you (very modern) right from the gitgo as sit-back-and-get-your-money’sworth ART. The only thing wrong with this is that is that the action keeps you on the edge of your seat -it’s like you’re drawn to it like a hummingbird to nectar. The nectar of the passionflower, named for the Passion of Jesus Christ before and during the

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Crucifixion. This isn’t er throughout the idle metaphorical inmovie. dulgence. It’s hard not This is not to infer in to experience mental any way that director flashes of the Stations of Danny Boyle was trying the Cross or the stoning to cook up a Jesus story of St. Stephen or the ‘arset in Mumbai’s (forrowing experience of St. merly Bombay) slums, Sebastian while you’re á la Orson Welles shiftpuzzling together the ing Macbeth over to Harexcruciating, cubisticallem with an all-African ly-rendered tribulations American cast. Basiand sufferings of Jamal cally, Slumdog Millionaire Malik (“Malik” means is a film about a young “king”) and his under- SM Director Danny Boyle man, Jamal, played by world-connected brothDev Patel, from the “uner Saleem. The brothers’ touchable” slums, getrepeated self-identification with (two ting a shot at winning millions of rupees of the) Three Musketeers along with on a television quiz program. the purposely Passionate metaphoriBut Boyle was doing a lot of cookcal back current set in motion by the ing, and a lot of inferring. It wasn’t director’s hand and Jamal’s unshake- chop suey, but it was plenty chopped able love for his tarnished childhood up. The picture frames (Cubism) and flame Latika keeps two themes -- jus- the time frame (flashbacks). This movie tice and true love -- on the front burn- is entertainment at the Boyle-ing point,

and I won’t apologize for that line any more than D.B. did with his relentless stylistics. It wasn’t aggravating, it was a sheer pleasure to sit on the edge of that padded seat (movie theater furniture has really improved,) and Boyle kept adding fuel to the fire until you thought the heat of the action might sear your eyeballs -- in a good way, I mean.

True love triumphs over…everything else… in this movie, and poetic justice is served universally -- criminals are punished, wealthy Pharisees suffer setbacks, Jamal gets Latika, Saleem (an incurable hoodlum) redeems himself, and the huge poverty-stricken population of Mumbai (and the rest of India, via television) vicariously revel in Jamal’s miracle of millions. The decent-hearted, right-minded, Spanish-speaking audience of my grandmother’s generation would have seen Dev and Freida Pinto showing off their moves in that beautiful final triumphal dance scene and said, “!Qué bonito!” u

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Keeping a Weather Eye

Snow can fall when atmospheric conditions set up perfectly

By Juan Alanis

Juan is Webb County Coordinator for the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network (CoCoRaHS) and an Associate Member of the American Meteorological Society (AMS). He is currently a teacher at United Middle School.

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inter weather and snow came close to our area in December as a low pressure system dumped snow in Austin, northern San Antonio, and Houston, but as we now get into March, Laredo’s chance of seeing ice and/or snow this season are nearing zero.

However, many places across the United States will continue to see the white stuff for several months before winter fully changes into spring and summer. One of these locations includes Hawaii.

Yes, Hawaii. No this is not a typo or mistake. Hawaii does get snow.

Just like here in Laredo -- when atmospheric conditions set up perfectly, snow can fall. The same is true for the islands of Hawaii.

Looking through weather archives and statistics from the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC), snow is actually quite common in a few locations in the state of Hawaii. In fact, it snows enough in Hawaii that the Hawaii Convention and Visitor’s Bureau web site states it is possible to go skiing (snow ski, not water) on the slopes of Mauna Kea or Mauna Lau, on the big island. Although as a caution, it does warn that due to extreme conditions, altitude, and a relatively short ski season, the slopes are not recommended for casual skiers. But just imagine how it would sound to family and friends if you told them you went snow skiing in the tropical islands of Hawaii.

So how common is snow in Hawaii? First…it must be stressed that altitude is the key word here. Information from the NCDC and the UniverWWW. L A R E D O S N E W S . C O M

sity of Hawaii reveal that snowfall typically occurs only in locations with an altitude of 9,000 feet or higher, which means to see snow in Hawaii, you must go to one of the three highest mountains -- Mauna Lau or Mauna Kea on the Big Island or to Haleakala on Maui. Each winter, Pacific storm systems, some of which become strong “Kona Lows,” as they are known locally, bring strong wind and heavy rain to the Hawaiian island chain.

While temperatures at the surface will remain relatively mild, air temperatures decrease with altitude. As these storm systems pass through the islands, they bring much colder air to higher altitudes that will combine with the deep tropical moisture of the Pacific to cause snowstorms in the mountains of Hawaii. On rare occasions, these storm systems can bring snow to lower elevations, down to 4,000 feet according to the University of Hawaii.

According to storm archives at the NCDC, there have been 32 winter storm events in Hawaii since 1993, including several blizzards. The majority of these winter storms have occurred in January, February, and March, although a few have occurred as late as mid-May. By comparison, Webb County has experienced only two winter weather events since 1993, according the NCDC, with the most recent being the white Christmas of 2004.

One of the most recent Hawaiian snowstorms was December 11, 2008, when a “Kona Low” brought heavy snow to the Mauna Kea Observatory Park, including drifts up to 10 inches deep. Park officials were forced to close to park and roads due to extremely icy conditions.

Another storm, classified by the National Weather Service as a “blizzard,” brought heavy snowfall and winds of 45 to 60 mph, with gusts to 80 mph to both Mauna Lau and Mauna Kea. Wind chill temperatures were between 0˚ and 10˚ F. Local officials were forced to close area roads due to

Webb County Rainfall Report Station

January

February

WB3 Laredo-San Isidro

0.05”

0.21”

WB4 Las Tiendas Ranch

0.00”

0.27”

WB5 Callaghan Ranch

0.00”

0.18”

WB6 Laredo McPherson/Chacon 0.12”

0.30”

WB7 Espejo Ranch

0.00

0.23

WB8 Juarez Lincoln Elem Sch

0.08

0.03”

WB9 Mangana Hein Rd

0.09

0.04”

WB10 United Middle School

0.04

0.25”

WB14 Laredo 18.4 NE

0.02

0.25”

WB19 Prada Elementary

0.11

0.34”

WB21 Laredo 4.5 NNE

0.04

0.21”

WB22 Laredo 23.7 ENE

-----

0.22”

WB23 Freer 29.5 WSW

-----

0.09”

Laredo International Airport

TR

0.09”

Source: CoCoRaHS/National Weather Service reports

ice and poor visibility.

On November 11, 1994, astronomers at the Mauna Kea Observatory reported snow drifts five feet deep during a snowstorm that brought winds of 50 to 60 mph. In January 2008, snowfall was reported on the islands of Hawaii and Maui as low as 7,000 feet.

Based on records, the cities of Honolulu and Hilo, which are at sea

level, have never received snow.

In fact, neither of these cities has ever come close to the freezing mark of 32˚F. The record lows are 49˚ in Honolulu and 51˚ in Hilo.

So once again, altitude is the key word here. Freezing weather and snow only occurs in the highest locations in Hawaii, 7,000 feet in elevation or higher.

A quick look at temperatures and forecasts from Hawaii showed a Winter Weather Advisory posted on March 8 for the cities of Mauna Kea and Mauna Lao, both of which are above 7,000 feet. Low temperatures were forecast to be near 20˚, with a high on the ninth expected to be 32˚.

Along the coast, at low elevations, temperatures were still in the 70s. So it can stay below freezing for an entire day in Hawaii but only in the high altitudes. Still, just the mention of freezing temperatures and snow in Hawaii to most people will raise eyebrows and curiosity.

It has snowed south of Laredo as well, in cities such as Saltillo, Coahuila, Mexico, which has an elevation of about 5,300 feet, making snow and freezing temperatures more likely than in neighboring Monterrey. It even snows in Ecuador, which is located on the equator. Ecuador’s Volcan Cayambe, which has an elevation of about 15,000 feet, is capped with snow and rarely gets above freezing, despite its location in the “tropics.” u

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The Mendoza Line

Crime “I have no respect for him who descends,” says Inspector Dupin.

He also has little patience with people with a low IQ, although he does seem to find them curiously amusing. After all, he’s the first detective in the history of literature. He is described as having a “lynx eye.”

In the very first paragraph of the very first detective story ever, the admiring friend who often comes to Dupin for help in figuring things out, says about Dupin, “He derives pleasure from…bringing his talent into play.” Indeed, the anonymous friend (who ends up being the narrator in the three stories) delights in telling about Dupin’s thinking processes, methodologies, and deeds.

Here’s the progression: Dupin delights in doing what he does, his friend delights in watching him and telling us about him, and we delight in reading about him. It’s a win-winwin-win situation. It’s that HolmesWatson-reader or viewer thing all

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over again before the “thing” exists.

At one point in “The Purloined Letter,” the friend-narrator describes Dupin’s thinking processes as “a perfect agony of joy.”

Perhaps the most truly wonderful part of it all is that we the readers are pleased to know all along that it is Poe himself who through Dupin, the friend, and others, delights in plumbing, as he states in “The Murders in the Rue Morgue,” those “recesses of thought altogether inaccessible to the ordinary understanding,” while he avails us of “that infinity of mental excitement which quiet observation can afford,” and those other “deviations from the plane of the ordinary.”

What we have here is a win-winwin-win-win situation, wherein the superior intellect of C. Auguste Dupin is able to solve a bizarre double murder by concluding that it has been committed by an orangutan wielding a straight razor. u

Texas barrios By alex mendoza Native Laredoan Dr. Alex Mendoza is an assistant professor of history at the University of Texas at Tyler.

He can be reached at mxela@ hotmail.com.

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ack in July 2008, I wrote a column for LareDOS looking at the history of Laredo’s barrios and calling for some sort of formal study of the iconic names that dominate the landscape of the city’s original South and West Sides. More than half a year later, I think it is more important than ever to chronicle the unique aspect of Laredo’s barrios.

Just this month, I finished an article looking at the development of a Mexican barrio in Tyler, the city I now call home. As I scoured the historical literature, the city directories, and the various newspaper accounts, I saw just how different barrios could be in two Texas cities.

Unlike Laredo’s decades old barrios, Tyler’s Mexican community did not begin in earnest until the 1970s, when a court case with broad implications towards the education of the children of illegal immigrants brought attention to the little sleepy town 100 miles east of Dallas.

Back in 1975, Tyler ISD officials passed a measure that charged $1,000 tuition to children who could not prove their residency.

Though there were less than 100 children with Spanish surnames enrolled in Tyler schools, the officials claimed it was necessary to defray costs. Two years later, lawyers for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF), brought suit to challenge the school district’s policies. By 1982, the Supreme Court decided in Plyler v. Doe that children of illegal immigrants deserved the right to an education.

Once that security was established, I argue in my essay, the Mexican and later, Mexican American populations, boomed in Tyler. By extension, the Mexican immigrants that arrived to work in Tyler’s various industries congregated in the Northeast part of town, in an area that eventually became known as “Little Mexico.”

By the late 1990s, Tyler’s nascent barrio had all the characteristics of what historians regard as a Mexican American community.

The barrio served as a haven for workers and provided familiar institutions for the people of Mexican descent. Accordingly, as Tyler’s Hispanic population expanded from 1,800 in 1970 to more than 15,000 by 2000 (18 percent of the total population), the Spanish speaking people that originally congregated in one part of town began to spread throughout the Rose City.

And this is where Tyler diverges from Laredo. Laredo, like its neighbor to the North, San Antonio, will always be considered a Hispanic town. Laredo’s barrios were not meant to serve as places of refuge against the economic crises of the past.

Laredo’s barrios were not havens where one would get an authentic Mexican meal or be able to freely speak Spanish because one could find that throughout the entire city, whose population of Mexican descent always exceeded 90 percent.

Tyler’s barrio even differs from the barrios in Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth, the two closest Metro areas. In Houston, for instance, barrios like “El Alacran” and “El Segundo” oversaw the challenges of the Chicano movement during the 1970s. In Fort Worth, barrios like “El Corte” served to offer community institutions like the Catholic Church, recreational activities, and entertainment that the city failed to provide Hispanics. According to historian Ken Hopkins, Fort Worth’s barrios basically served all of the Hispanic community’s non-work needs.

If I ever make my way back to the Gateway City, I hope to one day write a history of Laredo’s barrios. Because as I conducted my field interviews and explored the corridors of Tyler’s “Little Mexico,” I could not help but draw upon the memories of my past and my formative years growing up in Las Cantaranas on the West Side. I know the same holds true for my friends who grew up in the barrios and later attended college elsewhere. (In some cases, you could take the boy out of the barrio, but not the barrio out of the boy.)

Laredo’s mostly Mexican American population did not have to struggle against the exact friction and discrimination of their neighbors to the North. Their battles were slightly different. Yet for this reason, it is imperative that someone chronicle the history of the city’s original enclaves with the colorful names like “Los Amores,” “La Azteca,” and “El Rincon del Diablo.” While protecting historic structures is critical to the history of the Gateway City, the preservation of the oral and social histories of Laredo’s past must be deemed equally important. u WWW.LAREDOSNEWS.COM

Movie Review

Be careful what you wish for: Selick and Gaiman’s Coraline

By CORDELIA BARRERA

E

ven if you’ve never read Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1865) or its sequel Through the Looking Glass (1871), you are no doubt familiar with the exploits of the young Alice as she makes her way down a rabbit hole to emerge from the boredom of Victorian England into a fantastic world “peopled” with Cheshire Cats, Mad Hatters, and talking Dormice.

Alice, whether down the rabbit-hole or not, is caught in a liminal state, a term used by the influential anthropologist Victor Turner. Liminal states are “in-between” times and places of possibility. Adolescence is itself a liminal space, as it is the time period between childhood and adulthood. Liminal states reflect times of great possibility and transformation.

Lots of books for children and adolescents, like Katherine Patterson’s 1977 book Bridge to Terabithia, (made into a successful movie in 2007), or even the Harry Potter series foreground ideas of liminality.

Liminal spaces intrinsically conjure new worlds because they are cusps, or thresholds. In imaginative fiction, say the kind that British author Neil Gaiman revels in, liminal spaces are DA BOMB!...because you can develop them into almost anything.

Coraline was adapted from Neil Gaiman’s 2002 fantasy/horror novella of the same name. The book, which was awarded the 2002 Bram Stoker Award for Best Work for Young Readers, and the 2003 Hugo and Nebula awards (if you know sci-fi, you know how prestigious these awards are), is about a young girl who enters an alternate reality that, although as surreal as Alice’s adventures in Wonderland, is much more horrific.

This stop-motion film directed by Harry Selick, who also directed the terrific Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) and James and the Giant Peach (1996), comes with a caveat: this story is scary, creepy, and, actually, kind of disturbing.

Coraline Jones (Dakota Fanning) is not a “typical”

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adolescent heroine. She’s moody, grumpy, and complains a lot. Her parents are no better. They barely notice Coraline when they speak to her, and they rush about their lives and chores the way we imagine rats might scurry towards food: who cares about the means, it’s all about the ends, and we’re busy, dammit!

The family’s just moved into a new apartment, and so Coraline is left to her own devices when she explores the place. There are other boarders in the big house:

two odd women with questionable ties to the adult entertainment business (hilariously voiced by Jennifer Saunders and Dawn French), and an old vaudevillian performer, Mr. Bobinsky (Ian McShane) who’s training a circus of mice. There’s a secret door in a strange room too. When Coraline unlocks the door and crawls through a long tunnel -- very Freudian, as this liminal space resembles a birth canal -- she meets her Other Mother and Other Father.

Hey! This place is great, thinks Coraline. Other Mother and Other Father are fun and loving and pay attention...but wait. What’s that? Buttons. Buttons for eyes! And so Coraline’s tests begin. Will Coraline remain trapped in this Stepford world forever? Will her Other Mother sew buttons onto her eyes? Will Coraline live...or will her Other Mother snare her into her lurid web like she did all those other children -- those sad, lost souls behind the mirrors?

In 3-D, this film is entirely original, and the skeletal, murky animation invites the audience to revel in a fantastic realm presented in darkly elongated, Goya-esque unconventionality. Gaiman and Selick push the limits of adolescence, as did Lewis Carroll in his story of Alice’s adventures when he extolled the virtues of wordplay, logic, and fantasy. That’s why adult readers appreciated Alice’s Adventures just as much as did young readers. Unlike Carroll’s story, however, Coraline’s journey, and the trials she must endure on her path towards adulthood, retain a power to infuse our psyches with the unimaginable -- this is what makes Coraline both a great story and a fantastic film. As kids, we all yearn to be someone else, to live somewhere else, and, perhaps, to have a different mother or father. Coraline answers such childish wishes with nightmarish results. It’s a common problem, and that’s why it’s an old adage: Be careful what you wish for, for you may get it. u (Former Laredoan Cordelia Barrera is completing PhD work in English and American Literature at the University of Texas in San Antonio.)

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Profile

Elizabeth Greninger: an educational “Changemaker”

By DENISE FERGUSON

H

ow many educators can claim the honor of being cited by Scholastic Administrator Magazine as one of the “Top Educators Under 40?” Elizabeth A. Greninger, Director of TAMIU’s Alternative Certification Program, is the youngest person cited in the Feb. 2009 issue in a story called “The Changemakers: The Top Educational Leaders Under 40.” The story is by Caralee Adams.

The story notes Greninger’s accomplishments as “strengthening the alternative certification program, bringing in new perspectives, and making more training mandatory.”

So where did it all start?

“I was born and raised in Cortland in Central New York State,” said Greninger.

“After I graduated from high school, I attended Villanova University in Villanova, Pennsylvania and never turned back.” She earned a BS degree in psychology and elementary education and a MS Ed in counseling. She added, “My mom and dad encouraged me to pursue my dreams and do what I wanted to do.” Greninger’s widowed dad, Dick Welch, a former electronic engineer and Vietnam War Air Force reconnaissance veteran, has retired to Laredo.

After teaching for one year in Philadelphia, Greninger moved to New York City where she attended a job fair that drafted Elizabeth Greninger teachers to work in the hardest schools in the area. “I wanted to change their world,” more in a leadership position,” said Greninger. She apsaid Greninger. plied for the position as director of the TAMIU AlternaAfter receiving her assignment in the school district tive Certification Program and was accepted. considered the best fit for her talents, she taught first In selecting potential students for the program grade in the system. The job did not involve any testing Greninger has considered Texas’ standards; meeting and no high pressure. Nonetheless, “It was challeng- students’ needs; and her own standards. She considing because the area served by the school was in one ered, “Would I want that person teaching my child?” of the poorest Congressional districts in the country,” She tried to adopt realistic attitudes when designing the said Greninger. “Some children came from homes that program. provided two beds for 10 children. I became passion“I strove for more structure without stagnation. Alate about working on behalf of children and with the ways look for something better. Seek improvements,” families.” The principal of the New York school became she said, adding, “In order to make the prospective a mentor to Greninger and helped her tap her gifts as a teacher aware of the challenges, 30 hours of observafuture leader. tion of classrooms of different grades and schools are In 2006, Greninger and her husband Sean moved to required.”

Laredo. Greninger visited the local schools to see which A typical prospective student for the Alternative ones were a good fit for her skills. Even though she had Certification Program may have a bachelor’s degree and her New York State teaching certificate, had principal want to be a teacher. Or people who work in other fields and superintendent certification, and had taught for may feel drawn to teaching.” Greninger said, five years, Greninger said that becoming certified “was “Mid-career changers are ‘content’ teachers. They a process in Texas.” The “No Child Left Behind” con- have the experience. People from the math and science cept resulted in evolving certification requirements and sectors are particularly needed,” she continued. In genresultant red tape. Ultimately, Greninger was hired at eral, Greninger said, recent college graduates or people Borchers Elementary and taught second grade there. who went to college are a good fit for the program.

From that position Greninger’s goals expanded in an “Alternative Certification is big in Texas,” she said. administrative direction. “I felt I would be able to do “Texas is a forerunner. Laredo seems to have an adeWWW. L A R E D O S N E W S . C O M

quate pool of teacher candidates, but overall the United States lacks teachers, especially in high-need areas.” She continued, “Fifty percent of the teachers in Texas are certified through the alternative route.”

But with respect to alternative programs, people who are interested need to know the law. They need to ensure that the program is a good one. “TAMIU offers a structured training program, intense mentoring and support for teacher interns, as well as Master’s level courses,” said Greninger. “Some alternate certification programs only provide a fraction of what we do. As a result, not all new teachers are being prepared for the challenges of the classroom.

“We network and communicate with the districts, and we also work with 10 districts in the surrounding area, as far north as Dilley. We have about 80 teachers out there from our program. They are hiring our teachers because we meet their needs and those of the students,” she said.

Students who acquire their certification through the TAMIU program become paid interns at a local school district after they meet certain requirements. During the first year, the interns are still working with the TAMIU program completing coursework. Both the school district and TAMIU provide a mentor.

The intern has up to three years to become fully certified.

Greninger is particularly honored by being grouped in the same Scholastic Administrator story with Robert Scott, 39, Commissioner of the Texas Education Agency, and Michelle Rhee, 39, Chancellor, D.C. Public Schools.

According to author Adams, the named educators are “People who are on the front line of change. People who are going to make changes that will impact our country.”

In her civic life in Laredo, Greninger is a member of the Women’s City Club, which raises money from events such as auctions, golf tournaments, and fundraisers to help local charities.

In her social life, Greninger is something of a tigress.

She parachuted from an airplane, along with her husband, on their first anniversary. They met through a mutual friend at a triathlon. And local Laredoans may have seen her running the area streets in training for last year’s New York City Marathon. She has also run seven marathons in various parts of the country.

So what’s next?

“I am working on my doctorate in educational administration,” said Greninger. The Scholastic Administrator story notes, “Eventually Greninger sees herself in a policy role, working in government on the biggest-picture issues in education.” Greninger said, “That’s where change can really happen: at the federal level.”

Greninger can be reached at egreninger@tami.edu. u LareDOS | M arch 2009 |

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The Mystery Customer

Long lines and missing employees at Target and Wal Mart BY THE mystery Customer

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he MC knows that from time to time one will encounter bad service at a location usually so adept at leaving their customers with the desire to reuse their services. However, that occasional bad experience can completely obliterate any sort of compassionate forgiveness for a one-time offense. Such was the case when the MC visited Enterprise Rentals on Feb. 3 to return a car rented for the weekend.

The MC always uses this Enterprise locale when taking long journeys, and she usually has a positive experience.

However, on this particular morning, the MC learned that when she first rented the car, which had a multitude of problems, the employee who assisted her and her mother, a kid named Sergio, had signed her up for more services than she requested, which added an extra $75 to the tab. In hindsight, the MC realizes that you should never take for granted that the person who is helping you is intelligent or competent.

Always read what you sign; regardless of how many times in the past you’ve signed the same document.

In any case, when the MC complained to the man helping her check out, a man by the name of Tony Banda, instead of listening to the MC or her mother, both intelligent, clear-sounding English-language speakers, Mr. Banda dismissed their complaints and proceeded to charge their credit card without having listened to the MC’s request to pay a different way (perhaps chronic deafness runs in their office). He also ignored their complaints, and when the MC pointed to Sergio and asked why he didn’t listen to them to begin with, the kid hid behind his computer and refused to speak to either the MC or her mother. He muttered something to the effect of “They shouldn’t have signed it, then.” The MC has never, ever, been angrier with the level of cowardice and lack WWW. L A R E D O S N E W S . C O M

of service at any location in Laredo. This beats every other negative experience. A positive history with a company has been forever tarnished simply because two employees couldn’t handle admitting that perhaps a good customer was right and they, in fact, had not listened. I dare not believe that perhaps their refusal to admit their wrong is because the people complaining were women. Needless to say, this woman will never step foot in their establishment again.

Fortunately for the MC, there are still places in this city that offer service that leaves you with a warm feeling rather than a fiery rage. For instance, on a recent visit to Lady Foot Locker in Mall del Norte, the MC found a pair of tennis shoes she had only hours before purchased at Kohls for $10 more.

While she tired to calculate the cost in gas of driving back to Kohls to return the shoes in order to buy the same pair cheaper, an employee named Lizzie offered to find the shoes in the MC’s size.

When she returned, Lizzie went back and forth to help other customers, despite there being another employee on the floor. All the while, she kept up a steady stream of bubbly conversation with both the MC and her friend. She was knowledgeable, sweet, and completely patient -- every quality that makes a good employee.

The MC isn’t sure what it is, but on recent trips to Wal Mart and Target, both stores had phenomenally long lines with very few registers open. A problematic customer at Wal Mart held up one line, the teller disappearing for close to 10 minutes to do a price check.

Fortunately for the MC, the customers ahead of her were funny and patient, and despite other lines moving only moderately faster, it wasn’t an altogether unpleasant experience. However, the MC does not want to spend 30 minutes in line next time.

When the MC received a strange tax letter in the mail, she hightailed it over to IBC in Mall del Norte (next to Journeys). With the help of an informative and friendly employee by the name of Oscar Treviño, the MC was able to discover the meaning behind the letter. It took several phone calls, a fax or two, and quite a bit of patience before

Treviño was able to solve the mystery, but he remained professional, friendly, and chatty.

The MC was happy to learn that when her traveling companion made use of the Enterprise Rentals on Saunders, she discovered that the only good employee at the San Dario store, Albert Herrera, had joined the far nicer and more efficient folks on Saunders. The MC’s friend had a redemptive and enjoyable experience, which made a considerable dent in her hostility towards the company in general. When there was a delay with the car she reserved, the guys called and apologized, upgrading her automobile at no extra charge. The MC would like to extend her thanks to Herrera, Manny Hernandez, and Marco Gonzalez for restoring part of her faith in Laredo’s customer service.

Although Luby’s on Calton has appeared several times before in this column, the MC was recently struck by the disparities in the wait staff. While the MC is still trying to get used to having someone fetch her refills or the self-indulgent piece of after-dinner-pie, finding someone who actually does help can be a bit tricky. Although the waiters/ waitresses are quick to sign your receipt -- so there’s no mistaking where your tip goes -- many disappear and are never

heard from again. Others hover over your table, interrupting conversations to ask if you need more water, even though you said five minutes before that you don’t want anymore. However, there is one young man, Luis, who is quick to help and even goes so far as to joke with customers. His timing is impeccable, and you never feel as though he’s imposing. A rare treat indeed.

On a trip to Bank of America on McPherson several weeks ago, the MC was delighted to see that they finally paved over the giant potholes blocking the entrance to the drive-thru. However, those hopes were dashed once again when the MC returned to find the dreadful potholes had returned. The MC is no engineer; in fact, she skidded through high school physics on her charm and nights filled with fervent praying. However, even she sees that perhaps spending a little extra on a cement driveway that extends from the entryway on Del Mar, through the drive-thru, and out the exit to McPherson might be the solution to bone-jarring potholes. She’s hoping for a permanent solution because lately, with Bank of America’s scummy participation in the bailout debacle, she needs one less reason to switch back to IBC. The MC wants to thank the women at B. Dalton Bookseller for helping her find a copy of The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon. Although it was hiding out on the bestseller list shelf, they searched high and lo, not giving up until it was discovered. The MC felt a bit foolish, as the first place she’d searched was the shelf it was sitting on. u

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Dutchman’s Gold

Edgar Allan Poe bicentennial “The tintinnabulation… …of the bells, bells, bells”

By JOHN ANDREW SNYDER

E

dgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) is in no danger of being forgotten, like he was from the time of his death in 1840 until the early 20th century when French poet Charles Baudelaire “rediscovered” him and wrote about him in literary journals, praising his imaginative powers and his genius for innovation. This saved American literary critics and the American reading public, who were both also busy ignoring Melville and Moby Dick, the trouble of remembering the all-butforgotten Poe, inventor of the short story, the detective story, the psychological mystery tale, and a unique kind of poetry.

Fortunately for Vincent Price, a lot of stuffy college professors, and the rest of

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us, Baudelaire’s wake-up call was all that was needed to spur Poe-mania, which still rages unabated in Poe’s native U.S.A. and in other countries. All that was needed after the wake-up call was for people to read Poe’s tales and poems, which sell themselves like 10 pitchmen.

Today many would argue that it is Poe’s picture that belongs on the cover or frontispiece of an anthology of American Literature -- he is the poster boy for our nation’s creative writers. That is, Poe, along with Mark Twain, is an icon of our national literature. Both original, both highly intelligent, both daring and colorful, and both photogenic.

It is perhaps ironic that Twain once declared that Poe’s prose was “unreadable.”

He said the same thing about Jane Aus-

ten, but added, “It is a pity that they allowed her to die a peaceful death.”

Actually, I think Poe was ignored in America for more than half a century because of the distractions of the Gold Rush, the railroad, the Civil War, Manifest Destiny, and the Industrial Revolution. The works of many writers (I have mentioned Melville) suffered a similar fate, but it seems particularly striking in Poe’s case because back when he was in the limelight he caused a stir among the pundits and caused a lot of ink to flow.

There was negative press -- “Mr. Poe was too fond of the wild -- unnatural and horrible!” (The Richmond Compiler, 1836); also, Ralph Waldo Emerson, who more or less set the moral tone for his generation, dismissed Poe as a “jingle man” without moral sentiment, and Walt Whitman, who admired Poe’s intellect and “intense faculty for…technical and abstract beauty,” found Poe “almost without the first sign of moral principle.”

There was also favorable press -- “Poe was a born poet. His mind was stamped with the impress of genius…his mind penetrates the inmost recesses of the human soul, creating vast and magnificent dreams, eloquent fantasies, and terrible mysteries” (George Lippard, Citizen Soldier, November 15, 1843).

Margaret Fuller, journalist, critic, feminist, and transcendentalist, said of Poe, “He can thread his way through a labyrinth of absurdities, and pick out the sound thread of sense from the skein with which it is connected. His sarcasm is subtle and searching.” Jules Verne admiringly wrote of Poe, “He is the leader of the cult of the unusual.” Poet James Russell Lowell praised Poe’s skill as a literary critic in Graham’s Magazine, February, 1845: “(had) great intellectual capacity, … power for vivid description, an opulence of imagination, a fecundity of invention, and a command over the elegance of diction.”

I agree with all of these critics, the panners and the praisers. I also agree with H.L. Menken who said in 1920, “The best poems of Poe are lovely

things, indeed, but they are as devoid of logical content as so many college yells…” but I won’t argue with Louis S. Tasistro wrote in 1939 in the New York Daily Mirror, “ (Poe is)…the most discriminating, philosophical, and fearless critic upon imaginative works who has written in America.”

This astuteness and fearlessness that Poe the critic demonstrated all the time -- he had a day job as a literary critic (even icons have to pay the bills) -- was one of his most remarkable traits.

Critic Lambert A. Wilmer, a friend of Poe’s, made the following observation in an essay titled Defamation of the Dead in 1859: “Poe, during his life-time, was feared and hated by many newspaper editors and other literary animalcules, some of whom, or their friends, had been the subjects of his critiques; and others disliked him naturally enough, because he was a man of superior intellect. While he lived, these resentful gentlemen were discreetly silent, but they nursed their wrath to keep it warm, and the first intelligence of his death was the signal for a general onslaught.”

However, now that all of Poe’s coevals are dead, both the patters-on-theback and the deriders (the jealous, the cowed, and the wounded), and since this age has no Emerson lording over it, to intimidate public taste with his frown, we can get down to the business at hand -- celebrating the bicentennial of Edgar Allan Poe’s birth.

Happy Birthday, Edgar, and thanks for the wonderful stories and poems.

You’re one for the books! And I know you’re not really dead, Edgar. I can still hear your heart beating, as if it’s just marking “time, time, time” to the tune of “the bells, bells, bells; the bells, bells, bells, bells.” Right on, Edgar! u WWW.LAREDOSNEWS.COM

By the way….

Welcoming old friends back into the fold

By Jennie reed

By The Way appears monthly in Greater Laredo Magazine. It is reprinted here with permission.

Courtesy Photo

A

s I review photos and scribbled notes, February’s events swim before my eyes. Ray Keck and Veronica Castillon, dressed as George and Martha Washington in their elegant colonial pageant costumes, brought waves of patriotic admiration, as did the Society of Martha Washington (SMW) debutantes and escorts, as well as the Sons and Daughters of Liberty, also dressed in period costumes as they accompanied George and Martha on their living history lessons.

The American Historical Theatre performance of The Constitution Behind Closed Doors at Texas A&M International University’s Center for the Fine and Performing Arts recital hall was well received by a full house. We can be most grateful for the additional venues for smaller presen-

SMW Legacy Award bestowed on Lula Lacey Society of Martha Washington President AnnaIsabel Alvarez awarded Lula Lacey the society’s Legacy Award for 42 years of work with the colonial pageants. tations, such as the one at TAMIU and the Martinez Fine Arts Center on the campus of Laredo Community College.

Lula Zana Bryant Lacey earned the accolades of the SMW for her 42 years of helping present the colonial pageants.

SMW President Anna Isabel Alvarez pre-

sented the SMW Legacy Award to the beloved Lula at the pageant.

We were excited to share a pleasant afternoon with old friends the other day.

Maggie Rubio, Bonnie Lepowitz, and Maca del Valle Simpson, and I went to see Ethel Shipton’s contemporary art exhibit

at TAMIU, which also featured the works of several other artists. She is Maggie’s niece and the daughter of our friend, the late Angela Palacios Shipton. Ethel is employed at the McNey Art Institute in San Antonio. Followed by a merienda at Maggie’s lovely condo, we revisited the memories of yesteryear and laughed, cried, and ate goodies. Maca and her husband Russell Simpson spend part of the year in Laredo and the rest in Boston, where they have lived for many years.

Maca was our guest at the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) meeting at Mary Freeman’s home. Her daughter Margi is interested in becoming a member. On Russell’s side of the family, an ancestor, Pvt. 5th class James Draper, fought beside George Washington in our nation’s battle for independence from Britain.

Maca, who grew up in Nuevo Laredo, is enjoying hooking up with people from her past. She is the daughter of Dr. Roberto del Valle, and she attended Ursuline Academy with her late twin sister, Malu.

It is always good to welcome old friends back into the fold.

Welcome home, Maca, and for Russell, “We’re happy to get to know ya better!”

Till next month, count your blessings and enjoy each day. u

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LareDOS | M arch 2009 |

53

Feature

LCC nursing partners

By Steve Treviño Jr. and Roger Sanchez Jr.

T National Geographic February cover story: Darwin’s First Clues by David Quammen “everything in the natural world is… connected with everything else”

By JOHN ANDREW SNYDER

C

harles Darwin of the HMS Beagle made a couple of pit stops before scoping out the heirs and the tortoises on the Galapagos.

Of the three books that Charles Darwin wrote about that fateful trip -- On the Origin of Species, The Descent of Man, and The Voyage of the Beagle, I am bold to say that I have read only the last one -- which was the first one that he wrote.

But The Voyage of the Beagle (1839) is precisely the important little volume that NG writer David Quamman says contains the seeds of the great ideas that sprouted in Origin (1859) and Descent (1871).

Quamman notes that before Darwin literally went out on a limb in the Galapagos to collect finches and mockingbirds, the HMS Beagle made supply stops in Argentina and Brazil, places where the curious naturalist (Darwin) couldn’t help but notice a few things and take down a few notes. One of these stops, in Argentina, was a pit stop, literally -- at a fossil pit on the edge of the Pampas. A few nights after viewing the fossils of extinct species, Darwin’s mind was jogged by an armadillo -- the one he was eating. He won-

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dered to himself about the similarities and differences between the delectable dinner ‘dillo and the stoned (literally) glyptodont (giant extinct armadillo) back in the fossil quarry.

A lesser scientist might have been shell-shocked, but Darwin was never one to admit that he had bitten off more than he could chew -- he just sat there and quietly munched away at his ‘dillo asado and tried to digest the smorgasbord of new information that that had been served up to him buffet-style that day. Fossils, sloths, ‘dillos and rheas, “relatedness and succession among… species, this wonderful relationship… between the dead and the living, across the horizontal dimension of landscape” and the idea of “transmutation.”

Quamman gets excited, like it’s happening right now, about pre-Galapagos Darwin gathering key clues in Argentina and Brazil that eventually were to lead to “the most significant single scientific book ever published.”

This article was commissioned as an homage to Darwin by the National Geographic Society to mark the 150th anniversary of the first publication of On the Origin of Species, and the 200th anniversary of Darwin’s birth. u

he graduation rate for the Associate Degree Nursing (ADN) program at Laredo Community College has more than doubled in the last three years, thanks in part to a unique collaboration between the college and the city’s three major hospitals.

To help alleviate the local demand for registered nurses (RNs) LCC joined forces with Laredo Medical Center, Doctors Hospital, and Laredo Specialty Hospital during the 2007-2008 academic year to produce more of these healthcare professionals.

The number of ADN students graduating from LCC has sprung from 18 in 2006 to 43 in 2008.

To recognize the success of this partnership and celebrate its continuation, LCC recently hosted an appreciation luncheon on campus to thank the leaders of the three hospitals for their support.

The collaboration with the hospitals provides close to $70,000 to LCC to support the total cost of salary and benefits to employ an additional instructor in the ADN program. The support raises the total number of full-time ADN instructors to nine.

“Given the nursing shortage, which is prominent in our city and around the country, Laredo Community College applauds the city’s three hospitals for their commitment to work with the college to find a real solution for the benefit of the community,” LCC President Dr. Juan L. Maldonado said.

Dianna Miller, dean of health sciences, said that very few college nursing programs have similar partnerships with medical institutions.

“LCC is extremely pleased by the willingness from the local medical institutions to work collaboratively and address the needs to produce more caring and competent nursing professionals,” she said.

Upon completing the nursing program, graduates are free to seek employment at a medical institution of their own choice.

The ADN Program at LCC is fully accredited by the Texas Board of Nurse Examiners (BNE) and the National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission.

ADN graduates are prepared for licen-

sure as RNs. Students implement the nursing process with client care in a structured health care setting. The students participate in hands-on clinical experiences at local hospitals and at other sites throughout the community.

For more information about admission to the nursing program, interested persons may log on to www.laredo.edu/ healthsciences or call the LCC Associate Degree Nursing program at 721-5252.

Time-saving program motivates LCC nursing student There are a lot of sacrifices to make when you are a full-time college student and have a family to raise. Just ask Isodoro Lozano -- a father of two young children, a licensed vocational nurse for a home healthcare agency, and a full-time nursing student at LCC. But, in the end, Lozano says it’s all worth it. “(As a nurse,) I know that it’s all for a good cause with so many rewards,” Lozano says.

After high school, Lozano decided to pursue a career in health sciences by enrolling in LCC’s Emergency Medical Services Program in 2000. He earned an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT)basic certificate in one semester, and then decided to obtain an EMT-intermediate certificate by the following term. Thereafter, the Laredo native worked for a private ambulance service for four years.

“Once you’re in the field, you just love it because it’s about real life experiences,” Lozano says. “At the end of the day, you feel like you’ve made a big difference in the lives of people that needed your help.”

Lozano’s passion for healthcare brought him back to LCC in the fall of 2005 to earn a Vocational Nursing Certificate in a year. He soon found employment with a home healthcare group.

Recalling how his college instructors always motivated him to continue his education in nursing, Lozano decided to embark on the next chapter of his professional career: the pursuit of an associate degree in nursing to become an RN. It usually takes about two years to become an RN through an ADN program.

But at LCC, there’s an ADN transition track that allows licensed paramedics or licensed vocational nurses, such as Lozano, to earn their ADN in just one year.

WWW.LAREDOSNEWS.COM

Laredo Communnity College

hip blossoms with local hospitals

Supporting the future of Laredo healthcare An ongoing nursing partnership between Laredo Community College and Laredo Medical Center, Doctors Hospital, and Laredo Specialty Hospital was recently celebrated during an appreciation luncheon held at the LCC Fort McIntosh Campus. On hand for the event were Dianna Miller, LCC dean of health sciences; Dinah Gonzalez, chief financial officer at Doctors; Taffy Arias, chief nurse officer at Doctors; Dr. Juan L. Maldonado, LCC president; Frances Lerma, LMC chief nurse officer; Joanne De Hoyos, LSH case manager; Fred Solis Jr., LCC vice president for instruction; Pete Saenz Jr., LCC board president; Elario Montalvo, chief operating officer at Doctors; and Ed Romero, LMC chief financial officer. the ADN Transition Track at LCC. Applications, which are available at the LCC ADN Department Office or online at www.laredo.edu/healthsciences, are being accepted now through Thursday, April 2. Due to limited admission, prospective students are urged to apply early. For more about the ADN Program, call 721-5252.

Isodoro Lozano, LCC nursing student Lozano was admitted to the transition track in the summer of 2008, and now he is just months away from receiving his degree to become a registered nurse. He is expected to graduate in May. “I’m grateful that LCC offers a transition track to allow me to earn my associate degree in one year instead of two. I’m saving time and money, and with this degree, my career in nursing is going to benefit a lot,” Lozano said.

Although the ADN Program is very WWW. L A R E D O S N E W S . C O M

challenging, Lozano says that the knowledge and experiences he obtained through his previous studies have helped him significantly.

“Anything is possible to accomplish when you set your mind to do it,” Lozano notes, “but the benefits of the ADN Transition Track can really help you reach your goals.”

LVNs and licensed EMTs with similar career goals as Lozano’s should consider applying for summer 2009 admission to

Spring enrollment jumps 7.97 percent at LCC This spring semester, LCC has seen an increase of 603 new students over last spring’s headcount figures.

As of Feb. 16, 8,167 students were enrolled at LCC compared to last spring’s total of 7,564 students. This 7.97 percent jump can be attributed to the economic recession and global financial instability.

“Whenever the economy suffers, community colleges across the nation see a boost in their enrollment. It’s mainly because some people have to be retrained to fine-tune their job skills to get a better job,” said Felix Gamez, dean of admissions and enrollment management. “But, in this recession, it’s not only about finding a better job, but finding one.”

According to the U.S. Labor Department, over the past 12 months the number of un-

employed Americans has increased to 4.1 million. The national unemployment rate sits at 7.5 percent, a 15-year high, which is likely to trickle down to Laredo.

LCC student Neydi Gomez is one of several students who have come back to college after being out in the job market.

The single mother enrolled at LCC for the fall and spring semesters following her graduation from Alexander High School in 2003.

But after her father asked her to help manage his engineering business, it became more difficult for her to finish her post-secondary education. She withdrew from classes and started working full time. But recently, financial difficulties have caused Gomez to lose her job.

“It’s been a little tough on me,” Gomez said. “Just a few months ago, my father decided to shut down the business, and I was out of a job for three months. I know how difficult it can be to look for a job and raise a two-year-old child,” Gomez added.

Gomez is now working at a local forwarding agency, and because of lowcost tuition and online courses LCC offers, Gomez re-enrolled.

“Even though I had seven years of experience in the office environment, they (employers) didn’t take that into consideration. The degree is very important, and that’s why I’m here,” said Gomez.

Within the past eight months, for example, BBVA Compass Bank, Mervyn’s, Circuit City, and Uno’s Chicago Bar and Grill have either trimmed their workforce or have closed their doors completely.

“The local banks and major retail chains have left many in our area looking for a job,” Gamez said. “We’ve heard from our students that have been affected by this. They are back at LCC to retrain or completely change their career goals.”

At LCC there are more than 120 degrees and certificate programs, including online courses that cater to students wishing to study in some of the most popular fields of study.

“It’s never too late. LCC is pretty flexible because they offer a wide-array of courses. I love ‘negocio’ and that’s what I’ll study here,” said Gomez. “I have restarted my education to one day own and operate my very own child care center because I love children.”

For more information on LCC admissions and course offerings, visit the college’s website at www.laredo.edu or call the Admissions and Registration Center at 721-5109. u LareDOS | M arch 2009 |

55

Texas A&M International University

Student growth at TAMIU brings expanded e-mail services

By STEVE HARMON

T

his spring, Texas A&M International University’s (TAMIU) exponential student growth has prompted the launch of an expanded and enriched email service for the over 13,000 (and growing) current users. Like many universities across the nation, TAMIU has seen growth threaten to eclipse optimal service levels for its popular student and alumni “Email for Life” offering. Like others, it will now move those services off-site through a Microsoft-developed e-mail service, Live@edu. Leebrian Gaskins, TAMIU vice president for Information Technology and chief information officer, said the initiative brings the university into alignment with other major universities, including most in the Texas A&M University System and others.

“As TAMIU grows, so does its level of service commitment to its students and alumni. We started E-mail for Life in 2003 with about 3,500 users. Now we are at over 13,000. Through this arrangement, we’re able to expand on our service capabilities while optimizing our existing resources. Our students and alumni get services expected and preferred at all major universities, and we are able to rededicate our resources to additional needs and future growth. This provides all with a primary account that makes it easy to collaborate with others,” Gaskins explained.

The service requires student and alumni transition via a web-based entry point, https://dusty.tamiu.edu/, to sign up and move their existing accounts over to the new System. E-mail addresses remain the same and passwords can be retained or reset.

Gaskins said the primary attraction for the new service would be a dramatic increase in storage capacity while a range of other benefits add robust features.

“To start off, we’ll see our student and alumni accounts grow from a 50-megabyte limit that auto-deleted every three months to a five-gigabyte capacity that does not delete. This is a dramatic increase and provides students and alumni with great, reliable storage.

“Additionally, our E-mail for Life accounts will include messaging, chat, Windows Live Spaces, SharedView, and a new Sky Drive that functions as a virtual memory stick. The system will also

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join with specific university services like access to labs, UOnline, Banner, and our Angel learning management system.

“The combination of expanded memory and services makes for a very attractive package for all our users,” Gaskins said.

He noted that the university’s aggressive security measures to protect data and identity theft are also present with the Microsoft-based e-mail service.

“This is part of the expectation of living in a digital information age. The spam and virus filtering and identity encryption protections in place are formidable and represent some of the best the industry offers, all designed to keep our users safe online and control unwanted marketing,” he said.

The university hopes to have all student and alumni E-mail for Life accounts transitioned within the year. For additional information, contact the TAMIU Office of Information Technology at 326-2310, visit offices in Sue and Radcliffe Killam Library 255, click on http://oit.tamiu.edu/, or e-mail hotline@tamiu.edu.

Information on Live@edu is available at http://get.liveatedu.com/Education/ Connect/Apps/.

School of the Art Institute of Chicago and a master’s degree in environmental engineering from National Taiwan University.

Mark Hogensen was born in Corvallis, Ore. He is currently living and working in San Antonio, where he is an art instructor at Palo Alto College.

Tao Rey was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina and is currently living and working in Miami, Fla. He is self-taught and is one of the founders of the alternative space, The House, and of the artist collaborative group Placemarker.

Mark Schatz received his master’s in fine arts in sculpture from the University of Texas at Austin and his bachelor of fine arts from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. He is currently an instructor at Glassell School of Art and at San Jacinto College, both in Houston.

For more information, please contact Alma Haertlein, TAMIU assistant professor of studio art, at 326-3041 or e-mail almah@tamiu.edu. Gallery hours are Monday through Thursday, 12 to 5 p.m. or by appointment. For a recorded list of upcoming arts events, call 326-ARTS or click on tamiu.edu/coas/fpa/coe.

TAMIU art exhibit “Goin’ Mobile” Showing TAMIU’s Center for the Fine and Performing Arts (CFPA) invites local and area residents to attend the new spring exhibit “Goin’ Mobile” at TAMIU’s CFPA Gallery through Thursday, March 26. Admission is free and open to the public.

The exhibit presents artwork by primarily San Antonio-based artists. The exhibit will include paintings, photography, and installations. Artists featured include Adam Blumberg, Min-Tse Chen, Mark Hogensen, Tao Rey, Mark Schatz, and Ethel Shipton.

Laredo native Shipton is currently living and working in San Antonio. She has been actively showing work in San Antonio and nationally since 1990.

Blumberg was born in Collinsville, Illinois and currently lives in New York City, where he is a master’s of fine arts candidate at the International Center of Photography-Bard. He received his bachelor of fine arts from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Min-Tse Chen was born in Taipei and currently lives and works in Beijing. She received her master of fine arts from the

International MBA draws Taiwanese students Some TAMIU students are going the distance to secure their education. Specifically, they are traveling around the world, drawn by the growing global importance of an international education, delivered by TAMIU. The 16 students from Fu Jen Catholic University of Taipei, Taiwan are participating in an innovative dual Masters of Business Administration (MBA) program. The initiative sees them take intensive coursework at both campuses.

TAMIU faculty delivers the course in Taipei and students from Taipei come to TAMIU to complete other courses.

Dr. Antonio J. Rodriguez, TAMIU’s A. R. Sanchez Jr. School of Business associate dean and professor of finance, said the program is designed to be completed in about two years and is strongly international in its offerings.

“Our focus is on international business in this MBA program, which is a perspective that students not only at Fu Jen but all over the world are now emphasizing. One of our Fu Jen students, Rou Wen (Adela), happens to

have majored in Spanish in college and is fluent in the language. Coupling her language skills with an international business MBA will make her a highly desirable candidate in the global job marketplace,” Dr. Rodriguez explained.

The program offering with Fu Jen developed from an initial contact from Fu Jen’s dean of the College of Business and TAMIU’s Sanchez School of Business dean Dr. Jacky So and came to fruition in a relatively short time -- about one year.

University faculty has already traveled to Taiwan to present course work. Dr. Milton Mayfield, associate professor of management, delivered a masters seminar in management as part of the dual MBA program, while Dr. Jackie Mayfield, Sanchez School of Business associate professor, delivered a series of presentations on research in management issues to PhD students of Fu Jen at the invitation of their business school. TAMIU officials have also met with the dean of their nursing program and Fu Jen nursing faculty has visited TAMIU to further explore the possibility of joint programs.

Rodriguez said the Fu Jen initiative is a clear example of TAMIU’s growing preeminence in international education.

“This program, as well as the Dual MBA with Universidad Regiomontana in Monterrey, Mexico, fits our mission of serving the global community parallel to our local and regional mission. The uniqueness of Dual MBA programs is that they allow international students to consider and undertake our programs in a way that better fits their needs.

“For example, part of the program or, in the case of Mexico, the entire program, is delivered at the home institution of these students and/or partly on line. We are able to offer our MBA program to students who normally would not consider investing in a full-time program on site at our campus or at an American university. These programs allow TAMIU to establish itself globally by developing a unique niche in the MBA program market. We are constantly looking for opportunities to develop and implement similar arrangements with universities in other parts of the world,” Rodriguez said.

For additional information, contact Dr. Rodriguez at the A. R. Sanchez Jr. School of Business at 956.326.2517, email Rodriguez@tamiu.edu, or click on http:// www.tamiu.edu/ssb/. u WWW.LAREDOSNEWS.COM

Serving Sentences

A question for the defense By randy koch Randy Koch is teaching composition and pursuing an MFA in creative writing at the University of Wyoming in Laranie.

O

n a Monday afternoon in late February, I stood before a small audience in the Cottonwood Room in the Beta House, a stone’s throw from the University of Wyoming’s War Memorial Stadium. Under the stark fluorescent lights, two small gray cameras -- one in the front of the room, another in back -- hummed softly as Nick, wearing a baseball cap, ran the controls from behind a screen like a juvenile Wizard of Oz. The chairs along the back two rows of off-white tables were mostly filled with MFA students while faculty members sat along one wall or at the front table. There was a computer monitor and document camera on the podium where I stood, two 48-inch plasma screens suspended in the corner to my right, another in the back of the room directly across from me, and a microphone in front of each chair at the tables. Here -- in what felt like Big Brother’s rumpus room -- I would defend my thesis, a 70-page collection of poems about the Spanish conquest of the Americas.

After Dr. Torry, the fourth member of my thesis committee, arrived from his noon class, I explained the origins of the project, how in 2001 I was teaching a creative writing class at Laredo Community College and assigned students a Julianna Baggott poem called “Mary Todd on Her Death Bed.” This led me to ask students to do what Baggott did -- write a poem not in their own voice but in the voice of a historical figure.

I wrote along with my students, a poem spoken

by Vasco Nuñez de Balboa, the first European to see the Pacific Ocean, in the moments prior to his beheading for treason.

“Since writing the Balboa poem,” I explained to the assembled audience, “I’ve written 38 more, each in the voice of a different conquistador, and plan to add another 16 before the collection is finished.” Then, I read four poems: Francisco Vásquez de Coronado’s “Near Waking,” Pope Alexander VI’s “The Bull,” Catalina Juárez’s “Homecoming,” and Juan López de Palacios Rubios’s “Sanction.” When I finished, I invited questions from the audience, a requirement of the defense.

In the back row, Jason Stenar Clark -- tall, angular, and wearing a gray vest and satin shirt -- leaned across the corner of the back table; WWW. L A R E D O S N E W S . C O M

then, with the pale, thin fingers of a pianist, he pressed the curved gray bar on the base of the microphone as if holding a long ivory note. He asked, “What is colonialism?”

I’d expected questions about process, poets whose work I’d modeled mine after, how I saw the structure of the whole collection, even details about the history of Mexico or Peru. But now, because of the scope of Jason’s question, I hesitated, my mind spinning, grasping for something solid to hold on to. Then, I imagined facetiously saying, “That’s an awfully personal question, Jason.”

But I didn’t.

I felt his query -- “What is colonialism?”

-- hang in the room, and I tried to find a perspective, a way to focus it so I could offer a coherent response. Then, I imagined a different reply: “I decline to answer on the grounds that it may incriminate me.”

Though I didn’t say that either.

When Sam Renken, with short brassy hair and a gravelly Western twang, shifted in his chair as if settling into a saddle and leaned toward Jason’s microphone, he asked something, but all I could think of, all I heard was “What is colonialism?”

In the context of this collection, it’s everyone and no one, the aggressor and the pacifist, the sacrificed and the sacrificer, the victim and the victimizer. It just depends on what point in history you’re talking about.

Later I realized that’s what I wanted to say though I didn’t. Besides, it didn’t really answer the question anyway.

Lucas Street sat erect, looked like the intellectual child of ZZ Top’s Billy Gibson -- ponytail to the middle of his back, full brown beard, and clear wire-rims instead of cheap sunglasses. He leaned toward his microphone, but I couldn’t let go of my inadequate answer or the other question implied by Jason: “Who is a colonist?”

Someone who loves vertical punctuation.

That may have drawn a laugh from a roomful of writers, but it makes light of the subject.

Evie Hemphill, her elbows on the table, her chin resting on the back of her arched wrists, also did not ask, “Who is a colonist?”

One obsessed with the possibility of a specific kind of cancer.

In poor taste. I didn’t say that either. Just trying to exorcise my own midlife obsessions.

The camera at the front of the room hummed, swung to the far end of the back table. Jason hooked his thumbs in the pockets of his vest and did not press the key on the microphone. “What is colonialism?” he might have asked again.

A fascination with Cristóbal Colón.

Too facetious, too allusive.

At the other end, near Nick the Tech, Tyler Fall, his cleft chin and the ruler-straight part in his dark hair reminded me of a news anchor. He looked comfortable behind the mic and asked about the use of Spanish in poems written in English though I still couldn’t help hearing, was still dissatisfied with my answer to the first question, “What is colonialism?”

An MFA program intruding on the territory long peopled by non-degreed writers like Jack London, Ernest Hemingway, and Charles Bukowski.

A potentially relevant example but it fails to adequately answer the question.

“Who,” Sam might also have asked, “is a colonist?”

Someone who wants weekly space in a newspaper but won’t get it because the “m” key on his typewriter is broken.

Just plain foolish. It avoids the issue.

Bison Messink, in a blue Detroit Tigers jersey and jeans, had been sitting with his arms crossed over his chest and legs straight out, his long frame hypotenused across his chair. Suddenly he unstretched his legs, tugged on a tan cord until the ear bud jumped from his left ear, and mumbled, “He couldn’t throw a strike if --” He looked around and sat up straight.

“Bison,” MFA program director Beth Loffreda whispered, her pale narrow face parenthesized by wild red hair, her legs pretzeled under her with the skill of a contortionist. “Inattentiveness is an offense to a defense.”

And at the end of the second row sat Marissa Johnson-Valenzuela in dark-rimmed glasses, a silver ring piercing her bottom lip, a tattoo from Chicago wrapped like blue-green lace around her left forearm. She, too, might have said, “Who is a colonist?”

Yesterday from my front door I watched a black lab pissing on the base of a cottonwood on the corner of Harney and 6th Street.

At the other end of the second row, poet and professor Harvey Hix, wearing a black knit shirt and black slacks and channeling Alex Trebek, said, “Who is a colonist.”

On my left, Dr. Torry, dressed in a gray suit, and on my right, Craig Arnold, his tan scalp reflecting the fluorescent light, laughed.

History professor Adrian Bantjes looked impatient. Dr. Michael Sowder, also a committee member though present only virtually on the screen at the back of the room, waited through the time lapse for Harvey’s answer to arrive at Utah State University.

Bison pushed the ear bud back in and grumbled, “I’ll take a double play over a double entendre any day.” He leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes.

Who else? I wondered. Who else is a colo-

nist? And my mind swirled.

The young man whose stall in the middle of Mall del Norte is lined with bottles of Armani, Pierre Cardin, and Eternity, who’s unaware of the missing G, trying to earn his first G, who calls out to the young dude passing by with his arm across the bare shoulder of a curvaceous girl, “Hey,” rather than “Gee,” “Jesús” rather than “Jesus.”

And? Those standing ankle-deep in rainwater in unpaved streets in El Cenizo or Rio Bravo or the other colonias, who don’t have safe drinking water, sewer, air conditioning, law enforcement, fire protection, ambulance service. Someone on the fringe of the fringe. Someone on the border of the border.

Emilene Ostlind, blond hair leaking from under a red, blue, and yellow knit cap, her hands folded in her lap under the table, seemed to say softly, patiently: “Now we’re getting somewhere. Who else?”

A colonus, a serf in feudal times, a tenant-farmer, my parents renting a farm on shares near Evan, Minnesota, in the 1960s.

Evie leaned forward, smiling, her eyes pinched shut as if she had not yet bitten the apple: “Are you a colonist?”

Ripe with accusation, the lack of an answer at the core of confession.

And neither Jason nor Evie, not Tyler or Lucas or Emilene asked again, “Who is a colonist?” but the question continued to nag me.

Someone who hears a simple, straightforward question and makes it more than was intended but tries to reassure himself it’s less than what was asked.

And? I obsessed.

A writer appropriating the past for his own purposes, representing you and you and you in the narrow, exclusionary way that emphasizes language and image, not fact nor the entirety of your person, your humanity, your selves, your actual questions, only those I’ll obsess about long after the room is empty while I walk back to Hoyt Hall.

By 3:00 the MFA students had left and the Q&A with the committee was over. The room was empty except for Nick and me. He stood, only his cap visible over the screen; then, his right arm rose, the flat palm facing me as he stretched. And I heard a sharp click as if he’d snapped the heels of his boots together, and I waited, expecting that either he’d say three times, “There’s no place like home,” or he’d shout, “Sieg Heil!”

But all I heard then and later as I walked through the dark streets and under the constellated sky to my house on Harney was Jason’s question and the problem of answering it, not just in the context of the Spanish conquistadors but in light of who we all are or have been or still may be. u LareDOS | M arch 2009 |

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Seguro Que Sí

Texas By Nature

An interesting treatise about politicians

Ocelots: Tracking America’s Rarest Cat

By Henri Kahn Contact Henri D. Kahn with your insurance questions at (956) 725-3936, or by fax at (956) 791-0627, or by email at hkahn@ kahnins.com

(Editor’s note: The original column was published in the early 80s, and an updated version was circulated during the recent Presidential election. It is unclear as to whether or not Reese changed the column himself.)

Jake Spruiell, a friend of mine, sent me this piece by Charley Reese, a journalist of 49 years, and I really think it hits the nail on the head.

The 545 human beings responsible for the domestic problems of our country Politicians are the only people in the world who create problems and then campaign against them. Have you ever wondered, if both the Democrats and the Republicans are against deficits, why do we have deficits?

Have you ever wondered, if all the politicians are against inflation and high taxes, why do we have inflation and high taxes?

You and I don’t propose a federal budget. The president does. You and I don’t have the Constitutional authority to vote on appropriations. The House of Representatives does. You and I don’t write the tax code, Congress does. You and I don’t set fiscal policy, Congress does. You and I don’t control monetary policy, the Federal Reserve Bank does.

One hundred senators, 435 congressmen, one president, and nine Supreme Court justices -- 545 human beings out of the 300 million -- are directly, legally, morally, and individually responsible for the domestic problems that plague this country.

I excluded the members of the Federal Reserve Board because that problem was created by the Con-

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gress. In 1913, Congress delegated its Constitutional duty to provide a sound currency to a federally chartered, but private, central bank.

I excluded all the special interests and lobbyists for a sound reason. They have no legal authority. They have no ability to coerce a senator, a congressman, or a president to do one cotton-picking thing. I don’t care if they offer a politician $1 million dollars in cash. The politician has the power to accept or reject it. No matter what the lobbyist promises, it is the legislator’s responsibility to determine how he votes.

Those 545 human beings spend much of their energy convincing you that what they did is not their fault.

They cooperate in this common con regardless of party.

What separates a politician from a normal human being is an excessive amount of gall. No normal human being would have the gall of a Speaker, who stands up and criticizes the President for creating deficits. The president can only propose a budget. He cannot force the Congress to accept it.

The Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land, gives sole responsibility to the House of Representatives for originating and approving appropriations and taxes.

Who is the speaker of the House?

Nancy Pelosi. She is the leader of the majority party. She and fellow House members, not the president, can approve any budget they want. If the president vetoes it, they can pass it over his veto if they agree to.

It seems inconceivable to me that a nation of 300 million cannot replace 545 people who stand convicted -by present facts -- of incompetence and irresponsibility. I can’t think of a single domestic problem that is not traceable directly to those 545 people.

When you fully grasp the plain truth that 545 people exercise the power of the federal government, then it must follow that what exists is what they want to exist.

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By SANJAYAN

T

he rarest cat in America -- the ocelot -- lives in the southernmost corner of Texas, near Brownsville. It’s a spotted cat, marigold yellow and black, about the size of a small border collie -and a few weeks ago I was asked to go help catch one.

Jody Mays works for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service at the Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge in Texas. It’s her job to keep tabs on the small, remnant population of ocelots in the United States. No one knows their true numbers in this country: fewer than 100 -- maybe fewer than 50. They live in the impenetrable, tick infested, thorn and brush country of South Texas, right near the Rio Grande, just across from Mexico. Their habitat includes the Conservancy’s Lennox Foundation Southmost Preserve.

Though widespread in South and Central America, this prettiest of cats is now on the brink of extinction in the United States due to clearing of its habitat, which is seen by locals as pretty nasty. Ironically, as the cats get scarcer, their name and fame spreads and adorns developments, roads, and golf courses. Every other subdivision, it seems, is called “Ocelot something-or-another.”

The Nature Conservancy is working with others to protect as much ocelot habitat as possible through conservation

easements, linking up the small known breeding populations of the cat. But this work is expensive business -- and was recently made a little harder by the U.S. government’s plans to build a border fence, which would permanently isolate the U.S. ocelot population from the source population in Central America.

At Laguna Atascosa, perhaps just twodozen cats occupy some 45,000 acres. Secretive, nocturnal, and rare, they don’t make Jody’s job any easier. Our traps, baited with chicken, quail, or pigeons (the bait is kept in a separate cage and thus unharmed) caught us everything from armadillos to bobcats to coyotes.

But on the mornings I visited, the ocelots were staying away.

I left a camera with Jody, in the hopes that she might film what is no doubt rare footage of an American ocelot. And sure enough, a few days later, she calls with news of a young male ocelot being trapped.

With a radio collar on, he was subsequently released, and in the days and months to come, he will help us understand the needs and desires of the ocelot. But in some ways we already know what they need most. More land. More habitat.

In a state where private property is king, and where roads and agriculture bisects the slivers of remaining habitat, finding that additional habitat may be far harder than finding the rarest cat in America.

(The Nature Conservancy is a leading conservation organization working around the world to protect ecologically important lands and waters for nature and people. Visit The Nature Conservancy on the Web at nature.org/texas.) u

Conservation easements through the Conservancy WWW.LAREDOSNEWS.COM

Maverick Ranch Notes

The Golden-cheeked Warblers have arrived early

By bebe & sissy fenstermaker

I

heard a Golden-cheeked Warbler this afternoon about 3 p.m., then again at 3:30. He was very close -- just on the hill behind the corrals. Sissy and I were moving manure into the garden to get a new compost pile started. The air was dusty and it was hard to get a shovel full into the back of the pickup without it flying up into our eyes. The nasty wind didn’t help things either. I wasn’t ready for the warbler’s call this early. My mind was so involved with the job that when he let forth that beautiful set of notes they almost didn’t penetrate. Where was I? Sissy didn’t hear him the first time so I really wondered if I was crazy.

We know global warming is here. The drought and constant wind are proof of that. We’ve read that migrating birds aren’t going as far south as they have in the past. Many are wintering 40 miles or more north of their usual winter grounds. So it’s not incomprehensible that the birds are starting to arrive two weeks early. Their usual arrival date is around March 15.

There is trouble, however. The drought is going to bring them in closer to the houses for water. We must get water out into places where there was plenty before. They have to set up territories and don’t have time to fly long distance for water, no bird does. Nor do any of the wildlife. And to make matters worse, I saw a feral cat dash from in front of the chicken house and disappear under the grain shed this evening.

We don’t need a hungry cat waiting for stressed-out birds and other wildlife as they come in for water.

All my cats live permanently in the house. It’s a torture for sure, not a pleasant way of life for me or Biffry. However, they aren’t killing birds, lizards, frogs, and snakes (snakes aren’t too welcome here at the house, really) and that’s that.

Three years ago I trapped Ma cat and WWW. L A R E D O S N E W S . C O M

most of her children. They are in this house and not out hanging on the cowbird trap or running from the coyotes.

This makes for some kind of peace of mind.

The thing is Ma just doesn’t like me at all; nor do her son (Brother) and daughter (Sister or sometimes Spittooey). Son number two, Swatty Moo, is another case. I removed him from the nest just when Ma was moving the kids out of the milk shed and he was the single remaining kitten. At least I think she was going to come back for him. I had had my eye on the family and was planning to take all the kids and trap Ma when she up and decided to move out.

I looked in one evening and there was just the little smiling face of Swatty Moo looking up at me. Then he realized he needed to disappear from sight, and I had to go around to the back of the barn and reach through a hole to see if I could get him. He had begun to mew and it was growing dark, not the best of situations for a tiny kitten. So I grabbed him up and took him to the house knowing baby bottles and all the rest of that lay ahead. As things went along, Swatty grew up reminding me that his family was still out there wreaking havoc, starving, and dodging coyotes.

While he grew fat and sassy I set up the trap. Our hunters suggested using sardines, and I must have caught the same possum four or five times. But eventually Ma took the bait, then Sister, and, finally, Brother who whined and moaned all the way down to the house.

They all thought I was going to kill them or something horrible; none was ever thankful for the steady food.

Here we are today, and they clear from the sofa if I come over to sit down to make a telephone call. I can’t put a hand on any of them; I can’t even look at them very long or they’ll streak off.

Swatty loves them, however, and got past the spitting and lack of recognition and is now accepted. When I took the kittens to the vet he weighed double what the other two did. It took two years for them to grow anywhere near his size. So much for mother’s milk, especially out in the wilds!

None of this solves the Goldencheeked Warbler safety issue as it stands.

The trap comes out first thing tomorrow, then what?

Bebe Fenstermaker

Bebe and I did make the trip to Austin in early February to attend the Preservation Texas press conference announcing their 2009 list of the “Most Endangered Places” in Texas.

We drove over with other supporters of the Scenic Loop-Boerne Stage Corridor. The day was windy and a bit chilly. Preservation Texas had their press conference on the south steps of the Capitol and announced each of the 11 sites placed on their list. A handsome poster size photograph and a gathering of supporters represented each nominee.

The event was well attended by historic preservationists, advocates for each site, and members of the various media organizations. A press release and information about each site is on the organization’s web page: www. preservationtexas.org.

We had managed to keep the information about our nomination quiet, which was not easy. Preservation Texas requested we not give our local press prior information, as they wished to have the first press conference there in Austin. So we quietly let supporters in our area know, cautioning them not to say anything.

Our stealth worked, and we were rewarded with press coverage after the Austin event. Later in that same week, the Scenic Loop-Boerne Stage

Continued from page 63

If the tax code is unfair, it’s because they want it unfair. If the budget is in the red, it’s because they want it in the red. If the Army and Marines are in Iraq, it’s because they want them in Iraq. If they do not receive social security but are on an elite retirement plan not available to the people, it’s because they want it that way.

There are no insoluble government problems.

Do not let these 545 people shift the blame to bureaucrats, whom they hire and whose jobs they can abolish; to lobbyists, whose gifts and advice they can reject; to regulators, to whom they give the power

Alliance held a press conference with Krista Gebbia, executive director of Preservation Texas, in Grey Forest.

The designation “most endangered” is by no means a guarantee that a site has been saved. Many former endangered structural sites were later demolished and, in the case of natural areas, ended up being permanently ruined. How sad for present and future generations.

Last year ended as one of the driest on record. Around here we were lucky if we got 13 inches. Until just recently the ground was so dry and dusty little if any green showed. The pulverized soil made a great medium for tracks, and each morning I took note of who had traveled the trails and road. Now, we have had a good two-inch rain, and presto, a little bit of green has covered some of the bare ground. The chickens and the guinea are busy gobbling as much of it as possible.

The drought is by no means over, however. Two inches dries up pretty fast, especially in the wind. The latter seems to be a constant companion of drought. This year, like last year, windy days are occurring all too frequently. If I didn’t know better, I would think we were living on the coast.

Sissy Fenstermaker

to regulate and from whom they can take this power. Above all, do not let them con you into the belief that there exists a disembodied mystical force like “the economy,” “inflation,” or “politics” that prevent them from doing what they take an oath to do.

Those 545 people, and they alone, are responsible. They, and they alone, have the power. They, and they alone, should be held accountable by the people who are their bosses. Provided the voters have the gumption to manage their own employees.

We should vote all of them out of office and clean up their mess.

What you do with this article now that you have read it is up to you. u

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South Texas Food Bank

STFB and BMP Radio Drive for the Hungry begins April 1 By salo otero Salo Otero is the director of development for the South Texas Food Bank. He can be reached at sotero@southexasfoodbank.org or by calling 956-726-3120.

Listen up.

The South Texas Food Bank (STFB) and Border Media are teaming up for the fourth time to hit the airways to battle hunger in the STFB’s eight-county service area from Del Rio to Rio Grande City. This year’s radio drive has a new fund raising twist. For the first three years, it’s been a one-day radiothon event in the BMP studios on Calle Del Norte. This year’s will be a month-long campaign from April 1 through April 30 over the five BMP stations -- La Ley 100.5 FM, Hot 106.1, The Works 94.9, Digital 107.3, and Norteño 1490.

BMP account executive Ana RiveraSoto announced the format. “It’s not your traditional radiothon. It’s a 30-day campaign. BMP truly believes in the South Texas Food Bank mission of feeding the hungry, and this appeal will maximize the efforts to raise as much money as possible. We’ll push it all 24 hours,” she said.

The food bank is extremely grateful to BMP, its management, and employees to let us have the air time to get our mission across and allow South Texans, especially the generosity of Laredoans, to shine through. Hunger is not a problem you just see on television appeals from third world countries. Hunger exists in our own backyard. The food bank is on the front line of combating the issue. We raised $112,000 last year and our goal this year is $150,000.

It’s our biggest fundraiser of the year.

The STFB is selling 30-day radio drive sponsorships for $1,500, $5,000, and $10,000. The sponsor’s name will be aired throughout the month at least 400 times.

The $5,000 sponsor is also getting a live 60-second interview, and the $10,000 sponsor is eligible for a live remote broadcast from the sponsor’s business.

Radio listeners will be encouraged to call the STFB at (956) 726-3120 to make their pledges and donations. To spice things up

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and try to get more people involved, any individual donation of $25 or more will be placed in a weekly drawing for a gift certificate for a dinner for two. Four dinners will be given during the month. Embassy Suites, La Posada Hotel, Outback, and Olive Garden restaurants are donating these dinners.

The STFB is a charitable 501-c3 organization. Tax-deductible monetary donations can be mailed to P.O. Box 2007, Laredo, TX, 78044. The website is www.southtexasfoodbank.org. STFB board members Olga Maldonado and Roberto Diaz are the radio drive co-chairs.

The radio drive will be formally announced at a STFB party at our offices at 1907 Freight on Thursday, March 26 from 4 to 7 p.m. The food bank is located two blocks south of Calton Road on Freight and Riverside.

The food bank will also unveil its new logo on March 26. The logo is a product of work by STFB board members Maldonado and Goyo Lopez.

“We know the economy is tough. But just think about the situation, it’s even more difficult for our clients,’’ STFB executive director Alfredo Castillo said. “Our need has grown with the declining economy.”

Proof of the need is in the numbers: Webb County: The poverty rate is 30 percent, or 68,537 individuals, including 34,000 children. The STFB provides food for 18,100 individuals and 6,200 of those are children.

Zapata County: The poverty rate is 36 percent, or 4,341 individuals, including 1,839 children. The STFB provides food for 1,778 individuals every month and 890 of those are children.

JIM HOGG COUNTY (Hebbronville): The poverty rate is 26 percent, or 1,345 individuals, including 482 children. The STFB provides food for 584 individuals every month and 179 of those are children.

STARR COUNTY (Rio Grande City): The poverty rate is 33 percent. The STFB provides food for 1,893 families every month, including 3,910 adults and 2,690 children, and they serve 2,355 meals and 32,500 pounds of food.

DIMMITT COUNTY (Carrizo Springs): The poverty rate is 33 percent, or 3,369 individuals, including 1,347 children. The STFB provides food for 1,295 individuals every month and 320 are those children.

MAVERICK COUNTY (Eagle Pass): The

poverty rate is 35 percent, or 16,443 individuals, including 47,101 children. The STFB provides food for 1,483 individuals per month and 510 of those are children.

VAL VERDE COUNTY (Del Rio): The poverty rate is 26 percent, or 11,507 individuals, including 4,854 children. The STFB provides food for 2,693 individuals every month and 949 of those are children.

KINNEY COUNTY (Brackettville): The poverty rate is 24 percent, or 805 individuals, including 289 children.

STFB participates in hunger study through April 26 The food bank is participating in Feeding America’s fourth nationwide Hunger in America Study. The Hunger in America study provides valuable data to the food bank and Feeding America about hunger and food insecurity in the United States and the local community.

This information contributes to policy changes and assists the STFB and the Feeding America network in securing funding. Feeding America has contracted with Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. (MPR) to help conduct this large-scale study.

The study started in early March and runs through April 26. Volunteers and STFB staff will go to randomly selected sites of the food bank’s agency network to conduct interviews with the people who receive food assistance.

The information obtained will help discover whether food assistance programs are meeting the needs of the people that they serve. The information is confidential.

It will not be shared with anybody else and no identifiable information will be requested.

Elia Solis, agency coordinator for the STFB, is chairing the Hunger in America study in Laredo. “The data collected is very important. It will help serve our clients better,” Solis said. “People need not be hesitant or afraid to participate. The family ultimately benefits. Hopefully it will increase funding.

“We really encourage people to participate. The interview will last about 20 minutes and will include some personal questions, but we will not ask any identifiable information like name, address, or social security. The participants will also get incentives,” said Solis.

It will be available in both Spanish and

English. The last hunger study in Laredo was completed in 2005.

The food bank has been in existence since 1989. It became a Feeding America affiliate in January. Feeding America is the nation’s largest food bank network. The STFB distributed 7.4 million pounds last year in the eight-county area.

The food bank’s programs include Adopt-A-Family, the Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP) for the elderly, 12 Kid’s Cafés, and the food stamp outreach.

Adopt-A-Family serves 638 families per month, but has a waiting list of 900. CSFP has 6,269 on the roll with 1,200 on the waiting list. Kid’s Café serves between 600 and 700 after school meals per day Monday through Friday, and the food stamp outreach signed up 2,905 families in 2008.

Food for thought from the South Texas Food Bank • The STFB has opened the Big Red Kid’s Café at the Lamar Bruni Vergara Boys and Girls Club on Los Presidentes Ave. between United outh Middle School and United South High School. The J.C. Pepe Treviño Jr. family is sponsoring the café.

• Alma Blanco of the food bank staff will be at the Laredo Community College health fair on March 27 from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. answering questions and promoting the food stamp outreach program. She will also be at the Doctors Hospital Senior Salud on March 24 at 5 p.m.

• The third annual Laredo Entertainment Center-South Texas Food Bank Empty Bowls fundraiser event has been switched from June 13 to August 20. Board members Anna Benavides Galo and Kevin Romo are the co-chairs.

• During the month of March, Curves of Laredo sponsors the 11th Annual Curves Food Drive to benefit the food bank. Collectively, over the past five years, nearly 50 million pounds of food were distributed to local communities all over the world through the Curves Food Drive. Curves of Laredo is also giving back to the community by offering a discount from its sign up fee for any new member who brings in a bag of non-perishable food and joins between March 9 and March 28.

The food is being collected at 5110 McPherson No. 5 and 3660 Del Mar Blvd. u WWW.LAREDOSNEWS.COM

Reflections of a New Texan

In defense of KGNS

By DENISE FERGUSON Denise Ferguson is newly arrived in Laredo.

A Rhode Islander by birth, she and her husband retired to Laredo to be near their family. She can be reached by email at denise291.1@juno.com.

E

very evening, when we watch the five o’clock news on KGNS, my husband shouts out, “It’s the only news station here, fool!” to Tim Gutierrez upon his announcement that “Pro8 News is Laredo’s number one news station.” While I’m going to waive any opinion as to who is the “fool” in this scenario, I often wonder why comparisons are drawn between KLDO and KGNS such as were mentioned in an article in the January issue of LareDOS entitled “According to Nielsen stats, Univision is numero uno”

by Catherine Jerline Archer. Since one station provides mainly to Englishspeaking viewers and one provides primarily to those who speak Spanish or are bilingual, it‘s like comparing apples and oranges. I wonder if there is a Spanish-speaking gentleman down the street similarly yelling at the KLDO announcer for claiming to be Number 1?

Pro8 News and advocacy Some insight into the TV competition occurred recently when I had the pleasure of sharing a table at a function with several friendly Texans, most of whom were bilingual.

During the course of the table conversation, one young woman shared a problem about her son’s schooling.

“He has not been learning English at (UISD) school,” she said. In spite of the fact that the mother had advocated for her son in favor of his being allowed to enter an English class or program, he was prevented from doing so. One person in the party asked, “Why don’t you arrange for him to attend another school? That opportunity is provided by the school system.” The young WWW. L A R E D O S N E W S . C O M

mother replied that she had, indeed, advocated for a change of schools, but the school system had not complied.

At that point several table companions asked at the same time, “Why don’t you call Pro8 News? They have a ‘Problem Solver’ report.”

The fact that the Problem Solver had been brought up in casual conversation among a group including bilingual speakers of all levels indicated to me that Pro8 News is not ignored by bilingual Laredoans as might be inferred in the January article’s statistics.

That conversation also brought up a much more significant problem. I have been appalled to observe on several occasions that there are still people in Laredo who are complaining that their children are not being given the opportunity to learn English, regardless of whether or not the parents advocate for it.

While some English programs involve laying a format in the student’s own language, I would think the parent would be advised of the learning sequence from day one. When I was still living in Rhode Island, the TV and newspaper media reported that Central Falls schools, a city with about 70 percent Hispanic population, was not showing satisfactory progress as indicated by its TAKS scores in English. The coordinator of the program responded, “The TAKS scores do not reveal individual success in the ESL program.”

Throughout the areas I have lived in the United States, there has been agreement among many teachers that “comprehensive education in the United States is being sacrificed at the altar of TAKS scores” (or SAT’s and other standardized tests). As a former teacher and volunteer aide in Central Falls schools, I viewed astounding progress in Central Falls ESL programs and special education programs. The education department was state funded, so the language program was state-of-the-art. Parents from surrounding well-to-do areas advocated for their children to be enrolled in Central Falls special programs. If 20 children graduate to full immersion in English in a particular year, children who are just starting school may fill the resulting vacancies. You can’t explain that with statistics.

In Laredo, it was reported by KGNS and the Laredo Morning Times (LMT) a couple of years ago that UISD was

about to initiate a new bilingual program which would require all Spanish speaking students to take a couple of subject matter courses in English; and all English speaking students would be required to take a couple of subject matter courses in Spanish.

Some Spanish-speaking parents objected because they wanted full immersion in English for their children.

And while I don’t know of too many people who would not want their child to be bilingual or trilingual if the child had such gifts, it is a very brave English speaking parent indeed who would want their child to learn mathematics in Spanish or Chinese or German!

Parents were to be able to opt their child out of the bilingual program, but I can see from editorials in the Laredo Morning Times that some children get stuck, but good, in inappropriate or unchallenging programs in spite of parental requests.

I do not know what part KLDO played in this hoopla, but I do know that Pro8 News helped to bring this matter to the attention of the public, and they and LMT allowed numerous comments to be made by all concerned. Eventually, the matter was tabled by UISD for the time being. But it was noted by the media that LISD had already instituted the program without public notification. I am able to say on a personal level that my own experience with UISD has been very favorable, and it is obvious that most teachers in Laredo are working very hard.

I think that any parent who does not get a satisfactory response from any school system after addressing the teacher, the department head, the counselor, the principal, and the superintendent should get in touch with the Texas Department of Education or even stop by the office of Congressman Henry Cuellar to get intervention information.

Pro8 News and Sex Appeal You know what I really like about Pro8 News? The announcers are not necessarily “drop dead gorgeous.”

Most of the reporters look like our neighbors and our relatives. I think Laredoans would feel comfortable approaching them. In comparison, I have noticed that the only woman who is somewhat plain on the MSNBC Brian Williams newscast is investigative reporter Lisa Myers.

Last fall, when special media consul-

tants were invited by Brian Williams to report on the economy, the female MBA’s and Wall Street correspondents looked like Angelina Jolie. I was tempted to write and ask NBC if only Miss Universe candidates were invited to correspond with NBC. I asked my husband if he had noticed that the news media ladies were falling out of their blouses, he answered, “Yes.” Odd that he hadn’t mentioned it.

Pro8 News and Expertise The first time I watched Pro8 News, I said to myself, “What’s this?” And in evaluating Pro8 News in comparison with KLDO, the story in LareDOS refers to “…reports from some flustered, achingly unseasoned reporters…” As for me, now that I have been seasoned to the experience of watching Pro8 News, I find myself less critical. Both my husband and I have become “vested” in the media learning experience.

We are like a cheering session. It is a little bit like the caldron of the arts and sciences and music that makes Laredo unlike most cities. From that caldron emerges surprising talent. And it is great that it is in Laredo where much new talent can work out personal glitches and, hopefully, flourish.

After all, I come from a place where a lady named “Bunny North,” a real estate agent and owner of a charm school, provided the weather forecasts for the Channel 10 news station for years and received high ratings. When I left Rhode Island, Channel 10 had four or five meteorologists, and the one who received the highest ratings was the individual who was most clumsy with the use of computers, and therefore, the most endearing. He did have a PhD in Meteorology, but it was a laugh riot to watch him. Of course, no one can predict Rhode Island weather anyway.

Pro8 News -- Ace in the Hole My husband’s favorite TV news personality is Concetta Callahan. She receives no criticism from him. He blames the technical department for any flubs -- and rightly so, perhaps.

I think Ann Hutyra is great. But our must see favorites are “Heatwave” Berler and his backup Victoria Marshall. This seems consistent with almost every city in the USA, where the local weather personalities make or break the ratings of a television station.

Continued on page 63

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Notes from Lala Land

Laredoan Julia Vera in Crossing Over By dr. neo gutierrez (Dr. Neo Gutierrez is a Ph.D. in Dance and Related Fine Arts, Laredo Sr. Int’l USA 2008, Tiger Legend 2002, Sr. Int’l de Beverly Hills 1997. Contact neodance@aol.com)

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hen do pride and admiration for someone become overwhelming? I found out yesterday when I viewed on opening day Harrison Ford’s new movie, Crossing Over, a gut-wrenching account of man’s interconnectedness to man, or the lack thereof. And my source of pride and admiration: Laredo’s gift to Hollywood, Julia Vera, who is in five camera shots in two scenes with megastar Ford. Her time on camera, altogether, is maybe three minutes or so, but that’s all she needed to show she was powerful, in command, and an outstanding artist.

My special pride in her performance?

I was Julia’s first dance teacher Christen Jr. High in Laredo when I started my teaching career. She was in my very first performing dance group in Laredo, in a school assembly. And now, look at her.

But let’s backtrack for a moment. About the film: an MGM release at the end of February, Ford shares star status with Ashley Judd, Alicia Braga (Sonia’s niece), and Ray Liotta. The subject -- immigrants from around the world who enter L.A. full of hope for a better life, oblivious to what that life may cost -- has relevance and definitely pulls the heartstrings. The woman sitting next to me at the theatre cried throughout the movie. The desperate situations of the immigrants test the humanity of immigration enforcement officers like Harrison Ford’s character.

Written and directed by Wayne Kramer, the film explores the call of the American dream and the reality that immigrants find and create in the 21st century in L.A. The desperation to become legal in this country places incredible stress on an overloaded American system. The film is full of drama, thuggish violence, and profanity. It’s reminiscent of movie hits Crash and Babel. In the film there are many stories that interweave, showing us different characters, each with a more desperate situation than the other one.

If you want to get a good feel of the

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lives by giving our participants a new beginning. We help families become self-sufficient, and we promote crosscultural understanding. To accomplish all this we employ over 200 dedicated, multicultural staff to provide childcare, senior services, nutrition services, and employmentservices from over 25 centers and offices in southern and central California,” Julia said of the Institute’s work.

Julia Vera with actor Miguel Najera So who is Julia Vera?

Born in Laredo, L.A. geography, you will appreci- she moved to L.A. in 1965 with her husate the aerial photography from band and four children. She had her fifth neighborhood to neighborhood. child in California. She worked as a cenHarrison Ford plays a truly big-hearted, sus taker while she kept all her kids in sensitive, lonely man who works for Im- school and busy with classes, baseball, migration and Customs Enforcement football, and cheerleading. In 1990 she (ICE). In the film he becomes concerned joined Comisión Femenil and was elected with a little boy, Juan, who is left behind national president of the organization, in L.A. when his mother is caught work- which is dedicated to the Latina woman ing in a factory during an ICE raid. Alice and her family. They address issues of Braga plays the boy’s mother and Julia health, education, and participation in the Vera plays the kid’s grandmother, who political and business arenas. Julia has lives in Tijuana. The film stresses the also been involved in the political camurgency of a pressing national problem. paigns of many of her friends, making Julia Vera, by the way, has over 60 Holly- phone calls, walking precincts, knockwood movie, TV, and commercial produc- ing on doors, and distributing flyers. tion credits, all listed on www.imdb.com. In 1992 she was hired by UCLA through Maybe it’s a timely coincidence that as the former Laredoan Dr. Patsy Mendoza in the subject of immigration is treated in Ju- Latino Outreach program. (Small world. lia’s latest film, she has just recently been Patsy was my replacement teacher at named Chairperson of the International Christen when I left Laredo to teach in L.A.) Institute of Los Angeles, an important In 1998 Julia dedicated herself to acting. organization helping to find solutions She joined the Screen Actors Guild, and to the problems of real-life immigrants. thereby gets to vote for the Academy Julia’s volunteer work furthers the insti- Awards. After realizing that she had to tute which has worked with hundreds of miss work for auditions, she decided thousands of immigrants and other low- to give up her job and go for broke in income individuals to overcome the bar- show business. She never looked back. riers that they face in becoming success- She said, “Being bilingual is a plus. All ful and contributing members in their of my commercials and some of the TV new society. shows and movies have required me to “We bring a smile of hope to the faces speak Spanish. I have traveled to differof children in our childcare centers; we of- ent parts of the world through this wonfer reassurance to seniors who join in the derful work. Now I am also busy with my weekly dances at our senior center; and work as chairperson of the International we extend a hand up to refugees and im- Institute. I trust God, and I do good. “ migrants who begin their first jobs with But let’s jump over to Mexico’s gift to Holour help. We have changed thousands of lywood, sultry Salma Hayek, who’s really

cashing in these days as producer of Ugly Betty, the American version of a telenovela.

Of course, most recently you may have seen her on the news breastfeeding a starving baby in Sierra Leone. At any rate, Salma’s big day in February was Valentine’s Day, when she decided to marry her new baby’s father, French financier Francois Henri Pinault, in a civil ceremony in Paris. Their daughter’s name? Valentina!

But to end with more local goodies, I got a call from Betty Kramer, daughter of my mentor Mrs. Estela Zamora Kramer of San Antonio. Latino UT Chancellor Dr. Francisco Cigarroa’s name came up because Betty’s mom was Dr. Cigarroa’s swimming teacher in Laredo when he was a kid known as Kiko. The conversation with Betty was particularly well timed since the day before her call Dr. Cigarroa was at the LULAC Noche Mexicana where he was named Sr. Int’l 2009, ending my same title in 2008. But about Mrs. Kramer’s importance in my life: she was responsible for getting LISD Supt. J.W. Nixon and Christen principal Fernando Peña to give me permission to teach dance when I was 19 in 1955 and a new teacher at Christen.

What a lady Mrs. Kramer is! I was the first male dance teacher in Laredo, so everybody was very nervous about me. Imagine, this past December in my 40th annual dance workshop for Laredo dancers taught by Ani Vera, nine of 30 workshop dancers were guys!

Mrs. Kramer was the Laredo teacher that established the tradition of great line dancing at LISD, as in the Golden Spurs and the Silver Roses. One year she brought the Golden Spurs to LA to dance at Beverly Hills HS, Disneyland, Universal Studios, and at a Dodger game at Dodger Stadium.

And a note from Norma Adamo in Laredo: Jennie Leyendecker Reed, Irma Mireles, and I went to La Posada for George O. Jackson’s photo exhibit. We had a great time with wine, all-you-caneat food, music by Jerry Quintero, and the gracious hostess was Gayle Aker Rodriguez of the 201 Gallery. George and his brothers, lots of beautiful Laredo people, including Evan Quiros, were all there.

And for a closing thought: it was bound to happen. There had to be a Gutierrez somewhere in the messy picture.

OctoMom Nadya Suleman’s ex-husband’s name? Marcos Gutierrez. And no, he’s not the father of the 14 kids.

Time for, as Norma Adamo puts it: TAN TAN! u WWW.LAREDOSNEWS.COM

Otro punto de vista

Meditation on the relics brings focus to integrity, intentions, and blessings

By MARÍA EUGENIA CALDERÓN

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he Tibetan Relic tour has come and gone.

What an exhibit! In the Buddhist culture the dead are cremated, and within the ashes of the holiest of their spiritual teachers they find “ringsel,” the relic left behind. Ringsel are comprised of tiny granular crystals, some larger than others, and some more translucent than others. Their shapes and sizes vary. These relics date back to about 500 BC and are the personal collection of the Dalai Lama and other spiritual leaders of the Mahayana Buddhist tradition.

In the Mahayana tradition, altruism is its major focus. The Dalai Lama chose to share these relics and their histories with this traveling exhibit with the intent to raise awareness of the great needs in their sister culture of India where a major project will begin soon. This project will house clinics and education centers that will serve its people and create jobs. The tour is presently traveling in Mexico, and upon completion it will travel to Siberia. There is never a fee to attend this exhibit in any part of the world.

It was a privilege to witness this presentation.

The relic custodians were on a spiritual journey, devoting their lives to sharing what was holy and honorable to them. Their backgrounds were varied. One man was from Brazil, another from Australia, and the woman was from Italy. Their cultures and backgrounds were as diverse as their geographical locations. I witnessed a unity between them, a social spirit that did not stop to question or challenge our very different border culture; instead, they accepted our differences in communication skills and time clocks. They were bound by their spiritual journey and any differences were minutiae in relation to their in-

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With respect to KLDO, I have had the pleasure of watching that station when they have been “on topic.” On Election Night in November I cruised the local TV stations constantly for updates.

On ABC and NBC I saw Charles Gifford and Brian Williams confounded by their election charts or chatting about old times with “experts.” But on KLDO I found a regular reporter simply presenting WWW. L A R E D O S N E W S . C O M

tention. Their patience was evident. Their egos were never invited to judge or measure our differences.

I move now to our local culture where every philanthropic action must be recognized with an award, not to the intention, but to the persons involved. Maybe we should shift our consciousness and stop encouraging egos to shine and just focus on the project’s good intention. Our culture, social and spiritual education, has trained us into a dualism. Someone other than ourselves must recognize our good intentions and reward us; otherwise, our actions have little merit. We honor the mundane and park ourselves. Our “tow away zone” is contingent on another’s acceptance that we have a right to be where we are located. Public recognition is the ticket to stay or be towed away as unworthy.

What happened? If you look at our social development, it is created on the venue of accomplishment by certain norms and levels of conduct and posturing within a community and its culture. The more acceptable your posturing, a reflection of the local value system, the greater your ego is nurtured. Likewise, the more apparent your spiritual posturing is to the local spiritual value system, the greater your spiritual ego is venerated.

In a community such as that created by the Buddhist philosophy, there is no dualism. There is no external presence that rewards you or chastises you. Your integrity is yours, your intention is yours, and all is private with no fanfare. As for a spiritual reward, there is no greater being that bestows blessings or condemnations. Instead, you are invited to journey inwardly through meditation and introspection; there is no room for your ego unless you choose to deceive yourself. Their journey with the God force is different. God is

the facts and scenarios in which I was interested. The fact that it was all in Spanish was not a problem because the conversation was on a specific subject. And whenever I have flipped over to watch KLDO, I see every reason to believe they provide an excellent product.

If KLDO could run subtitles during one of their news programs and/or provide children’s shows and classics like John Wayne movies, Lassie, Batman and High School Musical, that would be awesome.

called the “Beloved One”; there is no clinging to the Presence other than as direction of where you want to go through a journey of truth that you and only you can accomplish. There are no birthrights through rituals. No salvations or condemnations through an award system created by human minds. Your human body is your vehicle, your free will is your ticket, and your destiny is up to you.

The only place for recognition is within you as you transcend your ego, not through the misinterpretation of turning the “other cheek” in chastisement for merit but through the careful focus of self-respect and putting the other cheek forward to change your life journey’s viewpoint.

Your self-esteem is not measured by awards from others. It comes from your own internal focus, attentive to its spiritual journey and its commitment to spiritual development from within a deep well that houses lessons for all those that have “eyes to see and ears to hear.” The ego loses its traction.

In Sanskrit, Buddha means awakened. In the story of the first Buddha, it was not the human senses that betrayed him into delusions away from his spiritual journey. It was his ego. The ego that all of us have shaped and that measures everything we do to favor our mind set, but not the truth. Delusion, the culprit that produces unhappiness, is the motivation for awakening awareness. In very simple words the Buddhist spiritual message is wrapped within one phrase, “loving kindness” -- for yourself and others through meditation, focus, and commitment to making “samsara,” our earthly sojourn, a place of merit as measured by how much you advanced on your spiritual journey. They hope we don’t waste a valuable lifetime in delusion. u

Anything that would help the young people of Laredo “be all that they can be.”

If KGNS could regulate the sound on its affiliate stations so it won’t blast out during commercials that would be awesome too.

And how about showing up-todate news clips on Saturday and Sunday? And about that technical department…

Univision GM Terry Elena Ordaz said, “Competition is good for everybody; it makes us rise to the

occasion and improve. The consumer gets a better product -- accurate news delivered in a professional manner.” So maybe having two sources of TV news reflects qualities that can transcend idiomas and improve overall product.

At any rate, while we all might have occasion to belittle the media, I think Laredoans owe much credit to the success of our city to the generosity of the local media in all its forms: television, radio, and newspapers (especially LareDOS!) u LareDOS | M arch 2009 |

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Who is Louis H. Bruni and why is he running for Webb County Judge?

belong to a patriotic Laredo family that has always believed in the prosperity and the good people of Laredo and Webb County. Like my ancestors before me, I have proudly participated in the history and economic development of this region. My parents taught me the value of hard work and dedication to high ideals.

I live by a code of honor based on personal honesty, respect for the law, and the pursuit of a better life for all.

Projects I have promoted or supported as a public servant have made a positive difference for the residents of this area.

As a two-term Laredo City Councilman (1994-2002) with perfect attendance at Council meetings, I worked for flood control in the Heights area, a new Public Library, a new Police Station, a new International

Airport, jet service to Laredo, and repairs and operating funds for four public swimming pools.

As Webb County Judge, I balanced the county budget, put strict spending limits on the court, improved long-neglected county roads, revamped the health care system, tapped into the CarrizoWilcox Aquifers for a secondary water source, created the Webb County Hospital District, and ran a solvent Webb County government with no new taxes.

Realizing the importance of infrastructure, I backed the building of Cuatro Vientos Road and the US 83/Loop 20 Interchange, and established a countywide road maintenance and improvement system.

I also supported Indigent Health Care, the JJAEP for atrisk students, noise abatement in District II, and multiple preservation and resource conservation projects. I have served on or chaired local, regional, and state committees on waste management, water conservation, and oil and gas issues. I served in Austin as a Governor’s appointee to the Small Business Coalition Commission.

Respectfully and sincerely, I offer myself as a candidate for Webb County Judge so that I can again put my experience, commitment, and know-how to work for the people of Webb County.

political advertising paId for by valeriE menendez, treasurer, post office box 1810, LAredo, TX, 78044

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