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PUBLIC SCHOOLS
Technology High school students to get iPads By RICARDO R. VILLARREAL THE ZAPATA TIMES
Courtesy photo
Shown is a photo of the new Zapata North Elementary School. The contractor said the project is at least two weeks ahead of schedule.
Trustees approved iPads for student use at Tuesday’s school board meeting, and were planning to spend about $500 on each of the wireless devices. Board member Anselmo Tre-
viño Jr. said that as a district “we have to remain innovative and keep up with the times.” Chief Personnel Officer Jose Morales, iPad distribution coordinator Connie Gray and Technology Facilitator Rogelio Gonzalez presented a proposed handbook policy and agreement for
plans to provide all staff and, initially, high school students with iPads. Included in the policy is a usage fee based on income for the privilege of taking the devices home. Students would be responsible
See BOARD PAGE 10A
LAW ENFORCEMENT ARMED FORCES
ON THE FRONT LINES
Compiled from AP reports
A search warrant yielded six firearms and cocaine. Jesus L. Garcia, 48, was charged with possession of a controlled substance.
Cocaine, firearms get 1 arrested Man could face 10 years in prison Photo by Lynn Hey | AP
U.S. Army Capt. Linda L. Bray is seen at home in Clemmons, N.C. During the invasion of Panama in 1989, Bray became the first woman to lead US troops in battle. She was commander of the 988th Military Police.
Women have served, died from the first By CONNIE CASS ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON — American women have served and died on the nation’s battlefields from the first. They were nurses and cooks, spies and couriers in the Revolutionary War. Some disguised themselves as men to fight for the Union or the Confederacy. Yet the U.S. mili-
tary’s official acceptance of women in combat took more than two centuries. New roles for females have been doled out fitfully, whenever commanders have gotten in binds and realized they needed women’s help. “The main driver is that it’s been militarily necessary,” says retired Capt. Lory Manning, a 25-year Navy veteran who leads military stud-
ies for the Women’s Research & Education Institute. She points, for example, to creation of the Army Nurse Corps in response to the struggle against disease in the Spanish-American War. Some milestones on the way to this week’s lifting of the ban on women in ground combat jobs:
From the first They didn’t wear uniforms, but the Army hired women as nurses, cooks and laundresses during the American Revolution. Women were also spies and saboteurs. They carried George Washington’s messages across enemy lines to his generals.
See WOMEN PAGE 10A
By CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZ THE ZAPATA TIMES
Investigators found small amounts of cocaine and six firearms after executing a search warrant Jan. 10 in the 100 block of Flores Avenue. Zapata County Sheriff ’s deputies arrested Jesus L. Garcia, 48, and charged him with possession of a controlled substance, a third-degree felony punishable with a maximum of 10 years in prison. Justice of the Peace Jose Clemente Gutierrez set a $5,000 bond. Garcia is out on bond. Sgt. Mario Elizondo said deputies went inside the home looking for nar-
cotics and found firearms they believed were stolen. Elizondo said investiGARCIA gators seized less than 2 grams of cocaine. During their search, investigators came across six hunting rifles and a revolver for which the defendant could not immediately prove ownership. Elizondo said investigators seized the weapons to investigate. No weapons charges have been filed against Garcia. (César G. Rodriguez may be reached at 728-2568 or cesar@lmtonline.com)
COLLEGE FINANCES
Financial aid program may get changed By JIM VERTUNO ASSOCIATED PRESS
AUSTIN — The popular Texas Grants financial aid program needs a lot more money if the state is going to keep up with the goal of helping poor students get the degrees they’ll need to work, education officials say. Texas education officials see two trends: growing numbers of poor students who will want to go to college and increasing demand
by employers that workers have some level of college education. But lawmakers for the first time cut funding for the Texas Grants program in 2011, leaving it able to cover only about 59 percent of eligible students. The mission of the Texas Grants program “is simply not sustainable” without more money or changes in how awards are granted, Higher Education Coordinating Board Commissioner Raymund Paredes told state
lawmakers this week. Created in 1999, the Texas Grants program has spent more than $2 billion in financial aid and helped 300,000 students. The Higher Education Coordinating Board has asked the Legislature to put $164 million back into the program over the next two years or take other steps to drop the average award almost in half and require students to enroll in a minimum of 12 hours per semes-
ter. That could allow the state to spread the money around to more students. After a decade of soaring tuition costs in Texas, “this is a critical time for higher education to remain affordable and available,” board Chairman Fred Heldenfels told lawmakers. State figures show that about 60 percent of children enrolled in Texas public schools now qualify as economically disadvantaged. And according to a study by
Georgetown University, 65 percent of jobs in the U.S. will require some level of postsecondary education by 2020. That’s compared with just 28 percent in 1973. Compounding the problem is the soaring cost of education. Texas deregulated tuition rates in 2003, allowing campuses to set their own, and since then the average student at a state university has seen their tuition and fees jump by 55 percent.
Those factors put the state economy at risk of “decades of declining competitiveness” if lawmakers don’t act, Heldenfels said. Sen. Judith Zaffirini, DLaredo, who has championed Texas Grants, was doubtful the program would get all the money officials want, but is willing to consider the proposed changes to how grants are awarded. “In my dreams, I would
See FINANCES PAGE 10A