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ENVIRONMENT
Bye bye to scrap tires County effort takes tires off the streets and out of the brush By MIKE HERRERA IV THE ZAPATA TIMES
Zapata residents used their time and effort recently to make their county neater and address an environmental issue for South
Texas. The county held its first tire dump event to collect scrap tires off the streets and out of the brush. County water plant manager Carlos Treviño said the event went “magnificently” and he
hopes the county repeats it. “I’m calling this the ‘first annual.’ I anticipate I’m going to go ahead and ask the commissioners to do it again,” he said. Two sites, one at the waterworks maintenance yard and an-
of tires,” he said. “When you look at these masses of tires it makes you appreciate just what we got out of the environment.” Aside from waiting for resi-
other at the county landfill near San Ygnacio, accepted the tires from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. over the last two Saturdays. Treviño said the turnout exceeded his expectations. “There are now two mountains
See TIRES PAGE 8A
MILITARY SURPLUS
War gear on border
BLACK FRIDAY
SOME BALANCE FAMILY, SHOPPING
Differing opinions held by mayors By JULIAN AGUILAR TEXAS TRIBUNE
Mayors of cities along the Texas-Mexico border intent on protecting the images of their communities are drawing different conclusions about a proposal that would bring in equipment from overseas war zones to bolster border security efforts. The Send Equipment for National Defense Act, written by U.S. Rep. Ted Poe, R-Humble, would require that 10 percent of certain equipment returned from Iraq — specifically Humvees, night-vision equipment and unmanned aerial surveillance craft — be made available to state and local agencies for border security operations. The proposal has drawn criticism from Mayor John Cook of El Paso, who has vigorously disputed assertions that his city, which is across the border from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, is affected by the same violence that has plagued northern Mexico. “I would invite them to come to El Paso and we can look at the inventory of equipment that’s coming back from Iraq and they can tell me where they’d want to locate this,” Cook said. “To me, it’s just showing a whole lot of ignorance.” The mayor said moving war zone equipment to the border would send the wrong signal to Mexico and potentially damage the robust symbiotic economic relationship between the two countries. The neighboring cities trade more than $70 billion annually, Cook said. But Mayor Raul Salinas of Laredo, which has the nation’s largest inland port, said he welcomed the equipment and did not view it as an unnecessary militarization
See WAR GEAR PAGE 9A
Photo by Danny Zaragoza | Laredo Morning Times
Fred Regalado, Target Greatland Executive Team Leader of Store Operations, holds balloons used as markers to indicate how many customers to let in at a time on Thursday night.
Not all customers are tempted by early Thanksgiving deals at local retail stores By STEPHANIE IBARRA THE ZAPATA TIMES
F
or thousands of people, sleep deprivation and chaotic crowds are a small price to pay for an op-
portunity to stock up on a plethora of half-priced goods. Black Friday has quickly become the aftermath of Thursday sales, with many spending Thanksgiving Day and evening in a parking lot
among strangers. Still, there were shoppers who made their way out after the first, second and third waves of early birds. “I needed to do Christmas shopping, but I’m not going to sacrifice my sanity,” said Christine Flores, a Target shopper, adding that the challenge has shifted to rif-
fling through morning shopper leftovers. Flores’ sentiments were similar to those of other latemorning Black Friday shoppers. “I didn’t want to miss out on Thanksgiving with my family. But I still wanted to
See SHOPPING PAGE 9A
CRIME
Gunmen target Houston homes By DANE SCHILLER AND JAMES PINKERTON
Usually the criminals have a tip from someone who is in the home or has been there.
HOUSTON CHRONICLE
HOUSTON — The crews of bad guys bash down doors in the night or early morning hours, wearing masks and carrying guns as they stalk their victims. Such teams have attacked Houston-area homes at least four times in the past two weeks, most recently on Thanksgiving evening. Their attacks have left
three people dead and a boy missing a finger. “I’m not nervous. I’m waiting,” electrician Robert Young said Friday as he clutched a military-style assault rifle outside his home, a few doors down from the scene of the latest attack in the 12000 block of Dermott. The normally quiet neighborhood is thick with pine trees, sprawling lots and concern about what might have motivated the
attack. “I have got my guns ready,” said Young, fresh back from Iraq, where he did electrical contracting. Authorities said they’ve seen an increase in home invasions recently, although statistics were not available because of the holiday. Attackers often target resi-
See HOME PAGE 9A
PAGE 2A
Zin brief CALENDAR
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2011
AROUND TEXAS
TODAY IN HISTORY
Thursday, Dec. 1
ASSOCIATED PRESS
The Webb County Heritage Foundation will host an opening reception for the exhibit of entries in the Historic Laredo Photo Competition from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. today at the Villa Antigua Border Heritage Museum, 810 Zaragoza St. Final selections will be featured in a 2012 Historic Laredo calendar, which will be unveiled today and be for sale. For more information, contact the Webb County Heritage Foundation at www.webbheritage.org or 727-0977. Laredo Community College will host its annual Holiday Celebration and Posada in front of the Yeary Library courtyard on the Fort McIntosh campus from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. today. Admission is free and open to the public. For more information, call 721-5179.
Today is Saturday, Nov. 26, the 330th day of 2011. There are 35 days left in the year. Today’s Highlight in History: On Nov. 26, 1941, U.S. Secretary of State Cordell Hull delivered a note to Japan’s ambassador to the United States, Kichisaburo Nomura (keechee-sah-boor-oh noh-moorah), proposing an agreement for “lasting and extensive peace throughout the Pacific area.” The same day, a Japanese naval task force consisting of six aircraft carriers left the Kuril Islands, headed toward Hawaii. On this date: In 1789, this was a day of thanksgiving set aside by President George Washington to observe the adoption of the Constitution of the United States. In 1825, the first college social fraternity, the Kappa Alpha Society, was formed at Union College in Schenectady, N.Y. In 1842, the founders of the University of Notre Dame arrived at the school’s presentday site near South Bend, Ind. In 1910, two dozen young women were killed when fire broke out at a muslin factory in Newark, N.J. In 1933, a judge in New York decided the James Joyce book “Ulysses” was not obscene and could be published in the United States. In 1943, during World War II, the HMT Rohna, a British transport ship carrying American soldiers, was hit by a German missile off Algeria; 1,138 men were killed. In 1950, China entered the Korean War, launching a counteroffensive against soldiers from the United Nations, the U.S. and South Korea. In 1965, France launched its first satellite, sending a 92pound capsule into orbit. In 1973, President Richard Nixon’s personal secretary, Rose Mary Woods, told a federal court that she’d accidentally caused part of the 18-1/2-minute gap in a key Watergate tape. In 1986, President Ronald Reagan appointed a commission headed by former Senator John Tower to investigate his National Security Council staff in the wake of the IranContra affair. Ten years ago: President George W. Bush appealed to Congress to outlaw human cloning after scientists in Worcester (WU’-stur), Mass., reported they had created the first cloned human embryo. The National Bureau of Economic Research, the recognized arbiter of when recessions begin and end in the United States, declared that the country had entered a downturn in March 2001. Today’s Birthdays: Impressionist Rich Little is 73. Singer Tina Turner is 72. Blues singer-musician Bernard Allison is 46. Actress Kristin Bauer is 38. Actor Peter Facinelli is 38. Actress Tammy Lynn Michaels Etheridge is 37. Actress Maia Campbell is 35. Actress Jessica Bowman is 31. Pop singer Natasha Bedingfield is 30. Rock musician Ben Wysocki (The Fray) is 27. Singer Lil Fizz is 26. Singer Aubrey Collins is 24. Thought for Today: “Put something off for one day, and 10 days will pass.” — Korean proverb.
Friday, Dec. 2 Literacy Volunteers of Laredo will hold a free tutor training workshop today and Saturday to prepare volunteers to tutor adults who need help with English as a Second Language and basic reading. The two-day workshop will be in Laredo Community College’s De La Garza Building, Room 101. Registration ends Wednesday, Nov. 30. For more information or to register, contact Jaime Morales or Gloria Vasquez at 724-5207.
Photo by Pat Sullivan | AP
In this photo taken Nov. 8, David Barfield checks a dying tree at his Christmas tree farm in New Caney. This year’s historic drought has killed thousands of trees on Barfield’s farm and across Texas and Oklahoma.
Drought cuts tree biz By RAMIT PLUSHNICK-MASTI ASSOCIATED PRESS
Saturday, Dec. 3 A book sale will be held in the Widener Room of the First United Methodist Church, 1220 McClelland Ave., from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. The public is invited, and admission is free. Donated books and magazines are accepted. Call 722-1674 for more information.
Tuesday, Dec 6 Les Amies will have its monthly luncheon at 11:30 a.m. at the Holiday Inn at 800 Garden St. Honorees are Alicia Laurel and Olga Laurel. Hostesses are Consuelo Lopez, Hilda Lopez, Berta Garza and Olga Hovel. The South Texas Food Bank will have a fundraiser today at Hal’s Landing, 6510 Arena Road, next to the Laredo Energy Arena. The event will feature a lockup “jail and bail” of Laredo personalities from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. A Hal’s-sponsored party will be from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m., featuring music by Jolly Ranchers. Admission is $10 per person, with raffle prizes available. Proceeds benefit the food bank. For more information, call the food bank at 3242432. The Alzheimer’s support group will meet at 7 p.m. today in Meeting Room 2, Building B, of the Laredo Medical Center. The support group is for family members and caregivers taking care of someone who has Alzheimer’s.
Tuesday, Dec. 13 Blackstone Dilworth’s honorary dinner will take place at the Laredo Energy Arena from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. today. This is the Laredo Gateway Rotary’s largest fundraiser for the year. Money collected from this event funds local programs and services.
Friday, Dec. 16 The Laredo Ballet Theatre, sponsored by Dance Expressions, will have two performances of “The Nutcracker” today from 7:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. in the Laredo Civic Center Auditorium, 2400 San Bernardo Ave. For reservations, and ticket information, call 724-5330.
NEW CANEY — Dry, brown grass crunches underfoot as David Barfield walks through his 45-acre Christmas tree farm pointing at evergreens covered with brittle, rust-colored needles. "Dead tree, dead tree, dead tree," he says, shaking his head at dry timber he hoped would be chopped down by parents with excited children. Instead, Mother Nature delivered the Grinch in the form of a historic drought that has killed thousands of trees across Texas and Oklahoma. Some died of thirst. Others were destroyed by wildfires, whose breadth and intensity were magnified when wind swept the flames across parched landscape. Most farmers plan to import trees from North Carolina to supplement any they have
Border Patrol has busy holiday week EDINBURG — The U.S. Border Patrol says agents from its Rio Grande City Station seized more than 900 pounds of marijuana being loaded into a vehicle by smugglers on Thanksgiving Day. The large bundles were recovered near Escobares.
Bay City nuke plant back at full power WADSWORTH — The South Texas Project nuclear plant outside Bay City is back on full power after a 23-day shutdown for scheduled refueling and maintenance. Unit 2 of the twin-unit generating station was taken down Oct. 29 and restored to 100 percent power Thursday. The next scheduled downtime for Unit 2 is in 18 months. That unit started commercial operation in 1989.
Sunday, Dec. 18 Memorial Bells of the First United Methodist Church will present the third annual Christmas Concert in the sanctuary at 1220 McClelland St. at 4 p.m. today. The handbell ensemble, under the direction of Linda Mott, will present both sacred and secular carols as well as a ring-sing-along of favorite carols. Admission is free and open to the public, but donations will be accepted to cover concert-related expenses. For more information, contact the church office at 722-1674 or Linda Mott at lmott@stx.rr.com. To submit a calendar entry, visit lmtonline.com/calendar/ submit or email editorial@lmtonline.com with the event name, date, time and location and a contact phone number
Firefighter loses arm after Man facing rape charge fiery tanker crash accused in shooting death SOUR LAKE — Officials say a volunteer firefighter lost her left arm while assisting at the scene of a fiery tanker truck crash. The driver of a semitrailer carrying crude oil fell asleep Thursday morning, causing the tanker to run off the road near Sour Lake. Kimberly Huckabee, a Pinewood volunteer firefighter, had her arm amputated in surgery after she was struck by another semitrailer.
Police: SE Texas toddler struck by car, killed ORANGE — Police say a 2year-old girl has died after being struck by a vehicle while crossing a street. Orange police said the accident happened Wednesday evening as the girl and an unidentified woman were crossing a street. The girl died later Wednesday at a hospital.
SAN ANTONIO — Authorities say a man already jailed on rape and prostitution charges is now accused in the shooting death of a man in a San Antonio motel. An arrest affidavit for Kwaku “Q’’ Agyin alleges that the 20year-old used a woman to lure 35year-old Marcus Anderson to a motel room, where Agyin emerged from a closet and fatally shot Anderson on Oct. 2.
Parts of Bastrop State Park to reopen Dec. 2 BASTROP — Parts of Bastrop State Park will reopen Dec. 2, three months after devastating wildfires turned the park’s picturesque Central Texas hills into a blackened sea of torched pine trees. Park Superintendent Todd McClanahan says there is “a lot of green” and he thinks visitors will be pleasantly surprised. — Compiled from AP reports
AROUND THE NATION
Saturday, Dec. 17 The South Texas Food Bank will hold a bucket brigade fundraiser at several Laredo intersections from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. today. For information, call the food bank at 324-2432.
left, said Marshall Cathey, president of the Texas Christmas Tree Growers Association. They say they aren’t planning to raise prices because consumers are reluctant to pay more than $40 or $50 for a Christmas tree, especially in the poor economy. But families hoping for a homegrown tree to cut down will have a harder time finding one, and dozens of farmers are struggling. Most painful are the deaths of the youngest saplings, which guarantee the drought’s effect will be felt for years to come. "It’s depressing, it really is," said Barfield, 53. "This was going to be our retirement." He and his wife, Karen, 49, bought the farm about six years ago with dreams of retiring from Texas’ oil fields. Instead of selling some 400 homegrown trees as they do in a good year, they will be lucky to sell 100 — nearly brought in from North Carolina.
Stocks slip to end the roughest week since Sept.
CONTACT US
NEW YORK — The worst week for the stock market in two months ended with a whimper in thin trading Friday. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 4.8 percent this week, while the broader Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 4.7 percent. Both had their worst weeks since Sept. 23.
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Occupy movements celebrate Thanksgiving
SUBSCRIPTIONS/DELIVERY (956) 728-2555 Photo by Matt York | AP
SAN FRANCISCO — AntiWall Street demonstrators around the country spent Thanksgiving serving turkey, donating time in solidarity with the protest movement and, in some cases, confronting police. In San Francisco, 400 occupiers were served traditional Thanksgiving fixings sent by the renowned Glide Memorial Church to volunteers and sup-
U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., and her husband, retired Capt. Mark Kelly, serve a Thanksgiving meal to troops at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base on Thursday in Tucson, Ariz. porters of the movement fighting social and economic inequality.
Giffords serves meal at Arizona air base TUCSON, Ariz. — U.S. Rep.
Gabrielle Giffords helped serve a Thanksgiving meal to service members and retirees at DavisMonthan Air Force Base in Tucson. She was accompanied by her retired astronaut husband, Mark Kelly. — Compiled from AP reports
The Zapata Times is distributed on Saturdays to 4,000 households in Zapata County. For subscribers of the Laredo Morning Times and for those who buy the Laredo Morning Times at newsstands, the Zapata Times is inserted. The Zapata Times is free. The Zapata Times is published by the Laredo Morning Times, a division of The Hearst Corporation, P.O. Box 2129, Laredo, Texas 78044. Phone (956) 728-2500. The Zapata office is at 1309 N. U.S. Hwy. 83 at 14th Avenue, Suite 2, Zapata, TX 78076. Call (956) 765-5113 or e-mail thezapatatimes.net
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2011
Zlocal
PAGE 3A
LCC band pays tribute to Selena Two Roma men face charges By ROGER SANCHEZ JR. SPECIAL TO THE TIMES
Norma Eliza Quintero, a local elementary teacher, will take on another special role as she gets to impersonate the late Selena Quintanilla in a special musical tribute to the Tejano music queen with Laredo Community College’s Show Band on Friday at 7:30 p.m. in LCC’s Fort McIntosh Campus’ Guadalupe and Lilia Martinez Fine Arts Center theater. Admission to the Show Band’s 2011 fall concert is free and open to the public. “Dreaming of You,” “Baila Esta Cumbia,” “No Me Queda Mas” and “I Could Fall in Love” are selections to be performed by Quintero during the Latin Jazz music and Selena tribute concert. “Selena represents hope to all those Hispanics that aspire to make it in the music industry,” Quintero said. “I enjoy singing and portraying Selena because so many of her songs are still popular with the community. I know that she would have been up there with singers like Beyoncé and Jennifer Lopez. She truly is an example that with hard work and dedication, anything is possi-
By CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZ THE ZAPATA TIMES
Courtesy photo
The Laredo Community College Show Band will perform its 2011 fall concert, Latin Jazz and a tribute to Selena. Norma Eliza Quintero, a fifth-grade instructor, will perform several of Selena’s songs. ble.” Quintero will be accompanied by the LCC Show Band. “Our local community has a lot of talent out there and it’s great that students participate with the LCC Show Band because it gives them a great foundation to compete in the ‘real world,’” Quintero added. During the concert, approximately 20 members from the band also will perform a few jazz numbers. The concert will begin
with Duke Ellington’s “Caravan” as performed and recorded by the rock group Chicago. The LCC Show Band also will perform “Oye Como Va,” a solo first performed by Tito Puente, “Frenzy,” a mambo written by Latin great Mario Bauza, “Watermelon Man” by Herbie Hancock, and a Buddy Rich Orchestra favorite “Mercy, Mercy, Mercy.” “The fabulous, exhilarating, and award-winning Camelia’s Dancers also will join the band to per-
form a dance routine to ‘Mambo #5,’” José D. Compeán, director and conductor for the LCC Show Band, said. “We’re very excited to have them on and this concert will be a great hit for all of our fans.” For more information about the LCC Show Band and its concerts, contact Compeán at jdc@laredo.edu or the LCC Performing Arts Department at 721-5330. (Roger Sanchez Jr. is a public relations specialist with LCC)
Soldiers seize 2 tons of marijuana By CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZ THE ZAPATA TIMES
Air and ground patrol led Mexican troops to seize more than two tons of marijuana in a Tamaulipas border town across from Roma, federal officials announced Thursday. Soldiers with Secretaría
de la Defensa Nacional, Mexico’s defense ministry, assigned to the Eighth Military Zone found the contraband in Ciudad Miguel Alemán. The story of the confiscation unfolded Wednesday while troops worked Operation Northeast, a mission to combat orga-
nized crime in the northern Tamaulipas area. A Mexican army report does not go into specifics about how the contraband was found. But officials mentioned that they seized 518 bundles of marijuana within the municipality. A report states the mar-
ijuana weighed 2.09 tons or 4,604.57 pounds. Federal officials say that amount could’ve been broken into 1,044,300 doses. An investigation is ongoing. (César G. Rodriguez may be reached at 7282568 or cesar@lmtonline.com)
Federal officials are accusing two Roma men allegedly acting as “spotters” of conspiring to smuggle 14 undocumented people, according to court records released Wednesday. Joe Henry Perez and Juan Gonzalo Rodriguez, both United States citizens, are being charged with conspiracy to transport the undocumented group of people by means of a motor vehicle within the Southern District of Texas. Both men are in federal custody on a $75,000 bond each. Monday, U.S. Border Patrol agents working the intersection of Texas 16 and FM 649 spotted a white truck and a blue truck traveling one after the other. According to a federal criminal complaint, the white truck was heavily laden. As agents attempted to pull over the white truck, it abruptly got off the road and several people exited the truck and ran into the brush. Court records state the blue truck pulled over behind the empty white truck. A passenger of the blue truck got out and went ahead to drive the white truck. Both vehicles traveled south on FM 649. Agents eventually stopped both trucks along the road. Meanwhile, an extensive search of the brush area yielded 14 undocumented Mexican nationals. Perez and Rodriguez along with the group were taken to the Hebbronville Border Patrol Station. Both Perez and Rodriguez agreed to talk to spe-
As agents attempted to pull over the white truck, it abruptly got off the road and several people exited the truck and ran into the brush. cial agents with Homeland Security Investigations without an attorney present, states the criminal complaint. Rodriguez said he picked up the white truck at a Church’s Chicken in Roma and drove to a location where the undocumented people could load up and follow him and Perez. “Perez stated that he and Rodriguez were going to act as spotters looking up for law enforcement ahead on the highway,” the criminal complaint states. Both were to be paid $100 per Mexican national. Court records indicate the plan was for the white truck to drop off the undocumented people at a certain location so they could walk their way past the Border Patrol checkpoint. Rodriguez was going to get out of the blue truck and drive the white truck to pick up the group on the other side. (César G. Rodriguez may be reached at 728-2568 or cesar@lmtonline.com)
PAGE 4A
Zopinion
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2011
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR SEND YOUR SIGNED LETTER TO EDITORIAL@LMTONLINE.COM
OTHER VIEWS
COLUMN
Occupy slogan great, but too low We are the 99.9 percent
“W
e are the 99 percent” is a great slogan. It correctly defines the issue as being the middle class versus the elite (as opposed to the middle class versus the poor). And it also gets past the common but wrong establishment notion that rising inequality is mainly about the well educated doing better than the less educated; the big winners in this new Gilded Age have been a handful of very wealthy people, not college graduates in general. If anything, however, the 99 percent slogan aims too low. A large fraction of the top 1 percent’s gains have actually gone to an even smaller group, the top 0.1 percent — the richest one-thousandth of the population.
More contribution And while Democrats, by and large, want that super-elite to make at least some contribution to longterm deficit reduction, Republicans want to cut the super-elite’s taxes even as they slash Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid in the name of fiscal discipline. Before I get to those policy disputes, here are a few numbers. The recent Congressional Budget Office report on inequality didn’t look inside the top 1 percent, but an earlier report, which only went up to 2005, did. According to that report, between 1979 and 2005 the inflation-adjusted, after-tax income of Americans in the middle of the income distribution rose 21 percent. The equivalent number for the richest 0.1 percent rose 400 percent.
Dramatic rise For the most part, these huge gains reflected a dramatic rise in the superelite’s share of pretax income. But there were also large tax cuts favoring the wealthy. In particular, taxes on capital gains are much lower than they were in 1979 — and the richest one-thousandth of Americans account for half of all income from capital gains. Given this history, why do Republicans advocate further tax cuts for the very rich even as they warn about deficits and demand drastic cuts in social insurance programs?
Job creators Well, aside from shouts of “class warfare!” whenever such questions are raised, the usual answer is that the super-elite are “job creators” — that is, that they make a special contribution to the economy. So what you need to know is that this is bad economics. In fact, it would be bad economics even if America had the idealized, perfect market economy of conservative fantasies. After all, in an idealized market economy each worker would be paid exactly what he or she contributes to the economy by choosing to work, no more
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PAUL KRUGMAN
and no less. And this would be equally true for workers making $30,000 a year and executives making $30 million a year. There would be no reason to consider the contributions of the $30 million folks as deserving of special treatment.
Higher taxes But, you say, the rich pay taxes! Indeed, they do. And they could — and should, from the point of view of the 99.9 percent — be paying substantially more in taxes, not offered even more tax breaks, despite the alleged budget crisis, because of the wonderful things they supposedly do. Still, don’t some of the very rich get that way by producing innovations that are worth far more to the world than the income they receive? Sure, but if you look at who really makes up the 0.1 percent, it’s hard to avoid the conclusion that, by and large, the members of the superelite are overpaid, not underpaid, for what they do.
Executives For who are the 0.1 percent? Very few of them are Steve Jobs-type innovators; most of them are corporate bigwigs and financial wheeler-dealers. One recent analysis found that 43 percent of the super-elite are executives at nonfinancial companies, 18 percent are in finance and another 12 percent are lawyers or in real estate. And these are not, to put it mildly, professions in which there is a clear relationship between someone’s income and his economic contribution. Executive pay, which has skyrocketed over the past generation, is set by boards of directors appointed by the very people whose pay they determine; poorly performing CEOs still get lavish paychecks, and even failed and fired executives often receive millions as they go out the door.
COLUMN
Lessons from readers’ lives By DAVID BROOKS NEW YORK TIMES
A few weeks ago I asked people over 70 to send me “Life Reports” — little essays in which they evaluate their own lives. A few thousand people have written in, and I’ve been posting an essay a day on my blog. Born in the 1920s and 1930s, most of them learned work habits in an age of scarcity and then got to explore opportunities in an age of growth. Unlike later generations, many of the men went through a phase in which they did physical labor in a factory, even if later they went on to become professionals. Many of the women were born with limited aspirations and only saw their horizons expanded with feminism. By middle age, people of both sexes were moving freely, assuming there would be a decent job wherever they settled. Some of my correspondents were influenced by the social revolution of the ’60s. Hugh Nazor writes, “My wife, who had quit college when we married, was bored with life and the roles of suburban housewife and mother. Her affair with my best friend was easy for me to understand. Having grown up in the repressive, conformist ’50s, those of us who had
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DAVID BROOKS
recently lost the trust of the younger generation by being ‘over 30’ felt cheated. We were of another era, and wanted more. After some time acting out and playing ‘Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice,’ my divorce was a foregone conclusion.” Resilience is a central theme in these essays. I don’t think we remind young people enough that life is hard. Bad things happen. Gilda Zelin lost her husband. “The loneliness will never disappear. The intensity ebbs as the years go by. To take care of the cold, empty nights, I have substituted an electric mattress warmer and large pillow to hug and push into, to take the place of my beloved.” Robert Roy writes, “I often revisit the birth of my firstborn, Greg, and thoughts of who he would become. I fast-forward to when he was 35 and the image of placing a mahogany box filled with his ashes in a grave along side my mother and father.” “My faith survived a trial by fire,” Marguerite E. Moore writes. “My seven-year-old son was hit by a car. Will he live? (Please God!) Will he regain con-
sciousness? (Please God!) ... I know how it feels to be totally vulnerable and to know God is the only being that can save my son. (He had five doctors, none of whom would look me in the eye.) I stormed heaven, begged, pleaded, swore and promised. He survived, and so did I. My faith is like a steel rod that goes through my core and the glue that holds me together.” Most people give themselves higher grades for their professional lives than for their private lives. Almost everybody is satisfied with the contributions they made at work. The people who started family businesses seem especially happy. At home, many give themselves mediocre grades. One workaholic describes the time his 6-yearold son brought a family portrait home from school. He wasn’t in it, but the dog and cat were. “During my drinking years, I was unfaithful to my wife,” writes a doctor from Pennsylvania. “This is my greatest regret and shame and will remain so until I die.” The essays give a big warning about the perils of marrying young. Some people found their beloved at 19 and have spent a blissful half-century with them. But many people married before they knew themselves and endured a lonely decade before di-
vorcing. A vast majority of those people made a wiser choice the second time around. When the writer has a happy marriage, the essay glows with contentment. Others somehow made it work. “It wasn’t a love match for me, or for him for that matter,” a woman from New Jersey writes, “but we made a good family and did very well for the first decade or so and stayed together until he died at 81.” I’ve probably overemphasized the pitfalls of their lives in this column — I’ll write more about the positive lessons in the next one. But many of the writers have integrated the ups and downs into an enveloping sense of gratitude. Judy Eddy from Nevada writes, “My symptoms of Parkinson’s disease have now become a major part of my life. But, oh wow! I think that I am handling Parkinson’s well — no despondency at what I can no longer do, but I get encouragement from everyone to do what I can. My life is full: love shared with family, love shared with friends, love shared with another dog, various projects and even another career, that keep my time occupied. How fortunate I am that I can count both my ex-husbands as friends, as we share a different kind of love from and for me.”
A mirage Meanwhile, the economic crisis showed that much of the apparent value created by modern finance was a mirage. As the Bank of England’s director for financial stability recently put it, seemingly high returns before the crisis simply reflected increased risk-taking — risk that was mostly borne not by the wheeler-dealers themselves but either by naive investors or by taxpayers, who ended up holding the bag when it all went wrong. And as he waspishly noted, “If risk-making were a value-adding activity, Russian roulette players would contribute disproportionately to global welfare.” So should the 99.9 percent hate the 0.1 percent? No, not at all. But they should ignore all the propaganda about “job creators” and demand that the super-elite pay substantially more in taxes.
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Mexico
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2011
THE ZAPATA TIMES 5A
Bust spins out of control By DANE SCHILLER HOUSTON CHRONICLE
Photo by Victor Fernandez | AP
A soldier patrols as a vehicle that was discovered carrying bodies inside is taken away in Guadalajara, Mexico, on Thursday. At least 20 bodies were discovered early Thursday in three vehicles abandoned in the heart of Guadalajara, Mexico’s second-largest city and the site of the recent Pan American Games, according to an official with the prosecutor’s office in the state of Jalisco.
Authorities ID bodies By ARTURO PEREZ NAVARRO ASSOCIATED PRESS
GUADALAJARA, Mexico — A baker, a truck driver, a soft-drink vendor and a dental technician were among the 26 men found bound, gagged, slain and left in the center of Guadalajara, a state prosecutor said Friday. Written in motor oil on the victims’ bodies were the names of the Zetas and Millennium drug cartels. Law enforcement officials saw that as a possible indication the two allied gangs were announcing their intent to seize a city historically controlled by the powerful Sinaloa cartel. The Zetas and Sinaloa have emerged from years of Mexican drug wars as the largest cartels in the nation, and potential competitors for control of smuggling and other businesses worth billions of dollars a year. Both frequently form alliances of convenience with smaller local gangs. Analysts cautioned, however, that the killers in Guadalajara may also have been engaging in an isolated act of retaliation for the slaughter of dozens of men dumped on a roadway in September 600 miles away in the eastern, Gulf coast
city of Veracruz. Authorities blamed that killing on the New Generation, a gang believed to be working with the Sinaloa cartel. A video posted by men claiming to be the Veracruz killers said the victims were Zetas.
Crucial time The next few weeks will be crucial in determining whether Guadalajara, Mexico’s second largest city, begins dissolving into the chaotic killing, kidnapping and streetfighting that has devastated cities and towns along the U.S. border, said Samuel Logan, director of Southern Pulse, a risk analysis firm specializing in Latin American organized crime. “The Mexican government has to react quickly and strongly,” Logan said. “This could be the beginning of Guadalajara moving into a more insecure environment ... We need a little more time to watch things play out.” The identities of 14 of the men slain in Guadalajara were released Friday by Jalisco state prosecutor Tomas Coronado, who said that only two had criminal records, without providing
details. Among the victims were Alejandro Robles Vidal, 22, who had been working as a dental technician in the nearby city of Zapopan for three years and disappeared Monday evening. Also among the dead was Jose Antonia Parga Guareno, 23, a cargo-truck driver who disappeared Tuesday and was identified by his father, Coronado said. The prosecutor cautioned the press and public not to draw conclusions about the victims’ potential involvement in drug cartel activity, saying that would be one of the subjects of the investigation. He said the victims died of strangulation or blows to the head. Earlier, he told MVS Radio that even though a message signed by the Zetas was left in one of the cars, investigators had not confirmed that the cartel was responsible. Wednesday, 17 bodies were found burned in two pickup trucks in a strikingly similar attack in Sinaloa, the home state of the Sinaloa cartel. Twelve of the bodies were in the back of one truck, some of them handcuffed and wearing bulletproof vests.
The mission was supposed to be a textbook “controlled delivery” — a routine trap by law enforcement officers using a secret operative posing as a truck driver to bust drug traffickers when their narcotics are delivered to a rendezvous point. Instead, things spun out of control. Shortly before the marijuana delivery was to be made Monday, three sport utility vehicles carrying alleged Zeta gunmen seemingly came out of nowhere and cut off the tanker truck as it rumbled through northwestern Harris County, sources told the Houston Chronicle. They sprayed the cab with bullets, killing the civilian driver, who was secretly working with the government. An undercover sheriff ’s deputy, who was driving nearby in another vehicle, was wounded, possibly by friendly fire from officers arriving at the scene. “We are not going to tolerate these types of thugs
out there using their weapons like the Wild, Wild West,” said Javier Peña, the new head of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s Houston Division. “We are going after them.” “Everybody is surprised at the brazenness,” Peña continued as he stressed a full court press by the DEA, the sheriff and police. “We haven’t seen this type of violence, which concerns us.” For some at the scene, it seemed all too similar to what has been playing out in Mexico, where cartels operate with near impunity as they clash with each other and with the military and police. Sources discussed aspects of the shootout on the condition they not be identified publicly due to the sensitivity of the ongoing investigation. A contingent of law enforcement officers had been covertly shadowing the truck as it eased its way through the Houston area to deliver a load of marijuana fresh from the Rio Grande Valley. As the gunmen at-
tacked, officers quickly jumped into the fray and also opened fire on the attackers. The truck kept rolling until it careened off the roadway. Dozens of law officers descended on the scene as well and fanned out in the surrounding neighborhoods. Four suspects, all believed to be citizens of Mexico, were arrested and charged Monday with capital murder in connection with the shooting. They are Eric De Luna, 23; Fernando Tavera, 19; Ricardo Ramirez, 35; and Rolando Resendiz, 34. The sheriff ’s deputy, who has not yet been identified publicly because he was working undercover, was hit in the knee during the melee, which involved several cars and guns. The eight-year veteran was expected to spend Thursday in the hospital but to make a full recovery. Authorities would not discuss how the deceased driver, who was an informant and held a job as a commercial truck driver, first made contact with the traffickers.
Mexico catches escapees By MARK STEVENSON ASSOCIATED PRESS
MEXICO CITY — Six inmates from the last island penal colony in the Americas were recaptured at sea after they used buoyant containers and wood planks to try to swim to freedom in an escape reminiscent of the 1973 movie “Papillon.” The Mexican navy said the inmates used empty plastic gas or water tanks to help stay afloat as they swam about 60 miles south of the Islas Marias, a Mexican penal colony where inmates live in small
houses and are normally not locked up. The six men were only about 60 miles from the Pacific coast resort of Puerto Vallarta when they were spotted by a passing boat early Thursday. The boat called in a tip to a local naval base, and patrol boats were quickly dispatched to take the men into custody. Photos provided by the navy showed them men sunburned but alert on the deck of the patrol vessel. The men, who range in age from 28 to 39 years, were taken back to Puerto Vallarta for a medical
check. Later, the federal Public Safety Department, which is in charge of Mexico’s federal prisons, said the men had been found to be in acceptable health and would be returned to the penal colony “within hours.” The department said the prison oversight agency wasn’t notified until Thursday that the men were missing from the prison — the same day they were found at sea, suggesting that their absence had not been noticed when they set off on the escape bid.
National
6A THE ZAPATA TIMES
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2011
Violence mars some Black Friday shopping ASSOCIATED PRESS
SAN LEANDRO, Calif. — A robber shot a Black Friday shopper who refused to give up his purchases outside a Walmart store, leaving the victim hospitalized in critical but stable condition after one of several violent incidents in California that marred the annual bargain-hunting ritual, authorities said. Police in San Leandro, about 15 miles east of San Francisco, said the victim and his family were walking to their car around 1:45 a.m. when they were confronted by a group of men who demanded their shopping items. When the family refused, a fight broke out, and one of the robbers pulled a gun and shot the man, said Sgt. Mike Sobek. “The suspects saw these guys, got out of their car and tried to rob them but were unsuccessful,” Sobek said. At another Walmart in a wealthy suburb of Los Angeles, a woman trying to get the upper hand to buy cheap electronics unleashed pepper spray on a crowd of shoppers, causing minor injuries to 20 people, police said. The attack took place about 10:20 p.m. Thursday shortly after doors opened for the sale at the Walmart in Porter Ranch in the San Fernando Valley.
Photo by Matt Stamey/The Gainesville Sun | AP
A shopper walks to his car after purchasing a bike at Walmart in Butler Plaza on Thursday, in Gainesville, Fla. Walmart opened stores on Thursday. The store had brought out a crate of discounted Xbox video game players, and a crowd had formed to wait for the unwrapping, when the woman began spraying people “in order to get an advantage,” police Sgt. Jose Valle said. “Faces were red,” shopper John Lopez told ABC News Radio. “This one guy was coming up to my wife going, ‘Call an ambulance! Call an ambulance!”’
Ten people were slightly injured by the pepper spray and 10 others suffered minor bumps and bruises in the chaos, Valle said. They were treated at the scene. The woman got away in the confusion, but it was not immediately clear whether she got an Xbox. If found, she could face felony battery charges, Valle said. “Walmart is going through register receipts to see if it was
purchased,” he said. In the San Leandro shooting, family members of the victim wrestled down one of the alleged robbers, but at least three others — including the gunman — fled in a car, police said. Tony Phillips, 20, was arrested on suspicion of attempted homicide and attempted robbery and booked into Alameda County jail after being treated at the hospital for minor injuries from the scuffle with the
victim’s family, Sgt. Sobek said. Sobek and jail officials did not immediately know if Phillips had a lawyer. Investigators were reviewing video from a surveillance camera mounted outside the store. “The footage is a bit grainy, but we’re hoping it gives us a better idea of what happened,” Sobek said. Witnesses said the Walmart parking lot was crowded with Black Friday shoppers at the time, and the store was briefly closed as police investigated. Also Friday, a man was stabbed outside a Sacramento mall in an apparent gang-related incident as shoppers were hitting the stores. The victim was taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, police said. The stabbing stemmed from a fight between two groups around 3 a.m. in front of a Macy’s department store at the Arden Fair Mall. The store had opened at midnight to offer shoppers post-Thanksgiving deals. Richard Swift, a witness, told KCRA-TV that the stabbing involved three men and began when one of them made a comment about women who were with two other men. No arrests have been made. Police were hoping surveillance video will help identify the suspects.
Obama Biden targets Ohio, Pennsylvania, Florida silent on guns By JULIE PACE
ASSOCIATED PRESS
By ERICA WERNER ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON — They are fuzzy about some issues but the Republican presidential candidates leave little doubt about where they stand on gun rights. Rick Perry and Rick Santorum go pheasant hunting and give interviews before heading out. Newt Gingrich and Herman Cain speak to the National Rifle Association convention. Michele Bachmann tells People magazine she wants to teach her daughters how to shoot because women need to be able to protect themselves. Mitt Romney, after backing some gun control measures in Massachusetts, now presents himself as a strong Second Amendment supporter. President Barack Obama, on the other hand, is virtually silent on the issue. He has hardly addressed it since a couple of months after the January assassination attempt on Rep. Gabrielle Giffords in Tucson, Ariz., when he promised to develop new steps on gun safety in response. He still has failed to do so, even as Tucson survivors came to Capitol Hill last week to push for action to close loopholes in the gun background check system. Democrats have learned the hard way that embracing gun control can be terrible politics, and the 2012 presidential election is shaping up to underscore just how delicate the issue can be. With the election likely to be decided largely by states where hunting is a popular pastime, like Missouri, Ohio or Pennsylvania, candidates of both parties want to win over gun owners, not alienate them. For Republicans, that means emphasizing their pro-gun credentials. But for Obama and the Democrats, the approach is trickier. Obama’s history in support of strict gun control measures prior to becoming president makes it difficult for him to claim he’s a Second Amendment champion, even though he signed a bill allowing people to take loaded guns into national parks. At the same time, he’s apparently decided that his record backing gun safety is nothing to boast of either, perhaps because of the power of the gun lobby and their opposition to anything smacking of gun control.
WASHINGTON — A year from Election Day, Democrats are crafting a campaign strategy for Vice President Joe Biden that targets the big three political battlegrounds: Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Florida, states where Biden might be more of an asset to President Barack Obama’s re-election campaign than the president himself. The Biden plan underscores an uncomfortable reality for the Obama team. A shaky economy and sagging enthusiasm among Democrats could shrink the electoral map for Obama in 2012, forcing his campaign to depend on carrying the 67 electoral votes up for grabs in the three swing states. Obama won all three states in 2008. But this time he faces challenges in each, particularly in Ohio and Florida, where voters elected Republican governors in the 2010 midterm elections. The president sometimes struggles to connect with Ohio and Pennsylvania’s white working-class voters, and Jewish voters who make up a core con-
File photo by J. Scott Applewhite | AP
In this March 23, 2010, photo President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden react to cheers as they arrive in the East Room of the White House for the health care bill. A year from Election Day, Democrats are crafting a campaign strategy for Biden that targets the big three political battlegrounds: Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Florida, states where Biden might be more of an asset to President Barack Obama’s re-election campaign than the president himself.
stituency for Florida Democrats and view him with skepticism. Biden has built deep ties to both groups during his four decades in national politics, connections that could make a difference. As a long-serving member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Biden cemented his reputation as an unyielding supporter of Israel, winning
Police stumped By THOMAS KAPLAN NEW YORK TIMES
ASHLAND, Ore. — In Ashland, murder is commonplace on the stages of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. There sword fights are choreographed entertainment, and the blood that spurts is fake. The real-life slaying of a young grocery clerk nearly decapitated by someone wielding a sword or machete has sent a shiver of horror through the storybook town in Southern Oregon. A small shrine is growing on the side of the bike path where 23-year-old Da-
vid Grubbs was killed last weekend while walking home from work, just as darkness was falling. It’s an open place where the path goes through a park and past an elementary school. Zhawen (ZHAH-wen) Wahpepah (WAH-peh-paw) and August Haddick knew the victim. They say the slaying has shattered their feeling of safety.
the respect of many in the Jewish community. And Biden’s upbringing in a working class, Catholic family from Scranton, Pa., gives him a valuable political intangible: He empathizes with the struggles of blue-collar Americans because his family lived those struggles. “Talking to blue-collar voters is perhaps his greatest attribute,” said Dan
Schnur, a Republican political analyst. “Obama provides the speeches, and Biden provides the blue-collar subtitles.” While Biden’s campaign travel won’t kick into high gear until next year, he’s already been making stops in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida this fall, speaking at events focused on education, public safety and small businesses and rais-
ing campaign cash. Behind the scenes, he’s working the phones with prominent Jewish groups and Catholic organizations in those states, a Democratic official said. Biden is also targeting organized labor, speaking frequently with union leaders in Ohio ahead of a vote earlier this month on a state law that would have curbed collective bargaining rights for public workers. After voters struck down the measure, Biden traveled to Cleveland to celebrate the victory with union members. The Democratic official said the vice president will also be a frequent visitor to Iowa and New Hampshire in the coming weeks, seeking to steal some of the spotlight from the Republican presidential candidates blanketing those states ahead of the January caucus and primary. And while Obama may have declared that he won’t be commenting on the Republican presidential field until there’s a nominee, Biden is following no such rules. He’s calling out GOP candidates by name, and in true Biden style, he appears to be relishing in doing so.
SÁBADO 26 DE NOVIEMBRE DE 2011
Zfrontera PROGRAMA INICIARÁ EN PRIMAVERA DEL 2012
Agenda en Breve NUEVO LAREDO 11/27 — Grupo de Teatro Expresión invita a “Para Morir Nacimos” a las 7 p.m. en el Teatro Lucio Blanco de la Casa de la Cultura. Entrada libre. 11/29 — Encuentro con Artistas, Creadores y Promotores Culturales a las 6 p.m. en Estación Palabra. 12/02 — Compañía de Ballet Laredos presenta “El Cascanueces” de Piotr Illich Tchaikovsky, dirigida por Becky Salinas Chapa, en el Centro Cultural a las 7 p.m.
LCC certificará paramédicos Clases serán tres veces a la semana en Centro de Educación Técnica y Avanzada de Zapata POR ROGELIO SANCHEZ JR ESPECIAL PARA TIEMPO DE ZAPATA
Residentes del Condado de Zapata deseando estudiar una carrera en servicios médicos de emergencia o expandir sus conocimientos actuales tendrán una oportunidad de hacerlo conforme el Programa EMS en Laredo Community College ofrecerá un programa de entrenamiento
especial en la primavera del 2012. Por primera vez en su historia, el programa Emergency Medical Technician-Paramedic Certificate (Certificado de Paramédico-Técnico en Emergencia Médico) será ofrecido fuera de Laredo. “Estamos extremadamente emocionados acerca de ofrecer este programa de un año en el Condado de
Zapata porque podremos otorgar servicios afuera de nuestro ambiente usual”, dijo el director del programa de EMS, Manuel Ramirez. “Esta es una de las mejores oportunidades que residentes en el área pueden obtener porque iremos a donde viven y todo lo que ellos tienen que hacer es tomar ventaja de esta oportunidad”. Las clases se ofrecerán
en martes, jueves y sábado en el Centro de Educación Técnica y Avanzada del Condado de Zapata. Para ser elegible, los interesados deben ser mayores de 18 años de edad, contar con un diploma de preparatoria o equivalente, y tener una certificación vigente de Técnico-Básico en Emergencias Médicas, de parte del Departamento de Servicios de Salud del
Estado de Texas. El programa también está abierto a residentes de los condados de Starr y Jim Hogg. El Programa EMS de LCC está acreditado por el Departamento de Servicios de Salud del Estado de Texas y por el Consejo Coordinador de Educación Superior en Texas. Más información llamando al 721-5261.
SUPERVISAN TRABAJOS DE LA NUEVA JURISDICCIÓN SANITARIA NO. V
LAREDO 11/26 — El cuarto concurso de cocina Football en la Cajuela, de 9 a.m. a 7 p.m. en El Metro Park & Ride. Habrá venta de comida, manualidades, entre otros artículos. Costo: 1 dólar para asistir al evento. Para concursar llame al 286-9055. 11/26 — Con motivo de “Navidad en el Barrio”, Laredo Ranch Sorting Association invita a una Competencia de Ranch Sorting a las 3 p.m. en JB’s Ranch, por la Carretera 83. Habrá premios. 11/26 — Hockey: Laredo Bucks reciben a Texas Brahams a las 7:30 p.m. en Laredo Energy Arena. 11/29 — Recital de Estudio de Piano de Otoño a las 7:30 p.m. en el Recital Hall del Center for the Fine and Performing Arts de TAMIU. Entrada gratis. 11/30 — Hockey: Laredo Bucks reciben a Arizona Sun Dogs a las 7 p.m. en Laredo Energy Arena. 11/30 — ‘Concierto Velas de Navidad’ a las 7:30 p.m. en la Cantú Veterans Memorial Chapel del Campus Fort McInotsh de LCC, con la participación del Coro de TAMIU y del Coro de LCC. Entrada gratuita. 12/01 — Fundación para el Patrimonio del Condado de Webb invita a la exhibición compuesta por las fotografías que concursaron en el evento “Historic Laredo”, a las 6 p.m. en el Museo Villa Antigua Border Heritage, 810 calle Zaragoza. Igualmente se mostrará el calendario con las fotografías ganadoras, mismo que estará a la venta. 12/01 — 10ma. Posada Tradicional Mexicana a las 7 p.m., partiendo del jardín en la Biblioteca Yeary en el campus Fort McIntosh de Laredo Community College. Evento gratuito. 12/01 — 10mo. Concierto “Guitarras de Navidad” a las 7:30 p.m. en el Recital Hall del Center for the Fine and Performing Arts de TAMIU. Evento gratuito. 12/02 — “TAMIU Night” es hoy en Laredo Energy Arena. Habrá una fiesta previa al juego de las 12 p.m. donde Laredo Bucks recibe a Quad City Mallards. Boletos a 10 dólares para estudiantes de TAMIU en el aula 229 del Student Center de la Universidad. Parte de las ganancias se destinará a organizaciones estudiantiles en la Universidad. 12/02 — “Concierto Las Posadas” a las 7 p.m. en el Center for the Fine and Performing Arts de TAMIU. Participarán el Ballet Folklórico y el Ballet Folklórico Juvenil de TAMIU. Entrada gratuita. 12/02 — “Concierto de Temporada” del Coro Filarmónico de Laredo y la Orquesta de Cámara de Laredo, a las 7:30 p.m. en el Center for the Fine and Performing Arts de TAMIU. Entrada gratuita. 12/02 — Norma Eliza Quintero imitará a Selena Quintanilla junto a la Show Band de LCC, a las 7:30 p.m. en el teatro Martinez Fine Arts Center, en el Campus Fort McIntosh de Laredo Community College. Entrada gratuita.
PÁGINA 7A
SALUD REGIONAL TIEMPO DE ZAPATA
U
na visita de supervisión de trabajos del nuevo Centro de Salud y de la Jurisdicción Sanitaria No. V, en el sector de instalaciones médicas en la colonia La Fe, fue realizada por el secretario de Salud de Tamaulipas, Norberto Treviño García Manzo, acompañado del director general de Desarrollo Social y Humano en Nuevo Laredo, México, José Trinidad Vázquez López. El objetivo fue estar pendientes de la edificación de este inmueble. García estuvo en Nuevo Laredo inaugurando el Centro Integral de Salud Mental (Cisame), segundo de su tipo en Tamaulipas y recorriendo las instalaciones del Centro de Atención Primaria a las Adiciones. El nuevo Centro de Salud y Jurisdicción Sanitaria se espera tenga una vida útil de décadas, explicaron los funcionarios. De la misma manera, García anunció que también será puesto en operación el Centro de Rehabilitación Integral y que durante el año 2012 será construido el Centro Oncológico, con lo que los neolaredenses tendrán un amplio perfil de servicios públicos de salud. “La salud es factor básico para tener una sociedad fuerte”, dijo García. El Presidente Municipal, Benjamín Galván Gómez, informó que se espera el edificio entre en funcionamiento a inicios del año entrante.
Centro Oncológico En cuanto al Centro Oncológico de Nuevo Laredo, se dio a conocer que la obra fue licitada y adjudicada, por lo que en los próximos meses empezarán los trabajos. “Esta obra, una vez concluida, apoyará en gran medida a quienes padecen la enfermedad del cáncer”, mencionó Galván Gómez. El Centro Oncológico, con inversión de casi 200 millones de pesos, favorece a los neolaredenses, porque no tendrán que hacer pagos costosos por las atenciones médicas que ahí se brindarán como las radioterapias y quimioterapias, entre otros servicios. El edificio también se ubicará en la colonia La Fe. De igual forma resaltó que se están siguiendo muy de cerca los trabajos del Centro de Rehabilitación Integral (CRI), para que sea terminado a la brevedad posible, y empiece a brindar las primeras atenciones a finales de este año. Estuvo presente en el recorrido el jefe de la Jurisdicción Sanitaria número 5, Jaime Emilio Gutiérrez Serrano.
Foto de cortesía | Gobierno de Nuevo Laredo
De izquierda a derecha, el Jefe de la Jurisdicción Sanitaria No. V, Jaime Emilio Gutiérrez Serrano, el Secretario de Salud en Tamaulipas, Norberto Treviño García Manzo y el director general de Desarrollo Social y Humano en Nuevo Laredo, México, José Trinidad Vázquez López, realizaron un recorrido de supervisión por el nuevo Centro de Salud y oficinas de la Jurisdicción.
RELIGIÓN
MIGUEL ALEMÁN
Vendrán reliquias de Papa
Descubren contrabando
POR MIGUEL TIMOSHENKOV TIEMPO DE ZAPATA
Las reliquias del Beato Juan Pablo II visitarán la frontera de Tamaulipas a partir del lunes 28 de noviembre. “Las reliquias (del latín reliquiae, que significa ‘restos’) se componen de una urna de cristal que contiene sangre del Beato, así como una banda blanca del Papa con el escudo de su Pontificado”, explica un folleto entregado por la Diócesis de Nuevo Laredo, México. La grey católica de la región recibirá las reliquias del Beato en Nuevo Laredo el 28 de noviembre y posteriormente viajarán a Nueva Cuidad Guerrero, Ciudad Mier y Ciudad Miguel Alemán. Corresponderá al Obispo de la Diócesis de Nuevo Laredo Gustavo Rodríguez Vega recibirlas el lunes y entregarlas el martes 29 de noviembre en la Diócesis de Matamoros. “Las reliquias del Beato Juan Pablo II nos recuerdan
POR CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZ TIEMPO DE ZAPATA
Foto por Eduardo Verdugo | Associated Press
La figura de cera del Papa Juan Pablo II con las reliquias y una urna con la sangre del ex-Pontífice es vista al centro de la imagen durante su recorrido por la Basílica de Guadalupe en la CIudad de México en agosto. Las reliquias recorrerán la frontera norte de Tamaulipas a partir del lunes. su mensaje para abrir las puertas a Cristo y no tener miedo”, dijo Rodríguez. “Marcarán un símbolo de paz y esperanza para esta comunidad”. El párroco Rogelio Lozano Alcorta, de la Diócesis de Nuevo Laredo, informó que la llegada de las reliquias está programada a las 8 a.m. procedentes de Piedras Negras,
Coahuila y llegaráN hasta el atrio de la Catedral del Espíritu Santo para la celebración de una Misa a las 9 a.m. “El vehiculo donde se transportarán se desplazará lentamente para permitir a la ciudadanía aproximarse a la unción”, expuso Lozano. Las Reliquias que recorren desde agosto diferentes ciudades de México.
Patrullaje por tierra y aire llevó a tropas mexicanas a decomisar más de 2 toneladas de marihuana la frontera ribereña de Tamaulipas, al cruzar Roma, Texas, informaron oficiales federales el jueves. Elementos de la Secretaría de la Defensa Nacional, asignados a la 8va. Zona Militar, encontraron el contrabando en Ciudad Miguel Alemán, México. La confiscación ocurrió el miércoles cuando tropas trabajaban en el Operativo Noreste, una misión para combatir al crimen organizado en el norte de Tamaulipas. Un reporte del Ejército Mexicano no especifica cómo ubicaron el contrabando, pero oficiales mencionando que confiscaron 518 paquetes de marihuana en la municipalidad. Un reporte agrega que la marihuana pesaba 2.09 toneladas o 4,604.57 libras. Oficiales federales indicaron que la cantidad pudiera haber producidor 1, 044,300 dosis. Hay una investigación en proceso al respecto. (Localice a César G. Rodriguez en el 7282568 o en cesar@lmtonline.com)
8A THE ZAPATA TIMES
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2011
Class-size waivers have tripled ASSOCIATED PRESS
AUSTIN — State figures show a more than threefold increase in just one year in the number of elementary schools allowed to exceed class-size limits in Texas, one of the most visible signs of the big education funding cuts that the Legislature passed to balance the budget, a newspaper reported Friday. Figures obtained by The Dallas Morning News show that state officials allowed cash-strapped public school districts to exceed the 22-student limit in 6,988 classrooms from kindergarten through fourth grade, up from 2,238 a year ago. Larger classes are a fact of life this year at 1,360 campuses, nearly 30 percent of all elementary schools in the state. More than 150,000 students are directly affected. “We are clearly seeing the impact of the budget cuts this year,” said Debbie Ratcliffe, a spokeswoman for the Texas Education Agency, which approved the vast majority of class size waivers sought. “School districts can save some money in the short term by increasing their class sizes, and that is what many have felt compelled to do.” Ratcliffe said there are also reports of larger classes in other grades, but that school districts are not required to get permission to put more students in classes in grades five through 12. Most districts cited financial hardship, a new category of exemption that was approved along with the funding cuts. While state funding cuts were taking effect, lower property tax revenue also was a factor, the newspaper reported. Critics of the class size law sought changes from the Legislature this year that would have allowed more students in elementary classes to save money. They contend that a few more students per class won’t harm learning. A report from Comptroller Susan Combs estimated school districts and the state could save $558 million a year by switching to an “average” class size of 22 students — or up to 25 per class. The Texas State Teachers Association said the surge in class size exemptions “represents a serious erosion of educational quality standards” in the public schools.
“
School districts can save some money in the short term by increasing their class sizes, and that is what many have felt compelled to do.” TEXAS EDUCATION AGENCY SPOKESWOMAN DEBBIE RATCLIFFE
Ratcliffe said most districts are adding no more than a few students per class, although districts are not restricted on how many students they can add once they get a state waiver. They also do not have to report those increases. Lawmakers backed away from a change in the class size requirement in the face of fierce opposition from teachers and Democrats, but they opened the door to the new financial hardship exception when they slashed education funding by $2 billion a year over the next two years. An additional $1.4 billion in state grants also was eliminated in the new budget, as lawmakers sought to close a huge revenue shortfall without raising taxes. School districts saw their funding cut by an average of 3.3 percent this year, and many districts — including Dallas and several others in North Texas — face decreases of up to 8.6 percent next year. When he signed the legislation that included the funding decreases last summer, Texas Gov. Rick Perry said he and lawmakers “followed the direction laid out by voters and balanced our budget by prioritizing and reducing spending without raising taxes.” The class size exemptions are good for one year, and districts will have to reapply for the 2012-13 school year. With many districts facing even larger funding reductions next year, the number of classrooms with more than 22 students is expected to increase.
Photo by Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman | AP
This Nov. 22 photo shows the restored columns at the Texas Governor’s Mansion in Austin. Restoration experts have turned to a couple of Austin homes built by the same 1850s contractor as models for the flooring.
Experts work to recreate Governor’s Mansion floors ASSOCIATED PRESS
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USTIN — Restoration experts working on the Texas Governor’s Mansion have turned to a couple of Austin homes built by the same 1850s contractor to find something close to the original pine floors that burned in a fire at the historic home three years ago. Dealey Herndon, project manager for the State Preservation Board, said no one’s sure what the original floors looked like before they were sanded and refinished. The mansion officially opened in 1856. “There are no photos,” Herndon told the Austin American Statesman. “We know the subfloor (a second floor beneath the top layer) is original. The house may not have had anything other than the subfloor originally. We just don’t know.” What’s certain is the floors were made of Bastrop pine. And, according to a letter then-Gov. Elisha Pease wrote to his wife, were covered by oilcloth. Herndon says flooring examined at two other homes from the same period built by Abner Cook had random-width boards. So that’s what’s going in at the governor’s house, the oldest executive mansion still in use west of the Mississippi. The boards then will be covered with historic carpets. The $26 million project is expected to be completed next summer, four years after the home
Photo by Jonny Hanson/Houston Chronical | AP
Dealey Herndon, 64, who is the site manager for the 155-year-old governor’s mansion shows off the main entry way and one of the two parlors on the first floor on Thursday. The mansion is about six months away from being ready for the Gov. Rick Perry to move back in. was the target of a still unknown big enough for some hooks to hang clothes on,” she said. “As a arsonist. The outside work is expected mother, if I had eight kids and to be done within a week. Al- four bedrooms like the Houstons ready, scaffolding has been com- did, I’d want someplace for them ing down from the six towering to hang their clothes.” The approximate age of the white columns on the front porch. Decorations atop the col- closets was confirmed by the umns sustained heavy damage original baseboards and trim wood found inside walls. from flames. Besides the restoration work, Herndon said the work has uncovered some hidden gems, in- the project includes modern upcluding a basement pocket that grades like geothermal heating held an empty champagne bottle and cooling and solar panels to from the early 1900s and tiny heat water. Also, 1,500 square feet closets that had been hidden by have been added in bedroom, bookcases in upstairs bedrooms. kitchen and living space. Renovation of the mansion beShe believes the closets may have been the work of Sam Houston, gan in 2007, and Gov. Rick Perry who was governor just before the and his wife weren’t living there when the fire was set a year latCivil War. “They were very shallow, just er.
TIRES Continued from Page 1A dents to deposit tires, volunteers took the initiative to “go into the woods” as Treviño put it and collect tires dumped illegally. Until this event, illegal and environmentally unsound discarding of tires was unaddressed in Zapata. The recent attention paid to the issue came about after the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) sent inspectors to monitor a lift station sewage spill, said Pct. 1 Commissioner Jose Vela. “TCEQ went ahead and cited (the county),” Vela said, adding that the scrap tires were seen as an ancillary problem. Treviño and the county commissioners negotiated with TCEQ and the two parties came to an agreement: Zapata County would undergo a concerted environmental remediation effort, and the costs incurred through that effort would be credited towards the amount of the fine. “We decided something needs to be done about the tires. We have tires all over the place,” Vela said. “So we set aside these two days for people to pile up the tires, and we’ll pay a com-
pany to come in and recycle them.” According to Vela, the county hasn’t yet determined which company will take on the tires. Vela was unsure of the fine amount, and representatives from TCEQ were unavailable Friday due to the Thanksgiving holiday. Treviño, however, estimated that the sheer amount of tires means the disposal costs incurred by the county should meet or even exceed the TCEQ fine. The TCEQ Border Initiative lists tire waste as “priority issue” that “poses a significant threat to human health and air quality.” In fact, TCEQ’s website lists it as a participant in the U.S.Mexico Tire Initiative Collaborative Effort, a project involving the Environmental Protection Agency. “It’s a big issue here on the border and an issue very close to me,” said Victor Oliveros, former chief of environmental health services for Laredo. Oliveros also actively participates in the Rio Grande International Study Center. He’s dealt with the issue of scrap tires in both capaci-
ties for years. “It started in 1997. Up until that year, the state of Texas was in the business of regulating the recycling of tires,” he said. “When you went to Sears or Firestone and bought new tires, the company charged you a $5 dollar recycling fee, and the state made sure those tires were properly recycled. That stopped in ’97. “They can resell them to jobbers, people who go around and buy used tires for resale. Many people see Mexico as a market for used tires. So, other states’ tires head to the border.” While some are, in fact, sold into Mexico, far too many end up dumped in border towns like Laredo and Zapata, Oliveros explained. The rate at which all Americans generate tire waste only adds to the problem. “We generate one waste tire per person per year,” added Oliveros. “If the United States has 30 million people, that’s 30 million tires. Some of that heads to the Mexican border.” Besides simply being unsightly, scrap tires provide
mosquitoes with ideal breeding grounds due to their shape. “When water gets into the tire because of rain or however,” Oliveros explained, “it is very hard to get out. You can roll a tire, you can flip it, and the water will stay in it. You really have to scoop water out of a tire to make sure you get it out.” The water attracts mosquitoes, which spawn a new generation every five to seven days. These new mosquitoes can become vectors for viruses, which they transmit through their saliva when they feed off a person. Dengue and West Nile are among the most common and dangerous viruses often attributed to water-borne mosquitoes. “We had isolated incidents in Laredo and Nuevo Laredo,” said Oliveros. “But the problem is very real.” The best way to dispose of tires, he said, is to take them to a landfill with tirecrushing capabilities, he said. (Mike Herrera IV can be reached at 728-2567 or mherrera@lmtonline.com)
Abbott accuses US court of interfering By WILL WEISSERT ASSOCIATED PRESS
AUSTIN — A federal court is refusing to block a congressional redistricting map it drew up for Texas after minority groups challenged the original Republicanbacked plan. Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott had asked the San Antonio-based court to stay the implementation of its map, which would ensure minorities made up the majority in three additional Texas congressional districts for the 2012 election.
Turned down The court turned down the request Friday evening. Abbott plans to ap-
Abbott plans to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. peal to the U.S. Supreme Court. The court drew the maps after minority groups sued, claiming a redistricting plan devised by the Republican-controlled Texas Legislature didn’t reflect growth in the state’s Hispanic and black populations. In a court filing earlier Friday, Abbott accused the court of interfering with the work of the Legislature and “undermining the democratic process.”
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2011
THE ZAPATA TIMES 9A
HOME Continued from Page 1A dents they think are either drug traffickers who stash cash in their homes, or immigrants, particularly from Asia or the Middle East, who run small, cash-based businesses. “These guys are violent criminals,” said Franceska Perot, a spokeswoman for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. “You see them now more prepared — ski masks, zip ties (handcuffs), firearms. They basically have a plan when they go into these homes.” Usually the criminals have a tip from someone who is in the home or has been there. The attackers are said to hope their victims are at home so they can intimidate them into handing over drugs or cash instead of wasting time tearing into walls or tossing furniture. The ATF has arrested multiple teams of invaders, often specialists with reputations for helping disgruntled traffickers attack rivals or former partners. Former Houston drug dealer Rogelio Gonzalez testified during a trial this year that home invaders disguised as police barged into his residence and pistolwhipped him in front of his terrified family. Invasions occur regularly, and authorities concede
they don’t know about all of them. In break-ins where nobody is hurt and a drug dealer gets ripped off, nobody calls police. Complicating matters is that attackers could target the wrong person or address. Investigators have provided few details about the recent attacks, including the one just before midnight Thursday when Trieu Quoc Nguyen, 33, was shot to death. Nguyen’s brother heard a commotion and gunshots in the front of the house, and after finding the body, fled with two small children to call police. On Nov. 17, a gunman shot off the finger of a boy, about 7 years old, while attacking a home. The father, who was shot four times, opened fire on the attackers, sending them scurrying into the street. They fled in a mini-van as the father shot out the windows and hit at least one of the men, authorities said. The little boy seemed in shock over his finger. Prior to being loaded into an ambulance, he kept asking for a Band-Aid so he could go to school. Neighbors said the family kept to themselves. Upon moving in several months ago, neighbors said, the family put up a reinforced door and covered windows.
SHOPPING Continued from Page 1A shop, so I ate, slept and then came,” said Alma Gutierrez. Gutierrez, who woke before the crack of dawn for Black Friday, admits that while her time spent with family had its drawbacks in the eyes of hardcore Black Friday shoppers, it has its advantages, too. She detailed a game plan her family created around the dining room. “We’ll go through ads and then decide how we’re going to split up,” Gutierrez said. “You have to know what you’re looking for. We might be late, but we won’t waste more time (browsing).” Meanwhile, some people were still reeling from shopping thrills. “It’s fun,” said Michael Perez, who, unlike Flores and Gutierrez, had been up since 4 a.m. and continued to trudge onward six hours later. Perez, accompanied by his girlfriend, had hit more than four retailers already. Though their tit-for-tat method has left the couple exhausted, with him hitting one store for items on his wish list and then doing the same for her, he maintained they have plenty to show for their efforts. Arriving at one store,
Perez said they’d “hit” it, then call it a day. “(There’s) no point anymore,” he said. “A lot of the good stuff is gone.” When asked what his game plan was, he said that while they had what they wanted in mind, if they saw something they liked, they didn’t hesitate before grabbing. People get nasty when they’re looking, he said, echoing the advice of many Black Friday shoppers: Get in, get what you want and get out. “It’s a challenge. You need to be up for it,” said Jonathan Reyes. Reyes said teamwork, communication, patience and persistence are Black Friday shopping necessities. “Ask questions, too. Sometimes they’ll move items that you were used to being in a certain area. If that happens, just ask someone who works there.” “Also, snacks,” he said, laughing, explaining that it’s easy to get tired out and hungry, especially if you’re going from store to store. Tips from Black Friday veterans aside, all shoppers had a similar goal. “Don’t lose your cool,” Reyes said, adding that he saw more than his share of heated arguments.
WAR GEAR Continued from Page 1A of the border. “I would welcome any resources and equipment that would help us to be more vigilant along the border,” he said. “And if it’s equipment that would provide support, I would welcome it with open arms.” Salinas has also had to fend off allegations that his city is as violent as its Mexican counterpart, Nuevo Laredo, in Tamaulipas. In fact, data from the Federal Bureau of Investigation shows that El Paso and Laredo are among the safest cities of their respective sizes in the country. Poe said there is no requirement that local and state agencies accept the equipment. He said six Humvees previously used by the military are already operating in six South Texas counties. “They are better than
chasing somebody in a Crown Victoria in some parts of Texas,” Poe said. “We got this equipment, it’s American equipment, and it was used to secure Iraq. Now why not use it to secure the southern border?” Poe’s proposal is likely to draw bipartisan support from two other Texas congressmen, Reps. Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo, and Michael McCaul, R-Austin. Cuellar says recycling the equipment does not constitute militarizing the border, which he says is not in the country’s best interest. “If you send personnel out there to militarize the border, that’s one thing,” he said. “But if you use taxpayers’ technology that has been used in one environment” and ask whether it can be used in a different environment like the border, “the answer is yes.”
OSCAR GUTIERREZ Oscar Gutierrez, 100, a long-time resident of Zapata County, passed away Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2011. He was born in Guerrero Viejo, Mexico, on Dec. 6, 1910. His family lineage traces to the original settlers of Old Zapata and Guerrero Viejo. Mr. Gutierrez was a well-known rancher, entrepreneur, devoted son, brother and uncle to his beloved family. Throughout his life, he treasured the company of his many friends by sharing memorable experiences and insightful conversations at his San Bartolo Ranch on the banks of the Rio Grande and partaking in authentic South Texas lunches and dinners at his business and homes. He was exceptionally talented in reciting by memory poems and passages in Spanish, followed by listening to a friend or a family member play the piano, violin or guitar. He lived through the Great Depression of the 1920s and 1930s with tremendous fortitude and possessed a creative zest of entrepreneurship, always focusing on providing for the well being of his family through ranching, the restaurant business and other family real-estate ventures. His work ethic was admirable, with his days beginning at the crack of dawn and continuing until sunset. He also served as a mentor to his ranch hands and business employees, teaching them the tools of the trade and sharing his life experiences during the most dramatic transformation of the world as we know it today. Oscar joyfully left us to join his Maker and his departed family and friends in the Kingdom of Heaven. His memory will be cherished by his sister, Amanda G. (†Roy) Rash; and numerous nieces, ne-
FRANCISCO BOTELLO SAN YGNACIO — Captain Francisco Botello, 55, passed away Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2011, at Laredo Medical Center in Laredo, Texas. Captain Botello is preceded in death by his parents: Humberto and Paula J. Botello. Captain Botello is survived by his brothers: Humberto Jr. (Martha) Botello and Andres (Vicky) Botello; sisters: Adriana Botello, Maria Alejandra Botello, Maricela B. Hernandez and Lourdes Botello; and by numerous nieces, nephews and many friends. Captain Botello served 25 years with Zapata County Fire Department and rose to the rank of captain. Visitation hours were held Thursday, Nov. 17, 2011, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. with a rosary at 7 p.m. at Rose Garden Funeral Home. The funeral procession departed Friday, Nov. 17, 2011, at 9:30 a.m. for a 10 a.m. funeral Mass at Mission Nuestra Señora Del Refugio in San Ygnacio,
Texas. Committal services followed at Uribe Cemetery in San Ygnacio, Texas. Condolences may be sent to the family at www.rosegardenfuneralhome.com. Funeral arrangements were under the direction of Rose Garden Funeral Home, Daniel A. Gonzalez, funeral director, 2102 U.S. 83, Zapata, Texas.
VALENTIN G. MEDINA
phews, cousins, and friends. He is preceded in death by his parents: Carlos and Ana Chapa Gutierrez; brothers: Eloy (†Felicidad G.), Dennis and Sergio Gutierrez; and sisters: Blanca (†Salvador) Garcia, Sacramento (†Juan Esteban) Garcia, Gloria (†Flavio) Gonzalez and Ana Iris Gutierrez. The family would also like to thank his loyal and devoted caregivers, David Mata and Raul Marquez, and good friends, Daniel Perez and Mario Martinez. Visitation hours were held Saturday, Nov. 19, 2011, at 8 a.m. at Rose Garden Funeral Home. The funeral procession departed at 9:45 a.m. for a 10 a.m. funeral Mass at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church. Committal services followed at Zapata County Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church or any charity of your choice. Funeral arrangements were under the direction of Rose Garden Funeral Home, Daniel A. Gonzalez, funeral director, 2102 U.S. 83, Zapata, Texas.
Mr. Valentin G. Medina, 79, entered into eternal rest Nov. 18, 2011, surrounded by his loving family, as well as his nurse, Liza Ramirez. He was born in San Marcos, Texas, to Leandro and Leonor Medina. Most of his education was in San Marcos, where he earned his bachelor of science degree at Southwest Texas State College. Later he earned his master of arts degree at the University of North Texas in Denton, Texas. Mr. Medina served in the United States Army during the Korean Conflict, 1952-1954. He was stationed in Seattle, Washington, as a guided missile instructor. He came to teach at Zapata ISD in 1957 and retired as a counselor in 1991. Mr. Medina is preceded in death by his parents: Leandro and Leonor G. Medina; parents-in-law: Tomas and Amelia G. Ramirez; sister-in-law, Ada Ramirez; and nephews, Edgar Ramirez and Ricky Ramirez. Mr. Medina is survived by his wife of 50 years, Anita Ramirez-Medina; son, Valentin (Karrie Yaeger) Medina, Jr.; grandchildren: Valentin “Trey” Medina III and Marissa Nicole Medina; brother, Gilbert Medina; sisters: Oralia “Lala” (Domingo) Tobias and Josie (Inocencio) Cantu; brothers-in-law: Tomas (Selfi) Ramirez and Leandro (Lourdes) Ramirez; and numerous nieces, nephews and cousins. Honorary pallbearers were: Leobardo Martinez,
Raul Vasquez, Juventino Flores, Jaime Gonzalez and Alvaro Vela. Pallbearers were: Valentin “Trey” Medina III, Anthony Tobias, Robert Tobias, Tommy Ramirez, Marcos Ramirez, Eddie Gracia, Tommy Uribe and Gilbert Medina. Visitation hours were held Sunday, Nov. 20, 2011, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. with a rosary at 7 p.m. at Rose Garden Funeral Home. The funeral procession departed Monday, Nov. 21, 2011, at 9:45 a.m. for a 10 a.m. funeral Mass at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church. Burial services followed at Zapata County Cemetery, including full military honors by the American Legion Post 486 Color Guard. Funeral arrangements were under the direction of Rose Garden Funeral Home, Daniel A. Gonzalez, funeral director, 2102 U.S. 83, Zapata, Texas.
10A THE ZAPATA TIMES
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2011
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2011
ON THE WEB: THEZAPATATIMES.COM
Sports&Outdoors Darkest day of the year Black Friday takes over everywhere
NFL
Suh stomping waits for ruling Detroit’s polarizing defensive lineman waits for NFL decision, punishment after ejection By NOAH TRISTER ASSOCIATED PRESS
DETROIT — For the first season-and-a-half of his young career, Ndamukong Suh could almost brush off talk about his
penalties and fines, saying he would keep doing what was needed to help his Detroit Lions. On Thursday, Suh was publicly apologizing to his teammates after he was ejected
from a loss to Green Bay. It could be several days before Suh finds out the true cost of his third-quarter stomp in Detroit’s 27-15 loss to the Packers on Thanksgiving. An NFL spokesman said Friday that
plays from Week 12 looked at for potential discipline won’t be reviewed until all games are completed. Detroit coach Jim Schwartz
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HIGH SCHOOL BOYS’ BASKETBALL
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hile another Thanksgiving is in the books, family and friends still gather in gratefulness and celebrate another year for Black Friday. It’s the one day every year when millions of consumers prepare like athletes before a championship with plans to design and maximize their time and conquer every sale. Black Friday’s markdowns make people’s head spin with the best bargains of the year. Who wouldn’t want an Ipad for $150 or a laptop for $100? Every shopper hopes and prays that they are one of the lucky few to get their hands on a deal as doors open in the wee hours of the morning. What stores fail to mention except for the fine print, is that only have a select number of items per store can be sold, despite thousands of people waiting outside. People get crazy and devise plans to get the merchandise of their dreams. Grandma takes the toy department, while Uncle Eddie handles the electronics and video games, meanwhile mom take on the clothes. Ready. Set. Go! Shoppers review and organize like a sports team before they hit the floor. They make sure everyone on their team is on the same page because, after all, this is their one get one. I can honestly say that I have never been to a Black Friday sale, and never plan to because of all the craziness that is associated with it. While everyone’s eyes burned from Black Friday’s rising sun, I was snuggled in my bed all warm, comfortable, and dreaming. Others were ready for the mad dash on their holiday lists, running through stores as if they were the streets of Pamplona during the running of the bulls. This Black Friday started several years ago as a way to kickoff the Christmas shopping season. During President Franklin D. Roosevelt’ reign in the 1930’s, he moved Thanksgiving to the third Thursday of November to give merchants an extra week of shopping. After a big controversy, the government finally stepped in to make it the
Learning to fly Hawks search for early form By CLARA SANDOVAL THE ZAPATA TIMES
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Photo by Danny Zaragoza | The Zapata Times
Zapata’s Hawks play for another playoff run, although they feature inexperience. They look to learn as they go in a competitive district with Rio Hondo, Port Isabel, La Feria, and PSJA Southwest.
he basketball season has arrived and the Zapata Hawks are trying to find the right combination to garner another trip to the 3A state playoffs. After last May’s graduation robbed the Hawks of their entire staring lineup and bench — 14 players total — Zapata has to build the team from the upcoming junior varsity. Coach Juan Villarreal faces the daunting task of constructing the Hawks into a playoff team, with things looking grim at the moment. Zapata has yet break into the win column through three tries, although, the team is showing sparks and heading in the right direction, just as he envisioned. The Hawks flourished in the past under Villarreal’s watchful eye, making several trips to the playoffs, including last year’s run ending in the first round, and this year will test him because of the lack of experience. “We have no returning letterman and no one from last year’s team,” Villarreal said. “Added into all that, we have no experience, but we will be working hard everyday in practice.” Villarreal is counting on the leadership of junior Danny Chapa and sophomore Alonzo Gutierrez, both have added stability with their play the past few weeks. “The experience will come with each passing game, but the team needs to become a little more confident,” Villarreal said. “They need to believe in themselves and do what the coaching staff asks them to do.” Villarreal is banking his team’s success on its uncanny speed and he sees how deadly they can be in the open court, especially when the ball gets kicked out to the guards by the big men. The Hawks fly when in the open court and get the easy basket, but those transition points must come consistently, and, with time, Villarreal feels that Zapata can make that aspect benefit the team. “We have a lot of speed and we need to
See HAWKS PAGE 2B
See SANDOVAL PAGE 2B
NFL
Cowboys cruise with wins By JAIME ARON ASSOCIATED PRESS
Photo by Matt Strasen | AP
Dallas Cowboys cornerback Terence Newman (41) and outside linebacker DeMarcus Ware (94) center right, celebrate in front of Frank Walker (25), Victor Butler (57), Sean Lee (50) and Jay Ratliff, right, against the Miami Dolphins on Thursday in Arlington. The Cowboys won 20-19.
IRVING — The Dallas Cowboys did everything expected from them in November. They played four games and won them all. They didn’t exactly get better as they went along, and they didn’t exactly face the toughest foes in the toughest circumstances. Yet they always found a way to win, and there’s something to be said about that. It remains to be seen whether this group led by Tony Romo, DeMarcus Ware and rookie sensations DeMarco Murray and Dan Bailey can consistently beat
winning teams in highstakes games. But the bottom line on this recent surge is that they’ve put themselves in position to find out. The Cowboys (7-4) will head into the final five weeks of the season atop the NFC East. They’ll either be tied with the Giants or a game ahead of them, depending on what happens when New York plays in New Orleans on Monday night. “We needed to get going,” Romo said. “We had some tough losses earlier in the year, and we were in position to win some games. At some point you’ve got to
get on a roll and stack the wins together. Getting these four wins was very big.” Dallas and New York still have two meetings left, including the finale on the road on New Year’s Day. The Cowboys’ other three games are all against teams with losing records, but none are gimmes. They’ll be on the road against Arizona and Tampa Bay, and both are .500 at home, and they will play host to Philadelphia on Christmas Eve. The Eagles were the last team to beat the Cowboys, and they spanked them 34-7 in the most lopsided loss of
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Zscores
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2011
SANDOVAL Continued from Page 1B fourth Thursday. The most desperate people to make sure secure their desires, they even camp out nights before. I enjoy camping, the outdoors and wouldn’t hesitate to pitch a tent at Gardner Sate Park on a weekend, but there’s no way I’d pitch a tent in the concrete jungle for a flat
screen television. This year some stores opened at midnight for a headstart, while others are encouraging Cyber Monday sales on the internet. That’s a day for me because it’s within the comfort of my home and no physical fights break out over the last of anything.
HAWKS Continued from Page 1B maximize it,” he said. “Right now our record might not show it but we are still getting acquainted with each other but we will get there.” The Hawks utilize their speed on defense to pressure opponents by play intheir-face defense. “When the fourth quarter comes around we want to be the team that is running up and down the court,” he said. Villarreal also noted the Hawks haven’t put all four quarters together, staying in the games through the first three, but fall apart in the last quarter. “Right now we are playing 2 ½ quarters that are really good but have not put together a full game. We are not there yet,” he said. “During the game against Mission last Tuesday we were tied in the third quarter and then fell apart. “We just need to play four quarters.” The Hawks boast height with four athletes towering taller than six feet. Villarreal plans to exploit that advantage. “We have some good size down low on the block with a couple of six footers,” he said. “We are just trying to see how we can rotate them in. Right now we a playing
with four guards and a big man down low.” The Hawks hit the floor with Chapa, Gutierrez, Pepi Martinez and Ricky Solis, but look to add another ingredient. The shooting aspect of the game has challenged Zapata, as they’ve yet to find a rhythm in games. “Our shooting is nowhere near where we want it to be, but we will get there,” Villarreal said. To prepare for the brutal district season, Villarreal made sure his preseason opponents would test his team to create some positive results by season’s end. Villarreal scheduled games with Mission and an appearance in the Laredo Border Olympics tournament opening with Laredo Nixon. “We have a tough preseason,” Villareal said. “I am hoping that playing all these tough teams can help us when the district season rolls around.” The Hawks biggest threats in district are Rio Hondo, who return everyone from last year’s team, Port Isabel, who only lost three seniors, La Feria, who has everyone back, and PSJA Southwest. (Clara Sandoval can be reached at sandoval.clara@gmail.com)
COWBOYS Continued from Page 1B coach Jason Garrett’s tenure. Philadelphia also is coming off a victory over the Giants and could be back in the division race by then. Thus, it all comes back to how Dallas plays down the stretch. Do well, and the Cowboys will make the playoffs. Struggle, and they’ll give Garrett and owner-GM Jerry Jones a better idea of which players are and aren’t keepers in 2012 and beyond. “We’re trying not to think of it in the overall big-picture yet,” Romo said. “It’s strictly about the week-toweek and the process. ... At the end of the year, those things will add up and that’s what will be talked about.” Romo laughed as he said that, admitting he was parroting some of Garrett’s pet phrases. He knows that over the three-day weekend — the reward for having played three times in 12 days — everyone will be analyzing how far they’ve come and what they have left to return to the playoffs after a bottoming-out season last year. “We’ll come back to work on Monday and hopefully everybody gets a chance to decompress a little bit, take a breath, get refreshed and ready to go and we’ll get ... going again,” Garrett said. The Cowboys wouldn’t be in such great shape without the emergence of Murray and Bailey. Murray was a thirdround pick who was expected to help complement Felix Jones. The lockout and a hamstring injury slowed him so much that when Jones went out with an injury, Dallas didn’t immediately hand him the job. Then he ran for 253 yards in a game he didn’t start and there was no doubt they had a special player. Dallas is 5-1 since Murray became the featured runner. He’s gained 761 yards over those six games, which is more than NFL rushing king Emmitt Smith, fellow Hall of Famer Tony Dorsett or any other Cowboys running back has ever had.
Against Miami on Thursday, he showed he can be a closer, the kind of guy who grinds out yards and burns the clock even when everyone knows that he’s coming. On five straight carries, he gained between 3 and 9 yards. He nearly broke one of those into a longer gain but had the presence of mind to fall down in bounds rather than risk getting shoved out of bounds and stopping the clock. “I’m still growing,” Murray said. Bailey won a preseason kicking competition that included a fellow rookie, the incumbent and two veterans. But he didn’t exactly win the job outright as incumbent David Buehler was kept for kickoffs and rookie Kai Forbath went on the non-football injury list, giving Dallas a pair of options just in case. Buehler is now on injured reserve and Forbath isn’t likely to get a chance here. Bailey has made 26 straight field goals, one shy of matching the club record and 12 more than any rookie in NFL history. The last two games ended with him making a field goal, and he’s won four games this season with a kick in the final 2 minutes of regulation or in overtime. No kicker in NFL history had ever done that more than three times. “Knock on wood, he’s been pretty automatic,” Garrett said. “He’s a very consistent guy, both in his personality and his temperament. ... He seems to go out there and kick it through the pipes every time we ask him to do it.” That’s what the Cowboys have done for the last month. They pulled away from Seattle in the second half, crushed Buffalo and eeked out wins over Washington and Miami. The Redskins and Dolphins each have only three wins, so consider that a potential warning sign. Or maybe it’s a sign of a team that simply does what it takes to win. The answer will be revealed over the next five weeks.
Photo by Nick de la Torre | Houston Chronicle
University of Houston quarterback Case Keenum (7) looks to connect with his wide receiver Tyron Carrier (35) during the third quarter on Friday in H.A. Chapman Stadium in Tulsa. The University of Houston won 48-16.
Keenum carries No. 8 Cougars By JEFF LATZKE ASSOCIATED PRESS
TULSA, Okla. — Case Keenum threw for 457 yards and five touchdowns, Patrick Edwards had 181 yards receiving and four scores and No. 8 Houston earned a spot in the Conference USA championship game by beating Tulsa 48-16 on Friday. The Cougars (12-0, 8-0) set a school season record by winning their 12th game. The 12 straight wins also match the school’s longest winning streak, set over the 1990 and ’91 seasons. If they can make it 13 in a row in the C-USA title game at home on Dec. 3, against either Southern Mississippi or Marshall, the Cougars will earn their first BCS bid and become from first team from the conference to play in the Bowl Championship Series. Keenum helped Houston pull away by hooking up with Edwards twice for touchdowns on fourth down in no man’s land. He found Edwards cutting across the field for a 33-yard score on fourth-and-10 in the second quarter, then threw a deep ball to him for a 38-yard TD on fourth-and-1 in the third quarter. That score came in the midst of 28 straight points by the Cougars. Edwards broke the school record by surpassing 100 yards receiving for the 16th time in his career and
also broke the Conference USA career record for receiving yardage that was held by Rice’s Jarett Dillard. It figured to be the toughest test yet for Houston, facing C-USA’s top defense and a team that also came in without a loss in league play. Tulsa (8-4, 7-1) was allowing only 16 points per game in league play but couldn’t keep up once its offense started sputtering in the second half. Tulsa got only three points out of two drives with favorable field position in the third quarter. After Curnelius Arnick recovered a fumbled exchange between Keenum and running back Charles Sims, the Golden Hurricane got only 1 yard before settling for Kevin Fitzpatrick’s 51yard field goal to cut the deficit to 20-16. Tulsa got the ball back again at midfield but again failed to get a first down and punted the ball back to set up an 80-yard scoring drive by the Cougars capped by Edwards’ 38yard score. Michael Hayes added a 1-yard plunge that had to be reviewed before Houston was awarded a touchdown, and Keenum tacked on an 8yard TD pass to Justin Johnson set up by Edwards’ 51-yard reception. Edwards’ final score came on a 14-yard pass from backup Cotton Turner, who replaced Keenum following G.J. Kinne’s interception
with 6:55 left in the game. The Cougars celebrated by slapping high-fives with a group of Houston fans that occupied the corner of H.A. Chapman Stadium behind their bench. Keenum, the nation’s leading passer, recorded the 18th 400-yard game of his career and easily continued his streak of throwing for at least 300 yards in every game this season. A finalist for the Davey O’Brien and Johnny Unitas quarterback awards, he’s also positioning himself for a chance at the Heisman Trophy. With another impressive day, he now has 42 touchdowns and only three interceptions this season. Kinne finished with 176 yards, one touchdown pass and two interceptions — both as he tried to rally the Golden Hurricane out of a late deficit against a defense that hasn’t allowed more than seven fourthquarter points in any game this season. His only touchdown pass was an 11-yarder to Willie Carter to give the Golden Hurricane an early lead. Fitzpatrick also matched his careerbest with a 52-yard field goal that cleared the uprights easily with a steady wind gusting to around 35 mph, and he connected a 36-yarder. All four of Tulsa’s losses this season have come against teams ranked in the top 10 at the time — Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Boise State and Houston.
SUH Continued from Page 1B was curt after Thursday’s defeat when asked if he was worried about a possible suspension. “I’m worried about losing this game,” Schwartz said. Suh was dismissed after tangling with Packers offensive lineman Evan Dietrich-Smith. After being pushed off DietrichSmith, Suh stepped down hard with his right foot, appearing to make contact with Dietrich-Smith’s right arm. Suh said he was trying to keep his balance while freeing himself from the brief scuffle. He apologized to teammates, coaches and fans for “allowing the refs to have an opportunity to take me out of this game,” but he insisted he didn’t intentionally step on anyone. “People are going to have their own opinions — that’s fine,” he said. “The only (people) that I really care about are my teammates, my true fans and my coaches and their opinions, and that’s where it lies. And honestly, the most important person in this whole thing that I have to deal with is the man upstairs.” In less than two seasons as a pro, Suh has established himself as one of the game’s strongest and most athletic defensive linemen, but he’s also received his share of fines. Suh requested and received a meeting earlier this month with Commissioner Roger Goodell to discuss his play. He said that dialogue was helpful, but now the league will have to decide whether
Photo by Carlos Osorio | AP
Detroit Lions defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh (90) talks with head coach Jim Schwartz during the third quarter against the Green Bay Packers after being ejected in Detroit on Thursday. more discipline is merited after he was ejected on national television. New York Jets coach Rex Ryan came up with one tongue-in-cheek solution Friday. “I’ll be honest with you, I think the young man, he should be released ... and come to the Jets,” Ryan joked. “I’m just throwing that out there. I don’t think he’s that good of a player. I don’t know about the incident and all that jazz, but we’ll take him. We’ll sacrifice that way.” Ryan then turned a little more serious. “I don’t even know what to say on it,” Ryan said. “You’ve seen things like that happen on the field before. It’s an emotional game.” In 2006, Albert Haynes-
worth, then with the Tennessee Titans, was suspended five games after swiping his cleats across the head of helmetless Dallas center Andre Gurode. Suh’s stomp wasn’t toward Dietrich-Smith’s head, and the Green Bay player didn’t seem too much worse for wear. When asked afterward where Suh stepped on him, Dietrich-Smith sounded like he didn’t want to stir the pot. “I have no idea,” he said. “I have to watch the tape.” If Suh is suspended early next week, he would have a chance to keep playing pending any appeal — but that appeals process can be expedited. Detroit plays at New Orleans on Dec. 4. The NFL moved that
game to prime time, a reflection of the buzz surrounding the improved Lions this season. Led by young stars Suh, Matthew Stafford and Calvin Johnson, Detroit won its first five games, but the Lions have since lost four of six. Defensive backs Louis Delmas, Chris Houston and Brandon McDonald went down with injuries against the Packers, and so did running back Kevin Smith. If the Lions are without Suh for an extended period, it could hurt them in the playoff race. “He plays aggressive. All of us, sometimes, might overreact in certain situations,” Detroit defensive lineman Cliff Avril said. “We’ve got to play real smart.”
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2011
THE ZAPATA TIMES 3B
HINTS BY | HELOISE COLD OR FLU? Dear Readers: Is it a COLD OR THE FLU? Do you know the difference? Flu season is here, and you could be a victim. Here are some symptoms of this respiratory illness: fatigue body aches cough and sore throat runny nose headache and fever (although fever is not always present). Flu is spread mostly by coughing and sneezing, and by touching surfaces that hold the virus and then touching your mouth or eyes. Don’t rub your eyes! The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (www.cdc.gov) say that a flu vaccine is the best way to prevent influenza. There are two types of flu vaccines: 1. A flu shot contains the actual flu virus, but don’t worry — it’s not active and will not give you the flu. There are three varieties of shots: The typical flu shot, which is recommended for most people, even those who are pregnant. For those over 65, a stronger dose. And there is a new variety this season for people 18-64 that is injected into the skin. 2. The other type of flu vaccine is a nasal spray. It is approved for healthy people who are not pregnant. Some people should not have the flu shot: people with egg allergies, infants younger than 6 months of age and people who are already ill fall into this category. Talk to your health-care provider about the flu, the flu shot and how to protect yourself and your family. — Heloise
PET PAL
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HELOISE
Dear Readers: Meow Meow, our office cat, is this week’s Pet Pal. He is shown camping out on top of the outside trash can, letting us know it’s time for him to eat. Afterward, he’ll have a sun bath on the patio for the rest of the afternoon. To see Meow Meow and our other Pet Pals, visit www.Heloise.com and click on “Pets.” — Heloise
STRAY HELP Dear Heloise: A few years ago, I started feeding a stray cat. She was very skittish but would come around on a regular basis for food. I wanted to start petting her but was nervous about how she would react. I stuffed an old gardening glove with tissue and tied it to the end of a yardstick. When she came around to eat, I would “pet” her with the glove. If she swatted, she would get the glove and not my hand. When she stopped reacting to the glove, I started using my hand. Now she lets me pet her as much as I want. It eased her into being “loved on” and saved me a lot of scratches! — Georgia in Texas
EASY FUNNEL Dear Readers: I’ve found an easy and cheap way to transfer coffee, peas, flour and other kitchen staples into a different container. I take a paper plate and roll it into a circle. The items will slide into the new container! — Heloise
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4B THE ZAPATA TIMES
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2011
Catching up around the NFL ASSOCIATED PRESS
Eagles coach Andy Reid and Patriots coach Bill Belichick are the NFL’s coaching version of “best friends forever.” “We knew each other as assistant coaches and then really when he became the head coach at New England, I came here as the head coach and we developed a close relationship,” Reid said. The two coaches will face each other when Philadelphia (4-6) hosts New England (7-3) on Sunday. Belichick is 3-0 against Reid, including a 24-21 win in the 2005 Super Bowl. Reid and Belichick are the longest-tenured coaches in the league. Reid joined the Eagles in 1999 and Belichick went to New England a year later. They are two of the most successful coaches around. Reid has led Philadelphia to nine playoff appearances, six division titles, five NFC championship games and one Super Bowl. Belichick has won three Super Bowls. They have similar personalities, showing a different side to their players than the media. One more thing they have in common is dedication to their families. “I think we both love football,” Reid said. “We love the game. We’re both put in a position where we’re responsible for personnel decisions, so we both talk about that.”
Marvin’s back The usually reserved Marvin Harrison is coming back to Indianapolis on Sunday to be inducted into the Colts’ Ring of Honor. Harrison never said much while playing, choosing instead to let his play do the talking — something teammates, from Adam Vinatieri to Dwight Freeney, got accustomed to. From 1996 until 2008, nobody in Colts history was better. Indy took
RG3, Baylor take on Red Raiders By STEPHEN HAWKINS ASSOCIATED PRESS
Photo by Michael Perez | AP
Eagles coach Andy Reid, middle, is one of the longest tenured coaches. He shares a friendship with another longtime coach, the Patriots’ Bill Belichick. They play on Sunday. Harrison with the 19th overall pick in the draft out of Syracuse and watched him develop into Peyton Manning’s favorite receiver. He caught over 100 passes in four straight seasons, shattering the league’s single-season mark for receptions with 143 in 2002. He was the NFL’s only unanimous pick to the All-Pro team that season. When he was released in a costcutting move in 2008, Harrison had 1,102 receptions, second in league history behind Jerry Rice. He is now third in receptions, sixth in yards receiving (14,580) and fifth all-time in TD catches (128). And in 2005, Manning and Harrison passed Jim Kelly and Andre Reed as the most prolific passing duo in league history. The tandem combined for a league record 953 completions, 12,766 yards and 112 TDs. But Sunday will mark a first for Harrison.
Fashion statement? It was so unseasonably warm in Denver that the Broncos practiced in shorts this week. They were more like short shorts, or, as coach John Fox noted, like underwear. “They come from the 1980s,” wide receiver Eric Decker explained. “We call them vintage shorts that our equipment guys pulled out for us so we could wear them out there. They’re actually our cold tub shorts.” Combined with high white tube socks, the players looked more like NBA stars from a quarter-century ago than NFL players of today. Running back Willis McGahee, who was promoted to team captain following Kyle Orton’s departure this week, refused to wear the gray shorts and donned blue ones instead — and caught some good-natured flak about being a nonconformist.
ARLINGTON — Robert Griffin III boosted his Heisman Trophy push with a record-setting performance for the nation to see in Baylor’s first win ever over Oklahoma. RG3 and the No. 21 Bears now must avoid a Texas Tech-like Sooner hangover. The two teams that delivered the 1-2 knockout punch to Oklahoma’s national title hopes play each other Saturday night at Cowboys Stadium. Since their big upset in Norman last month, the Red Raiders (5-6, 2-6 Big 12) have lost four in a row. Now, they must win their regular season finale to be bowl eligible for the 19th consecutive season, though that still might not guarantee them another game. “We’re not going to give them an opportunity to destroy our season,” said Griffin, who had 551 total yards against Oklahoma in a 45-38 thriller last weekend. “We know what we have in front of us.” Baylor (7-3, 4-3) is going for five Big 12 wins for the first time. And the Bears haven’t won eight games overall since 1991, when Grant Teaff was still their coach. “The biggest game of the year is right now,” senior running back Terrance Ganaway said.
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The biggest game of the year is right now,” BAYLOR RUNNING BACK TERRANCE GANAWAY
Maybe more so for the Red Raiders, who have lost six of seven since a 4-0 start. After winning 41-38 in Norman to end Oklahoma’s 39-game home winning streak, Texas Tech lost three in row by an average margin of 42 points before a 31-27 loss last week at Missouri, which scored 14 points in the fourth quarter. Texas Tech has won 15 games in a row against the Bears. The last Baylor victory in the series came in 1995, the final Southwest Conference season. Big games have become a pretty ordinary occurrence for Griffin, who has had at least 400 total yards in five consecutive games. The dual-threat junior quarterback leads the nation with 412 total yards per game, and is second in pass efficiency throwing for 3,572 yards with 33 touchdowns and only five interceptions. He has run for 550 yards and five more scores.
Dollars vs. sense in the NCAA Trying to balance money and school By EDDIE PELLS ASSOCIATED PRESS
Photo by Dave Einsel | AP
Houston Texans quarterbacks Matt Schaub (8) and Matt Leinart (11) hope to feed off each other for help after Schaub’s injury.
Schaub helps QB’s in practice By CHRIS DUNCAN ASSOCIATED PRESS
HOUSTON — Injured Texans quarterback Matt Schaub was back at practice on Thanksgiving, wearing a protective boot on his right foot as he kept a close eye on his replacement, Matt Leinart. Schaub sustained a Lisfranc injury in Houston’s 37-9 win over Tampa Bay on Nov. 13, and had to give up hope on returning this season after meeting with foot specialist Dr. Robert Anderson in Charlotte on Wednesday. Houston (7-3) placed Schaub on injured reserve, and Leinart will make his first start at Jacksonville (3-7) on Sunday. Schaub is scheduled to have surgery in Charlotte next Wednesday. Doctors have assured him his injury is not career-threatening and isn’t likely to occur again when he returns to action. Coach Gary Kubiak said Schaub will travel with the team this weekend and be available to support Leinart, rookie T.J. Yates and third-stringer Kellen Clemens, who signed with Houston on Wednesday. “He needs to stay very much involved,” Kubiak said. “I think there’s a way
he can help this team, so we’re going to give him a chance to do that. It’s just tough to see him standing back there.” Schaub has been the Texans’ starter since 2007, after he was acquired in a trade with Atlanta. He missed five games in his first year with the team because of a shoulder injury and concussion, then sat out five more in 2008, one with an illness and four with a knee injury. So far, Houston has survived remarkably well as one key player after another has gone down with an injury, taking control of the AFC South behind the best 10-game start in team history. Running backs Arian Foster and Ben Tate missed time early, outside linebacker Mario Williams was lost for the season with a torn chest muscle, and star receiver Andre Johnson has sat out six games with a right hamstring injury. Johnson is expected to play in Sunday’s game, along with safety Danieal Manning, who broke his left leg in a victory over Tennessee on Oct. 23. Still, the Texans haven’t trailed in four games, hold a two-game lead in the division and seem to be closing in on the team’s first playoff appearance.
Joe Paterno, Rick Pitino and Mack Brown — millionaires all and many times over. Their bosses? Go ahead. Try to name them. Even if you can — Graham Spanier, James R. Ramsey and William C. Powers, for the record — they’re not household names. When it comes to their salaries, it’s as though they’re working in different worlds, not on the same campus. There are more than 90 football and basketball coaches making more than $1 million a year, including Brown, who tops out the football list at around $5 million at Texas, and Pitino, who brings in more than $7 million at Louisville. Meanwhile, there are only 10 presidents at the nation’s 185 largest public universities taking home more than $725,000 annually. Call it an imbalance of priorities or tipping the scales, but it happens all across America when multimillion-dollar athletic programs become the face of a university instead of the other way around. If that’s become lost on the schools, it’s also lost on the public. “You go anywhere in the world and mention Penn State and the first thing they say is, ‘Do you know Joe Paterno?”’ said William Asbury, the vice president emeritus for student affairs at Penn State, who also serves on the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics, a watchdog group that seeks to keep the influence of sports at big schools in check. Paterno is so closely tied to Penn State, aside from its football program, that he’s likely to remain synonymous with the school for a long time, despite being fired two weeks ago in the aftermath of the child sex abuse scandal involving his former assistant coach. The name UConn is almost a parenthetical reference next to the names Geno (Auriemma) and (Jim) Calhoun. UCLA? That’s John Wooden. Florida State? Still Bob-
Photo by David J. Phillip | AP
Texas head coach Mack Brown is the highest paid NCAA football coach in a world that seems to value sports over education. by Bowden. Alabama? If you’re not talking about Nick Saban’s success in the present, you’re talking about the teams Bear Bryant coached in the past. Now, try to name a celebrated professor or research breakthrough at those schools. “It’s an imbalance,” said Allen Sack, a Penn State alum and president-elect of another reform coalition, The Drake Group. “It’s mass commercial entertainment, and it can be wonderful. But it’s within the university. It’s inevitable that when you have such an incredible venue for people to gather, and you get the collective euphoria you get, that’s going to cause some problems because of its tremendous power.” In some cases, coaches have almost completely stopped pretending it’s about an education — most notably in college basketball, where players are allowed to attend school for a single year, then leave for the NBA. Two seasons ago, Kentucky had four key players who left after their freshman year. Maybe the most telling single quote to come out of a year filled with scandals — at Auburn, UConn, Southern California, Mia-
mi, Ohio State and elsewhere — came from the Ohio State president, Gordon Gee. Gee, whose $1.8 million salary is the highest for a public-university president, was asked if he was going to dismiss the coach, Jim Tressel, in the wake of growing allegations that he covered up the problems in his program. “No, are you kidding?” Gee said with a laugh. “Let me be very clear. I’m just hoping the coach doesn’t dismiss me.” Tressel, long considered a model citizen among his coaching peers, did eventually get fired. And the disturbing echo of Gee’s statement — which he said later was a lame attempt at humor — wasn’t lost on anyone: At many schools, the football or basketball coach really does hold more sway than the president. While the NCAA keeps trying to sort out its mission, the schools themselves have spent the last few years engaging in conference realignment. The process has been, by and large, a set of clumsy, money-driven decisions that has very little to do with schools’ locations or the welfare of the so-called “student-athletes” and everything to do with expanding conference foot-
prints, signing better TV deals and — always, always, always — making more money. Exhibit A: By adding two teams in the Mountain Time Zone, the Pac-12 quadrupled TV revenue. Exhibit B: The University of Texas is running its own TV network, which in many ways is leading to the slow disintegration of the Big 12. This strange values system exists, University of Oregon professor Nathan Tublitz, a member of the Coalition On Intercollegiate Athletics, a faculty group seeking reform, says, because of the money and the fame that successful sports programs can shower upon a school. At Penn State, for example, the football program produced almost $73 million in revenues over the past year. Tublitz points to a study from about 10 years ago that was circulated internally by his school president: Of all the headlines mentioning the University of Oregon in the state’s largest newspaper, The Oregonian, 72 percent dealt with sports, 18 percent dealt with deaths of alumni and others with connections to the school and the rest was divided equally between academic and nonacademic issues on campus.