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Daily Toreador The

TUESDAY, JULY 22, 2014 VOLUME 88 ■ ISSUE 155

Former Texas hospital chief’s fraud trial to begin TYLER (AP) — Hospitals operated by a Dallas businessman improperly billed Medicare 80 percent of the time and continued the fraudulent billing even after being warned by government auditors, prosecutors contend in federal court records. Details of the prosecution’s case against Dr. Tariq Mahmood were disclosed in the recent court filings. Mahmood’s trial on charges of fraud conspiracy began Friday with jury selection and will continue this week in Tyler. Federal indictments say he conspired to submit more than $1.1 million in false billings to enrich himself even as his hospitals in East Texas and elsewhere lacked funding to operate effectively, The Dallas Morning News reported. Mahmood has pleaded not guilty to health care-billing fraud and aggravated identity theft counts. He faces more than two decades in prison if convicted on all 15 fraud counts. Mahmood’s attorneys have sought in pretrial motions to block an audit from being used as evidence. They also want to omit details of his hospitals’ poor conditions and his lifestyle — he owns a 10,000-square-foot gated estate and has been driven to court hearings in a Mercedes.

Lawmaker: Texas to send guardsmen to border AUSTIN (AP) — Gov. Rick Perry, a vocal critic of the White House’s response to the surge of children and families entering the U.S. illegally, plans to deploy as many as 1,000 National Guard troops to the Texas-Mexico border, a local lawmaker confirmed Monday. Perry, who is mulling a second presidential run after his 2012 bid flamed out in a series of public gaffes, spent part of the weekend in Iowa, where he questioned President Barack Obama’s commitment to securing the border and said Texas would do so if the federal government did not. State Rep. Terry Canales said he was briefed by his staff Sunday following a conference call with the governor’s office, the Texas National Guard and the state Department of Public Safety. Perry’s office hasn’t commented, but he is scheduled to make the announcement Monday afternoon at the state Capitol in Austin. More than 3,000 Border Patrol agents currently work in the region, and Perry has repeatedly asked Obama to send the National Guard to the border. Much of the area has been overwhelmed in recent months by tens of thousands of unaccompanied children illegally entering the U.S.

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Local organization promotes adoption By KAITLIN BAIN Staff Writer

The South Plains Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals takes in dogs and cats year-round in an effort to reduce the number of lost and abused animals and place them with new homes. The puppy and kitten shower hosted Saturday was an example of just one of the events the organization hosts to match the previously homeless animals with owners that will love and take care of them. Sue Kelleher, a Lubbock resident, attended the event Saturday and brought home Ramona, a 10 week old dachshund mix. “I already have one dog at home,” she said. “He a six-year-old dachshund. This would be his little sister.” Ramona came to Kelleher with up-to-date shots, a microchip and was spayed, as do most of the animals that are adopted out, according to the South Plains SPCA website. While she likes the name Ramona, Kelleher said, she plans on changing her name after observing her antics and tendencies. “I generally like to wait and see their personalities,” she said. “She’s not bonded with Ramona yet, so I think that’s good.” Kelleher said she came to the event ready to adopt another dog. “They’re just unconditional love,” she said. “You can be having a bad day and they just make you feel better.” Not only were there dogs to be adopted at the event but also puppies, kittens and fully-grown cats as well as cake and punch for all who attended to celebrate the animals there. ADOPTION continued on Page 2 ➤➤

PHOTOS BY EMILY DE SANTOS/The Daily Toreador

THE SOUTH PLAINS Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals hosted a puppy and kitten shower on Saturday at the South Plains SPCA. The event was hosted to bring awareness to animal cruelly and promote adoption.

Continuous fighting between Israel, Gaza intensifies By KAITLIN BAIN Staff Writer

PHOTO COURTESY OF ASSOCIATED PRESS

AT LEAST 50 Palestinians were killed on Sunday by Israeli shelling in the Gaza neighbourhood, where bodies were strewn in the street and thousands fled for shelter to a hospital packed with wounded, witnesses and health officials said. Militants kept up their rocket fire on Israel, with no sign of a diplomatic breakthrough toward a ceasefire in sight

Fighting has intensified between Israel and Gaza during the weeks since mid-June, a conflict the United Nations Security Council blames on temporary fixes made by the international community. The shift in each country’s defense strategies changed when three Israeli teenagers were kidnapped from the West Bank on June 12 and Israel blamed Hamas, beginning a crackdown on the group’s members in the West Bank, according to an article by the Associated Press. Benjamin Netanyahu, prime minister of Isreal, said during a nationally televised statement, he would not tolerate continued rocket attacks on Israeli communities. “Therefore I have ordered the military to significantly broaden its operation against Hamas terrorists and against the other terrorist groups inside Gaza,” he said. “I call on you to display patience because this operation could

take time.” The Israeli youths’ bodies were later found dead, and in retaliation, or so the Palestinians believe, a Palestinian teenager was found abducted and burned to death in Jerusalem, according to the article. The fighting between the two groups is the heaviest fighting since a battle in November 2012, lasting eight days, according to the articles. 160 rockets were fired by militants at Israel and 150 sites in Gaza were attacked by Israeli troops. Dennis Patterson, a Texas Tech professor and political science chairperson, said the fighting is also in response to Hamas’ rockets that are being fired into Israel. “The root of the conflict though, is territory,” he said. “They both want the same territory that Israel possesses and extreme elements on both sides want the other gone – I mean eliminated.” FIGHTING continued on Page 2 ➤➤

Texas Tech students weigh in on today’s society ‘selfie craze’ By KYMBRE KUPATT Staff Writer

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INDEX Crossword.....................2 Classifieds................3 Sudoku.......................4 EDITORIAL: 806-742-3393

The new found “selfie craze” has caused a rise in facial plastic surgery, according to a study by the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. A group of the organizations 2,700 facial plastic surgeons was surveyed, and the poll revealed one in three surgeons saw an increase of patients under the age of 30 requesting cosmetic procedures because of the way they looked on social media outlets such as Instagram and Snapchat. Cailin Crosthwait, a freshman pre-med major from Saginaw, said she would not consider altering her face to enhance her selfie game on social media. “I would never consider doing that,” she said. “ I just think you have to be confident in yourself ADVERTISING: 806-742-3384

and be happy with yourself.” The American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery poll revealed a 10 percent increase in rhinoplasty, seven percent increase in hair transplants and a six percent increase in eyelid surgery in 2013 over 2012. Crosthwait said the risks and price burden of plastic surgery outweigh

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the reward. “It could turn out worse than what you think it is going to, and plus, it costs a lot of money,” she said. McKenzie Markus, a freshman chemistry major from Boerne, said she is not into selfies because of the pointless backgrounds in most of the photos. Boerne said if the photos have a point, she is a bit more accepting, “Selfies can get a little ridiculous, and I personally would not ever take one,” Markus said. “I FAX: 806-742-2434

just don’t care enough about photos. Some girls just take photos like walking in a hallway. That is pointless. If you are just with your friends taking a selfie I think it is probably fine.” She said going under the knife for such a cosmetic reason is silly in her opinion. “It seems kind of pointless when you look at the bigger picture,” she said. “It is just not worth it.” Crosthwait said getting plastic surgery to look better in selfies or just taking a lot of selfies could have an impact on job searching in the future. “I think it says a lot about a person,” she said. “Honestly, when you see someone that has an Instagram just full of selfies, you are just like wow, they care too much about the way they look instead of what they do or stuff that is more important.” ➤➤kkupatt@dailytoreador.com

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EMAIL: news@dailytoreador.com


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