NEWSBRIEFS

A move is under way too abolish the ex-clamation point. People aren’t surprisedat anything anymore.

— Quips & Quotes

SERVING ANTHONY, VINTON, CANUTILLO, EAST MONTANA, HORIZON, SOCORRO, CLINT, FABENS, SAN ELIZARIO AND TORNILLOVOL. 31, No. 13 MARCH 25, 2004

nineteenseventythree

two th o u s a n d four

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FABENS — Robert M. Sepulveda, FabensHigh School Principal, was arrested Thursdaymorning, Feb. 26, at Fabens High School byOfficer David Dominguez in front of the stu-dent body.

Sepulveda, arepeat offenderof raising fundsfor MuscularDystrophy As-s o c i a t i o n(MDA), calmlyleft the highschool and re-turned that af-ternoon afterposting bailwhich had beenset at $1200.

By allowinghimself to bearrested, Sepulveda raised over $1339 inchecks, cash and donations to help Jerry Lewis’kids and the MDA in fighting the dreaded dis-ease. Administrators, teachers, cafeteria per-sonnel, custodians and students from Fabens

ARRESTED FOR GOOD — Robert Sepulveda was led away from Fabens High School byOfficer David Dominguez, as an unidentified contributor stuffs “bail money” into thecollection jug for MDA research.

Fabens High School principal calmlysurrenders to arrest for a good cause

High School alone donated a total of $314.35to get Sepulveda out of “jail.”

Sepulveda said he would like to thank allstaff and students from Fabens High School,

staff fromFabens Inde-p e n d e n tSchool Dis-trict and mem-bers of thecommunity ofFabens fortheir generos-ity, and thebusiness menand womenwho contrib-uted to thisworthy cause.

E v e r y o n ethat contrib-

uted — from the student IOUs to the donationsthat ranged from 10 cents to $100 — helpedSepulveda get out of “jail,” as the $1200 bailwas raised Thursday around 4 p.m. He wasback at work by 4:30 that afternoon.

Wonder what your donations can do? The MDA hasreleased the following estimates:

• $5,250 sponsors 10 children at MDA summer camp;• $3,420 buys 1 jour of MDA research• $2,000 can assist with the purchase of a wheel chair,set of leg braces or communication device;• $1,200 covers 12 months of support group meetings;• $525 pays for a week of fun, friendship and laugh-ter at MDA summer camp for one child;• $200 provides an initial diagnostic workup at anMDA clinic;• $150 pays for a physical therapy consultation at anMDA clinic;• $100 covers an MDA support group session;• $57 funds one minute of research;• $25 pays for a flu shot.

EAST EL PASO COUNTY —Three Socorro ISD “Destina-tion Imagination” teams wonthe right to compete for staterecognition April 2 and 3 inMesquite, Texas.

Destination Imagination is aproblem-solving challenge forall ages which encouragesteamwork and divergent think-ing skills. It sponsors conteststhroughout the United Statesand Canada.

Two teams from William D.Slider Middle School and oneteam from O’Shea Keleher El-ementary School advanced fromthe regional tournament March6 at Chapin High School.

Slider teacher Sonja Kernled the Cartoon Dimensionsteam (in costumes) which in-cluded included Karina Lazcano, Victoria Pa-gan, Lauren Howes, Brittany Diaz, Raul

and the Pendulum team to afirst place regional win. Mem-bers include her daughterKrystiana Belles, sisters Angieand Emily Izquierdo, CathyO’Hara, Rachel Baray andChristina Espinoza.

O’Shea Keleher studentscompeting in the UpbeatImprov event included KaylaAmbrose, Prissilla Escobar,Nohemi Rey, AngelicaMartinez, Priscilla Ultreras,Raymundo Palma and NoraRausch. Team sponsors areCatherine Whitaker and TonyMiramontes, who sponsored lastyears’ Global Championshipteam in Knoxville, Tennessee.

The competitions involveboth “team challenges,” takingseveral months to solve, and “in-

stant challenges” which test a team’s ability to cre-ate solutions within a few minutes.

Three ‘Destination’ teams take problem-solving to the state level

Carrasco, David Lopez and Bryana Porras.Slider parent Laura Belles mentored the Plot

SOLVING MEGA-PROBLEMS — One of two Destination Imagination teamsfrom William D. Slider Middle School are shown from left, back row, KarinaLazcano, Victori Pagan, Lauren Howes, Brittany Diaz. In front, DavidLopez, sponsor Sonja Kernand Bryana Porras.

EAST EL PASO COUNTY — Fourteencommunity members have been selected toform the District’s 2004 Bond Election Over-sight Committee. The committee will meetevery nine-12 weeks to monitor the progressof construction and renovation projectsfunded by the $188.7 million generated bythe bond sales. Minutes of the meetings willbe available via the District’s web site,www.sisd.net.

The members, nominated by the SISDBoard of Trustees are:

• Hector Muñoz - Director of RecreationalSports, University of Texas at El Paso.Daughter is a Montwood High School gradu-ate; son attends O’Shea Keleher ElementarySchool;

• Susan Hill - Parent volunteer, memberof the 2004 Bond Election’s Facilities Advi-sory Committee;

• Keenan Greseth - Horizon City alder-man, parent of students at Col. John O. EnsorMiddle School and Horizon Heights Elemen-tary School;

• Ernest Ramirez - Police Officer, El PasoPolice Department and parent volunteer atPaso del Norte School;

• Betty Vigil - Director of Religious In-formation, St. Thomas Aquinas Parish andparent volunteer for 13 years;

• Christy Guereque - Montwood HighSchool student and active volunteer;

• Herb De La Rosa - Consultant,Workforce Consulting Group and memberof the District’s Facilities Advisory Com-mittee;

• Dolores Acosta - Communications andPublic Affairs, Del Sol Medical Center;

• Enedina Serna - District Director forState Representative Inocente (Chente)Quintanilla;

• Amelda Hermosillo - Home educatorwith Region 19 Education Service Center’sMigrant Department. School volunteer,

SISD selects 14 to siton influential bondoversight committee

See COMMITTEE, Page 4

Party fundsMini-grants are being made available bythe Texas Dept. of Transportation tohelp stop traffic crashes which are theleading cause of deaths and serious in-juries incurred by teens ages 15-19 whoattend drinking parties and then driveon Texas streets and highways. TxDOTis offering mini-grants of $500 to sup-port Project Celebration, which pro-motes drug and alcohol free partiesfor high school students. These fundsare provided to area high schools as“seed money” to prepare graduation cel-ebrations in May and June of 2004. Forinformation contact Irma G. Rojas at790-4336.

UTEP legend honoredOn the eve of UTEP’s 2004 NCAA tour-nament game, Don Haskins, coach ofUTEP’s 1966 NCAA championship-winning men’s basketball team, is thesubject of legislation introduced on thefloor of the House of Representatives.Congressman Silvestre Reyes, D-ElPaso, introduced a resolution honoringHaskins for his work and congratulat-ing him on his 50 years of contributionsto the game of basketball. Haskin’s de-cision to start five African-Americanplayers in the 1966 NCAA tournamentchampionship game broke down exist-ing racial barriers and greatly acceler-ated the integration of the sport.

In other news� A 45-year-old man, identified by theEl Paso County Sheriff’s Department asSilvestre Bustos, has been arrested inthe stabbing death of 32-year-old RosaIsela Gonzalez on Thursday night at theCnN Sports Bar at 11683 Alameda. Ac-cording to the Sheriff’s spokesman, wit-nesses said Gonzalez left the bar withBustos about 10:53 p.m., but returnedalmost immediately, bleeding. She wastransported to Thomason Hospitalwhere she was pronounced dead. Thesuspect was found near the 8900 blockof Alameda and was arrested. A weaponwas recovered at the scene.

� Six finalists have been selected asTeachers of the Year in the Socorro ISDfrom the 33 campus teachers alreadynamed. Elementary finalists are AngelaGabaldon of Chavez Elementary, Vir-ginia Rocha of Cooper Elementary, andYolanda Nieto of Rojas Elementary. Inthe secondary school category,Catherine Morrel of El Dorado High,Patricia Arellano of Montwood High,and Michelle Romero of Slider Middlewere named. The finalists are judged bya five-member panel and the decision willbe announced during the annual Teacherof the Year Banquet to be held April 22 atthe Camino Real Hotel ballroom.

WEST TEXAS COUNTY COURIERPage 2 March 25, 2004

SERVING ANTHONY, VINTON, CANUTILLO, EAST MONTANA, HORIZON, SOCORRO, CLINT, FABENS, SAN ELIZARIO AND TORNILLO

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ADDRESS:15344 Werling CourtHorizon City, TX 79928

Phone: 852-3235Fax: 852-0123

E-mail: wtxcc@wtccourier.comWebsite: wtccourier.com

PublisherRick Shrum

Business ManagerFrancis D. Shrum

ContributorsDon WoodyardSteve EscajedaArleen Beard

�

Member Texas CommunityNewspaper Association News, Inc.

HomesteaderEst. 1973

nineteenseventythree

two th o u s a n d four

31YEARS

One perspectiveBy Francis Shrum

The bestlaid plans…

HORIZON CITY — The Horizon City Police Depart-ment will be stepping up its enforcement of a city ordi-nance regulating security alarm systems and false alarmsin Horizon City.

“It’s been over a year since the Town City Councilpassed the ordinance on Feb. 11, 2003. Since its incep-tion of the ordinance, only a hand full of residents andsome commercial businesses have complied with thealarm permit requirement,” said HCPD Chief TonyAguilar.

“For approximately three months (after the ordinancepassed) we passed out flyers with the new alarm ordi-nance requirements; we announced it in the local news-papers; officers gave verbal and written warnings; andwe did not enforce the new alarm ordinance until May5, 2003. Since then, we have issued numerous warnings,both verbal and written to resident owners and businesseswith alarm systems that have not obtained a permit fromthe city to operate their alarm. This warning period isover. We will now concentrate on enforcement of theordinance. Every time that an officer responds to an alarmcall, officers will now be checking for alarm permits. Ifthe resident owner of the alarm system can not producea permit, he/she may be issued a citation for non-com-pliance.”

Failure to comply with the permit requirement mayresult in a fine of up to $200 for each offense. Each daythat a violation is permitted to exist shall constitute aseparate offense, Chief Aguilar said, citing Section103.160-C, Violations; penalty; corporations, partner-ships and associations.

“The main intent of the ordinance was to provide ourcitizens with a safe and secure environment. By imple-menting the alarm ordinance, we have striven to main-tain and enhance the security for our citizens while atthe same time we are attempting to reduce the numberof false alarm calls that our police officers are presentlyresponding to,” said Chief Aguilar.

“Since May 5, 2003 through March 6, 2004 , we haverecorded 282 False Alarms in the Horizon City area.Seventy percent were residential and 30 percent werecommercial alarms. Out of those false alarm calls, only19 had obtained a permit from the city, and only 47 per-mits have been recorded with the Public Works, Licens-

Horizon City police to step up enforcement ofsecurity alarm regulation and other ordinances

ing Department. This is a very low compliance rate. Wehave to do better,” said Chief Aguilar.

The ordinance is very clear on the requirement of hav-ing a permit. Section 103.020 Permit-Required reads asfollows:

A. No person shall operate or cause to be operated analarm system, whether new or existing, without an alarmpermit issued by the city. A person commits an offenseif he operates or causes to be operated an alarm systemwithout a valid permit issued under this article. A sepa-rate permit is required for each alarm site…”

B. Each permit issued pursuant to this article shall bevalid for three years. Each permit must be renewed threeyears after its initial issuance and every three years there-after. Provided, however, that if a permit holder sells ordisconnects the alarm system or sells or moves from theresidence or business where the alarm system is located,the permit shall no longer be valid and new permits mustbe obtained.

C. The permit fee for the initial permit for a resi-dential permit shall be thirty ($30.00) dollars and thesame amount for subsequent renewal of such permit,unless waived as provided herein. The permit fee forthe initial permit for a commercial permit shall besixty ($60.00) dollars and the same amount for sub-sequent renewal of such permit. If a permit holderhas zero false alarms for the three year period of thepermit, said permit holder will not be required to paythe renewal amount for the permit for the succeedingthree year permit…”

Chief Aguilar stated, “We encourage all Horizon Cityresidents and businesses to voluntarily comply with thealarm ordinance. I have instructed all officers to assistany person that requires information or assistance toobtain the alarm permit. Officers will be carrying flyersand application forms to assist persons that may not haveaccess to City Hall for whatever reason.”

Other city ordinances and code enforcement actionsexpected to be stepped up also are the following:junked or abandoned vehicles; large trucks parkingin or adjacent to residential areas; nuisance violationssuch as loud music, unrestrained animals, dogs barking,

See ALARMS, Page 3

I got a littletickled the

other day watching a newscast aboutthe dogsled races in Alaska. Therewas an animal rights activist all upin arms about how these racesamount to animal abuse. Apparentlysome of the more radical animalrights activists would like animals tolive and be treated like people. If thiscould somehow be achieved, I won-der what animal society would be like— would it be happy, peaceful andutopian? Or not…

Several years have passed since theAnimal Rights (AR) squads beganinjecting animals with the magic po-tion known as Human Nature Serum(HNS). Every animal given the in-jection had an opportunity to moveinto the Animal Kingdom, an experi-mental utopian community develop-ment project designed for and gov-erned by HNS-injected animals.

Most of the animals that weregiven the serum had no more ideathan a goose — pardon the expres-sion — what was going on until theywere smuggled away from their own-ers under cover of darkness by theAR squads. By the time their ownersfound them it was far too late. Theyhad already developed human atti-tudes and hired lawyers to defendtheir rights.

The Bovine family was amongthem.

Mrs. Bovine now sat in her parlor,unsuccessfully attempting the pinkie-in-the-air method of sipping tea —maybe it had something to do withthe hoof on the end of her massiveleg.

She could see her calves playingcroquet on the lawn while theywaited for their father, Mr. Bovine —known to his close friends and fam-

ily as Bull — to come home from hisjob at the Animal Kingdom StockMarket.

Mrs. Bovine was worrying aboutwhy the AR people never answeredher invitations to tea. She had devel-oped sensitivity to social slights, now,including jokes about bulls in chinashops. In fact, her family was so re-fined these days that she had replacedthe china only twice last year.

But there were other issues also onher mind. Like the wolf twins. Shehad become uncomfortable with theway they stood at the edge of herlawn and watched her calves at play.She had taken the baby bulls out ofCub Scouts after Mrs. Wolf waselected Den Mother.

And then there were the pig neigh-borhoods. Would they never cleanup? The Pig Section of town was be-ginning to smell up the rest of theKingdom. She was really dreadingPhase II of the Animal Kingdomproject which called for integratingthe various species into neighbor-hoods. She sure didn’t want to livenext door to a pig.

As if that weren’t enough, she hadheard rumors that the wolf twins hadbeen quoting selected passages ofthat terrible human novel, “The ThreeLittle Pigs,” during class. Maybe sheshould petition the Kingdom Coun-cil for more community sensitivitytraining.

The ding-dong of the door bellbroke her thoughtful reverie. It washer neighbor, Mr. Chicken, calling forMr. Bovine. Some animals were say-ing Mr. Chicken had once been a realcock-of-the-walk, but since receivingHNS, he had developed paranoid ten-dencies and was inclined to avoidconfrontations. Bull said he hopedthey would soon replace him on the

Kingdom Council because when itcame to making hard decisions hewould — and she hated using thisexpression — chicken out.

“Do come in,” Mrs. Bovine said.“I want to talk to Bull about those

wolf twins,” he cackled. “They havebeen writing ‘Eat Mo’ Chikin’ on myback fence.”

Mrs. Bovine sighed. “I wish wewould all start acting more animaltoward one another. And the waysome of us are not accepting our new

civilized status is very disturbing.Why, I saw Mr. and Mrs. Husky try-ing to teach their pups to pull a sledthe other day! And those StockHorses! If it weren’t for all the Rott-weilers on the Kingdom SecurityForce, I do believe they would at-tempt to pen my babies in the yardagain!”

“Have you seen the latest PeopleKingdom program?” Mr. Chickenasked. He flipped on the televisionand switched over to the People

Planet channel. It showed crowds ri-oting in the streets, striking one an-other and shouting obscene insults,as the People Police vainly attemptedto restore order.

He shook his head at such con-duct. Mrs. Bovine, too, was watch-ing the mayhem with horror.

“I don’t know what the AR peoplehad in mind for the Animal King-dom,” Mr. Chicken said sadly. “Butif we go on this way we’ll soon beno better than them!”

March 25, 2004 WEST TEXAS COUNTY COURIER Page 3

A lasting memory

• Army Spc. Edward J. Anguiano, 24, 3rd Combat Support Battalion,Brownsville, Texas

• Chief Warrant Officer Andrew Todd Arnold, 30, 1st Battalion, 10th MarineRegiment, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade, Spring, Texas

• Spc. Richard Arriaga, 20, 4th Battalion, 42nd Field Artillery Regiment,4th Infantry Division, Ganado, Texas

• Pfc. Chad E. Bales, 20, 1st Transportation Support Battalion, 1st ForceService Support Group, Coahoma, Texas

• Sgt. Michael Paul Barrera, 26, 3rd Battalion, 67th Armor Regiment, 2ndBrigade, 4th Infantry Division, Von Ormy, Texas

• Capt. Ernesto M. Blanco, 28, 1st Battalion, 504th Parachute InfantryRegiment, 82nd Airborne Division, Texas

• Chief Warrant Officer Clarence E. Boone, 50, Headquarters and Head-quarters Company, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Worth, Texas

• Staff Sgt. Roland L. Castro, 26, Battery A, 1st Battalion, 12th Field Artil-lery Regiment, San Antonio, Texas

• Sgt. 1st Class Gary L. Collins, 32, 1st Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment,1st Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, Hardin, Texas

• Spc. Zeferino E. Colunga, 20, 4th Squadron, 2nd Armored Calvary Regi-ment, Bellville, Texas

• Pvt. Rey D. Cuervo, 24, 1st Squadron, 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment,Laguna Vista, Texas

• Capt. Eric B. Das, 30, 333rd Fighter Squadron, Amarillo, Texas• Pfc. Ervin Dervishi, 21, Company B, 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regi-

ment, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Worth, Texas• Staff Sgt. Joe L. Dunigan Jr., 37, 1st Battalion, 16th Infantry Brigade, 1st

Infantry Division, Belton, Texas• Pfc. Analaura Esparza Gutierrez, 21, 4th Forward Support Battalion, 1st

Brigade, 4th Infantry Division, Houston, Texas• Pvt. Ruben Estrella-Soto, 18, 507th Maintenance Company, 11th Air

Defense Artillery Brigade, El Paso, Texas• Master Sgt. George A. Fernandez, 36, Headquarters, U.S. Army Special

Operations Command, El Paso, Texas• Pvt. Robert L. Frantz, 19, 1st Battalion, 36th Infantry Regiment, 1st Ar-

mored Division, San Antonio, Texas• 1st Sgt. Joe J. Garza, 43, 1st Battalion, 30th Infantry Regiment, 3rd

Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, Robstown, Texas• Master Sgt. Kelly L. Hornbeck, 36, Company C, 3rd Battalion, 10th Spe-

cial Forces Group, Fort Worth, Texas• Pfc. Ray J. Hutchinson, 20, 2nd Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, 101st

Airborne Division (Air Assault), League City, Texas• Chief Warrant Officer Scott Jamar, 32, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Aviation Regi-

ment, 3rd Infantry Division, Granbury, Texas• Spc. John P. Johnson, 24, 2nd Battalion, 6th Infantry Regiment, 1st Ar-

mored Division, Houston, Texas• Cpl. Brian Kennedy, 25, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, Houston, Texas• Chief Warrant Officer Johnny Villareal Mata, 35, 507th Maintenance

Company, 11th Air Defense Artillery Brigade, El Paso, Texas• Cpl. Jesus Martin Antonio Medellin, 21, 3rd Assault Amphibian Battalion,

1st Marine Division, Fort Worth, Texas• Sgt. Daniel K. Methvin, 22, 1st Battalion, 67th Armor Regiment, 4th In-

fantry Division, Belton, Texas• Pfc. Anthony S. Miller, 19, Headquarters and Headquarters Co., 2nd

Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, San Antonio, Texas• Pfc. Stuart W. Moore, 21, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Field Artillery Regiment, 1st

Armored Division, Livingston, Texas• Sgt. Keelan L. Moss, 23, 2nd Battalion, 5th Field Artillery Regiment, 212th

Field Artillery Brigade, Houston, Texas• Spc. Joseph C. Norquist, 26, 588th Engineer Battalion, 2nd Brigade, 4th

Infantry Division, San Antonio, Texas• Capt. Eric T. Paliwoda, 28, 4th Engineer Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat

Team, 4th Infantry Division,, Texas• Pfc. James D. Parker, 20, 588th Engineer Battalion (Heavy), 4th Infantry

Division, Bryan, Texas• Staff Sgt. Hector R. Perez, 40, 1st Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment,

1st Brigade, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Corpus Christi, Texas• Spc. Jose A. Perez III, 22, 6th Battalion, 27th Field Artillery Regiment,

18th Field Artillery Brigade, San Diego, Texas• Spc. Larry E. Polley Jr., 20, 2nd Battalion, 20th Field Artillery Regiment,

4th Infantry Division, Center, Texas• Sgt. Ariel Rico, 25, 3rd Battalion, 320th Field Artillery Regiment, 101st

Airborne Division (Air Assault), El Paso, Texas• 1st Lt. Jonathan D. Rozier, 25, 2nd Battalion, 70th Armored Regiment,

3rd Brigade, 1st Armored Division, Katy, Texas• Sgt. John W. Russell, 26, 4th Battalion, 101st Aviation Regiment, 101st

Airborne Division (Air Assault), Portland, Texas• Spc. Christian C. Schulz, 20, 3rd Battalion, 67th Armor Regiment, 2nd

Brigade, 4th Infantry Division, Colleyville, Texas• Pfc. Armando Soriano, 20, 3rd Squadron, 3rd Armored Cavalry Regi-

ment, Houston, Texas• Cpl. Tomas Sotelo Jr., 20, Headquarters Troop, 2nd Armored Cavalry

Regiment, Houston, Texas• Spc. Joseph D. Suell, 24, Headquarters and Service Battery, 5th Battal-

ion, 3rd Field Artillery Regiment, Lufkin, Texas• Sgt. Melissa Valles, 26, 64th Forward Support Battalion, 3rd Brigade

Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Eagle Pass, Texas• Spc. James C. Wright, 27, 4th Battalion, 42nd Field Artillery Regiment,

4th Infantry Division, Morgan, Texas• Pfc. Stephen E. Wyatt, 19, C Battery, 1st Battalion, 17th Field Artillery

Regiment, Kilgore, Texas• Sgt. Henry Ybarra III, 32, D Troop, 6th Squadron, 6th Cavalry, 11th Avia-

tion Regiment, Austin, Texas.

EyeonD.C.

By U.S. Rep. Henry Bonilla

This month marks the one year an-niversary of the war in Iraq. Inmemory of the brave soldiers who de-fend our nation’s freedom, I fill mycolumn space this week with thenames of Texas soldiers who havelost their lives. May God bless theirfamily and friends and continue tobless America.

List as compiled by March 17,2004:

and trash and weeds violations. Ac-

cording to Chief Aguilar, Bike PatrolOfficers will be deployed on specialassignments to assist with code en-forcement in the near future.

“Voluntary compliance is our ulti-

mate goal on all of these issues per-taining to City Ordinances, but ifpeople refuse to comply or cooper-ate, then we have to take alternativemeasures,” said Chief Aguilar.

AlarmsFrom Page 2______________________

WEST TEXAS COUNTY COURIERPage 4 March 25, 2004

CarlisleNavidomskis

M.Ed., LPC, RPTFamily Counselor

By appointment only • Se habla españolMedicaid and insurance accepted

14200 Ashford (915) 433-7727Horizon City, Texas 79928 cnlpc@earthlink.net

Horizon Family Counseling

member Superintendent’s ParentCommunication Committee;

Linda East - Administrative Direc-tor, Communications and Public Af-fairs, Del Sol Medical Center. Eastalso chaired the District’s FacilitiesAdvisory Committee;

Victor Valdivia - Principal, CesarChavez Middle School 32 years withYISD in various capacities;

Robert Valles - Electrical engineerwith Borunda and Associates, servedon various SISD selection committees;

David Amaya - General manager,Hoy-Fox Toyota Lexus dealership.

CommitteeFrom Page 1______________________

HUDSPETH COUNTY —Bryan Daniel, state director, TexasUSDA Rural Development an-nounces today that Fort HancockWater received a $380,000 loanthrough the agency’s Rural Utili-ties Service Water and Waste Dis-posal Loan and Grant program.The effort is part of USDA’s na-tional program to help provide ru-ral areas with safe, dependable wa-ter and modern sewage systems.

“One of the goals of USDA Ru-ral Development is to provide wa-ter and wastewater treatment pro-grams that target public health ben-efits and provide economic oppor-tunities to America’s rural commu-nities,” said Daniel. “Rural resi-dents can utilize our programs tohelp provide essential public ser-vices that will enhance their qual-ity of life.”

The funds will be used to drillanother well and construct a re-verse osmosis water treatment fa-cility. Population served by thisproject is 247.

USDA loans and grants areavailable to rural communitieswith fewer than 10,000 residents.Public bodies, corporations oper-ated on a nonprofit basis, and In-dian tribes, that are unable to ob-tain credit from other sources atreasonable rates and terms, are eli-gible for assistance.

For more information regardingUSDA Rural Development pro-grams, contact the El Paso LocalOffice at 915-855-1229, Ext. 4.

Ft. Hancock watersystem gets fundingfrom USDA ruraldevelopment loan

Socorro ISD’s Board of Trust-ees approved the next step towardconstruction of the Freedom FlagMemorial project during its March16 meeting.

Assistant Superintendent for Op-erational Services ThomasEyeington says the District will soonissue a “Request for Proposals” orRFP for the flagpole and a flag.“We’ll see what that cost will be, andfrom that we can determine howmuch money would be available todo cement work and the lighting.That way, we’ll know how manydollars we have to allocate to theother parts of the project.”Eyeington says the RFP will includea set of specifications on the flag andpole plus wind gust requirements.

Once a contract is awarded, thedistrict will begin the building pro-cess for the memorial, which willinclude a 100-foot flagpole to sup-port a garrison-sized Americanflag, 20 feet by 38 feet, to be buildat the Student Activities Complex.SISD schools, community mem-bers and El Paso area businesshave contributed to the projectbringing the total raised more than$38,000 dollars since fundraisingbegan two years ago.

Former SISD board presidentJames Cardwell, who serves on theFreedom Flag committee, says theidea for a big flag began long ago— even before the Student Activi-ties Complex was built.

“My wife Sandi and I just startedtalking to then-Superintendent BillSybert and others about a big flagto show our pride in SISD — a land-mark so we could point out, ‘Youknow where the big flag is? That’sSocorro ISD.’” Cardwell later ap-proached former Superintendent Dr.Don P. Schulte about the project af-ter the 9-11 destruction.

“That was before the events ofSeptember 11, and Iraq, but I thinkthis flag will honor the soldiers andthe people who have suffered.”

It was after the 9-11 tragedy thatSISD board trustees approved acommittee to begin fundraising forthe project.

“The goal is to have the pole andthe flag up by September 11 of thisyear.” Eyeington says.

Flag committeehopes ‘big flag’will be up beforeSept. 11 anniversary

CANUTILLO — Deanna Daven-port Elementary School students inJesus Hernandez’s third grade classwill team-up with Canutillo HighSchool students in Teresita Ballard’sWorld Geography class to designpower point presentations during aTechnology Lock-In Night, from4:30 to 9 p.m., Thursday, March 25,at the school, 8401 Remington Road.

The students will use the latest in

Students lock-in for a night of technology developmentcomputer technology to put togethertheir presentations and show them toparents and teachers that evening.About 40 students will participate inthe technology event.

“Teachers will judge the presenta-tions according to content, appear-ance, style, and use of digital pho-tos, sound, animation, and graphics.The winning entry will be submittedto a state multi-media competition

sponsored by Texas Computer Edu-cation Association (TCEA),” saidJoan Gil, computer lead teacher atDavenport Elementary School.

Dinner and refreshments will beprovided free to parents, teachers,and visitors. Also goody bags andspecial t-shirts will be given to par-ticipants.

For more information, call 886-6401.

FABENS I.S.D. — While studentswere out having a good time, FabensHigh School and Middle Schoolteachers were still in school attend-ing staff development activities onMarch 12 during spring break.

Elective teachers were introducedto SIOP (Sheltered Instruction Ob-servation Protocol) strategies that

Fabens ISD provides teacher training in ‘sheltered instruction’

Special to the CourierBy Rosa Garcia

will be implemented in classroomsgrades 6-12 next school year. EnriguePerez, Bi-lingual Director facilitatedthe session.

At the same time, Karen Davisfrom the Math/Science Partnership,Region 19, conducted a verticalalignment staff development for sci-ence teachers. The agenda includedthe practical application of using theVee diagram to design and implementa scientific investigation, an exami-nation of grade level TEKS, and dis-

cussion and evaluation.Math teachers received training

provided by Lien Diaz and VeronicaHernandez, also from the Math/Sci-ence Partnership, in making connec-tions lessons, improving mathemat-ics teaching and collaborative goalsetting.

Language Arts and Social Studiesteachers were instructed in makingquality assessments. Nancy Love andBaron White, consultants from Re-gion 19, facilitated this session.

Health officials investigating outbreak of LegionellosisAUSTIN — Texas Department of

Health officials said Tuesday thatstate and local public health officialsare investigating an outbreak ofLegionellosis among people who at-tended a national basketball tourna-ment for home-schooled studentsheld in Oklahoma City last week.

Some 70 of the tournament attend-ees are from Texas.

Most are from Montgomery Countynear Houston. Of the 70, at least 57have sought medical attention.

Test results for five of the 57 werepositive for Legionella , the bacte-

rium that can cause Legionnaire’sdisease or Pontiac fever, a milderform of Legionellosis. Four of the 57were hospitalized, two in OklahomaCity and two in the MontgomeryCounty area. Three of the four havebeen released.

Health officials stressed thatLegionellosis is not spread person-to-person.

Symptoms of Legionnaire’s diseaseusually include fever, chills and acough and often pneumonia. Symp-toms of Pontiac fever include fever andmuscle aches, but not pneumonia.

Oklahoma public health authoritiesare investigating to determine thesource of the Legionella.

The bacteria reproduce in highnumbers in warm, stagnant water.Legionellosis typically occurs afterpeople have breathed in mists fromcertain types of water sources con-taminated with the organism.

Such sources can include somekinds of plumbing systems and hotwater tanks, cooling towers andevaporative condensers of largeair-conditioning systems andwhirlpool spas.

March 25, 2004 WEST TEXAS COUNTY COURIER Page 5

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By Greg AbbottAttorney General of Texas

The birth of a child is one of the most joyous eventsin a couple’s life — a wonderful fact of life balancedby the stark reality that about one in every three birthsin Texas involves parents who aren’t married.

One of the most important jobs of my office’s ChildSupport Division performs is establishing paternity forchildren born to single mothers, guaranteeing a legalrelationship between the father and his child.

Under Texas law, a child born to a man and womanwho are not married has no legal father. Voluntary ac-knowledgment of paternity (AOP) is one way to estab-lish legal fatherhood so that children are eligible forchild support and benefits such as Social Security,veteran’s survivor benefits and health insurance. Legalpaternity also guarantees a father’s rights as a parent,such as making it easier to visit his children.

Not long ago, my office was contacted regarding anew, unmarried father who, tragically, was dying froma brain tumor. He hadn’t yet completed an AOP, but hewanted to do so before he passed away so that his chil-dren could receive his benefits. My office contactedthe parents and gave them an explanation of the rightsand responsibilities associated with paternity establish-ment. The father was very ill. Several weeks later, weheard from the child’s mother, who said that the fatherhad passed away but had signed an AOP before he died.She said she wanted to thank us because the child’sfather was comforted to know that as a result of hissigned AOP, his child was going to get his Social Secu-rity benefits.

This story poignantly illustrates how important anAOP can be in getting children the benefits they need.The best place and time to sign an AOP is usually at thehospital when the baby is born. The child’s mother andfather are most likely to be present together at that time,and they are willing to do what is necessary for theirchild’s well-being.

Most parents come to the hospital planning to putthe father’s name on the birth certificate. In Texas, how-ever, a man who isn’t married to the child’s mother hasto sign the AOP before his name can go on the birthcertificate. Hospitals are required to provide unmarriedparents with the opportunity to establish paternity, andwith information about the rights and responsibilitiesof establishing paternity. Because the Acknowledgmentof Paternity becomes a legal finding of paternity whenit is filed with the Bureau of Vital Statistics (BVS), it is

Establishing paternity at birth gives children solid startvery important that parents understand the responsibil-ity to which they are committing. For example, a manshould not voluntarily acknowledge paternity unless heis absolutely sure he is the father of the child, and themother agrees. If the parents are certain of the child’spaternity, however, the father can sign the AOP at thehospital at the time of birth and the hospital will file theform with BVS free of charge.

I am committed to seeing as many babies as possiblego home from the hospital with their paternity estab-lished. My office’s Child Support Division has devel-oped a Paternity Opportunity Program (POP) that trainsand certifies employees of hospitals and birthing cen-ters to assist parents with the AOP process while themother and child are still in the hospital. POP provideshospitals with brochures and a video that discuss thebenefits and responsibilities of paternity establishment.Hospital staff, in turn, give this information to unmar-ried parents while they are at the hospital. Parents canalso call 1-800-252-8014, option 4, to receive verbalinformation about paternity establishment in Englishor Spanish.

When fathers can’t be present at the hospital for theirchild’s birth, the Attorney General’s office is happy towork with them to facilitate the AOP process. For ex-ample, a military father can obtain and sign an AOPfrom my office during the mother’s pregnancy, in casehe is deployed before the baby is born. If he is deployed,the mother can take the AOP to the hospital when shedelivers the baby, so the father’s name can appear onthe birth certificate. Not only does the certified copy ofthe AOP help set that child on a firm foundation, butboth mom and dad also can rest in the knowledge thatif the unthinkable happens, the serviceman’s child willbe entitled to full veteran’s benefits.

Together, we are giving the children of Texas a soundstart in life. If you would like more information aboutAOPs, please contact my office at 1-800-252-8014.

The AOP form is available at all hospitals, birthingfacilities, and child support offices, free of charge and,once executed, should be sent to: The Bureau of VitalStatistics, 1100 W. 49th Street, Austin, TX 78756-3191

Unmarried parents can apply for free child supportservices by contacting the Office of the Attorney Gen-eral at: Child Support Division, Office of the AttorneyGeneral, P.O. Box 12017, Austin, TX 78711-2017, (800)252-8014

Information on this and other topics is available onthe Attorney General’s Web site at www.oag.state.tx.us.

FABENS HIGH SCHOOL — Ger-ontology and HOSA students ofFabens High School visited the Re-gent Care Center in El Paso during aMarch outing.

The students socialized with thepatients at the health care facility forthe elderly. They played balloon andball games, dominoes, a game played

Intergenerational connections made during HOSA visitswith washers, or simply sat andtalked with them.

The students described the facilityas a modern hospital with a hotel flair.The 134 patients — in a facility witha capacity for 138 — seemed to beoverall pleased with the visit, as werethe visitors.

While some of the elderly with-drew from the social contact of theadolescents, most seemed to particu-larly enjoy the activities. Many pa-tients said that they wanted to be re-visited, and some even asked them

to stay. However, the visiting hoursexpired and the students made theiremotional goodbyes, and departedwith the memory of new friends.

Ms. Jimenez, the students’teacher, described it as a fun, en-joyable, and a memorable experi-ence in which the old connectedand retained contact with the newand younger generation. The youthwho participated in this schoolevent declared that they would loveto go again to reconnect with theirnewfound elderly friends.

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Even though the Health Occupa-tions Students of America (HOSA)program is in its second year of com-petition, San Elizario High Schoolhas tripled the amount of state quali-fiers from last year, according toMathilda Mirabal, HOSA instructor.

“These students did a great job,”Mirabal said. “I am so proud of themand our program.”

Jonathan Grijalva, BiancaPrignano, Cecy Martinez, EddieAlvarado, and Jennifer Garcia werethe students who placed 1st — 3rd atthe Regional competition in Ama-rillo, resulting in state-qualifyingberths April 1-3 in Houston.

Grijalva, a senior coming off an 8thplace finish in the National HOSAcompetition last year, teamed up withPrignano, a junior in the CareerHealth Display category.

“I know he went to Nationals lastyear,” Prignano said of her teammate.“So I didn’t want to mess it up. Therewas some pressure to qualify forstate.”

While students enjoyed their expe-rience at the Regional competition,Jennifer Garcia knows what sheneeds to do in order to be successful

in April. The junior competed inClinical Specialties.

“I’m going to need to preparemore,” she said. “I was really nervousat first.”

Eddie Alvarado and Cecy Martinezparticipated in a tough Sports Medi-cine category, where their competi-tion consisted of taking a two-parttest, a written part and a skills test.

“We had to test the range of mo-tion and strength of an ankle,” saidMartinez. “For me it’s the most dif-ficult joint to work on.”

“Also the hand,” Alvarado agreed.“The ankle is difficult to work withbecause when taping it, you can’thave too many wrinkles in the wrapbecause that leads to bruising.”

Both Alvarado and Martinez aresports trainers at San Elizario HighSchool and credit Mike Gutierrez,SEHS Athletic Trainer, with helpingthe two prepare for the competitionby teaching the two various types oftape jobs.

In the tough luck category, seniorsClaudia Arias, Elizabeth Larquierand Vienna Sanchez participated asa team in Biomedical Debate andplaced second, good enough toearn a trip to state. Judges, how-ever, did not send anyone from theregion to state because only twoteams competed.

By Phillip CortezSpecial to the Courier

HOUSTON BOUND — Five San Eli High HOSA competitors qualifiedfor state competition in Houston.

San Eli High HOSA squad heads for Houston

WEST TEXAS COUNTY COURIERPage 6 March 25, 2004

King Super Crossword

By Steve EscajedaSpecial to the Courier

IN LINEACROSS

1 School tool 6 Sahara vision 12 Crestfallen 15 Pigskin prop 18 “Carmen” and “TheConsul” 20 Genesis peak 21 In-your-face item? 22 Director Ashby 23 SIDE LINE 27 Extremity 28 Nurse’s helper 29 East ender? 30 Sly trick 31 Composer Thomas 32 Rocky’s rival 36 Author Antonia 38 Mingo’s portrayer 41 Fiddling emperor 42 Turn of phrase 44 SKY LINE 52 Nonclerical 53 New Jersey ath-letes 54 Scuba site 55 TV’s “_ Fly Away” 57 Mischief-maker 58 Rhone feeder 59 Has on 61 Singer Khan 63 Naldi or Talbot 65 Sty guy 66 Mardi _ 67 Went white 68 HAIR LINE 74 Breakfast fruit

77 Jeroboam contents 78 Color 79 Criticize 83 Speak one’s mind 84 Accent feature 86 Singer Vaughan 88 Mrs. McKinley 89 “Lorenzo’s _” (’92film) 90 Dividend 91 41 Across’ tutor 92 Be a pest 93 LIFE LINE 99 Took on board100 “_ No Sunshine”(’71 hit)101 Content completely102 Aptitude105 “_ and Misdemean-ors” (’89 film)107 Act like a chicken110 Belligerent deity111 Reminder112 Shade of green113 Year, in Yucatan116 BLOOD LINE124 Actor Chaney125 Past126 Expects the worst127 Maris or Mantle128 She’s a sheep date129 _ down (destroy)130 Petrarch product131 Kingdom

DOWN 1 Dressing gown 2 “Once _ a midnight

dreary…” 3 Balloon material? 4 Be human 5 Tracking tool 6 Medieval weapon 7 Bother 8 Math abbr. 9 Meyers of “Kate &Allie” 10 Boyle’s concern 11 Lucy’s landlady 12 Made cotton candy 13 Broadcast 14 Thieves’ headquar-ters? 15 Anatole Francenovel 16 Combs of baseball 17 Glue guy 19 Pelt 24 Chemical suffix 25 Poultry purchase 26 Wise guy 31 - blond 32 Leg joint 33 Pride of thepumped-up 34 “_ pro nobis” 35 Prune 36 Vassal’s holding 37 Linear measure 38 “_ a day’s work” 39 Biscayne Bay city 40 “Aida” setting 43 Club cost 45 QB’s stats 46 Bounded 47 Shun

48 Beatles beater 49 Cocky 50 Medicine bottle 51 Actress Sommer 56 Youngster 59 Squeezed out thesuds 60 Vacation sensation 61 Numbers man? 62 Kansas city 64 Soon 66 Show one’s teeth 69 Vane letters 70 Serengeti sahib 71 Cut of meat 72 Blender setting 73 Show one’s feel-ings 74 Bovine bellow 75 “The Ramayana,”e.g. 76 Coloratura Pons 80 Neighbor of Niger 81 Man or stallion 82 Patrick of “A Clock-work Orange” 84 Shakespearean in-finitive 85 Kind of print 86 Factions 87 Owns 90 Leonine Lahr 91 Reasonably bal-anced 94 See 109 Down 95 China’s _ Biao 96 Skater Babilonia 97 Amis’ “Lucky _”

98 Sound of disap-proval102 Under the _ (se-cretly)103 Cupid’s missile104 Sierra _106 Philharmonic sec-tion107 Bleak critique108 Whirlpool109 With 94 Down, fra-grant container111 Cornfield critter112 Only113 “Puppy Love”singer114 Gallagher of Oasis115 Utah city117 Actor’s lunch?118 Self-esteem119 Theater sign120 Word with take orhang121 Solo of “Star Wars”122 Coleridge composi-tion123 “_ Good Cop” (’91film)

Answer Page 7

Sadly, the 2003-04 dream of a season that theUTEP Miners treated us to has come to an end.

The Miners made the city and the regionproud by pushing the Maryland Terrapins tothe limit before falling 86-83 in the first roundof the NCAA Tournament.

And as much fun as it is to reminisce aboutUTEP’s worst-to-first season, it’s been a weeksince the loss now and it’s time to look at nextyear, which should be even better than this one.

Though the Miners lose five seniors, onlytwo got much playing time. Joe DeVance,Darius Mattear and Omar Duran, all of whomsaw a lot more action last year, say goodbye tothe program.

Two players that had to come through withimproved seasons this year were RoySmallwood and Chris Craig. And they both didoutstanding jobs, but they too have graduated.

Who will lead the way next year? All WACfirst-team point guard Fili Rivera is back.Rivera will be a senior and again, will be theengine that makes the Miners run.

UTEP basketball program looks promising for next seasonUTEP’s best offensive weapon, Omar Tho-

mas, will also be back. A senior to be, Thomasshould be a shoe-in as an All-WAC first-teampre-season selection.

John Tofi, the Miners’ only force under thebasket, will be back for his junior season. Tofihas improved in each of his first two years andindications are he should have a monster sea-son next year.

UTEP’s do-it-all forward, Jason Williams,will also be back for his junior season. Will-iams, who was among the team leaders in scor-ing, rebounds and assists, also pays dividendson the other side of the court as the Miners’top defender.

Fan favorite Gio St. Amant will be back forhis junior season. Having taken on a new rollfor the Miners, St. Amant proved how unself-ish he was by doing less on the offensive endand focusing more on defense this year. Heshould come back a more well-rounded player.

One of the better 3-point shooters on theteam, Brent Murphy showed signs he will berelied upon to play a significant role on nextyear’s squad. Murphy, at 6-8, should come backquicker and stronger next year to help Tofiunderneath.

These six players make up the nucleus ofwhat should be a more explosive team in 2004-05. But six players do not make a team. Helpis on the way. The Miners will have three play-ers making their debuts next season.

Alex Galindo, Ivan Almonte and VernonCarr will join the Miners next year.

Almonte, a 6-5, 225-pound junior, is con-sidered a blue-collar worker. A banger, with aknack for getting the rebound and a passionfor the game. The under-sized Almonte is aphysical player who plays with a lot of heartand will help the under-sized Miners in thepaint.

Vernon Carr, a 6-0 point guard, should givethe Miners a legitimate man to run the showwhen Rivera needs a breather. A freshman tobe, Carr is quick and very tough. He’s a truepoint guard that can shoot the ball and lead ateam.

Alex Galindo is the recruit of the year. The6-6 small forward is considered to be amongthe best in the nation at his position accordingto many publications. Galindo, another fresh-man to be, has hit over 50-percent of his 3-pointers and 80-percent of his free throws. Heis considered a can’t-miss player who should

quickly become a fan favorite.That gives the Miners nine players that will

be able to contribute to the team’s success nextseason. And if 6-8 senior to be, Thomas Gehrkecan put some muscle on his body and improvehis quickness, UTEP could have 10 players.

But the Miners are still missing one playerthat could make all the difference. This playerthat could mean the difference in making nextyear’s Miners another WAC title and NCAATournament team, or making them a real con-tender for a national title.

UTEP still needs a physical big man. Justone 6-9 or 6-10 aggressive shot-blocker thatcan keep the Miners from giving up offensiverebound after offensive rebound.

The only real deficit this team has is height.And losing Smallwood doesn’t help an alreadyundersized team. If Billy Gillispie can some-how find a big player to fill that role the Min-ers could really be a team the rest of the nationwill have to reckon with.

I know the Miners just gave us a thrill-ride ofa season that exceeded everyone’s expectationsbut it’s never too early to look at next year.

And if you think this year was fun, just holdon tight and get your tickets for next season.

CANUTILLO — Canutillo High SchoolFreshman, Nanci Esparza, won first place inthe Word Processing II event dur-ing the Future Business Leadersof America (FBLA) state compe-tition, which was held in Hous-ton recently.

Esparza will now representTexas in the FBLA NationalLeadership Conference competi-tion that is scheduled for July 14-17, in Denver, Colorado. TheCHS freshman won first in thearea contest to qualify for stateand competed with more than 30students from across Texas to winthe state title.

“I was proud when I won in the area levelcompetition, but winning state was really sur-

Canutillo high business studentadvances to national competition

By Alfredo VasquezSpecial to the Courier

real. I was amazed that I could win state,”Esparza said. “It made my parents proud, andI was happy about that too.”

The state contest entailed completion of athree-part test including professional letterwriting and merging, 100-question multiple-

choice survey, and proofreading.Esparza said that being in

Business Computers Informa-tion Systems class in the fall se-mester introduced her to wordprocessing programs. “I likedusing Micro-Soft Word. I had funlearning and creating docu-ments, and to do well in thesecompetitions you have to havefun,” she stated.

Besides being in FBLA,Esparza is also involved inCHS’s Robotics team, AcademicDecathlon, CASA Youth group,

and French Club. FBLA sponsor is CarmenGuzman, CHS Business Computers teacher.

Nanci Esparza

FABENS HIGH SCHOOOL — Top stu-dents from CCTE, includingMichael E. Esparza Jr., FabensHigh School senior, will be at-tending the Business Profes-sionals of America (BPA) 2004National Leadership Confer-ence, “Savor Success,” in Cin-cinnati, Ohio, April 28-May 2.

Over 5,000 other conferencedelegates from across the na-tion will participate in na-tional-level business skill com-petitions, workshops, certifica-tion testing, general sessions,and the national officer candi-date campaigns and electionswhile visiting exciting sites in Cincinati.

“The conference will be the culminationof a school year’s worth of businessworkforce education and training whichmembers of the local chapter of BusinessProfessionals of America at CCTE have re-

ceived,” said chapter advisorDavid Romaka, who teachesI-Net+. Michael placed wellenough in his Computer Net-work Technology individualevent at the state level to pro-ceed to the national level. Heand his teammate placed sev-enth in their network designteam, and are alternates fornational competitions.

Business Professionals ofAmerica is a national organiza-tion for high school, collegeand middle school students pre-paring for careers in business

and information technology occupations.

Outstanding business students travel toCincinnati BPA National Leadership Conference

By Carol SilverSpecial to the Courier

Michael E. Esparza, Jr.

March 25, 2004 WEST TEXAS COUNTY COURIER Page 7

ComixOUT ON A LIMB By Gary Kopervas

AMBER WAVES By Dave T. Phipps

THE SPATS By Jeff Pickering

R.F.D. By Mike Marland

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By Don FloodThere are many reasons to have

children, but none so compellingas the pure, unbridled joy one re-ceives from burdening that childwith a stupid joke for a name.

That’s the case with a self-de-scribed engineering geek fromMichigan named Jon BlakeCusack, who decided that “junior”and “II” were too commonplacefor his son’s name.

His brainstorm: 2.0, as in version2.0 — computer software talk.

According to the CNN story, hiswife actually fought the idea for awhile but then relented.

Her explanation: She had“picked out the theme of the baby’sroom and done other things. I de-cided to let Jon have this.”

Have what? He’s not the onewith the stupid name!

HUSBAND: Dear, instead ofcalling our son “junior,” I want toname him “2.0.”

WIFE:HUSBAND: Get it?WIFE (Thought bubble — invis-

ible to her husband — appears overher head): I can’t believe I marriedthis guy. I should have waited andgotten a version with more of thebugs worked out.

HUSBAND: You see, I’m ver-sion 1.0 and you are — well, I’mnot exactly sure what you are,though you certainly played animportant role in the developmentof this new product we have com-ing online — and our son will be2.0. Get it?

WIFE (still in thought-bubblemode): Oh no, his hard drive hascrashed again.

HUSBAND: Are you communi-cating to readers through invisiblethought bubbles again? That’s notfair! You have to at least send mean e-mail.

WIFE: OK, no more thought

It’s all for you, Version 2.0bubbles. Here’s what I think. It’s ahorrible idea that will subject ourson to a lifetime of embarrassment— just so you can make a stupidjoke!

HUSBAND: But you got to pickthe decorating theme for his room!

WIFE (who after all married thisgeek, stunned into submission byforce of husband’s logic): Oh,you’re right. Name him anythingyou want!

According to CNN, after 2.0’sbirth, the couple sent out a birthannouncement — by e-mail ofcourse.

(WARNING: The followingstatement from Jon Blake Cusack1.0 is so hilarious it may render youincapable of useful work for asmany as five days.)

Said Jon 1.0, “I wrote in the birthannouncement e-mail stuff, likethere’s a lot of features from ver-sion 1.0 with additional featuresfrom Jamie.”

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!Oh man, you’ll have to excuse

me. I’ll be back after — HA HAHA HA! — I regain control ofmyself.

(Five days pass, filled with hys-terical laughter.)

OK, OK, I’m back — fortu-nately just in time for deadline.

I mean, that makes it all worthit, doesn’t it?

Sure, his son will be teased forthe rest of his life, but that’s a smallprice to pay for what must havebeen one of the funniest e-mailssince the Bronze Age.

Of course, life might not be alllaughs for Jon 1.0.

Version 2.0 may not appreciatethe joke, especially if he inheritedsome non-geek genes.

He may even decide againstcoming out with version 3.0.______________________________________________________(c) 2004 King Features Synd., Inc.

LEGAL

SOCORROINDEPENDENT

SCHOOLDISTRICT

Invitation toBid/Respond:

Sealed bids/pro-posals/CSP to fur-nish the District withthe following prod-ucts and/or ser-vices will be ac-cepted at the fol-lowing times:

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MEDICALSUPPLIES,CSP NO.

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JANITORIALSUPPLIES,CSP NO.

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Proposals will bereceived at Busi-ness ServicesDept., 12300Eastlake Drive, ElPaso, Texas 79928until the specifiedtimes. Detailedspecifications areavailable from theabove office be-tween 8 a.m. and 4p.m. Mondaysthrough Fridays.WTCC-3/25/04________________________

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The U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents inSouthern New Mexico made four significant narcot-ics seizures over the past week. Agents on Highway54 found 29.4 pounds of cocaine, valued at about$940,800, hidden in the modified frame rails in thefront fender walls of a Ford Fiesta and they arrestedthe driver, a Mexican national named Ricardo LuisOzuna Portillo, 33.

Near Lordsburg, agents found 624 pounds of mari-juana, valued at $499,504, hidden beneath a false ply-wood bed of a truck and two Mexican nationals werearrested: Santiago Borbon Enriquez and FranciscoMontanao Felix, both 28.

Also near Lordsburg, agents discovered a backpackcontaining 92 pounds of marijuana, valued at about$74,368, hidden in broken mesquite brush along NewMexico Highway 338.

In the final seizure, agents with the Horse Patrolfollowed fresh horse hoof prints in the area of NewMexico’s Playas Valley to a brushy area where theyfound six burlap bundles hidden. They contained 193pounds of marijuana, valued at $155,088, but no ar-rests were made.

Busy week fordrug seizures

WEST TEXAS COUNTY COURIERPage 8 March 25, 2004

Social Security Q&A By Ray Vigil

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Partly cloudy.

FRIDAY

Partly sunny,breezy and very

warm.

86°� 54°�

SATURDAY

Partly sunny andcontinued warm.

84°� 50°�

SUNDAY

Periods of cloudsand sunshine.

78°� 46°�

MONDAY

Mostly sunny.

78°� 48°�

TUESDAY

Sun and someclouds.

78°� 48°�

WEDNESDAY

Mostly sunny.

76°� 46°�

WEATHER AccuWeather.com

SEVEN-DAY FORECAST FOR EL PASO

TEXAS WEATHER TRAVELERS CITIESUV INDEX

REAL FEEL TEMP™

AGRICULTURE

Statistics for noon.

Thursday ............ 8 ....................HighFriday ................ 8 ....................HighSaturday ............ 7 ....................HighSunday .............. 6 ............ModerateMonday .............. 8 ....................HighTuesday .............. 8 ....................HighWednesday ........ 8 ....................High

The higher the UV Index, the greaterthe need for eye and skin protection.

Albuquerque 77/46/pc 77/46/pc 71/44/pc 71/43/r 69/40/pcAtlanta 72/52/pc 72/52/pc 74/52/pc 74/52/sh 74/54/pcAtlantic City 58/46/sh 58/44/pc 60/42/sh 57/38/pc 56/40/rAustin/San Antonio 75/60/pc 80/60/pc 83/56/s 76/56/pc 77/56/pcBaltimore 62/46/sh 62/44/pc 64/40/sh 60/40/pc 62/43/rBoston 53/44/r 56/44/pc 53/40/sh 48/38/pc 54/41/shChicago 60/44/sh 62/46/sh 64/48/pc 68/48/r 61/41/cDallas/Ft. Worth 77/60/pc 80/61/pc 84/59/s 79/57/pc 76/57/pcDenver 79/44/pc 74/41/pc 73/40/sh 69/37/r 60/34/pcFlagstaff 65/34/pc 58/31/pc 55/28/pc 54/25/pc 50/24/pcHouston 80/60/pc 80/64/pc 80/62/pc 80/64/pc 80/64/pcKansas City 72/54/sh 70/48/t 74/55/pc 75/52/pc 71/48/pcLas Vegas 82/58/s 78/54/pc 70/50/pc 70/49/pc 72/49/pcMiami 79/67/sh 80/66/sh 80/66/sh 82/65/s 82/65/shMinneapolis 60/42/sh 60/44/pc 65/48/r 58/41/r 56/37/pcNew Orleans 79/60/pc 78/63/s 80/62/s 78/61/pc 78/60/sNew York City 55/44/sh 56/45/pc 58/44/sh 54/43/pc 56/45/rPhiladelphia 60/46/sh 60/46/pc 62/42/sh 56/40/pc 59/45/rPhoenix 90/64/s 88/60/pc 82/56/pc 78/53/pc 76/54/sPortland 54/42/r 56/40/r 58/41/sh 59/43/s 61/49/pcSan Francisco 63/51/c 61/46/sh 64/49/pc 67/51/s 66/52/pcSeattle 53/43/r 52/40/r 54/42/sh 56/41/pc 57/48/cTucson 88/56/s 86/54/pc 81/51/pc 79/48/pc 79/48/sWashington, DC 62/48/sh 62/46/pc 64/46/sh 60/44/pc 65/47/r

City Hi/Lo/W Hi/Lo/W Hi/Lo/W Hi/Lo/W Hi/Lo/WThur. Fri. Sat. Sun. Mon.

The storm track will remain well north of the area over the next several days. This will result in more warm and dry weather for west-ern Texas and southern New Mexico. A cold front will finally pass through the region this weekend. Temperatures will trend down-ward, but should remain above normal. Weather (W): s-sunny, pc-partly cloudy, c-cloudy, sh-showers, t-thunderstorms,

r-rain, sf-snow flurries, sn-snow, i-ice.

Thursday .................................... 88°Friday .......................................... 79°Saturday ...................................... 77°Sunday ........................................ 71°Monday ........................................ 80°Tuesday ...................................... 79°Wednesday ................................ 79°

The exclusive AccuWeather composite of theeffects of temperature, wind, humidity, sunshine,precipitation, and elevation on the human body.

Shown is Thursday’sweather.Temperatures areThursday’s highs andThursday night’s lows.

All forecasts and maps provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2004

Anthony 85 54

Canutillo 85 54

Fabens 85 55

Clint 85 55

E. Montana 84 54

Socorro 84 53

Horizon 86 55

San Elizario 83 52

Tornillo 85 55

Vinton 85 54El Paso84/54

Santa Fe75/36

Albuquerque77/46

Alamogordo84/46

Las Cruces82/52

Deming83/46 Carlsbad

89/52

Amarillo82/48

Lubbock86/50

Alpine83/48

Odessa87/59

Lajitas87/51

Ruidoso74/48

Cloudcroft71/43

CiudadJuárez85/56

54°

Mexico

Q: I overheard a young woman on abus telling someone that she getswidow’s benefits from Social Secu-rity. She looked to be in her 40s. Don’tyou have to be 60 to get widow’s ben-efits on your deceased husband’searnings record?

A: It is generally true that 60 is theearliest age we can pay what the lawrefers to as “aged widow’s benefits.”But we also can pay benefits to wid-ows who are disabled as early as theage of 50. And a woman of any age

can qualify for widow’s benefits (thelaw actually calls them “mother’sbenefits”) if she is caring for a childwho is under age 16.

Q: About four months ago, I had arelatively mild heart attack. Follow-ing some minor surgery, I returnedto work. I worked part-time for awhile, but now I am back to a full-time schedule. A friend told me Ishould have collected Social Securitydisability benefits while I was off thejob. Is this true?

A: Probably not. To qualify for So-cial Security disability benefits, yourcondition must be severe and mustbe expected to keep you out of workfor at least 12 months. It does notsound as if your impairment wouldhave met those requirements.

Q: I have been getting disability ben-efits for a couple years. But my lastcheck was about $60 less than previ-ous checks. Why was my benefit cut?

A: People on disability qualify forMedicare two years after their dis-ability benefits start. You shouldcheck with your local Social Secu-

rity office to make sure, but it is likelythat the Part B Medicare premium isnow being deducted from your So-cial Security benefit payments. Youshould have received a “MedicareEnrollment Package” in the mail in-forming you of this. The premiumwas $58.70 in 2003 and is $66.60 in2004.

Q: My neighbor says she gets theSocial Security supplement and waswondering why I did not get it. Am Ieligible for the supplement?

A: There is no “Social Securitysupplement.” But we do administer

a program called “Supplemental Se-curity Income.” It is designed tosupplement the income (any income,not just Social Security income) ofpeople 65 and older or people withdisabilities who have little income andfew resources. Call us at 1-800-772-1213 to find out if you are eligible.______________________________________________________For more information visit your lo-cal Security office, see www.ssa.govor call us at 1-800-772-1213. If youhave any questions that you wouldlike to have answered, please mailthem to the Social Security Office,11111 Gateway West, Attn: Ray Vigil,El Paso, Texas 79935.