WTCC 2003 - West Texas County Courier
WTCC 2003 - West Texas County Courier
WTCC 2003 - West Texas County Courier
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April 20, 2006 WEST TEXAS COUNTY COURIER Page 3<br />
View from here By Senator Eliot Shapleigh<br />
What matters more: Tax cuts for wealthiest<br />
Texans or truly educating our children<br />
Nothing is more important than<br />
educating our children so they can<br />
grow, prosper, and live the American<br />
dream. Since the days of Thomas<br />
Jefferson, America has valued<br />
great public schools where each<br />
and every one of us can reach our<br />
full potential.<br />
In recent elections, people told<br />
lawmakers to meet the challenge and<br />
educate our children. When <strong>Texas</strong><br />
ranks 48th in the nation on the SAT<br />
and 50th in high school graduation<br />
rates, our children’s future is at risk.<br />
When 19 of the 30 El Paso area high<br />
schools fail to meet the progress standards<br />
in “No Child Left Behind” we<br />
must make educating our children the<br />
top priority.<br />
Over the last seven failed sessions,<br />
some state leaders have pushed the<br />
“Great <strong>Texas</strong> Tax Shift,” where they<br />
value tax cuts for wealthy donors<br />
over educating our children. For example,<br />
HB 3, the tax bill pushed by<br />
Republican leadership last year,<br />
would have raised taxes on any Texan<br />
making less than $100,000 and cut<br />
taxes for those making six figures and<br />
Eye on D.C. By U.S. Rep. Henry Bonilla<br />
above. Here in El Paso, HB 3 would<br />
have resulted in a tax increase on 94<br />
percent of the population.<br />
More recently, Gov. Rick Perry’s<br />
plan proposes to cut $920 million of<br />
taxes on those who make more than<br />
$104,000 and hike taxes by $7 million<br />
on families making less than<br />
$54,000 at a time when incomes of<br />
America’s wealthiest have grown<br />
more dramatically than any era since<br />
the turn of the century. So those who<br />
make the most will pay the least.<br />
Moreover, none of these bills<br />
raised any new money for certified<br />
and motivated teachers, smaller<br />
classes, or state of the art technology.<br />
During past sessions, the majority<br />
balanced the budget by cutting<br />
230,000 children out of CHIP instead<br />
of raising the tax on cigarettes. Right<br />
now, this same group wants to use<br />
the $4.2 billion budget surplus to<br />
lower property taxes a few cents, end<br />
the special session, and get out of<br />
town. If we let them do that, then two<br />
years from now, lawmakers will face<br />
the same challenge in the schools,<br />
along with a $4.2 billion deficit that<br />
Military medicine: Advancements<br />
saving lives, both military and civilian<br />
Much of the medical technology<br />
that benefits Americans today in our<br />
day-to-day civilian life actually has<br />
roots in military medicine. This is not<br />
surprising given the challenges of<br />
military medicine coupled with the<br />
ingenuity of caregivers who come<br />
from, and return to, civilian medical<br />
practice.<br />
The cure for yellow fever emerged<br />
from the Spanish-American War. The<br />
ground ambulance systems of today<br />
evolved from those developed during<br />
the Civil War. Field hospitals<br />
were located near the front lines, but<br />
a horse drawn carriage was needed<br />
to get the wounded to the makeshift<br />
facilities, distinguishable by a yellow<br />
flag marked with a green “H.”<br />
World War I was the first in<br />
which fatalities on the battlefield<br />
outnumbered deaths due to disease.<br />
This war brought us the cure for<br />
tetanus, the means to address severe<br />
shock, and the use of triage to<br />
prioritize medical care when faced<br />
with mass casualties. The introduction<br />
of antiseptic increased survival<br />
rates, and survivors benefited<br />
greatly from advances in prostheses<br />
and reconstructive surgery.<br />
During World War II, we witnessed<br />
a dramatic increase in the<br />
effectiveness of weaponry. The<br />
sheer magnitude of the combat<br />
theater required as many men in<br />
uniform as possible to stop the<br />
Axis from advancing their invasion.<br />
The military concentrated<br />
on treating the wounded and returning<br />
them quickly to the<br />
battlefield. Medical innovations<br />
were created to meet this goal.<br />
Dr. Charles Drew was a leading<br />
authority on the processing and<br />
mass transfusion of blood. He<br />
discovered that plasma could replace<br />
whole blood, allowing for<br />
greater efficiency of transfusions,<br />
saving thousands of lives.<br />
During the Korean War, the U.S.<br />
Army pioneered the “medical evacuation”<br />
technology we now commonly<br />
refer to as MEDEVAC. This rapid<br />
transportation system would bring<br />
wounded soldiers from the front lines<br />
to semi-permanent field hospitals<br />
where they could receive medical<br />
treatment after only a short helicopter<br />
flight. The Maryland State Police<br />
Aviation Command instituted the<br />
first civilian MEDEVAC in the U.S.<br />
in the late 1970’s. It is now commonly<br />
used nationwide.<br />
During both Desert Storm I and II,<br />
the development of blood-clotting<br />
bandages and the LSTAT patient care<br />
platform were introduced. Like the<br />
sophisticated military aircraft after<br />
which it was modeled, the LSTAT is<br />
an integrated system of devices in a<br />
portable intensive care unit the size<br />
of a stretcher, with a state-of-the-art<br />
defibrillator, ventilator, suction,<br />
three-channel fluid and drug infusion<br />
pump, point-of-care blood chemistry<br />
analyzer, and patient monitoring subsystems.<br />
The patient’s vital statistics<br />
are transmitted to the hospital directly<br />
to the awaiting medical personnel.<br />
they helped create.<br />
What’s worse is that this tax system<br />
will never pay for certified teachers<br />
in math, reading, and science together<br />
with the small classes that we<br />
know truly improve schools. The fact<br />
is that <strong>Texas</strong> teachers now rank close<br />
to last in the country in pay, retirement,<br />
and health care, and <strong>Texas</strong><br />
ranks 38th in the country in spending<br />
per pupil.<br />
Republican leaders should do what<br />
we elected them to do: set aside their<br />
differences and lead us to a better<br />
future. For the first time in <strong>Texas</strong> history,<br />
<strong>Texas</strong> families face a less prosperous<br />
tomorrow if they do not put<br />
our children on a path to better education<br />
today. Let’s create a fair tax<br />
system that Texans trust, where everyone<br />
pays a fair share. Cut property<br />
taxes substantially so more Texans<br />
can own homes. Raise the revenues<br />
we need to pay for good<br />
schools. And most importantly, remind<br />
them that they were elected to<br />
educate our children so that <strong>Texas</strong> can<br />
grow, prosper, and compete for 21st<br />
Century jobs.<br />
Developed<br />
initially for<br />
the U.S. military,<br />
the<br />
LSTAT has<br />
improved the chances of saving a<br />
wounded soldier by reducing risk to<br />
patients in route to treatment. LSTAT<br />
will also now help alleviate hospital<br />
overcrowding and increase our ability<br />
to save lives in a mass disaster<br />
scenario.<br />
The federal government, through<br />
such agencies as the National Institutes<br />
of Health and the Department<br />
of Defense, continues to invest in<br />
medical advances through research<br />
and development in industry and<br />
academia. In turn, industry commercializes<br />
many of these military advances,<br />
bringing their life-saving<br />
benefits to millions more people<br />
around the world.<br />
We should all be grateful for the sacrifices<br />
our military men and women<br />
willingly undergo to protect the freedoms<br />
we have as Americans. Whether<br />
they serve as a soldier on the front lines<br />
or as a medic saving the lives of the<br />
wounded, those who serve are saving<br />
lives in our communities.<br />
Pepperoni’s Pizza & Deli<br />
852-2544<br />
Limited Delivery Area<br />
Clint Independent School District<br />
Public Meeting<br />
The Clint Independent School District would like to invite<br />
the community to a public presentation April 26, 2006<br />
at 4:00 pm and again at 6:00 pm in the Board room of<br />
the Clint ISD Central Administration Building at 14521<br />
Horizon Blvd., El Paso, <strong>Texas</strong> 79928. The district will be<br />
presenting information regarding the $90 million Bond<br />
Election set for May 13, 2006. For more information or<br />
questions, please call 926-4011or visit www.clintweb.net.<br />
Junta Pública<br />
El Distrito Escolar de Clint se complace en invitar a una<br />
comunidad a la presentación pública el 26 de Abril del<br />
2006 a las 4:00 p.m. y 6:00 p.m. en la sala de juntas del<br />
edificio Administrativo ubicado en el 14521 Horizon<br />
Blvd., El Paso, <strong>Texas</strong> 79928. El Distrito proporcionará<br />
información referente a la Elección de Bonos por $90<br />
millones programada para el 13 de Mayo del 2006. Para<br />
mayor información por favor comunÌquese al 926-4011<br />
o visite la página de Internet http://www.clintweb.net.<br />
<strong>WTCC</strong>: 04-20-06<br />
Chinese Food<br />
Burgers & Subs<br />
Public Notice<br />
Village of Vinton, <strong>Texas</strong><br />
FAIR HOUSING, IT’S THE LAW<br />
The Village of Vinton hereby declares its support of fair<br />
housing practices. It is hereby declared to be the policy of<br />
the locality to bring about, through fair, orderly, and lawful<br />
procedures, the opportunity of each person to obtain<br />
housing without regard to race, color, creed, religion, sex,<br />
national origin, physical or mental handicap, martial status,<br />
parenthood, or age.<br />
It is further declared that such policy is established upon<br />
a recognition of the inalienable rights of each individual<br />
to obtain housing and, further, that denial of such rights<br />
is detrimental to the health, safety, and welfare of the inhabitants<br />
of the locality and constitutes an unjust denial<br />
or deprivation of such inalienable rights which is within<br />
the power and the proper responsibility of government to<br />
prevent.<br />
The Village of Vinton has a Fair Housing Policy that may<br />
be examined and copied by interested groups or individuals<br />
at the Vinton Village Hall between the hours of 8:00 A.M.<br />
and 4:30 P.M., Monday through Friday. The Village of<br />
Vinton is an Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action<br />
employer.<br />
Juvencia Rios-Ontiveros, Mayor <strong>WTCC</strong>: 04/28/05