El Campo Leader-News (El Campo, Tex.), Vol. 98, No. 8, Ed. 1 Wednesday, April 21, 1982 Page: 4 of 41
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Page4-A ElCampoLeader-News, ElCampo,TX, Wed., Apr 21,1982
Viewpoint
Help Beat Big
Cancer. It’s not a game to be enjoyed like football, or an astrological
sign to be studied, but rather it’s a disease which needs to be destroyed,
or at the very least, prevented.
The number of cancer patients in El Campo is many, and many more
have died. One out of every four people will get some form of cancer.
Next time you’re with a group, just look around. If there are eight peo-
ple together, you might wonder just which two will be hit by Big C. It
might be you. It might be your child.
In 1982 about 835,000 new cancer cases will be diagnosed in the U.S.
Cancer strikes at any age. It kills more children 3-14 than any other
disease, and it strikes more frequently with advancing age. In Texas,
an estimated 43,000 new cancer cases are expected to be reported by
the end of this year.
Volunteers for the West Wharton County Unit of the American
Cancer Society are out knocking on doors this week. They are asking
for donations, but they also want to leave you with some educational in-
formation which will allow you to assess your own risk of getting
cancer.
HOw is your money spent? For every dollar, research gets 26 cents,
service/rehabilitation 22 cents, public education 25 cents, professional
education 12 cents, the crusade 11 cents and management and general,
6 cents. This equals $1.02, which reflects increased research alloca-
tions to Texas by the National Society.
When a volunteer knocks on your door, please give what you can.
Better yet, why not pick up a memorial envelope at a local funeral
home, bank or here at the newspaper before you are asked, or in case
you are missed.
Your dollars given to the American Cancer Society can help save
lives.
No Merit Pay
Editor, the Leader-News:
As a dedicated educator, I feel compelled to discuss why the majori-
ty of the teachers in Texas and in our El Campo School District do not
want a merit pay system.
First, no one can evaluate teaching human beings in the same way
that you can the products on an assembly line. Teaching and learning
do not involve only the simple skills of memorization or parrotting of
information for short term recall. Teaching and learning are the total
development of a human being so that he would be able to think logical-
ly to solve problems which will confront him throughout life. It is the
attainment of communication skills so that humans can express their
needs, desires, and ideas which can bring about the desired changes
for an improved life.
Education in America is not narrow or limiting. We offer the same
opportunities to everyone regardless of the student’s potentials. The
development of the basic skills are provided so that the masses will
have a foundation to pursue any career which they choose as adults.
The results which our educational systems have produced are evident
as we have the highest standard of living, the greatest advancement of
. technology, and a democratic society which offers more freedom to its
people than any other nation in the world.
If teachers should be paid on the basis of producing high scores on
limited achievement test items, then teachers will teach only those ,
items. The scores will be as high as legislators, school boards, or
parents want. This has already been proved when companies con-
tracted with school districts to raise achievement scores in reading by
offering rewards to the teachers and students who did it. After the tests
were given, the companies collected their money and left. The students
still could not read.
Who can evaluate the teachers who teach patriotism, love of country,
respect for government and laws, fair play, the golden rule, and all the
attitudes which can not be measured on achievement tests? Which of
you have used a skill or idea 10 years or more after a teacher taught it.
But that teacher never saw the results of her teaching in the classroom.
Should that teacher not have been paid because the concept was not
measurable at that time?
In my 32 years of teaching, I have watched a frightening erosion of
teachers’ attitudes in their dedication to the great idealism of the
teaching profession. This has happened because the governor,
legislators, school boards, administrators, and parents continue to
destroy the pride of those who teach.
If ^e have teachers who are incompetent, it is not the teacher who is
to blame, but rather, the colleges which certified the incompetents. It
, 4 the administrators and school boards who hire them. Certainly, the
: e process law still provides for terminating those teachers.
^ e do not need merit pay to divide the team effort which exists in our
srhoo '* Teactwrs, administrator*, school boards, and parents need to
work *ti *n • climate of cooperation with positive attitudes
toward u 'hiding an outstanding atmosphere for learning for all
students ceB*® when merit pay is introduced. The
children will ,00#e
Sincerely,
Anglen Slovak
To UL'er, Patman
E<Wi3h wiou^Smary fc/totions being held within tlie next few
weett, I have some concern,' several incumbant candidates.
Rather than voters automatics):/ burning mcumbante to office out of
a sense of familiarity with the quo. accountability of perfor
mancfc and actual legislative co.ut/^huUons should first be brought
forth.'In a time when these incum bai.'ts bit again on the local scene
solictttng votes, 1 pose the following concern*:
To •’BILL’’ PATMAN (U.S Congra'a): You promised to support our
local/area farmers and teachers in ex change for their votes Exactly
what have you done to represent these pi 'ople’’ We are currently facing
a critical time for area farmers when so .’"any forced out of
their life-long, family-oriented farming »1>erations. How have you
represented these people? Education prog: •re currently facing
substantial cuts in federal aid affecting ALL’i'ocal remedial. All school
lunchgaragrams, and All ipecial education prog"t»'m» These dollar cuts
mean not ealy cuts In services to local children. b»’it atoo mean cuts in
teaching and related positions Have you voted FOk1 educational bills,
as promised’
To ft)M UHER (Texas Legislature) With all the recent exposure of
financial support from various interest groups and ' nameless cor
porations. have you forgotten the concerns of the local voters who put .
you i* office’’ When it comes to voting, do you vote as ’our represen
tativd’’ or as a voice of the Big Boys’ What about the farmer*, the
•if businessmen and the teachers’
sma
naif wwiiKWimu ww ' ■ ■■■■ " - •
In summary, in a time of accountability and a tightening of the spen
Mi dollar, we need accountability from those who spend our
m&B&isi
ITS THEM,
ALL RIGHT/
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Sound-Off...
mmm
The Wharton
County Youth Fair
has been a topic of
conversation for
everyone this week.
With all the interest
in the fair, the
Leader-News asked
fair-goers, “What
brings you to the
Wharton County
Youth Fair?”
Otto Miller
Blessing
Fission Toot Supervisor
“I’m just looking for fun and I
thought I’d take the little boy
out.”
PH
Anita Valigura
El Campo
Secretary
“The people, I come to have a
good time, everybody’s out here.”
- ii
m-
Connie Koenig
El Campo
Comptroller Assistant
“The barbecue cook-off. There
are all kinds of things for people of
all ages like the rodeo ."
Robert Hernandez
El Campo
Roughneck
“The excitement, it’s a once a
year thing so instead of going out
of town we have something dif-
ferent to do.”
miz-m
BONQMKS
r ••
%
Wtatodtr-
■o
THE
OBSERVER
By HARLAN HOBBS
In America, particularly in
Washington and government
circles, use of the acronym has
become a fetish, often to the point
of absurbity. However,.
Washington has no monopoly on
use of the acronym. The semantic
device is used throughout our
country, even into South Texas.
Unfortunately, it is often misused,
either as a false front or as a
vehicle for insinuation about or
outright attack upon an individual
or group.
Consider the acronym PAC or
the phrase “Political Action
Committee.’’ Such committees
abound in our society and are a
part of giving the voter a greater
voice in government by making it
possible for minority groups with
common goals to speak in unison.
PACs are important in today’s
political scene. Without them the
needs of many important
elements of our community could
not effectively be heard.
There are PACs for independent
retailers, often small, such as
hometown cattlemen, farmers,
grocers, restaurant operators and
beauticians. They are diverse,
cutting across party lines, if need
be, but speaking through their
PAC in behalf of their livelihood
and their community.
And, despite insinuations by
some who are either untutored or
intentionally misleading, PACs
are legal and regulated by strict
guidelines established by
Congress. Often there are district,
state and national headquarters,
operating at the desire and with
the support of individuals in even
the smallest communities From
such headquarters they supervise
or guide the expenditure of time
and money for political can-
didates of their choice.
A PAC headquarter may be in
Austin or Houston or El Paso, but
if its members in El Campo, or
Wharton or Bay City request, the
PAC may support a candidate
working in its behalf in com-
pletely legal and publicly
revealed manner. Such support is
not only legal, but recommended
for worthy political candidates.
To utilize two well-known
acronyms, anyone attempting to
deride the efforts of a group of
respected PACs can best be
described as having a “snafu” in
his political “radar.”
Jodie Socha
El Campo
Fence Contractor
“The youth, it keeps them off
the streets when they’re doing
their projects. It’s just good
learning.”
“It can, I think, be laid down as
a universal rule that all inflation
is caused by the acts or politics of
government, among which is any
large increase in the debts of the
central government. A large in-
crease in government debt by bor-
rowing at the banks creates a glut
of money, which causes money to
lose value.’’ — Samuel B. Pet-
tengill. Inflation is a Burglar.
Viewpoint
Letter Policy
The El Campo leadrr-
New* encourages its readers
to express their viewpoints
through letters to the editor
These letters should be legi
ble and no longer than 300
words
They must be signed and
accompanied by an address
and telephone number The
author's name will be
witheld only in special cir-
cumstances
The leader-New* reserves
the right to edit letters for
libelous content and in accor
dance with newspaper style
and space limitations.
letters should be brought
to the newspaper office or
mailed to Kl Campo leader.
News. I’ll Bo* Him. Kl
Campo. Texas 77437
i. El Campo
4
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Barbee, Chris. El Campo Leader-News (El Campo, Tex.), Vol. 98, No. 8, Ed. 1 Wednesday, April 21, 1982, newspaper, April 21, 1982; El Campo, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1000047/m1/4/?q=Lamar+University: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Wharton County Library.