The Baytown Sun (Baytown, Tex.), Vol. 94, No. 128, Ed. 1 Thursday, July 3, 2014 Page: 4 of 8
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4 The Baytown Sun
oints
Thursday
July 3, 2014
Letters: Goose Creek CISD - where to start?
The headline using the word “ousted” re-
flects an accurate assessment of our school
system. Many will support it, whether they
express it or not. Others will object to the
point that they express epithetical remarks,
character assassination while ignoring their
own or administration actions, and heap
lavish praise on executive and board deci-
sions.
Now why do I say this? Even a cursory
review of recent administrative and board
actions would label them ill-timed and
poor management. If GCCISD were a fair
sized business any business analyst would
say, “This business is in trouble. They have
purged competent experienced staff.
Under the guise of improvements they
had exceeded budgeted income and spent
resources that should have been reserved
for the future. If it were a business it ap-
pears they are preparing for a hostile take-
over with board and executives being able
to withdraw without risk to themselves.
They cannot see or refuse to see that the
exit of brilliant minds will erode any
chance for excellence and performance in
the future. If anyone wants to find me I am
in the phone directory and have lived in the
same place since 1976.
As a Baylor graduate I congratulate Mr.
Guajardo on his skills as a debater and a
student. May his future lead to great things.
I would simply ask him to prepare to de-
bate the analysis above by doing extensive
research and field work and winning ap-
proval from his team ‘members to proceed
while ignoring his own personal biases and
history. A simple task for a Baylor debater.
Ms. or Mrs. Whitaker must be carefial in
her epithetic attack on The Sun.
I may complain from time to time about
their spelling, grammar, and even some in-
accuracies, but I have never observed The
Sun to be intentionally uninformed. I have
never thought them to be indictable by be-
ing associated with misuse of anonymous
sources. I wonder how many reporters
that she followed around not knocking on
doors to get quotes they plan not to identi-
fy. I simply ask how and when she will use
her well sharpened axe and on who she will
use it. I bow my head for the first strike.
Hey Mr. Guajardo, how am I doing hoist-
ing Mrs. Whitaker on her petard?
Since we are discussing excellence in
education and I am sharing my ascerbic
wit I wonder why the Hispanic Chamber of
Commerce gave board member an award
for his wife’s 30 years of excellent teach-
ing and needed guidance to our Baytown
students. He may have eaten a few gold
meals and helped pack teaching supplies
in the family vehicle. He may have helped
escort a number of field trips and quiet the
little rascals down when his wife needed a
man’s voice and stature.
1 humbly suggest that he simply say, “I
am proud of my wife and her accomplish-
ments. I thank the Chamber for giving her
this reward, and 1 join all those who recog-
nize her as an excellent teacher.”
Cyrus B. Fletcher
Baytown
School bond voting
‘seems awfully cozy’
I also agree that money spent for Ear-
ly College High School should have been
voted on by taxpayers. However, the bond
process is flawed to begin with.
The school board appoints a Facilities
Planning Committee, made of “volun-
teers” which include GCCISD staff, and
other people from the community. They go
to the facilities and look at the “wanted”
projects.
Last year I think the list was $340 mil-
lion, but was reduced to $240 million or
$270 million, and the bond passed.
I think if the board proposed a $1 billion
bond, in theory it would pass also.
Go back to the voting results of bond
elections in the past. I think the one before
2013 was in 2005, a $220 million bond.
Look at the number of votes in favor of
the bond passing. It corresponds with the
number employees on GCCISD’s payroll.
I know if I was a career GCCISD em-
ployee, you can bet your bottom dollar I
would make sure I voted! Job security. But
guess what? I can vote on the way to my
car -1 have a voting booth at my school. All
22 of them! And, they’re open from 4 to 7
p.m. for early voting.
How cool is that? Right when I get off
work! No other voter has that advantage!
Take it a step further - imagine !f at the
next school bond election if you had to
vote at a City of Baytown facility. It might
be the same outcome since GCCISD is
the largest taxpayer-funded employer in
Baytown. I think they list 2,819 full time
employees, but the figure is probably much
higher with part-timers, and contract staff.
All those people want to keep working
and will cast a vote to make sure that hap-
pens. What is really sad is that everyone
has a choice to vote and most don’t.
GCCISD employees have a tough job
and job security is only natural. School
bond voting at the GCCISD facilities is the
way it has always been done, but to me,
that seems awfully cozy and doesn’t pass
the “Smell test.”
Keith Homan
Baytown
A Fourth to
remember
The Fourth of July has always been celebrated with gusto
in my family growing up and now with me as the dad.
My blackened driveway and trash bags full of fireworks
and watermelon rinds testify to our efforts each year.
1 always enjoy July Fourth and know I’m blessed to live
in this country.
My favorite July Fourth will always be 1976 — our na-
tion’s Bicentennial — because it was a yearlong celebration.
I was 13 years old and.the nation was awash in red, white
and blue. Across the country, landmarks
were painted with patriotic colors and de-
signs. Buildings, fire hydrants, trains
nothing escaped.
DAVID
BLOOM
These were the days when car owners
received a new set of license plates every
year, and most states adopted a patriotic
design for 1976.
Many companies produced special Bi-
centennial editions of their regular prod-
ucts, including food, beverages, pens and
collector’s plates.
Bicentennial T-shirts and buttons were all the rage.
' People plunked down newly minted Bicentennial quar-
ters for all of the miscellaneous stuff with a flag pattern or
the red, white and blue colors on it;
I remember “The Bicentennial Minute” that was on TV
all the time.
And 1 remember at noon on the Fourth of July everyone
in the country with a bell was supposed to start wringing it.
I here was also “Hands Across America” where people held
hands from coast to coast at the same time.
As America celebrated its 200th anniversary, Major
League Baseball held a fitting tribute to baseball as Ameri-
ca’s game, appropriately holding the All-Star event at Vet-
erans Stadium in Philadelphia.
I was lucky enough to be able to attend with my father.
President Ford also attended, and I could see him wave
to the crowd.
It will always be the best game I ever saw.
Seeing players such as Pete Rose, Johnny Bench, George
Brett, Rod Carew, Carlton Fisk, Thurman Munson, Carl
Yastrzemski, Catfish Hunter, Rollie Fingers, Tom Seaver;
also Mike Schmidt, Joe Morgan, Larry Bowa and Dave
Cash, the Count (John) of Montefusco and one of my favs,
Dave Kingman, known for his prolific power and low bat-
ting averages.
The star attraction to me, however, was Mark Fidrych.
The rookie pitcher for the Tigers had charmed his way
into fans’ hearts with his antics on the mound, which includ-
ed talking to himself and sometimes to the ball.
I he game also marked the 100th anniversary of the Na-
tional League and the team responded by hitting two home
runs and scoring seven runs on 10 hits.
The NL won 7-1, marking its 13th win in the last 14
games.
It was a grand year and time:
It was a time before we were all connected 24 hours a day
without cell phones, facebook and whatnot.
A time when it cost a dime to call home from a pay phone,
gasoline was 61 cents a gallon and a first-class stamp cost
13 cents. Eight-track players were big. The first Rocky
movie debuted in theaters.
The median price of new homes was $44,000.
I still remember getting up early in the morning to watch
on TV the landing of Viking I on Mars.
It was a very good year.
Of course, I am. struck by the fact that my children will be
old — 71,68 and 66, God willing, in 2076.
And so, until they experience that 300th anniversary, the
best I can do is share memories of 1976 with them.
It was a different time and a lot more fun.
Before I get into this column’s
main subject, I want to remind ev-
! eryone that tomorrow is the Fourth
of July and you need to protect your
pets.
Once the sun goes down, the fire-
works will start popping and pets will
start to panic. If they are out in your
yard they will bark and perhaps claw
at the doors. Yelling at them won’t
help. Give them a break.
Bring them inside while the fire-
works are exploding.
Don’t let them be among those that
freak out and jump their fences or
dig out seeking a safe place. Eveiy
Fourth of July and New Year’s Eve,
fireworks drive pets to.try to escape
from the noise and they end up lost
or worse.
Don’.t let it happen to your pet.
Now, on to another subject.
There is a new danger in our soci-
ety and it us not getting the recogni-
tion it needs. It could effect you, your
loved ones and your neighbors and
cause them untold embarrassment.
I’m talking about an underlying
danger that comes along with the
fashion trend that is skinny jeans,
leggings and jeggings.
Even if you are not up on fashions,
the words “skinny jeans” are pret-
ty self explanatory. They are jeans
that are skinnier and thus fit tighter
through the legs all the way down to
the ankles. Leggings and jeggings
are pants that fit even more tightly
to one’s legs, following whatever
curves the wearer’s body exhibits.
That is another danger since, sadly,
many people wear those pants that
JANE
HOWARD
LEE
perhaps shouldn't
since a pant that
fits like a sausage
wrapping some-
times shows things
many of us dofj’t
want to show or
want to see. Most
wear these britch-
es with a longer,
tunic-style top but
some women wear
them with short-
er shirts and the results can be a bit
scary.
Or really, really scary.
■ They are basically the same pants
we girls wore as toddlers and up to
elementary school age, I think.
Good old stretch pants that are like
a second skin. They can feel snug and
safe. like a pair of pantyhose. If they
fit right, you almost forget you have
them on.
Herein lies the hidden danger.
1 wear this style sometimes and find
them quite comfortable. I thought
such clinging pants would be hot in
our Texas weather but, depending
on the fabric, you can feel surprising
cool in them. In factrthey are so com-
fortable that you pretty much forget
you are wearing them at all.
That is not always a good thing.
Last week at a surprise birthday
party for Kay Eshbach, one couple
rushed in a bit late, hurrying to get
there before the arrival of Kay and
husband Jay, who serves on this
newspaper’s editorial board.
1 will not name names here, but this
couple was a bit out of breath as they
sat down at our table, but we didn’t
learn why until after the Eshbachs
arrived and we had all yelled “sur-"
prise” and sang “Happy Birthday.”
As things settled down, we found out
why the couple was running late.
“She forgot her pants,” said the
husband.
He explained that he was already
in their truck, when she rushed out of
the house and jumped in, wearing a
longish top and pantyhose but noth-
ing else.
They drove for a moment while he
pondered her fashion choice, then de-
cided that he should say something.
“Honey, is that really what you’re
wearing tonight?’1
His petite wife looked down at her
legs and shrieked “Oh my God! Go
back to the house!”
She ’d planned to wear a pair of leg-
gings with that top but put on some
panty hose first and rushed around
fixing her hair and make-up and the
panty hose felt so much like the leg-
gings that she just didn’t realize that
she failed to put on herpants.
She was lucky her husband no-
ticed. Some wouldn’t.
It could happen to any of us who
wear leggings, jeggings or the skin-
ny, skinny jeans. Maybe they should
come with a warning label.
Have a happy Fourth of July. Pro-
tect your pets from their fireworks
fears. And don’t forget your pants.
Jane Howard Lee is a contribut-
ing writer at The Sun. She can be
reached at viewpoints@baytown.sun.
com, Attention: Jane Lee.
David Bloom is the managing editor of The Baytown
Sun. Contact him at 281-425-8016 or david.bloom@bay-
townsun.com
Today is Thursday, July 3, the
184th day of 2014. There are 181
days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On July 3, 1863, the three-day
Civil War Battle of Gettysburg in
Pennsylvania ended in a major vic-
tory for the North as Confederate
troops failed to breach Union po-
sitions during an assault known as
Pickett’s Charge.
On this date:
In 1775, Gen. George Washington
TODAY IN HISTORY
took command of the Continental
Army at Cambridge, Massachusetts.
In 1938, President Franklin D.
Roosevelt marked the 75th anniver-
sary pf the Battle of Gettysburg by
dedicating the Eternal Light Peace
Memorial.
In 1950, the first carrier strikes
of the Korean War took place as
the USS Valley Forge and the HMS
Triumph sent fighter planes against
North Korean targets.
In 1971, singer Jim Morrison of
The Doors died in Paris at age 27.
In 1974, President Richard Nixon
and Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev
signed a treaty in Moscow limiting
the size of underground nuclear
weapons tests.
Thought for Today: “The trouble
with life isn’t that there is no answer,
it’s that there are so many answers.”
— Ruth Benedict
American anthropologist (1887-1948)
Th^lBaytown Sun
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Bloom, David. The Baytown Sun (Baytown, Tex.), Vol. 94, No. 128, Ed. 1 Thursday, July 3, 2014, newspaper, July 3, 2014; Baytown, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1066259/m1/4/?q=green+energy: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Sterling Municipal Library.