The Baytown Sun (Baytown, Tex.), Vol. 85, No. 82, Ed. 1 Wednesday, March 1, 2006 Page: 4 of 12
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■
OPINION
THE BAYTOXVN SUN
4
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
xxo v- ^wuj.cAjt£cA(rrooMS.co*x
!
I
t- . - • t ♦ -
1
J Game a solid investment
I in city’s economic future
Bayou
Bowl
if- . ■ ■
David Bloom
Managing Editor
Jane Howard Lee
’ retired Reporter
Danielle Lynch
News Editor
FRED HARTMAN
Publisher Emeritus
1950-1974
PRODUCTION
Wayne Oxedlne, Production Mgr.
wayne.oxedine@bay.townsun.com
» - ->
Sun by 6 a.m. Monday through
you do not receive your paper on
time, call (281) 425-8048 by 10 a.m.
"to ensure redelivery.
WRITE TO US
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1301 Memorial Drive, P.0. Box 90
Baytown, Texas 77522
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EDITORIAL BOARD
Wanda Gamer Cash
Edtor/Publisher
Jim Finley
retired Managing Editor
Doyle Barlow
Sports Editor ’ .
HOW TO REACH US
Wanda Garner Cash, Publisher
wgcash@baytownsun.com
Sandy Denson, Business Mgr. ‘
sandy.denson@baytownsun.com
NEWSROOM
David Bloom, Managing Editor
I david.bloom@baytownsun.com
Doyle Barlow, Sports Editor*.
doyle.barlow@baytownsun.com
Danielle. Lynch, News Editor
danielje.lynch@baytownsun.com
ADVERTISING
Angle Pagel, Advertising Director
angie.pagel@baytownsun.com
Presuming facts
I attended the West Chambers County
Chamber of Commerce Candidates’ ' '
Forum, and during the' presentation by
candidate Heather Hawthorne, I was
rather startled to hear her implications
that incumbent County Clerk Susan
Roshto had forced the Texas Legislature
to enact some law that benefited her
office. The next morning, a Sun article
again had that reference, but since no
clarification was made as to what in
heaven she was talking about, I asked the
County Clerk.
My understanding is that this relates to
some fee that the Clerk’s office is
I allowed to charge when documents are
not presented to the office in certain for-
mats. It was something that was already
in place prior to Ms. Roshto’s entry into
the office, and, with the final implemen-
tation of the software she has installed,
the fee will also be phased out, since the
new software eliminates the need for the
charge.
Ms. Roshto and I are at virtual oppo-
site ends of the political spectrum, but
we meet where the concept of service to
the public is concerned. She and 1 have
had multiple discussions concerning our .
respective county departments, and the
need to provide the public with accurate
information, in a timely manner, and to
make non-users of our services aware
that those services are available and can
help them. Ms. Roshto has impressed
me, frankly, in her first term, as a woman
whb sees potential and goes after it,
whether it be her staff or the services
they can provide through new technology
or better procedures.
I-have no idea where Ms. Hawthorne
is getting her information, but if she is
going to make these accusations, I for
one, as a listener, would appreciate hear-
ing more than inferences as to what she
presumes are facts. It would provide her
audience with more of a basis for judg-
ment, and would also allow Ms. Roshto
an opportunity to respond with the
knowledge she has as the person respon-
sible for the actions of her office.
j Lynette Parsons
Anahuac
MISS YOUR PAPER? „
You should receive your Baytown Baytown Sun, P.O. Box 90,
Sun by 6 a.m. Monday through Baytown, 7/522; fax them to (281)
Saturday and by 8 a.m. Sunday. If 427-1880-or e-mail sunnews@bay-
townsun.com.
Items featured on this page are
the views ofthe persons identified
with each submission and do not ”
necessarily reflect the views of The
Baytown Sun or its advertisers!'
- • I
to 300 words and guest columns of
up to 500 words. Guest columns'
should include a photo of the
writer. We publish only original
material addressed to The Baytown
Sun bearing the writer’s signature.
An address and phone number not'
for publication should be included.
All letters and guest columns are
subject to editing, and the Sun
reserves the right to refuse to pub-.
lish any submission,
- ■ Send signed letters to: Wanda
Garner Cash or David Bloom, The
Government officials
Federal 202-224-2934
„ ' u, D 713-572-3337
Ge0^‘BtUSh' Fax: 202-228-2856
President Cav. 7n.n70.7777
202-456-1111
Fax: 202-456-2326
president®
j whitehouse.gov
Dick Cheney,
Vice President
202-456-2324
Fax: 202-456-2461
. vice-president©
whitehouse.gov
Kay Bailey
Hutchison,
Senator .
202-224-5922
X 713-653-3456
• Fax: 202-224-0776
X Faxi 713-209-3459
X hutchison.senate.
— gov/e-mail.htm
X John Cornyn,
Stator
Vote for Farmer
West Chambers County. Precinct .3, is
encountering a political race for County
Commissioner that will end in one of
. three scenarios. The end result is up to
the voters. I believe it is very important
at this time to take a look at the personal
characteristics of each candidate: I would
like to make known a few traits of one of
the candidates with which I am acquaint-
ed. Here are a few things I know about
Jim Farmer:
He is a man with many remarkable
qualities. He is a man of amazing integri-
ty who has admirable characteristics. He
1 is a man of solid family values who loves
his family with everything in him.
He is a man with an incredible work:
ethic who does everything with all his
might.
He is running for Chambers County
Commissioner, Precinct 3.
He is my hero!
I , You and your family will benefit if he
becomes the next Chambers County
Commissioner for Precinct 3.
I encourage you to go to the polls on
March 7 and elect Jim Farmer. In doing
so, you will be doing Chambers County
an enormous favor.
I am qualified to give this information
because I know him as well as anyone ...
' he is my Dad!
Fax: 713-572-3777
cornyn.senate.gov/
contact/index.html
Ted Poe,
Dist. 2 Rep.
866-425-6565
866-447-0242
www.house.gov/
poe
Ron Paul,
Dist. 14 Rep.
202-225-2831
979-230-0000
www.house.gov/
paul
Gene Green,
Dist. 29 Rep.
202-225-1688
713-330-0761
www.house.gov/
green. t;
Wednesday, Maich 1,2006
I Te think using tax dollars to sup-
I N Port Bayou BowI aB’star
L ▼ football game is a solid invest-
I ment that will payoff in the future. The
I amount of city .support given so far -
I $25,000 - has proven that.
I This year, Bayou Bowl organizers are
I seeking $55,000, an increase of $30,000
I from last year’s allotment.
I In the three years that the Texas-
I Louisiana high school match-up has been
I play'ed, it has grown in popularity and in
I its economic impact to Baytown, now
r , bringing in.nearly half a million dollars
annually.
Furthermore, not only*"does the game
provide an economic boost, it also benefits
the Shriners Hospitals for Children
($29,000 last year), which offers free care
b to children with burns and orthopedic con-
genital deformities. »
By now, the Bayou Bowl should be a •
source of pride for all Baytonians. We
should be thankful because it helps
Baytown’s economy and reputation.
The economic benefit is a given: visitors
come to town, shop in our stores, eat at
our restaurants and stay in our hotels. The
money they spend comes back to-the city
as sales tax revenue. The game’s effect on
' Baytown’s image grows each year. Players,
coaches and families from both sides are
awed by the sheer scope of the event, and
carry that news back home-. The televised
game also is an excellent opportunity to
..showcase our community to others from .
around Houston and Louisiana.
To that end, we hope City Council grants
the $55,000 allocation sought by the
Bayou Bowl committee.
Considering the city spent more than
$160,000 on last year’s Long Neck festi-
val, we think the Bayou Bowl committee’s
modest request should be quickly
approved, if not enhanced.
The request is twofold. The first part is, uit puiui ui v ui o 1VV.
for $45,000 to make the city a full sponsor An Al January press release on the matter
for the game. In return, the city receives a proclaimed: “Amnesty International calls
minimum of 10, 30-second television com- “ • ■ < - 1 “• J
mercials, and other promotional opportuni-
ties during the game — carried live by Fox
Sports Southwest. The game is also tele-
. vised multiple times over a five-state area
- and reaches 8 million viewers.
The second part of the funding request is
for $10,000 to pay for administrative costs.
Basically, organizers need someone to run
this operation that-has outgrown the time
available from volunteers.
The bottom line: There is only one
Bayou Bowl and it is played in Baytown.
The city has an opportunity to keep “that
tradition aljve and thriving at ,a reasonable
cost.
City Council must not fumble this
opportunity away.
Editorial written by David-Bloom,
managing editor of The Baytown Sun, on
behalf of the newspaper’s editorial board.
International Women’s Day this year
should be Save Nazanin Day. It’s not >only -r—
this one young woman’s life who miiht be boy.
saved, but countless unknowns in similar A*
situations.
It’s a hard position for the United
IkTnta/<*«<<■ T'IazJ T if* nn u
tion whose secretary-general continues to
nacc tk* KimV nn imrAcfirratmnC intn itc r#*1
Marching for women’s lives
March 8 marks what the United Nations
designates “International Women’s Day.”
I’ll be thinking about an 18-year-old Iranian
girl named Nazanin that day. Instead of let-
ting activists waste the day denouncing
George W. Bush and other protectors of
human rights and freedom, the United
Nations ought to use its bullhorn to insist ■
that Nazanin become a household name.
Nazanin and her 16-year-old niece were
about to be raped last year when the older
girl stabbed two of their three attackers,
killing one. ,
Nazanin reportedly told a criminal court untold numbers of Muslim women who
that “I wanted to defend myself and my abort their pregnancies, dump their babies
niece. I did not want to kill that boy. At the in rubbish piles or secretly abandon their'
heat of the moment I did not know what to children so they don’t face the conse-
do because no one came to our help.” But quences of having a child out of wedlock.”
she was sentenced to death earlier this year Nomani conceived a child out of wedlock
for her crime. Her (insane) sentence is sub- while working as a reporter in Pakistan —
ject to higher court review. - premarital sex is a crime of 100 lashes
r>„.. ,i.:_ —x. there; but as a West Virginian, she was
spared the whip, coming home to have her
hoy. ;
Ata time when the world is onfire — lit-
situations. erally when you look at, say, the Danish
It’s a hard position for the United embassy in Syria burned down by protest-
Nations. The United Nations is an institu- ers, for instance, over lame cartoons of the
tic;; chccc ccctctazy gcc.ctc! ccr.tir.ccc to Prophet Mohammed published in a Danish
pass the buck on investigations into its rela- newspaper and now around the world —
tionship with former Iraqi dictator Saddam rallying to^lazanin’s cause represents more
Hussein, and a group that has a “human than saving one woman’s life. Shedding a
rights” watchdog commission that laugh- much-needed light on inhumane sharia pun-
ably includes the likes of Sudan, Cuba, ishments and so-called honor "killings would
China and Saudi Arabia. And the United be an important step in calling Islamic
Nations isn’t nudged in the right direction regimes to account for their wrongdoing
. . t . .•.-«■ ■. ___1________ __ J___1___x_ Ik K______ xl______
' 7 . . .
the point of outrage in Nazanin’s Sentence. over to reclaim their religion.
proclaimed: “Amnesty International calls feminists. On International Women’s Day,
for end to death penalty for child offend- ctona M.wiim
ers.” Offender? The girl killed a man in
self-defense while being assaulted. She was
not the criminal here.
And the next question Amnesty
International should have asked while con-
had not killed the attacker? Would she have out the smelling salts and get an army of
1------■ ------- *«-■-feminists and human-rights groups occupy-
ing a room at the United Nations to use
their public voices to fight for those who
can’t. I’ll never see eye to eye with some of
these folks on the whole of their agendas
(so long as feminists insist protecting the
their bill of goods is fatally tainted), but
where we can stand together — basic
human rights for even women — we
a r should. I’d like Nazanin to one day be
who broke into a home allegedly for a bur- thankful that we rallied to save her life.
Kathryn Lopez is the editor of National Review
Online (www.nationalreview.com). She can be
contacted at klopez@nationalreview.com.
Laci (Farmer) Moore
Ingleside, Texas
Hypocrisy stinks
The president of San Jacinto’s Hospital
justifies allowing a psychiatric smoking
room by saying"... they are under a lot
of stress...” and pointing out that its
door generally stays shut.
Many bar patrons are also under
stress and would be quite happy to have
a separate room or a bar that was .
declared a “smoking facility”. Why is it
that conditions satisfactory for a hospi-
tal are suddenly too deadly to be accept-
ed in a comer bar?
If a bar violated this law they’d be
closed. Is the Health Department about
to close San Jacinto’s? Of course not:
the laws for the common people are
enforced differently than for the Lords.
The doctor’s decision acknowledges that
the “deadly threat” of wisps of smoke
isn’t quite the monster portrayed to the
media in justifying smoking bans.
The hypocrisy stinks almost as much
as the lies these laws are based on.
I — Michael J. McFaddei
www.AntiBrains.con
MEJ she was charged with adul-
Hl lery; she testified that she
been rape<*- A court
Igl " B ordered her stoned her to
zOI death, but she was ultimate-
ly allowed to live on appeal.
(■L Still, asAsra Nomani,
author of “Standing Alone
KATHRYN in Mecca: An American
■ Woman’s Struggle for the
LOPEZ Soul of Islam”
(HarperSan Francisco.
2005) has written, “every day there are
iintnlrl nnmtarc n£A4iic1im u/nmpn :
abort their pregnancies, dump their babies
children so they don’t face the conse-
feminists and human-rights groups occupy-
ing a room at the United Nations to use
their public voices to fight for those who
these folks on the whole of their agenda
might expect, such witnesses do not often t right to destroy an unborn life is sacred,
—j ^ues_ ’ their bill of goods is fatally tainted),k,,t
tions-—politically incorrect, but vitally -----—
important questions — Amnesty outra-
geously puts Nazanin in league with a teen
glary, but wound up a convicted" murderer.
In 2003, a Nigerian woman named Amina
Lawai’s life was spared, most likely because
Westerners were paying attention. Divorced,
rights” watchdog commission that laugh-
China and Saudi Arabia. And the United
F
when Amnesty International seems to miss and encourage moderate Muslims the world
—.-_x over to reclaim their religion.
This should be a top priority for Western
- t_x---rx...
they should stand with moderate Muslim
women and women like Amina Lawai and
call for an end to the terrorizing of women
like her and Nazanin. And all those women
whose names we’ll never know.
......_____ Instead of naive hysterics about wage
demning the sentence was: What if Nazanin gaps and Gitmo, someone ought to break
been punished for rape in their sharia
i ' court? (Rape often translates into “adul-
i tery” as far as their sharia court is con-
cerned, often requiring multiple male
Muslim witnesses to the crime for it to be
considered a legitimate rape case. As you
jA.-lA ...... -----
materialize.) Instead of asking tough qi
important questions — Amnesty outra-
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Cash, Wanda Garner. The Baytown Sun (Baytown, Tex.), Vol. 85, No. 82, Ed. 1 Wednesday, March 1, 2006, newspaper, March 1, 2006; Baytown, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1191986/m1/4/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Sterling Municipal Library.