The Gilmer Mirror (Gilmer, Tex.), Vol. 135, No. 89, Ed. 1 Wednesday, November 7, 2012 Page: 4 of 12
This newspaper is part of the collection entitled: The Gilmer Mirror and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the Upshur County Library.
- Highlighting
- Highlighting On/Off
- Color:
- Adjust Image
- Rotate Left
- Rotate Right
- Brightness, Contrast, etc. (Experimental)
- Cropping Tool
- Download Sizes
- Preview all sizes/dimensions or...
- Download Thumbnail
- Download Small
- Download Medium
- Download Large
- High Resolution Files
- IIIF Image JSON
- IIIF Image URL
- Accessibility
- View Extracted Text
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
Page 4A — The Gilmer Mirror, Gilmer, Texas November 7,2012
‘Black gold, Texas tea’
The oil and gas industry continues to produce
The Railroad Commission of Texas reports that the
state’s average rig count as of October 2012 was 867, rep-
resenting about 49 percent of all active land rigs in the
United States. In the last 12 months, total Texas reported
production was 486 million barrels of oil and 7.2 trillion
cubic feet of natural gas.
The Commission’s estimated final production for Au-
gust 2012 is 50,378,711 barrels of crude oil and 537,924,295
Mcf (thousand cubic feet) of gas well gas.
The Commission derives final production numbers
by multiplying the preliminary August 2012 production
totals of 41,604,353 barrels of crude oil and 455,520,616
Mcf of gas well gas by a production adjustment factor
of 1.2109 for crude oil and 1.1809 for gas well gas. (These
production totals do not include casinghead gas or con-
densate.)
Texas natural gas storage reported to the Commis-
sion for September 2012 was 424,283,340 Mcf, compared to
385,102,434 Mcf in September 2011.
It wasn’t that long ago that Texas’ production of crude
oil had fallen below a million barrels a day. Now it is ap-
proaching 1.3 million barrels per day, due to technologi-
cal advancements in the drilling industry.
Natural gas is being found at such a phenomenal rate
that the major problem is the price is now too LOW.
We are blessed to live in this state, and not because of
anything we have done ourselves. The oil and gas was
always here to be found. A huge part of the history of
Texas has involved the people in the oilfield who have
brought it to the surface and continue to do so.
Texas tries to make
COLLEGE LESS EXPENSIVE
By THOMAS LINDSAY, PH.D.
THE EYE S of Texas are upon university reform once again,
and soon the rest of the country may be singing the song of
our second-largest state.
Last month, Governor Rick Perry announced his education
initiatives for the upcoming legislative session. He called for a
4-year tuition freeze, outcome-based funding for institutions,
and increased fiscal transparency for students
and their parents. Most important, he threw
down the gauntlet by renewing his challenge
for public colleges and universities to create
more $10,000 bachelor’s degree programs.
Of all the governor’s proposed reforms, the
$10,000 bachelor’s degree has by far the most
revolutionary implications, for Texas and, if
successful, America.
In his 2011 State of the State address, the
governor challenged public higher education to develop de-
grees costing no more than $10,000. The call was not issued in
a vacuum. Today, total student-loan debt has risen to roughly
$1 trillion dollars—an amount necessary to keep up with
tuitions that, nationally, have risen 440 percent in the last 25
years. This rate of increase is twice that of health-care costs.
In Texas, average tuition at public colleges and universities
has increased an average of five percent per year since 1994.
These historic spikes in cost and debt have not gone un-
noticed by those paying the bills. A recent national study
conducted by the Pew Research Center finds that 57 percent
of prospective students believe that a college degree is no
longer worth the cost. Seventy-five percent of respondents
in the survey deem college unaffordable. In December 2010,
the Texas Public Policy Foundation commissioned a poll
that found that 80 percent of Texans think their colleges and
universities can be run more efficiently. This growing public
alarm is sparking changes in behavior. A recent Sallie Mae
study finds that more families are making their decisions
about college based on the cost they can afford to pay. For
the last two years, the amount families are choosing to pay
for college has fallen.
But while students and parents welcomed the governor’s
$10,000 degree initiative as a good deed done, it has not gone
unpunished by some in the higher-education establishment.
The initial criticism when the challenge was issued was that
the goal was impossible. After all, at the time, the average
Texas public institution’s tuition stood at roughly $27,000, and
the prediction was that it would only go higher.
BUT A YEAR after the governor first issued his challenge,
10 Texas public colleges and universities have launched or
announced $10,000 degree programs. This has not quieted
the critics. Quite the contrary. Now that the feasibility of
these programs has begun to be established, the rejoinder
has become, “You get what you pay for.”
This critique is unlikely to play in Peoria—or Houston, for
that matter. The polling data strongly indicates that the pub-
lic does not agree that it is getting what it pays for in higher
education—this is in fact the very problem that the $10,000
degree attempts to address.
The public’s perception is supported not only by the data on
tuition increases and student-loan debt, but also by last year’s
landmark national study of collegiate learning, Academically
Adrift. Adrift employed the Collegiate Learning Assessment
to measure what undergraduates actually learn during four
years of college. Of students surveyed nationally, 36 percent
showed “small or empirically non-existent” gains in “general
collegiate skills”—critical thinking, analytical reasoning and
writing skills—after four years in college.
What accounts for such a low return on investment for so
many students and their families? A 2010 study finds that the
average student at a 4-year college in 1961 studied about 24
hours a week. Today’s average student hits the books for only
14 hours. Worse, the decline in study hours has not resulted
in lower grades. Just the opposite. A study by Rojstaczer and
Healy shows that the proportion of A grades awarded has
risen dramatically. Today, roughly 43 percent of all letter
grades given are A’s, “an increase of 28 percentage points
since 1960, ” whereas “only about 10 percent of grades awarded
are D’s and F’s.”
These statistics suggest that American higher education is
going the way of Garrison Keillor’s fictional “Lake Wobegon...
where all the children are above average.” The statistics also
suggest to reformers that the intended rejoinder offered by
the $10,000 degrees’ critics—that “you get what you pay for”—
needs to be stood on its head. College students are studying
less, yet receiving higher grades. At the same time, they are
burdened with massive debt to fund an education in which 36
percent of them will learn little to nothing. The $10,000 degree’s
defenders ask whether evidence of a system-wide breakdown
could be painted in starker hues. They argue that the threat
to American higher education is double-edged: while the cost
of college skyrockets, quality is plummeting.
This is why the momentum behind the $10,000 degree
initiative appears likely to grow irresistible. Until now, the
debate over runaway tuitions has produced calls to action on
See LINDSAY, Page 5A
Courtesy Photo / AfroTexan.com
HERE IS a portrait of Robert
Cooke Buckner. In 1900 Buckner
was part of a group of prominent
Baptists, both black and white,
who founded the Dickson Col-
ored Orphanage in Gilmer, Up-
shur County. Buckner served as
president of the board of that
home from 1900 to 1905 and
continued as a member of the
board for several years thereaf-
ter. In addition to his activities
on behalf of orphans, Buckner
was president of the Baptist
General Association of Texas for
20 years and helped in founding
Texas Baptist Memorial Sani-
tarium (now Baylor University
Medical Center), which he
served from 1904 to 1907 as
president of the board. He was
a trustee of Baylor University, a
member of the National Prison
Congress, and frequently a
delegatetothe national Conven-
tion for Charities and Correc-
tions. He was an enthusiastic
Mason and a member of Hella
Temple of the Shrine. “Father”
Buckner, as he was called by
thousands young and old, died
in Dallas on April 9, 1919, and
was buried in Grove Hill Cem-
etery.
Sideglances in The Mirror
By SARAH GREENE
MANY YEARS ago, I
found myself in New York
City with a free day. Probably
because I had heard it only
cost a dime, I took the ferry to
Staten Island, looked around
for a while,
then boarded
the ferry for
the return to
Manhattan.
In the in-
tervening
years I hadn’t
given much
thought to Staten Island
until it turned up repeatedly
on television news reports
because of the direct hit it
suffered when Hurricane
Sandy moved in on it.
I turned to the worldwide
web to check out the ferry
service, among other things.
I figured that the ferry fare
had risen exponentially,
like so many fees in recent
years. I was amazed at what
I found.
TURNS OUT that the
ferry is now free.
It seems that New York
City has operated the Staten
Island Ferry since 1905. It
carries more than 21 mil-
lion passengers on 35,000
trips annually on a 5.2-mile
run between the St. George
Terminal on Staten Island
and the Whitehall Terminal
in Lower Manhattan.
The Ferry runs 24 hours
a day, 365 days a year, and
it is the most reliable form
of mass transit, with an on-
time performance of more
than 96 percent. It carries no
vehicles, these being routed
over the Verrazano-Nar-
rows Bridge, constructed
in 1964.
The Ferry is operated
for one practical reason: To
transport Staten Islanders
to and from Manhattan.
But the 25-minute ride also
provides a majestic view of
New York Harbor.
FROM THE DECK, pas-
sengers see the Statue of
Liberty on its 14-acre Lib-
erty Island and Ellis Island,
the onetime “open door” to
so many thousands of im-
migrants.
The Verrazano-Narrows
Bridge is a double-decked
suspension bridge that con-
nects the boroughs of Staten
Island and Brooklyn at the
Narrows, the body of water
connecting the relatively
protected upper bay with
the larger lower bay.
The bridge is named for
the Italian explorer Gio-
vanni da Verrazzano, the
first known European navi-
gator in the service of the
French crown to enter New
York Harbor and the Hudson
River. It has a center span
of 4,260 feet, and was the
longest suspension bridge
in the world at the time of
its completion in 1964.
It now has the ninth
longest main span in the
world, and it is still the
longest bridge span in the
Americas. Its massive tow-
ers can be seen throughout
a good part of the New York
metropolitan area.
SINCE 1976, the bridge
has been the starting point
of the New York City Mar-
athon, which had been
scheduled for last Sunday.
As the world knows now,
the Marathon was canceled
by New York City Mayor
Michael Bloomberg after
criticism that this was not
the time for a race while so
many were still suffering
and homeless.
The Verrazano bridge
marks the gateway to New
York Harbor; all cruise ships
and most container ships
arriving at the Port of New
York and New Jersey must
pass under the bridge and
must be built to accommo-
date its clearance.
Many songs have been
written about the five bor-
oughs of New York City. My
favorite is Manhattan, with
music by Richard Rodgers
and lyrics by Lorenz Hart
for the 1925 revue, Garrick
Gaieties. Here are some of
its lines:
We’ll have Manhattan,
The Bronx and Staten
Island too.
It’s lovely going through
The zoo.
It’s very fancy
On old Delancey
Street, you know.
The subway charms us
so
When balmy breezes blow
To and fro. . .
The View from Writers Roost
By WILLIS WEBB
HERE I AM three-quarters
of a century old and if there’s
one thing I’m sure of it’s that
if I fail to be a gentleman in the
presence of a lady (woman),
my mother will rise out of
the grave and
spank me.
Chivalry
and gentle-
manliness
are dying, if
not already
dead and bur-
ied. It came about with the
liberation of women several
decades back. Now, that’s not
to blame women. Certainly
some women used “lib” as an
excuse to be more assertive and
independent, but a great many
men also used it as an excuse
not to act gentlemanly.
I am all for equality of the
sexes. Half a century ago, as a
newspaper editor-publisher, I
hired women and paid them the
same salary as men because
no one told me there were two
wage scales. It seemed to me if
someone did a j ob, then that j ob
had the same requirements,
whether a man or a woman
performed them. Thus, I fig-
ured the pay was for perform-
ing those duties, no matter the
gender of the jobholder.
I can credit that attitude
to my late mother. She would
not have considered herself a
libber. As I’ve expressed many
times, the lib movement caught
me off guard. It’s not that I be-
lieved there should be two pay
scales but I was taught to treat
people equally. If someone per-
formed a certain job, it seemed
that the j ob requirements were
the same whether the position
holder was male or female. So,
the pay should be the same. I’d
always done it that way.
And, while Mother quietly
expressed support for her be-
liefs, she was unaware that
they were much the same as
women’s liberation espoused.
As a matter of fact, I seriously
doubt if she ever gave lib a
thought. Her beliefs were just
based on her sense of fairness.
After all, isn’t that what equal-
ity of the sexes is about? It’s
assuredly what being a gentle-
man is about.
MOTHER WAS also a
staunch believer in men acting
as gentlemen. If questioned on
the matter, she would say that
a few women didn’t deserve
to be treated “like a lady” and
she wasn’t bashful about de-
scribing such an undeserving
female.
And, she didn’t ever com-
ment when I took a job as a
secretary-receptionist.
Say what?
Yep. I had to work to pay
my college expenses. After
two years at Sam Houston
State, and a year working to
earn more tuition money, I
transferred to the University
of Houston and was given a
scholarship and a job. The job
was secretary-receptionist in
the Journalism and Graphic
Arts Department. I could work
where I went to school and
there were enough lulls, I could
study and do homework.
Naturally, that thing of
“certain jobs are for a certain
sex” raised its head.
One morning the depart-
ment phone rang and I an-
swered as I was supposed to
do: “Journalism and Graphic
Arts Department.”
A male voice asked, “May
I speak to Dr. Underwood (de-
partment head)?” I explained
that he was off campus. So,
the voice asked for the next in
command and I revealed he
was teaching a class. So, the
voice went down the entire
pecking order of professors
and instructors. None of them
were available.
THEN, THE caller asked,
“With whom am I speaking?”
“I’m Dr. Underwood’s sec-
retary,” I replied.
“Ho, ho, ho. I didn’t know he
had a male secretary.”
“Well, he @#$%A&! sure
does,” I replied and slammed
the receiver down.
The caller, I later learned,
was the dean of the College
of Arts and Sciences of which
Journalism was a part. The
dean still thought it was funny
and I kept the job.
However, I vowed that I
would not only be a gentleman
to the women, but to men as
well. That would ensure, I
figured, that I would stay com-
pletely out of trouble.
While being a gentleman
doesn’t seem to mean as much
to the male sex today, I believe
it is still the best policy, particu-
larly with women.
So, no it’s not passe to be a
gentleman. And, most women
do love being treated like a lady,
er, uh, woman.
Willis Webb is a retired
community newspaper editor-
publisher of more than 50years
experience. Hecanbereachedby
email at wwebbl937@att.net.
Rear Vision Mirror
TEN YEARS AGO
The Mirror mourned the
loss of reporter and columnist
Jimmy Brown, World War
II and Korean War combat
veteran who died at 82 . . .
Buckeyes shut out Rains in
Emory, 43-0, to clinch play-
off berth . . . Obie A. Baker
Memorial Foundation met
in East Mountain ... Upshur
Rural held annual meeting
here with 337 members of the
cooperative in attendance ...
Lula Johnson was installed as
Kiwanis Club president... NE
Texas Water Planning Group
met here and consensus was
against proposed Marvin
Nichols Reservoir... Total of
5.96 inches of rain fell in Octo-
ber ... Tobie Martin exhibited
champion heifer at State Fair
of Texas Livestock Show . . .
Deaths included Mrs. Thelma
Watson, 94; Elbert Pierson, 77;
Byron Davidson, 29... Rotary
Club honored Malcolm Smith
on his 99th birthday . . . City
Council pondered cost of new
water plant... Keith Pyland,
19, died when he was hit by
a motorist while attempting
to help friends whose vehicle
had broken down near Gregg
County Airport.
TWENTY YEARS AGO
The Meister brothers were
awarded $562,500 each by an
Upshur County jury in their
lawsuit against General Mo-
tors ... Commissioners voted
to post 30 mph speed limit
on Slash Pine Rd. .. . Deaths
included Conly Houston, 98;
Ruby Davis, 84; Lillian Reed, 74
... County gave Bill Clinton 39
percent, George Bush 37 per-
cent and Ross Perot 24 percent
in presidential election... To-
tal number voting was 12,701,
which represented 71 percent
of those registered ... Judge
Charlie Baird, Gilmer native,
won full 6-year term to Court
of Criminal Appeals . . . Pet.
1 Comm. Gaddis Lindsey won
third term by defeating GOP
challenger D.L. “Lonnie” Gad-
dis with 65 percent of vote...
Lance Lenz, lost to incumbent
State Rep. Bob Glaze by nearly
12,000 votes ... Upshur-Rural
returned $875,000 in capital
credits to members... Richelle
Bowers was a freshman at the
University of Evansville in In-
diana ... Social Security card
was being required to renew
driver’s license.
THIRTY YEARS AGO
Unemployment rate in
Upshur County for September
was 23.2 percent, over twice
national rate . . . Leads were
being sought after a nude
baby, with umbilical cord still
attached, was found dead on
side of Goat Road, 12 miles NW
of Gilmer... County Auditor
Keith Barber said his office
had reached the point where
it needed to computerize op-
erations . . . Upshur County
Nature Study Club was orga-
nized at home of Frances M.
Willis... Deaths included Mrs.
Obrera Jenkins; Mrs. Willie
Opal Collier, 72; Norman L.
Shirley, 58; Mrs. Gladys Dacus,
89; Ernest Wells, 83; Chesley
Byron Buie, 84 . . . Paul Han-
neman, 31, was named Upshur
County Asst. D.A.
FORTY YEARS AGO
President Richard Nix-
on carried Upshur County
and the nation by one-sided
margins to win reelection
over Democratic Sen. George
McGovern . . . Gilmer Police
Chief Harper Bland retired
from that post Oct. 31 after
26 years’ service . . . Water
from the Upshur County
Jail’s plumbing flooded the
courthouse... James Turner
purchased Wayne Fennell’s
service station at the corner
of U.S. 271 and Jefferson .
. . Union Ridge Methodist
Church marked the 100th year
since its founding ... Gilmer
beat Pittsburg, 33-14... Ernest
Fink, 66, retired Upshur-Rural
warehouseman, died.
FIFTY YEARS AGO
Cong. Lindley Beckworth
won reelection over Repub-
lican William Steger, Tyler
attorney . . . Gilmer Garden
Club were hostesses for a
meeting of the central zone
of the 3rd Dist. Texas Garden
Club... Upshur County voters
gave better than 2-1 support to
John Connally in his success-
ful race for governor against
Republican Jack Cox... Jack
Taylor was elected president
of the Northeast Texas Mutual
Aid Assn. . . . Gilmer over
Chapel Hill, 16-0.
See REAR VISION, Page 5A
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Matching Search Results
View four places within this issue that match your search.Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
Overton, Mac. The Gilmer Mirror (Gilmer, Tex.), Vol. 135, No. 89, Ed. 1 Wednesday, November 7, 2012, newspaper, November 7, 2012; Gilmer, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth651254/m1/4/?q=Lamar+University: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Upshur County Library.