The Big Lake Wildcat (Big Lake, Tex.), Vol. SEVENTIETH YEAR, No. 13, Ed. 1 Thursday, March 30, 1995 Page: 2 of 14
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March 30,1995
HIGHLIGHTS
By Lyndel! Williams & Ed Sterllnc
TEXAS PRESS ASSOCIATION
AUSTIN — The Texas House
has approved a bill that would
slapjuvenilc offenders with tougher
sentences, build more detention
facilities for them and lower from
18 to 16 the age at which a court
could transfer an offender to the
adult prison system.
A similar bill is up for Senate
consideration this week.
Rep. Toby Goodman, R-Arling-
ton, said his bill, which passed
118-24, “emphasizes protection of
the public and public safety."
In a Houston Chronicle report,
he said arrests of juveniles in Texas
increased 43 percent and homicides
involving juveniles tripled from
1985 to 1993.
After the House approved the
measure, Gov. George W. Bush,
said, “I’m very happy. 1 think it's
a good bill." Bush advocated many
of the provisions of the bill during
his election campaign.
If the bill passes die Senate, the
age at which juveniles can be tried
as adults would be lowered from 15
to 14; more than a dozen felonies
would be added to the determinate
sentencing list carrying terms of
10 to 40 years; and minimum
periods would be set for time
served before an offender could be
paroled without court approval.
The bill also would:
■ Establish guidelines for local
juvenile boards and judges to apply
to offenders;
■ Allow fingerprinting and pho-
tographing of juveniles accused ot
a felony or a misdemeanor punish-
able by a jail term; and
■ Establish a statewide computer
database for the juvenile justice
system for use by law enforcement
agencies.
The bill would require $14.8
million in tax-backed bond pro-
ceeds to expand the Texas Youth
Commission capacity by 1,448 dur-
ing the 1996-97 budget period.
Senate Flushes Casino Issue
A proposed constitutional amend
ment to legalize gambling casinos
in Texas died last Monday in the
Senate State Affairs Committee,
which voted 8-4 against it after Lt.
Gov. Bob Bullock said casino lob-
byists “betrayed" him.
The vote stopped further consid-
eration of the issue in the current
legislative session. Had it passed
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on a two-thirds vote of the Sen-
ate and House, Texas voters would
have seen the proposed amendment
on a statewide ballot this fall.
Casino companies reportedly bud
geted about $1 million to pay lob-
byists this session.
The lobtyists were able to set
a hearing on a casino gaming bill
ty Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston,
against Bullock’s wishes.
Bullock said he told the lobbyists
to first make sure they had enough
votes to pass the measure before
they “wasted" the Senate’s time
with a committee hearing.
Two days after the committee
voted down Ellis’s bill, 15 sena-
tors united to rebuke casino lobby-
ist Lloyd Criss, a former state rep-
resentative from l.a Marque. Criss
raised ire when he asked whether
Bullock got the committee to kill
the bill because his parliamentar-
ian, Bob Johnson, has sons who arc
part-owners of the Gulf Greyhound
Park. Johnson’s sons also are dog
track lobbyists and oppose casino
gambling.
ftilygraph Bill Moves
The Senate unanimously ap-
proved a bill sponsored ly Sen.
Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, that
would bar courts from dropping a
case because a rape victim refuses
to submit to a lie detector test.
Three similar bills have been
approved by the Senate, but each
died in the House Calendars
Committee.
Because the bill is being sent to
the House earlier than in past leg-
islative sessions, Zaffirini said, it
stands a better chance of succeed-
ing, coupled with the fact that Rep.
Debra Danburg, D-Houston. lias
sponsored a companion bill.
In 1989, another such bill by
Zaffirini was approved, but then-
Gov, Bill Clements vetoed it when
some police officers objected to
wording in the bill.
A&M - UT Swap Han (.hills
Meanwhile, Zafftrini’s plan to
place Laredo's Texas A&M Inter-
national University under the Uni-
versity of Texas system, which the
Senate approved two weeks ago, ap-
parently is in for a bumpy ride as
it moves to the House.
Zaffirini contends that putting
the university under the UT sys-
tem would enhance the study of
border health issues, but Sen. Jeff
Wentworth, R:San Antonio, said,
“It doesn’t ring true.”
And Texas A&M Chancellor
Barry Thompson promised to fight
the bill in the House, calling it
“poor public policy."
The Houston Chronicle reported
that a tense relationship between
Zaffirini and TAMIU President
Leo Sayavedra may be at the heart
of the matter.
Opponents say changing control
of the campus from A&M to the
UT system would cost as much
as $5 million; proponents say
$250,000 or less.
Thank You For Reading
The Big Lake Wildcat
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£&» Wilkal
Established In 1925
USPS Publication Number 055-860
Published every Thursday by the Big Lake Wildcat, Inc
in Big Lake, the County Seal of Reagan County. Texas at
309 2nd Street, Big Lake, Texas 76932.
David Werst............................. Editor
J. L. Werst, Jr..........................Publisher
Alicia Werst Leticia Leija
Marla Daugherty Irene Miller
K»TUASTER:t«i4 VMM dungM to
TW BW CAM WICOCAT. P.tt Bo* »♦«.
S>g Uto. T**M non. tmwd M Me-
an* UMe mm Jmum t IW* a •»
Peel QMee ki Mg U*». Teue wider 4>»
Art rt Ceogreee rt Mere* i, ««.
tuovlfrfon Ratn Big Uke «d»Meet
11 ISO per yen. Oulel «e«n tuw
iMmmi III JO per yee». Out el
•lea *ddrMMe UOM pet year.
Subecripgone we paytfM m *d wvee.
915/884-2215
Publisher is not responsible for copy omissions,
typographical errors or any other unintentional errors that
may occur further than to make correction in next issue
after it « brought to his attention. Publisher reserves
the right to cancel any advertisement at any time.
Member of the Texas Press Association
The West Texas Press Association
and the WesTex Advantage group
Letter to the
editor
You may write to the editor at
Box 946. Big Lake, TX 76932
O
Letter to the editor
Dear Editor
As a group of parents, we arc
concerned about the emphasis
placed on state testing. Through no
fault of school districts or teachers,
the Texas Education Agency con-
tinues to require higher and higher
lest scores on Texas Assessment of
Academic Skills. The TAAS is a
standardized test required of certain
grade level students. We understand
TEA wants this test for school ac-
countability. We feel it has lost its
direction and its focus.
Our positions arc as follows:
1. We support the Texas PTA
legislative position opposing per-
formance-based funding. Monetary
rewards presented to schools cause
stress on administration, staff and
students.
2. We oppose pcnallics/rcpri-
mands given to schools which do
Bluegrass Festival
Continued from page 1
people" they will even make up a
language.
Whitener is a graduate of the
University of Dallas with a B.A. in
Drama and a minor in Psychology.
He attended the University of Wyo-
ming Law School and sludicdClini-
cal Hypnosis at Baylor College of
Medicine. He was a college instruc-
tor for six years.
Whitener is a recognized leader
in the Science of Personal Develop-
ment and has written and recorded
over 70 audio cassette training pro-
grams. He has trained astronauts,
professional athletes, educators,
doctors, lawyers, and law enforce-
ment officers.
not meet required academic levels.
Various reasons affect school
achievement, i.c. - at-risk programs,
economically disadvantaged, ESL,
migrant, etc.
3. Use TAAS as a diagnostic/
assessment tool only. With testing,
educators measure a student's
strengths and weaknesses, and ad-
just instruction accordingly.
The emphasis seems to be on a
student's score rather than his edu-
cation. We have received reports of
students with passing level grades
being required to take tutoring to
improve their TAAS scores. Tests
arc not always the measure of
someone's achievements or intelli-
gence.
The TAAS puts unnecessary
stress on children and teachers.
Many people give experiences of
children with stomach aches, head-
aches, unlimited crying and vomit-
ing during the week of TAAS.
Teachers feel the stress of high class
achievement as TAAS approaches
and frequently, because of outside
pressures, TAAS time dominates
the daily curriculum.
According to the TEA, if a child
fails one or more portions of the
three-part TAAS test, he is identi-
fied as an at-risk student and charac -
terized as one who frequently docs
not graduate from high school. Edu-
cators and parents know some chil-
dren arc not test takers. Pressure and
anxiety to tests frequently prohibit a
passing score. Teachers and princi-
pals know their students belter than
TEA, who do not seem to be allow-
ing the schools to use their discre-
tion in this matter. Control should
not be applied by TEA but by local
districts.
Time spent preparing our chil-
dren for the TAAS test could be
belter utilized by developing a wide
range of educational experiences
and activities. Many staff develop-
ment, inservice-training and site-
based committees are focused on
TAAS score improvement, not nec-
essarily better leaching. Teachers
have children in classrooms who arc "J
on different levels of learning. All
children cannot be expected to
achieve a given percentage on a
standardized test for various rea-
sons unique to each individual.
Imagine how frustrating this is to
our dedicated teachers.
We plan to challenge concerned
citizens that care about education to
write their legislators and/or the
TEA to implement positive change.
Sincerely,
Brownfield Oak Grove
Elementary PTA
503 E. Broadway
Brownfield, TX 79316
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Werst, David. The Big Lake Wildcat (Big Lake, Tex.), Vol. SEVENTIETH YEAR, No. 13, Ed. 1 Thursday, March 30, 1995, newspaper, March 30, 1995; Big Lake, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth739666/m1/2/: accessed June 24, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Reagan County Library.