Burleson Star (Burleson, Tex.), Vol. 28, No. 104, Ed. 1 Monday, October 11, 1993 Page: 4 of 10
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4-Burleson Star. Monday. October 11.1993
\
Letter to the Editor
Building new state prison is not answer
In November, taxpayers in
Johnson County will be asked to vote
yes or no on a $1 billion bond elec-
tion to build a new prison system in
Texas (Coalition for Proposition 14).
Let me start offby saying that I
believe building a new prison is not
the answer to our problems. I look
at prison being like a restaurant. If
the food is good you keep coming
back, but if the food is bad you stop
coming We need to make prison a
place w here people do not want to
go
It has gotten to the point where
the prisoner has more rights than
you or I. Constant temperature, TV,
recreation time, three meals per day,
and no work. Could you imagine
the labor force we would have if we
could get 40 hours per week out of
these prisoners! We would not only
have the cleanest roads in the slate,
but many of these people would ac-
tually be working for the first time
in their lives. Somewhere along the
line we have gotten our rights and
privileges confused.
Consider how many new gov-
ernment jobs this $1 billion jail will
create. If it is anythiflfjj*fike the
Johnson County jail, there are 71
employees watching 288 prisoners,
that is one employee for evety 4.06
prisoners (check with your local
school for the student to teacher ra-
tio — 16 to 1 is the average in
Johnson County).
The new prison facility will con-
sist of 33,000 beds and using our
4.06 to one ratio would mean 8,128
■Mother knew she had leukemia
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
pneumonia brought on by ALL. Ash-
ley was profiled in two stories in the
Burleson Star in 1992. Lori's brother
was also checked for leukemia when
they were growing up but the results
were negative.
Rachel was hospitalized for six
days in 1991 while the possible causes
ranged from a sinus infection to
Crohn's disease. Meanwhile, she was
getting dark circles under her eyes,
her gums were turning white, and she
was pale. Rachel had some bone pain
a few months earlier but it had gone
away. After undergoing a battery of
tests, Rachel was sent home. The
next weekend, the bone pain returned.
"You couldn't pick her up with-
out her screaming. I looked at my
husband and I said. This is leukemia.
I don't care what anybody says, itis.'"
Rachel was diagnosed with ALL
April 29,1991.
"MY LIFE FELL TO pieces
but hers didn't," Lori said of her
daughter. "They said she wouldn't go
back to school, but she did."
Rachel is in TAG (talented and
gifted) classes at Norwood.
After a month of intensive che-
motherapy, Rachel was in remission
as of May 29,1991.
"Rachel is a very rare patient.
She has never had to go back into the
hospital since that first time. That's a
real rarity. If their fever goes above
101 degrees and their blood counts
are low, they will generally pop them
right in the hospital. She's had fevers
of 103 and low blood counts and
when we take her to the emergency
room, they say, 'No, Rachel's tough.
' Take her home Mom.' That's hap-
pened twice. The next day or so, she's
fine."
Rachel missed 45 days of school
in the first grade, 20 in the second
grade, and none so far this year. Her
second grade teacher had high praise
for her.
"It was such a joy to have Rachel
in my class," Lisa McCulloch, said.
"She didn't expect any special treat-
ment and she never complained or
tried to take advantage of her condi-
tion at school. Being the epitome of
bravery that she is, she is truly an
inspiration to both children and
adults."
Pat Morelock, Rachel's TAG
teacher in first and second grades,
agreed.
"What impresed me so much
about Rachel was that she seemed to
handle her cancer better than every-
one else. She didn't give up but
instead she accepted the physical and
the academic challenges she encoun-
tered."
Rachel's mother says the 8 year
old has had a great attitude through-
out
"She was in kindergarten when
she was diagnosed and didn't really
know how to spell. One day I was
sitting there crying because I had just
lost both iny parents too (her mother
died in 1^88 and her father died eight
months later in 1989) and she was
asking me how to spell all these words.
I wasn't paying any attention to what
she was writing," Lisa said. "Then
she brings me this letter and it says,
'Mama, please don't cry. I'm notgoing
to die.'"
She sported fashionable hats
when her hair eventually started to
fall out.
"When I first met Rachel she
wore a hat to match every ensemble
because she had lost all her hair,"
Morelock said.
Those hats are now stored away.
"We thoughtaboutkeeping them,
thinking, 'What if she loses her hair
again?' but we said, 'Nope, we're not
going to think that way."'
Lori and Michael meet a lot of
parents at Cook-Fort Worth Chil-
dren's Medical Center who have just
found out their child has leukemia.
Lori had some advice for those who
want to help her family and others in
the same situation.
"Find those friends who make
The Burleson Star’s letter
to the editor policy
The Burleson Star welcomes letters to the editor on Subjects of
interest to its readers. There is no length restriction on letters,
although shorter ones have a better chance of being printed first
due to the space requirement, , ' ;;x
Letters to the editor are printed as space is available. Getting
a letter in by the deadline does not ensure that it will be in the nett
issue. All letters must bear the handwritten signature of the writer
and include the address and phone number (daytime phone num-
ber please) for verification purposes (address and phone number
will not be printed).
Names are printed with each letter. Names are withheld only
in extreme casesphysical harm to the Writer, loss of life, loss of job)
because a signed letter carries more weight w*th the readers. Even
in cases where the paper decides to withhold the name, the letter
must be signed. Unsigned letters are never printed.
The letters do not necessarily reflect the editorial policies or
beliefs of the Burleson Star. The Burleson Star prints on Monday
and Thursday. Monday deadlines ar- Thursday at S p.m. and
Thursday deadlines are Tuesday at 5 ;..m.
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you feel good and stay away from the
ones who don't. People try so hard to
be helpful and they try to say things
and sometimes it's best just to be
quiet," Lori said. "Don't tell a person
not to worry and don't constantly re-
mind them of how well she's doing.
Just let them talk and get it out."
Rachel's mother said many on
the outside thought she was doing
great in helping Rachel and trying to
keep everything on an even keel.
"I would like to be able to sit here
and say, 'Oh, it was a piece of cake
and I was always strong,' because
most people on the outside looking in
say, 'Oh, how did you do this?' That
was one of the things that always
ticked me off,” Lori said. "They say,
'I couldn't have done it.' I know they
meant to compliment me, but you
almostfeel like saying, "Hey,I wasn't
asked.' Nobody said 'Raise your hand
if you think you can do this."'
But rightnow, the family is trying
not to think about all that. They're
just looking forward to Oct. 25 when
they have the best reason of all to
celebrate—life.
—No charge for
rest of the month
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
tract (three months) for only $5 per
week.
Those who sign up this month
will get the remainder of October at
no charge. The billing will be set up
to begin Nov. 1.
To talk to an advertising repre-
sentative about being included on the
Talking Newspaper line, call 295-
0486 and talk to Smith, Chris Akey,
or Jim Pfeiffer.
"Users of this service in other
communities have been very ingen-
ious in their applications," said Smith.
"I anticipate that Burleson area users
will have the same type of imagina-
tion for finding even more uses for
the Talking Newspaper."
new government jobs. Let's say the
average jailer makes $19,000 per
year. This amount would be payroll
only, it does not include food or
TVs, not to mention the $1 billion
bond that will be paid out over 20
years. If you add the bond payment
(not including interest) to the sala-
ries the amount would add up to
$6,194 per year, per prisoner. In
comparison, we spend $4,186 per
child in Johnson County for educa-
tion. In other words, we spend
$2,008 per year more to house one
prisoner than we do to educate one
child. The numbers reveal where the
state puts its priorities.
My solution to the problem with
our prisons is to send the prisoners
to the Texas Department of Correc-
tions, even if there is not enough
room. I personally do not care if they
have to sleep 10 to a cell, that is not
a problem. These people commit-
ted the crimes, had fair trials, and
should be the ones to suffer, not you
and I. They should have to work 40
hours a week. They should serve
their entire sentence, not 25 percent,
or 50 percent, but 100 percent. I do
not see why a simple system can not
be implemented.
During the last legislative ses-
sion, it was passed that aggravated
offenders will serve 50 percent of
their sentences before becoming eli-
gible for parole and those sentenced
to prison for non-aggravated offenses
will serve, on average. 35 percent of
their sentence. It is a joke that you
and I spend $20,000 to $30,000 to
get these people in jail and they stay
only a few months and are released
to commit the same if not worse
crimes. Cpt. Brown of the Johnson
County Law Enforcement Center
projects that 40 percent of all pris-
oners at JCLEC are repeat offenders
and probably 50 percent or more are
repeat offenders in TDC. I do not
have a problem with building new
jails, however, they need to be more
effective!
You may feel the lack of fund-
ing is the cause for the present state
jail system problem and that more
money would solve the problem. Just
look at the dollar amount spent in
the past. In 1987, we spent $400
million. In 1989. $500 million and
in 1991, $1.1 billion. In the past
seven years we have spent $2 billion
on state prisons.
In my opinion, it is not the right
time to build new restaurants, we
only need to change the menu.
-TVoy Thompson,
Johnson County commissioner
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Ellertson, Sally. Burleson Star (Burleson, Tex.), Vol. 28, No. 104, Ed. 1 Monday, October 11, 1993, newspaper, October 11, 1993; Burleson, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth762120/m1/4/: accessed April 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Burleson Public Library.