The Seminole Sentinel (Seminole, Tex.), Vol. 88, No. 82, Ed. 1 Sunday, August 6, 1995 Page: 4 of 12
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PAGE 4, Seminole <Tex*i) Stvnati, Sunday. August 6. 1995
Opinion
Buckle up
by M. Gene Dow, 1
I must admit that I do wear my car seatbelt as
mach as I should. I do always buckle up when
getting an the roud out of town. But statistics show
that most vehicle accidents occm in or within jut
a lew ndes from home
But here's an eye opener ^
which may encourage you. if {3
you are tike me. 10 ilnYI
buckle up. The article appeared
in the Adirondack Advertiser in
New York, submitted by the
Georgia Paramedics Against
Drunk Drivers. Someone
dioppcd it by to us after it was
reprinted in an Abigail Van
Boren column
THE FINAL SECOND
Do you know what happens in die first fatal
second, after a car going 55 miles per hour hits a
solid object?
1. In the first 10th of a second, the front bumper
and grill collapse.
2. The second 10th finds the hood crumbling,
rising and striking the windshield as the spinning
rear wheels lift from the ground. Simultaneously,
fenders begin wrapping themselves around the
solid object. Although the car’s frame has been
halted, the rest of the car IS STILL GOING 55
MILES PER HOUR. Instict causes the driver to
stiffen his legs against the crash, and they snap at
the knee joint.
3. During the third 10th of a second, the steering
wheel starts to disentergrate and the steering
column aims for the driver's chest
4. The fourth 10th of the second finds two feci
of the car's front end wrecked, while the rear end
still moves, at 35 miles per hour. The driver’s body
is still traveling at 55 miles per hour.
5. In the fifth 10th of a second, the driver is
impaled on the stearing column and blood rushes
into his lungs.
v 6. The sixth 10th of a second, the impact has
built up to the point that the driver’s feet are ripped
out of tightly laced shoes. The brake pedal breaks
off. The car frame buckles in the middle. The
driver’s head smashes into the windshield.
7. In the seventh 10th of a second, hinges rip
loose, doors fly open and the seats break free,
striking the driver from behind.
8. The seal striking the driver does not bother
him because HE IS ALREADY DEAD. The last
three 10th of a second mean NOTHING to the
driver.
• * *
THE OLD INDIAN CHIEF SAYSJudgment
about things vary according to the lime that we
think is left us to lin. _
i ~r. ^ « •
RBMHMBBR
WHENLUNCH
WUZ A TIME
TEATS'.
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from The
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Any adult in Texas may establish a so-called
‘Living Will’ in the event of terminal illness
U--—--1
While traveling through the Texas Panhandle, a
tourist stopped at a service station and asked if
there was anything worth going to see around
Amarillo.
The attendant responded that Amarillo has the
only helium plant in exsistence in the whole world.
The tourist was impressed. "And is it in bloom
this time of the year?" he asked.
* * *
DID YOU KNOW-The world’s largest livestock
auction is held in Amarillo.
Any competent adult may at any time execute a
written directive or instruction to withhold or
withdraw life-sustaining procedures in the event of
a terminal condition. A person desirous of making a
living will must sign it in the presence of two
witnesses and those witnesses must sign the directive.
Although you may wish to consult with an
attorney, Texas law provides that the following is
sufficient for a living will:
DIRECTIVE TO PHYSICIANS
Directive made this_day of_, 19_.
I_, being of sound mind, wilfully and
voluntarily make known my desire that my life shall
not be artificially prolonged under the circumstances
set forth in this directive.
1. If at any time I should have an incurable or
irreversible condition caused by injury, disease or
illness certified to be a terminal condition by two
physicians, and iflfrp- application of life-sustaining
procedures would serve Only to artificially postpone
the moment of my death, and if my attending
physician determines that my death is imminent or
will result within a relatively short time without the
application of life-sustaining procedures, I direct that
those procedures be withheld and withdrawn, and that
I be permitted to die naturally.
2. In the absence of my ability to give directions
regarding the use of those life-sustaining procedures,
it is my intention that this directive be honored by my
family and physicians as the final expression of my
legal right to refuse medical or surgical treatment and
accept the consequences from that refusal.
3. If I have been diagnosed as pregnant and that
diagnosis is known to my physician, this directive has
no effect during my pregnancy.
4. This directive is in effect until it is revoked.
5.1 understand the full import of this directive and
I am emotionally and mentally competent to make
this directive.
6.1 understand that I may revoke this directive at
any time.
Signed,_
(City, County and State of Residence)
I am not related to the declarant by blood or
marriage. I would not be entitled to any portion of the
declarant’s estate on the declarant’s death. I am not
the attending physician of rifce declarant or an
employee of the attending physician. I am not a
patient in the health care facility in which the
declarant is a patient. I have no claim against any
portion of the declarant’s estate on the declarant’s
death. Furthermore, if I am an employee of the health
facility in which the declarant is a patient, I am not
involved in providing direct patient care to the
declarant and am not directly involved in the
financial affairs of the health facility.
Witness_
Witness_
LEGAL MATTERS
Days Past...
From the Files of the Sentinel
Update on Juvenile Justice
Attorney General Dan Morales
FIVE YEARS AGO...
Poka-Lambro Telecommunications recently
received a construction permit from the Federal
Communications Commission allowing
construction for the rural cellular telephone system
they have been selected to build in West Texas,
including the cities of Seminole, Lamesa, Tahoka,
Post and Andrews and rural areas surrounding the
cities.
Pricing plans have not been finalized by the
company for the service, but should be announced
before operations begin, according to company
spokesmen.
* * *
TEN YEARS AGO...
The Wal-Mart store in Seminole will be
conducting a petition drive in conjunction with
Citizens Against Waste to ask members of
Congress to stop the excessive and unnecessary
squandering of government funds and to date the
necessary corrective action.
A petition booth will be set up near the front
door of the store with petition forms and
brochures. Wal-Mart officials encourage the public
to consider signing the petition forms and aid in
reducing waste and the government deficit that is
hurting all Americans.
Forms will be available for groups who want to
circulate them to their membership.
• * *
TWENTY-FIVE YEARS AGO...
The nationally known recording group, the
"Uniques", will be playing for a teenage dance at
the M.S. Dots Youth Center this Friday night,
from 8:30 to 12:00 p.m. This will be the third
consecutive summer that the band has made an
appearance at the center.
Admission price will be $2.00.
\
SIXTY YEARS AGO..
Team 12 of the Texas Youth League Against
Whiskey, with Rev. Willis J. Ray as leader, will be
in Seminole, Wednesday evening, Aug. 14, at 8:00
o’clock, and will give a program at the Baptist
church.
Everyone is especially invited to come out and
htar this program, which is presented on behalf of
the election on Aug. 24, at which time a
prohibition amendment wfll be voted upon.
Last summer, in a report called "Fighting for
Our Youth," we at the Office of the Attorney
General proposed a number of reforms for our
state’s juvenile justice system.
Many of these recommendations were recently
passed by the Texas Legislature and signed into
law by Gov. Bush. I believe that these reforms go a
long way toward addressing the complex problems
of juvenile crime.
The law combines punishment with prevention
and harnesses the power of young people to be a
part of the solution. I commend the Legislature for
responding to the recent dramatic increase in
juvenile violent crime by enacting tough reform
Industries, youth boot camps and Project
Reintegration of Offenders (RIO) will help
juvenile offenders make the transition back into
society.
TYC Industries and Project RIO are public-
private partnerships that provide job skills to
juvenile offenders. Juveniles who participate in
these programs will develop valuable job skills and
use their income to pay restitution to crime
victims. If necessary and applicable in their
individual cases, they will also make child support
payments out of their wages.
Believe in Me!
Talk of Texas
Copyrighted by Jack McGuire
Rainmakers used
rockets in experiment
at Midland in 1891
FOOTNOTE TO HISTORY-Texans learned
more than a century ago that it’s difficult to fool
Mother Nature with science.
In 1891-92, the Permian Basin area suffered a
severe drought. Washington bureaucrats decided to
spend weeks and thousands of dollars trying to
produce rain by firing explosives into the sky.
The effort began in August, 1891, on a ranch
near Midland. The theory was that a powerful
concussion would make rain clouds form. Three
methods were tried.
First, balloons ten feet in diameter were filled
with hydrogen and oxygen and sent aloft. Then
large kites carrying dynamite sticks followed. On
the ground, charges of rackarock—an explosive
made of potassium, nitrobenzol and dynamite—
were readied. Together this awesome trio was
expected to sock the atmosphere into producing
rain.
On August 9, a small test explosion was set off.
The next day, an inch of rain fell. Thus cheered,
the scientists prepared for the big boom, i
For days, balloons and kites were explbded over
a wide area while ground guns kept up a steady
barrage of rackarock. Winds and equipment
problems delayed the really crucial bombardment
until August 25. Then for 24 hours, the countryside
around Midland sounded like a battlefield.
A few showers did fall. However, a cold front
moved in meanwhile and observers couldn’t be
sure whether it was the explosions or the blue
norther that finally brought the rains. Three similar
experiments that followed also ended in
uncertainty.
WHAT’S IN A NAME?-Quitaque, Briscoe
County, bears the name of an Indian word
meaning "horse manure."
* * *
OOPS!—Recently "Talk of Texas" said that
Duval is the only county in Texas named for three
brothers. They were John C., Burr and Thomas R.
Duval.
Not so, as several eagle-eyed readers in
Abilene, Beevilie and other places pointed out.
Taylor County, of which Abilene is the seat,
was named for the brothers Taylor—Edward,
James and George Taylor. The three died together
at the Alamo.
* * *
YOU MIGHT LIKE TO KNOW—That
Knute Rockne is the only famous football coach
to have a Texas town named for him.
Rockne (pop. 400) is in Bastrop County.
Founded in 1876 by German immigrants, it was
first called Walnut Creek, then Lehmanville. In
1931, when Rockne died in a plane crash, the
town was called Helbig.
The priest serving the Helbig parish was an
alumnus of Notre Dame. He suggested that the
village be renamed for the famed coach and it
was.
* * *
A TOWN DIVIDED—Whitesboro, Grayson
County, is located on the exact ridge of
geographical divide.
As a result, rain falling on the south side of the
town’s Main Street flows to the Gulf of Mexico by
way of a network of creeks and the Trinity River.
Rain falling on the north side of the same street
reaches the Gulf via the Red and the Mississippi
Rivers.©
measures.
Tough New Reforms in Juvenile Justice
For years, ever since working as a prosecutor in
San Antonio, I have called for tougher sentences
for violent juvenile offenders. Now, because of the
new law, young criminals who once bragged about
how they could commit a crime and be back on the
streets in no time will no longer be bragging. They
face real punishment and real prisons.
The law stiffens penalties for juveniles who
commit the most serious crimes. It gives Texas
Youth Commission authorities the right to transfer
a juvenile offender who is at least 16 years old to
state prison after an initial specified time in a TYC
facility. Before, the juvenile offender was only
eligible for transfer to state prison at age 18. Also,
the worst offenders who are paroled from TYC
must now report to adult parole officers.
The new law also more than doubles the
capacity of our juvenile corrections facilities,
keeping young violent criminals in jail and off the
streets. The law also increases the number of
probation officers over the next four years.
I have long supported providing better
information for law enforcement and less
confidentiality for juvenile offenders. A new
computerized database will allow law enforcement
officials to share fingerprints, photographs, and
other information on juveniles.
Laws that originally were written to protect
youths from the "taint” of criminality have in fact
been protecting repeat offenders from prosecution.
The days when a juvenile could break the law and
receive a slap on the wrist are over.
Innovative Transition Programs
Once perpetrators are punished, they must be
brought back into society. So in addition to
tougher punishment, programs such as TYC
While the new laws will prove to be effective,
they are only part of the answer. Some kids get
into trouble because they have nothing better to do.
We support programs that offer wholesome
recreation and educational programs.
Believe In Me! is an Austin program that our
office nominated for national recognition for its
work with at-risk youth. The program was named
winner of the 1995 "For the Children" Award,
sponsored by the National Association of
Attorneys General.
The Believe in Me! program combines dance,
character education, hard work and a sense of
history to engage young, at-risk kids and prevent
them from becoming involved in gangs and
violence. The youngsters who participate are from
many different ethnic and cultural backgrounds. At
least 80 percent of them are considered high risk
because of poverty, disability, language deficiency
or family dysfunction.
All Must Work Together
The problem of juvenile crime is complex.
There is no magic bullet that will solve it
overnight. It will take hard work and a determined
effort by everyone to make these reforms work.
Together, we can begin to put an end to juvenile
crime. Together, we can make our state a better
and safer place to live.
Bits 7i Pieces
It is not what you do for your children hut what you
have taught them to do for themselves that will make
them successful human beings.
The Seminole Sentinel
P. O. Drawer 1200 (USPS 489-400) Ph. 915-758-3667
Seminole, TX 79360 FAX No. (915) 758-2136
Oldest Established Business In Gaines County
Published each Wednesday and Sunday at The Seminole Sentinel
Building, 4M S. Main, under the act of March 3,1879.
Entered as Second Clan Matter at the Seminole, Tens, Post
Office, Seminole, Tens 79340.
M. GENE DOW
Editor and Publisher
David Fisher ........ News Editor
Joyce Dow............ Social Editor
Rudy Leyva............................. Sports Writer
Misty Ramirez_____________________National. Classified A Composition
Barbara Parker________________________________ Retail Advertising Sales
Patricia Roberson A Michelle Picket! Office Supply/Radio Shack
Gene Gaines ..................... Photography
Laura Sham........................................... Bookkeeping/Circulation
Claris Everett and Aggie Froese ................................ Distribution
In County by Ma| or Home Delivery In Seminole_$22.50
In A4jofastng Counties by Mai_$24 JO
Elsewhere by Mai----$29.50
Any erroneous reflection upon the character of any person or
Arm appealing In theae columns will be gladly and promptly
corrected upon being brought to the attention of the manage-
Letters policy: Letters to the Editor are welcomed. All letters
should he kept as brief as possible. They exist be signed with
name, address and telephone number, In case need for verifica-
tion arises (address and phone number will not be printed). The
Seutiael isesiv the right to edit letters to prevent libel, invasion
af privacy ar natasteftil language without changing the desired
contest. If requested, edttorswfl] use Initials only, but only rarely
and tor rauiprlltag reasons. A signed letter carries more weight
with nadirs. Letters do not necessarily reflect the editorial
peMrtesarbdleftaf this newspaper. No letters about candidates
■riling risctleu ar "Thank You" letters wBl be accepted.
MEMBER 1995
TEXAS PRESS ASSOCIATION
WEST TEXAS PRESS ASSOCIATION
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Dow, M. Gene. The Seminole Sentinel (Seminole, Tex.), Vol. 88, No. 82, Ed. 1 Sunday, August 6, 1995, newspaper, August 6, 1995; Seminole, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth864189/m1/4/: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Gaines County Library.