The Colony Courier (The Colony, Tex.), Vol. 2, No. 4, Ed. 1 Wednesday, December 2, 1998 Page: 4 of 10
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The Colony Courier
This Paper is Recyclable
Wednesday, December 2,1998
OPINION
"Suicide: In the final chapter..."
'One life; a little gleam of time
between two enternities; no second
chance for us forever more.'
- Carlyle
The sense of hopelessness among
those contemplating suicide is the
strongest predictor of which people
will actually go on to kill themselves,
according to a study at the Univer-
sity of Pennsylvania School of Medi-
cine.
Most of us - if not all of us - have,
at one time or another, felt the total
unrelenting grip of hopelessness in
our lives. A sense of total disconnec-
tion with the reality of the world. It
is a sense of losing ground coupled
with the lack of knowledge to do any-
thing about the problem.
And it is a sense that kills the
holder.
This is column number 54 in my
stint as columnist for The Colony
Courier. During that time, I have
rarely, if ever, been caught short -
unable to come up with a column.
There is always something to write
about, even if it does take extra time
and effort.
'There is a right way to write
about anything'. I have always reas-
sured myself.
During this period of time, I have
written six or seven columns about
suicide. You didn't miss them, Dear
Readers. I tore them up after re-read-
ing them. Before I turned them into
the newspaper office.
It was out of pervasive fear.
If I were to author a column about
abortion, I could easily expect to re-
ceive a sizeable truckload of mail
Mike
Catt
Senior
Columnist
expressing hatred - regardless of the
viewpoint of the column. In the same
light, writing about suicide brings
volumes of fear. A personal storm of
controversy as I struggle mentally
with trying to be a part of the solu-
tion to the anguish rather than exac-
erbate the problem.
I have never tried to 'do myself
in'. I have been around people who
have made the attempt. My frame of
reference is as a person who is a hu-
man being. I live, eat, breathe, sleep
and hurt just like everyone else. I am
alive and I will survive.
So when you are at the end of your
rope, tie a knot and hang on.
The study alluded to at the start
of this column was conducted by a
team under the direction of Dr. Aaron
Beck and was reported in an issue of
The American Journal of Psychiatry
a number of years ago.
In the study, a case was clearly
made for understanding the relation-
ship between hopelessness and sui-
cide. Patients who were hospitalized
because they were contemplating sui-
cide but had not made a recent at-
tempt were followed for five to seven
years. In that period, 14 patients com-
mitted suicide; 13 of them had high
scores on a measure of hopelessness
when originally tested. In most cases,
the suicides occurred several years
after the patient was tested.
What is this hopelessness and how
does it work?
Of special concern to area resi-
dents is the fact that this problem
seems to occur in the more well-to-
do, upwardly mobile communities.
Communities where spendable in-
come should dictate more of a free-
dom from want.
And yet, the hopelessness has
crept into our lives and onto the front
page headlines.
How is it that a mind can utterly
lock itself away from the warmth of
human intervention? How is it that
an individual can absolutely overlook
the joy and awe of human existance,
opting instead to interpret everything
as a march toward self-inflicted
oblivion?
More importantly, how can we
break out of this vicious cycle?
In all probability, the answer will
come from a greater understanding
of hopelessness. In reality, there is no
such thing as being hopeless. It is a
condition that exists only in the mind.
And yet, many people don't under-
stand this concept. Young and old
alike.
Looking back on my educational
career, I had three or four outstand-
ing teachers who I can easily recall
to this day. There was a thread of
commonality that ran through these
teachers; one I discovered later was
the key to their style of greatness as
educators. They all taught persever-
ance.
Perseverance is not a priority con-
cept in education today. It's a concept
that should be taught, however. It
teaches a student that failure is a natu-
ral byproduct of success. It teaches a
student that in order to succeed, you
have to come face-to-face with fail-
ure many times along the path.
There is always more than one
right way to do anything. There is also
more than one wrong way. People
who fail do so because they give up
on themselves and everyone else.
Successful people are successful be-
cause they never give up; failures
along the way notwithstanding.
The teachers who taught me this
were God-sent. But then again, there
are not enough teachers to get the word
out to everybody in terms that every-
one can understand. Some people are
not getting the message. Some people
get sucked into a hole so deep, they
can't climb out by themselves and
don't have enough self-confidence to
ask for assistance. Their situation is
disconnected from reality; totally ab-
sorbed in personal hopelessness.
Suicide, for them, is the only way.
Our families and community are torn
by the moribund finality of their ac-
tions. We collectively fight that gnaw-
ing guilt in the pit of our stomachs.
It's all so unnecessary...so
useless...in the final chapter.
Mike Catt is a resident of The
Colony, president of The Colony
Digital Magic Factory, and director
of economic development/president
elect for The Colony Chamber of
Commerce.
Hps on how to
control rodents
By JERRYYOUNG
Parks and Recreation Dept.
It is that time of the year once again. Rodent prevention is on
our minds. We all want to keep rodents from entering our homes.
Here are a few procedures that may be implemented.
Rodent proofing is changing the structure of your home in or-
der to prevent entry of rats and mice. In considering rodent proof-
ing, you must know rats can squeeze through cracks a half-inch
wide; mice a quarter-inch wide.
Sanitation. Good housekeeping is a basic factor in rodent
control. Eliminating food, water and harborage for rats and mice
can reduce rodent populations rapidly. Store pet and bird food in
rodent-proof containers. Remove harborages by eliminating piles
of rubbish trash, junk, boxes and protected enclosures.
Trapping: Trapping is an underrated method of controlling ro-
dents. One reason trapping is often overlooked is that snap traps
have been around a long time and are inexpensive. Traps can be
used to eliminate rodents in place where poison bait would be dan-
gerous or to avoid dead rodent odors and bait-shy rodents. Since
mice travel only 10 to 30 feet but rats travel 100 to 150 feet from
harborages, more traps are needed to trap mice than rats in a house.
Rodenticides: Poison baits are available in ready-to-use,
premixed packages. They come in many forms: paraffinized blocks
for outdoor use and high humidity areas; and treated meal, seeds,
or paraffinized pellets in bulk or in "place packs" for indoor use.
Whenever a rodenticide is used, safety must be the first consider-
ation. Poison baits should be placed where they are not accessible
to children and pets. Where rodent runs are exposed and in most
outdoor situations, tamper-proof bait boxes should be used. Baits
should always be placed where rodents live and breed.
For more information regarding the prevention and elimina-
tion of rodents, visit the Web site www.cdc.gov/ncidod/diseases/
hanta'hps/index.htm
God's Christmas - the gift of Salvation to everyone
Just what must one do to enjoy
God's Christmas - it must be true that
those not of the Christian faith do not
adhere to the myths, stories, and leg-
ends of Christmas as a Holy Day.
It is becoming more and more per-
vasive that diversification of people,
culture, and faiths create some un-
wanted conflicts between our various
beliefs in the same God.
Reaching Him range in a myriad
of routes - some public and some pri-
vate.
Many of us know that he is 'out
there' or 'in me', but it is difficult for
others to detect. We see goodness,
compassion, responsibility, aid to the
less fortunate, sick, and burdened -
and - the joy in celebration.
The Christian myth of the Three
Jim
Barnes
Wise Men bearing gifts to a human
form of our God is a tenant of the,
Christian faith. Yet we decry this
practice today that has another mean-
ing than its original... the giving and
honoring to our Christian God.
Man is accused now of needing
gift giving at this particular time as
an economic necessity (retail sales
equals jobs and jobs equals incomes
to support our families.)
Many also no longer support the
fairy tales that brighten the eyes and
imaginations of our children. Our
angels and elves seem to be getting
all mixed up with red lights flashing
on reindeer noses and huge, beauti-
ful horses hauling great wagons of
beer.
Lately, the seasons have been pub-
licized to be a cause of loneliness, de-
pression and sadness. Guilts rise at
our seeming failures to be prosper-
ous - able to give to our own what
others are able to give to theirs.
Many of us who profess the Chris-
tian faith are splintered in our dog-
mas and fmd that the essence of Jesus'
birth to take upon His God self all
our sins and errors - THE GIFT OF
SALVATION - is a concept beyond
perception. It becomes a fear to be-
lieve because we are unsure of how
good and how bad we have really
been to have a baby bom to be killed
for us and find a joy in celebrating
what will be a future sacrifice.
We wish to see the baby, all warm
and wrapped in swaddling clothes,
with important persons side by side
with the less prestigious persons, giv-
ing the admiring recognition even
each of us received at our own birth.
To the forlorn, who moum the ap-
parent loss of religious practices of
self-flagellation and the search for a
place with the 'few chosen ones', we
who are supposedly blinded by tin-
sel and Santa Bears, wear that true
inner Soul that knows what is true in
our God and that which is not.
In our Christian faith, Christmas
is that part of our humanness that al-
lows the emotion of joy, the hilarity
of laughter, kinetics of a dancing
heart. Note that it brings our con-
science and our heart toward that bom
GOOD and the promise is extended
to ourselves.
Seeing the Babe, vaguely compre-
hending its growth until His travails
must begin, we find it difficult to un-
derstand that God gave us Himself.
He showed us that to celebrate
was good. Surely, any excess of any
kind takes a good to a bad eventually
from power to sugared dates.
So this season, look in, not out.
Concentrate to focus the pictures in
your mind on the glow that is your
spiritual soul - for you have one! You
will see that it is clean and shining, at
peace with itself and those around
you. Your soul is seeing God in you
and God is in your soul too.
It is your soul inside that tells you
that your beliefs in God and Christ-
mas are truly there. As you see that
glow arise, you feel the happiness that
is you. You witness your reaching out
to others and feel their souls reach-
ing back to you.
I confess that I know that my God
is in everyone else too. I know He is
there when the burdens of life become
heavy and confusing. I know that it
is Him that lets me know what love
is, the smooth skin of new babies, and
the meaning of friend's smiles
Merry Christmas, Ya'll.
There is still hope for our children
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Didyoii know...
That the number one reason our
teens smoke and drink is because
their friends do it, and because their
parents do it. These are the same kids
who became so involved in the
D. A.R.E. program, these are the same
kids who saw a smoker and said,
"You're going to die from cancer."
These kids don't think they will get
cancer, only adults get cancer and
they think that they will quit smok-
ing long before they are adults.
Alcohol, cigarettes and even mari-
juana are often and integral part of
the high school social scene. This fact
Teresa
Sidwell
Did You
Know?
alone makes drugs and alcohol a vola-
tile issue for teens and their parents.
No school wants to admit the prob-
lems they might have with teens on
drugs, alcohol and cigarettes. This
problem is also exacerbated by par-
ents who yell, threaten, badger and
then go off to happy hour. Kids just
J"he
Colony Courier
5201 South Colony Blvd., Suite 480 •
The Colony, TX 75056
972/625-9698 972/370-1195 Fax
www.thecolonycourier.com
e-mail:Editorial '.news @thecolony courier, com
Ad\QXtising:advertising @ thecolony courier, com
Vol 2, No.4
Publisher Shawn Moore
Advertising Manager Brandy Moore
Circulation Shelli Garver
Editorial Staff:
Mike Catt, senior columnist, Jim Barnes, staff writer, Susan Chiniewicz, staff writer, Teresa
Sidwell, columnist.
Advertising Staff:
Jeanne Smith, sales associate.
Photography Staff:
Greg Ream
The Colony Courier is published every Wednesday by Moore Publications, Inc.. 5201 South Colony Blvd..
Suile 480, The Colony, TX 75056. Subscriptions are available for $12/yr. in The Colony, North Carrollion
portion of LISD, and $3(Vyr. delivered by U.S. Mail. Please call or mail in name and address. POSTMAS-
TER: Send address changes to The Colony Courier, 5201 South Colony Blvd., Suite 480, The Colony, TX
75056. The entire contents of The Colony Courier are Copyright 1998 by Moore Publishing, Inc. and may
not be reproduced or reprinted without the express written permission of the Publisher.
•■ ' M
want to fit it with their peers, and if
the friends they hang with, smoke,
drink and do drugs, well, it takes a
real tough cookie to walk away from
acceptance, heedless to all parental
warnings.
Some teens don't abuse their par-
ents rules because there are conse-
quences if they do. If they get caught
doing drugs or drinking alcohol, they
loose privileges and are grounded.
Some kids will even tell you that their
parents know they smoke and drink
and their parents either look the other
way or yell and scream at them with
little or no consequences, and so kids
feel there is a lot of smoke but no fire
where some parents are concerned.
Safety is a big teen concern and
they say parental rules, whether lax
or strict —that are enforced are the
ones that create the safest environ-
ment, that give them the guidelines
they need, something they say they
can count on in an otherwise shaky
social scene.
As parents we have to try and un-
derstand our teens, get to know them
and what makes up their world. I
know teens wish they could talk to
their parents about the things that
matter most to them, about the things
that bug them and about not fitting
in, and it^out what they have to do to
fit-in. It's a rare world—full of inno-
cence and angst, laughter and tears,
love and anger, determination and
confusion. We have a lot of rules and
regulations we impose on our kids,
which are useless, unless we back up
our words with actions, nothing will
be changed. If there is hope for them,
then we as adults must take the first
step to change our behavior. Our kids
are candles lit by a flame in our hearts,
one puff and the flame goes out.
Remember the day
December 7, 1998 is a day of re-
membrance. The day holds special
significance to the veterans of World
War II and their families. On that day,
several thousand Americans lost their
lives during the attack on Pearl Har-
bor, Hawaii.
It seems that the business commu-
nity of The Colony would have more
respect for the solemnity of that day.
The Chamber of Commerce plan to
have a party on December 7 reflects
poor judgment at best. At worst, it
demonstrates tremendous disrespect
for the Americans who gave their
lives to defend our freedoms.
All Americans should respect
those who paid the ultimate price to
provide the opportunities we have to-
day. The business community should
be especially thankful.
Jackie L. Tucker
The Colony, TX
Scouts raise money
On behalf of the leaders and com-
mittee members of Cub Scout Pack
133, I would like to thank the boys
and parents of Pack 133 as well as
the community for its support during
our recent fundraiser. The boys and
their parents worked hard taking or-
ders for Boy Scout popcorn. The
money they raised will pay for
achievement badges, special events
like the Pinewood Derby as well as
the Blue and Gold Banquet, and help
us re-charter our pack in February.
Thank you to the community for sup-
porting our efforts. Please know that
a significant portion of the cost helps
to promote scouting right here in The
Colony. If you ordered popcorn from
a scout, it will be delivered mid-De-
cember- however, if you would still
like to purchase popcorn-it's not too
late! Please feel free to call me at
625-7252 with your orders.
Thanks again!
Kevin Haney
The Colony, TX.
The Colony Courier
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Sorter, Dave. The Colony Courier (The Colony, Tex.), Vol. 2, No. 4, Ed. 1 Wednesday, December 2, 1998, newspaper, December 2, 1998; The Colony, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth403422/m1/4/?q=%22%22~1: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting The Colony Public Library.