Sweetwater Reporter (Sweetwater, Tex.), Vol. 111, No. 73, Ed. 1 Wednesday, February 11, 2009 Page: 4 of 10
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Viewpoints
Sweetwater Reporter
DEDICATED TO PROUDLY DELIVERING LOCAL NEWS SINCE 1881
❖
1—\ Sweetwater .
Reporter
PO. Box 750/112 W. Third
Sweetwater, Texas 79556
325/236-6677
Fax: 325/2354967
Website:
www.sweetwaterreporter.com
E-mail addresses:
publisher@sweetwaterreporter.com
business@sweetwaterreporter. com
advertising@sweetwaterreporter.com
circulation@sweetwaterreporter.com
editor@sweetwaterreporter.com
composing@sweetwaterreporter.com
EDITORIAL POLICY
The editorial section of the newspaper is a forum for expres-
sion of a variety of viewpoints. All articles except those labeled
“Editorials" reflect the opinions of the writers and not those of
the Sweetwater Reporter.
i
Dear Editor,
This is for anyone who cares even a little bit about the
young people in Sweetwater and surrounding area. We all
know that our youth sometimes grow bored with the lack of
organized functions within our community. And yes 1 do
believe that parents should take a bigger role in showing this
"video-gaming" generation how to play outside. With that
said I would like to say that we are a family that takes full
advantage of most of the sports offered here as well as some
of the activities within our church. However there is one
thing just bugging me to the point I feel 1 have to speak up.
If there is anyone out there who feels the same or has the
answers please let me know. About four years ago we signed
our oldest daughter for softball in the Rolling Plains Girls
Softball Association for fun and a way to spend time togeth-
er outside. That first year was full of laughs, learning and a
few frustrations. However, we walked away feeling we got
our monies worth and couldn't wait to do it again. We have
done it again and again for the last four years now and the
good times continue but now it's at a much greater cost. 1
believe it only cost me $25 and selling a box of candy that
first year. Now it’s $60 per kid plus selling five raffle tickets
at $10 each, and if you choose not to sell the tickets the par-
have more than one
1 amount stated
nay the;
have to
kid playing the parents are required to
ed above plus an extra $25. And now I
ents are required to pay $50 dollars out of pocket. If you
thi
ou
to pay an additional $25 to get certified to spend my
volunteer time with my kids and a few other neighborhood
kids in order to be a head coach or assistant coach. And that
goes for anyone else who wishes to volunteer their time.
Now add in the cost of cleats, visors/caps, socks, bats, gloves
and the cost of gas to go over to Roby twice a year just to play
ball. For my house that’s about $300 to $400 because I have
two kids who love to play. Not to mention if your kid's get
selected to play!
District, State or All-Star tournaments are held all over the
state and even out of state. I just feel like alot of our youth are
being left out due to finances. Alot of kids want to play but
parents simply can't afford the full cost. I feel softball and
alot of other local sports are not about who wants to play as
much as it is about who can afford to play. Those of you who
have never had to do without I'm glad you don't know what
I’m speaking on. It's not something families should have to
consider when planning local recreation, however, there are
those who sit on the sideline because of money! For the t hire!
consecutive year I have spoken with people who say there is
scholarship money out there for the less fortunate but no
one seems to be able to tell me how to go about getting it.
The United States has the program "No Child Left Behind"
in schools and I just want to know why we can't implement
that same attitude in other ways. I encourage anyone wanti-
ng to play to contact the league president and inquire about
money said to be there for our children and I hope local busi-
nesses continue to help by sponsoring entire teams and indi-
viduals so that we all can continue to enjoy our favorite past
times. It should be about who wants to play and not who can
afford to play. It's bad enough our kids are limited to the
good things they can do, let's make what is being offered
available and affordable for everyone!
Anthony Knox
Sweetwater
Dear Editor,
What is the definition of a predator? It can be anyone of
several things. It can be an animal that can hurt you, or even
kill you, or it could be a poisonous snake or lizard that can
also kill you. But worst of all, it can be another person, who
can steal from you or take your wife, husband or child from
you. Anything or anyone of those that can do you harm is a
predator. Being a predator is the very opposite of being a
friend. All predators are an enemy to someone or something.
Not all animals are predators, some are kind and gentle. I
guess you say people are pretty much like animals and vice
versa. The only thing different, I guess, is people live a little
longer than most animals, but there's no doubt, we are pret-
ty much alike in many ways. When a dog barks, or when a
cat meows, they are actually talking hack to us in their own
way.
Roy G. Dillon
Sweetwater
GUEST COLUMN
The power of zero
In Washington, politicians would encourage businesses
like to seek common ground, to expand and hire
So let’s begin by noting that Americans,
many from both parties This wouldn’t mean get-
agreed with President ting rid of all tax revenues, of
Barack Obama’s
recent warning: “A
failure to act, and
act now, will turn
crisis into a catastro-
phe and guarantee a
longer recession, a
less robust recovery,
and a more uncer-
tain future.”
Both right and left
can also agree that
Congress can help
create jobs and gen-
erate growth.
But if lawmakers
really want to trigger
Edwin
Feulner
course.
Even without cor-
porate taxes, the
owners of any type of
organization would
still be taxed in one of
three ways: through
their dividends, their
capital gains or their
salaries. Eliminating
corporate taxation
would simply mean
that all income is
taxed once — when
it’s earned by individ-
uals — instead of
being taxed a second
"W.
i,/
a recovery, they'll shelve time when it's earned by a
their massive “stimulus” bill corporation.
- a trillion-dollar debt plan Some will protest, of
that would actually weaken course,
the economy. They’d do Our nation’s convoluted
much better to take a simple tax code (so confusing that
but powerful step: reduce even a high percentage of
the corporate income tax President Barack Obama’s
rate to zero. nominees apparently can t
Total corporate tax understand it) keeps a small
receipts each year add up to army of accountants and tax
about $300 billion. Its a lawyers employed. A simpli-
j mammoth sum, but less than
a third of what liberal law-
makers seem dead set on
spending. Besides, corpora-
tions don’t pay taxes: people
do.
Take Caterpillar, the
heavy-equipment manufac-
turer. It recently made news
when it laid off 20.000 peo-
ple just one year after it actu-
ally hired 11,500 new work-
ers. The company reported
pre-tax income of $6 mil-
lion in 2007. It paid $1.48
; million in income taxes that
! year. Imagine how many of
those jobs could have been
preserved if the company
hadn’t had to fork over
j almost a quarter of its
, income as taxes.
Our corporate tax rate is
i 35 percent, second only to
Japan among nations in the
Organization for Economic
j Cooperation and
Development. That makes
companies less likely to base
their headquarters in the
| U.S. or to open plants here,
j Eliminating corporate taxa-
tion. on the other hand,
GUEST COLUMN
fied code might put them out
of work. But that would be a
small price to pay for a fairer
system, one that helps create
many more jobs for ordinary
Americans.
And creating jobs is what a
federal stimulus is supposed
to be all about.
A plan proposed by Sen.
Jim DeMint, R-S.C’, and The
Heritage Foundation calls
for slashing tax rates on indi-
viduals and corporations by
10 percent while repealing
the alternative minimum tax
and reducing the death tax.
A Heritage study shows
doing this would result in
493,000 more American
jobs by the end of the year.
By the end of 2010, employ-
ment would increase by 1.3
million jobs.
Imagine how many more
jobs our economy could cre-
ate if the government went
further, completely repeal-
ing the corporate income
tax. Multinational and inter-
national companies would
be encouraged to operate in
the United States. They
would hire workers, bringing
jobs and new technology to
our shores.
Meanwhile, owners of cor-
porations would have more
money to reinvest in
research and development
and in buying new equip-
ment. They would be more
likely to hire and train
Americans, since there’s less
reason to even consider
moving their business to
another country. As these
investments pay off, eco-
nomic growth will occur.
Lawmakers should think
carefully before they borrow
hundreds of billions of dol-
lars, digging a deeper debt
hole and expanding the size
and scope of government.
Far better to eliminate cor-
porate taxes - and unleash
the job-creation power of
our nation’s entrepreneurs.
Ed Feulner is president of
The Heritage Foundation
(heritage.org), a
Washington based public
policy research institute.
Comments about this col-
umn may be emailed to edi-
tor^ sweetwaterreporter.com.
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Supporting National Heart Month
In support of National few minutes
Heart Month, what better • Pain extending to your
topic to cover than that of shoulder, arm, back, teeth
heart attacks. This
topic has hit closer to
J home than anyone
j would like lately, and
J what better wav to
j address it than to get
some awareness to
the people that may
need it tne most.
The following arti-
cle was written by
Andrew Crocker,
Extension Specialist
for Texas AgriLife
Extension. In it he
gives some of the
j most important infor-
I mation that all of
and/or jaw
• Prolonged
pain in the upper
abdomen
• Shortness of
breath
• Fainting
• Nausea and
vomiting
Signs and
symptoms of a
heart attack in
women may be
different or less
noticeable. In
addition to the
symptoms above,
heart attack
symptoms in women may
a..........!
LynnAnn
Duniuen
need to know about heart
attacks, their symptoms and include abdominal pain or
risks, and how to address "heartburn,” clammy skin,
dizziness and/or unusual or
unexplained fatigue.
Not all people who have
■ks experience the
them.
Each year, about 1.1 mil-
lion people in the United
States have heart attacks, heart attar
and almost half of them die. same symptoms - some peo-
Many more people could pie have none at all. The
recover from heart attacks if earliest predictor of an
they got help faster. Of the attack may be recurrent
people who die from heart chest pain that is triggered
attacks, about half die with- by exertion and relieved by
in an hour of the first symp- rest.
toms and before they reach
the hospital.
Certain factors may
increase your risk of a heart
A heart attack, also known attack, including but not
as a myocardial infarction, limited to
occurs when the blood flow • Smoking
that feeds a part of the heart • High blood
is blocked. Like all of your and/or high cholesterol
body, the heart needs a
steady supply of blood.
Without blood, heart cells
are injured, causing pain or
pressure. If blood flow is
not restored, heart cells may
die. A heart attack is the
end of a process that typical-
ly occurs over several hours.
Lack of exercise and/or
obesity
• Diabetes
• Stress
• Alcohol
• Family history
You can modify or elimi-
nate many of these risk fac-
tors to reduce your chances
attack or suspect you are
having one, act immediate-
ly: call 9-1-1 or your local
emergency number. If you
do not have access to emer-
gency medical services, have
someone drive you to the
nearest hospital. Drive
yourself only if there are
absolutely no other options.
If you encounter someone
who is unconscious from a
presumed heart attack, call
9-1-1 immediately. It ma>
be necessary to begin car-
diopulmonary resuscitation
(CPR) in order to keep blood
and Oxygen flowing. If you
have not been trained in
CPR, the hands-only CPR
approach should be used:
compress the chest at a rate
of too per minute. The use
of an automatic external
defibrillator (AEI)), if avail-
able, that shocks the heart
back into a normal rhythm
may provide emergency
treatment before a person
suffering a heart attack
reaches the hospital.
It is never too late to take
steps to prevent a heart
attack - even if you have
already had one. While drug
therapy may be an impor-
tant part of reducing the risk
of a second heart attack and
helping a damaged heart
function better, lifestyle fac-
pressure tors also play a critical role
in heart attack prevention
and recovery. Taking the
following steps may help
you prevent and/or recover
from a heart attack:
• Do not smoke
• Check vour cholesterol
• Get regular medical
checkups
• Control your blood
pressure
• Exercise regularly - 30
minutes per day, most days
per week
• Maintain a healthy
weight
• Eat a heart-healthy diet
• Manage stress
For more information,
contact our office at 235-
3184. You may also access
information through the
National Heart, Lung and
Blood Institute, a division ol
the National Institutes ol
Health, at
http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov.
LynnAnn Duniven is the
County Extension Agent for
Family and Consumer Sciences
in Nolan County Comments
about this column may be e-
mniled to cditor(wsweetwuter-
reporter.com.
If blood flow can be restored of having a heart attack.
in time, damage to the However, you cannot
heart may be limited or pre- change some risk factors,
vented. such as heredity and gender.
Common signs and symp- Men are generally at greater
toms of a heart attack may risk for heart attack than
include: women. However, the risk
• Pressure or a squeezing for women increases after
pain in the center of your menopause,
chest lasting for more than a If you are having a heart
The SWEETWATER REPORTER
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Correction Policy
Editorial:
As a matter of policy, the
Sweetwater Reporter will
publish corrections of errors
in fact that have been print-
ed in the newspaper.
The corrections will be
made as soon as possible
after the error has been
brought to the attention of
the newspaper's editor at
236-6677.
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to reject, edit or cancel any
advertising at any time with-
out liability. Publisher's liabil-
ity for error is limited to the
amount paid for advertising.
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Rodriguez, Tatiana. Sweetwater Reporter (Sweetwater, Tex.), Vol. 111, No. 73, Ed. 1 Wednesday, February 11, 2009, newspaper, February 11, 2009; Sweetwater, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth578235/m1/4/: accessed July 11, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Sweetwater/Nolan County City-County Library.