Polk County Enterprise (Livingston, Tex.), Vol. 116, No. 55, Ed. 1 Sunday, July 5, 1998 Page: 4 of 56
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EDITORIAL
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SUNDAY, JULY 5, »*
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Letters to the editor
V I
Disappointed with abortion vote
*
ins you src a church
VMe nft« Tkr HUM IiaaeiiNiRai
Rfcfe n lift Nm, fldUoa I hum bee* aid Ml you arc •
Med Me 9. 19911 Hand an torfiOriMMclU
PM 21 Ml m May 20l 19M dDuotkaov if Ms a sd or sot
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WT7. Ml
(A 2264). Abo. Feb. 6. 1997
JwjaMio pwifc upqa
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r.a mi iim
Liril|itN
AH stars should be the best
T. the
tat purity ait
• Most VaMbfe
:lo you?
goes to may
by M
easy way «> do it. Thank Godov
bat the fart
tBdenjof
M
be « ail-star lean ode op of
oar beat ptaycnl He boys, m
well at I
id vole, i
tends a I J .
Hus b not « objective way lo
Meet be players with the best
abilities, but they arc just boys;
wtatebe would they do?
Abo. Idouot BOdEcUad why
a pern would be voted ■ as a
rife to be much
than the boys.
I know I an i
djGCg^C
leant io sand cat their own. 1 be-
Heve we 111 need to search oar
hearts far the nth about rie feu-
seas of this selection process.
The bring effects it will have u
the children and their goals
should be our Grtt concern.
Frances Cliftu
Route 5 Sox 293
Livlngstoa
memmm
CAPITOL
COMMENT
U.S. SENATOR
I KAY BAILEY HUTCHISON
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V 1
PLOWING BACKWARD ON CROP INSURANCE
’ V* t "f'r
rp here's a story Texans icfl about the northern fctla who decided to go
I imo farming and got his tractor stuck in reverse He unplowed three
JL acres.
That pretty much describes what the US. Department of Agriculture was
ming lo do with the way it processes crap insurance claims this year.
Last month the Department of Agriculture's Risk Management Agency
proposed changing the rules governing appraisal and adjustment procedures
for crop insurance policies on non-emerged seed resulting from a lack of
moisture. In layman's language, this means seeds that fail io grow due to lack
of rain.
The draft regulation would have deferred appraisals in such cases to 23
days after the final planting dale. During drought conditions, a seven-day
appraisal process has been the historical practice
To me. this was just one more example of bureaucratic excess, rushing
lo fix a problem without first taking into account all the possible ramifications
of a given action.
We sec it all the lime. Federal regulators jump the gun and step in. often
making a situation worse. For example, several years ago the U S. Fish and
Wildlife Service in Austin came up with a conservation plan to provide
habitat for the goldcn-cheeked warbler, a bird which may or may not have
been headed for the endangered species Lsi. The plan raised the cost of home
sites in parts of Travis County by as much as $5,000 an acre — good
intentions, disastrous execution.
So. w hile the merits of the federal crop insurance program can and >hould
he debated, it would be highly unreasonable to impose such a change in the
middle of a growing season, and suddenly, at that.
I heard from many Texas producers and insurers who were extremely
concerned about the possible ramifications of the proposed change. These
farmers purchased 1998 policies m good faith, based on their current
understanding of how the program works
It would he grossly to make substantive changes in the adminis-
tration of these policies now. when the relevant sales closing dates have
gesed. and when farmers have made critical business decisions based on the
original terms of the policies.
The agency asserts that the program is vulnerable to abuse. If that is so.
Congress and the Department of Agriculture will need to work together lo
correct it.
I intend collaborate with the Department of Agriculture lo find the
fairest, and most reasonable s^hitMHo any underlying problems with the
federal crop insurance program. In the meantime, the department s Risk
Mwiagemcnt Agency has agreed to my request to delay changing the
procedures on ibis year’s policies. That will give the USDA and Congress
lime lorevtsd how policies can best be structured to prevent these problems
in the future.6.26.98 ■
Weekly Special .
Qaddafi seeks nuclear technology
By JACK ANDERSON
awd JAN HOLLER
. rie Central
pat out an
id Ms agents
I the world: Be alert for the
Libya’s
Qaddafi and Syria's
secretly putting
its Islamic
knowledgeable CIA
have (old us. Even a more
Arab government -
Saudi Arabia - has been asking
the Pakistanis for nuclear mfor
Mou
As you surety know by now, In-
dia set off five audrar blasts over
a three-day period last month. The
new nationalist government
waned to establish itself as a
nuclear power. In response, In-
dia’s arch enemy and next-door
neighbor. Pakistan, set off six
nuclear tests of its own two weeks
later.
Much of the international re-
sponse to the tests has been fo-
cused on fears of a nuclear con-
flict between Pakistan and India.
The two have fought three wars in
the last half century. Religious
differences were the primary
causes of two of those wars, as
the Hindu India battled the Mus-
lim Pak^tan.
There is currently serious world-
wide intelligence concern that
Pakistani nuclear officials will
respond favorably to requests Irom
fellow Muslin
for a piece of rie nuclear action.
Unfortunately. Pakistan is in debt
to some of the nations asking for
secret nuclear assistance.
UNDER THE DOME - Reports
of the demise of campaign fi-
nance reform might be greatly
exaggerated.
According to congressional
sources dose to the issue, the
stubborn insistence of GOP lead-
ers who were determined to kill
meaningful reform legislation
before it even came up for a fair
vote is the very thing that’s kept
it alive.
The various parliamentary
tricks House Speaker Newt Gin-
grich and his cohorts concocted to
snuff out a vote on campaign re-
form only served to anger law-
makers from both parties who
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A PAPER
on
Ignore Y2K at your own risk
By JACK FARIS
Here arc Web pages devoted to
k, waking groups had at work on
it, checklists to solve it end even a
prrsirimrial council appointed to
Menu it Most small businesses
apparently know ad about it but
planfodo nothing lo fix iL It* is
the millennium bug - the Year
direct payments may not take place Ml use time or date-dependent mi
And the list 6f possible foiling crikttps: r - r\v~ **1 rs r
goes on. 1 “ t
A new study sponsored by Wells"
The Y2K is a business problem
and readiness mould bea lop priv-
ity. More than 330,000 firms risk
370,000 others could be temporar-
ily crippled, according to William
Fargo Bank has found that almost
five million small businesses are at
risk of Year 2000 (Y2K) computer
glitches. The study, called "Small
------—e Business and the Year 2000 Prob- -/ -w—. —-—*6
2000 computer glitch that will stop lem," also found that thre&quartos Dennis, the author of the study. As
many computers from running or of those who know about the prob- Dennis put it, "The owners of those
will fame them to Mart generating lem had not taken action aid half firms not taking preventive meas-
have no plans to act before the turn ures are betting that Y2K will pass
of the century. them by.*
Based on the nationwide survey For most small businesses
of 500 small business owners, con-
want reform. “The more you ref-
use io allow a vote, the man
people warn to vote,” explained
one source.
And so, despite numerous set-
backs and the persistent opposi-
tion of Republican leaden, those
clamoring for reform have ito
newed hope that a bill
sponsored by Reps. Chris Shays;'
R-Conn., and Martin Meehan, EF
Mass., may have a chance of be-’
ing passed by the House thi$‘
summer.
Republican leadership has
promised Shays that a straight,
vote on die proposed legislation,'
which would ban the unlimited
aqd unregulated gobs of “soft"’
money donated to political par-,
ties, will take [dace before the
end of die summer.
Shays-Meehan supporters arc
understandably leery of the prom-
ises of House leaders, who hav<f ‘
resorted to nearly every trick in
the book to avoid a vote on the-'’
bill. At first, Gingrich and his
leadership team simply ignored ’
the Shays-Meehan proposal,
which closely resembles theJ
McCain-Feingold Senate bill that
was killed by a filibuster led by ’
Majority Leader Trent Lott.
But there is no such thing as i ‘
filibuster in the House, and Shays
revolted against Gingrich’s refusal ''
to allow his bill to came up for
vote by circulating a petition tb ':
force leaders to bring the legisla-
tion to the House flow. When the
petition seemed certain of getting
the signatures of a majority cT
House members, Gingrich had 0
little choice but to allow Shays-
Meehan to get a fair hearing. Sort0’
at -
GOP leaders, thinking they
were outsmarting die petulant0
reformers, tried lo quash the bill
by attaching dozens of amend- '
merits to it and by proposing a
variety of competing bills. But the'0
reformers stood their ground, and
voted down most of the mend- “
ments and competing bills.
So how Gingrich as made' yet
another promise to Shays that theT
bill will come up for a vote. And
the bill’s supporters, while cau-'T'
£1^^ EH5S,
He "Y2K" problem, as it's also
called, stated decades ago when
early computers tad limited mem
ary and Uorage space. Programmers ducted by the Gallup Organization,
saved qace where they could - and die study concluded that widespread
one such place was in the date. By awareness of the Y2K problem has
f* *c*r 10 two dilP1** sparked hole action in the small
1961 could be sued as 61 and business community. While four
1990 as 98 and so on. Experts now out of five businesses (81 percent)
realize that on January 2000, many said they knew about the issue.
that's
a big bet to take.
(Farit is president of the
National Federation af Inde-
pendent Business.)
pass the legislation. Passing the
Shays-Meehan bill would be ao
“significant first step” toward
reforming the campaign finance-•
system, said Meredith McGeheer.
of the indejjendent watch-dog
group Common Cause. “The soft
money system is the most corrupt-
ing influenced Congress.... Peo-v
pie are fed up with what’s going
on in Washington.
Copyright 1W«. Unfed
tnfed Fortin Synlicfeo. he.
G*'.
will recognize the
'double zero* not as 2000 but as
1900 w » otherwise invalid date.
How big of a problem is it? It is
a worldwide issue, affecting main-
fiatte computers, personal comput-
ers nd other pieces of hardware
containing a microchip. It will af-
fect manufacturing control systems,
telecommunications, money trans-
only a few (6 percent) considered
the problem as being "very seri-
ous." Twenty-three percent saw it
as "somewhat serious."
There is no getting around it.
Y2K is a problem that demands the
attention of every computer-
dependent small business and even
some which aren't Many of the
smallest firms, those who have re-
fer and other financial systems, gas, cently purchased hardware and off-
water, electric utilities, stock mar
kets, transportation, national (to
fcnse, security systems and even
some household appliances.
The ramifications on a small
business are base and varied. Pre-
the-shelf software, may escape,
since most computer manufacturers
and software developers are address-
ing the Y2K code in their products.
But many small business owners
are not so fortunate. Most of their
programmed fax machines may stop risk exposure comes from comput-
sendmg information to customers. ers, but a third are at risk from
Voice mail phone systems may other equipment such as cash regis-
fail. Automatic money transfers w ters, telephone or elevator systems
Do you have an opinion?
The Polk County Enterprise encourages readers to submit letters ex-
pressing their views and opinions
The letters will be published in the Enterprise's Tetters to the editor'
column on Thursday or Sunday
The letters may be written on any subject or issue of general interest.
Letters must be accompanied by a name and mailing address and will be
subject to editing for grammar, punctuation, spelling and length.
Letters must include a telephone number for verification. We will not
publish the telephone number.
Readers should keep their letters brief and to the point. Each letter
should contain no more than 650 words. Letters exceeding that length will
be subject to editing or withheld from publication.
Letters will also be subject to editing for libelous statements and
commercialism.
This column is not meant as a forum for political candidates, although
we welcome comments from the public concerning campaign issues.
During election campaigns, we will not allow reference to specific local
candidates.
.Letters ®*y ta submitted in person; mailed to "Letters to the editor,"
Polk County Enterprise. P.O. Box 1276, Livingston, TX 77351; sent to
the Enterprise by fox to (409) 327-7156 or sent e-mail to
<Mv/eat@detneLcom>. *
Deadline for letters is 5 p.m. Tuesday for Thursday s newspaper aid 5
pJtt Friday for Sunday's newspaper. _
POLK COUNTY
ENTERPRISE
ALVIN HOLLEY, PUBLISHER
Telephone Number 327-4357
(USPS 437-340)
WEBSITE: www.demetcomfeceaV E-MAIL: liv/»l@detnetcom
Entered as Second-Class Matter at the Post Office at Livingston,
Texas 77351 under the Act of Congress of March 3,1987.
EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT
Barbara White, Editor
Van Thomas, Sports Editor
Greg Peak, Area News Editor
Alicia Singleton, Living Section Editor
Emily Banks, Reporter
Gordon LeBarron, Photographer
PRODUCTION DEPARTMENT
Cameras / Ptatemaking
Don Holetnan, Paul Holley
Pressroom Personnel
Adrian Dunn, Beamon Goodwin, Willis Woods
MaOroom / Circulation
Lee Torres, Lourdes Ceiedon
Dorothy Wilson, Composition Supervisor
Jennifer Kingsbury, Wilma Williams, Stephanie Seek
ADVERTISING DEPARTMENT
Linda Holley, Ad Manager
Sandra Jackson, Kay Loy Cuevas, Kelly Rood
Linda Jacobs, Classified Manager
Patty Hankerd
PRINTING DEPARTMENT
Jennifer Birdwefl, Supervisor
Deborah Bartlett
BOOKKEEPING DEPARTMENT
Georgia Bailey, Manager
Barbara Wilson, Laura Bright, Lisa Singleton,
SUBSCRIPTION RATES - $20.00 per year tax included, in county
$22.00per year, out of county. $24 DO per year out of state. Published semi-
weekly, Sunday and Thursday at 100 Calhoun in Livingston, Texas by the
Polk County Publishing Co.
Any erroneous reflection upon the character, standing or reputation of
any person, firm or corporation which may appear in this newspaper will
be gladly corrected upon being brought lo the attention of the publisher
Opinions expressed in cotomns arc those of the writer md not necessar-
ily those of this newspaper.
Opinions expressed in editorial arc those of the Enterprise.
POSTMASTER; Postage Paid At Livingston, TX. Please Send Address
Changes To P.O. Box 1276, Livingston, Texas 77351.
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White, Barbara. Polk County Enterprise (Livingston, Tex.), Vol. 116, No. 55, Ed. 1 Sunday, July 5, 1998, newspaper, July 5, 1998; Livingston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth798194/m1/4/: accessed July 4, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Livingston Municipal Library.