lake jackson • clute • richwood • freeport • oyster … · march 12, 2013 vol. 19, no. 41...

© 2013 BULLETINTHETake One! It’s FREE!March 12, 2013 Vol. 19, No. 41(979) 849-5407 . mybulletinnewspaper.com

Texas A&M makes Top 100 global best list

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Company picks Pearland for regional facility

See Page 5

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

(Continued on Page 13)

Brazosport College’s Gator Gallop March 18

See Page 3

LAKE JACKSON • CLUTE • RICHWOOD • FREEPORT • OYSTER CREEK • ANGLETON • DANBURY • ALVIN • WEST COLUMBIA • BRAZORIA • SWEENY

Second time is the charm for Alvin student inducted into honor societyFor more than 20 years, Michael Bird-

well, of Alvin, felt he was so far behind in his education that he would never be able to finish.

Birdwell said he had signed up for classes at Alvin Community College that he was not able to keep up with. He left ACC in 1991 with a grade point average below one.

“I couldn’t do it anymore,” he said. “I got in over my head.”

After taking a job at an Alvin business a few years ago, Birdwell spoke with ACC staff members, who eventually encouraged him to go back to school. Birdwell began pursuing an Associate Degree in Radio and Television. He since has flourished.

On Feb. 22, Birdwell joined 37 ACC students to be inducted into the honors society Phi Theta Kappa Mu Upsilon chapter.

“It was amazing,” Birdwell said of join-

ing Phi Theta Kappa.Phi Theta Kappa is the international

honor society of two-year colleges. Members follow four hallmarks, includ-ing scholarship, leadership, service and fellowship. To be eligible for Phi Theta Kappa, students must have completed at least 12 college credit hours at ACC and maintained a grade point average of 3.5 or above.

More than 3,500 ACC students have been inducted into Phi Theta Kappa.

Guest speaker of the event, Van Shotwell, told the inductees that one of the best ways to succeed in the job market is maintaining a positive attitude and good interpersonal skills.

“You need to be able to get out there and talk to people,” she said.

Shotwell is a former vice president of scholarship for Mu Upsilon. Since she finished college, Shotwell has created a Phi Theta Kappa inductee Michael Birdwell, of Alvin, signs his name as a new

member of the honors society during an induction ceremony on Feb. 22. (Continued on Page 11)

Hey, coach!By John TothEditor and Publisher

“Hey, coach,” yelled the young man as he tried to get my attention recently. “Don’t you remember me?”

He played for me in Little League as a kid many, many years ago. I coached a bunch of youth teams back in the day.

Then he told me what team and what year, and everything clicked.

“You haven’t changed a bit,” he said.

“You have,” I replied. “You grew up and have facial hair. You had a squeaky voice and were about a quar-ter that size the last time I saw you.”

It feels great (although awkward until we square away the team and the year) when one of those kids says hello. It brings back a lot of good memories.

Youth sports coaching is a slippery slope. One bad parent can do a lot of damage. The kids were never a problem, and the vast majority of the parents were great. But every now and

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PERHAPS YOU SHOULD CON-SIDER ANOTHER LINE OF WORK: A man tried to carjack three different women in a shopping center parking lot in Oceanside, Calif., without suc-cess. He showed a knife to the first woman as she was exiting her car. She got back in and drove away. He pulled a gun on the second woman as she got out, but she ran into a store and called the cops. The third woman did as he told her, getting out and leaving the keys. But she then activated a kill switch that disabled the ignition and locked him inside. He smashed one of the windows and ran.

HEH, HEH, SHE’LL NEVER SUSPECT ME: A man installing a burglar alarm in a home in Boca Raton, Fla., was arrested when the homeowner caught him trying to steal $40,000 worth of her jewelry.

NOW HIS GIRLFRIEND IS HAVING SECOND THOUGHTS FOR SOME REASON: After being released from jail in Portage, Ind., a 23-year-old man drove to a church at 100 mph where he said he was supposed to get married. Police pursued him there, and saw him spinning his jeep around in the parking lot. He was taken back to jail.

THIS IS A MAN WHO WILL NOT BE DETERRED: A man was arrested in Georgia for trying to hire someone to murder his former business partner. While he was in jail, he tried again to have the guy killed by putting out the word among his fellow inmates, offering $10,000 to do the job.

HOW DARE THEY GET MARRIED ON MY BEACH! A drunk disrupted an evening wedding on the beach in Marco Island, Fla., running behind the altar and shouting, “Hey tourists, get off my beach, I’m local.” He then lobbed unopened beer cans at the group, hitting several guests and the best man. He was chased down by the wedding party and arrested.

HEY, ALL THAT RANTING MADE ME HUNGRY: A man went ballistic when a coworker at the Richmond Mall in New Zealand, stole $180 worth of marijuana from him. He was shouting, swearing and kicking things, but when he threatened to blow up the mall, police threw him out and ordered him not to return. But he did. He was arrested because he came back to buy a pizza.

LOOK, I JUST NEED A SMOKE, MAN: A man approached a large male deer on his front lawn in Whitehouse, Texas, when the animal charged at him, sending him scampering into his truck. The deer stuck his head in before the man could close the door, and, when the guy got out the other side, the deer stole his ciga-rettes which were sitting on the center console.

COMFORTING THE FLOCK, MY FOOT! A young clergyman, who was invited to a woman’s home in Kakamega, Kenya, for a cup of tea, wound up going to bed with her as her husband was out of town. Alas, the husband got wind of their dalliance, and returned unexpectedly, and chased him half-naked through the streets.

DPS increases spring break DWI enforcement where alcohol-related crashes occurAUSTIN – The Texas Department of

Public Safety (DPS) will increase DWI patrols through March 17, one of the most active Spring Break periods in Texas.

DPS troopers will focus DWI patrols in high-risk locations at times when alcohol-related crashes are most fre-quent. The enhanced patrols that target intoxicated drivers are funded through a grant from the Texas Department of Transportation.

“Too frequently people choose to drink and drive during Spring Break, which is an extremely dangerous decision that

often leads to senseless tragedy,” said DPS Director Steven McCraw. “Getting impaired drivers off the roads during Spring Break is a major priority for the department, and we also urge the public to make responsible decisions, such as designating a non-drinking driver, or finding alternative transportation if they are impaired.”

During last year’s Spring Break enforcement period, DPS troopers made more than 1,000 DWI arrests, and approximately 300 were the direct result of the increased patrols funded by the grant.

DPS enforcement also resulted in more than 9,400 speeding citations, 1,500 seat belt/child safety seat tickets and 12,500 other citations. In addition, troopers made 545 fugitive arrests and 402 felony arrests during routine patrol operations.

The drinking age in Texas is 21, and any driver under that age with any detectable amount of alcohol in their system can be charged with breaking the law. Additional troopers will also be patrolling in areas with high concentra-tions of Spring Break activity.

DPS offers the following tips for safe travel during the Spring Break holiday:

• Slow down – especially in bad weather, construction areas, heavy traf-fic and unfamiliar areas.

• Eliminate distractions while driving, including the usage of mobile devices.

• Buckle up everyone in the vehicle – it’s the law.

• Don’t drive fatigued, and allow plenty of time to reach your destination.

• Drive defensively, as holiday travel may present additional challenges.

• Make sure your vehicle is properly maintained before your trip begins.

• Slow down, or move over, for tow trucks and police, fire and EMS vehicles stopped on the side of the road with emergency lights activated – it’s the law.

• Avoid travel to Mexico. (U.S. citizens who do travel to Mexico should always check the U.S. Department of State website for the latest information

regarding security issues in Mexico, and they should register with the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program by visiting http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_970.html.)

email: [email protected] (979) 849-5407 March 12, 2013 THE BULLETIN

Strange but True

If you enjoy reading our features and community events, please let our advertisers know that you saw their ads in The Bulletin.

By Bill Sones and Rich Sones, Ph.D.

What a big brain you haveQ. Go ahead now. Put your big brain

to work trying to answer this intriguing question: How did we become such a big-brained species?

A. We humans boast about 1400 cubic centimeters of brain volume, or roughly three times that of the chimpanzee, our closest evolutionary cousin, says Michael Balter in “Science” magazine. While the brains of whales and elephants surpass ours in absolute measure, proportionally (based on body weight) ours are bigger. So why did “natural selection bestow such gener-ous largesse on the human noggin”? One fascinating theory, by psycholo-gist Robin Dunbar of the University of Oxford (and others), argues that brain size correlates with the size of a species’ social group, with our large neocortex needed to help keep track of who is doing what to whom. Adds biological anthropologist Robert Sey-farth, this social brain hypothesis has generated a huge amount of research, with one study even showing “a positive correlation between gray matter density and the number of Facebook friends an individual has.”

Another theory points to food-acquisi-tion challenges among primates involv-ing competition for scarce resources. Yet if group size can help develop cooperation among many members, it can also spark internal competition and

sub-group clans forming to complicate things. As Dunbar puts it: “Primates do a balancing act between maintaining group cohesion and using close alli-ances to buffer themselves against the cost of group living, which is no mean feat cognitively.”

For now, concludes Balter, the origin of our big brains remains a puzzle, but we’ve already got enough smarts that we may one day solve this one.What is this symbol?

Q. With all your education and expe-rience, you’re certainly not about to be baffled by a children’s book, are you? So answer this: The book describes this particular number symbol as an eight that stood up tall, then fell over onto its side and felt too tired to get up. Now there it lies! What symbol is it?

A. It’s the symbol for infinity, as char-acterized by Kate Hosford in “Infinity and Me.” Technically, infinity is not a number but rather a counting process that goes on endlessly--one after another, world without end. For example, think of the counting numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5... that go on and on and on, infinitely. Or as the book puts it, “if infinity were a racetrack, you could drive around it forever.”Best-selling book

Q. What’s right and what’s wrong in saying, “The Bible is the best-selling book of all time?”

A. It’s true that the Bible sells some

20 million copies each year, yet by one poll, less than half of adult Americans can name the first book (Genesis) or the four Gospels of the New Testament (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John), says Diane Sawyer in “Think: The Magazine of Case Western Reserve University” (CWRU).

Quite often people wind up quoting the Bible to support their own point of view, political, moral or social, but when the text is actually examined, complica-tions and contradictions arise, suggests CWRU religion scholar Timothy Beal, PhD. The Bible isn’t a book per se but rather a collection of texts compiled by many different hands over more than a thousand years, so our cultural ideal of the Bible as a beacon of pronounce-ments about what’s right and wrong, true and not true, doesn’t really fit Biblical tradition. On Beal’s “BibliFact” blog, he rates some of the wide range of political and social Bible-quoting, from “Five Bibles” (Yes) to “One Bible (No), and even “Fire and Brimstone Worthy” for particularly egregious claims.

Gator Gallop set for March 18

The Brazosport College Gator Gallop fun run is back for its 33rd year.

The event, slated for Saturday, March 23, on the campus of Brazosport Col-lege, will consist of a 5K run (3.1 miles), a BASF Kid’s Run (600 meters) and a one-mile walk/run.

The entry fee for either the 5K or one-mile run is $17 if application is received by March 18.

Participation in both races is $22 if registered early. Race-day registration is $20 for each race or $25 for both runs. The price for the BASF Kids Run is $1 (optional).

Race-day registration and packet pick-up begins at 6:30 a.m. March 23, with the one-mile race/walk beginning at 7:30 a.m., followed by the BASF Kids Run at 7:45 a.m. and the 5K Gallop at 8 a.m.

Participants can register online at www.thedriven.net for the one-mile and 5K races, and at www.brazosport.edu/ce for the BASF Kid’s run.

For more information, call (979)230-3600.Please let your friends and rela-tives in other places know that The Bulletin also can be read

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Social SecurityMcClatchy-Tribune News Service (MCT)

Q&A

(This column was prepared by the Social Security Administration. For fast answers to specific Social Security questions, contact Social Security toll-free at 800-772-1213.)

Q: What’s the easiest way to apply for retirement ben-efits?

A: The easiest way to apply for retirement benefits is online at www.socialsecurity.gov/applyonline. It’s easy and secure. You can com-plete it in as little as 15 minutes. In most cases, once your application is submitted electronically, you’re done.

There are no forms to sign and usually no documentation is required. Social Security will process your application and contact you if we need more information. You also can apply by calling our toll-free number, 1-800-772-1213 (TTY 1-800-325-0778), between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m., Monday through Friday.

Our representatives will make an appointment to take your applica-tion over the telephone or at a local Social Security office.

Q: How can I get an estimate of my retirement benefits?

A: Use our online Retirement Estimator at www.socialsecurity.gov/estimator. There, you can enter cer-tain identifying information about yourself, including your name, date of birth, Social Security number, place of birth, and mother’s maiden name. If the personal information you provide matches our records, you can enter your expected retire-ment age and future wages.

The online application will com-bine your earnings data Social Security has and provide you a quick and reliable online benefit estimate. You can even enter dif-ferent “what if” scenarios to find out what your benefits will be in different situations.

A Spanish-language Retire-ment Estimator is available at www.segurosocial.gov/calculador. In addition, you can obtain your online Social Security Statement, which provides estimates of future benefits as well as a record of your earnings to make sure your past earnings are reported correctly.

Find the online Statement at www.socialsecurity.gov/statement.

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Air Force cuts aviation support at public eventsWASHINGTON – As the U.S. Air

Force braces for potential sequester, leadership has cancelled all aviation support to public events for at least the remainder of the fiscal year and is standing down the Thunderbirds aerial demonstration team to save flying hours to support readiness needs.

Effective now, active-duty, Reserve and Guard units will cease all aviation support to the public. This includes the cancellation of support to all air shows, tradeshows, flyovers (including funerals and military graduations), orientation flights, heritage flights, F-22 demonstra-tion flights and open houses, unless the event includes only local static assets.

Additionally, the Air Force will cancel the Thunderbirds’ entire 2013 season beginning April 1.

The Thunderbirds and Heritage Flight crews will complete their certification procedures for safely flying aerial demonstrations in case the budget allows resumption of scheduled events in 2013, but the Air Force will cease participation in Heritage flights following certification.

The Air Force will reduce flying hours by as much as 18 percent -- approxi-mately 203,000 hours -- and impacts will be felt across the service and directly affect operational and training missions.

“While we will protect flying opera-tions in Afghanistan and other contin-gency areas, nuclear deterrence and initial flight training, roughly two-thirds of our active-duty combat Air Force units will curtail home station training,”

said Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark A. Welsh III.

Since all aerial support to public and military events is flown at no additional cost to the taxpayer using allotted train-ing hours, the Air Force had no choice but to cancel support to these events.

“Engaging with the public is a core Air Force mission and communicat-ing and connecting with the public is more important today than ever before. However, faced with deep budget cuts, we have no choice but to stop public aviation support,” said Brig. Gen. Les Kodlick, director of Air Force Public Affairs. “The Air Force will re-evaluate the program at the end of the fiscal year and look for ways to curtail the program without having to cancel aviation sup-port altogether.”

The Air Force will continue to seek additional ways to remain engaged with the American public.


Dover Energy picks Pearland for regional facilityThe Pearland Economic Development Corporation, along with the City of Pear-

land, recently announced Dover Energy’s plans to consolidate its multiple Texas locations into one regional facility to be located in Pearland.

Dover Energy, which provides highly-engineered solutions for the safe and effi-cient extraction and handling of critical fluids worldwide in the drilling, production and downstream markets, selected Pearland during a multi-city site search. PEDC and City of Pearland assisted Dover Energy with regulatory and zoning issues throughout the six-month site selection process, along with providing an incentive package to secure the relocation.

“The City of Pearland is honored that a world-class company such as Dover has chosen Pearland as the location for its consolidated operations,” said Pearland Mayor Tom Reid. “Dover’s selection of Pearland for its new facility demonstrates how our community’s outstanding quality of life and businessfriendly leadership continues to attract high-caliber companies to the area.”

Dover Energy’s new consolidated manufacturing and operations center will be located in the Lower Kirby Urban District on a 14-acre site at the northeast corner of Spectrum Boulevard and Hooper Road, directly behind Merit Medical’s new facility. The facility will be 150,000 square feet with space for a staff of approximately 200 employees, and is expected to bring $23.8M in investment to the community.

“Dover was looking to consolidate the manufacturing and operations of several stand-alone businesses into one site that was convenient and would best position it for future growth, and we found a great location for them that will suit all of their needs in a modern business park environment,” said Jarrett Venghaus, Senior Vice President of Jones Lang LaSalle, who represented Dover in its purchase of the land.

The Lower Kirby Urban District consists of 1,200 acres located on the western border of Pearland facing South Beltway 8 and is well positioned to capture a significant portion of office, retail, commercial and industrial projects.

Latest superbug threat is resistant to antibioticsBy Sara Cosgroveand Ramanan Laxminarayan (MCT)

This past summer in Colorado, doc-tors had found a rare superbug had infiltrated their hospital after the bacte-ria was detected in eight patients.

Nearly 2,000 miles away, this superbug quickly spread through the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center, killing seven people. The bug, known as carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae, or CRE, adapts quickly, is resistant to the most potent antibiotics, and preys on the most vulnerable populations in health-care facilities.

Because CRE are resistant to most available antibiotics, they are difficult to treat, and can result in death for up to 50 percent of patients who become infected.

The Vital Signs report released by the Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention reveals CRE is increasingly finding their way into intensive-care units and long-term health facilities in the United States.

Although the numbers of infections are likely still small, this looming public health threat is one that must be deci-sively addressed.

Over the last decade, CDC has tracked the spread of these bugs from a single health-care facility in North Carolina in 2001 to health-care facili-ties in at least 42 states. A new study published in Infection Control and Hos-pital Epidemiology reports a significant increase in CRE bacteria found in health-care settings like long-term care facilities and nursing homes. This trend suggests that patients are unknowingly transferring the bug between hospitals and long-term-care facilities.

We have a small window of opportu-nity to control this serious threat, when

it is potentially manageable. Data from CDC suggest that in the first half of 2012, only about 200 hospitals and long-term acute-care hospitals have cared for patients with CRE infections, but the recent upward trend in infection rates is cause for concern.

To effectively combat superbugs like CRE, we need to confront the problem at hand that has allowed them to thrive — the overuse of antibiotics in health care. Studies have shown that one-third of antibiotics prescribed to patients in hospitals are unnecessary.

The overuse of antibiotics breeds drug-resistant infections, which nega-tively affects patients, hospitals and our entire health-care system. One study showed that simply giving a patient carbapenem (a strong antibiotic that can sometimes kill off healthy gut bacteria) increases the risk of contract-ing CRE by a factor of 15.


Cancer is bad, but Hollywood makes it look like most everyone at the end diesBy Courtney PerkesThe Orange County Register (MCT)

There are too few Hollywood endings when it comes to the depiction of cancer in movies, doctors say.

Last fall, Italian researchers analyzed 82 cancer-themed movies, including “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” and “Gran Torino.” They found that rarer cancers are most often featured and that characters were more likely to die than real-life patients.

“Very often the ill person doesn’t get over the disease, and his death is somehow useful to the plot’s outcome,” Dr. Luciano De Fiore said in a statement. “This pattern is so strongly standardized that it persists in spite of real progress of treatments.”

Cancer is the second most common cause of death in the U.S., second only to heart disease. Yet, as diagnosis has improved and treatments have advanced, there are an estimated 13.7 million survivors, according to the

National Cancer Institute.In the movies analyzed, 40 charac-

ters with cancer were women, and 35 were men, although more men develop cancer. Death occurred in 63 percent of the movies. By contrast, the American Cancer Society reports that the five-year survival rate for all cancers is 68 percent.

The researchers noted that common cancers, including breast cancer, are hardly represented, while relatively rare leukemia, lymphomas and brain tumors predominate.

Dr. Robert A. Clark, a Florida radiolo-gist who conducted a similar film review published in 2001, said lung, breast and colon cancers are largely avoided in part because fictional patients are usually young and attractive. The majority of cancers, however, occur in those 55 and older.

“Cancer can involve a lot of messy things -- surgeries with colostomies and

urinary bags and some kind of nasty things,” Clark said. “That’s not something that filmmakers typically want to portray. It’s probably also a little more emotionally compelling when you have a 30-year-old victim instead of a 75- or 80-year-old victim.”

Clark examined 20 films made between 1939 and 1999, including “Terms of Endearment,” “Stepmom” and “A Civil Action.” He said he believes lung cancer is ignored because filmmakers are enamored with smoking, despite the fact that in 1991 the tobacco industry instituted a voluntary ban on paid product placement in movies.

As for breast cancer, he said it might be less interesting because so many people are familiar with the disease and because of how Hollywood works.

“If you’re in the film business, part of which is selling sex, it’s hard to walk that line between breasts for titillation and breasts for disease,” Clark said.

He said when he worked at a univer-sity cancer center, they would sometimes hold screenings for patients of cancer-themed movies, such as “The Doctor.”

“They often wanted to see cancer movies if they were good,” Clark said. “They also liked ‘Die Hard.’”

Dr. Leonard Sender, a University of California-Irvine oncologist who special-izes in young-adult cancer, said when he

watches movies, he particularly focuses on the portrayals of doctors, sometimes cringing at their arrogance.

He attended an event where Will Reiser, the screenwriter of “50/50,” spoke about the 2011 film, which was based on his diagnosis of spinal cancer at 25. In the movie, the character played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt undergoes chemotherapy, sees a therapist and ultimately survives.


By Brad BergholdtMcClatchy-Tribune News Service (MCT)

‘Check engine’ light might mean disaster, or not

Under the Hood

QUESTION: I remember you said there can be dozens, if not hundreds, of reasons my “check engine” light might come on. And since there’s no way for me to know which one it is without it being checked by a repair shop, how do I know if it’s a seri-ous problem or not? I think I heard somewhere the gas cap being loose is a common cause; what others are there? —Vinnie Salcida

ANSWER: Aside from a flat tire or dead battery, an illuminated “check engine” light — also known as a malfunction indicator lamp, or MIL — is probably the most dreaded and common automotive quirk to wreck someone’s day. This amber lamp indi-cates the emission control system, engine or transmission has incurred a fault that will cause exhaust emis-sions to rise above allowable values. In many cases, the vehicle will drive flawlessly. In other cases, misfiring, stalling or other drivability symptoms can lead to bigger problems. It may seem odd a transmission fault can affect emissions, but a shifting or torque converter clutch problem can make a difference.

In most cases, a continuously glowing MIL with normal engine and transmission performance can be prioritized as a sometime-this-week visit to a technician. A flashing MIL is a different story; the vehicle should be driven as tenderly and briefly as possible, as a severe engine misfire is occurring, which can damage the catalytic converter, among other issues. If the lamp stops flashing and misfire symptoms, such as shudder-ing or a thumping engine, abate, one may tread further.

ACC Board denies abatement plan on tie voteA tax abatement plan for Ascend Per-

formance Materials failed to pass after a tie vote from the Alvin Community Col-lege Board of Regents on Feb. 28.

The industrial firm sought a 10-year abatement for $18.39 million in tax reve-nue. Ascend is considering construction of a $1.2 billion propane dehydrogena-tion complex.

After meeting in closed session,

regent Doyle Swindell motioned for a plan that would abate 50 percent of Ascend’s taxes over seven. The motion also included an agreement where Ascend would make a contribution to the college of $2 million to go towards building a new facility for the ACC Pro-cess Technology program.

The board voted 4-4 with regents Mac Barrow, Pete Nash, Mike Pyburn and James DeWitt voting against, and Brenda Brown, Swindell, Bel Sanchez and Cheryl Knappe voting for it.

The motion failed to pass because of the tie vote.

Those opposed to the plan said the college is under financial strain due to funding cuts from the state and it can’t afford to abate potential tax revenue.

“It’s not that we’re against it, we’re just looking after the college,” Nash said.

Regents also questioned whether the Ascend project would depend on the abatements.

“This is a relatively small amount of your total project,” stated Mac Barrow.

Ascend officials said they have not decided whether to build the plant on Chocolate Bayou, or on another site in Louisiana.

The board members who voted for

the tax abatement said the college and community could benefit over the long term with new industry coming to the district.

“I think we have to have forward thinking,” Sanchez said. “We have to think bigger and think about the future.”

Not passing the abatement would likely have a negative effect for other firms who might consider moving to the area, Knappe said.

“I think we’re closing the door,” Knappe said. “ I don’t think in this day and age that we need to be doing that.”

According to the tax abatement appli-cation, the new project will bring 100 permanent jobs to the Alvin area with average annual salaries being more than $75,000.

Ascend has already reached agree-ments with Angleton ISD and the Brazoria County Commissioners. An abatement application is before the Brazoria County Conservation and Reclamation District No. 3.

In other matters, the board of regents voted unanimously during the meeting to refinance approximately $4.6 million in bonds. The move would save the col-lege from $95,000 to $100,000 per year until 2025.


Sour note: Harley factories ban music on shop floorsBy Diane StaffordThe Kansas City Star (MCT)

A leaked corporate memo has work-ers buzzing. No, not the Yahoo order for telecommuters to move into the office. It’s a new edict at Harley-Davidson:

No more music on the factory floors.Like many manufacturers around

the country, the motorcycle maker has decided that headphones, boom boxes and piped-in music get in the way of

plant safety and productivity.Harley-Davidson officers said music

had proved to be a distraction from the work at hand and a potential hazard.

Irv Robinson, owner of Robbie Fan-tastic Flexibles, a plant in Lenexa, Kan., that makes printed plastic packaging, is in full accord with the new Harley rule.

“We don’t allow music,” Robinson said. “It’s a safety problem. And we make our guys wear earplugs anyway.

We can’t add to the existing noise.”Other major manufacturing opera-

tions allow music in some form. At the General Motors Fairfax plant in Kansas City, Kan., for example, workers can’t wear headphones, but they can play small radios at low volume — low enough that sounds won’t override plant-wide information. Ford Motor Co. declined to comment on the policies in its plants.


Slow Internet means slow streamingTECH Q&A

By Steve AlexanderStar Tribune (Minneapolis) (MCT)

QUESTION: Our Sony TV keeps pausing during movies and TV shows we stream from Netflix. The icon on the screen says “loading” and the little wheel image keeps spinning. These pauses are annoying. Is there a way to download the show and then watch it in entirety? —Greg Thompson, Maple Grove, Minn.

ANSWER: No. Netflix movies are for streaming only. Your problem is probably caused by the speed of your Internet connection. You share Comcast’s network with other customers, so your speeds will be a little slower during peak evening viewing hours. Your streaming speed can also be slowed if others in your house are using your Internet connection at the same time. Streaming the lowest-quality high-definition video requires about 5 megabits per second of download speed; standard definition requires 2 to 3 megabits per second. You can check your speed by going to SpeedTest.net.

EUROPEAN VACATION: Last week’s column about using an Apple iPad 2 in Italy raised additional questions about the limitations of using the tablet computer while traveling abroad. Here are a few answers.

Q: What are the limitations on iPad navigation while traveling?A: The Wi-Fi-only version of the iPad doesn’t have GPS (Global Positioning

System) computer chips, and thus gets all of its location information from the near-est Wi-Fi hot spot. This obviously doesn’t locate you very precisely. But if you don’t have a Wi-Fi connection, you don’t have location information, and as a result, you don’t have navigation capability.

The Wi-Fi plus 3G cellular unit (iPad 2) and the Wi-Fi plus 4G cellular unit (iPad 3) do contain GPS chips for navigation, but they don’t rely solely on the chips to determine your location. Instead these cellular-equipped iPads use “assisted GPS,” which relies on a combination of GPS satellite signals, Wi-Fi hot spot data and cell tower data to give you more precise location information.

Q: Will iPad navigation work on GPS alone if Wi-Fi and cellular connections aren’t available?

A: Yes, if you have an app that downloads all of its maps to your iPad ahead of time, such as the Garmin and TomTom apps. No, if your navigation app requires constant map updates from the Internet, because you need a cellular or Wi-Fi con-nection for that. Knowing where you are doesn’t help if you don’t have a map.

Note: The GPS signal can be lost if portions of the sky are blocked by obstruc-tions, such as mountains, buildings and vehicle roofs. To make sure you have a GPS signal, seek out spots where the sky is unobstructed.

Q: How do I charge an iPad in Europe?A: You can use standard European plug converters; they differ a bit, depending

on the country. The iPad can charge with 100 to 240 volts and 50 to 60 Hertz, which makes it safe for European electrical power.

Genetically modified foods: who has to tell, and how much information has to be on labels?By Rosie MestelLos Angeles Times (MCT)

LOS ANGELES — Consumers who believe they have a “right to know” whether their food contains genetically modified ingredients are pressing law-makers, regulators and voters to require labels on altered foods. But even if they succeed, experts say there’s no guar-antee that labels identifying genetically engineered foods would ever appear on packages.

“People are usually surprised to learn that there is no legal right to know,” said Michael Rodemeyer, an expert on biotechnology policy at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville.

A variety of rules and regulations

control the words that appear on food packages. Such rules must be balanced against companies’ constitutionally protected right of commercial speech, experts said.

“It’s an unsettled area in the law,” said Hank Greely, director of the Stanford Center for Law and the Biosciences in Palo Alto. “If I were a betting man, I think the odds are good that the Supreme Court would … strike down a GMO labeling requirement.”

Consumers do have the right to know some things about foods, and it’s the job of the Food and Drug Administration to enforce the various rules. Labels must carry an accurate name for the food, as well as its weight and manufacturer, a

list of ingredients and, since 1990, that panel of calories and breakdown of basic nutrients that some people pore over and others blithely ignore.

And labels cannot be false or misleading. Consumers have a right to know that a foodstuff contains the nutrients they’d reasonably expect to find in a food with that name: An orange lacking vitamin C (should anyone desire

to create such a thing) would have to be labeled as such.

They also have the right to know if a food contains something new that makes it materially different, such as an allergen or unexpected nutrient. Soybean varieties that are genetically engineered to contain high amounts of the monounsaturated fat oleic acid must bear labels that make that property

clear, said FDA spokesperson Morgan Liscinsky.

But there is no requirement that food producers use those labels to say how they raised those oleic acid levels, according to the FDA. They could have done it through conventional breeding, or by irradiating plant tissue to create mutations, or by fusing cells together in a dish — or with genetic engineering.


Satan, like evil itself, is real and destructive

Sponsors of this column

(Send your queries to “My Answer,” c/o Billy Graham, Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, 1 Billy Graham Parkway, Charlotte, N.C., 28201; call 1-(877) 2-GRAHAM, or visit the Web site for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association: www.billygraham.org.)

My Answer

By Billy GrahamTribune Media Services

Q: I think the idea of Satan is a myth, dreamed up by people who couldn’t think of any other way to explain why evil exists. We alone are responsible when we do bad things, and we can’t blame some imaginary devil. - C.M.

A: Let me ask you a question: How do you explain the existence of evil, if there is no evil spiritual force working behind the scenes of this world?

After all, evil isn’t just an absence of good; evil is real, and evil is aggressive and destructive. Can you come up with a better explanation than the existence of Satan, as he is portrayed in the Bible? I doubt it. The Bible calls him “The great dragon... who leads the whole world astray” (Revelation 12:9). Jesus called him “a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him.... he is a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44).

It has been said that one of the devil’s greatest tricks is to make people believe he doesn’t exist - and that’s true. When we deny his existence, we become blinded to the reality of evil, and we fall for his lies about God and about ourselves. But Satan is real; our headlines scream it every day.

The most important truth, however, about the devil is this: He is a defeated foe! By His death Jesus overcame Satan’s charges against us, and by His resurrection Jesus conquered Satan’s rule of death. And some day Christ’s victory over Satan will be complete, and Satan and his demons will be banished forever. Don’t be deceived, but turn to Jesus Christ and build your life on His truth. He alone can give us hope, both now and forever.

talent management agency.An important lesson that the induct-

ees can learn is that people show different aspects of their personalities, and it takes time to truly get to know someone.

“Never judge anyone based on a first impression,” she said.

By going back to college, Birdwell helped change the perception of himself from someone who could not finish school to someone who joined an honors society.

Once he finishes at ACC, Birdwell intends to transfer to another university and possibly pursue a theology degree.

Wherever he goes, finishing college has helped him see that he can achieve an education.

“I’m ecstatic,” he said.The new Phi Theta Kappa inductees

are:Trailaria Aikens, Matthew David

Anderson, Michael T. Birdwell, Christina Duchess Bowen, Marshall Bowers; Shelly Deann Brodie, John Anthony Brundrett, Sarah Brooke Coe, Devonda L. Davis, Vincent Diaz, Jeremy Wayne Dodd, Geoffrey Jay Eppler, Norma Franco, Joseph M. Getty, Andrea Ceci-lia Gonzalez, Michael Ryan Goodman, David Randall Griffith, Jennifer Michelle Guinon, Emily Marie Hernandez, Sabrina Elaine Johnson, Soraya Renee Lansing-Fricou, Jennifer Kathleen Luna , Iain Frederick Macey, Cynthia Mazique, Melissa Sue Moore, Courtney Sharee Muniz, Brenna Kristen Patrick, Bryan Dillon Rodriguez, Misty Dawn Shan-non, Bethanie Eden Sterling, James Allen Stone III, Taylor Troxlar, Megan Ryan Thornton, Stacy Kathleen Turner, Juliana Marie Walker , Heather Lanette Williams, Lauren Denise Wilchynski and Brooke Allison Wollam.

ACC’s PTK honor society inductees

(Continued from Page 1)

Texas A&M makes global Top 100 listTexas A&M University is included in a list of the top 100 “most powerful global

university brands” compiled by The Times Higher Education, a London-based magazine.

The Times Higher Education’s “World Reputation Rankings” employ the world’s largest “invitation-only academic opinion survey to provide the definitive list of the top 100 most powerful global university brands,” according to a posting on the publication’s website, with a notation that the list is a spin-off of the annual “World University Rankings.”

The 2013 rankings are based on the judgments of “senior, published academ-ics” garnered through 16,639 survey responses, according to the site, which includes a notation that “a university’s brand can be important in luring both professors and students.”

The University of Texas at Austin also is included in the magazine’s listings, which are topped by Harvard University.

This is the latest in a series of rankings and ratings in which Texas A&M is prominently noted, university officials pointed out.

‘I’m still going to tan,’ vows mom cleared in endangerment caseBy Matt PearceLos Angeles Times (MCT)

A very tan New Jersey mother, who gained Internet notoriety after she was accused of forcing her 5-year-old daughter onto a tanning bed, has been vindicated in court.

Essex County prosecutors said Tuesday that a grand jury has declined to indict Patricia Krentcil on second-degree child endangerment charges.

“We presented all the available evidence in the case to the grand jury, both the state’s evidence and

the defense’s evidence,” Assistant Prosecutor Gina Iosim said in a state-ment. “The grand jurors voted not to indict Mrs. Krentcil. We respect their decision.”

Although Krentcil, 44, was sporting a deeply tan complexion at the time of her indictment, she said all along that her daughter never went in a tanning booth and just got sunburn. Under New Jersey law, children younger than 14 are not allowed in tanning beds.

“What this world did in the past year made a mockery of me,” a significantly

paler Krentcil shouted down to report-ers who assembled below her Nutley home on a recent night, according to footage from CBS 2 in New York. Her husband also briefly appeared.

She called her case, which went viral on the Internet, “the biggest ridiculous thing in the world.”

At one point, a Connecticut novelty company began selling a “tanorexic action figure” based on Krentcil, who was also mocked in a “Saturday Night Live” sketch (which she admitted was “hysterical”).

Dinner 6pm-8pm


History of the WorldBy Mark AndrewsTribune Media Services

([email protected].)

March 11: ON THIS DATE in 537, the Goths laid siege to Rome. In 1958, a U.S. B-47 bomber accidentally dropped a nuclear bomb near Flor-ence, S.C. The bomb didn’t go off because of its safety features.

March 12: ON THIS DATE in 1912, Juliette Gordon Low founded the Girl Guides, which later became the Girl Scouts of America. In 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt delivered the first of his radio “fireside chats.”

March 13: ON THIS DATE in 1868, the impeachment trial of President Andrew Johnson began in the U.S. Senate; he was eventually acquitted by one vote. In 1925, a law went into effect in Tennessee prohibiting the teaching of evolution.

March 14: ON THIS DATE in 1939, the republic of Czechoslovakia was dissolved, opening the way for Nazi occupation. In 1964, a jury in Dallas found strip-club owner Jack Ruby guilty of murdering Lee Harvey Oswald, the accused assassin of President Kennedy.

March 15: ON THIS DATE in 44 B.C., Roman dictator Julius Caesar was assassinated by a group of nobles that included his erstwhile ally Brutus. In 1964, actress Elizabeth Taylor mar-ried actor Richard Burton in Montreal; it was her fifth marriage, his second.

March 16: ON THIS DATE in 1836, the independent Republic of Texas approved a constitution. In 1968, during the Vietnam War, the My Lai Massacre was carried out by U.S. troops under the command of Lt. Wil-liam L. Calley Jr.

March 17: ON THIS DATE in 461, according to tradition, St. Patrick - the patron saint of Ireland - died in Saul, where he had built a church. In 1966, a U.S. midget submarine found a missing hydrogen bomb that had fallen from an American bomber into the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Spain.

Answer to last week’s ques-tion: This week in 1972, Alabama Gov. George Wallace was shot and paralyzed while campaigning for the Democratic presidential nomination in Maryland.

This week’s question: In 1790, who became the first U.S. secretary of state?

Weather Whys

Weather Whys is a service of the Department of Atmospheric Sciences at Texas A&M University.

By Randy LewisLos Angeles Times (MCT)

LOS ANGELES — When is 13 a lucky number? When it’s the number of years it’s taken for the music industry to post its first yearly increase in global recorded music sales, which is what happened in 2012, according to new figures from the International Federation for the Phono-graphic Industry.

The group’s annual Digital Music Report, issued Feb. 26 in London, noted that overall music sales rose from $16.2 billion to $16.5 billion, or 0.3 percent, from 2011 to 2012, the first time in 13 years that worldwide sales didn’t decline.

IFPI Chief Executive Frances Moore said that indicates the long-suffering music business is “well on the road to recovery.”

The increase, fractional as it is, reflects a greater availability of

digital music services around the world, according to the IFPI report.

Digital sales were up 9 percent in 2012 – from $5.2 billion to $5.6 billion – thanks to proliferation of such services in 100 markets last year, compared with only 23 markets a year earlier.

Music subscription services also helped, growing 44 percent last year and now claiming 20 million subscribers around the world.

Digital makes up more than half of recorded music sales in the U.S., Norway and Sweden, but for the rest of the world, physical CDs and other formats are still the dominant way people purchase and listen to music, the report said.

Even with the increasing popularity of subscription services, IFPI reported that 70 percent of global digital revenues came from online retail sales through iTunes, Amazon, Google and Microsoft.

Still it’s sobering to compare the 2012 revenue total of $16.5 billion to the industry peak in 1999, when sales hit $27.8 billion (adjusted to the 2012 exchange rate), as reported by the IFPI.

The top-selling single around the world was Carly Rae Jepsen’s “Call Me Maybe,” which sold more than 12.5 million copies, while Adele’s “21” was the biggest-selling album for the second year in a row, posting 8.3 million in 2012 after moving 18.1 million copies in 2011.

“It’s clear that in 2012 the global recording industry has moved onto the road to recovery,” Moore said in state-ment included with IFPI’s report.

“This has not come about by accident. As an industry, we have really changed and adapted our business models to meet the digital world,” she said, tem-pering her optimistic assessment with a warning against complacency in the future.

Global music sales up 0.3 percent in 2012, first increase in 13 years

Enough with the ‘Argo’: Let’s take a peek at the 2014 Oscar candidatesBy Glenn WhippLos Angeles Times (MCT)

LOS ANGELES — Now that Ben Affleck has shaved his good-luck Oscar beard, we believe it’s safe to officially close the book on the 2012-13 awards season so we can cast a small peek at the treasures that await. What will the coming best picture race look like? Here are 10 candidates:

“The Great Gatsby” (May 10): Director, Baz Luhrmann; cast, Leon-ardo DiCaprio, Carey Mulligan, Tobey Maguire. Delayed from last year and, like all of Luhrmann’s high-style, high-wire movies, guaranteed to be divi-sive, “Gatsby” could well be this year’s “Les Miserables” (without the singing) — a lavish, emotionally over-the-top, sweeping spectacle that aims to hold a mirror to modern times. Its schedule bump might prompt some doubts, but “Titanic” moved back its release date too, and it made out OK.

“Monuments Men” (Dec. 18): Director, George Clooney; cast, Daniel Craig, Clooney, Cate Blanch-ett. It’s a WWII action-thriller about a special platoon charged with saving art from the Nazis. Tension + higher purpose + Clooney = best picture? That equation worked this year with “Argo,” didn’t it?

“The Wolf of Wall Street” (Late 2013): Director, Martin Scorsese; cast, Leonardo DiCaprio. The fifth collaboration between Scorsese and DiCaprio has sex, drugs and securities fraud, not to mention mob

elements, along with a script from Terence Winter, who, judging from his work on “The Sopranos” and “Board-walk Empire,” knows his way around the subject at hand.

“Nebraska” (Late 2013): Director, Alexander Payne; cast, Bruce Dern, Will Forte. Payne’s road trips (“About Schmidt,” “Sideways”) never disap-point. This one follows a son (Forte) reluctantly taking his irascible dad (Dern) from Billings, Mont., to Lincoln, Neb., to claim a magazine sweep-stakes prize. Likely to be low-key, but that could work in its favor.

“Captain Phillips” (Oct. 11): Director, Paul Greengrass; cast, Tom Hanks, Catherine Keener. Hanks plays a cargo ship captain taken hos-tage by Somali pirates. Greengrass (“United 93,” “Bloody Sunday”) knows how to craft compelling cinema from true stories, and it’s about time the academy recognizes him for some-thing. Hanks’ presence should help pave the way.

“Foxcatcher” (Late 2013): Direc-tor, Bennett Miller; cast, Steve Carell, Mark Ruffalo. Miller follows his Oscar-nominated “Moneyball” with an altogether different true story — the relationship between paranoid chemi-cal fortune heir John du Pont and an Olympic gold-medal wrestler who was his longtime friend. For Carell, in par-ticular, this has the potential to be a career-changer.

“Labor Day” (Late 2013): Director, Jason Reitman; cast, Kate Winslet,

Josh Brolin. While out shopping for back-to-school clothes, a mother and her 13-year-old son come across a bleeding man in need of help. They bring him home and ... it gets com-plicated from there. Reitman adapted the story from Joyce Maynard’s poi-gnant, coming-of-age novel.

“August: Osage County” (Fall): Director, John Wells; cast, Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, Juliette Lewis. The movie has the pedigree — Tracy Letts adapted his Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning play about a dysfunctional family coming together after a crisis. And it’s being released by the Weinstein Co., so there’s that. But Wells is primarily a TV director and dramas centered on family con-flict often turn into tonal train wrecks. An iffy proposition, but, with this year’s Oscar-winning producers Clooney and Grant Heslov on board, it’s one that cannot be discounted.

“Gravity” (Oct. 4): Director, Alfonso Cuaron; cast, Clooney, Sandra Bull-ock. Clooney (he’s everywhere!) and Bullock play astronauts dealing with a mission gone bad. Cuaron (“Children of Men”) is one of our most gifted directors, and this will need critical raves to break through the academy’s tendency to short-sheet sci-fi.

“Fruitvale” (TBD): Director, Ryan Coogler; cast, Michael B. Jordan, Octavia Spencer. Indie drama about the last day in the life of Oscar Grant, the 22-year-old Bay Area man shot dead by a transit officer. Like “Beasts

of the Southern Wild” last year, “Fruitvale” took Sundance by storm, winning the Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award. Weinstein Co. bought the devastating drama at the festival, and based on the buzz and reviews, it probably will become a fix-ture in the upcoming award season.

Q: Why is the sky blue and not some other color?

A: From space, the Earth is seen totally surrounded by blackness, says Texas A&M University’s Brent McRoberts.

“But the blue sky and white clouds we see are the result of light being scattered in all directions,” he explains. “We know that light is coming from the sun, and this light contains all of the colors within the spectrum. The colors of light travel in waves of different lengths, and about 18 miles up, light encounters air molecules. These air molecules allow most of the light to pass through. But blue and violet travel at small wavelengths which get scattered by these very small air molecules across the sky. This is also known as Rayleigh scattering, which makes the sky look blue. During a sunrise or sunset, the sunshine has to pass through more atmosphere, so the shorter wavelengths are almost completely scattered away, allowing a reddish color to be seen.”

Q: So why does the sky look gray during a hazy day?

A: On hazy days, large particles in the air make the sky appear gray or even white, McRoberts explains.

“These larger particles tend to scatter more wavelengths of light in the color spectrum,” he says. “Hazy air has a lot of water molecules, and these molecules can scatter light of all wavelengths, not just blue. In heav-ily polluted air, the sky may appear yellow or brown, and this is due to the particles being able to scatter the light to produce these colors. This phenomenon is called Mie scattering. To sum it up, the way light is scattered determines the color of the sky.”

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Send e-mail to PETWORLD@STEVE DALE.TV. Include your name, city and state.)

PET WORLDPheromones could be what’s driving your cat ‘crazy’

Winny is an orange spayed adult female DSH mix. Brian is a black and tan male “All-American” Breed puppy. Come by the SPCA-BC Shelter at 141 Canna Ln., Lake Jackson, or we are at Brazos Mall, Petco and Petsmart every Saturday, to visit with Winny, Brian and their many friends. Kennel sponsorships are now available for large or small kennels. Why not have your company or family recognized with a plaque to show you care. Call (979) 285-2340, ext. 100, or visit www.spcabc.org for details. Help control the pet population. Have your pet spayed or neutered. Come by the SPCA-BC and fill out an application today.

See who is waiting for you at SPCA-BC

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By Steve DaleTribune Media ServicesBy Steve DaleTribune Media Services

SAN DIEGO, CA — These reader questions were answered at the Central Veterinary Conference West, held at the San Diego Convention Center, recently.

Q: Why does my cat go crazy if I step on an ant? She’ll roll around on the spot. - W.G., Cyberspace.

A: “I suspect it’s all about the smell,” says Vancouver, BC-based feline veterinarian Dr. Margie Scherk, editor, Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery. “I’m not cer-tain of what’s happening, but here’s what we know. Cats are driven by pheromones (chemicals secreted by an animal that influences the behavior or development of other members of the same species). Ants are also influenced by pheromones (that’s how they know how to follow one another, for example). Perhaps, your cat is somehow sensing phero-mones or the smell itself of crushed ants.”

Q: My cat was diagnosed a few months back with renal failure. I’ve been giving her IV treatments at home. She recently began to sit on counters and in the bathroom sink. Also, she no longer wants to sleep in bed with me. I need to know she’s not in pain. My vet can’t explain these changes in the cat’s behavior. Can you? - C.L., Cyberspace

A: “I wonder if this cat is seeking the smooth coolness of porcelain,” says Vancouver, BC-based feline veterinarian Dr. Margie Scherk, editor, Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery. “Your bed is warm, which apparently isn’t comforting, so I doubt it’s about you personally.”

Scherk adds, “Renal insufficiency can progress. What we don’t know is what else you might be doing to help. Certainly, giving fluids makes sense. Do ask your veterinarian about the cat’s potassium and phosphorus levels, if a kidney infection has been ruled out and if perhaps getting vita-min B12 may help.

then one came along who made things a little difficult.

But we’re not going to discuss those.

I decided a couple of times that I would not coach again, and then a team was put together without a coach, and I agreed to do it for another season.

The pay and the hours were lousy, but the satisfaction was immense. Here is why.

Some of my best years of coaching youth sports were with teams drafted without a coach. The other coaches drafted the kids who they knew were good, and a board member drafted the team without a coach.

Those kids were not exactly the cream of the athletic crop.

We didn’t have winning seasons. Actually, it took a while to get a win under our belts.

After we lost our first few games, I told the kids that I would hold an additional optional batting practice an hour before regular practice. Anyone who wanted to get a few hits in while getting some one-on-one coaching could come out, and we would work on whatever I could see was wrong.

All the kids were on the field an hour early at the next practice. By the end, my arm needed Advil, but it was worth it. That’s the way we held practice from then on.

We started to win a few games we should have lost. Everybody played equal time. Nobody was pulled because someone else needed to deliver a clutch hit.

By the end of the season, we were known as the spoilers. The players jelled into a good team, and we heard some talk around the ball field that this team should not be taken lightly.

Those days made great memories. But the kids went on their way, and eventually I stopped coaching alto-gether. I focused on my businesses, and the memories of those early years have somewhat faded.

Until someone yells, “Hey, coach!”Then we start talking about the plays

that the kids made, what good times we had at practice, and what a great team party we had at the end of the season.

It didn’t seem that important back then. Sometimes we got caught up in the fervor of the game, especially when I really wanted to beat a top team with my rag-tag bunch.

When we succeeded, we had a great time. When we came up short, we had a great time.

And memories were made.That’s what youth sports is all about.

So, all of you coaches out there, I hope you get as lucky as me and create some memories that will be jolted 15 years from now when someone yells at you, “Hey, coach!”

‘Hey, coach!’ sums up many years(Continued from Page 1)

White House tours canceled ‘until further notice’ due to budget cutsBy Kathleen HennesseyTribune Washington Bureau (MCT)

WASHINGTON — Tours of the executive mansion were canceled March 9 with The White House citing “staffing reductions resulting from sequestration.” The tours will not be rescheduled, and the freeze will be in effect “until further notice.”

The cancellation will annoy plenty of tourists who tour the White House after securing their tickets well in advance through their elected representative’s office. It will also certainly annoy those congressional offices that must begin notifying disap-pointed constituents.

“We very much regret having to take this action, particularly during the popular spring touring season,” the White House said in a recorded message on the tour hotline.

Within hours of the announcement, Republicans began to criticize the decision as a stunt. One GOP congressman offered his own solution to the budget cutting at the White House. In an amendment to a bill to fund the government, Texas Rep. Louis Gohmert proposed that none of the money “may be used to transport the president to or from a golf course until public tours of the White House resume.”

The automatic budget cuts are a result of a deficit-reduction deal signed into law in 2011. Lawmakers and the White House agreed to the across-the-board cuts, hoping that the prospect of finding $85 billion in immediate savings would spark compromise on a broader deficit and debt-reduction deal. It did not.

In the lead-up to the budget cuts, which kicked in recently, the White House tried to pressure Republican lawmakers to reach a deal by highlighting the pain that would come from axing federal services. But its top spokespeople on the matter occasion-ally overstepped.

Education Secretary Arne Duncan has apologized for saying that teachers in a West Virginia school district were receiving “pink slips” because of the budget cuts. The district’s superintendent told The Washington Post that the teachers were receiving transfer notices and the move was not directly related to the federal funding cuts.

Republicans pounced on Duncan’s comments and other claims as examples of the president hyping the cuts for political gain.


Solutions on the right side of this page

Bulletin Crossword Puzzle of the Week Complete the grid so each row, column and 3-by-3 box (in bold borders) contains every digit 1 to 9. For strategies on how to solve Sudoku, visit www.sudoku.org.uk.

Solutions

Across1 Its median score is 1007 Weapon for Tyson11 Christmas choice14 Former drug giant15 Sans employment16 Enjoyed hors d’oeuvres, say17 *Title role in the 2009 Tony winner for Best Musical19 Drop off briefly20 Shoe with a swoosh logo

21 Tex-Mex snack22 M-16, e.g.24 *Advantage of some military goggles26 Bottlenecks30 Not hard to grasp31 Plaza Hotel imp32 Write quickly33 Sports car roof option36 SkyMiles airline37 Make, as a sandwich38 Ethiopia’s Selassie

39 Like flannel and fleece40 Creepy-crawly41 Tiered Asian temple42 Butterfly’s perch44 Noble headpiece45 *Freetown is its capital48 Response to a dare49 __ II razor50 Actor Morales54 Film buff’s channel55 “That’s exactly how I feel” ... or what each starred clue’s first word can do?58 Stat for Ryan Howard59 Having the knack60 Tough leather61 Subj. that helps people assimilate62 Niggling things63 “Enough already!”

Down1 Publisher’s ID2 Royally named liner, briefly3 Heart-to-heart4 Gardner of mysteries5 Shrewd6 When strokes begin to count7 Rip off8 Couch potato’s fixation9 Pavement warning10 Game with tumbling blocks11 *Unauthorized stories written by devotees12 Author Calvino13 Confine again, as swine18 Trails23 “Did we get the bid?”24 Orion Mars mission gp.25 Acid container26 Some arena displays, briefly27 Bar from a dairy case28 *Pro shop freebie29 Pre-speech obstacle32 St. Patrick’s Day dance34 Ye __ Shoppe35 Bog fuel37 Big name in online poker38 March __: Carroll character40 Sound at a shearing41 Stormy weather gear43 USC athlete44 Cold weather wear45 Give the creeps46 Sonnet line fivesome47 Maritime birds50 Footsteps-in-an-empty-hallway sound51 Blunder52 BMW rival53 “Yeah, sure!”56 Shizuoka sash57 Phone no. addition (c)2013 TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC.

Boggle AnswersRAINY WINDY SNOWY SUNNY STORMY CLOUDY

In memory of Greg Wilkinson


THE MIDDLETONS By Ralph Dunagin and Dana Summers

ANIMAL CRACKERS By Fred Wagner

BROOM HILDA By Russel Myers

Jumble AnswersJumbles: BASIS TESTY QUAINT STOLID Answer: What the wine collector invested in -- “LIQUID” ASSETS

Tribune Media ServicesARIES (March 21-April 19): When the

going gets slow, just keep in mind that you are gaining valuable experience. Take a much needed break during the first half of the week and spend quality time with a special someone.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Friends fall in love. You are romantic, charming and full of fun. Someone you think of as a merely friend may think you are seri-ous about taking a relationship to the next level in the week to come.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Time has been wasted. You have not accom-plished everything you set out to accom-plish because you are easily sidetracked. During the week ahead, work hard to gather necessary credentials.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Real success might come from what you do, but whom you know is just as important.

Impromptu intellectual conversations and meetings might broaden your social horizons in the coming week.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): It doesn’t matter whether the glass is half full or half empty, just be grateful you have the glass and something in it. In the coming week, strive to strike a compromise and accomplish dreams with loved ones.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Never confuse the path with the destination. In the upcoming week, you may cross paths with people who can illuminate the problems, as well as the benefits, of sharing your dreams and plans with others.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): To feel rich, just count all the gifts you have that money can’t buy. During the week ahead, you may reap rewards for your efforts and experience a pleasant change or a major improvement in your situation.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Concen-trate on inspiration rather than perspira-tion in the week ahead. Cut an elegant figure while keeping financial plans and

arrangements clearly defined. You don’t need to work hard; maintain momentum.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Reassess, re-evaluate and rehabilitate your ideals. This week, you may enter a fresh phase in your reputation and public persona. You can gather valuable insights by studying or traveling.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): You can always count on conditions chang-ing. Even if there is a storm now, there can be sunshine somewhere in the forecast. Remain optimistic this week; a phone call can make the difference.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): You may be torn between achieving your ambitions and doing what is expected of you in the upcoming week. Measure your success by the size of the smile on a significant other’s face.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Fools and their follies might do just fine. During the first half of the week, you might be luckier than usual. People will be impressed by your skills. Capitalize when others are magnetically drawn to you.

lake jackson • clute • richwood • freeport • oyster … · march 12, 2013 vol. 19, no. 41...

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