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Daily Newspaper and Travel Guide
for Pecos Country
of West Texas
Opinion
Tuesday, March 28, 2000
Sage
Views
By Smokey Briggs
From the hip
We read with interest this week that Cancun is becoming the spring break
party mecca of the nation. Students are apparently flying to Cancun rather
than driving to traditional spring break spots like South Padre Island,
Texas and Daytona Beach, Florida.
Even though it is more expensive and requires more prior planning, the
number of college kids opting for Cancun continues to grow, the Associate
Press reports.
At the end of the story, we are told that the legal drinking age in
Mexico is 18.
And we wonder why college kids would rather go there than Daytona Beach?
Which brings us to the fact that the drinking age of 21 is still wrong
headed. If someone is old enough to be drafted, vote for the president,
and pay taxes, he or she is old enough to buy a beer.
Elian Gonzalez, the 6-year-old Cuban boy who survived the boat wreck
that killed his mother, needs to be sent home to his father. We may not
like Cuba or Fidel Castro, but the kid's father lives in Cuba, not Florida.
Parental rights should control, not his chances for success and happiness
as measured by our materialistic society.
If we are really so concerned with the welfare Cuba's children then
declare war, invade, get rid of the communists, and make Cuba a protectorate.
Either way, the boy should be sent home to his closest living relative.
The United States Supreme Court ruled recently that the Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) could not do through decree what Congress has not
done through legislation, when it stated that the FDA could not regulate
tobacco as a drug.
Good for the Court. Too often these days government agencies create
defacto laws through rules and regulations that are never seen by our duly
elected lawmakers. This kind of "government by the bureaucracy" is never
a good thing, even if you like the intended results. Eventually the tables
will turn and you will not like the results.
Which leads us to the central point in the tobacco debate _ is it a
drug?
To characterize tobacco as a drug is foolishness, and trivializes real
drugs like cocaine, marijuana, heroin, etc....Calling tobacco a drug is
like calling the sinking of the Titanic a boating accident. It is a mischaracterization
in the extreme.
Tobacco is not mind altering _ it is bad for you. There is a difference.
I'm not ready to let the federal government regulate everything that
is bad for me. Soda pop and coffee will need to on that list, along with
most of the other things I like.
No thanks.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Smokey Briggs is the editor and publisher of the
Pecos Enterprise whose column appears on Tuesdays. He can be e-mailed at:smokey@pecos.net
Our View
Groups, individuals deserve a pat on back
Pecos took one of those small steps forward that really can get you somewhere
this weekend.
Volunteers spent their Saturday morning picking up trash around town.
When they were done, several parts of Pecos had been transformed from dumps
to natural desert.
It may not seem like much, but it matters _ and it demonstrated the
spirit that it will take to rebuild Pecos.
Grandma always said being poor is no excuse for being dirty _ Pecos
is no exception. One of the best things we can do for this town is clean
it up. It doesn't take money, just hard work.
And a clean, neat town will be perceived by outsiders as a town with
potential _ rather than a town teetering toward the grave.
When it comes to investment, perception matters. Nobody is going to
invest in a town he perceives is dying _ and that is the image we project
with fields full of plastic bags and roads littered with beer bottles.
Cleaning Pecos up won't create prosperity. But it will create the atmosphere
where prosperity can bloom.
It is a good first step.
The groups and individuals who gave up their Saturday to do this deserve
a pat on the back.
Good job to, Pecos Downtown Lions Club, Pecos Rotary Club, Pecos Youth
Advisory Council, Pecos Post Office workers, Town of Pecos City officials
and employees, Pecos Housing Authority and the Our Style Car Club.
Your View
Special thanks to Reeves Co. Sheriff, emergency staff
Dear Editor:
Yester while visiting my sister in Toyah, I experienced severe chest
pains. Fearing the worst, my husband put me in our car and headed for thr
hospital in Pecos. Even though we now live in El Paso, we grew up here
and were familiar with the area. While speeding, literally, to the hospital,
an alert Reeves County Sheriff spotted us. When we explained the situation,
he told us to proceed and he would follow. Unknown to us, he radioed ahead
to the hospital so when we arrived at emergency, they were waiting. The
entire emergency room team were kind, efficient and comforting. They did
everything to keep me informed of what they were doing.
While in the end, it was not a heart attack.
I wanted to say thank you to everybody who worked so hard. I used to
worry about what would happen in an emergency situation to my sister living
in Toyah.
After yesterday I can rest easy that they will be responded quickly
by dedicated professionals.
Sincerely,
FLORINDA CAMPOS MARTINEZ
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Pecos Enterprise
York M. "Smokey" Briggs, Publisher
Peggy McCracken, Webmaster
Division of Buckner News Alliance, Inc.
324 S. Cedar St., Pecos, TX 79772
Phone 915-445-5475, FAX 915-445-4321
e-mail news@pecos.net
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