Daily Newspaper and Travel Guide
for Pecos Country of West Texas

Opinion

Tuesday, July 17, 2001

Squarely
Pegged

By Peggy McCracken

Love is your greatest

source of happiness

Bruce Dury over at the Christian Home told me he had found some interesting web sites dealing with matchmaking, and he thought I might want to write about it. Having suffered this week with my great-granddaughter because her parents split the blankets and she is torn between them, I am wondering why anyone who is single would want a mate.

But lots of people do, so I logged onto one of the 57 "Matchmaking Services" listed on Yahoo. Well, not logged on exactly. I clicked on the link for "Find My Soul Mate" and read their home page. I didn't register, because I don't want my name or email address on such a web site.

Here is what the site offers, though, if you are searching for "a very special person." If you are looking for a serious long-term relationship, you have to find the right partner, the come-on suggests. "The philosophical and psychological profiles of two people contemplating a relationship must match."

Love is your greatest source of happiness, and finding it is easier if you weed out the incompatible prospects up front, the message proclaims.

Well, that may be. One of the books I am reading on the subject of marriage and how to keep it together in spite of a partner's straying suggests that being "in love" is different from "love." Being "in love" is more a chemical attraction that lasts about six months, the authors claim, while "love" is an action verb. Anyone can choose to love another person. But it takes a special chemistry to create that "in love" feeling that gets so many couples in trouble.

I suspect that the quoted divorce rate of 67 percent for first marriages _ and greater for second marriages _ can be attributed mainly to that fleeting "in love" feeling. When the chemistry no longer creates a spark and the honeymoon is over, one or both partners often look around for another "soul mate" with that special glow.

In the meantime, precious little children created by all that chemistry find themselves torn between a Mama and a Daddy who still love them, but put their own wants and needs first.

Do I sound like a holier-than-thou gray-haired grandma who doesn't understand the younger generation? Well, I was young once, too. And I felt that same chemistry and looked around for the new thrill when the old one wore off. I was sure divorce was the only answer.

My mother had told me when I asked her permission to get married at 16: "There will be no divorces in this family," because God forbids divorce. I studied my Bible to try and find a loophole, but sure enough, there isn't one. "Whatsover God hath joined together, let not man put asunder," the old King James version reads.

Many, many years and many, many tears later, I learned that the real problem was inside myself; not beside me in the bed. If we can't be happy within ourselves, no mate can make us happy. And we will create misery for everyone around.

"The wise woman builds her house, but with her own hands the foolish one tears hers down." Proverbs 14:1, NIV

EDITOR'S NOTE: Peggy McCracken is the Enterprise business manager and webmaster. Her email address is peg2@pecos.net

Our View

Handing serviceman over to Japanese was gutless

According to the Associated Press, President Bush is "deeply grieved" by the incident on the island of Okinawa where a United States Air Force Staff Sergeant has been accused of rape by Japanese authorities.

After a few days of haggling, Bush's administration handed Staff Sgt. Timothy Woodland over to Japanese authorities for justice to be administered according to Japanese law.

If President Bush is deeply grieved over this situation, think how thousands of United States servicemen must feel to learn that if they are accused of a crime overseas they will not face prosecution either by a United States court or a military court.

Instead they get the potluck justice surprise, depending on the country they are stationed in.

Every serviceman understands that when you take the oath, you also subject yourself to the Universal Code of Military Justice (UCMJ), a set of laws and procedural guarantees far different than those provided for civilians under the United States Constitution. That goes with the job.

Most probably did not think that they could be handed over to a foreign nation after being accused of a crime.

While the UCMJ does not provide the mantle of procedural protection that the Constitution does, it does provide a strict set of procedural guidelines for criminal prosecutions — guidelines that servicemen trust to provide them with a fair trial.

Instead of facing a military courts martial this man will be tried by a civil system that provides almost no guarantees of fairness and by people who dislike Americans in general, and servicemen in particular.

Handing this man over was a gutless response to the Japanese demands.

The right response is, "We do not trust the Japanese system of justice and do not think this man will get a fair trial in Japan. We will try him ourselves and let you know the outcome. If you keep whining we will simply withdraw our forces from the area and let the Chinese turn Japan into its newest province."

Bush did not have the guts to do the right thing.

Instead, he handed an American over to the Japanese for a dose of whatever passes for justice in Japan.

If Woodland is found innocent it will be a miracle. If he is his found guilty, we will never know if he was really guilty or the victim of the anti-American sentiment that has been brewing on Okinawa for 50 years.

Either way, justice is not served, morale will dip a few more points, and the military has once again been compromised for the sake of political expedience.

Your Views

Local athletic trainer upset with negative attack

Dear Editor:
This letter is in response to statements and allegations made  at the June 28th School Board Meeting that I attended.

At this time of year there always seems to be some kind of controversy, which disrupts the everyday working environment of our School District For five years I have attended School Board meetings to either make a presentation or to simply observe the proceedings. I have never wanted to respond to comments made at these meetings, but I feel that I should do so at this time.

Two individuals, who were not in attendance at the meeting, who I have known for several years, were verbally attacked.

The first individual is a former student of mine whom I have known for over seven years. He is a young man who has recently completed his degree in Education and has chosen Pecos to start his professional career. He was hoping to start a career in a place that would welcome him and make him feel at home. But instead, his name was front-page news in the Pecos Enterprise along with the implication that he was less than adequate academically and not welcome in Pecos. As a former non-certified teacher, it is ridiculous to imply that non-certified teachers are inadequate to educate our students. With the current shortage of teachers growing every year in this state, we cannot afford to pass over someone who is one exam away from becoming certified.

The second individual is a current employee of the School District. She is a colleague within the Athletic Department, and an extremely hard-working faculty member of Austin Elementary. It was her intention to transfer to Pecos High School to get back into the academic classroom, which is English. She also felt that it would be of great benefit to be closer to her studentfathietes, which she has been entrusted with the responsibility of mentoring within the girls'Athietic Program. The implications raised by a select few- of inadequacy, incompetence and the inability to teach in the academic classroom have forced her to re-evaluate her decision. Why would she want to work along side other professionals who already have a negative attitude towards her? Therefore, she will be remaining at Austin Elementary where she is wanted, respected, and treated with dignity and professionalism.

I write this letter to do two things. One, support two friends who have done nothing to deserve this negative attention that has been directed upon them. And two bring public attention to the things that are happening in our schools. As a current member of the High School Campus Improvement Committee, I have taken the opportunity to become more involved in the inner workings of the School System. It has been invaluable as I work towards my Masters in Educational Administration. I think that to have a properly functioning School District, we should be working together to solve the problems we have, not striving to create new ones. However, it always seems that while we take one positive step forward, we inevitably take three steps back.

It seems that an old saying keeps coming to mind, "too many chiefs and not enough Indians."

Thank you for your time and attention to this matter.

Sincerely,
JOEL BIRCH
Athletic Trainer
Pecos-Barstow-Toyah I.S.D.

Look, listen for train before crossing railroad tracks

Dear Editor:
Look, listen, hear and feel.

Yes, I am saddened by the death of Mr. Flores.

I worked with his brother Julion and Lucio when I was on the Barstow VFD. And, by golly, they were very helpful. They went out of their way. I say thanks for that. This accident is one more reminder of how dangerous railroad crossings are no matter how careful you are.

Get your head away from the cell phone, radio or picking at your meal while driving. This is disaster. I know maybe I have raised a few eyebrows, but those are the facts. I have one more question:Iif they had the money to close it then why didn't they? You have water leak in your house, you fix it, don't you? It's simple as that. Wait till a friend or family member gets hurt or dies. But you people have to wake up and smell the roses. The railroad is there. I know that as a railroad fan. Just please maybe society has just gone to hell in a handbasket. I hope yall print this. Pecos/Barstow has been having too many accidents. Watch those trains. Look, listen, hear and pay attention. And don't try to beat it. I hope this serves as some kind of safety reminder.

Sincerely,
CRAIG CHAPPELL
San Angelo, Tx

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Pecos Enterprise
York M. "Smokey" Briggs, Publisher
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