WIXLIB

Page 2September 23, 2010Early college will serve Fabens, Tornillo and Ft. Hancock studentsBy Don WoodyardSpecial to the CourierFABENS – A metamorphosis hastaken place in the lives of 68 studentswho will face new educationalchallenges and opportunities asthe first freshman class of the newCotton Valley Early College HighSchool.The change took place Tuesday,Sept.14 in Fabens at openingceremonies for new high schoolwhich has drawn students in apartnership arrangement from theFabens, Tornillo and Fort HancockIndependentSchoolDistricts.Reflecting the unique change is adouble-barreled academic approachthat gives the students two shots atan education.Keep Jim PendellSchool Board TrusteeClint Independent School DistrictServing the Clint, East Montanaand Horizon Communities Clint School Board Secretary1993 - 1998 Clint School Board President1998 - Present My children attend Clint schoolsElection Day: November 2, 2010Early Voting: October 18 - 29, 2010Punch#262Pol. adv. paid for by Jim Pendell, PO Box 318, Clint, TX 79836PUBLIC NOTICETO ALL INTERESTEDPERSONS ANDPARTIES:The West Texas County Courieroffice is closed.The office will open again onMonday, October 4, 2010.Thenewly“morphed” studentscan now get muchmore bang for thebuck, but don’t evenhave to spend thebuck. The programis free. This helpsfinancially-strappedfamilies who havepreviouslybeenunable to send theirchildren to college.The unique, fouryear program allowsstudents to receivenot only a highschool diploma, but– Photos by Fernie Garcia / EPCC Marketingalso an associate’s JUMP STARTING HIGHER EDUCATION – Dr. Richard Rhodes told students at thedegree from El dedication that they “ have a chance to accelerate your college careers as fast asPaso Community you want to.”College.“No other school offers what this metamorphosis, one of thinking.In a collaborative effort witharea school districts, EPCC and its one does. We have united. We are They are no longer Wildcats,the Fabens mascot; they are notpresident, Dr. Richard Rhodes, have Cotton Valley Titans.”This represents perhaps a second Coyotes, the Tornillo mascot; andbeen partnering to build early collegethey are not Mustangs, the Forthigh schools since 2006. The firstHancock mascot.one was in the Socorro ISD. SocorroWhy Titans?graduated its first early college highMelissa Martinez, newly electedschool class earlier this year.student body president, said thatFabens represents the fifth earlystudents met and decided on the newcollege high school program. Aname. The name of Titan, she explains,sixth is planned in the Clint ISD inrepresents that they are “unique,” and2011. There are approximately 50that there is “only one of us.”early college high school programsThe symbol of the Titans is ain Texas.purple shield with the name TitansRhodes spoke at the openingemblazoned across the front. Crossedceremonies.swords are behind the shield.“Congratulations, students. You“I have no doubts we will graduatehave made the right choice. Youwith an associate’s degree,” she saidhave a chance to accelerate yourconfidently. “I see a lot of doorscollege careers as fast as you wantopening—a lot of opportunities.”to. You have the ability; you haveOne of the most moving commentsthe capacity to succeed and towas made by a young girl whoachieve your dreams.”wiped away tears from her eyes as“This is a great morning,” observedshe spoke. “I want to be an examplePoncho Garcia, superintendent offor my 11-month-old baby,” shethe Fabens ISD. “This is a greatday for education; we celebrate a Principal Karen Blaine heads the said. “This is a miracle, and I amgoing to take advantage of it.”beginning.new Cotton Valley ECHS.It’s the law By Texas AG Greg AbbottSteps to take when a company goes out of businessWhen a company closes downunexpectedly, its customers oftenturn to the Office of the AttorneyGeneral (OAG) for help recoveringup-front layaway payments andmerchandise that was neverdelivered. In addition to filing acomplaint with the OAG, Texansshould take independent steps toprotect themselves when a retailersuddenly goes out of business.The most important step issimple. Customers should alwaysmaintainmeticulousrecordsof every transaction. Invoices,sales receipts, credit card slips,sales representatives’ names andother documentation are vitallyimportant to recovering refunds ormerchandise.Whenever possible, customersshould pay for goods only after theproducts are delivered. If a vendorrequires an up-front payment,customers should try to negotiatethe deposit down to the lowestpossible amount.Customers contemplating a largepurchase should avoid payingwith cash and instead use creditcards to make large deposits orpayments. Under the Fair CreditBilling Act and certain credit cardcompanies’ chargebackrules,financial institutions can usuallyprovide refunds to customers whosepurchases are not delivered.Before disputing a credit cardpurchase, customers should attemptto resolve the problem with theactual retailer. Customers shouldoutline their complaint in a certifiedletter to the merchant and savecopies of all correspondence.If the retailer fails to respond,customers should contact their creditcard company, formally dispute thecharge and provide the issuer witha copy of the dispute letter. To beeligible for protection under the FairCredit Billing Act, customers mustdispute a credit card charge within60 days. The credit card issuer likelywill attempt to contact the merchantto determine whether the customeris owed a refund.In the event a company declaresbankruptcy, customers becomecreditors who may be paid after thebusiness liquidates its assets. Thebankruptcy court is charged withoverseeing which creditors get paidfirst based upon the order of priorityin the bankruptcy code. Bankruptcompanies typically pay their debtsfirst to “secured” creditors, and onlylater to ordinary creditors (such ascustomers).To protect their rights in abankruptcy proceeding, customersmust complete a Proof of Claimform and file it with the bankruptcycourt. Customers should ask whetherthe court has appointed a trustee.Bankruptcy trustees are responsiblefor attempting to pay the bankruptcompany’s creditors – includingcustomers.Unfortunately, there are fewguarantees that customers who areowed money by a suddenly-shutteredcompany will receive a refund.Customers who are owed largeamounts of money should considercontacting a private attorney regardingtheir individual legal rights.Customers may also file acomplaint against the companywith the Office of the AttorneyGeneral’s Consumer ProtectionDivision. While the OAG cannottake legal action on behalf ofprivate individuals, the agency isempowered to enforce state law,and some enforcement actions doproduce restitution for individuals.

September 23, 2010Page 3Por la Gente By State Rep. Chente QuintanillaEducation partnerships produce degreesHola mi gente. On Tuesday September14, my staff (I was in Austin) attended themost recent opening of a unique CommunityCollege/school district collaborative. Theprogram is called the Early College HighSchool Initiative. It is designed to providecourses to high school students that will allowthem to graduate with a high school diplomaand an Associate Degree from CommunityCollege.The program is a result of very strongpartnerships between several school districtsand the EPCC. Before the September 14opening, there were in place four EarlyCollege High School Initiative campuses:Mission del Paso, Northwest, Transmountain,and the Valle Verde campus.The newest campus is the Cotton ValleyEarly College High School locate on theCampus of Fabens High School.I attended the first class opening sometimeback which took place within the SocorroIndependent School District and on theMission del Paso campus near Eastlake. Thatinitial class was a very small number. Now theprogram has over 1,500 students throughoutEl Paso County.What is very unique with the Cotton ValleyCampus is that students from Ft. Hancock areparticipating in the program.There are some very definite benefits fromproviding this opportunity to our high schoolstudents. This is a faster track to gettinga college degree. With their graduations,these students will then be entering highereducation as juniors. They are that muchcloser to entering the professional world andgetting good salaries.For the parents, this program saves eachfamily the cost of going to college during thefreshman and sophomore years. Dr. RichardRhodes, the president of the EPCC, informedthe guests that the savings would be over 20,000. That is a tremendous savings toeither parents or to the students if there arestudent loans involved. Too many studentsleave higher education with staggeringamounts of debt. Any option to reduce thatdebt is certainly worth taking advantage of.This program has the impact of raising thebar to our students. The standard of excellenceis reset by the students who apply and areaccepted into the Early College High SchoolInitiative. Whenever the standard of educationis moved, either upward or downward, thereare students who are influenced by that. Inthis case, there are hundreds of other studentswho will now be motivated to achieve betterresults in school.I am so impressed by this program thatDr. Rhodes has offered to the many schooldistricts in El Paso County. I offer my thanksto the many Community College staffers andto the different school district employeeswho worked hard to make the new campusesa reality. I am also very proud that my wifeGracie, a sitting board member of the EPCC,has been very passionate in supporting theprogram.What makes me most proud is the studentswho are participating and earning their earlycollege degrees through hard work. Theseyoung adults, who happen to reside in ruralcommunities, are demonstrating to El Pasoand to Texas that there are very intelligent anddetermined students from such communities.I remain your friend and public servant,Chente por la gente.Your “Texas CorreCT” 2011 calendaris readY for the enjoYment of texansand the edification of Yankeesand other foreigners .The one and only “Texas Calendar” is right and ready for consumer consumption. The 2011 Bona fide Real TexasCalendar is full of Texas History facts, cartoons, trivia, tidbits, Texas Talk and more! “It’s a virtual almanac ofall that’s Texan in 12 usable, essential, and somewhat humorous pages” says Roger Todd Moore, cartoonist andcreator of the Real Texas Calendar.The calendars are available online at www.texascalendars.com or from Roger Todd Moore his own self atPO Box 155 Merkel Texas 79536 for only 8.95 each.95 8shipping/tax WHoa P-CaORRECT CALENDARTHIS TEXAS S MARCH 2ND!BEGIN M O N D A YTWEDNEU E S DAYS U N DAYdatese books that mane.thonLILSTwancslThere is a Texa rry pliers that COULD cut a feno one caredGet a hund13or so withynayour comp rl foinfo! Emai g. 20icinspecial pr14Salle1687: La xasTelands in ingfindofadinsteth of thethe mou issippi.Miss27arles1924: Ch artsgh stLindber ing atinpilot tra Sanld inBrooks Fie Antonio.28sse1868: Je s, famouChisholm dies ofr,trailblaze ning inisofood po homa.Okla1123otball1955: Fo Earlplayerl is bornCampbel Tyler.inovie1908: M anJoactress inrnboisCrawford Antonio.San30MARC253111H 2012191824DAY5ate’s first1878: St collegeall-black Vista)lta(Asopen171629410915DAY3lebraDay - CexaTe s!2221THURS2IndeTepexansdencete876S DAYSATURF R I DAY26

Page 4San Eli HS summer graduates receive diplomasBy Cynthia P. MarentesSpecial to the Courier– Photo courtesy San Elizario ISDLuis Armando Medina and Sugey GutierrezThe sounds of Pomp and Circumstance are notusually heard over the speakers inside the San ElizarioIndependent School District boardroom but on the eveningof September 8 the processional march was played toaccompany the celebration of two of the latest graduatesof the San Elizario High School Class of 2010. LuisArmando Medina and Sugey Gutierrez were two of thefinal students from the 2009-2010 senior class to receivetheir diplomas after completing all of their requirementsfor graduation over the summer. San Elizario High Schoolnormally schedules a separate commencement ceremonyin the summer however an additional three students wereunable to participate. Therefore, a graduation ceremony washeld just for Sugey and Luis Armando during the district’sregular board meeting where they were honored in front ofa small group of friends, family and district staff.Although they were both disappointed over not beingable to walk at the traditional graduation ceremonywith the rest of their classmates the two students weredetermined not to give up on their pursuit of their highschool diplomas. For Sugey that meant fulfilling therequirements for an English IV credit that she waslacking and for Luis Armando it meant getting one lastchance in July to pass the TAKS English exam. Theyboth accomplished their goals and were rewarded fortheir efforts with a special graduation ceremony andreception held specifically for them at the San ElizarioISD administration building. Sugey is now a student at ElPaso Community College studying forensics with an eyetowards a career in law enforcement. Luis Armando willalso study at El Paso Community College and expects tobecome an electrician in the near future.Both students demonstrated that with perseverance andhard work it is never to late to be academically successful.The next opportunity for students to take and pass exitlevel TAKS exams will be in October while seniors stillmissing one or two credits can take online credit recoverycourses at the San Elizario High School library.Notice of Public MeetingTo Discuss CanutilloIndependent School District’sState Financial AccountabilityRatingNotice of Public Meeting toDiscuss Anthony IndependentSchool District’s StateFinancial AccountabilityRatingThe Canutillo Independent School District willhold a public meeting at 6:00 p.m., Tuesday,October 12, 2010 in the boardroom of theCanutillo ISD Administration Facility, 7965 ArtcraftRoad, El Paso, Texas.The Anthony Independent School District willhold a public meeting at 6:30 P.M. on Tuesday,October 19, 2010 in the Board Room, 813 SixthStreet, Anthony, Texas 79821.The purpose of this meeting is to discuss CanutilloIndependent School District’s rating on the state’sfinancial accountability system.WTCC: 09/16/10 & 09/23/10Notice of Public MeetingTo Discuss San ElizarioIndependent School District’sState Financial AccountabilityRating (FIRST)The San Elizario Independent School District willhold a public hearing at 5:30 p.m., Wednesday,October 13, 2010 in the boardroom of the SanElizario ISD Administration Building, 1050 ChickenRanch Road, San Elizario, Texas.The purpose of this hearing is to discuss SanElizario Independent School District’s rating onthe state’s financial accountability system. Thismeeting will be held in conjunction with thescheduled board of Trustees’ Meeting.WTCC: 09/16 /10 & 09/23/10The purpose of the meeting is to discuss anddistribute a financial management report thatexplains the district’s performance under eachof the 22 indicators and the resultant District’sFinancial Accountability Rating.WTCC: 09/23/10 and 09/30/10Notice of Public Hearingto Discuss TornilloIndependent School District’sState Financial AccountabilityRatingTornillo Independent School District will hold apublic meeting at 6:30 PM, Tuesday, October19, 2010, in the boardroom of the TornilloAdministration Building, at 19200 Cobb Ave.,Tornillo, Texas 79853.The purpose of this hearing is to discussIndependent School District’s rating on the state’sfinancial accountability system.WTCC: 09/23/10 & 09/30/10September 23, 2010STRANGEBUT TRUEBy Samantha Weaver It was way back in the19th century that Americanstatesman Daniel Webstermade the following sageobservation: “The worldis governed more byappearances than realities,so that it is fully as necessaryto seem to know somethingas to know it.” Scary movies like “Jaws”notwithstanding,expertsclaim that you are 50 timesmore likely to be killed by abee than you are to be killedby a shark. All official American flagsmust be lowered and putaway at night – all except one.The flag that was placed onthe moon on July 20, 1969,by Neil Armstrong and BuzzAldrin (for obvious reasons)remains flying at all times. Although almost everyonetoday thinks of the dictatorNapoleon as being unusuallyshort, records show that hewas actually 5 feet, 6 inchestall, which was the averageheight for a man in France atthat time. Those who study such thingssay that the coolest parts ofthe sun are approximately10,000 degrees Fahrenheit,while the hottest spots canreach a whopping 15 milliondegrees. The popular pub pastimeof darts originated in theMiddle Ages as a traininggame for archers. Theodore Roosevelt wasthe first American presidentto drive an automobile, aswell as the first to own one. Although our lives arecenteredaround(andsometimes seem completelyruled by) the seven-dayweek, not all cultures havedemarcated dates that way.Ancient Egyptians once useda 10-day week, and ancientRomans followed a patternof 8-day weeks.Thought for the Day: “In mymany years I have come to aconclusion that one uselessman is a shame, two is a lawfirm, and three or more is acongress.”– John Adams(c) 2009 King Features Synd., Inc.

September 23, 2010Page 5Candlelight vigil scheduled at Chamizal National MemorialBy Guadalupe SilvaSpecial to the CourierMore than 1,200 lives have been lost in El Paso inthe past 10 years as a direct or indirect result of alcoholand drug abuse, either by driving under the influence,domestic violence, aggravated assault or overdose.The death of those loved ones will be commemoratedwith a Candlelight Vigil at 6:30 p.m. September 30 at theChamizal National Memorial. The theme of this year’svigil will be “Hands of Hope Across the Border,” said SindiElorreaga, Treatment Team Leader for the West TexasCommunity Supervision and Corrections Department(Adult Probation) treatment centers and vigil organizer.“We are focusing on the border violence because ofthe impact and rippling effect it has on our bi-national,bicultural community and our residents,” she said, addingthat to visually illuminate that violence, the vigil willdisplay “Peace of Art,” a gallery of graphic design work,including children’s art work, depicting that violence.The Vigil will begin with a health fair that starts at 5p.m. and continues with a memorial ceremony at 6:30p.m. with a reading of the names of those who havedied as a result of drug or alcohol abuse.“The voices of these victims will be heard, theybelong to somebody’s mother, father, sister, brother,son, daughter,” Elorreaga said. “But we want ourcommunity to know that recovery is possible, treatmentis available and hope and healing is needed.”The public is invited to participate in both the freeHealth Fair and the Candlelight Vigil. The families,friends and relatives of victims will be asked to contributetheir stories. The Health Fair and Vigil are sponsoredby Adult Probation’s Downtown and Ysleta TreatmentCenters and the 243rd and DWI Drug Courts.For more information call Sindi Elorreaga or HumbertoCazares at the Downtown Treatment Center at 544-7933.San Elizario HS Student Council leads blood driveBy Cynthia P. MarentesSpecial to the CourierWith the new school year in fullswing students at San Elizario HighSchool are now finding themselvesbusy with a number of extracurricularactivities and other campus events.However the school’s StudentCouncil recently asked students toalso slow down and think abouthelping others as well by taking sometime to donate blood.The student organization recentlypartnered with United BloodServices to host a community blooddrive on September 10. Two UnitedBlood Services mobile units wereat the campus to collect donationsthroughout the day from students,staff and any community memberswilling to give blood. StudentCouncil began signing up donorsCryptoQuipAnswerA new movie aboutarmored war vehiclescame out around eightweeks ago, but it tanked.and promoting the blood drive twoweeks before the event in order toincrease their participation rate fromthe previous school year.“We went into classrooms totalk to students and teachers totry to convince them to donate byexplaining to them that with one pintof blood they can save three lives,”Everardo Lopez, Student CouncilPublic Relations Officer, said.Everardo, a junior at San ElizarioHigh School, also spread the wordabout the blood drive by makingpresentations during lunch periodsand encouraging senior students todonate for the chance to win a specialprize. All seniors who donated bloodare now entered in a drawing to wina class ring donated by Jostens at theend of the school year.The San Elizario High Schooldonations will make an immediatepositive difference by helping UnitedBlood Services to sustain its supplyof blood but it has also provided animportant lesson for students.“The drive shows students thatblood is worth more because ithelps other people live another dayalthough we may not think about itthat way,” Everardo concluded.The San Elizario High SchoolStudent Council sponsored byStudent Activities Manager, RubenRodriguez, hosts at least one blooddrive each school year. The blooddrive held this month was a successthanks to a good turn out of students,faculty and staff who participated.In order to give blood, all donorshad to be at least 16-years-old, meetUnited Blood Services height andweight requirements, and present avalid ID. In the near future, StudentCouncil hopes to raise the numberof volunteers donating blood to over100 participants.archives:www.wtxcc.comLo se Yo u rse lf in Maldonado’s MazeOpen Everyday Through November 7 Food & DrinkMini MazesPedal Car MazeHayridesPetting ZooJumping BalloonsLaser TagSpecial Events571 Maldonado Rd(Near La Union, NM)Directions, Prices & 5) 203-0515Notice of Public MeetingTo Discuss FabensIndependent School District’sState Financial AccountabilityRatingThe Fabens Independent School District willhold a public hearing at 6:00 p.m., Wednesday,October 20, 2010 in the boardroom of the FabensISD Administration Building, 821 NE “G” Avenue,Fabens, Texas.The purpose of this hearing is to discuss FabensIndependent School District’s rating on the state’sfinancial accountability system.WTCC: 09/23/10 & 09/30/10

Page 6Septembe

Job Corps offers career stepping stones for El Paso youth - Photo by Alfredo Vasquez David L. Carrasco Job Corps Center students pick up their allowances in the newly-remodeled courtyard. The El Paso job training program was initiated in 1970. It has been at its current location since 1979.