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In case you're wondering who Mike Cox is, let me tell you a little bit
about him. He was the spokesman for the Department of Public Safety
wearing the baseball cap with the letters, DPS PIO. The PIO stands for
public information officer.
Mike is a long time acquaintance of mine. He helped me with my book and
I provided information about newspapers to him as assistance in his work
on a thesis on what I believe was his master's degree or something of
that nature.
I don't recall the exact nature of the conversations.
Cox is a native Texan - I'm quoting from a biography of him on a jacket
of a book he wrote - having been born in Amarillo and raised in Austin.
He attended Angelo State University in San Angelo,. He moved on to Texas
Tech in Lubbock and then to the University of Texas. He got involved in
the news business while attending Angelo State as he worked for the San
Angelo Standard-Times in 1967.
After transferring to Tech in 1969, he worked for the Lubbock
Avalanche-Journal. In 1970, he went to work for the Austin
American-Statesman and stayed there until 1985 when he went to work for
the Department of Public Safety which includes the Texas Rangers.
He has written five books inlcuding "The Confessions of Henry Lee
Lucas," a true crime book published in the fall of 1991. He writes
occasional book reviews for the American-Statesman.
Some of his hobbies include scouting for old books and antiques and
fishing and hunting. He is married and lives in Austin.
Cox also gained some national notoriety during the Waco situation as he
acted as a spokesman for DPS on a few occasions during that standoff
with David Koresh and the Davidians.
Being a public information spokesman is not an easy job as he has to
know what can be released to the media and what can't because it would
jeopardize an investigation and he has to deal with a pushy media.
He has always been very cooperative as we in the media are always
calling his office asking for information about crimes and particular
cases involving the DPS and Rangers.
Obviously he is a very even tempered person as he kept his cool during
very trying times at Fort Davis. Of all the people I've dealt with over
the years for information on police work, Cox has been one of the most
pleasant people to work with as he knows what the media needs and wants
and does his best to cooperate.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Mac McKinnon is editor and publisher of the Pecos
Enterprise. His column appears on Friday.
First of all, law-breakers should be treated like law-breakers. Walking
around your property with a gun and peeking out from behind trees
looking for black helicopters full of U N troops is not illegal....kinda
screwy, but not illegal. Blowing in your neighbors' door with a shotgun
and taking them hostage IS illegal, and the ones that did it should be
held accountable for it. No allowance for political beliefs should be
allowed....you break the law, you pay the price.
There are some folks who try to give a black eye to law enforcement
personnel, recalling Ruby Ridge and Waco and telling a lot of lies to
get people turned against our law enforcement agencies. Well, I believe
that Waco was a case of suicide and murder. I think Koresh and his
cohorts set fire to the compound themselves and shot the ones who wanted
to leave. NO shots were fired and NO fires were set by the law
enforcement folk.
In my book, the FBI and the Texas Highway Patrol and the Texas Rangers
are the GOOD GUYS, and anybody who shoots in his neighbor's door is a
bad guy.
And anybody who says that I cannot be a Texan and an American at the
same time has rocks in his head.
Best regards to all at the Enterprise,
Wheeler Wilson
Since then, others have incorrectly stated that "20 percent of the
workforce contributes 80 percent of the results, and 20 percent of the
sales force produces 80 percent of the sales."
In most cases this is not true. At The Zig Ziglar Corp. in 1996, 20
percent of our salespeople produced 25 percent of the business and 80
percent of our sales force produced 75 percent of our business. In
addition, our lowest-producing sales person produced 57 percent as much
business as our top producer.
This validates the fact that he is an extremely valuable, loved,
respected employee. He served his clients well and made himself and the
company a profit. As a result, we treat him with the same courtesy,
respect and dignity that we show all the other salespeople. In short,
he's a valuable employee and a first-class individual.
This is an important point because in any organization those who feel
they are in the lower 80 percent think they're not valued or capable,
and they will be discouraged and face a more likely chance of failing.
Common sense dictates that a general application of the 80/20 rule
simply does not work. No factory could exist, no hospial could operate,
no office could function if 20 percent of the emloyees did 80 percent of
the work. There are two other areas where the rule might work, namely,
that 20 percent of our customers will produce 80 percent of our business
and less than 20 percent of the employees will produce 80 percent of the
creative ideas.
Major point: Treat everyone like they are top-drawer and show them
respect and courtesy, and you'll be amazed at the number who will
respond to your expectations and produce wonderful results. Take that
approach, and I'll see you at the top!
"All wisdom is not new wisdom, and the past should be studied if the
future is to be successfully encountered." - Sir Winston Churchill.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Zig Ziglar is a motivational speaker whose column is
copyrighted and distributed by Creators Syndicate Inc.
Associated Press text, photo, graphic, audio and/or video material shall
not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or
redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium. Neither these AP
Materials nor any portion thereof may be stored in a computer except for
personal and non-commercial use. The AP will not be held liable for
any delays, inaccuracies, errors or omissions therefrom or in the
transmission or delivery of all or any part thereof or for any damages
arising from any of the foregoing.
_
Copyright 1997 by Pecos Enterprise
Division of Buckner News Alliance, Inc.
324 S. Cedar St., Pecos, TX 79772
Phone 915-445-5475, FAX 915-445-4321
e-mail news@bitstreet.com
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