Daily Newspaper and Travel Guide for Reeves County, Trans Pecos, Big Bend of West Texas

Opinion

Wednesday, March 11, 1998

OBSERVATIONS

By Mac McKinnon

Spring break for some
is time to relax

For many people, this week is an extra challenge as the kids
are out of school and everybody else has to work. Few people
outside of school personnel get this week off. A few people
do schedule vacations for this week but most, it appears,
save vacation time for summer or around Christmas.
Older kids and those in college schedule trips to the
mountains for skiing or just playing in the snow. A few will
go to the beaches but unless you go to Florida, the water is
still a bit chilly.

One college student, seemingly forgetting his high school
days, said the high school and younger kids get in the way
at malls and at other recreational outlets.
We're not really sure where the tradition of Spring Break
came from, possibly as an offshoot of Easter breaks that
used to take place in schools to allow people time off for
the sacred week. I'm not for sure about that. I really don't
remember getting time off for spring break when I was in
high school, only in college.

It appears that some people want spring break earlier than
Easter so they can enjoy going to the mountains while there
is still snow. That kind of sport has increased in
popularity over the years and continues to do so.

I took advantage of our close location to the mountains to
go to Ruidoso and Cloudcroft several weekends ago and was
amazed by the large number of people who were taking part in
winter sports.

However, people in those two cities tell me they are busier
in the summer when people from this region are seeking a
cool place to escape the heat and play golf on the beautiful
golf courses there.

In addition during the summer months, there is horse racing
in Ruidoso and gambling at the Inn of the Mountain Gods
along with other attractions of an outdoor type, hiking,
fishing, etc.

I'm sure some people would like to leave the area to escape
the March winds, but those winds and dust storms seem to be
found everywhere in Texas and the Southwest so you've got to
go a long way to get away.

It would seem that Hollywood is missing a big opportunity by
now having some block busters ready to release during spring
break time like they do for Thanksgiving and Christmas and
summertime. Maybe they just haven't thought of it yet.
There are a few new movies out but now many of them are
aimed at the younger crowd.

So what will the younger set report on for their spring
break? Probably most of them will only be able to say they
took it easy, slept late and tanked up on junk food and
watched a lot of television.

In the meantime, I'm still researching to find out just why
this spring break thing exists. If you know, please let me
know. Thanks.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Mac McKinnon is the Editor and Publisher of
the Pecos Enterprise whose column will appear weekly. He can
be e-mailed at: bigmac@bitstreet.com

Your View

New board doing more for all water users

Dear Sirs;

I would like to congratulate the people of Ward County
Irrigation District No. 1, for getting a new board, and
removing the old board altogether.

The ditches and gates on the canals look better than they
have in years.

They are spending money on the irrigation system, not on
useless equipment that nobody can use.
Hopefully they will treat all the water users equally, and
not have different rules for their friends, or fellow board
members.

I also hope they will back the water master when he is right
and not leave him out on a limb.

Thank you,
L.G. (Dode) Daughhetee

P.S. I'm sure the new president will have more to do than
set around the irrigation office, making up new rules and
regulations for the employees.

Comments needed now for draft statement

Dear Editor,

There is little chance of the comment period being extended
past April 3rd for the Realistic Bomber Training Initiative.
It is important for everyone to send in their comments now
so they will become part of the Draft Environmental Impact
Statement.

The Trans-Pecos Protection Group has made repeated efforts
to discuss solutions to the military's need for airspace
with the proper authorities of Air Combat Command and the
USAF Pentagon. Other organizations similar to ours have done
the same. We are not experts on the military's training
requirements but we are experts on what is required to
maintain our quality of life in West Texas.

The Air Force does not want to listen to the impacted
citizens. They send us only slick public relations
personnel, who have no answers to environmental questions,
to try to pacify us and keep us in the dark. Although they
do their job well, it is very difficult to get a warm, fuzzy
feeling for a 477,000 pound war aircraft that is going to
rattle the walls of your home, drive you off of the highway,
terrify your children, cause loss of your hearing, deprive
you of sleep and peace, damage your economy, cause direct
financial losses to livestock producers, destroy current
efforts to protect wildlife and forever change the
uniqueness of our "last frontier".

All we ask is that our military be accountable. The
necessity of this much use of low-level flights within the
scope of our modern warfare technology is questionable. The
people it is going to impact have been given no choice in
the matter of having wartime conditions forced upon their
homes and communities. For most of us, moving is not a
viable option.

Put pressure on our Congressmen to find a suitable area for
our military to do their training. Mixing deadly military
machinery with biological lifeforms is unreasonable.
We must send these letters to prove a history of opposition
to these proposals. Our elected officials are listening.
Even if they are ineffective, the volume of opposition will
prove valuable later in court.

To send comments to the Realistic Bomber Training Initiative
write: RBTI EIS c/o 7 CES/CEV, 710 3rd Street, Dyess AFB, TX
79607.

For more information, please call the Trans-Pecos Protection
Group at (915) 364-2323.

Kay Kelley
Alpine, Texas

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