The Odessa American from Odessa, Texas • 37

OTHER VOICES SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2007 WWW.0A0A.COM PAGE 5E ACCORDING TO DEN SARGENT TOVOUKNCWTHtS jt 'IWTTHEFIPeKr-BEHOWWAaWTWO---- r- HKy ANt THEN BJEOTX AFTER BBH3- OF NON-STDP CAMPAIGNING- COSTING A liM 4 JUST TOOK HltA 'Home' still is better than the other places LIKE MANY FOLKS WHO were able to take a little trip over the Labor Day holiday, Poor William and Miss Kitty took the chance to "get out of town." San Marcos, Wimberley and Fredericksburg were towns where major stops were made and it was great to drive through Hill Country back roads where the surroundings were not flat. Visits to Fredericksburg are fairly common for PW and MK, but PW hadn't been to Wimberley since the late 1960s. MK never had seen the hilly town that sort of reminds PW of Ruidoso, N.M., without the snow. As for San Marcos, PW used to visit it often when he wrote for the San Antonio Express-News more than 35 years ago. Many trips were to gather information for stories, one of which was about "scare goats" at Aquarena Springs, which closed in 1996 unfortunately.

The tourist site had several of the small goats that freeze up and even fall over when they are startled. All PW had to do was clap loudly and the goats would instantly suffer from "myotonia congeni tal, a condition in which the muscle cells experience prolonged contraction," as several Internet sources explain. It was quite a sight; PW would have liked to prove to Miss Kitty that these goats actually exist as she seems a little skeptical. Of course, if Aquarena Springs had not closed, MK also could have seen "Ralph the Diving Pig" or a replacement that carried on Ralph's legacy of swim WILLIAM TELLS BILL SALTER ming and diving with the Aquarena Springs "mermaids." The tourist site now is owned by Texas State University (formerly Southwest Texas State) and is operated as an "environmental learning center." What a shame and PUBLIC FORUM County burial rates should be lower Salter is publisher emeritus of the Odessa American. He can be contacted at (432) 580-8896 or william tellsdlink.

freedom.com. Mail can be sent to 620 N. Grant, Suite 913. Odessa 79761. For more information, visit www.williamtells what a loss to San Marcos, which used to benefit from 250,000 tourists a year who came to see the goats, pigs and mermaids.

Now, of course, the city probably draws many more people than that to what is the largest "outlet center" PW has visited other than one in Orlando, Florida. Two big centers are side by side just south of San Marcos on Interstate 35 and on Sept. 3 the only way a shopper could get a parking space was to wait until someone who got there earlier pulled out. PW likes to shop and even has been known to carry Miss Kitty's purse when she needs both hands to check out the merchandise. But walking from store to store to store among thousands of other shoppers really isn't his cup of Diet Coke.

(PW can't stand tea and coffee.) Still, it was nice to hit the road for three days and just as nice to be home again. INCIDENTALLY, IT ALWAYS amazes PW when he takes a trip around Texas that gasoline prices are mostly lower than in Odessa. San Marcos had outlets where regular unleaded was $2,599 a gallon and it was easy to find majors selling gas for $2,659. PW can't remember when prices that low were to be found here, can you? Other than the difference in gas prices, PW's biggest question mark on the trips was the speed limit between Odessa and Crane. Does it really make sense for this nice four-lane road to be 75 mph in Crane County and 70 in Ector? The same is true at the EctorAndrews county line.

Changing the speed limit by 5 mph on four-lane highways every 15 miles doesn't make sense to PW. Then again, government decisions frequently don't pass the "common sense" test. ON A LIGHTER NOTE, there's a 'You might be a Texan if" joke going around that's attributed to Jeff Foxworthy, the astute expert on "rednecks." Here's a bit of it that PW can associate with: "If 'vacation' means going anywhere south of Dallas for the weekend, you may live in Texas." (PW just did that.) "If you measure distance in hours, you may live in Texas." (Odessans know about this.) "If you know several people who have hit a deer more than once, you may live in Texas." (PW lived four years in Kerrville and hit a deer each year.) "If the speed limit on the highway is 55 mph you're going 80 and everybody's passing you, you may live in Texas." (See 7075 item above.) "If you find 60 degrees 'a little chilly" well, VWi readers surely know the answer to that one. HAVE A SUPER SUNDAY and a wonderful week! have been associated. The wonderful rapport I've shared with all these people has been a fulfilling experience.

Above all, I will greatly miss my Ector County Health Department (ECHD) family. Their dedication to community health will always be their No. 1 priority. I will be relocating back to my hometown in the next few months. As for the TRUE friends I leave behind, it's just a new beginning.

Over the past two years I have found who my TRUE friends really are. "We'll keep in touch." I never expected obligation or appreciation from anyone if it was not willingly given or earned. Some of those individuals I considered friends lost the ability (or never had it to begin with) to be compassionate and understanding. Finally, it concerns me gravely that Ector County will no longer have funding for an HIV Prevention Program due to the state's "convenient oversight" of the ECHD's 20-plus year history on counseling and HIV testing. In accordance with the grading system the state used, testing seemed to be the main focus.

The plan targeted HIV positive individuals, HIVSTD community wide testing, as well as offering Comprehensive Risk Counseling and Services (CRCS). So from this day forth, it will be up to community members to educate and themselves, their families and friends. LYNN GORTON HIV INTERVENTION SPECIALIST COORDINATOR ODESSA Zero is zilch "Zero tolerance" in any human endeavor or enterprise is fundamentally and morally wrong. Whether it applies to personal pursuits, business-related agendas or whatever, the inherent abuses of such policies strip away individuality and places all "suspects" into the same category. This leaves them with no recourse, no substantive application to be considered as a human being once more.

Inch by inch, moment by moment, our personal freedoms and civil liberties are being eroded by agencies that are reacting to paranoid executive andor subjective directives. Not many seem to care. It doesn't affect them directly. They are not yet being targeted or profiled or subjected to unlawful or surreptitious inspection of what they do or who they know or what they think. "Zero tolerance" is but a child born of this paranoia.

Fascism is a multi-armed, multi-formed ideology that recruits the acquiescent multitudes that believe they will face a 'safer" tomorrow fashioned by an enemy they don't understand and are reluctant to engage. And the hypocrisy abounds. Governmental entities that impose their "regulations and imperatives" on powerless individuals feed one another in a frenzy of faux interaction that only lines their own pockets and ensures their malicious futures. One last thing. Zero tolerance is sort of an oxymoron, at least that's the way I see it.

Whenever someone excludes anyone, because of race, ethnicity, "perceived" aberrant behavior, religious or political beliefs from "their" tolerance then "zero" becomes a metaphor for their lack of cognition and understanding of what has and what does not have "value." JERRY SHOWALTER ODESSA opportunities for preconceptional counseling and screening; fewer infant, child, and maternal deaths; and the use of barrier contraceptives to prevent pregnancy and transmission human immunodeficiency virus and other STDs." While the use of birth control has greatly improved the health of women and children in this country, it has also given couples the ability and responsibility of controlling their fertility. Becoming a parent is the easy part. Being a good parent is much more challenging. Parenthood is a lifelong responsibility that requires love, patience, time and selflessness. The use of birth control is a responsible answer for families who want to plan and space their children.

Planned Parenthood serves more than 15,000 women and men in the West Texas area at our clinics located in Odessa, Midland, San Angelo and Abilene. We provide annual exams, pap smears, STD testing and treatment, HIV testing, anemia and diabetes testing. Each of our health centers has a pharmacy, so birth control methods, antibiotics, etc. can be accessed easily by our patients. Most of our patients have a fairly low income, are 20-29 years old and have no insurance coverage.

They pay on a sliding fee scale at our clinics. Use of birth control allows couples to plan so that they have children when they desire and can best afford to support them. Family planning saves millions in tax dollars that may have otherwise been spent on welfare programs. Planned Parenthood believes that the decision to become a parent is a personal decision that, while it should be entered into with careful thought and consideration, is also a decision that we as free people should be able to make for ourselves without interference from the government, religion or other people. We stand behind our motto and our continued work of ensuring a world where "every child is a loved and wanted child." KAREN PIEPER HILDEBRAND PRESIDENTCEO PLANNED PARENTHOOD OF WEST TEXAS, INC.

Unfair comments take issue with the vicious comment directed at Dr. John Doran in the OA's weekly opinion poll. I have worked for Dr. Doran for more than 20 years and feel that I know him well enough to say that you can say what you want about him but that he "gives minimum treatment at inflated prices" is not one of them. Dr.

Doran cares very much for his patients and gives them the best care he possibly can. It is apparent that the anonymous person behind the comment does not know Dr. Doran and has done little or no research on ProCare. RENEE STACY ODESSA Less protection It has been a great privilege working with this community for the past 11 years. I have enjoyed the challenging experiences in all different fields in which I have worked.

It's been a pleasure working with all the different agencies, employers, co-workers and community members and leaders with whom I My beloved parents are buried in Rosehill Cemetery and until Martha Fierro came along, the cemetery left a lot to be desired (no pun intended). When I visit my parents' graves now, it is a pleasure to see that the grass is not only green, but it is mowed. The whole cemetery looks great! Thank you, Ms. Fierro! However, when I learned about the proposed and outrageous rate increases, I intended to go before the Commissioners' Court to voice my concerns. Unfortunately, because of an out-of-town medical emergency, was unable to attend the meeting.

And, while I felt that it was probably a foregone conclusion that the rates were going to be increased, I was not prepared to read in the OA that Commissioner Greg Simmons had said that if people don't like the county's fees that there are other alternatives available. I had already read in a previous article that our "county rates" were much lower than the "private cemetery" rates. Well, excuse me! Has it been a misconception on my part that county cemetery rates are lower because the taxes we pay subsidize the costs? Aren't the Medical Center Hospital costs lower than Odessa Regional Medical Center's costs for the same reason? What other cost "comparisons" can we expect from Simmons in order to justify other "increases" in what is otherwise subsidized by our taxes! Yes, the ideal situation would be that everyone who cannot afford the high rates to plan on NOT dying on Thursdays and Saturdays! In this manner, our funerals would be held Monday through Fridays. And, if we could cut back on the number of "those" people dying, perhaps we would have no need for burying anyone after 2 p.m. Sorry, but this is just as ludicrous as asking people with limited resources to find "alternatives." I can come up with some "alternatives" for Simmons.

How about Monday-Friday and Tuesday-Saturday work schedules? How about having some 8-5 and 10-7 p.m. work schedules? How about using trusty inmates to do the digging? Oh yes, I would be very interested in knowing what "alternatives" Simmons has in mind. VICKIE GOMEZ odessa Responsibility matters In response to the letter from Jennie Fanous condemning the use of contraception, there is nothing racist about any couple deciding for themselves how many children they want to have and using birth control to achieve that. It is a responsible act for couples of all races to plan their families according to their own desires, beliefs, abilities, finances, health issues, etc. It is an entirely personal and private decision.

Family planning is listed by the Center for Disease Control as one of the 10 great public health achievements in the United States in the 20th century. According to the CDC, "Access to family planning and contraceptive services has altered social and economic roles of women. Family planning has provided health benefits such as smaller family size and longer interval between the birth of children; increased mam ftT)ij5.