El Paso Times from El Paso, Texas • 7

Your A in lawmakers THE EL PASO TIMES, Suudiy, October 2, 1877 Pge 7-A Susan GurleyMcBee, Dem TEXAS Where Would We Be Without Illegal Aliens: John Stark Timt StoM Writr U.S.Seniton 70th District l.iovd Benisen. Dem. Richard Slack. Dem. 240 bid Senate Office Bidg.

69th District Washington, DC 20510 John Toner. Rep. NEW MEXICO 112 Old Senate Office Bidg. U.S. Seniton Washington, 20510 Peter V.

Domenici, Rep. U.S.RpreaUtive 1251 New Senate Office Bidg Richard C. White Dem. Washington D.C .20510 2233 Rayburn House Office Bidg. Harrison Schmitt Washington, 20515 5229 Sew Senate Office Bidg.

or Courthouse, Washington. D.C 20510 E. Paso. Texas 7W! U.S. Representee! M3-7650 Harold L.

Runnels Dem. State Senators 1535 House Office Tati Dem Washington, D.C 20515 29th District State Senitors Senate Room 212 Address: State Capitol Capitol Station Saraa F(, NfW Mexico 87501 Austin. Texas 78710 Lamar Gwaltney, D-Dona Ana or 7400 Viscount Gadvs Hanswl n-Dona Ana F. i Paso, Texas 79925 f-rank D-Dona Ana briiD Aiiamirano, Snelson.Di-m 'uiiiev Mum Hidalea. Sierra Dlsmrl Aubrev Dunn, D-Otero Slate Capitol jnnConav, R-Otero, Lincoln Room 128 inrence Goodell.

D-Eddy-Chaves Austin. Texas 787C7 Thompson. D-Chases Slate Representatives Joseph Gant.D Eddy Address: 0 Box 2910 RoD n-Chaes, Roosevelt -Austin, Texas 7S7H9 James Raster rem State Representatives 7W District Address: State Capitol 2803 Vandell Santa Fe. Now Mexico 87501 El Paso. Texas 793 Benny Trujillo, D-Dona Ana 56J.S1W William O'Donnell.

D-Dona Ana Luther Jones, Dem. SharlynLina-d. D-Dona Ana 72-A District Russell- Autrey. D-Dona Ana-Luna I flux 559! Walter Parr, D-Dona Ana Paso. Texas 79953 Thema Foy, D-Grant Murray Ryan.

R-Grant. Sierra Ronald Coleman, Dem YnnKueCrawford. R-Luna. Hidalgo 72-K District Maurice Hobsun. Otero, Lincoln iSSi Montana John Merlon.

D-Otero, Lincoln Paso, Texas 79901 George Eeiunger, D-Olero M4-K32 Phelps Anderson, R-Chaves Paul Moreno Dem Pan! Kelly Jr R-Chaves 72-C District Colin McMillan R-Chaves. DcBaca 55o F. P.nsar.o Brown Jr Chaves. Eddy F.I Paso. 7wi Jack Skinner, Eddy R'lOf Viiirs, Dem James K.

Otts. D-Eddy 72-D District John Rigbee R-Lincoin, 1.151 Montana Dcbaca. Guadalupe. Torrance Kl Paso, Texas James Lee Martin, R-Catron-Soeorro sr The plight of those Mennonites near Seminole, seems to be stirring up a lot of laudable and less-than-laudable emotion among the local patriots. Everyone seems to agree that some way ought to be found to allow the Mennonites to keep their land and stay here.

The most-often-used expression in describing the virtues of the Mennonites is "hard working." And that seems undeniable. But the attached implication seems to be that all those other, brown-skinned undocumented Mexicans are comparatively lazy and shiftless. Yet it was just a few months ago that Presidio farmers were pleading for the importation of thousands of these lazy, shiftless people to work from dawn to dusk harvesting millions of dollars' worth of onions and cantaloupes for less-than-splcndid wages. "Keep the Mennonites and get rid of the illegal aliens," one Times letter writer demands. An interesting proposition, that.

Suppose some way could be found to ship all those undocumented Mexicans home tomorrow, and we could fortify our borders to keep them out for good. What would happen to the economy of El Paso and the nation? Well, first of all, our city would be minus about 30,000 maids and babysitters. That would immediately curtail the social lives of a lot of rich people. More seriously, a lot of single women with children would have to quit their jobs and go on the dole. Up in Kern Place and Mission Hills and Coronado, lots of people would be forced to learn how to cut their own lawns and trim their own hedges and wash their own cars.

Remember Rudy's Sportswear, an El Paso clothing manufacturer which 7(f vo wii "ROW, ROW, ROW YOUR BOAT GENTLY TO THE STATES employed more than 100 illegals? When the Border Patrol moved in, Rudy's promptly went bankrupt. How many other "Rudy's" are there in El Paso and the nation? If all those lazy old illegals were gone tomorrow, who would help some of our non-union building contractors cut their labor costs? Did any illegal aliens help build your house or office building? How much more would the building have cost if American citizens did the work? Suppose American farmers had to start paying American wages to get in their melons, cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, peaches? Would you be paying more for that food in your local supermarket? You bet you would. Suppose El Paso restaurants couldn't get Mexicans to wash the dishes. It would cost you more to eat out, so you probably wouldn't do it so often. It suddenly has become fashionable to label illegal Mexicans a drain on the economy.

But this seems at best a half-truth. And anyone who thinks all these people are lazy should go to South El Paso some morning in harvest season, well before dawn, when those shiftless folk are jostling one another to be first in line to get out to the fields and work all day in the hot sun. By all means let's find a place in our bountiful country for the Mennonites. But why can't we show at least a bit of sympathy for all those other Mexicans who also want a better life? Whether we like it or not, their willing hands are making our lives better. South Side Harbors Fear P3 Tom Butler Times 5off Writer I how 'in Adapting To Pigeons they voted "I don't want to leave the barrio," Mrs.

Julia Ponce was saying the other night. "It was good for my mother and father and I want it to be good for my children. "But i am afraid, I am a woman alone." The occasion for Mrs. Ponce's remarks which reflect the appiehension of many of El Paso's sonthside residents was a cilizens' meeting at the Armijo Community Center, in the heart of a barrio torn by internecine gang warfare. Subject of the meeting, sponsored by the Citizens Committee for the Prevention of Crime, was curtailment of robberies, assaults, knifings, shootings and other violent crimes that have been increasing at an alarming rate on the troubled south side.

"We've been treating the symptoms with mandates," declared Domestic Relations Court Judge Enrique Per.a. "We've never really gotten to the roots of the problem." Bui identifying those roots is difficult. One woman litf other night said the south side's problems arise from a chronic lack of ndequale housing and jobs Another reckoned the trouble is that so many fathers are absent from the home, obliging mothers to go to work and leave their children unsupervised. A third concerned resident, Mrs. Concepcion Perez, blamed the volatile south side situation on the growing number of illegal aliens who move into the barrio's dark warrens after crossing the Rio Grande.

Economic and sociological solutions to these ills are hard, if not impossible, to come by. Like any ghetto, El Paso's barrio is a microcosm of all that's wrong in this country in such areas as housing, education, employment and crime. But the thing that must be dealt with now, as Mrs. Ponce indicated, is fear. It could very well be destroying the one strength the barrio has left: a spirit of community.

"We keep meeting with groups, trying to get them to cooperate with us," Patrolman Pete Valdez one of two community relations officers assigned to the south side, told the Armijo Center meeting. "But they just won't listen. They won't say anything. They're afraid of retaliation." That only a handful of people turned out for the meeting was clear evidence of this fear. Both Mrs.

Ponce and Mrs. Perez said most of their neighbors John Doussord Times Staff Writer 1 stayed away because they did not want to be seen talking with police officers and a judge. Pena suggested that, while most barrio crime involves young people, older outsiders may be responsible, "there are adults involved," he said "people who don't belong around here." Added Valdez "The older ones use the kids under 17 to do the shootings, because they're not subject to heavy sentences." Valdez' partner, Patrolman Richard Tirres, remarked that "involvement is what we're talking about. For one thing, we ought to open up this community center, being in the parents and children good traffic. Then the marijuana smokers and heroin dealers will move out." Toward this end, Valdez and Tirres are soon moving their headquarters into the Armijo Center, which is only a few feet from a notorious landmark known as the "marijuana tree" where dealers stash their baggies of pot.

On an opposite corner stands the El Paso Boys's Club, a popular hangout that has been the scene of some of the barrio's most serious trouble. But the simple moving of two hard-pressed police officers into the community center is not the answer. The Crime Prevention Committee has offered a possible remedy: establishment of neighborhood "watch" organizations whose job it will be to "report suspicious activity to the police." Alex Stuart, committee chairman, insisted that this is not a vigilante program. But whether it succeeds or not, it is bound to achieve one rather sinister thing: it will set neighbor to watching neighbor in an atmosphere of suspicion. That may aggravate, rather than relieve, the fear.

And as Valdez said just the other night: "As long as these people are afraid, nothing's going to get accomplished around here." Key: "Yes" means a yea vote, "No" means a nay vote, means the member only voted "present" and "NV" means not voting. Senate Senate Vote No. 1: Cloture The Senate voted, 77-17 (60 votes needed) to end further debate on the Rentsen-Pearson measure to end regulation of the price of new natural gas. This cleared the proposal for a vote, but opponents continued their filibuster by starting to offer over 500 amendments. Senate Vote No.

2: Carter Gas Proposal The Senate then voted 53-39 to kill President Carter's plan, offered as one of those amendments, to continue regulation of natural gas prices but raise the ceiling. Senate Vote No. 3: Deregulation The Senate also rejected, 40-47, a motion to table and thus kill the Bentsen-Pearson deregulation measure. Votes 1. 2.

3. New Mexico 11 Domenici-R yes yes 'ho Schmitt-R yes yes no Texas Bent sen-D yes yes no Tower-R yes yes no House House Vote No. 1: Medicaid Abortions The House refused, by a 164-252 vote, to back down from its insistence that the government should pay for abortions under the Medicaid program only when the mother's life is in danger. The vote was on a motion to accept the Senate's stand that such financing should be allowed when the woman's doctor believes it "medically necessary." House Vote No. 2: Debt Limit The House voted 213-202 to raise the ceiling on the national debt to $773 billion through Sept.

30, 1978. The current ceiling of $700 billion expired Friday. The bill was then sent to the Senate. House Vote No. 3: Neutron Weapons The House rejected, 109-297, a motion to eliminate funds for production of neutron weapons from a bill authorizing money for the Energy Research and Devlop-ment Administration.

This makes the money available to President Carter, who has not yet made a decision on producing and deploying the new Pigeons are small birds invented in 1856 by the same man who invented smokestacks, window sills and urban decay. As inventions go, the pigeon ranks immediately below ant farms and slightly above the furry dice you hang in your car. In other words, they flirt with being utterly useless. There's an old country expression that goes: 'Everyone has the right to be stupid but some people seem to abuse the Pigeons have done this, in the process also crossing the bounds of good taste. Worse, most of them seem to be in town only to visit me.

I live in a high-rise apartment that must advertise for these bafflingly stupid bi-peds. Evidently the pigeons believe that with a generous fertilization program my concrete porch will be able to support next year's crops. It is an assumption I don't share. I was very fond of the concrete and find their additions to be, ah. unpleasant.

I called my landlord about the problem and was astonished to find I lived under a roof owned by a liberal environmentalist. "Heck, John, we just wouldn't feel right in our own hearts about killing the little things. We're all God's creatures." Right, but I bet God doesn't have any pigeons hanging around making a mess everywhere in heaven, or if he does they're probably down on one of the lower levels reserved for people who were good, but not THAT good. We tried on a compromise, a painless nontoxic way of convincing them they had been evicted. Our first move was to solicit the advice of an old woodsman, wise in the ways of the wily mutations of Mother Nature.

Since there was no woods to speak of in El Paso, finding a woodsman was a bit difficult. We settled instead for the guy who lived downstairs who likes to camp out a lot and professes a knowledge of these sorts of things. "Why, heck," he said, baffled by my stupidity. "Just get some rubber snakes and leave them around the porch and window sills. It'll scare em away as sure as I'm standing here." Have you ever heard a pigeon laugh? The only person ever scared by the rubber snakes was me, coming home very late one night after discussing the meaning of life at a local refreshment stand.

Opening a window to gaze at the skyline of the motel across the street and inhale the inver- Old Durango Rich In Films sion layer, I put my hand on a snake, which sat immortally immobilized in a striking position. After the neighbors calmed me down enough to stop screaming, I looked up at the window to see a pigeon looking back at me slightly bemused and standing on top of the snake. I tried another friend, a sage from Central Texas who I figured might be privy to such estoeric knowledge. After all, I reasoned, there's not much else to do with your time in places like Killeen other than collect esoteric knowledge. "Well he drawled, stroking his moustache, opening a beer and lighting a cigarette with the speed of someone anticipating a long life.

One should never have appointments for later in the afternoon if one is going to talk to somebody from Central Texas. "Well, old Rufus learned to adapt, so I guess that's what'cha gotta do. Adapt." Rufus was the dog (literally) that cornered three votes in last April's mayoral election, a surprisingly weak showing considering the opposition. Rufus, it seemed, used to run around the yard like a madman, snapping at the pigeons flying around the backyard. No longer.

Now he lies contentedly with head in paws, watching a few pigeons no more than a foot away walking around his food bow, munching cafeteria style. I went home and thought about that for awhile before concluding I would probably gain more satisfaction running around the porch snapping at the birds than sitting there pretending we were all pals. Besides, I'm not a good adaptor. Finally, though, I hit upon a solution. I'm going next Thursday to the City Council meeting, where 1 will offer to allow the city to invest in a "natural fowl reclamation project." Then I'll sell them the birds for a buck apiece.

They'll go for it too. They went for El Corrcdor didn't they? Ramon Villabbos Tlmai StoH Wrll.r Votes New Mexico Lujan-R Runnels-D Texas Hall-D White-D C.Wilscm-D 1. 2. 3. no no no no no no no no no no yes no yes yes no Twenty years ago, actors Jeff Hunter, Hugh O'Brian, and Robert Wagner discovered that Mountain Scenery in Durango, about 600 miles south of El Paso, was a fantastic location for the filming of American cowboy movies.

It all started with the filming of the movie called "The White Feather," starring Hunter. Since then, directors, producers and cinematographers, have immortalized Durango's majestic beauty of seemingly endless valleys, breathtaking deep canyons, its romantic waterfalls, the old railroad engine, and the world's oldest hanging bridge. So impressed are Hollywood directors and producers of the location, that today, state officials say there is a long list of film companies wanting to take advantage of the mild weather and clear skies created by a altitude. But while Durango may seem tranquil on the surface, state officials say, the entire state is bursting at the seams with potential industry and is about to emerge as a potent "railhead" in Mexico's economy recovery. Vast timber resources, mining for iron ore, gold and silver, cqttle, and more recently the U.S.

film industry all are playing roles in fostering Durango's economic development. To aid Amierican film companies in using Durango for movie location, the state governor, Dr. Hector Mayagoitia Dominguez, has set up cinematography department that arranges for everything from hiring extras to set constructions and housing for film crews. Gov. Mayagoitia admits film making is one of the principal industries in the state, and its promotion at home and abroad is one of his major preoccupations.

"This part of Mexico is rich. All that is needed is the proper exploitation," said the govenor who has been one of the prime driving forces behind the state's economic gains. "We all benefit from films being made here. It provides movie-makers with incomparable settings and inexpensive labor," he said. It wasn't by chance or mere coincidence that actors such as John Wayne, Glenn Ford, Dean Martin, Chihuahua's native son Anthony Quinn, Lee Marvin and others picked Durango to empty their colt in cantina shootouts in Hotel Santa Rosa; kill bandits and Indians in Rancho Morley; drag their silver spurs on the fertile land of Rancho Howard, or hide in Las Mines of Almalgre.

Presently actor Jack Nicholson is on location at Rancho La Joya, and at Chupaderos, filming "Going South." Also on location in Durango is Lee Marvin making the movie "The Great Scout." 20-10 Vcars Ago In the last 20 years, the U.S. motion picture industry has filmed 87 movies in Durango, putting more than 300 m-llion pesos into the state economy. The "Duke" alone, has filmed 10 of his top-rated movies, including "Chisum" and "The Million Dollar Kidnaping" among his latest ones. Incidentally, it was reported Wayne recently made a bid on the huge chunk of land used in the filming of "Chisum." His offers $120,000 is still standing. Movie producers agree that Durango is one of the few localities where they can easily round up 25,000 head of cattle for a Western film; thousands of horses, hundreds of expert extras, and 300 trucks and automobiles.

For a fee of 1,500 pesos (about $600) a day, movie makers can utilize the large amount of the big and picturesque ranches. With the movie-making fever at high pitch, a true flavor of the old American West, reminiscent of the bustling cattle and mining towns of Montana and Nevada, has hit Durango's capital city of 220,000 persons. Native ranch hands in dusty boots and sweat-brimmed hats stroll the narrow streets. Stores sell saddles, bridles and levis. On the outskirts of town, families live in "ranchitos" and tend to their sheep, cattle and horses.

Besides movie-making, another big industry in Durango is timber. Cut from tree farms at the higher elevations, the Ponderosa pine is almost identical in texture and quality to that found in Oregon and Washington. Strict government control over the industry prevents overcutting or watershed damage. Government inspectors continuously tour the three farms selecting trees that may be cut down. Durango, too, is rich historically.

More than 400 years old, the state once extended north to what is today Colorado. Mexico's first constitutional president, Guadalupe Victoria, was born in Durango City. A few miles out of town lies the birthplace of Mexico's most famous revolutionary general, Doro-teo Arango known in history books as Pancho Villa. 20 Years Ago j. mi in in i I 3 Oct.

2,1957 Wednesday Kl Paso girls seeking their first big break in show business are invited to enter the spectacular Sands Hotel Copa Girl contest, sponsored by The Times. The winner will receive a six-week contract to appear with Dean Martin. Straight passenger train service between El Paso and Los Angeles on The Argonaut has been discontinued by Southern Pacific officials. 40 Years Ago Oct. 2,1937 Saturday El Paso Building Material Company introduces a new indust ry to El Paso a unique exhibit at the Harvest Festival.

The exhibit shows the processes used in manufacturing insulation. El Pasoans will be asked to contribute a total of $125,587.40 in this year's pledge drive by the Community Chest. ft 3. NEAR OLD EL PASO This picture of the well known O'Brien's Bar Cafe, on Calle 16 de Septiembre in Juarez, was taken in the mid-1920's during the Prohibition era, when many United States citizens crossed the Rio Grande for their "wining and Jimmie O'Brien is believed to be among the group at left center..