Rio Grande Herald (Rio Grande City, Tex.), Vol. 92, No. 52, Ed. 1 Thursday, December 29, 2005 Page: 4 of 6
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The Rio Grande Herald-Thursday, December 29, 2005, Page 4
Guillen cites study on unequal
funding, to push for amendment
AUSTIN, TX- Local
Representative Ryan Guillen on
Thursday cited a new study by
the conservative Education Trust
that he said lends support to his
efforts for over three years to
pass a constitutional amendment
requiring equal educational
opportunity for all Texas school
children.
The report said that Texas
spends as much as $600 less per
student each year in high
poverty school districts and
about $1,200 less per student in
^schools with the highest
minority populations. "In a 500
student elementary school, that
would translate to $300,000 to
$600,000 less per year for high-
poverty, high minority schools,"
Rep. Guillen sai l.
"Just think what programs
those schools could offer their
students if they had that extra
funding," Rep. Guillen
commented.
The Education Trust is an
advocacy and policy group in
Washington D.C. that supports
the goals of the Bush
administration's education
reform law No Child Left
Behind.
"I have filed a constitutional
amendment requiring equal
educational opportunity for all
Texas public school students in
each session of the legislature
for the past three years. 1 believe
this is the time for other south
Texas and minority legislators to
join with me in urging all
members to vote for passage of
this amendment," Guillen said
The amendment would give
the people of Texas the
opportunity to vote on whether
or not the state constitution
requires the state to provide
equal educational opportunity
for all public school students. It
could be considered during the
expected special session on
education funding after the
primary elections in March.
In a news story published in
the San Antonio Express News
on Thursday, Education Trust
policy director Ross Wiener
said, "A lot of standards and
accountability came out of
Texas, but fairness in funding
hasn't followed. Lawmakers
need to realize that all children
growing up in the state of Texas
need to have a high-quality
education. We know children
giow'ng up in poverty start with
a disadvantage. Texas education
policies compound those
disadvantages."
A similar report by the
National Education Association
was released earlier this month
which said Texas was the only
state in the nation to reduce
education spending during the
2004-05 school year.
The article said the Education
Trust analyzed annual financial
data to reach its conclusions.
They were based on the total
amount of state and local
revenue each school district
received for the 2002-03 school
year, the latest year such
financial data are available.
Moral themes will spell success
for 'Narniaprofessor says
By ELLEN ROSSETTI
UNT News Service
"The Chronicles of Narnia:
The Lion, the Witch and the
Wardrobe," which opened in
theaters the weekend of Dec. 10-
11, will resonate with more than
just religious groups because of
universal moral themes, but
targeting a Christian audience is
a wise marketing move for the
film's publicists, says a
University of North Texas
journalism professor.
The $150 million movie, an
adaptation of British author C.S.
Lewis' first book in "The
Chronicles of Narnia" series of
seven books, is expected to
become one of December's box-
office hits. First published in
1950, "The Lion, the Witch and
the Wardrobe" has been viewed
by many scholars as a fairy tale
with Christian symbolism.
Mitchell Land, director of
UNT's Mayboin Graduate
Institute of Journalism, says the
success of "The Passion of the
Christ", which made more than
$370 million after it was
released in February 2004 and
marketed to a Christian
audience, "proves there's a
significant market for this kind
of approach."
"This is what 'Narnia' does. It
has a universal message that is
not really limited to
Christianity, although it's
popular among wide swaths of
Christian groups," Land says.
"Redemption, sacrifice,
selflessness, courage - these are
universal themes of the human
spirit."
Land also points to the film
versions of the three books in
J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Lord of
the Rings" trilogy, which has
similar themes. Each film
grossed more than $300 million
at the box office.
"You've seen the success of
The Lord of the Rings.' You're
going to see that 'Narnia' is
going to be a huge success and
will make loads of money,"
Land says. "In a time of
uncertainty, I think people can
feel that principles matter,
principles such as humaneness,
justice and truth. Principles are
universal, and people want to
see this exemplified through
myth, what I call storytelling. It
helps people make sense out of
chaos. That's what movies do
for you."
Guillen announces EDAP eligibility
AUSTIN, TX- Local State
Representative Ryan Guillen
recently announced Starr, Webb,
Duval and Zapata counties as
eligible counties for the
Economically Distresse i \reas
Program (EDAP).
The Texas Water
Development Board created
EDAP to address the water and
wastewater needs for areas that
were below the state standard
and financially unable to
provide adequate water services.
"EDAP was created to
benefit residents of the border
region," said Rep. Guillen. "It
will improve water services in
these counties and ultimately
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result in a higher standard of
life."
The program will allow
cities, counties, water districts or
non-profit water supply
corporations to apply for
funding for construction or
improvements related to the
water supply system.
"I have recently met with the
Texas Water Development
Board (TWDP) to discuss
possible projects that would be
funded through EDAP," said
Rep. Guillen. "I promise to
continue working closely with
the TWDP to get grants that will
ensure improvement for our
water systems in the border
counties."
Economically distressed
areas are denned as counties
located in the border region
who's per capita income has
been 25 percent below the state
average for the last three years,
and employment rate has been
25 percent above the state
average for the last three years.
For further information
contact the Texas Water
Development Board's Office of
Project Finance and
Construction Assistance,
Program and Policy
Development Division at (512)
463-3119.
.
KM ,, . 4
Mighty Rattler Band holds toy drive
The Rio Grande City Mighty Rattler Band has brought joy to many children during this holiday
season. Throughout the school year band members have sold drawing tickets to raise funds for their
annual toy drive. This is their 12th consecutive >ear in which they provide toys for the Starr County
Child Protective Services and Rio Grande City CISD Building Bridges. This year band members
purchased items from Wal-Mart on Dec. 15, 16 and 17 in which they were able to give 170 total
gifts. Pictured left to right are: First row- Tiffany Smedley, Monica Hernandez, Domingo Montalvo,
Gloeli Calderon, Cecilia Rich and Samantha Garcia; Second row- Lucio Diaz, Raul Castillo. J.M
Longoria, Rubin Leal, Tony Urbina, Kenni Sunga, and Mr. Roger Olivarez (Head Band Director).
(RGCCISD photo).
<4
NTU art professor tracks
down missing Iraqi art work
By Ellen Rossetti
UNT News Service
Nada Shabout is racing
against time to save the modern
art of her ancestral home. An
assistant professor of art history
at the University of North
Texas, Shabout has dedicated
herself to documenting artwork
missing from the Iraqi Museum
of Modern Art in Baghdad since
the U.S.-led Iraqi war began in
March 2003.
"It's the museum that the
world seems to have forgotten,"
Shabout said.
Damaged by U.S. bombings
of Baghdad, the museum was
also ravaged by looters. But
without proper documentation,
people who find the lost artwork
cannot prove that the pieces
were once displayed in the
museum. And the longer the
work is gone, the more likely it
will disappear forever into
private collections or suffer
damage beyond repair.
Shabout says the public
readily associates Iraq with
ancient art. However, few
recognize the modern art culture
that had been established, she
said, and few efforts have been
made to reclaim the work.
Shabout grew up in Iraq and
graduated from high school in
Baghdad. She arrived in 1980 in
the United States, where she
pursued bachelor's degrees in art
and architecture and master's
and doctoral degrees in art from
the University of Texas at
Arlington. Today she is
considered one of the world's
leading authorities on
contemporary Iraqi art.
She returned to Baghdad for
a 10-day trip in June 2003 to
find the Museum of Modern Art
in tatters. Canvases were cut
from the wooden frames, which
were used for fuel. Sculptures
turned into birdcages. Artwork
had disappeared into private
homes, where lack of air
conditioning and electricity
could cause irreparable damage.
Working from old catalogs
and the memories of artists
themselves, Shabout began
compiling an archive of art from
the museum. The detective work
is time-consuming, even more
so because she lacks funding for
the project She has obtained
video CDs that have helped her
recognize some other works,
though the videos are not of the
best quality.
Shabout notes that once the
missing art pieces are made
public, either via the Internet or
in a book" "then we have
awareness."
"We minimize the trade and
sale of these works," she said.
About 1,300 of the 8,000
missing items in the museum
have been retrieved, she said.
Some private gallery owners and
artists are buying the artwork
and storing them in their
galleries until they can be
returned to the museum.
Shabout acknowledges that
not every missing item will be
placed in her archive.
"1 have to go so much
further. I am barely at the '
beginning of it." she said, " ir>rt
never going to be a 100 percent
complete list, but at least it will
give us some idea of what is
missing."
Shabout recently organize^
an exhibit of work by Iraqi
artists, including several she met
while visiting Baghdad in 2003.
Dafatir, the exhibit of Iraqi book
art, was displayed at UNT in
October and will open April 6 at
the Stanlee and Gerald Rubin
Center for the Visual Arts at the
University of Texas at El Paso.
The exhibit will run at the center
through June 10.
Dafatir will also travel to
Carleton College in Northfield,
Minn., and the Center for Book
Arts in New York Citv in 2006
1
>
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
* *
Dear Mr. Editor,
I am writing you to bring
attention to the Rio Grande City
High School Band.
This great group of students
really shines as precious jewels
in our community.
Over the past year I have had
the joy of watching the R1IS
band at football games, achieve
a division one rating as a
marching band, serve their
community by playing at Wal-
Mart and Immaculate
Conception Church.
1 he RUS Band is superb
both in their musical ability and
their character. They work
together as a team, yet treat each
other as brothers and sisters.
The leadership of the band is
at least 3 levels above what
others schools have. Their Band
Director Roger Olivares and his
team are highly motivated and
effective leaders who really care
about each and every member of
the band.
I encourage each person who
reads this letter to take even®
opportunity to hear our Mighty
Rattler Band play and get to
know these wonderful young
people.
Bob Alderman
Rio Grande City
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Roberts, Kenneth. Rio Grande Herald (Rio Grande City, Tex.), Vol. 92, No. 52, Ed. 1 Thursday, December 29, 2005, newspaper, December 29, 2005; Edinburg, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth195993/m1/4/: accessed April 28, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Rio Grande City Public Library.