Sweetwater Reporter (Sweetwater, Tex.), Vol. 113, No. 129, Ed. 1 Wednesday, April 13, 2011 Page: 4 of 12
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Viewpoints
Page 4 ■ Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Sweetwater Reporter
DEDICATED TO PROUDLYDEUVERIN® LOCAL NEWS SI NTH 1881
T—\ Sweetwatei A
Reporter
1EMBER
| * 1 2010
P.O. Box 750/112 W. Third
TEXAS PRESS
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EDITORIAL POLICY
The editorial section of the newspaper is a
forum for expression of a variety of viewpoints. All
articles except those labeled "Editorials" reflect
the opinions of the writers and not those of the
Kay Bailey
Hutchisea
6UEST COLUMN
Congress should take
a page from the Lady
Aggies' playbook
Amidst bitter negotiations in Congress and with the
White House on a >ng-term budget Dr the federal gov-
ernment, I can't help but think that Washington could
use a lesson in teamwork these days. I was reminded of
the remarkable power of a well-functioning team work-
ing in synchronization toward a lofty goal on April 5 as I
watched the heart-stopping national college champion-
ship game between Texas A&M's Lady Aggies and Notre
Dame's Fighting Irish. I was inspired to watch the Lady
Aggies fight to surmount an obstacle that seemed impos-
sible.
Ultimate victory for A&M's women's basketball team
was never a sure shot. But they played with determina-
tion and teamwork throughout the season and ended
with an impressive 33-5 record. All along they focused on
the ultimate goal - the 2011 Women's NCAA Basketball
National Championship game. They survived the open-
ing rounds, made it through the Sweet Sixteen and the
Elite ] it, dominated the Final Four,
and at 1st met their final competi-
tors on the gleaming court of Conseco
Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana.
^ — 1 And on the 30th anniversary of the
Women's NCAA Championship, our
'' Texas athletes beat their formidable
/J competitors, 76 to 70, in a game that
was exciting to the very end. It was a
historic event for A&M's women's bas-
ketball team as well, because this was
their first-ever attempt at winning a
National Championship. After a hard-
fought contest by both teams, I con-
gratulate the Aggies and the Fighting
Irish on excellent seasons.
All of the skilled athletes on A&M's team played their
hearts out; their staunch defense and Danielle Adams'
Ail-American performance were instrumental in the
victory. But we know that the key to teamwork and vic-
tory is leadership. Running up and down the sideline,
throughout the game -indeed, throughout the season -
was Coach Gary Blair. Without his instruction and moti-
vation, A&M's win might not have been possible. During
his successful 8-year career in the program he has turned
the Lady Aggies into a nationally recognized team. And
he made history himself by becoming the oldest coach to
ever win a Women's National Championship The Lady
Aggies worked as a team, and I hope they will celebrate
as a team, always treasuring this joint accomplishment.
I was proud to join with my colleague, Senator John
Cornyn, in offering a resolution on the Seriate floor to
honor this victory.
The remarkable achievement of the Texas A&M wom-
en's basketball team follows in the footsteps of many
other great Texas teams whose commitment to hard
work, preparation, and teamwork has led them to major
victories.
In 2005, the University of Texas Longhorns won the
National Championship in football against the long-
standing football dynasty of the University of Southern
California Trojans. The Longhorns finished their season
as the only undefeated team in NCAA Division I-A foot-
ball that year, with thirteen wins and zero losses. Last
year the undefeated Texas Christian University Horned
Frogs beat the University of Wisconsin, 21 to 19, in TCU's
first Rose Bowl appearance. TCU's performance in that
game proved that they are truly a national championship-
caliber team. Aid one of our state's most historic victories
came in 1966, when Texas Western (now UTEP) was
the first school ever to win the NCAA Men's Basketball
Championship with a racially integrated team.
College baseball in Texas also has a long, proud his-
tory of achievements. Two teams in particular come to
mind, the Texas Longhorns and the Rice Owls. The Texas
Longhorns are the wirmingest team in college baseball
history and hold the record for most appearances in the
College World Series (33). For years, Rice University has
also been nationally known as a baseball powerhouse, and
in 2003 the Rice Owls won the College World Series, the
first national championship win in the school's history.
There is much we can learn and celebrate about the
achievements of the many great Texas athletes who, by
working as a team, achieved far more than they could
have as single individuals. Congress could certainly take
a page from the Lady Aggies' playbook when it comes to
teamwork and coming together to achieve a common goal.
A prosperous future for our country is something we all
want, but in order to get there, we must work together to
put our country back on a fiscally responsible track.
Kay Bailey Hutchison is the Texas U.S. Senator.
Comments about this column may be e-mailed to edi-
tor® sweetwaterreporter.com.
C- FORCE
Alcohol Awareness Month I
Q: Chuck, as a health
anc fitness expert, how do
you feel about alcohol con-
sumption? — "A Toronto
Teetotaler"
A: April is Alcohol
Awareness Month, so I'd
like to do a two-part series
011 the issue. This first part
addresses those who can
legally drink. Next week,
I' address those who are
underage.
Don't worry. I'm
not going to bore
you with statistics
of which you're
already aware.
You know why
America high-
lights an "Alee ol
Awareness Month,"
and it's not because
we're drinking too
little.
From tempta-
tions for adults
to overly "tip the
glass" to concerns
or underage youths and
upcoming proms# absti
nence, moderation and
sobriety from a health and
fitness point of view are
always timely topics.
The issues of alcohol
and alcoholism hit close
to home for me because I
grew up with an alcoholic
her. He also was addict-
ed to cigarettes. Both booze
and tobacco contributed to
his early death, at 53 years
of age in 1971.
Though I don't drink, I
am not a totally sold-out
teetotaler. For example, I
understand the few health
benefits in a glass of red
wine, with research attest-
ing to its cardiovascular
profits.
Still, every health and
fitness activist and practi-
tioner I know would warn
against overconsumption
any alcoholic beverage.
Research attesting to alco-
hol's potential destructive
nature in regard to vital
organs far outweighs any
prospective blessings
Besides it: significant
negative bodily repercus-
sions or threat to others
(e.g., via drunken driving),
what concerns me about
alcohol is its power over
our minds, or our chemical
dependency on it to alter
our mood or state of being.
I understand that mil
lions enjoy the taste and
ambiance of an evening
glass of wine just as millions
enjoy the morning ritual
and aroma of their favorite
cup of Java. What genuine-
GUEST COLUMN
Chuck
NOITiS
ly concerns me, however,
is when we establish and
enable a culture and lives
that erroneously believe we
need mood-altering sub-
stances (legal and not) to
settle our nerves or elevate
our happiness.
Don misunderstand
me. I am not legalistic
against the pick-me-up in
a morning cup of coffee,
but I do believe a proper
diet can provide all
the energy we daily
need. Similarly, I
believe one's men-
tal and physical
fitness (combined
with the solace of
spirituality) can
usher enough
peace in one's life
that one doesn't
need alcohol (or
any other mind-
altering substanc-
es) to obtain some
state of bliss.
One of the challenges I
give youths and adults —
addicts and those who are
not — who feel a particu-
lar (or is it peculiar?) pas-
sion to defend their drink
or drug of choice is this:
Is it possible that life in
itself can be good enough
that we don't need any
mood-altering substances
to steady us?
I believe it can be. I really
do. I live that type of 1 e
and have plenty of friends
who do, too.
In fact, I would go so far
as to say that if you can
drink anything without a
concern to alter your mood
or energy, you probably
have the right approach
in doing so. And a right
approach might even save
you some embarrassment
11 the long run. For it is
true that the first tiling in
the human personality that
dissolves in alcohol is dig-
nity. As Ernest Hemingway
admonished, "always do
sober what you sa you'd
do drunk. That will teach
you to keep your mouth
shut."
In other words, if you're
going to err, err toward
abstinence. You won't
be sorry. Prove to others
that no drink or substance
should have mastery over
us and our emotions and
that water can have as
many (if not more) positive
effects upon us as any of its
competitors.
America was established
on liberty, but that liberty
is not a ::ense for reckless
living. We must not only
live as such but also model
that responsible living for
our posterity. Even our
Four ing Fathers, some of
my favorite heroes, under-
stood that health and fit-
ness principle.
As a way to inspire your
own proper living, reflect
upon the wisdom and
moderation of Thomas
Jefferson, who wrote to Dr.
Vine Utley in 1819 (at age
76) about his own hear
habits: "The request of
the history of my physical
habits would have puzzled
me not a little, had it not
been for the model with
which you accompanied it,
of Doctor Rush's answer to
a similar inquiry. I live so
much like other people that
I might refer to ordinary
life as die history of my
own. I have lived temper-
ately. eating little animal
food, and that not as an
ailment, so much as a con-
diment for the vegetables
which constitute my prin-
cipal diet. I double, how
ever, he Doctor's glass and
a half of wine, and even
treble it with a friend; but
halve its effects by drink-
ing the weak wines only.
The ardent wines I cannot
drink, nor do I use ardent
spirits in any form. Malt
liquors and cider are my
able drinks, and my break-
fast is of tea and coffee. I
have been blest with organs
of digestion which accept
and concoct, without ever
murmuring, whatever the
palate chooses to consign
to them, and I have not yet
lost a tooth by age."
For more information on
Alcohol Awareness Month,
contact the Substance
Abuse and Mental Health
Services Administration,
P.O. Box 2345, Rockville,
MD 20847. The phone
number is 877-726-4727.
The website is http://www.
samhsa.gov.
(In Part 2, I will direct-
ly address young people,
mostly underage, re
alcohol and alcoholism, so
please be prepared to pass
along next week's article
to someone for whom you
care.)
Write to Chuck Noiris
(info@creators.com) with
your questions abouthealth
and fitness. To find out
more about Chuck Noiris
and read features by other
Creators Syndicate writers
and cartoonists, visit the
Creators Syndicate Web
page at www.creators.
com.
&A~&rn£
RUMP
Must be flta campaign
Applebee's gives toddler a margarita
HOLLYWOOD--God
bless America, and how's
everybody?
Applebee's acci-
dentally poured
a margarita into a
sixteen-month-old
toddler's sippy cup
instead of apple
juice. The baby boy
giggled, made funny
faces and passed
out. He was aken
to a hospital for
observation before
being added to the
cast of Two and A
Half Men.
The Sons of
Confederate
Veterans held ceremonies
Tuesday marking the one
hundred fiftieth anniver-
sary of the Civil War. It
hat to be fought, t settled
once and for all the great
moral issue in America
whether farm work should
be done by slaves or illegal
aliens.
The U.S. Court of
Appeals in San Francisco
struck down Arizona's ille-
gal immigration law allow-
lg cops to check citizen-
ship. It was applauded in
Los Angeles Now that the
all the legal aliens can go
back to Arizona, Dodger
Stadium will be safe for
baseball again.
Texas lawmakers voted
for an eighty-five mile-an-
hour speed limit Friday.
They let you drive with
an open beer, carry guns
and run over your spouse
in the driveway. It allows
Dallas to offer NFL free
agents not only no state
income tax but no defense
attorney's fees.
President Obama insist-
ed he's not a golf addict
at a speech to editors in
f.
Argus
Hamilton
Washington Monday.
We know how this ends.
This summer his wife
and daughters
will tour Europe
while he spends
twenty-eight
days at the Jerry
Ford Center for
the Treatment of
Golf Abuse.
The Masters
it on a thriller
Sunday star-
ring Australians
Jason Day and
Adam Scott and
Englishman
Luke Donald
and Northern
Ireland's Rory Mcllroy
before South Africa's Charl
Schwartzel won the day.
They were greeted at the
final hole like liberators.
It gave U.S. troops in the
Mi die East the hope that
sometimes colonialism
has a happy ending.
The Saudi royal family
announced plans Monday
to build the world's first
mile-high skyscraper for
twelve billion dollars. It's
going to be financed with
five-dollar-per-gallon
gasoline. Americans are
so angry over higher oil
prices we may fly a plane
nto it ourselves.
Nancy Pelosi accused
the GOP of encouraging
Americans to simply give
up and die at home. Do
we die on garbage day,
lawn day or recycling day?
California environmental
law only permits human
remains to be thrown
away in the recycling bin if
you are a Hindu.
House Republicans a d
Senate Democrats finally
reached a budget deal five
minutes before a midnight
overnment shutdown
ate Friday. Hundreds of
jobs were lost due to the
length of the negotiations.
It was the slowest night
of the year for D.C. escort
services.
The White House ripped
Donald Trump for always
harping about President
Obam; ; birth certificate.
Democrats did get some
good news. Donald Trump
just had his annual phys-
•a I and the doctor told
him he was as sound as
the dollar, so he can't last
much longer.
President Obama urged
people with large famines
to save energy by driving
hybrid vans No automak-
er makes hybrid vans. You
could say it really isn't the
president's jot tc know
if there are hybrid vans
except that he's been run-
ning General motors for
two years.
Japanese people
retrieved strong boxes full
of cash and jewelry that
washed up on the beaches.
They were swept out to sea
a montl ago. If the tsu-
nami had hit Malibu, the
strong boxes would still
be on the beach because
everybody knows the sea
water would've ruined the
cocaine.
Libyan rebels rejected
a truce proposal from
Moammar Khadaffi on
Monde: \ The rebels decid-
ed to fight on after they
heard that he U.S gov-
ernment didn't shut down
last weekend Part of the
excitement of being a U.S.
Air Force pilot is that you
never know from wee to
week whether you are an
instrument of U.S. foreign
policy or an independent
contractor.
Argus Hamilton is
the host comedian at
The Comedy Store in
Hollywood and entertains
groups and organiza-
tions around the country.
E-mail him at Argus@
ArgusHamilton.com.
The swi rrwMt r reporter
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Sweetwater Reporter (Sweetwater, Tex.), Vol. 113, No. 129, Ed. 1 Wednesday, April 13, 2011, newspaper, April 13, 2011; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth229445/m1/4/: accessed May 21, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Sweetwater/Nolan County City-County Library.