Cheers and jeers

We take a look at some of the good, and bad, people have done recently

Cheers to the do-gooders, leaders, champions and those who have inspired us. Jeers to the ill-informed and ill-intentioned, the welchers and those who ought to be ashamed. A look back at the good, bad and ugly of recent days.

Cheer: To the Mr. Amigo Association, who put on another fun-filled Taste of La Frontera on Jan. 17. Residents were treated to diverse cuisine from local eateries as well as live entertainment. The event is the first of the year for the Mr. Amigo, Charro Days and Sombrero Festival celebrations that culminate the last week in February, and add excitement to the city as those celebrations near.

Cheer: To Egly Elementary school Principal Christina Garza-Cortez and Ernie Gonzalez Jr., district executive for the Boy Scouts of America Rio Grande Council, for finally meeting to address Garza-Cortezs concerns with the Scouting organization. After the principal banned the group from the campus in 2003 and refused to respond to Gonzalezs efforts to talk with her, the two finally met this month.

After the meeting, Garza-Cortez lifted her ban and Egly students and their families can once again decide if they wish to participate in a Scout troop affiliated with the school.

Jeer: To whoever is vandalizing the construction site at the Southmost library branch. The project is months overdue and the destruction not only delays the opening of a facility that Southmost residents said was so sorely needed, but it also adds to the cost that is only paid for by taxpayers including the vandals themselves and their parents.

Cheer: To the millions of Iraqi citizens who braved braving violence, and threats of even more, to register and vote in the Jan. 30 national elections. Their willingness to defy such threats and work toward creating a free country despite both military invasion and civil unrest set an example for people of Western countries who often take their freedoms for granted.

Jeer: To Mexican officials for sending Miguel Angel and Rafael Caro Quintero to the federal prison in Matamoros. They should have known that sending the heads of one drug cartel into the center of a rival cartels territory was asking for trouble. Since the transfer of Miguel Angel Caro Quintero, several people, including six guards at the prison, have been brutally murdered, the United States has issued a travel advisory, and people on both sides of the border must live with the unease that major violence could break out at any moment.

Cheer: To the U.S. Department of Agriculture for lifting its ban on the importation of avocados. Its about time. No one ever saw this ban as anything more than a protectionist policy that hurt consumers more than anybody else.

Cheer: To Karina Diaz, a Faulk Middle School seventh-grader whose drawing of children cleaning a beach was a winning entry for the state General Land Office Adopt-A-Beach Programs Treasures of the Texas Coast art contest, and chosen for the GLOs 2005 calendar.

The Brownsville Herald