Star-Telegram.com: News

UNT regents approve M.D. school at Fort Worth's health science center

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:12 CST

By DIANNA HUNT

DENTON — Impassioned pleas from osteopathic physicians failed to sway the UNT regents, who voted unanimously Friday to proceed with plans to open an M.D. school at the University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth.

Despite concerns that the move would hurt the acclaimed Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine at the science center, the regents agreed to proceed with phase one.

The first phase would include raising the estimated $21.5 million in startup costs, hammering out residency commitments from hospitals, and drawing up academic and business plans to set up the medical school.

Before students can attend classes beginning in 2013, however, the Legislature must approve the measure, because the enabling legislation for the health science center specifically stated that it would not offer an M.D. degree.

The regents, led by Chairman Charles Mitchell, an orthopedic surgeon from Dallas with an M.D. degree, approved the proposal with little discussion.

Dr. George Cole, president of the Texas Osteopathic Medical Association, said the group will closely watch the development of the M.D. program to ensure that voiced commitments to the osteopathic college are fulfilled. He said the group has no immediate plans to fight the move in Austin.

"I guess we’ll wait and see what develops," Cole said. "We don’t have any continuing plans at this point."

The association brought in executives from the American Osteopathic Association in Chicago, alumni from the osteopathic college and other leaders in the profession to voice their opposition.

Competing for funds

Opponents said the move would hurt the osteopathic college by forcing it to compete for funding and slots in important residency programs and would undermine the school’s success at producing primary-care physicians in the state.

They told the board that the effort to develop an M.D. program over the past 18 months has run off key faculty members, hurt student morale and raised questions about the school’s position within the center.

They urged regents to reject the plan.

"You don’t need it, you can’t afford it, and it’s not the right thing to do," said John Crosby, executive director of the American Osteopathic Association.

The Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine, one of the top-ranked schools in the nation, is the only school of osteopathic medicine in the state.

More residency slots

Supporters, however, say the move will enhance the D.O. program by sharing some costs and opening additional residency slots.

Hospitals have indicated that they would like to start residency programs that would include M.D.s, known as allopathic physicians, and have indicated that if a local medical school is not available, another institution from outside the area may move in to provide medical students.

Community and business leaders have said an M.D. school would be good for the community and for local healthcare.

Dr. Scott Ransom, president of the UNT Health Science Center, said the Fort Worth community has pledged to help raise the $21.5 million in estimated startup costs. The state would not be asked to contribute toward startup.

UNT System Chancellor Lee Jackson said the board’s decision will allow planning to continue before the Legislature convenes in 2011.

1938 Horned Frogs are model for 2009 team

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 11:14 CST

RAY BUCK

"They faced great odds and a late start, but they did not protest. They succeeded on every front."

— Tom Brokaw (The Greatest Generation)

Tom Brokaw could have been writing about the 1938 TCU Horned Frogs.

The school’s last national championship team — led by All-Americans Ki Aldrich, I.B. Hale and Davey O’Brien — exemplified the Depression Era/WWII generation and paid forward something that the current team can enjoy more than seven decades later.

A piece of living TCU history.

Just as Generation Y can take lessons from the men and women found in Brokaw’s 1998 best-seller, The Greatest Generation, the No. 4 Horned Frogs can take notes from the school’s only previously undefeated, untied team (with a then-student enrollment of just over 600).

In short, the ’38 team finished the job.

Coach Dutch Meyer’s Frogs dominated opponents much the same as Gary Patterson’s Frogs now. Meyer concocted sleight-of-hand schemes from the spread formation and unleashed an equally potent 6-2-3 defense that allowed a touchdown or less in 10 of its 11 games.

The ’38 Horned Frogs had those innate qualities that Brokaw so aptly described in his book. Hardscrabble generation. Selfless people. Common values. A willingness to work toward the greater good.

"Back when we played, athletics were pretty much our whole life," said William "Mac" Best, a junior quarterback and defensive back on the ’38 title team. "Nowadays, the scope is a lot wider. I imagine most everybody has their own car."

And their own cellphone ... and their own iPod ... and their own laptop computer.

Best laughed. "In some cases, they’re their own coach, and I don’t think that’s very good."

Best, 91, is one of only five known survivors from the ’38 TCU title team. The others are Don Looney, 92, Benbrook; Bobby Sherrod, 90, Burleson; Enis Kerlee, 89, Fort Worth, and Connie Sparks, 89, Wichita Falls.

Health issues preclude three of these men from being interviewed.

Best, who has had "three bad falls" recently and requires a walker, managed to hold up his end of a 30-minute phone conversation, although he had to ditch the hearing aid to make it work.

"Things were a lot different time in those days. I just happened to be dating a lady who had a car," Best continued. "Man, we were living. Maybe only one or two other players on the team had a car. I felt a little privileged."

Best met Fenton Clark, a P.E. major from Iowa Park during their freshman year at TCU. They’ve now been married 68 years.

She drove a 1936 Ford touring sedan, which made Mac the envy of his teammates.

"Actually, it was my grandmother’s car," said Fenton, whose family is considered TCU royalty.

Addison and Randolph Clark — Fenton’s great-uncles — founded the school in 1873.

Lee Harvey Oswald boardinghouse opens to public

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:28 CST

By DAVID CASSTEVENS

DALLAS — Gladys Johnson didn’t allow drinking.

If a liquor bottle or beer can was found inside a room, the landlady wouldn’t issue a warning.

Patricia Puckett Hall’s grandmother simply piled a tenant’s belongings on the front porch, her method of informing the rule-breaker that he was no longer welcome at her Oak Cliff rooming house at 1026 N. Beckley Ave.

Hall, 57, loves the old place.

It’s hers now — her inheritance, her responsibility.

Her childhood dwells within its walls, memories as timeless as the family portraits.

One autumn day in 1963, her two younger brothers got into a scuffle in the front yard where Johnson’s grandchildren, who lived six blocks away, spent most of their free time.

A roomer witnessed the roughhousing and stepped in.

Hall, then 11, watched as he sat the boys on the porch, one on each side of him.

"I want to tell you something really important," Hall heard the slender young man say. "I want you to listen. You’re brothers. You have to look out for each other."

Then, "don’t ever do anything to harm another human being."

On Nov. 22, just weeks later, that quiet man, who rented a 6-by-13-foot room from Hall’s grandmother, was arrested for assassinating President John F. Kennedy and gunning down a Dallas police officer.

"I do believe he was involved," Hall said of Lee Harvey Oswald. "I do not believe he was the lone shooter."

Open to the public

The 1930s-era home, two miles from Dealey Plaza, is showing signs of age.

Its red shingled roof leaks. The ceiling is peeling in places. The structure needs foundation work.

Even though two rent-paying tenants live in her basement, Hall says she doesn’t have money to make repairs. So she’s doing what neither her grandmother ("she was very embarrassed that Oswald lived here") nor Hall’s mother, Fay Puckett, who later lived in the home, would do.

At the urging of Ken Holmes Jr., a Dallas historian and historical tour guide, Hall agreed to permit the public into her home to view a room which will forever be linked with one of the most infamous crimes in history.

A donation box rests inside the front door of the dated living room.

The sign reads:

Fort Worth Museum of Science and History is a hit for kids — and parents — of all ages

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:15 CST

By ALEX BRANCH

FORT WORTH — Planetariums, 3-D exhibits and CSI-style science are great, but sometimes all a kid wants to do is make giant splash.

At the new-and-improved Fort Worth Museum of Science and History, Dylan Rayburn, 10, jammed down a handle that caused a fountain of water to spew into the air like a geyser.

The water hung in the air, then cascaded down. It splattered across Dylan’s T-shirt.

"This is really fun," he said, laughing.

With a few snips of a ribbon, the city’s newest museum opened its doors Friday morning, allowing Dylan and thousands of other children to finally explore the $80 million, 166,000-square-foot facility. Mayor Mike Moncrief and Fort Worth school district Superintendent Melody Johnson were among the local officials at the spirited ceremony complete with the TCU marching band.

"This is truly a magic place," Johnson said. "Our teachers and students have been more excited than anyone in the city about his new museum."

After the ribbon fell, older children went for the 4-D Energy Blast Theater with its simulated flight motions and strobe lights. Younger children hurried to the children’s museum, where they could pretend to be doctors or load plastic fruits, vegetables and lobsters into a shopping cart and go through a fake checkout line.

Rita Owens watched her grandson Ethan Gion, who will turn 3 this winter, climb into a miniature ambulance.

"Wow," he said, gripping the wheel.

"He’s so young, I can see us spending a lot of time in here," Owens said. "But my other grandson is 16, and he’d really like the CSI exhibit. So they’ve got all the ages covered."

Across the room, 1-year-old Elias Kon seemed to find the tortoise of his dreams. He hugged his body against the round, glass enclosure, pressed his face to the glass and stared intently at the giant shell.

"He loves anything he can touch and climb on," his mother, Zeida Kon, said. "He’s a happy kid here."

The opening wasn’t exciting just for the children, Owens said. The museum was chartered as the Fort Worth Children’s Museum in 1941, and some of the adults in the crowd Friday had visited as children.

"I remember coming here in the third grade," she said. "So it’s good to be back, and see how amazing it is now."

The museum’s total renovation began two years ago, replacing the old museum, which had aged and somewhat lost its appeal to families and children.

Visitors Friday were unanimous: The new version is a huge improvement.

"The last one was kind of boring," said Christina Powell, who brought her 1-year-old, Maximus Guevara. "This one isn’t boring; it’s really cool."

Amber Haralson agreed. She and a few friends brought their home-schooled children — 15 people in all — to the opening. She said she appreciated the educational value of the exhibits.

The mix of science and history was fascinating, she said.

"This is the kind of place we could come and spend the whole day," she said. "It’s the kind of place I think could help me teach the kids."

North Richland Hills unsolved slaying to air on 'America's Most Wanted' Saturday

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 07:06 CST

MITCH MITCHELL

Police will take the unsolved slaying of a 68-year-old woman to the airwaves Saturday to nudge forward a witness that can help them make an arrest.

A suspect fatally wounded Marianne Wilkinson after she opened the front door of her residence almost two years ago. Police will tell Wilkinson's story again at 8 p.m. on "America's Most Wanted" on KDFW/Channel 4.

Leads continue to be developed in the case, but no one has been arrested, said Keith Bauman, police spokesman. Wilkinson died about 8 p.m. on Dec. 7, 2007.

Police located the murder weapon, a large caliber handgun found on the Easter Sunday following the shooting, almost eight miles from where Wilkinson was fatally shot. Then police lifted a fingerprint from a shell casing that was examined in November of last year.

A $25,000 reward has been offered by area businesses for information leading to the identification and arrest of the people responsible for her slaying. But so far, that information has not helped police develop a suspect.

"We're looking for that key piece of evidence that we can use to put everything together," Bauman said. "We're hoping that with the airing of 'America’s Most Wanted' that someone who knows something, may have seen something, or may have even been involved, will come forward and give us the information we need to solve this puzzle."

A small Texas town remembers its fallen Marine

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 07:56 CST

By CHRIS VAUGHN

HICO — Of the thousands of young men and women who have died in the mountains of Afghanistan and on the streets of Iraq, none had a hometown named Hico.

But a week ago Friday, Marine Lance Cpl. Shawn Patrick Hefner, a Hico Tiger, Class of ’06, died in Afghanistan when a roadside bomb detonated in the Helmand province.

And as much as life doesn’t stop when someone dies, it came pretty close this week in Hico, a town on the upper end of the Hill Country in Hamilton County.

"I can’t remember anything that has gripped this town like this in years," said Bill Travis, who owns the Texas Trails restaurant. "The war has come home to Hico."

On a gray Friday afternoon, hundreds of people filled the First Baptist Church, then proceeded down Texas 6 to the cemetery to pay their last respects.

Hefner was 22, a Marine for less than two years.

"This entire community is hurting," said Mayor Lavern Tooley, who doubles as the school nurse and knew Hefner well.

Hefner’s father, Patrick, himself a former Marine, stood outside the church after the service.

He said the townsfolk had propped up him and his wife, Robin, for much of the last week as they made arrangements and flew to Dover Air Force Base, Del., to receive their son’s body.

"It’s a small town," he said. "We’re all family."

Only about 1,300 people live in Hico, the size of a small high school in Tarrant County.

It’s not a cliche to say that everyone knows everyone else, where they live, who their grandma is, when they buy a new pickup.

And it’s not hard to find people who have a story to tell about Hefner, a young man described by his family as fearless, outdoorsy and fun-loving.

There was the story about when he got suspended from school a few years ago because he had stripped off his clothes and gone "naked cliff diving" on a school field trip.

Or the one about how he tried to break a mustang, was thrown off and lay quietly on the couch for several hours, until he finally told his parents he was pretty sure he had a broken arm.

"The Marine Corps suited his lifestyle," said Drexel Ragland, who led the funeral service at the First Baptist Church.

Hico school Superintendent Rod Townsend could appreciate those stories. He knew Hefner well. His office is in the high school itself.

Townsend called Hefner a "rambunctious kid" who wasn’t always interested in schoolwork.

"Even when he was in trouble, though, he was very respectful," Townsend said. "He never lied to get out of any consequences. He was a good-hearted kid."

He was more than that to Cpl. William Pullen, who served with Hefner in the 2nd Amphibious Assault Battalion in Afghanistan.

Texas Supreme Court may send A&M bonfire case back to trial court

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 23:43 CST

By ANTHONY SPANGLER

FORT WORTH — Nearly 10 years after the Texas A&M University bonfire collapse, the Texas Supreme Court on Friday may have cleared the case to return to a trial court.

Attorneys for Zachry Construction Corp., the Texas Aggie Bonfire Committee and Scott-Macon Ltd. asked in September that the courts consider what Texas A&M has already paid out for its role in the collapse when determining responsibility.

The university and about a dozen college administrators settled with some defendants last year for about $2.1 million to families of four students killed and three others injured.

"The Supreme Court will send the case back to the trial court in Brazos County," said Fort Worth attorney Darrell Keith, who represented several of the victims who sued the university and its officials, student construction leaders and several construction companies.

On Nov. 18, 1999, a 59-foot-high wedding-cake-like structure of more than 5,000 logs toppled while about 70 people were working on it. Twelve died, and 27 were injured.

In an opinion issued Friday, the Texas Supreme Court denied a request by the construction companies for a rehearing, but justices agreed "that the trial court may submit to the jury A&M’s percentage of responsibility as a 'settling person’ under the proportionate-responsibility statute," meaning that the settlement can be considered in determining the potential liability of the remaining defendants.

Plaintiffs will say the construction companies’ potential liability should be considered separately.

Zachry’s lawyers did not return phone messages left at their offices Friday.

2 men sentenced in Fort Worth for child pornography

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:53 CST

BY NATHANIEL JONES

Two North Texas men were sentenced Friday to federal prison for possession of child pornography, U.S. Attorney James T. Jacks of the Northern District of Texas has announced.

Fort Worth resident John C. Pinkston, 40, was sentenced to six and a half years in federal prison and Peter M. Espinosa, 66, of Mineral Wells received a sentence of more than eight years from U.S. District Judge John McBryde.

Espinosa, 66, of Mineral Wells, was sentenced to 97 months in prison after he pleaded guilty to one count of receiving child pornography, Jacks announced.

Espinosa admitted in to downloading numerous images and videos of child pornography that involved children between the ages of 8 and 14, according to Jacks’ office. Espinosa was arrested on May 20, 2009, by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents after authorities executed a search warrant at his home.

A forensic examination of his computer and related storage media revealed more than 100 images of child pornography and more than 10 video clips of child pornography, authorities said.

Pinkston was sentence by McBryde to 78 months in prison on his guilty plea.

He was arrested after ICE agents served a warrant at his home and agents eventually found more than 1000 images of child pornography on his home computer. Agents said Pinkston used a secretive process to download the images in which invisible links were hidden in blank spaces on the Web page.

KXAS waiting to hear how fire might affect sweeps

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:43 CST

By BILL MILLER

FORT WORTH — Fire forced KXAS/Channel 5 off the air for a few hours late Thursday and early Friday during November "sweeps," when TV stations’ audiences are measured.

The NBC affiliate’s station in east Fort Worth was evacuated a few minutes into the 10 p.m. newscast Thursday when flames popped from an electrical panel, according to reports.

The building is at 3900 Barnett St. at Broadcast Hill in east Fort Worth.

Channel 5 officials were awaiting clarification Friday from Nielsen Media Research about what, if anything, the disruption means for November sweeps, station manager Tom Ehlmann said.

Nielsen measures audience sizes during four monthlong periods. November sweeps this year began Oct. 29 and continue through Wednesday.

"We believe that, if you go off the air for technical reasons, it doesn’t go into your average rating," Ehlmann said. "But we’re trying to get confirmation on that."

The blaze was controlled by 11:30 p.m., station officials said. No one was hurt, but damage was estimated at $405,000, officials said.

The broadcast signal was working again about 2 a.m., Ehlmann said. Some viewers reported that Channel 5’s programming didn’t resume until about 5 a.m. Ehlmann said he could only speculate that cable or satellite companies hadn’t rebooted their systems to receive the signal.

KXAS started in 1948 as WBAP, the first television station in Texas. The Broadcast Hill building is listed with the Texas Historical Commission.

This report includes material from The Associated Press.

BNSF's CEO forgoing extra compensation in Berkshire Hathaway merger

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 21:59 CST

By BOB COX

Matt Rose, chief executive of Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp., has formally waived his rights to collect any additional financial benefits as a result of the pending merger with Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway.

In a Nov. 17 letter to the company that was filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Rose said he would forgo any additional compensation, retirement or other stock benefits that would have been triggered by the sale or his voluntary departure.

When the merger was announced, a company spokesman said Rose had agreed to relinquish change-in-control rights. On Friday, BNSF had no comment beyond the filing. Buffett has announced that he plans to keep Rose and the rest of the BNSF management team in place after the sale is complete.

Clauses in Rose’s employment contract, compensation and retirement plans would have triggered additional payments of cash or stock due just to the change of ownership or if Rose had voluntarily left the company.

The sale to Berkshire Hathaway would have triggered additional stock and retirement benefits totaling nearly $7.5 million, according to BNSF’s annual proxy statement. If Rose had voluntarily left the company after the deal was completed, it would have triggered payments of roughly $14.3 million.

As of Dec. 31, 2008, Rose owned, controlled or was eligible to exercise options on 1.75 million shares of BNSF. On Nov. 2, the day before the sale was announced, BNSF’s closing price was $76.07, meaning that Rose’s holdings were worth about $133 million.

At the sale price of $100 a share, Rose’s holdings are worth about $175 million, which will be paid in cash and Berkshire Hathaway stock.