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Page 6
THE BATTALION
Monda;A Moiiday-Ap^
Fort Worth cleanup continues state R«
Church destroyed by tornado holds Sunday service in exhibit hall losses fc
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Instead of mourning the
loss of their place of worship, parishioners from a torna-
do-pummeled church gathered Sunday to rejoice in their
faith and thank God that more lives were not lost in last
week’s storms.
More than 1,300 members of Calvary Cathedral Inter
national met at a Fort Worth exhibit hall, singing and danc
ing in joyful celebration.
“Let the rain fall,” they sang
with arms raised.
“Let the wind blow. There is
no place I cannot go. I have a
friend. His name is Jesus.”
Darrell Switzer was among
about 100 people in the near
downtown church when a twister
hit Tuesday night during Bible
studies, shredding the cathedral’s
roof and stripping walls from a
prayer tower.
The steeple atop the church’s
“You can knock the
house down, but you
can't knock the people
down. We are in victory.
We are not in defeat.”
of five funerals, there could have been 500 or 5,000,” He said.
“We will come back stronger and wiser than ever before.
God proves us. He’s seeing what’s in our hearts.”
Church officials vowed to repair the structure or rebuild
nearby.
Until then, they may meet again at the Will Rogers
Memorial Coliseum, or erect a tent on the church property.
Nichols said he is unsure
where services will be held on
Faster Sunday, which falls on
April 23, the church’s 36th an
niversary'.
The church’s downtown
cathedral formerly housed a Bap
tist church, and was purchased in
1976 to become the Calvary'
Cathedral.
Meanwhile Sunday, some
downtown workers went back in
side the heavily damaged, 35-sto-
ry Bank One building to try' to
lobbyin
— Darrell Switzer
Fort Worth church attendee
centerpiece, a five-story prayer tower referred to by congre
gation members as the “Power Tower,” was removed Fri
day. Two church volunteers in the tower escaped injury w hen
the storm hit.
Switzer said his faith remained unshakable, even as the
building swayed.
“You can knock the house down, but you can’t knock
the people down,” he said. “We are in victory. We are not
in defeat.”
Four people were killed and another is presumed dead
from the tornado that struck dow ntow n Fort Worth just after
the evening rush hour.
A second twister struck negrby Arlington and Grand
Prairie.
Rev. Bob Nichols, pastor of Calvary Cathedral Interna
tional, told the congregation that God’s grace prevented more
lives from being lost.
“There must be a purpose in so many of our lives. Instead
salvage critical files, computers and other items.
City officials have continued to restrict access to parts of
dow ntow n because of the danger of flying glass.
Insurance adjusters estimate damage to Tarrant County
at $450 million.
Government officials said they hoped to file an applica
tion for federal disaster assistance by Wednesday.
“Perhaps we can do it sooner, but it remains a chal
lenging task,” Tarrant County Judge Tom Vandergriffsaid
Sunday.
Crews also were installing scaffolding over sidewalks to
protect workers from falling debris.
A 20-block area would be closed to the public again Mon
day so construction crews could finish cleanup, a process ex
pected to last until the middle of the week, said city
spokesperson Pat Svacina.
“It’s going to take at least until midweek to get all that
glass out of there. It could take a little longer,” he said.
Grassroots groups’ campaign
to aid in Latino census effort
SAN ANTONIO (AP)—To avoid an
undercount of Hispanics and other mi
norities like the one a decade ago, the U.S.
Census Bureau is embarking on a massive
advertising blitz for Census 2000.
It’s also getting help from grassroots
campaigns by Latino advocacy groups,
some of which are stepping up their cen
sus education efforts like never before.
“The charge is to literally take the
census to the streets,” said Margaret
Leal-Sotelo, census director for the Mex
ican American Legal Defense and Fdu-
cational Fund in Los Angeles.
“We don’t count people,” she
added. “We are just trying to get the
message out.”
So are assorted other groups working
with MALDEF, including the National
Council of La Raza, the National Asso
ciation of Latino Elected and Appointed
Officials, the Puerto Rican Legal De
fense and Education Fund and the Na
tional Cuban American Council.
Even the Roman Catholic Church has
joined the census mission.
“People associate the church with
confidence. In Spanish, we call that
‘confianza,’ ” said the Rev. David Gar
cia, rector at San Fernando Cathedral in
San Antonio.
In February, Census Bureau Director
Kenneth Prewitt visited San Fernando
for a special Mass devoted to the census.
Archbishop Patrick Flores, speaking
mostly in Spanish, told parishioners they
had a moral obligation to fill out their
census forms.
The service was beamed via satellite
on Spanish-language television to mil
lions of viewers nationwide.
The Census Bureau and Hispanic ad
vocacy groups are reminding people that
their census forms will be kept confi
dential. They’re also pointing out the
census determines congressional and
state elected representation and that it is
central to the yearly distribution to states
of $180 billion in federal funds.
It is estimated the 1990 census did not
count about 4 million people, or about 2
percent of the population. Nearly half a
million Texans were missed.
“Disproportionately, the people who
are undercounted tend to be poor, mi
nority and children,” said Roberto
Ramirez, a survey statistician with the
Census Bureau’s ethnic and Hispanic
statistics branch in Washington.
“For every Ameri
can, the census
is important. For
Hispanic Ameri
cans, it's crucial.
Five short years
from now we will
be the largest mi
nority in the
country.”
Robert Menendez
U.S. Rep. D-Nj
Among Hispanics, approximately 5
percent, or 1.1 million people, were not
counted, according to Ramirez.
“For every American, the census is in
credibly important. For Hispanic Ameri
cans, it’s crucial,” U.S. Rep. Robert
Menendez, D-N.J., said at a Capitol Hill
news conference last week. “Five short
years from now, we will be the largest mi
nority in the country. Within 50 years, by
2050,25 percent ofAmericans will be His
panic. However, these projections won’t
count for anything i f we are not counted. ”
The reasons for past undercounts of
Hispanics are varied, say census officials
and Latino advocates.
Some barriers have been language,
difficulty in contacting migrant farm
workers and the prevalence of non-stan
dard housing, where multiple families
might live but only one census form ar
rives in the mail.
Another hurdle is government dis
trust by new immigrants w ho may not be
familiar with the U.S. census or who may
worn' that census information will he
shared with other federal agencies — the
Immigration and Naturalization Service
chief among them.
Illegal immigrants are particularly re
luctant to fill out census forms, noted
Garcia, the Catholic priest.
“They live in constant fear that
they’re going to be deported at any time.
They’re not here on vacation. They’re
here to work. They’re here to send mon
ey home,” he said.
Census forms are available in Span
ish and about 40 other languages.
To promote participation, the Census
Bureau has launched its first-ever na
tional ad campaign, budgeting $167 mil
lion for ads on television, radio and bill
boards. Ads aimed at minorities play a
major role in the effort.
MALDEF also is spreading the
message to Hispanics through televi
sion, radio and print ads and through
brochures and its Web site, which is in
English and Spanish.
The organization produced an 11-
minute Spanish-language video on the
census that can be checked out free at
Blockbuster Video. MALDEF’s census
motto is: “I lagase Contar, Make Your
self Count.”
Boxer Oscar de la Hoya, salsa singer
Celia Cruz and Texas Rangers baseball
player Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez have
made ads promoting Hispanic census
participation.
AUSTIN (A P) —State I!:,'
Siebert, R-San Antonio, was
onl\ legislator to work last ye
lobbyist before local gov®;
hut he was the only inoimta;
his office because of it
“You probably could hair
dog against me, and the m
have won, Siebert said oft
feels of a year’s worth media;
age of his work before theSs
tonio C ity C ouncil
Four-term incumbent SieH
by a 2-to 1 one margin in thefc,
can primaries March MtoEfe ,
Ames Jones, a housewife vvhok
er held elected office.
At least six state represent:,
and senators throughout W
resented private clientslastyt
fore local governmental
their districts. The Associated'
has learned.
Some legislators estimate
number of their colleagues »f
b\ before city councils, schodk
and count) commissioners be
three times greater.
“A lot members do it, lOot
it." said Rep. Robert Puente,
Antonio, who opposes thepta:
"()ne person doing it is too nr
Critics say it’s a conflict of
cst for legislators to lobby loa
cials because most localgovera
depend on state funds control;,
that law maker and his colleaei;
The lawmakers who loWy
those fears are overblown. They
that lobbying is legal and sayitii;
cal, provided the legislator never
es his public and professional test
It is difficult to determineet
how many legislators moonligfl
lobbyists back in t heir districts. Ti
are no state disclosure requireml
and only a few cities require Id 1
ists to register.
Austin. Houston and San An:
are among the exceptions. Sir
makers, all Democrats, registe i
lobbyists in Ilouston and San-y }
m (tie past year, records shy i I
Sen. Frank Madia, Rep!!
Key na, and Siebert lobbied in! j.
tonio, and Sen. Rodney Ellid j
Kevin Bailey and Rep, "Garnett;
man lobbied in I louston. Nolegisi
are registered as Austin lobbyists j
Madia and Ellis did not n
repeated telephone calls seel
comment.
Like several other legislators,^!
Yvonne Davis. D-Dallas,whootf{
advertising and consulting busil j
said she refuses clients with bus®
before local governments.
"It would be inappropriateW
to do that for pay,” she said.
Puente said he does not belie#
cal public officials can temporarl'il
nore the fact that a lobbyist vision^
office is also a state lawmaker, i
“There is no way that any state'
ficial can go up to someone a#
‘Talk to me but don’t think of met
sitting state rep,’ ” he said. “Youif ’
to stay clear of that.”
But Bailey said he needs!
$50,000 to $60,000 a year heel!
as a lobbyist before the Hon#
City Council to supplement61
$600 a month the statepaysbih
a representative.
“For me, its a matter of stay#'
the Legislature or not staying in!
Legislature,” he said.
Bailey, who was an aide 1C
I louston council member from#
to 1991, represents seven clien! •
matters before the city. Mostofty
are small businesses with locale
sues, he said.
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