CROMACK STUDENTS TAKE PART IN RED RIBBON WEEK

BROWNSVILLE, Oct. 29 - Eighteen years after the body of a U.S. federal drug
agent was uncovered in Mexico, Brownsville Independent School District
students have a message for the industry that tortured and murdered him.

With ear-splitting choruses of "Just Say No!," about 350 students from
Cromack Elementary School cheered Tuesday and pledged to stay away from
illegal drugs. The rally was part of Red Ribbon Week, a national anti-drug
campaign taking place this week on Brownsville Independent School District
campuses. Red Ribbon Week began Thursday and continues through Friday with
a series of rallies, films and guest speakers. The goal is to bring
together teachers, police officers and nurses to combat illegal drug use.

"Drugs are bad for lungs when smoked. You could die of an overdose,"
observed Santos Ledezma, a 10-year-old Cromack fifth grader. "Also, if you
use drugs, you can lose your friends and - the most important thing - your
family, because if you use it, you can die."

Nearly 1,000 fifth and sixth graders from across Texas converged on the
State Capitol Tuesday to celebrate their decisions to remain drug free and
to draft, debate and pass anti-drug legislation in mock legislative sessions.

A new report by the Partnership for a Drug-Free America concluded that just
one in four parents have talked to their children about Ecstasy, a drug of
choice for many teens.

Ecstacy use is up 71 percent since 1999, with one in nine teens reporting
they have tried the drug at least once.

Brownsville police officer Juan Torres invoked the memory of slain Drug
Enforcement Agency officer Enrique "k*" Camarena - believed to have been
killed in 1985 by a Mexican drug-smuggling ring in Guadalajara.

Torres told the students at Cromack that Camarena was working on a very
difficult assignment to keep illegal drugs like marijuana, cocaine and
heroin out of their neighborhoods.

"He was doing a very hard, a very dangerous assignment. He was doing all of
that for you," Torres said. "He was fighting the drug dealers in the place
and in the country where the drugs originated."

Students were encouraged to wear clothes representing anti-drug themes.
Cromack students on Tuesday wore western-themed outfits and they plan to
wear ribbons today honoring Camarena.

McGruff the Crime Dog shook the small hands of each student.

Fifth-grader Karina Galvan said she understands the concept of being drug free.

"Drugs are bad for all of us," she said. "That's why we have to be drug free."

Cromack Assistant Principal Carmelita Rodriguez said presentations like the
one Tuesday are good for students because they show the kids how to handle
situations where they are confronted with drugs.

"These kinds of presentations are good for our children because if the
children are exposed to it (drugs) or see it anywhere near their homes or
around their neighborhood, they stay alert and it makes them realize that
they need to stay away... and look for someone that can handle the situation."