HER MUSIC LIVES ON: Recording artist Selena’s CDs sell well 9 years after her death ■ Page 4AA
THURSDAY
Abilene Reporter-News
Gas up ... and up
Nine killed in Iraq
OPEC nations agree to cut oil output;
drivers can expect prices to stay high
Reed Saxon/Associated Press
Please see story on Page 1D
Ronald W. Erdrich/Reporter-News
Eastland County Judge Brad Stephenson speaks to a group of third-grade students from Siebert Elementary School as he shows them a quilt made by
students in East Meadow, N.Y., in memory of 9/11. Below, the quilt will be on display at the Eastland County Courthouse through Wednesday and will
then move on to Austin.
Stitches
to help a Nation Heal
Quilt honoring 9/11 victims
comes from NYC to Eastland
By Raquel Garza
the quilt and the possibility of bringing it to Texas. The quilt
is on display in the Eastland County Courthouse through
Wednesday. Eastland is about 58 miles east of Abilene.
The idea for the oversize piece was born following the terrorist attack. Pepper decided making a quilt would give students the opportunity to process the aftermath of 9/11.
“It was a difficult time,” she said. “I just thought we needed to do something to help the children and the staff.”
The quilt includes 175 pieces of artwork and writings, submitted by students, that were transferred onto cloth. The
squares contain pictures of the Statue of Liberty, firefighters
battling blazes and tributes written by the students.
Students who saw the quilt Wednesday were impressed by
its size.
“I think it took a lot of work,” said Amanda Briley, 9, a student at Siebert Elementary in Eastland.
Reporter-News Staff Writer
Q
uilts can be comforting objects — they can warm on a
cold night or remind of time spent stitching with a
loved one.
But one quilt brings with it a special kind of comfort.
“The Quilt of Angels,” which honors those who died on
9/11, has traveled to the Eastland County Courthouse from
New York.
Eastland County Judge Brad Stephenson sought to bring
the quilt to Eastland after he met Susan Pepper, a fourthgrade teacher at Barnum Woods Elementary in East
Meadow, N.Y.
Students at Barnum Woods Elementary, along with faculty members and other volunteers, designed and quilted the
17-by-16-foot blanket from late September 2001 to May 2002.
Stephenson met Pepper while on vacation and discussed
INDEX
Woman earns diploma 30 years after 1st graduation
6 sections, 36 pages
Abby, Heloise .5B
Ag. Report . . .4C
Astrograph . . .7C
Bridge . . . . . .7C
Calendar . . .2AA
Comics . . . . .6B
Classifieds .1-8C
Editorial . . . . .6A
Help Wanted .3C
Obituaries . .3AA
Puzzles . . . . .5B
Religion . . . . .4B
Scoreboard . . .2E
Stocks . . . .2,3D
TV . . . . . . . . .2B
Weather . . . .4AA
reporternews.com
Please see STITCHES, Page 5A
Many nations honor
the light side of life
Please see IRAQ, Page 5A
The White House expressed disappointment at
OPEC’s decision. Administration officials urged Kuwait and the United Arab
Emirates, countries that
wanted to increase output,
to try to reverse the decision.
The cost of gas in the
United States has already
become a presidential campaign issue.
By Brian Bethel
FALLUJAH, Iraq — Four
Americans working for a security
company were ambushed and
killed on Wednesday and an
enraged mob then jubilantly
dragged their burned bodies
through the streets of Fallujah,
hanging the corpses from a
bridge over the Euphrates River.
Fewer than 15 miles away, in
the same area of the increasingly
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries
agreed at a meeting on
Wednesday to curtail production by 4 percent.
Industry analysts predicted the move could boost the
price of oil past $40 a barrel,
keeping gas prices high for
the upcoming summer season. The prices in Abilene
were hovering around $1.60
on Wednesday.
diers or Iraqi forces responded to
the attack against the civilians,
who worked for a North Carolina
firm.
American officials said the
civilians were traveling in two
sport utility vehicles, although
some witnesses in Fallujah said
there were four.
“Two got away; two got
trapped,” said Muhammad
Furhan, a taxi driver.
Reporter-News Staff Writer
New York Times News Service
violent Sunni Triangle, five
American soldiers were killed
when a roadside bomb ripped
through their armored personnel
carrier.
The day’s violence was one of
the most-brutal outbursts of antiAmerican rage since the war in
Iraq began more than a year ago.
The steadily deteriorating situation in the Fallujah area, a center
of anti-American hostility west
of Baghdad, has become so precarious that no American sol-
FOOLS
RULE
Civilians’ bodies disfigured in Somalia-like scene
By Jeffrey Gettleman
April 1, 2004
Feeling like a fool might not be
such a bad thing.
Today is April Fools’ Day in
Western countries, but societies
worldwide have a day during
which foolishness is celebrated,
said Lawrence Mintz, director of
the Art Gliner Center for Humor
Studies at the University of
Maryland.
From the Zuni Indians’ veneration of Coyote, whom they saw
as a god of fools and mischief, to
the ribaldry of Mardi Gras, people have long been celebrating
the fool, who is considered
blessed, Mintz said.
“We tend to misunderstand
April Fools’ Day,” he said. “It’s
not a holiday about being fooled
but rather a celebration of folly
as a means to get past pretension.”
No one is sure of the origins of
April Fools’ Day.
It resembles the ancient
Roman festival of Hilaria, which
celebrated the resurrection of
the god Attis. According to
w w w. h ow s t u f f wo rk s. c o m ,
Hilaria may be the root word for
“hilarity” and “hilarious.”
Medieval festivals often celebrated the motley fool, or jester,
and sometimes allowed a common person — often chosen
because of a lack of intelligence
— to take on the role of an
authority figure, such as a priest,
for a day, Mintz said.
Not all scholars trace the holiday to ancient roots. One accepted explanation tracks April
Fools’ Day to 16th-century
France.
Until 1582, the accepted calendar was the Julian calendar,
which put the new year around
the first of April. According to
Infoplease.com, King Charles IX
declared France would begin
using the Gregorian calendar,
which shifted New Year’s Day to
Jan. 1.
Those who didn’t accept or
know about the change became
the butt of jokes.
“Fools’ holidays remind us
that life isn’t always serious, and
that sometimes the greatest wisdom can be found when we give
up our pretensions,” he said.
“And besides, it’s always fun to
blow off a little steam.”
50 cents
By Brye Butler
Tuesday
Monday
1Million
8.2Gallons
47
Same Date Last Year
1Million
9.0Gallons
89
For Abilene’s watering
schedule, see Page 4AA
Reporter-News Staff Writer
The high school diploma Audrey Ewing got
three decades ago was blank.
She walked across the stage with the rest of
her classmates, but just one month before that
milestone, on another milestone — her 18th
birthday — she dropped out of school.
The announcements were ordered. The cap
and gown fit. But Ewing was not a member of
the graduating class of 1975 at Bartlett High
in Memphis, Tenn.
Now, at 47, Ewing is back in class.
Returning is not easy, said Marilyn
DETAILS
What: Adult Education Banquet
When: 7 p.m. today
Where: Abilene Civic Center, 1100 N. 6th St.
Other info: All students plus their families are
invited. Special awards will be presented.
Flournoy, director of adult education for the
Abilene Independent School District. That’s
why the Taylor County Adult Literacy
Council will honor Ewing and 600 other students at an awards banquet tonight.
Josie Liming/Reporter-News
Please see DIPLOMA, Page 5A
Audrey Ewing, left, explains angle properties to Linda Kinsman during their class.