A. Tougher

     You are the governor's press secretary and part of your job is writing news releases for the office. The governor says she is alarmed by the recent spike in alcohol-related traffic deaths and wants to have the state legislature pass a bill toughening the penalties for drunk driving. She gives you the following statement and asks you to write the release:

     Last year, the state had 562 traffic deaths in which alcohol was a major factor. Almost half of the total of 1,237 traffic fatalities involved alcohol.
     Many of these accidents were caused by drivers with a history of drunk driving arrests. Clearly, we need to do something to keep these potential killers off the highways and streets of our state and our cities.
     Our present laws are too lenient. I am going to ask the legislature to toughen them. We rank third in the nation in the percentage of traffic deaths in which alcohol played a part. That's unacceptable.
     I believe that license suspension is insufficient, jail time inadequate.
     License suspension is adequate for the first-time offender. But a second and third offense should lead to imprisonment. I will ask the legislature to consider prison terms for frequent offenders of our drunk driving laws. Beginning with the second conviction, the offender should be sentenced to at least one year in the state penitentiary; a third offense will mean three years. A fourth offense will mean a minimum of five years, with no possibility of parole.

B. Black History

<a onClick="window.open('/olcweb/cgi/pluginpop.cgi?it=jpg::::/sites/dl/free/0073511935/234798/W10_1A.jpg','popWin', 'width=NaN,height=NaN,resizable,scrollbars');" href="#"><img valign="absmiddle" height="16" width="16" border="0" src="/olcweb/styles/shared/linkicons/image.gif"> (17.0K)</a>      Michael Falco, Newhouse News Service Celebrating Martin Luther King's Birthday	<a onClick="window.open('/olcweb/cgi/pluginpop.cgi?it=jpg::::/sites/dl/free/0073511935/234798/W10_1B.jpg','popWin', 'width=NaN,height=NaN,resizable,scrollbars');" href="#"><img valign="absmiddle" height="16" width="16" border="0" src="/olcweb/styles/shared/linkicons/image.gif"> (18.0K)</a>      The Library of Congress Texas Cowboys on the Chisholm Trail.
<a onClick="window.open('/olcweb/cgi/pluginpop.cgi?it=jpg::::/sites/dl/free/0073511935/234798/W10_1C.jpg','popWin', 'width=NaN,height=NaN,resizable,scrollbars');" href="#"><img valign="absmiddle" height="16" width="16" border="0" src="/olcweb/styles/shared/linkicons/image.gif"> (16.0K)</a> Thurgood Marshall—from NAACP lawyer in the Brown v. Board of Education case to the Supreme Court.	<a onClick="window.open('/olcweb/cgi/pluginpop.cgi?it=jpg::::/sites/dl/free/0073511935/234798/W10_1D.jpg','popWin', 'width=NaN,height=NaN,resizable,scrollbars');" href="#"><img valign="absmiddle" height="16" width="16" border="0" src="/olcweb/styles/shared/linkicons/image.gif"> (19.0K)</a>      American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming Bill Pickett—Rodeo Star.
<a onClick="window.open('/olcweb/cgi/pluginpop.cgi?it=jpg::::/sites/dl/free/0073511935/234798/W10_1E.jpg','popWin', 'width=NaN,height=NaN,resizable,scrollbars');" href="#"><img valign="absmiddle" height="16" width="16" border="0" src="/olcweb/styles/shared/linkicons/image.gif"> (17.0K)</a> Ida B. Wells—Reporter and Editor, Battler against Lynch Laws and Discrimination.

     The Freeport Art Museum will have a display during Black History Month in February of literature and photographs. You are to write a news release about the exhibit. The museum director suggests you emphasize some little-known aspects of black history.
     The exhibit is titled "From Slavery to the Supreme Court" and will be open Monday through Saturday, weekdays 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday noon to 5 p.m., Thursday, until 9 p.m.
     A series of lectures will be given as well. One, "The Black Cowboy," will feature a slide show by James Gregory, chair of the Mallory College department of Afro-American Studies. Another lecture, "The Journalism of Ida B. Wells," will be given by Herbert Blitzer, dean of the School of Journalism at Mallory.
     Write a release and accompany it with one of these photographs.

C. Spelling Bee

     The Freeport News will be sponsoring this year's spelling bee for Freeport students. Gather material about the contest and write a news release announcing the contest.