OPINION

Even if the governor doesn't agree with everything put forth by the convicted killer's lawyers in their lengthy and (I think) persuasive letter to him, Gov. Rick Perry should see that a 30-day reprieve in the Hank Skinner case could really do a lot of good to:

1. Confirm the facts of the case or raise very important questions about reasonable doubt. Unlike in the Darlie Routier case, the items being tested here might actually lead to a plausible second suspect -- or clear him. Who knows?
2. Silence critics who think the governor is not a truth-seeker in the Willingham case. That case isn't going away, but as it works through the slow process with the governor's new appointees to the Texas Forensic Science Commission, it would be nice for the governor to prove that he truly is interested in doing everything possible to find the truth in cases where it seems to be in question.
3. Give greater meaning to his pardon of Tim Cole. It's one thing to apologize for past errors; it's another to do everything you can to prevent new ones.

Plus, now that a DNA lab has said it can do the testing free and within 30 days, the governor and the state have absolutely nothing to lose.

This blog post is written by Destiny DeLaRosa of Richardson, a stay-at-home mom and blogger. She is also a Community Voices volunteer columnist. Her e-mail address is destinydelaro@gmail.com.

Ever since my daughters were born I dreamt of the day they would split up a high profile marriage, take it to the trashiest news outlets and land a 3-page spread in Us Weekly. That's every parents dream, right? Right?

Of course I am being facetious, but with the way society seems to glorify mistresses, porn stars and morally bankrupt pop tarts, unfortunately, I don't think I'm that far off base. Since when did sleeping with someone's famous husband equal a free ticket to stardom?

Since when did society's shame give way to celebrity spotlight?

Some of us are having computer issues today, so apologies if the blog is a bit light today. We've asked Tod to post topics as his blogging capabilities aren't hindered so far. Feel free to chime in with your point of view in comments:

1. What does it take to get us to take seriously the violence, terrorism even (we've called it that before in editorials) going on along the U.S.-Mexico border? We cite the murder last weekend of two U.S. consulate staffers as just the latest example. What were all those people in the bus that crashed south of San Antonio headed to Matamoros for spring break thinking? Remember the 16 or so murdered not long ago in a Juarez house, and the thousands of others killed in recent years due to drug-related violence. This demands more U.S. focus than it's getting. Bill writing on behalf of the board.

2. We laud the good aspects of the latest financial accountability bill (mainly it's focus on continued independence) but bemoan its shortcomings (mainly lack of transparency, doesn't take on Too Big To Fail forcefully enough, etc.) and urge Congress - especially our Texas delegation - to knuckle down here and make this measure better. Written as persuasively for readers who may need to be reminded why this sort of "policy wonk stuff" is critical to preventing another market collapse. Jim 450, Jim writing on behalf of the board.

Every week, we poll the members of the editorial board on a timely and divisive topic. This week, the question is:

House Democrats are floating a plan to pass the Senate health care bill without explicitly voting on it. Good idea or bad?

Here are their responses:

Our editorials for tomorrow will focus on these two issues. Here's what we're working on:

HEALTH - We bemoan the tactics of certain congressional leaders in seeking passage of health care reform without members' actually having to vote on the legislation. We spell out why this is wrong, hitting especially the themes of transparency and open government. We also remind Democrats of their own president's pledges on this score in seeking an era of post-partisan leadership and governance. We laud Chet Edwards' for having the courage to go public with his "virtual vote" .... Mike Hashimoto writing on behalf of the Editorial Board.

MADNESS - We comment on Thursday's start of tourney.... Colleen McCain Nelson writing on behalf of the Editorial Board.

Interesting discussion about health care today on MSNBC's Morning Joe. Among other things, they discuss Kathleen Parker's column asking why Democrats are rushing to get health care reform passed.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Yesterday The Washington Post editorial board criticized House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's "deeming" plan, calling it "unseemly and, more important, contrary to Democrats' promises of transparency and time for deliberation." Good point.

However, in the long run, I am not sure the process matters. Voters will forget soon forget how the bill was passed, and they'll find something else to be angry about. But I agree with those asking: if this bill is so great, why are House members running from it?

(If you haven't seen it yet, make sure you read Bill's blog post about Chet Edwards' opposition to the bill.)

To create a forum for informed debate, we need the help of people in the classroom. From that perspective, we can learn a lot about how teachers and students react to the latest school reform idea out of Austin. Or how teachers feel about the cultural changes happening in their community. Or how young people feel about the changing world and their place in it.

News pages can give us the facts, but these people can tell us what others in our community think about those facts. And they can effect change.

For these reasons, The Dallas Morning News is accepting applications for Teacher Voices and Student Voices for the 2010-2011 school year. Voices volunteers contribute a few full-length columns per semester and are the stars of our weekly Sounding Off feature on Sundays. They also participate in writing workshops and other special events with the editorial staff. To apply:

For students:

1. Write a little about yourself, including your hobbies and activities. How would others describe you? Why should we choose you to be part of this diverse panel?
2. Share samples of your writing or write something on a current topic that could be published. Letters to the editor should be about 200 words, and full-length commentary should be about 650 words.
3. Jot down three topics you would like to write about.
4. Attach a letter of recommendation from a teacher or an adult supervisor in one of your extracurricular activities. No, the teacher does not need to be a journalism adviser. Please include your reference's full daytime contact information.
5. E-mail the application to voices@dallasnews.com. Include your address and phone number. Please send the entire application in one e-mail -- with minimal attachments.

1. Write a little about yourself: How long have you been a teacher? Where do you teach? What subjects do you teach? Why should we choose you to be part of this diverse panel?
2. Tell us (in a few paragraphs): Why do you teach?
3. Jot down three topics you would like to write about.
4. E-mail the application to voices@dallasnews.com. Include your address and phone number. Please send the entire application in one e-mail -- with minimal attachments.

It really doesn't matter whether Chet Edwards decided to vote against the House's health care bill for political reasons or substantive ones - or a combination of the two. The fact is, the Waco Democrat is opposing the bill and he deserves some praise for that move. It isn't easy being a senior House Democrat, one that President Obama considered as his veep, and oppose the plan.

Edwards cites as his reasons the bill's inability to control costs and reduce the deficit. Indeed, those are the bill's weakest points. And it's a shame that other House members haven't gotten in gear to do something about those problems. In fact, they have worsened them.

I'm currently working on a column about why - despite all the headlines about China's rise - Europe still matters. And in corresponding with the folks at DFW Airport, I was struck but this nugget of information: Last year 1,059,121 passengers flew non-stop from DFW Airport to Europe, an increase of 15.6 percent over 2008.

Why is that significant? Those flights don't just ferry exchange students back and forth, they spur business, trade and investment. For example, last year American Airlines began daily service to Madrid, which is estimated to generate $107 million annually for the North Texas economy. That's just one flight out of a total of 60 non-stop flights to Europe every week.

There are none to China.

While air traffic is not the leading indicator of major geopolitical shifts, I still found the contrast interesting.

It's always good to keep things in perspective, and I wonder if Americans are a bit too obsessed with China right now. Should we be paying more attention to Asia? Yes. Should we panic about China and ditch our friends Europe? No way.

During campaign season, we spill plenty of ink encouraging voters to get to know their candidates. It seems like an obvious thing to say: Don't vote for someone you know absolutely nothing about. But I question how many Houston-area Democrats knew anything at all about Kesha Rogers when they backed her bid for Congress. Rogers is seeking Tom DeLay's old seat, and despite spending next-to-nothing, she managed to beat out the Democrat who had the support of party leaders. (She'll face the Republican incumbent in November.)

Of course, "the establishment candidate" isn't necessarily the best candidate, so that alone isn't alarming. But Rogers' Democratic supporters might be surprised to learn that she wants to impeach Barack Obama. She also wants to colonize Mars. Rogers is a supporter of Lyndon LaRouche and a critic of the destructive financial forces of Imperial Britain.

Actually, the Texas Democratic Party seemed surprised to learn all this. Over the weekend, the party's executive committee passed a resolution releasing party officers and members from any obligation to support Rogers. The Democratic Party essentially disowned its own candidate.

For her part, Rogers is demanding an apology and railing against party officials. She's right about one thing: She won the primary fair and square. She didn't misrepresent herself -- a quick visit to her web site makes pretty clear that she has a different worldview than your typical Democrat. Voters and party leaders would have been wise to figure that out before the primary.

On the extended page, I'm going to run the text of the obituary of Hughes G. Robinson, a ground-breaking Army major general who has done this city proud. The lack of prominent attention to his death in our paper, aside from a paid obituary and a short, Page 7 Metro obit Joe Simnacher, makes me uneasy. This man's life deserves attention.

Consider his list of firsts: He was the first black regimental commander in West Point's history. In 1965, he was appointed the Army military aide to President Lyndon Johnson, the first African American to hold that position. He commanded troops in Vietnam and received an Air Medal, Bronze Star and the Legion of Merit and Army Commendation Medal. In 1978, he was promoted brigadier general, becoming the first African American general officer in the history of the Corps of Engineers. Two years later, he became a major general, assuming command of one of the largest areas of responsibility in the Corps.

He was a vice president of Southland Corp., president of the City Place Development Corp.

From there, the list goes on and on and on. He was an adviser to Barack Obama's presidential campaign. And he served on the board of the Belo Corp., along with several other big companies.

This man led an extraordinary life for 77 years and was instrumental in keeping Dallas on the map. This is a story that deserves to be told ... and recognized.

At the risk of someone saying "get a life," I have a confession to make.

I sat in bed last night around midnight reading parts of the Christopher Dodd financial reform legislation on my smartphone Never mind that the word document nearly crashed my phone; the miracles of modern technology never cease to amaze me. I don't feel bad about scrolling the phone at midnight. I think Bill McKenzie was redrafting a water plan at that hour.

But seriously, a couple of points jumped out at me from Dodd's proposal. Nothing, repeat nothing about Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac reform, and a relatively weak overture to monitoring the credit rating process. Dodd would create an office within the Securities and Exchange Commission and add a bunch of new rules and regs to make sure that credit rating firms are on the up and up.

What's not clear to me are the dollars and overall commitment. The SEC has been overwhelmed and outsmarted by Bernie Madoff and publicly-traded companies. Will a oversight office in an underresourced agency really make a difference? I'm guessing no.

As to Fannie and Freddie. I'm guessing this third rail issue involves so many special relationships, political contributions in an election year as well as wide ideological splits over whether Freddie and Fannie should exist that this was placed off limits.

Hey, Fannie and Freddie played a role int the meltdown. It sure seems to me that asking how to reform these government-sponsored mortgage lenders isn't a bad idea.

Just sayiing.

This week, on the Death Penalty Blog, James Tate, a student from UTD, will be sharing his thoughts and perspectives as he participates in The Anti-Death Penalty Alternative Spring Break. Today he shared his first dispatch from Austin about his reaction to meeting several exonerees from death row. Here's an excerpt:

I was expecting to hear an array of stories claiming innocence and injustice. Such existed, but by no means was this the focus. The exonerees were more interested in conveying to us what their lives on death row had done to their families. Being on death row "killed both of my parents," said Derrick Jamison, a man who served on death row for 17 years to be exonerated only hours before his scheduled execution.

A day that started with nervous anticipation and eagerness to learn ended with a human approach to the question at hand. I have, for as long as I can remember, been opposed to the death penalty. I have never, however, been privy to have a conversation with someone living on death row. Debating the issue of the death penalty is only half of the issue. When given the opportunity to make the situation personal and make a human connection to someone who has to live this reality, the sentiment felt changes profoundly.

Here's what we are writing for tomorrow's editorial page. Feel free to offer your opinion in comments below:

1. SLUMLORDS - We build off the weekend news story about the Ridgecrest Terrace apartment owner who is milking HUD for way more than it's worth in abusing precious public money designed specifically to improve housing conditions for the truly needy. Hard to know where to start in expressing outrage over this owner's abuse of the system. He not only gives all slumlords a bad name, he also is an example of what causes stimulus money to get a bad name too. Mike writing on behalf of the board. See my blog post on this here.

2. STARBUCKS - We praise the coffee company for not taking the bait and helping dissolve an issue like sugar in a tall latte. Part of our series "Civility Challenge" series of editorials. Tod writing on behalf of the board.

Regrettably, there was lots of death to read about in the weekend papers. One of those deaths -- which got far less attention than the American couple in Mexico or the half marathoner at Fair Park -- involved 13-year-old Maricela Alvarez.

Until our community can find a solution to stopping killings like that of Maricela -- and ways to push parents to do a better job protecting the Maricelas of North Texas -- other "Bridging Dallas' North-South Gap" successes are pretty hollow.

Click here to read more and comment.

Experts from different corners of the justice system seem to agree on one thing: Forensic science holds so much promise, but people keep getting in the way.

First, I respect Sam Milsap's opinion column in the Houston Chronicle. As a former prosecutor, he carries a lot of weight in this debate. And he says it well:

On March 24, Texas plans to execute Henry Watkins Skinner even though untested DNA evidence could show we've got the wrong man. DNA testing could resolve doubts about Skinner's guilt in the 1993 Pampa slayings of his girlfriend and her two sons, but the state inexplicably has blocked that testing for more than a decade.

I'm not an advocate for Hank Skinner. I'm an advocate for the truth. If DNA tests could remove the uncertainty about Skinner's guilt -- one way or the other -- there's not a good reason in the world not to do it.

I almost always enjoy NYT Public Editor Clark Hoyt's Sunday op-ed columns, and yesterday's about the dangers of oversimplification and labeling was no exception. As somebody who often speaks "in shorthand" to people I work closely with and who I assume (not always accurately) know the fuller context of my meaning, this column had special relevance.

And the fact that the column was triggered by a NY Times magazine piece about Texas goings-on only drove the stake of personal interest in deeper.

(Brief background: Hoyt was writing about how some readers complained that blaming the State Board of Education's current dysfunction on those pursuing "a Christian agenda" misrepresented the interests of this particular faction, doing readers - and Christians in general - a disservice. He wound up agreeing. So do I.)

We have an editorial planned for tomorrow re the SBOE's recent actions and I've urged the writer and the editor involved to be sure their word selection is precise and accurate. In fact, here's an excerpt from a note I sent them earlier this morning....

This letter caught my eye on the proof today:

Lawyer appointments suspect
Re: "Contempt for the law," Hits and Misses, Saturday Editorials.The Dallas Morning News derided Liz Cheney for opposing the appointment to the Justice Department of nine lawyers who have defended terrorists.
Would you have lawyers who defended the Enron execs working for the SEC? There are millions of lawyers to pick from. It is highly suspicious for Eric Holder to pick these terrorist sympathizers.

Let me start by saying that I think the State Board of Education has gone way too far in pushing a conservative political and religious agenda. There is no place for that in setting educational standards.

That said, the conservatives on the board stepped right into a trap set by the liberals. And that led to the headlines: "Kids to study Alamo but not its Latinos" and "Texts won't cover Tejanos at Alamo." Those headlines may be accurate, but they are certainly not precise. And they were repeated all across the state, and now even the nation. Just as accurate would have been headlines screaming: "Texts won't exclude Tejanos' role in Texas revolution." The devil's in the details.

Read carefully (emphasis is mine):

In a decision split along party and ethnic lines, Republicans rejected a move by the panel's five Democrats - all minorities - to require that history standards include by name the Tejanos who died in the fall of the Alamo, 174 years ago this month.

These are the topics we're planning to address on tomorrow's Editorial page. Please feel free to let us know in the Comments section how we can make these essays as persuasive as possible and what other topics of import you think we should be commenting on.....

SBOE - We express dismay and frustration over the continued abuse of authority that we see at the State Board of Education. We cite loads of examples. Bill McKenzie writing on behalf of the Editorial Board.

IRAN -- The United States has led a multi-year effort to get Russia and China, among other countries, to tighten their compliance with U.N. economic sanctions on Iran in hopes of curbing its nuclear ambitions and averting the worst of all options -- military action. But now it turns out that Washington isn't even enforcing U.S. sanctions law against American companies. In fact, the U.S. government has awarded more than $107 billion in contracts to foreign and multinational American companies that are doing business with Iran in ways the help Iran continue its nuclear development. This has to stop.... Tod Robberson writing on behalf of the Editorial Board.

Murray Hill Inc. is taking the newfound power of the "corporate person" to the next level. Not only can corporate persons exercise their constitutional right to fund political campaigns without limit, Murray Hill says, but they should be allowed to seek political office. And after watching this video, I agree.

But I think corporate persons need to go even further in exercising their constitutional rights. Take, for example, the definition of marriage. Who says that marriage should be limited only to a man and a woman? Why can't corporations get married to individuals, especially considering that they're already in bed with so many members of Congress? And I've noticed that corporations don't get around our city streets as easily as those of us who are able-bodied. Shouldn't our walkways, driveways and freeway on-ramps be more corporate-accessible? And the biggest crime of all: the lack of corporate-persons' access to our national parks and wilderness areas is abominable. We should be ashamed.

Murray Hill Inc. is taking the bold step of speaking out on behalf of corporate persons. Maybe Murray Hill won't win a seat in Congress this time around, but that's what they said about Sonny Bono. It's time someone stood up for corporate persons, and Murray Hill Inc. deserves our support.

Hot issues today include:

-- The State Board of Education has to be the hottest topic around. And there is a lopsided view of the board's debate on social science textbooks. Almost all writers disagree with the majority of the board.

-- Health care, of course. We have an influx of letters opposing the Democratic plan, although there is almost a balance with the other side.

-- Oncor. One writer suggested a study comparing a group of homes with smart meters with a group of homes with the old meters.

-- The state support of the Superbowl got a respectable number of letters. The consensus is that there were better places for state money to go.

News is out today that Dallas County jails failed surprise state jail inspections -- but got the highest marks they've received since 2003. They didn't pass because work's not done on a fire safety system in one of the jail buildings, and that work is slated to be completed by July.

So, we have another failure, the seventh straight. Still, I feel better about the jails now than I have in years. Why?

• There's evidence of major progress: "If the system can detect and remove smoke within the required timeframe, the county jail system will be certified as compliant with jail standards for the first time since 2003."
• The staffing situation is under control for the first time in years. (Unfortunately, the county is having to pay overtime to do it, but that's still better than the alternative.)
• This was a surprise inspection, unlike in years past, yet the jails received better marks.
• Prisoner complaints are down -- the fewest they've ever seen, said a Texas Commission on Jail Standards official.

Don't get me wrong, the fact that this fire system is still being put in place is unfortunate. And I don't mean to wash over other, rather minor, errors inspectors found. But, finally, there's a light at the end of the tunnel.

As I posted earlier, former New York Times executive editor Howell Raines came out swinging today at Fox News. Raines attacked Fox and expressed his concern that Fox is damaging American journalism:

My great fear, however, is that some journalists of my generation who once prided themselves on blowing whistles and afflicting the comfortable have also been intimidated by Fox's financial power and expanding audience, as well as Ailes's proven willingness to dismantle the reputation of anyone who crosses him. (Remember his ridiculing of one early anchor, Paula Zahn, as being inferior to a "dead raccoon" in ratings potential when she dared defect to CNN?) It's as if we have surrendered the sword of verifiable reportage and bought the idea that only "elites" are interested in information free of partisan poppycock.

Within moments of my post going up, Fox called my editor, Nicole, and then emailed the following statement:

We find it ironic that Howell is dispensing advice to other journalists after he nearly single handedly destroyed the journalistic credibility of the New York Times.

Classy. Instead of addressing Raines' criticism, Fox comes out with this kindergarten-level ad hominen attack, which leads me to believe that Fox knows Raines is right.

This is what bothers me about Fox. Sure, they lean to the right. That's fine. In contrast MSNBC is out in left field. It's more the way Fox does business that concerns me - they've turned journalism into a contact sport. Collegial competition built on a basis of mutual respect is healthy. Showboating and angry smear campaigns aren't.

Roger Ailes says he shouldn't be judged as a journalist and that he is all about ratings. If people viewed Fox News as an entertainment network, then that'd be fine. The problem is that there are folks out there who confuse shrill, shouty talk show hosts with journalists. That is dangerous not just for journalism, but also for democracy, which depends a well-informed public. If journalists self-censor just so they don't end up in Bill O'Reilly's talking points, the public loses out. I think Raines is right to be concerned.

Fox, grow up. If you think Raines is off base, then tell us why.

If you've wondered whether DNA testing would really make a difference in the Hank Skinner case -- of if it's just a desperate plea to save the man's life -- you should really read this letter prepared by his lawyers. It explains in detail why DNA testing would provide new evidence that the jury never had a chance to consider.

This letter is written to Rick Perry in an effort to gain a 30-day reprieve. To me, the most compelling argument is this:

Read more and comment.