Roswell Daily Record
Vol. 123, No. 11 75¢ Daily / $1.25 Sunday
THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
January 12, 2014
www.rdrnews.com
SUNDAY
VA under fire for proposed disability filing rule WASHINGTON (AP) — For veterans seeking disability compensation, the application process is supposed to be so easy that a handwritten note on a napkin will initiate a claim or an appeal. An Obama administration proposal would change that, and veterans groups are sounding the alarm. The Department of Veterans Af fairs says the many ways that requests for disability compensation arrive actually hamper its ability to administer benefits, and contribute to a claims backlog that has about 400,000 veterans waiting more than 125 days for a decision. At times, workers spend so much time trying to figuring out what’s being claimed and trading letters with applicants that it’s slowing down decisions for
everyone. The VA’s solution would require veterans to use a standard form when they file for disability compensation or appeal a decision, and the agency would throw in some incentives for those who use a computer. The response to the proposed rule from the nation’s major veterans groups? “Draconian” and “heavyhanded,” said the Veterans of Foreign Wars. “A seismic change” that will “poison” the disability claims process, according to the American Legion. “The most serious, egregious attack on a veteranfriendly disability claim system in VA history,” contended the law fir m of Bergmann & Moore, which specializes in pursuing disability claims. The critiques recently submitted in response to
the proposed regulation point to one of the sharpest policy disagreements that veteran groups have had with the administration. Both camps generally have agreed on the need to transform how disability claims are managed; namely, the need to move to a computer system instead of relying on paper records to track a veteran’s injuries, illnesses and service. So far, the burden has been on the VA to transform. The proposal would place more of the burden on the veteran. “VA believes that using a standard form is a minimal burden to place on claimants,” the proposed rule states. But for veterans, a major advantage of the current system is that See VA, Page A3
A new variety of chile comes to southern NM
Puppy pals
Mark Wilson Photo
Jackson and Tara were on hand and available for adoption at Roswell Tractor Supply, Saturday, during an event presented by Doggy Saviors, a group that rescues animals from Animal Control before they are euthanized.
LAS CRUCES (AP) — The new seeds are inconspicuous, filling a handful of 1.5pound cof fee bags and tucked at the bottom of a shelf in the Seed Vault. The repository — kept between 34 degrees and 40 degrees Fahrenheit — holds decades of seeds grown and developed by New Mexico State University’s Chile Pepper Institute. On that bottom shelf is the institute’s newest star: NuMex Sandia Select, a new variety, previously used as red chile, that can now be used as green chile. “There’s been a lot of buzz about this, so I think it will be very popular,” said Danise Coon, an agricultural research scientist at the Chile Pepper Institute. “People have been wanting a new Sandia variety for a long time.” Seed packets are now on sale for $5 at the Chile Pepper Institute. Proceeds benefit NMSU’s Endowed Chile Pepper Research Chair campaign. Local company Biad Chili will also sell roasted NuMex
Sandia Selects, maybe as early as this August, and seeds beginning in 2015 or 2016, co-owner Chris Biad said. Word got out about the upcoming variety a few years back, and people have been calling about it, asking when the seed will be released, Coon said. “I get excited about it because I think it’s an improvement,” Biad said. Traditional Sandia chile tends to be shorter, with thinner walls, so growers ripen the fruit into red chiles and process the pods for red chile powder and chile flakes, experts said. “Growers wanted a Sandia; they loved it, but it was not great for green chile,” Coon said. The NuMex Sandia Select has better flavor, a thicker fruit wall, a higher heat level and more uniformity among the plants and pods, meaning its easier to process and peel, Coon said. Those characteristics make it a great green chile,
RMAC education curator helps children connect with art JILL MCLAUGHLIN RECORD STAFF WRITER
Meredith Bennett moved to Roswell a year ago and has become a positive force in helping children connect with art as curator of education for the Roswell Museum and Art Center. Her energy and enthusiasm showed as she talked about her work. “Everybody needs to express themselves. Making art is tapping into the power of learning … creat-
ing and evaluating our own art reaches the highest levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy,” Bennett explained. She pulled up a diagram on the Internet, showing a chart that showed different levels of lear ning objectives students can reach. Bloom’s Taxonomy “is used to help teachers evaluate how their kids are learning,” Bennett said. “The experience of making art is something that sticks with kids. They are
doing something that really helps them learn.”
Bennett moved from Austin, where she spent time as an intern at the Art Museum of Austin, a contemporary art museum that has since been renamed. She taught art in Texarkana before that, after earning a degree in
YOU O ARE
United Way
studio art from the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville. Her family lives in Arkansas.
Since arriving, she has joined the Young Professionals for the Arts Collective, a group of young professionals that organized
WHEN: WHE HEN:
See BENNETT, Page A3
See CHILE, Page A3
622-4150 of Chaves County
Jill McLaughlin Photo
Meredith Bennett is the curator of education at the Roswell Museum of Art Center.
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TODAY’S FORECAST
• CAROLINE GALVAN • CAROL BENJAMIN
TODAY’S OBITUARIES PAGE A7
CLASSIFIEDS ..........D1 COMICS .................C3 ENTERTAINMENT .....B8 GENERAL ...............A2
INDEX HOROSCOPES .........B8 LOTTERIES .............A2
OPINION .................A4
SPORTS .................B1 WEATHER ..............A8 WORLD .................A7 VISTAS...................C1