A4 Saturday, March 31, 2012
OPINION
Town hall participants say general things in general ways Nearly 175 New Mexicans and a couple of Texans gathered in Albuquerque recently for the 100th New Mexico First Town Hall, with the topic “Learning from our Past. Planning our Future.” People from metro Albuquerque and Santa Fe — what I call the north-central urban area and home to half the state’s 2 million people — dominated the town hall. Of the 163 people listed in the participant packet, 25, or 15 percent, were from outside the north central area. Of those, six came from northeast counties working on a regional economic development approach. Two participants from Houston (that’s the one in Texas) must have registered late because they were not listed. The Texans work for energy companies. The two-day town hall produced 14 recommendations. Five have to do with education. Three deal with the economy. Single
EDITORIAL
HAROLD MORGAN
NEW MEXICO PROGRESS
topics covered are health care, water and teen substance abuse. These 11 say general things in general ways. Two take the pie well into the sky — creating a more engaged citizenry and a vision plan. I can just see town hall implementation chairs, political stalwarts Toney Anaya and Ed Lujan, laying the engaged citizenry bit on an interim legislative committee. They will have to talk about stakeholders, change agents and advocates. Such are the trials of public service. Only one recommendation is truly out there — something
Roswell Daily Record
about doing away with income inequality via an e-reader in every kid’s backpack. The recommendation topics were substantially driven by the town hall process. New Mexico First powers that be decided to talk about education, economy, energy and health. A background report covered those topics, as did a panel beginning the meeting. The report and the panel proved again the rule about the controlling person being the one who writes the first draft. While New Mexico First staff chief Heather Balas officially and sincerely, I believe, welcomed out-of-the-box offerings, structurally, it wasn’t to be. Thus, my pitch for constitutional revision unsurprisingly got nowhere in the town hall deliberations. I did talk about the idea to many people, including former governors Anaya and Garrey Carruthers. That was good. For the town hall I prepared a one-page
listing of 12 reasons for constitutional revision. That is posted at www.capitolreportnm.blogspot.co m. The town hall broke participants into seven groups that started with strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats (SWOT, in the jargon) analysis of the given topic, such as the economy. Groups had the usual elements — the “talkers” who never shut up, people who spoke usefully, and a few very quiet ones. Over the two days, the analysis moved to most urgent needs with regard to the topic and then to recommendations, which got three hours of detailed crunching the second afternoon. I expect that the word-smithed recommendations will be posted at nmfirst.org. Gov. Susana Martinez’s lunch address contrasted completely from the town hall’s visionary future planning mode. She stuck to familiar themes — third-
graders should be able to read at grade level, gross receipts tax pyramiding is bad, and the Union Pacific multi-modal transportation facility near Santa Teresa is good. In a refreshing change, Martinez gave credit for the UP deal to many people, dropping her previous approach of claiming sole credit. Conference conversation lacked an element common to similar settings — people claiming specialness based on their demographics, such as last name or birthplace. With a few exceptions, it was just New Mexicans looking to the future. A wise and veteran observer suggested this might reflect the Albuquerque-Santa Fe Anglo dominance. But can we have a planned future and remain free? Friedrich Hayek, that great economist and apostle of liberty, likely would say no. © New Mexico News Services 2012
World Opinion Syrian unrest
Arming the Syrian opposition groups is an option that could still be considered with the crisis entering a decisive phase. The international community, however, for the time being are waiting to see if President Bashar Al Assad will heed the recent unanimous U.N. call to stop all use of force and start negotiations. Assad is now tasked with pulling his forces off the streets and allowing access to humanitarian agencies before talks with the opposition. All this while, as hectic diplomatic efforts were under way to get Russia and China onboard to support a Security Council resolution for humanitarian purposes, there was a parallel narrative under way for lending support to the Syrian activists and rebels against the regime. So far this option has been flung back and forth without any effective plan coming into shape. There could be two reasons why this has not taken off so far. First, the larger international community may have wanted to exercise the diplomatic and U.N. option before jumping into deeper waters and starting off a proxy war. Second, and more important is the disunity among the opposition factions under the umbrella entity, Syrian National Council. To counter this, the SNC is meeting in Turkey to overcome differences and formulate a joint strategy to fight the Syrian regime. The opposition’s plan to evolve a “national pact” aimed at ousting Assad from office can only prove effective if the disparate groups are able to come together. The Friends of Syria’s meeting scheduled for April in Istanbul is likely to deliberate the results of the SNC meeting and incorporate its strategy. It is time Assad sees the writing on the wall and thinks in term of the national unity and the state’s peace and stability. Guest Editorial Khaleej Times, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Nuclear Security Summit
The threat of nuclear war has not disappeared, of course. But ever since the terror attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, the growing concern in the international community has been about terrorist groups using nuclear weapons, in fear that this could be a more realistic threat than nuclear warfare. Two years ago, the first Nuclear Security Summit was held at President Barack Obama’s behest to discuss the prevention of nuclear terrorism. The second summit is in Seoul to come up with effective measures. The biggest danger would be if a terrorist organization manages to obtain a nuclear weapon, either by theft or trafficking, with plans to explode it. But other forms of terrorism must also be prevented, such as spreading radiation by attacking nuclear reactors, as well as targeting vehicles or ships and inciting widespread fear by using “dirty bombs” containing radioactive materials. First of all, there must be stronger monitoring and crackdowns on the “nuclear black market” to prevent terrorist organizations from obtaining nuclear materials and technologies. The world has become an alarmingly dangerous place with the trafficking of nuclear material and technologies to produce highly enriched, weapons-grade uranium. From uncovering the secret international trafficking networks to investigating the illicit organizations, much more cooperation is needed among international society. In the accident at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, the situation was exacerbated by the total power blackout caused by the tsunami and other factors. There is the danger of a similar situation arising if a terrorist group sabotages a power plant and disrupts the entire power supply. The great lesson to be learned from the Fukushima disaster should be that measures are needed for all contingencies, including accidents and terrorist attacks. The unexpected must not be labeled soteigai (unforeseen) and dismissed as such. Guest Editorial The Asahi Shimbun, Tokyo
Ruminations on ruminant nourishment Here’s why it is so much cooler to be a simple New Mexico columnist instead of a United States Supreme Court justice. Instead of waking up at 3 a.m. troubled by the awesomely complex decision about whether the federal government has the constitutional right to force Americans to purchase health insurance, you get to ponder whether your city government can stop you from feeding deer. Throughout New Mexico there are magnificent mountain terrains whose residents welcome you flatlanders from
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CANTWELL LOOKING ASKANCE
places like Clovis and Las Cruces to come join us in a celebration of nature. Bring your wallet. Note the following on speed limit signs in places like Cloudcroft, or Angel Fire, or Ruidoso, or Silver City. Ignore
Doonesbury Flashback
Question: I’m 64 and have been diagnosed with anterior uveitis in my right eye. What causes this condition? What’s the best treatment for it? Answer: The uvea is a complex structure that makes up the middle layer of the tissues that surround the fluid-filled interior of the eyeball. These three layers — the retina (the inner layer that contains nerve cells responsible for vision), the uvea, and the sclera (the protective outer “white” of the eye) — surround the cavity of the eyeball, which contains the gel-like vitreous humor. Uveitis is inflammation of one or more of the parts of the uvea. The uvea has three parts: the iris, the colored part of the eye around the pupil; the ciliary body,
that 35 mph nonsense. A max of 14 mph — coupled with an alert driver poised to stop on a dime — is mandatory to avoid a deer collision. The “deer nuisance,” as some have labeled it, occasionally prompts a local effort to ban feeding. The idea is that the more you feed deer the more likely they will descend from Deerland and roam streets of otherwise crimeless neighborhoods. This argument ignores the fact the deer were here first, and it should be ignored. It is nothing but fuzzy-headed thinking of teary-eyed tree
25 YEARS AGO
the structure near the iris that produces the fluid inside the eye; and the choroid, which contains blood vessels that nourish important parts of the eye, including the retina. Uveitis can develop suddenly and can affect one or both eyes. It can cause painful reddening of the eyeball, blurred vision, light sensitivity, and floaters or other debris in your field of vision. Depending upon the part of your See HARVARD, Page A5
huggers. Please don’t let the meddlesome, lefty New York Times know what’s going on with New Mexico deer. They are already miffed by what we are doing to our horses. It is hard to argue with the fact deer can be a nuisance. A gardener can spend two days planting beautiful flowers only to awaken the next morning and find them chomped to bits. This can cause strange reactions. I have watched a certain lady I will call “Roberta” actually stand on the front porch
See CANTWELL, Page A5
March 31, 1987 • Eighth graders Charlie Veitch and Elizabeth Fleming and seventh graders Kyle Alsup and Robin Jennings of Berrendo Middle School have been named Students of the Month for February 1987, principal Eddie Phillips announced recently. Veitch, 14, son of Mr. and Mrs. John Veitch of Roswell, plays basketball and football and takes enriched language arts and math. Fleming, 14, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Bill Fleming of Roswell, takes enriched language arts and math. She is involved in cheerleading, chorus, Entertainers, gymnastics, Honor Society and Student Council. Alsup, 12, son of Mr. and Mrs. Don Alsup of Roswell, also plays basketball and football and takes enriched language arts and math. Jennings, 12, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Bill Jennings of Roswell, is a member of chorus and takes enriched language arts, math and social studies.