B8 Sunday, June 30, 2013 OBITUARIES
NATION/OBITUARIES
Connie Jean Vickers passed away peacefully June 22, 2013, surrounded by her family at her home after a brave six-year battle with cancer. She was preceded in death recently by her father, Loren Clair Armstrong and mother, Grace Armstrong, and by her husband, Mark Vickers. She is survived by her sons: Benjamin and Michael Vickers; daughter, Kristin Hebert; Brandon son-in-law, Hebert, and precious granddaughter Lily Claire Hebert, with another grandbaby
Remy Hebert on the way; her sister, Kathryn Sutherlen, and nieces: Rachel Bombardier and Jennifer Vega, and their families. Connie Jean Vickers (née Armstrong) was born in Beatrice, Nebraska on Feb. 4, 1948. She attended school in Beatrice and Albuquerque before attending the University of New Mexico, where she earned a Bachelor of Education degree in 1970. She began her teaching career in Clovis at Bella Vista Elementary and taught in Albuquerque at Bandelier Elementary [which she also attended as a girl]. Her favorite teaching position was at Monterrey Elementary School in Roswell, where she taught first grade from 1996 to 2010. She was diagnosed with cancer in 2007, and continued teaching while enduring harsh chemotherapy treatments. Connie wished to thank the staff of Kymera Cancer Center, especially Dr. Edgard Badine and the chemotherapy lab nurses:
DEATH VALLEY, Calif. (AP) — Scorching heat blistered the Southwest on Saturday, where highs between 115 and 120 degrees were expected for parts of Arizona, Nevada and California through the weekend. Forecasters said temperatures in sunbaked Las Vegas could match the record of 117 degrees Saturday. Phoenix also was expected to hit that mark, matching the record for June 29 set in 1994. And large swaths of California sweltered under extreme heat warnings, which are expected to last into Tuesday night — and maybe even longer. Dan Kail was vacationing in Las Vegas when he heard that the temperature at California's Death Valley could approach 130 degrees this weekend. He didn't hesitate to make a trip to the desert location that is typically the hottest place on the planet. "Coming to Death Valley in the summertime has always been on the top of my bucket list," the 67year -old Pittsburgh man said. "When I found out it might set a record I rented a car and drove straight over. If it goes above 130 I will have something to brag about." The forecast called for Death Valley to reach 128 degrees Saturday as part of a heat wave that has
caused large parts of the wester n U.S. to suf fer. Death Valley's record high of 134 degrees, set a century ago, stands as the highest temperature ever recorded on Earth. A couple hours south in Baker, the temperature was expected to peak at 120 degrees in the road tripper's oasis in the Mojave Desert on Interstate 15. The strip of gas stations and restaurants between Los Angeles and Las Vegas is known by travelers for the giant thermometer that often notes temperatures in the triple digits. At the Mad Greek restaurant there, a waitress called out orders for "Chocolate shake! Strawberry shake!" while the temperature hovered at 112 degrees during the lunch rush. Downtown Los Angeles was expected to hit 91 degrees, 7 degrees shy of its record. To make matters worse in Califor nia, National Weather Service meteorologists John Dumas said cooling ocean breezes haven't been traveling far enough inland overnight to fan Southern California's overheated valleys and deserts. Burbank set a record overnight low with temperatures dipping to 74 degrees overnight, much warmer than the previous record of 68 degrees for
Connie Vickers
Phil, Debra, Carrie, and Aleta; and Jennifer, the receptionist. She also wished to thank the staff of the University of New Mexico Cancer Center and the nurses and nurse techs from Gentiva Hospice. At Connie’s request, no formal memorial service will be held. Connie’s greatest joy was teaching first graders to read, and, instead of flowers, she asks that donations be made to the Roswell Literacy Council. Please take a moment to share your thoughts and memories with the family in the online register book at andersonbethany.com. Arrangments are under the direction AndersonBethany Funeral Home and Crematory.
George Samuel Morley
Services are pending at Ballard Funeral Home and Crematory for George Samuel Morley, 74, who passed away Friday, June 28, 2013, in Roswell. A further announcement will be made once arrangements have been finalized.
Phoenix, Las Vegas bake Saturday's early hours.
In Northern California, temperatures Saturday were expected to reach the 80s in San Francisco, upper 90s in San Jose and into the triple digits inland, about 20 degrees above typical highs in the Bay area.
Farther north, triple-digit temps were expected in Sacramento on Saturday and Sunday.
Health officials warned people to be extremely careful when venturing outdoors. The risks include not only dehydration and heat stroke but burns from the concrete and asphalt. Dogs can suffer burns and blisters on their paws by walking on hot pavement.
Cooling stations were set up to shelter the homeless and elderly people who can't afford to run their air conditioners. In Phoenix, Joe Arpaio, the famously hard-nosed sherif f who runs a tent jail, planned to distribute ice cream and cold towels to inmates this weekend.
Officials said personnel were added to the Border Patrol's search-and-rescue unit because of the danger to people trying to slip across the Mexican border. At least seven people have been found dead in the last week in Arizona after falling victim to the brutal desert heat.
Wanted: New presidents at Ohio St, Penn St, Mich.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Wanted: chief executive to oversee a multibillion-dollar enterprise that employs thousands, educates tens of thousands, pushes cuttingedge research and medical care, and fields national-caliber sports teams that are often a headline or two away from controversy. Must be skilled at fundraising and political tightrope walking and have an appreciation for funny-looking mascots. Working 24/7 is expected; ability to walk on water is a plus. "The joke is frequently told in these searches that you're looking for God on a good day," said Tom Poole, vice president of administration at Penn State and executive secretary of the university's search for a new president. At Penn State, Rodney Erickson will leave in a year, triggering a search for a successor who, on top of the regular responsibilities of running such a big university, must also deal with the ongoing aftermath of the sex abuse scandal involving former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky. Erickson took over in 2011 after former university President Graham Spanier was forced out. In Ann Arbor, University of Michigan President Mary Sue Coleman announced in April that she would step down in July 2014. Ohio State President Gordon Gee retires Monday after his second stint as OSU president for a total of 15 years in Columbus. He announced his retirement last month just days after The Associated Press first reported on remarks he'd made months earlier
jabbing Roman Catholics and Notre Dame and demeaning the academic integrity of Southeastern Conference schools. The Ohio State provost has been tapped as interim president. Details of a search for Gee's replacement haven't been announced. Any of the responsibilities of a modern research university president would be enough for one person — whether it's building strong academic programs for undergraduates or running a university hospital system. The combined duties can seem staggering. Penn State, with a $4.3 billion annual budget, has a total of about 85,000 students, including undergrad, graduate and professionals, spread over 24 campuses, including its online school, World Campus. The University of Michigan Health System alone has more than 26,000 faculty and staff, 120 clinics and offices throughout Michigan and northern Ohio, and $490 million in research funding. Ohio State, with a $5.2 billion budget and more than 63,000 students, has 168 undergraduate majors, 93 doctoral programs and seven professional programs, including the medical, law and pharmacy schools. It also has nearly 500,000 alumni worldwide, many of them with strong opinions. When considering candidates, it helps to brainstorm about the skills a new leader should bring to the job, even if the results seem far-fetched at times, said Molly Corbett Broad, president of the American Council on Education.
Roswell Daily Record
Is search for Snowden turning into sideshow? Whisked out of a luxury Hong Kong hotel, vanishing into the mysterious wing of a Moscow airport, Edward Snowden’s continent-jumping, hide-and-seek game seems like the stuff of a pulp thriller — a desperate man’s drama played out before a worldwide audience trying to decide if he’s a hero or a villain. But the search for the former National Security Agency contractor who spilled government secrets has become something of a distracting sideshow, some say, overshadowing at least for now the important debate over the government’s power to seize the phone and Internet records of millions of Americans to help wage the war on terrorism. “You have to be humble on Day 1 to say, ‘This isn’t about me. This is about the information.’... I don’t think he really anticipated the importance of making sure the focus initially was off him,” says Mike Paul, president of MGP & Associates PR, a crisis management firm in New York. “Not only has he weakened his case, some would go as far as to say he’s gone from hero to zero.” Snowden, he says, can get back on track by “utilizing whatever information he has like big bombs in a campaign,” so the focus returns to the question of spying and not his life on the run. Snowden’s disclosures about U.S. surveillance to Britain’s Guardian newspaper and The Washington Post have ignited a major controversy in Washington that shows no signs of fading. A petition asking President Barack Obama to pardon Snowden — dubbing him a “national hero” — has collected more than 123,000 signatures. Senate Intelligence Committee Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., meanwhile, has called Snowden’s disclosure of top-secret information “an act of treason.” And Republican House Speaker John Boehner is among those who’ve called Snowden a “traitor.” The president, himself, has dismissed the 30-year-old Snowden as a “hacker” and vowed the U.S. won’t be scrambling military jets to snatch the former contractor and return him to the U.S., where he faces espionage charges. Some say Snowden is losing ground in the battle for public opinion by cloaking his travels in secrecy, creating more interest in his efforts to elude U.S. authorities than his allegations against the government. By disappearing in Russia, he loses “access to rehabilitate himself in the public’s mind,” says William Weaver, a professor at the University of Texas at El Paso who has written about government secrecy. “You have to keep selling yourself, if you will, and do it in a smart way so people don’t get tired of you. ... His only hope was to hit a grand slam home run with the public and make it stick. For every hour that he’s not doing something like that, he’s in trouble.” Others say Snowden’s personality is irrelevant and doesn’t change his major argument — that the U.S. intelligence community has lied about the scope of its surveillance of Americans. Gene Healy, a vice president of the libertarian Cato Institute, recently wrote an essay denouncing pundits who’ve labeled Snowden a “grandiose narcissist” and a “total slacker.” He maintains that the former contractor’s revelations are all that matters. “The content of the message is far more important than the character of the messenger,” he wrote in the piece published in the Washington Examiner. Healy also said “the most disturbing” part of Snowden’s disclosures was the massive amounts of data collected on citizens. “The potential abuse of that information represents a grave threat to American liberty and privacy regardless of Snowden’s character and motivations,” he wrote. David Colapinto, general counsel at the National Whistleblowers Center, says it’s not surprising Snowden has become
an “easy target”’ facing harsh criticism from those at the highest levels of government — people “who have a bigger megaphone than he does.” “The name-calling and whatever may happen in the future — we don’t know what he’s going to do,” he adds. “We don’t know what the government is going to do. ... It’s pretty hard to pull out a crystal ball.” So far, America seems to be divided, according to polls taken in the first days after Snowden’s leak of top-secret documents. Many people initially applauded the former contractor for exposing what they saw as government spying on ordinary Americans. Since then, though, government officials have responded with explanations of the program and congressional testimony attesting to the value of surveillance in thwarting deadly terrorist attacks. In one poll, a June 12-16 national survey by the Pew Research Center and USA Today, 49 percent of those surveyed said the release of classified information about the NSA program serves the public interest, while 44 percent found it harmful. For those under 30, the gap was dramatically larger — that group said it’s good for the public by a 60-34 percent margin, according to the survey. Still, more than half of those polled — 54 percent — also said the government should pursue a criminal case against someone who leaked classified information about the program. A second survey taken in that same five-day period found a similar split. The Washington Post-ABC news poll found that 43 percent support and 48 percent oppose criminally charging Snowden. But the survey also reported that 58 percent of Americans support the NSA’s sweeping surveillance program. Snowden has acknowledged taking highly classified documents about U.S. surveillance and sharing the information with the two papers, the Guardian and The Washington Post. He also told the South China Morning Post that the NSA hacked Chinese cellphone companies to seek text message data. Snowden is expected to seek asylum in Ecuador. That decision could take months. He has been supported by WikiLeaks, the anti-secrecy group whose founder, Julian Assange, has been given asylum in the Ecuadorean Embassy in London. At this point, Snowden’s main job is to stay out of prison and he has both a “powerful narrative” and major disadvantages, says Eric Dezenhall, head of a crisis management firm in Washington, D.C. “The biggest thing on the asset side is the concern people have about government surveillance — it’s very legitimate,” Dezenhall says. “The weaknesses are having betrayed secrets he was entrusted with and the fact he ended up in these hostile countries. .... Public opinion doesn’t move on nuance. (People think) You’re a whistle-blower who’s in Russia or China. So you think they have an answer to this problem? It’s not very intelligent.” Gerald R. Shuster, a professor of political communication at the University of Pittsburgh, says if Snowden had remained in the U.S. and “stood his ground, he would have remained more heroic” and attorneys would have lined up to represent him. But if he’s brought back to face charges and “he’s shown in handcuffs, the aura of idealism is over,” Shuster says. “He’s more and more perceived as a criminal.” Colapinto, the lawyer for the whistleblower group, says it’s too soon to know how Snowden’s plight will play out. “This is like a moving river,” he says. “We’re maybe midstream. We don’t know where this will end up. I think history will judge him as things develop. But we just don’t know the end of the story.”
AP Photo
In this June 23 file photo, a television screen shows a news report of Edward Snowden, a former CIA employee who leaked top-secret documents about sweeping U.S. surveillance programs, at a shopping mall in Hong Kong.