Roswell Daily Record
Vol. 120, No. 263 50¢ Daily / $1 Sunday
INSIDE NEWS
U.N. MARKS 7 BILLIONTH BABY
LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — One South African mother, just 19, named her newborn “Enough” and shrugged off a nurse who questioned whether she was old enough to know how many children she wanted. In Nigeria, newborn twins have to share a bassinet in a crowded public... - PAGE A3
THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
November 1, 2011
TUESDAY
www.rdrnews.com
Educators question rules for grading schools SANTA FE (AP) — Educators on Monday cautioned Gov. Susana Martinez’s administration against rushing the implementation of a new law requiring the state to assign grades to rate the performance of public schools. Teachers, superintendents and others raised questions about the grading system at a hearing by the Public Education Department on proposed rules for evaluating
schools. Gloria Rendon of the New Mexico Coalition of School Administrators suggested a pilot program that would initially use the system in a few schools to help work out potential problems in how grades will be determined. Schools, she said, “need the general public to recognize that kids are more than test scores and schools are more than just a grade.” The A-to-F grading sys-
Happy Halloween
tem will be based heavily on standardized tests taken by students and on growth of student performance in reading and mathematics. Other factors include elementary school attendance, high school graduation rate and a survey of students. “This is not a survey to students saying, ‘Do you like your teacher?’ This is asking, ‘What’s happening in the classroom?”’ said Public Education Secretary Hanna Skandera.
Student participation in extracurricular activities and parental involvement also will be factors in determining a school’s grade. Skandera said the administration will ask the federal government to allow New Mexico to use the new grading plan next year instead of a federally mandated system for rating schools. Nearly 87 percent of New Mexico schools missed the latest targets for boosting
student achievement and failed this year to make “adequate yearly progress” under the federal No Child Left Behind Act. “I don’t believe that. I believe there are lots of things happening in our schools that we are not capturing and need to,” said Skandera. The department planned to give schools a preliminary grade by the end of See GRADING, Page A2
Accident results in fatality and injuries JESSICA PALMER RECORD STAFF WRITER
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INSIDE SPORTS
Jessica Palmer Photo
The City of Roswell employees celebrate with the best spirits of the Halloween season. Seen in the foreground, Lisa Bennett, receptionist.
Motor vehicle accident on county roads claims the life of one Dexter youth and leaves four others in critical condition, early Sunday morning. Dexter youth James Lodoza, 14, succumbed to his injuries following the crash and was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash by a deputy of the Office of the Medical Investigation, Heather Borven. Passenger Anthony Castaneda was airlifted by medi-vac from the scene with lifethreatening injuries and had to be repeatedly resuscitated. The remaining passengers were transported to local hospitals with critical injuries and later, three had to be air lifted to Lubbock, Texas. Around 1 a.m. Saturday, a Chaves County Sheriff’s Deputy attempted to pull a vehicle over as he responded to a suspicious vehicle call in the area of Orchard Park and Honolulu Road. “The original call resulted because the vehicle failed to stop for mercy equipment. The deputy then noticed that the vehicle came from Dexter School District,” said New Mexico State Police investigation officer
RDR wins big at NMPA awards Palestine becomes JULIA BERGMAN RECORD STAFF WRITER
TEBOW STILL THE QB
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — Tim Tebow wasn’t sacked Monday. One day after giving his embattled young quarterback a less than ringing endorsement following a humiliating 45-10 loss at home to the Lions, Broncos coach John Fox said he’s sticking with Tebow. - PAGE B1
TODAY’S OBITUARIES
• Jim R. Collier • Pelajia Silbas • Charlotte A. Gwinn • Amanda Samuels • Heather KivettWilliams • Isabel Rios • Scott Allen Benson • Elbert Allensworth • Naomi Ward
- PAGE A3
HIGH ...82˚ LOW ....46˚
TODAY’S FORECAST
CLASSIFIEDS..........B3 COMICS.................B7 ENTERTAINMENT.....B8 FINANCIAL .............B6 GENERAL ..............A2 HOROSCOPES ........B8 LOTTERIES ............A2 OPINION ................A4 SPORTS ................B1 WEATHER ..............A8
INDEX
Roswell Daily Recor d staf f took home several awards from the 2011 Better Newspaper Contest. The New Mexico Press Association announced the winners at its annual meeting on Saturday. Publisher of the RDR, Charles Fischer, was elected as pr esident of the NMPA Saturday afternoon. Fischer said there were 1,555 entries in this year’s contest, much more than in past years. Reporter Matt Arco took first place in the News Writing category for his coverage of the two residents who were arrested in August 2010 for a shooting prank. Arco also won second place in the same category for his piece on the fir e that destr oyed 10,000 plus
acr es of land in and around Ruidoso in April 2011. “I’m especially proud of winning first and second place in news writing,” Fischer said. Reporter Emily Russo Miller won first place in the Business Writing category for her story on the increased business at the local pet crematory. “Emily Russo also showed her excellent writing ability by winning first place in business writing,” Fischer said. Editor Andrew Poertner won second place in the Editorials category for his editorial on recording gover nment meetings. And Composing Director Aric Loomis took home first and second place in the Web Ad category. Cartoonist Keith Bell received first place in the Editorial Cartoon category
for his cartoon entitled, “Bernanke,” about Federal Reserve Chair man Ben Barnanke’s views on inflation. Fischer said he was pleased to see Bell receive recognition for his excellent cartoon work. Photographer Mark Wilson received second place in both the Feature Photo category and the Photo Series category. Fischer said he was proud of Wilson’s two winning photography entries. The Record advertising staff won first place in the Classified Advertising Section category. The Record also received first place for its website. “I was pleased to see the Roswell Daily Record’s website won first place in the state,” Fischer said, adding, “I believe it shows the Record’s commitment to excellence in news.”
See ACCIDENT, Page A2
member of UNESCO PARIS (AP) — Palestine won its greatest international endorsement yet on Monday, full membership in UNESCO, but the move will cost the agency onefifth of its funding and some fear will send Mideast peace efforts off a cliff. In an unusually dramatic session at the Paris-based United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, there were cheers for “yes” votes and grumbles for the “no’s” and abstentions. When the results were in, many delegates jumped to their feet and applauded and someone let out a cry of “Long
live Palestine!” French.
in
But the jubilation was quickly pierced by reality: The United States said it wouldn’t make a $60 million payment to fill out its contributions for this year and would suspend all future funding.
UNESCO depends heavily on that money — Washington provides 22 percent of its budget — but has survived without it in the past: The United States pulled out of UNESCO under President Ronald Reagan, rejoining two decades later under President George W. Bush.
See PALESTINE, Page A2
Sierra Middle School donates funds to CCCF JULIA BERGMAN RECORD STAFF WRITER
Members of the Sierra Middle School cheerleading team wore pink in lieu of halloween costumes Monday. The Sierra Lady Eagles hosted a “buy out” day at school Monday to support the Chaves County Cancer Fund. The girls paid one dollar to wear pink throughout the school day, rather than their school unifor ms. They invited their peers to do the same and raised around $200 to donate to the CCCF.
Gali Sanchez, 13, and Unique Sedillo, 14, members of the squad, came up with the idea for the buy out day. The girls expressed their excitement in being able to donate to the cause. They said it felt good to contribute and they enjoyed the opportunity to wear pink, their favorite color, for the day. Their donation was symbolic in that it was given to CCCF on the last day of October, National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Teresa Lovato, coach of the Lady Eagles, said the See SMS, Page A2
j.bergman@roswell-record.com
Julia Bergman Photo
The Sierra Lady Eagles, accompanied by coach Teresa Lovato and math teacher Kathryn Biggs, pose with Ann Dye, director of the Chaves County Cancer Fund, and Rosalyn Robinson, president of CCCF. The squad donated around 200 dollars to CCCF.