A4 Sunday, December 30, 2012
OPINION
What will 2013 bring to New Mexico, nation?
SANTA FE — Since most of my 2012 predictions turned out to be correct, it is time to make this game a little tougher. I’ll begin, as Ed Sullivan was fond of saying, with a really, really big one. The billion-dollar ghost town that has almost been foisted on several southern New Mexico counties, will finally find a home — at the defunct Spaceport America. Jon Barela, head of the New Mexico Economic Development Department, has been pitching the research city for almost two years now. But, so far counties have cast a wary eye on the lone pitchman who says he can bring in major companies to test their products out in the middle of nowhere. With the fate of New Mexico’s spaceport headed for an imminent crash landing, it essentially is only steps from being a ghost town already. Administrative and leg-
EDITORIAL
JAY MILLER
INSIDE THE CAPITOL
islative support of the once heralded project has been tepid, at best. That ennui now is expanding to New Mexico’s best — and only — tenant, Virgin Galactic. Owner Sir Richard Branson has many other places he can go. Spaceport America doesn’t. It is time to grab whatever is available. It’s not a good deal but maybe a few dollars could be salvaged. The Manhattan Project National Park seems like a bill that should pass. It should attract many votes since it is historical, preservationist and patriotic but it doesn’t seem to have the support of enough of the big boys or the tea
Roswell Daily Record
party. So don’t expect to see a Manhattan Park in 2013. On Jan. 3, U.S. Senate Democrats will try to change Senate rules to place limits on filibusters. The House doesn’t allow filibuster. But in the Senate, any member can threaten to filibuster on any issue, and thereby, require 60 of the 100 members to defeat it. Only then can the Senate proceed with its debate. Four years ago, the new Democratic U.S. senators, led by New Mexico’s Tom Udall, attempted to limit filibusters but were unsuccessful. The effort this year also will lose because Democrats realize they will be in the same fix Republicans are in now once Republicans regain control. Recent tragedies have made gun control a prime subject of conversation in Congress. Many bills will be introduced but none will pass. The gun lobby has the power to
stop any legislation it does not like. In fact the gun industry already is selling guns and ammunition faster than it can make them to people who believe guns will be banned. End of the world prophecies will decrease for a while now that the recent much-publicized prediction has passed. But they will begin again, especially among those not happy with the present world. For you young folks, one of the greatest scientific minds of the ages, Sir Isaac Newton, after intensive biblical calculations, predicted the world will end in 2060. The world didn’t end but the fiscal cliff is here. If agreement is not reached by Monday night, all heck breaks loose. Congressional leaders, last year, thought they had devised consequences so dire that agreement would have to be reached. Reasonable men would have
found a way to agreement but we have a Congress that is so disagreeable that it has taken us to the cliff. My guess is that we will go over the cliff and that on Jan. 3 a new Congress will fairly quickly put something together. It won’t be much. It will mainly just kick the can a little farther down the road and hope for a miracle later in the year. As the representative from New Mexico’s 1st Congressional District, Democrat Martin Heinrich bragged that he slept in his office. He even listed it in a campaign ad as a reason that he hadn’t gone Washington on us. Will Heinrich continue his sleeping arrangement as a U.S. senator? Senators have six-year terms and usually take their families to Washington. (Write to Jay Miller at 3 La Tusa, Santa Fe, NM 87505; by fax at 984-0982; or by e-mail at insidethecapitol@hotmail.com)
Green cards and diplomas
Most of the time when politicians or the media discuss immigration reform, it’s in the context of low-skill immigrants. It’s in the context of a problem that must be managed: What should America do about the nearly 15 million illegal immigrants within its borders? What is this nation willing to invest, on border security, to ensure that that number doesn’t grow further? Can enough roadblocks to the good life be laid that immigrants will “selfdeport”? Left out of reform discussion, more often than not, are the high-skill, college-educated immigrants who would like to stay in America but are instead forced to return to Lahore, Pakistan, or Mumbai, India, American degree in-hand. But these are the immigrants America needs most to embrace. While some immigrants find their niche in doing the jobs most Americans won’t do — home labor, garden work — high-skilled immigrants are needed because they can take the jobs many Americans can’t — science, technology, engineering and mathematics. The National Science Foundation has declared America’s difficulties training an adequate number of scientists as the country’s “pressing challenge.” “We don’t have time to wait for a ‘21st Century Sputnik,’ that will focus attention on these critical needs,” one NSF report declared, referring to the Russian satellite, the first to go into orbit in 1957. This caused America to invest heavily in science education. Just over a decade after Sputnik launched, America would win the “space race” by sending the first man to the moon with the help of plenty of foreign-born scientists. President Barack Obama has famously called for a “Sputnik moment,” and would like to spend 3 percent of the federal budget on science education and research. But while efforts to prepare Americans for the technology-driven jobs of the 21st century should be made, it may be more efficient to turn highly-skilled foreign students into Americans than turn Americans into scientists. Unfortunately, the Democrats who control the U.S. Senate disagree, killing the House GOP’s STEM Jobs Act earlier this month. The STEM Jobs Act would’ve scrapped an archaic system that prevents any country from contributing more than 7 percent of America’s immigrant pool that year and set aside some 55,000 green cards annually for foreigners, regardless of home country, who hold advanced science and technology degrees from American colleges and universities. America has always been a nation of immigrants. And these are the immigrants who can make the biggest impact on the economy. While we send home thousands a year, countries like Australia are trying to recruit them. And for people who call China and India home, there’s never been a better time to return. Never has the competition for skilled minds been more fierce. It’s time for America to do more to win it. Guest Editorial The Detroit News DEAR DOCTOR K: I wear corrective glasses for astigmatism, but I don’t really understand what astigmatism is. DEAR READER: Astigmatism means that the cornea of the eye has an irregular shape. The cornea is the clear covering over the lens and the iris. The iris controls how much light enters the eye. The lens focuses the light on the retina, the light-sensitive area at the rear of the eye. The cornea protects these structures and helps to transmit light through the eye. The cor nea is nor mally round, but in people with astigmatism, it may be an oval. As a result, light scatters as it passes through the cornea; the light rays do not
Vietnam a half century later HANOI, Vietnam — It has been 50 years since Presid e n t J o h n F. K e n n e d y ordered U.S. “advisers” to South Vietnam to help battle the communist North and 37 years since the end of that divisive war and the country’s unification under Communism. Today, Vietnam is fighting a war with itself. A local TV program reminds a visitor of Chinese propaganda “operas” circa 1970. Performers, some wearing military garb with a
Doonesbury
ASK DR. K UNITED MEDIA SYNDICATE
focus on a single point on the retina. That focus is what you need for clear vision, just like a camera. The result of uncorrected astigmatism is blurred vision. The image is distorted, regardless of whether you’re looking at something distant or something close. In this respect, astigmatism is different from nearsightedness, where things
CAL
THOMAS SYNDICATED COLUMNIST
backdrop of missiles and an American B-52 bomber going down in flames, commemorate the 1972 Christmas bombing of Hanoi and Haiphong ordered by President Richard Nixon. Banners and posters in the
in the distance are blurry but not things that are close. It’s also different from presbyopia, the condition that causes most of us to need reading glasses. (I’ve put an illustration on my website, AskDoctorK.com.) Some people describe the blurred vision as double vision but in only one eye. Astigmatism can lead to eyestrain, squinting and headaches from working to focus on near or distant objects. People are born with astigmatism, but it may not be apparent until a child begins to attend school or learns to read. Astigmatism is a lifelong condition unless it is treated. It may worsen slowly over time, but more typically it remains stable throughout life.
streets reinforce the government’s history lesson. Younger people, who substantially outnumber the old guard, seem mostly indifferent to these messages, because few lived through the war. An American official tells me just 4 percent of the population belongs to the Communist Party. While there are large pockets of poverty between and even within major cities like Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang and Hanoi, prosperity is making inroads. The 1-
It is possible to correct astigmatism using glasses, certain types of contact lenses or surgery. Glasses are a good, reliable choice. Patients who prefer contact lenses may find that they are limited to hard lenses. Soft lenses sometimes can be used, but they aren’t as effective for severe cases of astigmatism. Surgery may be a choice, especially for people who have dry eyes or other conditions that prohibit them from wearing corrective lenses. The most common type of surgery used to correct astigmatism is LASIK (laser in situ keratomileusis). In LASIK, a small incision is made on the surSee DR. K, Page A5
year -old Da Nang airport is more modern than some U.S. airports. Luxury hotels, clothing stores and restaurants abound. While many cater to foreign travelers, many locals wear stylish Western clothes and transport themselves on motorbikes and in cars. Twenty years ago, the primary mode of transportation was the bicycle. Vietnam eagerly wants to conclude a trade agreement
25 YEARS AGO
See THOMAS, Page A5
Dec. 30, 1987 Leo Spear, chief of Eastern New Mexico University-Roswell’s Campus Police, was honored recently by United Blood Services. He received a Life Giver Appreciation certificate for his ongoing commitment to help others as a voluntary community blood donor who has helped sustain the lives of many. The certificate was signed by executive director Robert Ware. Spear, 59, has given seven gallons of blood through the past eight years. On receiving his appreciation certificate, Spear said he felt great. “Many people don’t realize how badly our local hospitals need blood donations,“ he said.