Fixing the real problem, whatever it is A4 Saturday, November 13, 2010
OPINION
My friend and I are discussing the legacy of Gov. Bill Richardson. Aside from all the controversies, what did he really do for New Mexico? “He finally got education refor med,” my friend says. “Replaced the old state school board with a cabinet secretary so there would be accountability. Freed up money from the permanent fund so there would be money to improve pay for teachers. Got full-day kindergarten and pre-K. These ideas had been around for years and there was a huge coalition in support. Richardson got it done.” T rue enough. Richardson spearheaded the drive for an amendment to the state Constitution, which changed the formula for the amount of money that could be withdrawn from the per manent fund and the structure of the education bureaucracy at the state level.
EDITORIAL
MARILEE
DANNEMANN
TRIPLE SPACED
“But education still isn’t fixed,” I said. “You know the numbers. We’re still 49th. Whatever was done didn’t fix the problem.” Readers, you know the numbers, too. Well, she says, that’s because of other things. Teachers are not allowed to discipline students, so classrooms are chaotic and the teachers can’t teach. Truancy and absenteeism are still rampant. There still isn’t an incentive for good teachers to teach in problem schools, so the worst schools have the least experi-
enced teachers. So the changes that have been made weren’t enough. In order to make all those improvements produce actual results, something else had to be done and they didn’t do it. And then there is the problem that people with knowledge and experience — such as all the retired scientists and engineers in this state — can’t go teach in a public school without taking education courses that they refuse to take, so we have an enormous resource being wasted. This happens to be a pet peeve of mine. Most of those retired scientists and engineers worked for the national labs, the military or something else sponsored by gover nment; in other words, American taxpayers paid for their careers and all that priceless professional experience, which is now lounging on a
Roswell Daily Record
beach somewhere sipping drinks with little umbrellas in them. Another friend is a retired military officer who came back to New Mexico. As a young man, he had been an elementary school teacher for a few years. He told me: “Any man is crazy to teach in public schools now. You put your hand on a little girl’s shoulder because she’s crying and the next thing you know someone’s called you a sexual predator and your life is ruined.” And then there’s all that testing. A teacher friend says that between the testing and the paperwork, he doesn’t have much time left to teach. This is a teacher’s-eye view of the new mania for accountability. So the administrative reform solved the problem, but the problem isn’t solved. In other words, it wasn’t the whole prob-
lem. The state gover nment restructuring task force is invited to read this observation. Gover nment sometimes addresses an issue on the basis of what government knows how to do rather than going for the tough thing that is knotty and convoluted, cannot be explained in sound bites and might be opposed by some interest group. According to an old story, a fellow was wandering around and around under a street lamp. Someone asked him if anything was the matter. “I lost my keys,” he said. “Where do you think you lost them?” “Somewhere in that parking lot over there.” “Then why are you looking here instead of there?” “Because this is where the light’s better.” © New Mexico News Services 2010
World Opinion Security Council seat for India
U.S. President Barack Obama has come out in favor of a permanent seat on the U.N. Security Council for India — and by extension a veto. It is an idea that seems perfectly fair and one that many states around the world endorse. India is the world’s second most populous country and a superpower in the making. Certainly Kashmir should not disbar it from having a permanent seat any more than Tibet disbars China or Northern Ireland the United Kingdom from retaining theirs. There is nothing surprising about Washington backing reform of the Security Council. It already supports a permanent seat for Japan. The European Union, with two permanent members on the council, has also thrown its weight behind reform. A couple of months ago, at the U.N. annual General Assembly summit, EU leaders lined up to call for U.N. reform, including permanent seats for India, Japan, Brazil and Germany. Russia, too, supports giving them permanent seats. The serious block, however, is China. It had made it clear that, despite the willingness of the other four veto powers, it will not allow either India or Japan to have a permanent seat. So when Obama told India’s parliamentarians that “in the years ahead, I look forward to a reformed U.N. Security Council that includes India as a permanent member,” he hit the nail on the head. It will be years ahead before anything happens. Guest Editorial Arab News, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Obama’s invitation to India
U.S. President Barack Obama was his stirring, eloquent self when he invited India to become the United States’ partner on the world stage to build prosperity, ensure peace and security, and promote democracy and human rights. India must accept, not because of the seeming sincerity with which the invitation was extended but because it is in the country’s interest to do so. The unambiguous denunciation of terror emanating from Pakistan, explicit recognition of India’s stake in Afghanistan and definitive support for India’s permanent membership of the UN Security Council received the most voluble applause from our MPs and are likely to rile Islamabad the most. But what is more significant, in substantive terms, is the outline of the framework that Obama laid out for forging what he termed the definitive partnership of the 21st century. Prosperity is to be built through entrepreneurship, innovation, knowledge and enterprise. As diverse, multi-cultural societies that practice democracy and prosper through knowledge, innovation and enterprise, India and the U.S. must together stand up for democracy and human rights and against those who violate them. Guest Editorial The Economic Times, Delhi, India DEAR DR. GOTT: My 23year-old son was diagnosed with bipolar illness about a year ago. He is taking Depakote and Abilify and seems to be doing rather well. Are there long-ter m side effects from these medications, and what causes this mental illness, anyway? DEAR READER: Side effects of Abilify include a possibility of tardive dyskinesia (TD), involuntary, repetitive movements of the limbs, trunk and facial muscles. Abilify has been around for fewer than 10 years, so longterm effects are essentially unknown. But the product has so far been shown to have a much lower risk of TD when compared with older
A checklist for Congress to follow ED FEULNER THE HERITAGE FOUNDATION
The people have spoken. On Election Day, they cried out against Washington’s reckless spending, stifling regulations, rising taxes, soaring debt and looming takeover of health care. For too long, Washington elites have assumed they knew best — that government was the all-purpose solution to every problem, real or perceived. But the American people have collective wisdom, expressed forcefully at the
Doonesbury
ballot box. Repudiating the “change” that denied our character and tradition, they demanded Congress take a new direction. They called instead for an American Renewal that taps our values. That message was heard around the world. Friend and foe alike now realize that Americans remain a strong and free people, unbowed by adversity and unwilling to exchange their birthright of liberty for a perpetual stew of bureaucratic rule and government dependency. But let’s be clear. Congress must now get to work. Our
therapist or psychiatric nurse. Medication helps by balancing emotional ups and and may include ASK DR. downs antipsychotics, antidepresGOTT sants, anticonvulsants and a number of others. Finding the right medication or combination thereof may take some time; however, it will be UNITED MEDIA SYNDICATE worth the wait. Alternative therapies that can be used in antipsychotic drugs. conjunction with prescription Your son may also experi- medications include massage ence weight gain, which can therapy, acupuncture, cerlikely be controlled through tain herbs, yoga and tai chi. diet and exercise. The exact cause of bipolar Bipolar disorder generally disorder is unknown, but it requires lifelong treatment, appears to occur more often even during times when a in relatives of people who also patient is seemingly symp- have the disorder, suggesting tom-free. A person will likely a possible genetic compobe under the guidance of a nent. The condition, once psychiatrist and perhaps a
lawmakers have a choice: answer the call of renewal or betray the hopes of the American people. To meet this mandate from the American people, Congress should take five simple actions. These five priorities represent the bare minimum of what is expected. More needs to be done to get our nation back on the right track, but these actions are a good start: FREEZE AND CUT SPENDING: Congress should immediately freeze discretionary budget authority at 2010 levels; and cut at least $170 bil-
known as manic depression, causes mood swings that can occur several times a day or once or twice a year. There are three subtypes known as type I, type II and cyclothymia. The severity of symptoms varies from person to person and is based upon which type of disorder he or she has. Cyclothymia is the mildest type that can include disruptive depression and hypomania, a condition of overexcitement. Subtype II may be associated with irritability and periods of depression. Bipolar I is associated with manic episodes that can be both dangerous and severe. A person may have See GOTT, Page A5
lion from the federal budget for fiscal year 2012. This is only a first step. In the past four years, Congress has approved more spending than even the bureaucrats can handle. Congress must immediately survey the un-obligated balances of all appropriations made in the past four years and should reclaim these unspent taxpayer funds and use them to reduce the deficit. REPEAL OBAMACARE: Congress must immediately repeal Obamacare. Until Con-
25 YEARS AGO
See FEULNER, Page A5
Nov. 13, 1985 • Army National Guard Pvt. Rodney R. Olguin, son of Mr. and Mrs. Robert C. Olguin of Artesia, has completed the Duster crewman course at the Army Air Defense School at Fort Bliss in El Paso. Olguin studied weapons system operations, tracked-vehicle operation, maintenance, aircraft recognition and employment of the gun systems in both a surface-to-air and surface-to-surface role. • Army Reserve Pvt. Jeffrey W. Wright, son of the Rev. and Mrs. James Wright of Artesia, has completed basic training at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo. He is a 1985 graduate of Artesia High. • Michael J. Hammil, a 1980 graduate of Goddard High School, has been promoted to senior airman. He is an avionics test specialist at Eilson Air Force Base, Alaska, with the 343rd Component Repair Squadron. His wife, Joan, is the daughter of James McGuire of Roswell.