Roswell Daily Record
Supreme Court: Mich. affirmative ban is OK THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
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WA S HI NG T ON ( AP ) — A state’s voters are free to outlaw the use of race as a factor in co l le g e ad m i s s i on s, the Supreme Court ruled Tuesday in a blow to affirmative action t h a t al so la id b a r e t en s i on s among the justices about a continuing need for programs that ad d r e ss r aci a l in e q ua l i ty i n America.
T he 6 - 2 d e ci s ion u p h el d a voter -approved change to the Michigan Constitution that forbids the state’s public colleges to take race into account. That change was indeed up to the voters, the ruling said, over one justice’s impassioned dissent that accused the court of simply
April 23, 2014
WEDNESDAY
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wanting to wish away inequality. The ruling bolsters similar voter -approved initiatives banning affirmative action in education in California and Washington state. A few other states have adopted laws or issued executive orders to bar raceconscious admissions policies. Justice Anthony Kennedy said v ot er s i n M ic h i ga n c ho se t o eliminate racial preferences, p r e s um a b ly b ec au se su ch a system could give rise to raceb as e d r es e n tm e n t. K e nn edy said nothing in the Constitution or the court’s prior cases gives judges the authority to undermine the election results.
New cardiovascular cath lab
“This case is not about how the debate about racial preferences should be resolved. It is ab ou t wh o m ay r esol ve it ,” Kennedy said. He str essed that the court was not disturbing the holding of a 2003 case from Michigan — wh ich gave r i se t o t h e 20 06 Constitution change — permitting the consideration of race in admissions. A Texas affirmative action case decided in June also did nothing to undermine that principle, Kennedy said. In a separate opinion siding with Kennedy, Justice Antonin Scalia said Michigan residents favored a colorblind constitution and “it would be shameful
for us to stand in their way.” Strongly dissenting from the m ajor it y , Ju s tice S on i a Sotomayor said the decision t ra mp l ed on t h e r igh t s of m in or i ti es , even t h ou gh t h e M ich i gan am en d m en t w as adopted democratically. “But without checks, democratically approved legislation can oppress minority groups,” said Sotomayor, who read her dissent aloud in the courtroom Tuesday. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg sided with Sotomayor. Michigan voters “changed the b asic r u l es of t h e p olit ical process in that state in a manner that uniquely disadvantaged racial minorities,” Sotomayor
said. Judges “ought not sit back an d wish away, r at h er t h an confront, the racial inequality that exists in our society,” she said. She is one of two justices, along with Clarence Thomas, who have acknowledged that affirmative action was a factor in their college and law school admissions. Sotomayor attended P r in cet on Un iver si ty an d T h om as is a gr ad u at e of t h e College of the Holy Cross. They both attended law school at Yale University. Thomas is a staunch opponent of racial preferences. At 58 pages, Sotomayor’s dis-
Committee to seek bids for public bathrooms RANDAL SEYLER RECORD STAFF WRITER
Local pharmacists reach out to save lives and stop overdoses
Mark Wilson Photo
Ray Melendez, left, manager of the new Cardiovascular Cath Lab at Lovelace Regional Hospital, gives a tour of the facility to Dr. Clarence Pearson, during a grand opening and ribbon cutting, Tuesday afternoon.
Earth Day
City officials are moving ahead with plans for constructing public bathrooms downtown, and will soon be looking for bids for the project. During a special joint committee meeting of the Building and Lands and Special Finance committees Tuesday mor ning at Roswell City Hall, city council members and committee members voted to seek bids on bathrooms with three toilets each and with both porcelain and stainless steel fixtures. “We can request bids for both options,” City Manager Larry Fry said, “and then we can decide whether or not we want porcelain or
See BAN, Page A3
stainless steel.” The committee members debated the merits of both porcelain and stainless steel, as well as whether or not the bathrooms would be available to the public year-round or only during special occasions, such as the UFO Festival. “I am a little concerned about what our final objective is here,” said Mayor Dennis Kintigh. “If we are spending this amount of money then I think the restrooms should be open to the public.” The cost for the proposed bathrooms is estimated at $164,000, with $150,000 of that amount coming from the state. “The reason I came onboard with this See WC, Page A3
country.
RANDAL SEYLER RECORD STAFF WRITER
In March, pharmacists in New Mexico became the first in the United States certified to prescribe Narcan (naloxone), which prevents or reverses the effects of overdose by opioids — and death by opioids overdose is a statistic in which New Mexico and Chaves County lead the
A person who is abusing prescription painkillers might take larger doses to achieve a euphoric ef fect and reduce w it h d r awa l sym pt om s . Th ese l arg er doses can cause breathing to slow down so much that breathing stops, resulting in a fatal overdose. See MEDS, Page A3
Rey Berrones Photo
Retired state forester George Duda teaches the benefits of trees to students from Del Norte Elementary at the Keep Roswell Beautiful Earth Day outdoor classroom at Loveless Park on Tuesday morning. Keep Roswell Beautiful, the City Solid Waste Department, Spring River Park and Zoo, Xcel Energy and the Roswell Parks Department teamed up to host the field trip event for more than 100 fourth-and fifth-grade students who learned about environmental stewardship and celebrated Earth Day.
Drones unearth more details about Chaco culture
Randal Seyler Photo
Pharmacist Charles Shannon, of Primm Drug in Roswell, demonstrates on Tuesday the usage of the Narcan nasal-tip inhaler, which is used to revive a person from opioid drug overdose. New Mexico pharmacists are the first in the nation to be allowed to prescribe the lifesaving anti-overdose drug directly to patients. TODAY’S FORECAST
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• KENNETH RAY QUALLS SR. • THOMAS W. “COTTON” BAKER
ALBUQUERQUE (AP) — Recently published research describes how archaeologists outfitted a customized drone with a heat-sensing camera to unearth what they believe are ceremonial pits and other features at the site of an ancient village in New Mexico. The discovery of the structures hidden beneath layers of sediment and sagebrush is being hailed as an important step that could help archaeologists shed light on mysteries long buried by eroding desert landscapes from the American Southwest to the Middle East. The results of the research were published earlier this month in the Journal of Archaeological Science.
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Since the 1970s, archaeologists have known that aerial images of thermal infrared wavelengths of light could be a power ful tool for spotting cultural remains on the ground. But few have had access to million-dollar satellites, and helicopters and planes have their limits. Now, technology is catching up with demand. Archaeologists can get quality images from very specific altitudes and angles at any time of day and in a range of weather using inexpensive drones and commercially available cameras that
CLASSIFIEDS ..........B8 COMICS .................B6 ENTERTAINMENT ...A12 FINANCIAL ..............B5
See DRONES Page A3
INDEX GENERAL ...............A2 HOROSCOPES .......A12 LOTTERIES .............A2 OPINION .................A4
SPORTS .................B1
WEATHER ............A12 WORLD ..................A7