Wood Gormley Elementary prepares for 10th annual race Outdoors, B-4
Locally owned and independent
Thursday, April 17, 2014
www.santafenewmexican.com 75¢
SAT drops obscure words for real-world questions
Martinez recordings draw fire from Dems Governor: Embarrassing audio tapes released by magazine ‘stolen’ CONTROVERSIAL RECORDINGS Some of the comments caught on tape and released by Mother Jones magazine:
Revamped test will be implemented in 2016
u Martinez campaign staffer Matt Kennicott said of the late New Mexico House Speaker Ben Luján, a Democrat from Nambé, “Somebody told me he’s absolutely eloquent in Spanish, but his English? He sounds like a retard.”
By Janet Lorin Bloomberg News
NEW YORK — In the new SAT, analyzing a scatterplot chart on Florida manatees and citing evidence to back up answers will trump knowledge of arcane vocabulary. Draft questions released Wednesday by the College Board, owner of the entrance exam, illustrate the scope of the test’s first redesign since 2005. The new model, which will be implemented in 2016, aims to show students’ mastery of concepts taught in high school rather than measure skills and words they might rarely or never use in real life. The SAT, which has been losing market share to competitor ACT Inc., is repositioning itself as an achievement test, using “real-world applications” of math, reading and science to identify students ready for college. In its initial unveiling of the overhaul last month, the College Board said the mandatory essay portion, added in 2005, will become optional, students will no longer be penalized for wrong answers and scoring will return to a scale of 1,600 from 2,400. Other changes include making a computerbased version of the test an option and limiting the use of calculators to select sections. “This will be the first admission
Please see SAT, Page A-5
INSIDE u Pop quiz — sample a few of the new SAT questions. PAGE A-5
COMING FRIDAY IN PASA: MISTRESS OF MYSTERY The prolific English author Anne Perry comes to the Jean Cocteau Cinema next week for an interview with another very busy writer: George R.R. Martin. She’ll be reading from and signing copies of her latest Victorianera detective novel, Death on Blackheath.
u During the 2010 campaign, when some thought that cutting teachers’ salaries might be inevitable because of the budget crisis, Martinez said in a taped conversation, “During the campaign, we can’t say it, I guess, because it’s education, but … [teachers] already don’t work, you know, two and a half months out of the year or three months out of the year but earn salaries at the same rate of people who do work 12 months a year.” u Watching a clip of a debate with her 2010 gubernatorial opponent, then Lt. Gov Diane Denish, Martinez referred to her as “that little bitch.”
The website, left, and current issue of leftleaning Mother Jones magazine, which referred to Gov. Susana Martinez as ‘the next Sarah Palin.’ A Martinez campaign spokesman called the magazine ‘an extreme leftwing blog.’
By Steve Terrell The New Mexican
A
left-leaning, San Francisco-based magazine set the New Mexico political world ablaze Wednesday with a scathing cover story on Gov. Susana Martinez that publicized audio clips of Martinez and her campaign staff talking frankly, and sometimes profanely, about Democrats. The Mother Jones article — headlined “Is New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez the next Sarah Palin?” — contends that despite her reputation and public persona, “In private, Martinez can be nasty, juvenile, and vindictive. She appears ignorant about basic policy issues and has surrounded herself with a clique of advisers who are prone to a foxhole mentality.” Reporter Andy Kroll’s story comes at a time when Martinez is receiving more and more attention among national Republicans — as
Court deportations down 43 percent in last 5 years By Julia Preston
The New York Times
New deportation cases brought by the Obama administration in the nation’s immigration courts have been declining steadily since 2009 and judges have increasingly ruled against deportations, leading to a 43 percent drop in the number of deportations through the courts in the last five years, according to Justice Department statistics released Wednesday. The figures show that the administration opened 26 percent fewer deportation cases in the courts last year than in 2009. In 2013, immigration judges ordered deportations in 105,064 cases nationwide. The statistics present a different picture of President Barack Obama’s enforcement policies than the one painted by many immigrant advocates, who have assailed the president as the “deporter in chief” and accused him of rushing to reach a record of
Index
Calendar A-2
Classifieds B-5
2 million deportations. While Obama has deported more foreigners than any other president, the pace of deportations has recently declined. The steepest drop in deportations filed in the courts came after 2011, when the administration began to apply more aggressively a policy of prosecutorial discretion that officials said would lead to fewer deportations of immigrants in the country illegally who had no criminal record. In 2013, the Department of Homeland Security opened 187,678 deportation cases, nearly 50,000 fewer than in 2011. At the same time, the share of cases in which judges decided against deportation and for allowing foreigners to remain in the United States has consistently increased, to about one-third last year from about one-fifth in 2009. The court figures do not suggest that there has been any wholesale retreat from enforcement by the
well as frequent chatter in national media about her being a leading contender for vice president on the GOP ticket in 2016. She currently is running for election to another four-year term as governor. David Corn, Mother Jones’ Washington bureau chief, told The New Mexican on Wednesday, “She’s been abuzz in GOP circles as someone who can attract Latino and women voters. There’s been some talk of her getting a position on the national ticket. A lot of people back East are interested in her.” A Martinez campaign spokesman called Mother Jones, a print magazine that has published since 1976, “an extreme left-wing blog” and said “the national Left is trying to smear the first Hispanic woman governor in American history because they view her as a threat.” Much of the material in the magazine piece wasn’t new to those familiar with New Mexico politics. But the audio recordings, which were made during debate
Pasapick www.pasatiempomagazine.com
Santa Fe Pro Musica Baroque Ensemble The 32nd season continues with soprano Kathryn Mueller, 7:30 p.m., Loretto Chapel, 207 Old Santa Fe Trail, $20-$65, 988-1234, ticketssantafe.org or 988-4640. More events in Calendar, A-2
Obituaries Amy Hetager, 40, Santa Fe, March 27 PAGE A-10
Today Partly cloudy. High 65, low 42. PAGE A-12
See DEPORTATIONS, Page A-4
Comics B-12
Main office: 983-3303 Late paper: 986-3010 News tips: 983-3035
Crosswords A-8, B-6
preparations during her 2010 campaign, had not had been released previously. Among the controversial moments in the recordings: u Martinez campaign staffer Matt Kennicott, who was later hired as spokesman for the state Human Services Department, said of the late New Mexico House Speaker Ben Luján, a Democrat from Nambé, “Somebody told me he’s absolutely eloquent in Spanish, but his English? He sounds like a retard.” u During the 2010 campaign, when some thought that cutting teachers’ salaries might be inevitable because of the budget crisis, Martinez said in a taped conversation, “During the campaign, we can’t say it, I guess, because it’s education, but … [teachers] already don’t work, you know, two and a half months out of the year or three months out of the year but
Lotteries A-2
Opinion A-11
Sports B-1
Ukraine’s push to halt unrest falls flat Pro-Russian militiamen seize Ukrainian army vehicles as NATO steps up presence. PAGE A-3
Leadership criticized at Española college Northern New Mexico College faculty target five leaders. PAGE A-6
Fears rise in S. Korea More than 200 remain missing after ferry capsizes. PAGE A-3
State’s prisons dropping overnight visitation Officials: New program to benefit more inmates By Chris Quintana The New Mexican
The New Mexico Department of Corrections announced Wednesday that by May 1, it will end a policy that allows some inmates to have overnight visits with families and spouses, in exchange for a new family visitation program that will benefit more prisoners. Alex Tomlin, a spokeswoman with the Corrections Department, said about 150 of the 7,000 inmates in the state’s prison system would be affected by the policy change. New Mexico is one of the last states to dump conjugal visits, while New York, California, Washington and Connecticut still offer them to prisoners. Tomlin said the program’s associated costs, such as security and maintenance, are about $120,000 annually. The department doesn’t mind
See RECORDINGS, Page A-4
Please see PRISONS, Page A-4
Caller in scam threatens to torch writers’ home Fraudster said he was from Publishers Clearing House By Anne Constable The New Mexican
The first call came around 9:30 a.m. Tuesday. Tesuque cookbook author Cheryl Jamison was working at her computer. She didn’t recognize the number of the incoming call, but since she and her co-author, husband Bill Jamison, field business calls regularly from around the world, she picked up the phone. The caller informed her she had won the Publishers Clearing House Sweepstakes. When she declined to “confirm” certain personal information, the caller threatened to burn her house down and ruin her credit.
Time Out A-8
Scoop A-9
BREAKING NEWS AT WWW.SANTAFENEWMEXICAN.COM
“That was really creepy,” Cheryl Jamison said Tuesday after the ordeal. “It disrupted my whole morning.” The attempted scam is yet another variation in the booming phone, email and in-person criminal enterprise of trying to trick people out of their money, credit card numbers and personal financial information. Last month, several Santa Feans were threatened with arrest by fraudsters who claimed they were delinquent on federal taxes. Earlier this month, Del Norte Credit Union reported to police that the credit and debit cards of some 700 customers might have been compromised by “skimmers” when the cards were used to purchase fuel at a local gas station. And on Wednesday, New Mexico State Police warned people
Please see SCAM, Page A-4
Two sections, 24 pages 165th year, No. 107 Publication No. 596-440