The Santa Fe New Mexican. May 20, 2013

Page 1

Taylor Swift wins eight Billboard Music Awards Page A-14

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Monday, May 20, 2013

www.santafenewmexican.com 75¢

Google banks on personal touches

Spurs rout Grizzlies in West finals opener

Internet company rolls out a line of new products designed to dig deeper into the lives of users. Tech, A-9

Tony Parker with 20 points leads San Antonio to a 105-83 win over Memphis in the Western Conference finals. SPOrTS, B-1

HOUSING CRISIS

Amy Biehl principal, whose career spans three decades with school district, prepares to say farewell this summer

De La O holds the microphone as a group of kindergarten students recites the Pledge of Allegiance during the morning announcements on May 14 at Amy Biehl Community School.

Banks slow at paying mortgage relief funds

Ready to retire

Analysis finds lenders have paid less than half of the billions owed to troubled homeowners By Danielle Douglas

The Washington Post

WASHINGTON — Banks have paid less than half the $5.7 billion in cash owed to troubled homeowners under nearly 30 settlements brokered by the government since 2008, delaying help to the millions of victims of discrimination and shoddy lending that epitomized the housing crisis, according to a Washington Post analysis of government data. When the settlements were announced with great fanfare, government officials hailed them as the long-promised reckoning with the financial industry. Regulators found that some banks had saddled borrowers with unaffordable mortgages or assigned higher rates to minorities even when they qualified for a better deal. Some banks were accused of having employees “robo-sign” foreclosure documents without reading them or having proper documentation. But consumer advocates and lawmakers have grown increasingly frustrated by the delays in releasing the settlement funds, which they say is making it difficult for some borrowers to recover financially. In 2011, Wells Fargo agreed to compensate up to 10,000 borrowers after the Federal Reserve found the bank was steering them into subprime loans even though they qualified

Please see BAnKS, Page A-4 Amy Biehl Community School Principal Pam De La O walks through the school’s cafeteria during breakfast on May 14. De La O is retiring after 30 years with the Santa Fe Public Schools and about 35 years in the public-school trenches. PHOTOS BY LUIS SÁNCHEZ SATURNO/THE NEW MEXICAN

Researchers seek to ‘map food genome’ Study pinpoints exact nutrients, ingredients people are eating By Mary Clare Jalonick

The Associated Press

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Do your kids love chocolate milk? It may have more calories on average than you thought. Same goes for soda. Until now, the only way to find out what people in the United States eat and how many calories they consume has been government data, which can lag behind the rapidly expanding and changing food marketplace. Researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill are trying to change that by creating a gargantuan map of what foods Americans are buying and eating. Part of the uniqueness of the database is its ability to sort one product into what it really is — thousands of brands and variations. Take the chocolate milk. The government has long classified chocolate milk with 2 percent fat as one item. But the UNC researchers, using scanner data from grocery stores and other commercial data, found thousands of different brands and

By Robert Nott The New Mexican

P

am De La O’s office at Amy Biehl Community School at Rancho Viejo is almost minimalistic in style. With one exception — a stack of disheveled papers and binders sitting on a shelf near her desk — it is a neatly organized office, one that reflects the personality of a woman known for her straightforward, no-nonsense, detailed style. She will eventually go through that stack of papers and either throw them out or pass them on to her successor once the school district hires a new principal for the K-6 school, which serves about 480 children.

Today

Pasapick

Mostly sunny and breezy. High 72, low 42.

www.pasatiempomagazine.com

PAGe A-14

Stuart Ashman and Günther Maier The former New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs secretary and the photographer discuss and sign copies of Harlistas Cubanos, introduction by Diane Karp, 6 p.m., Collected Works Bookstore, 202 Galisteo St., 988-4226.

Please see FOOd, Page A-4

Index

Calendar A-2

Classifieds B-7

Comics B-14

De La O is retiring this summer after 30 years of service for Santa Fe Public Schools and about 35 years in the public-school trenches. Her first job as a kindergarten teacher in the Las Cruces school district in 1976 demanded organization as well, as she recalled. “I took over in January for a kindergarten teacher who left in December. The principal let me go in early over winter break to set up the room my way. It was very chaotic; there was an EA [educational assistant], an older woman, running the show. I remember thinking, ‘Things can’t be this way. They’ve got to change.’ So I changed it around. And the EA was offended — it

Opinions A-13

Police notes A-12

Ernesto Sandoval, 91, Santa Fe, May 17 Priscilla T. Vigil, 66, Santa Fe

Editor: Rob Dean, 986-3033, rdean@sfnewmexican.com Design and headlines: Carlos A. López, clopez@sfnewmexican.com

Sports B-1

Time Out B-13

Please see reTIre, Page A-4

Obama at Morehouse President speaks on race, manhood during commencement ceremony at historically black college. PAGe A-2

Your teen hates you?

Obituaries PAGe A-12

El Nuevo A-7

turns out it was her set-up.” It was a rough start for De La O as the two women sometimes butted heads. So De La O went to her principal. “He said to me, ‘Who’s in charge of the classroom?’ I said, ‘I am.’ And he said, ‘OK then, take charge. You’re the teacher.’ ” That direct approach has driven De La O’s work over the past three decades. Among her job duties within Santa Fe Public Schools: summer camp director, area supervisor for after-school programs, support teacher, teacher, assistant principal of Ortiz Middle School, principal of Sweeney Elementary School, and, since its construction period in

Education A-11

Main office: 983-3303 Late paper: 986-3010

Parenting expert says not to take it personally when teenagers say, “I hate you.” educATIOn, A-11

Two sections, 28 pages 164th year, No. 140 Publication No. 596-440


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The Santa Fe New Mexican. May 20, 2013 by The New Mexican - Issuu