Thursday, May 15, 2014 THE NEW MEXICAN
OPINIONS
The West’s oldest newspaper, founded 1849 Robin M. Martin Owner
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Honor those who protect community
O
n May 15, our nation commemorates Peace Officers Memorial Day, which was established by President John F. Kennedy in 1961 to honor and express our nation’s gratitude to the men and women in law enforcement who have fallen in the line of duty. In addition, May is Law Enforcement Appreciation Month, a time when we particularly recognize the peace officers who put their lives on the line every day to protect and serve our community. This month, as we enjoy time with our families and friends, let us remember and give thanks for the peace officers who are on duty patrolling our streets and keeping us safe.
Many thanks I am writing to publicly thank U.S. Sen. Tom Udall for all he did to make the General Services Administration change its position on moving the main post office away from its present location across from City Hall. I understand that the post office must operate economically, but it also must serve the public convenience. Moving to Sanbusco Market Center would have been enormously disruptive and would have added a great deal more traffic to an area of town that is already highly congested. Thank you, Sen. Udall. Beth and Dave Davenport
Santa Fe
Well done We all owe a great debt of gratitude to Sen. Tom Udall for his successful efforts in stopping the General Services Administration from moving the post office from its present location to Sanbusco Market Center. Such a move would have been incredibly
Inez Russell Gomez Editorial Page Editor
Ray Rivera Editor
SFCC reaches milestone
S inconvenient given the traffic in that area. Sen. Udall deserves our thanks for his hard work in keeping the post office where it belongs. Jack and Rebecca Parsons
Santa Fe
Paying the price The Supreme Court is poised to deliver its decision on the Hobby Lobby case. Pundits think the court will rule in favor of Hobby Lobby. Its owner, David Green, claims his corporation shouldn’t have to pay for two types of contraception. His brand of Christianity is against them. I doubt Jesus has called brother Green to hoard a $6 billion fortune while paying many of his workers less than $10 per hour, but we’ve had sanctimonious hypocrites since the dawn of organized religion. Oddly, however, the case resonates with me. Like Mr. Green, the government compels me to pay for something contrary to deeply held spiritual convictions. It troubles my conscience to pay for war.
Will a decision for Hobby Lobby release me from paying war taxes? Or will it be a “narrow” decision, giving corporations religious freedoms not available to real people? We’ll see. Shel Neymark
Embudo
Wasted energy What’s the big deal if you can drive your car around the Plaza or not? If the mayor would just trust his judgment, put planters up on San Francisco Street and Old Santa Fe Trail and put up “right turn only” signs, then I’m sure everyone will be perfectly happy — except those few who always complain about everything. There won’t be any riots nor, will he be voted out of office. Just do it and stop all this wasted time, energy and letters to the editors, already. George Goggans
Santa Fe
Rebuilding respect If both Senate Joint Resolution 19 and House Joint Reso-
lution 20 pass to again allow regulation of campaign spending, I would be so pleased. These actions would go a long way to help me regain the respect I have lost for the Supreme Court. The erosion of rights and ethics in our country has been appalling, hasn’t it? Elizabeth West
Santa Fe
Wrong answers The Saturday forum for the Democratic gubernatorial candidates proved two things. First, it proved that the Democrat politicians don’t have positive, innovative policies to offer our state. Second, it further proved that they will stoop to smear tactics in order to discredit Gov. Susana Martinez. It won’t work. New Mexicans know that Gov. Martinez is right on education, transparency and the economy. She wants to move our state forward, while her opponents want to take us back to the days of Bill Richardson. Barbara Zimmerman
Santa Fe
COMMENTARY: MARC CHAMPION
Ukraine crisis not about Obama’s weakness
A
Robert M. McKinney Owner, 1949-2001
OUR VIEW
Tom Starke and Yvonne Chicoine
Santa Fe
A-11
good deal of U.S. commentary on Ukraine has focused on whether President Barack Obama is being tough enough. The debate is both unrevealing and unhelpful to resolving the serious issue of how to handle a newly expansionist and nationalist Russia. It is unrevealing because any U.S. leader would struggle to contain Russian actions in the space that falls within Russia’s former empire and outside the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. George W. Bush failed to prevent the Russian invasion and dismemberment of Georgia in 2008. And history is littered with other failures to change Russian and Soviet behavior. The debate is unhelpful because it distracts from discussion of what sanctions should be for and what they can hope to achieve. It also ignores the art of the possible, in terms of how far ahead of the European Union the United States can afford to get in arming Ukraine or sanctioning Russia, before the U.S. becomes the issue and splits Europe. That is a cherished goal of Russian President Vladimir Putin, as it was of Soviet leaders in the past. As the British security analyst Ian Kearns put it in a recent debate in Riga, Putin is free to act because he thinks the West will be unable to respond effectively if he does, just as in 2008. Regret-
tably, says Kearns: “At the moment we are demonstrating that Putin understands the West better than the West understands itself.” I do think Obama’s foreign policy has been too disengaged and risk-averse. His refusal to arm and train rebels in the early days of the Syria conflict when his security staff advised him to do so is an example. In Ukraine, however, the issue is primarily one of EU foot-dragging on economic sanctions rather than of White House weakness. The case for sanctions isn’t simple. No sanctions can achieve the return of Crimea to Ukraine. Nor will they persuade Putin to give up on the goal of ensuring that Ukraine remains within Russia’s sphere of influence: He can’t afford to win Crimea but lose Ukraine. At best, Putin can be cajoled into cutting a deal in which he stops short of provoking a civil war in Ukraine, splitting the country in two, strangling its economy or forcing its long-term destabilization. Even with no guarantee that tougher sanctions can save Ukraine, though, they are needed to set limits for future Russian actions. Putin needs to have his assumptions about Western disunity and weakness proved wrong, and his recent call for separatists in eastern Ukraine to postpone Sunday’s referendum on independence offers little comfort there. He
MALLARd FiLLMoRe
Section editor: Inez Russell Gomez, 986-3053, igomez@sfnewmexican.com, Twitter @inezrussell
remains several steps ahead of the West in securing his goals without triggering serious sanctions. The most interesting historical parallel for Ukraine is probably the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Having meddled for years in the affairs of its southern neighbor to fend off the rise of leaders more willing to talk to the U.S., the Soviets moved in after the removal (and execution) of Prime Minister Nur Taraki, who had been friendly to them. The similarities with the fall of Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych are evident. To protest the Afghanistan invasion, the U.S. and some allies boycotted the 1980 Moscow Olympics. The U.S. also imposed economic sanctions on the Soviet Union, which were ineffectual because Europe refused to join in. In the thick of events in 1979, as now, the U.S. appeared powerless to stop the Soviet intervention and unable to marshal the support of its allies for tougher action. The U.S. did, however, arm the mujaheddin, Muslim fighters who battled the invaders in Afghanistan, and a decade later Soviet forces withdrew. We’ll have to see what happens in Ukraine in 10 years’ time. Marc Champion writes for Bloomberg View on international affairs.
anta Fe Community College awarded one degree at its first commencement back in 1984. Thirty years later, the community college will be handing out 971 degrees and certificates. One enterprising graduate, Martin Roybal, is receiving four — an Associate in Applied Science in medical assisting, an Associate in Applied Science in general studies, an associate in Applied Science in business administration and a certificate in medical assisting. He’s a first. The graduation is so large that it will take place Saturday at the Pueblo Pavilion at the Santa Fe Indian School rather than the college itself (the pavilion seats 3,000, so there should be plenty of room). Congratulations to Roybal and to all the SFCC graduates, as well as to the faculty and staff who work so hard to make educational opportunity available. Without SFCC, Santa Fe would be a much poorer place, both intellectually and economically. Because of the college, students who otherwise might not be able to afford higher education can earn degrees. Midcareer adults who need new training are able to jumpstart their careers. Others takes classes at the community college to learn a language, immerse themselves in continuing education classes or hone skills such as jewelry- or furniture-making. It’s a place to learn a trade, begin a fouryear college degree or brush up on skills so that it’s easier to find a job. All of this is possible because 30-plus years ago, the city’s leaders saw a need for additional public secondary education in Santa Fe. The state Legislature provided initial funds in the whopping amount of $1.5 million to realize the dream. Then-Gov. Toney Anaya was an early supporter. Starting at the Valdes Industrial Park in the fall of 1983, the college quickly began offering classes at other sites in town, including Santa Fe High. Today, some families boast three generations who have studied at SFCC. By 1984, citizens had passed a $5 million general revenue bond to build a permanent campus, with Rancho Viejo Partnership donating land and some $1 million in improvements. The college’s first president, William Witter, was a visionary leader, partnering with Superintendent of Schools Eddie Ortiz to shepherd the school’s early years. Cooperation — and local residents’ willingness to tax themselves — made the college the success it is today. As graduation approaches, we congratulate Santa Fe Community College, its staff, faculty and students. Its success makes Santa Fe a better place to live and work. Here’s to 30 more years of opportunity, right here at home.
The past 100 years From The Santa Fe New Mexican: May 15, 1914: Carlsbad — At 1,200 feet, the Carlsbad Oil and Gas Company struck more salt, after drilling in limestone for about 75 feet. The formation changed again at about 1,235 feet the examination indicated a formation charged with potash. This is largely imported into this country for fertilizer. Should a big deposit of kainite, kleserite or carnalite be found, it means a fortune. May 15, 1964: Los Alamos — Preparations have been made to handle an overflow crowd when Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer speaks at a public session in Los Alamos Monday night. Oppenheimer, the first director of Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory, is paying a return visit to the community in which he and other scientists developed the first nuclear bomb. Monday will mark the first public visit Dr. Oppenheimer has made to Los Alamos since he resigned as director of the laboratory to become head of the Institute for Advanced Studies in Princeton, N.J., in the fall of 1945. May 15, 1989: Santa Fe artist Tommy Macaione said Saturday that a painting of his was stolen from him as he painted during the afternoon on Canyon Road. Macaione said the 36-by-18-inch painting featured pink flowers and was of the Holy Faith Episcopal Church on Palace Avenue. Macaione said he had hoped to sell the painting for $9,000 to a man from Washington, D.C., who is a friend of Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M. The stolen artwork was one of three paintings that Macaione had taken along with him to sell as he painted. An unspecified amount of money was offered as a reward for the return of the painting.
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