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Sunday, November 9, 2014
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MEX ICA N THE SAN TA FE NEW n.co m san tafe new mex ica
Suit: Agent duped homeowner
Capital boys win state soccer title in OT
A Santa Fe man claims he was tricked into signing over his house and was never paid. PAGE C-1
Sierra Club to protest meeting
Junior Alexis Romo scores a sudden-death goal in double overtime to give the Jaguars their second athletic championship in school history. SPORTS, D-1
The environmental group’s local chapter is upset over the lack of public input on Gila River projects. Page C-1
Legislature
Tripp gets GOP nod for speaker of House Socorro representative a popular choice among members of both parties By Milan Simonich
New Mexico leads nation in student loan default rates
Scott Whitaker, director of the financial aid office at Santa Fe Community College, teaches a class Oct. 21 on the financial aid process. Luis Sánchez Saturno/The New Mexican
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The New Mexican
State Rep. Don Tripp is almost a sure bet to become the next speaker of the New Mexico House of Representatives after fellow Republicans unanimously nominated him Saturday. Republicans in last week’s election won control of the House for the first time since 1954. By closing ranks Don behind Tripp, the Tripp GOP has virtually assured him of being elected speaker when the House convenes Jan. 20. The House of Representatives will have 37 Republican members and 33 Democrats. Tripp, 68, of Socorro is a popular choice for speaker, even among Democrats.
Please see SPEAKER, Page A-4
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Student loan default rates of New Mexico schools FY 2010
FY 2009
NMSU NNMC NMHU
15 UNM Santa Fe University of Art and Design
10
New Mexico Tech
5
St. John’s College
By Robert Burns
ith a lingering recession and a terrible job market, students who have left New Mexico colleges and universities have the highest student loan default rate in the United States. Data from the U.S. Department of Education’s annual report show that New Mexico’s 20.8 percent default rate leads the nation. It’s
Please see CRACKS, Page A-6
Index
SFCC
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Cracks show in foundation of nation’s nuke system WASHINGTON — The foundation of America’s nuclear arsenal is fractured, and the government has no clear plan to repair it. The cracks appear not just in the military forces equipped with nuclear weapons but also in the civilian bureaucracy that controls them, justifies their cost, plans their future and is responsible for explaining a defense policy that says nuclear weapons are at once essential and excessive. It’s not clear that the government recognizes the full scope of the problem, which has wormed its way to the core of the nuclear weapons business without disturbing bureaucracies fixated on defending their own turf. Nor has it aroused the public, which may think nuclear weapons are relics of the past, if it thinks about them at all. This is not mainly about the safety of today’s weapons, although the Air Force’s nuclear missile corps has suffered failures in discipline, training, morale and leadership over the past two years. Just last week the Air Force fired nuclear commanders at two of its three missile bases for misconduct and disciplined a third commander.
Institute of American Indian Arts
FY 2011
25
0%
The Associated Press
School debts unpaid
The worst in the nation: Students who have left New Mexico colleges and universities have the highest student loan default rate in the U.S. By Chris Quintana The New Mexican
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The worst among large public schools:
New Mexico State University in Las Cruces has the state’s highest default rate for a large public university. Nearly 1 in 5 students defaulted.
considerably higher than the 13.7 percent national average and more than 3 points above Arizona’s 18.4 percent, the second highest rate in the country. The data show that while the national default rate has declined from 14.7 percent last year, New Mexico’s rate has soared from a rate of 12.5 percent two years ago. The state’s rising default rate is baffling, given that New Mexico fully covers many students’ tuition costs through the Legislative Lottery
Scholarship program. Financial advisers with the state’s universities attribute the high rate to the New Mexico’s slumping economy and weak job market. And many say universities can be powerless to lower the rates, as they lack influence over former students who have long since cut ties with them. “Most of the students are scared,” said David Macoubrie, a
Please see DEBTS, Page A-4
In intelligence gray area, N.J. detective cultivated ties with terrorist group Expansion of counterterrorism task forces since 9/11 has led to messy network of spies By James Risen and Matt Apuzzo The New York Times
WASHINGTON — After a car bombing in southeastern Iran killed 11 Revolutionary Guard members in 2007, a CIA officer noticed something surprising in the agency’s files: an intelligence
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report, filed ahead of the bombing, that had warned that something big was about to happen in Iran. Though the report had provided few specifics, the CIA officer realized it meant that the United States had known in advance that a Sunni terrorist group called Jundallah was planning an operation inside
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Shiite-dominated Iran, two former U.S. officials familiar with the matter recalled. Just as surprising was the source of the report. It had originated in Newark, N.J., with a detective for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. The Port Authority police are responsible for patrolling bridges and tunnels and issuing airport parking tickets. But the detective,
Please see TIES, Page A-5
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Breaking news at www.santafenewmexican.com
Falling oil prices could hurt state’s bottom line General fund expected to take hit as consumers see benefits at the pump By Bruce Krasnow The New Mexican
In the global village of oil production, a Saudi Arabian sheik can easily send chills through New Mexico’s economy. Increased oil production in the richest fields of the Middle East has sent the cost for a barrel of oil tumbling 25 percent since summer from over $105 to under $80 on Friday. Though consumers in Albuquerque, Las Cruces and Santa Fe are benefiting from the cheapest gas in years, the oil-price collapse means less money for the state of New Mexico to spend on education and health care. Just how much less will be a topic of legislative meetings in the coming weeks as lawmakers prepare for the 2015 legislative session. “What’s bad for the state is good for the people at the gas pump,” said state Sen. John Arthur Smith, a Deming Democrat who is hoping more pocket money for consumers translates into increased consumer spending, which can partially offset a loss
Please see OIL, Page A-4
A $1 drop in the price of a barrel of oil means a loss to the state general fund of $6M to $7.5M.
Today Pleasant; plenty of sunshine. High 63, low 35. Page D-6
Obituaries Dale Amburn, 86, Santa Fe, Nov. 2 Joseph James Burgess Jr., Santa Fe, Nov. 1 Susan Anneke Chittim, Oct. 30 Patrick M. Larranaga Phyllis Ann Lopez, 63, Santa Fe, Nov. 3 Winnie Meazell, 62, Oct. 29 Inez S. Montoya, 82, Algodones Page C-2
Pasapick www.pasatiempomagazine.com
Dave Grusin and Lee Ritenour Jazz pianist and guitarist, 7 p.m., Lensic Performing Arts Center, 211 W. San Francisco St., $25-$100, 988-1234, www.ticketssantafe.org. Proceeds benefit Assistance Dogs of the West.
Six sections, 46 pages 165th year, No. 313 Publication No. 596-440