Aggie Volleyball Sweeps La. Tech Again

Mike Jordan
LAS CRUCES - New Mexico State volleyball continues its winning ways with Louisiana Tech by sweeping the Techster's at the Pan American Center, Saturday, Sept. 25.
NM State started strong in the first set scoring five consecutive points bringing the Aggies to a 13-6 lead. The Aggies continued their lead with senior outside hitter Kayleigh Giddens posting three consecutive kills for the Aggies totaling 10 for the set.
The Aggies ended the first set 25-18 with the kill by Giddens.
NM State started slow in the second set trailing LA Tech 8-4.  The Aggies took that as a challenge gaining momentum and catching up to the visitors 10-10 with junior middle hitter Michelle Kuester driving that momentum with the kill pushing the Aggies ahead 14-12.
The Aggies took a strong lead in the second half of the set with the help of freshman Rocio Gutierrez with six kills and helping bring NM State to an 18-14 lead. The Aggies finished the second set 25-18.
NM State exploded in the third set pulling into a strong lead 4-0 at the start. NM State continued that lead throughout the third set with a total of 16 kills for the Aggies.
"Offensively we were too tough for them," Head Coach Mike Jordan said. "We have to get better defensively, working on blocking and digging will only help us to continue to improve in the WAC."
The Aggies are now 8-7 in their season, 2-0 in the WAC and look forward to taking on nationally ranked Hawai'i, Wednesday, Sept. 29 at the Pan American Center beginning at 7p.m.
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NMSU Football Falls To Kansas 42-16

LAWRENCE, KAN. - The NM State football team dropped its third game of the season 42-16 at Kansas' Memorial Stadium Saturday night. After the loss, the Aggies fall to 0-3 on the season while Kansas evens its record at 2-2. The Aggies totaled 275 yards of total offense in the game. Junior quarterback Matt Christian threw for 147 yards on 12-of-20 passing, while senior Seth Smith led the rushing attack with 52 yards on 16 carries and a touchdown. Senior Marcus Allen led the Aggie receivers with 89 yards and a touchdown on four receptions. Defensively, junior Donyae Coleman led the team with 16 tackles.
Junior kickoff return specialist Taveon Rogers broke the single-game record with 219 yards on six returns in the game, also tying a school record for attempts. Rogers posted three returns of 40 yards or more in the game.
The Jayhawks were led by quarterback Jordan Webb who threw for 249 yards and a touchdown, completing 17-of-27 pass attempts. James Sims rushed for a game-high 115 yards on 16 carries, while Daymond Patterson made six grabs for 40 yards. The Jayhawks had three defenders with eight tackles apiece in the game.
The Jayhawks opened the second half with a quick score on a five-play, 62-yard drive, capped off by a 1-yard plunge by Sims. As a result, Kansas pushed the advantage to 28-7 with 13:09 left in the third quarter.
KU ran down much of the clock in the third quarter with a 17-play, 99-yard drive that ended with a 3-yard touchdown pass from Webb to tight end Tim Biere to increase the score to 35-7 with just under three minutes left in the third quarter.

Aggie Head Coach DeWayne Walker

NM State struck back with a score to open the fourth quarter to cut into the KU lead. The Aggies marched down the field in six plays, covering 74 yards, capped off by a 25-yard touchdown pass from Christian to Allen. The scoring drive lasted 3:31; the point after attempt failed, making the score 35-13 Jayhawks.
Later in the fourth quarter KU scored another rushing touchdown by Sims on an 11-yard scamper to the left pylon. The Jayhawks' drive went 71 yards in 11 plays to make the score 42-13 with 10:01 remaining in the game.
Later in the fourth, NM State added three more points to its total after a 30-yard field goal by Tyler Stampler to yield the final score with 8:33 to go in the game.
The Aggies' kickoff return specialist Rogers returned the opening kickoff 54 yards to set up the NM State offense in Kansas territory. However, the Jayhawk defense held the Aggie offense to a three-and-out series, forcing a punt.
On the next drive, the Kansas offense invaded the NM State redzone and lined up for a field goal attempt from the Aggie 14-yard line with 8:13 remaining in the opening quarter. However, the Jayhawks attempted a fake field goal and quarterback Webb's pass sailed long out of the back of the endzone.
After entering Jayhawk territory on its second drive, NM State's offense stalled but a Tanner Rust punt pinned the Jayhawks inside their 20 at the 12-yard line. But the Jayhawks used two big offensive plays to post a quick store covering 88 yards in 49 seconds. KU capped off the drive with a 10-yard touchdown run by D.J. Beshears to give the home team a 7-0 lead with just under a minute in the first quarter.
NM State started its next drive at the KU 44-yard line after another 50-plus kickoff return by Rogers. The junior receiver topped totaled 105 yards in kickoff returns after a 51-yard gain. A 13-yard rush by Allen and a short gain by Smith set up the Aggies at the Jayhawk 31-yard line as time ran out in the first quarter.
Two plays later, Smith punched it into the endzone from one yard out to score his third career touchdown. The Aggie scoring drive covered 44 yards in five plays and took 1:55 off of the clock to knot the score at 7-7.
On the ensuing kickoff, Beshears outran the coverage for the eighth-longest kickoff return in KU history with a 96-yard kickoff return for a quick score. After the touchdown, KU led 14-7 with 13:42 remaining in the half.
KU extended its lead after Beshears scored his third touchdown of the game on a 7-yard scamper up the middle. The Jayhawk scoring drive spanned 53 yards in eight plays and shaved 2:42 off the clock. With 9:29 left in the half Kansas led 21-7.
The Aggies racked up 120 yards of total offense in the first half. Christian threw for just 19 yards on 5-of-9 passing. Smith led the rushing attack with 49 yards on 13 carries and a touchdown while wide receiver Allen tallied 45 yards on four attempts. Kyle Nelson led the Aggie receivers with three catches for 10 yards. Defensively, George Callender led with six tackles.
The Jayhawks were led by quarterback Webb who threw for 118 yards. Beshears rushed for 33 yards on six carries but scored two touchdowns on the ground and one on a 96-yard kickoff return. Johnathan Wilson totaled 49 yards on two receptions while Daymond Patterson led with four catches to total 23 yards. Justin Springer led the KU defense with seven tackles at the half.
The Aggies return home to host No. 3 Boise State on Sat. Oct. 2 with kickoff is set for 7:00 p.m. (MT) inside Aggie Memorial Stadium.


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Knights Contnue to Struggle Fall to 0-5

From the Las Cruces Sun-News - Oñate fell on the road 39-13 to West Mesa at Milne Stadium in Albuquerque on Saturday. The Knights trailed 13-0 early in the first quarter. Oñate (0-5) cut into the defecit with a 40-yard touchdown run from Lawrence Sanchez to make it 13-7. The Knights were able to move the ball early on. They lost a fumble inside the West Mesa 5-yard line in the first quarter, but were able to stop the Mustangs and get the ball back to set up the Sanchez run. West Mesa quarterback Matt Jaramillo tried to beat the Knights deep throughout the game, but it was Mustangs running back Nathan Struck who carried the West Mesa offense. Read more here:

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Spence: Learning from Buffett and Munger

Jim Spence
Warren Buffett is the wealthiest "investor" to ever live. How did Mr. Buffett do it? More than 98% of Buffett’s net worth is tied up in the shares of Berkshire Hathaway common stock. We are reminded that over the years, Berkshire has become a diversified holding company with equity interests in other large companies such as Coca Cola, Procter & Gamble, and American Express as well as wholly owned concerns including companies in the business of selling shoes, encyclopedias, candy, insurance, furniture, newspapers, vacuum cleaners, and jewelry. Since 1965, it is hard to imagine making a better investment than Berkshire Hathaway shares. We can infer that the majority of business decisions made by Warren Buffett and Co-Chair Charles Munger were outstanding. But by no means has their “ride” to prosperity as major Berkshire Hathaway shareholders been a smooth one. There have been many sickening share price declines along the way. According to Andrew Kilpatrick in his book, Of Permanent Value, The Story of Warren Buffett:
Warren Buffett
During the market downturn of 1973-74 Berkshire shares fell 56% from their high.

During the 1987 market downturn Berkshire shares plunged 25% from their high.

During the 1990-1991 downturn Berkshire shares fell 49% from their high.

During 1998-2000 Berkshire shares dropped 49% from their high.

During 2007-2009 Berkshire shares dropped 53% from their high
Charles Munger
There are valuable lessons to be learned from studying the historical performance pattern of Berkshire Hathaway shares. Many people consider Warren Buffett and Charles Munger to be the two greatest investors who ever lived. In times like these when it seems the markets will never perform very well again, it is particularly important to realize IF you had been fortunate enough to have purchased Berkshire shares a long time ago, your experience would have been successful, but not “easy.” If you had invested in 1973, 1987, 1990, 1998 or 2007, you would have had to endure sickening plunges in the value of your Berkshire Hathaway shares almost immediately. Even if you had gotten in on the proverbial “ground floor” and invested in Berkshire shares all the way back in 1965, when Buffett first took over the reigns of command, and held until today, it is clear that tremendous patience would have been required for long term success. Have the shares of Berkshire Hathaway recovered? Yes, they have advanced 77% off their most recent decline. What does the future hold? The stock market and for that matter, life, offer no guarantees. However, it is safe to say that the performance pattern of Berkshire Hathaway shares from 1965 until 2010 represents one of a very few “best case scenarios” where common stocks are concerned. At the end of February 2009, which turned out to be the market's cyclical low point, Mr. Buffett’s letter to shareholders offered wisdom on the latest turmoil financial. Below is an excerpt we find meaningful: “Amid this bad news, however, never forget that our country has faced far worse travails in the past. In the 20th Century alone, we dealt with two great wars (one of which we initially appeared to be losing); a dozen or so panics and recessions; virulent inflation that led to a 21 1⁄2% prime rate in 1980; and the Great Depression of the 1930s, when unemployment ranged between 15% and 25% for many years.
America has had no shortage of challenges. Without fail, however, we’ve overcome them. In the face of those obstacles – and many others – the real standard of living for Americans improved nearly seven-fold during the 1900s, while the Dow Jones Industrials rose from 66 to 11,497. Compare the record of this period with the dozens of centuries during which humans secured only tiny gains, if any, in how they lived. Though the path has not been smooth, our economic system has worked extraordinarily well over time. It has unleashed human potential as no other system has, and it will continue to do so. America’s best days lie ahead.” Over the years it is worthwhile to remind ourselves of what can happen in terrible markets as evidence by the share price of one of the best and most enduring companies of the last fifty years. When you do so you are are repeatedly reminded that Mr. Buffett and Mr. Munger have gone into painstaking detail to teach those willing to learn that even though all common stock shares will be treated like casino chips from time to time, they are in fact shares of ownership in business enterprises. The trick is to not treat them like casino chips even when seemingly everyone else is.



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Whistleblower Corroborates Charges Against D.O.J.

Attorney General Eric Holder
The Justice Department is failing to apply the law equally to minority and white Americans, ex-Justice official Christopher Coates testified Friday morning — defying orders from the department against appearing before the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. Since former Justice official J. Christian Adams testified in July about the biased culture there, the commission saw Coates as the man able to corroborate Adams’s claims. Further, as the the former head of the Voting Section of the Civil Rights Division, Coates was a key witness to the handling of cases, specifically the New Black Panther (NBPP) case. In that case, the Justice Department dropped charges of voter intimidation against members of the NBPP who on election day 2008 stood outside of a polling place dressed in military garb and hurled racial slurs at white voters (one brandishing a nightstick). Coates discussed the NBPP case in great detail on Friday, saying that the reason for the case’s dismissal was hostility within the division against prosecuting cases that involved a white victim and minority defendant. Read more here:
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Maybe Arizona Should Sue Mexico?

President Felipe Calderon
GUATEMALA CITY, Sep 15 , 2010 (IPS) - Travelling without documents to the United States from Latin America can turn into an odyssey, in which migrants have to elude common criminals and drug traffickers along the way, not to mention the laws on migration. But now another obstacle is emerging: a wall between Guatemala and Mexico. According to the head of customs for Mexico's tax administration, Raúl Díaz, in order to stop boats carrying contraband, the southern Mexican state of Chiapas is building a wall along the border river Suchiate, similar to the one the United States is building along its southern border with Mexico. "It could also prevent the free passage of illegal immigrants," admitted the Mexican official. Smugglers use the Suchiate River to move products across an international border without paying duty taxes, but at the same time, thousands of Central and South Americans cross the river in their attempts to reach the United States in search of opportunity -- and without the required documents. Read more here:

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Football Field in the Killing Fields

From the El Paso Times - JUAREZ -- In this city that averages nine murders a day, talk of the killing fields is common. Now one neighborhood has a different sort of field, one that is lifting the spirits of dozens of kids in a neighborhood still mourning victims of a massacre in January. Others say the field, funded by the Mexican government, is a clumsy move at public relations intended to squelch talk about the mass killings. About 80 children and teens, ranging in age from 5 to 19, spend their evenings playing American-style football on a synthetic turf, courtesy of the Mexican federal government. The field is off Mexican Highway 54 in south Juárez. Players learn how to tackle and to execute running plays. These kids wear used helmets, jerseys and shoulder pads donated by none other than the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League. Football is a pleasant diversion in Juárez, where about 6,500 murders have occurred since 2008. The homicide total for this year is more than 2,200. Read more here:
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Bernanke Pushing on a String

Ben Bernanke
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said damage from the financial crisis has left the U.S. economy growing at a slower pace than policy makers want even as the central bank’s more than $1 trillion in bond purchases have reduced interest rates. “By buying mortgage-backed securities and Treasuries we did, I think, additionally stimulate the economy,” Bernanke said yesterday in response to a question after he spoke at a Princeton University conference. “We avoided what could have been a global meltdown,” Bernanke said. “But even so, we got a taste of how powerful a financial crisis is on real activity. That blow which knocked the world economy into a deep recession in the second half of ‘08 and the early ‘09, we are only recovering from that at a pace slower than we would like.” Read more here:
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O'Reilly - Velma Hart a Citizen Journalist

Bill O'Reilly
Shaming the White House press corps, a regular American named Velma Hart recently asked President Barack Obama the toughest question he has heard since being elected to the Oval Office. After describing herself as a middle-class American with two kids attending private school and a person who supported the president's vision and promises of a better future for Americans, Hart dropped a bomb: "My husband and I have joked for years that we thought we were well beyond the hot dogs and beans era of our lives, but quite frankly, it's starting to knock on our door and ring true that that might be where we're headed again. ... Is this my new reality?" Devastating. Read more here:
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Aggies to Battle Kansas

DeWayne Walker
Today's game between New Mexico State and Kansas is the third meeting between the two schools. This is the Aggies fifth game against a Big XII opponent since 2000. The game is scheduled for a 5:10 p.m. (MT) start at Memorial Stadium, in Lawrence, Kansas. This season NM State is sitting at 0-2, 0-0 while the Jayhawks are 1-2, 0-0 after losing to North Dakota State in the season opener and Southern Mississippi and defeating No. 23 Georgia Tech. The Aggies are 1-1 against the Jayhawks with their last meeting in 1991. NM State lost that game 54-14. You can listen to all the action with the 'Voice of the Aggies' Jack Nixon and color analyst Jason Scott beginning at 6 p.m. on KGRT 104 FM. Also catch the action in Spanish with Martin Cortez and Bob Sherman on Vista 98.7 FM. The game will also be televised on Fox College Sports. Read more game preview and listen to interviews here:
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Aggie Soccer Loses Heartbreaker

Michael Needham
GREELEY, Colo. (Sept. 24)-The New Mexico State soccer team’s four-match unbeaten streak was snapped at Northern Colorado with a 1-0 overtime loss. This was the Aggies’ third overtime match of the season. In the second road contest of the year, NM State fell to 5-2-2 while Northern Colorado improved to 6-3-1. “We didn’t play well in the first half, but I thought we came out and played well in the second half,” head coach Michael Needham said.
“It was a good game in the second half, and we were lucky to escape to overtime. I thought we were more dangerous attacking in the second half and in overtime anything can happen. “I thought this was great preparation going into conference next week. Overall, this was a good game in a good environment on the road.” After a scoreless 90 minutes, Northern Colorado scored in the fourth minute of extra time when midfielder JJ Wykstra nailed a header on a corner kick. In the defensive struggle, redshirt freshman goalkeeper Mikaela Bitner grabbed a match-high five saves, and the goal was the first NM State has allowed in 429 minutes. The Aggies continue their road trip at Wyoming, Sunday, Sept. 26 at noon in Laramie, Wyo.

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LCHS Continues to Roll

From the Las Cruces Sun-News - LAS CRUCES — For the first time in New Mexico, there is a clear way to determine a good football team and a bad team. The New Mexico Activities Association implemented a 50-point mercy rule prior to the season, and for the first time in Las Cruces, it was put into effect Friday. Second-ranked Las Cruces improved to 5-0 with a 56-6 victory over Rio Grande at the Field of Dreams. The game ended with a 2-yard Adrian Lucero run with 9:25 left on an already running mercy clock. "We weren't satisfied unless we put the mercy rule into effect and get out of here early," Las Cruces quarterback Jeremy Buurma said. Read more here:
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Congress Finally Uses Its Time Wisely

Zoe Lofgren (D-Ca)
Comedian Stephen Colbert's appearance before a House panel on farm jobs and illegal immigrants made a mockery of one of the most contentious issues of the election season. In playing host to this display, Democrats proved their self-destructive instincts are alive and well. The political theater of the absurd was orchestrated by committee chairman Zoe Lofgren, California Democrat, who with Mr. Colbert spent a few hours picking vegetables to draw attention to the issue of migrant workers. No matter what this stunt was supposed to achieve, it backfired. Rep. John Conyers, Michigan Democrat, pleaded for Mr. Colbert to leave the room before his testimony, sensing the risk the committee was taking, but was overruled by Ms. Lofgren. As his testimony unfolded, the star of Comedy Central's "Colbert Report" drew few laughs from the assembled, most of whom understood they were witnessing a rolling train wreck. The extent of the farce was evident to all when Mr. Colbert asked that pictures of his colon be entered into the record to make a point about roughage. Read more here:
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