Swickard: Better to solve problems than create new ones

© 2014 Michael Swickard, Ph.D. Solving problems is a funny business. The other day someone asked how to deal with thousands of wild horses starving in New Mexico. They wanted to prevent those horses from starving. So I combined that with another problem. 

     The reintroduction of gray wolves into New Mexico has caused ranchers in those areas huge problems because the aforementioned wolves not only eat deer and elk, they eat cows. Why? The cows are easier to catch and must taste good.

     The most pernicious cow catchers are gathered by the authorities and housed in a pen for wayward wolves to get them to quit killing cows. But the damage to ranchers is of concern. So to review: horses are starving and wolves are killing cows. 

     Problem solver that I am: why not move those hungry wolves to the areas where thousands upon thousands of wild horses are starving. The wolves will put the horses down and live happily ever after since they are killing machines.

      Forget the legal fight in Roswell about horsemeat packing. Natural predation will cull out the weak and sick wild horses leaving the strong to survive in a much smaller herd. It is a win-win solution. However, I do expect the wolves to protest, “Hey, this meat tastes like dog food.”

     There is another unrelated problem that is not as easy to solve. Through a state Constitutional Amendment process Colorado legalized marijuana and now members of the New Mexico legislature are looking at a state Constitutional Amendment to do likewise in New Mexico. The problem as I see it is the New Mexico legislators have not adequately considered the problems this will cause. Let me count them:

      First, it is the wrong way to make societal changes. The legislature is designed to enact those types of rule changes. Evoking the Constitutional amendment process is a chicken way to avoid the governor’s veto and opponent advertisements saying said legislator is soft on drugs. If it cannot pass in the people’s house, it is not a good idea.

      Second, as Colorado is finding out, it not only opens Pandora’s Box but a whole host of Pandora Boxes not the least of which is that it is an activity both legal and illegal at the same time. The United States is a land of laws. It is what makes our country different than other countries that have “situational” laws. 

     So in our country every activity should be legal or not. I do not want our New Mexico State Police in gun battles protecting New Mexico citizens from the national Homeland Security forces over what is legal statewide but not nationally. Read the full column

Swickard: Better to solve problems than create new ones

New Mexicans can register to vote online

New Mexico residents 18 and older can now register to vote online through Motor Vehicle Division offices throughout the state. 

Voters who conduct a transaction at MVD will now be offered the opportunity to register to vote online. The information will be transmitted to New Mexico county clerks electronically, eliminating delays and improving the efficiency of the voter registration process. 

Secretary of State Dianna Duran says this is yet another part of the state’s modernization program, and continued efforts to make the entire voting and elections process more convenient for New Mexicans. 

All voters will be able to update their voter registration information online from their personal computers by mid-summer of next year, according to Duran.

New Mexicans can register to vote online

Judge to decide Horse slaughterhouse fate

A New Mexico judge will decide Friday whether a Roswell company can move ahead with plans for slaughtering horses. 

State District Judge Matthew Wilson made the announcement after a hearing Monday on a request from Attorney General Gary King's office for a preliminary injunction against Valley Meat Co. King has filed a lawsuit alleging the company's operations would violate state environmental and food safety laws. 

The plant was blocked from opening last year after animal protection groups brought a federal lawsuit against the Department of Agriculture for issuing permits to Valley and two other companies, which would become the first domestic horse slaughtering plants in seven years. A federal judge threw out that lawsuit.

 King filed the state case after a federal appeals court declined to keep the plants shuttered.

Judge to decide Horse slaughterhouse fate

Details emerge in Roswell school shooting

Officials and witnesses say a 12-year-old boy drew a shotgun from a band-instrument case and shot and wounded two classmates at his New Mexico middle school before a teacher talked him into dropping the weapon. 

A boy was critically injured and a girl was in satisfactory condition following the shooting Tuesday morning at Berrendo Middle School in Roswell. 

Gov. Susana Martinez said the students were in the gym, where they typically hang out before classes start during cold and inclement weather. The 12-year-old pulled a shotgun and opened fire there at about 8 a.m. She said the boy quickly dropped the gun and surrendered when approached by the staff member. 

Superintendent Tom Burris said the school's faculty had participated in "active shooter" training, and they responded appropriately.

Details emerge in Roswell school shooting

Swickard: Using guns to solve problems

© 2014 Michael Swickard, Ph.D. We had another student bring a gun to school and used it this week. It is in the media with lurid descriptions yet something is missing. When a student brings a gun to school and uses it why did the student think using a gun would solve problems? 

     In this instance and to my way of thinking, in all other shootings it caused more problems that they could have imagined. But dozens of times each year in our public schools the same action is played out with often fatal results.

     So where did they get the notion using a gun would solve their problems? Did they learn it in school? Of course not, it is not part of the school curriculum. It is not modeled behavior by teachers to shoot problem students. 

     Yet, like it or not, students are bringing guns to school apparently with the belief that the guns will solve their problems. If they do not learn that notion in school, they must learn it somewhere else. Oh, I know, they learn it in their home.

     Most parents reject that premise. “I certainly don’t teach my children that shooting someone will solve problems.” But they do. The message is allowed to be transmitted repeatedly to their children. It is under their aegis that kids watch hour after hour of television and movies where the solution to problems is shoot someone. 

      The average school age student watches hundreds of “shootings to solve a problem” a week. Heroes as well as bad people, all larger than life, solve their problems with guns. I cannot think of a major movie star who has not shot someone on screen. How sad.

     The research strongly suggests watching television and movies influences kids. We know for certain that advertisers believe in this influence by the billions of dollars spent trying to amend the behavior of children in their buying habits. If the media can influence the clothes worn and the language used, it is one small step to influence the way that children solve problems.

     The responsibility to prevent this influence lies with the parents who must take the steps to protect their children from this proven influence. If they do not, they are guilty of child abuse. While it is passive, it is nonetheless abuse. These children are killing and being killed. Read full column

Swickard: Using guns to solve problems

District Judge approves physician aid-in-dying

From KOB-TV.com - By: Elizabeth Reed, KOB.com - A district court judge ruled Monday that doctors will not be prosecuted for helping terminally ill patients end their lives.
     New Mexico is now the fifth state in the nation to allow physician aid-in-dying, which allows doctors to prescribe pills that would speed up and ease the dying process.
     The case was brought by a doctor and patient who sued the state for the right. Assisting with suicide is a fourth degree felony in the state, but an Albuquerque doctor argued that "physician aid-in-dying" is not the same thing as "assisted suicide."
     The state had previously argued in district court that a judge shouldn't be the one to legalize aid in dying. They said if anyone was going to change New Mexico's rules on the issue, it should be lawmakers. More

District Judge approves physician aid-in-dying

Lesser Prairie Chicken plan touted

From the Portales News-Tribune - By Christina Calloway - Several landowners said they left Thursday’s informational meeting about the Range-wide Conservation Plan for the lesser prairie chicken with more questions than answers. 

     The deadline is approaching for listing the rare grouse, native to New Mexico and four other states, as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. In conjunction with the deadline, meetings have been held around the state to inform landowners about insurance programs for farmers if the bird were to be listed.
     A listing decision will come from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the federal group which regulates the ESA. Opponents of a “threatened” listing say regulations from the listing could hinder operations for landowners as well as the oil and gas industry.
     The way the program would work, according to New Mexico Game and Fish Biologist Grant Beauprez, is that the energy industry would provide funding for the program, which would in turn be paid out to the farmers and also cover administration costs for the program.
     The voluntary program would pay farmers in the shinnery oak region of the lesser prairie chicken, which encompasses eastern New Mexico and west Texas, based on the quality of the land. The higher quality of habitat for the bird, the higher the payment a farmer would receive. More

Lesser Prairie Chicken plan touted

Increase of flu cases spurs many to get shots

From KOB-TV.com - By: Nikki Ibarra, KOB Eyewitness News 4 - Doctors across the country are seeing more and more people coming in to get their flu shots, after reports of an uptick of cases and even deaths.
     A 76-year-old New Mexico woman has died from the flu, making it the first death of the flu season. For Roxanne Cabral, health is everything. When flu season came around, she made sure to take her 18-month-old twin daughters to get their flu shots. “It’s just horrible. It’s horrible to have the flu especially a little baby or a child,” said Cabral.
     Cabral said hearing about the increase in flu cases, like H1N1, had her worried. But doctors want people to know that there’s no need to panic. “The flu is the flu and different strains don’t necessarily make it more likely that you’re going to have a complication,” said Dr. Lance Wilson with ABQ Health Partners.
     Dr. Wilson said the current flu shot is the best way to keep yourself healthy, and that same shot protects you from H1N1. The New Mexico Department of Health told KOB Eyewitness News 4 there were 21 flu deaths last flu season. Flu season usually lasts from October to May .More

Increase of flu cases spurs many to get shots

Four Corners looks at natural gas

One group in the Four Corners wants to bring compressed natural-gas stations to the area, but first they'll need support from local government.

 Four Corners Economic Development is looking into how successful compressed natural-gas stations would be in the four corners area. Farmington used to have one gas station that served eco-friendly cars. That station closed several years ago, but the Four Corners economic team hopes new technologies will create a high demand for this kind of station. 

Currently the development group is talking with several government officials in the area to see if using these stations would benefit them. 

The city of Farmington says they'd be interested in converting some of their vehicles to compressed natural gas if it's easily accessible.

Information from kob.com. 

Four Corners looks at natural gas

State Fair revenue down

Attendance at the New Mexico State Fair was down and so was revenue. 

Unaudited figures provided by Expo New Mexico's chief financial officer indicate that revenues totaled $4.7 million during the Sept. 1-22 fair. 

According to the Abluquerque Journal,  that compares with $5.2 million during the 2012 fair. Year-to-year attendance dropped 4 percent. 

Fair manager Dan Mourning says the 2013 fair was hampered by record rainfall during the beginning of the 12-day run.

State Fair revenue down