Swickard: Time, the great destroyer of students

© 2014 Michael Swickard, Ph.D. Last week I wrote about standing in line at college. So this week I pondered the lessons from my time in college. During my career at college I came to understand that time is the great destroyer of college students. Understand, it is not having too much time or, as most think, too little time doing the damage.
      Rather, it is the act of saying, “I don’t have to do this assignment now, I have plenty of time.” When we say that to ourselves, one part of our brain thinks, “Wait a second, you just don’t feel like doing it now.”
      While we mull this over the North and South parts of our brain go through some rationalizations: “If I don’t spend the evening studying, I’ll flunk the test.” This is countered by “No, you won’t, you really want to go out tonight.” Hmmm, “I want to go out tonight, but I don’t want to flunk the test.”
      That lazy brain says “You can study when you get back, there's plenty of time.” Well, “After the party I won’t feel like studying.” College logic, “You don’t feel like studying now!” But but,“But I don’t want to flunk.” One voice gets the upper hand, “You won’t flunk. Besides right now everyone else in the class is out partying, you will do at least as good as them and since the course is graded on the curve you will get a C and heck, a C is OK.”
      “Well, maybe you are right; I’ll go for a little time.” Time passes. It is now 2:00 a.m. and you sit at your desk. You have recreated until closing time. The words in the book swim before your eyes when North and South speak again: “I have to read the material.” Yawn, “You don’t want to read the book; you want to go to bed so you will be fresh for the test in just 6 hours. Go to bed now and get up an hour early, you’ll still have plenty of time.”
      “You’re right; I’ll get up an hour early.”
       As you drag into class at 8:32 a friend asks if you studied. You say, “A little.”
       What you don’t say to your fellow classmate is that you woke up at 8:23 a.m. which didn’t leave much time to do all of the studying you had been avoiding. You begin writing. As you scan the test questions you recognize a word here and there, but you wonder if you sat down in the wrong classroom.
       While grading your paper the professor notices your fine work such as, “Christopher Columbus discovered America with his ships the Nina, the Ford Pinto and the Santa Fe.”
       Your professor is not amused and rewards your work with the grade of an F minus, minus, minus. When you get your paper back you say to yourself, “Well, I still have other tests. I can pull my grade up to a C if I get an A on a couple of them. I’ll start studying tonight.”
       There’s that voice, “But I thought you were going to go out tonight.” “I don’t want to flunk the course.”
       “You won’t, you have plenty of time to study.” “Yeah, you’re right, I have plenty of time to study, but I’m going to start studying tomorrow so I can ace the other tests.” Read full column

Swickard: Time, the great destroyer of students

Thursday NNM crew not in studio

NewsNM - Swickard: we are not in studio Thursday because most of us are sick, really sick, with the summer flu. I know it is more blessed to give than receive so we are trying to keep our summer flu to ourselves and not give it to anyone else in our broadcast complex.
     Therefore, we are playing a "Best of" show Thursday and taking all sorts of meds to get unsick including drinking tea and resting in bed while reading good books. That will get us well I am sure.
     It is our best hope that enough of us will have a miracle cure and get better so that we can resume broadcasting live on Friday.
     God Bless and Keep each of you. Michael
PS - Conrad the dog is completely well and cheering us on.

Thursday NNM crew not in studio

Investigation into veteran deaths comes up negative

From KRQE-TV.com - ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) – After careful review by the New Mexico Veterans Affairs health care system, no link has been found between the deaths of dozens of veterans and their place on the waiting list for medical care.
      Veterans affairs found 21 people who died as a result of being on the waiting list waiting for the doctor. As a result, officials investigated finding an additional 167 patients who died while awaiting various appointments.
      It wasn't until today that the officials found that there was no link between the two.
      Last week’s audit of Albuquerque’s Veterans Affairs hospital showed that there were 248 veterans on the waiting list.
      Veterans are still awaiting appointments and more doctors are currently being recruited. More

Investigation into veteran deaths comes up negative

EPA goes from Environmental Protection Agency to Extremist Political Agenda

Commentary by Marita Noon - During the week of July 28, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) held hearings in four cities: Atlanta, Denver, Pittsburgh, and Washington. DC. The two-day sessions were to allow the public to have their voice heard about the proposed rules it released on June 2 that will supposedly cut CO2 emissions by 30 percent.

      Many, including myself, believe that these rules are really an attempt to shut down coal-fueled electricity generation and implement a cap-and-trade program that the Administration couldn't get through Congress in 2009, when cap-and-trade’s obvious allies held both houses of Congress.

      If the EPA’s plans were clear, direct, and honest, the public would likely revolt outright. Instead, the intent is hidden in pages of cumbersome language and the messaging becomes all about clean air and water—and about the health of children.
      Because I was in the area—speaking a few hours from Atlanta on Sunday—I took advantage of the proximity and signed up to speak at the hearing. When I first attempted to sign up, day one was already full. The EPA had so many people who wanted time to share their opinions, a second day was added, and I was put on the schedule. Read full column

EPA goes from Environmental Protection Agency to Extremist Political Agenda

Parents say son robbed them at gunpoint

NewsNM Swickard - My goodness, what is this younger generation coming to? Sounds like he is going to get coal for Christmas this year. From KRQE-TV.com - ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) – An Albuquerque man has been arrested, accused of robbing his parents with a weapon.

      Sheriff’s deputies were called out to a northeast heights home friday night where a woman said her son, 31 year-old Thomas Korman, broke into her home. She said he smashed the window with a rock to get inside.
      According to a criminal complaint, the women says Korman threatened to stab her and her husband if she didn't give him money. The frightened couple gave him cash and their car keys.
      On Sunday, a judge told Korman he will not see his parents for a while. Officers say prior to Friday’s incident, the victims claim Korman posted threatening messages to them on Facebook.
      He’s still locked up on a $25,000 cash-only bond. More

Parents say son robbed them at gunpoint

Swickard: A funny thing happened in line

© 2014 Michael Swickard, Ph.D. Years ago one August I was standing in a line at New Mexico State University, the usual kind college students must stand in. No one was speaking; each person barricaded in their own world of misery, trying to not snarl at other people, but secretly wishing the other people would all have a heart attack so they could step over the fallen bodies and go to the head of the line.
       The air conditioner in the building had “gone south” so the temperature hovered many degrees above the human sweat point. Standing in line that afternoon had all of the charm and enjoyment of mucking out a goat shed on a hot humid summer afternoon.
       It was Friday; 4:45 p.m. Closing time was five p.m.
You would think that with the computer age, lines should be a thing of the past. But I guess no matter what happens to our world; we will still have two things: lines to stand in and cockroaches to step on.
       Then someone walked up, looked carefully at a piece of paper and stared worriedly at the sign in front of the line. He started to leave, wavered, almost spoke aloud. He looked at the paper again, uncertain where he should be, fearful of being in the wrong line. He seemed angry that what he wanted to know wasn't easy to find.
       At last, with an air of resignation, he stuck the paper in his pocket, sighed heavily and stepped into line; having decided it was the wrong line but he was going to have to wait until he got to the front of this line to find out which line he should be standing in. Further, he knew at 5 p.m. he would be in the correct line, but the person at the window would close the window before he got to the front.
       A trickle of sweat ran down the small of my back. I turned and said, matter-of-factly, “I wouldn't mind these lines if it wasn’t for all the waiting.”
The effect on the people in line was immediate, most smiled. I was sure it was the first smile seen in that line all day. It was an important smile because I also smiled and my need for an aspirin/antacid/valium was relieved. Like the air rushing out of a balloon, the tension in the line vanished and people started talking to each other. It was an important lesson. Read full column

Swickard: A funny thing happened in line

Tesla: Investments are minor compared to revenue that could be lost

From KOB-TV.com - by Stuart Dyson - Tesla Motors confirms it: the electric car manufacturer is breaking ground and preparing a site for its huge new battery factory near Reno, Nevada. But New Mexico and 4 other states are still in the running for the "gigafactory" that will eventually employ 6,500 people.
     Tesla admits it has broken ground east of Reno for the $5 billion lithium ion battery plant that will power its next generation of electric cars, but the company says it will "continue to evaluate" sites in New Mexico, Texas, Arizona and California before making a final decision in the next few months.
     It's all about timing. Tesla needs the battery plant to be up and running for production of the $35,000 Model 3, which is intended to be the first mass market electric car. That price tag is about half the price of the current Tesla Model S.
      "Any duplicative investments are minor compared to the revenue that could be lost if the launch of the Model 3 were affected by any delays at our primary gigafactory site," the company said in its second quarter letter to shareholders.
      In the same letter issued Thursday Tesla announced a formal agreement with Panasonic to supply the production equipment for the battery plant. More

Tesla: Investments are minor compared to revenue that could be lost

Deportations, arrivals halted at Artesia immigrant facility over chicken pox

From KOB-TV.com - By: Elizabeth Reed, KOB.com - he arrival and deportation of Central American immigrants in Artesia has been halted due to the spread of chicken pox at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, according to Congressman Steve Pearce.
      The congressman said Department of Homeland Security officials are currently treating and vaccinating immigrant women and children held at the facility. He says two people have been put in isolation.
      "As the FLETC facility reaches maximum capacity, I am increasingly concerned for the health and safety of the women and children at FLETC and for the local community," Pearce wrote in a statement. "Our office communicated to DHS officials outlining our concerns with impacting local citizens, posing risks to the local community and draining limited county medical resources."
      Pearce said federal officials will now reportedly use Eastern New Mexico Regional Medical Center in Roswell instead of Artesia General Hospital for patient care. The congressman says the decision could be an unexpected burden on local medical resources. More

Deportations, arrivals halted at Artesia immigrant facility over chicken pox

Thieves smash storefront to swipe dirt bikes

From KOAT-TV.com - ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. —Thieves smashed through Bobby J's Yahama motorcycle shop overnight to steal three high-priced dirt bikes. Shop owner Stan Johnson said the burglars stole three dirt bikes worth about $8,000 each.
       Johnson believes the thieves used a truck to smash through the front of the store to break in.
       "The old way was they didn't tear up the building. This way, that really pisses me off about the building ... It's going to be a lot of work to fix that thing," Johnson said.
       This not the first time there has been a crime like this at Bobby J's.
       "Three years ago, we had them three years before that. At one time, we were having them every three months. I guess you just get immune to it," Johnson said. "It happens. You just shrug your shoulders and keep going."
       The store was significantly damaged during the burglary.
       "(The robbers) could of come, called me up, I could have come down open the door, walked in a grabbed a couple. It would have made me happier. You know, I wouldn't of had a building tore up," Johnson said. "It's not right. We work hard for our money, and we are fair with everybody. More

Thieves smash storefront to swipe dirt bikes

Marita Noon: 2007–a great year for growing bad legislation like the ethanol mandate

Commentary by Marita Noon - President Obama, and his administration, has enacted so many foolish and cost-increasing energy policies, it is easy to think that they are his purview alone. But in 2007, Republicans were just as guilty. Seeds were planted and a garden of bad legislation took root in a totally different energy environment. At the time, the growth seemed like something worthy of cultivation. However, what sprouted up more closely resembles a weed that needs to be yanked out.
      Last week, I wrote about Australia’s carbon tax that was pulled on July 17. Its seeds were also planted in 2007, though not germinated until 2011. Prime Minister Abbott promised to eradicate the unpopular plant—and after nearly a year of struggle, he did.
      2007 was also the year of the Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS). Around that time, more than half the states put in a mandate requiring increasing amounts of wind and solar power be incorporated into the energy mix the local utilities provided for their customers. It was expected that the RPS would become a much-admired garden with wind turbines blowing in the breeze and solar panels turning toward the sun like sunflowers.
      Instead, the RPS has been an expensive folly. Angering the ratepayers, electricity prices have gone up. Groups, like the American Bird Conservancy, have filed suit against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service because it allows bald and golden eagles to be chopped up by wind turbines without punishment to the operators. Industrial solar installations are in trouble due to the massive land use and literally frying birds that fly through the reflected sunlight. The mandates have created false markets and bred crony corruption that has the beneficiaries squawking when legislatures threaten to pull plans that have grown like kudzu. Yet, many states have now introduced legislation to trim, or uproot, the plans that sounded so good back in 2007. Read full column

Marita Noon: 2007–a great year for growing bad legislation like the ethanol mandate