Lack of imagination: a fatal flaw

Commentary - © 2014 Pat Temple - A lack of imagination can make life worse than death, in ways. And, sadly, the way human beings are made, they simply can't think ahead when it comes to certain specific areas. They're pretty good at laying out fields and irrigation systems. 

      They can picture a pecan farm twenty years in the future, and the way the house might look, with rich hardwood floors, high ceilings, and hand-created tile counter tops, but they are nearly hopeless at combating "common folklore" such as "the hook doesn't hurt the fish," despite the fact that the fish appears to be trying desperately to get off it.
     H. L. Mencken wrote, about 100 years ago, that people hadn't bathed until the last 75 years. He did that deliberately to see how many people would believe it. My father said he was thinking about that statement (and believing it) standing in front of a Roman bathtub in the Pliny Gardens in Florence, Italy. 

      He said the dichotomy almost did not occur to him. He was standing directly in front of proof that people bathed 2,000 years ago while thinking "I believe that people did not bathe until 75 years ago … and yet, here I am, standing in front of a bathtub that was hand-carved out of marble 2,000 years ago."

     It must have helped us survive, somehow, to have this ability to believe a certain set of facts that aren't facts at all, but it might not be so good for us as individuals. I know that for years the school system has said that children have to go to public schools "because they have to learn to get along with these people; they will be with them when they grow up." 

      It's not true. Getting along is among the most natural of any human qualities. Any two people sitting next to each other on an airplane can adjust to each other's differences in minutes, and find grounds for a first-rate conversation. Read full column

Lack of imagination: a fatal flaw

State sets aside money for special education dispute

The State Board of Finance has approved $26 million as a safety net if New Mexico loses a dispute with the federal government over special education funding. 

The board on Tuesday agreed to a transfer of the money from this year's budget accounts. The Legislature provided the money as part of a contingency plan for an ongoing fight over whether New Mexico met requirements for federal aid since 2010. 

Federal officials contend New Mexico has improperly trimmed state funding available for special education. The state disagrees.

 Deputy Public Education Secretary Paul Aguilar said up to $18 million could be needed if the federal government rules against the state for this year's budget.

 The board's bookkeeping move makes up to $26 million available if it's necessary when the dispute is resolved.

Information from The Associated Press. 

State sets aside money for special education dispute

State working to eliminate feral pigs

State and federal wildlife managers in New Mexico are making progress in their fight against feral pigs. 

They say they have eliminated the majority of invasive porkers from 10 counties and progress is being made in another seven counties where pigs have taken up residency. 

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Wildlife Service Division says federal hunters tracked down and eliminated about 700 pigs last year as part of a $1 million pilot project. Most of the work was done across New Mexico's eastern plains. 

Officials say most of the pigs removed were female, which should put a dent in the population's ability to multiple again.

 Officials will be targeting two counties in New Mexico's Bootheel region next. 

Information from The Associated Press. 

State working to eliminate feral pigs

Judge says Ruidoso can't ban negative opinions

Ruidoso Village Council

A federal judge has come down hard on Ruidoso officials who tried to ban residents from saying anything negative at council meetings. 

 U.S. District Judge James O. Browning issued an injunction Monday finding that the village of Ruidoso's rule or policy barring speakers from being critical is "an unconstitutional burden on free speech."

 Under the village rules, a speaker could praise personnel, staff or the village council, or could make a neutral comment, but could not voice criticism.

 In an 89-page opinion, Browning granted summary judgment to lawyer William Griffin, who sued after the council refused his request to speak at a meeting. Browning said limits can be placed on time and topic, but not on the speaker's opinion.

Judge says Ruidoso can't ban negative opinions

Rep. Garcia challenges primary election results

Mary Helen Garcia

Attorneys for the campaign of Rep. Mary Helen Garcia have formally a filed a motion challenging the results in the June Primary Election. 

Specifically, the attorneys cite irregularities in the signatures associated with absentee voting in the primary election for New Mexico House District 34. Rep. 

Garcia said. “The fact that Sunland Park has been marred by election fraud in the past, most recently in the 2013 municipal elections, and that the fact that similarities exist in this election, is more than a coincidence."

  Attorneys for Rep. Garcia submitted information by a forensic handwriting analyst, citing at least 17 cases of signatures not matching voter rolls. 

Third Judicial District Judge  Jim T. Martin set August 12 as the trial date for the election challenge. 

Information from The Associated Press. 

Rep. Garcia challenges primary election results

Photos show challenges battling Assayii Lake Fire

From KOB-TV.com - By: Elizabeth Reed, KOB.com - A new look at the Assayii Lake Fire shows what firefighters see and experience up close to the flames. Neil Damon, a crew boss with the Navajo Scouts, said they have been fighting the fire for more than a week. Damon took several pictures near the fire lines.
     At one point, he said the flames were so bad his crew had to back away. "When a fire blows up that basically just means that the fire takes off to a bigger extent, and our rule of fire: If the fire is more than four feet, higher than four feet, we can't fight it. It has to be four feet or less. If it's more than that, they just pull everyone off the line. These flames were from four feet to thirty feet," he said.
     Federal officials and a minority-owned medics group have also released photos from behind the fire line. Christina Nicole with Wilderness Medics captured a photo of firefighters hosing down fire fuels. She also shot a photo of a helicopter making water drops.
     Brandon Oberhardt with the U.S. Forest Service also snapped up-close photos of areas where the fire was low intensity. See more and the photos

Photos show challenges battling Assayii Lake Fire

Climate change–less of a scientific agenda and more of a political agenda

Commentary by Marita Noon - Those who don’t believe in climate change are “a threat to the future,” says the Washington Post in a June 14 article on President Obama’s commencement address for the University of California-Irvine. Regarding the speech, the Associated Press reported: “President Obama said denying climate change is like arguing the moon is made of cheese.” He declared: “Scientists have long established that the world needs to fight climate change.”
      The emphasis on a single government policy strays far from the flowery rhetoric found at the traditional graduation ceremony—especially in light of the timing. While the president was speaking, all of the progress made by America’s investment of blood and treasure in Iraq was under immediate threat. And, as I pointed out last week, what is taking place right now in Iraq has the potential of an imminent impact to our economic security. Instead of addressing the threat now, why is he talking about “a threat to the future” that might happen in the next 100 years?
     The answer, I believe, is found later in his comments. In his speech, Obama accused “some in Congress” of knowing that climate change is real, but refusing to admit it because they’ll “be run out of town by a radical fringe that thinks climate science is a liberal plot.”
     Perhaps he’s read a new book by a climatologist with more than forty years of experience in the discipline: The Deliberate Corruption of Climate Science by Tim Ball, PhD—which convincingly lays out the case for believing that the current climate change narrative is “a liberal plot.” (Read a review from Principia Scientific International.) In the preface, Ball states: “I’ve watched my chosen profession—climatology—get hijacked and exploited in service of a political agenda.” He indirectly calls the actions of the president and his environmental allies: “the greatest deception in history” and claims: “the extent of the damage has yet to be exposed and measured.” Read full column

Climate change–less of a scientific agenda and more of a political agenda

Asayii Fire 60 percent contained

From KRQE-TV.com - ALLUP, N.M. (KRQE) – Crews continue to make progress with the Asayii Fire burning in the Chuska Mountains near Gallup. On Sunday morning, officials reported the fire, which has burned more than 14,000 acres, is 60 percent contained.
     Nearly 600 personnel continue to fight the blaze which sparked Friday, June 13, when a man burned weeds in the area. On Sunday, crews planned to continue to improve and complete fire lines, and mop up the outside perimeter.
     Highway 134 and all areas to the north reopened around 8 a.m. Sunday, however, five access roads south of the highway remain closed.
     According to a news release, access to the east of Highway 491 will be open and specific ares to the west of Highway 491 will reopen, but the area around the fire remains closed. Officials released the following information:
     The public may enter the 6690 road south of Highway 134, but cannot travel west of the 708 road. They may travel back east to Highway 491 and also travel east of the 6690 road.
     The 705 and 714 roads are open to the beginning of the Ponderosa Pines, but not beyond. Firefighters are working in the area, so no further access will be allowed.
     The 691 road is open. The 701 road is open until it intersects the 720 road. At the intersection, travel is allowed south to the 703 road, but not west on the 720 road. Travel is prohibited west of the 701 road on the 703 road. The public can travel the loop back east to the 491 road. All roads east of these locations are open to homeowners only. More

Asayii Fire 60 percent contained

Swickard: Good teaching is rare in our schools

© 2014 Michael Swickard, Ph.D. The most important question in education: what is good teaching? Perhaps defining good teaching is impossible, but we know good teaching when we see it. On the other hand many celebrated teachers may not know how to teach but are great at educational politics.
       Example: what many “Good” teachers are good at is playing political games in their school. They know how to play the games and therefore their students get good scores on tests regardless of how the students get their scores or even if the scores reflect their student’s abilities.
     These “Good” teachers are high achievers who make their schools look good. They are given awards while other teachers go about the teaching with no hoopla at all. One of my former students went through the cumulative folders for her incoming class and found they were on grade level.
     But when the kids came into her class they had forgotten everything. She struggled all year. In March of that year the mystery was solved. She told me, “When I gave them the end of year tests they said, ‘Miss, aren't you going to give us the answers like the teacher did last year?’”
     The best way to get at great teaching is to say what it is not. First, it is not mean. There is a notion that rigor is good so the harder the teachers are on the students, the more the students will thank them in their prayers. Not so. It seems to me that some of the mean teachers are mentally unbalanced and prey upon students.
     A former student wrote that one of her kids came to school very sad. Her grandfather had died suddenly the day before. The class was scheduled for an accountability test that day. My former student contacted the office and said that this student could not take the test.
     The principal came fluttering into the classroom at the notion of a student not taking the test and said, “We need you to take this test.” The girl, with tears running down her face said, “My grandpa died yesterday.” The principal looked mad and said, “You have to take this test” and stomped off.
     My former student’s coworkers said she must sit the student with a test. Instead my former student took her student to the library and let her sit with the librarian and hold a stuffed toy. She did get in trouble.
     At the end of the year this former student quit education, saying she would not hurt children regardless of politics and pressures. It is best she left public education since there is no room in the field for someone who realizes a child who lost a loved one the day before is not in proper condition to do accountability tests.Read full column

Swickard: Good teaching is rare in our schools

More school districts raise concerns over new teacher evaluations

From KOB-TV.com - By: Kai Porter, KOB Eyewitness News 4 - More school districts are coming forward with concerns about the state's new teacher evaluation system, saying the results may not be entirely accurate.
     The Pojoaque, Los Alamos and Moriarty-Edgewood school districts testified before a legislative committee yesterday. The districts said they found dozens of data errors that resulted in some teachers getting lower scores than they deserved.
     We asked the superintendent of the Moriarty-Edgewood School District, Tom Sullivan, to grade the state's new teacher evaluation system. "I think it has potential,” he said. “As far as the kinks that need to be ironed out I wouldn't give it more than a C at this point."
     Sullivan said his district found data errors on 40 teacher evaluations the state released last month. That's 26 percent of his teachers. Initially, 86 percent of his teachers were rated “effective” or above, but after the data is corrected he thinks it’ll be more than 90 percent.
     “I think there were some hurt feelings and some professional harm done,” he said. So where did the data errors come from?
     “I think with the number of errors it's certainly fair to assume there were some at each end,” he said. “I don't know if trying to affix blame on whose end is very productive. I would just like an acknowledgement that it was premature to release data that hadn't been reviewed more thoroughly."
     The state wasn’t quick to point the finger either. "I don't think it's appropriate to say who's at fault,” said Hanna Skandera, Secretary of Education. “I will say the data comes from the districts and we look to them to get accurate data and the evaluations are dependent on accurate data from our districts."  More

More school districts raise concerns over new teacher evaluations