Greenwood Named Lady Warriors Basketball Coach

By Nicky Romero
For the Mountain Mail

SOCORRO -- Marleen Greenwood, an assistant basketball coach at Socorro High School for 12 seasons, was promoted Wednesday to head coach.
The announcement was made Wednesday afternoon by Warriors Athletic Director Charlie Savedra.
“I believe in loyalty and she has paid her dues,” Savedra said. “We want to see some change and for her to do her own thing. Marleen was a good hire and she is a Lady Warrior. It is her turn. The community has to have confidence in their backing because she is one of our own.”
Greenwood replaces Joseph Garcia, who announced his retirement last month after serving for 20 years as head coach.
“I’m really excited,” Greenwood said. “It’s something working toward since I have been here. It is quite a privilege to play and now to be head coach here, not too many people get this kind of opportunity.
“I will try to keep the standards that have been set over the years.”
The Lady Warriors were 20-8 last season and graduated three seniors, including all-time leading scorer Roxanne Silva.
Greenwood beat out three other candidates for the job, including Magdalena girls coach Wally Sanchez, former Grants girls coach Joe Hernandez and Zimmerly physical education teacher Dennis Sanchez.
“Obviously, we’ve got a whole new type of personnel height wise,” Greenwood said. “We are now small. We will have to change things up a bit. Speed and quickness will be two of our strengths. Right now, we are all busy with basketball camps. We had one here, one in Gallup, one in Las Vegas and we are headed to Los Lunas next week.”
Greenwood also is the head volleyball coach, but said Wednesday that she is undecided on whether she will keep that position.
“We will have always had big crowds at the games and I hope the community keeps coming out to the games in support of the kids.”

Greenwood Named Lady Warriors Basketball Coach

County Amends Sun Zia Resolution

By John Severance

SOCORRO – Residents from eastern Socorro County were back in full force at the County Commission Tuesday night and their voices were heard loud and clear.
Through resident spokespersons Oliver (Sato) Lee and Sue Waid, they suggested to the commissioners that they amend their resolution regarding the proposed Sun Zia Transmission lines.
“We don’t want the line to cross the river in Socorro County at all,” Lee said.
And the commissioners agreed.
They amended their resolution to say the routing of the lines will result in less impact on the area’s economic, environmental and wildlife resources that would otherwise result from use by Sun Zia of any route across the Rio Grande River. Originally, the resolution went on to say at a point just north of US 380 and San Antonio.
Before the Sun Zia discussion, commissioner Danny Monette addressed the audience. “Sun Zia is working through BLM and we basically don’t have a say-so,” Monette said. “We have voiced our concerns but we all need to talk to BLM.”
County manager Delilah Walsh pointed out that only 17 percent of the land that Sun Zia wants to use is privately owned. “The rest is state land,” Walsh said.
Monette said the commission had three options.
They didn’t have to pass the resolution.
They could approve it as it was written.
Or they could approve it with the amendments they presented.
The commissioners voted to adopt the latter unanimously.
“Is this resolution going to make a difference?” commissioner R.J. Griego said. “Everybody who is here has to knock on BLM’s door because they are the ones who are making the decisions.”

In other business:
• The Commission appointed Zeke Armijo to the Workforce Investment Board and approved Tom Brown to serve on the DWI Council Board.
• The Commission also passed four resolutions that would pave the way for the county to apply for CDBG grant money from HUD.
•The Commission also approved a resolution regarding road signage maintenance.

County Amends Sun Zia Resolution

Fire Restrictions In Place For Cibola Forest

Mountain Mail reports

The Cibola National Forest, Magdalena Ranger District will implement fire restrictions starting Saturday, June 26 at 8 a.m. Cibola National Forest Supervisor Nancy Rose explained, "With the recent increase in temperatures, higher winds, continued dry conditions that are drying vegetation, the potential for Wildland fires has increased and we feel it is necessary to take these precautions.”
As always, fireworks are prohibited on all national forest system lands.
Beginning 8 a.m., Saturday, June 26, the following restrictions apply to the Magdalena Ranger District.

Open Campfire Restrictions:
• Campfires, charcoal grills and stove fires are prohibited on national forest lands except in Forest Service developed camp and picnic grounds where grills are provided.
Restrictions:
• Pressurized liquid or gas stoves, lanterns and heaters meeting safety specifications are allowed. Please contact the Cibola National Forest for more details regarding where fires are allowed.
• Smoking is allowed within an enclosed vehicle or building; a developed recreation site; or while stopped in an area at least three feet in diameter and free of all flammable material.

Please call for more information, Mark Chavez, Cibola National Forest Supervisor’s Office at 505-346-3900, or the Magdalena Ranger District Office at: 575-854-2281.
Additional fire information for the Southwest Area is available at http://gacc.nifc.gov/swcc/index.htm.

Fire Restrictions In Place For Cibola Forest

EDITORIAL: Legionnaires Outbreak Was Kept Under Wraps, Why?

By Gary Jaramillo
Publisher, Mountain Mail

How many people here in Socorro do you suppose would let others know if they knew about something that was dangerous and had the potential to hurt their friends and neighbors and might even have the possibility of hurting others across the country as well?
We would like to believe that everyone here in Socorro would immediately get the word out about something that could harm innocent others, right?
Maybe even kill them?
Just recently The Mountain Mail found out that there was a Legionnaires Disease Outbreak at the Best Western Hotel owned by Mayor Dr. Bhasker.
We found out totally by accident from someone who came across the story in an Arkansas newspaper while surfing the internet.
The publisher of the Nashville Leader in Arkansas and his daughter had made a trip to the Southwest and stayed at the hotel and they were contacted by their state health department. The publisher wrote about his experience in his newspaper.
Two customers of the Best Western owned by the Mayor contracted Legionella, the bacteria that causes Legionnaires Disease, in the spa area of the hotel.
Apparently they were part of one of the first responder classes who stay exclusively at the Mayor’s hotel year ‘round.
We were shocked that not even one of the many media sources in New Mexico were contacted by the Mayor (who is also a doctor) and told about this very serious situation.
We can’t explain why the State Environmental Department wouldn’t warn anyone about something that has the potential to be quite deadly and devastating if not contained.
You’d think both a medical doctor and our state health department would at least seem just a tiny bit more concerned and a lot less apathetic about the possibility of this becoming a catastrophic event.
It’s aggravating as hell that something this important was kept under wraps and no one in our town would have known about it at all had both our Mayor and local doctor and the health department had it their way.
Yes sir, aggravating as hell.

Opinion Page Policy

The Mountain Mail Opinion Page is meant to be a forum for a diverse range of opinions. And the letters that appear in the Mountain Mail do not necessairly represent the views of the newspaper.
The Mountain Mail encourages signed letters to the editor or guest columns.
Anonymous letters will not be considered for publication, a telephone number is required for conformation.
Please limit the letters to 500 words and all letters will be edited for grammar, spelling and libel.
Letters can be sent to PO Box 62, Socorro, NM, 87801 or emailed to Editor@ourmountainmail.com or faxed to 575-838-2808.

EDITORIAL: Legionnaires Outbreak Was Kept Under Wraps, Why?

OPINION: Hunky Dory’s Curious Voyage

Magdalena Potluck
By Don Wiltshire

Denise Fort, Professor of Law at UNM, delivered a talk a week ago last Wednesday at the Magdalena Public Library’s reading program on “Water.” She informed us, in no uncertain terms, that everything is not “Hunky-Dory.” (A curious term, the origins of which I’ll explain at a later date . . . also the punch line of a very long, very bad joke told to me by a co-worker.)
The long, convoluted history of water law in the Southwest has left us with the current opinion that water is a “commodity.” It will be supplied to the highest bidder. Bad news for us.
There is no current set of laws, “on the books,” that forbids this type of insane “water mining.” The entire matter of the San Augustin Ranch LLC’s “water-grab” application has been left to the discretion of the State Engineer, a State Governor’s appointee. Let’s try to pin down the Governor candidates’ positions on this situation.
The red water jug protest art is coming together. For our Old Timer’s Celebration, we could pass those red jugs down the parade route to let the candidates on their floats know that we are serious about this matter. Another concept is to construct a cube using 555 jugs, representing the amount of water that would be removed from our common aquifer in one second. It would be 4 feet square and 7 ½ feet tall. This would be impressive, but not frighteningly so. A much more impressive display would be the “one minute removal” rate: 16 feet square and over 27 feet tall, representing 33,295 gallons!
The hourly rate of withdrawal would be represented by a line of water jugs (6" square) set side by side from Datil to the Litigation Unit of the State Engineer’s Office in Santa Fe. The daily rate of withdrawal would be represented by a line of jugs set side by side from Juneau, Alaska to Miami, Florida. Now we’re getting into Christo-type projects!
Now let’s consider the proposed yearly withdrawal rate as set forth by the San Augustin Ranch LLC. It amounts to gallon jugs (painted red of course), laid side-by-side, encircling the earth 66 ½ times.
Having trouble picturing us painting all of those jugs red? Consider instead, a shimmering cube of water, 1,327 ½ feet (about 1/4 mile) in all directions. Just how many of those beautiful cubes of water do you suppose can be removed from our aquifer before we begin to feel the effects? It wouldn’t be long before we all look as helpless and pathetic as those oiled pelicans on the Gulf Coast: just more casualties of “business as usual.”
If you thought of leaving the ranch, the old homestead or parts of our Village to your children or grandchildren, forget it! This area would turn into a desolate wasteland, populated only by the “pumpers” at the SA Ranch and a few struggling workers at the VLA, trying to keep their radio dishes upright.
It’s the least we can do, to clearly illustrate the staggering amount of water that this proposal suggests. So keep saving those plastic gallon jugs; rinse them out and if you can’t rouse us at 405 Pine Street in Magdalena, chuck them over our fence or gate. We’ll paint them red as fast as we can.
On a lighter note, the 3rd Water Program at the Magdalena Public Library is scheduled for Wednesday, June 30 at 7 pm. It will feature Ian Jenness, speaking about his trials and successes at rainwater collection in Magdalena. This is a positive, proactive technique that we can adopt or at least think about in the face of losing our current access to water. Bring your questions, experiences or alternatives to this age-old technique of survival.
This just in: the Hunky-“Dory” has been redeployed to the Gulf to help lay oil-boom. It’s got its work cut out for it! The latest estimate of the volume of oil that has been released into the Gulf since April is over 100 million gallons! That is over 307 acre feet of oil!
BP has been frantically spraying highly toxic “dispersants” into the oil-gusher. This of course doesn’t make the oil “go away” (as they would have us think), it merely brakes up the oil into smaller droplets so that it doesn’t seem like so much.
If you were a fish, which would you rather contend with? One large blob of oil that you could perhaps avoid or billions of tiny droplets mixed with more than one million gallons of the Neurotoxin Pesticide, Corexit?

If you have any comments, problems, solutions, upcoming events, spare oil-boom, or Empty Milk Jugs, contact me at mtn_don@yahoo.com.

OPINION: Hunky Dory’s Curious Voyage

OPINION: Republican Spinmeisters Working Overtime on Deficit Lies

The Pencil Warrior
By Dave Wheelock

Eight years of Republican Congressional and White House control witnessed tax cuts for high earners at the same time that two wars, estimated by Nobel economist Joseph Stiglitz to cost over a trillion dollars, were opened. Taxes owed by huge corporations often went uncollected, and offshore tax havens thrived. A lax attitude toward the activities of Wall Street dreamers and schemers finally brought about the collapse of the Ponzi scheme erected at the heart of the world economy.
During the Bush Jr. years, the Grand Old Party set the table for an inevitable and unhappy reckoning with the forces of reality, which (should have) profoundly damaged their own credibility. Now, as the Party of No (Fiscal Responsibility) turns to a new mantra of “spending cuts to reduce budget deficits,” their breathtaking level of hypocrisy is on full public display.
If not for a stunning level of national forgetfulness supported by a failure of corporate media to point out fundamentally inconvenient truths, the simplistic “conservative” argument about deficits would be dead on arrival. But more important than who first kicked the deficit snowball down the hill (remember the tax cuts and unprecedented spending of self-proclaimed “war president” George W. Bush? Whose administration came up with the big bank bailout?) is the current need of our job-starved economy for some serious deficit spending.
Real economists agree the number one emergency and therefore priority today is JOBS, NOT DEFICITS. It shouldn’t take a degree in economics to imagine the long term effects of massive unemployment. In the words of Economic Policy Institute President Lawrence Mishel in testimony before the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on June 10, 2010: “When jobless workers exhaust their unemployment compensation, who will pay their rent or pay off their mortgages?” A high rate of long term unemployment is the real-world version of dominoes - as unemployment benefits run out, demand for products and services falls further, and more and more workers are laid off. In time the entire society must suffer.
But don’t take my word for it; see what some economists long considered to be “budget hawks,” have to say.
“It’s understandable to run deficits when you have a recession, a depression, or unprecedented . . . crises that we’ve had.” - David Walker, CEO of the ultra-conservative Peterson Foundation.
“It is a textbook principle of prudent fiscal policy that deficits are an appropriate response in times of war and recession.” – Greg Mankiw, former chair of Pres. George W. Bush’s Council of Economic Advisers.
The shrill and misleading calls for deficit reduction currently reverberating throughout the Republican echo chamber deceitfully equates national deficits with household spending. “What happens if a family spends more than they can afford?” the baited line is often set out. But spending more than they have is exactly what families do when they borrow to buy a car, or a house, or any other significant and worthwhile purpose. Why should government somehow be prevented from doing the same, especially when spending adjustments can - and routinely are - made further down the road?
The other red herring routinely regurgitated by Republicans hoping to gain a semblance of relevance for themselves is the bromide about “financial burdens upon our grandchildren.” But government debts are engineered through bonds, which means when payments are eventually paid on those bonds, the money comes back to the bond holders – a net gain to the economy, not the loss the voodoo economists would have us fear.
The outrageous truth is the Republicans consciously offer this tripe to benefit their base (which ominously has become that of the Democrats as well). Even though up to 74 percent of voters place more importance on continuing unemployment benefits and health coverage than on deficit reduction (The Nation magazine, 6/29/10), President Obama’s newly appointed “bipartisan deficit commission” may represent a real threat to Social Security if an obliging corporate media can stir up enough fear.
If the Republicans win, their corporate buddies will be thrown the prize they’ve always longed for – control over our Social Security funds.
We should consult relevant economists as we sit down to map our future, not the same Republican idealogues whose top-down theories have brought agony to so many.
EPI’s Mishel and many others are now urging we make a strong policy response to address the requirement of job creation, on the magnitude of New Deal measures that prevented the Great Depression from becoming a bigger disaster than it was.
An extension to the unemployment and health assistance extended to jobless Americans though the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 is a must to prevent conditions from deteriorating, but does not in itself address the root problem.
We must have the courage shown by an earlier generation of Americans if we are to escape a deepening chasm of nationwide poverty and hopelessness.

Dave Wheelock, a member of the Oneida Nation, is a collegiate sports administrator and coach. His history degree is from the University of New Mexico . Reach him at davewheelock@yahoo.com. Mr. Wheelock's views do not necessarily represent those of the Mountain Mail.

OPINION: Republican Spinmeisters Working Overtime on Deficit Lies

LETTER: Tobacco Control

To the Editor
This month is the one-year anniversary of the Family Smoking Prevention & Tobacco Control Act that was signed into law on June 22, 2009. The new law gives the U.S. Food and Drug Administration authority to regulate the manufacturing, marketing and sale of tobacco products.
Tobacco companies are now required to provide larger, more visible, and more informative health warning labels, including color and graphics, on tobacco product packages and requires larger, more visible, and more informative health warning labels on advertisements. Smokeless tobacco warnings now must cover 30 percent of the two principal display panels of each package.
According to the New Mexico Department of Health 2007 Youth Risk and Resiliency survey, Socorro youth use smokeless tobacco at the rate of 17.3% compared to the state percentage rate of 11.8%. In the 2007 YRRS, a current smokeless tobacco user is defined as a youth in grades 9-12 in a public school who reports having used chew, snuff, or dip on one or more days in the past month.
Nationwide, tobacco use kills more than 400,000 people and costs nearly $100 billion in health care bills each year. Until June, 2009 tobacco products were virtually unregulated to protect consumers' health (Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids).
If you have questions regarding the Family Smoking Prevention & Tobacco Control Act or would like information about the NM Department of Health’s 1-800 QUIT NOW toll-free quit line, please call Socorro General Hospital’s Healthy Family Initiative at 575-835-8707. Thank You.

Laura Fazio
Tobacco Prevention Program Coordinator
Socorro

LETTER: Tobacco Control

LETTER: Elfego Baca Shoot-Out

To the editor
Russ Moore wondered what was going on when two people from North Dakota signed up to participate in the “notorious” Effego Baca Shootout. My brother-in-law Frank Myer (as I reminded him a bit past prime for the Shootout) and nephew, Loren Olson, had talked about participating for a number of months.
When they arrived and looked up at M Mountain both wondered about their joint sanity. Both men were mindful of the difficulty of golf from the rugged trek.
At the EMRTC morning organization gathering assistants were assigned to both men. While it was not apparent correct assessments were made as to what help both individuals might need as they trekked down M Mountain.
At one point I overheard someone from the ground group commenting on his cell phone that “the old guy is slow but he would be alright.” And Yes, thanks to members of the Socorro Search and Rescue team, Frank definitely was.
And finally, both men were astonished with the support and care provided by the EMRTC team, Socorro Search and Rescue, all assistants and the New Mexico Tech Golf Course personnel. They hold great memories from a walk of a lifetime.
So thanks Socorro for the exceptional hospitality provided to two visitors.

Andrea Blodgett
Lemitar

LETTER: Elfego Baca Shoot-Out

LETTER: On Immigration

Dear Mr. Jack Fairweather,
My question to you is have you ever read Senate Bill 1070? I gather from what you wrote in the June 117, 2010 Mountain Mail, you have no clue on how illegal immigration affects the U.S. Taxpayer. Here are a few immigration solutions for you to think about.
Why doesn’t the president invite all illegal aliens to the White House? That way he can keep track and know where they all are? Also, the Phoenix Suns NBA basketball team players AKA “Los Suns” need to fork the bill for all these people illegal in our country. Provide them housing, food and health insurance. Or best yet take all illegal aliens to your house and their babies.
The biggest problem is that all liberals that use and manipulate our U.S. Constitution to make it seem that entering our country illegal is OK. Why should we treat illegal aliens different who choose to enter our contry then have children and expect to have the rights that U.S. citizens do.
You really need to read the constitution again and read where it states that illegal aliens can enter the USA illegal and have children here for the purpose for the illegal parents to become U.S. citizens. Mr. Fairweather, are you aware that there is a process to enter our country legally? My wife came to our country legal and I am her sponsor, After almost two years, she will receive her green card.
Before she entered the U.S.A., I had to sign papers and give my oath that she will not become a public burden or charge to the U.S. Government.
So what gives all the illegals from Mexico the right to drain all our resources that were meant to help all our fellow Americans or persons who wish to enter the U.S.A. legally. When illegal aliens enter the USA and make children here, do you think that they are respecting our laws? Instead they are making babies and taking advantage of all of our rights and benefits which only citizens of the U.S. are entitled to.
Read how Mexico deals with the people that enter Mexico illegal!

Randy Peralta
Lemitar

LETTER: On Immigration

AG: Tech Violated Open Meetings Act

Mountain Mail Reports

The New Mexico State Attorney General’s Office has notified the New Mexico Tech Board of Regents that it has violated the Open Meetings Act.
In a letter addressed to Tech Regents attorney Mark K. Adams, the AG Office concluded the board violated rules concerning telephone meetings, going into closed sessions, approval of minutes and the emergency nature of meetings.
The AG office received a letter of complaint from Richard “Arf” Epstein of Socorro.
In 2008, the Regents held three meetings when in June four regents took part by telephone and three took part in July and December meetings. The AG office gave the Regents the benefit of the doubt but warned that “participation by telephone should occur only when circumstances beyond the member’s control would make attendance in person extremely burdensome.”
Epstein’s second complaint centered on the Board’s motion to go into closed session at an Aug. 2, 2008 meeting “For consideration of legal and personnel matters.”
The OMA requires that when a public body intends to close a public meeting “the authority for the closure and the subject to be discussed shall be stated with reasonable specifity in the motion calling for the vote on a closed meeting.” The AG Office believes the minutes recorded for that meeting do not adequately meet that standard. According to the minutes, the letter said, “We strongly caution the Board that it must meet the reasonable specifity requirement whenever the Board wishes to go into closed session under any exception provided by the OMA.”
Epstein’s third complaint concerns the failure of the Board to approve the May 16, 2008 minutes at the June 9 or July 3 meetings. The OMA requires a public body to approve, disapprove or amend the minutes of a meeting at the next meeting where a quorum is present. Since the Regents failed to approve the minutes at the next minutes, that constituted a violation. But since the minutes of the May meeting were finally approved in August, that cured the violation. The letter from Martha Daly, assistant attorney general, said, “we strongly caution the Board to comply with this and all other requirements of the OMA.”
The fourth complaint is about not enough sufficient notice given to two 2008 meetings on June 8 and July 3. The office said actions taken at those meetings are not valid.
“We here advise the Board to begin again, and to consider the items acted upon at the June 9 and July 3 meetings by rediscussing and voting again on those items at a properly noticed open meeting after listing those items on the meeting agenda.
“If the Board takes these steps, we will not take further action on these particular matters. We ask that the Board send us a copy of the agenda and minutes of the meeting at which such corrective action is taken with the next 90 days.”
During Farmer’s Market last week on the Plaza, Epstein said he was satisfied with the AG’s findings.
"After this and the judicial rebuke to Tech for withholding documents under the Inspection of Public Records Act last year, let's hope that Tech will be run in regard to how our community's right to know how their decisions are made," he said.

AG: Tech Violated Open Meetings Act