Of Pups and Men

The world changed for me the morning of September 11, 2001. I was grading papers as a teacher’s assistant in High School. I remember the class going over a chapter out of the text when the teacher next door burst into the room. “The World Trade Center has been hit by an airplane!” I didn’t know what to think. From then on he continued to give us the play by play as the horror unfolded. From that day on everything changed.

Fast forward 8 years. I find myself on the brink of commissioning in the United States Army. When I take the oath in May, the world will change for me yet again. I have worked hard to make it to this point. I remember coming into ROTC and not understanding anything of the way it works or even if I had what it takes to make it.

Being a cadet as well as a college student has a number of responsibilities both seen and unseen. Not only must one be able to successfully complete their degree program but must also meet the Army’s standards as well. Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday I have Physical Training. Every Thursday during the semester I have to show proficiency in warrior tasks such as First Aid and being able to lead my peers. My weekends are committed to the field training exercises, marksmanship training and fundraising. I remember jumping in the middle of it all and having to make a quick adjustment to a new lifestyle.

In the summer of 2007 I received indoctrination into the Army at Ft. Knox, KY. There I learned discipline and performing to the Army standard, not to mention being under the direct care of a drill sergeant was a real eye opener. I learned more about myself in the weeks there than any other time in my life. I came back to campus changed for the better. I understood what I was involved in and what it means to commit to the greater good, to be part of something greater than yourself. This past summer I was at the Leadership Development and Assessment Course in Ft. Lewis, WA. Here I hade to prove that I could lead others when morale was low and every conceivable thing went wrong. I have had to face my fears and take on challenges outside my comfort zone. Jumping off a high dive blindfolded in uniform with a rifle in to water, finding my way alone through the dark in the woods, and repelling from ridiculous heights. These real world situations force you to understand how your choices can mean the difference between life and death for others. Being a college student, I was never required to take such things into account before. Outside of being accountable for grades and staying out of trouble, I never had any other responsibilities. Now I carry the weight of college along with making these kinds of decisions soon. Not only will I have my own life, I will have the lives of others in my care as well. I have been through everything the Army has thrown at me and been deemed good enough to be an officer. This goal has been a long time in the making.

My father always told me: “Son, I want you to take the success I have had in this world and do better.” I knew there was only one way I could be the kind of man my father was. I had planned on enlisting after high school like he did and then going to college later. However, my father strongly encouraged me to go to college first before making any such commitments. I am glad I had listened to him. I feel as though I found a loophole with ROTC. The Army had offered a means of not just inculcating me with values and change but I knew it also offered a way to do better than my father had done. I choose to branch Medical Service Corps because I knew that with the right career choices it could carry me for the rest of my days and I would not have to worry about finding a job if I ever decided to retire from the Army. I also know that ultimately I can look back on my life when I am old and feel good about having committed it to saving lives.

Graduates Face a Struggling Job Market

This semester has been an exciting, yet nerve racking one for me. Exciting because I will be graduating this May, but nerve racking because of the scarceness of jobs and the struggling economy I will have to deal with, once I’m done. The fear of not finding a job after graduation is something that I, along with several other graduating seniors need to get around, by finding alternatives. However, since my degree is in print journalism and my minor in professional writing, the competition for me to find a job, seems even higher. In fact many of my professors have already begun offering us alternative opportunities, such as paid internships that could eventually lead to a full-time job.

However, although I agree that internships are a great experience, and sometimes do get students hired, lately it seems that most of the ones available are unpaid, because the companies can’t afford to pay them. Therefore, even though it might still be a good place to start, what about those students who need the money for rent, gas, food, and other expenses? How can they possibly make it on an unpaid internship without having to find another job on the side? Working multiple jobs is not an easy thing to do.

In my case, I decided to do some research and learn all my options and everything I could do with my degree, regardless if it fit into my original plan. I have talked to advisors, people already in the job market, and will also be going to talk to the career center here at UNM. In my opinion, doing all of these things will offer a wider perspective on things, and hopefully provide the encouragement needed.

With unemployment rates increasing, it is also a good idea to be aware of which states have more opportunities, and which ones have less. Especially for those students who are planning to live in another state. I’ve began to realize, that what this struggle in the job market really comes down to, is which career you’re actually going into. In other words, if you’re a doctor, a lawyer, a teacher, etc, there will always be more job openings. In fact with my degree, one of the alternatives that I have been looking into is to get my teaching license in secondary education and possibly help run a school paper.

Now don’t get me wrong, other careers also have opportunities open, however, they are naturally more competitive and therefore harder to get. Nevertheless, I’ve learned that there are always ways to overcome the weakness of the current job market, by simply having the determination to find alternatives and grabbing a hold of every opportunity available. It never hurts to have more then one plan, especially with an intimidating job market, and constant layoff announcements all over the news.

Some of the most productive things that I’ve learned to do before searching for a job is to make sure to have an updated resume and a portfolio of previous work. Some classes even make it mandatory to turn in a resume as an assignment, which is helpful because it allows students to get feedback. However, I would highly recommend to other students, who have not been required to turn one in, ask for feedback anyway. Most professors are willing to help in any way that they can. And it is crucial to make yourself look good to a potential employer, in any way possible. For example, if a student has their heart set on a particular job, contacting that company and showing persistence could pay off. Most of the time, starting off small and working your way up is another alternative in a struggling job market.

Through my experience, and finding ways to get around the job markets’ worst downfall, I have discovered that it is all the little things that make the difference. Being resourceful and finding information online, talking to people, applying for internships, learning about the economic status of the companies you’re interested in, and preparing your resume and portfolio, are all things that can help you find a job faster. With a competitive job market, students who are graduating this semester, including myself, need to be aggressive in achieving our goals. Having confidence is key to being successful, and right now graduating seniors’ need all the confidence we can get if we’re going to be successful in today’s working world.

food not bombs, under legal fire

The charity organization food not bombs has been at odds with local law enforcement and the New Mexico Environment Department because they refuse to stop serving free food without a food license. The group has been issued several warnings to stop serving food without a license in front of the UNM bookstore. This week food not bombs was informed by the New Mexico Environment Department that they would be liable for a $3000 fine and forceful removal by APD if they did not comply with their request to stop serving food. This seems like action to take towards a charity group that is only trying to help spread a message of sharing and good will.

So is the New Mexico Environment department justified in taking legal action against food not bombs? I would say that from a legal standpoint they do have enough cause to threaten food not bombs with legal retribution (after all, every food vendor is required to have a license to serve food) However perhaps the NMED should take a look at food not bombs background and use their good judgment to determine whether or not their food could pose a significant health threat. On the group’s blog, they state that they have been serving healthy vegetarian food to the public since 2005 and have never encountered any incidents of people becoming sick from their food. From my perspective this shows that the group is obviously responsible about serving food to the public. From this perspective, I don’t understand why the NMED would choose to legally threaten this responsible charity that has no record of food-related health problems, instead of monitoring restaurants that have been red flagged several times for sanitary issues. I also feel that these actions are rather tasteless, as state organization should make an effort to help charities instead of haggling them with legal procedures. (Unless of course, someone has been affected negatively by the charity.) In short, I feel that food not bombs is a responsible charity that is merely trying to spread the message of helping others in need, and local government should promote the persistence of these charitable groups, instead of treating them as a nuisance.

Support the home team!!!

Recently I have been atttending a lot of UNM's sporting events. While watching the games I have notice how many people show up to watch the events, and well its pathetic at how some of our supports have the support of everyone while others have very few fans.

We all know Football and Basketball are the big name sports and are the most popular. But after attending some baseball games, indoor track meets, and tennis matches it is apparent that these sports are hurting for support. Especially when these sports are very popular at the upper world class levels. UNM athletics is having a better than average year in almost every sport at the University but the number of fans turning out to watch is still very low.

The most surprising sport with a lack of a fan base too me is UNM Baseball. This is a sport that is an American past time, and the Lobos even get use the Isotopes park for their home games, which is arguably the best facility in the nation for baseball. The team is even off to a great start at 13 and 3. Tickets for baseball games are even very inexpensive at just five dollars a game.

Other sports are such as track and feild, tennis, soccer and even womens basketball are in the same situation. It is just pathetic to me that when our sports are playing really well in their respective conferences and also at the national level that fans are still not coming out to support the home team. If Albuquerque and the state of New Mexico wants to have a nationally recongized university for athletics than they need to start top show up to these event, games and match's to show they care!

Where Are All The Professors?

Over the past few years, the faculty to student ratio at the University of New Mexico has steadily decreased. As such, students are not receiving the highest quality education possible. UNM faculty members Eleni BastéA, Tim Lowrey and Edl Schamiloglu detailed the consequences of such shortages in the Albuquerque Journal’s Opinion columns. They note that their mission is to “provide New Mexicans with a first-rate, accessible education; quality classroom instruction and timely academic services and advisement…” This is a great goal; however, it is jeopardized by a lack of funding and resources. They also note how this lack of funding began long before the current economic crisis:

“Since the fall of 2007, months before the current state budget crisis developed, the central administration has withdrawn millions of dollars from the operating budgets of academic departments and programs on the main campus.”

They also mention that since 2001:

“Tuition for students on main campus has increased by more than 50 percent… and the Legislature has appropriated an additional 21.5 percent for the instructional and general funds. And yet, students now face larger classes, fewer student services and decreased campus employment opportunities, all of which takes a toll on student success.”

Today, KOAT 7 reported that applications for the fall 2008 semester at UNM had increased nearly 23 percent overall. Under normal circumstances these figures would be superb; however, under the current conditions they only make things appear bleaker. If it isn’t enough that UNM already suffers a lack of faculty it also must compete to keep faculty who are unhappy with the university. Although these are hard economic times there are still colleges out there who are willing and able to pay their instructors what they are worth. I have witnessed this with several of my professors during my time at UNM; they have interviewed with other universities willing to give them much more than UNM possibly will. (Luckily for me none of them decided to up and leave midway through the semester!)

If the past serves as any guide, UNM will continue to accept the majority of these students without thought to the disproportionate ratio of faculty to students it creates. Ever growing class sizes paired with faculty unrest do not aid in improving the quality of education at UNM in any way whatsoever. Although UNM President David Schmidly revealed plans to cut administrative costs and add 10 new full time faculty members over the next three years in late January, this course of action is simply a fraction of what needs to be done to fix the problem.

Throwing Schmidly to the Lobos

President David Schmidly appeared in front of UNM’s faculty on Feb. 25 (Ash Wednesday) facing numerous jeers, taunts, boos, and snide remarks. Is it just me or does the whole University community seem hell bent on crucifying Schmidly? Last time I checked it is 2009, not 1692. We’re in Albuquerque, New Mexico and not Salem, Massachusetts. You’d think it were a scene straight from the Salem Witch Trials…

In case you’ve been living under a rock recently, the University’s faculty voted no confidence in Schmidly (and President of the Board of Regents Jamie Koch and Executive Vice President for Administration David Harris… but this post will only focus on the ol’ Schmidmeister). It seems every day I pick up the Daily Lobo, there is some article by an up-and-coming journalism student who thinks they’ve written a Pulitzer prize-winning piece by interviewing someone at UNM who bitches and moans about something the prez has done wrong. Frankly, I’m tired of reading such rubbish. I am probably one of the rare few who won’t join the “burn-Schmidly-at-the-stakes” club.

With legislative budget cuts right around the corner, Schmidly is facing one of the biggest financial situations in UNM history. He’ll have to find some way to balance UNM’s budget without cutting jobs or raising tuition too much. Schmidly has said he does not want to cut necessary student services. In a time when the University community should be coming together to help in the budget-building process, it is instead being torn apart by incessant bickering and fighting. Some are even calling for President Schmidly’s resignation. To be perfectly honest, we are pretty lucky he hasn’t taken his $250,000 (or more?) golden parachute and said to hell with us all and let us figure it out on our own... remember Caldera?

That’s not to say Schmidly hasn’t made some mistakes along the way (like freezing faculty salaries, then realizing a few months later that maybe he should freeze administrative salaries, too). For crying out loud, the man is only human!! However, through everything, Schmidly has never stopped championing students. The President has spent numerous hours meeting with ASUNM and GPSA representatives, and he’s even attended ASUNM Senate meetings to get feedback on key issues affecting students. He can be regularly seen courtside cheering on our student-athletes, and he’s held numerous question-and-answer sessions and forums on a variety of topics. He even types a message every Monday morning to help keep EVERYONE in the UNM community connected. Bottom line: he’s trying.

Contrary to popular belief, the point of this post is not to defend President Schmidly or administrative actions. (Because I honestly don’t agree with some of things going on right now either). However, I do want to call attention to the domino effect—one person joins the “I Hate Schmidly” fan club, and soon everyone is hopping aboard the bandwagon. Maybe we shouldn't be so quick to throw stones and boo? After all, the economic down turn is not Schmidly’s fault. And—he’s not Harry Potter who can wave his magic wand and fix everything.

Schmidly has been here for a little more than a year, and he hasn’t yet had his chance to leave a mark on this University. Why don’t we shut up, stop complaining, and let the poor man do his job? Or, are we no better than the condemning fools who threw 'witches' into the river tied up and when they drowned, they weren't a 'witch'?

Albuquerque's Under 21 Population

With all of the talks lately on how to allocate billions of taxpayer dollars, isn’t it time that some of the local governmental agencies take some time to consider America’s youth? Specifically, the departments that deal with the under 21 population here in Albuquerque, New Mexico. One of the major concerns right now with our current economy is the lack of economic stimulation, thus furthering the contraction of the worlds, the nation’s and our local economy. Jobs must be created. So, let’s kill two birds with one stone. Let’s provide quality entertainment for Albuquerque’s youth while also providing good paying jobs for our city’s workforce. Locals are tired of hearing about major company’s lay-offs and Albuquerque’s youth has grown restless with not having anything to preoccupy their time; beyond the mundane of work and school. It’s not too long ago when I was under 21 and my friends and I would sit around bored out of our minds wondering what we could to do to amuse ourselves. Most of the time giving into the usual mind-numbing activities: video games, movie, going out to eat, bowling or going to a hookah lounge (which is not the best for one’s health).
So let’s combat the youth’s longing to be entertained and the current economic downturn. To aid in minimizing the amount of “boredom” suffered by local under-agers, I have sought the suggestions and ideas of several of my peers who are under 21 living in Albuquerque. Here is what we came up with:

Updating and renovating of Cliff’s Amusement Park. Several of the people I spoke with expressed that the facility is out-of-date and is “child-like.” There was also the suggestion that Cliffs consider offering a discounted rate, several nights a week to encourage Albuquerque’s youth to utilize their facility. It was also suggested that an entirely new facility be erected.

Organize music festivals that promote local bands and bring well known artists, popular amongst teens, to perform here in Albuquerque. These festivals will include outdoor games like paintball, mud wrestling tournaments, somo wrestling arena and beach volleyball courts. There will be a wide selection of food ranging from Dion’s and other popular local vendors and areas designated for outdoor picnics. These events can be hosted at Albuquerque’s very own Journal Pavilion or at The Balloon Fiesta Park.

Several under-age peers also encouraged the continuation and an increase in Albuquerque’s Movies in the Park to take advantage of Albuquerque’s inviting weather and warm summer nights. It is a great opportunity to provide all age groups with the ability to spend quality time with friends and/or family while enjoying the outdoors.

A trampoline facility similar to the one located in Las Vegas, Nevada, where patrons can jump on hundreds of square feet of trampolines, and enjoy a small selection of food and beverages. On occasion, also enjoy a FREE PIZZA NIGHT! This facility will also include a section customized for smaller children 10 and under.

Lastly, and the most radical of the proposed ideas, is the development of a Super Community Center. This community center will incorporate indoor and outdoor activities in one convenient location. Activities would include outdoor go-karting, in-door bowling, an indoor and outdoor swimming pool, paintball arena, rock climbing room, arcade, gym, basketball courts and movie theater. This facility will be accessible year round versus Cliff’s Amusement park, which is only available a few months a year.

The insatiable desire for teens to be entertained and the need for jobs can be achieved. By striving to create “fun” that encourages physical activity and the interaction with others in the same age group, can at least for a moment, solve the age old problem of “boredom.” The drive to meet the demand of Albuquerque’s youth will ultimately fuel all different forms of labor ranging from: construction to build the facilities, event planning, acquisition coordinating, food servers, maintenance (to maintain facilities and equipment), engineers (to handle the different types of technology that will be implemented in the new facilities) and alternative means of transportation, as many of the partakers will need a means to get to and from, for those that are not of age to drive.

Unnecessary fees at UNM

I believe there are unnecessary fees that UNM charges students for but I will only mention two, which consist of paying to print in Zimmerman Library and the parking meters. If someone is doing research in the library, the only way to print is to pay 10 cents per page to print. It is inconvenient for most students because many do not carry change. We all pay students fees for paper with in our tuition. Therefore, why do we have to pay for paper twice? We are encouraged to print at the library yet with these fees, it discourages many students. Much of library info is online therefore needs to be printed out. For newspaper articles, you have to pay to print which are very valuable for research papers. Yes, there are computer pods in the Dane Smith, the Sub and the engineering and science computer pod where students are not charged with these fees.

However, during certain hours of the day it is difficult to get a computer in one of those areas. This is because of the high volume of students during certain times of the day. You need either to go early or stand in line for a few minutes. There are other areas on campus were you can print but only if you are part of certain departments. For example, if you print in the Ortega building you cannot get what you printed until you can prove to them that you are a language student. In addition, the Political Science building their computer pod is locked and only individuals who are graduate students have permission to use them. The computer pods are for all students to use them but they are not available to all students. Perhaps UNM should invest in some more computers for students to use.

The parking structure was made primarily for students. Yet we are paying to park not to keep it maintained but to paying to use it. Also, parking meters on campus during Tuesday and Thursday classes students are only allowed to put coins in the meter to last for an hour. However, Tuesday and Thursday classes last for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Are we supposed to get out of class early to pay the parking meter more money? Even if its empty for 15 minutes and you show back up at your car there will be a ticket for 15 dollars and if not paid it keeps going up. Even though after certain hours students do not need to pay for meters, I believe there are more students on campus during the day versus the evening. We should be paying for a lot more important issues such as better security because there are quite a few thefts on campus.