Day: April 17, 2012

Jared Miller: Student employee of the year

By: Steph Muha and Jyllian Roach, Staff Reporter and Managing Editor

Photo by: Scott M. Roberts

Liberal Arts major Jared Miller is the 2011-2012 Student Employee of the Year for going above and beyond in his job duties at the Student Services Center on Montoya campus, said CNM President Katharine Winograd.

In one occasion, a student having trouble with a medical condition came to Miller’s work area. Miller rushed off to find the items needed to care for the student, who was then able to return to class, said Winograd.

 “I just try to help people, it was nice to get recognized. I just wasn’t expecting it,” said Miller.

Miller was awarded a glass pin handcrafted by Marti Brittenham, director of the CNM health center; a Trapper Keeper filing system; and a $150 scholarship from former financial aid employee Rita Rivera. “Jared is always willing to help others and asks for nothing in return,” wrote Miller’s supervisor in the nomination letter.

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Art program move raises concerns among students

By: Carrie Ratkevich, Staff Reporter

Students have many concerns about the move of the art program from the portables on main campus to other locations on Main, Montoya and Westside cam­puses, said Art Studios Major and Art Club President Alexander Casper.

The situation has already caused some issues with registration because printmaking was moved to Westside and painting was moved to Montoya, said Casper. To make matters worse the classes were not listed correctly, so students were emailed and told to re-register, he said.

“The shuffling will be confusing for new student and annoying for current stu­dents,” said Casper.

The loss of some classes at Main has also caused stu­dents to miss out on some requirements, said Art Studios Major John Snee.

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Follow-up: Students contribute to summer term debate through survey

By: Carrie Ratkevich, Staff Reporter

 The lack of student voices over the length of the summer term has been an ongoing concern of the administration, but a survey offered through the MyCNM website has helped to reach more students on this topic, said Executive Assistant to the President Samantha Sengel.

Eighty-seven percent of students who took the online survey sent out earlier this month by the Executive Council of Students would be affected if the summer term were shortened, according to the survey results.

The survey, which focused on the issue of changing the summer schedule, gave three possible term length options: keeping the calendar the same, having the fall and spring terms remain the same with an eight week summer term or having three 15 week terms, said Sengel.

“We narrowed the options down to three to keep the survey user friendly,” said Sengel.

Opinions were split as to whether an eight week term would be better than the current 12 week term, accord­ing to the results.

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Letter to the Editor

In a recent Chronicle article on part-time faculty salaries, a CNM marketing and communications officer defended the current pay rate with the explanation that the rates are competi­tive with those offered by other com­munity colleges nationwide. The state­ment may be correct, but so what? That does not make the compensation rates fair, just or right.

The problem with inadequate part-time faculty salaries is a national one and is part of the trend that began decades ago, most notably in retail department stores, like Walmart, and in the fast-food industry with chains like McDonald’s. The goal was to reduce costs to become more “competi­tive,” i.e. more profitable, by reducing labor costs. The race to the bottom for cheap wages drove some businesses to relocate overseas. Where it wasn’t prac­tical to relocate, the number of full-time employees in domestic enterprises was reduced in favor of more part-time workers, who were typically paid less and less likely to receive benefits like health insurance and pensions. The trend that began in the private sector spilled over into public sector; institu­tions of higher education like CNM are no exception. The logic of reducing costs in the public sector was not to ensure profitably, but to realize sav­ings, in part, to offset reduced public and private support. The same down­ward trend in compensation in this corporate model excluded the salaries of the architects of cost-cutting, the top administrators or chief executive officers, who were typically rewarded, often ridiculously so, for eliminating jobs and/or reducing the salaries of their co-workers.

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Everyone makes a choice

By: Jyllian Roach, Managing Editor

A non-spoiler review of ‘The Cabin in the Woods’

The executives at Lionsgate films earned themselves a special place in movie heaven when they bought “The Cabin in the Woods” from MGM, saving it from a long life on a dusty shelf alongside other unreleased films.

The $30 million directo­rial debut of screenwriter Drew Goddard (“Cloverfield”) is a genre dissection that provides a unique twist on the classic “creepy house in the woods” film with clever sur­prises at every turn.

Co-written by Goddard and Joss Whedon (“Buffy the Vampire Slayer”, “Avengers”), the film opens on an immediate twist which is slowly explained over the course of the movie which moves along at a speedy but clear pace with the exception of the first 10 minutes, which are choppy and confusing.

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Art club provides resources for aspiring artists

By: Stefany Olivas, Staff Reporter

The mem­bers of the Art Club are developing many projects to expand membership and further strengthen the group, said Fine Arts Studio major and Art Club President Alexander Casper.

The group offers workshops and instruc­tional videos for painting with water colors and book making, he said.

“We want to let people know we’re here. We have a lot of resources to offer and we’re available for the members to utilize. We have the resources and you have the imagination. Let’s work together,” said Casper.

Students don’t have to be artists to join, and he said he wants to give all the members the opportu­nity to succeed.

The Art Club meets every Friday at noon. To join, students fill out a simple application and pay a fee of $5 for access to all activities and services for a lifelong membership, said Casper.

There are resources such as an art supply closet for members to use in the studio and a paper closet where they sell different kinds of paper at wholesale prices. These are avail­able anytime during studio hours, said Casper.

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Eee, this class is all cool, huh!

By: Stefany Olivas, Staff Reporter

Photo By: Jyllian Roach, Managing Editor

Linguistic anthropology with Shep Jenks

Liberal Arts major David Adcock said he recommends taking Language, Culture and the Human Animal with full-time instructor Shepherd Jenks.

“The thing I enjoy is he wants you to engage and talk to people about the subject matter. I’ve always had a profound interest in Anthropology, and particularly in lan­guage. He stokes that fire,” said Adcock.

Students are expected to do work outside of class, so when they arrive for the period, it is based mostly on discus­sions, and it is not “death by PowerPoint,” said Adcock.

Jenks said he occasionally invites guest speakers to the class, and last week he brought in Black Out Theatre troupe performer Lauren Poole, also known as Lynette from the viral internet video “Shit Burqueños say.”

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County to CNM: Environmental safety and health grads needed

By: Stefany Olivas, Staff Reporter

There is a demand for students with an associate degree in fields related to Environmental Safety and Health. They are likely to get a job, said Risk Management Director for Bernalillo County Government Joseph Crelier.

“We contacted CNM and offered to host interns to help promote the industry. A total of about ten interns were hosted,” said Crelier.

He said he was invited to a Governing Board meeting by CNM to provide input on the ES&H industry two years ago.

On August 9, 2011, Dean of the School of Math, Science and Engineering, Rich Calabro presented a resolution and stated that program review continued to show a trend of low graduates and poor job placement for degree holders, according to Governing Board meeting minutes.

A teach-out plan was to implemented and would be completed by the end of summer semester 2012, according to the minutes.

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Desert Dancers

By: Carrie Ratkevich, Staff Reporter

Former instructor teaches Middle Eastern dance

Belly dancing is more than a way to exercise, it is also a way to meet new people and be a part of something, said former CNM Instructor and profes­sional belly dancer Maria Chavez.

Anyone can learn how to belly dance regardless of age, sex, or body type, said Dancer Cynthia Florence.

“It is an accepting dance that is fun and good exercise,” said Florence.

Learning to dance takes a lot of practice and support from the belly dance community, said Theater major Lauren “Lorena” Martinez- Burr and Sonography major Kimberly Hawley who both learned to belly dance at CNM.

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