The Biking Coop

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Story and Photos by

Mark Graven

Staff Reporter

Folks are pedaling bikes more during the Covid-19 shutdown, but the Bike Coop, a long-time CNM neighbor, is peddling very few bikes according to Coop owner Greg Overman.

The Coop, at 120 Yale Boulevard, is selling few bikes these days, because there are hardly any bikes to be had, Overman related in a recent interview at his store.

Instead bikers are digging old bikes out of their attics and basements to be fixed, which means Overman, 67, and his staff are extremely busy.

Greg Overman in his office at the Bike Coop.

“We’re three weeks behind,” said Overton, as he looked over his shop crammed with hundreds of used bikes.

Past riders are embracing biking anew because they don’t like being cooped up inside with the Covid restrictions in place, and they are reluctant to take mass transit, according to Overman.

“Biking has built in social distancing,” noted Overton, adding that biking is generally a good thing anyway.  “It keeps you younger, and healthier, and it is the best shrink you’ll ever see.”

Overton said he usually rides a minimum of four miles each day, by just going to and from work, on his custom-built Dave Salinas frame bike.

Salinas is a local frame builder who used to work at the Bike Coop, Overman said.

Greg Overman in his office at the Bike Coop.

Overman bought the Bike Coop in 1998, after working at the store for six years at its original location on Central where it had started out as the Bike Cooperative in 1977.

Overman said that moving the Bike Coop to its present location on Yale Boulevard in 2012  brought in “a lot more student customers, both from CNM and UNM, but that when school is out the student business declines noticeably,” which has been true during the Covid shutdowns.

Bike sales are sensitive to national economic trends, according to Overman.

Basic new bikes are hard to get because of the Covid lockdown and the tariff wars with China, Overman said.

The bike Coop is swamped with bike to repair because of a Covid Crunch.

Supply lines have been disrupted so that the basic 300-to-500 dollar bike is non-existent, said Overman, adding that high-end bikes “over a thousand dollars”  are still obtainable.

The Bike Coop usually does a brisk business in consignment bikes, but those sold out early in the Covid challenge, said Overman.

The bike Coop is swamped with bike to repair because of a Covid Crunch.

Overman compared the shortage of bikes to sell to “a coffee shop not having any coffee to sell.”

That still leaves repairs, but repairs are not particularly lucrative, especially when they involve changing out a tube for a flat tire, according to Overman.

“That’a just 25 dollars per wheel,” noted Overman.

The Bike Shop on Yale Boulevard.

Overman said that non-availability of parts can be a problem with repairs as well.

“Rubber is in short supply,” he said.

All in all, Overman said he would rather be selling bikes than fixing them, but he still enjoys what he does.

Overman said he is making no predictions as to how long the period of intense repairs and low sales will last because there are too many variables. But he thinks the Covid experience may portend well for biking over the long haul, with bikers rediscovering the sport’s benefits.

“Sometimes people lose their driver’s license with a DUI, so they take up biking,” said Overman. “And sometimes they keep biking after they get their license back, because they notice the health benefits and the money they save.”

Roosevelt Park

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Story and Photos by

Mark Graven

Staff Reporter

Roosevelt Park, 14 acres of undulating greenery abutting the western edge of CNM’a Main Campus, provides a convenient place  for students to relax, according to park users.

Aaron Reynolds, a prospective Computer Science major at CNM, plays disc golf at historic Roosevelt Park, which abuts the western side of CNM’ Main Campus

Aaron Reynolds, 36, of Rio Rancho, is slated to enter CNM’s Computer Science program in the fall. He said he had come to Roosevelt Park to play the 18-hole disc golf course on a recent weekday afternoon.

“It is beautiful with all the trees,” observed Reynolds. “A lot of disc courses in the area are like dessert, with no trees or shrubs.”

Reynolds said he also likes the varied landscape of the park’s hills and undulations.

Reynolds said he discovered the park when researching the possibility of attending CNM after the University of New Mexico told him that that would be his best first step.

A native of Racine, Wisconsin, Reynolds said he came to the Southwest after being recruited into the U.S. Army by his brother.

Reynolds said he spent 7 years at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas, before moving to Albuquerque.

He and his wife have two children with another on the way, he said.

Reynolds said he is currently driving a truck, but by getting his Associates Degree in Computer Science at CNM, he is hopeful of obtaining a 9-to-5 job in “an air-conditioned office”.

Basket for Hole #1 @ the disc golf course at Roosevelt Park. Playground is visible in background.

The park, with its playground, jogging path, picnic tables, and disc golf course, could then provide a good way for him and his family to stay in touch with nature. He said he would be coming to the park, regardless of which CNM’s campuses he attends.

Reynolds said he likes the weather in Albuquerque, especially when compared to Wisconsin, explaining, “I just don’t like cold weather.”

He feels a certain kind of freedom with the disc course at Roosevelt Park, especially when the course is not busy.

“You don’t have to play the holes in in order,” he noted. “You can just pick a hole and go.”

Gabriel Sedillo, 20, a former CNM student, was at the park recently to relax by playing his guitar.

Sedillo said he got in the habit of coming to Roosevelt Park as a youngster with his father, who lived near the CNM campus, but has since passed away.

“I come to the park to reminisce and play music,” Sedillo said.

Picnicking possibilities at Roosevelt Park.

Sedillo said he took classes online at CNM while going to high school at Albuquerque Talent Academy.

The classes were in Financial Literacy and were “a bit challenging,” he said, because he was not used to the online format.

Sedillo said he is currently working at a Panera restaurant and finishing up his GED.

Even though he lives in Southwest Albuquerque he does not mind taking the time to come to the park.

“This park is a good place to get stuff off my mind,” said Sedillo. “It is therapy.”

As a final thought about the on-going allure of Roosevelt Park, Sedillo offered: “I just like the way the light comes off the green land.”

The Victory Garden

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Story and Photos by E.C. McRoy, Managing Editor

The term Victory Garden was first coined by George Washington Carver, a means of encouraging those at home to feel as though they were contributing to the war effort, said Andrews.

Not unlike the current pandemic, people during the world wars who couldn’t participate as soldiers were left at home with a sense of “what can we do?” said Andrews.

Andrews said Victory Gardens allowed those at home affected by the war—or in this case, the pandemic—to have a sense of agency and the ability to contribute to the war effort.

Victory Gardens served a practical purpose, said Andrews, to encourage homefront participation as well as providing needed food sources that wouldn’t be diverted from the war, however, the gardens also served to illustrate the civil issues in the U.S.

“During segregation, there would be different prizes for the African-Americans,” said Andrews on growing and gardening competitions.

This is particularly acute given today’s political climate with Black Lives Matter protests going on across the country.

Agencies were created and paid for by the government to create interest in gardening, encouraged by everything from posters to radio announcements about the “gardening, v for victory movement”, said Andrews.

There isn’t propaganda for Victory Gardens anymore, said Andrews, but in a time when people are encouraged to stay home, home-gardening isn’t a bad option.

There is a natural inclination to participate in cooperative plans and gardening encourages these human tendencies, such as in communal gardening.

“In some ways, it’s inspiring to think about Victory Gardens in both world wars in other ways it’s kind of disheartening that the industrial revolution and this shift in humanity from being … an agricultural race to … the urban working class and the communal aspects of humanity were shed in favor of a tremendously competitive one so in both world wars this local communalism … literally has to be encouraged and inspired and directed by government,” said Andrews.

“I’ve always considered the VG movement to be both inspiring but also disheartening because it shows the real impact of unchecked, unrestrained capitalism on human nature,” said Andrews.

Andrews suggested that the organic food movement may have revitalized the interest in local produce production, community gardens, and things similar to Victory Gardens.

“We walked back out of the mentality of the ‘60s that communalism was something only the radicals and extremists did,” said Andrews.

Organic produce tends to be more expensive due to the individual work involved with cultivating the produce, said Andrews, which initially caused grumblings about the cost.

Those interested in attempting their own home gardens might look at beets, cabbage, peas, and kale, crops which are easier to grow even in sectioned, smaller areas.

“Beets were common, cabbage was common, potatoes extremely easy to grow and took almost no agricultural or horticultural skill at all,” said Andrews.

Andrews used to be an organic grower in the nineties before becoming a history professor at CNM and although he feels that intellectually, he has made the correct choice to become a professor, he also wonders about what might have happened had he chosen to stay with the organic growers movement.

Who Was Joseph M. Montoya (Montoya Campus)

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Story and Photos

By Mark Graven, Staff Reporter

The Joseph M. Montoya Campus of CNM, nestled in the foothills of the Sandia mountains, is quiet these days, which is probably not the way its namesake, Senator Joseph Montoya (1915-1978), would like it, said his daughter, Lynda Montoya Haran.

Of all the issues he worked on, education was his number one priority, said Haran, now in her seventies, interviewed by the CNM Chronicle via phone from her home in Basking Ridge, New Jersey.

“My father viewed education as a pathway from a bad life to a good life,” said Haran. “And he believed that everybody, whether they be in a profession, or a trade, should have the opportunity to get an education.”

CNM’s Joseph M. Montoya Campus-Stairway to a hands on education.

She noted that her father was a sponsor of legislation that strengthened vocational education in the United States, through the Community College system, and provided a means of accreditation for such schools. 

Haran said her father was a strong consumer safety advocate, who would undoubted be concerned about the health and safety of students as they pursue their education.

In fact, she said, her father and then Senator, (and later Vice -President) Walter F. Mondale of Minnesota were the chief advocates of the Wholesome Meat in 1967 that gave the Federal government the authority to regulate state meat processing facilities under federal guidelines to protect consumers.

Haran called the Montoya campus–located off Morris Avenue in Northeast Albuquerque, which opened in September of 1979– a “very fitting” memorial to her father, who grew up poor and advanced through education.

“He knew at the age of 10 or 11 that he wanted to go into politics,” she said.  “A graduate of Bernalillo High School, Montoya went on to receive a bachelor’s degree from Regis college in Denver, and a law degree from Georgetown University in Washington.

It was during a summer off from law school that Montoya returned to New Mexico to run for seat in the State House of Representatives.  He won, but had to wait until he turned 21, to be sworn in, according to Haran, adding he was the youngest to serve in that post—which became a pattern in his career.

He was also the youngest to serve as a State Senator, in 1946, and as Lieutenant Governor in 1947, she said. Montoya was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1957 and moved up to the U.S. Senate in 1964, where he served until 1977. Part of his tenure involved serving on the Senate Watergate Committee, in another turbulent time for the country.

Montoya lost a bid for re-election in 1976 even though he was slated to become Chairman of the Appropriations Committee, Haran said.

He died of kidney and liver problems at the age of 62, in June of 1978, so he was not able to see the opening of the campus named in his honor in 1979.

It was as a member of the House, that Montoya co-sponsored the Vocational Education Act of 1963, which gave a big boost to accredited education in trades with funding for programs  (including work-study) and facilities, and boosted the prospects for community colleges generally, according to Haran.

Haran said the beauty of the facilities and grounds at the Montoya campus impressed her, when she attended the 25th anniversary of opening of the campus in 2004.

“BEAUTIFUL” BACKDROP– For  CNM’s Joseph  M. Montoya Campus– the Sandia Mountains

The Montoya campus features courses in business, computers, cosmetology, and dental, and hosts an art studio, and chemistry lab, among other things.

During the challenge of the Coronavirus, the campus has been largely dormant, except for maintenance activities.

“It is a beautiful campus,” noted Haran. “I want to see it again, and this time bring my son.

Haran said she herself graduated from Trinity Washington University, in Washington, D.C., after which she became an assistant editor at Look Magazine’s Washington Bureau.

Haran said that one of the highlights of her days in Washington was attending a barbecue at the office of Senator Robert Kennedy.

“My Dad and Senator Kennedy were in the same freshmen class of the Senate (1964). Senator Kennedy,” she said, “invited all the kids from the senators of that class to the barbecue. They cooked the hamburgers in the fireplace Bobby had in his office, Haran recalled.”

It was just a little more than a year earlier that a young Haran had been one of the mourners who filed past the casket of the slain President John F. Kennedy, in the U.S. capital rotunda–a reminder that the nation has been through bad times before and gotten through them.

“Hopefully, we can get through these horrible times, and move forward,” said Haran.

Virtual Graduation: A Success, Learning Experience For All Involved

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by Enjoly Gutierrez

Staff Reporter 

CNM conducted its first-ever on-line virtual graduation on May 2nd, said Dean of Students, Christopher Cavazos, 

There were 611 students that registered for CNM virtual graduation that consisted of 5 videos that students would click through with different speakers including Vice President of Student Services Eugene Padilla, President of ECOS Angel Garcia and CNM President Tracy Hartzler, he said.

Below the video there was a presentation of the names of students that had graduated that could be clicked through, he said.

“I think it went well despite the fact that we had little time to put everything together,” Cavazos said.

General Business Certificate Graduate, Downa Preston, said, The presentation would have been a lot easier to go through if it had all be in alphabetical order instead of separate sections of an alphabetical list.

“I think it went okay the only problem was they should have had the videos labeled better because we ended up skipping to the very end before they read all the names or before all the names were read out so that was a little confusing,” she said.

Cavasos said, he would have liked more coordination when recording the videos for virtual graduation.

CNM had to find a vendor to help create the virtual graduation program that would allow this process to take place, he said. 

Although ideally in person graduations would resume soon, Cavazos indicated that he would do this type of graduation again if needed.

Preston said, that she thinks that they should continue virtual graduation alongside in-person graduation because it could be helpful in the situation that the country is currently in with the whole COVID-19 but it can also help when students are across the country or have family scattered across the country and they are unable to attend a traditional graduation.

“I had not planned to attend graduation but due to it being offered online I went ahead and did it since I didn’t have to buy the cap and gown,” she said.

Cavasos said that by Monday, May 18th there were over 2373 views of the CNM virtual graduation and if anyone wants to view it, they can see it here.

CNM offers free Wi-Fi in campus parking lots

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Story by Chloe Fox

Staff Reporter

CNM is offering free WiFi hotspots for students and the public to access from their cars, located within the parking lots of each campus, according to Krystal Loya, Technical Support Specialist at the ITS Service Desk.

According to Loya, maps highlighting the hotspots can be found on CNM’s website, at https://www.cnm.edu/covid-19/documents/wifi-campus-hotspots.pdf.

“It seems to work better in certain spots, if you’re on main campus, it’s going to work best for you in the Student Resource Center lot,” says Loya.

Loya says that the hotspots on campus are available until 10 pm, when security closes down campus for the evening. “Right now with security and everything that’s going on, there’s only certain times that they can access them [hotspots]. I believe it’s still until 10 at night, when security closes the gate,” says Loya.

Baker says if students find themselves unable to access a hotspot location, all they have to do in order to gain access is give security dispatch a phone call at (505) 224-3002.

“Since campus is technically open [until 10pm], all they have to do is call security and request that to be opened, and they can come in and use the hotspot,” says Baker.

When people come to campus to access these hotspots since they are in the parking lot there is no need to deal directly with security, all a student needs to do is drive in, park, log in and get to work.

Loya says that regardless of the semester or current health situtation, individuals will always be able to access free WiFi hotspots on campus. “As long as you’re on campus and the campus is deemed to be open, they [the hotspots] are always going to be available,” Loya says.

Main Campus

For best access to free Wi-Fi visitors should park anywhere on Southside of SRC in lots located between the PPD building and KC building.

South lot located in front of SRC
(Photo by Daniel Johnson)
Lot located to the south east of the SRC and east of KC building
(Photo by Daniel Johnson)

Workforce Training Center

Due to the nature of the size of this campus there is Wi-Fi access on both sides of the building in the South West lot and North East lot closer to the building.

South West entrance to Work Force Training Center
(Photo by Daniel Johnson)
North East lot of WTC
(Photo by Daniel Johnson)
South West lot of WTC
(Photo By Daniel Johnson)

South Valley Campus

Best signal is accessed from the parking lot that is on the east side of buildings SV-1 and SV-2 on the east side of campus.

Entrance to South Valley campus located on Westside of campus on Isleta Blvd
(Photo by Daniel Johnson)

Lot on Eastside of SV-1 and SV-2 looking towards campus
(Photo by Daniel Johnson)
Lot on East side of SV-1 and SV-2 looking east from SV-1 building.
(Photo by Daniel Johnson)

Advanced Technology Center

Best signal here is located on the northwest corner of the building in the Visitors Lot located off of Alameda Blvd.

Rio Rancho Campus

Another single building campus so signal is ok in most lots but for best signal you should pull in to the dirt parking lot on east side of building.

Dirt lot on east side of Rio Rancho Campus
(Photo by Daniel Johnson)


Lot on west side of Rio Rancho Campus.
(Photo by Daniel Johnson)

West Side Campus

Best signal is located in parking lot on north side of WS2 building. This lot is on the north east corner of the campus.

El Patio Working Through COVID 19

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Story by Mark Graven

The El Patio Restaurant, located at 142 Harvard Drive,SE between the CNM and UNM campuses normally gets a lot of student clientele, but not during these corona virus times, according to Steven Candelaria, the restaurant manager.

“We normally get quite a few (students), but now we hardly get any,” said Candelaria, 48, who has been working at El Patio for nine years.

The result is logical, as there are hardly any students on either campus, he noted.

El Patio has been a mainstay in the university community for over 4 decades, and is owned by David Sandoval, according to Candelaria.

Now, with the government restrictions in place, the restaurant is only open for takeout and curbside pickup, which has caused a 70 percent drop-off, both in traffic and revenues, Candelaria said.

The restaurant typically employs a staff of 15 to 20, but that has been cut down to five.

Candelaria said he finds himself running outside, (through El Patio’s blue picket fence), to make a curbside hand-off, which he does not mind.

Restaurant employees are paying attention to details for the benefit of the health and safety of the customers, based on information the media has provided, Candelaria said.

The city did not send out any written guidelines, although some from the Department of Health did call, Candelaria said, adding that city inspectors seem to be following their regular schedules of coming by every two to three months.

All restaurant employees wear masks and gloves throughout their shifts, Candelaria said.

When folks come in for take-out, they are advised to keep a six-foot spacing, if they haven’t picked up on the procedure, and the counter is wiped down with disinfectant after each customer leaves, he said.

A lot of incoming customers are wearing masks, he said.

People are ordering the same items from the menu, but they are skipping dessert, according to Candelaria, adding that the ever popular biscochitos and the flan “are out.”

“People are tightening their belts, and budgeting their money, I guess,” said Candelaria. “They want to get as much bang for their buck as they can.”

Candelaria said that he is thinking the restaurant and others like it, will start getting up to speed gradually in June, with a 20 to 30 percent occupancy limitation.

Candelaria said that he personally was laid off from a second restaurant job so that he just goes home after work, where he is likely to find his son playing video games.

One thing is still the same during these challenging times, according to Candelaria: “Green chili is still more popular than red.”

CNM WORK-STUDY TRANSITION

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Story by E.C. McRoy

Dr. Eugene Padilla, VP of Student Services, said that students will have the opportunity to continue with their jobs as work-studies by transitioning if they choose to the new Suncat Ambassador program.

An email sent out Tuesday indicated that all work-study positions would end May 8th, however, Padilla clarified the email by saying that jobs will be transferring to the Ambassador program.

“Students will have the option of changing jobs if they want to keep working, but we want to make that their choice,” said Padilla of the changes to work-study.

Those students who are already able to do their jobs remotely are exempt from the May 8th deadline, said Padilla.

According to Padilla, “As long as people have work to do, they’re good.”

Supervisors will be reaching out to their employees to let students know who is exempt, said Padilla.

While the email indicated that the available positions of the Suncat Ambassador program would be limited, Padilla said that CNM would open up as many positions as there was interest in the jobs.

The catch is that only currently employed students can take advantage of these new positions, said Padilla.

Those students which are interested but not current work studies may have some leeway and their applications may be considered, but only after all current work-study students have applied.

“Everybody who wants to be working, can still be working,” said Padilla.

Padilla said there will not be a delay or a gap in pay as this two week grace period between now and May 8th allows students to transition from their current positions to the new program.

When normal work-study positions will open up will depend on New Mexico’s governor, “We’re responding to conditions of the state, of the nation,” said Padilla. “What we’re doing is a response. If the state starts opening up, then we cane start having some employees come back.”

Students interested in the new Suncat Ambassador program should seek out additional information on it, but also be sure to check their email for updates, said Padilla.

Students concerned about financial strain during the coronavirus are encouraged to look at scholarships available through the CNM Foundation Scholarships, said Padilla.

“A lot of scholarships are out there, many available if the student is willing to write a personal statement and get a few references,” said Padilla. “Sometimes that’s all it takes. Some are more specific, but some are out there that students just don’t know about.”

Padilla recommends students look at the Rust Fund, an emergency fund which is available to students.

The CARES Act is newly available from the Department of Education, said Padilla, indicating that they are expecting a large number of applicants.

Padilla said applications are already starting to come in and are being reviewed; students will start being notified this week.

Approximately 7,000 students have been determined to be eligible and right now there is no cap for that aid, said Padilla.

The CARES Act is designed to go to those students with the highest need, so students need to have already filed a FAFSA and to be receiving aid to be considered.

Students who are approved for the funds and are set up for direct deposit already will receive funds directly in their bank account, while those not set up for direct deposit will be mailed a check, said Padilla.

Padilla said although most aid programs are determined by the cost of attendance, the CARES Act isn’t, and students may receive more despite aid they are already receiving.

“Our hope is that we can help as many people as possible,” said Padilla.

RESOURCES:

Suncat Ambassador: https://www.cnm.edu/depts/financial-aid/student-employment/become-a-suncat-ambassador

CARES Act: https://www.cnm.edu/covid-19/student-resources/cares-act-funding-for-students-in-need

Rust Fund: https://www.cnm.edu/depts/financial-aid/scholarships/rust-opportunity-assistance-fund

For more info on the Rust Fund click here.

CNM Foundation Scholarships: https://www.cnm.edu/depts/financial-aid/scholarships/foundation-scholarships