Editorial Board

Editorial | Cultivando Consciousness marches in remembrance of 43 missing students

By The Chronicle Editorial Board

The South Valley Dia de Los Muertos Parade that occurred on November 1 this year included

the graduate student collective Cultivando Consciousness consisting of UNM students marching

with family and friends in representation of the 43 missing students from Ayotzinapa College.

As students, we at CNM should also be aware of and more involved with situations concerning

our peers all over the world.

This demonstration should serve as a reminder to not take things for granted. To speak up when

something is on our minds and especially when others are trying to shut us down. For our

brothers who had to die to be noticed.

In the parade, the collective walked to remind the community that the issue is still present.

September 26 of this year was the one year anniversary of the mass kidnapping of students from

Iguala, Guerrero, Mexico. It has been a year and Mexican officials have yet to account for 43 of

those students.

The 43 missing students were from a public college specifically for training teachers. Students at

the college were mostly from lower income families and on the day that they disappeared along

with about 60 other students they were on their way to protest their government favoring funds

for urban colleges over rural ones.

The students had acquired buses for their trip to Iguala and were reportedly stopped on their way

by police in an attempt to prevent them from carrying out the protest. The students attempted to

drive away and in the car chase police opened fire on them killing two students and prompting

many others to flee. A majority of the students were arrested and supposedly handed over to a

gang to be executed.

Many people still hope that the students are alive and in fact demand the Mexican government to

return them alive because they were taken alive.

Cultivando Consciousness like many other groups refuse to let the missing students go forgotten

because they represent those of us that get overlooked for being small. They represent the

problems that are often times rooted in the governments. And the levels of violence that these

governments are willing to reach to avoid confrontation and to instill fear in anybody else

looking to speak up.

We owe the missing students our attention and support. We must not let their intentions be

forgotten. We must not let them die in vain. We can continue what they started by being aware of

our situations here with our own governments.

(Summer) break the monotony

By the Chronicle Editorial Board

Before students get to binge watching on Netflix or catching up on video games and napping, students should take the time to get out in the world and seek something beyond their computer screens this coming break.

There really is so much one can do to subside the boredom that comes with having a couple weeks off, such as getting out into nature, and New Mexico has much of that to offer including the Sandia Mountains that are right in all of our backyards, to Cochiti Lake that is only 50 minutes away.

New Mexico has many breath-taking landscapes and surre­alistic camping sites far off the grid to choose from as well, that are all within an afternoon’s drive, so if this is the route you might want to take over the break, newmexico.org has a com­prehensive list of great places to choose from on their explore New Mexico page.

There are also an array things to do in the city, and taking the time to pamper oneself can do wonders when coming back for a grueling semester, such getting an inexpensive mani/pedi or massage, or just relaxing with family and friends at a bar-b-que.

Albuquerque is truly diverse when it comes to culture as well, and one could even have an art scavenger hunt with friends, go to the muse­ums in Burque, or go on a brewery and/or winery tour (with designated driver of course), as Albuquerque has a large assortment of home-brewed beers and wines accessible at an array of locations.

For more information on any of these suggestions, check out visital­buquerque.org/things-to-do.

Either way, find something that you can enjoy doing over the break besides catching up on what the internet or boob-tube has to offer, and seek out what New Mexico has to offer instead, which will help in actu­ally getting something out of having the time off, and will feel like your weeks off were not wasted away with trivial time suckers.

Sometimes it just takes someone saying we need to get out of here and do something in order for it to happen, so get out this break and have an adventure all your own, and gain some great memories with the people you love, so you can come back, hunker down, and be ready to get back to the grind of pursuing your dreams of a better education.

The Chronicle hopes everyone has a great break and relishes the rest of the summer season.

Financial aid, a three-ring circus

By the Chronicle Editorial Board

Getting through the FASFA process and attempting to get Financial Aid can be somewhat of a circus for some students.

What students have to understand is that the Financial Aid Department deals with close to 30,000 students, and many are having the same issues as you are right now.

So if you are having issues with Financial Aid and it is frustrat­ing the hell out of you, seek advice from other students in their experiences and dealings with the financial aid department and see how other students dealt with their issues, because chances are it is not as bad as it seems.

Sometimes it can just be a form missed during filing or information that was overlooked, and can be remedied with a quick appointment with a financial aid advisor.

Also, many students do not actually know that they can qual­ify for grants and scholarships without applying for student loans, and can even become work-study qualified without getting all that financial aid has to offer.

Right now there are more than 100 student work-study positions offered throughout all the seven CNM campuses, which offer an array of positions, including here at The CNM Chronicle.

Due to the firing freeze we are hiring for more than 10 positions in an assortment of positions, including staff reporter, ad sales, and distribu­tion (Please see our hiring ad on Page 2).

There are many opportunities to thrive here at CNM, and it may take some patience to get through the process, but there are many ways of acquiring funds here and the school knows we need those extra funds and will help students in getting them, you just have to know who will actually help.

So, to the people wondering if you qualify for financial aid or work-study, make an appointment with a Financial Aid Adviser at 224-3090.

We all might be living in a bubble in the future

By the Chronicle Editorial Board

Dubai officials have now proposed a $7 billion project to make the world’s first climate controlled community under a dome like covering, which will be a 50 million square foot community that will be sheltered from the harsh elements in the Arabian oasis, according to weburbanist.com.

This is the first concept of its kind that is actually being considered as a real project, and other countries could possibly take cue, as climate change is not going anywhere anytime soon, and is projected to get to the tipping point by 2020, according to huffingtonpost.com.

The massive structure will have 100 apartment buildings, dozens of hotels, medical facilities, a shopping mall, observation decks, the world’s tallest skyscraper and the world’s largest indoor amusement park; because that is how Dubai rolls, with epic and extravagant structures to show off to the rest of the world.

But what if there will come to a time when most large cities might require to have an area such as this for refuge from the ever-changing unpredictability that will come with the extreme weather of climate change, because it seems that the coming generations will have to do something in order to keep on surviving in the impending futuristic wasteland that is predicted to come.

Either way, this new idea for self-sufficient cities may become a huge power sucker, but could potentially save folks in the future from ever having to step foot outside in the elements again, and people could in fact start living under the dome, far from nature or the environment that is being destroyed in front of all our very own eyes.

At least there will be observation decks to watch the crumble of our environment in comfort of our climate con­trolled bubble, and never again will we have to care about the silly old environment that sustains the world and all our lives.

Albuquerque’s economy is one of the worst in the nation right now

By the Chronicle Editorial Board

Many students at CNM have felt the pain and suffering that came along with the recent great recession, and many have had to resort to going back to school as a last alternative to move into another field in hopes of finding a decent paying job, but that is after months or even years of look­ing for employment in the desolate tumble­weed that is the Albuquerque job market.

And analysts at the Brookings Institute have said that as of 2014, Albuquerque is now back in a recession after three quarters of steadily drop­ping job losses in the metro area, with only 54 percent of the population in the workforce, according to the Rio Grande Foundation and kob.com.

We as current students are fortunate that there is a local community college for people to go to when times are tough to be able to find another occupation through low-cost education, but what will happen when we all leave college and there is indeed nothing out there for us to move on to and the student loan debt starts to accumulate.

Development has come to a screech­ing halt in most of the city and state, especially with industry development and exporting; seeing that many com­panies have either attempted to come here, have come here and failed, or were driven away by our politicians who have had their own agendas when bringing in new jobs and companies.

Some examples of this neglect are such as with the Richardson administra­tion that lost $31 million in state grants and funds to two solar companies in the late 2000’s for not securing the return of funds through contracts, or the film bill from Martinez’s administration that essentially drove away most television series from producing in New Mexico because of last minute tax break negotia­tion changes.

The reality is that our politicians are not fighting hard enough to make adequate contracts that protect the state, and are not giving enough breaks or other incentives to bring new companies here— at least with­out preventing ruin or outright pullouts.

It honestly is a sad state of affairs when U.S. state officials are desperately competing with one another to win con­tracts and jobs for much needed develop­ment from the few companies still willing to base their operations out of the country.

But it is essentially up to our lead­ers to be innovative enough to develop a better economy with more jobs to deter­mine whether outgoing students will have a fighting chance or not out there in the Albuquerque job market.

So it is extremely important, more than ever in fact, to pay attention to local politicians and to become part of the voice that dictates what our leaders do with our great state’s economy, because every day more and more people do not feel it is worth it to keep struggling in this now rapidly declining economy and are fleeing the state for better opportunities, which has unfortunately been an issue for many years here in New Mexico already.

Pay attention to the local general elections on November 4 if you plan on sticking around the state after school, and vote for the candidates that build their policies and reform around more steady jobs for New Mexico residents.

Because our city and state can no longer rely on government, scientific, or military jobs to get the state through this now overlapping recession, and what the state really needs to do is to bring back more blue collar industries and corpora­tions to give New Mexico more middle and lower class jobs, as well as to give an opportunity to the residents to thrive, instead of to just merely survive.

Exemplary instruction gives disabled students a fighting chance

By the Chronicle Editorial Board

It is tough as it is to have a disability that prevents mobility, use of hands or feet, and causes speech, vision or hearing dif­ficulties or impairment that can truly devastate what a person is able to do on a day to day basis.

More than 18 percent of Americans have some type of dis­ability that precludes them from the smallest activities that many of us out there take for granted every day, and more than 12 percent have a severe debilitat­ing impairment that limits these people’s activities and at times their quality of life, according to ctb.ku.edu.

So, it is extremely reas­suring to see that instructors at CNM are taking disabled stu­dents into consideration when it comes to these instructors’ classes, curriculum, the way they teach students, and how they can help students with dis­abilities to learn and succeed at this school, such as in the front page article ‘Chemistry instruc­tor makes new tools for disabled students to learn too.’

Science classes and labs can be challenging as it is, but could be almost impossible to learn from when a student has a disability that prevents them from learning the curriculum in a class.

It is commendable that Carol Martinez and the Disability Resource Center saw that there is a need for special­ized curriculum and created new tools for disabled students to be able to learn with hands on mate­rials, instead of having to opt out because of their inaccessibility.

All students deserve the same quality of instruction when paying the same amount to get their educations, including dis­abled students, and sometimes they are left out in the wind when there is no means or outlet for them to learn from, espe­cially in math and sciences.

Disabled people are forced to wait much longer to become employed, and are sometimes treated as if they are a burden, but most importantly people do not take the time to consider what disabled individuals must go through just to finish out the day, and it is truly admirable that this instructor and department took the time to consider what some disabled students need to get by or learn, and helped at least one student so far to suc­ceed in doing so here at CNM.

Trust when something is too good to be true

By the Chronicle Editorial Board

The Know Now Mobile Medical Clinic coming to CNM campuses, which is offering free STD and preg­nancy testing, as well as ultrasounds, may just be too good to be true.

The chronicle covered in the Mobile Medical Clinic story ‘Mobile unit provides free STD testing,’ in Issue 35 of Volume 19, but it has come to light exactly what kind of company is offering these services and why.

It is great there is a service that provides these benefits to struggling students for free, but there may be a catch when students go for preg­nancy tests, as the organization that provides these services called Care Net is in fact an Evangelical Christian crisis pregnancy center.

According to care-net.org, Care Net is an anti-abortion organization that seeks to persuade women not to terminate their pregnancies, hence the free ultrasounds.

The organization was founded in 1975 in Northern Virginia, and is the nation’s largest network of preg­nancy centers with 1,100 throughout the country, according to the site.

In addition to advising customers against abortions and free STD test­ing, Care Net does provide a slew of other resources such as baby supplies, temporary shelters, employment and debt guidance, as well as Bible study sessions that fit with the company’s values, the site stated.

Women that believe in the right to choose what happens to their bodies, might get offended by the Care Net service provider while get­ting a pregnancy test, because Care Net has been known to attempt to dictate what women plan to do with the rest of their lives and their unborn child, or women with pro-life values might just find it refreshing.

Care Net’s mission statement on their website at care-net.org said “With the support of Care Net and its network of pregnancy centers, people facing unplanned pregnancies are choosing life and hope every day.”

Care Net has also been known to speak out against abortion clin­ics and set up near clinics such as Planned Parenthood that provide abortion services.

Care Net protests both out front of Planned Parenthood, and have signs in front of their clinics that say “Pregnant? Considering abor­tion? Free services,” according to the Care Net Wikipedia page.

The Planned Parenthood website states that whether clients want to keep or abort their fetuses, the clinic pro­vides women with the resource choices they would have for either scenario, without any influence on the client’s decision and just counsels women on what is out there for them to utilize.

According to vermontcynic.com, “Once inside the facility, women are subject to manipulative tactics, such as required ultrasounds and readings of religious literature that instill guilt and shame in those who may consider abortion. These types of centers seek to undercut the law and restrict a woman’s right to choose.”

So, if some women students out there want to utilize Care Net’s free pregnancy or ultrasound, be warned that the unit volunteers may try to persuade you under the guise of caring, but when it comes down to it the only person you need to listen to is yourself.

For those female students that would rather skip the judgments and religious/ethical debate, or the belittling of your own pro-choice beliefs; you may just want to pay the $10 pregnancy test fee at Planned Parenthood or the $65 for an ultrasound.

Not only for peace of mind, but also so that you will avoid being made to feel like an asshole or slut shamed for doing what millions of women did before you and will do for years to come, which is to get pregnant and not know what to do.

Changes are coming

By the Chronicle Editorial Board

Some readers may be wondering why the Chronicle has downsized to only four pages this summer, and the edito­rial board would like to explain what the Chronicle hopes to be doing this summer and in the coming year.

The CNM Chronicle will be restructuring over the summer semester to make an enhanced and more comprehensive instrument out of the student newspaper.

This will be to help incoming student employees to learn from the paper in a more universal and modernized way.

The staff is taking this summer to research better learning resources, find out about how other community college newspapers are run, and incorporating better policies at the Chronicle.

All of this is to help the Chronicle transition into the modern era so to speak, by focusing more on the additional online version of the paper, as well as to have the usual print version of the paper seen more on campuses.

The Chronicle hopes to be able to start emailing students the weekly paper, as well as focusing more on website-based stories pro­vided to students throughout the week, not just in a weekly publication.

We also hope to introduce a mobile app sometime next year that will provide students with up to date stories and bul­letins via their mobile phones to be more user friendly and give news to students more easily.

We are changing the overall structure of the student newspaper so that the Chronicle is caught up with the technological times and to be able to properly instruct students about current applications used in the professional world of journalism.

The Chronicle will be going back to the usual eight and 12 pages again during the fall semester.

So please bear with us while we are optimistically transitioning into a more efficient and innovative newspaper that students can relate to, and that will be an effectual learning tool for future student employ­ees to benefit from for years to come.

Pride and equality for all

By the Chronicle Editorial Board

It is such a sad occasion that after a great event such as the Pride parade mentioned in the front page article called All the colors of the rainbow at the 2014 Pride Parade, that parade goers are still advised by event coordinators to be aware of one’s environment and to take appropriate precautions after a day at Pride, according to abqpride.com.

People of any creed, race or sexual orientation should not have to be advised to look over their shoulders when gathering anywhere for any reason, and are just reminded of how far our society must still go in order to achieve true equality.

What was great about this year’s event though was that there were less protesters and they did not end up walking in the parade which had been the case in previous years, as only two people were protesting the parade’s beginning point at Girard Boulevard and Central Avenue.

No one should be forced to hear gay slurs or be told that god hates them, because everyone deserves to live their lives the way they want to, without judgment or ridicule for just being who they are in life.

Hopefully in the coming years of the parade there will be no one protesting the equality of LGBTQ individuals, because everyone is entitled to have the same rights as every other indi­vidual and should not be told how to live one’s life or who they should love.

It is also a brilliant idea that the CNM community recog­nizes that there is a need for help in the LGBTQ community with the new LGBTQ plus group, and that students here have a foundation and are supported by the school.

Starting students off right

By The Chronicle Editorial Board

Starting anything new can be a struggle, so it is beneficial and necessary to have orientation programs that help students to start off their educations right here at CNM. Community colleges have not always been effective in fostering student success, but early intervention programs such as this one starting at orientation will facilitate a better academic understanding of student expecta­tion and will give a chance for improved social integration throughout a student’s educational career.

Student retention is based on how a student is going to perceive the school when first starting, as well as learning what resources they can use to succeed throughout their time at CNM, so when students are not given those tools at the beginning chances are they are more likely to fail without knowing that there are many resources available to new students.

Getting current students involved in the process orientation is just another great step in ensur­ing students stick around for the long haul, because current students who know the ropes and what it takes to get through each semester to help guide newbies, since current students know exactly how it was for themselves when they first started, so they can help students much more than an administrator could with new student inquires and issues, because they have gone through it as well.

Also, having a scholarship incentive set up for these orientation mentor leaders gives students a great initiate to not only help potential incoming students, but also helps them in leadership skill learning and gives students a much needed opportunity to get a substantial scholarship to help them get through next semester.

CNM is revealing that the school does care if students flourish on to getting their degrees with this new orientation program, and the Chronicle hopes that CNM keeps up the focus on what students really need to be effective here at CNM.