Editorial Cartoon | Issue 9 Vol. 21
Tag: Editorial
Editorial Cartoon | Issue 6 Vol. 21
Coming soon to a lot near you
Editorial Cartoon | Issue 5 Vol. 21
Student Struggles
Editorial Cartoon | Issue 4 Vol. 21
Editorial Cartoon | Issue 3 Vol. 21
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.
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.
Just plane respect
By The Chronicle Editorial Board
A definite quality difference is certainly evident in the instructors and classes here at CNM, because of the high enrollment in one class with a great teacher and low enrollment in classes where teachers are lacking.
Most students are able to find this out by comparing instructors in certain classes on RateMyProfessor.com, where anyone can see why some classes are great, and why some just don’t cut it when it comes to the correct quality of education or respect that students should be getting from all instructors.
So, when students are willing to fight to keep an instructor from being fired, such as in the article on page 2 “Students want their teacher back,” many student said that instructor Jason Manzanares goes above and beyond to make sure his students are getting the quality of education they need to survive in their field of aviation, and that he deserves to have a second chance.
Our school cannot afford to lose any great instructors at CNM, and the school needs to take students views into consideration more often, especially when dealing with issues involving instructors.
The Chronicle was not made aware specifically why Manzanares was put on leave, as the school was not willing to comment on human resource issues, but it is apparent that many students in his class wish to keep their instructor around, especially since he developed the program and has established the curriculum that makes the CNM aviation program worth investing in for these students.
All the students who fund this school, by paying for and attending classes, have earned consideration and some level of respect, instead of how these aviation students are being treated now, which is to be cast aside, left in the dark, and ignored by the powers that dictate whether these students get the quality of education they expect to get from CNM, or will have to go on without the teacher who inspires them every day to succeed and finish with their educations.
Students deserve to have a voice when it comes to issues with really great instructors, and with mediocre, disrespectful, or demeaning instructors, and students deserve to be heard with real concern from the school.
To have issues with instructors or the school in any capacity is hard enough as it is, but students need to feel there is good resolutions with complaints, and that the issue is not just resolved from the schools point of view, because when students are brushed off until frustration sets in, they give up.
Students should never have to feel they are not being heard by the school they pay to attend, and the school should care what students think to improve the curriculum here.
It is rare to meet and learn from an instructor who will challenge you, change your views, or help you to succeed when you need it most, so it is the Chronicle’s opinion that extraordinary instructors who teach successfully and the students that support them should be considered at this school, instead of casting them aside. Just as the aviation students have had to cope with when all they want is their teacher back.
Farewell forever to spring break
It is so invigorating to be able to take a week long break during the spring semester to come back refreshed and ready to finish up the last weeks at school, but unfortunately this last spring break that passed will be the very last one ever, at least for CNM students.
Spring break has been a pastime since the Greeks and Romans started celebrating a sort of spring ritual, and has been a fad since the 1930s in America, according to content. time.com.
Not all students use the break for decedent debauchery or to have a good time, and for most, the break is a much needed rest for those that have hefty schedules and busy lives to lead.
According to President Winograd’s Blog, starting in January the idea of losing spring break all together was addressed, and was to be addressed by students and staff in a survey.
According to the Media and Communications Office as of Feb 14, “There will no longer be a spring break at CNM.”
It does not seem that this break survey was sent to all students, nor was the issue brought up through MCO until the decision had already been made to ditch the term break.
We all rely on the break for a much needed rest from the semester, and it might just be beneficial to students to just pass it right on by, but will hopefully not affect students to the point of burning them out and making their GPA’s or grades suffer for just a little less of a spring semester.