Tag: Stephen Martos

APD protests spark controversy among community

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By Rene Thompson, Editor in Chief | Photos by Rene Thompson

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Demonstrators took to the streets on Tuesday, March 25 and Sunday, March 30 to protest against the Albuquerque Police Department’s use of force and killing of Albuquerque citizens.

Specifically James Boyd, who was shot and killed while squatting in the Northeast Heights Foot Hills at Copper Trailhead, on March 16, and protests eventually ended in people being dispersed by tear gas at Girard Blvd and Central Avenue and at APD head­quarters twelve hours after protests began on Sunday.

Since the first protest on Tuesday that brought more than 1,000 people to the event, there has been a massive media frenzy online and many took to the internet on social media sites to voice their concerns, whether people were in support of APD or against APD’s use of force.

Former student and Activist with the ANSWER Coalition, Joel Gallegos said that this whole situation had blown up because it had been a long time coming and that the city should not be surprised by the blowback that occurred in the pro­test event on Sunday.

ANSWER stands for Act Now to Stop War and End Racism, but also helps with organizing many protest events through­out Albuquerque, and Gallegos said that is why the ANSWER coalition is around, to give people the opportunity to participate in a safe way that is organized.

“The police were wrong to escalate the situation with a paramilitary response,” Gallegos said.

Gallegos said that whether it is direct action, civil disobedience, or politi­cal action, that the coalition wants to encourage folks to get involved.

History major, Zachary Case, who was at the Sunday event earlier in the day to observe protesters, said that he never saw protesting as a real way to change anything.

Case said that there were many touching stories at the event from people who had lost loved ones to police violence.

“I love freedom of speech and freedom of assembly; it’s just not exactly certain what will happen from all this,” he said.

Former President of ECOs, Stephen Martos said he believes people should be supporting APD instead of protesting them, because the police force is an essen­tial part of the community.

Martos said that APD is necessary to serve and pro­tect, but that there are times when that does not always ring true, as in the recent officer involved shooting.

“You cannot improve the situations by creating enemies, but instead by making partners. We are partners with our police force and are responsible for bringing our community together,” Martos said.

The Department of Justice has had an ongoing investigation of APD since Nov. 2012, after numerous misconduct lawsuits had cost Albuquerque taxpayers more than 24 million dollars in 2010 alone, according to a justice.gov D.O.J. press release and the Albuquerque Journal.

APD has been dealing with threats and personal infor­mation of officers being leaked from the activist and hacking group Anonymous, as APD’s website was attacked on Sunday which kept their site down for most of the day, Police Spokesman, Simon Drobik said in a statement.

Gallegos said that politicians do not start talking about prob­lems until the people make it a problem.

He also said there is a city ordinance that allows protesters to march in the streets without a specific permit.

“We can’t control what others do, and we might not agree with the tactics used Sunday night but we fully support and stand with the people involved,” he said.

Case said that police should not be militarized— period, and that the city is just trying to control the population instead of pro­tecting them.

Case said that he believes that if a cop is going to assault someone, then that person should have the right to defend themselves.

“This has been going on in Albuquerque since I was a little kid, and I remember there being issues of police brutality in our city since then,” he said.

Martos said that he believes that there are two camps of people protesting, with those that are truly interested in improving the APD, and those who are only interested in stirring the waters, because they are only focused on negativity.

It is necessary to alert our lawmakers and those administering training in order to improve in the ways we are failing, but Martos said that some of these pro­testers have lost sight of what the real issue is, which is the excessive force of APD.

“What is sad is they have done this in the name of James Boyd whom nobody worried about before he died. If the community cared so much, then they would have been out there helping him with food, water, shelter and healthcare,” Martos said.

According to justice.org, the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 prohibits state and local governments from engaging in a pattern or practice of misconduct by law enforce­ment officers that deprives individuals of federally-pro­tected rights.

Martos’ Metamorphosis; Student body president leaves CNM life

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By Daniel Montaño, Staff Reporter | Photo By Daniel Montaño5

Stephen Martos, president of the Executive Council of Students and member of Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society, can sum up his experience at CNM in two words: growth and change, he said.
Although Martos graduated in the spring 2013 semester with degrees in Psychology, Criminal Justice and Liberal Arts, he is staying on as president of ECOS until the beginning of the fall semester when he will hand over the reins to Emily Sarvis, Biology major, as he moves on to UNM to earn his bachelor’s degree in psychology, he said.
“CNM is my life. I don’t work school around my life. My life is all at CNM, my friends and everything. So I’m excited about going to UNM, but I’m nervous because it’s such a completely different world,” he said.
Martos entered CNM unsure how to approach his future, which classes to choose and what career to go into, but grew up, gained responsibility and found direction while at CNM, especially through ECOS, which motivated him throughout his college career, he said.
“Being president of ECOS is something I never thought I would do when I graduated high school, and now the goal is to continue on and see what other trouble I can get myself into,” he said.
Martos plans to move on to Law school after finishing his bachelor’s degree, but isn’t setting anything in stone just yet, because he wants to make sure he is able to put to good use the empathy and willingness to help that he has gained through ECOS, he said.
He plans to minor in political science while at UNM, and if he gets the opportunity, he hopes to get involved in local government to make a positive change in the political process, he said.
“Whenever I find out that there is something someone is struggling with, my first reaction is ‘How can I help’ and what can I do to make this better” he said.
Martos has always had an internal drive to help people, but ECOS refined that feeling, he said.
ECOS was also the motivation to actively pursue positive change in his future and gave him the drive to become the person who he is now, he said.
“I think that I’m a lot more responsible, and I feel like I’m a greater person overall. Looking back I didn’t have an idea of the greater things happening around me, but I don’t know if that’s just what happens when people get older — they look back and want to say, you have no clue what’s coming up,” he said.
Although he is now working towards a future where he can help people and make changes for everyone’s benefit, Martos had originally planned to become an aerospace engineer before coming to CNM, he said.
“I looked at New Mexico Tech, and realized that I hated math, which isn’t good for an engineer, so I switched over and came to CNM,” he said.
Martos said coming to CNM was the best choice he made in his quest to find direction because from that point on things began to fall into place on their own and organically evolve.
After feeling his way through introductory classes and remaining largely uninvolved, he was introduced to Phi Theta Kappa and ECOS through friends, he said.
“I kind of stumble right into it. Having people who drug me along to meetings gave me a lot more purpose and a lot more focus. So I became much more involved and from that point it made me grow up from being a high school kid,” he said.
Once involved with student organizations Martos began getting into volunteer work, and as president of ECOS he was directly involved with helping students overcome obstacles at school, he said.
“That’s one of the best feelings that I’ve had, standing up for student issues and student rights, just being there as a venue for the students,” he said.
As far as regrets go, Martos doesn’t have any besides wishing he could have been even more involved than he already was, but he is satisfied with the differences he did make, he said.
“There’s always room for improvement. I wish I could have done more somehow, made more of an impact,” he said.
As the outgoing President of ECOS, Martos wants to encourage as many students as possible to find direction in the same way he did, he said.
“Join ECOS!” Martos said.
To join ECOs students must be enrolled for at least three credit hours and have maintained a 2.5 GPA. For more information students can go to student activities in the SSC to pick-up and submit an application.

Working together

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By Daniel Johnson, Investigative Reporter

Inaugural CNMunity day attracts many students, orgs

The Executive Council of Students is trying to create a semi-annual CNMunity Day, since the first event received so much support, Stephen Martos, Criminal Justice major and president of ECOS, said.

The event gathered about two dozen student volunteers from student organizations to help at four local non-profit organizations: Contact Tree New Mexico, Rio Grande Community Farms, Restore and Mandy’s Farm, he said.

“Our new goal is to make it a bigger and better event and hopefully have it held twice a year,” he said.

Some of the participat­ing student organizations were Anthropology club, Phi Theta Kappa-Alpha Upsilon Chi, Chemistry Society, American Indian Science and Engineering Society, Art Club, TRiO Achievement Group and Math League, Martos said.

Continue reading “Working together” →

The CNM Six

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Image
(left to right) Melanie Mullens, Steve Fye, Crystal Perea, Natasha Spencer, Dr. Kathie Winograd, Adrianne Sanchez and Stephen Martos pose together after the students recieved their scholarships and medals commemorating he event.
All photos by Jonathan Gamboa

Students awarded two-year scholarship

By: Jyllian Roach, Editor-in-Chief | Photos By Jonathan Gamboa

Six students were honored at the Roundhouse in Santa Fe by the House and Senate Education Committees for receiving the All State
Academic Scholarship, which awards students with free tuition to any four year institution in New Mexico for two years for demonstrating leadership
and community involvement.

Melanie Mullens
Pre-Health Sciences

“It will be really helpful. I am a single mom, so paying for school is not easy.”

Mullens earned her scholarship by volunteering with the Mats Mobile Detox, which helps people with addiction and at Crossroads, an organization that helps women in domestic violence situations.

She plans to transfer to UNM and major in dental hygiene. Her goal is to open a private practice in a rural area.

Steve Fye
Culinary Arts

“I’m really honored to get this.”

Fye plans to attend UNM as a journalism major and weave his loves of food and writing into a career as a food writer.

He is a member of the six-month-old campus Veteran’s Club and is also a member of Phi Theta Kappa-Alpha Upsilon Chi.

Off campus, Fye volunteers with a non-profit called the Society for Creative Anachronism, an educational historical re-creation group.

Crystal Perea
Fine Arts Studio

“I feel proud and accomplished for the first time in my life.”

Perea helped to raise scholarship money with Miles of Coin, designed the Lobo Paw and fed the homeless through Stand Down.

On campus, she and three others organized a cleanup day on multiple campuses. She also created art installations for the Westside campus.

Perea wants to work with autistic and at-risk children hopes to do so by transferring to UNM and earning a master’s degree in art therapy.

Natasha Spencer
Pre-Health Sciences

“I am excited about this, it is such a relief.”

Spencer is a member of Phi Theta Kappa-Alpha Upsilon Chi and has participated in the group’s jacket and food drives, as well as other fundraisers.

She also volunteers at The Albuquerque Roadrunner Tournament.

She plans to transfer to UNM and major in either dental hygiene or medicine so that she can work in public health.

Stephen Martos
Criminal Justice

“I feel very honored to receive this award. It’s a really great opportunity.” 

As President of the Executive Council of Students, Martos is no stranger to community service. ECOS has volunteered with many campus-sponsored events, created campus safety trainings and safety walks and has held food, clothing, shoe and toy drives to help those in need.

Martos is unsure where he will continue his education, but eventually wants to attend law school.

Adrienne Sanchez
Integrated Studies

“I feel really good, it’s free tuition.”

Sanchez plans to transfer to UNM to become certified as both a nutritionist and a nurse.

She has volunteered with March of Dimes and the Storehouse.

She is also a SkillsUSA member and went to the State Leadership Conference in 2012.

Want to apply for next year’s scholarship? Here’s some advice from the winners:

“Don’t give up. People get intimidated with the amount of work you have to do to get the scholarship, but it is really not that bad.” – Melanie Mullens

“Do it. Stick with it and keep working on your essays.” – Steve Fye

“If you can help someone out with your time and get some money to go to school, it’s worth it.” – Crystal Perea

“Don’t be lazy. Write the essays. It is easy, but a little time consuming. It’s definitely worth it.” – Natasha Spencer

“Don’t be afraid to get out there are help in the community. It will benefit you in more ways than you can imagine.” – Stephen Martos

“Document everything you do. Make sure you have good references and you get everything done on time.” – Adrienne Sanchez