11-4 War Rationing

FRI, 11-04-05

JAY MILLER
Syndicated Columnist

SANTA FE -- New Mexicans helped the World War II effort in many ways other than providing food for the troops. In addition to many personal sacrifices, we gave of our state's natural resources in a very big way.
During the war, New Mexico was the largest producer of potash, tantalum and pumice. We were second in zinc and tin; third in copper, molybdenum and vanadium; fourth in beryllium, lithium and fluorspar and seventh in oil and gas. We also were likely first in uranium, but the government doesn't talk about that.
Some of these minerals may not sound particularly valuable to the war effort, but they were. Potash was used for ammunition and fertilizer. Pumice was for insulation and an abrasive used in skid-proof paint for ships. Fluorspar was a metal alloy. Beryllium was used in atomic bombs.
Everything mined in New Mexico was considered either critical, essential or necessary. Mining occurred around the clock and seriously depleted many of our natural resources. New reserves often were found, but toward the end of the war, engineers looking for new deposits were transferred to production.
Everyone sacrificed. Food wasn't the only commodity rationed. Clothing was, too. In 1942, the War Production Board issued the following regulations. Women are encouraged to make or "remodel" the family's clothes. New Clothes cannot have French cuffs or sleeves, no pockets of wool, no cuffs on coats, no belts wider than two inches, and no hoods on jackets or blouses.
Cars could have no more than one extra tire. No new passenger car tires were made after June 1942. Worn out tires were recapped, up to four times. Maximum speeds were lowered to 40 miles per hour, then 35. Gasoline was rationed and people were told to drive only when necessary. By the end of 1942, two million cars had been taken off the roads.
Lumber, paper bags, cotton mattresses, burlap and cotton became nearly impossible to find and all the nation's scrap iron was snatched up. The 40-hour work week became 56 hours. Child labor laws were suspended and children were told to expect less free time during evenings and weekends.
Women also were deeply involved with the war effort. When they weren't working in industrial plants, they were working at home. Existing women's clubs around the state were mobilized to work with home extension agents.
New clubs sprung up to wrap bandages and sew articles for the troops. One of those, called "Stitch and Bitch," formed in Santa Fe among wives of top government officials and is still in existence.
The New Mexico Home Extension Service designed a pledge for New Mexico homemakers, which read in part: "I am resolved:
"To keep myself and my family fit by producing, conserving and properly using food and thus also help our military forces and allies by releasing food to them.
"To combat waste through proper care of all clothing and equipment in our home, through the salvage of all usable materials and through the sharing of transportation and equipment with neighbors I will not forget to give proper care to borrowed equipment.
"To share with neighbors by supporting all rationing programs.
"To combat inflation by buying carefully, cutting waste, spending less and saving more.
"To support our fighting men on battle fronts by turning in critical scrap materials and by buying war stamps and bonds.
"To combat disunity by refusing to spread rumors ad by working harmoniously with others, placing the success of our Nation in the war effort above personal comforts and desires.
"To maintain community morale by being cheerful and by taking an active interest in community work."
It might not be a bad idea for all of us, today, to look carefully at that list and take the take the same pledge to help take on some of our world's very similar problems.

 

11-02 Food Will Win the War

WED, 11-02-05

JAY MILLER
Syndicated Columnist

SANTA FE -- Much recognition has been given to New Mexicans' World War II effort fighting on foreign soil. But New Mexicans also contributed greatly to the winning the war on our own soil.
Many of our state's farmers and ranchers were asked to stay home because producing food and other valuable commodities was as essential to winning as any other component of America's war machine.
Millions already had starved from the Japanese ravaging of China. Thousands more died of starvation in the sieges of Stalingrad and Leningrad. And German U-boats were sinking large numbers of our food supply ships on their way to Europe.
In the final months of the war in the Pacific, Operation Starvation was slowly decimating the Japanese. Had we not dropped the atom bombs, killing 200,000, our agricultural experts estimated over seven million deaths from starvation during the next year.
Food production and distribution strategy ranks right up there with military strategy in time of war. Available food supplies were allocated among civilians, the military and our Allies. Servicemen were sent 50 percent more. Part of the reason was the difficulty in getting the food to them.
New Mexico's railroads assisted in that effort, giving top priority to transportation of food. They also helped train a military unit at Clovis to run the trains of Europe. On the coasts, Liberty Ships were hurriedly being built to convoy the food to foreign shores.
At home, food production goals were established for all crops and livestock products, depending on military needs. Farmers and ranchers were provided with the latest scientific knowledge about production and conservation by agricultural extension agents.
As production was increased for the troops, food at home was rationed. "Meatless" and "wheatless" days gave way to "point-rationing" of meats, fats, cheese and milk. A "blue-stamp" program was instituted to control consumption of more than 200 processed food items. Then came War Ration Books that imposed additional restrictions.
But even more food production for the troops became necessary. It was a tall order because many additional farm workers were being called by the draft. Victory Farm Volunteer youth programs, such as 4-H, were organized to pick crops after school and on weekends. The Women's Land Army was begun in 1943.
My Cub Scout troop, in Deming, picked cotton for 10-cents a bag, with the money going to the war effort. My father's Lions Club helped farmers weed and harvest their bean crops. They received $1.25 an acre, with the money going to the War Fund drive.
That still wasn't enough, so in 1944, prisoners of war were moved into the food production effort. Branch camps sprang up in farming communities throughout the state. But Geneva Convention regulations imposed numerous restrictions on the nations that observed them. So an agreement was reached with Mexico establishing the Bracero program to bring Mexican farm workers across the border.
Do you remember Victory Gardens? That program began in early 1942 to encourage Americans to grow as much of their own food as possible. Gov. John E. Miles got things going in New Mexico as soon as the growing season began, declaring that "every vegetable that grows in our gardens should be regarded as a defense plant."
Local businesses sponsored contests for who could grow the most and biggest. My father was from a farming family, so we had a big Victory Garden that I spent a great amount of time weeding. By 1943, there were an estimated two million victory gardens in the nation. In 1944, that number doubled.
Americans shy away from fats now, but they were important in the war effort. Butchers would pay two red points a pound for used fats. Grease became a weapon of war because grease makes glycerin, which makes gunpowder.
With four million fewer people on farms and ranches than in World War I, America produced 50 percent more food in World War II. Rural New Mexico was an important part of that effort.

 

10-31 Museums

MON, 10-31-05

JAY MILLER
Syndicated Columnist

NEW ENGLAND -- Once again, we're off on a journey laced with political history. This time, it is Ellis Island, the Statue of Liberty and the presidential libraries of Jack Kennedy and the Adams family.
I had never visited Ellis Island. It fell into disrepair after 1924 laws were passed severely restricting immigration. The arguments then were the same as they are now. There's too many of them. They'll take over. They'll take our jobs, our culture and our language.
For awhile after that, Ellis Island reversed roles and served as a deportation center. During World War II, it was an interment center for Japanese, Italian and German aliens. After the war, it was completely abandoned.
In the mid-1980s, while the Statue of Liberty was being restored for its 100th birthday in 1986, interest turned to some restoration of the neighboring Ellis Island. In 1990, the restored main building was reopened as an immigration museum.
The building is impressive, giving visitors a feeling of what it was like to be one of the 12 million immigrants, who passed through between 1892 and 1924. On an interactive computer in the building, Jeanette and I both found relatives, who had passed through Ellis Island.
That also told us something we suspected. First- and second-class passengers aboard the steamships from Europe were quickly processed aboard ship. The passengers in "steerage" were taken by ferries and barges to Ellis Island.
Ferries make the trip from either New York or New Jersey to both islands. We didn't bother disembarking at Liberty Island. There no longer is much to do other than walk around the base. Since 2001, access to the crown has not been permitted. For the first 30 years of its existence, visitors could go all the way up to the base of the torch.
In Boston, we had the opportunity to add the Adams and Kennedy libraries to our growing list of presidential libraries visited. Only since Herbert Hoover have presidents had official libraries, paid for by the government. So most past presidents don't actually have libraries.
But the Adams family is an exception. John and John Quincy were both voracious readers, as were the next two generations. It was John Adams' dying wish that if a member of the family ever had the money, that a library be built for all his books.
John Quincy married quite well and was able to build a large stone library next to the family home. Two succeeding generations of distinguished Adams also added to the collection.
Then, it was on to the Kennedy Library. The day was cold, windy and rainy, reminiscent of the day of his funeral. The library is the best organized of any we have seen. The tour began with a 15-minute movie of Kennedy's young life, ending with his nomination as president.
Then, began a tour down the 1960 campaign trail to the election and inauguration. Next, came his major initiatives, such as the Peace Corps and the space program, followed by sections on Robert Kennedy, Jackie Kennedy and the rest of the Kennedy family. The tour ended with brief coverage of his assassination and legacy.
Every presidential library has given us a different feeling. This one wasn't particularly good. Maybe it was the gray day. Or was it the tragedy of his death and a mission unfinished? There was no effort to glorify him or cast him as a martyr.
All presidential libraries undergo constant change. Millions have been spent revising this one. We felt we could see the strong hand of the Kennedy family, mainly that of daughter Caroline.
If you want an uplifting experience, visit the Reagan Library in Simi Valley, California. Dozens of sweet, little ladies, dressed in pink greet you and guide you through exhibits giving one the "Morning in America" feeling.
George H.W. Bush's library in College Station, Texas is very much a father-son event, with many references to the Adams Family. And today, we got to come full circle.

 

traveling

I will be out of the office through the end of the month. I have my computer with me and plan to send you columns for 10/31  and 11/2. Otherwise, next column will be 11/4.

 

Jay

10-28 NM's Contributions to WWII

By JAY MILLER
Syndicated Columnist
SANTA FE -- Besides sacrificing a higher rate of its servicemen during World War II than any other state, New Mexico also helped in many other ways.
We already have talked about New Mexico being a national leader in War Bond drives. Today let me tell you about the number of facilities and amount of land in New Mexico devoted to the war effort.
Because of our good weather and wide-open spaces, New Mexico hosted some 50 military installations.
These included seven major air bases with adjacent bombing ranges, nine additional bombing and gunnery ranges, seven supplemental civilian airports, three forts from the days of the Indian Wars, three major prisoner of war and interment centers and some secret facilities.
The following is a brief description of those installations. Since many of us still have our long-term memories intact, these may bring back memories.
Major air bases were established at Alamogordo, Carlsbad, Clovis, Deming, Fort Sumner, Albuquerque and Roswell. Alamogordo is still operational as Holloman Air Force Base. Its bombing range is now White Sands Missile Range.
Carlsbad trained all bombardier instructors for the entire Army Air Corps. It was deactivated after the war and is now the Cavern City Air Terminal.
Clovis handled all the big bombers and remained operational after the war as Cannon Air Force Base. Deming trained most of the Army Air Corps bombardiers at its large range southwest of town. Today it functions as an industrial park and civilian airport.
Fort Sumner was primarily a glider school. Today the field serves as its airport. Albuquerque's airfield expanded greatly during the war into a major defense installation handling many missions, including chemical warfare training. Today it is Kirtland Air Force Base.
Roswell handled basic and advanced flight training, bombing and gunnery. After the war, it was home to the 509th Composite Group that dropped the atom bombs on Japan. It became Walker Air Force Base and was deactivated in 1968. It is now the Roswell Industrial Air Park.
Additional bombing and gunnery ranges were located near Las Cruces, El Paso, Quemado, Los Alamos and what is now Rio Rancho.
Other New Mexico air fields were located at Hobbs, Las Cruces, Santa Fe, Las Vegas, Lordsburg, Raton and Tucumcari. These fields were built by the Army to military standards but only for backup purposes. The only two used for anything other than as civilian airports were Las Vegas, for Naval pre-flight training and Lordsburg, to serve the large prisoner of war camp.
Three nearly-century-old forts were put to use. Fort Bayard as a hospital and cemetery, Fort Stanton as a hospital and interment center and Fort Wingate as an ordinance depot. We called them powder houses back then.
Camp Luna, near Las Vegas, was used for militia training and Camp Reid, near Clovis, was appropriated from the Santa Fe Railroad to teach soldiers how to operate captured European railroads. It was returned to the Santa Fe Railroad after the war.
Prisoner of War camps were located in Roswell, Lordsburg and Santa Fe. Roswell handled about 4,000 Germans. Lordsburg handled 1,500 Japanese and 4,000 Italians.
Santa Fe had some German and Italian prisoners, but most were Japanese-American detainees from the West Coast. Santa Fe also had Bruns military hospital and still has a national cemetery.
Branch POW camps were established to help bring in crops.
They were located in Artesia, Dexter, Mayhill, Albuquerque, Melrose, Clayton Carlsbad, Portales, Santa Fe, Clovis, Las Cruces, Hatch, Fort Bayard, Deming, Anthony, Alamogordo, Fort Sumner, Fort Stanton and High Rolls.
And then we had our secret facilities. Chief among them was Los Alamos, where the world's first atom bombs were developed. Uranium for these bombs was secretly mined at Ambrosia Lake, east of Gallup. The Fat Man bomb was tested at Trinity Site, west of Carrizozo. And before the war was over, the Manhattan Engineer district took over little-known Sandia Base, which remains an active research facility.
FRI, 10-28-05

JAY MILLER, 3 La Tusa, Santa Fe, NM 87505
(ph) 982-2723, (fax) 984-0982, (e-mail) insidethecapitol@hotmail.com

 

10-26 Ernie Pyle

By JAY MILLER
Syndicated Columnist

SANTA FE -- New Mexico can claim the nation's two top war correspondents. We're talking about World War II, but Ernie Pyle and Bill Mauldin were arguably the best of any war. Except for Geraldo Rivera, of course.
Mauldin was a cartoonist whom we discussed in another column. Ernie Pyle was a columnist. Both won Pulitzer Prizes for their war reporting.
Although different in many ways, their coverage of the war was very similar. They reported from the front about "the guys who were doing the fighting and dying," as Pyle put it.
Like Mauldin, Pyle was criticized by some for his reporting because it wasn't the image the White House and War Department wanted Americans to have of the conditions under which their boys were fighting. But somehow, the public knew that this was the truth.
Another reason Pyle wasn't criticized as severely is that he wasn't a soldier, as Mauldin was. Pyle was a seasoned columnist, who had made a name for himself touring the country with his wife, writing "on the road" columns for the Scripps-Howard chain of newspapers.
The Pyles cris-crossed America some 35 times while Ernie wrote folksy columns about ordinary people in small towns. They enjoyed the freedom of a mobile life.
Pyle once wrote "I have no home. My home is where my extra luggage is and where the car is stopped, and where I happen to be getting mail this time. My home is America."
Eventually, however, the Pyles sensed a lack of something in their lives. They somewhat reluctantly decided to settle down. Pyle wrote of all the places they talked of landing, but concluded that if they were going to do it, it had to be in New Mexico for which they had developed "a deep unreasoning affection."
It also had a lot to do with a friendship the Pyles had developed with Edward Shaffer, editor of the Albuquerque Tribune, and his wife Liz. And it had something to do with the Scripps-Howard Company's feeling that the Shaffers might be able to help the Pyles develop some stability in their lives.
They built a house at 900 Girard SE, in Albuquerque. Being Midwesterners, they built a white picket fence, of which Ernie fondly spoke in many columns.
But stability was not to be. Pyle left his wife Jerry at home and went to Europe to work as a war correspondent for United Features Syndicate. There, the Pyle grab-you-by-the-throat style burst into full bloom.
Many of his pieces were written in foxholes, often under fire, describing the typical soldier's worries, fears, loneliness, pain and homesickness. In 1942, he won the Pulitzer Prize.
By late 1944, Pyle was mentally exhausted. He returned to Albuquerque, but wasn't happy their either. In January 1945, he left to cover the Pacific Theater in Okinawa. Again, he stalked enemy positions with Marine patrols, usually positioned just behind the point man.
In mid-April, the action took Pyle to the little island of Ie Shima, off the coast of Okinawa, where the Japanese had mounted a ferocious defense. On April 18, 1945, he was headed to the front in a jeep that was sprayed with machine gun fire. They dove for cover in a nearby ditch, but Ernie was hit and died instantly.
Two days later, he was buried near the scene of the battle that was still raging. After the war, he was reburied at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, better known as "Punchbowl," in Honolulu. Four months later, his wife, Jerry, died.
The city of Albuquerque acquired the house from the Pyle estate and in 1948 opened it as a branch library. It has been carefully preserved the past 60 years and displays Ernie's memorabilia alongside the library's books.
This only home that Ernie ever owned is visited regularly by journalists from throughout the nation making a pilgrimage to capture something from the most popular columnist of the 20th century.
WED, 10-26-05

JAY MILLER, 3 La Tusa, Santa Fe, NM 87505
(ph) 982-2723, (fax) 984-0982, (e-mail) insidethecapitol@hotmail.com

 

10-24 Bill Mauldin

By JAY MILLER
Syndicated Columnist
SANTA FE -- One of New Mexico's many contributions to our nation during World War II was cartoonist Bill Mauldin.
Born at Mountain Park, near Cloudcroft, in 1921, Mauldin came from a pioneer family in the area. His grandfather had been friendly with Pat Garrett and Oliver Lee.
His father was a hard-drinking jack-of-all-trades who had much trouble finding work during the Depression. Life was hard. Mauldin suffered from rickets, a disease caused by vitamin D deficiency.
He was unable to engage in strenuous activity. His large head, spindly body and bowed legs led one of his father's friends to observe "If that was my son, I'd drown him."
Mauldin never forgot the insult and turned all his energy toward becoming a success in life. He had artistic talent and when he saw an ad from a mail-order art school promising great riches in cartooning, he talked his grandmother into loaning him $20 to sign up.
Armed with the skills he learned from that course, Mauldin began drawing his first cartoons for the Alamogordo High School newspaper. When his parents divorced in 1937, Mauldin and an older brother moved to Phoenix to finish high school.
When he was through with high school, Mauldin again hit up his grandmother for tuition to the Academy of Fine Art in Chicago. After a year, Mauldin returned to the Southwest, confident he could make his way in the worlds of cartooning and commercial art.
But the war got in the way. He joined the Arizona National Guard, which within days was federalized as the 45th Division, composed of guardsmen from Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and Oklahoma. The headquarters were in Oklahoma.
Assigned to the infantry, Mauldin knew he didn't want to be a rifleman at the front as his father had been in World War I, so he volunteered all his free time as a cartoonist for the 45th Division News. Soon the division was sent to Sicily and Italy, where Mauldin continued cartooning.
As his battlefield experiences increased, lighthearted sarcasm gave way to irony and a grim sense of humor. By 1943 Mauldin's cartoons had become so popular among fellow enlisted men that they were reprinted in Stars and Stripes.
In 1944, Mauldin began a six-day-a-week assignment with the widely-disseminated armed services newspaper. There, he fully developed his most famous characters, Willie and Joe, highly competent at their jobs but keenly aware of the shortcomings and absurdity to be found in life during wartime.
They became huge favorites of enlisted men, whose morale was boosted by the knowledge that someone was out there who understood how war really was. Many top officers, all the way up to Gen. Dwight Eisenhower, understood this.
But some of the older and more conservative generals didn't. Chief among these was Gen. George Patton, who attempted to have Mauldin court-martialed. Eisenhower got them together for a face-to-face meeting, hoping to make peace.
But it didn't work. Their stubborn efforts not to back down resulted in one of the most talked-about incidents in wartime journalism. The following year, his work won him the Pulitzer Prize and his fame spread throughout the United States, where major newspapers picked up his cartoons.
Mauldin's mature insights into human nature and the realities of war were truly amazing, considering all this happened while he was in his early 20s. But, growing up during tough times, Mauldin had been a keen observer of people under stress all his life.
Mauldin returned from the war a hero. He worked for major newspapers and was syndicated throughout the nation. He often returned to the peace and quiet of New Mexico In 1992, he received an honorary Doctor's Degree from New Mexico State University.
When he finally retired in 1990, he returned to New Mexico and lived in Santa Fe until Alzheimers put him in a California nursing home.
Mauldin died in 2003 and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
MON, 10-24-05

JAY MILLER, 3 La Tusa, Santa Fe, NM 87505
(ph) 982-2723, (fax) 984-0982, (e-mail) insidethecapitol@hotmail.com

 

10-21 A Tribute To Dad

By JAY MILLER
Syndicated Columnist

SANTA FE � Yesterday my father would have turned 100. He died 12 years ago and was ready to move into the afterlife in which he so strongly believed.
J. Cloyd Miller was a living testimonial to New Mexico�s climate and its curative effects on tuberculosis. In 1907, his father moved the family from Illinois because of his youngest son�s health problems.
It worked. Dad�s lungs cleared to the point he was an athlete at Las Cruces High School and was the starting center in a state championship basketball game, losing to Albuquerque High by one point in overtime.
But 87 years after coming to New Mexico�s dry climate, those lungs filled with fluid for the final time. It had become a problem every January the previous four years.
The Miller family didn�t move straight to Las Cruces. Besides being a medical doctor, C.A. Miller also was a farmer. He decided to homestead land near Tularosa between White Sands and the Malpais. Grandmother taught school in town and grandfather practiced medicine just enough to barter for the farm equipment and labor he needed to try damming an arroyo for use as a water source.
But, of course, the dam never held the mighty force generated by New Mexico cloudbursts and grandfather couldn�t prove up the homestead. He next tried the Malaga Salt Flats south of Loving with no better luck.
Finally in 1920, with his two sons in high school, he moved the family to Las Cruces, opened a full-time doctor�s office, bought some Rio Grande bottomland near Mesquite and hired someone to do his farming. On weekends, he�d go out and get his ands dirty.
Dad followed in his mother�s footsteps as a teacher. After graduating from New Mexico A&M, he taught in Gallup and Las Cruces before becoming a high school principal in Lordsburg and Carlsbad and then serving as superintendent of the Lordsburg and Deming school districts. From 1952 to 1962, he was president of New Mexico Western College in Silver City.
Most sons admire their fathers, but I always felt I had extra reason for pride in mine. Dad led a totally moral life. He claimed that no tobacco or alcohol ever touched his lips. I never heard a swear word from him. He scolded me for using words like �gosh� and �golly.� Unfortunately, none of those good examples were passed on to me.
The only doubt I ever had about Dad was that he was too good. I thought he would lose out for always turning the other cheek. But his good deeds somehow were rewarded just as he said they would be.
In 1952, when he was president of the National Education Association, Dad and a few other NEA leaders decided the organization needed a summer travel service for its members. But they couldn�t convince the governing body to take the risk.
So Dad and two others pooled their life savings, bought a travel agency in Alexandria, Va., and set up tours for teachers. After a year, business was so good that NEA gladly bought the operation at no profit to my father or friends.
I told him he was a softie because he didn�t charge for his risk. But when he retired 10 years later, he was in immediate demand as a travel consultant due to his successful experience setting up a tour company.
For the next 20 years, my parents traveled the world courtesy of the airlines for which Dad consulted. His upbeat personality and two filing cabinets full of jokes made him a big hit on the speaking circuit. A good command of Spanish also made him popular throughout Central and South America.
His last eight years of life were not quality time. Dad�s quick wit slowly dimmed to a faint glow. The past four years, he and my mother were residents of an Albuquerque nursing home.
But his basic goodness never faded. When I asked how he was doing, he would motion to the nursing home employees and said, �I�m doing great because these people treat me so much better than I have any right to expect.�
FRI, 10-21-05

JAY MILLER, 3 La Tusa, Santa Fe, NM 87505
(ph) 982-2723, (fax) 984-0982, (e-mail) insidethecapitol@hotmail.com

 

10-19 Check Out the WSMR Museum

By JAY MILLER
Syndicated Columnist
SANTA FE -- White Sands Missile Range's Museum and Missile Park is a sight worth seeing.
Located between Las Cruces and Alamogordo, just inside the WSMR gate, the museum traces the origin of America's missile and space activity. Outside, the Missile Park displays more than 50 missiles and rockets that have been tested at White Sands.
We stopped there during the X Prize activities in the area because WSMR has been a helpful part of attracting private space ventures to southern New Mexico.
WSMR's history of developing the U.S. military's space program fits naturally into the beginnings of the commercial spacecraft industry, which is what the X Prize competitions are designed to encourage.
The missile range had its beginnings in 1945, at the end of World War II. Many German V-2 rockets, captured by U.S. troops advancing on Berlin, were shipped back to the United States.
After a painstaking survey of the entire nation, the War Department decided that land occupied by the Alamogordo Bombing Range would be the best location to test rockets.
The decision to locate in southern New Mexico was made for basically the same reasons that prompted Charles Lindbergh to recommend the Roswell area for Dr. Robert Goddard's rocketry experiments. By the time the X Prize folks got around to selecting a location for their competitions, southern New Mexico was a no-brainer.
Along with the V-2 rockets came about 100 top German scientists who had opted to surrender to the Americans rather than be captured by the Russians. Their leader was Dr. Wernher von Braun.
In mid-August 1945, 300 freight cars loaded with V-2 components, captured in Germany, arrived in New Mexico. The Army hired every flatbed truck in Dona Ana County and transported the material to the Proving Grounds in 20 days.
From 1946 to 1952, sixty-seven V-2s were launched from White Sands. On April 16, 1946, the first V-2 was fired from Launch Complex 33, which now is a historic landmark, along with Trinity Site, where the first atom bomb was exploded. Both sites are on White Sands Missile Range.
Some of the early V-2 launches were quite exciting. I watched many with my grandmother, Laura Miller, from the front steps of her house at the corner of Melendres and Hadley in Las Cruces.
The rockets would rise from behind the Organ Mountains and eventually pitch to the north and follow a jagged trail down. But sometimes a gyroscope wouldn't perform properly and they'd head for parts unknown.
The V-2 testing led to bigger and better rockets. The Redstone became the workhorse of the space program, launching the first satellite. Then came the Jupiter and the Saturn, which launched men to the moon.
The WSMR Museum has an early V-2 in a building recently constructed to house it. In the main building are many displays telling the history of the base. There also are rooms taking you back to prehistoric times and moving up through the Spanish, the Apaches and the cowboys.
And don't miss the gift shop. We certainly didn't. The Miller credit card suffered serious damage, mostly on books. But my wife found some exquisite jewelry, made by local artists that she just had to have.
The museum is free and open year-round. The hours on weekdays are 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and on weekends are 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The missile park is open during daylight hours and the missiles are well marked.
The entrance is 22 miles from Las Cruces and 44 miles from Alamogordo. It is well marked on the Interstate. But once you've turned off, it's a guessing game until you've driven four miles north to the gate. It is an easy walk from the parking lot to the museum, but if you take your driver's license, vehicle registration and proof of insurance to the visitor center at the gate, you get a pass to drive in.
A great idea before going is to check the museum Web site at www.wsmr-history.org. Larry Furrow and Jim Eckles of the public affairs department have done a great job on it.
WED, 10-19-05

JAY MILLER, 3 La Tusa, Santa Fe, NM 87505
(ph) 982-2723, (fax) 984-0982, (e-mail) insidethecapitol@hotmail.com

 

10-17 attachment

By JAY MILLER
Syndicated Columnist
SANTA FE -- New Mexico's U.S. Sens. Pete Domenici and Jeff Bingaman are cooperating on efforts crucial to our state.
They have added a provision to the Defense Spending Bill prohibiting the Pentagon from withdrawing any forces or assets from Cannon Air Force Base in Clovis until Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has certified to Congress that he has sought new missions for the base. He has until Oct. 1, 2006 to report. The bill has passed the Senate and is now in a House-Senate conference committee, on which Domenici serves.
The fear has been that since the Defense Department wants to close Cannon, it will leave the base looking like a ghost town and use that as justification that no new mission is appropriate.
The Base Realignment and Closure Commission overrode the Pentagon's closure recommendation and directed that new missions be sought for Cannon after its fighter wings are reassigned to other bases.
Our congressional delegation took a back seat to Gov. Bill Richardson during the battle to keep Cannon open. Or at least that was the public appearance. This effort by Domenici and Bingaman should help change that perception.
Domenici and Bingaman, who are of opposite parties, but who often work together, especially on New Mexico issues, also have teamed to protect Fort Stanton Cave's recently-discovered Snowy River Passage.
The passage is a unique continuous white crystalline calcite formation that has been mapped for two miles, so far. Scientists believe it could lead to new discoveries in areas such as water chemistry, weather trends and flood and drought cycles.
The bill calls for protection, not only of the passage, but of the land surface above it. That is sure to impact the proposed land development surrounding Fort Stanton that has been the subject of hot debate in Lincoln County.
***
In a related development, the state Environment Department has awarded Cannon Air Force Base its highest recognition level for excellence in its environmental efforts. It was alone in that category.
Cannon reduced its hazardous waste by 80 percent, its solvent waste by 96 percent and diverted more than 7,000 tons of reusable materials from its landfill. Environment Secretary Ron Curry says these actions also saved Cannon $200,000.
Should this recognition cause the Pentagon to be more likely to find another mission for Cannon? Military bases are notorious for degrading their environment. The cleanup cost overruns for closed bases are a major reason why projected savings from base closures become increased costs instead.
So if Cannon is closed, cleanup costs there may not be as high. Apparently the astronomical costs of cleanup at some bases assures they will remain open forever.
***
This column recently commented on what appeared to be a case of dueling railyard developments in Santa Fe. The local government has had a railyard development project on the drawing board for years, but keeps second-guessing itself and going back to square one.
In August, Gov. Richardson announced the state will enter a public-private partnership to develop a railyard for his Belen-Santa Fe commuter train about a mile down the tracks from the city's proposed railyard.
We speculated that the action-oriented governor would finish his development before the city ever gets off the dime and would grab much of the commercial and residential business the city is anticipating.
Not so, says Richardson's senior policy advisor Bill Hume. The state and city are communicating and coordinating. They feel both projects are needed, so there will be no competition.
The city railyard will have a heavy emphasis on local needs, such as artists' lofts. The state project will do the heavy lifting in areas such as parking (a major Santa Fe problem) and commuter transportation to other locations in the city.


MON, 10-17-05

JAY MILLER, 3 La Tusa, Santa Fe, NM 87505
(ph) 982-2723, (fax) 984-0982, (e-mail) insidethecapitol@hotmail.com

 

Updated 10-17 Column

This just in:  the provision to save Cannon AFB has passed the Senate

10-17 Cannon, Ft Stanton, Railyards

By JAY MILLER
Syndicated Columnist
SANTA FE -- New Mexico's U.S. Sens. Pete Domenici and Jeff Bingaman are cooperating on efforts crucial to our state.
They now have legislation on the floor of the Senate prohibiting the Pentagon from withdrawing any assets from Cannon Air Force Base in Clovis until Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has actively looked for a new mission for the base.
The fear has been that since the Defense Department wants to close Cannon, it will leave the base looking like a ghost town and use that as justification that no new mission is appropriate.
The Base Realignment and Closure Commission overrode the Pentagon's closure recommendation and directed that a new mission be sought for Cannon after its fighter wings are realigned to other bases.
Our congressional delegation took a back seat to Gov. Bill Richardson during the battle to keep Cannon open. Or at least that was the public appearance. This effort by Domenici and Bingaman should help change that perception.
Domenici and Bingaman, who are of opposite parties, but who often work together, especially on New Mexico issues, also have teamed to protect Fort Stanton Cave's recently-discovered Snowy River Passage.
The passage is a unique continuous white crystalline calcite formation that has been mapped for two miles, so far. Scientists believe it could lead to new discoveries in areas such as water chemistry, weather trends and flood and drought cycles.
The bill calls for protection, not only of the passage, but of the land surface above it. That is sure to impact the proposed land development surrounding Fort Stanton that has been the subject of hot debate in Lincoln County.
***
In a related development, the state Environment Department has awarded Cannon Air Force Base its highest recognition level for excellence in its environmental efforts. It was alone in that category.
Cannon reduced its hazardous waste by 80 percent, its solvent waste by 96 percent and diverted more than 7,000 tons of reusable materials from its landfill. Environment Secretary Ron Curry says these actions also saved Cannon $200,000.
Should this recognition cause the Pentagon to be more likely to find another mission for Cannon? Military bases are notorious for degrading their environment. The cleanup cost overruns for closed bases are a major reason why projected savings from base closures become increased costs instead.
So if Cannon is closed, cleanup costs there may not be as high. Apparently the astronomical costs of cleanup at some bases assures they will remain open forever.
***
This column recently commented on what appeared to be a case of dueling railyard developments in Santa Fe. The local government has had a railyard development project on the drawing board for years, but keeps second-guessing itself and going back to square one.
In August, Gov. Richardson announced the state will enter a public-private partnership to develop a railyard for his Belen-Santa Fe commuter train about a mile down the tracks from the city's proposed railyard.
We speculated that the action-oriented governor would finish his development before the city ever gets off the dime and would grab much of the commercial and residential business the city is anticipating.
Not so, says Richardson's senior policy advisor Bill Hume. The state and city are communicating and coordinating. They feel both projects are needed, so there will be no competition.
The city railyard will have a heavy emphasis on local needs, such as artists' lofts. The state project will do the heavy lifting in areas such as parking (a major Santa Fe problem) and commuter transportation to other locations in the city.
***
New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson and Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman have formally joined forces to promote a Western States Presidential Primary. They contend that since this is a bipartisan effort, it will have a better chance than previous efforts at a regional primary. But they've been working behind the scenes for several months with no success.



MON, 10-17-05

JAY MILLER, 3 La Tusa, Santa Fe, NM 87505
(ph) 982-2723, (fax) 984-0982, (e-mail) insidethecapitol@hotmail.com

 

10-14 X Prize Events a Success

By JAY MILLER
Syndicated Columnist
SANTA FE -- All the participants in the X Prize events in southern New Mexico last week say they are happy with the way things turned out.
Dr. Peter Diamandis, founder of the X Prize race into space, announced that he is pleased that New Mexico was chosen as the site for X Prize competitions. He praised state and local government officials for their enthusiastic backing and expressed delight over the size of the crowd at the Sunday event in Las Cruces.
Officials with the state and with the X Prize Foundation had been cautious about predicting a big crowd for the afternoon's display and demonstration of future space vehicles. But the estimated 20,000 turnout had everyone in high spirits.
Perhaps most importantly, the companies that are in the race to get the first passengers into space, said they were pleased with the organization of the event and the size of the crowd. Those are the companies that New Mexico is trying to attract to the state.
The only downside of the event was the wind. One of our occasional fall storms blew through the state that weekend. The rain came the night before, and trailing winds disrupted a few activities.
Skydivers, who were to descend on the airport for the high noon opening ceremony, landed 10 miles away in a Wal-Mart parking lot. But the only space-related activity that was affected was a vertical rocket liftoff.
Temperatures were pleasant and a tightly planned five hours of demonstrations, presentations and film packages came off with almost no hitches. It was a very professional job and one that is sure to bring even more participants and spectators next year.
Not all companies in the private race to space participated. Burt Rutan's Scaled Composites, which won last year's $10 million X Prize by flying to the edge of space twice within two weeks was a no-show.
Of course, Rutan has nothing to prove. He's two or three years ahead of the pack, thanks to his ingenuity and sometimes Santa Fean Paul Allen's money.
Allen plunked down $20 million to finance the entire operation. The $10 million prize was distributed among employees. Think about that, you budding young scientists and engineers.
Many did think about that. On Friday, the New Mexico Museum of Space History in Alamogordo hosted nearly 1,000 fifth-graders from across southern New Mexico for an education day.
Tents and trailers in the museum's parking lot provided exhibits and hands-on space activities. If the students' enthusiasm was anywhere near their energy level, many of them will go into space.
My compliments to museum officials who chose to invite fifth graders. Forty years ago, I chose to teach fifth grade because I felt 10-year-olds were at the best age to learn. And I haven't changed my mind.
Working backwards, on Thursday, the X Prize Foundation and New Mexico State University presented The First International Symposium for Personal Spaceflight.
It was a day for representatives from over 20 companies interested in getting passengers into space to interact with each other and with representatives of NMSU and governmental agencies.
There were no competitive events this year. Next year may see some, and definitely, say X Prize officials, there will be races of all sorts by 2007, when New Mexico's Southwest Regional Spaceport will be licensed and ready for business.
Attendees at last week's events saw history in the making. As with Dr. Robert Goddard's personal rocketry experiments at Roswell in the 1930s and White Sands Proving Grounds' entry into government-financed rocket science, the effort to get you and me into space is also starting right here in the Land of Enchantment.
Representatives from Virgin Galactic told us they will be flying Rutan's plane into space with passengers by 2007. Tickets will be $200,000, but Armadillo Aerospace said it won't be far behind -- for only $10,000 a trip. Get ready to strap in.
FRI, 10-14-05

JAY MILLER, 3 La Tusa, Santa Fe, NM 87505
(ph) 982-2723, (fax) 984-0982, (e-mail) insidethecapitol@hotmail.com

 

10-12 Let's Discuss Otero Mesa

WED, 10-12-05

By JAY MILLER
SYNDICATED COLUMNIST
ALAMOGORDO -- While traveling this area of southern New Mexico for X Prize events, I've had an opportunity to see Otero Mesa again for at least the hundredth time. And still for the life of me, I can't see the pristine landscape that causes environmentalists and their political allies to oppose drilling in the area.
House Republican Whip Terry Marquardt, who represents this area in the state Legislature, has been trying to get the drilling started for five years, without much success. Now is the time, he says, to get serious about drilling.
With growing oil and gas shortages and soaring prices, this is the time, he says, to have a deliberative discussion about drilling. So Marquardt introduced a joint memorial in the current special legislative session, calling for the state Land Commissioner and the federal Bureau of Land Management to allow increased drilling on Otero Mesa.
Marquardt's effort won't go anywhere. Democrats maneuver the levers of power in Santa Fe and they are likely to rule that legislation relating to energy has no place in a session devoted to energy. That's just the way politics works. If Democrats liked Marquardt's idea, they would kill it anyway, and introduce an identical bill of their own.
And don't think Democrats pull these kinds of shenanigans because they are despicable people. Republicans do the same thing when they are in power.
And so, a good idea that would increase oil and gas supplies and reduce prices for New Mexicans will be dumped during a special session to address those exact issues.
We are told that Otero Mesa is the last of the untouched, pristine, wild Chihuahuan desert grasslands, unparalleled by any other in the world. It is home to over 1,000 native wildlife species, the healthiest herd of pronghorn antelope in the state and the largest, untapped fresh water aquifer in the state, called the Salt Basin.
That aquifer seems poorly named for a body of fresh water. But even if it were salty, scientists can do wonderful things with desalinization -- and they're doing it everywhere but New Mexico, where people also find reasons not to drill for water, either.
We wonder why New Mexico is last in most of the economic indices. It's because we're so good at keeping each other from dong anything. Recently this column complained about New Mexico's Indians finding any land of value in the state to be sacred. Environmentalists are no different. It's all sacred to them too, even if it's a desert.
Other areas of New Mexico also are said to have large untapped, underground aquifers, but none of them ever seem to get tapped.
One of those large untapped aquifers is in the Estancia Valley, which could supply water to both Albuquerque and Santa Fe. But the farmers, under whose land the brackish water lies, have blocked efforts to develop it. And even if it were available, Santa Fe wouldn't use it because of its no-growth policy that is justified primarily by a lack of available water. Go figure.
So environmentalists shouldn't give us any justifications about valuable water under the Otero Mesa, because they'll find reason not to ever tap it anyway.
Evidently their problem is that the drilling activity will foul the fresh water. But drilling methods have greatly improved over the years to the point they are much less invasive. Environmental requirements are now very strict.
The Bureau of Land Management, which administers much of the Otero Mesa land, ensures that drillers comply with those standards. The environmental restrictions written for Otero Mesa are the toughest the BLM has ever required.
So it seems time to entertain Rep. Marquardt's suggestion to have a "deliberative discussion" about what opening Otero Mesa to more oil and gas exploration might do to increase our supply of oil and natural gas and reduce our dependency on foreign nations.

 

10-10 A Fort Stanton Earfull

By JAY MILLER
Syndicated Columnist

SANTA FE -- For now, it appears that building 600 residential units surrounding Fort Stanton is about as likely as building them on the moon.
Fort Stanton is New Mexico's only preserved fort from the days of the Indian wars. Built in 1855, the fort has witnessed much history in its 150-years of existence.
It is a history that is worth preserving. The only problem is how to accomplish that without it continuing to be a black hole that swallows taxpayer money in big chunks.
In the 109 years since Fort Stanton was decommissioned as a military post, it has served many uses. The federal government kept it for years, using it as a tuberculosis hospital and an internment camp. Then it transferred the old fort to the state to let New Mexico try to find uses for the isolated post.
The state also used Fort Stanton for health and detention purposes. But it wasn't any better a fit than for the federal government.
Various state agencies would love to have the fort for more appropriate purposes. Among those agencies are the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Cultural Affairs Department and the state Parks Division, but they would all need a huge budget to run them.
So the state Legislature created the Fort Stanton Development Commission to investigate how to create the revenue necessary to renovate and maintain the old fort. Last week, meetings were held throughout the county to hear the commission's idea of surrounding the fort with 600 residential units.
The proposal had some supporters, but the panel also heard from community members who contended that the commission's proposal amounted to destroying the fort in order to save it.
Commission Chairman Mike Runnels, a former state lieutenant governor, now living in Ruidoso, explained that the housing proposal was only a suggestion of a method in which a public-private partnership could create a revenue stream sufficient to rebuild and maintain the fort. By the end of the week, Runnels declared the proposal dead.
So now, the commission goes back to work with the message that the $100,000 consultant it hired had better come up with more than one idea for how to create the necessary revenue.
The Governor's Office also got involved in listening to public comment during last week's hearings. Bill Hume, the governor's senior policy adviser, sat in on the hearings. You may remember Hume from the columns he wrote as the longtime editorial page editor for the Albuquerque Journal.
Hume also is well grounded in the Lincoln County War. He grew up in nearby Socorro. He visited the sites over the years and has accumulated a library of some 30-40 books on the war.
It is reassuring to see someone of Hume's caliber advising the governor on this delicate matter. Nearly any controversy in Lincoln County has the possibility of growing into something big, so it often takes some finesse to keep the lid on.
During the hearings, Runnels addressed rumors that he is an employee of Ruidoso Downs Racetrack and Casino owner R.D. Hubbard, who already has developed two subdivisions in the area.
Stories have circulated that Hubbard wants Fort Stanton for its water rights, which he would use to build a golf course for those developments.
This isn't the first time Hubbard has been the heavy in the Lincoln County rumor mill. Last year, during the effort to dig up Billy's bones, he was quietly accused of wanting them for his Billy the Kid museum, for a Billy the Kid theme park at Fort Stanton and no telling what else.
I investigated those allegations as fully as I could and found no good evidence. Runnels, an attorney, says he is not a Hubbard employee. He says he serves on the commission because he cares about Fort Stanton.
But that won't be the end of speculation in one of our state's most interesting counties.
MON, 10-10-05

JAY MILLER, 3 La Tusa, Santa Fe, NM 87505
(ph) 982-2723, (fax) 984-0982, (e-mail) insidethecapitol@hotmail.com

 

10-7 Our Heroes Return to Santa Fe

By JAY MILLER
Syndicated Columnist
SANTA FE -- About half of the approximately 1,800 members of the New Mexico National Guard, who were sent to the Philippines in the summer of 1941, returned to the state in October 1945.
Getting to see the New Mexico desert again was an emotional experience. Trains bringing them from the West Coast passed through Gallup. The stop was brief, but nearly everyone got off to kiss the ground. After four years of jungle rot, the desert never looked better.
Most saw their families for the first time when the train stopped in Albuquerque. Then, the men reboarded the train and families followed by car to Santa Fe, where most were scheduled for a stay at Bruns Hospital.
The train stopped at Lamy, where buses took them into Santa Fe. It was nearly midnight but the crowd to greet them was huge. As each soldier stepped off the bus, a microphone blared his name and the crowd roared.
Santa Fe was a great place to recover. Small, offbeat and sympathetic, the community treated the returning heroes well. They could get away with anything. When they went into town and got too drunk, police would give them rides back to the hospital.
Two men even stole a police car to go fishing for a few days. Finally, they called the chief to tell him they were in Pecos. He just replied, "Please don't wreck it, and bring it back when you're through."
The returning POWs were exhausted physically and mentally. After a few weeks, they were granted furloughs to return home for the first time. It was rough on many. They weren't ready to face their families and they weren't ready to face the families of friends who had died.
In prison camp, they had lived in their own little worlds and learned to get by. Coming back home was too big a change. That's why the extended stays at Bruns, even for those with no major physical problems. It was more comfortable still being with their buddies.
Leaves expired on November 13. When they returned to Bruns, Santa Fe staged a huge, official homecoming for the 200th, of which they were so proud. November 13 was named Bataan Day. A special edition of the Santa Fe New Mexican was printed. Flags and banners festooned the town. The morning began with High Mass, at historic St. Francis Cathedral, celebrated by the archbishop followed by a parade, a football game and a banquet.
Then they returned to Bruns to continue their readjustment process together. It was comfortable for the remainder of the "old two-hundred" to still be together.
But eventually, it was time to return to their communities, where they were greeted with banquets and celebrations. It was a traumatic experience for many who weren't quite ready yet for the spotlight.
Some never readjusted. Most didn't talk about their experiences. But surprisingly, most also became productive leaders of their state. And they continued to stick together.
The men of Bataan are honored in many ways throughout the state. The original marker the 200th Coast Artillery constructed at Fort Bliss, Texas, during training in the summer of 1941, is on the state capitol grounds at the corner of Don Gaspar and South Capitol streets, in Santa Fe. It also is the site of the eternal flame and the annual Surrender Day ceremonies.
The former state Capitol Building, stretching west along South Capitol Street, has been renamed the Bataan Building. To the north, near the site of the former governor's mansion, is a large, new memorial to Bataan veterans.
The Bataan Memorial Military Museum and Library is located at 1050 Old Pecos Trail, in Santa Fe. The Taos Plaza has a Bataan Memorial in the middle. Eddy county boasts a Bataan Bridge and Dam near Carlsbad. Deming has a Bataan-Corregidor Memorial. And the little town of Jarales, south of Belen has a memorial dedicated to the 22 residents of the area, who gave their lives during World War II.
FRI, 10-07-05

JAY MILLER, 3 La Tusa, Santa Fe, NM 87505
(ph) 982-2723, (fax) 984-0982, (e-mail) insidethecapitol@hotmail.com

 

10-5 Don't Miss the X Prize

By JAY MILLER
Syndicated Columnist
SANTA FE -- "There will be fire in the sky and on the ground. And plenty of noise all around."
Those are the words of Rick Homans, secretary of the state Economic Development Department, describing this coming Sunday's activities at the X Prize Personal Spaceflight Expo in Las Cruces. The action takes place from noon to 5 p.m. at the Las Cruces International Airport.
The program advertises demonstration flights and launches by the XCOR EZ-Rocket, Armadillo Aerospace, ARCA Aerospace, Golden Palace.com powered by the da Vinci Project, Starchaser Industries, Plantespace/Canadian Arrow, Rocketplane and TRIPOLI Rocket.
In addition, there will be 16 static displays and over 50 exhibitors. Homans says the event is intended to give the public a sense of where the commercial spaceflight industry is right now.
That industry is at the point it is right now, with a big assist from the X Prize Foundation, which is dedicated to raising money for space competitions similar to those that were being offered 80 years ago to encourage commercial airplane flight.
Charles Lindbergh picked up the $25,000 Orteig Prize for his 1927 transatlantic flight to Paris. Last October, SpaceShipOne, financed by part-time Santa Fe resident Paul Allen, won the $10 million Ansari X Prize for flying twice to the edge of space, within a two-week period.
Those two flights were to the same altitude that the first government astronauts flew in the 1960s, at the cost of billions. Allen laid out $20 million for SpaceShipOne, which didn't dump anything in the ocean on its way up and returned to space in five days rather than the months current government shuttles require.
In addition, SpaceShipOne carried the weight of two additional passengers. The Mercury spacecraft had room for only the pilot. That's all that is needed, but a primary purpose of commercial spaceflight is to carry paying customers.
Englishman Richard Branson already has contracted with SpaceShipOne's Burt Rutan to provide passengers within two years. Tickets will be $208,000.
Who would pay that kind of money? Branson, owner of Virgin Records and Virgin Atlantic Airways, has a long list of people who can afford it. Two Americans and a South African already have taken rides aboard the Russians' Soyuz rocket at $20 million apiece for a week's stay at the International Space Station.
As your read this, millionaire scientist Gregory Olsen is on that trip. Olsen says one of the reasons for his mission is to make space flight more routine. Branson says he expects to sell 3,000 tickets in the first five years for the trip aboard Rutan's plane.
Dr. Peter Diamandis is the catalyst behind the increase in commercial spaceflight technology. He holds a post-graduate degree in astronautical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an M.D. degree from Harvard.
The degrees were to help him become a NASA astronaut, but after becoming familiar with NASA, he decided it moved far too slowly. So in 1988, he started his own firm with the goal of beginning an age of spacecraft development and competition similar to what the Wright Brothers touched off at Kittyhawk.
Diamandis is chairman of the X Prize Foundation Many of its prizes will be awarded at future X Prize Cup competitions at the Southwest Regional Spaceport north of Las Cruces. A $50 million prize is being put together for the first private company to put space tourists into orbit.
Ian Murphy, a spokesman for the X Prize Expo, says commercial space travel fits nicely with NASA's goal to find less expensive ways to get to the International Space Station so its money can go into exploration. It will end up saving everyone money, he says.
So come on out to the X Prize events. Saturday's action will be in Alamogordo at the New Mexico Museum of Space History and Sunday will be in Las Cruces.
State Tourism Secretary Michael Cerletti predicts this will become "an event of global proportions, bringing visitors to New Mexico from around the world -- and beyond."
Don't miss it.
WED, 10-05-05

JAY MILLER, 3 La Tusa, Santa Fe, NM 87505
(ph) 982-2723, (fax) 984-0982, (e-mail) insidethecapitol@hotmail.com