5-1 State Parks

MON, 5-1-06

DEMING -- Trips to Las Cruces for a Ford family reunion and to Deming for a high school 50th reunion afforded opportunities to visit some of southwest New Mexico's newest or recently upgraded state parks and monuments.
El Camino Real International Heritage Center, 30 miles south of Socorro, opened in November. The state-of-the-art facility presents a 400-year story of trade and cultural exchange between Mexico and America. It is located a few miles off I-25 so visitors can get an idea of what it was like to cross the Jornada del Muerto, journey of death, which Onate described as "remote beyond compare."
The shortcut across the desert was traversed at night to avoid heat and marauders. The entry to the exhibit is through a dark, winding corridor, with sights and sounds popping up depicting the obstacles one might encounter during the journey.
The center is a joint project of the New Mexico State Monuments Division and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.
By taking state Highway 1 at San Antonio, 15 miles south of Socorro, you also can visit the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge and the recently upgraded Fort Craig, where Union and Confederate forces fought a fierce battle on the rebels' journey north ending in Glorieta Canyon.
Farther down the road, Luna County offers a renovated Rockhound State Park, 12 miles southeast of Deming, in the foothills of the Florida Mountains. The park is popular with rockhounds, not only because of the variety of stones that can be found, but because visitors can collect them and take home up to 15 pounds. It is the only park in the state, and one of the few in the nation, that don't say "Don't Touch."
The park contains quartz crystals, translucent chalcedony of white, bluish-gray, orange and red hues, jasper, agates, geodes, silica minerals and common opal. You might even get lucky and find a precious or semi-precious gem. The recently-completed visitor center has many examples of rocks found in the area.
If you're into rocks, you'll really appreciate the City of Rocks State Park, 30 miles north of Deming. The park was formed by a volcanic eruption a million years ago. Over the centuries giant rock formations have been sculptured by the wind and rain to look like streets, houses, towers and temples. The formations are so unique they are only known to exist in six other places on earth.
Go south from Deming 30 miles to Columbus and find Pancho Villa State Park, named for the famed Mexican revolutionary who attacked the border town in the pre-dawn hours of March 9, 1916. It was the first foreign attack on the United States since 1812.
Villa had numerous reasons for his raid. The United States, under Gen. John "Black Jack" Pershing, had numerous reasons to pursue Villa in a six-month "punitive expedition" into Mexico. And the people of Luna County and New Mexico have had numerous arguments over whether it is appropriate to name a state park after the only person until 2001 to orchestrate an attack on our nation.
Similar to our difficulties tracking down the perpetrator of 9/11, the United States was unsuccessful in finding Pancho Villa. It did, however, give us an opportunity to test the earliest forms of mechanized warfare, which we figured we would be using soon in the World War.
On display at the newly-opened $1.8 million visitor center and museum are the historic military equipment, vehicles and airplanes used in our expedition into Mexico. Numerous displays describe the 1910-1920 revolution against the Mexican government and the behind-the-scenes role played by the United States. A 20-minute film adds additional background.
It is an exhibit worth seeing, regardless of what you think about Pancho Villa. The event had national significance and should be recognized and discussed.
Somehow Pancho ended up being a rather likable figure, similar to Billy the Kid. I'll leave it up to you to explain why people seem to like outlaws.

 

4-28 NM Quarter

FRI, 4-28-06

SANTA FE -- Hurry, there's not much time left to submit your entry for the New Mexico quarter design. May 12 is the deadline.
Contrary to the way it might sound, we aren't being asked to submit a "design." It must be a "narrative concept" of less than 150 words. That gives those of us without an artistic bone in our bodies a shot at making suggestions. Besides, the U.S. Mint has all the artists it needs.
The New Mexico quarter gives our state an opportunity to promote itself to the rest of the nation. Our quarter will pass through nearly everyone's hands at one time or another. What kind of impression do we want to leave with them?
Do we want mountains on it so people will know we aren't just a desert? Do we want to put "USA" on it as we do on most of our promotional materials? Since this is a U.S. coin, that shouldn't be necessary, but as we know, a frightening number of people are clueless about the geography of their own country.
The purpose of the federal Commemorative Coin Program Act is to educate youth about each state's history, geography and diversity. That makes mountains and USA both legitimate subjects, but New Mexico is so rich in history, geography and diversity that we should aim higher.
We won't want to include as many subjects as our Rose Parade float because there isn't room. Some states have tried it and the results aren't good. A simple, unified concept comes across better, but which do we choose?
How about something unique? New Mexico's Indian culture dates back to the earliest in the United States and still survives uninterrupted. The magnificent Taos Pueblo is the oldest multi-storied building in the nation. And the Pueblos conducted the first successful revolt against a European conqueror.
That conqueror was Spain, which made what is now New Mexico the first European colony in the United States. The Indian and Spanish cultures both would make very fitting subjects for the quarter in terms of history and diversity.
Geographically, we also have many more than our share of unique features, with our national parks and monuments. The geographical features on other state coins look pretty puny against our choices.
Ideally, our design would be inclusive of the entire state. But New Mexico is so big and diverse that capturing it all is difficult. We have ranching in every county, but several other Western states already have chosen horses or cowboys. And some people are offended by ranching.
In terms of significant events, we have plenty to brag about. We were the birthplace of atomic energy and still the leader in nuclear research. But talk about offending people, that one's out, even though development of a totally new energy source is highly significant.
New Mexico also is the birthplace of rocket science, first developed by Robert Goddard near Roswell, followed by decades of testing and development at White Sands Missile Range and now capped by a spaceport in southern New Mexico.
Many votes from kids have gone to the UFO crash at Roswell, featuring aliens and spacecraft. Socorro, Magdalena and Aztec also have UFO stories and it's an open secret that the aliens mostly migrated to Santa Fe after their crashes. But is that how we want New Mexico presented to the nation and world?
Maybe the state Tourism Department should have a say in our depiction on the quarter. That agency currently is developing a "brand" for New Mexico -- something with which we most want to be identified. It seems logical that our brand should be a top contestant for the quarter.
Or maybe it should be the other way around. The winning design for the quarter should become our brand.
My vote is for choosing a subject that combines New Mexico's past with its future. My vote is for space travel, envisioned by Goddard and implemented by our commercial spaceport.

 

4-24 Are Republicans Happier than Democrats?

MON, 4-24-06

MAUI -- Are Republicans happier than Democrats? That's what a recent posting on the state Republican Web site contends. It cites good authority and it seems to contradict an observation I recently made.
In one of my recent columns, I commented that Democrats had more fun than Republicans at their recent state preprimary nominating conventions.
I based that on reports that Democrats did much yelling and shouting and left their convention hall a mess, while Republicans actually ate a sit-down luncheon while conducting their meeting.
I didn't make it to this year's conventions, but having attended meetings of both parties for decades, I see nothing unusual about this year's reports.
Democrats do have a tendency to be more boisterous and spontaneous while Republican tend toward proper demeanor and observance of rules. It is predictable that Democrats will walk on the grass, won't stand in line and will leave their convention hall ankle-deep in campaign literature.
Obviously, those are stereotypes. There must be some Republican who don't color between the lines. And even Republicans enjoy poking a little fun at themselves for being proper.
Decades ago, when Hoyt Pattison, of Curry County, was House Republican leader, his speeches included a humorous routine about the difference between Republicans and Democrats. He was good enough to give me a copy even though he knew I wanted to steal his jokes.
Those jokes are still filed somewhere and became popular on the Internet several years ago. The only one I remember right now is that Republican boys date Democrat girls because they figure they're entitled to a little fun before they marry Republican girls. The rest of the jokes are in a similar vein.
I once wrote a column about the difference between Democrat and Republican campaign parties. I had Republicans standing around sipping martinis and making big donations and Democrats throwing chile suppers for five bucks a person, children free. You could always expect loud music, mariachis and probably a fight in the parking lot before the party was over.
But now comes a reply from the Republicans. On the www.gopnm.com Web site I noticed a link titled "Republicans Happier than Democrats." I happened to read it on April 1, so assumed it was a joke.
Republicans do like to play jokes, I have discovered. During Republican Hal Stratton's second year as state attorney general in 1988, he wrote an opinion, distributed to Capitol press, that was pure fantasy. Everyone but this columnist took it seriously. I made it the subject of a column and Hal and I had some fun with it.
Then I noticed that the date on which "Republicans Happier than Democrats" was posted. It was February 28. So I felt confident that my leg wasn't being pulled, this time. I still wasn't sure, however, that this wasn't just some propaganda designed to imbue Republicans with a personality.
But it was attributed to the Pew Research Center, a reputable, non-partisan organization. It revealed that 45 percent of all Republicans it surveyed reported being very happy, compared with 30 percent of Democrats and 29 percent of independents.
What? Well, it must be because they're wealthier and they control the federal government. But, no. The study controlled for that. Republicans are happier even when Democrats are in power. And rich Republicans are happier than rich Democrats and poor Republicans are happier than poor Democrats, according to the report.
So what's the explanation for this phenomenon? State GOP communications director, Jonah Cohen, offered the following answer on the party Web site.
"Philosophically, the conservative temperament tends to expect less from government and politicians, and that means he is less likely to despair when things don't work out and more likely to be grateful when they do."
Other than a little grammatical disagreement there, Cohen may be on to something. Maybe we're both right. Is it possible that Republicans are happier even though they don't kick up their heels quite as much as Democrats?

There will be no column for WED, 4-26. Will resume on 4-28.

4-19 New Mexico's Karl Rove?

WED, 4-19-06

MAUI -- You've probably heard of Karl Rove, President George Bush's senior adviser and strategist both as governor of Texas and in the White House.
Rove also has guided Bush's two presidential campaigns. He's the go-to guy whom the president cannot do without. In fact, he's often called "the real president." The rest of the time that title usually is applied to Vice President Dick Cheney, but we'll get to that later.
Now, we learn that Gov. Bill Richardson has his own Karl Rove, who is equally indispensable. Richardson says he and others often refer to Dave Contarino as "the real governor."
Contarino is Richardson's chief of staff, a title typically given to the top staff person for a governor, president or member of Congress. In corporations, the position usually is called a chief executive officer. The city of Albuquerque calls the position chief administrative officer.
At the White House, President Bush's chief of staff, until recently, was Andy Card, who resigned because the job was too demanding. His job was taken over by Josh Bolten, the former budget director. Evidently Contarino handles the chores of both Card and Rove.
In his book, Between Worlds, Richardson says he realized early in his campaign that Contarino has "terrific strategic instincts." He describes many of his various innovations as being conceptualized and executed by Contarino.
Richardson heaped even more praise on Contarino in a recent news release. In it, he says Contarino understands how to get things done better than anyone. He's the governor's chief policy architect, the strategic mind of the administration and his office is the nerve center.
The governor ended his comments by saying Contarino will remain his most senior trusted aide because he can ill afford to lose his talents.
Where is Contarino going? Not far. He will become Richardson's reelection campaign chairman. Now, unless Richardson is caught in bed with Osama bin Laden, his reelection is as assured as most anything on this planet. But he wants to win big because it gives him a bigger mandate and it helps him, umm, well, you know�He doesn't want to talk about that.
But Richardson doesn't want to lose Contarino's talents in the governor's office either, so he has kept him on part-time as his chief of staff for policy and strategy. That probably means that Contarino can skip the day-to-day administrative activities of a chief of staff but still wield the big stick to assure his policy and strategy directives are carried out.
Over at the campaign, he also can skip the day-to-day drudgery of handling the staff, because Amanda Cooper, from Richardson's perennial political committees, will handle that as campaign manager.
So it all will work nicely, except for a huge strategic policy blunder. Contarino will be drawing a part-time paycheck from the government for his service to the public, while also drawing a political paycheck from Richardson's campaign.
That not only sounds bad, it is bad. The federal government doesn't permit such a thing. It's the Hatch Act, named after Carl Hatch, a New Mexico senator many decades ago. There has to be a way to strategize that one better. With the huge war chest Richardson is raising, why can't he pay Contarino a full salary from campaign funds, as he did four years ago, and let him do some volunteer work for the state on the side?
There has to be a way to get around this. Karl Rove did. Richardson says it is common in other states. But it doesn't sound like common sense for New Mexico.
And there's another problem with this strategy. Does Gov. Richardson's effusive praise of his indispensable adviser make him vulnerable to the kind of jokes usually told about President Bush and his play-callers, Karl Rove and Dick Cheney? Maybe Richardson has such an image of being his own man that he doesn't need fear looking like someone's puppet.
But it certainly invites comparisons.

 

4-17 Between Worlds

MON, 4-17-06

MAUI -- OK, so how did Bill Richardson have an Anglo father from Boston and a petite, blond mother from Mexico City and end up looking like an Indian from New Mexico?
If you've not wondered about that, I'm surprised, because I am frequently asked that question. And, frankly, I didn't know the answer until I read Richardson's book, Between Worlds.
The book contains much of what one would expect from a politician with his eye on the presidency. It is Richardson's slant on everything we know about him since he hit New Mexico politics in 1980.
But there is much about Richardson we don't know. He grew up in another country. He was educated on the far side of this country. He worked in Washington until his early 30s, when he first set foot in New Mexico.
What was he doing all that time and how did he convince us it immediately qualified him for the highest elected positions in our state?
We get the answers from Between Worlds -- the stuff we didn't know. Richardson's first 30 years of life were much more eventful than most people's. And his next 30 years have been even more exciting.
In Between Worlds, we learn the inside scoop on Richardson's daring missions to rescue trapped Americans from the world's worst thugs. We read about those exploits in the papers, but there was much Richardson couldn't say at the time for fear of unraveling delicate agreements.
Richardson now reveals the hidden intrigue, the split-second decisions he had to make and some of the quirky comments he hoped would reduce tensions but which sometimes courted near-disaster. Any one of his daring exploits would make a better adventure movie that the fare we are accustomed to seeing.
But that's not the information New Mexicans need to know to understand their governor. We already knew he's an action hero, but what gave him the ability to think quickly in unknown situations, bring warring people together and have the drive to always try to achieve more?
Those qualities were formed early in life, partly from the rather unusual experience of having a proud American father, who always spoke to him in English, and a proud Mexican mother, who always spoke to him in Spanish.
He was between worlds, not quite Mexican to his Mexican friends and not quite American to his American friends. It was uncomfortable. And no matter what he did in school or on the baseball field, his true love, it wasn't good enough for his demanding father. It is a trait Richardson says he inherited and unfortunately carries on.
At 14, Richardson was sent away to prep school in a strange country, where his English wasn't good enough to keep up with his studies or to be one of the guys at Middlesex School, near Boston.
But the coming of baseball season ended that. Richardson's fantastic fastballs and curves made him unhittable -- and a big man on campus. He soon met Barbara Flavin, the blond beauty from across the street. Cars weren't permitted at the school even though it was outside of town. But Barbara had a car. And thus began a lasting relationship.
College took Richardson to nearby Tufts University, his father's alma mater. Richardson pitched there too, but by his junior year, too many curve balls at a young age ended any thought of a baseball career.
It was at that time that Richardson was talked into running for president of his fraternity. It was an uphill battle, but Richardson succeeded and liked it so well that politics became his new passion.
Then came a master's degree at Fletcher School of Diplomacy and a promising career in Washington, accompanying members of Congress on Latin American fact-finding trips.
But Richardson decided he would prefer the life of an elected official. You know the rest. Buy the book, if for nothing but the pictures. You'll learn where Bill got his looks.

 

4-14 Why DST?

FRI, 4-14-06

HAWAII-- Why do we let Congress push us into Daylight Saving Time every year? We've been suffering jet lag for over a week because the government took an hour of sleep away from us.
If you manage to save any, would you please box it up and put my name on it? I think I'm in need of some. Newspapers and radio stations actually have contests to see who can save the most daylight between April and October. That's how silly the concept is.
Ben Franklin is credited with inventing the idea. He's the guy who came up with the adage "Early to bed, early to rise makes a person healthy, wealthy and wise. You've probably long ago heard the truth about old philandering Ben. He wasn't that kind of guy.
He managed to have pretty good health, despite his life style and he did OK on the wealth and wisdom. Bit didn't come from being early to bed or early to rise. That was his alter ego, Poor Richard.
Ben loved his assignment in Paris. Parisians enjoyed the good life too. They worked and partied until 4 a.m. and slept 'till noon.
One morning at 6 a.m. a very loud noise outside his bedroom window awakened Franklin at 6 a.m. He went to the window, threw open the sash, and discovered it was broad daylight. What a capital idea, he thought, if clocks could be moved back so daylight came at noon. Think of how many candles could be saved.
Somehow, it never occurred to old Ben and the French that people could get up at 6 a.m. and go to bed at 10 p.m. No clocks would have to be changed and just as much candlepower would be saved.
And that's still the way we do it. Changing our clocks rather than adjusting ourselves. We tried it during World War I and World War II in order to keep factories open longer without using more electricity. President Jimmy Carter extended daylight saving to 10 months a year to save oil during the energy crisis.
Now, courtesy of the Uniform Time Act of 1966, we get to save daylight for no great reason. Those of you who don't get up at 6 a.m. have a little more daylight to enjoy. Energy prices are higher than in President Carter's day, so that saves a little money.
But farmers complain about having to get up even earlier. Evidently plants and animals have learned to tell time. Parents of young children moan that it is still light at bedtime. And operations dependent on the dark, such as outdoor theaters and astronomy observatories must start an hour later.
Seventy countries now observe Daylight Saving Time, so it seems here to stay. Proposals in Congress call for extending it another hour or making it year-round.
It is possible to tell the government to go away. Indiana, Arizona and Hawaii have refused to go along. I'm not sure about Indiana's reason, and don't particularly care. Maybe they want to be more like Chicago.
Arizona and Hawaii are our two favorite vacation spots, other than New Mexico. Arizona reportedly prefers to be in sync with California rather than New Mexico. That's gratitude, considering that for 250 years, Arizona was the western half of New Mexico. But then, during daylight saving months, nighttime is more pleasant in the desert.
Hawaii has a very good reason for not changing time. The tropics have approximately 12 hours of day and 12 hours of night all year. Popular thought is of long days in the tropics. But on the two days a year when the sun is directly overhead somewhere in the tropics, the sun rises at 6 a.m. and sets at 6 p.m. During the course of a year, it will vary by as much as an hour, but that is it. What is saved on one end is lost on the other.

 

4-14 Why Daylight Saving Time?

FRI, 4-14-06

HAWAII-- Why do we let Congress push us into Daylight Saving Time every year? We've been suffering jet lag for over a week because the government took an hour of sleep away from us.
If you manage to save any, would you please box it up and put my name on it? I think I'm in need of some. Newspapers and radio stations actually have contests to see who can save the most daylight between April and October. That's how silly the concept is.
Ben Franklin is credited with inventing the idea. He's the guy who came up with the adage "Early to bed, early to rise makes a person healthy, wealthy and wise. You've probably long ago heard the truth about old philandering Ben. He wasn't that kind of guy.
He managed to have pretty good health, despite his life style and he did OK on the wealth and wisdom. Bit didn't come from being early to bed or early to rise. That was his alter ego, Poor Richard.
Ben loved his assignment in Paris. Parisians enjoyed the good life too. They worked and partied until 4 a.m. and slept 'till noon.
One morning at 6 a.m. a very loud noise outside his bedroom window awakened Franklin at 6 a.m. He went to the window, threw open the sash, and discovered it was broad daylight. What a capital idea, he thought, if clocks could be moved back so daylight came at noon. Think of how many candles could be saved.
Somehow, it never occurred to old Ben and the French that people could get up at 6 a.m. and go to bed at 10 p.m. No clocks would have to be changed and just as much candlepower would be saved.
And that's still the way we do it. Changing our clocks rather than adjusting ourselves. We tried it during World War I and World War II in order to keep factories open longer without using more electricity. President Jimmy Carter extended daylight saving to 10 months a year to save oil during the energy crisis.
Now, courtesy of the Uniform Time Act of 1966, we get to save daylight for no great reason. Those of you who don't get up at 6 a.m. have a little more daylight to enjoy. Energy prices are higher than in President Carter's day, so that saves a little money.
But farmers complain about having to get up even earlier. Evidently plants and animals have learned to tell time. Parents of young children moan that it is still light at bedtime. And operations dependent on the dark, such as outdoor theaters and astronomy observatories must start an hour later.
Seventy countries now observe Daylight Saving Time, so it seems here to stay. Proposals in Congress call for extending it another hour or making it year-round.
It is possible to tell the government to go away. Indiana, Arizona and Hawaii have refused to go along. I'm not sure about Indiana's reason, and don't particularly care. Maybe they want to be more like Chicago.
Arizona and Hawaii are our two favorite vacation spots, other than New Mexico. Arizona reportedly prefers to be in sync with California rather than New Mexico. That's gratitude, considering that for 250 years, Arizona was the western half of New Mexico. But then, during daylight saving months, nighttime is more pleasant in the desert.
Hawaii has a very good reason for not changing time. The tropics have approximately 12 hours of day and 12 hours of night all year. Popular thought is of long days in the tropics. But on the two days a year when the sun is directly overhead somewhere in the tropics, the sun rises at 6 a.m. and sets at 6 p.m. During the course of a year, it will vary by as much as an hour, but that is it. What is saved on one end is lost on the other.