DAILY LOBO new mexico
Call your mother
friday
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August 27, 2010
The Independent Voice of UNM since 1895
Remember November by Shaun Griswold
by Ruben Hamming-Green
Shaun24@unm.edu
rhamminggreen@gmail.com
What would you do to create well-paying jobs that will keep New Mexicans employed in the state? Susana Martinez: Recent reports show that in the past year our state suffered the second largest drop in employment out of the 50 states. Clearly, we do not have a competitive environment for job creation or retention, and bold change is needed. We must reform our regulatory and tax systems to make it easier for businesses to choose New Mexico as their home, rather than burden them with red tape and more taxes. I have laid out a detailed economic recovery plan that has specific provisions to eliminate waste, make New Mexico competitive with other states and countries, encourage the development of our energy sector, and improve our business climate. By changing the direction our state is headed, we will signal to job creators that New Mexico is open for business. Do you support the DREAM Act? Why
How will you select the University’s regents?
Check out the full e-mail interview transcripts online at D DailyLobo.com L
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ew Mexico will elect its first female governor this year. Democrat and Lt. Governor Diane Denish is up against Dona Ana County’s Republican District Attorney Susana Martinez in a heated battle for the state’s top job. In exclusive interviews, the Daily Lobo asked each candidate various questions about jobs for graduates, tuition assistance, positions on immigration, the state’s medical marijuana program and corruption. It’s all up to the voter. Let the games begin.
see Martinez page 5
Photos used with permission from both campaigns
Diane Denish: My philosophy with any appointment is to pick the most qualified, not the most connected. I would want any regent I appoint to have strong knowledge of the University and a deep personal connection to it. I would also want regents who are focused on the academic and research missions of the school. I believe the key to New Mexico’s future economic success is intimately tied to innovative academic programming and producing spin-off companies incubated at our universities and graduates who are prepared to lead those companies. What would you do to keep students in New Mexico after graduating from college? I have always said one of our state’s best exports is our smart young people. I want to build a New Mexico where our bright college gradu-
see Denish page 5
Convention draws more than ‘geeky’ crowd by Alexandra Swanberg aswanny@unm.edu
Fourty-two is a special number for those in the know of “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.” The number is the answer to life, the universe, and everything calculated by the fictional earth-sized supercomputer. The 42nd annual Bubonicon will take place August 27-29 at the Albuquerque Grand Airport Hotel, and it will focus on “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy,” so gather your terry towel. Originally, the annual science fiction convention was called New Mexicon until 1971. Co-Con chair Kristen Dorland said the new name got its beginnings from a miscommunication. “(Science fiction writer) Bob Vardeman read a press release stating that the country of Egypt was banning travelers from New Mexico because we have bubonic plague here,” Dor-
land said. “He was so tickled by the fact that we would be banned that he named the convention Bubonicon.” Over the years, the convention has been able to bring in some of the bigger names in science fiction literature, and this year author Peter David and programmer Mario Acevedo will attend. Additionally, the convention hosts a variety of activities that in the past have attracted a “geeky” crowd, Dorland said, but has since grown in diversity over the years. “We get all kinds of people,” she said. “We see a lot of families, and we’re seeing a lot of younger people these days. It seems like we get a lot of people who’ve never been to a science fiction convention.” On Friday night, there will be an auction with proceeds going to Eastern N.M. University’s Williamson Library Collection, Roadrunner Food Bank and Watermelon Mountain Ranch. A portion of the convention’s profit will also go to these charities.
To celebrate the theme, the committee set up a “Vogon Poetry Slam,” costume contest, “(Virgin) Pan-Galactic Gargle Blaster Drink Contest” and a screening of the film “Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.” Though the PanGalactic drink is fictitious and consists of components not found on Earth, attendees are invited to concoct something out of their imagination for the judges to test. Bubonicon also offers an exhibit of fantasy art by professionals, amateurs and interested youth. Though the convention no longer accepts mail-in submissions, it will begin taking pieces in person beginning Aug. 27 at 3:30 p.m. The committee encourages images of galactic hitchhiking rats. There is a small registration fee, unless you are attending, as well as a hanging fee. Dorland said the convention is friendlier than most, taking first-time attendees under its wing and showing them a good time. “If they enjoy the idea of science fiction, and that’s anything — storm troopers, ava-
BUBONICON
The Albuquerque Grand Sheraton Airport Hotel 2910 Yale Blvd. SE Aug. 27-29 Between $15 and $42 Bubonicon.com tar, anime, comic books, I think they’ll find somebody that they’ll enjoy talking to,” she said. “Attendees should bring their towels and peanuts and be prepared to have a very good time. Bathrobes are encouraged.” Memberships for the convention will be sold at the door. It’s $42 for a weekend pass, $15 for Friday only, $25 Saturday only and $15 for Sunday only. Youth (14-17) memberships are $20 for the entire weekend.
No C&J phones make communication tough by Andrew Lyman alyman@unm.edu
Students trying to contact Communications and Journalism faculty using their office telephone may have some trouble. Soon, certain faculty members will no longer have an office telephone number for students to use when contacting them, said John Oetzel, chair of Communications and
Inside the
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Journalism. The plan, Oetzel said, will save the department about $15,000, and students still have other options when contacting professors. “The decision was a department one,” Oetzel said. “Skype or internet is quite doable and some faculty use that already.” While some faculty may not have direct phone numbers, they are still able to use their e-mail accounts, and they will continue to
have regularly held office hours, in addition to personal appointments. Oetzel said this isn’t the first time the C&J department eliminated landlines, and in the past it hasn’t caused major problems, since students still have other options for contacting their instructors. “In our department, we have been doing that for several years. It hasn’t appeared to hinder interaction with students at all,”
Holbrook called up
Tough crowd
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he said. “Faculty are available via e-mail and some use their personal cell phones to interact with students.” Michael Schneider, a junior, said faculty should have phones as alternative communication, even though they have other options at their disposal. “For faculty, I feel that a part of their job is
see No Phones page 5
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