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Issue 17 of Volume 19 of The CNM Chronicle
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The CNM
C o v e r i n g c n m a n d t h e s u r r o u n d i n g c o m m u n i t y
ChronicleVolume 19 | Issue 17 October 1, 2013/cnmchronicle thecnmchronicle.wordpress.com
Vote onOctober 8, 2013
PHOTO COURTESY OF WWW.MAYORBERRY.COM/
PHOTO COURESY OF EYEONALBUQUERQUE.BLOGSPOT.COM PHOTO COURESY OF FACEBOOK.COM
All you need to know for this election
Page 6-7
2 | The CNM Chronicle OctOber 1, 2013
Nick SternStaff ReporterThe Westside
campus is favored for its environment, not only among students, but among various wildlife as well, Instructional Technician, Melanie Archuleta-Hallquist said.
There are many roadrunners which, in the spring, can be seen building their nests in different spots around campus, Archuleta-Hallquist said.
R e f e r e n c e Specialist at the CNM Westside library, Amy Baker, believes that the nature environ-ment of the campus is a big part of what attracts people to it, she said.
In the morning hummingbirds can be found all over campus
while in the evening rabbits can be found everywhere and if one were to take a three minute walk to the west end of the campus, they would find themselves com-pletely surrounded by the desert, she said.
“It is like you are really living at the cusp of the urban sprawl where nature meets city. You really feel like you are in nature. I think that this campus feeds off of that energy and I think it makes staff, faculty, professors, and students a lot calmer,” Baker said.
Besides rabbits, hummingbirds, and coyotes, there has also been an occa-sional snake will show up on campus, and recently a venomous
snake was seen on campus and had to be dealt with by animal control, she said.
“I was told not to go to my car because there was a snake in one of the bushes and animal con-trol was on their way because it was a ven-omous snake. Security would not let me go to my car,” Archuleta-Hallquist said.
A coyote once walked right up to the front door of the Michael J. Glennon building and then walked away when it became uninterested, she said.
A family of skunks used to live on campus as well and anyone could smell them when on campus, and after living on campus
see WILDLIFE on page 9
NEWSWestside Campus and
Nature
PHOTO BY NICK STERN
A wild hare found at the Westside campus.
PHOTO BY NICK STERN
A roadrunner is found amoung the many wild animals at the Westside campus.PHOTO BY RENE THOMPSON
A squirrel nibbles on food left by passing students.
Mix it up!CHSS offers meet and greet for
students and teachers
By Daniel Montaño
Senior ReporterFor the first time
ever, the school of C o m m u n i c a t i o n s , Humanities and Social sciences is offering a free meet and greet with instructors, Elizabeth Bennett, CHSS instructor, said.
Students can come to the event in the Richard Barr boardroom at the east end of the computer lab on main campus on October 4, from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. to get advice about careers in the liberal arts, learn more about what they can do with their CHSS major, and meet other CHSS students and faculty, Bennett said.
No other col-lege at CNM has ever
hosted an event like this, and this one has been in the making for more than five months because it was such a new idea, Bennett said.
“We’re trying to get information out about the majors: What might be inter-esting to students, or why should you major in this program? What are you going to be able to do with it?” she said.
There will be academic advisors, achievement coaches and faculty as well as transfer specialists on hand throughout the event, Bennett said.
Students will be able to perform a degree audit with aca-demic advisors to find out how close stu-dents are to graduat-ing, will be able to get
advice from instruc-tors on when certain classes will be offered, and learn about what jobs they can get into with their degree and find out specific UNM transfer informa-tion all in one place, Bennett said.
“Plus, there’s free food,” she said.
Represent at ive s from student orga-nizations will also be there giving out information on their clubs, Bennett said.
Students who might be normally too shy to seek out these groups will be able to learn about the clubs and form bonds with other stu-dents who are inter-ested, Bennett said.
“I remember being a student and being really nervous see MIXER on page 9
OctOber 1, 2013 The CNM Chronicle | 3OPINION
PaymentPricingDeadline12 p.m. Thursday prior to publication
FREE to CNM students, faculty, and staff up to 15 words and $0.40 per word after. Regular Rates $0.40 per word. $3.00 per week for bold header.
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serviceswanted
student organizations cnm eventsTo submit items for Campus Bulletins, please email news item with a maximum of 150 words to: [email protected] or call 224-4755.
CNM Chronicle525 Buena Vista SE, STE. 12BAlbuquerque, NM 87106
Daniel JohnsonPhone: 505.224.3255
Fax: 505.224.4757Classifieds may be submitted via email to:
UNM IS RECRUITING WOMEN WITH ASTHMA FOR RESEARCH STUDY.
If interested, please contact study coordinator at 925-6174 or 269-1074 or [email protected]
TYPE 2 DIABETES RESEARCH HRRC Have you had type 2 diabetes for less than 5 years? Are you currently only taking Metformin to treat your diabetes? You must have been at least 30 years of age when you were diagnosed (if you are an American Indian, you must have been at least 20 years old at the time of diagnosis) and are willing to add another diabetes medication to your treatment plan. You will be compensated for time and travel. If interested, please contact. Elizabeth at 272-9887 or 272-5454. Email at [email protected]
Bulletins
CNM Chronicle Classified
Corrections
ECOS Accepting New Members
The Executive Council of Students is accepting new members.ECOS meets every Friday at 4 p.m. in ST 12-A.For more information,email [email protected].
Come check out M.E.Ch.A.
CNM’s chapter of el Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano/a de Aztlan meets every other Thursday search for “M.E.Ch.A de CNM” on Facebook, or email at [email protected] for meeting locations and times.M.E.Ch.A. helps chicana/o students unite to build a community that’s a better place for future generations.
The Art department’s annual art contest, I Madonnari is here again.
This year’s art students were asked to combine renditions of famous artists to make their own spin on classic and contemporary combinations. Students and faculty are being asked to turn in ballots and opinions, needed to determine the 2013 winner. Voting and viewing will commence on Thursday, Sept. 26 at 1:45 p.m. and will run until Tuesday, October 1 at 11 a.m. Ballots can be located and entered at either Ken Chappy Hall (KC) or Jeanette Stromberg Hall ( JS).
EMERGENCY WRITING REPAIR WORKSHOP
Do you need help with your writing skills? There’s still time to enroll in English 1096, the Emergency Writing Repair Workshop. CNM now offers two sections at Main (at 7:30 a.m. on MW and at 6 p.m. on TR) and one section on the West Side (4:30 on TR). If you’re having grammar, punctuation, sentence-level, or mechanical problems in your papers, sign up! This is a low-stress, one-credit, credit/no credit class. You learn the basics of writing for college AND get help with your papers.
Immunizations
The CNM Student Health Center is open during term breaks for your convenience. Please make appointments for your programs in advance.Thank you-CNM Student Health Center StaffLocated @ Main Campus @ the Student Services Center Second Floor, Room 206Open Monday-Friday 8 am to 5 pm(505) 224-3080
Free Bus and Parking Passes
Current students qualify for a free general parking pass and AbqRide bus pass. The passes can be obtained at the Main campus Student Activities Office. Name, schedule, and student ID number are required. For a general parking pass vehicle and drivers license information must be provided. To register the online parking system for the free general parking sticker log-in to myCNM and follow links from the “transportation” section.
Locations to pick up stickers:• Main- Student Activities/ ID office.• Montoya and Westside- Student ID office.• South Valley and Rio Rancho- Admissions office• Advanced Technology Center- Front desk
Planning to Attend Fall Graduation Ceremony? Don’t Forget to Submit Grad Application
If you are planning to participate in the Fall 2013 Graduation Ceremony on Dec. 7 at Tingley Coliseum, don’t forget that you must submit a graduation application for your degree or certificate by Friday, October 18, at 5 p.m. To review CNM’s general graduation requirements, log on tomyCNM, and click on the “Students” tab at the top of the page. In the “Graduation and Change/Update Your Major” channel on the right of the page, click on “Your Guide to Graduation” to access the latest information on the graduation application process. To apply to graduate online, click the link for the “Online Certificate and Degree Evaluation” that is located below the “Graduation Guide” link. Once you complete the evaluation, you will be allowed to continue to the online graduation application.
Volunteer positions
At pottery studio not made in china. Come volunteer here at NMIC and get jumpstart on learning ceramics. Volunteer one day a week and earn: unlimited clay, glaze, and fire, with free access from 12 to 7 p.m. every day. Contact notmadeinchina.com for more information.
It don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that swing!
Come get your swing dance on every Tuesday night at the Heights Community Center! Intermediate and beginners swing classes start at 7:30 p.m. Free dance begins at 8:30 p.m.823 Buena Vista Dr SE$4 donations at the doorContact Desi Brown, [email protected]
Joe Pug performing at Low Spirits
Tuesdsay October 8, Located at 2823 2nd Street NWTickets are $12 in advance, plus service fees.21+ showFor more infomation go to www.lowspiritslive.com
Put your business or personal classified
here!NEED EMPLOYEES?
WANT TO SELL SOMETHING?
For more information contact Daniel Johnson at
See an error in the newspaper? Let us know! Email errors or concerns toRene Thompson at: [email protected] or call 224-4755.
3 | The CNM Chronicle OctOber 1, 2013
“TRABAJANDO CON USTED HOY PARA ASEGURAR SU FUTURO”WHITTENBURG LAW FIRM
Immigration Attorneys - Criminal Defense707 Broadway Blvd NE, Suite 100
Albuquerque, NM 87102(505) 247-9300
for rent2 bedroom 1 bath house for rent. Walking distance to CNM/UNM. Off street parking, new paint, stucco. $900 per month all utilities included. Pets negotiable. Call or email Mo at 730-4789 or [email protected]. Available Oct. 1, maybe earlier.
for sale1yr old sofa set. Paid $1400. Selling for $550. Excellent condition if interested in owning please contact 505-615-8662
C o r r e c t i o n sSeptemeber 24th issue should have said “Volume 19 | Issue 16” instead of “Volume 19 | Issue 14”
4 | The CNM Chronicle OctOber 1, 2013EDITORIAL
525 Buena Vista SE, ST 12b Albuquerque, NM 87106 Ph. 224.4755Copyright © 2013 The CNM Chronicle | This newspaper, its design and its contents are copyrighted.
editorial | 224.4755
Rene Thompson editor-in-chief [email protected]
Shaya Rogers managing editor [email protected]
newsroom | 224.4758
Daniel Montaño senior reporter [email protected] Stern staff reporter [email protected]
Martin Montoya staff reporter [email protected]
Stacie Armijo staff reporter [email protected]
Jonathan Baca staff reporter [email protected]
production | 224.4752
Marie Bishop production manager [email protected]
Angelica Manzanares layout designer [email protected]
business | 224.3255
Daniel Johnson business manager [email protected]
Jodie Darrell-Salazar ad-sales manager [email protected] Valles distribution manager [email protected]
Jasmine Chavez distribution assistant [email protected]
advisory | 224.3636
Jack Ehn faculty adviser [email protected]
editorial board
Rene ThompsonShaya RogersMarie BishopDaniel Johnson
opinion
Views expressed on the Opinion page are those of the individual writer and do not necessarily represent the beliefs of all CNM Chronicle staff.
advertising
To submit an ad, or for more information, please contact Jodie Darrell-Salazar at [email protected].
corrections
The CNM Chronicle strives to publish only accurate and truthful information. If you believe you have found an error, please email at [email protected] or call 224.4755.
circulation
The CNM Chronicle is printed by Vanguard Publishing Co. and circulated free of charge to all CNM campuses and the surrounding community.
ChronicleThe CNM EditorialBy CNM Chronicle Edi-
torial BoardFor students attending commu-
nity college, sometimes student-life can feel more college and less community. The Communication, Humanities, and Social Science department is trying to change that by bringing the students and faculty together for a day of socializing, as mentioned in the article “Mix it up!” on page 2.
At CNM, there is a definite focus on the trades programs, while other areas of study are seemingly ignored. It can feel, at times, that the college just wants to get us out of here and into a four year col-lege. This event helps to put the CHSS areas of study back into the forefront of the college life, and put more emphasis on these types of degrees. Instructors want us to know that they are important and they do matter.
Often times we pick our majors because we are fascinated and truly engaged in all aspects of our study, but this is not always enough to get us through a dependable career. So, we try to avoid the dreaded ques-tion explored at the Thanksgiving dinner table: ‘What are you going to do with a degree like that?’
For a CHSS major, thinking about life after college can be dis-couraging; all around, others are focusing on degrees that seem to come with obvious career options and even the promise of a comfort-able paycheck.
The instructors donating their time and energy for this CHSS event are hoping to provide answers, or at least, to provide direction to the many questions students may have. Students will be given the oppor-tunity to get to know one another as well as members of the depart-ment, and be able to explore career options and expectations, which is crucial for success.
Not getting involved and making connections in college can be cause for regret. This CHSS event cre-ates a platform for encouragement and networking. Making friends who have similar interest makes the college experience that much more meaningful.
Choosing a degree can be nerve-wracking. It also takes some trial and error before you find a field to pursue, so attending this event can take away some of the stress. Hopefully, it will make a much easier time of getting a degree and planning a future.
Bravo to the faculty who has attended to the needs of the stu-dents and has decided that an event like this is not only important, but necessary. All students that attend CNM need to feel like their area of study matters, because if we do not feel it now, we probably will not feel very optimistic about our futures.
S u n c a t C h i t C h a tEditorial Cartoon courtesy of guest artist James Griego
Culinary Arts major, Joseph Mount said,“My style conveys my attitude at the time. It’s my
own style; I don’t really go off of anything. I like Zoo York and South Pole, stuff like that.”
Integrated Studies major, Sandra Breceba said, “Very stylish. I love stuff that shows my figure but I don’t like to overdo it because I know it attracts a lot of males and I don’t want to get harassed by guys or girls. I like Forever 21 because it’s kind of young.”
Biology major, Glori Bowman said, “Casual. Comfy. I like to dress really nice. I shop
at Forever 21, whatever they have I like to mix and match. For my comfy I would maybe throw a sweater on top of shorts but still have nice boots to go with it.”
Nursing major, Jasmine Duran said, “It’s a unique style, it’s not really one specific thing. I’m kind of country.”
By Martin Montoya Staff Reporter
What is your style?
PHOTOS BY RENE THOMPSON AND MARTIN MONTOYA
Which Stooge will you choose?
OctOber 1, 2013 The CNM Chronicle | 5CAMPUS NEWSI Madonnari
By Rene ThompsonEditor-in-Chief Art Instructor
Lynn Johnson’s Drawing II class par-ticipated in the art contest titled, ‘I Madonnari (named
after an Italian street painting festi-val), which began on September 17 and is coming to an end this week. Participants drew chalk or char-coal based drawings
on sidewalks on campus, and provided ballots to observers to vote for their favorite one. Voter ballots are being tallied, October 1, 2013, and the group with the most votes
will be the winners of this year’s contest.
There were four groups of four stu-dents each that par-ticipated in the event that had students make their own renditions
of two famous art pieces, one classic and one contemporary, that are combined into one piece.
These pieces can be seen on the walk-ways at school on
the east end of Ken Chappy Hall, and at Jeannette Stromberg hall on both the south and west ends of the building until October 10, Johnson said.
A rendition of Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, and Mark Ryden’s Christina, called Mona-Tina, By Candi Chavez, with Tess Morrison, Hannah Mora, and Isaac Trujillo.
A Combination of Andy Warhol’s pop art and Fafi’s Japanese style graffiti girls art, by Brittany Orozco, with Kale Beck, Tiffany Ford, and Jocelyn Beatty.
A mash-up of Pablo Picasso’s Girl before a Mirror and Elizabeth Murray’s Bop, called She-Bop by Robert Jones, with Nancy Abeita, Anthony Harker, and B.B. Wood.
This piece is an execution of Vincent Van Gogh’s The Starry Night joined with Alex Grey’s Wonder by Nichole Lucero, with Calvin Burgstahler, Nicole Bronowski, and Trenton Janssen
ALL PHOTOS BY RENE THOMPSON
6 | The CNM Chronicle OctOber 1, 2013POLITICS
By Jonathan BacaStaff Reporter
Local government can affect our lives in profound ways, and with Albuquerque’s municipal elections coming up, the Chronicle has gathered research about the basics of our city government’s inner workings to help students understand how local politics works, and how important it can be to our lives. For first time voters, or for anyone who has never voted at a local level, we hope this information helps in making an informed choice.
Voting 101: Municipal Elections
Southeast Voting Locations:• Isotopes Park 1601 Avenida Cesar Chavez SE• Herman Sanchez Community Center1830 William SE• Bandelier Elementary School 3309 Pershing SE• Manzano Mesa Multigenerational
Center501 Elizabeth SE• Cesar Chavez Community Center7505 Kathryn SE• Four Hills Country Club
911 Four Hills SE
Local Voting LocationsVoting Days and Times:
Early Voting PeriodEarly Voting: 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.Mondays through Fridays Sept. 18 to Oct. 4, 2013.
Election Day VotingVote on Election Day:7 a.m. to 7 p.m.Oct. 8, 2013.
Mail-in AbsenteeVoting absentee? Request a ballot before Sept. 27, 2013.
BasicsAlbuquerque is a home rule municipality with a mayor-council government.
The Executive and Legislative branches of city government work kind of like a small, local version of the President and Congress of the United States. The City Council is our main legislative body, representing our citizens, and introducing and voting on all of our laws and resolutions. The mayor is our chief executive officer, making our city’s budget, appointing heads of boards and committees. The mayor has the added duties of overseeing all the departments of our local services. Albuquerque does not elect our municipal judges. All local elections are non-partisan, or non-supportive of any specific political parties or policies, and anyone from any party can run for office, by getting enough people to sign a petition.
The MayorIn Albuquerque’s system, the Mayor’s office is powerful, with lots
of responsibilities which has far-reaching inf luences throughout the state. If fifty percent of voters choose a single candidate, that candidate becomes the mayor. If no one receives fifty percent of the vote, there is a run-off election between the two candidates with the most votes.• Elected every four years, for four year terms; no term limit• Chief Executive Officer• Appoints and can remove city officials• In charge of local police department; appoints Chief of Police• Is head of the city’s water and sewer authorities, and oversees
services like trash pickup• Proposes the city’s budget, every year, to the City Council• Has the power to veto decisions of the Council• Can propose Executive Communications legislation, example:
the city budget
The City CouncilThe City Council is Albuquerque’s legislative branch. There are nine council-
ors, one for each district in Albuquerque. Citizens vote for only their own councilor, the one who represents the district that they live in. Any Albuquerque resident can attend City Council meetings, and can discuss any issue they choose, from local con-cerns like potholes to their opinion of controversial laws like the red light cameras. In this way, local government can be the most truly democratic form, where a single citizen’s voice can make the most difference in their lives.• Elected to four year terms• Half of the councilors are elected every two years, on a rotating basis• Each represents one district of Albuquerque• Main Legislative body of the city
Introduces and votes on:• Resolutions - mandates or prevents something; dictates policy; examples are
appropriations, adopting budgets and plans, preliminary actions on bonds,
recent example: A city policy for no tolerance of gender pay inequality• Ordinances - creates or amends municipal laws; always used for police
power legislation ( something where it is against the law not to follow); used to adopt taxes or fees, and city organization and operation matters…..recent example: establishing of the Albuquerque Minimum Wage Ordinance
• Executive Communications - legislation from the Mayor sent for approval: appointments to boards or commissions, and contracts and grants for city, example: the City Budget
• Can overrule a mayoral veto with a two-thirds majority• Voters can only vote for one city councilor each election, and only for the
District they are registered to vote in• Any citizen can address the Council at every Council Meeting, and can dis-
cuss any topic of concern• Most local level of all government; place where an individual’s voice can have
the greatest impact
Local Voting LocationsTo find out which district you live in, and who is running for that district’s City Councilor, go to cabq.gov, Sources: cabq.gov, Wikipedia.org.
OctOber 1, 2013 The CNM Chronicle | 7POLITICS
Richard J. BerryParty Affiliation: RepublicanElected offices held: District 20 state representative
from 2006 – 2009, Albuquerque Mayor 2009 – presentOther: Owned and operated a general contracting
company, eagle scout with the Boy Scouts of America, graduated from Anderson School of Management with a degree in Finance and Administration
Current Mayor Richard Berry is seeking a second term in office and stands on the platform that, if re-elected, he will finish the work he has already started in order to “build a city with safer neighborhoods, respon-sible budgets and more jobs,” he said in an open letter to the citizens of Albuquerque.
Berry cites Albuquerque’s lowest FBI crime rate in 20 years and a balanced city budget that was achieved “without significantly slashing city services or laying-off city workers,” and his social service initiatives such as ‘Albuquerque Come Home,’ through which 200 home-less people have been provided housing, as just a few of the many achievements in his first four years, he said.
He also said that since he has been in office he has cut the size of local government by almost 200 posi-tions producing more transparency, reducing fraud and increasing government efficiency, which combined has saved the city more than $14 million dollars, he said.
“There’s a lot left to do. We’ve got the train on the track if you will, and now we need to get the train down the track,” he said.
Get to know the mayoral candidatesBy Daniel Montaño
Senior Reporter
Election day is almost upon Albuquerque yet again, and The Chronicle has gathered information on the Mayoral candidates and the 10 general obligation bonds that voters can expect to see on the Oct. 8 ballot.
According to a recent poll, 15 percent of voters do not yet know which candidate they will vote for, which could be problematic because the incoming mayor must receive at least 50 percent of the
vote in order to enter into office, according to cabq.gov.
If no candidate receives 50 per-cent of the vote, the top two will go head-to-head in a runoff election in November, according to cabq.gov.
PHOTO COURETSY OF NMPOLITICS.NET PHOTO COURETSY OF JOEMONAHANSNEWMEXICO.BLOGSPOT.COM PHOTO COURESY OF ABQJOURNAL.COM
Pete DinelliParty Affiliation: DemocratElected offices held: City councilor 1985 – 1989Other: Former chief public safety officer, work-
ers’ compensation judge, chief deputy district attorney, assistant attorney general, director of the safe city strike force; graduated from Eastern New Mexico University with a degree in finance, and from St. Mary’s University School of Law with a Jurist Doctorate, born and raised in Albuquerque.
Pete Dinelli is no stranger to local politics: he first held office in 1985 and has been involved with local gov-ernment in one capacity or another ever since, he said in a statement to the Albuquerque Journal.
During the last mayoral debate, Dinelli said his platform focuses on four major areas: improving public safety, increasing economic development (bring-ing more jobs to the city), improving early childhood education by supporting coursework in math, science and technologies, and increasing transparency in local government.
Dinelli has proposed a plan called Energize Albuquerque, which will bring twenty-thousand jobs to Albuquerque by investing $1.5 billion dollars in infra-structure and public service upgrades which will mod-ernize the city, he said.
Throughout his campaign, Dinelli has been highly critical of how Mayor Berry has handled the Albuquerque Police Department, often highlighting that before Berry took office APD “was the best trained, best funded, best paid, best equipped and best manned department in the city’s history,” he said.
“During a 24 month period under Mayor Berry, Albuquerque had 27 police officer involved shootings with 17 fatalities,” Dinelli said.
If elected, one of the first things Dinelli said he will do is replace the chiefs of APD and the Albuquerque Fire Department — Dinelli has been officially endorsed by Albuquerque’s Firefighter and Police unions, accord-ing to the Albuquerque Journal.
Paul J. HehParty affiliation: RepublicanElected offices held: NoneOther: APD Sergeant for 25 years, Hobbs police
department for 7 years, only candidate not officially endorsed by a political party on the ballot.
During a recent mayoral debate, Paul J. Heh said he is proud that he is not a career politician, and didn’t hesitate to interrupt his opponents’ answers by calling
“bullshit” — his words.Heh’s campaign is based on the fact that he a self-
proclaimed “blue-collar man” who has experience deal-ing with the problems Albuquerque faces on a street level, he said.
Heh believes that Mayor Berry has been lying about the crime statistics in Albuquerque, and that crime has actually been growing over the past four years because of the “hopeless drug addiction here in Albuquerque,” he said.
Heh believes that many of Albuquerque’s problems, everything from corporations being afraid to move here to low performance in education, stem from unchecked drug use, he said.
If elected, his first order of action will be to estab-lish an inner-city drug rehabilitation center that will be used as an alternative to incarceration for criminal offenders with substance abuse issues, he said.
“Jail is not always the answer for non-violent offend-ers. Sentences can often be better served in drug-free rehabilitation and related programs,” he said.
Heh said he is a man of action who is not afraid to do whatever work needs to be done to bring safety and prosperity to his city, and he is motivated to bring accountability back to local government.
“The city should not be owned by the mayor's office; it is a public office and belongs to the people not the career politicians offering empty promises again and again,” he said.
Bond IssuesA general obliga-
tion bond is money that Albuquerque borrows and pays back with inter-est within 13 years using money gained from prop-erty taxes; however the bonds on this year’s ballot will not require a prop-erty tax increase, accord-ing to cabq.gov.
Public safety:$11,565,000 for
Police and Fire depart-ments to repair existing and purchase new vehi-cles, buildings and land.
Community centers:$10,429,000 to
repair and revitalize community centers, build community proj-ects and general eco-nomic development projects.
Parks and recreation:$12,544,000 to build
new and revitalize cur-rent parks and the equip-ment within them such as tennis courts, play-grounds and more.
Energy and water conservation:
$12,853,000 to upgrade public buildings to be more water and energy efficient.
Libraries:$5,798,000 to buy
new books and other media for and other-wise repair and update city libraries.
Streets:$39,085,000 to
construct new roads, bridges and sidewalks and repair existing ones. Note that the Paseo and I-25 interchange project has already passed, so this bond money will be used elsewhere.
Public transportation:$5,555,000 to
improve and maintain public transit.
Affordable housing:$2,525,000 to the
Workforce Housing Act, which will con-struct facilities to house low and mod-erate income families and provide cheap rentals for seniors.
All information sourced from cabq.gov, mayorberry.com, pete-dinelli.com, heh4abq.com, abqjournal.com, koat.com, kob.com, krqe.com, bizjournals.com, ourcampaigns.com, The New Mexico Attorney General’s office (nmag.com), the New Mexico Foundation For Open Government (nmfog.com), the Bernalillo County Clerk’s office (bernco.gov/clerk) and the press releases contained therein.
8 | The CNM Chronicle OctOber 1, 2013STUDENT SPOTLIGHT
By Daniel MontañoSenior ReporterAndrew Lucero,
Social Work major, said he is motivated by his past to help people where he works at the La Plazita Institute, a local commu-nity center that is an alter-native to detention center for juveniles convicted of crimes, and where Lucero tries to be a posi-tive role model for kids who have lost their way.
Lucero grew up in a single parent family, and when he was 15-years-old his father passed away from a heroin overdose, which he has also had his fair share of includ-ing trouble with alcohol, drugs and police, he said.
But instead of allow-ing himself to continue down a destructive path, Lucero decided to change his life and dedicated him-self to helping people who have to deal with similar struggles, he said.
“Everything I’ve done has led up to where I’m at right now. I wouldn’t change a thing. I don’t regret. I’m not embar-rassed. I embrace it; I use it to continue making a difference,” he said.
La Plazita along with Lucero teaches these juvenile offenders about their culture and heritage and reintroduces them to their community so that these young men can begin working to clean up their communities rather than damage them, Lucero said.
“I think we all need it in our life; we all need our culture because if you know where you come from, you’re more likely to succeed in where you’re going,” he said.
At La Plazita they call it cultura cura, or culture cures, he said.
It is something Lucero himself had to do in order to get back into social work after spend-ing years in marketing, a career which allowed him to live a lavish lifestyle filled with alcohol and the problems that often come with it, he said.
After spending a year in jail for being convicted of his third DUI, Lucero took the time to rediscover his culture, reorganize his life and priorities and rededicate himself to helping others, he said.
“I kind of cleaned my own backyard. Plato (Greek Philosopher) said ‘Know thyself,’ and I take that seriously because I can’t help somebody if I don’t know myself and I don’t have a clean back-yard,” he said.
From working with troubled kids in schools, to lobbying in Santa Fe to start a clean needle exchange program and now working to eliminate racial disparities in New Mexico laws, he has had plenty of different oppor-tunities and avenues of helping others, he said.
He eventually wants to expand on that experi-ence by building a com-munity center in the international district once he is finished with his master’s degrees in social work and business, he said.
He wants to work with La Plazita and use the concept of cultura cura in his community center to build a neighborhood people will be proud to be a part of, he said.
“I think that’s the only way that a community organization can thrive and survive, is commu-nication with each other,” he said.
Lucero’s first experi-ence of being a positive role model for kids was as an educational assistant in the behavior intervention program in Albuquerque Public schools, he said.
He worked with kids who were often violent, that had come from hard upbringings and needed a positive role model in their lives to show them life didn’t have to always be a fight, he said.
The kids he worked with often didn’t have that role model at home, and were ignored in schools, he said.
“Nobody wanted to work with the kids I was working with,” he said.
Lucero then began working with Healthcare for the Homeless, a non-profit organization that provides free doctors, counseling and dentistry to people who live on the streets, as a harm reduc-tion technician, he said.
His job was to work with people who had substance abuse disor-ders, and work to mini-mize the damage they were doing to themselves through various health-care techniques, he said.
“It was such a new healthcare approach, that’s what I think it is more than anything, and it was real controversial and still is,” he said
A huge part of his job was lobbying in Santa Fe with the state legisla-ture and Governor Gary Johnson to enact a clean needle exchange, he said.
“Harm reduction was something (Johnson) didn’t understand and almost didn’t want to accept,” he said.
He had worked hard and was motivated by his own father’s death to get the law enacted, he said.
“I think that if he had something like that maybe he could have changed his life,” he said.
After lobbying for almost two years, he got the law passed and intra-venous drug users could bring in dirty needles, possibly infected with multiple diseases, and get a sterile needle in return, he said.
Through La Plazita, Lucero is now on the New Mexico RRED committee, a commit-tee to reduce racial and ethnic disparities in New Mexico Laws, and is composed of people within the justice system in Albuquerque and com-munity members who work with people con-victed of crimes, he said.
The committee combs through the lan-guage of laws and advises the legislature on how the laws can be changed to make them fairer to minorities, who often have higher rates of con-viction or failed probation, he said.
Working with the committee has interfered with his class time, but his teachers have been great in allowing him the time he needs to work for a better tomorrow, he said.
“Most of my teachers have been really under-standing because of the work I’m involved with,” he said.
Cultura CuraBringing culture back into the community
By Jonathan BacaStaff ReporterA large group of
women and their families gathered excitedly out-side of Cliff’s Amusement Park in a scene of chil-dren jumping up and down with excitement. This sight did not seem much out of the ordi-nary, but this group was unusual because all of these women and their families happen to have been homeless at one point or another.
These women were part of a charity group called Crossroads for Women, and this trip to Cliff’s was the brain-child of Integrated Studies major Caite Mathis, with the help of her partner Lambert Lamphie and Crossroads’ Resource Development Coordinator Amanda Douglas, as part of an assignment for a business class last summer.
“It’s very excit-ing. I’m very grateful to them for doing this,” said Radiology major Angela McGoldrick, as she waited with her children to enter the amusement park.
McGoldrick said that Crossroads helped her to get back on her feet, and was the inspiration for her to go back to school.
Crossroads for Women is a nonprofit that, “provides comprehensive, integrated services to sup-port women working to break the cycle of home-lessness and incarcera-tion and achieve healthy, stable and self-sufficient lives in the community for themselves and their chil-dren,” according to the Crossroads for Women mission statement.
As part of his Managing Principles class, instructor Eric Strauss had assigned his students to create a virtual cam-paign to raise money for a charity organization. The assignment was simply an exercise, but Mathis and Lambert wanted to take
it to the next level and make their project a real-ity, Mathis said.
“If I was going to put that much effort into something, I wanted to do it for real,” Mathis said.
The project included working out all the details, including which charity would benefit,
how much money was needed, and how the money would be raised. As a private life coach and dance instructor, Mathis had worked with dozens of children, helping them to find direction and joy in their lives, she said.
For the project, she and Lambert decided they wanted to help homeless children, and they chose to work with Crossroads, Mathis said.
“I wanted to plant some seeds of pure joy, from a total stranger, so these kids can have faith in life later and know that there are people out there who care about them,” Mathis said.
Crossroads had always wanted to send the women and children they worked with on a trip to Cliff’s, but they had never been able to get free tickets, Douglas said. Through sheer enthusi-asm and tenacity, Mathis was able to secure a dona-tion of free passes for all the families at Crossroads, an estimated $3,000 value, she said.
“I was totally sur-prised when she pulled it off. It was way beyond what I thought they were going to do, and it has just been great,” Douglas said.
Douglas said the trips to Cliff’s have been a ter-rific experience for her and Crossroads’ staff, and have meant a lot to the families who attended.
“We know that the women and children are more successful when they feel connected to a community that supports them. Special events that create that sense of com-munity are really impor-tant, and having fun is a big deal for someone who has been through a lot of trauma and stress,” Douglas said.
Mathis said she and Lamphie had always been concerned with home-lessness, and before they started their project, something happened that made the issue real for them. One night Lambert found a child sleeping in his truck, and discovered that an entire family had been using the truck for shelter.
Instead of calling the police or kicking them out of his truck, Lambert decided to invite them into his home, and he let them stay at his house for an entire month, rent free, she said.
“Isn’t that amazing? What if we all did that?” Mathis said.
Douglass said the main challenge for Crossroads is finding resources and volunteers. Several CNM students have volunteered, and students from UNM and several high schools have worked with Crossroads for class credits, some-thing Douglas said she would like to see more of in the future.
Douglas said there are several ways people can help at Crossroads, which the organization is always looking for vol-unteers, as well as dona-tions of cleaning supplies for the women, she said. Crossroads could also use help with food drives before the holidays, so that the women can pre-pare meals for their fami-lies during Thanksgiving and Christmas, she said.
Another need is dona-tions for the Crossroads emergency fund, which exists to help women with emergency medi-cal expenses and other unforeseen needs, Douglas said.
Mathis and Douglass agree that homelessness is one of the greatest prob-lems in our society today.
“It is just terrible. We are not taking care of our children. Any woman who makes it out of the cycle of homelessness, substance abuse, prison and all that goes with that, is a heroine,” Mathis said.
Student turns hard times into good times
PHOTO COURTESY OF WWW.CROSSROADSABQ.ORG
PHOTO PROVIDED BY CAITE MATHIS
COURTESY OF ANDREW LUCERO
OctOber 1, 2013 The CNM Chronicle | 9CONTINUED
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
for about a month the skunks were captured and relocated by animal control, she said.
There is a cat that lives on campus that is known as the campus’
“feral” cat but is prob-ably not feral at all and has been fed by people, she said.
“I have seen the cat and I have tried to feed it and it ate. I do not think it is feral. I think it belongs to somebody and it just got lost on
campus and does not want to leave because there is free food. It is like an all-you-can-eat buffet of lizards and bunnies,” Archuleta-Hallquist said.
I n c o r p o r a t i n g nature into the archi-tecture at Westside has also been accom-plished very well and the new WS1 building is made with walls that are all glass to look out at the great scen-ery the campus has to offer, Baker said. So on one side of the build-ing there is a vast view
of the sprawling desert while on the other side there is a vast view of the Sandia Mountains, and people tend to be attracted simply by how nice it is there, Baker said.
With so many win-dows and such amazing views of Albuquerque, students are con-stantly rejuvenated and calmed by every-thing beautiful there is to see, she said.
“I think they are really trying to make it seem like-instead of working against
nature-we are really working with nature,” Baker said.
Another thing that is nice about the campus is the desert inspired fountains that can be found when walking through the campus, she said.
The fountain in the middle of the WS1 courtyard does not use too much water but just enough for some-one to hear nothing other than the sooth-ing sound of water trickling on the edge of rock, she said.
The shrubbery and landscaping used for the campus also con-sists of strictly native plants to New Mexico, which is all xeriscaped and consists of what would be found in the desert, she said.
The dedication to natural and native aspects within the campus plays a huge part of maintaining a calm learning environ-ment for students and at the same time, attract-ing local wildlife of all sorts to the Westside campus, Baker said.
“I think the archi-tecture of this build-ing (WS1) is inf luenc-ing students to just feel more calm, more Zen, more at peace and I think that is why we are seeing more wild-life interacting. Part of the reason the hum-mingbirds probably still come on campus is because they are using native plants,” Baker said.
Mixer Continued from Page 2
walking up to strang-ers and talking to strangers in my classes, and so we thought maybe this was one more venue where we might be able to nudge people into getting to know other students,” she said.
While the event is hosted by CHSS fac-ulty and is targeted at CHSS majors, any student is welcome to come regardless of their major, she said.
R e p r e s e nt a t i ve s from every program within CHSS will be there to discuss their particular field, even if the major does not
offer a degree path such as cultural stud-ies, and to explain how their program can strengthen other majors, she said.
“Maybe there’s that student who really loves cultural studies and here’s a way to learn how to weave more of that into their anthro-pology degree,” she said.
Depending on the success of this first event, it could con-tinue to be held annu-ally but earlier in the school year now that the framework for how to run the event is in place, Bennett said.
“If students show up that’d be great, and if not we’ll just keep
trying,” she said.The idea for the
event was spurred by a reception held for sociology graduates at the end of the spring semester, Bennett said.
Faculty recognized all the graduates for finishing their pro-gram, and the gradu-ates got to mingle and meet each other
throughout the recep-tion, she said.
“They were really happy, and a couple of them were saying that they wished they had gotten to know some of their fellow students and more of their faculty earlier on,” she said.
Wildlife Continued from Page 2
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10 | The CNM Chronicle OctOber 1, 2013ENTERTAINMENTChronicle Crossword: Rockstar Dif ficulty: Easy
By Stacie ArmijoStaff ReporterTia Betty Blues,
located at 1248 San Mateo SE, offers a wide range of home-made menu items and various discounts to customers five days a week, employee of Tia Betty Blues and lib-eral arts major, Cullen Boardman said.
On Thursdays, the restaurant gives a 30 percent discount to all CNM, UNM, and APS students and employ-ees, he said.
“We are hoping to have more students come in and try us out,” Boardman said.
The restaurant also offers discounts for military personnel, medical personnel, and even people with tat-toos, he said.
Tia Betty Blues makes all their food from scratch every day and the restaurant provides options for people with food aller-gies or specific needs, he said.
“All of our food can be customized for dia-betics, vegan, vegetar-ian, and gluten free cus-tomers,” Boardman said.
There is also an array of specialty sodas with classic flavors and other unique options like Bacon, Ranch Dressing, and Apple Pie, he said.
“We do not serve alcohol but we do offer ginger ales and ginger beers. We offer a ginger ale with
bits of real ginger
inside that is popular with our customers,” Boardman said.
Frequent custom-ers Linda Lou Taylor and Maureen Elswood said that one of the things that drew them to this unique estab-lishment was the image of Tia Betty on the bill-board out front.
“The image caught our eye when we were driving by,” Elswood said.
They both love the friendly attitude of the employees and the deli-cious food. “We also love the discounts,” Taylor said.
Taylor and Elswood said that Tia Betty Blues is their usual weekend destination and that they are there every Saturday.
“One of the reasons we keep coming back is because we love the food,” Taylor said.
Boardman said everything is prepared fresh and made to order. Nothing is frozen and orders are made when the customer places their order, he said.
wThe owner, Daniel Boardman, is Cullen Boardman’s father and is from Chimayo, New Mexico. He wanted to open a restaurant that brought Northern New Mexico f lavor to Albuquerque and appealed to many dif-ferent people, said Cullen Boardman.
The restaurant opened on May 1, 2012 and has been drawing in crowds
ever since, he said.
Breakfast is served all day long and just a few of the break-fast options include blue corn waff les, huevos rancheros, and a breakfast taco plate. For lunch, the best seller is the original New Mexico Po’ Boy, which is a Tia Betty exclusive with home-made carne adovada, cheese, onions, jala-penos and Fritos, served on a locally made baguette loaf, he said.
Tia Betty Blues is open 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday, and from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday’s and Sunday’s. Wi-Fi is free for all customers. Like them on Facebook at Facebook.com/Tia Betty Blues.
No more blues for students walletsLocal restaurant offers unique discounts
Across1.Band known for their black and
white face paint, inventive outfits, and theatrical shows
5.British band known for the song “Bohemian Rhapsody”
6.Undertow was their first studio album in 1993
7.Band that sang “Don’t stop believing”
11.80’s British band, and also fruit matter leftover after juicing a lemon or orange
12.Punk rock band that originated in Queens, New York 1974
13.80’s new wave band known for song “Call Me”
16.Band known for the song “Low Rider” and “Why can’t we be Friends”
18.80’s band with Peter Gabriel and Phil Collins
19.Canadian rock band with drum-mer Neil Peart
20.Band formed in 1996 with lead singer Chris Martin
Down2.90’s band and the male form of
a succubus3.Band formed in 1970 and has sold
over 150 million albums worldwide4.80’s hair band that could kill if
ingested8.80’s British duo that sang “Sweet
Dreams”9.Ska/Punk band from Long
Beach, California10.Band that sang about “Buddy
Holly”14.Previous 90’s band with drum-
mer Dave Grohl15.Band formed by Kurt Kobain’s
widow17.Australian rock band that sang
“Highway to Hell”
PHOTO BY STACIE ARMIJO
Aztec waffle boat at Tia Betty Blues
Tia Betty Blues Daily Discounts
Tia Betty Blues offers a 30% discount daily for different categories of folks throughout the week, on the purchase of any breakfast, lunch, or NM specialty (with the purchase of a regular priced drink)
Medical Mondays Tango TuesdaysMilitary Wednesdays Education ThursdaysTattoo FridaysKids eat free Saturdays
OctOber 1, 2013 The CNM Chronicle | 11STUDENT LIFE
Stacie ArmijoStaff Reporter
The Auto Body Club has been working to restore a 1950 Ford busi-ness coupe as an ongoing project with no specific completion date, Barry Mills Jr., Instructor in the Automotive Technology department said.
The car was donated over five years ago and was painted by the club in
June, he said. “Now that the car has been painted students are really get-ting more excited about it. They see that with a little bit of elbow grease, desire and effort, that they can do bigger things than they thought pos-sible,” Mills said.
Michael Trujillo, Auto Technology major and President of the Auto Body Club said, “I like the body shape of it, how it’s
sort of a gangster car. Its history, which is what I like about it.”
Trujillo said he has been the president of the Auto Body club now for two years. The club meets every other Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
“Restoring a classic car is a lot of work. In order to get the car ready to paint we did a lot of sand-ing,” Trujillo said.
Mills said the Ford business coupe was origi-nally designed for busi-ness men that needed to travel around to many places, which makes this car so special.
“What makes it so interesting is that it was never built with a backseat or a passanger sun visor. It was designed for a single person to carry goods and drive around the county and sell things,” Mills said.
Students in the auto body program learn to change tires, do alignments, change oil, and learn other automotive details, Trujillo said.
“The most valuable thing I have learned here in the auto body depart-ment is how to get along with people; how to listen to people’s opin-ions and to solve prob-lems,” Trujillo said.
The knowledge students learn in the auto body program is extremely valuable and useful in their career as automotive technicians, he said.
“It is important to learn because that is the kind of business I want to be in, I want to open my own automotive business,” Trujillo said.
Mills said one of big-gest benefits of teaching is watching the light bulb go on and watching the confidence come alive in students that seem timid.
“They learn a new skill. Watching them overcome the fear of opening the hood and looking at the engine and saying, ‘I don’t know a thing about it’ and getting to a point where they are not afraid to take it apart and see what’s inside,” Mills said.
Mills said most of the cars that students work on are donated from compa-nies such as Nissan Motor Company and Ford Motor Company. Cars are also donated from the local community.
Automotive club restores classic car
By Nick SternStaff ReporterBetween balancing
school, work, and a slew of different obligations, students can really benefit from achieving and main-taining a healthy lifestyle in which the right foods at the right times can be the difference in success and failure, Registered Nurse at the Student Health Center, Patti Haaland said.
Whole grain foods such as oats or brown rice are a great source of nutrition for the brain as they contain low glyce-mic levels which allows for slower release of glucose into the blood-stream, said Haaland.
This allows for a more alert and focused mind throughout the day and a more sustain-able and steady supply of energy without a large crash at the end, she said. Brown rice, brown pasta and brown cereals are all great wholegrain foods that humans should try to incorporate into their diets, Haaland said.
Beets and blueberries are both excellent sources of nutrition for the brain because beets contain phenylalanine, which is an amino acid that helps relay signals from one brain cell to another, she said.
“Blueberries are good because they are an excel-lent source of antioxidants and anthocyanins which are compounds that help protect brain cells from toxins and improve the use of glucose in the brain,” Haaland said.
Registered Nurse, Collette Dodd said that one of the best tips she can give students is to avoid foods that are greasy, fried and are high in fat and sugar because they will not feed your brain the way that legumes, protein, fish, and vegetables will in the long run.
Dodd also advises people to try to stay away from consuming a lot of dairy products, because dairy products and meats are considered secondary sources of nutrition and it is much more beneficial to get primary sources of
nutrition by going directly to the plant by eating veg-etables and grains, she said.
The reason dairy is considered a second-ary source of nutrition is because milk, for instance cow milk, comes from a cow who first gets its nutrients from the earth then digests the nutrients in its stomachs (both of the cow’s stomachs) and what is left is a product that has already had most of the nutrients absorbed out of it by the cow’s body, said Dodd.
“The most excel-lent source of nutrition is going directly to the plant,” she said.
Another tip is to never eat after 8 p.m. because the body’s metabolism slows down while sleeping and instead of digesting the food it will just store it as fat, Dodd said.
That being said, break-fast is the most important meal and a good breakfast can provide the necessary nutrition to get through a day and should be the main meal of the day because most calories are
being burned during the daytime while the body is busy, she said.
“Eat like a king for breakfast. Eat like a queen for lunch. Eat like a pauper for dinner,” Dodd said.
Junk food is gener-ally more appealing to students and anyone on the go because not only does the taste of greasy and delicious food pro-vide an oral gratification which make endorphins “pop,” but the speed, convenience and cost of junk food makes it easy for a student to justify eating unhealthy, Haaland said.
“Foods like donuts and French fries may give you an initial energy rush but then you are left with a big carb crash. These foods can actually cause you to be left with less energy than before you eat them,” Haaland said.
It is very impor-tant to remember that the brain is an organ that requires nutri-ents and energy the
same way the lungs, heart, muscles, and everything else in the human body needs, she said.
Essential fatty acids (EFAs) are priceless nutrients to the brain that humans do not develop naturally and can be found as omega-3 fatty acids in oily fishes such as salmon, sar-dines, tuna, mackerel, and other oily, cold water fish, she said.
The omega 3 fatty acids that can be found in fish are eicosapentae-noic (EPA) and docosa-hexaenoic (DHA) acids, Haaland said.
Not only do EPAs and DHAs help with healthy brain, heart and retina functions but studies have shown that taking these fatty acids will actually help prevent mental dis-eases such as Alzheimer’s and Dementia, she said.
Brain Foods
PHOTO BY RENE THOMPSON
1950 Ford business coupe the automotive club is working on.
GRAPHIC COURTESY OF WWW.THEBESTBRAINPOSSIBLE.COM
12 | The CNM Chronicle OctOber 1, 2013FEATURE
Deborah CooperGuest ReporterU.S. Representative
for the state of New Mexico, Michelle Lujan-Grisham said on October 1 people will be able to begin signing up for qual-ity affordable health care coverage through newly revamped health insur-ance marketplaces, and some of these changes affect students.
On January 1, cov-erage will begin for the people who have attained insurance, and many of the benefits of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) will begin as well, Lujan-Grisham said.
Students and young adults can now stay on their parents’ health insurance until they are 26, so if a student doesn’t have a job right when they graduate, students can still be covered and have peace of mind, she said.
Before the health care law, insurance com-panies could remove enrolled children on their parents coverage at age 19, and some-times older for full-time students, according to the Dept. of Health and Human Services.
Radiology major, Victor Ruiz said it is nice that students get to stay on their parents insurance until the age of 26.
“At the same time I think President Obama hurt us in way because we have to choose a health-care plan, and if we don’t we get fined,” Ruiz said.
According to NPR.org, full-time or part-time students who are single, under the age of 65, and are not working full-time will most likely not trigger the require-ments to have health insurance, and the ACA fines will only affect individuals that make $10,000 per year or more.
On March 23, 2010, President Obama signed the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and set into place an effort that will help ensure that all Americans have secure, stable, afford-able health insurance, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
In July, 2013, Congresswoman Michelle Lujan-Grisham met with
President Obama to dis-cuss several matters, one being the ACA.
“CNM students can always contact my Albuquerque office at (505) 346-6781.We have people who can help stu-dents with any questions they may have. We want to be a resource to you,” Lujan-Grisham said.
C on g re s s wom a n Lujan-Grisham stated that The Affordable Care Act puts in place comprehen-sive reforms that improve access to affordable health coverage for everyone and protects consumers from abusive insurance com-pany practices.
“Student health plans are more comprehensive than ever. Because of the ACA, students who get insurance through their college will get more extensive coverage and will be able to get many preventive services for free,” she said.
According to the Dept. of Health and Human Services some of the free services include smoking cessation pro-grams, counseling on diet and weight loss, and counseling for depression or substance abuse.
Without the Affordable Care Act, the almost 400,000
uninsured New Mexicans would not be able to access affordable health coverage through the insurance marketplace, and insurance companies would be able to deny cov-erage to the nearly one in four New Mexicans with a pre-existing condition, she said.
“First, the Affordable Care Act is creating jobs in the health care indus-try itself. The Medicaid expansion alone will create an estimated 6,000 to 8,000 New Mexico jobs and pump more than $5 billion into our state’s economy,” she said.
The legislation pro-vides financial sup-port for the National Health Services Corps Student s-to-Serv ice Loan Repayment Program according to Generation Progress.
Also, through the $12 million program, medi-cal school graduates who agree to work as primary care doctors in under-served communities are eligible to receive up to $120,000 to repay the outstanding loans states Generation Progress.
Along with that, the ACA also increases fed-eral investments in the Pell Grant program by $40 billion in an effort
to ensure students can afford to pursue medical education, according to Generation Progress.
“Before the Affordable Care Act, if you had a job that offered health insur-ance, but wanted to leave that company to create a new business, you had a hard choice to make, because insurance on the individual market was incredibly expensive,” Lujan-Grisham said.
According to a July, 2013 press release, Lujan-Grisham announced that three community health centers in Albuquerque will receive $651,111 in
grants to help enroll uninsured New Mexicans in new health coverage options only made avail-able by the Affordable Care Act.
“These grants will help New Mexicans understand their options and gain quality, afford-able coverage through our state’s health insur-ance marketplace,” Lujan-Grisham said.
Students can call the toll-free federal call center 24/7 at 1-800-318-2596 to talk to a live person and get answers to all questions and The New Mexico insurance
marketplace, NMHIX also has a website at nmhix.com, that has great information specifi-cally for New Mexicans, she said.
“The federal gov-ernment has a fantastic website, HealthCare.gov where you can learn about the rights and protections that the Affordable Care Act provides, find out how to sign up for quality, affordable health coverage, and find answers to any question you may have,” Lujan-Grisham said.
Michelle Lujan-Grisham weighs in:What the Affordable Care Act means for students
PICTURE COURTESY OF WWW.DONAANADEMOCRATS.COM
Michelle Lujan-Grisham speaks about her policies
A d v e r t i s e m e n t
