The Groundup: October/November 2013

The GroundUpInsurgencia magisterial contra reformas de Peña

conmociona a México

No. 3 - Oct/Nov 2013Las Cruces, New Mexico

(No) Price: Voluntary Contributiongroundupnmsu.org

Don’t throw me away: recycle or pass on to someone else!- La dinámica de la explotación laboral en las zonas rurales de Nuevo México, pp. 5 -

- The world of work: A bad job, for a ‘progressive’ cause, pp. 10 -

For a ruthless criticism of everything existing - Por una crítica despiadada de todo lo existente

- ContinuEd on PagE 10 -

I wouldn’t write about oppression unless I had so-mething important to say. I didn’t think it was a contest, but it seems like somehow the Xicano Files got deleted and the homies all got cheated. And sadly, to my knowled-ge, there is no civil rights group which advocates on our behalf. Honestly, I am sure there are causes more worthy than me and the ho-mies, but I read somewhere the oppression is pervasive and hurts us all of us. Also, I’m not hearing our stories told in an honest, constructive, or politically useful way. I wouldn’t normally consider myself the one to tell our story, even though I am a community activist. My community is plaqued up across my body multiple times, and it don’t get no more active than that. So, if you will suff er through my poor grammar, I will write something authentic about the oppression that occurs in my life.

I’m doing a life sentence, actually, life plus ten fi ngers and three toes. I’ve been down for about eleven years on this conviction, but I’m still relatively young. I pled not guilty, and I stand by that. Most people view my homies and me as a destructive force, and collectively, there is no question: we have made ourselves hard to love. So, I am not an “innocent” kind of person, but fuck if I let the system jack my life and punk me out of the truth. Touchy subject, and I digress, but my point is that is that in many respects, I am not so far from being everyday people. I am a believer in personal accountability, so I would not hide behind the - ContinuEd on PagE 9 -

By MiCHaEl arMEndariz

Incarcerated at Southern New Mexico Correctional Facility, Level IV

banner of oppression or help anyone else to do so. Still, I keep noticing how the homies getting trapped in

the system are similar, Xicanos and Mexicanos raised in poverty from an early age. Whether we deserved it or not, all of us were targeted by police and thrown in the system. We mostly share the same interests, listen to the same mu-sic, and have similar family histories. Beyond the actual guilt or innocence related to our cases and trials, offi cial

misconduct is usually in-volved. Occasionally, our cases speak of oppression; sometimes we just bulls-hittin’. Our skin color is a lighter shade of brown, and that may have nothing to do with why we were sent to prison, but it’s a simila-

rity that shouldn’t be ignored. In my opinion, the thread of oppression runs through all this and sews it all up like Betsy Ross did.

Conventional wisdom is that prisons exist for public sa-fety. I think too many people allow the local media to pick through and choose which information makes conventio-nal wisdom. Th is culture makes it easy for the government to systematically oppress groups of people. One of the groups being oppressed is the homies who are in trouble with the law. I won’t question if their situations were the real crime, nor will I suggest that many laws are corrupt in spirit and application. I’m just talking about the homies going to prison.

To begin, they usually get sent to a Level 4 yard or hig-her. Th e Level numbers indicate the security level: higher number, higher security. Level 6, called supermax, is the

Conventional wisdom is that prisons exist for public safety. I think too many people allow the local media to pick through and choose which information makes conventional wisdom (...) Time will reveal prisons to be the most dange-rous staple of the American economy.

“

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Somebody’s homie: Prisoners and the level system A Doña Ana Communi-ty College professor whose classes were cut at the end of the 2012-2013 school year is seeking recourse in the courts: Earl Nissen, who be-gan teaching at the school in 1999, alleges DACC admi-nistration terminated him in retaliation for his speaking out about mismanagement and the nursing program’s loss of accreditation.

DACC’s nursing program lost national accreditation from the National League for Nursing Accreditation Com-mission (NLNAC) in August 2012, leaving the post-gra-duation possibilities of over 100 students extremely limi-ted. Nissen, in an August interview with Th e GroundUp, said he sent emails and letters demanding administrative accountability, publicly criticized the administration, and advised students about troubles in the nursing program, recommending that some transfer out.

Th e legal complaint claims Nissen’s workload was fi rst reduced from three to just one class in 2011 shortly aft er he pressured offi cials to fi ll an empty department chair, a va-cancy which he believed would would damage the college. Th e document goes on to say DACC Education Program Director Shannon Bradley told Nissen in May 2013 that he had “acted unprofessionally,” “broken the chain of com-mand,” and “was insubordinate” by “advocating for nursing students,” seeking information on the accreditation status, and informing students that classes at DACC would not be accepted by accredited programs. In July, Bradley infor-med him that he would no longer teach classes, according

Maestros de todo el país, encabezados por la Coordinadora Nacional de Trabajadores de la Educación, han le-vantado un movimiento de oposición a las reformas neoliberales del gobierno mexicano bajo Enrique Peña Nie-to. Según los maestros, luchan contra la anulación de sus derechos como trabajadores, la estandardización en las evaluaciones y la privatización de la educación. Véanse las páginas 6-7.

Professor fi les Whistle-blower lawsuit following termination from DACC

Earl Nissen charges that his termination was moti-vated by retaliation.

By alan diCKEr

Eneas de Troya/Flickr Creative Comm

ons

The politics ofspace and NMSU


Of privatization, free speech, arrests, and university administrationBy gasPar iloM

Th e following essay argues that the use of space - on campus and elsewhere - is inherently political. Th e ag-gressions towards student protesters in Corbett Center on September 17 and 18 (See editorial on page 2) should be viewed in the context of clear tendencies towards the pri-vatization of space at NMSU and in society at large.

As geographer and social theorist David Harvey makes clear, economic and social forces act to reshape geography, and capital must both build up and overcome geographic hurdles in order to facilitate increased returns on inves-tments. Th e unending drive for new sources of revenue in a capitalist system demands expansion into new, profi table venues, which oft en means physical dominance of unde-rexploited territory. As capital moves into new space, it ne-cessarily transforms that space to ensure private property rights and to facilitate smooth market operations, oft en at the expense of local populations, cultures, and the physical environment. Th us, the birth of capitalism in Europe and its growth into other areas around the globe demanded the break-up and privatization of commonly-held agricultural

2 The GroundUp

NMSU: Say no to NSA spying. Say yes to free speech.

10-11/2013

The GroundUp is an alternative publication at New Mexico State University that seeks to provide a space for critical perspectives from the radical left on current issues both at and outside the university. Writing in The GroundUp reflects the opinions of individual authors, who may or may not be named. We publish material in English and Spanish as well as encourage submissions in both languages. The paper is self-funded and has no price. Any monetary contributions will go towards the costs of printing and distribution; they can be arranged by contacting us at groundupnmsu.org.

Con este periódico esperamos crear un espacio en la Universidad Estatal de Nuevo México para perspectivas críticas desde la izquierda radical sobre temas de actualidad tanto dentro como fuera de la universidad. Artículos en The GroundUp reflejan las opiniones de autores individuales, quienes pueden o no ser nombrados. Publicamos material tanto en español como en inglés y damos la bienvenida a contribuciones en ambos idiomas. The GroundUp se autofinancia y no tiene costo. Cualquier colaboración monetaria se utilizará para cubrir los costos de impresión y de distribución.

The GroundUpSubmissions, comments, donations, etc:

Online: groundupnmsu.orgEmail: [email protected]

Editorial

In the early afternoon of Tuesday, September 17, 2013, NMSU stu-dent and Aggie Solidarity member Alan Dicker was arrested inside the Corbett Center Student Union building. His ‘crimes’ included holding a sign critical of the National Security Agency (NSA) next to that agency’s recruitment booth at a Career Services job fair and refusing orders to leave the building.

Dicker’s demonstration was a personal decision to protest the NSA’s ever-growing surveillance apparatus and its abuses of civil liberties in the U.S. and overseas. He was also protesting NMSU’s decision to invite enti-ties such as the NSA to campus, on top of the university’s long-term part-nerships with the federal government and private military contractors in areas such as weapons production. The university’s acceptance of the NSA at the job fair implicitly condoned the agency’s activities, presenting it to students and community members as a ‘respectable’ career option. The university’s attitude towards unwanted dissent is markedly different.

Dicker was arrested by the New Mexico State University Police De-partment. He received a citation for “Interference with members of staff ” and was charged with three additional criminal counts: “Criminal tres-pass (state lands),” “Resisting, evading or obstructing an officer,” and “Di-sorderly conduct.” He was taken to a holding cell on the NMSU campus and later transported to the Doña Ana County Detention Center. Fellow students posted his bail of $250 later in the afternoon.

A member of Aggie Solidarity who witnessed the demonstration and subsequent arrest can attest to Dicker’s calm state leading up to the arrest and in dealing with NMSU and police authorities. He was cited, asked again to leave Corbett Center, and then grabbed by officers Richard Mc-guinn and Shawn Scott, who began to force him towards the doors. Con-trary to the criminal complaint later filled out by Mcguinn, which states that Dicker “resisted” attempts by officers to place handcuffs on him and remove him from the premises, Dicker prompted no physical confronta-tion nor resisted the placing of handcuffs in any way.

The next day, about 20 members of Aggie Solidarity and sympathizers entered Corbett Center with signs and flyers, both to protest the presence of the NSA and CIA and to demand respect for political speech at NMSU. They positioned themselves opposite the entrance to the Career Expo and were immediately confronted by Career Services personnel and ordered to leave. They questioned the legality of such an imperative and were sub-sequently ordered to leave by Corbett Center Director Julie Weber and NMSU police, with minimal discussion. They were given a ten-minute warning, after which they would be arrested, and left the Student Union after 8 minutes under police surveillance.

Later, student Jared Domenico - who filmed the protest and is not a member of Solidarity - entered the Career Fair and dropped a copy of Orwell’s 1984 on the NSA literature table. He was subsequently confron-ted by police - who did not witness the incident - outside Corbett Cen-ter and issued a “disorderly conduct” citation for “throwing” a “political book” at the recruiters. He has since been formally reprimanded by the university. Both Dicker and Domenico have pled “not guilty” to the mis-demeanor criminal charges against them and await trial.

The overreaction of NMSU administration and police to a simple, non-disruptive protest sign and the dropping of a book, the absurdity of the charges against Dicker and Domenico, and the irony that allusions to ‘Big Brother’ have triggered such heavy-handed reactions speak vo-lumes for themselves. We believe that NMSU’s prioritization of ‘making the campus welcoming’ for big business and big government interests is contributing to the erosion of intellectual freedom, the limitation of bottom-up input in decision-making processes, and the stifling of spaces for criticism (See “The Politics of Space” in this issue). Our campus is a place where students, staff members, and faculty are afraid to speak up for fear of retaliation and punishment. We demand that Dicker and Domenico’s charges be dropped; but we also demand the unconditional protection from censorship of criticism and political speech at NMSU as well as the disassociation of the university from the military-industrial-surveillance apparatus. We call for steps be taken to promote genuine, democratic participation of students and employees in administrative decisions. Finally, we encourage readers of this publication to get up and challenge the status quo on and off campus. Apathy and complacency are our worst enemies.

The GroundUp staff

Dawn Paley/Flickr Creative Commons

With possibilities waning for an immigration reform bill to pass the U.S. Congress, the millions of workers living in the shadows of U.S. society due to lack of proper papers continue to have little opportunity to clear up their legal status. While the dysfunctionality of the legislature is frustrating, now is not the time to look for com-promises (such as a ‘guest-worker’ program, bet-ter described as a legalization of an underclass’s super-exploitation); nor is it the time to insist on the same old immigration reform plan, backed by the industries that rely on reliable, low-wage la-bor. Now is the time to look past the limitations of the reform program and take aim at the heart of the issue. Citizenship for those currently in the U.S. without documents can easily be seen as a step in the right direction – but a deeper problem lies in the fact that we have to demand citizenship in the first place. If we take seriously the statement “No human is illegal,” we must figure out how to abolish citizenship-based distinctions. This means not limiting ourselves to legalistic demands for ci-tizenship. It means rejecting nationalism and the economic system it coexists with.

National citizenship, a liberal concept linked to the rise of capitalism in Europe, in its highest form rests on the theoretical assumption that resi-dents of a certain territory enter into a social con-tract with that territory’s ruling class. This affords those individuals certain rights, protections, and duties as citizens, while the ruling class acquires legitimacy and certain duties to its citizens. We continue to accept the myth that this is the basis for our nations, yet we know from experience that the rosy picture of common interests it paints is hardly the way things work. The majority of wor-king people do not stand on an equal footing in its relations with the economic and political classes that rule capitalist nations, no matter how ‘demo-cratic’ their politics. The liberal ‘social contract’ is limiting and oppressive to the majority.

Moreover, despite the liberal obsession with choice and free opportunity, it created a model of national citizenship based on the very con-

cept of exclusivity. The globalization and mass migrations that capitalism has propelled are not compatible with closed borders and the idea of a restricted citizenry. While capital, companies, and the privileged can move across borders with ever-greater ease, these same boundaries remain a herculean obstacle for the working classes. The rights, freedoms, and social posi-tion of people forced to live and work for this economic-political system are largely deter-mined by the borders within which they were born. Every day, the ‘social contract’ theory used to justify nation-states further reveals its inadequacy.

Immigrants in the U.S. and other countries understandably strive for citizenship, because of the material benefits and cultural importance citizenship carries. But we should recognize that embracing nationalisms and aiming only to join the ‘citizenry’ will only reproduce the same sys-tem that helped to create the situation we have today. The vision and organization of the move-ment for immigrants’ rights need to escape natio-nal boundaries and become truly internationalist. Whatever their differences, migrant workers in the U.S. and around the world share similar con-ditions and interests. They are necessary to the functioning of global capitalism, and only with an internationalist perspective will they harness their strength to transform it. Gaining citizens-hip is not a solution for the material hardships, exploitation, and alienation that migrant workers face around the world, because new waves of dis-placed workers will continue to replace the old migrants and repeat the same processes. Citizen-ship stands in the way of a society in which the human needs of all are met and in which no one is victim of exploitation, alienation, and grossly unequal power relations.

The immigration reform movement’s demands for citizenship should give way to demands to abo-lish citizenship. We need to go from a movement of immigrants in the U.S. to a movement encom-passing immigrants and laborers around the world.

In place of citizenship, anti-citizenship

We live in the shadows of national borders. The immigration reform movement’s demands for citi-zenship should give way to demands to abolish citizenship.

3The GroundUp3

Margie Huerta September 2013

Huerta, special assistant to NMSU President Garrey Carruthers and former President of DACC, was appointed to her current position in early June, with a salary of over $173,000. Huerta’s start date was pushed back multiple times, however, and she remained on paid, “approved leave” until mid-September. Huerta and university offi cials have refused to comment on the reasons for the extended absence. She is set to retire on January 31, 2014.

Beginning this January, the GED test, oft en known as the high school equivalency exam, will change in format, content, and delivery. Th e current fi ve-tests will reduce to four, and the tests are no longer tests, but modules. Absolutely everyone will test on a computer, and no accommodations will be available. Right now, in New Mexico, a test-taker pays $10 per test, or a total of $50 for the enti-re battery (what an ironic and appropriate term). In January, each module will cost $30, meaning it will cost $120 to be completely battered. Someone wis-hing to complete the test will also need computer skills, including keyboar-ding, copying, pasting, dragging, and dropping, as well as operating a virtual calculator named OSCAR.

Th e current test requi-res students to write an essay question using their “personal experience and knowledge” to construct their answers. In the new year, the GED will no lon-ger be interested in essays or the personal experience and knowledge of the testing student. All Short Answer and Extended Response ques-

tions will be solely“evidence based,” and Artifi cial Intelli-gence will score answers. While the current reading section has the tester evaluating 75% fi ction and 25% non-fi ction,

the 2014 test inverts the ratio: 75% non-fi ction and 25% fi ction. All of these changes occur in the name of “raising stan-dards” - aligning the GED with the Common Core, a national curriculum that the New York Times calls “rigorous.” Without having yet implemented Common Core or evalua-ting its eff ects on schools, teachers, and students, it is diffi cult to understand how we could judge the “rigor” of the curriculum.

While the public edu-cation system, designed to serve industrialization and modeled aft er a parti-cular kind of intelligence, has always ensured the disproportionate benefi t of the few at the cost of the many, a movement toward an explicit standardiza-tion of learning only exa-cerbates the discrimina-tion built into the system.

Th ose most marginalized and abused by testing occupy a lower income-bracket in our socioeconomic hierarchy;

many speak languages other than English; and many bear the label “special education.” For those who return to edu-cation years or decades aft er economic and social factors fi rst forced them from the classroom, it is diffi cult to con-nect academic requirements with the demands of their daily lives and search for new work. Th eir previous jobs did not require them to reduce fractions or interpret son-nets. How will learning such things help them re-enter the job market?

However, fi nding work has not gotten any easier for tho-se without a degree. Factories and production lines, aft er exploiting this vulnerable population for many decades, decide it is more profi table to move to Mexico, Bangladesh, or Vietnam. Th e companies leave, leaving their previous employees in the hands of the Workforce and Unemplo-yment Offi ce; and when these employees arrive to apply for benefi ts, they are told they need to get a GED. Th e pro-blem, as we all know, is that this population is “uneduca-ted” and therefore not economically valuable. It is challen-ging to explain to someone how for the past 20 years, his or her skills suffi ced for wage-labor, and companies still need those skills, just not here.

To address this shameful contradiction, the educational system begins to change its testing regimen to lower the percentage of “successful” students. In this paradigm, we can continue to blame people’s poverty on their own igno-rance or lack of institutionalized education while we assure them that if they learn algebra and how to write a monthly budget, they will fi nd meaningful employment and a living wage. In fact, on the homepage for educators of the GED Testing Services website, they promise that “together, we’ll change lives.” Th ey explain:

Th e GED® test is changing to help more adults become career and college ready. We’re setting our sights on the 39 million adults without a high school diploma. Our goals are simple: Open up doors to better paying jobs, new ca-reers, college classrooms, and a brighter future.

Together, we will transform our high school equivalency program into a lifelong learning opportunity.

Across the top of the screen also fl ashes a warning mes-sage: “Buyer Beware: Not all high school equivalency pro-grams are created equal.”

Th e narrative of education as a product to be bought and sold now dominates our school systems at every level. When the American Council on Education (ACE) and Pearson VUE “joined forces” in 2011, they began a “public-private partnership” now known as GED Testing Services. (Pearson VUE is a part of textbook pu-blisher Pearson plc, a $9 billion corporation that is the “lar-gest commercial testing company and education publisher in the world,” according to its website.) As is the nature of “public-private” partnership, the private sector profi ts from its control over public services, such as educational stan-dards. Private manipulation of education only serves to re-inforce the dominant ideology of intelligence as test-taking ability and regurgitation of Edited American English. Th o-se attending schools in affl uent neighborhoods more likely possess the tools necessary to identify “correct” answers and move into universities and eventually jobs that require not the content of the academic fi elds, but the ability to articulate predetermined answers, further justifying their own economic prosperity.

As we commodify education, prices rise and the bench-mark of “success” becomes less and less attainable to the masses; the adage of education as the “great equalizer” pro-ves harder and harder to preach with a straight face. More people will encounter the marginalization, poverty, and social shaming endemic of the history of the United States and its most powerful tool of indoctrination and reproduc-tion of social inequality: the education system. Th e chan-ges in GED testing, while aff ecting people’s lives in real and immediate ways, only refl ect the greater and more funda-mental challenges facing our communities as the forces of capitalism raise the bar of survival higher and higher. We must challenge the narrative that there is something not-profi cient about the people in our classrooms, and we must resist the notion that any test can determine the knowledge and value of a human being.

Changes to GED will mean higher costs, all on computer

In 2014, the GED will switch to a fully computer-based format. Changes to the test are being implemented by a ‘public-private’ partnership between Pearson and the Ame-rican Council on Education.

The stakes get higher in high-stakes testing

Más en / More at:

groundupnmsu.org

• Recovering from New Mexico’s fl oods• A letter to women• Artículos completos sobre el magisterio mexicano• Links to new and updated content• Info on how to submit to The GroundUp

4 The GroundUp 10-11/2013

lands. Th e contemporary neoliberal push to commerciali-ze publicly-held goods and spaces, such as schools, social security and state-owned industries, furthers this histori-cal trend of private forces seizing public space. As Naomi Klein alerted us at the turn of the century, our “communal spaces” are being “displaced by the ballooning marketpla-ce,” and this threatens democratic society and the ability of everyday people to shape their world through active, poli-tical participation.

Th e ballooning marketplace targets the public school. Th e school system’s pervasiveness makes it a potentially unending mine of untapped profi tability, and its central role in social control attracts the business and political classes for obvious reasons. Th e school building and colle-ge campus, which have consciously limited consumerism in past decades, are being transformed into ever-more

commerciable spaces as they outsource ser-vices to private ven-dors, invite big-name brands to set up shop, and increasingly rely on private donors. From elementary school to high school, the physical grounds are opened up to out-side interests (whether businesses, founda-tions, or government agencies, whatever can market itself as ‘profi -table’). Particularly at universities, the insti-

tution becomes a real estate agent, leasing out sections of its patrimony to the highest bidder. It becomes a ‘partner’ in ‘economic development,’ and these ‘partnerships’ incre-asingly dictate academics.

Th ough veiled in technocratic shrouds, the administra-tive trends at schools like NMSU are largely driven by poli-tical ideology - and the dominant ideology today from the highest levels of government down to our school adminis-trators is one that defends neoliberal capitalism. Th e ideolo-gy of neoliberal capitalism, essentially, views public educa-tion as (1) a support of industry and fi nance, and (2) a space to be commercialized and product to be commodifi ed.

At NMSU, we privatized the bookstore in 2006. Our call centers have been privatized. A private company now does our printing. New fast food franchises are opened every year. Th e Board of Regents turned a massive section of cam-pus into a semi-public industrial park. Business, aerospace engineering, and public policy to promote ‘the free market’ (Th e Domenici Center) increasingly mark the heartbeat of the university. Our sports teams have an exclusive agree-ment with an international clothes brand. Sodexo and Au-xiliary Services administration, not the students, run and

control he Corbett Center Student Union building. Money for building projects keeps rolling in, even while it cannot be found to prevent faculty cuts or tuition increases. In-creased student fees and state taxes are indirectly funne-led to image-building projects and growing administrative salaries. In most cases, the real benefi ts to university aca-demics are minimal, but we’re on track towards a certain development model and we can’t derail that train now.

Th e trends at NMSU mirror those at schools across the country and, to some extent, around the world. Th e univer-sity is increasingly reoriented to serve the interests of big business - particularly sectors like fi nance, big-agriculture, and high technology, as well as governmental sectors rela-ted to highly profi table industries, such as the military, po-licing, ‘corrections,’ and surveillance. For example, NMSU has attempted to bill itself as one of the top institutions in the country for drone aircraft research, leading the univer-sity to take on research projects from the Department of Defense and numerous private weapons contractors.

In ‘partnering’ with these kinds of enterprises, the uni-versity must transform itself, including its geographical contours, to align with the needs, values, and hierarchi-cal patterns of its ‘partners.’ In the case of NMSU and its weapons, the university has made some of its activities ‘top secret’ and restricted access to portions of campus to per-sonnel with a security clearance. Furthermore, it has taken many military-related activities off campus altogether, conveniently placing testing, research, and even confe-rences away from public scrutiny. Th e university does not question the ethical histories of the businesses and agen-cies it brings onto campus, because management is only concerned with the rules of ‘proper’ market relations. Ins-tead of prioritizing academic freedom, open debate, or so-cial responsibility and attempting to expand those values in the greater society, our schools seek to delineate preci-sely where they can happen and within what parameters.

Beyond the ethical question of whether we should par-ticipate in programs responsible for bringing death and te-rror around the world, there is another question of where the limits of the ‘public’ at a public institution are - and should be - drawn.

Th e arrest of a student protester, the citation of another, and removal of numerous demonstrators under threat of arrest from NMSU’s Student Union building on Septem-ber 17 and 18 should be viewed with this context in mind. When police arrested a lone protester with a sign critical of the NSA aft er he refused to leave a career fair, univer-sity authorities justifi ed their actions by insisting that his criticism itself was disruptive of an event where “vendors” had paid to be there. As paying customers, the agencies and businesses represented had an expectation of an environ-ment that maximized recruiting eff ectiveness, and it was the university’s responsibility as a seller to ensure that.

Of course, the protest could happen outside, where free speech protections are clearly and strongly laid out in university policies. Step through a doorway, however, and everything changes, according to the administration. In this case, the physical delimitation of separate spaces

for free speech activity, on the one hand, and vendor-client relationships acted to in favor of the vendor-client (NMSU and the NSA) and to delegitimize acts of political expression. Restricting the protests to outdoor areas lesse-ned their impact by precluding face-to-face confrontation, marginalizing the acts of dissent while upholding and pro-tecting the activities of the NSA and school administrators. Th e authorities will attempt to restrict the issue to a discus-sion of black-and-white rules, while denying the unmis-takable political content of its own actions. Although our schools should work to advance critical thinking, freedoms for expression, and democratic participation in society, they increasingly draw legal lines to restrict where those activities can ‘responsibly’ take place. Th is trend is charged with political content, because it prioritizes the interests of certain sectors - namely moneyed interests and conserva-tive authorities - over the interests of others, such as ‘irres-ponsible’ protesters or non-mainstream thinkers.

(Members of Aggie Solidarity - the group to which many of the NSA protesters belong - can attest that the outdoor areas where free speech is supposedly protected by policy and law are not immune to the eff ects of these trends, either. Over the last two years, they have been sho-ved off the Convention Center grounds by police because it is “managed by a private company,” harassed outside of the Barnes & Noble during protests, and had chalk messages critical of businesses on campus repeatedly erased from si-dewalks with university approval.)

Th is brings us back to the point about commercializa-tion of education and the privatization of public space. As our academic and social institutions move further towards a model of privatization - in which property, profi t, and security are the central concerns - the logic of this model bleeds down to every level of the bureaucracy. Th e ideo-logical basis for privatization shapes the politics of upper administrators, middle managers, and ground-level em-ployees. At public institutions as well as private, they in-creasingly tend to prioritize the interests of the institution’s most infl uential ‘shareholders,’ above serving the ‘common good’ or any moral standard. Th rough this process and the actual entry of outside ventures into our public spaces and services, what was public becomes increasingly governed by the rules of private property in a capitalist market. Th is should matter to us within the education system, becau-se the logic of property and the needs of profi t necessarily confl ict with the needs of open, critical, and socially-res-ponsible public institutions. Step over the wrong line, tres-pass onto privatized property, and those with authority can restrict or criminalize unwanted thought or action.

Th e irony of the move towards privatization and com-mercialization is this: As the campus opens itself up to bu-sinesses, products, foundations, government agencies, and donors of all types, it becomes more closed to criticism, protest, democratic decision-making, workplace organiza-tion, people without suffi cient fi nancial resources, and any alternative to ‘market education.’ Th e ‘open’ campus in a market society is preconditioned by the de facto exclusion of the things many of us value the most in public education.

Politics of space: How the logic of privatization transforms the ‘commons,’ and the visible eff ects at NMSU

- ContinuEd FroM PagE 1 -

Instead of prioritizing academic freedom, open debate, or social responsibility and attempting to expand those values in the greater society, our schools seek to delinea-te precisely where they can happen and within what parameters.

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Th e problem with the new prizes given out at NMSU football games is simple. Th e prizes - ranging from small cash to par-king passes to a $2,000 grand prize - are being off ered thanks to out-of-pocket do-nations from President Garrey Carruthers and certain well-to-do friends in order to lure more students to attend home ga-mes. Th rough this marketing strategy, they hope to fulfi ll attendance quotas linked to bowl-eligibility and show ‘advances’ in the athletics program’s management.

Local media outlets celebrated the prizes, though the likes of ESPN’s Keith Olbermann ridiculed them as “bribes.” Certainly, despite being relatively incon-sequential, money prizes to boost poor attendance seem to run afoul of the princi-ples of amateur athletics and ‘school pride.’ However, this gets us away from the main issue.

Th e problem is that university heavies -

The problem with footballattendance prizes

particularly the president and regents - view poor football attendance as a primary con-cern at NMSU, even as numerous academic departments face faculty cuts and students face tuition hikes and funding shortages. If Carruthers and his friends in business are willing to fork over thousands of dollars in an eff ort to fi ll the football stadium’s blea-chers, why didn’t they take similar measu-res to combat the dire situation facing our underfunded library collections and the re-searchers who depend on them? Why don’t they pull together a few thousand to save a few faculty positions and prevent reduc-tions in class options? Why don’t they make it their mission to fi nd funding for the in-danger Lottery Scholarship?

Th e prizes are just another example of our upper administration’s misplaced prio-rities, which are detrimental to a critical, high-quality, and socially-responsible aca-demic environment. Th e problem really is

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5The GroundUp3

Cuando tocamos el tema de la explotación laboral ge-neralmente lo estigmatizamos con naciones asiáticas o de Centroamérica. Así nos alejamos del grave problema que existe dentro de nuestras comunidades. En el valle de Me-silla la comunidad migrante, al igual que la mayor parte de la clase obrera es expuesta a condiciones de explotación no aceptables. Identificaré sintéticamente varios ejemplos en que existe una clara hegemonía por medio de empresas que utilizan la falta de educación, las condiciones migrato-rias y la pobreza para ejercer un dominio que no hace más que esclavizar a la clase obrera y forzarla a aceptar condi-ciones desventajosas para sobrevivir.

Las condiciones más precarias las podemos ver en el campo. En los plantíos de chile, cebolla, lechuga, repollo y nuez existe un campo de trabajo donde los campesinos laboran jornadas extensas. Estas jornadas regularmente comienzan horas antes del amanecer y continúan hasta el atardecer. A pesar de que el clima regularmente excede los 39 grados centígrados, muchas veces algo tan básico como agua no es disponible.En los ranchos y especialmente las lecherías del valle existen condiciones donde el obrero practica labores repetitivas por jornadas de hasta 12 o 13 horas. Estas labores lo exponen a trabajar sin derecho a un descanso y muchas veces es forzado a tomar su desayuno y lonche parado para no parar la línea. La cantidad de ga-nado y el límite de tiempo para ordenar son tan limitantes que un paro de un par de minutos resulta en atrasos para el próximo turno.

Nos preguntamos, ¿cuánto es que se gana un obrero en estas condiciones?Primero: en el campo especialmente en la cebolla y la lechuga se les paga por cantidad colectada. El salario depende de la cantidad de producto piscado. Esto presenta un problema clave, por no ser equitativo a trabajadores de mayor edad, o con poca experiencia. Este grupo regularmente termina su jornada con un salario no equivalente al salario mínimo. El New Mexico Center on Law and Poverty (NMCLP) afirma que existen pocos tra-bajadores agrícolas que ganan más de $10,000 al año en ese campo. Además, casi el 30% de los trabajadores agrícolas en Nuevo México reportan haber sido víctimas del robo del salario, según un reciente estudio.

En las lecherías generalmente se les paga por día tra-bajado, y no por hora. Esto varía de los 80 a los 95 dólares por día. Si hacemos un breve balance podemos ver que las jornadas de 12 horas, fácilmente exceden las 40 horas

La explotación laboral,se agudiza en las zonas rurales

Por Carlos EnriquEz semanales, de manera que estos empleados deberían de gozar de tiempo y medio por las horas que se exceden. Al contrario, estos salarios diarios se presentan como una ma-nera de aludir y engañar a los trabajadores para no pagarles el tiempo extra. Según estadísticas del NMCLP, el 84% de los trabajadores de las lecherías trabaja seis o siete días a la semana sin recibir pago por tiempo extra, y 66% reporta haber experimentado heridas por el trabajo con animales sin recibir indemnización.

Por último iremos a los restaurantes del área. En es-tos, vemos cómo las meseras reciben un salario de $2.35 a $2.45 por hora más propinas. Cuando existe la suficiente clientela fácilmente se alcanza el salario mínimo pero el problema se pone en evidencia cuando no existe cliente-la y el salario no alcanza ni el mínimo. Considero que la empresa debería asegurar por lo menos el salario mínimo en estos casos. Finalmente, cuando el empleado cumple un año trabajado y la empresa es obligada a darle una sema-na de vacaciones pagadas, ésta solo le gratifica 40 horas a $2.35 o $2.45, lo que resulta en una semana pagada al 30% de lo que demanda la ley para las demás profesiones.

Desafortunadamente, la lista de ejemplos basta para es-cribir un libro. Las condiciones del mercado capitalista son un nido de abuso, explotación y hegemonía. Me pregun-to – ¿Cuál es la solución?; ¿Existe una solución? Cuándo un atraso de cinco o diez minutos no es aceptable en una lechería, me pregunto, ¿qué pasaría si ocurriera un paro laboral de tan sólo diez horas? ¿Preferiría el empresario perder su ganado ya que una vaca empieza a sufrir calen-tura e infección al no ser ordeñada regularmente, o cedería a mejorar las condiciones de sus trabajadores?Me atrevo a culpar a la política por la mayor parte de esta problemática. Una política que les da preferencia a los poderes de capi-tales mientras ignora los derechos humanos. Una política que garantiza subsidios billonarios a pocos, y opresión a muchos. Increíblemente, los trabajadores del campo “agrí-cola” no gozan de los mismos derechos que los de otros sectores. La ley los excluye del salario mínimo normal y el tiempo extra sólo es ratificado después 48 horas – ocho horas más que a cualquier otro trabajador. La falta de edu-cación es el combustible que enciende este infierno. Las historias que se cuentan de Estados Unidos a menudo se convierten en una falacia, una falacia que desafortunada-mente sigue aludiendo a nuestra gente. Pretendo despedir-me con crear conciencia, conciencia como materia prima de una resistencia. Una resistencia que solo tiene como ob-jetivo final la equidad.

Las empresas, el trabajo, y la ley en el ámbito rural

The unequal fury of floods

By KEnt PatErson, FrontEra nortEsur

Infrastructure-poor, margina-lized communities bear brunt of damage in border region

Frontera NorteSur is an online source for border-region news created by the Center for Latin American and Border Studies at New Mexico State University. The following arti-cle was published shortly after the floods that devastated parts of the border region in September. The FNS webpage is http://fnsnews.nmsu.edu/.

Only days ago, Madre Tierra was begging for water. Trickling south through Albuquerque, the Rio Grande re-sembled a patchwork of puddles on the verge of hydrologi-cal extinction. How fast the world can change.

In the past week, record rains and flooding hammered New Mexico and the Paso del Norte borderland, inunda-ting streets, highways, subdivisions, trailer parks, and farm fields. Thousands of people were forced to evacuate their homes in Ciudad Juarez, El Paso County, at least three New Mexico counties in the Rio Grande and Pecos river valleys, and over to the east of the Sangre de Cristo mountains in Las Vegas.

True to the pattern in such weather emergencies, mar-ginalized, underdeveloped and infrastructure-needy communities bore much of the brunt of the damage. In addition to at least 15 working and lower middle-class neighborhoods that suffered major damages in Ciudad Juarez, parts of the nearby Juarez Valley were topped with more than three feet of water. Pigs, chickens and home appliances were soon spotted floating in the debris. Juarez’s flood control infrastructure proved no match for the might of September’s storms, as small retention dams spilled over and water gushed out of arroyos, canals and the Rio Grande.

“My house suffered a total loss…,” lamented Griselda, a resident of the Revolution neighborhood. “We are going to try to take out what we have and at least recover so-mething.”

Ciudad Juarez’s water department detected 19 street cave-ins, or sinkholes, in the wake of the flooding. Offi-cials blamed the sinkholes, which swallowed at least one vehicle, on an obsolete storm drainage system underneath the pavement.

An estimated 350,000 students went without classes on September 12 and 13, extending the September 16 Inde-pendence Day holiday into a longer if unexpected break, while worker absences in the foreign-owned maquiladora plants were reported in the 50 percent range during the height of the storms. Although work crews and the Mexi-can army swung into action, some residents complained that officials were slow to react. Neighbors, community activists affiliated with the Pact for Juarez and the Telmex phone company variously volunteered their time or resou-rces cleaning up the watery mess and collecting supplies.

On Saturday, September 14, Chihuahua Governor Cesar Duarte toured the devastation in the border city. Duarte issued a disaster declaration that should pave the way for financial assistance from the federal government’s natural disaster emergency fund.

According to one press account, successive city admi-nistrations have implemented only 10 percent of the stor-mwater projects proposed by the Municipal Research and Planning Institute back in 2004. At the time, municipal planners pegged the cost of the necessary overhaul at more than $100 million.

Neighboring El Paso County witnessed the flooding of Interstate 10, traffic disruptions and property losses on the Far East Side and Lower Valley, where low-income com-munities known as colonias proliferate.

In the small town of Socorro, for instance, trailer park and other residents grappled with floodwaters some locals judged worse than during the 2006 Little Katrina disaster, an event which resulted in an estimated $200 million in losses in the county.

As in Juarez, school was canceled in the Lower Valley towns of San Elizario, Socorro and Ysleta. Scheduled for the weekend of September 14-15, the Mission Valley Red and Green Chile Festival was postponed until a later date. Long-time Socorro resident Gerarda Lopez watched hel-plessly as her property was destroyed.

“We’ve lived here more than 20 years,” Lopez was quoted in the El Paso Times. “I don’t know what we’re going to do.”


El 30% de los trabajadores del campo agrícola en Nuevo México ha sido alguna vez víctima del robo del salario, se-gún un reciente estudio. En las áreas rurales, la falta de educación, la situación migratoria, y la pobreza son aprove-chadas por las empresas para mantener salarios bajos y condiciones laborales inaceptables.

Bread for the World/Flickr Creative Commons


Desde febrero del presente, el magiste-rio ha perfilado su estrategia de lucha para frenar la Reforma Educativa con el estallido de paros escalonados e indefinidos, empe-zando por el paro de más de dos meses en Guerrero por parte de la CETEG, para luego concretarse en un paro indefinido encabe-zado por la Sección XXII de la CNTE que, desde el 19 de agosto, dio lugar a una ola de paros indefinidos y escalonados, no sólo por parte de las secciones de la CNTE en Chia-pas, Michoacán y el DF, sino también por amplísimos sectores de docentes del SNTE [el sindicato antidemocrático alineado al gobierno], particularmente en Veracruz, donde sostienen un paro indefinido, Cam-peche, Tabasco, y estados que han decidido sumarse como Guanajuato y Zacatecas.

Este paro magisterial ha azuzado el avis-pero de un gremio asediado por el corpora-tivismo y el charrismo sindical, entintando el escenario político con amplias moviliza-ciones y acciones que han apuntalado de manera precisa hacia los adversarios que

El gobierno mexicano, encabezado por Enrique Peña Nieto, recién ha promul-

gado una amplia reforma al sistema de educación pública como parte de una serie de reformas ‘estructurales’,

que intentan ‘modernizar’ y ‘estimular la productividad’ del país. La refor-ma educativa pretende mejorar las

escuelas al implementar un sistema nacional único para la evaluación

de los maestros; crear un sistema de datos; aumentar la jornada escolar; y descentralizar la responsabilidad por

asuntos de infraestructura, materiales y operaciones, pasando ésta del Estado

a los padres de familia, maestros, y alumnos.

Ante la promulgación de esta reforma, miles de maestros a lo largo del país se

han levantado en oposición, encabeza-dos por los de la Coordinadora Nacio-

nal de Trabajadores de la Educación (CNTE), un sindicato que hace más de

tres décadas pretende democratizar el sindicalismo magisterial dominado por

el Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores de la Educación (SNTE), conocido como

un sindicato charro e impulsor de la reforma. La oposición a la reforma afir-ma que ésta atenta contra los derechos

laborales más básicos de los trabaja-dores de la educación, abre las puertas a la privatización de las escuelas públi-

cas, e impone un sistema de evaluación y administrativo con base en criterios

unilaterales. La reforma busca mejorar las escuelas al quitar a los maestros sus

derechos como trabajadores, sostie-nen, sin plantear soluciones a proble-mas graves como la falta de mínimos

recursos en las áreas pobres.

Gran parte de este magisterio opositor ha parado sus labores en las escuelas

de manera indefinida desde agosto, optando por movilizaciones masivas

en varios estados del país y la concen-tración de maestros de varios estados

en la Ciudad de México, donde insta-laron un plantón en el Zócalo y han

salido a marchar casi diariamente. El plantón fue desalojado por las auto-

ridades antes de las celebraciones del Día de Independencia. Sin embargo,

miles de maestros siguen en paro y el movimiento del magisterio se ha vuel-

to el eje de la oposición a la política neoliberal del gobierno.

Aquí reproducimos dos textos. El pri-mero hace un análisis del movimiento

desde dentro y plantea la necesidad de un cambio estratégico, escrito por

activistas presentes en los campamen-tos del Distrito Federal. El segundo,

una perspectiva sobre las luchas de la mujer y la inminente reforma educati-

va en Ciudad Juárez.

Para más información sobre la lucha del magisterio, visita nuestro página

web: groundupnmsu.org

Surge movimiento magisterial contra reformas neoliberales en México

La mujer ha sufrido una opresión por el sistema denominado patriarcal por el simple hecho de ser mujer. Desde tiempos inme-morables se le ha sometido, se le ha discriminado y se le han vio-lentado sus derechos. Esta opresión ha encontrado un aliado con la llegada del sistema capitalista, el cual además de resguardar el siste-ma patriarcal utiliza a la mujer como objeto idóneo de explotación.

La mujer cumple el papel de trabajar en las labores domésticas sin ninguna remuneración y se le asigna el papel reproductivo. El capitalismo toma como ventaja esta condición y se asegura de man-tener la estructura familiar (patriarcal) que somete sobre todo a la mujer. Las labores ejercidas en el hogar por el sector pobre de la población de las mujeres es una ganancia para el sistema capitalista.

Debido al creciente índice de pobreza que genera las grandes contradicciones del sistema capitalista la mujer ha de insertarse además al trabajo asalariado para poder mantener a su familia las más de las veces por un salario inferior al de los hombres por horas iguales de trabajo.

Mientras existen mujeres que cuentan con los recursos para no realizar actividades en el hogar, las más vulneradas son doblemen-

La educación y la emancipación de la mujerPor soFia CarBajal, liga soCialista rEvoluCionaria

Maestros enlucha al frente de

la oposición al gobierno de Peña

te explotadas y oprimidas: en el hogar y en el trabajo. Debido a lo anterior, las mujeres, pero sobre todo las mujeres pobres y traba-jadoras, no cuentan con condiciones ni recursos para que se reco-nozca su labor como un trabajo digno que se tiene que remunerar.

Este trabajo doméstico y asalariado no garantiza el tiempo y la de-dicación necesarios para una educación de calidad. Estas son las peo-res condiciones que tienen las mujeres marginadas para empoderarse.

En Ciudad Juárez, con la llegada de la industria maquiladora, la fuerza de trabajo se conformó con mano de obra barata, donde las mujeres se incorporaron masivamente. Aquí en esta frontera son ellas las que atienden el hogar y salen a trabajar, sobre todo las más jóvenes y pobres. La educación en esta frontera es cara y por las razones anteriormente mencionadas, inalcanzable para la mayoría de las mujeres.

En meses anteriores el Congreso de la Unión aprobó la reforma educativa que se implementara en México como parte de una serie de reformas estructurales que dan la bienvenida a la privatización de sectores públicos. Esta "reforma" no deja claro en qué sentido terminará con la desigualdad y el rezago educativo en el que se en-

La lucha requiere un cambio de estrategiaorquestan la ofensiva contra la clase tra-bajadora integrada en el Pacto por Méxi-co: tomas y bloqueos de las secretarias de Educación Pública y edificios sindicales del SNTE en los estados, oficinas gubernamen-tales y congresos, además de sectores clave de la iniciativa privada y la producción pa-raestatal, desde las televisoras, centros co-merciales, autopistas, aeropuertos, incluida la toma de la torre de Pemex por parte del magisterio chiapaneco.

No obstante, esta ola parista y de movili-zaciones se encuentra asediada por la con-traofensiva del Estado que ha aglutinado a la reacción, a voz y brazo de las fuerzas represivas del Estado, las cúpulas y cámaras empresariales, todos ellos avalados por los dirigentes charros del SNTE, los gobiernos y congresos, a nivel nacional y local. De manera reiterada, Juán Díaz de la Torre [Secretario General del SNTE], ha avala-do ante la opinión pública y los órganos de gobierno la Reforma Educativa en su con-junto, haciendo eco de la intransigencia del Estado de pasar las reformas estructurales sin modificación alguna. Por si fuera poco, a lo largo del país, los maestros se enfrentan

cotidianamente a las represalias laborales: basta mencionar el despido injustificado de miles de docentes chiapanecos, la imposi-bilidad del amparo a la cual han sido su-jetos los docentes del DF y la retención de pagos de todos los docentes en paro, todas ellas como parte de las tácticas rompehuel-gas del Estado que amenazan día a día con cederle a las clases dominantes el último reducto de estabilidad económica de los trabajadores. A la par, los medios de co-municación, apoyados por los sectores más conservadores como el clero y los empresa-rios, han puesto a la sociedad en contra del movimiento magisterial, promoviendo una subjetividad reaccionaria en la población, lo cual polariza el ambiente y pretende jus-tificar el accionar sistemático de las fuerzas represivas del Estado contra los maestros y los sectores en lucha que acompañan al movimiento.

Más aún, los esbirros del Congreso y Gobernación, con la amenaza de una re-presión sistemática y en ascenso, han pre-tendido diezmar y acorralar al movimiento

Por la izquiErda rEvoluCionaria intErna-Cionalista-BuEnavEntura durruti

- siguE En la Página 7 -


Maestros encabezan una marcha contra la reforma educativa en la Ciudad de México en septiembre.Sección XXII CNTE-SNTE

7The GroundUp3

ofreciendo migajas en la mesa de negociación que sostiene el magisterio a través de la CNUN [Comisión Nacional Única Negociadora], en una clara intentona de frenar la lucha y dividirla mediante ofrecimientos de resolución a nivel estatal, meras revisiones de la Reforma Educativa que atentan contra las consignas que el magisterio en lucha se planteó como innegociables: la abrogación de las reformas a los artículos 3º y 73º constitucionales, la derogación y no aplicación de las leyes secundarias, la renuncia del Secre-tario de Educación Emilio Chuayffet, la liberación de los presos políticos. Después de meses de un diálogo presio-nado por el paro y la movilización, el gobierno ofrece, con la Reforma aprobada en su conjunto, tan sólo un adendum a la Ley General del Servicio Profesional Docente, y revi-siones de la Reforma en cada uno de los estados: esto, a cambio de que los maestros regresen a clases y contengan la movilización.

Los resultados de la negociación son evidentes: la lógi-ca exclusiva de la movilización-negociación-movilización, ante el amague de los cuerpos represivos y las represalias administrativas, compromete hoy un movimiento que ha venido en escalada. A dos meses de paro y presión política, el movimiento se ve en la necesidad de discutir si recibe las migajas que el gobierno está dispuesto a conceder para mantener la lucha callejera e independiente a raya. Peor aún, los dirigentes que integran la CNUN han optado por contemplar las propuestas de Gobernación y llevarlas a discusión entre las bases, promoviendo consultas orienta-das a cesar el paro y regresar a los estados a negociar miga-jas para las leyes secundarias.

A la fecha, el magisterio se ha jugado la victoria en la cueva del lobo del Estado capitalista —donde las reglas del juego están signadas por una crisis internacional que exige medidas privatizadoras y ataques sistemáticos contra la clase trabajadora—; y más aún, se ha jugado la victoria con un paro impulsado por un sólo sector y acciones so-lidarias, sin una política para extender el paro magisterial a otros sectores y contar con la fuerza necesaria para con-quistar de manera íntegra sus demandas. Resulta evidente que sostener el paro indefinido únicamente en el magis-

terio para presionar masivamente desde un plantón en la Ciudad de México, no ha sido suficiente y el magisterio se encuentra hoy entre la espada y la pared. El caso par-ticular de Oaxaca, que ha decidido el regreso a clases para negociar a nivel estatal, compromete la lucha de conjunto, ya que su experiencia y tradición los ponía al frente de la orientación política nacional.

Es por eso que este movimiento que aún va en ascenso, en el marco de la radicalización de amplios sectores —des-de Nuevo Laredo hasta Quintana Roo, pasando por Zaca-tecas, Guanajuato, Estado de México y Veracruz— exige un viraje de estrategia que lleve toda la potencialidad del mo-vimiento magisterial a la victoria. La columna vertebral de esta lucha, la que ha permitido que miles de docentes con-centren sus fuerzas en la discusión y la movilización, más aún que el Plantón, es el paro indefinido. Y su extensión, a todas las secciones del magisterio, y a los sectores de la producción y del sector educativo, se plantea hoy, más que nunca, como una ruta a seguir para fortalecer esta lucha.

cuentran alrededor de 32 millones de personas, pero si deja ver como abrirá paso a las empresas a los centros escolares y como se legalizará el sistema de cuotas, el cual afectará prin-cipalmente a los padres de familia, dificultando aún más el acceso a la educación a las personas con menos recursos.

Esta reforma atentará contra uno de los derechos fun-damentales para las personas: el derecho a la educación.

Además de esta primera barrera con la reforma educa-tiva, los y las futuros jóvenes deberán enfrentarse en esta ciudad a los altos costos de inscripciones y cuotas de las universidades, que no ofrecen una educación accesible económicamente hablando. Tal es el caso de la Univer-sidad Autónoma de Ciudad Juárez, la cual discrimina la entrada de personas con bajos recursos debido a las altas cuotas de inscripción y hace de las becas una política de premiación. Estas cuotas están alrededor de 3,000 pesos y resultan ser una barrera social ya que las y los trabajadores de maquila, por ejemplo, que ocupan un gran porcentaje no la pueden costear con sus bajos salarios. Los padres de estas nuevas generaciones (y de muchas otras anteriores) no pueden darle una educación a sus hijos e hijas; y si estos quieren acceder a la educación tendrán que entrar a traba-jar desde muy temprana edad y no podrán dedicarle tiem-po de calidad al estudio, lo que a su vez limitará el acceso a becas que son otorgadas a los mejores promedios. Estas limitaciones se incrementan en las jóvenes que tienen que mantener un hogar y cuidar a sus hijos e hijas.

Para que las mujeres alcancen horizontes más amplios en su emancipación es necesario que tengan acceso a la educación gratuita y de calidad; pero sobre todo que ten-gan derecho a la educación las mujeres oprimidas y explo-tadas por los sistemas capitalista y patriarcal, que tengan educación las mujeres que no tienen ni el tiempo ni el di-nero para estudiar. Por eso se hace indispensable retomar y conjugar estas dos demandas en una sola: el derecho a la educación gratuita y de calidad para los sectores margina-dos y la emancipación de la mujer como medio liberador para los y las mexicanas, para los y las personas oprimidas y explotadas.

La mujer, la educación, y la reforma

- siguE dE la Página 6 -


Arturo Padilla, estudiante del Plantel Casa Libertad de la Universidad Autónoma de la Ciudad de México (UACM) e integrante del Consejo Estudiantil de Lucha (CEL), nos aceptó una entrevista para explicar cómo se desarrolló la huelga que paralizó por 101 días los cin-co planteles de la casa de estudios.-Iniciemos desde lo más básico. ¿Por qué o cómo sur-gió la huelga?

“(…) La tomamos como una última medida de acción por parte de los estudiantes, cuando en el 2010 llega la rectora Esther Orozco (…) Pretende hacerle una serie de reformas al modelo educativo de nuestra universidad (…) Empieza a empujar al Consejo Universitario todas estas reformas, en el primer momento de represión de parte de esta señora son los despidos injustificados de los profeso-res que se manifestaron críticos a su gestión. Despidió a trabajadores, posteriormente empezó a meterse con los reglamentos internos de la universidad; empezó con cosas muy pequeñas como el reglamento de becas y posterior-mente aumentando las prestaciones.”

“El Consejo Universitario es máximo órgano de gobier-no de nuestra universidad, (…) es el único capaz de hacer esas reformas que pretendía la rectora, por lo cual necesi-taba tener una mayoría a su favor para poder impulsar las reformas (…) En estas elecciones eran una mayoría critica a la gestión de Esther Orozco, por lo cual esta señora lo que hace es impulsar un fraude electoral de una manera evi-dente (…) Entonces pues al ver este atropello y este auto-

ritarismo desmedido por parte de Orozco es que los estu-diantes comenzamos a organizamos, establecer asambleas para cada plantel y en ese momento de llamar a Asambleas Universitarias, en los cinco planteles acordaron primero una movilización el día 28 de agosto del 2012. En esa mo-vilización, que ha sido la más grande la historia de la uni-versidad, llega a la rectoría que estaba ubicada en el plantel Del Valle, y cuando llega (…) en ese momento se hace una asamblea y se decide tomar el plantel Del Valle junto con la rectoría, como una medida de presión para hacer valer los derechos de los consejeros democráticamente electos. (…) Cuando se toma esa decisión en los demás planteles se empieza a mover las posibilidades de cerrarse paulatina-mente, y es así como empieza la huelga.”-¿Nos puedes platicar un poco de la huelga, del tiempo que estuvieron ahí?

“Me mantuve al margen hasta que cometió el fraude electoral de Ester Orozco (…) Mi participación es cuando se desata la toma de los planteles, la toma de Casa Libertad. (…) Estuve de manera casi permanente en las instalacio-nes de la universidad. La huelga fue un proceso difícil para todos nosotros. Por ejemplo, yo recuerdo que los porros de rectoría nos iban afuera del plantel a gritarnos ‘huevo-nes’, ‘póngase a estudiar’, y todo esto, pero a mí no me pa-rece que fuéramos huevones. Estaríamos ahí día y noche resguardando un plantel, asumiendo una responsabilidad extra a la de nuestras vidas cotidiana, pues de ninguna manera da parte; pues, estar yendo de aquí para allá, con las mesas de negociación, de aquí para allá en la marchas, limpiando el plantel, haciéndole de comer a los compañe-ros, apoyando en lo que se pueda, entonces fue un proceso bastante desgastante físicamente, anímicamente. Siempre traíamos las pilas, teníamos la certeza de que íbamos a ga-nar (…) Finalmente ya cuando se acercó la última mesa de negociación fue cuando tomamos la sede administrativa (...) Ese fue un momento muy álgido en el proceso, ya que

Es urgente cambiar de táctica y modificar la correlación de fuerzas, sacudirse de la pasividad histórica de la clase tra-bajadora en México y advertir que la vía de la negociación es la mera repetición de un circo donde la clase obrera es derrotada y regresa a sus casas a vivir la pauperización y el abandono de sus tareas revolucionarias, con la conciencia supuestamente limpia de que estuvo ahí, que dio la lucha y que fue el estado quien no quiso acceder.

La lucha contra la Reforma Educativa no está perdida, pero es un momento en que resulta necesario trastocar la normalidad del movimiento, clavar una espina y un reto en miles de docentes que han despertado a la lucha política, así como en otros trabajadores que durante décadas han pateado, para un futuro que nunca llega, la práctica efecti-va de los métodos de la clase obrera en la lucha por sus de-rechos y por la disolución de las cadenas de la explotación que los tienen subyugados.

Entrevista: La defensa de la educación también se hace en las universidades

Lee la propuesta completa en groundupnmsu.org.

Magisterio: Los resultados de la negociación y el ascenso del movimiento exigen un cambio de estrategia

En el 2012, un conflicto entre la administración y un amplio sector de los estudiantes de la Universidad Autónoma de la Ciudad de México resultó en un paro de cuatro meses. Al final, el movimiento estudiantil logró que se destituyera a la rectora Esther Orozco e impedieron una serie de iniciati-vas que tenian como fin “despolitizar” la universidad. Para los paristas, fue una victoria para la educacion pública y la democracia universitaria. A un año de la huelga, reprodu-cimos una porción de esta entrevista con uno de los prota-gonistas. Entrevista por Vanessa Vargas.


Eneas de Troya/Flickr Creative Commons


cuando lo tomamos tuvimos que desalojar a los porros de rectoría junto con la rectora y su personal de confianza. Al tener un impacto tan fuerte el Gobierno de Distrito Fede-ral decide desplegar aproximadamente unos 600 granade-ros con la orden de desalojarnos. Nosotros estuvimos ahí y logramos negociar con las autoridades del GDF que no nos reprimieran e instalar una mesa de negociación que se diera definitiva y la que pondría fin a la huelga. Para esta mesa de negociación la definitiva, las asambleas de los cin-co planteles votaron y eligieron, nos eligieron a tres com-pañeros para ser los representantes y poder acordar los términos de la huelga.”-Al último, ¿cuáles fueron las demandas en específico que se aceptaron?

“La huelga inicio con una única demanda (…) era el respeto al voto de los universitarios y no permitir el frau-de (…) Era una situación paradójica porque veníamos de la imposición del presidente Enrique Peña Nieto y justa-mente los estudiantes habíamos participado en manifesta-ciones todos en contra de la imposición. Entonces cuando tenemos una práctica similar en nuestra universidad, es cuando decimos no, no lo vamos a permitir (…) Posterior-mente como se fueron dando las cosas fueron creciendo las demandas, por ejemplo cuando la señora Ester Orozco junto con la contadora y el abogado levantaron procesos penales en contra de quienes estábamos dentro del plan-tel y en contra de los profesores y trabajadores que habían apoyado la huelga, pues las demandas también ya incluían la no criminalización de la protesta y quitar todas esas demandas en nuestra contra (…) Nunca nuestros planes o nuestras demandas fueron la destitución de la rectora. Posteriormente se dio (…) Es el producto de que se haya instalado el Consejo Universitario legalmente lo que gana-mos que pudiera salir Orozco y llegara el Doctor Enrique Dussell [como rector].” -¿Qué papel tomó el Estado ante este proceso?

“El Estado como siempre va a tomar una postura a fa-vor de las elites, del capital y de toda la clase política, va oponerse y va a intentar reprimir y obstaculizar cualquier intento de lucha política o cualquier levantamiento (…) Antes incluso del despliegue en esta última toma siempre tuvimos policías acosando los distintos planteles, teníamos gente vigilando en coches polarizados afuera de los plan-teles espiando a los compañeros, entonces pues si bien el Estado no reprimió de una manera directa hizo una labor de acoso y de persecución a los compañeros que integrába-mos el movimiento. De igual manera los medios de comu-nicación que son también un brazo del Estado tuvieron su papel: Televisa, TV Azteca, todos los medios oficiales, pues ya sabes, criminalizando a los compañeros, tachándonos de porros, incluso decían que los profesores sindicalizados nos pagaban para llevar a cabo la huelga.”-Bueno, actualmente ¿cómo han visto el desarrollo de la institución, contemplando al rector Enrique Dussell y los estudiantes a partir de la huelga?

“El proceso ha sido difícil y un poco lento pero ahí va-mos. Voy a explicar cuando se abren los planteles (…) regre-samos con un ambiente de resentimiento por parte de los compañeros que apoyaban a Ester Orozcon; y los nosotros al salir triunfantes de la huelga, jamás intentamos asumir un papel de triunfalistas, de burla o de faltarle el respeto a los compañeros en ara de construir comunidad universita-ria. Hoy estamos a un año de ese proceso de construcción de la comunidad - bueno, de reconstrucción más bien de la comunidad - y hoy puedo decirte que los tiempos de resentimientos y de lo que sea después de la huelga han ido desapareciendo (…) el reflejo lo vimos la semana pasada cuando hicimos una asamblea para determinar el paro de 48hrs de las instalaciones [en apoyo al magisterio en oposi-ción a la reforma educativa], hemos dejado la construcción de la comunidad, porque nuevamente la comunidad sale a participar, sale a solidarse, independientemente si eran orozquitas o paristas, como se llamaban. De hecho, en esta asamblea donde se acordó el cierre para solidarse con los profesores de la CNTE, había gente que había estado en contra de la huelga, también gente que había estado en la huelga, sin embargo podíamos convivir y coexistir en el ambiente de la universidad, entonces ha sido el reflejo que vamos avanzando y construyendo comunidad.

“El papel del rector Enrique Dussell ha sido bueno en ese sentido (…) En agosto de este año el rector pues reivindica el proyecto de nuestra universidad, invita a los compañeros de nuevo ingreso a defender la universidad y a seguir cons-truyendo el proyecto que plantea nuestra casa de estudios, (…) El labor del estudiante universitario, no es salir y ga-nar mucho dinero y olvidarse de los demás: Es regresarle al pueblo que pagó tus estudios, que está ahí, y ayudar, ese es el proceso que estamos llevando ahora y, pues, ahí vamos.”

Entrevista: A un año de la huelga de la UACM


9The GroundUp3

Somebody’s homie: The human price of prisonsmost restrictive. Level 6s are locked down for 23 hours a day, and the homies usually end up there for years. Levels 4, 5, and 6 have drastically limited access to legal help and materials. One of the consequences of that is prisoners cannot eff ectively challen-ge their placement or their conditions of confi nement. Th eoretically, almost every prisoner is able to work his way down to a Level 3 by keeping clear conduct. Most pri-soners want this, but it is out of the question for anyone ever labeled as being involved with a “security threat group.” Level 3s have access to pretty much every legal service available to prisoners, education, work, re-habilitation, and Lump Sum Awards (LSAs or “good time”) programs.

Level 4s get almost none of these. Level 3s get family visits with immediate family members, contact visits with all approved visitors, and they can attend prison chapel services so their spiritual and family ne-eds are accommodated. Level 4s get none of that. Th ere are many diff erent kinds of Level 3 prisoners nowadays, but you would typically fi nd more rapists, child molesters, and baby killers there. So, those guys get out quicker and keep more access to the public. So much for conventional wisdom.

Taxes on the public are like an involun-tary investment in government programs, i.e. prisons, etc., right? I don’t know about infrastructure like schools and highways, but with prisons, you’re getting the Level System. Th e state’s justifi cation for the Le-vel System will depend on who is asking. I doubt you could get an honest or complete answer. But what does the Level System ac-tually accomplish?

Th is is what I have seen: eventually, al-most all the homies get out. Currently, pri-soners are separated to an insane degree.

Th e Level System is as closed as society is open. Upon release, former Level 4 priso-ners will have to sit in parole offi ces next to former prisoners from all Levels, inclu-ding former Level 3s, protective custodies, and any kind of gang member in the Free World setting. Previously, it would have been unthinkable to mix these people. Fur-thermore, I am not a psychologist, but the homies getting out are mentally unstable.

Everyone is diff erent, but an atmosphe-re of frustration and hopelessness leaves most prisoners paranoid and unprepared to function in “normal” society. Most ho-mies already were, but many become drug addicts during their stay. Most become predatory, impulsive, and disconnected from their family and friends. Most pose a threat to themselves and others. Th e only thing most of the homies are prepared to do upon their release is be an example of

why the government needs tougher laws and more funding for prisons. Some of your taxes are investments in people who you will need to pay others to protect you from later.

I don’t believe that prisons should exist at all. If I could, I would open every cell door. But for argument’s sake, let’s say pri-sons are a necessary evil need to rehabilita-te people who won’t follow the important rules of a civilized society. If that’s what’s up, then it makes sense for security to be a top priority, alright, but aft er security, prisoners should be rehabilitated. Serious steps should be taken towards encouraging the release of strong, well meaning, em-ployable, and responsible people. Homies should have a voice in the systems which govern their lives. Th ey should have strong ties to their communities through family and friends.

Th ere are plenty of staff and existing rooms through the New Mexico De-partment of Corrections which could be used for furthering those ends. Level 4 prisoners have been subjected to this bull-shit since the Levels began in 2000. When prison administrators have been pushed to justify their policies, they have usually done so by recounting events from a past era: in-cidents from the 80s; the debacle of prison privatization in the 90s; and the end of the Duran Decree in 2000.* Pictures of bodies and gang members with tattoos distract people from the notion of businessmen who fi gured out how to turn a quick profi t off incarceration. I believe time will reveal prisons to be the most dangerous staple of the American economy.

Th e Level System is messing up priso-ners’ lives. Not only that, but it breaks up families and targets oppressed people. Ho-pefully, this information reaches voters, so-meone in the legal fi eld, a journalist with integrity--anyone that can help change the situation. Social Justice activists ought to activate for the homies, for the youngsters in the hood, juvenile justice, women in domestic violence shelters, or women and men in the adult prisons, because it’s all to-gether.

I’m just writing about what I know best and deal with day to day. I’m not writing anything that can’t be proven or isn’t self-evident. Th ere are many gangs stocking the shelves where I dwell, but I say “homies” because the casualties of the Level System are all somebody’s homie. Th ank you for hearing my voice. Respeto.

*The Duran Consent Decree was instituted in the 1980s after a deadly riot at the state penitentiary and a legal challenge of prisoner conditions. The Decree mandated federal oversight of New Mexico’s prisons and steps to improve conditions. The Duran Decree was lifted in 2000 during the Gary Johnson ad-ministration.


She later joined about 17 other Socorro residents who were lodged in a Red Cross emergency shelter.

Pockets of fl ooding within the El Paso city limits spar-ked criticisms of the municipal fl ood control system, which was given an uplift when a new stormwater utility was created and additional investments earmarked aft er Little Katrina

Cristina Montoya, El Paso Water Utilities spokeswo-man, acknowledged the problems, but said ongoing deve-lopment projects were moving forward and should elimi-nate major fl ooding in the future.

“It’s like a pie. We’ve completed pieces of the pie, but not the whole thing,” Montoya said. “We understand people’s frustration and the inconvenience it caused and we apolo-gize for that.”

In New Mexico, meanwhile, Governor Susana Martinez issued an executive order on Friday, September 13, declaring the entire state a disaster area and making up to $750,000 in assistance available through the state Department of Ho-meland Security and Emergency Management.

Martinez’s order readied the National Guard for possi-ble fl ood relief, and directed the appropriate state offi cials to reach out to the Federal Emergency Management Agen-cy for further aid.

Rural Dona Ana County south of Las Cruces is one area now requiring help. Among other places, fl ooding was reported in Sunland Park, Vado, Anthony, and La Union. Ironically, on the weekend prior to the big storms, hun-dreds of residents of Sunland Park were reported without water due to diffi culties in well water fl ows managed by the Camino Real Utility Authority, a problem which has occurred on other occasions this summer. On September 10, three elementary schools even canceled classes because of the lack of water.

By many accounts, the town of La Union was the har-dest hit by the fl ood, when water breached an earthen dam and left with more than 300 people without water, gas and wastewater services. Early reports indicated that water

might not be restored for days, and residents clamo-red for action at a Septem-ber 14 community meeting attended by elected federal, state and local offi cials or their representatives.(...)

Located between Las Cru-ces and El Paso, Vado was another aff ected community. Situated astride dairies, the small underdeveloped com-munity, or colonia, has expe-rienced repeated fl ooding in recent years. And this year was no diff erent.

Rose Garcia, executive director of the Tierra Del Sol Housing Corporation, a low-income housing de-veloper based in Dona Ana County, said the latest round of fl ooding left two, large extended families (including 15 children) without shelter aft er their paid-off mobile homes were destroyed by fl ooding. Among the victims was a wo-man who gave birth in the middle of the storm and is now homeless, Garcia told Frontera NorteSur.

Th e children, Garcia underscored, have been especia-lly impacted by the calamity. “All of them are getting sick, getting colds at night,” Garcia said. An emergency shelter has been set up at the Del Cerro Community Center, and Tierra del Sol is assisting with material needs, Garcia said. “We’re trying to collect blankets…we need diapers,” she added. Garcia, who was involved in the relief eff ort for the 2006 Hatch fl ood, said the September 2013 events should invite a commitment to improving emergency prepared-ness and disaster assistance coordination.

“I think we all in the county, leaders as well as residents, could have a better, methodical process to respond to

emergencies,” Garcia said.As the rains taper off and the raging waters recede, pu-

blic health concerns from mold, fl ooded septic systems and stagnant water will emerge as issues requiring immediate action. Stagnant pools provide prime breeding grounds for mosquitoes that transmit the West Nile virus. Last week, four new cases of the disease were reported in El Paso.

In the days ahead, government agencies will issue their calculations of economic losses from the fl ooding. Th e es-timated preliminary losses include $80 million for Ciudad Juarez alone. On September 14, a man found dead in a car near Elephant Butte Reservoir between Albuquerque and El Paso was the fi rst reported fatality of the regional fl ooding.Full information on sources can be found on the online version of this article on our webiste. See also: “Recovering from New Mexico’s fl oods” atgroundupnmsu.org

Fury of fl oods: September storms caused damage on both sides of border- ContinuEd FroM PagE 5 -

September fl oods hit areas like urban Las Cruces and El Paso (above), but CiudadJuárez, small towns, and the colonias beared the brunt of the damage.

Marco P. Sanchez/Flickr Creative Commons


“Th is is what democracy looks like!” was the ra-llying cry we chanted to before heading out to begin the summer’s campaign. For minimum wage, we spent every day from three to nine in the Albuquerque summer heat to build name recognition and grow membership. Here at the offi ce of Environment New Mexico, I learned nothing about the economic threats of our natural resources, but learned plenty about the very real economic threats to the very ideas of democracy, grassroots organizing and student activism.

“Hello! My name is [insert name], and I’m with Envi-ronment New Mexico. We’re working to protect the Or-gan Mountains!” We knocked at every door and spilled out these same lines, repeated and repeated into a mea-ningless blur. “Th e Organ Mountains are one of the most beautiful places in New Mexico, and the jagged peaks off er a breathtaking backdrop to Las Cruces…In order to overcome the opposition, we need to show that people up here in [insert city] want to protect the Organ Mountains too, and that’s why we’re here tonight.” Stick to the script! Unnatural syntax and all. Environment New Mexico ex-pected you only to possess the requisite consciousness to accurately insert your name and location. We spent three hours a day rehearsing this, because a standardized pre-sentation is “the most eff ective” way to campaign. As long as we knew how to say, “the most important thing is that you give as generously as you can so we can win!” with a big guilt-inspiring smile, we were prepared for the job.

On my observation day, when I got to learn from the best of the best, my fi eld organizer made a number

of things clear to me. Firstly, “community organizing” meant engaging with a very specifi c class of communi-ty members. Th e organization gave us maps generated through property values. In showing me the ropes, my fi eld organizer explained his strategies for focusing on re-sidence who appeared of a higher income, skipping over homes that didn’t look “worth it.” Th e “incentive-pay” employed by the organization encouraged this behavior, because individuals made high commission on the dona-tions collected over the day’s minimum.

Secondly, I learned that collecting donations is far more important than engaging with the community. “No, this is a matter of time effi ciency. You fi nd the suppor-ters and move on.” Th e “value” I was hired to produce was only the kind that carries a dollar sign in front of it. Real education, real discussion, real engagement – none of that mattered. And you better hope someone pulled out their checkbooks, because if you didn’t rake in a mini-mum dollar amount within every three day period, you’d be dropped from payroll.

I quit the day of my training and started looking for a restaurant job. I was grateful for the income fl exibility to do this, knowing that Environment New Mexico re-cruited other staff from across the state under the false advertisement of “life-changing,” “valuable experience” in an “offi ce setting” for “grassroots activism.” I talked to many others who found themselves stuck working for the organization aft er their recruitment under these false terms.Th e job was advertised at $9 - $14 an hour and without mention of the questionable conditions of termination. We made $8.50, the minimum in Albuquer-que. If we made more it would be by working overtime

- a “promotion” without a raise which demanded 50 plus hours a week and obligatory “volunteer” weekend and morning hours. Th ese volunteer hours were an unwrit-ten obligation from everyone to “really dedicate yourself to the cause.” Un-paid labor is oft en central to genuine community mobilization and real grassroots organizing, but when the “cause” is the production of massive capital for investment in party politics, the practice is deplorable.

So is this what democracy looks like? Or is that what business-model economics look like when it corrupts our democratic ideals?...

Th is is Th e Fund for the Public Interest, an umbrella organization that promotes this model of political ‘acti-vism’: Environment America, Th e Human Rights Cam-paign, U.S. PIRG, Fair Share Alliance, Save the Children, Greenpeace, Th e Sierra Club, and many others which have contracted canvassers through Th e Fund and con-tributed to its questionable labor practices.

Th is is exploiting college-student labor in the name of “progressive causes.”

Th is is relying on the “generosity” of high-salaried ci-tizens, without concern for the systems which allow for such wealth concentrations in the Sandia foothills, while the barrios of South Broadway face inescapable poverty…

Th is is corrupting the central principles of grassroots or-ganization to fi ll the pockets of lobbying campaigns without regard for the anti-democratic character of our governing system - a system which makes money-backed campaigns a viable method for infl uencing governmental process.

Th is is at its heart entirely anti-democratic.

Settle for a crappy job: It’s for a ‘progressive’ cause!Series: The world of work

By dEnali Wilson

Have a work story that should be heard? Send us yours at [email protected].

Prior to the Fall 2013 semester, ASNMSU discontinued the College Readership program, which provided students with free copies of the New York Times and USA Today on weekdays, citing budget constraints and underuse. It did, however, begin the Crimson Coach service, a shuttle which runs a fi xed route between on-campus dorms, off -campus apartment complexes, and selected restaurants/bars, in an eff ort to supple-ment the Crimson Cab during peak hours.


Nissen: Fired professor takes aim at topadministrators in civil suit

to the complaint, because his interactions with nursing students were “disruptive to the program.”

Th is, the lawsuit argues, amounts to re-taliation and a violation of the New Mexico Whistleblower Protection Act for public employees. “Rather than engage in the wrongful concealment of relevant infor-mation regarding the loss of accreditation,” the complaint states, “Professor Nissen counseled his students truthfully, and was ultimately terminated for speaking the truth.” It mentions that the professor recei-ved various awards and was re-engaged to teach for DACC over 40 times. Further, it holds that he believed DACC officials ac-ted in an “improper and unlawful” man-ner. Nissen is represented in the case by attorneys Ben Furth and Peter Goodman. The suit was filed in September and uni-versity officials were expected to respond by October 21.

Th e complaint also takes a jab at Mar-gie Huerta, who was president of DACC leading up to the loss of accreditation and was named a “special assistant” to inco-ming NMSU President Garrey Carruthers in June. “Amazingly Defendant [the NMSU Board of Regents] rewarded the incompe-tent Margie Huerta, the outgoing DACC President, for actively concealing the accre-ditation loss to nursing students with a high paying job at New Mexico State University while punishing and terminating Professor Nissen,” the document says. Huerta was on “approved leave” from June to September while receiving a $173,500 annual salary paid jointly by DACC and NMSU, and will

retire on January 31, 2014.Huerta, Nissen told Th e GroundUp in

August, fostered a fear of retaliation at DACC and “had a system of getting even.”

NMSU and DACC offi cials declined to com-ment on the matter. Media re-lations represen-tative Justin Ban-nister did say that DACC was advancing towards reaccreditation of the nursing pro-gram. Indeed, a state nursing board gave

the program a vote of confi dence at an Au-gust panel meeting, allowing it to remain in operation. Nonetheless, it currently counts with less than 20 students and the NLNAC

has yet to begin a re-accreditation process.

DACC and NMSU are also facing a civil law-suit from eight

current and former nursing students, clai-ming that the college failed to take neces-sary steps to avoid the loss of accreditation

and live up to its promises to students. Moreover, their claim contends, the admi-nistration misled students about the state of the program and eff ects of de-accredi-tation. Th at case has seen multiple judges recuse themselves or be recused by the parties. (To date, two judges have recused themselves in the Nissen case, said attorney Goodman.) Th e students are seeking legal affi rmation stating administrative wrong-doing as well as damages “that would place them in the position they would be in had DACC kept its promise” to provide natio-nally accredited education in nursing.

[Former DACC President Margie Huerta] had a system of getting even.

“”

11The GroundUp3

I don’t know whether to call this an education, or a corporation, or incarcerationOur hope for the future is the youth of this nation

Our kids are trying to rise from urban squalor to become scholarsBut unfortunately, in America, we are building prisons faster than we are building schoolsHiring wardens and fi ring teachersBudget cuts are cutting the lifeline for our youth, our future, and our nation - that is educationDid you know that when 3rd grade reading levels drop

incarceration corporations decide to build more prison facilitiesElementary school students become potential inmates

sometime between the time that they learn their ABC’s and the time they learn how to read

Later they make it to Algebra I where they solve equations like:Y equals mx + bTh e square root of a squared plus b squared equals cBut who decided that kid struggling with math or reading equals a criminal waiting to beNow he’s learning equations – equating this and that you seeBut this is not equality it is an inequality – inequityI understand the expression y is less than 2X + 3But I still don’t get why I am treated less than two kids who grew up in the neighborhood next to meI guess I’ll never quite comprehend inequalitiesWhen the quality of my education is directly proportional to my number of dollars

And inversely related to my level of poverty

I don’t know whether to call this an education, or a corporation, or incarcerationOur hope for the future are the youth of this nation

Abolishing the SAT, ACT, and GRE is my dreamA coup d’état of the standardized testing regimeStandardized testing fi nds its origins in eugenics and racismCarl Brigham, the creator of the SAT argued that blacks and browns

were naturally inferior to whites both genetically and intellectuallyHe created tests that are not an accurate measure of intellectual capacity But sort of a sorting hat sorting kids onto two tracksto heaven or to hellTo Harvard Or to hardshipSo it’s hardTo get this train back on the right path when the fork in the road was back in third grade math classSo choose A, B, C, or D But unfortunately, the ability To select one, and reject three, pre-constructed answers Will not help our students solve the complex and formidable political, social, and envi-ronmental dilemmas of the 21st century

I don’t know whether to call this an education, or a corporation, or incarcerationOur hope for the future is the youth of this nation

Abolishing the SAT, ACT, and GRE is my dreamA coup d’état of the standardized testing regimeI remember clearly the day I took the GREI calmly entered the testing facilityA man standing with a cold lifeless stare

told me to empty my pockets, put my belongings in the locker and lock itI signed a contract that said if I cheated I would be convicted of a felonythen an offi cial patted me down

and used a metal detector to search for communication devices concealed on my extremitiesI was then given permission to enter the testing unit6 rows all partitioned into 6 cubicles Each with a half-dome security camera placed directly above one’s head

And with Big Brother watching my every move I started the testUnsure whether to call this an education, or a corporation, or incarcerationBecause 3 hours taking the GRE

felt like I was being taken to jail to serve 3 years for a felonyI found myself wondering if this is how Plato and Socrates studied in ancient GreeceAnd if America is converting schools into prisons Th en how can we ever build a culture of peace?

Education,corporation,incarcerationBy ryan HayasHi

Not For Profi t: Why Democracy Needs the Humanities. Martha Nussbaum. Prince-ton University Press. 2010.

Martha Nussbaum, a professor of philo-sophy and law at the University of Chicago, published Not For Profi t: Why Democracy Needs Th e Humanities in 2010. Th e book is foremost a defense of the role of huma-nities in education, but such a description only scratches the surface.

Nussbaum opens by explicating what she calls a “silent crisis,” that is, the massive cutting of humanities and liberal arts pro-grams across the globe. Unlike the econo-mic crisis of 2008, she contends, these cuts have not been at the forefront of our co-llective consciousness, although they have similar far-reaching and pernicious eff ects. Instead, the epidemic is largely ignored: Disciplines such as art, music, and history are seen by policy makers as unnecessary luxuries that drain resources from more re-levant – and lucrative – disciplines.

Nussbaum spends the rest of the book demonstrating the connection between the humanities and the robust citizenry needed to sustain democracy, of which she writes, “All modern democracies […] are societies in which the meaning and ultimate goals of human life are topics of reasonable disagre-ement among citizens. […] What we can agree about is that young people all over the world [living in democracies] need to grow up to be participants in a form of go-vernment in which people inform themsel-ves about crucial issues they will address as voters.” In the second chapter, for example, “Educating Citizens: Th e Moral (and Anti-Moral) Emotions,” she traces the develop-ment of sympathy and empathy and argues that schools are essential in cultivating the-se qualities in their students, and then she posits that concern for others is central to the democratic ideal. A dearth of compas-sion spurns an “us against them” mentality, in which other individuals, groups, or na-tions are disparaged and oft en treated in-humanely.

During a time of crisis, in defense of the humanities

Book Review Poetry

Other chapters focus on Socratic peda-gogy – certainly harkening to Nussbaum’s role as both philosopher and educator – and the ways in which critical questioning and self-refl ection are essential to successful democracy. In a chapter called “Citizens of the World,” she argues that humanities are central in globalization, such as learning a foreign language and understanding world religions. Her fi nal chapter, “Democratic Education on the Ropes,” highlights practi-cal matters and includes a lot of anecdotes. One example: Th e Viewbook for prospec-tive students at the University of Chicago, where Nussbaum teaches, caused contro-versy when it was revised to show students in laboratories but not students reading, thinking, discussing, or doing other acti-vities traditionally associated with the hu-manities.

Nussbaum’s book is a worthwhile – although at 134 pages, short – read. She has clearly done her homework and displays multifarious knowledge that extends into many areas and disciplines. She references thinkers and educators from Tagore to Ho-race Mann to Hegel to Dewey to Rousseau. Her prose is rich and highly readable. And while the book’s length, and the sometimes frustrating lack of focus, are defi nite weak-nesses, they do not deter from its overall quality.

Not For Profi t is highly recommended for anyone interested in the role of huma-nities in education and the dire – but quiet – long-term consequences of the trivializa-tion of the humanities at every educational level across the globe.

By HaylEy CottEr

Th e GroundUp sucks. It only covers a small sliver of university life. Its investiga-tive journalism leaves a lot to desire. It is not funny enough. It is not artsy enough. It contains a serious lack of diverse opinions and viewpoints that undermine its credibi-lity as a voice of the masses. It is run by a tiny cabal of despotic grammar nazis that lack any common sense. It lacks suffi cient coverage of local and regional issues. It lacks suffi cient coverage of the major events and sociopoliticeconomcultural processes happening in the world.

Moreover, it lacks a research staff . It has funding issues, and is hard to fi nd around town. Its creators have enormous egos and need to be brought down a notch. Th e GroundUp does not even seem to care about gender issues or popular culture or the continent of Asia. Necesita más conte-nido en español, carajo. It does not come

out oft en enough to really be timely and its website needs a lot more content. It is too intellectual. No, actually, it approaches cer-tain issues too superfi cially. And it’s a dirty commie rag, for goodness sake!

So Th e GroundUp is really hardly worth reading. It will never maintain its readers-hip and won’t last past a fourth issue.

…Unless some folks with radical criti-cisms and gusto step up and make the pa-per live up to its potential. If writers, artists, activists and hard workers in this region and at this university sent in submissions, joined the staff , helped work out the logis-tical issues, and made Th e Groundup their own, then it could really be something. If some people serious about reviving and redefi ning the radical left come out of the woodwork, maybe the cabal can avoid spi-raling into a complete nervous [email protected]

The GroundUp sucks.

El gobierno nos dice que para seguir debemos transformarnos, pero en qué. No sabemos hacer otra cosa. Nacimos y hemos vivido entre la basura, y no tenemos papeles. Nos están mandando a la uña o a las drogas para salir adelante y desaparecer a los pepenadores, que ya no encajamos en su nueva imagen de ciudad.

“”

Testamento de la modernidad

-De “Ya no encajamos en ‘su nueva’ imagen de la ciudad: pepenadores,” Laura Gó-mez, La Jornada (6 de noviembre de 2012)

Los pepenadores viven de su labor procesando la basura, pero nuevas inciativas del gobierno capitalino para modernizar este sector ponen en duda su futuro lugar en la sociedad mexicana.

A privately-owned piece of land at the base of Tortugas

(“A”) Mountain may soon be open for business.

Th e land in question is a 16-acre parcel just west of Tortugas Mountain. It lies along Dripping Springs Road, across from Centen-nial High School (CHS), and is outside the Las Cru-ces city boundaries. Th e land originally belonged to the Bureau of Land Mana-gement (BLM), but passed into private ownership in 2005. According to an Al-buquerque Journal report, this coincided with a push by Doña Ana County and the City of Las Cruces to encou-rage the sale of 65,000 acres of BLM land outside of the city to allow “for growth on the mesa near Las Cruces [to] keep development from eating up farmland in the valley.” Under this plan, the government sold land containing minerals for a dirt-cheap price under the Mining Act of 1872. Th e parcel was patented for $2.50 per acre, and is now owned by Doña Ana Sand and Gravel, LLC. At the time of sale the land was given a Public Conservation District zoning status - referred to as a “holding zone” by county offi cials. Current owners of the parcel, bordered by a Sand and Gravel mining pit to the north, intend to have it zoned for commercial use.

In January 2013, the Las Cruces Extra-Territorial Zo-ning Commission (ETZ) recommended approval of an EC2 (Community Commercial District) zoning request to the Extra-Territorial Zoning Authority (ETA). Both the ETA and the ETZ are run by city and county policy makers. Th e ETZ claims that a zone change would “assist in the expansion of commercial businesses into the area,” consistent with the ETZ Comprehensive Plan 2000-2020. Aft er further recommendations from the ETZ, the ETA may yet approve this rezoning.

Th e County Community Planning and Development Department (CCDD) held a public meeting in October 2012 - and another this September - to receive public in-put on the zoning process. At the September 23rd meeting, staff presented three options for zoning of the area: resi-dential, commercial, and industrial. Many residents at the meeting expressed disappointment that staff failed to seek out alternatives to these development-encouraging zoning options for the area. Th e permitted uses for an EC2 dis-trict (the zoning previously requested by the landowners) include department stores, hotels, pawn shops, residences, package liquor stores, coff ee shops, and restaurants.

Th e impacts of a commercial development at the base of Tortugas Mountain would be wide-reaching. Such a deve-lopment would disrupt the rural and recreational setting which many Las Cruces residents cherish, may negatively impact the health of the surrounding community, and may indirectly impact people far from the city’s eastern edge.

Many Las Crucens utilize Tortugas Mountain as an outdoor recreational area, outside of the clamor and tra-ffi c of the city. Th e sand and gravel mining operation con-tinues, and the introduction of the 160-acre Centennial High School to the area in 2012 has increased traffi c and put an indelible footprint on the landscape. However, one Las Cruces resident noted at the September public mee-ting that there is a signifi cant diff erence between a vista containing a gravel pit and a high school and one inclu-ding commercial buildings. In a letter to the CCDD, one resident of the area stated, “We want to preserve the peace

Urban sprawl comes to ‘A’ MountainProposal for commercial development arouses community oppositionBy Carollan EHn

and quiet our current rural setting provides.” Th e CCDD has so far held back commercial development, perhaps because of these concerns. Indeed, the department holds that “Th e quality of life in the county is characterized by a strong sense of community that is strengthened by a rural lifestyle” and “increased population and industrial growth may have an impact on this quality of life” in statements on its website. Nonetheless, the limited options for zoning of private property - residential, commercial, industrial - make it unlikely that the area around “A” Mountain will avoid development. Th e city and county’s push for growth inherently confl icts with its desire to promote a quality-of-life rooted in small-town values.

Some participants at the September public input session also questioned the eff ects of commercial development near a public school. Kari Bachman, of the Ideas for Coo-king and Nutrition (ICAN) service at NMSU, is concerned that food establishments placed across from Centennial High School would have a negative impact on the health of high school students and the community in general. “Parents really are interested in seeing more regulation of messages around unhealthy foods to their children,” she said. With the aim of reducing students’ direct access to such marketing, Bachman is leading an eff ort to establish “Healthy Food Zones” (HFZ) around public schools in Las Cruces. Th e HFZs would prevent new brick and mortar food establishments from locating near schools while in-centivizing local (in contrast to large corporate) mobile vendors to sell healthy foods on campuses at lunchtime. Fast food establishments already exist in close proximi-ty to other Las Cruces high schools, and recent research indicates that students with fast food restaurants within a half-mile of their school are more likely to be overweight than those attending schools further from fast food restau-rants. In the absence of an HFZ for public schools, local policy-makers and potential business-owners in the CHS area must be aware of the impact their actions can have on youth in the community. According to Bachman, “Part of preventative health is not just having doctors to go to, but it’s having healthy options, where you work and where you live. And that’s what we’re about and I think the County and the City and business do have an obligation [to ensure these].”

A commercial development on Dripping Springs Road would be but another step in the development of the land around Tortugas Mountain. In addition to the sand and gravel mining in the area since the 1940s and the establis-hment of CHS in 2012, residential areas have been crop-ping up in the shadow of the Organ Mountains in recent years. Talavera is one such (relatively affl uent) community

beyond Tortugas Mountain. Many Talavera residents now oppose the intrusiveness of a commercial development. However, commercial deve-lopment is never far behind residential expansion: Th ese same residents have set in motion a machine they will have a hard time stopping.

Urban sprawl in nume-rous cities can give us an idea of how this process generally works. To cite one example, in the 1960s, a New Jersey-based corporation (AMREP) bought and developed land on the outskirts of Albu-querque into a residential area. Th e homes built were meant to attract residents from outside the state. Th is land, which is now the City of Rio Rancho, has a popu-lation of over 90,000 and has expanded to an area larger

than Albuquerque. At the September public input session, Pam Carmody, an “interested party” in Doña Ana Sand & Gravel, which owns the land in question, cited residential development as a reason why she has a right to re-zoning. She stated that Talavera was at one time pristine, but now people live there because they were granted the right to live there.

Th ere is little question that urban expansion into the surrounding desert has a negative impact on the limited resources of the land. An increase in population, indus-try, and commercial operations puts a strain on the Rio Grande aquifer, which in recent decades has been depleted quicker than it can be replenished. Th e Chihuahuan de-sert of southern New Mexico is full of unique wildlife, and each structure and road built upon it displaces a small part of this desert habitat. NMSU owns land adjacent to the parcel in question and envisions this area as an academic research zone, according to County Planning offi cials. A commercial establishment may directly aff ect any habitat now available for research, and increased light pollution would make potential operations at the NMSU observa-tory on Tortugas Mountain less feasible.

Importantly, the environment and residents of develo-ping areas are not the only ones to feel the impacts of such expansion. As high-end urban sprawl extends further out, city and county resources will be increasingly funneled to the the suburbs - likely leaving lower-income neighbor-hoods more underserved than ever. Th e indirect economic and quality-of-life impacts of developments like Talavera will certainly hit areas as diverse as neighborhoods along Picacho Avenue and the valley’s colonias.

Commercialization is a part of everyday life in urban areas. Governmental approval of commercial zoning in rural areas gives businesses permission to expand beyond the city limits into the natural landscape. But it is not just the County or City that grants this permission. When a property owner seeks a zone change, he, she, or it (in the case of a corporate entity) is deciding how the land should be used. While the corporatization of land once nominally held by the public may be profi table or useful to the ow-ner, it may end up being detrimental to the environment and community. However, as we see in the Tortugas area case, the approving authority takes these decisions to the public, not for approval or disapproval, but simply for commentary. Th e decisions of a few property owners can aff ect the public as a whole with little restraint, and more oft en with encouragement, from policy-makers. Whereas property rights are guaranteed by statute, preservation of a community’s values are not, and this creates a diffi cult battle for the many to fi ght against the few.


Many Talavera residents now oppose the intrusiveness of a commercial development. However, commercial development is never far behind residential expansion: These same residents have set in motion a machine they will have a hard time stopping.

“”

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Documents

The Groundup: October/November 2013