Opinion

Letter to the Editor: YMCA Says Thanks

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Thank You to everyone who helped make The Family YMCA’s Independence Day Firecracker 5K Family Fun Run a success.
 
The event was sponsored by Los Alamos Medical Center, Los Alamos National Bank, and Southwest Safety Services of Santa Fe. Businesses that donated prizes for top finishers and random drawings were Ruby K’s, Otowi Station Bookstore, Pet Pangaea, Connie’s Over Your Head Salon, Ten Thousand Waves, The Co-op Market, The Flower Shop, Bob’s Bodacious BBQ, CB Fox, Aspen Copies, El Parasol, Fabulous 50’s Diner, Home Run Pizza, Pajarito Ski Area, Reel Deal Theater, The Coffee Booth,
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Letter to the Editor: Kiwanis Says Thanks

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Dear Editor,

Despite the damper of dry weather and fireworks show cancellation, the 2012 Fourth of July Celebration at Overlook Park was a great success.

After a few months of dangerous drought, the big rain was even welcome.

Though we canceled the festivities earlier than planned, the fun picnic setting, yummy food, wonderful music, and very cool skydiving display by the Habanero Skydiving Club made for a great afternoon and evening.

We missed the fireworks, but we still celebrate living in the United States of America – the very best country in the world to be from!

The Kiwanis Club of Los Alamos Read More

The Taming of the Shrew (Aspen)

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Column by Carlos Valdez
Cooperative Extension Horticulture Agent
 
-The Taming of the Shrew (Aspen) … this consummate white barked beauty is difficult to grow in Los Alamos landscapes.

Aspen (Populus tremuloides) are trees with admirable beauty, and it naturally follows that we want our landscapes filled with what we find beautiful.

Unfortunately, try as we might, aspen are not well adapted to domestic landscapes, even here in Los Alamos.

They are short-lived, as expected from their role in forest ecology, and even properly cared-for trees may not reach 20 years.

Aspen

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Day Journeys to the Middle of Nowhere

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Travel Column by Kirsten Laskey

Discovering Tierra Amarillo

Driving down N.M. 84, we watched Los Alamos, Espanola and even the scatterings of roadside businesses in Abiquiu just slip past the windows.

Soon, there was nothing filling the windows but a gray strip of asphalt and huge, scenic landscapes.

This is when the adventure began.

My traveling partner (my mother) and I picked Tierra Amarillo to visit at random.

Photo: Tierra Amarillo Municipal Complex. By Kirsten Laskey

It was just a faint spot on the map and an oddball collection of photos on a website.

It was declared an “almost” ghost town Read More

Why Afghanistan?

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Dr. Bob Fuselier of Los Alamos with friend Blake Batten, Dr. Mohammad Khan Kharoti and graduating students in Afghanistan. Courtesy photo

Column by Dr. Bob Fuselier

The main purpose of our Afghanistan trip last month was to visit the graduation ceremonies for Green Village Schools’ Advanced Education Center (GVS-AEC) in Lashkar Gah, the capital of Helmand Province.

My organization (the Afghan Sister Village Project) and Blake’s organization (Project PeacePal founded by Sarah Wilkinson of Albuquerque) acted as support players for Green Village Schools, the organization that runs the Read More

The Girls I Left Behind

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Column by Bonnie J. Gordon

I’m grateful to my friends — my new friends for giving me a chance and my old friends for hanging in there with me all this time.

I’ve done things like lose touch for 30 years until rediscovering someone of Facebook and low and behold, most of these people still want to be friends with me.

Maybe that’s less surprising than that people right here in Los Alamos put up with me on a daily basis.

You don’t get another chance with everyone. 

Some people are gone for good, whether by choice or by mischance.  

I look back and think, how could this have happened? How could I have Read More

Letter to the Editor: Thanks For Your Support

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I would like to thank everyone in Los Alamos who took the time to meet with me over the past few weeks.

I truly enjoyed getting to know my neighbors on the hill, and will continue to work with you to address issues of mutual concern as a Rio Arriba County Commissioner.

I anticipate many opportunities to strengthen regional collaboration towards clean water, economic development, educational opportunities, health care and other issues we all care about over the next few years.

Thank you once again for your support and kindness to me, and to my supporters.
 
–Alfredo Montoya
Senate Dist. 5 Candidate
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Fire and Water: The Las Conchas Fire

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Column by State Representative Jim Hall

On June 4 and 5, I attended a conference “Impacts and Lessons Learned from the Las Conchas Fire,” sponsored by New Mexico’s Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (NM EPSCoR–https:////nmepscor.org/). 

NM EPSCoR is funded by the National Science Foundation, and this year their focus was to research the impacts of climate change on Northern New Mexico water resources.

The Las Conchas Fire broadened their focus to the environmental impacts of wildfire–with water and water quality as an important subtext.  Read More

I = IR + SE Innovation Results from Intelligent Risk Taking and a Supportive Environment

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Column by Dr. Harry Hertz 

Like many people in many companies and organizations, I have been thinking a lot about innovation lately.

In my case, the effort has been a prelude to thinking about upcoming revisions to the Baldrige Program’s 2013–2014 Criteria for Performance Excellence.

I consulted works by Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Clayton Christensen, Jeff Dyer, and Hal Gergersen, as well as numerous articles and blogs.

And my conclusion was that innovation (I) is the result of intelligent risk taking (IR) and a supportive environment (SE): I =IR + SE.

In this column, I will explore each of Read More

Letter to the Editor: What Happens When Mike Grabs George by the Ego?

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My friend Mike grabbed me by the ego, put me hard up against reality, and forced me to face my shortcomings.

Conceptually, the dialogue went something like this: “George,” he said, “you guys look like you’re hiding something. You can’t just say that signing those petitions will cost people their right to vote on the Charter Amendments. You have to explain it.” 

“But Mike,” I wailed, “this is a complicated issue. I can’t put all that information in a $68 dollar ad or a leditter. People have to do some of their own research.” 

“George,” he replied, twisting my rationality, “don’t tell me Read More