Joshua Kellogg, jkellogg@daily-times.com 8:44 p.m. MDT July 5, 2016
A San Juan College student practices mountain bike handling skills in 2009 in Moab, Utah, through the schoolsoutdoor leadership, education and recreation program.(Photo: Courtesy of San Juan College)
FARMINGTON Members of the San Juan College Board voted to discontinue three degree programs that have experienced low enrollment and increasing costs.
Board members voted unanimously to discontinue the renewable energy, machining and outdoor leadership, education and recreation associate degree programs during theirmeeting tonight.
It was the first time board members have voted to eliminate any degree programs since Toni Pendergrass became president of the collegein July 2012.
In recommending to the board that the programs bediscontinued, Pendergrass said they were evaluated and assessed withthe results shared withboard members during a Dec. 9 meeting.
"Based on the assessment, the degree programs were not meeting the needs of the students and community," Pendergrass said during the meeting.
In an interview before the board meeting, Board Chairman Ken Hare said the board is always evaluating college programs for growth opportunities, and programs like the renewable energy degree were declining.
We had two full-time instructors in renewable energy, and we had four students, Hare said. The program just didnt grow. What we are interested in is, Where is the opportunity for students?"
Hare said the jobs created for solar panel installation in the region are temporary, leaving about two employees to maintain the equipment.
During a construction period, you have jobs, but when its done, all those jobs leave, Hare said.
The programs were evaluated as part of the colleges comprehensive review process, which involed looking at a programs enrollment, its return on investmentand job placement of graduates in the community.
Courses in the outdoor leadership, education and recreation degree program are currently offered as recreational courses through the colleges Community Learning Center.
Renewable energy courses related to maintenance of solar panels might be introduced into the instrumentation control and electrical degree program, according to Barbara Ake, the college"s vice president for learning.
The college staff isexploring options to implement a new manufacturing degree to ensure machining businesses in the region have their job placement needs met.
Joshua Kellogg covers education for The Daily Times. He can be reached at 505-564-4627.
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Ciara"s Worried That Future Will Kill Russell Wilson
Staging is serious business in presidential politics. Every detailfrom the sign on the lecternto the demographics of everyonebehind the candidate to (on one bizarre occasion this cycle) the raw slabs of meatdressing the setis meant to convey who the candidate is and what the candidate stands for.
So you can learn a lot juxtaposing the optics ofthe campaign speeches Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump gave last week on the future of the economy. While Clinton spoke from the center of a tech hub in Denver, surrounded by millennials tapping away on MacBooks, Trump addressed a crowd inside a scrap metal factory in a Pennsylvania steel town, standing before a wall of crushed aluminum cans.
Before either candidate spoke, theyd cast two opposing visions. In Clintons, the economy hinges on investing in technology and the industries of tomorrow. In Trumps, it depends upon reviving the industries of yesterday. Both aspire to create jobs. But one has a chance of achieving that goal, because history shows that industries survive the future onlyby embracing it.
A Scary Thought
As Clay Christensen of Harvard Business School noted in The Innovators Dilemma, disruptive innovation is never without casualties. Businesses close. Industries end. People must adjust. These transitions have, throughout history, sparked economic anxiety and political populism.
But history offers few examples of jobs that have thrived on the methods of the past. Whens the last time you called a travel agent or bought a CD? In the digital age, every industry has had to adapt or die. So while its natural to fear the unknown, history has shown it is a mistake to let those fears impact how you run a businessor a country.
While Trumps economic plan, like his campaign in general, leans heavily on nostalgia for bygone days, it seems hes learned little from historys economic transitions. Throughout his remarks on June 28, Trump portrayed US trade policy, including the North American Free Trade Agreement, as a disaster for American workers because it has sent manufacturing jobs overseas. What he failed to note, however, is those same trade dealsand the global supply chains they createdhave helped companies like Apple create jobs in the US.
The people at Apple make a lot of money by building computers, but not because theyre running the manufacturing plant. Theyre researching and designing, and managing the supply chain itself, says Dale Jorgenson, an economist at Harvard University. All of that is essentially value added in the United States. Its high quality jobs that are very, very important in our economy and are essentially our competitive advantage.
Trade is No Panacea
As part of aplan to bring back our jobs Trump threatened to withdraw from NAFTA if the agreement cant be renegotiated, a suggestion that even the National Association of Manufacturers and the typically Republican-leaning Chamber of Commerce said would be disastrous for manufacturing companies and their employees.
Trade is no panacea. Some workers lose their jobs to international competition, just as technological change and shifting consumer tastes regularly put some manufacturers out of business, wrote John G. Murphy, senior vice president for international policy at the Chamber of Commerce. But contrary to rumor, the benefits of trade greatly outweigh the costs.
Jay Timmons, president and CEO of the National Association of Manufacturers livetweeted Trumps comments.
Jorgenson says withdrawing from global trade deals would be foolhardybecause nearly everything made today, be it a car or a smartphone, involves a supply chain that spans the world. If American companies were taxed every time they needed materials from abroad, it would drastically increase costs and make them far less competitive.
Having an inflexible trade regime like we had in the 19th century would be laughable, if not tragic, hesays.
Jobs of the Past or Jobs of the Future?
Even if trade werent an issue, Trumps plan ignores the fact that automation is displacing manufacturing jobs. The giant factories that once employed entire towns increasingly are a thing of the past. Three-quarters of American manufacturers employ fewer than 20 people, according to the National Association of Manufacturers. A Boston Consulting Group report estimated that roughly 25 percent ofmanufacturing functions will be automated by 2025, up from 10 percent last year. That could cut the manufacturing workforce by 22 percent, the report says.
But demand for high-skilled workers to operate that advanced machinery is expected to grow.
Jorgenson says the energy Trump expends trying to bring back outmoded jobs would be better spent exploring how to prepare for the change already underway. Youve got to have a lot of startups, and youve got to have people trained at the level where they can participate, so theyre able to fit into high quality jobs when they appear, he says. That, he says, starts with education.
That was the focus of Clintons address on June 28, whereshe laid out a plan to expand broadband access, invest in computer science education, defer student loans for would-be entrepreneurs, and reduce regulations for innovative startups. We need to get back into the future business, because thats who we are as Americans, Clinton said. I dont think were people who look backwards. We should be looking forward.
Itsclear this tech-centric plan would leave some people behind, including the very people Trump wants to court. To be told that the skills you haveskills that once guaranteed a prosperous lifeare no longer needed is terrifying. But its not half as terrifying as what would happen if the country fails to invest in the future in hopes of holding onto the past.
Oscar Pistorius handed six-year sentence for murder
Olympic athlete Oscar Pistorius has been sentenced to six years in prison for murdering his girlfriendReeva Steenkampin 2013.
Oscar Pistorius in court today, sentenced to six years in jail for murder. Marco Longari - Pool/Getty Images Oscar Pistorius Convicted of Murder in Appeals Court Oscar Pistorius Gets Five-Year Jail Sentence Oscar Pistorius Guilty of Culpable Homicide, Not Murder Stars at Court
His latest jail sentence comes after his initial five-year conviction for manslaughter was changed to that of murder during an appeal in December 2015.
The South African athlete was taken straight to his cell after he received his sentence from Judge Thokozile Masipa. His lawyers say they will not appeal the decision.
Pistorius, 29, shot Steenkamp four times through a locked door in February 2013. He admitted to shooting her, but claimed he had mistaken his girlfriend for an intruder.
Olympic Athletes Turned TV and Movie Stars
Many commenters have expressed surprise at the sentence, which is much less than the prescribed minimum for murder.
Pistorius has already served one year of his previous conviction. He is obliged to serve half of his new term before being eligible for parole.
Olympic Athletes: Where Are They Now?
"A long term in prison will not serve justice," Judge Masipa said in her hourlong session. "Public opinion may be loud and persistent, but it can play no role in the decision of this court."
Tell Us: What do you think of Pistorius" new sentence?
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Gretchen Carlson suing Roger Ailes for Sexual Harassment
NEW YORK -- Former "Fox & Friends" co-host Gretchen Carlson alleged in an explosive lawsuit filed Wednesday that Fox News Chairman Roger Ailes fired her for rebuffing his sexual advances and challenging a sexist newsroom culture.
Carlson, who spent 11 years at the network, described being ostracized and marginalized by Fox News for pushing back against condescending treatment. After seven and a half years as a co-host on "Fox & Friends," the top-rated cable morning news show,Carlson was reassigned in 2013 to an early afternoon time slot. Fox News terminated her employment on June 23.
In the suit, Carlson claims she tried addressing what she considered to be discriminatory treatment during a September 2015 meeting with Ailes, who allegedly responded that their problems could have been better solved if they had a sexual relationship.
I think you and I should have had a sexual relationship a long time ago and then youd be good and better and Id be good and better," Ailes told Carlson, according to the suit.
In the suit, Carlson accused Ailes,one of the most powerful figures in media and Republican politics, of engaging in persistently sexist behavior. She said he ogled her in his office, asked her to turn around to view her backside, and commented repeatedly on her outfits and her legs.
She also said"Fox & Friends" co-host Steve Doocy engaged in a pattern and practice of severe and pervasive sexual harassment that includedmocking her during commercial breaks, shunning her off air, refusing to engage with her on air, belittling her contributions to the show."
Carlson said she complained about Doocy creating a hostile work environment back in September 2009.
I have strived to empower women and girls throughout my entire career, Carlson said in a statement on Wednesday. Although this was a difficult step to take, I had to stand up for myself and speak out for all women and the next generation of women in the workplace. I am extremely proud of my accomplishments at Fox News and for keeping our loyal viewers engaged and informed on events and news topics of the day.
Guard Seth Curry has agreed on a two-year, $6 million deal with the Dallas Mavericks, according to league sources.
Curry, 25, the younger brother of MVP Stephen Curry, will be Dallas" cap-room exception.
Dallas has had Curry on its radar all offseason and moved quickly to get a deal finished after the Sacramento Kings renounced Curry"s rights as a restricted free agent over the weekend, a source said.
Curry averaged 6.8 points and 1.5 assists and shot 45 percent from 3-point rangein limited playing time last season in Sacramento. He averaged 16.4 points and 5.3 assists in April, when his role increased significantly.
[LIVE] Oscar Pistorius sentenced to 6 years prison for Reeva Steenkamp"s murder
Oscar Pistorius was sentenced to six years in prison on Wednesday for the murder of his girlfriend, with the judge citing mitigating circumstances in delivering less than the prescribed 15-year minimum punishment, NBC News reported.
Pistorius stood and faced Judge Thokozile Masipa as she announced the sentence in a South African courtroom on Wednesday.
Pistorius was initially convicted of culpable homicide the equivalent of manslaughter under South African law for killing law graduate and model Reeva Steenkamp on Valentine"s Day 2013.
An appeals court reversed that result last year and found Pistorius guilty of the more serious charge of murder.
Even as the Juno mission made history by successfully coming into orbit around Jupiter, NASA had its eyes on other ways to push the boundaries of our knowledge about the universe around us.
The agency has approved a proposal from the New Horizons team to send the spacecraft which was first sent to explore Pluto to 2014 MU69. That"s the completely uninspiring name of a hunk of rockin the Kuiper Belt, the ring of icy rubble leftover from the birth of the solar system.
Pluto also hangs out in the Kuiper Belt, but visiting 2014 MU69 will send the probe almost a billion miles from Pluto.
Astronomers think 2014 MU69 is about 30 miles across and almost 44 times farther away from the sun than Earth is. And that 2014 in the name isn"t random: It"s the year astronomers first saw it, which means New Horizons is now heading out to something we didn"t know existed when the spacecraft launched in 2006.
New Horizons hasactually been headed toward 2014 MU69 since October. But it needed NASA"s approval to keep heading out there. Visiting 2014 MU69 will take the probe much deeper into the Kuiper Belt.
A New Horizons shot of Pluto. NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI
The spacecrafthasn"t exactly been twiddling its robotic thumbs since its flyby of Pluto last summer.
This spring, it spottedanother Kuiper Belt object, catchily named 1994 JR1. The measurements New Horizonstook allowed astronomers to pinpoint the object"s location and how quickly it rotates.
The mission extensionwill also let New Horizons swing by more than a dozen other Kuiper Belt objects along the way. Those flying visits will let the spacecrafttake measurements similar to those ittook of 1994 JR1.
In order to get NASA"s okay for the2014 MU69 visit, the New Horizons team had to put together a detailed proposal outlining what they"d learn from the trip. Even with the agency"s go-ahead, the fate of the jaunt out to 2014 MU69 still depends on how NASA"s budget shakes out for 2017 and 2018.
If everything goes well, New Horizons would reach 2014 MU69 on January 1, 2019.
Even then, New Horizons wouldn"t be the most well-traveledspacecraft. That title goes to Voyager 1, which launched in 1977 and officially left the solar system in 2012.
It can still send back data and likely will continue to be able to into the early 2020s, but it isn"t visiting specific objects.
That distinction let Alan Stern, one of the leaders of the New Horizons mission, to declare that while the 2014 MU69 flyby "probably won"t be as dramatic as the exploration of Pluto, it will be a record-setter for the most distant exploration of an object ever made."
"It will also be a [Kuiper Belt object] science bonanza," he added,"that"s unlikely to be repeated for decades."
