Former U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici. (Photo by Heath Haussamen)

The 2011 Domenici Public Policy Conference starts today, and among those speaking will be former U.S. Sen. Tom Daschle and Gov. Susana Martinez.

Daschle will be talking about health care later today, and Martinez will be talking about state issues.

Former U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici, the man for whom the conference is named, and the woman who co-chaired a debt panel with him, Alice Rivlin, will speak Thursday about the national debt.

The two-day conference will be held at the Las Cruces Convention Center. Registration is closed but New Mexico State University, the host of the conference, webcasts sessions online. NMPolitics.net will cover some of the sessions, so check back here for articles.

You can find more information at domenici.nmsu.edu.

Gov. Susana Martinez, center, with Jayann Sepich and Sen. Vernon Asbill after the expansion to Katie's Law passed the Legislature tonight. (Courtesy photo)

Gov. Susana Martinez will sign a bill approved by lawmakers tonight that would expand Katie’s Law to require a DNA sample from anyone arrested for a felony crime in New Mexico.

The compromise bill, approved following a conference committee between House and Senate members, was called “the strongest Katie’s Law in the country with the exception of California” by Jayann Sepich, the mother of the murdered NMSU student for whom the law is named.

Under the compromise bill, the DNA collected from those arrested for any felony crime would be inputted into the DNA database only if a judge finds probable cause for the arrest at the defendant’s first hearing in court or if the defendant bonds out beforehand and fails to appear at such a hearing.

“This is a victory for anyone who wants to make New Mexico’s communities safer for our children and families,” Martinez said in a news release. “Katie’s Law has gotten real results, but now we can do even more. This legislation gives our law enforcement community even greater tools to catch criminals, prevent crimes, and provide justice for victims and their families.”

Jayann Sepich also praised the bill, saying she and her husband “know that collecting DNA samples from those arrested for all felonies will mean more crimes solved, more crimes prevented, and more lives saved.”

A provision originally approved by the Senate that would have expunged some arrest records for people not convicted of crimes was removed from the final bill. The governor had said she wouldn’t sign the bill if it was sent to her with that provision included.

The bill was sponsored by Sen. Vernon Asbill, R-Carlsbad, and Rep. Al Park, D-Albuquerque.

Katie’s Law was first enacted in New Mexico 2006, nearly three years after Katie Sepich was raped and murdered. Though her murderer left behind traces of DNA under Katie’s fingernails, New Mexico did not at the time allow for DNA to be collected upon arrest.

The 2006 law allowed collection of DNA in cases of certain felony charges. The new bill expands it to all felonies.

You can find the bill here.

Susana Martinez

A day after she appointed student regents for the University of New Mexico and New Mexico State University, Gov. Susana Martinez announced the appointments of additional regents.

Martinez reappointed Jack Fortner of Farmington, a big supporter of her in last year’s GOP gubernatorial primary, to the UNM Board of Regents and also appointed Lt. Gen. Bradley Hosmer of Cedar Crest to the UNM board.

She also appointed Michael Cheney of Las Cruces to the NMSU Board of Regents.

“New Mexico has a long tradition of achievement at its institutions of higher education,” Martinez said in a news release. “I look forward to the opportunity to work with the new regents, as well as those who are already serving, to reinforce and maintain a standard of high expectations.”

“It is important that our universities and my administration uphold a strong working relationship in order to ensure the best possible education for New Mexico’s students,” she said.

The appointees must still be confirmed by the Senate.

More from the news release:

“Lt Gen Bradley Hosmer was the 12th Superintendent of the United States Air Force Academy, serving in that position from 1991 to 1994. He was the first Air Force Academy Graduate to return to the school as its superintendent and was also a member of the Air University Board of Visitors. Since June 2009 he has been a member of the East Mountain High School Governing Council. Lt Gen Hosmer commanded the 479th Tactical Training Wing at Holloman Air Force Base. He is a graduate of the USAF, the Naval Command and Staff College, and the National War College.

“Jack Fortner graduated from the University of New Mexico with a B.A. in Political Science in 1978. He is a senior partner at Fortner & Dalley, LLC in Farmington. He served as a San Juan County Commissioner from 1996 to 2004 and held positions on the Labor Management Relations Board for the City of Farmington and the New Mexico Environmental Improvement Board prior to that. He has been a member of the UNM Board of Regents since 1999, serving as its Vice President during his previous term.

“Michael Cheney graduated from New Mexico State University in 1985 with a B.B.A. in Finance. He is currently the Southern New Mexico Regional President for Wells Fargo & Company in Las Cruces. Cheney has served on the NMSU Business College Business Advisory Council as well as the Board of the Greater Las Cruces Chamber of Commerce.”

Gov. Susana Martinez announced the appointments today of student regents for New Mexico’s two largest universities.

Martinez appointed undergrad Jacob Wellman to be the student regent at the University of New Mexico and graduate student Christopher Dulany to be the student regent at New Mexico State University. Both will need to be confirmed by the Senate.

“Our student regents are a welcome reminder of the bright future in store for our universities and our state,” Martinez said in a news release. “These talented young people will play an important role in providing a link between their student bodies, their board of regents, and my administration. I look forward to working with them so New Mexico’s universities can continue to provide a quality education to our students and prepare them for success in the work force.”

More from a Martinez news release:

“Jacob Wellman is a University of New Mexico undergraduate pursuing a B.A. in Political Science. He is a member of the President’s Strategic Advisory Team, working to advise University President David J. Schmidly on budgetary and cost containment measures. He also serves as an Undergraduate Representative to the Student Fee Review Board. Wellman has previously held the positions of Attorney General and Chief of Staff for the Associated Students of the University of New Mexico. He currently holds the position of Leadership Intern at Think New Mexico.

“Christopher Dulany is a graduate student pursuing an M.B.A at New Mexico State University . He graduated from NMSU in 2005 with a B.B.A in Finance, earning the honor of Crimson Scholar for outstanding academic achievement. He served as an Associated Students of New Mexico State University Senator, helping to guide legislation providing funding to numerous campus projects. Dulany is also involved in the Las Cruces Rotary Club and the Greater Las Cruces Chamber of Commerce.”

Jose Z. Garcia

Gov.-elect Susana Martinez has nominated a Democrat to be her administration’s secretary of higher education – New Mexico State University government professor Jose Z. Garcia.

Garcia, a political analyst who has written columns for this site, endorsed Martinez in August. He’s the first Democrat to be chosen to serve as a secretary in the administration of Martinez, a Republican. His nomination was announced today in a news release.

Garcia has been a professor at NMSU since 1975 and was the director of the NMSU Center for Latin American Studies from 1991 to 2003. He’s also a former member of the New Mexico Border Authority.

“Dr. Garcia is a talented educator who will help me streamline New Mexico’s higher education system,” Martinez said. “His charge is to ensure that our universities and colleges provide students with all they need to be competitive in today’s global job market and the opportunity to develop their talents and skills right here in New Mexico.”

Garcia said he looks forward to joining Martinez’s administration.

“She has asked me to ensure that our colleges and universities are among the leading centers of education and research in the nation,” he said. “Our focus must be on preparing our students for the jobs of tomorrow in the most efficient means possible.”

The Las Cruces Sun-News is reporting that the terms of Blake Curtis and Chris Anaya, the student regent, are up at the end of the year.

Martinez must choose the student regent from a list submitted by the university president. According to the Sun-News, President Barbara Couture has already interviewed three of five candidates and plans to submit three names to Martinez.

Both appointments must be confirmed by the New Mexico Senate.

Michael L. Hays

About 30 years ago, “Tip” O’Neill, the Democratic speaker of the House, famously declared that all politics is local. He spoke before the mass deployment of personal computers and the availability of the Internet, not to mention all those little hand-held things.

Today, as a result of these technologies, all politics is national. So all candidates for the Senate and House addressed not only the economy, bailouts, deficits and health care, but also a general malaise about the country’s future and widespread dismay (for widely different reasons) with Obama. Oddly, Republicans did much better in the House than in the Senate.

Also oddly or perhaps not so oddly, as the loss of self-funded, expensive Republican senatorial or gubernatorial candidates in California and Connecticut suggests that money alone cannot win. Rich amateurs are not going to beat professionals.

Anonymous expenditures by conservative groups paid off handsomely when the candidate was not a blatant crackpot, like O’Donnell in Delaware or Angle in Nevada. (Miller in Alaska may be an exception in a state that has its fair share of – how shall I phrase it? – colorful individuals. But he seems to have exceeded even its tolerance of off-norm personalities or positions.) We should expect anonymous corporate or Republican – is there a difference? – money to fund non-stop attacks on opposing politicians and misrepresentation of issues, from this moment on, no time off.

Finally, no politics in this campaign involved international issues; there was little or no discussion of the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, between Israel and Fatah/Hamas, or about nuclear-bent Iran. With allowance for the narrower perspectives of midterm elections, the virtual silence was unusual.

But local candidates are local only

I announced my intention not to vote for either candidate in the gubernatorial or the Congressional District 2 election. Neither Denish nor Martinez impressed me as capable leaders, especially in education, where their simplistic views reflect reflexive ideological positions of their respective political parties. Who needs kneejerk policies?

Likewise, neither Pearce nor Teague has impressed me as committed to public service. I accept that Pearce, like many candidates, successful or unsuccessful, runs on behalf of a narrow philosophy and special interests that reflect that philosophy. I also accept that Pearce does not represent or even listen to the views of those who differ from him on those and many other issues. But his highly partisan behavior and commitments are not unknown to the residents of the Second District, and they elected the devil they knew.

In Teague, they rejected the devil whom they did not know, whom they could never know, and whom they did not want to know longer than they had to. Unlike Pearce, who does not respond to comment, question or criticism, Teague offered a menu: silence, dodges, evasions or half-truths. I never knew what causes or commitments serving the public interest motivated Teague; he seemed a self-made man who wanted public office to crown his success and satisfy an old man’s vanity. So I come to bury Harry, not to praise him, and to suggest that Democrats need to find a better candidate to run for Congress.

That said, I think three good Democratic candidates – Cote, Steinborn and McCamley – lost to candidates with no demonstrated interest in the public good. But then a lot of people no longer believe in anything but me, me, me. (Let me put in a plug right now for one novice Republican candidate, Debra White, in District 36. Give it a go again, girl! You rock – if you do not mind my saying so in that way.)

Higher education takes a hit

Finally, I take special note of the vote on the one bond issue that failed. Although all other bond issues for education passed handily, the bond issue for colleges lost. I have no evidence to support my guess that New Mexicans, especially in southern New Mexico, are losing confidence in the state universities. For the bond lost by a larger percentage in Doña Ana County than in the state as a whole.

More and more state money goes to more and more students to fund college, but more and more fail to graduate and thus benefit from state prodigality. Many are ill prepared on admission in the first place; many remain ill prepared after remedial courses in the second place. Perversely, the more remedial courses the unprepared take, they less likely they are to graduate.

The universities make out just fine because the state compensates them for the number of credit hours in which students enroll, not the number of credit hours which they complete – hardly an incentive to improve public education at any level. I have no evidence to support my guess that, as such students experience frustration and failure, they and their families, who must still make sacrifices of money, time, and energy, realize and report that higher education in New Mexico rips off many people. Surely, the word gets around.

The universities do not inspire public confidence that they are focused on education when UNM and NMSU, the state’s two largest universities, annually transfer millions of dollars from their general funds to their money-losing athletic programs. Indeed, NMSU recently transferred over $4 million to its athletic programs; as a result, money which might have gone to teaching, research, and service – the three core missions of this land-grant university – went to another losing football season. Local disapproval has been vocal and widespread.

Did I say that the bond lost by a larger percentage in Doña Ana County that in the state as a whole? Since neither the universities nor the Legislature seems concerned to spend education tax dollars wisely when it comes to higher education, taxpayers seem to be voting to starve the beast.

Michael L. Hays (Ph.D., English) is a retired consultant in defense, energy and environment; former high school and college teacher; and continuing civic activist. His bi-monthly Saturday column appears in the Las Cruces Sun-News; his bi-monthly blog, First Impressions & Second Thoughts, appears on the intervening Saturdays at firstimpressionssecondthoughts.blogspot.com.

Michael Swickard

“I find that the three major administrative problems on a college campus are sex for the students, athletics for the alumni and parking for the faculty.” – Clark Kerr, 1958.

Parking is always one of those interesting discussions at any university. When I first attending college at New Mexico State University back in the late 1960s I had no parking problems at all since I came to school on foot. I was not all that thrilled with being on foot but it was that or not go to college at all. You lost a lot of desirability when you called up a potential date and said you would walk over and pick them up.

In my junior year I inherited a car and “joined” the group looking for a parking space close to my classes. I went from walking 25 minutes to class to spending 30 minutes trying to find that very close parking space.

When I came back to college for my doctorate in 1993 I noticed that one professor’s face turned crimson every time he spoke about parking. “It is going to get a heck of a lot worse before it gets better,” he would say. I asked, “So, you do think it will get better?”

“No,” he said.

I was always confused by his logic. He seemed to say and then take back that the parking problems at NMSU were going to get better. He always finished his parking remarks with, “In the next couple of years we will all be hurting for certain when we want to park on this campus. I plan to retire before it gets that bad.”

And he did. He was a tenured faculty member; therefore, parking may have been far more important to him than it is to students. I found back then that my fellow students and I looked at parking with a different priority.

One day I took an unscientific poll of students in my classes. My first data gathering site was statistics class. Not surprisingly I found my fellow students were far more interested in getting through statistics than they were about talking on the subject of parking.

“So, how would you rate your experiences today in finding a parking space before class? Was it miraculous, wonderful, acceptable, slow pain or frontal lobotomy?”

They looked up nervously, “What?”

“Parking, I’m talking about parking.”

“Who cares,” they said. “I found a place. How did you get SAS to run the assignment on page 44?”

Still in the scientific mode, I decided students taking statistics were so overwhelmed with statistics anxiety (much like math anxiety) so that they could not be trusted to have opinions on parking.

So I tried my public school law class. They looked up with that same graduate student nervousness and answered, “Who cares, I found one, now what is important about Perry v. Sinderman?”

And so it went. Whenever I mentioned the parking hassles to my classmates they got this glazed look over their eyes and then immediately wanted to talk about academic matters such as trying to pass the class and ultimately graduate.

From the data I collected, I can generalize for the population of students at NMSU as a whole. My preliminary research suggests that the more students are concerned with passing courses and graduating, the less concerned they are with parking, assuming there is somewhere on the campus that they can leave their car while they fight the academic battles.

Further, the less students, staff and faculty have to do, the more they spend their free time talking about the parking problems at NMSU. When they are so bothered by the parking problems, it just shows they have too much time on their hands.

If, on the other hand, they are sufficiently stressed by just surviving the academic program, the parking hassles will not even come close to their consciousness. They will be aware for a moment that there are no convenient spaces and drive quickly to the less convenient lots, but all of the time their minds will be working on academic problems.

What bothers us like parking might be more about what else we have on our plate than anything else.

Swickard is a weekly columnist for this site. You can reach him at michael@swickard.com.

Susana Martinez (left, courtesy photo) and Diane Denish (photo by Heath Haussamen)

Both candidates for governor say they would pick university regents based on qualifications and experience rather than politics, but neither is explicitly promising that she won’t try to exert direct control over regents by attempting to remove those who don’t vote her way on issues.

And neither gubernatorial candidate is endorsing Gov. Bill Richardson’s proposal to create a screening panel to recommend regent candidates to the governor.

The context: Richardson, early in his tenure, tried unsuccessfully to remove the New Mexico State University student regent after she disregarded his wishes on three key votes. He had required signed but undated resignation letters from his appointees, and he tried to use the student regent’s to force her off the board. The regent publicly stood up to Richardson and he backed down.

And now, Richardson is proposing the creation of screening committees at state universities to recommend candidates to the governor. The governor would still make the final decision.

With that in mind, here’s what I asked the gubernatorial candidates:

• What qualities would you look for in people you’re considering appointing to university boards of regents?
• Do you support the current governor’s proposal to create a committee to screen and recommend candidates for possible appointment to regents positions at the state’s universities?
• Also, the current governor tried to micromanage the state’s universities by attempting to remove regents who didn’t vote his way on individual policy issues. Would you attempt to exert direct control over universities in a similar way or allow regents the freedom to vote based on what they think is right?

Republican Susana Martinez didn’t answer the second question, and neither she nor Democrat Diane Denish directly responded to the third, though Martinez did say regents should “be focused on doing what’s right” and Denish said she wanted to ensure that “the academic missions of our universities are uncompromised by the political process.”

Here are the responses they did provide:

Susana Martinez

“As with any appointed position, I would ask my appointees to come to the administration free of personal agendas and ready to serve the people of New Mexico. The Richardson/Denish Administration has too often used the appointment process to reward big donors and political allies. We must ensure that we are appointing ethical and experienced people and that we are electing leaders whose purpose is serving the public.

“I will end the practice of handing out exempt positions as political favors, a practice that has been so prevalent under the Richardson/Denish Administration. Regents should be focused on doing what’s right for the institution and its students and faculty and have the experience and qualifications necessary to be effective. With the right regents in place, we will ensure that higher education thrives in New Mexico, and remains free of undue political influence.”

Diane Denish

“As governor, I will work to ensure that the academic missions of our universities are uncompromised by the political process.

“My philosophy with any appointments is to pick the most qualified, not the most connected. I would want any regent I appoint to have strong knowledge of the university and a connection to it. I would also want regents who are focused on the academic missions of the school. I believe the key to New Mexico’s future economic success is intimately tied to innovative academic programming and producing graduates who are prepared to lead New Mexico in the 21st century economy.

“Having served as a regent at New Mexico Tech, I understand that the role of regents should be focused on broad policy-making and not micro-managing the day-to-day operations of a university.

“There are several ideas about creating screening processes for regents. Though I welcome suggestions on potential regents from stakeholders at the universities, the ultimate appointment decision lies with the governor and it is a responsibility I take very seriously.

“The current governor’s proposal does not have any bearing on how a future governor will proceed with the selection of regents. As outlined, my guiding principles when selecting a regent would be qualifications and commitment to the institution’s academic mission.”

Karl Rove, left, and Joe Lockhart attempt to speak over each other during Thursday's debate. (Photo by Heath Haussamen)

The final session of the Domenici Public Policy Conference at times felt like a contentious panel discussion on a cable news channel as Karl Rove and Joe Lockhart debated national politics and Sam Donaldson worked hard – but often unsuccessfully – to steer the discussion.

Rove, a senior adviser to former President George W. Bush, and Lockhart, former President Bill Clinton’s last press secretary, agreed on at least one thing: Voters are angry and are going to send a lot of elected Democrats home on Nov. 2.

“People are mad as hell,” Lockhart said. “People are economically insecure… and it’s gotten to the point where they don’t see the light at the end of the tunnel.”

Rove said there are two sources of the angst – a lack of jobs and an increase in government spending and big deficits.

“They are mad as hell, and they’re going to take it out on the Democrats this fall because they’re the ones who perpetrated the spending.”

The debate turned into an argument from there, with Rove blaming President Barack Obama for not reaching out to Republicans in the bipartisan way he promised and Lockhart blaming Republicans for totally obstructing the Democrats’ agenda in an attempt to take back power.

Karl Rove (Photo by Heath Haussamen)

They debated the health-care reform bill, the Iraq war and other topics, at times talking over each other and ignoring attempts by Donaldson, an ABC newsman, to keep things under control.

Lockhart was more often willing to concede points to Rove, and at one point he admitted that Democrats have practiced obstructionism in the past for political reasons as well. Rove, on the other hand, didn’t concede points, spoke quickly and at length and pulled poll numbers and other statistics from years ago out of his head to defend his points.

The midterm election

When Donaldson finally got the two to talk about the upcoming midterm election, both agreed that Republicans will gain ground. Donaldson said Republicans need to win 39 seats in the House and 10 in the Senate to take control of each.

Lockhart predicted that Democrats will retain control of the Senate but lose 5-8 seats. He didn’t make a prediction about the House.

Rove predicted that Republicans will gain 7-8 seats in the Senate in November and take control of the Senate in 2012. He said the GOP will gain 37-55 seats in the House.

Perhaps the most striking number cited by Rove – Lockhart later said this scares him – is that millions more Republicans are voting in primaries this year than Democrats. So far it’s almost 4 million more.

That hasn’t happened in a non-presidential election year since 1926, Rove said. And while 82 million people voted in the midterm election four years ago, Rove predicted that 90 million to 95 million will vote this year – which would be the largest turnout in a non-presidential election since the 1880s.

Joe Lockhart (Photo by Heath Haussamen)

Gubernatorial races

Talking with the media after the debate, Rove predicted big gains for Republicans in governor’s races across the nation. He acknowledged backing Allen Weh over Susana Martinez in New Mexico’s GOP primary, calling Weh a “close personal friend,” but also cited Martinez among those who could make the year so notable for the Republican Party.

Rove predicted that Republicans will gain 8-10 governorships and 500 seats in state legislatures across the nation – which will be critical in redrawing the nation’s congressional district boundaries. But he said gubernatorial races are important for another reason.

It’s conceivable, Rove said, that in 2011 the nation will have two Indian-American governors, both Republican; its first female Hispanic governor, referring to Martinez, a Republican; and seven Republican female governors, which he said would be the most from either party at any time in American history.

That, Rove said, “could really help strengthen the Republican Party for the long haul.”

‘We’re all in this country together’

Following the debate, Donaldson praised Rove and Lockhart for keeping it civil. He said that was in the spirit of former U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici.

“This debate got hot and heavy at times, but never mean,” Donaldson said. “We can have our debates… but we’re all in this country together and we all succeed or fail as one.”

You can watch the debate here.

Donaldson threw his hands up in the air after an unsuccessful attempt to steer the debate. (Photo by Heath Haussamen)