~Moving Arts
Espanola, NM – Moving Arts Española is excited to announce the launch of the Mars Odyssey Project, an innovative initiative designed to revolutionize Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education with a special focus on cybersecurity. This groundbreaking project will be integrated into the Mathematics, Engineering, Science, Achievement (MESA) classes at Española Valley High School (EVHS), providing students with a dynamic and engaging learning platform. Mars Odyssey is not just another educational program; it’s an immersive experience that brings STEM to life through the power of gamification. By incorporating hands-on activities with both software and hardware commonly used in today’s industry, the project aims to ignite students' interest in topics such as programming, web design, security best practices, 3D printing, and more. The interactive nature of the program ensures that learning is both fun and meaningful, bridging the gap between theoretical knowledge and practical application. The project includes a dedicated team of professionals including high school interns, NNMC college students, recent graduates, and seasoned professionals. This project structure provides valuable work based learning experiences, near peer support, and professional mentorship to aspiring STEAM students. Leading the implementation of the Mars Odyssey Project in the schools for Moving Arts is Christopher Maestas, a versatile member of Moving Arts Española, who also teaches Hip Hop and Gymnastics and manages Light and Sound, among other roles. Christopher, who holds a bachelor’s degree in Information Technology and Engineering from Northern New Mexico College, brings his expertise and passion for technology to this initiative, eager to inspire and educate local youth. He will work in collaboration with the MESA teachers at EVHS–Lyne Salero and Janice Badongen Patel-e to bring the project to life in the classroom. A key component of Mars Odyssey is its emphasis on cybersecurity. Students will be introduced to the potential dangers associated with various technologies and software, gaining essential skills in handling and protecting Personal Identifying Information (PII) and Sensitive Personal Identifying Information (SPII). This knowledge is crucial in today’s digital age, equipping students with the tools they need to safeguard their data in any future pursuit. The project’s first beta test, conducted in mid-July, was a resounding success. The positive feedback from participating teens has reaffirmed the project's approach and provided valuable insights for further refinement. As a result, the Mars Odyssey team is now preparing to deploy the first full iteration of the project at EVHS on October 10th, 2024 which means students get to play. With their feedback the Mars Odyssey game will continue to adapt and new challenges will be created. “We are thrilled to see our students embark on this journey, exploring the fascinating world of STEM and cybersecurity through a lens of adventure and discovery,” said Christopher Maestas. This exciting new educational experience is made possible through the generous funding from the Google Kids Initiative and the New Mexico Community Trust Technological Grant. Their support enables the Mars Odyssey Project to expand its reach and impact, bringing cutting-edge STEM education to the students of Española Valley High School. Stay tuned for more updates as we continue to develop and grow this groundbreaking initiative! For more information about the Mars Odyssey Project or to schedule an interview, please contact: Contact: Carmelita Archuleta , Marketing and Communications Coordinator Email: carmelitaarchuleta@movingartsespanola.org Phone: 844-623-2787
0 Comments
Victims, police expert among those who can testify in 2023 Oñate shooting trial, judge rules10/3/2024 Trial judge resolves evidence and testimony disputes one week before trial is scheduled to begin By: Austin Fisher Source NM A judge on Monday afternoon set guardrails around certain evidence and witness testimony in the upcoming attempted murder trial of a man who shot a climate activist at a protest over a controversial monument in northern New Mexico.
First Judicial District Court Judge Jason Lidyard ruled on five disputes between state prosecutors and defense attorneys for Ryan Martinez. Video shows Martinez repeatedly trying to rush into an area outside the County Commission chambers in Española in September 2023 where around 50 people were peacefully celebrating officials’ decision to postpone resurrecting a statue of genocidal Spanish conquistador Juan de Oñate. Martinez shot Jacob Johns, a Hopi, Akimel O’odham activist from Washington, once in the chest, according to the footage. Martinez is accused of then turning the gun on Malaya Peixinho. The gun jammed, the video shows, and Martinez fled the scene. Attorneys on both sides told Lidyard they’ve been working around the clock to prepare for the trial, which begins on Monday and is expected to conclude two weeks later. Martinez, 24, has been held in the Rio Arriba County jail in Tierra Amarilla for nearly a year awaiting trial. On Monday and at prior hearings, he could be seen attending via video link, waving to his mother Lita Martinez, holding his hand over his heart and carrying a miniature U.S. Constitution in the breast pocket of his jail uniform. Victims can testify about their injuries. Martinez’s lawyers asked the judge to prohibit Johns and Peixinho from testifying about their injuries from the shooting. Lidyard ruled Johns and Peixinho can testify about their injuries and medical treatment. When the sides argued the issue at a hearing on Sept. 26, Marshall Ray, one of Martinez’s two defense attorneys, said the evidence of Johns’ “pain and suffering” after the shooting cannot be tied to his client’s intentions as it was happening. To prove the attempted first-degree murder charge, prosecutors will have to convince the jury that Martinez intended to kill Johns when he shot him. Ray argued “those after-effects can’t possibly be relevant to intent.” Lidyard said at the time that many people probably have common knowledge that getting shot at close range in the chest has the potential for serious harm, and Johns could testify as a matter of fact that “the injuries that he sustained could have killed him, but for the treatment he received, and his recovery.” Then on Monday, Lidyard said without being in the trial, he can’t specifically say what is or isn’t admissible from the victims’ testimony, but he believes Johns’ “pain and suffering” would not be relevant. “He may discuss the injuries he sustained, the prognosis of him recovering from those injuries, and the treatment he received and the amount of time it took him to recover, but as to pain and suffering, the court cannot see what the relevance would be,” Lidyard said. If the defense believes prosecutors cross a line in their questioning the victims, Lidyard said he expects them to object. Police use-of-force expert can testify. Prosecutors wanted to limit or entirely exclude former Albuquerque police officer Damon Fay from the trial, arguing that his testimony would confuse the jury because use of force by private citizens like Martinez is different from use of force by police. Lidyard ruled Fay can give his expert opinion about the requirements to obtain a concealed carry license, which are relevant because Martinez had a concealed carry license and a concealed firearm when the shooting happened. Lidyard also said he believes Fay can testify about things relevant to self-defense, and specifically whether “a danger of death or great bodily harm was presented to Mr. Martinez.” However, Lidyard said he will not allow Fay “to invade the province of the jury,” meaning it’s the jury’s job — not his — to determine the facts of the case. Lidyard said he “has great concerns that may happen.” For example, a question like, “Would a reasonable person in the same circumstances of Mr. Ryan Martinez have done the same thing?” would invade the province of the jury, Lidyard said. “The court will rely on the state to make objections as they see fit to ensure that that does not occur,” Lidyard said. An independent expert previously told Source New Mexico the rules governing self-defense deal with how a reasonable person on the street would perceive and react to the situation, and not what a trained police professional would do. Late-arriving witnesses can testify Martinez’s defense attorneys asked the judge to prohibit the jury from hearing from anyone who was not already made available for pre-trial interviews, which allow a defendant to investigate their case before going to trial. Lidyard ruled that even though prosecutors did not make some of their witnesses available for pre-trial interviews, there are three who can still testify. They include James Mayer, an Española police detective who handled the crime scene evidence, and Richard Miskimmins and David Wachter, two doctors who helped treat Johns’ wounds. Prosecutors had good reason not to name the two doctors previously, because the primary treating physicians when the shooting happened are unable to testify, Lidyard said. One moved to another country and the other no longer works at the University of New Mexico Hospital, Chief Deputy District Attorney Anthony Long previously said. Lidyard ordered Long to make the doctors available for pre-trial interviews before the trial begins. Attorney in civil cases must also testify. Mariel Nanasi is an attorney representing Johns and Peixinho in possible civil rights and tort claims. Martinez’s lawyers issued a subpoena to Nanasi, calling on her to testify. Nanasi asked the court to quash the subpoena. On Monday, Nanasi argued the subpoena would only harm her clients by having the effect of making her a witness, and therefore prohibiting her from speaking to them while the case is pending. She said she attended the protest but did not see the moment Martinez fired his gun. She said Martinez’s lawyers could have gotten the same facts from a number of other witnesses. However, Lidyard ruled she must honor the subpoena. The exact reason remains unclear, because criminal defendants are not required to “show their hand” before a trial begins. For a little less than 10 minutes, Lidyard met privately with Martinez’s lawyers so they could freely tell him why they are calling Nanasi to testify. When they returned to the public hearing, Lidyard said the defense’s reasons for calling Nanasi “are material to their case,” and she has “exclusive” testimony that’s enough to deny her motion. Some evidence, testimony irrelevant. Prosecutors wanted to call Jimmy Creed, Martinez’s parents’ neighbor in Cedar Crest, New Mexico, to tell the jury about an incident involving Martinez in the months leading up to the shooting. They also wanted to show the jury items found in Martinez’s bedroom by State Police investigators after the shooting. Lidyard ruled that Creed cannot testify, and items investigators found in Martinez’s bedroom are irrelevant, because Martinez didn’t take any of the items to Española. “All of these items remained at his residence and were not utilized in any fashion during the course of the events for which this case is associated,” Lidyard said. The evidence would only be admissible if Martinez’s defense somehow “opens the door” to it, Lidyard said. By Zach Hively Here comes Studio Tour season. It's October, which around here means it’s time for our most hallowed annual tradition—cramming to get ready for the Abiquiú Studio Tour. For some, this tradition means taking time to affix some final price tags to finished pieces and getting some good sleep leading up to the Tour itself. But for the rest of us who aren’t that one person, it means creating a year’s worth of high-quality art in eleven days. Or, sometimes, learning a new artisan trade in those eleven days. This time, for me, looks like assessing if I can still write an entire book of poetry and get it printed without paying some exorbitant expedited rate. Even I can’t speed up that fast. So, this time of year instead means I get to slow down. And why not? I spend 50.5 weeks a year on the computer, where I can look up information any time I want, even and especially if it is irrelevant to the work I’m meant to be doing. I don’t get a lot done, but I get it not done at ludicrously fast speeds, so long as the local internet is working. So when the leaves are changing, I get to shelve my computer and my ambition for the last ten or, if we’re honest, four days before Studio Tour. And I lug out my trusty Royal typewriter. I introduced the Royal to my poetry process many years ago. You see, I feel not quite right when I try drafting poetry on a computer. There’s an alchemy to creating something physical; also, it’s really tough to niggle over a comma placement on a typewritten page, or to check baseball scores. So! I type poems on actual paper, and I check baseball scores on my phone without even having to open a new browser tab. But you know what? There’s something else special about words typewritten by hand, something I learned when I framed poems for my first-ever Abiquiú Studio Tour, and that is this: People will pay actual money for them. This is rare in the poetry world. Everyone from my parents to my poetry teachers has warned me never to anticipate significant financial windfall from my work, or any financial windfall at all. I cannot mass produce these hand-crafted poems, much as my bank account might like me to. I’m stuck going as slow as I can one-finger type. And that’s okay—because this way, studio tourists might have some leftover funds for all the other magnificent artists involved.
Besides, it feels really good to be using my hands for more than computer work again. I hope I remember this feeling the next time October rolls around without warning, as it so often does. Why Does This Matter?
Well, let’s put it in perspective. There’s over $7 trillion currently parked in Money Market funds. Yes, trillion—with a "T." That’s a mountain of cash just waiting to move. Now, obviously, not all of it will budge. People still need some "rainy day" money (you know, for when your roof starts leaking). But $7 trillion? That’s a lot of "just in case" cash! Where Will This Money Go? Some of that cash is bound to head toward higher-yielding investments—bonds and high dividend-paying stocks. It’s like trading in a Camry for a Range Rover. You’re still going to get from point A to B, but now you’re doing it for real. Utilities are a great example here: solid companies paying steady dividends, like the dependable but slightly boring cousin of the stock world. And let’s not forget bonds. If you grabbed high-quality bonds before rates started falling, you're living the dream with higher interest payments and price appreciation. It’s like you bought a house before the market went crazy—now, not only are you sitting pretty, but you can tell all your friends how smart you are. But here's the interesting part—I think a big chunk of this money is going to head straight for growth stocks. Tech stocks, industrials, consumer goods. It’s like the money is saying, "Hey, I’ve had my sensible phase, now let’s get really serious!" What Does This Mean for Markets? For the stock and bond markets, it means there’s going to be a flood of cash rolling in over the next year or two. Think of it like the tide coming in—good for the beach, good for returns, and definitely good for those of us who like to sit back and watch our portfolios grow. Of course, let’s not get too carried away. Life has a way of throwing in surprises—those lovely "Black Swan" events (thanks for nothing, 2008!). So, maybe don’t throw all your money into the mix. There are still plenty of conservative options that won’t keep you up at night. But if you’re smart, thoughtful, and maybe just a little lucky, this shift could be a golden opportunity. Got financial questions? Send them to Peter J. Nagle at thoughtfulincome@gmail.com. |
Submit your ideas for local feature articles
Profiles Gardening Recipes Observations Birding Essays Hiking AuthorsYou! Archives
October 2024
Categories
All
|