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Much debate has been sparked by a recent and devisive Supreme Court ruling.

While dogfighting and other forms of animal cruelty have been illegal in the U.S., on Tuesday, April 18, 2010, the Supreme Court  struck down a national law that made it a crime to compose or sell dogfight videos along with any depictions of animal abuse. The decision was made 8-1, with the majority arguing the law was too broad and also unconstitutional because it limited freedom of speech.

"It should be illegal if you're just exploiting animals," said Sergio Marquez, Geology major (Photo by Victoria Molinar)

This decision disturbed many animal rights activist, who argue that allowing the trafficking of videos with animal cruelty will advocate the illegal acts. Free speech advocates argue that the law was too narrow and could punish those who are not using the videos as a promotion, but as journalistic coverage.

What started the debate?

"The new law just makes matters worse, but it does protect our freedom of speech because it allows people to express their beliefs." -Janet Rodriguez, Criminal Justice major (Photo by Victoria Molinar)

In 2004, Virginia citizen Robert Stevens was brought to the court for producing films of dogfights. While he did not participate in the dogfights, Stevens did, however, create and sell videotapes showing the fights. At the time, there was a 1999 federal statute that made it illegal to create, possess or sell videos with depictions of animal cruelty unless the material was of “serious value”. While Stevens defended that his videos sales should be protected by the First Amendment, he was sentenced to 37 months in prison.  

Proctection of the First Amendment

The case was once again examined on April 18. According to the Huffington Post, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., who wrote for the majority vote, said that the 1999 law was startling and dangerous and that, “The First Amendment’s guarantee of free speech does not extend only to categories of speech that survive ad hoc balancing of relative social costs and benefits.”  The Media Coalition also argued that the extent of the statute would possibly punish authors and illustrators of films, magazines and illustrated books that depict acts such as hunting and bullfighting.

Advocation of animal abuse

"The decision is going to raise more controversy with groups like PETA, but no matter what decision is made, there's always going to be a person that is not satisfied." -Stephanie Sanchez, Criminal Justice major (Photo by Victoria Molinar)

Other people point out that allowing videos which depict animal cruelty will also advocate it because the 1999 statute was intended to criminalize the production of the alleged “crush videos” (also called “squish videos”), which are fetish and pornography videos that basically show women stepping  on and killing small animals with their heels (often stiletto heels).

Now that the law has been stuck down, such videos can legally be made and trafficked.

"Dogfight videos should be illegal because they can promote animal cruelty." -Peter Hornbecker (Photo by Victoria Molinar)

In an opinion article on the New York Times,  Stanley Fish, who was not entirely for the Supreme Court decision, wrote, “…aside from a direct incitement to violence or an act of treason, no expressive activity can be worthless enough to forfeit its constitutional protection. So much for the kittens.”

Solicitor General Elena Kagan and Justice Samuel Alito argued that in the way that filming child pornography promotes and causes child abuse, actions depicted on crush videos will do the same, and the number of animal abuse crimes will be reduced if crush videos are made illegal.

For someone who writes, creates and records all his own music, 22 year-old MEGA is a rather humble guy.

MEGA, who is Las Cruces born and raised, doesn’t give off the typical Southwestern vibe in his appearance, demeanor or style of music. He has that “cool guy” vibe without the air of pompousness that accompanies musicians more often than not.

MEGA, who asked that his real name not be tied to his music, is an eclectic combination of different parts in his life, which are, in turn, used to create the music he makes.

Influenced by life

In fact, if one happened to hear a MEGA song such as “Solid Gold,” it would be more reminiscent of a solid electronic dance track and far apart from most other local music coming out of Las Cruces. This all makes sense when considering the project MEGA got its start in Sacramento, Calif., and what influences the music isn’t as simple as his home town.

“Las Cruces definitely influences me, but I wouldn’t limit it to just that,” said MEGA.
There is a certain amount of detail and purpose that can be attributed for everything MEGA does – and that sort of certainty that even shines through in his music.

Origins of name

The name MEGA is the shortened name of the original project name, which was Mega Putty.  This term came from the Putty Patrol, the army used by the arch villain of the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers during the show’s first season. After a full year of being called Mega Putty, the name was shortened to MEGA and has been the same ever since.

Although MEGA is from Las Cruces, there are places he’d rather be. Las Cruces isn’t as inviting musically as it was in Sacramento, where the project got its start. For that reason alone, there are cities such as Phoenix and Austin that MEGA would rather live in because the music scene is much more inviting and everyone isn’t into whatever is popular music-wise. MEGA even mentioned moving back to Sacramento when asked about it.

When asked how he got into making music, MEGA attributed it to one group, AIDS B***H. A friend of MEGA’s showed him the group’s demo, and MEGA was so elated with what he heard made him want to start recording his own music.

Instruments of choice – Mac and PC

Shortly thereafter, a few songs were made, and from then on the project took off. The music is made all on his two computers, one a PC and one a Mac.

When asked why it was all done on computers MEGA said, “Everything sounds full. If I had more people, I would be more open to live sound.” While MEGA said that he doesn’t really listen to any new music, he did cite Fischerspooner as being one of the only bigger bands he found musical influence from. He said he listens to the music his friends’ bands create.

Intentional sound

The words and tones of MEGA’s music are anything but accidents; his songs sound the way they do because he meant them to sound like that. The situations are real and content isn’t meant for everyone, he points out.

“My audience age group is 18-24. I have a little bit more adult underlying concepts, I don’t write things for 14 year-olds,” said MEGA.

Currently, MEGA is in school. He is a Creative Media student at New Mexico State University whose focus is on sound design. MEGA said it would help him to create better music and have a more professional sound.

“It’s critical that I move on,” MEGA added.

Real-life connections

Apart from being in school and working on new music, MEGA said he spent a majority of his time managing relationships with friends because “if I don’t have anything going in my life, I don’t have anything to write about.” 

One of MEGA’s close friends and fellow artist Tom McFarland described MEGA as being “fun, random and weird, but in a good way.” If one were to look at MEGA’s Twitter account the words fun, random and weird would definitely come to mind. (The latest reading: Light as a feather, stiff as a boner.)

When asked about the flurry of bizarre Twitter posts MEGA said, “If I hear funny things I’ll put it on Twitter.”

When it comes to live music, MEGA has played a number of shows in Las Cruces and lately has been playing more live shows in Albuquerque including one at the Launchpad last month.

For his fans who have been asking him for new music, he’s got a new song called “Like An Animal” that comes out this summer.

After hearing MEGA’s music, it is clear that the songs made aren’t commonplace pop hits and they actually have substance to them. The lyrics in MEGA’s songs and especially his latest single, “Solid Gold,” show that while the words sung are synthesized and mixed incredibly well with the overall sound of the song, what’s being said has a harsh dosage of reality. It was pointed out that the lyrics to “Solid Gold” were written about a relationship MEGA was in where what sounded good, unfortunately, wasn’t reality.

In this light MEGA’s music starts to take shape –  that it is just one man expressing himself, yet staying true to himself and his music. As MEGA said, “Doing what I do.”

If anyone wants to check out MEGA music, go to www.myspace.com/MEGA or see his Twitter at www.twitter.com/softbeats

The recent “scandal” with Tiger Woods has proven once again that people would much rather concern themselves with the private affairs of a celebrity than any of the numerous more pressing issues that affect their lives.

Watching the news, one can easily tell that health care and the war in the Middle East are among the most pressing issues the government is dealing with, and the result of the decisions made on these issues will affect the entire country. Despite this, the news story that gets harped on the most is on the love life of a pro-golfer.                                                                                                Overexposed

How does Tiger Woods’s sex life affect the lives of anyone who is not intimately associated with him? Mentioning it once is expected, since he is a celebrity, even if it is for golf. However, there is no reason to give the public the blow-by-blow and further invade this man’s privacy just to get a story in the news.

The only people who are hurt from his actions, other than his wife and family, are those who invested in his image. To try and milk the situation for profit is the most pathetic excuse for privacy violation I can think of. Only the announcement of the deed and his apology are newsworthy. There are more important stories that should be focused on.

Let the tabloids handle the deplorable business of privacy invasion for profit, and let everyone else in the business get back to respectable reporting and important news stories.

The other day I wasn’t very happy. I wanted a new camera, my computer was crashing, my car batteries 
were dead, and my Ipod was outdated. I looked around my room and thought, “But I have so much stuff, why 
do I want more?”

We all have too much stuff. In the past 10 years I’ve had: two computers, 15 cell phones, three iPods, four TV’s, 
three DVD players, two cars – and the list can carry on forever with clothes, cosmetics, books etc. 
So where did all my stuff come from and where did it go? Why do I keep having this feeling of 
dissatisfaction? 


What goes into my stuff?


First of all, materials are extracted, then the product assembled, and then transported to the shelves where I can buy.
Extraction, or natural resource exploitation, has consumed 1/3 of all resources in America in the past 
decade. Today, the U.S. has less than 4 percent of its original forests. To compensate for the loss, we have 
gone to Third World countries to finish exploiting their resources, so now, 80 percent of the planet’s original 
forests are gone, all in all, destroying the planet.


To complete my product, the iron was probably extracted from South Africa, the petroleum was drilled 
from Iraq, and the final product was assembled by some kid in a factory in Mexico.  
When I go to Best Buy to get a new television, I am contributing to this system of trashing the world! 
Kids in Mexico, Congo, Taiwan and Guatemala are risking their lives and childhood so I can get the latest 
digital camera. And for how long will it be the latest? In the United States, 99 percent of the products we buy from the shelves are in the trash after six months of use. 


Trained to comsume

The truth is, American society is driven by consumption. Today we consume twice as much as we did 
50 years ago. We get depressed when our phone doesn’t take pictures, we get frustrated when we can’t 
Twitter, check our Facebook, and chat while sitting through a lecture. 


Are we really to blame? In the U.S., each of us is targeted with more than 3,000 advertisements per 
day. All day we are told that what we have is wrong, and we can make it right by buying something new, and continue to contribute to the system of consumption. 
So right now I don’t really have the urge to go out, replace my batteries, get the latest Macbook, get a 
new SUV or change my Nano to a Touch. I’m going to try and perpetrate this feeling of satisfaction and turn 
my TV off, so I don’t get low again, feeling sorry that I don’t have enough. 

Find more about stuff!

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Even with the recession in full effect, college tuition keeps increasing.  But at New Mexico State University tuition is still reasonably priced compared to the rest of the United States.

NMSU and other campuses

According to College Board, students and their families can expect to pay an increase next year anywhere from $150 to more than $1,000.  This is about a 6.5 percent rise in tuition for public education.  The increase is almost identical to last year’s increase of 6.4 percent.  Students going to NMSU or  planning to attend in the fall of 2010 can expect to pay an increase of about $120 in their tuition.  This would make the cost to attend NMSU from $2,370 to $2,499 per semester.

NMSU

Students will expect to pay more money for tuition next year. (Photo illustration by Carli Chavez

While there is a jump in  tuition for colleges across the U.S., NMSU is not anywhere near the top 100 highest-priced colleges.  For a New Mexico  resident planning to attend an in-state college, the prices are even lower.  For an in-state student attending New Mexico State University, the price is about $4,998. The price for an out-of-state student is about $15,150.  This means that a credit hour for in-state students is $208 while the same credit for an out-of-state student costs $631.

Lottery Scholarship

The main way New Mexicans can save money by going to a New Mexico college is through the Lottery Scholarship.  This scholarship is offered to college students who finish their first year of college with a cumulative grade point average of at least a 2.5 and applies for another 12 hours of classes the following semester.  The scholarship covers tuition, but does not cover the fees.  The Lottery Scholarship is only one of the many scholarships, loans and grants that are accessible to NMSU students.

For the past three years that I have been in college here at New Mexico State University, there has been a problem with fire alarms being pulled late at night in the dorms. I am shocked that campus housing has not figured out a solution to this problem.

Each time the fire alarm is pulled, students have to get out of bed and walk to the safe area outside the dorms. The alarms seem to go off from 3 a.m. to 5 a.m., so it’s more than annoying or inconvenient.

On top of that, the NMSU Department of Fire and Emergency Services has to rush over to make sure there isn’t a fire. They have to check every single room in the dormitory. This is known to happen sometimes more than once or twice a week.

I don’t live in the dorms, but I do live on campus and I can hear the alarms go off all the time. Students who find it amusing to wake everyone up are the ones setting off the fire alarm. But somehow each year’s dorm prankers do not get caught. I feel that it is time to put a stop to this!

I don’t think this would be a difficult problem to solve if it was looked into. Hidden cameras at a location where there is a fire alarm that can be pulled seems like an option.

I believe that even if one student got caught, the word would get out and the alarm pulling would stop. It’s important that we save the fire alarm for when it is truly needed.  Ever hear of “The Boy Who Cried Wolf?”

As a sports fan, these past few weeks have felt like paradise.  The football season has been filled with great games and storylines up to this point, both college and pro. The NBA season just began, and looks to be more competitive than it has been in years. College basketball is right around the corner and the World Series featured two of baseball’s most storied teams. With all these sports going on at once, it got me to thinking, which one is the best?

People love to hate baseball. “It’s too boring,” they say. “There’s not enough action; it takes too long.”  That’s just because they’ve never taken the time to fully appreciate the game and its beauty. Even though I may be a bit biased because I played the sport, it didn’t have an effect on my decision. Baseball isn’t called America’s Pastime for nothing.

Unlike any other major sport, baseball can be played by anyone. You don’t have to have to look like the Incredible Hulk to play (steroid era aside), you don’t have to be incredibly fast, you don’t have to have great size and you can even be clumsy and awkward – such as yours truly – and still be highly successful.

Baseball is 90 percent mental and 10 percent physical, and that’s what makes it so great. It’s a thinking-man’s game, almost like a chess match. There’s no time limit, and the manager is constantly strategizing about his next move even before he makes his first one.

The degree of difficulty on the sport is unlike any other. Hitting a baseball has often been said to be the hardest thing to do in a sport, and that’s correct. A player who fails seven out of 10 times is still an all-star or maybe even a hall-of-famer.

So next time you want to bag on baseball, just remember one thing; anyone can go out on a field and hit someone, run around, or shoot a ball at a hoop, but it takes a real man to fail 70-80percent of the time and come right back the next day looking to do it all over again.

Here's the sign that stands before the Painted Desert badlands at Petrified Forest National Park. (Photo by Katy Barnitz)

Editorial by Katy Barnitz

Why look at the sign when the real thing is right there?

During a recent trip to the Petrified Forest National Park, looking out at the many mounds of rocks that gradate from red to orange creating Arizona’s painted desert, something stood in my way.

An informational sign, featuring multiple pictures of the shale and sandstone hills, and a bit of information about the site obstructed the view – one picture which appears to have been taken from the exact place the viewer is standing.

Please don’t misunderstand.  I’m a lover of information; I read the captions under posters in museums, the fine print on the lower half of full page magazine ads, and the ingredients in foods which I probably would be better off not reading.

I don’t want to advocate against signs.  I don’t understand, however, why, after paying $10  to enter a park for the sole purpose of looking at this beautiful site, viewers would need a slightly sun-faded picture, printed on a bulky, badly placed sign, to fully appreciate it.

While this sign was, perhaps, not as effective as I believe a sign could be, the park featured other very successful signs.

Another sign, placed further in the park, explained the reason for crevices in the hills.  It used a simple illustration to point out the very notable cracks in the slopes.  It was purely informational and quite efficient in explaining the process through which the crevices are created.

It is similarly understandable to show visitors something they might miss out on otherwise.  Perhaps a nocturnal animal in a zoo which day-time visitors might not see.

However, the painted desert isn’t going to move, and Arizona’s climate doesn’t exactly require precautions to be taken against dense fog .

And, what I could see with my very own eyes, a full view of the site, miles and miles of brick red, burnt umber and copper in all directions, was far, far better than any picture could portray or any printer could print.

Pigeons? These dove wish, as they sit atop this telephone line in Las Cruces. (Photo illustration by Clifton Trujillo)

Editorial by Clifton Trujillo

They crowd street corners to beg for food, mostly bread crumbs, and anyone who helps them is looked upon as crazy.  They’re forced into the worst parts of town, mostly roof tops, because no one wants to associate with them.  In fact, odds are you know someone who’s killed one.

Yet their involvement during World War I saved hundreds, and their role during World War II was on par with the atomic bomb.

I’m speaking about that veritable metropolitan eagle that doesn’t have male pattern baldness, known as the pigeon.  Yep, I’m talking about the avian war hero that is sometimes referred to as a rat with wings.  We should be ashamed of ourselves.

We’ve all heard of Sgt. Alvin York and his Bruce-Willis-style exploits during World War I, but what about the U.S. Army Signal Corps carrier pigeon, Cher Ami?  According to the National Museum of American History’s Website, this little warrior is credited with saving 194 members of Maj. Charles S. Whittlesey’s 77^th Infantry Division. 

Disconnected from the other American forces, the 77^th packed Ami’s message capsule with news of their situation.  Despite being shot through his breast and leg by enemy fire, Ami delivered the message, and the troops were soon safely behind American lines.   For his gallantry and perseverance, Cher Ami was awarded the French Croix de Guerre, which is France’s military decoration for bravery in combat.   After that Ami was transferred to Fort Monmouth, N.J., where he died of his wounds on June 13, 1919.  What an American.

With World War II it’s the same story.  You bring it up and it’s Audie Murphy this and Audie Murphy that.  Everyone talks about Murphy going to hell and back, but while Murphy was killing Natzis, carrier pigeon GI Joe was saving American lives by flying highly sensitive information all across high fire areas. 

According to Joe Razes’ article, “Pigeons of War,” from the magazine, “America in WWII,” GI Joe was the biggest avian superstar of World War II.  His most notable mission came when American forces planned to bomb the German-occupied Colvi Vecchia, Italy.  But before anything happened the Germans retreated unexpectedly.  This left nothing to stop the British 56^th Infantry Brigade from pouring into the town without knowledge of the scheduled bombing about to take place.  Onlooking American troops tried to raido in and cancel the attack, but their attempts failed.  Communications were down.  That’s when GI Joe was loaded with the order to abort the bombing.  Joe heeded the call and covered a span of 20 miles in 20 minutes and was able to get to Allied Support Command just in time.  For his gallantry, GI Joe was awarded Britain’s Dickin Medal by the lord mayor of London.

I know what you’re thinking, they’re just birds, big deal.  Doves are just birds.  Pigeons are not.  Yes the two are in the same family, but then again so are Alec and Stephen Baldwin.  No, these fearless, feathered fliers made their way across war-torn Europe, twice, when no one else could.  They kept important lines of communication open and saved countless lives.  No dove could ever do that.  The stress alone would have driven them to suicide.  I’ve seen it a thousand times.  Ok that’s not true, but I have seen a dove fly right into a sliding glass door, dying on impact.  You know who the only other group is who knows less about flying then doves?  The Wright brothers.

And for all their bravery and help, how have we repaid pigeons?  We’ve topped their favorite perches with death spikes.  We’ve tried to un-breed them by  feeding them birdie-birth control.  We’ve shit on them so much, it’s no wonder they literally shit on us.

 Anyone looking for a job nowadays knows exactly how hard it is to land one during these hard economic times.   People who are out of a job are scrambling to find one, and students are having a particularly difficult time.

New Mexico State University claims to be concerned about student employment, but its online student employment service, Ventana, does not make finding a job any easier. 

Ventana is an online employment system intended for students who do not qualify for work-study.   After logging into the Ventana system, students can apply for a number of job postings and upload a resume. 

According to the site, Ventana aims to “help defray the of a college education.”  But how can Ventana achieve this if students are never hired?

The idea behind an online student employment system seems great, right?  The only problem is, Ventana does not seem to be getting very many students jobs.

Personally, I have applied for more than 20 jobs on Ventana, and I haven’t received feedback on any of them.  Now, I’m not trying to talk myself up, but my resume isn’t lacking in experience.

The problem with the Ventana system is the fact that there is no confirmation after the student has applied.  Because of this, I have been worried that the employers have not actually received my application.  There is also no contact information for the employers, so there is no way to contact them directly in order to find out if the application has been reviewed.

If New Mexico State University wants to help students find employment, it should revise its online student employment system.