The Use of Telecommunications for Instruction in New Mexico

Good morning, welcome to the satellite portion of the Board of Educational Finance work session going on at New Mexico Junior College in Hobbes, New Mexico, some 300 plus miles south-south east of where I sit in Albuquerque in the studios of KNME TV. We are accessing this portion of the meeting from Albuquerque and from Santa Fe, where Senator Tom Rutherford sits with some mystery guests at this point. And what we wish to talk about and what you have been talking about in Hobbes at this work session is nothing less than a means of bringing educational opportunity to those people who do not live in our metropolitan regions, but who have every bit as much right as

anybody else to have the capacity to use the resources of our major higher education institutions. I'm Wayne Bundy. The Appointing is proceeding from the studio here with the Rocky Mountain Corporation for Public Broadcast Appoint, operated by KNME TV. In essence, as those of you at the work session know, and first I should, I suppose, greet formally those people who are there, members of the Board of Educational Finance, staff members from the BEF, the staff and administration of New Mexico Junior College, Dr. Alec Sanchez, who is the chairman of the Ed John Steering Committee, our distinguished guest, Dee Brock. Alex, I'm sure that she's not only better looking than you and I together are, but probably twice as smart. And beyond that point, I guess I should say everybody else, I prefer to think of as friends of higher education and friends of educational opportunity, including Representative George Fettinger, the sponsor in the last session of House Bill 248, the Educational Telecommunications

Systems Act, which was intended to make possible this extension of the service. Basis Ford is very simple and I do not intend to do on more than about another 30 seconds. We have six major baccalaureate grant institutions in the state. All of them have resources which exceed those that are available in the other 17 higher education sites within the state. What is needed is the ability to share those resources everywhere. And this system basically would provide one for distribution throughout the state to distribution centers at these other sites, followed by on the air broadcast over an ITF system so that these resources become available to students and the public within 30 miles of each one of those sites. And now without more ado, I did friend Senator Tom Rutherford from Albuquerque in Santa Bay with the other guests that he has managed to corral up there.

Tom? Thank you, Dr. Monday. I am indeed in the midst of a very distinguished group. We are in the basement of the state library building which is about a hundred yards north of the state capital building and we are in the media center there and our information will be sent to Albuquerque by microwave and then up to the satellite and back down to you at the Board of Educational Finance meeting in Hobbes. I have with me Senator Ben Alterano from Silver City at the home of Western New Mexico University, Representative Don Silva who is very involved in research and development and science applications throughout New Mexico and the Honorable Judge Fincher Nio who is from the Hobbes area and involved in the legal profession and each of us have our own reasons that we believe such an educational network is important. I will begin with my own. I am the chairman of the Committee on Economic Development and New Technology. We are meeting today in Santa Fe to discuss the problems that local communities faced

in attracting industry to their communities. One of the things that we have discovered is that if they were better equipped with information about the benefits of their communities focused in a way that industries would be receptive and if they were able to provide information that industry sought they would be better able to attract industry. Well that would be possible if we were able to conduct training sessions for local industrial development folks and with a network such as Representative Fincher has proposed that would be very possible, quite economical and I think would begin almost at once with a network in place. Senator Ben Alterano has a bit of a different interest I suspect. He represents some people who are in a rather isolated community in the Silver City area. And Senator don't you think they might benefit from such a network? Yes, thank you Tom. Well I think that being established in a remote area of South Western New Mexico, Western New Mexico University suffers from the lack of communication.

This certainly would help because as you know we've established a new vocational tech center there at Western New Mexico University and here before we've dealt with these items through the mail and telephone and other means of course pundits and it's a delaying factor and if we were able to get this information via technical methods why it certainly help our students down there, our teachers and also in the public schools and we could hook in and our industrial development committee we have at Silver City in New Mexico is very progressive and we could get linked into some of this information that takes us a long time to get done in that area. I think it would be a plus for us. And in your private life you have interest in banking and savings alone in the insurance industry and I'm sure having seen that you have seen what the communications revolution has done for instance the banking industry and it would seem like such a network here just as the private sector has available for the public sector to serve education would be

very beneficial. And that's absolutely true the other point is of course we'd be linked in not only to the high tech portion of the educational system but also the political portion you know because the state government and other resources that we have available in Santa Fe it takes a while to get into the remote areas and by having this high tech link up by everybody who would be this information would be more excessive to my constituents. The Grand County area has been heavily dependent on the mining industry for its survival. That industry is declining and I would think job retraining would be especially important and this network might provide opportunities in that area as well. Absolutely and I represent also a person of Socorro and I don't operate I don't represent the area that the university is located in but we since they specialize in mining we could certainly use some of the information that they put out at Socorro Tech for Western

New Mexico University. I think it would be a tremendous help for our area and all facets that if we could give this hook up for Western New Mexico University. Don's over speaking of technology you're very involved in technology research and development and it seems like if New Mexico is going to continue to stay in the forefront we've got to have these kinds of linkages and we've got to have access to the latest of technology wouldn't you agree? Absolutely Tom. One of the things that the New Mexico offers is lots of technologies and lots of places both at the universities and not the national laboratories and some of the defense installations. One of the important things is the synergism that comes from just scientists talking to each other and building on each other's ideas and I think network the likes of which we're talking about here is an excellent communication tool. I frankly think the limits of the network like this are really the limits from the imagination of the people who use them.

One quick thing that comes to mind right now is there's a requirement for hazardous waste training for all new employees by every company operating or dealing with hazardous waste. It's a very important educational tool of this type of network could you could use being saved from a university. Universities themselves have hazardous waste disposal problems and there is a requirement in the law that everyone get trained in that arena. All new employees especially if there's a spill or an accident situation so that's one thing. The whole question of the inner communication of the scientists and even the non-scientists through a network like this I think is very important. I think another very important tool and use for it is in my particular profession and I think it is patterned after the medical profession. If you're a specialist in an area you have to maintain so many continued education credits by taking courses in your particular field in it. If you will upgrading your knowledge I think this network is an excellent way to get credit

for that type of thing. I think we're going to have to go through the business of getting each of these courses accredited. This tied in with the VCRs that everyone has now I think is just a fantastic tool and I think it will be certainly a good economic development tool for the state. Thank you. Jez Neal speaking of continuing education the legal profession certainly focuses on continuing education. Wouldn't this be a valuable tool for the lawyers say down in Hobbes? Yes and Tom I'm sure you're understanding that now you don't quit maybe that continually the education when you graduate from law school you have seminars the state of our association has one is conducting trial lawyers have one and it's a continued every day of any lawyer to continue his legal education. Same thing applies to judges it helps us have a trial quite a bit too. Your family has long distinguished themselves in a legal profession it must have been very

difficult though to travel that great distance to be able to take advantage of these kinds of programs. Everybody says when did you decide to become a lawyer and I said I didn't know I was never going to be anything but a lawyer you mean Jez could truly be a circuit writer. Yes and me electronic circuits and all this is tremendous idea and a tremendous saving of time and travel and wonderful life I think it's a great idea. Here's a special friend of yours it's in Hobbes and as long as we're speaking to the folks in your hometown did you have a personal note that you wanted to add today? Well I understand Nelson Tideans is going to retire from the BEF today is that true and I believe that's the case. And you know that that's Mr. Education and Lee County they have honored Tom by naming the auditorium against for him but that's not what he'll be remembered as he'll be remembered as a true educator and a truth for him to study.

I think all of us would like to thank you who served on the BEF for your service to the citizens of this state. This is one of the new kinds of services that the educational community can provide. The structure and the nature of education is changing as we all realize and this is one way that we can keep up in New Mexico. All of us believe in the proposal and we know that you'll give it thoughtful consideration or congratulations to represent the representative Fettinger for his thoughtful study and thorough consideration of it. And Dr. Bundy I think we're done with our pitch and Santa Fe. I hope that we have at least shown how such a linkage can be important and can serve the decision-making process throughout the state. Thank you Senator Rutherford down to you other gentlemen up there Judge Neal, Senator

Aldemarano and Representative Don Silva from Albuquerque. Don I think back to the day when you were sitting in George Fettinger's office and George introduced us with what I've come to believe is one of his typical upbeat introductions. He said, hey, I've got this guy. He's the devil's advocate. Why don't you and Alex Sanchez explain to him why this is a good thing? And when we got through, Darn, you seem to be reasonably convinced of it and certainly your comments today have added to that. When we start talking about something like the system distribution, we tend to get bogged down in details, but nevertheless it might be useful if at this point we take a brief look at some of the communities to be served in the minute or two that we have left. In the packet of information available for this work session, there is a map, but nevertheless let's sort of run over some of those communities again.

The backbone of the system as proposed involves a two-way system of communication, basically between Portalos, Albuquerque and Las Cruces and Return, plus two and from the other Bata Laureate institutions at Las Vegas, Sicoro, and Silver City, plus a number of other communities up in the Northeast, Clayton, Ritone, coming down the east side, Santa Rosa, Tukamkara, Clovis, and on down into the far southeast, Croswell, Artigia, Hobbes, and Curlsbad, where of course in Hobbes there's long been an enjoying and effective ITFS system across in the South Central and Southwest, Silver City, Deming, Las Cruces, including the new Correctional Facility outside of town, Alamogordo, quite obviously up in the northwest, Grand Scalap Farmington, and finally in the North Central part, Espignola, Los Alamos, Santa Fe, El

Rido, and Taues. Now there was a statement made earlier this year that we now have community colleges or some other method of outreach in essentially to reach some 90% as I recall of the population. The point that I would now make is that with the ITFS transmitter portion of this plan on the air, that same percentage of people virtually can be reached at home or at the workplace, and then do the remaining part of each source that they take by joining to a campus or to a study center. George is I think back over the whole effort that was made in this past legislative session. What sticks in my mind best is the day when I said to you, you know, those of us on the Ed John Steering Committee are not aware of any of us budgeting you to pick this thing up and run with it now, how come? And I want the people down there at this work session to know that I got what I consider

the greatest answer I ever heard from a legislator. And George, I hope you won't mind if I paraphrase that. George's comment at that time was something into this effect. He said, well, I've been a key legislative presence and tried to be an extending educational opportunity in this state. I have built community colleges. I have seen that they were put in place where they were needed. I have added rooms to those community colleges. And of course, George Mount, he, along with all the other people involved in those institutions and in the legislature. And he said, now it's my conclusion that we don't need any more community colleges at the moment. We don't need any more rooms at the moment, but what we do need and need in the worst way possible is the access to the resources of the major institutions, not just where those institutions are, but where the rest of the people are. And then he grinned and he said, on top of that, I've been up here so long that each year now, I kind of try to find one good thing to push the heck out of just because it's a

good thing. And then he said, this year, this is my good thing. Well, George, I hope that's a reasonably accurate paraphrase, having labored in this vineyard of trying to extend educational opportunity in New Mexico for many years. I thought it was the most heartening summary I've ever heard. I appreciate it. I appreciate the some 45 other legislators you signed on with that bill in the house. It is the darnedest piece of paper I ever saw on a bill that looks like a mad graffiti artist had been at work. I think there would have been about another 25 in the Senate or some such figure, and we all know there were a lot of extraneous circumstances affecting the possibility in this past session. I don't think those circumstances need to be there this time. And George, thank you for all of your efforts, Senator Rutherford and the others involved. Thank you and Santa Fe and finally to you members of the Board of Educational Finance. Thank you for your interest and your study on this matter.

I guess that's it for today. Thank you very much.