Columns

Column: Bad Management Theories Lead to Bad Organizational Practices

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By ELENA YANG
Los Alamos

When I was in graduate school, I often had disquiet feelings about certain theories, especially the ones based in economics, with neat and elegant equations, or models constructed with impeccable rationality. 

But being a student, while we might be able to voice some of our criticism in private or in class discussions, one does not foolishly challenge these theories too publicly (certainly not without research evidence) as these theories or models are usually published by well established authority figures. 

This is as much about the state of the field Read More

Day Journeys to the Middle of Nowhere: South Fork

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Travel Column by Kirsten Laskey

Seeing a Whole New Side to South Fork

One of the great things about leaving your front door is that you can encounter anything. Anticipation for what you might stumble upon hums loudly as you move down the road.

I heard that hum of excitement as my parents and I recently drove to South Fork, Colo., despite the fact that I have visited this tiny “burg” several times in the past.

Photo: D&RGW water tower in South Fork. By Kirsten Laskey

My parents own a parcel of land in the area and were members the Rio Grande Club golf course.

I’ve spent many afternoons with my mother, Read More

Column: Tales From Italy’s Unicycle World Championships

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Maxwell Schulze of Los Alamos competing in the UNICON XVI world championships this week in the small mountain village of Lajen in northern Italy. Photo by Roland Schulze
 
Dear Los Alamos,

Some of you may know me as just a unicyclist around Los Alamos. My name is Maxwell Schulze and I grew up in Los Alamos and graduated high school in 2010.

I have been unicycling for around eight or nine years and in January 2010, I traveled to New Zealand for the 2010 15th annual Unicycle World Championships known as UNICON XV.

There I competed in an event known as observed trials, which involves the navigation

Read More

Column: Area Ponderosa Pine Trees Appear to be Dying; Should You be Concerned?

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Column by Carlos Valdez
Los Alamos Extension Horticulture Agent

The sudden appearance of drying needles, dead branches, or even dead Ponderosa Pine trees can alarm anyone, especially homeowners. 

Damage occurs throughout New Mexico where Ponderosa Pine is found growing, but is most severe in the urban setting, on the fringe of forested areas, and on shallow, rocky, or droughty soil types.

That describes Los Alamos to a tee. Trees growing near roads or in areas of soil disturbance or abundant competing vegetation are most frequently affected.

According to Danny Norlander, New Mexico Read More

Conscious Aging: Thinking About the Rest of Your Life

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Column By Ann Shafer

This column is the first in a monthly series featuring life after retirement or after 60. 

If you are at that stage in your life, perhaps you have wondered what you are going to do with the rest of your life. 

You may have 20 or 30 years left to live; plus, like many in this age bracket, chances are you are in good physical and mental health.

There is a movement called Conscious Aging, which advocates exploring one’s life with the ultimate goal of leading a productive, meaningful life. 

Your elder years can be the richest stage of your life—a stage in which you can discover Read More

Canyon Rim Trail: June 5, 2012

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PAJARITO RAMBLER…

Column by Nina Thayer

Bone dry. Los Alamos is bone dry and there are only a few wildflowers to be found. 

But I will gladly share a “secret trail” and the wildflowers I found there this morning.

 A friend and I are both recovering from recent knee replacement surgery, so we strolled at a leisurely pace the lovely new Canyon Rim Trail that parallels N.M. 502 entering town. 

We parked at the eastern trailhead immediately across the road from the Coop. There is no sign but one turns right (south) into the paved parking lot between two yellow and black striped poles.  Read More

Hearing Forces NM Secretary of State to Obey Law

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By Cynthia B. Hall, Candidate for PRC

Chief Judge Barbara Vigil of the First Judicial District Court of New Mexico will hear arguments at 4 p.m. today (May 31) from publicly-funded PRC Candidate Cynthia B. Hall and others concerning whether New Mexico Secretary of State Dianna J. Duran should release matching funds as required by state law. 

Hall hopes for a decision today on the Temporary Restraining Order and Amended Petition for Writ of Mandamus she filed over the last week. 

This hearing has the potential to remedy the damage the Secretary of State has done to Hall and other publicly-financed Read More