NMHU: Christopher Ulibarri Appointed Student Regent
NMHU News:LAS VEGAS, NM — Christopher Ulibarri, a student government leader at New Mexico Highlands University, is the university’s newest student regent.New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham made Ulibarri’s appointment official March 13. Ulibarri’s term extends to the adjournment of the next regular session of the New Mexico State Legislature in 2021.Ulibarri, a 19-year-old from Buena Vista, north of Las Vegas, has earned a 3.93 GPA to date as a triple major in political science, environmental geology and history. His expected graduation date is December 2022.“Christopher is a courageous leader who is respected by his peers,” said Kimberly Blea, dean of students at Highlands. “Christopher has a passion for service to others and is very hard-working. This is evident by his commitment to volunteering with Amnesty International and the fact that he is a triple major.”Blea said Ulibarri’s calm demeanor will help him handle difficult situations as a regent.“Christopher was also a recent participant in Highlands’ Legislative Fellowship program, an experience that will serve him well in his new role as a regent,” Blea said.Ulibarri said Highlands provided him with many opportunities.“I wanted to become a student regent to contribute back to Highlands,” Ulibarri said. “While the other regents represent Highlands, none of them continuously work or study on campus. Being a student puts me in the unique position of representing both the student body and faculty on the Board of Regents.”Ulibarri said the COVID-19 pandemic is driving his priorities as a new regent.“My most immediate goal as a student regent is to help come up with solutions to the problems that Highlands faces during the COVID-19 crisis, working with both the student body and the faculty,” Ulibarri said.Ulibarri said being a student senator at Highlands was a valuable learning experience.“Representing other students taught me about the values students hold and how to be an advocate for them,” Ulibarri said.Ulibarri enrolled full-time at Highlands when he was 17.“I was amazed at just how much everyone cares at Highlands. If it wasn’t for the quality education I’ve received here, I would never have had the skills that it takes to be a student regent. Being a triple major gives me a broad understanding of the academic programs at Highlands,” Ulibarri said.Ulibarri has taken a number of classes from Highlands geology professor Michael Petronis.“Christopher is one of those students that come along now and again that shines very brightly above the rest,” Petronis said “He is exactly the type of person academia needs: motivated, brilliant and personable. He will be an outstanding student regent, leading the university forward.”Outside the classroom, Ulibarri volunteers as a legislative coordinator for Amnesty International, lobbying members of the U.S. Congress on pressing national and international human rights issues.When he’s not juggling his triple-major and other responsibilities, since 2016 Ulibarri has worked 20 to 35 hours a week in his family’s business, Ulibarri Farms Candy Shoppe in Las Vegas.“I assist customers in the store, on the phone and online. I also built a website for our family company and am our graphic designer. I make decisions that impact our company’s future,” Ulibarri said.Looking ahead, Ulibarri has his sights set on a legal career as an environmental attorney.“Growing up on a small ranch with the Mora River and two acequias running through it, I learned how powerful corporate ranchers can block the river illegally, limiting water downstream. I want to be an attorney that helps people like my family and my Buena Vista community when these kinds of injustices occur,” Ulibarri said.
The Animal Rescue Fund of the Hamptons held its annual Bow Wow Meow Ball on Saturday, August 17, in East Hampton. An evening of cocktails, dinner, dancing, and auction items was held to raise funds to support animals in need. At the Bow Wow Meow Ball, fashion designer and entertainer Isaac Mizrahi received the Champion of Animals Award. Share
The East Hampton Chamber of Commerce is focused on local recovery efforts and appreciates the efforts of the local, county, and state officials who are working tirelessly to secure much-needed resources for the region. The offices are currently closed. Members of the community can book a 30-minute virtual appointment to gain assistance while applying for these funding opportunities, for sole proprietors, LLCs, or nonprofits. As part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, small businesses may apply for two Small Business Administration loans — the Economic Injury Disaster Loan may be accessed at www.sba.gov/funding-programs/disaster-assistance, and Paycheck Protection Program at www.sba.gov/funding-programs/loans/coronavirus-relief-options/paycheck-protection-program-ppp. For updates call 631-324-0362 or email info@EastHamptonChamberofCommerce.com. Share
Over the last two months the rudders of several types of vessels were given an Ecoshield protective coating at yards in China, the US, Poland and the UK.Among them were three container vessels, an oil tanker, a tug boat and a vehicle carrier.Most of these ships belong to different owners, but they all experienced the same problems. Cavitation corrosion damage had appeared on the rudders of their ships. Often a rudder is not given the proper protection against cavitation and the resulting erosion and corrosion damage. In those cases the financial consequences can be extensive for the owner.Tests in a flow channel, carried out in Grenoble, have confirmed that Ecoshield performs extremely well under severe cavitation. The coating will prevent corrosion damage from reoccurring on an existing ship or can protect the rudder(s) of a newbuild vessel against cavitation and corrosion damage from the very start for the life of the vessel. It is the only known coating that can provide this type of full protection.[mappress]Press Release, December 20, 2013
Say again?Malcolm Venter and Jean BranfordPharosReview: Brian JossIt’s a given that South African English (SAE), apart from the accent, is unique, and though we have borrowed phrases and words from other languages, we have coined our own. Say again? delves into the other side of English, the English that we invented. Phrases like yes-no, come right, sweet, sharp sharp and graze will be familiar to most of us. Robot too is another word, elsewhere in the world they’re described as traffic lights. And along with robot we have our own unique car guards. When it comes to food then we can pick up a walkie talkie, (in Joburg walkie talkies are called runaways), or a smiley for supper on our way home from work. Then there is also the famous gatsby, a Cape Town speciality, and from Durban we get Bunny Chow. And if you don’t know yet, February 27 is National Milk Tart (melktert) Day. Melktert is a classic South African dish, probably brought here by the 17th Century Dutch settlers. Other phrases that are our own are: where do you stay (live)?; pavement special or Heinz 57, a mixed breed of mongrel dog. The authors, however, left out “stoepkakkertjie”. Other examples of SAE include the Blue Light Brigade, reservoirs (elsewhere an artificial lake), here a dam or a portable container filled with water which is sometimes referred to as a Rainbow Reservoir. Other South Africanisms include come again, meaning please repeat what you said, another one is Toby threw the cat with a stone, a common linguistic error that Afrikaans speakers make when they speak English. Each of the 12 chapters features words and phrases from different aspects of life with examples of their usage. Matricless is another word and it’s thanks to Hlaudi Motsoeneng, the chief operating officer of the SABC, that it has earned a place in the SAE lexicon. You would expect a book like this to be as dry as dust. It’s not, it’s lively and the amusing sketches add to the entertainment value. You’ll want to dip into it again and again, when you’ll learn something new. To borrow from *Horace: “the book instructs and delights”. Branford has a PhD in Dialect Lexicopgraphy and is the compiler of A Dictionary of South African English (reviewed) and Venter, a former principal of Edgemead High School, has a Doctorate in Linguistics. *Quintus Horatius Flaccus was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus, aka Octavian, and what he said was “either to instruct or delight”. Say again? does it in spades.
Supreme Court job adSource: Michael Cross Supreme Court job adAn application pack for new justices has been published today with the court clarifying it wants a ‘balance of expertise, professional experience and background within the court’.The statutory minimum qualification is to have held high judicial office for a period of at least two years, to have satisfied the judicial appointment eligibility condition on a 15-year basis or to have been a qualifying practitioner, solicitor or barrister, for at least 15 years.A deputy president as well as two new justices are being sought.Lord Mance, deputy president of the court, will retire in June 2018, while Lord Hughes and Lord Sumption are due to retire in August and December 2018 respectively. If one of the serving justices is appointed deputy, a third new justice will be recommended from the applications.Applications are being sought ‘from the widest range of eligible candidates’, particularly those who will increase the diversity of the court, the application pack says.Of the 12 judges currently on the bench, only two are women, Lady Hale and Lady Black. None is from a black or minority ethnic background.When he announced his retirement last year, former president Lord Neuberger revealed plans to improve diversity at the court. Meanwhile, current president Lady Hale said the fact that the profession is split into barristers and solicitors had contributed to the UK judiciary lagging in diversity.According to the court, recommending candidates the selection commission will ensure a selection must be on merit, and that the commission must ‘ensure that between them the judges will have knowledge of, and experience of practice in, the law of each part of the UK’.The closing date for applications is midday on Wednesday 26 January. Appointments are expected to take effect between June 2018 and January 2019. The Supreme Court has said it wants a ‘balance of expertise’ and more diversity on its benches as it looks to recruit a deputy president and two justices.The UK’s top court has had one solicitor judge in its ranks since it was established in 2009, Lord Collins.
A solicitor introduced to an elevated role in her former firm through a historic partnership agreement can make an employment claim as an employee, a tribunal has ruled.Employment Judge Blackwell ruled that Ella Millett was an employee for six years with east Midlands firm Sheltons, during which time the business was acquired by EHL Solicitors. The judgment means the private client solicitor can pursue a claim of constructive dismissal against the successor practice.The tribunal heard that Millett approached the Sheltons senior partner in 2013 concerning a promotion, shortly after the firm had become an LLP. The three equity partners were nearing the end of their careers and looking for exit strategies, which included a possible merger.An exchange of emails followed between the senior partner and Millett, during which he referred to the structure of the partnership as being ‘somewhat informal’ and carried over from terms of partnership agreements from many years ago.Millett drafted a modern form of agreement but it was never adopted by either party.The tribunal heard that during this time Millett, despite references to a partnership of sorts, was not required to make a capital contribution and was therefore not an equity partner.She completed a tax return for 2013/14 on the basis of self-employment and was held out from early 2013 as a partner to the outside world.It was submitted by EHL Solicitors that took an ‘active hand’ in the management of Sheltons, but she told the tribunal she was not involved in discussions with the partnership’s accountants.The judge said the Sheltons existing partners believed any disagreement with Millett would be solved by a discussion, but this changed when the firm was acquired in 2016.The judge said Millett and her senior partner were not in accordance with what the 2013 agreement meant, but it was the intention of her boss that she should have a guaranteed salary and was therefore employed.The judge dismissed the defendant’s plea to have the case struck out, saying the claimant’s evidence needed to be heard by a full tribunal.In a statement, EHL Solicitors said: ‘This was a preliminary hearing to determine the previous employment status of the claimant at a firm we acquired in 2016. We inherited an ongoing position and have acted in good faith throughout.‘As is noted in the decision, the claimant had previously filed her tax affairs as a self-employed partner, prior to subsequently issuing proceedings in the tribunal on the basis of having held continuous employment status throughout. Due to this contradiction, a preliminary hearing was held to clarify this previous status, pending substantive hearing. The tribunal has determined that, contrary to the tax position as filed, the claimant was in fact an employee throughout.‘With regards to the substantive claims made by the claimant, we consider that these have no merit and intend to defend them robustly.’
Four students killed after school building collapses in central Nigeria 67 South Africans Killed in Nigeria Building Collapse FILE PHOTO: Residents stand amid the rubble at the site of a collapsed building in Nigeria’s commercial capital of Lagos, Nigeria March 14, 2019. REUTERS/Afolabi Sotunde Twenty people have been confirmed dead in the school building that collapsed in Nigeria, officials said on Friday.Rescue workers are seen at the site of a collapsed building containing a school in Nigeria’s commercial capital of Lagos, Nigeria March 13, 2019. REUTERS/Temilade Adelaja45 others survived the Wednesday incident.Lagos health commissioner Commissioner Jide Idris gave no details of how many children were among the dead but said 10 children and four adults were still receiving medical assistance.The disaster occurred in the heart of Nigeria’s commercial capital.Officials have said the three-story residential building had been marked for demolition and that the school was operating illegally on the top two floors. It is still not clear how many people were inside when it collapsed.Rescue crews halted their search on Thursday, saying they had reached the building’s foundation without finding any other victims.Some anguished families protested and sifted through the rubble for any sign of their children.Building collapses are all too common in the West African nation, where new construction often goes up without regulatory oversight. Official moved through the neighborhood on Thursday, marking other derelict buildings for demolition.Adeyemo Sunday, the father of twins, mourned one of his sons. The other was pulled out alive, he said.Sunday said his family lived on the building’s second floor and he sent his boys to school there so they wouldn’t have to travel far.Another parent, Yewande Ogunsanwo, said her son remained in critical condition on Thursday.“Let’s thank God for God, he’s getting better but his condition is so critical,” she said. “The pain is too much.”The collapse came as President Muhammadu Buhari tries to improve the distressed infrastructure in Africa’s most populous nation.Related
Rescue operations continue following Nigeria building collapse
Reported by Farmington Voice Share this:Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window) Downtown Farmington will buzz with activity over the next several months as public art moves in, properties change hands, and the Downtown Development Authority (DDA) moves forward with some new events.DDA Director Kate Knight mentioned these items during Monday’s Farmington city council meeting:An artist will be selected this month to create a mural on a blank wall in downtown Farmington. (Farmington DDA)Public ArtThree David Barr sculptures – “Temple,” “Avenue,” and “Shift” – will soon be installed in Riley Park. Knight said some conservation work is underway on the pieces, which are on loan from the City of Novi. (Read more about the Barr legacy on the City of Novi website.)Members of the city’s Public Art Committee this week reviewed applications for a new downtown mural program. The artist selected will create the mural on the side of a downtown building.A new Wednesday concert series joins Friday’s Rhythmz in Riley Park, bringing more live music downtown. EventsA new Wednesday lunchtime concert series opens next month in Riley Park. Lunch Beats in Riley Park starts at noon on these dates:June 6 – Jimi KJune 13 – Steve TaylorJune 20 – Sheila Landis & Rick MatleJune 27 – Carly BinsJuly 11 – Mark ReitengaJuly 18 – Maggie McCabeJuly 25 – Al CarmichaelAugust 1 – Benny EdwardsAugust 8 – Sami MeiOn the heels of a successful event in April, a second Ladies Night Out has been added to the DDA’s November calendar. Downtown shops stay open late and offer samples, special deals, and refreshments.DevelopmentThe new owner of the former Grand Bakery & Cafe has plans to open a sushi restaurant in that building and a Japanese steakhouse in a new structure on the adjacent property. Both will have second floor condos; it’s unclear whether those will be owner-occupied or rentals. Total investment: $2.5 million.The Groves Retail Center at Grove Street and Grand River recently changed hands. The sale means that the DDA will see new revenues from the current taxable value of the property, Knight said.In other downtown development news:Plans for facade improvements and outdoor seating at Sidecar Slider Bar, which is moving into the former Bellacino’s of Farmington space at Village Commons Mall, come before the city’s Planning Commission on May 14. Related: SLIDER BAR HEADED FOR DOWNTOWN FARMINGTONOfficials have long awaited revised Maxfield Training Center plans, but the condo/townhouse development is not on this month’s Planning Commission agenda.
Argos Fall to Ouachita Baptist Share ARKADELPHIA, Ark. – The No. 9 West Florida men’s tennis team (1-2, 1-1 GSC) was upset by No.14 Ouachita Baptist (6-0, 2-0 GSC) 7-2 at the indoor courts of the Heflin Tennis Center in Arkadelphia on Friday afternoon. The Tigers were too much for the Argonauts, as the hosts only dropped a match in singles and a match in doubles to defeat the guests for its only second time in the history of both programs.The Argonauts started strong, as Kevin Ducros (freshman/Aix-en-Provence, France) and Sean Gunnels (freshman/Mobile, Ala.) defeated the third duo formed by Tigers Mike Basler and Daniel Moser with an 8-3 score. The Tigers bounced back by earning the next two doubles matches. In the second spot, Tigers Jean Charles Diame and Pierre Tafelski dispatched Patrick Bateman (sophomore/Apopka, Fla.) and Luis Arboleda (senior/Medellin, Colombia), also with an 8-3 score. The Tigers took the lead when Jan Plewinski and Tim Heilshom beat 8-5 the first duo formed by Argos Andrey Pozhidaev (freshman/Sochi, Russia) and Nathan Rosenfeld (freshman/Miami, Fla.). Entering the singles action, the Argonauts needed four wins out of six matches. However, The Tigers were too much as four singles matches were won in straight sets. In the third singles spot, Rosenfeld fell to Diame 6-4, 6-2. Pozhidaev dropped a 7-5, 6-2 match to Heilshom to give the Tigers the 4-1 lead. The Argos attempted to make a comeback when Ducros defeated Plewinski 6-3, 6-4 in the first singles. No. 41 Arboleda rallied from a set down to prolong the match to a third set. However, Arboleda fell to Tafelski 6-3, 6-7, 6-2, giving the clinching point to the Tigers. In the fifth singles, No. 48 Bateman fell 6-3, 6-1 to Judek. The Tigers earned its last point when Moser defeated Gunells 7-6, 6-4.The Argonauts will return to action tomorrow, Saturday 28th in Arkadelphia when they face No. 11 Drury (1-0) at 1:00pm CT. For information on all UWF Athletics, visit www.GoArgos.com.#ARGOS#Singles#1 Kevin Ducros (UWF) def. Jan Plewinski (OBU) 6-3, 6-4#2 Till Heilshom (OBU) def. Andrey Pozhidaev (UWF) 7-5, 6-2#3 Jean Charles Diame (OBU) def. Nathan Rosenfeld (UWF) 6-4, 6-3#4 Pierre Tafelski (OBU) def. Luis Arboleda (UWF) 6-3, 6-7, 6-2 #5 Szymon Judek (OBU) def. Patrick Bateman UWF) 6-3, 6-1#6 Daniel Moser (OBU) def. Sean Gunnels (UWF) 7-6, 6-4Doubles#1 Plewinski/Heilshom (OBU) def. Pozhidaev/Rosenfeld (UWF) 8-5 #2 Diame/Tafelski (OBU) def. Bateman/Arboleda (UWF) 8-3#3 Ducros/Gunnels (UWF) def. Basler/Moser (OBU) 8-3Print Friendly Version
Kevin Ducros (Photo by Ron Besser) 