I grew up on Long Island near John Steinbeck’s home in Sag Harbor. I remember when Steinbeck’s Travels with Charlie was published I had to get to the library. I found reading Steinbeck the perfect experience. His written voice took me away from crowded, grey and cold Long Island. The Pearl and Grapes of Wrath […]
Good News may be coming to Dona Ana Community College
Good News. Dona Ana Community College (DACC) is embarking on the establishment of an Associate’s Degree in General Engineering. Many of us followed the events over the last two years, particularly related to the Nursing Program and the Presidential search. With all that behind us, the College is now positioning itself to expand its offerings. […]
Stranger in a strange land no more
It took ten years. I finally attended the International Space University’s Executive Management course last week. I heard about the Executive Management course from Michael Simpson, President of the ISU, and from Peter Diamandis, an ISU co-founder. They both encouraged me to attend this course, during the XPRIZE Cup and my symposium. First and foremost, […]
Try something new: learn an app, create an industry
I am using Microsoft office Speech Recognition software to write this article. I believe it’s important to challenge myself to use new technologies. I hope it is a time saver. I report at the of the article. Working at a university if a forcing function for trying new things. Fear of failure is mitigated because […]
If you are doing nothing, you won’t make mistakes
Mistakes: Errors, faults, slip-ups, bloopers, miscalculations. We all make em. America’s Funniest Home Videos, UTUBE and Candid Camera, all demonstrate goofing up is part of our culture and our condition. We all make mistakes. I created and sold advertising for a living when I first started working. It’s a tough business, not much room for […]
Growing opportunity in our own backyard
We are fortunate to live in Las Cruces. The weather is perfect. Warm days, cool nights, no wind. I travel with my job, and love the feeling of coming home. Recently, I attended the annual Space Grant Director’s meeting in Washington, DC. All 50 states, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia have Space Grant […]
Early adopters are good to have in a forward leaning community
Mark Twain was one of the most astute commentator’s on the loveable American psyche. He suggested, “Get your facts first, then you can distort them as you please.” The Mark Twain for Boomers, Johnny Carson, perfected the art of criticizing politicians on television. Watergate, Richard Nixon and Spiro Agnew all came together as a sort […]
The Joy of working with Paul K. Arthur
Paul K. Arthur died on January 31, 2014. I met Admiral Arthur in 1994 during the first strategic planning meeting for New Mexico Space Grant. At his funeral on Saturday, February 8, I learned Paul enlisted in the Navy at the rank of Seaman. He rose through the enlisted ranks, through 13 separate ranks to […]
New Mexico Universities must invest in faculty with commercial space capability now
New Mexico Universities must invest in faculty with commercial space capability now. Commercialization of space is becoming more important to our national leaders every year as commercial companies demonstrate low-cost increased access to space from commercial spaceports is possible. “The United States Defense Department needs to be thinking seriously about commercial alternatives in order to […]
International Space Station: Good for another 10 years and great for Las Cruces
2014 started off with an especially positive announcement for our community. NASA announced the extension of the orbiting outpost through 2024. Why does this matter to our community? NASA White Sands Test Facility (NASA WSTF) is a support facility for the International Space Station (ISS). NASA WSTF does failure analysis on micro-meteoroid orbital debris impacts […]
