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New Mexico Preps For Intel Layoffs
by Michael Martinez
New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson this week offered support to hundreds of Intel employees who may lose their jobs when the computer chip manufacturer scales back operations at a plant in his state later this year.
Richardson, who also is a Democratic presidential candidate, announced the creation of a "rapid response team" to help any Intel workers left jobless by downsizing expected at the Rio Rancho plant. The team, which already has conducted one meeting, is preparing a management plan to respond to the layoffs. It will be led by the state's Labor Department and assisted by officials from its Education Department and the governor's workforce training and development office.
Labor Secretary Betty Doris said in a statement that the team's plan will address the needs of job seekers and businesses that might want to hire them. The team is discussing potential layoff packages with Intel and coordinating with local government agencies to ensure that the laid off workers are notified about available state services.
"I don't want to wait around for employees to be told of individual job cuts," Richardson said. "Every state resource will be available and ready for when these employees need our help."
Intel told AP that it is evaluating its workforce at the plant and that it would notify workers about cuts by August. The company is contemplating the cuts as part of its decision to end production of silicon-wafer technologies at the plant. Intel is expected to terminate as many as 1,000 of the more than 4,500 plant employees.
Richardson's team will enlist the help of the state's Higher Education Department in training Intel employees for other high-wage jobs. The Labor Department is examining hiring trends and growth areas to prepare for the cuts.
University of New Mexico professor Larry Waldman told The Albuquerque Tribune that the Intel cuts will lead to job losses in other sectors of the state's economy, particularly in retail and service areas. But he said the overall economic impact may not be as profound as some have predicted.
California Enlists 'Hackers' In E-Voting Review
California Secretary of State Debra Bowen on Wednesday said computer scientists this month will conduct extensive tests on e-voting systems used throughout her state to evaluate whether they are secure for future contests.
In a teleconference, Bowen said that as part of a top-to-bottom review of the voting system, the scientists will attempt to hack the systems. She said the review is the first of its kind in the nation.
The state has enlisted experts from the University of California branches at Berkeley and Davis to lead three teams of seven members -- and the team leaders have the authority to choose their "hack squads" from the public and private sectors. Matthew Bishop of UC-Davis and David Wagner of UC-Berkeley have been chosen to lead the teams.
Bowen has scheduled a random drawing on Thursday to determine the order in which the e-voting systems will be evaluated. The tests will be conducted using funds allocated under a 2002 federal election law and from vendors that provide the state's e-voting equipment. The reviews are scheduled to begin May 14 and conclude in late July.
Bowen said the goal is to ensure that California gets to a place "where voters, elections officials, candidates and activists have confidence in the results of every election." She said e-voting machines that fail to meet minimum standards will be decertified, and some systems may have to be accompanied by additional safeguards and audit mechanisms.
The prospect of decertification is an urgent matter in California because lawmakers there recently moved up the state's presidential primary to February next year. Bowen said counties will be given at least six months to make necessary upgrades to their systems before that contest. She also said that while she has the legal authority to decertify machines the day before the election, she wants to be reasonable with localities responsible for administering the election.
"When we began this, we didn't think we were going to be having an election on Feb. 5," she said. "But we are."
Oregon Nixes Emergency Radio Plans
Oregon lawmakers this week killed plans to build a statewide public radio network this year that some expected would have cost more than a half-billion dollars.
The Oregonian reported that the state Senate Emergency Preparedness Committee rejected a plan by Gov. Ted Kulongoski to build a state-of-the-art radio system. Cost estimates were as high as $665 million.
Lindsay Ball, the head of the state's Administrative Services Department, recommended that lawmakers delay authorizing funds for the project because of uncertainty about its cost. Ball's office has been overseeing the implementation of the project.
He told the committee that he still expects the network will be completed but that he was not "satisfied with the planning that has been done to date," particularly with respect to the roles of local and federal agencies in contributing infrastructure and equipment. He advised slowing the project so that it can be implemented in a more reasonable manner.
Lawmakers took that advice into account in their decision to push back the implementation of the project until next February. Committee Chairwoman Joanne Verger, a Democrat, said the plan would hit another "red light" next year if it is not improved. Democratic Sen. Betsy Johnson, who was taken aback by the network's projected price tag, called the initiative "frankenbudget."
According to The Oregonian, a dozen states recently have built similar public-safety radio networks. But the newspaper said the planned Oregon network would be more expensive than all of them except for one in New York.
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