I am honored and blessed to have the opportunity to write this series of articles for the Perspective II. In the coming months I hope to share my thoughts with Perspective II readers on a wide variety of subjects.

SEATTLE – During the Jena Six controversy, people from across the country joined together for a common cause – to question whether racism was really “dead” and to evaluate the fairness of our justice system. Whether they were a part of the thousands who traveled to the small Louisiana town of Jena to show their support in person and advocate for the six young men involved in the case or not, many people, for the first time in a while, were not apathetic. Impressively, people wanted to get involved to ensure fair justice, and were collectively concerned about the lives and futures of these young men.

Twenty-one students from University of New Mexico's (UNM) Saturday Math & Science Academy attended the Fall Regional Conference of the National Society of Black Engineers Pre-College Initiative (NSBE-PCI) Regional Conference, where they distinguished themselves in Design & Engineering (Robotics), Try-Math-A-Lon, Science and the Halo Three Tournament. The conference was held at the 600 acre Microsoft Conference Center in Redmond, Washington, where host and Microsoft chairman, Mr. Bill Gates, was the featured speaker at the opening session. Region Six consists of New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona, California, Idaho, Utah, Wyoming, Washington, Nevada, Oregon, and Montana.