Two sections, 24 pages 164th year, No. 77Publication No. 596-440Editor: Rob Dean, 986-3033, rdean@sfnewmexican.com Design and headlines: Kristina Dunham, kdunham@sfnewmexican.com Main office: 983-3303 Late paper: 986-3010

Calendar A-2 Classifieds B-7 Comics B-12 Education A-9 El Nuevo A-5 Opinions A-11 Police notes A-10 Sports B-1 Time Out B-11 Tech A-7Index

Pope offers down-to-earth blessing in inaugural public appearance World, A-2

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There is a piece of Santa Fe docked at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, whether Santa Feans know it or not.

It’s not exactly a small piece, either. It’s a 361-foot long behemoth of a Navy nuclear submarine, originally commissioned in

1942, that holds a 120-person crew and proudly boasts the name USS Santa Fe. This week, the ship’s commanding officer, Timothy Poe, and chief, Juan Gonzales, will make their first trip to Santa Fe to build a relationship between the city and its namesake vessel — a relationship that

Aboard sub, Santa Fe name source of pride

The USS Santa Fe is a state-of-the-art Navy subma-rine stationed in Hawaii. Officers from the 361-foot long vessel plan to visit New Mexico this week to learn more about the capital city. Courtesy riCk Carver

Vessel officers will visit N.M. to strengthen bond with cityBy Nico RoeslerThe New Mexican

WASHINGTON — Welcome to the new off-white America.

A historic decline in the number of U.S. whites and the fast growth of Latinos are blur-ring traditional black-white color lines, testing the limits of civil rights laws and reshaping political alliances as “whiteness” begins to lose its numerical dominance.

Long in coming, the demographic shift was most vividly illustrated in last November’s re-election of President Barack Obama, the first black president, despite a historically low per-centage of white supporters.

It’s now a potent backdrop to the immigra-tion issue being debated in Congress that could offer a path to citizenship for 11 million mostly Hispanic illegal immigrants. Also, the Supreme Court is deciding cases this term on affirmative action and voting rights that could redefine race and equality in the U.S.

The latest census data and polling from The Associated Press highlight the historic change in a nation in which non-Hispanic whites will lose their majority in the next generation, somewhere around the year 2043.

Despite being a nation of immigrants, Amer-ica’s tip to a white minority has never occurred in its 237-year history and will be a first among the world’s major post-industrial societies. Bra-zil, a developing nation, has crossed the thresh-old to “majority-minority” status; a few cities in France and England are near, if not past that point.

The international experience and recent U.S. events point to an uncertain future for American race relations.

In Brazil, where multiracialism is celebrated, social mobility remains among the world’s lowest for blacks while wealth is concentrated among whites at the top. In France, race is not recorded on government census forms and people share a unified Gallic identity, yet high levels of racial discrimination persist.

“The American experience has always been a story of color. In the 20th century, it was a story of the black-white line. In the 21st century, we are moving into a new off-white moment,” says Marcelo Suarez-Orozco, a global expert on immigration and dean of UCLA’s Graduate School of Education & Information Studies.

“Numerically, the U.S. is being transformed. The question now is whether our institutions are being transformed,” he said.

The shift is being driven by the modern wave of U.S. newcomers from Latin America and Asia. Their annual inflow of 650,000 people since 1965, at a rate that’s grown in recent years, surpasses the pace of the last great immigra-tion wave a century ago. That influx, from 1820 to 1920, brought in Irish, Germans, Italians and Jews from Europe and made the gateway of Ellis Island, N.Y., an immigrant landmark, symbolizing freedom, liberty and the American dream.

An equal factor is today’s aging white popu-lation, mostly baby boomers, whose coming

Latino growth blurs U.S. racial linesBy Hope Yen The Associated Press

Please see RACE, Page A-5

SUPPORTING THEIR STAR

March a milestone month for Kirk clan as No. 3-seed Lobos hit road for NCAA tourney

From center left, Alan, Erin and Pat Kirk celebrate with other fans Sunday after the Lobos were named a No. 3 seed in NCAA Tournament. The Kirks’ son and brother, Alex, pictured with teammates Hugh Greenwood, middle, and Chad Adams, right, is the starting center for New Mexico. Read more about Selection Sunday and the NCAA Tournament in Sports, B-1. Photos by Jake sChoellkoPf/for the New MexiCaN

Problems persist in indigent defense five decades after landmark decision

WASHINGTON — It is not the happiest of birthdays for the landmark Supreme Court decision that, a half-century ago, guaranteed a lawyer for criminal defendants who are too poor to afford one.

A unanimous high court issued its decision in Gideon v. Wainwright on March 18, 1963, declaring that states have an obligation to provide defen-

dants with “the guiding hand of counsel” to ensure a fair trial for the accused.

But in many states today, taxpayer-funded public defend-ers face crushing caseloads, the quality of legal representation varies from county to county and people stand before judges having seen a lawyer only briefly, if at all.

“There is no denying that much, much needs to be done,” Attorney General Eric Holder said Friday at a Justice Depart-ment event to commemorate the anniversary.

Clarence Earl Gideon had

been in and out of jail in his nearly 51 years when he was arrested on suspicion of steal-ing wine and some money from vending machines at a Panama City, Fla., pool hall in 1961. Gideon asked the judge for a lawyer before his trial, but was turned down. At the time, Florida only provided lawyers for indigent defendants in capi-tal cases.

A jury soon convicted Gideon and the state Supreme Court upheld the verdict on appeal. Then, from his Florida prison cell, Gideon scratched

By Mark Sherman The Associated Press

Please see DEFENSE, Page A-4

Experts say counsel is often inconsistent

Pasapick‘The Chaco Era Outlier That Wasn’t’ Lecture by John Kantner, Santa Fe Archaeo-logical Society’s monthly lecture series, 7:30 p.m., Courtyard Marriott, 3347 Cerrillos Road, no charge, 982-2846 or 455-2444.More events in Calendar, A-2 and Fridays in Pasatiempo

TodayMostly sunny.High 60, low 30.

PAgE A-12

ObituariesHazel Christine Spiggle Parrish, 99, Santa Fe, March 10

PAgE A-10

Our view: New range needed It’s wise to seek a safer site for target practice. OPINIONS, A-11

Mobile surfers A new report finds that more youth access the Web via smartphones. TECh, A-7

ALBUQUERQUE — The journey of a thousand basketball miles — and likely

many more than that, when it’s all said and done — for Alan, Pat, Alex and Erin Kirk

began at a most familiar place: The Pit.

It just doesn’t involve the Kirk you think it would.

University Arena is the home of Alex Kirk, the 7-foot starting sophomore center for the The University of New Mexico men’s basketball team and the son of Los Alamos’ Pat

and Alan Kirk. On March 12, however, the stage belonged to sister Erin, a senior post for the Los Alamos Lady Hilltoppers.

Big brother was in Las Vegas, Nev., along with his teammates preparing for the Mountain West Conference Tournament.

By James BarronThe New Mexican

Please see SUB, Page A-4

Please see KIRKS, Page A-4