I am writing today to announce the closure of the New Mexico Independent. After three and a half years of operation in New Mexico, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news…
While environmental activists played their part yesterday during demonstrations at the capitol building, going so far as to dress up as solar panels and to sing the tune of “You Are My Sunshine,” their counterparts, the anti-cap-and-trade contingency who has…
Roughly one quarter of University of New Mexico students are unimpressed with the state’s flagship public school, according to a survey that questioned college students about their higher education experiences.
The Census Bureau came out with their latest information on Internet access in the United States. The numbers, from 2007, show that New Mexico is still behind many states when it comes to residents having access to the Internet.
New Mexico ranks 42nd among states where individuals have access to Internet in “some location” either in or out of the house — just 57.9 percent of New Mexicans have Internet access. That is well below the 76.1 percent of Alaskans or 74.6 percent of residents of New Hampshire who have access to the Internet in some location — those two states rank first and second.
The average is 62.4 percent nationally.
On the other end of the spectrum, Mississippi barely cracks 50 percent and ranks dead last in the category — just 51.1 percent of Mississippi residents have Internet access.
Of New Mexicans who have Internet available to them, 61.3 percent have Internet access in their homes. This ranks 40th in the nation. Again leading the pack are Alaska and New Hampshire, this time switching the top slot. Of those with Internet access in New Hampshire, 82.6 percent have Internet access in their homes. In Alaska, that number is 78.5 percent.
And once again Mississippi brings up the rear: Only 52.6 percent of Mississippi residents that have internet access available to them have it available in their homes.
Some nationwide numbers are interesting as well.
Among races and ethnic groups, Hispanics are at the back of the pack. Only 41.6 percent of Hispanics have access to the Internet in some location, compared 50 percent of blacks, 64.4 percent of Asian Americans and 68.9 percent of non-Hispanic white residents.
Barely over half of all American “householders” have broadband Internet in their homes — 50.8 percent. Only 35.2 percent of Hispanic householders have broadband in their house, compared to 36.8 percent of black householders, 54.9 percent of white, non-Hispanic householders and 60.2 percent of Asian American householders.
“As access to high speed connections have become more prevalent, so too have the number of people that connect to the Internet at home,” said Thom File, a statistician with the Census Bureau Housing and Household Economic Statistics Division. “These data give us a better understanding of who is using the Internet and from where.”
These numbers are well up from 1997. In 2007, 64 percent of individuals 18 and over used the Internet from any location, while only 22 percent did so in 1997.
