SENATE JOINT MEMORIAL 5

48th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2007

INTRODUCED BY

Mary Kay Papen

A JOINT MEMORIAL

REQUESTING THE GOVERNOR TO RECOGNIZE OCTOBER 12 THROUGH 14, 2007 AS "COWBOYS FOR CANCER RESEARCH DAYS" IN NEW MEXICO.

     WHEREAS, cancer is one of the leading causes of death with one of every three women and one of every two men contracting some form of cancer during their lifetime; and

     WHEREAS, nearly every household has been touched by a cancer-related issue; and

     WHEREAS, research into the prevention and cure of cancer is imperative for generations to come; and

     WHEREAS, cowboys for cancer research was formed twenty-five years ago with the intention of raising funds to aid in cancer research and development at the university of New Mexico cancer research and development center; and

     WHEREAS, funds raised by the cowboys for cancer research events help seed new research studies and buy equipment that will benefit patients directly by providing promising new treatments; and

     WHEREAS, cowboys for cancer research is the largest cancer fundraiser in the state of New Mexico, where one hundred percent of the money stays in New Mexico; and

     WHEREAS, cowboys for cancer research is the largest, single, consistent contributor to the university of New Mexico cancer research and development center; and

     WHEREAS, one hundred percent of all the money donated by cowboys for cancer research goes for cancer research and treatment in New Mexico; and

     WHEREAS, cowboys for cancer research has contributed over six hundred thousand dollars ($600,000) in its successful twenty-four-year history, with one hundred forty thousand dollars ($140,000) of this amount donated in 2006; and

     WHEREAS, all money contributed is deposited in the cowboys for cancer research Alma Cohorn memorial endowment fund at the university of New Mexico; and

     WHEREAS, the university of New Mexico is collaborating with the New Mexico state university chemistry department on cancer research, and cowboys for cancer research has joined with the university of New Mexico to help fund this important work; and

     WHEREAS, cowboys for cancer research is an all-volunteer organization without dues or salaries of any kind; and

     WHEREAS, the university of New Mexico has the only national cancer institute-designated cancer center in New Mexico, and these types of centers play a vital role in the nation's cancer research and treatment agenda; and

     WHEREAS, in these forty elite centers, scientists and physicians who specialize in cancer treatment work hand in hand to discover the causes of cancer, develop better ways to diagnose and treat cancers and provide leading edge, state-of-the-art cancer care to patients in their regions; and

     WHEREAS, the center at the university of New Mexico was named the state's official cancer center in 2004 by Governor Bill Richardson; and

     WHEREAS, the university of New Mexico is the largest cancer treatment facility in New Mexico, treating patients in all thirty-three counties and seeing over three thousand newly

diagnosed cancer patients each year, including thirty-six percent of the adult cancer patients in the state and one hundred percent of the pediatric cancer cases;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE

STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the governor be requested to proclaim October 12 through 14, 2007 as "Cowboys for Cancer Research Days"; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be sent to the governor and to cowboys for cancer research.