Local news briefs for July 13, 2000

Thursday, July 13, 2000 | 11:11 a.m.

UNLV professor given key post

Anastasia Chopelas, UNLV associate professor of physics, was elected vice chairwoman for the 2002 Gordon Research Conference on Research at High Pressure, marking the first time in the nearly 50-year history of the prestigious conference that a woman has been elected to serve in that capacity.

Chopelas, who was elected by scientists attending the 2000 conference last month, will become chairwoman for the 2004 conference.

The conference attracts people from a variety of fields, including astrophysics, geoscience and the life sciences.

Man receives 6 to 20 years

A 17-year-old Mexican national accused of causing the death of a newborn baby in November was sentenced to six to 20 years in prison Wednesday.

District Judge Sally Loehrer gave Jose Martinez six to 20 years on an attempted murder charge and four to 10 years on a voluntary manslaughter count, Chief Deputy District Attorney Ed Kane said.

Once Martinez is released from prison, he will be deported, Kane said.

According to authorities, Martinez went to his estranged girlfriend's house on Nov. 12 and knocked on a window. When one of the girl's brothers wouldn't let him in, Martinez pulled a gun and fired four shots through the window.

The brother dived to the floor, but the former girlfriend, Adriana Beltran, was hit by at least one bullet.

Beltran, who was six months pregnant, delivered a baby girl, but the baby died several hours later.

Kane agreed to lower a murder charge to voluntary manslaughter and dismiss another attempted murder charge and a firearms charge

Microsoft awarded

$120,000 in software to the UNLV College of Education to train teachers how to best use computer technology in their classrooms, UNLV spokesman announced recently. The College of Education has been a member of teacher training with Microsoft since 1996.