DAILY LOBO new mexico
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January 10-17,2011
The Independent Voice of UNM since 1895
A clear bill of health, a crowded to-do list
UNM President denies Pit bid-rigging allegations
by Chelsea Erven cerven@unm.edu
D
espite a longer-thanexpected recovery, UNM President David Schmidly is healthy and ready to tackle looming budget cuts. In a Jan. 7 interview with the Daily Lobo, Schmidly said his energy has returned. He said he is prepared to face the upcoming legislative session, possible tuition hikes and campus construction. He said balancing the budget is his top priority. “I really think that for the spring term, the budget and all the decisions around the budget is going to dominate almost everything,” he said. Schmidly spent the fall semester on extended medical leave following an Aug. 27 operation on a slowgrowing abdominal tumor. The UNM president hoped to be back at the beginning of October, but he spent several weeks in the hospital. Schmidly said spending nearly nine weeks in the hospital while recovering was frustrating because it prolonged his absence from the University. “You have no idea how much I’ve enjoyed this week and getting back to work and feeling good,” he said. “I’m finally getting back on my feet to where I’m energized. It was a long semester in the fall.” A slimmed-down Schmidly, dressed comfortably in “casual
by Shaun Griswold and Ruben Hamming-Green news@dailylobo.com
Emma Difani / Daily Lobo A healthy President Schmidly discusses his plans for the spring semester Jan. 7 at his Scholes Hall office. Schmidly said he is setting his sights on budget cuts and is eager to return to work.
To watch our interview with President Schmidly, visit DailyLobo.com
DL
UNM President David Schmidly denied any wrongdoing in deciding to award an Oklahoma-based contractor a $60 million contract to renovate The Pit. In his first week back as university president after a semester-long medical leave, Schmidly is embattled in a lawsuit that alleges the bidding process was rigged to favor contractor Flintco, despite a lower bid submitted by a local contractor. “I have no special relationship with Flintco,” he said. “I had nothing to do with the scoring of those proposals or the awarding of that contract.” The lawsuit, filed on behalf of several state construction unions, alleges otherwise, stating Schmidly has had a relationship with Flintco since 2002. “Flintco used its crony relationship with UNM’s President David Schmidly from his years in Oklahoma to displace the legitimate winner, The Jaynes Companies,” the lawsuit states. A 100-point system was used in the selection of the contractor and the lawsuit says that Jaynes initially won, receiving 80.4 points, compared to Flintco’s 62. Jaynes also underbid Flintco by $2.2 million, but after alterations, the lawsuit alleges, Flintco won
see Flintco page 5
see Schmidly page 5
Campus alerts leave some users behind by Shaun Griswold shaun24@unm.edu
Cesar Dominguez-Garcia, the man suspected of firing a bullet into a sixth-floor ceiling of UNM Hospital pediatric unit during a family altercation, turned himself in Jan. 8, ending a five-day search, according to APD officials. The Jan. 4 incident forced north and main campuses into lockdown. Roads leading into the area were blocked off with dozens of Albuquerque Police Department vehicles, and officers patrolled the hospital grounds with assault rifles. The hectic scene perplexed students and staff on campus because 12 percent of recipients got updates through UNM’s Lobo Alerts system nearly half an hour after their peers, according to UNM Emergency Manager Byron Piatt. Piatt said more than 88 percent of text messages, or roughly 28,000, were sent within 44 seconds. The additional 12 percent reached students, faculty and staff within half an hour. Others who are not signed up for the text alerts, but rather receive their messages via e-mail, got the first alert after the situation was cleared. Piatt blamed technology issues for the delay and said individual cell
Inside the
Daily Lobo volume 115
issue 78
phone carriers might be to blame. However, he still recommends that students and staff use alert text messages. “Text messaging is a whole lot faster than e-mail systems,” he said. “You can send a lot more text messages a lot faster than you can e-mails.” Student Noah Armstrong said he is concerned about the University’s ability to alert those on campus during an emergency. “The system needs to be fixed,” Armstrong said. “If 12 percent didn’t receive their text message in time, maybe UNM can find a correlation between the people who didn’t get their message and their cell phone provider.” Student Derric Romero said he was in class when the notification was sent out. “Everyone’s phones started to go off and the teacher was like, ‘What is so deathly important that you guys are texting?’” he said. “So we just told her there is a shooter on campus, and she changed her tone real quickly.” Every response entity at UNM must undergo an After Action Review to determine if any areas need to be improved for future incidents, Piatt said. This was the first time LoboAlerts
Robert Maes / Daily Lobo A Bernalillo County Deputy loads equipment in the trunk of a squad car parked on Lomas Boulevard in front of UNM Hospital on Jan. 4. Police closed the road in response to a runaway shooter, and campus was locked down. was used to notify subscribers about a lockdown. During the fall semester finals week, a message was sent out to the inform students, faculty and staff about a weather delay. Information Technology Services bought LoboAlerts in 2008. It replaced the old notification system
Art in wartime
Luck’s fate
See page 2
See page 17
because it was not reaching enough of the University population. Everyone with a banner ID is automatically subscribed to LoboAlerts. The cost of the service was not immediately available last week. Piatt said it is important for students, faculty and staff to enter a cell
phone number with their banner ID because information can be sent much faster that way and to avoid any delays during future incidents. “We are going to try to work on an education campaign that putting a cell phone number is the right way to go,” he said.
TODAY
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