DAILY LOBO new mexico
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January 23, 2012
monday The Independent Voice of UNM since 1895
Board mulls $10.7M allocations Football
player maces girlfriend
Ryan Trujillo
Staff Report Daily Lobo
Adria Malcolm / Daily Lobo Student Fee Review Board chair Katie Richardson (center) converses with the vice-chair Jaymie Roybal (left) during the meeting Sunday afternoon in the SUB along with Japji Hundal. The board is expected to share its recommendations within in two weeks.
by Luke Holmen holmen@unm.edu
The Student Fee Review Board has just two weeks to allocate a projected $10.7 million in student fees. SFRB member Japji Hundal said members of the board must balance between keeping fees for students low and providing funding for groups that help students succeed at the University.
“I can’t afford to make a rash decision about funding,” he said. “The implications of a wrong decision are so much worse. In terms of which organizations … we will fund in what amounts, I don’t want to answer that right now. I just want to take a day or two to think and wait until we deliberate.” The board will review the applications and presentations made by the 27 organizations requesting
funding. Each member of the board will make recommendations on the amount to fund each organization, and their recommendations will be averaged during meetings Feb. 6 and 13. The averages will then be given to the President’s Strategic Budget Leadership Team by Feb. 15. The team votes on the final allocations by March 1. Right now, the SFRB baseline student fees — the minimum amount
students will be charged in fees for FY13 — is set at $460 per student, compared to last year’s $486.78. But that amount could go up if six out of the seven board members agree additional funding is needed. Nine organizations lost guaranteed recurring funding on Thursday due to changes to SFRB rules. However, those organizations are still guaranteed a base amount by the SBLT.
Albuquerque police arrested UNM football player Ryan Trujillo on Friday after he pepper-sprayed his girlfriend, police reports said. Trujillo, 18, played as a walk-on freshman quarterback last season and reportedly attacked his girlfriend with pepper spray during an argument at the Weck’s restaurant on Juan Tabo Boulevard. The police report said he grabbed his girlfriend’s car keys off the table in the restaurant and that he and his girlfriend fought over the keys in the restaurant parking lot. He then sprayed his girlfriend in the face with a pepper spray canister attached the keychain, according to police. Trujillo is charged with battery on a household member. Trujillo graduated from Manzano High School where he was named the New Mexico Gatorade Player of the Year in 2011. The UNM football team released a statement Friday night saying it is looking into the incident.
Athletics ups fund request along with ambitions by Luke Holmen holmen@unm.edu
The Athletics department lost its status as a group guaranteed funding, but that didn’t stop it from asking for more money than years before. UNM Athletics requested $3.5 million in student fees this year from the Student Fee Review Board, up from about $1.9 million it recieved in fiscal year 2012. Tim Cass, senior associate director of Athletics, said the large increase in funding from students could propel the University into the Bowl Championship Series (BCS), a group of six big-name conferences that generate funds for Athletics primarily through television deals. During the SFRB hearing Sunday, Cass said securing a spot for UNM in the BCS would make Athletics financially sustainable and could even fund the University’s academic mission. “I think with the recent movement in terms of the University of Houston (and other teams) which are similar universities, it’s
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much more likely than it was a couple of years ago for UNM to get in,” he said. “The close-knit fraternity is becoming more open, and with the improvements we’ve made in our facilities and the level our programs are competing at nationally I do think there is a good chance we could get in.” Cass said the funding from student fees would help improve facilities, coaching and recruitment to help improve UNM’s sport teams. The Atlantic Coast Conference, Big East, Southeastern Conference, Big Ten, Big 12 and Pac-12 make up the six Division I conferences of the BCS. In the last few years, Mountain West schools Utah, Boise State and Texas Christian accepted invitations into the BCS conferences. Cass said entrance into the BCS would make UNM Athletics financially selfsufficient. “It would generate $10-20 million, mainly from television revenues,” he said.
see Athletics PAGE 3
Adria Malcolm / Daily Lobo UNM sophomore Kendall Spencer (right) speaks about the opportunities he has had as a student athlete at UNM during the Student Fee Review Board meeting on Sunday afternoon in the SUB. Athletics requested 3.5 million in student fees.
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