DAILY LOBO new mexico
Fatal stabbing
thursday
see page 7
The Independent Voice of UNM since 1895
February 11, 2010
Studying the efficiency
of red-light cameras by Tricia Remark Daily Lobo
If you’ve ever accidentally coasted through a yellow light below a red-light camera, the anxiety you once felt might be a thing of the past. Albuquerque Mayor Richard Berry is negotiating the terms of a contract with the UNM Institute for Social Research to test whether the cameras actually make Albuquerque’s streets safer. Berry will decide whether to remove the cameras based on the ISR study, said T.J. Wilham, Albuquerque’s public safety director of communications. “Mayor Berry has always said that the red-light camera program needs to be about public safety,” Wilham said. “He wants this study to tell him whether or not it is having an impact on public safety.” The city will not pay more than $50,000 to UNM for doing the study, he said. Wilham said Berry chose UNM to conduct the study because ISR doesn’t have any personal interest in the outcome. “They have a very good reputation and the city and the mayor wanted somebody who is not biased — who has a good reputation to conduct the study,” he said. “We feel that UNM’s Social Research was perfect to do that.” Paul Guerin, senior research scientist at ISR, said the contract will be finalized within the next few weeks. Wilham said community members have questioned the effectiveness of the lights, and many think the state uses them to generate more
revenue. The cameras produced $8 million since their installation in 2004, he said. “A lot of people did have questions about the camera program — whether or not it was designed just to make money, whether or not there were speed traps, if the yellow lights were timed too short, whether or not we were just targeting wealthy areas,” Wilham said. According to the city Web site, the Albuquerque Fire Department has seen a 23 percent decrease in Level 1 trauma calls at red-light camera enforced intersections. Wilham said the city’s biggest goal is addressing safety and public concerns with the cameras. Graduate student Jakob Schiller said he received two tickets from red-light cameras for speeding. “I was glad it doesn’t go on your record. It’s just a fine,” Schiller said. Speeding and running a red-light tickets are a flat $75 fee, according to the city Web site. He said it is debatable that the cameras increase safety on the roads. “I think that in a time when all states are strapped for cash, it can be seen as revenue-generating more than safety procedures,” he said. “It makes me slow down at those intersections because I start looking for the red-light cameras.” UNM’s study will analyze the number of crashes all around the city, not just at intersections with cameras, Wilham said. If Berry decides that the cameras are ineffective, the contract with red-light camera providers, Redflex Traffic Systems, will not be renewed, he said.
Daniel Hulsbos / Daily Lobo Cars stream by the red-light camera mounted at the intersection of San Mateo and Montgomery Boulevards on Tuesday evening. UNM is in the process of negotiating a study that would determine the viability of these cameras in Albuquerque intersections.
Regents must vote away their own voting power
Sweet Life
by Mario Trujillo Daily Lobo
One ASUNM senator is proposing a bill that would limit the veto power the Board of Regents has over the ASUNM constitution. The catch? The Board of Regents must willingly vote away their power if the amendment is to pass. “What worries me is that even if we do get this through, the Board of Regents still has the right to say no,” said Sean Mallory, an ASUNM senator. “Technically, they still have the power to veto any of our amendments made.” As it stands now, the Board of Regents has the final say on any modification of the ASUNM constitution, including the proposed amendment. The regents can make changes, or it can veto changes to the constitution voted on by the ASUNM Senate and the undergraduate student body.
Junfu Han / Daily Lobo Pastries and baked goods sit in the display case at the Chocolate Cafe and Bakery. Gary Cline, the owner of cafe, makes the desserts fresh daily. Check out page 8 for the Day in the Life of this baker.
Inside the
Daily Lobo volume 114
issue 96
Caught in the act See page 2
Sen. Joseph Colbert introduced the bill in the Steering and Rules Committee last Wednesday striking the line that gives the regents final say over constitutional amendments. “It is not so much that the Board of Regents has done it (before),” Colbert said. “But it is just that the fact that we are a student group made up of students voted on by the students. Why should a board that is kind of like holier-than-thou be allowed to change what the students want in their own constitution?” The Committee postponed the vote at their Wednesday meeting on the amendment until it can write up a resolution, explaining why the change is necessary. “With the long list of high ranking officials that I have dealt with in my fraternity, if you don’t come at them the right way then you are
see Vote page 6
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