DAILY LOBO new mexico
Pandering to politicians see page 4
February 16, 2011
wednesday The Independent Voice of UNM since 1895
Duplicate Regents approve main campus housing text alerts confuse students BEFORE
by Chelsea Erven cerven@unm.edu
UNM: Multiple emergency texts were ‘accidental’ by Hunter Riley hriley@unm.edu
The University tested its emergency alert system, LoboAlerts, on Monday, but students said they were confused by the multiple texts and e-mails they received about the test. Student Brandon See said he received the first text message three times saying that the alert was just a test. He said he then he got an “all clear” text from another number. “I was confused,” he said. “Why are they sending me the same message three times? I like what they’re doing. It’s a great system, but do I have to be warned six times?” University Emergency Manager Byron Piatt said in an e-mail that LoboAlerts intended to send two texts and one e-mail, and that excess alerts were sent accidentally. “There may have been some accidental duplication of messages, but it gives us confidence that we can send out multiple messages, including updates, in the future,” he said. LoboAlerts system replaced TextMe UNM, which had about 9,000 registered recipients in September 2010. LoboAlerts is an optout as opposed to opt-in system, but recipients can opt-out only from the text message alerts, not the e-mail alerts. On the first day LoboAlerts was activated, about 50,000 people were signed up for the alerts. Text messages, on average, are sent 10 times faster than e-mails, Piatt said. He said the delivery time depends on phone model and provider, the phone’s location and signal. He said those factors can affect how many messages are sent to phones. “There’s a lot of different variables as to why you may have gotten more (text messages) than someone else,” Piatt said. “Theoretically, everyone should have gotten the same number.” Piatt said he receives varying responses from students and UNM members when LoboAlerts tests the emergency notification system. “We get people who are happy we are doing the tests and sending alerts,” he said. “Some people call in saying that they aren’t affiliated with UNM. Some people get new cell phone numbers and don’t update their information with UNM.”
Inside the
Daily Lobo volume 115
issue 100
AFTER
Maps courtesy of UNM and Lobo Development Corporation
The Board of Regents approved main campus housing plans Tuesday, ushering in a two-year period of dorm demolition and renovation. UNM’s partner, American Campus Communities, is scheduled to begin construction on the dorms May 16, but the University and ACC have not worked out how much ACC will pay for the land. Regent Gene Gallegos, the only regent to vote against the housing plans, said construction finances concern him. “ACC is a for-profit business, and they want to negotiate as favorably as they can, and I think that negotiation has to be mutual,” he said. “And it has to be a favorable financial deal for the University.” ACC could pay up to $545,000 in rent, but depending on development and construction costs, rent could also be as low as $305,000, which is the property’s “fair market value,” according to the building plans. ACC officials said they want to begin construction as soon as possible in order to complete the dorms by August 2012. The company plans to begin construction before definite rates are agreed upon. Regent Don Chalmers assured Gallegos the situation was not a large risk. “Because of our desire that is spurring on the project for 2012, (ACC) does not have a guaranteed maximum price,” Chalmers said. “They have estimates, and they believe their estimates are right. ... But in the worst case scenario, we get fair market value.” But there is a discrepancy among the regents about whether $305,000 is the fair market value, which is what ACC will pay if construction and development costs are high enough.
The Lobo Development Board and six of seven Regents’ Finance and Facilities Committee members approved the building plans and tentative rates before they went before the regents Tuesday. Gallegos said his concerns with ACC stem from previous dealings with the company. He said the regents found problems with the Lobo Village lease when they reviewed it last year. “It was the most unfair, one-sided lease that you could imagine,” he said. “We sat down with ACC and we renegotiated that lease and probably changed 20 terms to make it a fair lease.” Gallegos said the regents and ACC have more negotiating to do. He said a tentative rate plan is also not a provision of the original Master Agreement between ACC, Lobo Development and UNM. The new phase of building involves the demolition of Santa Ana dorm, the parking lot behind it, two SRC apartments, two tennis courts and part of lower Johnson Field to make way for four multi-story dorms. The project will use more than four acres of UNM land, is set to cost ACC about $92 per square foot of building, and will cost residents about $570 per month, according to the plans. Faculty Senate President Richard Wood questioned how much the project would cost the University. Lobo development officials said the project won’t cost UNM, but Wood didn’t agree. “What we are spending is a prime piece of real estate, and we’re doing it for students,” he said. “But I do think every time we enter into these agreements with a private sector, with all respect for the profit motives of the private sector, our interests are always at risk. And you all are on the line trying to defend our interests.”
Bill: Voters must bring picture ID to polls by Shaun Griswold shaun24@unm.edu
After a heated debate, the House Voters and Election Committee postponed a vote that will determine if New Mexicans should be required to show photo identification at voting polls on Election Day. House Bill 308, sponsored by Rep. Dianne Hamilton (R-Silver City), is supported by the governor and the Secretary of the State’s office, which oversees state-wide elections. However, the bill received criticism from County Clerk’s offices. Secretary of State Dianna Duran, a newly elected Republican, said identification at polls is crucial. “We need to have voter ID implemented before going into 2012 elections in order to assure that every person who appears at that polling place is the person they say they are,” she said.
Some county clerks, who administer elections in the state’s 33 counties, said the bill would apply only to ballots cast at polling locations and not mail-in ballots. Santa Fe chief deputy clerk Denise Lamb said mail-in or absentee ballots have a greater risk of potential abuse. “No one knows if someone is assisting them with that ballot,” she said. “No one knows if someone is coercing them or bribing them, unlike at the polling places. We cannot create two classes of voters.” The House Voters and Election Committee will vote on the measure Thursday. Its recommendations will help lawmakers determine whether to support the measure. During her State of the State speech on Jan. 18, Gov. Susana Martinez said requiring a photo ID at the polls was one of her legislative priorities. “People have to show a photo ID to rent a movie,” she said. “It’s not too much to ask to show a photo ID to vote.”
Just 44 points
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Eight states require voters to show photo identification, according to the Associated Press. Nineteen states require identification, but not a photo, to vote. If passed, HB 308 would require New Mexican voters to provide a state or federally issued photo identification card. Native Americans
“People have to show a photo ID to rent a movie. It’s not too much to ask to show a photo ID to vote.” ~Gov. Susana Martinez would be exempt from the law because they can show tribally issued identification cards, which are issued without a photo.
Steve Allen, executive director of Common Cause, a political nonprofit, said the law would not improve the state’s elections. “Quite the contrary, it would cost a lot of money and disenfranchise a bunch of qualified voters in the process,” he said. “This state has enough real problems. This bill creates new ones while trying to solve an imaginary one.” Measure supporters, including branches from the state’s Tea Party, said the law would help prevent voter fraud. Robert Mitzel, who spoke on behalf of the Chaves County Tea Party Patriots, mirrored the governor’s statement. “If it’s important enough that I present an ID to rent a movie, it should be important enough to present an ID to vote,” he said. Lamb rebutted the claim and said the bill could incite costly lawsuits against the state if it passes. “A privilege granted by a business is different than a constitutional right,” she said.
TODAY
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