DAILY LOBO new mexico
Awkward party moment
monday
see page 4
February 21, 2011
SFRB holds separate hearings
The Independent Voice of UNM since 1895
DISAPPOINTING 3-POINTER
Departments facing cuts ask SFRB for student fees by Hunter Riley hriley@unm.edu
Student Fee Review Board members couldn’t agree over whether a video camera should be allowed to record applicant hearings, so undergraduate and graduate members held separate sessions over the weekend. ASUNM board members met in one room of the College of Education Building, while GPSA board members deliberated next door. GPSA Grants Committee Chair Katie Richardson said separate hearings sessions could be bad for the student body as a whole. “I think the two student groups have more in common, and if we don’t find a way to work together the student body will suffer,” Richardson said. Both sides of the SFRB will host a town-hall meeting today to gain student input on student fee allocation. Some student groups requested funding this year for the first time since other avenues of funding are drying up. Parking and Transportation Services requested student fees for the first time because the free bus pass program is in danger of being cut. It asked for $100,000 to keep the program running. Student Health and Counseling historically requests the largest amount of money from student fees. This year it requested more than $4 million. The Athletics Department requested the next largest sum at $1.8 million. Tim Cass, associate director for athletics and administration, said athletics makes 85 percent of its budget through sources such as ticket sales. “We are the top self-generating school in our league,” Cass said. Michael Thorning, ASUNM chief of staff, asked the athletics panel about what the department is doing in response to the recent media attention concerning athletes and coaches. Henry Villegas, manager of academic advisement for athletes, said the media has portrayed UNM athletes and coaches in a negative light recently. He said the media writes only negative stories. “Any time something like that happens, it is the front-page story,” Villegas said. “But if you look at the over 3,000 hours of community service, there is no one out there covering those things.”
see ASUNM page 5
Inside the
Daily Lobo volume 115
issue 103
Laurisa Galvan / Daily Lobo Drew Gordon holds his head in disbelief during the Lobos’ game against Utah on Saturday at the Pit. Gordon set a Mountain West Conference record with 23 rebounds, but the Utes scored at the buzzer and beat the Lobos 62-60. See page 12 for full story.
Flintco denies foul Business play in Pit contract students by Barron Jones
bjones36@unm.edu A lawsuit filed in January alleges UNM unethically awarded the $60 million Pit renovation project to an Oklahama-based contractor, but the contractor says it is not responsible for UNM’s actions. The lawsuit, filed by the New Mexico Building and Construction Trades Council and The Local Electrical and Iron Workers Union, alleges contracting company Flintco was given the construction management contract for the Pit because of its relationship with UNM President David Schmidly. The complaint accuses Flintco of hiring Schmidly’s son, Brian Schmidly, as the new business development manager in exchange for the contract. Flintco released a statement Feb. 7 saying the lawsuit is nothing more than a meritless attack on the company. “This action is clearly frivolous, clearly vexatious or brought primarily for the purpose of harassment,” the statement said. In the statement, Flintco denied the allegations and said it did not authorize or sanction unlawful actions alleged in the lawsuit. Flintco Vice President Ken Easley said the Board of Regents determined hiring Brian Schmidly was not a conflict of interest, “In our first interview, Brian did disclose his relationship with Presi-
dent Schmidly,” Easley said in an email. “However, we didn’t think his family connection should disqualify him. It was up to the board to decide if there was a conflict of interest. They did not. This is documented in the January public minutes of the regents meeting.”
“We are actually suing on behalf of the University, not against it.” ~John Wertheim Attorney Four UNM officials and one outside architect scored each bidding company to determine which was most qualified to receive the contract. The lawsuit claims all UNM officials’ scores were scratched off and recalculated to reflect Flintco as the winning bidder over Bradbury Stamm and Jaynes Corp. However, Jaynes Corp. scored higher than Flinto and underbid it by $2.2 million, according to the lawsuit. The score sheets in question were filled out by Athletics Vice President Paul Krebs, then-Facility Management Vice President William Turner, UNM Architect Roger Lujan and Facility Project Officer Miguel Hidalgo. The fifth evaluation sheet did
see Flintco page 5
House or Senate?
Student protests
See page 6
See page 2
win big bucks
Judges award $7,500 to duo to start social networking site by Shannon Alexander sralex2@gmail.com
Several UNM students are one step closer to realizing their small business dreams after winning a campus-wide entrepreneurship contest. Anderson School of Management hosted its first annual Entrepreneurial Challenge on Friday. Fifteen student teams presented business ideas to a panel of judges, all of whom were local entrepreneurs. Challenge Director Sul Kassicieh said the competition was designed for students to contribute to the local economy. He said, for the past six years, the school has offered the Technology Business Plan Competition, which supports technology business ventures. But this competition accepts a wider range of ideas. “We feel that this country’s strength is in our ability to start new businesses,” he said. “The more we can start, the better it is for jobs and creating wealth. So it really is to help the economic development of New
Mexico.” Teams proposed businesses including a late-night dessert bar, a mobile marketing company and a drive-thru coffee shop with bikiniclad baristas. Five student teams received cash prizes to help them start their businesses in the Albuquerque area. Students Olena Dziuba and Robert Shaw received the first-place cash prize of $7,500 for their social networking site for amateur musicians. Steven Lang and Sam Caswell received the second-place cash prize of $5,000 for their television marketing service and third prize went to Paul Aitken for a student taxi/shuttle service. Lang and Caswell said the competition prepared them for future business proposal presentations. The competition was designed to give business students more handson experience, Kassicieh said. “A lot of times when we go to school we tend to focus on just studying, and then maybe finding a job,” he said. “But this gave them the opportunity to take it to the next step. It really gets them to start thinking about issues that are beyond that pure idea.” Student competitor Alex Moine, who proposed a hot dog stand for the downtown area, didn’t win a prize but said that the competition was a learning experience for him. “I never realized how much goes into a business plan — how much time and thought,” he said. He’s interested in making his proposal a reality. “I’ve decided that, regardless, I’m going to find a way to get a loan and do it,” he said. “I think it would be a good idea to help myself and New Mexicans.”
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