DAILY LOBO new mexico
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February 21, 2012
The Independent Voice of UNM since 1895
Language center still seeks funds for renovations by Luke Holmen holmen@unm.edu
The Language Learning Center is unlikely to get the money it needs to renovate its 40-year-old facilities, at least not from the Student Fee Review Board. The LLC requested $196,817.50 in student fees, but it didn’t receive any funding. This was the first time the center requested money from student fees.
“...it’s pretty atrocious what they call the classrooms down here, and I think after 40 years they could spend a little money doing some basic renovations.” Pam Castaldi Language Learning Center director SFRB member and GPSA Chief of Staff Japji Hundal said the board decided not to fund the center because it only serves students enrolled in language courses. Hundal said the center should be funded by Instruction and General funding from the administration and the state because it is used primarily for educational purposes. “The lab is tied to coursework and to credit hours, and only students who are taking language courses can use it,” he said. “We felt there are other organizations that better serve the whole student population.” Pam Castaldi, director of the LLC, said outdated electrical equipment and poorly designed labs limit the ability of students to interact. The center has six computer
Dylan Smith / Daily Lobo Ortega Hall Audio-Visual technician Dominique Chairez motions at the Hub, a large semicircular table in the middle of the Language Learning Center. The center didn’t recieve any of the $196,817.50 in funding it requested from the Student Fee Review Board.
pods that teachers can rent out for classes and that students can use to do individual or small group work, but Castaldi said the center would like to create a central lounge area so students can practice languages outside of class. “You can take classes in languages, but that is not how you learn it,” she said. “You learn it by speaking it, and we offer tutors and films and conversation groups that allow students to really (immerse) themselves in the language. Language learning is so important. Most of the people living in Europe and in other places are bilingual and we need to have multilingual people so that we
don’t fall behind.” The LLC receives course fees from language classes. Castaldi said the $10 per student course fee funds much of the center’s operating budget, and while not every language course has the fee attached to it, all students in language classes use the center. I&G only funds the center’s administrative salaries, leaving no funds for updates, she said. Castaldi said this is the first time the center has requested student fees in the more than 40 years the center has existed. “In Ortega down here on the first floor, it’s pretty atrocious what they call the classrooms down
here, and I think after 40 years they could spend a little money doing some basic renovations.” Hundal said the SFRB will ask the administration for funding to support the center. “We are going to advocate on behalf of more dollars in I and G funding that can be renewed year to year,” he said. But Castaldi said she is unsure if the funding will come through. “Jaymie Roybal and Katie Richardson have committed on behalf of the SFRB to talk with me and the provost to talk about attaining some recurring funding through the College of Arts and Sciences, but I’m not sure what to expect.”
Without the funding, Castaldi said the lab won’t be able to serve students beyond their classroom needs. “We’re not going to be able to upgrade our labs,” she said. “It really hurts us because our goal is to become like a community center for language learners and without these upgrades, it makes that much harder.” But Castaldi said she hasn’t given up hope. Final student fee recommendations are due by March 1. The President’s Strategic Budget Leadership Team is currently reviewing the recommendations from the SFRB. “We will keep looking for funding, maybe not from SFRB,” she said.
MWC winning streak secures national ranking by Nathan Farmer
sports@dailylobo.com The men’s basketball team has cracked the national rankings for the first time this season. After coming off back-to-back wins over nationally ranked opponents, the Lobos are now ranked No. 18 in the Associated Press Poll. Head coach Steve Alford saidw the Lobos are worthy of the national ranking. “Our guys have done an awful lot of work to get to this point,” he said. “When I look around the country it’s hard for me to find 25 teams doing any more than what we are doing right now and that is a tribute to our players.” ESPN also picked the Lobos as the team
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of the week. UNM is 22-4 and 8-2 in the MWC and is on a seven-game win streak in conference play. The Lobos won each one of those seven games by double digits. They beat thenranked No. 17 San Diego State by 10 points on Wednesday and No. 11 University of Nevada Las Vegas by 20 points on Saturday. With seconds remaining in the UNLV game, the student section began chanting “overrated,” referring to the team’s ranking, but Alford said UNLV deserved its high ranking. “I don’t think UNLV is overrated, I think we are underrated,” he said. “Maybe it will take games like this to get that kind of attention.” In this week’s polls, SDSU is ranked No. 24 and UNLV is No. 21.
With the 8-2 record in MWC, the Lobos sit two games ahead of both UNLV and SDSU who are 6-4 in conference. This is the first time since the 2009-10 season that the Lobos have entered the top 25. Senior forward Drew Gordon was also honored for his individual play this week being named the MWC player of the week and the national player of the week by ESPN. This is his third MWC player of the week for this season and the fifth in his Lobo career. Gordon is coming off a career game at UNM when he scored 27 points and had 20 rebounds in the win against UNLV last Saturday. Last Wednesday Gordon had 17 points and 17 rebounds against SDSU. Gordon said nothing will change now
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that the team is ranked because the Lobos still have the goal of a MWC championship and an NCAA tournament appearance. “It won’t change our attitude, and we know how we are going to act,” Gordon said. “Our team is hungry, and we want a ring. We are striving to keep getting better.” Sophomore guard Tony Snell said the Lobos will continue their winning streak with their next game away to Colorado State and are good enough to take the MWC title. “To win a championship, I know that we are good enough to do it and talented enough as well,” Snell said. “We have to go in there and do the best we can for the rest of the season.”
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