DAILY LOBO new mexico
Enduring literature see page 6
thursday
March 3, 2011
The Independent Voice of UNM since 1895
IN STEP, IN TIME
Budget passes despite hang-ups Late passing might require special session by Shaun Griswold shaunz24@unm.edu
The New Mexico House of Representatives narrowly approved a $5.4 billion budget bill, 35-34, on Tuesday evening. The spending bill includes appropriations of $742 million for higher education, $1.5 billion for health, hospitals and human services, $2.4 billion for public schools and $362 million for public safety. The bill now goes to Senate for consideration. Rep. Tom Jackson (R-Farmington) was one of several Republicans who criticized the process. He said Democrats stalled debate on amending the bill, including on an amendment that would cap state film subsidies at $40 million. “The people of New Mexico would be disappointed in this
see Budget page 3
Robert Maes / Daily Lobo Students dancers run through the faculty dance show “Strada” on Wednesday at Rodey Theatre. The show is a tribute to retiring professor Jennifer Predock-Linnel. See page 7 for full story.
Group provides Greeks oppose drunk driving support for jobless
Fraternity member forms awareness group after friends injured by drunk driver Kallie Red-Horse
Zach Gould
zgould@unm.edu It was 2007, and Joshua Burns had just moved back to New Mexico to start a family in the “booming” film industry. Except, as the Columbia University graduate found out, he couldn’t even find a job holding a boom microphone. “I got here and found out that there still isn’t a whole lot of production here,” he said. “I finally got a job with SunCal, but then they went out of business.” Since then, he’s been out of work for a year. Originally from Santa Fe, Burns is just one face behind a statewide statistic: New Mexico’s unemployment rate is 8 percent, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. But two labor groups hope their initiative will put New Mexicans back to work. Local divisions Working America and the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) banded together to create New Mexico Wants to Work, a support group whose mission is to combat state unemployment. The group held its first meeting Feb. 23 and provides resources to make job-hunting easier, said
Inside the
Daily Lobo volume 115
issue 111
Chelsey Evans, state director of Working America. She said it’s important that workers are versed about their rights. “A lot of workers feel alone,” she said. “It’s hard to find to resources you need. We want to help folks with needs and services, but we also want to be a coalition to tell these stories.” Evans said the organizations created programs in five states around the country.
“A lot of workers feel alone. It’s hard to find to resources you need.” ~Chelsey Evans State Director for Working America Burns is just one of many who are receiving aid from the support group. He said he is optimistic it will help him land a job if the state continues to invest in the film industry. Gov. Susana Martinez outlined a plan to reduce the state’s film subsidies by 10 percent, which could impact workers in the industry. But if he has it his way, Burns said, he prefers to stay in his home state as long as he can find work. “I love it here,” he said. “I miss the weather and the food, and my mom is out here.”
kallie69@unm.edu
Members of a student group want to eradicate student drunk driving while changing negative perceptions about the Greek community. Student Greg Golden founded Greeks Against Drunk Driving last month. He said students ignore drunk driving risks until they face consequences. “People think they are not going to hurt someone, but the fact is once every 45 seconds there is an auto accident involving intoxicated driving,” he said. “You do the math. It is unrealistic to think that you will not be affected because one in every three people are directly affected by this.” Accidents caused by driving under the influence can change a life in a second, GADD public relations chair Suzanne Fortner said. “The more that I went to the meetings for GADD, the more I started thinking, ‘What if they hit my mom, my dad, or my sister?’ These are real things that you have to ask,” she said. “The thought of losing them to someone else’s careless decision really made me passionate about stopping it.” UNM Greek members have had issues with DUIs in the past, Golden said, and they want students to understand the repercussions of
Caught Reading
Bad advice
See page 2
See page 4
their actions. “A couple members of my fraternity had gotten in trouble at one point,” he said. “At the University, the majority of growing takes place in a person’s life. Kids make choices that will affect them for rest of their life, so what better time than at college to address them about this issue?”
Golden said people don’t realize the extent to which fraternities and sororities participate in community service and activism projects. “There is this common misconception that Greek organizations are all about one thing only, the party aspect,” he said. As students, GADD members can better communicate to other
students the importance of the issue, Fortner said. “Students need to hear it from other students who can relate it to their lives,” she said. “I do have friends who drink and drive, so that’s why I’m so passionate about it. It’s all about targeting people you know. That is how it is going to be different.” The UNM chapter of GADD is the first of its kind, Golden said, and he hopes to expand to universities across the nation. He said a saferide program is one of the projects in the works. The program would allow students to call a driver to come pick them up if they had been drinking. Fortner said two of Golden’s friends were injured when they were hit by a drunk driver. She said that’s why Golden is passionate about the issue. “He saw firsthand how it can impact anyone directly at any minute,” she said. “That is so scary.” Students intent on partying should plan ahead, Fortner said, to avoid a dangerous situation. “I know there are countless careless decisions made when people drink, but if you drink and drive you are putting others and yourself in danger,” she said. “There are a lot of people who are willing to be designated drivers, or if you are close enough, you can walk home.”
TODAY
70 |40