DAILY LOBO new mexico
Great expectations
monday
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The Independent Voice of UNM since 1895
Alumni office renovations run over $2M budget by Hunter Riley hriley@unm.edu
The amalgamation of construction tape, scaffolding and plastic sheets known as Hodgin Hall has been out of service for more than a year, and it’s also nearly $1 million over budget. The original renovation budget was $2 million, according to University Communications and Marketing, but the budget is now $2,937,497, according to a document from UNM Office of Capital Projects, and officials said they underestimated the amount of renewal and replacement the project required. The building first went under construction in March 2010 and will reopen to the public in September. Hodgin Hall houses the UNM Alumni Association and the UNM Alumni Relations Office. Regent Don Chalmers said it’s vital to fund the center because alumni are the University’s future donors. “Keeping in touch with them to get their support in many ways, financial and in the Legislature, is extremely important for a university,” he said. UNM alumni donated $18.1 million in gifts to UNM during 2009-10, almost a quarter of all gifts made out to the University, according to the UNM Foundation’s Annual Report of Giving. These donations went to
Laurisa Galvan / Daily Lobo Construction worker Eric Chavez prepares a door before it’s installed at Hodgin Hall, UNM’s oldest building. The hall, which has been under construction for more than a year, is almost $1 million over budget.
scholarships and not construction. To fund construction, state general funds contributed $100,000 in 2005. The project received $183,800 in general funding in 2007. The center also received more than $1.1 million from a severance tax bond, and $1.5 million from UNM system Revenue Bonds. Alumni Relations Associate Vice President Karen Abraham said the center will reopen in September. She said the regents designated Hodgin Hall for the alumni center in 2005. “It didn’t have any state-of-theart facilities, and the electrical systems were not very good,” she said. “We went to the legislature and got about 40 legislators to give an average of about $2,500 each to help support renovations of the building.” Abraham said alumni will raise money to maintain the building once the renovations are done. Capital Projects Group Manager Mike Reid said the renovation crew dealt with difficulties when fixing up the 100-year-old building. “There were instances where they had to remove a lot of the walls, almost 50 percent, because they were running new wiring and new IT,” he said. Rick Henrard, also a group manager for Capital Projects, said part of the building’s fire code was out
see Budget page 5
Gay rights protests stop traffic House says no more
immigrant licenses
by Cody Jo
codythelion@gmail.com As many as 250 brightly dressed protesters marched in support of gay marriage and civil rights Saturday afternoon in Nob Hill. The pack of supporters unfurled rainbow banners, shook tambourines, beat drums and chanted as they marched west on Central Avenue toward University Boulevard just before 1 p.m. Organizer and student Brittany Arneson headed the action, directing the chants and rallying the crowd. “We are here to defend a simple justice — equality.” she said, “It is absurd that the LGBT community is still facing so many discriminatory acts.”
“I just love my gay dads, and I want them to get married.” ~Alegra Sewell, 7 Protesters included members and allies of LGBT organizations, including Albuquerque Darlings, A.N.S.W.E.R., Get Equal, Pink Panthers and UNM’s Queer Straight Alliance.
Inside the
Daily Lobo volume 115
issue 113
by Diego Gomez dgomez@unm.edu
Robert Maes / Daily Lobo March organizer Brittany Arneson stands with fellow protestors, blocking traffic at the intersection of Central Avenue and University Boulevard. The march for equal rights for gays attracted around 250 participants. Local news cameras arrived just as demonstrators held hands and spanned across the crosswalk at University and Central, blocking traffic for almost five minutes. Arneson banged a drum to the beat of the marchers’ chant, “Gay, straight, black, white — marriage is a civil right!” Alleviating traffic constriction, the marchers U-turned and made their way back toward Nob Hill. In the courtyard adjacent to the Bookstore, they passed the megaphone among themselves and
made personal statements. “I just love my gay dads,” 7-year-old Alegra Sewell said. “And I want them to get married.” Arneson said she made a choice to stand up for what she believes in. “I decided I could no longer sit and wait for the world to change,” she said. “I needed to do something now. We have to be daily activists. Be passionate, and quit allowing yourself to be trampled on by the ideologies of others.”
Gary’s last stand
Belly balancing
See page 12
See page 2
After two days and 13 hours of deliberation, the New Mexico House of Representatives passed a bill that would prevent some undocumented residents from obtaining driver’s licenses. HB 78 passed 42-28 on Friday and is now in the Senate’s hands. The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Andy Nuñez (I-Hatch), said undocumented residents could still get driver’s licenses if they had a spouse in the country legally. He said international students would be able to obtain New Mexico driver’s licenses under the measure, but only for the period of time that they are in the states legally. “We took care of the human aspects of it,” he said. “It’s just the ones that are coming here from all over the world that are breaking the laws. They get their license then go to Texas or some place, and then we lose track of them. That’s just a big abuse.” Under the measure, foreign nationals applying for a driving permit or driver’s license would have to present their Social Security number, valid passport number, Visa number, and any other arrival-departure
record issued by U.S. Department of Homeland Security. On Friday morning, Nuñez introduced a floor substitute, which allows a bill to bypass committee and go straight to debate on the floor. It was debated and voted on at about 6:30 p.m. In committee hearings, dozens of families, business owners and law enforcement officials testified about the merits of having all drivers in New Mexico licensed, said Maria Cristina Lopez, a founding board member of Somos Un Pueblo Unido, a statewide immigrant rights organization. She said thousands attended hearings, signed petitions, e-mailed legislators or participated in lobbying activities at the Round House to oppose the bill. “It’s a dangerous precedent and inexcusable that House members would shut New Mexicans out from the legislative process by blasting Rep. Nuñez’s bill to the floor and passing a substitute bill without any hearings or public input,” she said. “Legislators’ refusal to even consider a ‘compromise’ bill that attempted to address specific concerns about fraud shows that this debate isn’t about sound public policy. It’s about politics and re-election campaigns.” When it comes to public safety, Lopez said the bill is a step in the wrong direction. In 2003, the
see Immigrants page 5
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