DAILY LOBO new mexico
A bat for each win
monday Submerged and subdued
March 28, 2011
see page 12
volume 115
The Independent Voice of UNM since 1895
Student angered over dorm flood, escorted from Schmidly’s office by police by Chelsea Erven cerven@unm.edu
Student Chris Fullerton went to UNM president David Schmidly’s office March 23, hoping to talk about his flooded dorm. Instead, three UNMPD police officers escorted the student from Scholes Hall. Fullerton’s dorm flooded Jan. 3, after a pipe burst over winter break. Not satisfied with the University’s response, Fullerton said he decided to talk to Schmidly about the problem, but every time he asked to set up a meeting, he was told Schmidly was in a meeting, on vacation or at an appointment, he said. “I called about 15 or 20 times,” Fullerton said. Fullerton took matters into his own hands. He said he called Schmidly and told the office that he was Walt Miller, the vice president of Student Life. “They put me right through to him, and Schmidly answered 20 seconds later,” Fullerton said, Fullerton then told the president he was not Miller and asked to set up a meeting. Schmidly, Fullerton said, told him he was late for a doctor’s appointment and couldn’t meet. Fullerton, who made the call from
Photos Courtesy of Brian Murray Photos taken by the University’s insurance claims adjuster document the damage in student Chris Fullerton’s SRC apartment after pipes burst in January. Fullerton said his belongings were either damaged or stolen after maintenance crews left his door open. The University said it would not replace his belongings, and when he tried to talk to UNM President David Schmidly about his problem, Fullerton was escorted out of Scholes Hall by UNMPD. outside Scholes Hall, asked to quickly meet Schmidly and shake his hand, anyway. “I said, ‘All I want is to meet you real fast,’” Fullerton said. “‘It will take 30 seconds, and I just want to shake your hand and see the face of the University here ... and finally he said, ‘OK, fine.’” When Fullerton got to the president’s office, staff told him Schmidly was in a meeting, Fullerton said, so he waited outside. “About 20 minutes later, three
University police officers walked in and told me that President Schmidly didn’t want to meet me,” Fullerton said. The officers then escorted Fullerton out of the building, he said. University Spokeswoman Susan McKinsey gave her version of the events in Schmidly’s office. “On the date in question, this individual apparently misrepresented who he was,” she said. “When he was here, he was disruptive; officers were called; he was asked to leave, and he complied.”
issue 123
Fullerton’s SRC apartment dorm was one of 30 dorms that suffered water damage during the break, University spokeswoman Karen Wentworth said. She said the damage totaled nearly $500,000. Fullerton said that some of his belongings were damaged and others were stolen after maintenance workers left his door open. He said he was told his belongings would be covered until he received a letter from Brian Murray, the University’s insurance adjuster, from Keenan and Associates.
“(Murray) said UNM was not responsible for any of the stuff that was gone and damaged because it was an ‘act of God,’” Fullerton said. “Even employees leaving my door open was an ‘act of God,’ somehow.” Wentworth said students without renter’s insurance are responsible for replacing their belongings. She said many students, especially Fullerton, are not happy with the policy. “The University advises all the students in the dorms to get renter’s insurance to cover something like this,” she said. “ … We do have one student who is challenging the policy, and he was told pretty much the only option that he has is small claims court.” Fullerton said he was told the damage could have been prevented. “I was told by a maintenance supervisor that the reason the pipes in that dorm broke was because they turned the heat completely off to that building over winter break rather than to low, like they were supposed to,” he said. What bothered Fullerton the most, he said, is that Schmidly’s office called the cops without reason. “His office didn’t even have the respect to ask me to leave before calling the police,” he said. McKinsey said officers were called because it was a safety matter. “No office and no staff member will be asked to take a chance with that,” she said.
UNM area braces Regents to talk tuition, cuts What’s At Stake: for population boom by Shaun Griswold shaun24@unm.edu
UNM's Modes of Alternative Transportation
Source: UNM Commuter Survey
by Hunter Riley hriley@unm.edu
Traffic congestion will increase dramatically in the University area by 2035, according to a multi-county governmental agency’s projections. The Mid-Region Council of Government is accepting feedback on the 2035 Metropolitan Transportation Plan, said Terry Doyle, MRCOG Director of Transportation. He said that the organization estimates a population increase of about 551,000 people by 2035 in the area that comprises Sandoval, Santa Fe, Valencia and Bernalillo counties. “We’re talking about adding a whole other Bernalillo county to the four-county area,” Doyle said. Doyle said more than 400,000 people of that increase will live west of the Rio Grande. “The need to cross the river just keeps getting bigger and bigger,” he said. “It looks like we’re not going to build more capacity for single-occupancy vehicles. ...The issues have somewhat always been the same. This plan recognizes that us building more capacity, in terms of bridges, is pretty
slim.” The University area, including UNM and CNM, gets about 75,000 daily commutes, said Tony Sylvester, MRCOG Special Projects manager. Sylvester worked on a study with members from UNM, CNM, the City of Albuquerque and Bernalillo County. He said they formed a Travel Demand Management committee to find and address the area’s transportation problems. “It’s going to be a combination of addressing parking, potentially improving transit, some policy changes, and identifying potential infrastructure improvements and weak points,” Sylvester said. “It’s not us (MRCOG) that makes that decision on whether we move forward on that. It’s up to the committee.” Parking at UNM is problematic, according to the UNM/CNM Travel Demand Management Study. The report said it increases unnecessary driving, particularly to, from and around the main campus. Sylvester said UNM and CNM worked to provide students with parking on and near campus, but because
see Population page 3
The Board of Regents will discuss raising tuition costs, covering employee retirement benefits and work toward approving a 2011-12 operating budget during an open meeting today in the SUB Ballroom. On the table is a 5 percent tuition increase, on top of a 3.1 percent mandated by the State Legislature. The regents will also discuss the Education Retirement Board swap, where higher administration would, on top of other cost-cutting measures, have to pay 1.75 percent more into their pensions so faculty and staff don’t have to. The budget summit starts at 9 a.m. The regents will look at cost-containment measures presented by UNM President David Schmidly to offset a $5.4 million revenue decrease,
8 % overall tuition increase. 1.75 % faculty and staff pay cut. $2.2 million increase to strengthen the academic mission. $2.9 million to cut from IT. $800,000 cut from each education department (except Arts & Sciences). $385,000 cut from the Athletics Department
according to UNM’s Office of Planning, Budget and Analysis. Measures to save money include a $2.9 million reduction within Information Technologies, more than $800,000
THIS AIN’T HIS FIRST RODEO
in overall cuts from every department except Arts and Sciences, and another proposal to sell the South Championship Golf Course for about $600,000.
see Regents page 3
New Mexico native LJ Jenkins rides the bull RMEF Gunpowder & Lead during the TV Murray Invitational at The Pit on Saturday. Jenkins, who is from Texico, New Mexico, was the overall winner at the event, taking home $41,693.33 in winnings.
Robert Maes Daily Lobo