DAILY LOBO new mexico
Battle of the Bands
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The Independent Voice of UNM since 1895
March 30, 2010
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Admins just don’t understand by Pat Lohmann Daily Lobo
Renato Nunes, a bull rider from Brazil, attempts to right his fall during the championship round of the Ty Murray Invitational at The Pit on Sunday. Nunes is ranked in the top ten internationally in professional bull riding. Check out the galleries at DailyLobo. com for more photos. Junfu Han /
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About 50 students held a rally at Smith Plaza on Monday asking the administration to think twice before superseding the fee recommendations of the Student Fee Review Board. Holding signs that read “Student fees are a student right” and “Save our programs,” the group of student government leaders, undergraduates and graduates attempted to justify a $10 increase on students for the 2010-11 academic year to fund several nonprofit organizations and a queer resource center. “We respect the administration. We understand it’s a difficult budget,” said Lee Drake, a nonvoting member of the Student Fee Review Board at the rally. “We understand some cuts but not total cuts.” Eliseo “Cheo” Torres, vice president of Student Affairs, sent a recommendation last week to the President’s Office encouraging the president and the Board of Regents not to allocate almost $200,000 in student fees, which would have increased student fees by $10.10 to almost $460. The Board of Regents will vote on the recommendations at its meeting this Friday. Torres said he didn’t disagree with the organizations; instead, he was concerned about compounding an increased tuition resulting from legislative cuts with increased student fees. “My decision was based only on the budget, trying to keep the student fees as low as possible and keep them at the level they were at last year,” he said. “It had nothing to
do with the programs. They were excellent programs.” The organizations fighting to regain funding are the Research Service Learning Program, the Public Interest Research Group and Community Learning and Public Service, in addition to the Queer Resource Center. Also at the press conference, Katie Richardson-McDaniel, SFRB member, said the administration would be ignoring students and their leaders by ignoring the recommendations. “We understand the budget pressures,” she said. “At the same time, I think we’ve made a very deliberate, informed, careful decision.” David Conway, candidate for ASUNM president, said that the power to allocate student fees “should reside in the hands of those who pay them.” And Laz Cardenas, Conway’s opponent, also expressed his support for the organizations and the Queer Resource Center. He said he’s helping to author emergency legislation for ASUNM’s next meeting to show the undergraduates’ opposition to the cuts. According to policy 1310 in the University Business Policies and Procedures Manual, the SFRB is tasked only with making recommendations to the UNM president, and all student fee increases or decreases must be approved by the Board of Regents. After the rally, Conway said he and representatives from the organizations and student governing bodies met with UNM President David Schmidly to discuss the recommendation. He said the administration cited the
see Rally page 2
ASUNM Student Government Election by Andrew Beale
by Kallie Red-Horse
Wolfpack wants to “howl yes” on sustainability, campus security and free student tickets to athletic events. Wolfpack ASUNM presidential candidate David Conway and vice presidential candidate Zoe Riebli said these issues are important to Wolfpack’s goal of moving UNM forward. “The concise message is that we’re trying to bring the University toward a progressive future,” Conway said. “I have the experience to get things done, and we have people on our slate with great ideas.” Riebli said communication is important to Wolfpack’s goal of moving UNM in a progressive direction. “We need to work with GPSA and the administration to keep an open communication,” she said. “I appreciate how the administration takes student opinions seriously.” Conway said keeping a good relationship with the administration is important to Wolfpack. “I’ve had very good interactions with the administration. It’s important. We have to voice our opinions respectfully. We have to remain stern, but respectful,” he said. “I have a rapport with President Schmidly. We’ve collaborated on a lot of things.” Conway said making the campus safer is one of the top priorities of the slate. “If you look at Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, safety is one of the first things. You can’t learn if you don’t feel safe,” he said. Riebli said she appreciates efforts already made to boost campus security, but that there is still room for improvement.
Full Circle has big plans for the University if the slate gets elected to ASUNM. Many of the changes, including improving campus security and increasing internship accessibility have a large impact on UNM and its inhabitants, said Laz Cardenas, Full Circle presidential candidate. “These goals are all attainable. We only have a year to make this difference and I can make most of these changes right away,” he said. Enhancing campus security tops the priority list, Cardenas said, in hopes of preventing any further incidents of violence. “What really comes to mind is security. How are you going to improve security?” he said. “There are two ways in my mind ... make sure we replace the light bulbs that are out, and put more call boxes in certain locations.” Vice presidential candidate Joseph Colbert said maintaining sustainability with University expansion is another important focus. “I want to shoot for more recycling bins, more sustainable infrastructure in the new buildings being built and those being renovated, as far as any kind of construction that goes on with residence halls and new residence halls. Make sure they are good structures but also sustainable structures.” Cardenas said one of Full Circle’s ideas is for ASUNM to create a database to give students easy access to internship and scholarship opportunities. “You come to college because most of us want to get a job right after, and an internship guides that experience,” he said. “That networking is important for an individual, so when they graduate they don’t just
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