DAILY LOBO new mexico
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March 31, 2011
The Independent Voice of UNM since 1895
SOMETHING TO HOWL ABOUT
Revised contract reduces buyout
thursday Professor sees FAS-free future Research could lead to better detection, treatment for those with syndrome by Chelsea Erven
Staff Report
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sports@dailylobo.com UNM head football coach Mike Locksley will have a lot less to take to the bank if he’s let go at the end of the season or in the future. The Albuquerque Journal reported Wednesday that the thirdyear head coach signed a contract addendum Feb. 28 that reduces his buyout from $1.095 million to $450,000 if the University severs ties with him Mike Locksley without cause after the 2011 season. Athletics Director Paul Krebs told the Journal that the restructured deal made “economic sense.” Locksley also stands to benefit from the renegotiated terms. If the Lobos win six games this season, Locksley gets a $50,000 incentive. The revised contract also gives him more wiggle room if he leaves the University on his own volition or for another coaching opportunity. Under the original contract, Locksley would have owed the University $250,000 if he terminated his deal before the end of the 2011 season and $100,000 if he left at the end of 2011 or before 2014. But the addendum eliminated the penalties if the third-year coach leaves by choice.
Junfu Han / Daily Lobo Jean Ossorio holds a sign Wednesday supporting the Mexican wolf preservation effort. Animal Protection of New Mexico held the rally outside the Bookstore to raise awareness for the endangered species.
Someday, UNM Professor Derek Hamilton hopes to eliminate fetal alcohol syndrome. Using lab rats for his research, Hamilton studies the effects of prenatal ethanol consumption because many children suffer with a moderate version of FAS that can go undetected for years. “What you might see in a textbook about fetal alcohol syndrome, that’s full-blown FAS, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg,” he said. There is a full spectrum of fetal alcohol syndrome disorders, defined by the Centers for Disease Control, as a group of conditions that result from a person’s mother drinking alcohol during pregnancy. FAS includes a mix of physical and neurological problems. Full-blown FAS is easy to detect, Hamilton said, but moderate versions are less recognizable and equally devastating. In fact, .3-.7 percent of live births in the U.S. are afflicted by full-blown FAS, but anywhere from 5-20 percent have moderate FAS, he said. “In many cases, with lesser-affected children, behavioral impairment may not show up until the child goes to school and gets challenged,” Hamilton said. “It’s potentially a much, much larger number of children than we think.” Hamilton’s research is federally funded and done in a UNM lab. Pregnant rats consume ethanol during gestation, and Hamilton studies the behavior and brain function of their offspring. He said it’s harder to see the effects of FAS in rats exposed to lower amounts of ethanol. “You wouldn’t be able to tell, looking at these rats, that they’d had heavy exposure to ethanol because they haven’t,” he said. “But when put in certain challenging situations, when the demands of the task are a bit more strenuous, then you can observe deficits.” The rats consume regular drinking alcohol while
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UNMH: No security changes after gun incident by Kallie Red-Horse kallie69@unm.edu
UNMH reviewed its security policy after a Jan. 4 shooting incident, but the hospital didn’t make changes to its policy. Daniel Cesar Dominguez-Garcia entered the hospital Jan. 4, with a gun, and fired a shot into the ceiling of the hospital’s pediatric floor after a dispute with his girlfriend. Dominguez-Garcia then left the building, leading police to lock down UNM and streets surrounding the hospital. UNMH spokesman Billy Sparks said the hospital reviewed its security policy following the incident but found nothing that could be improved. “In view of the incident, we analyzed our security to determine if there was adequate coverage and adequate internal support,” he said. “It was deemed there was.” The doors of the hospital allow anyone to enter the facility during daytime hours, Sparks said, but there are restrictions at later hours. He said that during the day there
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are levels of coverage at entrances, with some opened and closed. At a certain point in the evening, only one entrance is open, and all entrances are monitored 24/7.
“The security force at the hospital is highly trained and in great contact with main campus police.” ~Billy Sparks UNMH Spokesman UNMH’s six entrances are camera-monitored by an unarmed security force, and Sparks said there is generally a security car parked by the emergency entrance. Still, somehow DominguezGarcia got into the hospital armed, and he was not the first to bring a weapon on the premises. Last June, a man’s concealed gun went off in the ER waiting room. No one was seriously
Laurisa Galvan / Daily Lobo The south entrance of UNM Hospital is one of several locked during evening hours. After the Jan. 4 shooting, hospital officials reviewed safety measures and decided no improvements were needed. injured, but several patients were hit with bullet shards. David Parker, of Ron Peterson Firearms, said acquiring a concealed-weapon license is simple. He said applicants have to pass a background check and a class with
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written and physical exams, before the license is placed through the instructor. Parker said license possession doesn’t enable carriers to bring a concealed weapon to hospitals, banks, public schools or other
public places. “If it is a privately owned business, it is at the discretion of the owner,” he said. Sparks said the hospital decided against installing metal detectors at entrances because of high patient traffic. There are 3.5 million patient encounters annually in UNMH facilities, including the pharmacy and emergency care, and monitoring such a large amount of traffic would be difficult, Sparks said. “Between traumas and ambulances coming in and all similar situations, it would be next to impossible to get someone though magnetometer when they need immediate care,” he said. Sparks said the hospital has confidence in its ability to handle another gunman situation. “What we have done is initiate dialogue between our security and campus police force for a top-tobottom review of procedure if that should happen again,” he said. “The security force at hospital is highly trained and in great contact with main campus police.”
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