DAILY LOBO new mexico
The missing piece see page 4
April 3, 2012
tuesday The Independent Voice of UNM since 1895
UNM, ABQ partner to reduce commuter traffic
Dylan Smith / Daily Lobo UNM is hoping to become part of an effort to solve the problem of increased traffic in Albuquerque. Part of the solution may lie in rescheduling classes to alleviate the traffic created by student commuters between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m.
by Miriam Belin
mbelin08@unm.edu A partnership between the city of Albuquerque and UNM could help alleviate heavy traffic that students face getting to school. UNM along with Albuquerque,
the Federal Transit Administration and the Federal Highway Administration is researching a solution to growing traffic in the areas around UNM, CNM and the Albuquerque International Sunport. In 2010, the partnership began assessing the transportation impact
on the University Heights area. Tony Sylvester, special projects planner for Mid-region Council of Governments, said the project ideas range from building new roads to adjusting class times to decrease traffic in the area. “For all the institutions,
neighborhoods and businesses in the area, the ability for people to get to and from the homes, classes, jobs or the health care services is essential,” he said. “This project will help us look into the future and address some of these transportation-related issues and maintain and potentially improve accessibility to all these different destinations.” Representatives said they are as of yet unsure how much the project will cost. The research findings of the first phase, which focused on the number of commuters travelling to UNM and CNM each day, helped the coalition obtain an $850,000 grant from the Federal Transit Administration and the Federal Highway Administration to fund the second phase. Sylvester said some money will go toward planning and research, and some may go toward improving public transit in the area. The next step of the project, which deals with transit recommendations, began in March and will be finished in 18-24 months, Sylvester said. According to research conducted during the first phase the UNM, CNM and Sunport area is the most visited region in the entire state. PATS Program Specialist Danielle Gilliam said 74,000 trips occur daily in this area. In its 2011 annual commuter survey, the UNM Parking
and Transportation Services found that 48.7 percent of the 1,291 students surveyed said they drive alone to campus, a 5.4 percent decrease from a 2010 survey of 1,266 students, Gilliam said. A report developed by MRCOG based on the research from the first phase suggested that UNM and CNM rearrange class schedules to reduce the amount of students on their campuses from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sylvester said reducing traffic and promoting alternative transportation in the area is key because of the institutions in the vicinity. “The important thing about this study is that there is a recognition amongst all these parties that this is a unique area,” he said. “The area is important not just for the city, the neighborhood and the individual institutions but also on a statewide level.” UNM and CNM already encourage students to use alternative modes of transportation including carpooling, biking and riding the bus. According to the PATS website, students from both universities are eligible to receive free bus passes and a 50 percent discount on New Mexico Rail Runner Express fares. According to PATS surveys, about 45 percent of students use alternative modes of transportation to travel to campus.
Faculty Senate president critiques next year’s budget by Hannah Stangebye hstang@unm.edu
Timothy Ross, president of the Faculty Senate, sat down with the Daily Lobo to discuss his concerns regarding the upcoming year’s budget and how it will affect faculty. Daily Lobo: The Board of Regents preliminarily approved $3.79 million in one-time funding to be used for faculty and staff salary increases, but during the Budget Summit you said that this raise needs to be recurring and go to base salaries. Why do you believe that needs to happen? Timothy Ross: Over the last three years, we have not gotten a raise at all. The economic picture improved just a little bit this (year), but apparently not enough to give us an increase to base. What they are planning to do is give us a one-time increase. Some people would call this a bonus, but it isn’t really one. It is a one-time cash disbursement. If we get a one-time cash disbursement this year, that means we will not have had an increase in our base pay for four years. Four years is a long time to have inflation erode your buying power. DL: During the Budget Summit, you raised the issue that new faculty members are making more than existing faculty. How is this issue being addressed? TR: That is the next part of having a stagnant salary base. An assistant professor who has been here four years makes the same pay
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they made four years ago. When we bring in a new assistant professor, we have to get them at market conditions, which means we have to compete with surrounding universities to get them. They come in at a salary higher than the people who have already been here for four or five years. That is called salary compaction. That is really bad for morale—to see someone young come in the door, with no experience, making more than you. The provost has $450,000 in his current year’s budget to address salary compaction issues, but that is the good news. The bad news is it’s a $5 million problem. The little pots of money are about 1/10 the size of what (the provost) needs to address the issue campuswide. He has $450,000 in his plan for each of the next five years. But that only makes up about $2.5 million. In the meantime, compaction issues get worse when you don’t get an increase to your base, and this will soon be a $6 million problem. DL: The University has taken several hits from budget cuts. How have these cuts affected faculty? TR: We need money for faculty to operate as true faculty members. You know, most departments over the last three years have had their budgets cut so severely, that we have no money to travel to conferences. If a faculty member wants to go to a professional conference— which they generally need to do to
pursue their career−they use their own money. New Mexico should have shame for the fact that their professors have to use their own money to travel. That is shameful. We should never have to admit that. The people in the history building, for example, they don’t have phones. Their landlines have been disconnected. You have to call them on their cell phones. That is another thing that is shameful. Their phones have been disconnected because it costs money. DL: How have students been affected by these budget cuts? TR: A lot of our freshman and sophomores are suffering because they have low-quality instructors in the classroom. We don’t intentionally hire low-quality faculty, but when you only pay somebody $3,000 to teach a class for a semester, you are not going to get high quality. DL: In what ways is money being spent that is unnecessary? TR: I am a very big athletic supporter, I like the sport programs, but I really think (they should) become self-funded. … I do not begrudge them for getting some revenue for their scholarships; of course we want all the students who are athletes to graduate. But we—being the campus, and especially the students—should not be paying for coaching salaries, and should not be paying for coaching buyouts. Those monies should be over here, doing some of the things I just mentioned.
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Timothy Ross
Rebecca Hampton / Daily Lobo
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