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The Independent Voice of UNM since 1895
April 5, 2010
Regents pass $10 student fee hike by Pat Lohmann Daily Lobo
Junfu Han / Daily Lobo Regent Don Chalmers listens to a presentation during the budget summit Friday in the SUB. The Board of Regents voted to increase tuition and fees 7.9 percent, or $405.
The Board of Regents voted to increase tuition and fees by $405, and $64 of that increase is not covered by the NM Lottery Scholarship. The regents have until April 30 to tweak the increase, but if it stands, tuition and fees will be about $5,505 per undergraduate student per semester. Graduate students will face an increase to $6,040. The tuition increase is made up of a 5 percent “tuition credit,” which was recommended by the legislature at its last session, and a 3.5 percent hike added by the regents at their budget summit Friday. The 3.5 percent addition is meant to help compensate for legislative cuts and other budgetary shortfalls resulting from the economic downturn. Also, the Board of Regents passed the $10 student fee increase
recommended by the Student Fee Review Board, an increase that goes to three organizations and the Queer Resource Center. The regents also unanimously approved $54 in additional fee increases for Athletics, University libraries, Information Technologies and some building projects on campus. The four organizations initially asked the regents for $20 a piece, but Regent Gene Gallegos proposed cutting the requests in half, a proposal the regents adopted. Student fees are not covered by the NM Lottery Scholarship, so all increases in student fees come out of student pockets. With the increase, student fees now total around $514 per student. The passage of the SFRB recommendations came as a relief to many students on campus who have demonstrated in favor of the $10 increase
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Pink Floyd has crossed the magenta line ROOFLESS by Shaun Griswold Daily Lobo
The name on his driver’s license says Lawrence Floyd, but he introduces himself as Pink while strumming an air guitar and humming his favorite Pink Floyd song, “Comfortably Numb.” Floyd is one of the hundreds who will sleep on the streets of Albuquerque tonight. As he introduces himself he does not ask for change, only an
ear to listen to his story. “I’ve been nothing but homeless,” he said. “You can’t tell by looking at me. I’ve been homeless here going on for seven years now.” Floyd has a normal look. He wears a black Fender T-shirt, black Dickies pants and grey tennis shoes. His ponytail is tied back tightly to his head, and except for a couple loose hairs, his salt and pepper top is neatly groomed. His teeth are dirty and his fingernails long. He is no more than 5 feet 4 inches tall and weighs roughly 140 pounds. Despite his age, his face has a youthful look. When he flashes his big grin,
Telescopes give hope to outerspace enthusiasts by Tricia Remark Daily Lobo
Researchers and students at UNM are building one-of-a-kind telescopes that may reveal secrets of the universe. The Plains of San Agustin near Socorro will be the site of 53 telescopes as part of the UNM Long Wavelength Array project. On Thursday, UNM researchers and students celebrated the completion of the first telescope with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the LWA research site. Greg Taylor, LWA scientific director, said the telescopes could reveal new phenomena such as galaxies, gamma ray bursts, explosions and undiscovered planets. “We might learn about magnetic fields in planetary systems and one
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day decide to visit them,” he said. Each telescope has 256 antennas, which allow researchers to look at the universe with long wavelengths, said Lee Rickard, LWA executive project director. Studying space at a low frequency is challenging because there are many higher-frequency signals coming from everyday products like computers or garage door openers, Taylor said. Rickard said the first telescope isn’t fully operational yet, but it has collected some data. He said the long wavelengths will change the way researchers look at space. “This part of the spectrum hasn’t been explored before,” Taylor said. “We know we’ll see new types of
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he looks like a small David Carradine from “Kung Fu.” Floyd was born in 1958 in Albuquerque’s Old Town. He says he has a family home in Golden, a ghost town on N.M. 14 between Santa Fe and Albuquerque. But he chooses to live homeless in an urban life because he does not like the frontier of his family plot. “It’s so far out there, bro, and besides what would I do?” he said. “It’s better to just leave it.” Floyd’s personality is rambunctious and his mind dashes from one topic to another. He said he was diagnosed with schizophrenia in his late
20s. “The things in your life that you experience, you revel in, you have to. Therefore,” he said before pausing to contemplate his thought, a train whistle outside filling the silence. “Help me.” He immediately mentions what bothers him most. “I don’t like when people ask me what I am,” Floyd said. “I want to shout at them that I am a human being, unconditionally, that’s it.” Floyd said he sleeps outside a few times a week. When he first wakes up he goes to a nearby 7-Eleven or Circle K to get a cup of coffee.
“Coffee is on the bitter edge of bitter taste,” he said. “You can go for taste or caffeine. It depends on what you like. It’s a fine line, I’m off in my own world but I think the line is magenta.” Floyd’s adult life began typical. He joined the Navy after graduating high school because he enjoyed the pay and travel. “It was an opportunity that paid well. It would set me up for a few years with a place to live, food to eat, I got to see the world and there were plenty of girls,” he said with a smile. While enlisted, he first slept
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Morning of Mourning
Zach Gould / Daily Lobo A young woman shivers and prays at the peak of Tome Hill. Hundreds travelled many miles by foot Friday morning for Good Friday.
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