DAILY LOBO new mexico
The almighty wheel see page 2
thursday The Independent Voice of UNM since 1895
April 8, 2010
Popejoy homeless man update
Pitiful
by Shaun Griswold Daily Lobo
Mashhad, Iran before being taken to Section 209 of the Evin Prison in northwestern Tehran, Iran’s capital. Then he said he spent the next
After Arnold Woods, a homeless man, was found sleeping in Popejoy Hall, his mother, Mary, asked the Albuquerque community for help finding her son. She filed a classified ad in the Daily Lobo and went on Channel 4 news with her plea for help. She hadn’t spoken with her son in two years. She said he’s now staying with family friends. After she filed the classified ad, Mary said a friend recognized Arnold on campus and took him to his/her home. “They feel they can work with him slowly and hopefully that he will accept their help,” Mary said. “They have taken him fishing, on a hike in the Sandias and are doing their best to put him on the right track.” Mary still has not talked with her son. Instead, she is corresponding through e-mail with the people he is staying with to ensure her son’s safety, she said. “I love him very much and I am anxious to see him,” she said. The latest on-campus incident occurred March 26 when a UNMPD officer arrested a man near the Anthropology Building for suspicious behavior. According to the police report, UNMPD officer P. Klaurens recognized the man, because he had “a couple of news stories … detailing family members being concerned.” Mary said her son was, in fact, arrested on March 26. Police responded to a radio call from UNM security about a suspicious person riding a bicycle back and forth in front of the Anthropolo-
see Mathieu page 3
see Woods page 5
Vanessa Sanchez / Daily Lobo Chunks of asphalt pile up in the parking lot of The Pit on Wednesday. The stadium is now officially closed and is scheduled to reopen in time for the next basketball season, according to Athletics spokesman Greg Remington.
Former Iranian prison detainee visits Burque by Pat Lohmann Daily Lobo
If you’ve ever considered making a short jaunt to Iran for summer break, Diego Mathieu has a story that’ll change your mind. Mathieu, a Belgian, was hitchhiking through Iran’s Great Salt Desert in September 2009 when Iranian officials arrested him and charged him with espionage. He said he then spent the next three months in an Iranian prison awaiting trial — enduring solitary
confinement and psychological torture. Mathieu’s goal was to hitchhike around the world. He even set up a blog about it. After arriving in Iran, Mathieu happened upon two other Belgians and planned to meet up with them a few days later. Shortly after, the two other men were arrested after being caught in a restricted area. Mathieu said the men were charged with spying. And, when Mathieu tried repeatedly to contact his fellow country-
men for the rendezvous, Iranian police tracked his phone calls and jailed him indefinitely for spying just before he made it out of the country. He said Iranian officials told him he was charged with espionage and accused of taking photos of restricted areas and plotting coordinates with a GPS. For hours, Mathieu said, Iranian officials interrogated him. “They asked me billions of questions,” he said. He said he then spent a week in solitary confinement in a jail in
To help the American hikers in Iranian prison: FreeTheHikers.org
ASUNM candidates stress sustainability, safety by Leah Valencia Daily Lobo
ASUNM Candidates had their final chance to speak out Tuesday by answering questions from students and student organizations. ASUNM Election Commission Director Brian Moore said the commission hosted the event — which about 40 people attended — to give students a chance to decide which candidates will best represent them in ASUNM. “Any student can ask a question directly to any of the candidates,” he said. “We get all the candidates in one place so that students can ask
Inside the
Daily Lobo volume 114
issue 131
them directly what they really stand for.” The candidates from both the Full Circle and Wolfpack slates discussed the issues that were of highest priority to them, such as sustainability, containing student costs, communication and campus safety. Student Senate candidate Alonzo Castillo, who is running with the Wolfpack slate, said he wants to implement more sustainability on campus starting with the Student Union Building. “This is our building,” he said. “If we start here and show the administration what we want, it is a great way to get the whole campus that
I can’t contain my garden! See page 6
way.” David Conway, ASUNM presidential candidate, said his sustainability plan would include revamping the campus recycling program. “We need more bins and we need them to be advertised better,” he said. “Make it so students want to keep using it.” Conway said this would also mean staffing new programs to keep them efficient. “We need to put our money where our mouth is and help out the University as far as staffing these new programs,” he said. Full Circle slate presidential candidate Lazaro “Laz” Cardenas said
his priorities included beefing up campus security by implementing student-run safety services. “UNM is a safe campus,” he said. “But we want to bring the community together to keep it safe.” Cardenas also said he planned to address the $10 printing allowance for students and explore other options. “Right now we are taking a survey and it is 50-50 whether students want the printing cap or not,” he said. Other candidates at the forum emphasized the importance of keeping down tuition and student fees.
Early ASUNM voting: Begins today Regular Elections April 14 “We need to keep student costs as low as possible,” said Wolfpack Senate candidate Kelly Williamson. “And definitely not increase pay for administrators.” Among the biggest priorities for both slates was developing more student participation. Full Circle Senate candidate Nick Ramos said keeping students active is part of the
see ASUNM page 5
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