NM Daily Lobo 041212

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thursday Muraida wins ASUNM presidency see page 6

April 12, 2012

by Luke Holmen and Hannah Stangebye news@dailylobo.com

The Students for Students slate swept both the ASUNM presidential and vice presidential positions for next year. President-elect Caroline Muraida beat her opponent Ashkii Hatathlie, who ran on the Impact slate, 1028 to 735, while Vice President-elect Sunny Liu beat Bridget Chavez, also of the Impact slate, 963 to 796. The Impact slate took six Senate seats, while Students for Students took five. While ten seats were up for grabs in the election, an 11th half term Senate seat opened up after Muraida, who still had one semester left to serve on her term as senator, was elected Senate president. Muraida said she was relieved she was elected, but said she was disheartened by the loss of other members of her slate. “It is incredibly overwhelming, I am excited for next year to begin, and I am excited to start working with the new team, but at the same time, there is a sense of bitterness of not having the team that I ran with, but that is the nature of elections,” she said. Muraida said she looked forward to working with members of the Impact slate who were elected to Senate seats. “The sooner we can get past this point, and start thinking about working together next year, the better,” she said. “I am looking forward to hearing more from the senators and starting the process now, starting early. All in all, it was a major experiment, a major learning experience and I am incredibly proud of my teammates.” Hatathliesaiddespitehisloss,hewishesthebest of luck to the newly elected members of ASUNM. “I am very thankful that part of my team was elected this semester, I also feel very fortunate to have been able to run with such a talented group of people,” he said. “I wish them the best of luck and I look forward to their future accomplishments in ASUNM student government.” This year, 1,843 students turned out to vote, beating last year’s spring election turnout of 1,781. Chavez expressed her disappointment in losing the vice presidential seat to Liu, but said she will continue to support ASUNM. “We worked really hard and did the best that we could and obviously we are disappointed,” she

said. “I could not be more happy for the members that did get elected and I am confident that everything happens for a reason.” Chavez said she is not yet sure of her plans for next year but said her continued participation in ASUNM is not out of the picture. “I am thinking about doing an internship in Washington, D.C. but that is still up in the air,” she said. “We will see what (non-elected) positions open up in ASUNM, and I want to be involved, but I just don’t know yet. It is just too early to decide.” Julie Lautenschleger, a senatorial candidate who ran on the Impact slate and who received 662 votes, will serve a half term as the 11th elected senator, replacing Muraida, who still had one semester left to serve on her term as senator. Lautenschleger said she was very proud of the effort put in by all the members of her slate, particularly Hatathlie and Chavez. “Honestly, they worked incredibly hard throughout the entire campaign,” she said. “No regrets. They are amazing whether they were elected or not. I am still proud of them and I am sure they are still proud of themselves as well.” Hatathlie and Chavez did not have any time in their term as senators remaining. Senatorial candidate Spenser Owens, who ran as an independent separately from both slates, received the lowest number of votes with 409. ASUNM Elections Director Claire Mize said elections went smoothly this year. Mize said the elections committee took extra steps to increase participation from dorm residents. “We did ‘Rock the Vote’ (to encourage voting),” she said. “With all the construction by the dorms, they wanted to make it easier for those kids to vote. People got free food if they had an ‘I Voted’ sticker. They gave out lemonade and encouraged people to vote. They also played music and had a barbecue.” Muraida said she wants to focus on increasing outreach and communication between ASUNM, students and the administration and hopes to host a series of town halls next year. Liu said he will work to unify members of the Senate in preparation for next year. “I hope this isn’t the end,” he said. “All of us are student leaders, we all have great intentions going into this and I think that the results should not matter,” he said.

The Independent Voice of UNM since 1895

Ruby Santos / Daily Lobo Andrew Aragon embraces President-elect Caroline Muraida following the announcement of the election results in the SUB Wednesday. Muraida, who ran with the Students for Students slate, took the presidency by a margin of 1028 to 735 over Impact presidential candidate Ashkii Hatathlie.

ASUNM Election Results Ballot Position

Name

Vote Count

Elected

President

Caroline Muraida

1028

Elected

Ashkii Hatathlie

735

Vice President

Sunny Liu

963

Bridget Chavez

796

Senators

Cassie Thompson

818

Isaac Romero

789

Elected

Alex Borowski

765

Elected

Ana Frias

726

Elected

Damon J. Hudson

722

Elected

Alberto Jacome

713

Elected Elected

Elected

Elected

Miquela (Quela) Ortiz

700

Larry Salazar

695

Elected

Austin Gonzales

685

Elected

Jillian Martinez

676

Elected

Julie Lautenschleger

662

Elected

Allan Stone

661

Taylor Bui

657

Valerie Arellanos

655

Marlene Smith

632

Hannah Taylor

592

Arman Salehian

588

Andrew Aragon

Ruby Santos / Daily Lobo Alberto Jacome braces for the results of the ASUNM election with fellow members of the Impact slate in the SUB Wednesday. Jacome is one of 11 newly elected senators.

ASUNM Election Vote Counts Spring 2007

2,576

Spring 2008

1,387

Spring 2009

1,433

587

Spring 2010

2,115

Hannah Syme

569

Mariana Madrigal

540

Spring 2011

1,781

Spenser Owens

409

Spring 2012

1,843

*pink represents Impact, green represents Students for Students

Inside the

Daily Lobo volume 116

issue 136

Fast and frugal

Drain the swamp!

See page 3

See page 4

TODAY

73 | 45


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