DAILY LOBO new mexico
Big lie enterprises
friday
see page 4
April 13, 2012
The Independent Voice of UNM since 1895
Roybal veto stops student vote on amendment by Luke Holmen
news@dailylobo.com ASUNM President Jaymie Roybal vetoed a bill she said she did not believe “was in the best interest of the student body,” instead of letting students vote on the issue. Senate Bill 6, a bill recommending raising the ASUNM student fee from $20 to $25, passed the ASUNM Senate in March and would have gone before a vote of students as a constitutional amendment during Wednesday’s elections. The amendment would have required a two-thirds majority vote of students to pass, according to the ASUNM Constitution. Roybal said she did not know the bill would have required a two-thirds vote of students in order to pass. Roybal said she vetoed the bill on the last day permitted by the law book, which would have left senators with two days to call an emergency meeting had they wanted to override her veto. The deadline to submit a bill to be included on the ballot for Wednesday’s elections was March 26, according to Elections Director Claire Mize. Roybal received the bill on March 8, a Thursday, and waited six school days to veto it, as allowed by the law book. But spring break ran from March 11-18, and Roybal wasn’t required to veto the bill until March 22. Once senators had a chance to review the veto on the 23rd, they would have had just two days following the 24-hour
required notice to re-pass the bill by the 26th. The amendment would have increased funding availability for student groups on campus. Roybal said she opposed an increase in fees for students who already face financial hardships to attend school. “I did not believe raising the ASUNM fee was in the best interest of the student body as a whole,” she said. “The Senate could have called an emergency meeting and overridden the veto, but they didn’t.” When asked why she did not believe students should vote on the issue, she declined to comment. ASUNM Sen. Tyler Crawley, who was one of the bill’s sponsors, said there was not enough time to override the veto, despite support for the bill. The Senate originally passed the bill 16-1-1. “We didn’t find out she had vetoed it until Friday at the Budget Summit,” Crawley said. “We would have had to get a majority of senators by that afternoon, call an emergency session that day, to convene on Monday by 5 p.m. There was not enough time.” While the law book does not prohibit emergency meetings on Saturday or Sunday, Crawley said he was not aware he could have called a meeting over the weekend. ASUNM Sen. and Finance Chair Isaac Romero said some Senate members had considered an emergency meeting, but it was
Rebecca Hampton / Daily Lobo In this March 28 file photo, ASUNM President Jaymie Roybal listens in on a senate meeting. Roybal vetoed a bill that would have put before the students a constitutional amendment to raise student fees to support student organizations across campus, despite a 16-1-1 Senate vote in favor of the measure. never officially proposed. “There just wasn’t enough time to put it back in,” he said. “I think people considered calling an emergency meeting, but that would have taken one-third of the senators, or the president or vice president … she signed it at the last possible second.”
Crawley said he is working with other members of the finance committee to create a new bill dealing with student fees that will be more flexible, rather than resubmitting the bill this year. “I want to develop our funding source so that it grows or decreases with the needs of students and
ASUNM,” he said. “We shouldn’t … have to do this with a constitutional amendment every 10 years.” Sen. Brandyn Jordan, who also sponsored the bill, said he is looking at how other universities allocate student fees to try to develop a more comprehensive model.
Schmidly reflects on presidential term ASUNM by Victoria Carreon and Avicra Luckey news@dailylobo.com
President David Schmidly’s fiveyear career at UNM will come to an end in July when President-select Robert Frank takes office. A retirement reception was held in Schmidly’s honor on the lawn of the University House Thursday afternoon. Schmidly said he plans to return to UNM during the fall of 2013 as a faculty member in the biology department. “What I’m really excited about is getting back with the students,” he said. “I like to teach. I like to be around people, so I consider myself very fortunate that I get to end my career this way,” he said. Looking back on his time as president, Schmidly said he feels his time at UNM has been productive. “I think we’ve gotten a lot done. There have been a lot of challenges, particularly financial, but I feel good about it,” Schmidly said. While many higher education institutions, such as the University of California school system, have had to increase tuition rates by nearly 20 percent over the last five years, UNM has kept tuition increases at about 1 percent above the rate of inflation, according to a report by the president’s office outlining major achievements from the past five
Inside the
Daily Lobo volume 116
issue 137
years. But tuition and fees at UNM still rose to $5,809 from $4,109, or by about 41 percent, according to UNM Fact Book. Student fees also increased under his administration, and $50 per student of the increase next year will go to the Athletics Department. Schmidly said that during his administration, an increase in student enrollment helped offset budget problems because it brought in more tuition, allowing the school to make smaller increases in tuition rate. Some of the accomplishments achieved during Schmidly’s presidency include an increase in number of national scholars who attend UNM, and more students are attending UNM than ever before. Enrollment for fall 2011 at all campuses was 36,742, up from 32,086 in fall 2007. In 2008, Schmidly was troubled with concerns over the salaries of administration versus those of faculty. He was accused of favoring part-time instructors over tenuretrack professors because of their lower cost. Schmidly says he has no regrets about his term, despite making some changes that students did not favor. “You can’t make everybody happy; that’s never going to happen,” he said. “That’s one of things you have to learn about being in this role. I
talks retention rates by Svetlana Ozden sozden@unm.edu
Rebecca Hampton/ Daily Lobo UNM President David Schmidly says his goodbyes to former coworkers Tanya Giddings (left) who works in government relations and Connie Beimer (right) who works in office of the vice president for research. Schmidly will retire in June when President-elect Robert Frank takes office. don’t think students were happy about the increase in the student athletic fee and I can understand that.” As his five-year term comes to an end, Schmidly said he has tried to make student success a priority. He said one initiative he thinks improves students’ experiences is the way academic advising is structured, although one of the concerns students brought up at a forum early March with Frank was that there were too few advisers. Schmidly was treated for pancreatic cancer in 2010, but he told
Hospital wins award
A devilish defeat
See page 3
See page 6
the Daily Lobo earlier this year that health was not a factor in his decision not to renew his contract. “My health is much better, and it’s really heading in the right direction,” he said. “For 40 years all I have done is higher education work. Now I’ve got more books to write, more papers to write, and I like teaching. I always said I would not finish my career as a college president.” Since he has not taught as a college professor in nearly 25 years, UNM’s 20th president said he is
see Schmidly PAGE 3
At UNM, fifty percent of freshmen who don’t return to school for a second semester are failing 100level core classes. The Enrollment Management Select Summary Data Report (Enrollment Data Report) listed failure rates of 50 percent or higher in Biology Lab 123, Anthropology 130, Religion 107, Psychology 105, and Earth and Planetary Sciences 101 for freshmen who did not return to school. Additionally, more than 45 percent of these students fail Math 120. In a presentation before the ASUNM Senate Wednesday, Associate Provost for Curriculum Gregory Heileman said high failure rates and inadequate advisement contribute to falling student retention and low graduation rates. “Student retention and
see Senate PAGE 2
TODAY
73 | 40