DAILY LOBO new mexico
Sudoku see page 11
wednesday The Independent Voice of UNM since 1895
April 14, 2010
UNM cuts VP’s job to trim budget by Leah Valencia Daily Lobo
Zach Gould / Daily Lobo Darington Hobson stares at the floor during Tuesday’s news conference at the Davalos Center. Hobson announced he will forego his senior season in pursuit of his NBA dreams.
Hobson will test the waters of the NBA draft by Isaac Avilucea Daily Lobo
Such cavalier attire for such a momentous decision. Darington Hobson, dressed in a long-sleeved, cherry mesh shirt, black basketball shorts and retro Jordans, with shin-high Nike socks, announced Tuesday that he will forego his senior season with the UNM men’s basketball team and enter the 2010 NBA Draft. “I feel like this is what I was put on Earth to do,” Hobson said. Hobson will not hire an agent,
leaving open the possibility he could return to the Lobos. In the end, whether he forges ahead or opts to return to school, Hobson said much of that’s dependent on how high his draft projection is come May 8, the last day to withdraw from the NBA Draft without compromising his NCAA eligibility. If he is on the bubble of being a second-round selection, Hobson said he will return to college. Conversely, if it’s apparent he’s a lock to go in the first round — where he will receive a guaranteed contract — Hobson’s days in a UNM uniform are over. From May 1 to 7, Hobson will likely
partake in a series of individual workouts with a number of NBA organizations, he said. By no means was it a clear-cut, take-the-money-and-run decision. Hobson said a day didn’t pass where he didn’t waffle. “I went back and forth every single day, every hour, every minute, every second of every day,” he said. “Just the relationship I have with the coaches and my teammates is what made it so hard. This is the first time I can actually say I have family. It was hard for me, but at the same time, this is a dream of mine that I’ve had since I was a
little kid.” But as the deadline (April 25) to throw his name in the lot approached, the decision was easier. And why not? What, if anything, does Hobson have left to accomplish at the collegiate level? He led the team in scoring, rebounding and assists, marking the first time in history a Lobo accomplished such a feat. All of this happened during a season in which the Lobos smashed school records for most wins in a season, received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament and won a tournament game for the first time in 11 years.
see NBA page 3
Police offer $1K for info on stabbing by Pat Lohmann Daily Lobo
The Albuquerque Metro Crime Stoppers is offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the man who stabbed a UNM student on campus Feb. 15. Crime Stoppers made the on-campus attack its “Crime of the Week,” which ran on the Crime Stoppers Web site from April 8 until today. UNMPD spokesman Robert Haarhues said the department enlisted the help of Crime Stoppers after its stream of tipsters began to run dry. “We haven’t stopped working on it. It’s just things have slowed down since our leads started to fizzle out a little bit,” he said. “When it first
Inside the
Daily Lobo volume 114
issue 135
happened, we were inundated with people calling in.” Haarhues said that since Feb. 15, UNMPD detectives have tracked down and been disappointed by more than 20 leads. He said UNMPD employs two full-time detectives and two part-time detectives. Both fulltime detectives were designated to work on the Feb. 15 stabbing case. “This is our highest priority,” he said. Haarhues said UNMPD has also reached out to the Albuquerque Police Department to use some of the department’s background databases, but he wouldn’t specify which ones. This is uncharted territory for UNMPD, Haarhues said. Officers can’t remember the last time such a violent attack happened on
Crime Stoppers’ $1,000 reward for information leading to Feb. 15 stabber arrest: Call 843-STOP or 843-7867 campus, he said. “The campus is pretty safe. We didn’t have a whole lot of craziness going on,” he said. “Most people come here to get an education; unfortunately, there are just some bad apples out there that are here to cause harm to others.” At about 7:55 p.m. on Feb. 15, a 41-year-old student and employee was stabbed in the neck near the Anthropology Building. The assailant stole the woman’s cell phone, and the woman might have bled to death if not for the help of her fellow students.
As purse strings are drawn tighter at UNM, Steve Beffort’s position of vice president of Institution Support Services, which he has held for 2 1/2 years, will be eliminated. Beffort started his career at the Anderson School of Management and after eight years of moving up, he will be retiring from the empire he has helped build. “I think most rewarding has been all of the people, all the students, and being able to actually provide physical facilities to support the great programs here at the University,” he said. “Over the last seven years that I have been involved in this, we have built almost $1 billion worth of buildings.” University spokeswoman Susan McKinsey said the vice president position, created in 2007, will be eliminated for the foreseeable future due to the University’s economic situation. “Determinations of this magnitude are made on a case-by-case basis,” she said. “In this case, the action was economically driven.” McKinsey said Executive Vice President for Administration David Harris, President David Schmidly and the Board of Regents all signed off on positions that can be left unfilled to save money. According to the UNM Budget Office, the elimination of this position will save the University $174,600. Beffort’s salary of $193,800, as listed in the UNM Salaries Book, has traditionally been funded through the I&G pool, McKinsey said. Schmidly announced last week that he will be eliminating two vice president positions, saving the University about $431,500. However, Raymond Sanchez, president of the Board of Regents, said earlier this year that cutting out VP salaries would not largely address the University’s fiscal issues. “I think, if you look at the total amount, we have about a $2 billion budget, but if you look at salaries, the overall percentage going to administrative salaries is very, very small,” he said. Sanchez said that though the money saved would help, overall it would have little affect on the budget. “It is money that could help maybe some scholarships and stuff,” he said. “But the overall picture — it is not going to be that large of an impact.” McKinsey said Institutional Support Services will continue to report to Harris. However, the daily operations and responsibilities have not been finalized. Harris said in a press release that
see VP page 3
Where are we?
Film fest
Today’s weather
See page 2
See page 8
74° / 49°