monday Lohmann swings into office
May 3, 2010
The Independent Voice of UNM since 1895
by Hunter Riley Daily Lobo
The winds of change have blown Pat Lohmann into his new position as the Daily Lobo’s editor-in-chief. Lohmann is a sophomore from Gallup, N.M. double majoring in political science and journalism. “I applied for the Daily Lobo at freshmen orientation,” Lohmann said. “So I was working for the Lobo before I even stepped foot onto the campus as a student.” He has experience writing for the Gallup Herald, the Gallup Independent, the Gallup Journey and the Weekly Alibi and has worked as a freelance reporter, staff See Pat’s plan for online reporter and news editor comments, page 4. for the Daily Lobo. Lohmann said he wants UNM’s independent student newspaper to help make the University more transparent through ongoing, trustworthy reporting, and he said he wants to emphasize investigative journalism throughout his tenure. “I really want to get the salary book for the University posted on the Daily Lobo website, for one thing” Lohmann said. “What’s important about that is at the moment you can only check out the salary book for an hour — the physical copy from Zimmerman library. I’m going to make that one of my highest priorities to get an Excel document or a spreadsheet posted on our website.” He said he wants the Daily Lobo to promote dialogue and feedback. He said he wants to address issues that are important to students, staff, faculty and community members. Vanessa Sanchez / Daily Lobo A change to DailyLobo.com’s comment policy the is one of the first Pat Lohmann, new Daily Lobo editor-in-chief, dangles from a balcony at Marron Hall. Lohmann wants to focus on investigative reporting see Lohmann page 6 and transparency during his tenure as editor.
GPSA debates donations standards for elections by Leah Valencia Daily Lobo
The Graduate and Professional Student Association Council wrangled Saturday between pushing for a more ethical elections code or continuing to allow elections to mirror those of state and federal government. The council debated how to amend the GPSA bylaws to ensure that elections reflected transparency, fairness and consistency. The council passed a resolution that provides for a vote at its August meeting about whether to change GPSA bylaws. “The purpose of an election is not simply to elect a candidate to office but to lay an empha-
sis on core democratic principles,” said GPSA communication and journalism representative Brandi Lawless in a memorandum. The new bylaws would limit all campaign contributions to UNM students, faculty and staff and mandate that contributors provide their UNM e-mail, student identification number and the amount donated to each candidate. All the information would be verified by the GPSA Elections Committee, and the names of the contributors would be posted to the GPSA website. According to the resolution, the new laws would also put a $50 cap on the amount a single contributor could donate to acandidate, and GPSA candidates would be limited to spending
$500 on their campaigns. There would be no cap on how much an individual could raise; however, the resolution stipulates that any excess funds be donated to a nonprofit organization of the candidate’s choice. GPSA representative Desi Brown said GPSA has not had ethics problems in past elections, but the council wanted to get ahead of the issue. “Who’s to say that next year someone doesn’t come along and get a $2,000 contribution?” he said. “In my opinion, instead of us being reactive we should be proactive.” In GPSa’s most recent election, presidential candidate Martin Gutierrez got $500 in campaign contributions but did not imme-
Regents rubber-stamp final budget by Tricia Remark Daily Lobo
The Board of Regents approved a $2.1 billion budget for next year, a decrease of 1.1 percent from last fiscal year. The budget includes a 7.9 percent increase in tuition and student fees totaling to about $5,505 per semester for undergraduates from $5,100. ASUNM President Monika Roberts said improved advisement is a big concern for undergraduates during the regents’ meeting Friday.
Inside the
Daily Lobo volume 114
issue 148
“We would like to ensure that in the upcoming year, the Provost’s Office regularly and consistently meets with the undergraduates so we are informed of the changes and progress that are being done with advisement,” Roberts said. Andrew Cullen, associate vice president of Planning, Budget and Analysis, said the increases in tuition and fees will be used for scholarships, hiring new faculty and advising, among other things. He said $500,000 will go toward improving advisement.
“We believe we have seen some improvement in advising,” Cullen said. “There are still improvements to be made and we believe many of those improvements will be made this upcoming fiscal year.” Roberts said the $10 each student receives per semester for printing should also be reconsidered. “We would really like to see an increase in the number of pages that students can print in light of the tuition and fee hikes,” Roberts said. Also, $1.5 million is going toward
see Regents page 7
Vaulted to victory
Spanish invasion
See back page
See page 10
diately release the names and amounts of contributions. GPSA Representative Robyn Lubisco argued that allowing candidates to solicit contributions could help increase voter turnout by bringing more publicity to elections. “If they want to spend $5,000 — great. Spend $5,000,” she said. “In the end, I think spending more money could get more people to vote.” Brown said limiting the amount a candidate can spend will create cleaner and fairer elections. “The more money you can keep out of elec-
see GPSA page 6
Last chance! Today is the last day to check out short films made by UNM Honor’s students.. Visit the Daily Lobo website and click on “Art of Film,” or visit the Lobo’s YouTube page.
www.youtube.com/DailyLoboFilmFest
Today’s weather
70° / 46°