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May 9-13, 2011
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Sick? Check zip code and income by José Enríquez jenriq01@unm.edu
If you have a college degree and a six-figure income, chances are you’ll live longer than someone who doesn’t. At least that the case presented in “Unnatural Causes: Is Inequality Making us Sick?” It’s first installment in a seven-part series — shown at the Southwest Film Center on Friday — and explored how income, education level and geographic location factor into a person’s health. After the film, Roxane Spruce Bly, of the Native Health Initiative, explained that people who live in the Northeast Heights have a higher average life expectancy (82 years old) than those living around UNM (76). “I had really thought of inequity as being centered around race and ethnicity, and then saw that it was centered around zip codes,” she said. “I think that was the first time I’d really seen that explained so clearly.” The film argued that stress levels impact people’s health and that it is not enough for them to exercise and eat healthy.
Psychologist Sheldon Cohen conducted a case study examining how stress affects the body’s immune system. Cohen recorded subjects’ stress levels and socioeconomic status before dropping a cold virus in their nose. What he found: People with lowcontrol/ high-stress jobs were more likely to catch a cold than those with higher-paying jobs. These health disparities are costing the nation, and every year, the United States loses $1 trillion in productivity to paying people’s medical bills, according to the film. Jennifer Black, who is pursuing her master’s in public health, said that many people can’t see doctors regularly. She said that understanding the relationship between economic policy and public health is critical to developing a healthier community. “We say policy is important because ultimately it will save this society at large a lot of money,” she said. “Healthcare cost, ER cost — if we make other people’s health a priority and think of it as equally important, then there will be more money for resources for our entire state.”
Sauer wins fellow teaching award by Kevin Forte kforte@unm.edu
UNM Professor Christine Sauer was presented with the Presidential Teaching Fellow Award on Wednesday at the SUB. Sauer, who teaches economics at UNM and serves as the director of the International Studies Institute, said that she hopes to make international programs a larger focus for the University. “I certainly hope to play a role in the issue that I’m passionate about — international education,” she said. The award is the highest honor a
UNM professor can receive, Office of Support for Effective Teaching Director Gary Smith said. “It’s very important that we keep in mind that teaching is just as important as scholarly research at UNM,” he said, “and that we have these celebrations of our outstanding teachers, just as we do for our outstanding researchers.” UNM President David Schmidly presented the award, and he said Sauer’s commitment to UNM is impressive. “Having taught over 4,000 students at UNM, she hopes to teach, mentor, and inspire many more in years to come,” he said.
‘SLUTS’ STRUT
Josh Reynolds / AP Photo Women march through downtown Boston during the SlutWalk on Saturday. Organizers described it as a demonstration against those who blame the victims of sex crimes for inciting an attack. See full story page 3.
Inside the
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kateboards aren’t banned on campus. But stunts, trick riding, excessive speed, and jumping over steps, benches, rails, walls and fountains are prohibited, according to the UNM Pathfinder. The Pathfinder also prohibits riding within 15 feet of a building. UNM Student Conduct Officer Rob Burford said that the trick ban prevents skateboarders from damaging University property and protects students.
“It’s up to other students and faculty on campus to report any violations to our office, and then we investigate them,” he said. But many students and skateboarders ignore the Pathfinder provisions. Skateboarders near Simpson Hall on Friday grinded rails and jumped over stairwells. They said it was one of the last places on campus where the UNM had not installed skate guards. They said that skateboarding and long boarding are legitimate forms of transportation. UNM community member, a
skateboarder on campus, Cesar Ornelas said he didn’t know tricks were outlawed under the campus policy. “It sucks because we like coming here to learn new tricks,” he said. Skateboaders Daniel Farley said the policy is repressive. “Skate boarding is a way for people to express themselves, and the skate guards are stopping people from doing that,” he said. — Luke Holmen
Regent: Cut top-heavy admin Alexandra Swanberg aswanny@unm.edu
UNM President David Schmidly said that faculty members’ concerns about salary and benefits are not unique to UNM, and any university facing budget cuts is in the same situation. “Whenever there are big budget reductions, there are going to be tensions — they go hand in hand,” he said. “They’re very few black and white decisions, and not everyone agrees. During extreme, tough budget times there is often friction between what faculty see and what administrators do.” Some faculty members said the administration was neglecting to uphold the University’s academic mission, and cited as evidence the decrease in tenure-track faculty an increase in parttime faculty. As enrollment and class sizes go up, Schmidly said he acknowledges the adverse impact these factors have on students’ education. He said the administration has already taken steps to lower the average number of students in each class. He said this problem is common in universities across the United States. “We’ve lost a lot of money, and that money has impacted what we’ve been able to do, but the clear priority of the institution is the academic mission,” he said. “We’re doing everything we can to continue hiring faculty in
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difficult financial circumstances so that we can serve the increased number of students coming to the University.” Indeed, “The main campus tuition and fee scenario-FY12” from the UNM Office of Budget Planning and Analysis reflects no budget cuts that would affect the core mission. Reductions were made in administrative areas, executive salaries, IT, and the Dean’s Council.
“There’s no choice, it’s the right thing to do. There’s no opposition to that.” ~David Schmidly Conversely, it shows that $200,000 was allocated for faculty promotions, $2 million for hiring tenure-track faculty, just over $562,000 for hiring GA/ TAs and $500,000 to hire more parttime faculty for the College of Arts and Sciences. Regent Gene Gallegos said the amount in the Athletics Department coaches’ salaries is irrelevant to faculty complaints about their own salaries, since roughly $28.5 million of their $30 million budget is self-generated. “It does not do anybody any good
to try and point at Athletics,” he said. “You’ve obviously got different faculty members who don’t care about Athletics or sports, but that’s not going to solve anybody’s situation. What we need to do is, there needs to be something done about this top-heavy management. We have vice presidents that aren’t needed. There needs to be a consolidation of those functions.” Because of contractual obligations, Schmidly said he can’t alter administrative salaries. As he did when the VPs for Branch Operations and Institutional Services left the University, he will keep the least important administrative positions vacant as administrators retire. “As we look at cost containment, we’ve been squeezing the administration and we’re going to squeeze it even more,” he said. “There’s no choice, it’s the right thing to do. There’s no opposition to that.” In response to the faculty members’ avowed disconnect from the administration, Gallegos said the problem stems in some communication issues between faculty and the Provost’s office. “I think the first solution involves the Provost office,” he said. “That should be the place that faculty can really interface efficiently and completely with the administration.” Provost Suzanne Ortega was
see Administration page 3
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