New Mexico Daily Lobo 050710

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DAILY LOBO new mexico

Checking in early

summer

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June 21-27, 2010

The Independent Voice of UNM since 1895

Activists ask Udall to DREAM by Chelsea Erven Daily Lobo

Gabbi Campos / Daily Lobo Adriana Ontiveros, youth organizer for El Centro de Igualdad y Derechos, dons a cap and gown as part of a demonstration in favor of the DREAM Act. Thirty protestors showed up outside Sen. Tom Udall’s Albuquerque office June 15 to encourage him to support the legislation.

UNM eyes new housing projects by Tricia Remark Daily Lobo

The June 17 groundbreaking ceremony for the south campus dorms wasn’t just about praising the new project. University officials also spoke about future housing projects. American Campus Communities, a private company that develops student housing projects, will create the $42 million south campus project. The project offers 844 rooms, a pool and a community center. “I think you’re going to see University enrollment grow once this is finished,” UNM regent Jamie Koch said at the ceremony. “People will want to come here. The students will like it.” Koch said the partnership with a private company like ACC makes new dorms possible. He said that because ACC pays for the construction and maintenance of the dorms, UNM doesn’t have to invest any money in the project. “The problem is that the legislature does not fund money for housing,” he said. “Other universities in the state have the same problem we have. They don’t have the money.” The dorms should be finished by August 2011. ACC will then begin another project on main campus,

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Daily Lobo volume 114

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Koch said. “Our next project is going to start immediately after we can find out where we’re going to build another new one on main campus,” he said. UNM President David Schmidly also touted the importance of building more student housing on main campus after the south campus project is finished. However, he said no concrete plans have been made yet. “We’ve got to improve our housing situation on main campus,” he said. “I don’t think we know explicitly yet exactly what we’re going to do, but we’re starting the planning right now and we’ll be engaging the students.” Outgoing ASUNM President Monika Roberts said students have been involved in plans for the south campus student housing project since it began. She and other students visited ACC projects at other schools including Arizona State University, Texas A&M and the University of Houston, she said. “I think right then and there when we went to those campuses and saw what ACC offered, we were sold,” she said. Roberts said the south campus location won’t be a problem for students.

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Thirty protestors chanted outside Senator Tom Udall’s downtown office June 15 trying to convince the senator to co-sponsor the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act as a stand-alone bill. The DREAM Act would give undocumented immigrant students who have resided in the U.S. since age 15 or before conditional residency and a pathway to citizenship. Under the law, students are eligible as long as they complete a college degree or serve two years in the military. Demonstrators held signs that said, “We DREAM. We Act,” and “N.M. Officials: Don’t turn your backs on our community.” Claudia Anguiano, co-founder of the New Mexico Coalition, organized the effort to garner support for the DREAM Act in New Mexico. “The N.M. Coalition wanted to show that New Mexico stands beside these students and supports the act strongly as well,” Anguiano said. “The time to pass the DREAM Act is now. The more we stall, we are stalling the dreams of about 7,000 students each year

who graduate and may be able to go into higher education but have no pathways to legalization and no ways to be part of formal society.” So far, Anguiano said representatives from the New Mexico Coalition approached several state senators and got support from U.S. Senators Jeff Bingaman and Martin Heinrich. However, Anguiano said Udall has been hesitant to voice his support. According to Udall’s website, the senator supports comprehensive immigration reform but doesn’t specify his position on the DREAM Act itself. The group, composed of more than 17 different organizations, including UNM El Centro de la Raza, GPSA, Lambda Theta Phi Latino Fraternity and the Mexican Student Association, tried to get the bill passed by June 15, but it became clear that wasn’t going to happen. A formal decision or declaration of Udall’s support was not made as of June 15. In an effort to bring attention to the matter, students organized solidarity vigils, hunger strikes and civil disobedience actions, Anguiano said. CNM student Angel Pardo said

the New Mexico Coalition promotes a peaceful approach to push legislation. Part of its approach included asking passersby to sign a petition during the demonstration. The petition had more than 65 signatures at day’s end. Protesters were able to meet with one of Udall’s representatives, State Director Bianca Ortiz Wertheim, and relay their stories and reasons for Udall to support the DREAM Act. UNM student Adrianna McGinley said that the DREAM Act is of special interest to her because her mother immigrated from Mexico. “These immigrants are people who have lived here all their lives. They speak English, and this is the only home they know. They want to work and go to school and contribute to society. We are kicking out and deporting some of the brightest students who could do so much for our country,” McGinley said. McGinley said that the New Mexico Coalition is pushing for the DREAM Act to pass as a standalone act. “Comprehensive immigration reform is very broad and covers many issues,” she said. “This act is a small stepping stone. This is simple. It’s just students.”

Police: ‘Careless act’ caused CA fire by Felicia Fonseca Associated Press

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — A California man was arrested June 20 on suspicion of leaving behind hot coals at a campsite just outside Flagstaff, sparking a wildfire that forced the evacuation of 170 homes and a hotel near downtown, a city spokeswoman said. Randall Wayne Nicholson, 54, was arrested on a misdemeanor charge of burning of a wildland, Kimberly Ott said. Nicholson was

being held June 20 on a $2,500 bond at the Coconino County Detention Facility. Authorities said he was camping in a wooded area a couple of miles from downtown when he built a small campfire June 19 for either cooking or making coffee. Investigators believe he dumped coals from the fire on the ground before leaving the site. “As far as we understand, this was not a deliberate act. It was a careless act,” Ott said. The wildfire quickly spread up

a hill and threatened homes in two neighborhoods. Evacuation orders for 170 homes remained in place June 20, and a park and popular bike trail were closed as a precaution, Coconino County spokeswoman Joanne Keene said. The Little America Hotel also was briefly evacuated. The Southwest is particularly vulnerable to wildfires after having a wet winter and a dry, windy spring, according to the National

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Michele Legg / AP Photo A wildfire burns in Flagstaff, Ariz. on June 20. Several neighborhoods are being evacuated due to the blaze.

Creative explosion

Summer fashions

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