DAILY LOBO new mexico
Frankly, you’re embarrassing see page 11
August 25, 2011
thursday The Independent Voice of UNM since 1895
Carpenters protest restaurant Gov. branch trains
freshmen leaders
Contractor: Carpenters union threatened, harassed restaurant for work
by Charlie Shipley
charlieshipley84@gmail.com
by Luke Holmen holmen@unm.edu
Labor union Carpenters Local 1505 has protested since Monday outside new, family-owned Asian restaurant Fan Tang, which opened in Nob Hill two weeks ago. Fliers from the union claim Fan Tang owners hired contractor Lone Sun Builders Inc., which the union alleges does not meet area labor standards, to complete construction on the building. According to the fliers, the contractor does not meet standards for benefit provision to its workers, but when asked, the picketers said they weren’t members of the union, and furthermore were making just above minimum wage and had no health insurance. “No, I’m not a carpenter, I work just right here,” said Ernest Griego, who was outside the restaurant holding a sign that read “Shame on Fan Tang” Tuesday. “I don’t know anything.” Griego said his employers weren’t giving him the same benefits for which they were asking Fan Tang. “(I have) no health insurance,” he said. “Work might be for a small time or a short time; it depends.” Fan Tang owner Jason Zeng, and Chet Karnas, president of Lone Sun Builders Inc., said the carpenters union is using unethical tactics to
Zach Gould / Daily Lobo Day laborers picket outside Fan Tang restaurant in Nob Hill Tuesday on behalf of a Californiabased carpenters union. Workers say they aren’t members, have no benefits and aren’t paid well by the union that they supposedly represent. promote its own welfare. They said the union tried to bully the restaurant into using a carpenters union construction company, which Lone Sun Builders Inc. is not. “They sent me letters before I started construction saying use (the carpenters union), or else,” Zeng said. The union did not respond to multiple phone calls as of 5 p.m. Wednesday. They did, however, hire workers to protest outside Fan Tang with a large sign that said “Shame on Fan Tang,” Zeng said.
“This is so shady it shouldn’t be legal,” he said. Zeng said no one from the restaurant staff is protesting. “They make it seem like our internal labor had a dispute with us, and that clearly is not what is happening,” he said. “None of our workers are upset.” Zeng said he let companies publicly bid to do the construction work on the new restaurant. “We put out a bid fair and square,
sharing, and they give background info about the bands and the songs,” Lynn said. “But there is just something about hearing the people’s voices that makes it very personal.” Lynn said the format of Lobo Growl gives DJs more freedom to experiment with radio and its content, which is what drew her into Lobo Growl. “That freedom is really important, because as a student you have all these ideas and you can run with them,” Lynn said. “And we probably won’t turn anybody down (who wants to be a DJ).” Lynn said she exercised her freedom by altering her show for an episode to reflect what she was going through in her own life: getting married. “I am getting married in two months,” she said. “And this week is ‘bad wedding song’ theme. It is either things you shouldn’t play at your wedding or songs about bad marriages.” Another DJ for Lobo Growl is sociology student Adam Trujillo. Trujillo is a self-professed music geek who has a show called “The Young Alien Types.” Trujillo said music is a passion of his, but radio probably won’t be his profession. “I honestly don’t think I could go into professional radio,” Trujillo said. “I don’t have a strong radio personality. I just like sequencing songs, and it would be nice to spring into live DJing with this.”
He said that at first he had some trouble getting his show together because he had to learn the new technology. He has now produced and aired three shows, which he and his mom are very proud of, he said. Ulibarri said any other interested students can go to the website and fill out the DJ application form. After that, the group helps the new DJ put a pilot show together to make sure everything runs smoothly. He said Lob Growl has a space at KUNM that is only available when KUNM is open and not using it, but he said they are getting a space in the SUB for people to use the equipment. Once Lobo Growl gets a space in the SUB, student organizations can advertise on the online radio shows free of charge, he said. Ulibarri said the shows air multiple times during the week, and all students need to do is download a plug-in to stream the music on a computer. “The whole thing is about ease of access,” he said. “It is student-run and student-managed. No experience is needed if you want to be a show host.”
see Labor
Dispute PAGE 8
Station gives students air time by Hunter Riley hriley@unm.edu
Lobos can growl a little louder this semester with the debut of Lobo Growl, an online radio station made up of student DJs. The group’s president, Billy Ulibarri, is a graduate student in sociology and was on the board of directors for KUNM. “I had more of an interest in student access to communication channels,” he said. “We have a station on a college, but it’s not really a college station.” Ulibarri said Lobo Growl satisfies KUNM’s goal to integrate students into its programming. He said putting the radio station online was the best way to do this. Ulibarri posted flyers around campus in early 2010 to see if anyone was interested in starting the project. Tami Lynn, a photography graduate student, was one of the people who saw the fliers. She said she always wanted to do radio as a kid, and joined Lobo Growl as soon as she knew she could. Lynn hosts the music show “A Damn Fine Cup of Indie Rock.” When Lynn was a kid, she said she would listen to the radio with a blank tape in the cassette player so she could hit ‘record’ any time a DJ played a song she liked. “With radio, there is a personality and the person is talking to you and
Inside the
Daily Lobo volume 116
issue 5
Emerging Lobo Leaders, a facet of the undergraduate student government organization ASUNM, allows freshmen to participate in student government and pursue leadership opportunities as they begin their college experience. Hannah Russell, the group’s director, said the program presents a unique opportunity for freshmen. “Typically you’d have to be appointed to a position as a director of an agency, hired by the president as staff for one of the agencies, or elected,” she said. “As a freshman it’s kind of overwhelming to come onto campus and want to get involved if you were in student government in high school or you were a leader in your community, but you don’t know how to get involved at UNM.” ASUNM President Jaymie Roybal said she has seen the program succeed. “It’s a great program because it gives students a good gateway and a kind of crash course, if you will, as to how ASUNM and student organizations function and work,” she said. “It’s a great opportunity for freshmen.” Russell said two freshmen who took part in the program last year
ran for ASUNM senate during the spring semester and won. “It’s networking, too,” she said. “If the student government knows you and they’re behind you, it’s awesome as far as your chances go to win.” ELL is beginning its second year, and Russell said plans to expand are underway. Last year the program had 20 student participants; this year, the goal is to have between 25 and 30. “A lot of people who are applying have been involved in similar things in high school, but we also have applicants who just played Varsity soccer in high school,” Russel said. “All that matters to us is you want to get involved now, and interested in being a leader now.” Selected students will meet with leaders within ASUNM, such as the president, vice president and attorney general, as well as the directors of the different agencies within ASUNM’s executive branch, like Lobo Spirit, Student Special Events and Community Experience to learn how student government works. “ELL was the best way for me to learn what ASUNM actually does,” said Frankie Gonzales, who participated as a freshmen
see Lobo
Leaders PAGE 8
For more info
on listening and
applying, visit:
lobogrowl.com
Going green
The artistic economy
See page 2
See page 10
Dylan Smith / Daily Lobo Tami Lynn records her Internet radio show for Lobo Growl at the sub Tuesday evening. Lobo Growl is a completely student run Internet radio station that streams tunes and talk.
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