DAILY LOBO new mexico
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monday The Independent Voice of UNM since 1895
August 31, 2009
Town and gown must coordinate, report says
University outranked by NMSU in Forbes list
by Pat Lohmann
by Sara Love
A report published by an American studies class attempts to strengthen relations between UNM and the city that surrounds it. The “Report on Community Engagement and University of New Mexico Campus Development” was published Aug. 26 by instructor and Ph.D. candidate Andrew Marcum after it was drafted in July by students taking part in a four-week course. The 82-page document examines the history of conflicts between the city of Albuquerque and UNM and features testimonials from members of nearby neighborhood associations. It also looks at how other universities have dealt with development within a community. “One of the things we hear from neighbors is that UNM doesn’t respect the historical nature of their neighborhoods, oftentimes,” Marcum said. “The neighbors value that deeply, and they wish the University would have the same sort of reverence for it.” A resolution at the end of the report asking for improved representation of neighborhood associations in University decision-making will be presented to the Board of Regents at their Sep. 23 meeting. GPSA passed the same resolution during an Aug. 30 committee meeting. Danny Hernandez, chair of the Graduate and Professional Student Association Council, said the
NMSU was ranked more than 40 spaces higher than UNM in a recent report listing America’s best colleges. The Center for College Affordability and Productivity ranked UNM No. 239 and NMSU No. 193 in its second-annual list published Aug. 5 in Forbes Magazine. Four thousand universities were considered and 600 made it on the list, according to authors Richard Vedder and David Ewalt. A second Forbes list of America’s 100 best public schools had UNM at No. 38 and NMSU at No. 25. “It’s great that both universities are on the list, but difficult to pinpoint the exact reasons behind the relative positions,” Provost Suzanne Ortega said in a statement. “The important point is that New Mexico students who want to stay in state for college can choose between good and good.” In the list of public schools, the New Mexico Institute for Mining and Technology is ranked No. 40 and Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colo., is No. 41. In both lists, the United States Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., is No. 1. UNM rose 51 spots in CCAP’s ranking from last year. Ortega attributes the improvement to increased graduation rates.
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Zach Gould / Daily Lobo Student Andrew Marcum, far left, asks Mayor Martin Chávez, far right, about University-community relations during a GPSA meeting Saturday at the Continuing Education Building. Marcum’s American studies class published a report on the topic Wednesday. association passed the resolution because its members often live near the University. “Most of us live in the surrounding neighborhoods, and the relations between the University and those surrounding neighborhoods are strained,” Hernandez said. “What harms those neighborhoods actually harms the people living there.” Roughly 100 copies of the report were published and several have been distributed to Mayor Martin Chávez, Vice President of Institutional Support Services Steve Beffort, Planning Director Mary Kenney and several neighborhood associations. “Our goal with this report is really to start thinking about ways to engage the community (and) build better partnerships with the community,” Marcum said. “We see it as an opportunity to think through how we build better partnerships with the city and with the residents, so that we
don’t get described as an island unto ourselves.” Chávez attended the Aug. 30 GPSA meeting, and Marcum asked about his vision for University-city relations. “The University is an island in the city,” Chávez said. “It’s not subject to the city’s zoning regulations or things of that nature. They don’t come to us for building codes. It’s state land … so it’s always a dance, if you will.” Marcum said many community members share Chávez’s impression of UNM as an “island.” “You heard the mayor say that UNM is (architecturally) turning its back on its neighbors. Well, I’ve heard that a dozen times from different community groups,” Marcum said. “I heard the mayor also use the phrase, ‘an island unto itself,’ which is another thing I’ve heard in neighborhoods all across the city.” Marcum referenced the recent failure of the Las Lomas-Redondo
To receive a copy of the report, e-mail Andrew Marcum at amarcum@unm.edu. parking structure — which the State Board of Finance opposed — as a reason for a collaborative relationship between the University and the city around it. “By the time they brought (the structure plan) to the neighbors or the neighbors found out about it, it was too late to think it through in a way that met everybody’s interest,” he said. “I think that having that conversation collectively with students, faculty, staff and the residents is going to make the best possible chances come about.” Hernandez also said the University is dependent on the community that surrounds it. “The University can’t sustain itself without the good will of the surrounding communities. Right now, it doesn’t have it,” he said.
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After seven die, 911 caller charged by Russ Bynum Associated Press
BRUNSWICK, Ga. — The man who reported the gruesome slayings of seven people in a Georgia mobile home faces charges of lying to police and tampering with evidence, and authorities said Sunday they haven’t ruled him out as a suspect in the killings. The killer was not among the dead, whose bodies were found Saturday, or the two critically injured, said Glynn County Police Chief Matt Doering, who said police have not spoken to the two who are hospitalized. Guy Heinze Jr., 22, was arrested late Saturday and also faces charges of illegal possession of prescription drugs and marijuana, said Doering. “He was a family member who came home and discovered (the victims), at least that’s what he told us,” Doering said.
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When asked if Heinze was involved in the slayings, Doering said: “I’m not going to rule him out, but I’m not going to characterize him as a suspect.” Police have not released the victims’ names, but they have said that some were in their teens. They did not say how the victims died in the home on an old plantation, nestled among centuries-old, moss-draped oak trees in coastal southeast Georgia. Doering defended his vague statements about the case, saying he didn’t want the public to know details that might compromise what he called a “tedious” investigation. “We just simply don’t have a lot to go on,” Doering said. “I’m not going to tell people not to be cautious. Until we know exactly what happened and who did it, that’s not going to change.” Mary Strickland, who owns The Georgia Pig, a popular local barbecue place, said people have been buzzing about the killings and main-
ly want to know what happened. “I think a lot of people who live in that area would feel a lot better if they had a little more information,” Strickland said. “If it is a murdersuicide, then let people know so they don’t think there’s some lunatic out there. We got a lot of people who panic, and the more information you put out there, the better you make them feel.” The chief said police are certain they know what happened, but don’t know who committed the slayings or why, saying, “It’s not a scene that I would want anybody to see.” The Georgia Bureau of Investigation began conducting autopsies Sunday. GBI spokesman John Bankhead said results would be released by Glynn County police, and Doering refused to comment, saying it could take two or three days for autopsies to be completed. Investigators spent a second day Sunday scouring for new evidence at the home, where an old boat sat in
Setting it up for the win
Kennedy’s wealth
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Terry Dickson / AP Photo Glynn County investigators work on the porch of the house where police said seven people were found slain Saturday. The home is located at New Hope Mobile Home Park in Brunswick, Ga. the front yard. Officers on all-terrain vehicles searched roadsides within two miles of the mobile home park for evidence, without success.
The 1,100-acre mobile home park is all that remains of a Crown
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