DAILY LOBO new mexico
Weh to announce
tuesday
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The Independent Voice of UNM since 1895
September 8, 2009
GPSA born in days of protests and war
Tradition rolls on
by Elizabeth Cleary Daily Lobo
Gabbi Campos / Daily Lobo Bikers ride through Silverton, Colo., on Saturday. Hundreds of bikers travel to Silverton, Durango and Ignacio during the Labor Day weekend’s Ignacio Bike Week for their final ride of the summer.
Career Week activities sharpen job-seeking skills by Tricia Remark Daily Lobo
The Anderson School of Management is hosting Career Week, beginning today, to help students get a job after college. Career Week, which ends Sept. 14, attempts to prepare students for ASM’s Sept. 16 Career Fair through mock interviews, résumé workshops and other events. Career Week events are open to all UNM students. Emily Ortiz, president of the UNM Society of Human Resource Management, said students are sometimes unprepared for the post-graduation job search. “Being out in the work force has been an eye
opener for me to see what we learned in school and also what we haven’t learned in school — sometimes we think we know everything, but in reality we don’t,” Ortiz said. Ortiz said top employers like Hewlett-Packard and Sandia National Laboratories will have representatives at the events to mentor students. She said they are volunteering their time to share their experiences and advice. They’ll also go over students’ résumés and help them make cover letters. Ortiz said a “Résumé Express” will be offered, where Albuquerque business volunteers review students’ résumés and suggest improvements. Students can then move on to the “Rock the Interview” event, where they’ll sit down for mock interviews, she said. “The résumé is the employer’s first look at their
potential employee,” Ortiz said. “If you pass that then you might get the interview, which is why we have the mock interview set up – for the students to get their jitters out.” Karin Kase, manager of Career Services at AnFor the Career Week schedule, go to: jobs.mgt.unm.edu
derson, said an effective résumé is crucial for students on the job market. “Real employers spend less than 10 seconds looking at a résumé that is
see Jobs page 5
Fair offers options for volunteers by Pat Lohmann Daily Lobo
A committee appointed by the provost is hosting the semiannual UNM Volunteer Fair today for organizations who need help from UNM students, staff and faculty. The New Mexico Jazz Workshop, Big Brothers Big Sisters, the Roadrunner Food Bank and over 50 other organizations will recruit volunteers. Lina Marie Sandve, a committee representative, said the fair helps UNM community members decide which volunteer organization is right for them. “The volunteer fair simply is a
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one-stop shop for faculty, students and staff to discover where they might best spend their volunteer hours,” she said. “There’s so many courses that require community service of some kind, and this is a great way for them to fulfill that obligation.” Judith Ann Garcia, literacy coordinator for Bernalillo County, said the county is recruiting volunteer tutors for after-school programs. Garcia said many children in the program need one-on-one attention. “We need volunteers because, unfortunately, we have a lot of children who need tutoring. It’s kind of sad that we have more kids
Warming hits home See page 5
than we do tutors,” she said. “We find that, at least in small groups, they seem to absorb the information better that way.” Garcia said the literacy program does “food for thought,” which entails a component of homework, a component of leisure reading and a component of reading to learn. Tommie Gonzales, coordinator for Computer Clubhouse, said her organization is seeking three volunteers a week to help students from ages 9 to 18 become computer literate. “It’s mostly graphic designing and animation,” she said. “We recruit mentors to help the kids.” Gonzales said volunteers
should have some computer experience if they want to help at the Clubhouse. Sandve said the fair could also help students decide on a career path. “It gives them a real opportunity to shop around and find out UNM Volunteer Fair SUB Ballrooms A & B Today 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
where they’d like to be and what they’d like to do,” she said.
Soccer kicks off See back page
The Graduate and Professional Student Association celebrated its 40th anniversary Thursday by paying homage to the group’s beginnings, which were mired in controversy. In 1969, the University threatened to expel a graduate teaching assistant for reading a poem containing profane language to his English class. This event sparked uproar in the graduate student body, which then organized to form the Graduate Students Association and later the GPSA. The celebration Thursday honored past and present GPSA officers and featured graduate students’ artwork, which was hung along the walls of the GPSA office. Bill Pickens, the GSA’s first elected president, said the organization formed out of necessity four decades ago. “There were no general rules, regulations or procedures defining the roles or protecting the rights of graduate student researchers or teaching assistants,” Pickens said in a speech at the event. “Essentially, all were subject to whatever decisions or discipline was meted out by faculty or administrators.” The first administration was trying to get GPSA off the ground during a tumultuous period in both the country and the University’s history, Pickens said. In 1970, President Richard Nixon ordered the invasion of Cambodia, and four students were shot and killed at Kent State University while protesting the overseas involvement. As a result of protests and chaos on the UNM campus, a number of people were injured and the New Mexico National Guard was called in, he said. “The GSA was born into a stormy environment, unprecedented at the relatively quiet UNM,” Pickens said. “This required us to work together closely with the undergraduates and offer a constructive and responsible voice when lots of others were losing it.” Annie Shank, GPSA president for academic year 1998-99, said she remembers seeing students in Albuquerque protesting the teaching assistant’s possible expulsion. “I was hitchhiking across the country, and (Albuquerque) was one of the stops,” Shank said. “There was a protest going on, so I mean of course, I’ll hold up a sign for anyone that’s got a good cause. I was into free speech.”
see GPSA page 3
Today’s weather
85° / 61°