DAILY LOBO new mexico
Taking on Tulsa see page 6
friday
The Independent Voice of UNM since 1895
September 11, 2009
‘True heroes’ removed from veterans’ resolution by Mario Trujillo Daily Lobo
Sara Lee / Daily Lobo The administrative, editorial and production departments of UNM Press will move from 1312 Basehart Drive to 1717 Roma Ave. on main campus. Some employees in the press’ warehouse department fear they will be laid off as administrators consider outsourcing.
UNM Press employees fear outsourcing by Andrew Beale Daily Lobo
The University of New Mexico Press office will soon change buildings, but that’s not why Joyce Perz is cleaning out her desk. “We’re about to be laid off,” she said. “That’s why I’m getting my things organized.” Perz, one of nine employees at the UNM Press’ warehouse department, said UNM Press ordered a “Request for Proposal” in March 2008 to determine the costs and benefits of outsourcing the department. No decisions have been made since the RFP was completed last week. The UNM Press office publishes literature authored by the UNM community and surrounding area. The proposed change would affect the warehouse department and the customer service department and should be decided in early October.
The office will move from 1312 Basehart Drive to 1717 Roma Ave. on main campus. Perz said a group of high-level employees began complaining of mismanagement after the RFP was announced in March 2008. “We started e-mailing, sending out press releases,” she said. “That was the tipping point — people were fired. The majority of editorial and production people quit. Some left with no new jobs.” Perz said five people quit in protest of the management’s policies. A source who asked not to be named for fear of being fired said the staff tried to bring attention to the issue but was unable to get through to the UNM administration. “There was a huge effort to bring reality and facts to the higher administration about what was going on,” the source said. “They ignored us.” Richard Schuetz, associate
director for business operations, said only warehouse and customer service department jobs are at risk. The publishing staff, which will change offices on Sept. 19, will not be affected. “We had some people that resigned,” he said. “We’re trying to fill some of those positions. The reorganization is complete, as far as I know.” Schuetz said he and three other people will decide whether to outsource the department. “I would prefer that it not be outsourced,” he said. “Obviously cost is a factor. There are a lot of advantages to keeping it in house.” Stewart Marshall, who works in the warehouse department said he remains optimistic about his prospects. “I think it has a slight chance to none, but I’m the guy who’s always optimistic,” he said. “The RFP was
see Outsourcing page 2
The ASUNM resolution encouraging the UNM community to take Veterans Day off is now a little less “flowery.” After an ASUNM Senate vote sent the resolution back to committee Sept. 2, the Steering and Rules Committee revised the wording on Wednesday. “(Last week) everyone said ‘I want to pass this, I want to pass this,’” said Steering and Rules Committee member Chelsea Stallings. “But nobody felt the wording was right. We, as a committee, liked the wording, which is why we passed it in committee, but there were a few who were more persuasive than we were on the Senate floor with the words being dramatic – poetic.” The two significant changes to the resolution came in a single sentence. When describing veterans, the committee got rid of a phrase calling veterans “true heroes.” And they removed the end of the sentence that said veterans “are owed a debt of gratitude that can never be repaid.” In discussion, committee chair Alicia Barry argued the end of the sentence is misleading because veterans do get paid. “We honor them in different institutions,” Barry said. “They are given opportunities in college. They are being paid to go to college. They are getting different scholarships and sponsorships, so they are being paid. I think the wording is a little rough.” Senator Abdullah Feroze, who seconded a motion to send the resolution back to committee on Sept. 2, said the language wasn’t the only contention he had with the resolution. “I think a lot of senators didn’t feel comfortable passing a bill that still had loose ends to it,” he said.
Feroze, who didn’t go to the meeting because of a scheduling conflict, took issue with a few statistics that were in the resolution. It mentions that veterans bring in over $6 million in benefits to UNM. Feroze doesn’t contest the numbers, but he said citation is necessary. The Steering and Rules Committee sent the resolution back to the Senate floor with a 4-1 vote. The only “nay” came from Stallings, who said she supports the bill’s sentiment but doesn’t think the grammar in one paragraph is up to par. “I know we have some sticklers on the floor, and it needs to read (correctly),” Stallings said. She said it could easily be fixed with a “friendly amendment” and is sure it will pass next Wednesday when it hits the Senate floor. Zach Mutchler, president of Student Veterans of UNM and author of the original resolution, said he approved of the revised document. “As long as there is a resolution passed by the full Senate that supports UNM to observe Veterans Day then that is all I care about,” Mutchler said. “That is all the veterans care about. We could talk all night about whether this is too flowery. … However, it is time to look past that and get this thing passed.” Senator Laz Cardenas, who introduced the resolution, said he will vote the revised resolution through but that it was fine in its original form. “The changes on the resolution right now, I think, are watered down,” he said. “There was no language in the (original) resolution that was offensive.” Cardenas also said the Sept. 2 meeting was the first for a few freshmen senators, and they could have been confused with parliamentary procedure and lingo.
Notorious time waster may train the brain by Tricia Remark Daily Lobo
Just because a video game distracts students from homework doesn’t mean it’s not making them smarter. Scientists at the Mind Research Network in Albuquerque completed a six-month study about the effects the game Tetris have on the brain. Richard Haier, a Tetris study researcher, said his group recruited 26 adolescent girls who had no experience playing Tetris or most other video games. He said for three months, 15 girls were asked to play Tetris for about one hour per week and the other 11 girls played no Tetris at all. Haier said the findings were unexpected. “In the group that practiced Tetris, the brain got more efficient in certain areas and the cortex also got thick-
Inside the
Daily Lobo volume 114
issue 15
er in certain areas,” Haier said. “The big surprise was that we thought (the changes) would be in the same areas, but they weren’t.” Haier said the brain became more efficient in the frontal lobe of the brain, which means less blood flow to particular areas. “We were interested in what changes take place in your brain when you learn something,” Haier said. “When you practice Tetris, the brain seems to get more efficient because it uses less energy.” Haier said that in addition to having parts of the girls’ brains become more efficient, the outer part of the brain — the cortex — showed some growth. He said he doesn’t know if these physical changes are beneficial. “We’re not sure what the implication of a thicker cortex is, but we think it’s better,” Haier said. “We think you are getting more neurons or more synapses as a consequence of
What were you doing See page 2
learning, but we don’t really know.” Haier said his team scanned the brains of all 26 girls before and after the study. The team used functional and structural magnetic resonance imaging, and there were significant brain changes shown in both, he said. Rex Jung, an MRN researcher, said the scans show obvious changes in the brain, but he wants to do further studies with video games. He said he wants to find out how brain changes might affect other skills. “We only tested Tetris, but it would have been interesting to see if the girls’ ability to remember or their ability to rotate geometric designs improved from playing Tetris,” Jung said. “We just didn’t do that during this study.” Jung said they want to repeat the study with adults to see if it can prevent memory deterioration. He said
see Tetris page 2
Shoulder setback See page 5
In this illustration, parts of the human brain are stimulated while a subject plays Tetris. The Mind Research Network completed a six month study showing that the video game thickens the cortex and improves brain efficiency. Courtesy of Mind Research Network
Today’s weather
79° / 59°