DAILY LOBO new mexico
September 14, 2011
Bringin’ home the bacon see page 4
wednesday The Independent Voice of UNM since 1895
Trees grow from change
AIRBORNE
by Michael Howland-Davis mnhdavis@unm.edu
Juan Labreche / Daily Lobo Karl LaVine practices tricks on his trials bike around campus Monday. This trick is called a 360 endo drop and it took Karl three years to master . Karl has been riding for nine years.
A handful of nickels may not save the world, but it adds up. The Staff Environs Committee’s Change for Trees program collects spare change to keep UNM green. The program began three years ago when UNM took pruning shears to the landscaping budget. “Keeping the campus green is important to us,” said Karen Wentworth, co-chair of the Staff Environs Committee. “As a committee, we were really bothered by how battered the campus looked, and we thought more trees were the answer. There’s a lot of concrete on campus, and we thought that if we could plant more trees and get them to grow, that would at least provide shade.” The Environs Committee is composed of elected members of the UNM Staff Council. It raises funds for planting trees, bushes and other foliage and works with the University landscaping department to choose and plant the foliage in order to avoid the spread of invasive species, Wentworth said. The Change for Trees program focuses on planting large, shadeproducing trees that can grow up to 60 feet tall. “Landscaping budgets have been clipped, and clipped, and clipped over the years,” Wentworth said. “You don’t see really fresh flowers
on campus anymore because no one has the money to pay for them.” The Staff Environs Committee change jars are located in the food court of the SUB. “We are asking people to drop their spare change into one of our change jars and we’ll buy trees,” Wentworth said. “Donations have become the key to keeping our campus green. There just isn’t any money for niceties like plants and trees — we can’t take it out of student fees, and the state doesn’t have any money. There’s just nowhere else it can come from at this point.” Linda McCormick, co-chair of the Staff Environs Committee, said so far the program has raised more than $4,600. “It’s a really neat program and the generosity of UNM’s students, staff and faculty is wonderful,” she said. “It’s incredibly rewarding when we can translate their generosity into not just beauty but utility for the university.” McCormick said the committee has planted flowering pear trees in front of Johnson Center and hawthorn bushes and other foliage near the Mechanical Engineering building. “It was just a barren concrete desert over by mechanical engineering and we needed to change that,” she said. “However, someone dug up and stole all of the underplanting last April. We had lavender and several other shade-
resistant species and someone came in and took them, so we ended up replacing those as well.” In addition to beautifying the campus, the new trees help reduce the University’s environmental impact, she said. “Not only do they provide shade but they lower the University’s heat island effect,” she said. “Best of all, they don’t cost too much so we can really make a difference.” McCormick said it costs about $500 to plant and maintain a tree for its 50-year lifespan. The trees come with a warranty as well. Greg Molecke, a UNM alumnus and member of the committee, said he wants to see UNM’s trees and green space preserved. “I’ve always been interested in the environment of UNM,” he said. “I’m a bit of a tree-hugger to begin with, and when I was elected to the Staff Council I knew this was something that I wanted to be a part of.” Molecke said UNM planning should focus on more green space, not more buildings. “The biggest issue I see is that there are so many new buildings that have gone up since I was an undergrad,” he said. “Although these new buildings are needed, there were spaces that had quite a few trees that just aren’t there anymore. Besides planting trees, we strongly advocate that any time a tree is cut down we’d like to see a new tree planted to ensure we keep the campus beautiful.”
Regents approve Master Plan, discuss funding by Charlie Shipley
charlieshipley84@gmail.com The UNM Board of Regents on Tuesday officially adopted the University’s Consolidated Master Plan, a 10-15 year development plan intended to help UNM accommodate a projected 10-year state population growth of more than 1 million people. The plan includes increased oncampus housing and a proposed recreation center that would be located along Central Avenue and connected to Johnson Gym via an elevated walkway. In April, 67 percent of students voted against an ASUNM ballot amendment that would have funded a recreation center by increasing student fees by more than $100 per semester. GPSA President Katie Richardson said she would have liked to see more student input taken into account while developing the Master Plan. “I think the Master Plan has excellent strategic recommendations and a forward-thinking approach,” Richardson said. “But, to my knowledge, input on the plan was limited to the advisory committee and the Greek community.” Dale Dekker of Dekker, Perich and Sabatini, the firm in charge of designing the plan, said he is comfortable with the level of public involvement in the plan. “We’ve tried very diligently to engage a wide variety of people for their input, and I think the plan reflects
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Daily Lobo volume 116
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that,” he said. Student Regent Jacob Wellman said there were early opportunities for students to speak up. “Two years ago there was a website where anyone in the University could review the plan and give their comments, and I think they were incorporated into the plan at the time,” he said. In 2009, the ‘Master Planning’ page of UNM’s website offered a forum for public comment on the Master Plan. Development of the plan began in 2007. The forum received 106 comments, all from 2009, from UNM students and community members on topics ranging from transportation and campus safety to Greek life and individual educational departments. The website is inactive, but comments are available for viewing via PDF. Richardson also expressed reservations about increased on-campus housing outlined in the Master Plan. “I am unconvinced that on-campus housing will benefit all students equally,” she said. “I think it benefits students that would succeed anyway — that is, those who are economically able. I don’t think it’s something that UNM resources should be going toward, not when we had only 75 percent of last year’s freshman class returning.” Three of the online comments pertain to student housing, and all three expressed concerns over the I-25 and Avenida César Chávez
see Master
Also at the meeting: •
UNM President David Schmidly said changes are in store for New Mexico’s Formula Funding, which is the primary way the University receives state-appropriated dollars.“ The Governor and the Secretary of Education have determined we need a new formula for higher education,” he said. Schmidly said a funding task force will be formed to examine funding based on the success of at-risk students and completion of courses rather than census enrollment data.
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Regents tabled a final decision on their travel policy to further investigate the legal aspects of changing the level of per diem funding staff, faculty and graduate students would receive when travelling. University Counsel Lee Peifer said there had been much discussion about the cost and revenue implications of the policy. Both the Regents Audit Committee and Finance & Facilities Committee reviewed the policy. The Audit Committee found the current policy, which pays $71 for in-state meals, is not in accordance with state law, which only allows for $30. Members of the Audit Committee said the policy should be changed to reflect state law. President Schmidly said it was essential that the policies adhere to legal standards at both the state and federal level.
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Regents detailed and approved a financial sustainability plan for UNM’s golf courses. Mountain West GolfScape Inc., a local golf landscaping company, was awarded the maintenance contract. Measures are being taken to increase the market share of the UNM golf courses by one-half of a percent to one percent for the 2012 fiscal year. In July, three Anderson School of Management graduates presented their suggestions on how to sustain the golf courses to Institutional Support Services. Some of those initiatives include defining new and clear missions for both courses, which could be rebranded as not only sporting venues, but also social events venues. The graduates also suggested the golf courses should increase advertising efforts.
Plan PAGE 3
Don’t drop the ball
In the swing of things
See page 2
See page 5
TODAY
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