DAILY LOBO new mexico
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The Independent Student Voice of UNM since 1895
wednesday September 19, 2012
Anderson students work to integrate ex-inmates Governor seeks to improve utility of skills learned by Ardee Napolitano news@dailylobo.com
UNM students will help develop a system designed to stop inmates from returning to crime once released from prison. At a press conference Tuesday, Gov. Susana Martinez announced that students from the Anderson School of Management will work with the New Mexico Corrections Department (NMCD) on a project that aims to ease the introduction of inmates into the workforce. She said students will assess the skills taught to inmates while they’re in prison and will also provide recommendations for improvements to the NMCD business model. “Many inmates are released from prison without a clue about where to get a job,” Martinez said. “They lack basic skills, they can’t find a job and they fall back to a life of crime.” Martinez said about 100 inmates are employed through 10 programs provided by NMCD, but the products they manufacture, such as textiles and furniture, are no longer in demand, so it will be difficult for inmates to find jobs when they are released. Martinez said it would be easier for released inmates to find jobs if they were to learn more specialized skills before they are released, and that job opportunities will enable inmates to pay their victims’ restitutions more consistently. She said teaching inmates more useful skills will make it less likely for released inmates to reoffend and encourages them to lead more productive lives. “Not only can we teach valuable life skills to inmates, but we can also protect our victims,” she said. “Through this they can get a job,
Adria Malcolm / Daily Lobo New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez (left) stands with UNM students (middle left and far right) Shannon Carr and Liz Earls and Anderson School Professor Maria Gondo at a press conference at the Jackson Student Center on Tuesday. The conference was held to announce a project by Anderson School of Management students and the New Mexico Corrections Department to help inmates re-enter the workforce after release from prison. they can pay their restitution and they will not and do not fall back to a life of crime.” NMCD Deputy Secretary of Administration Aurora Sanchez said the program’s intent is to provide skills that inmates can use in multiple positions and can then be taught to other people. “The biggest thing here is to find ways to make our inmates successful once they reentered our society,” she said. “There isn’t
a market out there for plastic bags and prison uniforms.” Anderson’s Small Business Institute Director Raj Mahto said the team, which will include six students, will be headed by UNM professor Maria Gondo and that UNM alumnus Kenneth Blemel will serve as a mentor for the team. Mahto said the program is a good hands-on learning opportunity for students and professors because it will allow all participants to
connect learning with real-world situations. UNM student Liz Earls, who will participate in the program, said she is thrilled that research for the project formally started last week and will run throughout the semester. She said, however, that because the team will only be in the class for the extent of the semester, they won’t have much involvement with implementing the research and
recommendations they provide NMCD. Earls said the team members will not be paid for their work but will be reimbursed $500 for expenses such as travel costs. “I think there needs to be a lot more time, so our role will act as a first step,” she said. “Hopefully next semester, another group can pick it up. It’s just a great opportunity from an educational perspective.”
Film festival won’t charge students for submissions by Quinton Bara
news@dailylobo.com For the first time, UNM students will have the chance to showcase their films at the University for free. The ASUNM Southwest Film Center will host the UNM Student Film Festival, the first film festival since 2004, in November. However, this year’s festival will include only films made by UNM students, and students won’t have to pay submission costs. The event is estimated to cost the center about $660, which includes expenses for advertisement, theater rental and staff. ASUNM Southwest Film Center Assistant Director Aaron Sena said that because festival submissions are often expensive, student filmmakers are often limited as to how their films
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are showcased. Some films might not be seen outside the classroom or websites such as YouTube. He said that the event will provide exposure for student filmmakers and allow students to include on their résumés that their film was showcased at a public event. “To get it up on the big screen is a good opportunity, because not everyone gets that without spending a lot of money,” Sena said. Submission costs for film festivals, such as the Santa Fe Film Festival, often range between $50 and $100, depending on the films’ lengths and how early the filmmakers enter their submissions. Although the festival is a competition between UNM students, other filmmakers can assist in making the films as long as they are submitted by a UNM
“To get up on the big screen ... not everyone gets to do that without spending a lot of money.” ~Aaron Sena Film Center asst. director student. Sena said non-students can help make the movies “as long as the student is involved in … a kind of higher-end creative capacity, like editing, cinematography, directing, writing, any of those things.” ASUNM Southwest Film Center Executive Director Carly Weiner will
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select the finalists to be judged by a panel from the community. The top three films selected by the judges will be awarded prizes donated by UNM departments and local businesses. SWFC hopes to award film-themed prizes, such as time with the University’s film equipment and film literature. Sena said the prizes will help participants gain access to some of the tools students in the film program at UNM use. “If you’re not part of the program, you don’t have any access to the great gear that the University has,” Sena said. Films must be eight minutes or fewer in length, including all credits, and must be submitted by Oct. 5 to the SWFC. There aren’t many restrictions on content; as long as films are not hateful or offensive,
they may be submitted. “It’s pretty open-ended, as long as it’s within the timeframe,” Weiner said. “We really have tried to make it as easy as possible to submit.”
For more information about the film festival, visit swfc.unm.edu or email Carly Weiner at swfc@unm.edu Submission deadline: Friday, Oct. 5
Film Festival SUB Theater Saturday, Nov. 3 at 6 p.m.
Admission: $2
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