DAILY LOBO new mexico
The art of healing see page 5
wednesday The Independent Voice of UNM since 1895
September 30, 2009
Witness reports gun sighting on campus
Dracula’s new set of fangs
Staff Report Daily Lobo
An individual reported seeing a man on campus carrying what appeared to be a gun on Tuesday morning. UNMPD officers searched the area, near Logan Hall, and issued the allclear. Police have not made any arrests in connection with the incident. University spokeswoman Susan McKinsey said the investigation is ongoing. TextMe UNM, the University’s emergency notification system, sent two messages to those signed up for the service — one at 11:54 a.m. telling people to avoid the area and one at 12:12 p.m. announcing the all-clear. The subject line of the first message was “Public reports of male with gun,” and the message read, “Police are investigating. Avoid southwest portion of main campus, especially Logan Hall.” In the second message, the subject line was “All clear,” and the message was “Police have resolved the issue.” McKinsey, who spoke on behalf of UNMPD because the department’s public information officers were unavailable, said UNMPD got a call around 11:30 Tuesday morning requesting officers at the southwest
To register for the TextMe UNM service, visit TextMe.unm.edu portion of campus. “They got a call from an individual over in the vicinity of Logan Hall going, ‘I’ve seen an individual who I believe is carrying a gun,’” she said. “Police take calls like that very seriously, so they dispatched officers to the scene.” McKinsey said UNMPD always welcomes tips about suspicious activity. “Our police will tell you that they always want individuals who believe they have seen something suspicious or believe that there is some cause for concern to contact them,” she said. “They are going to investigate it. They take it very seriously.” McKinsey said UNMPD officers thoroughly searched the area before issuing the all-clear, but they didn’t catch the suspect. “They were not only looking around the area of Logan, but then they had to start looking around surrounding buildings,” she said. “Once they had done that, once they had talked to the witness and once they felt confident that they could issue the all-clear, then it was OK for people just to go about their business.”
Gary Alderete / Daily Lobo Cydne Schulte as vampire “Lucy” bears her fangs during a dress rehearsal for “The Land Beyond the Forest: Dracula and Swoop.” The play premieres Friday at 7:30 p.m. in Carlisle Performance Space. To read this story go to page 5.
Enrollment up at NM universities by Pat Lohmann Daily Lobo
New Mexican universities have seen increased enrollment this fall, and they’re chalking it up to online courses, new recruitment practices and, above all, the economy. With roughly 10 percent more students attending, representatives from Eastern and Western New Mexico universities, CNM, New Mexico State and UNM all say the economy has encouraged New Mexicans to return to school. Viola Florez, cabinet secretary of the New Mexico Higher Education Department, said a combination of the stimulus bill and the increasing need for a college degree in the workplace have contributed to the enrollment trend. “They’re figuring out that they really do need to go to college,” she said. “Today’s jobs require a minimum of a high school degree, and most of them require a college degree. I think that a lot of our recent high school graduates are doing their college degree.” Florez said stimulus funding
has given students more opportunities for financial aid. “The stimulus funds have increased Pell Grants and work-study funding,” she said. “That, also, is always a support for our students and that has been made available to them.” UNM Vice President of Enrollment Management Carmen Alvarez Brown said the economic crisis has been a factor in the University’s nearly 6 percent enrollment increase, but new recruitment efforts also helped. “I need to be realistic,” she said. “What percentage of the (increase) is the economy and what percentage is attributed to our efforts? And I would say half and half.” Brown said enrollment management now does on-the-spot admissions and has improved e-mail communications. Candy Guzie, associate director of Institutional Research at NMSU, said Las Cruces was not hit particularly hard by the economic crisis, but NMSU still saw almost an 8 percent enrollment increase. She said more courses offered online and
higher branch campus enrollment helped NMSU’s overall enrollment increase. “Economics is a condition that we’re all dealing with,” she said. “Fortunately, for the institution, you actually see people taking the opportunity to go to school or start a different career or something.” ENMU spokesman Wendel Sloan said the small university in Portales had the largest enrollment in their 75-year history this fall. He attributed this to people returning to school because of the recession but also the “135-rule,” which grants in-state status to all students living within 135 miles of the ENMU campus, even if they’re from Texas. New Mexico Tech had relatively stagnant enrollment this fall, but spokesman Thomas Guengerich said the university’s enrollment peaked in 2008. “It could very well be that we saw our 10 percent increase in fall 2008,” he said. “And NMSU, UNM, Eastern — it’s their turn this year.”
see Enrollment page 3
Head coach Mike Locksley confirmed Tuesday that Lobo safety Ian Clark will undergo season-ending surgery on his left shoulder this week. Visit DailyLobo.com for more details.
Inside the
Daily Lobo volume 114
issue 28
DL
Junfu Han / Daily Lobo From left: Regents Gene Gallegos and Carolyn Abeita along with President David Schmidly listen to opening remarks during Tuesday’s Board of Regents meeting in the SUB. The board decided to delay voting on the UNM Master Plan of Development to allow more input from the UNM community.
Regents still not ready to vote on Master Plan by Tricia Remark Daily Lobo
The Board of Regents postponed voting on UNM Master Plan of Development — again. Steve Beffort, vice president of Institutional Support Services, sent President David Schmidly a letter on Sept. 23 asking to delay the Master Plan vote. The Master Plan was slated for approval at the Tuesday regents meeting.
Where are we?
Opinion: Having a cow
See page 2
See page 4
To give input on the UNM Master Plan, e-mail Planning@unm.edu Beffort said the vote needed to be delayed because the Faculty Senate passed a resolution requesting more time to comment on the Master Plan before it’s approved.
see Regents page 3
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