DAILY LOBO new mexico
October 8, 2010
ASUNM hastily passes fee resolution
Battle of the winless
friday
see page 8
The Independent Voice of UNM since 1895
BURN, AGGIE, BURN!
by Ruben Hamming-Green rhamminggreen@gmail.com
ASUNM passed a resolution supporting the Student Fee Review Board Task Force’s recommendation to have more undergraduate students and fewer graduate students on the SFRB. At an emergency senate meeting Wednesday, ASUNM President Laz Cardenas said the resolution will give undergraduates representation proportionate to their numbers. Cardenas said 72 percent of students at UNM are undergraduates, and currently the board has four undergraduates and three graduate students. The resolution supports having seven undergraduates and two graduates on the board. “Undergraduates are underrepresented in this process,” Cardenas said. “This is not a battle between ASUNM and GPSA, rather a battle for our constituents.” The resolution passed by a vote of 16-3. Sen. Heidi Overton, who helped draft the resolution, said it would ensure that undergraduates have a fair say on how their fees are spent. “The percentages should speak for themselves,” she said. “There are issues that come up when we don’t have the right representation, which detracts from the undergraduate voice on campus.” Katie Richardson, GPSA grant chair, said that the power distribution in the SFRB already favored the undergraduate students. “Three graduates don’t earn a single dollar unless they can bring undergraduates on board with what they’re trying to say,” she said. Sen. Melissa Trent opposed the resolution, and she said it was a blow to the student voice. The SFRB is composed of elected student representatives, who decide how fees should be distributed. But the SFRB Task Force is composed of Provost’s Office appointees and makes recommendations on how to change the SFRB. The ASUNM resolution supports the task force recommendation. “There are a lot of problems with this task force — these were appointed people — and these are not student voices that are being heard,” Trent said. “By passing this ... we are saying that this task force has the right to change the SFRB.” Other ASUNM senators said the resolution did not support the task force, but rather undergraduate student voice. “Get over the task force. This resolution is not supporting the task force. It’s supporting one thing the task force proposed,” Sen. Daniel Parker said. Richardson said that no support
see ASUNM page 3
Inside the
Daily Lobo volume 115
issue 35
Terrance Siemon / Daily Lobo Students get pumped up during the Red Rally at Johnson Field on Thursday night. A large crowd of students and student-athletes gathered for the annual “Burning of the Aggie” before the Rio-Grande Rivalry football game at NMSU on Saturday. See page 8 for coverage.
Dilapidated buildings here to stay by Chelsea Erven cerven@unm.edu
UNM has more than 300 buildings, some built as far back as the 1920s, And some faculty members said a number of aging buildings are in such disrepair that it affects their ability to teach. Trish Aragon-Mascarenas, a psychology department administrator at Logan Hall, said the building has never been renovated, but it needs work. She said the Aug. 8 flood that left three floors and 35 rooms in Logan Hall unusable could have been prevented by renovating the plumbing system. “Where to begin? This building is horrible. It has lead, asbestos, mold and sewer gas leaks, not to mention the flooding. Ask any of the faculty here and they would say the same thing,” she said. Mary Vosevich, director of the UNM Physical Plant, said PPD completes about 50,000 work orders a year and must be judicious when deciding what buildings need attention. She said PPD sets aside Building Renewal and Replacement funds, which come from the state, to do work on buildings, and money for renovations also comes from department funds, grants or University donations. “We have a lot of different maintenance on our campus because of the vintage of our campus,” she said. “We have a lot of old buildings here... Our focus is building functionality...
Budget cuts See page 2
while still allowing the educational and research mission of the institution to continue.” Ethan Kalosky, a graduate student who works in the Anthropology Annex, said the building floods at least once a year, the bathrooms need work and the air-conditioning system is outdated. He also said that the doors don’t shut properly and that the heating system needs to be revamped. “We have radiators in here. The last radiator I saw was at my grandma’s house,” Kalosky said. Osbjorn Pearson, an anthropology professor, said the building also has heating and cooling problems. “This is an old, old building,” he said. “The cooling system breaks down several times each summer, Stephanie Gonzales / Daily Lobo and the temperature is constantly Carlos Villa, janitor, does minor repairs in Mesa Visa Hall Wednesday afternoon. Mesa Vista is yo-yoing from hot to freezing in the one of many buildings on campus in need of malignance and renovations. winter.” John Craig, lab manager of the Biology Annex, said the annex was constantly working on the plumbPreventive maintenance funds built in 1948 and was last renovated ing,” he said. “I really think they just come from PPD’s operating budin the 1970s. He said there are cur- need to start from scratch with the get, which is allotted by the state rently no plans to renovate any part plumbing.” through a formula based on how of the building. Vosevich said Building Renewal many square feet PPD is taking care “It needs new heating and cool- and Replacement fund totals more of. But this year, Vosevich said PPD ing, definitely. There are hot spots than $3 million, which is less than took a recurring budget cut of $1.3 and cold spots all over this build- previous years. She said PPD focus- million, a one-time cut of $635,000 ing,” he said. es on “preventive maintenance” to and did not receive an additional Paul Polechla, a professor in Mar- eliminate the need for costly “correc- $1.2 million. ron Hall, said the building is among tional maintenance” when a build“All we can do is look across many on campus that needs reno- ing system fails or damage occurs. the board at what we have to do vating, as well. “We are dealing with financial to keep buildings functioning ... “It’s quaint, but I’d like to see restraints right now, like everyone but the issue of deferred mainteit renovated. The wooden vigas else,” she said. “This is a lean year. nance is an issue across higher ed8, 2010 out front really need some help,FOR soRELEASE OCTOBER inCrossword this timePuzzle of financial restraint, ucation in this country,” she said. Los Angeles TimesSo, Daily do the windowsills, and they Edited areby Richour Norris and Joyce Lewis focus is building functionality.” “It just is what it is.” ACROSS 1 Mother of Horus 5 Cheap reads 10 Divulge 14 1959 British Motor Corp. debut 15 Last Olds 16 Ostrich cousins 17 Routing abbr. 18 Subordinate to 19 Give off 20 Milton Hershey, e.g.? 23 MPG rating agency 24 Millenniumending year 25 E. African nation 28 Fictional tree shepherd 30 Place to see an Audi 34 A.L. player whose team logo includes an Uncle Sam hat
Relax. It’s the weekend.
TODAY
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See page 6 By Paul Guttormsson
10/8/10