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October 9, 2012
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Drunk drivers to lose cars
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Seizure law now covers all of Bernalillo County by Ardee Napolitano news@dailylobo.com
A city law that allows police to seize the vehicles of repeat drunk driving offenders now applies in all of Bernalillo County. District 5 County Commissioner Wayne Johnson said the country sheriff approached him about the extending the law. The policy became law last month, but Johnson said it will not formally take effect until Oct. 25. According to Mothers Against Drunk Driving, 32 percent of traffic related deaths in New Mexico involve DWIs. Johnson said the new law will help reduce the number of DWIs because it discourages people who think it is fine to drink and drive by imposing increased costs on drunk drivers, especially on people who have already received a DWI conviction in the past. He said the law is also aimed at people who facilitate drunk driving by lending convicted DWI offenders their vehicles, because offenders with two previous DWI convictions often have interlocks installed in their own vehicles. “(The law) targets people who enable people with previous convictions to drink and drive,” he said. “People will be a lot less likely to drink and drive if they know they can lose their vehicle.”. In New Mexico, the current maximum penalties for a second DWI conviction include up to 364 days in jail, a fine of up to $1,000, at least 48 hours of community service, up to five years on probation, the revocation of the offender’s driver’s license for two years and the installation of an interlock in the offender’s vehicle for two years. Johnson said a similar car-seizure law has already been in effect in the city of Albuquerque for the past 10 years. He said that in order to escape car seizure in the city, offenders often drink and drive in secluded areas around Bernalillo County, because the car seizure law wasn’t in effect in those areas. “Part of the justification is that we needed to match the consistency,” he said. “There are people who understand the law and just drink and drive somewhere else in the county to not risk car seizure in the city.” Through the new car-seizure law, a probable-cause hearing will determine whether an offender’s vehicle should be seized. Johnson said that if the driver has received at least two DWI convictions, an officer can seize
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the driver’s vehicle and take it to a parking yard in Albuquerque. He said the owners will be accompanied to the site by officers while the vehicle is transported. He said seized vehicles will be sold at auction and that the revenue will be used to fund DWI prevention education initiatives in the county. But Johnson said that offenders can appeal the results of the probable-cause hearing to the Second Judicial District Court. He said that if a repeat offender is driving a borrowed car, the owner of the vehicle can ask for innocent-owner provision in the hearing, which allows the owner to explain that he or she was unaware that the driver had been convicted of a DWI. Johnson said that if the owner’s claims prove to be true, the vehicle will be returned to him or her at no cost. “Every decision by the county can be appealed to the district court,” he said. But instead of having their vehicles seized, Johnson said that offenders can also agree to have it booted at their residence for at least 30 days and then returned to them. “There are other options,” he said. “What we’re trying to do is for people to monitor their behaviors themselves instead of punishing them with seizure.” Johnson said that the law already proved to be effective in Albuquerque in the past. “The reason why we do it is it worked,” he said. “The lot that they have for seizure is two-thirds empty now, compared to years ago.”
Awareness aids healthy eating Finding healthy food on campus ‘tricky’ but doable by Ardee Napolitano news@dailylobo.com
Healthy food is abundant on campus, but it is not always a popular option with students, said Ingrid Jorud, a health education consultant at UNM. Jorud said students, especially freshmen, do not always have information about the healthy options at campus eateries. “Students are not aware of what’s available,” she said. “I think it’s easy if you know where to look.” Jorud said students should avoid popular restaurants in the SUB, such as Sonic and Chickfil-A, because of their extensive variety of fried foods. She said the main problem with foods at these places is their portion sizes. “As a general rule, you can probably divide everything in half, and that would be the right portion size,” she said. But La Posada executive chef Shawn Weed said almost all these restaurants have healthy options. He admits that food in the SUB tends to be fried and fattening, but he said eating healthy depends on students’ self-control. “Even Chick-fil-A has a grilled
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chicken on a whole wheat bun,” he said. “It’s not the most healthy thing once you put barbecue sauce on it, or mayonnaise or bacon, but if you just get it as it is, it’s actually good for you.” Weed said La Posada offers the healthiest options on campus. There are nine food sections in the on-campus cafeteria, and two of them in particular provide healthy options to students, he said. He said a section called “Balanced You” includes low-fat and low-sodium recipes, while the vegetarian section called “Garden Emporium” has quinoa, brown rice and tofu, which are rich in protein. Weed said La Posada has a salad bar that always contains three kinds of cut fruits and two kinds of greens. Jorud said that although La Posada still has foods such as burgers and fries, it could be the healthiest option on campus because of the wide variety of food available. Food in the SUB can be “tricky,” but Jorud said she recommends the Middle Eastern eatery Sahara. She also recommends New York Deli, a sandwich shop. Jorud said it is important to monitor eating habits and eat more fruits and vegetables as a general rule. The nutritional value
for on-campus food is available at La Posada’s website and at each individual restaurant’s site, which students should look at before deciding what to eat. “Get something with more vegetables on it,” she said. “The more color, the better. You’re going to get more nutrients that way.” Weed said it’s possible to eat healthy for the same or even lower cost than fast food. He said salads or vegetarian dishes may be cheaper than fast food. “For example, if you go to Sonic and get the bacon cheeseburger, some french fries and a soda, it’s probably going to be eight bucks,” he said. “If you went almost anywhere and got a vegetable wrap, a side salad and an iced tea, it’s probably not going to be $8.” Weed said the on-campus restaurant does not offer a lot of healthy food because healthy options, such as quinoa salads and spinach wraps, are not as popular as fast food. But he said the demand for healthy food on campus has increased, and he expects it to grow more by the end of the semester. “The more people eat the healthy food, the more of it we provide,” he said. “We don’t want to make a bunch of food and if no one’s going to buy it, it gets thrown away.”
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