DAILY LOBO new mexico
October 12, 2010
Gallup students: Schmidly ignored us
Noble and Nobel
tuesday
see page 4
The Independent Voice of UNM since 1895
BALLOON BALL
by Barron Jones
Bjones36@unm.edu President Schmidly and his administration received their latest “no-confidence vote” in a town hall meeting UNM-Gallup students held Friday. Student Senate President Josephine Brown said she hopes the vote brings ongoing issues to light. “Now we are waiting to see what happens next,” she said. “Hopefully, we can work as a team to meet the needs of the students here at UNMGallup and UNM-Zuni.” This latest no-confidence resolution marks Schmidly’s fourth. UNM faculty voted no confidence in him Feb. 25, 2009 followed by GPSA on March 3, 2009 and the KUNM volunteers Aug. 26, 2009. The resolution said Schmidly and his staff repeatedly ignored meeting requests, provided improper leadership to assist the school’s executive director, ignored complaints of racial discrimination by his staff and expressed a general disregard for issues important to Gallup students. A panel that included Breda Bova, the president’s chief of staff, discussed the grievances listed in the Aug. 25 resolution on Schmidly’s behalf. Bova said that the University has taken steps to improve Gallup’s campus climate. “The success of all of the students on the Gallup and Zuni campuses is our top priority and substantive steps have been taken to address the many issues they feel impede that success,” Bova said in a memo addressed to Gallup student leadership. Since Joan Green replaced former Student Services Director Paul Kraft, things have began to improve, Brown said. She said under Kraft’s leadership, students lacked basic resources, such as tutoring. Nearly 350 UNM-G students participated in a Student Senate-conducted survey about what resources they’d like have on campus. Brown said they plan to use the data to track the University’s progress at handling the grievances listed in the resolution. She said she wants the curriculum committee to add more evening and weekend classes to accommodate students who work full time. Bova said Green has taken measures to ensure student success, like the development of a veteran’s center. She said Green also plans to hire a program manager for the child-care facility. “Green has been working with students on a regular basis and developed a protocol within the office to work with students, as well as developing a database of names of students who have requested accommodation letters for fall 2010,” Bova said.
Inside the
Daily Lobo volume 115
issue 37
Daniel Hulsbos / Tangerine Design Group Donors mingle at the Chic-I-Boom Ball held at the Anderson-Abruzzo Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta on Saturday. The annual ball is a fundraiser for the museum and is named after a special shapes balloon.
Lessons paused to address budget by Ruben Hamming-Green rhamminggreen@gmail.com
Instructors and TAs took a stand Thursday and told their students what they see as failed administrative decisions: budget cuts, rising tuition rates and University privatization. Liza Minno Bloom, a member of Graduate Employees Together, said the discussions were part of the National Day of Action to Defend Public Education, a campaign to raise awareness. “People don’t know the severity of the budget cuts,” she said. “Right now, it’s a 3.2 percent budget cut. ... Next year they’re proposing a 5 percent budget cut. That’s massive. That’s going to be pretty devastating, and people don’t know about it.” Minno Bloom said some people have a misperception of how severely cuts will affect academics. “(The administration) really framed discussions as if we had to have 3.2 percent cuts across the board,” she said. “There are other more creative ways I think we could be solving some of the budget problems without going to academic lines.” Provost Suzanne Ortega said that she supported the day of action. “It is important that all constituents and citizens take part in this important dialogue. ... There is a long history of using class time to engage in important discussions of relevance to students,” she said. “I support this, so long as out-ofclass time of this sort does not take
up so much time that there is insufficient time to cover specific course material.” Undergraduate student Sean van Hoose said he hadn’t heard about the issues being discussed until his teacher, Linda Hurley, brought them up in class. “I agree completely with what they’re saying,” he said.
Lissa Knudsen, GPSA president, said it’s crucial to protect academics. “The academic mission of the University is being de-prioritized in comparison to other priorities that are not necessarily about education and helping people to become intellectual and grow,” she said. “It’s rather about being cogs and human
capital.” Knudsen said administrators are not looking at the bigger picture. “The regents and the administration are very behind, creating a legacy from their time here of edifices and brand new buildings,” she said. “But what good do those do if you don’t have any faculty to fill them?”
see Budget page 3
THE STAMP CHAMP
Junfu Han / Daily Lobo Stamps belonging to collector Don Swartz are displayed, most of which come from Vatican City. Swartz said he has stamps ranging from price from 50 cents to $1,800 per stamp. See page 6.
Ravenous review
Crisis averted
See page 6
See page 3
TODAY
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