DAILY LOBO new mexico
Let’s get physical
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October 23, 2012
The Independent Student Voice of UNM since 1895
Student tutors at CAPS make it work by Ardee Napolitano news@dailylobo.com
Students who find that peer tutors at the Center for Academic Program Support (CAPS) are sometimes not able to provide adequate tutoring can receive additional assistance; all they have to do is ask. UNM student Jacob Lowe said that although CAPS is helpful most of the time, he had some experiences with a tutor not being able to answer his questions, especially in science-related courses. “Ninety-nine percent of the time you can get your questions answered,” he said. “Occasionally, there’s a tutor that can’t answer a question.” But Lowe said that when a tutor can’t answer a student’s question, the issue is referred to another tutor. He said that ultimately, he gets his questions answered. “They always refer you to someone who can answer your question, and there’s always someone here,” he said. CAPS Senior Program Manager Daniel Sanford said the program has to deal with these kinds of issues “periodically” throughout the semester. He said the majority
of students’ complaints are about the quality of science and math tutoring. But Sanford said the problem exists in students’ unrealistic expectations of their tutors. “(Peer tutors) are there to guide students through the inquiry process,” he said. “People should expect to get out of their tutoring sessions tools that will help them to do the questions by themselves more effectively. We’re trying to create independent learners.” Sanford said peer tutors are hired for a semester based on their academic performance. He said students must have a grade point average of 3.0, and must have received mostly A’s and B’s for classes in the field in which they want to tutor. Sanford said CAPS values applicants’ recommendations from professors and teacher assistants most importantly. “We really depend on faculty referrals for tutors,” he said. “Being a peer tutor goes beyond knowing the contents of the field. We want people who model student behavior.” According to the CAPS website, undergraduate peer tutors are paid $11 per hour and work 12
Natalia Jacquez / Daily Lobo Sophomore biology major Cheryl White (left) receives tutoring from senior chemistry major Mary Salazar. Students who receive help from the Center for Academic Program Support (CAPS) and have problems with tutors should notify CAPS staff members for additional assistance. to 30 hours per week. Although graduate students can apply for paid positions, Sanford said only undergraduate students are hired as peer tutors. He said this perpetuates a friendly learning environment among other students. “We’re a peer tutoring facility, so we’re not trying to hire Ph.D.s,” he said. “We’re not even trying to hire someone we’re setting up as
an expert. We’re setting up someone as a learner who has recently been through or going through the process of the material, and who’s really good at talking about it.” But UNM student Sienna Wright said undergraduate tutors at CAPS often explain concepts vaguely. “While they may know what they’re talking about, they can’t really explain it,” she said. “And
you really have to know what you’re teaching to be able to get that information across.” Because many professors are graduate students, Wright said she expects help from them through the classroom. But she said instructors are not always available for answers. “I would prefer to ask a
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Basketball poll results released Voter registration Men picked to finish 3rd, women 6th in MWC season by J.R. Oppenheim
assistantsports@dailylobo.com @JROppenheim Some UNM men’s basketball players said they have embraced an underdog role for the upcoming season. Media members covering the Mountain West Conference gave them that bulletin board material. The Lobos are picked to finish third in the MWC Preseason Media Poll, which conference officials released Monday. UNM, the defending MWC regular-season and tournament champion, received 122 points by the 18-person voting panel. The Lobos did not receive any first-place votes. “When you lose the senior core we lost — Phillip McDonald, A.J. Hardeman and Drew Gordon — you expect things like that,” UNM junior guard Kendall Williams said during the team’s media day, referring to that underdog role. “With the recruiting class that everybody has brought, I can see how they are getting praise for that,” he continued. “We’ve brought in a really good recruiting class ourselves; we’re excited for the challenge.” Junior forward Cameron
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Bairstow echoed Williams’ sentiment. “We’re a bit of the underdog, which we like,” Bairstow said. “Hopefully we’ll keep continuing to work and get better.” Media members tabbed San Diego State as the No. 1 MWC team heading into the season with 153 points and 10 first-place votes. UNLV is second in the poll with 151 points and eight firstplace votes. In the USA Today/ ESPN poll, the Aztecs and Rebels are ranked No. 20 and No. 19 in the nation, respectively. Behind UNM in the conference poll are Colorado State at No. 4, Nevada at No. 5, Wyoming at No. 6, Fresno State at No. 7, Boise State at No. 8 and Air Force at No. 9. UNM has been picked to win the conference only once during head coach Steve Alford’s six-year tenure. The Lobos have won four conference titles under Alford and are looking for their fifth. “We’ve won a lot of championships, and at the end of the year, we want to be cutting down the nets and sizing up rings,” Alford said in a press release on Monday. “We don’t go out there thinking that since we were picked third, we will play for third place.” Conference media named Williams to the preseason AllMWC team. He is the third
straight Lobo to appear on the preseason list. Williams earned all-Mountain West second-team honors last year. Williams praised the MWC for its high level of competition. “As a college player, as an athlete, you want to compete at the highest level,” he said. “I think we have one of the best leagues in the nation.” Williams joined Nevada junior guard Deonte Burton, SDSU junior guard Jamaal Franklin, SDSU senior guard Chase Tapley and UNLV junior forward Mike Moser in the lineup. Franklin received preseason player of the year honors. SDSU sophomore forward Dwayne Polee II and UNLV sophomore guard Bryce Dejean-Jones were the top preseason co-newcomers, while preseason freshman of the year honors went to UNLV forward Anthony Bennett. In the conference women’s poll also released Monday, UNM is picked to finish sixth with 97 points. The Lobos finished seventh in the conference a year ago after posting a 11-20 overall record and a 3-11 in conference play. San Diego State is No. 1 in the poll with 198 points and 22 firstplace votes, followed by Fresno State, UNLV, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Boise State, Ne-
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Sky Cat, better than Nyan Cat
That is so fetch
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in NM up since 08 by Barry Massey
The Associated Press SANTA FE — Voter registration in New Mexico has increased about 5 percent since the last presidential election, and independent voters have grown the fastest, state election officials reported Monday. Nearly 1.3 million people are registered and eligible to vote in the Nov. 6 general election, according to the latest figures from the secretary of state’s office since registration closed earlier this month. The number of New Mexicans who declined to affiliate with a political party when they registered to vote — so-called independents, or “declined to state,” as New Mexico election officials label them — has increased by 22 percent since Oct. 31, 2008. “The independents have been on the rise for 30 years and it just continues,” said Brian Sanderoff, who runs a polling and research business in Albuquerque. Independents account for 18 percent of voters, up from 15 percent in 2008 and 6 percent in 1984. Young people and newcomers to New Mexico are more likely to register as independents, according to Sanderoff. Democratic President Barack Obama easily carried New Mexico four years ago, and Democrats continue to hold a big edge over
Republicans in registration. About 48 percent of New Mexico’s eligible voters are Democrats — down from 50 percent before the 2008 general election and from nearly 62 percent in 1984. About 32 percent of voters are Republican, which is unchanged from four years ago or from 1984. Other political parties, including Libertarians and Greens, account for 3 percent of voters in the state. That’s the same share of the electorate as four years ago, but up from less than 1 percent of voters in 1984. The number of voters affiliated with minor parties has increased 14 percent since 2008. Elections officials typically purge voter registration rolls after a general election. There were fewer people registered to vote in New Mexico in the 2010 gubernatorial general election than in 2008, for example. As the presidential election has neared, political parties and other groups have pushed to get more people on the voter rolls. Since Dec. 28, 2011, there’s been a 6 percent increase in voter registration — 4 percent for Democrats, 6 percent for Republicans, 14 percent for independents and 10 percent for other political parties. Registration has grown about 75,000 since late last year and independents account for more than a third of that growth.
TODAY
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