DAILY LOBO new mexico
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wednesday October 24, 2012
UNM ‘It’s chalk. It’s something mulls that people should major in understand policies on.’ Japanese by Megan Underwood news@dailylobo.com
Students studying Japanese at UNM may soon have the opportunity to major, rather than just minor, in the language. Foreign Languages and Literatures Chair Walter Putnam said the creation of the major hinges on when the department will be able to hire an additional faculty member for the Japanese department. He said student interest and enrollment in Japanese classes has grown steadily over the past decade. Currently, students who are interested in Japanese must declare as an East Asian Studies major and minor in Japanese, which can present problems, particularly when applying for graduate school. “Japanese is an identifiable major,” Putnam said. “People may or may not recognize what an East Asian Studies major is; you have to explain it to people.” Putnam said the UNM Japanese department has only two full-time faculty members who teach courses: Lorna Brau, who specializes in performance arts and culture, and Machiko Bomberger, who teaches mostly language courses. Both Brau and Bomberger teach 15-16 credit hours per semester, which Putnam said doesn’t leave room to teach the additional courses necessary for a major study program. “You can’t really run a major with one tenure-track faculty
see Japanese PAGE 5
Adria Malcolm / @adriamalcolm / Daily Lobo UNM maintenance worker Mitch Martinez cleans up graffiti outside the SUB on Monday afternoon. Although chalking policies are in place, policies are ignored at least once a month, according to Student Activities Associate Director Ryan Lindquist.
Rules on chalking in place, but not always followed by Ardee Napolitano news@dailylobo.com
A clear indication of ASUNM election season is the abundance of political advertisements on campus drawn on the sidewalks with chalk, but students can’t chalk on campus wherever they please. Policies mandate where chalking
is allowed on campus, and Student Activities Associate Director Ryan Lindquist said policies are ignored at least once a month. According to UNM’s posting guidelines, which is enforced by Student Services and the Physical Plant, chalking is only allowed on exposed surfaces where it can easily be removed by precipitation or foot traffic. Chalking is prohibited on permanent structures such as statues and on unexposed sidewalks. Chalking is also prohibited
within 15 feet of buildings’ entrances and in Lobo Village. Students are only allowed to use nonpermanent writing materials such as sidewalk chalk. Materials such as liquid chalk, charcoal and paint are prohibited. Lindquist said most of the problems the University has regarding chalking involve students writing on vertical surfaces, such as walls. He said Student Activities tracks down the students responsible to ask them to remove the chalk, but if the center’s at-
tempts are unsuccessful, the Physical Plant cleans up the writings by spraying them with water. “Once in a while, there are always people that struggle with understanding the policy,” he said. “It’s chalk. It’s something that people should understand policies on.” But Lindquist said student organizations have been cooperative when Student Activities calls them out for violating chalking policies.
see Chalking PAGE 2
Parent Association elects interim president by Ardee Napolitano news@dailylobo.com
After electing an interim president two weeks ago, the UNM Parent Association is working to keep the organization up and running. At an Oct. 10 meeting, the remaining members of the Parent Association Board of Directors voted Angie Gonzales Carver to be interim president. The association’s administrative officer Bernadette Jaramillo-Peck said Carver will keep the position until the association holds its next election for officers and board members. The election of an interim president followed a mass resignation of board members in August, although the association
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began having problems in May, when newly elected president Suzanna Ausborn resigned a few weeks after she was elected. Ausborn was then replaced by David Garrett in June, but he resigned along with a number of board members before the beginning of the fall semester. At the time, members said the reason behind the resignations was that UNM wanted to have a say in the election of the association’s next president. Past members insisted that the association is independent from UNM, and that the University does not have the right to intervene with the election process of their officers. The University tried to hold an emergency meeting on Aug. 17, but
the association denied the request. After denying the University’s request, then-treasurer Francis Page organized a separate meeting on the same day with the remaining members to discuss the possibility of disbanding. Instead, they decided to elect a new Board of Directors that will work closely with the University. But by Aug. 20, all members of the Board of Directors had resigned. In another emergency meeting the University organized Aug. 21, remaining members decided not to disband the organization. But the decision in the meeting was not formal, because too few members of the board attended, so the meeting didn’t have quorum.
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Former board members denied the Daily Lobo’s requests for comment. Although the date of the next election has not yet been set, Jaramillo-Peck said the board will vote to elect a treasurer, vice president and president. She said the association will also elect as many as 25 people to serve on the Board of Directors. Jaramillo-Peck said a number of parents have been supportive of the association’s current initiatives. “We’ve had parents express their interest through letters, phone calls and emails,” she said. “There’s progress every day in getting the group in action.” Although only five members were present at the Oct. 10 meeting
to select Carver for the position, Jaramillo-Peck said the association was able to elect an interim president because there was quorum, which means there were a minimum number of members present in the meeting to elect an officer. But Jaramillo-Peck said the association is moving forward and away from the conflict. “That happened, but that’s in the past,” she said. “We’re starting fresh with a brand new slate.” Associate Provost for Curriculum Greg Heileman said the board members’ resignation would not have a significant impact on the future of the association. “What happened a month ago
see Parent
Assoc. PAGE 2
TODAY
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