DAILY LOBO new mexico
Home run home team see page 5
November 5, 2010
friday
The Independent Voice of UNM since 1895
Student voices may go unheard
CITYSCAPING
NMPIRG misses deadline, 100 votes might not count by Shaun Griswold shaun24@unm.edu
Students Paisley Palmer and David Davis said they were excited to vote for their first time. However, just days before election day, they noticed something was wrong when they still didn’t have their voter-registration cards. “I was waiting for a while, but I wasn’t really updated, and I found out a couple days before the election I could not vote, so that sucked,” Davis said. “I’d rather not cast a provisional ballot.” Like Palmer and Davis, ballots cast by more than 100 UNM students may not be counted after NMPIRG, a student-funded, on-campus organization, failed to submit registration cards on time, according to the Bernalillo County Clerk’s office. Breanna Hastings, NMPIRG president, said her group turned in the registration cards late to the County Clerk, but said there was confusion about the clerk’s deadline. “We were told we could submit registration forms 48 hours after the Oct. 6 deadline,” Hastings said. “We did everything to abide by the rules that the County Clerk gave us.” The County Clerk’s office did not comment on the miscommunication claim but confirmed it received the registration cards one day late. Katie Otsuka, a PIRG representative, said the group mailed the forms from the post office off Cornell Drive on Oct. 5 after 7 p.m. But when the documents reached the County Clerk’s office, they were postmarked Oct. 6, a day after the deadline. PIRG did not learn about the incident until a few days before Election Day when a student contacted the group after he was turned away from an early-voting site. “We contacted the county clerk’s office, and they told us the forms we submitted after the deadline were in question,” Otsuka said. “We then made the effort to contact the students.” Out of more than 100 who did not get registered, PIRG contacted 1520 students, told them they were not registered to vote and advised them to fill out a provisional ballot at the polls, Otsuka said. She said of those reached, three received their voter card and were able to vote. Davis said he ended up filling out a provisional ballot. Palmer said she did not. “The voter card never came in the mail, so I though it wasn’t possible to vote,” she said.
see PIRG page 3
Inside the
Daily Lobo volume 115
issue 53
Daniel Hulsbos / Daily Lobo Jaque Frague, a local artist hired by the Scion Xchange, works on a piece at Satellite Coffee south of campus Thursday. Scion Xchange works with local artists and nonprofits to support community and show off new Scion vehicles.
ASUNM: Don’t demolish Ifill talks politics by Ruben Hamming-Green rhamminggreen@gmail.com
ASUNM passed a resolution against the demolition of the Santa Ana dorms Wednesday night. The possible demolition would displace 177 residents over winter break, who would then be placed in other dormitories. Sen. Miguel Pena said tearing down the dormitory would breach the University’s contract with Santa Ana residents.
Sen. Alonzo Castillo said students would have to endure displacement for new residence halls. “Its unfortunate that students might change their housing,” Castillo said. “I don’t think it’s that detrimental to the students that are going to have to move out.” Santa Ana resident Cindy Hollon said that dorm demolition would be unfortunate for students. She said student relocation to rooms that are already occupied will not be constructive.
“The University should hold its end of the bargain.” ~ASUNM Sen. Miguel Pena “They started a contract with this University,” he said. “The University should hold its end of the bargain.” The resolution, however, did not oppose the eventual demolition of the building, but the demolition while students live there. It passed 13-4. If the building were demolished, American Campus Communities would begin a projected 16-month construction of a new dorm. ACC, the company developing Lobo Village on south campus, would also manage the new residence halls. Sen. Greg Golden said he supports the demolition. “In the grand scheme of things, UNM needs new residence halls,” he said. “For that reason, I’m not in support of the resolution.”
“People in Santa Ana are really concerned,” she said. “We’re not being taken care of if this is being built in the middle of December ... Doing that to us in the middle of the school year is going to mess us up.” Sen. Daniel Parker said sudden displacement will lead to student uneasiness. “Are we going to allow this University and this administration to behave this way?” he said. “I hope not.” ASUNM Also Passed: A resolution urging SUB vendors not to use Styrofoam. A resolution urging students against buying bottled water.
What a time waster!
From election to transition
See page 2
See page 3
by Andrew Lyman alyman@unm.edu
Journalist Gwen Ifill will stop by KNME this weekend to lend insight into Tuesday’s midterm elections. Ifill, host of PBS’ Washington Week, will also discuss politics and the state of journalism on the public access station Saturday. Joan Rebecchi, KNME communication manager, said the station invites celebrities throughout the year to boost donations, and event ticket sales have spiked, with VIP tickets sold out. “Any time we hold these events, our donor numbers increase,” she said. Gene Grant from KNME’s New Mexico in Focus, will ask Ifill questions to start the night, followed by audience questions, Rebecchi said. Afterward, she said Ifill will sign copies of her book, The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama, at the UNM Bookstore. In a 2009 interview with The New York Times, Ifill said her book focuses on African-Americans and the progress they’ve been afforded by past generations’ sacrifices. “Barack Obama gives us an excuse to look at all these people, but it doesn’t end there,” she said in the interview.
GWEN IFILL INTERVIEW Including reception and book signing
Saturday The African American Performing Arts Center 310 San Pedro N.E. 6 to 9 p.m. Tickets ($20) are available at the door, by phone at 2772922 or online at www.knme.org.
TODAY
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