DAILY LOBO new mexico
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November 18, 2009
wednesday The Independent Voice of UNM since 1895
Techno Guy settles with SUB over music dispute
Students’ corner pocket
“Techno Guy” gets volume limit in response to complaint by Kallie Red-Horse Daily Lobo
Vanessa Sanchez / Daily Lobo Student Francisco Gonzalez shoots the 13 ball in a corner pocket in the SUB pool hall Tuesday. Gonzalez said he plays every evening in the SUB, and his girlfriend joins him when she can.
Techno Guy and the SUB have worked out a deal, but it won’t necessarily bring peace and quiet to campus. English Professor James Burbank filed a complaint against the loud music played by Josh “Techno Guy” Arellano outside the north end of the SUB last month. Since then, Arellano met with Ryan Lindquist, associate director of the Student Activities Center, to determine an appropriate volume level to play his boom box. “We had three meetings with Josh to work on his volume out there,” Lindquist said. “We wanted to make sure that it was at a level that was more in accordance with what other people do on campus.” Per the meetings, Lindquist and Arellano agreed upon a maximum
volume level for the music, which Arellano said is significantly lower than past levels. “I’m trying to stay optimistic because I can still bring my boom box here, but the volume level has been pushed down 60 percent, and I feel like it’s a slap in the face,” he said. “Honestly, my laptop is louder than what the boom box is allowed to be at. It’s kind of a joke. It’s not even worth my time or effort at this level.” Burbank, who filed the complaint to the Dean of Students about Arellano’s music being disruptive, said he was satisfied with the new restrictions. “I feel like Joshua is trying to work with the Student Activities Center,” Burbank said. “I was up there today and it seems like his music is at a reasonable volume, so he is complying with the restrictions.” Burbank said he received threats and other fallout after filing the complaint. “People want to silence me. They have threatened me
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Orchestra has yet to PIRG petitions to hire new employees settle contract dispute Staff Report Daily Lobo
NMSO to declare bankruptcy if musicians and management can’t agree by Andrew Beale Daily Lobo
The New Mexico Symphony Orchestra is on the verge of bankruptcy. David Sherry, NMSO management spokesman, said a decision must be made in the next week or so to determine the orchestra’s fate. “If we don’t reach an agreement with the musicians by Thanksgiving, we will file for bankruptcy. It’s just a question of what form of bankruptcy,” Sherry said. The NMSO management sent out a press release Tuesday stating that the NMSO board of trustees met Monday night and decided to give management until Thanksgiving to resolve their months-old contract dispute with the musicians. The trustees stated they would file bankruptcy if the dispute is not resolved by then. The NMSO musicians also sent out a press release Nov. 13 stating they had rejected management’s last, best and final offer. NMSO Player’s Association spokeswoman Denise Turner said the Player’s Association rejected the offer because management wanted the musicians to take bigger salary
Inside the
Daily Lobo volume 114
issue 61
cuts than the management. “When we went back and took those votes to our players, our players were pretty outraged that there was not equality of sacrifice, meaning the fact that the management, who makes way more than we do, were taking only 10 percent cuts in wages and benefits, while the musicians, who make a fraction of that, were taking 23 percent,” she said. Sherry said the information provided in the musician’s press releases and by Turner is inaccurate. He said the management was not asking musicians to take larger cuts than the management. A press release distributed by Sherry stated that management is asking musicians to take a cut between 12.1 and 18.4 percent. “When you add in the amount of money lost to us (the NMSO management) in benefits and wages, then you add that to what we’re losing in the current fiscal year, and you analyze it — it actually amounts to a 19.8 percent cut,” he said. “They want what I think they were calling ‘the equitable and shared sacrifice.’ 19.8 percent versus 12.2 to 18.4 — that seems pretty equitable and shared to me. In fact, it seems skewed a little higher on the staff side.” Sherry’s press release stated that the new proposal, accepted by management on Oct. 28 and then rejected by the musicians, “differed
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UNM’s Public Interest Research Group is accepting signatures on a petition asking for student fees to pay for full-time PIRG employees. Alayna Bowman, UNM-PIRG spokeswoman, said the organization is asking the Student Fee Review Board to allocate $80,000 to hire national PIRG employees. The board allocates about $9 million per year to campus organizations. “We’re just trying to get a portion of those student fees to hire staff
from PIRG to work for the student body here on campus,” Bowman said. “They’d be full-time organizers, researchers and lobbyists to work on the issues that students want.” According to the U.S. PIRG Web site, the group organizes around issues like product safety, political corruption and voting rights. Bowman said the petition has 700 signatures so far, and the group is not aiming for a certain number of signatures. Bowman said UNM-PIRG representatives approached ASUNM senators with the idea of PIRG employees
on campus and got mixed feedback. “They want to see more support from the students, which is really what the petition is about,” Bowman said. “We’re just kind of trying to build up relationships with ASUNM and the student body.” Bowman said the details of the number of employees or their salaries have not yet been fleshed out.
To sign the UNM-PIRG petition, go to their office in the lower level of the SUB
Jory Vander Galien / Daily Lobo UNM-PIRG Field Organizer Leandra Cole, guides students Erika Avila, right, and Oliver Stephanz to sign a petition on Nov. 4. The organization is asking for $80,000 of student fees to hire full-time PIRG employees.
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