DAILY LOBO new mexico
Question of the week see page 2
November 19, 2010
friday
The Independent Voice of UNM since 1895
UNM golf courses in the rough with deficit by Alexandra Swanberg aswanny@unm.edu
When it comes to balancing budgets, UNM’s golf courses aren’t par for the course. The courses’ $4.6 million deficit is the result of declining over 20 years, said Chris Vallejos, vice president of the Institutional Support Services. He said the financial atmosphere has led to a 26 percent drop in rounds per golf played, and the University discussed cost-cutting strategies. He said targeting people with disposable income, not drafting longterm plans, is the answer to compensate for economic woes. “There are certain businesses in any industry that you have loss leaders,” he said, adding that UNM’s golf courses are top 5 in New Mexico. “… There have been lots of grand ideas to try to work to a more break-even model, and those just take a lot of time.” In 2008, Vallejos said, the golf courses outsourced maintenance operations to Mountain West Golfscapes Inc. to cut labor costs. He said the company is paid $1.2 million per year to perform dayto-day maintenance and prepare the course for an NCAA golf tournament, but he didn’t provide an estimate for how much the University saves by outsourcing the
Illustration by Adam Aparicio
work. “Our golf course is, I think, 46 years old, and we have aging infrastructure,” Vallejos said. “Since we haven’t made money, we haven’t been able to pour money back into infrastructure, like the irrigation system. A lot of our expenses from year to year are repairs and maintenance.” Lisa Marbury, vice president of Institutional Supports Services, said around 20 self-funded auxiliary businesses bring in enough revenue to compensate for the golf courses’ deficit. “The golf course is being carried by that whole exhibit, and that exhibit does not include any instruction or general money, no academic money,” she said. “It’s strictly the revenues that these businesses bring in. If there’s a misperception that golf is bringing down academic dollars or I&G dollars, that’s not the case.” UNM spokeswoman Susan McKinsey said the golf courses cut expenses from $2.9 million to $2.4 million since 2006. “The golf course has been aggressively combating its deficit,” she said. “Golf is a highly competitive industry, and the University continues to look for every possible way to increase revenues, as well as cut expenses in order to break even.”
ASUNM: Tuition hike inspires campus violence Reduce book cost, not GAs by Terence Chea Associated Press
by Ruben Hamming-Green rhamminggreen@gmail.com
ASUNM senators passed resolutions supporting graduate student employees and lowering textbook costs at Wednesday’s meeting. Sen. Adrian Cortinas said both measures aim to help students through deep budget cuts. “Graduate assistants teach about 20 percent of these lowerlevel courses,” Cortinas said. “As New Mexico’s flagship University, it’s important for UNM to maintain the highest quality possible of education.” Sen. Alonzo Castillo supported the resolution, but he said he is concerned about supporting GAs who don’t deserve support. “I absolutely don’t want to see hundreds of grads lose their jobs,” Castillo said. “It’s supporting those graduate teachers that are terrible — that aren’t helping out the undergraduate students by being a horrible teacher.” GPSA Council Chair Megan
see ASUNM page 3
Inside the
Daily Lobo volume 115
issue 63
SAN FRANCISCO — University of California officials are voting on a tuition hike that has fueled violent protests, leaving four police officers injured and more than a dozen protesters arrested. The UC Board of Regents, meeting at UC San Francisco, will consider Thursday a proposal to raise student fees by 8 percent next fall while expanding financial aid to more students. If approved, student fees for California residents would increase by $822 to $11,124. The figure doesn’t include individual campus fees or room and board. The increase would raise an estimated $180 million in annual revenue, with $64 million set aside for financial aid. Students at Wednesday’s demonstration called on the regents to reject the tuition hike, which would follow a 32 percent fee increase that went into effect this fall. “Students every year are paying more and more for an education that they’re getting less and less from,” said Jared McCreary, 23, a fourth-year student majoring in history and political science at UC Riverside. “You still see a lot of students struggling, having to take out loans, working multiple jobs. That’s the reality of the situation.” Police arrested 13 people, in-
Noah Berger/ AP Photo A police officer fends off protesters with a baton as they storm a University of California regents meeting Wednesday in San Francisco. The regents voted Thursday on an 8 percent fee hike for students. cluding 10 UC students, during the demonstration outside the campus building where the Board of Regents was meeting, said campus police Chief Pamela Roskowski. One student was arrested for investigation of assault with a deadly weapon after a campus police officer was hit in the head with his
Suicide pact
Bye Bye BYU
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own baton, Roskowski said. The officer drew his gun in selfdefense and called for assistance after a group of protesters surrounded him in a parking garage and grabbed his baton, she said. “It was an angry and unruly and aggressive crowd,” Roskowski said. “He had drawn his weapon to
protect himself. He was very concerned about his safety.” Police used pepper spray to disperse protesters who tried to cross a police barricade and enter the building where the regents were meeting. About 15 people were exposed to the pepper spray, Roskowski said.
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