Daily Lobo 12/5/2019

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Thursday, D ecember 5, 2019 | Vo l u m e 1 2 4 | I s s u e 3 2

UNM sexual assault cover-up suit settled Payout and terms remain confidential By Justin Garcia & Andrew Gunn @Just516garc @agunnwrites Editor’s note: This article contains discussions of sexual assault and rape. The University of New Mexico settled a civil lawsuit pertaining to the school’s handling of a 2016 rape allegation brought by a former student. What UNM will pay the plaintiff — or to what degree they will admit fault — remains unclear. The settlement stemmed from a civil suit brought by former UNM student Teriana Bagley on Jan. 23 this year which alleged “a campaign of misinformation, intimidation and retaliation (was) conducted by and through Coach (Bob) Davie and the UNM football program.” UNM declined to provide a statement about the settlement or its terms except to say “the settlement is confidential per state statute.” The motion to dismiss and settle out of court came a week before the Board of Regents were set to vote on a contract buyout for former football coach Bob Davie’s contract on Dec. 10. The buyout is ex-

pected to be in the many hundreds of thousands of dollars. Davie was suspended in 2018 for his involvement in the alleged cover-up and interference with investigations. New Mexico’s Risk Management Division, which handles some lawsuits for public entities, has previously withheld settlement payments and terms made by New Mexico’s flagship institution from the public. It’s unclear whether Risk Management will release the details of the settlement after the legally allotted six-month holding period. At the time of the alleged rape, the University had been under investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division since December 2014 due to UNM “not adequately respond(ing) to … reports of sexual assault,” according to the complaint. Below is a timeline of events leading up to the settlement of Teriana Bagley v. The University of New Mexico Board of Regents.

Chronology During the 2015-2016 school year, Bagley was studying nursing at UNM. According to the complaint, in the early morning hours of Feb. 19, 2016, she was raped by former UNM student and football

player Nias Martin. In a response filed in U.S. District Court on Mar. 6, 2016, UNM confirmed Bagley was “subjected to unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature by Nias Martin and that such conduct occurred in Mr. Martin’s bedroom in Lobo Village.” Martin stated in a UNMPD interview soon after the alleged rape that Bagley told him “no and stop” multiple times during the incident at Lobo Village, but “her actions of kissing him kept him having sex with her,” said UNM’s lawyers in court documents. Bagley contended in the complaint that Martin lied to UNMPD. She claimed he provided “contradictory information” to officers and “Martin eventually admitted to UNMPD that the plaintiff repeatedly told him ‘no’ and ‘stop’ while he was having sex with her.” After UNMPD asked Davie on Feb. 23 if he knew of Martin’s whereabouts in an attempt to execute a search warrant to obtain a DNA sample, Davie stated he had “dropped off Martin at an attorney’s office” and would ask him to contact UNMPD when he returned, according to UNM’s answer to the complaint. On the afternoon of the alleged rape, Bagley had DNA evidence

Sharon Chischilly / @Schischillyy / Daily Lobo

Head Coach Bob Davie during his final game against Utah State. Davie was the subject of multiple investigations over three years into his actions surrounding rape allegations against a member of the football team.

collected from her body. “Bruising and injuries” were documented as well, according to both UNM’s court filings and the original complaint. It wasn’t immediately clear why a DNA sample was never obtained from Martin following the opening of a UNMPD case on Feb. 20, when Bagley reported the alleged rape to campus police. After interviewing Martin and searching his apartment, UNMPD forwarded their report to the

University’s Office of Equal Opportunity (OEO.) The OEO is tasked with “investigating any allegations pertaining to Title IX violations and tak(ing) prompt effective action to end any misconduct that occurred, remedy its effects and prevent its recurrence,” according to their website. Davie called a team meeting after being made aware of the rape allegation, which UNM confirmed

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UNM law students assist ASUNM to lobby for additional funds in Española water crisis 2020 NM LEGISLATURE

By Alex Hiett & Alyssa Martinez @Nmal1123 @amart4447

As 2019 comes to a close and next year’s New Mexico legislative session nears, ASUNM President Adam Biederwolf is preparing to request new capital outlay funds from the Roundhouse, while previous ASUNM President Becka Myers’ capital outlay request has yet to see completion. Last spring, Myers’ administration secured capital outlay from the legislature to fund solar panel installations on the roof of the Student Union Building (SUB). Before the project could start, it was discovered that the roof of the SUB had extensive weather damage. Biederwolf said because of the SUB’s roof damage, there are plans to redirect the solar panel installation to the roof of Zimmerman Library. “Once (Myers) got out of office, the funding was still there for this solar panel project, but the solar panels hadn’t been installed yet,” Biederwolf said. “Since the SUB had to renovate their roof due to leaks, we chose to move the project over to Zimmerman Library.” According to Biederwolf, the centrality of Zimmerman on campus coupled with its level of activity makes it “a good spot for renewable

File Photo / Daily Lobo

ASUNM President Adam Biederwolf

energy.” He added that “higherups” at the University who deal with projects and facilities examined and supported the change. Biederwolf said he has his sights on safety for his take at a capital outlay request. “Campus safety is the biggest issue with this campus,” Biederwolf said. He cited a multi-choice survey answered by undergraduate students at UNM that supported a safety project at Central Avenue and Girard Boulevard. The project could range from $250,000 to $800,000, dependent on which of four plans his administration pursues. He and his cabinet will make a decision on which option to pursue over winter break. Biederwolf said police reports campus safety in that area.”

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“Freeing up space, making it look a lot nicer, and getting rid of those walls where people can hide and do sketchy things (will) be a lot better for students,” Biederwolf said. Though UNMPD hasn’t responded to many incidents in that area this semester, according to their crime log map the Albuquerque Police Department has been called to that corner over fifty times in the last four months. Capital outlay requests, defenses of the lottery scholarship and other UNM related conversations will happen on Jan. 27 of the spring semester at UNM Day at the Roundhouse. Executive Director of Governmental Affairs for the ASUNM executive office Adrian Schmitt said that students who would like to attend UNM Day this legislative session can email asunmga@unm. edu or attend any UNM Day trainings. Schmitt said there will be no cost for students who decide to attend. Alyssa Martinez is a beat reporter at the Daily Lobo. She can be contacted at culture@dailylobo. com or on Twitter @amart4447 Alex Hiett is a beat news reporter at the Daily Lobo. He can be contacted at news@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @Nmal1123

By Amanda Britt & Makayla Grijalva

@AmandaBritt__ @ MakaylaEliboria University of New Mexico law students are assisting Española community members with legal advice through the Environmental Law Clinic as the town faces contaminated water. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) initiated a remedy a decade ago but has reported that the fix was inadequate to clean the deeper portions of the aquifer, which remain contaminated. "This is not something that most people can or should try to comprehend," said UNM School of Law Professor Clifford Villa. "There is a real role for educational institutions, like the University of New Mexico, to try to help local communities understand some really complex issues, including complex matters of regulation." In the late 1980s, a local dry cleaner contaminated the water supply in the area when chemicals leaked into the soil and then the aquifer lying below it. According to Villa, a "conventional treatment" involves pumping up the contaminated water, treating it and re-injecting it back into the ground. Instead, the EPA used a differ-

ent treatment — bioremediation. According to the EPA, bioremediation is the use of microbes to clean up Superfund sites. The growth of microbes that feed off of the contamination is prompted, leading them to essentially eat away the contamination and leave clean water behind. New microbes are not introduced in the site, but rather the microbes already in the soil are stimulated — thus growing their population. "It sounds like a really interesting idea," Villa said. "It’s sort of using the power of nature, harnessing nature, except that now you have to find the right bugs to eat the contamination. Maybe they’re not hungry." The second five-year review of the site, called the North Railroad Avenue Plume, conducted by the EPA in 2015 said that the remedy "has not functioned as designed and has not been effective in reducing contamination" in the deep zone aquifer, as reported in the document. Bioremediation was first implemented at the site ten years ago. In August 2019, the EPA sent a letter to the New Mexico Environment Department informing them that the Long-Term Response Action will be transferred to their oversight,

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RULL: Lobo men’s basketball scrape by in win over Boise State


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