DAILY LOBO new mexico
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The Independent Voice of UNM since 1895
December 4, 2009
Race car program funds refueled for another year
The future of retro
by Nicole Raz Daily Lobo
UNM’s race car building team won’t have to skid to a stop after all. The Formula Society of Automotive Engineers is an annual international collegiate engineering competition that allows students to design and build their own race cars. Arup Maji, interim dean of the School of Engineering, put the UNM 18-month FSAE program in jeopardy in October when he did not commit the $30,000 needed for the 2011 team’s summer session. At the time, Maji cited budget problems as the reason for the cut. However, students in the mechanical engineering department changed Maji’s mind and secured the funds last month. Professor John Russell said that without the contribution, the mechanical engineering department could not continue the program unless it changed the curriculum. The $30,000 is paid to Russell as his summer salary. He said the continuity of the program was his highest priority throughout the controversy. “It’s not about my summer salary,” Russell said. “It’s about funding a program that runs continuously and is bigger than just the course.” The program receives average to below average funding compared to similar programs at other schools, Russell said. On Nov. 11, about 40 to 50 engineering students spoke with Maji to voice their disappointment about not committing the $30,000. Student Joseph Conroy, project manager of the FSAE team, organized the meeting. Daniel Hulsbos / Daily Lobo Andres Salazar examines a strip of film in the dark room in the Art Building on Wednesday. The film shows a progression from old to new Albuquerque homes. Salazar, a senior, was working on black and white negatives for a final class project.
Conroy said that in the meeting, students from past, present and future teams said they support the program and Russell. Maji changed his decision about the funding cut immediately after the meeting. “It was very good to see their enthusiasm and ownership of the program,” he said. “If students don’t have ownership, if they didn’t care, that’s less incentive for us to think twice about something.” Maji said his decision was also influenced by gaining a better grasp of the School of Engineering’s budget. Russell said the students’ initiative could apply to other situations outside the classroom. “I was very happy with the students’ ability to defend a project, as if they were in the real world,” Russell said. While everything was up in the air, Russell said he worried that sponsors would withhold their funding. Susan Unser, co-founder of the Unser Children’s Discovery Center and Racing Museum, said that when she and other sponsors heard that the UNM program was in trouble, they sent a letter to each member of the Board of Regents and President David Schmidly. “We wanted to encourage everyone and the president of the University and the Board of Regents to support Dr. Russell in his dedication of the FSAE program,” she said. Unser said she and her husband gave about $4,000 to the program and will fund FSAE as long as it is at UNM. Now, with the 2011 team guaranteed enough money to continue the program, Maji said the
see Race car page 3
Chief legal officer leaves No check on tile company’s background University for PNM post by Tricia Remark Daily Lobo
UNM didn’t ask Vernon Tile for any past work experience or qualifications before the company completed the tile work at Johnson’s Olympic pool, said Robert Notary, Johnson pool project manager. The tiles around Johnson’s Olympic pool are already coming up and cracking, and the pool remodel was completed in March. Notary said qualifications from Vernon Tile weren’t required because the pool deck tiling was a small project in the renovation. The tiles surrounding the pool cost $114,600 of the $5,667,000 renovation. “The tile contractor was a lesser amount of work than what we considered we needed to have a pre-qualification on,” Notary said.
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Daily Lobo volume 114
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“Hindsight is 20/20. Certainly at this point I wish we would have pre-qualified the tile installer.” Representatives from Vernon Tile declined to comment. Notary said UNM required qualifications and past experience from three other companies who completed 90 percent of the remodeling. UNM chose K. L. House Construction to oversee the full remodel, and Vernon Tile works under K. L. House as a subcontractor. K. L. House was the least expensive of the three companies that applied to do the renovation. However, Vernon Tile, selected by K.L. House, offered the most expensive quote for the tile project, according to documents provided the UNM Purchasing Department. President of K. L. House, Michael Brogdon, said Vernon Tile is a reputable company.
“Vernon tile has been around for many, many years,” Brogdon said. “They’re very qualified to do this. I’ve worked with them before and we haven’t had an issue.” Brogdon said his company still isn’t sure what is making the tiles crack and come up, even though they’ve been trying to fix the tiles for several months. K. L. House is set to repair all tile damages over winter break from Dec. 19 through Jan. 4. “We know that people walking on it with just their bare feet can’t be breaking the tile,” Brogdon said. “We’re just trying to determine why this tile is shattering the way it is.” Notary said K. L. House promised UNM all construction will be finished before students come back for the spring semester.
see Tile page 3
Staff Report Daily Lobo
Patrick Apodaca, University counsel, is leaving UNM for a senior legal and executive position at PNM, New Mexico’s largest electricity provider. Apodaca, a Harvard graduate, served as an associate counsel for President Carter from 1977 to 1981 and served as University counsel since 2006. Apodaca said he expected to work at UNM until his retirement, but then he got an offer from PNM. “I had every plan to stay at UNM as University counsel,” he said. “The reason I accepted the PNM job is because it really is a tremendous career advancement opportunity. I am, in addition to being the general counsel, a senior vice president,
which means a senior executive of the company. A handful of senior executives run the company.” Apodaca serves as chief legal officer to the University. UNM President David Schmidly told UNM Today that Apodaca assisted the University in legal dimensions on a wide variety of issues. “A large public research university with a health sciences component is truly a complex enterprise, and our attorneys are called upon to assist in a wide range of issues and transactions,” Schmidly said. “Patrick has built an office with great expertise in a remarkable range of disciplines.” Apodaca said the national search to replace PNM’s counsel Patrick Ortiz began in June. Apodaca said he tossed his name in for
see Legal page 3
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