DAILY LOBO new mexico
Can’t tell if stupid see page 15
December 8, 2011
thursday The Independent Voice of UNM since 1895
UNM professor dies in accident near Farmington by Chelsea Erven
Robert Hohnke UNM doctoral student and physical education professor Robert Hohnke died Tuesday following a weather-related car crash near Farmington, but his colleagues said he died a hero. Hohnke, 30, and two passengers
were on their way to Durango for a day of snowboarding. Marcelino Xahuentitla’s pickup truck veered out of its south-bound lane into the north-bound lane and collided with Hohnke’s Subaru. Hohnke and passenger Lauren Buerkkle, 24, were both taken to San Juan Regional Medical Center in critical condition. By Monday night, Buerkkle stabilized, but Hohnke remained unresponsive. Hohnke’s mother, who lives in Germany, traveled to New Mexico to be at her son’s side and made the decision to remove his life support Tuesday. Alfredo Martinez, physical education professor and Hohnke’s colleague and friend, said in an email to physi-
cal education department faculty that if it weren’t for Hohnke’s quick thinking, his passengers could have died in the crash. Martinez said Chris Lopez, a passenger in the car, told him about Hohnke’s actions during the crash. “At the last moment, Rob (Hohnke) was able to maneuver his car in a manner to avoid a direct, head-on collision and unfortunately took the direct impact on the driver’s side door,” he said. He said Hohnke also saved an additional five lives through organ donation. “I fully understand the pain and sorrow that we all feel,” Martinez said, “but please remember through all the tears and heartache that, because of Rob’s heroic efforts, a 3-year-old child
will have both parents to come home to, and multiple families will also have a loved one around because Rob will give them a second chance at life. He is truly a hero.” Hohnke taught swimming, jogging and weight-training classes at UNM for the last three years, and Martinez said his students loved him. “(His students) have been calling and emailing and flooding the hospital with phone calls,” he said. Martinez said Hohnke was well liked among the physical education faculty as well. “He was truly special: positive all the time, upbeat, hardworking and he volunteered to do anything he could help with,” he said. “He will be missed
by many, many people because he touched many lives.” Martinez said the physical education department is planning a memorial in Hohnke’s honor, but has not yet set a date. According to a department-wide e-mail from Deborah Giron, physical education department administrator, department faculty made donations to fund Hohnke’s mother’s travel from Germany and her stay in New Mexico.
Douglas D. Baker
Robert G. Frank
Meredith Hay
Elizabeth Hoffman
Elsa A. Murano
provost and executive vice president, University of Idaho
provost and senior vice president for academic affairs, Kent State University
special adviser to the chair for strategic initiatives, Arizona State University
executive vice president and provost, Iowa State University
professor and president emeritus, Texas A&M University
Q&A
Q&A
Q&A
Q&A
Q&A
1. In the past, there have been complaints about a lack of transparency in the UNM administration. How, specifically, do you plan to increase transparency?
1. In the past, there have been complaints about a lack of transparency in the UNM administration. How, specifically, do you plan to increase transparency?
1. In the past, there have been complaints about a lack of transparency in the UNM administration. How, specifically, do you plan to increase transparency?
1. In the past, there have been complaints about a lack of transparency in the UNM administration. How, specifically, do you plan to increase transparency?
1. In the past, there have been complaints about a lack of transparency in the UNM administration. How, specifically, do you plan to increase transparency?
Transparency is actually a hallmark of how I try to operate. What I try to do is maintain open dialogue and inclusive processes because that ultimately leads to good decision making. What we need to do is implement inclusive planning process and develop a strategic plan that includes small, reachable goals that people can work toward and all agree on. The president of a university should be interacting with the Faculty Senate and staff and student leadership and encourage open dialogue; be speaking with various student and facultygroupsandbranchcampuses. Transparency can also go on through secondary communications like email as well setting up a clear set of communication channels.
I believe transparency is important. Anyone who attends my campus presentations will hear that message.
Transparency is the cornerstone of shared governance at any major university. I have a deep commitment to shared governance and I believe that students, faculty and staff together, working side-by-side, is what is needed to advance the University. The work of the University — our charge to educate, innovate, and participate — is a shared charge, one that is taken up and implemented by faculty, students and staff.
I have a long history of transparency and of meeting with students and faculty members. I am the leader of Executive and Vice-President Provost Office Budget Planning. With planning documents, what I try to do is, every stage during the academic year, put out a document that can be read by everyone that is usually an article in our internal communication. We have lots of open forums and websites where people can comment. I want to be available.
I am a firm believer in shared governance and in open communication. I enjoy meeting people and I learn a lot from the exchanges, which helps me do my job even better. Meeting with groups on a regular basis and seeking their input well before decisions are made is the best way I know to ensure that I have as much information as I need to make the best decisions for the university. As president of Texas A&M, I made the student leaders members of my cabinet and often asked them to serve on task forces and committees. I also met with them on a monthly basis and made presentations to the student senate on a regular basis. The selection process at UNM is, frankly, typical of the way these searches are conducted. Actually, in some states, such as Texas, they do not disclose any of the finalists’ names, and instead interview one at a time in secret. So, the fact that as many as five candidates get to
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Donations can be brought to the main Health, Exercise and Sports Science office in Johnson Center in the care of Deborah Giron, department administrator.
Candidates field questions on transparency, funds
2. The tuition credit and rising tuition costs are problems currently facing UNM students. How you plan to handle these problems? While serving as Provost, Baker
see Baker PAGE 5
Inside the
Daily Lobo volume 116
issue 75
2. The tuition credit and rising tuition costs are problems currently facing UNM students. How you plan to handle these problems? UNM, like most public research universities, has raised tuition over the last decade. There are so many tools in a president’s tool chest. Obviously, fundraising for scholarships is a big one. Another is ensuring the pathway to graduation is efficient and every effort is made to retain the students admitted to UNM. Retained students help the economy and the university. It is important to work with the business community to gain their support for the University in Santa Fe to obtain the proportion of funding UNM deserves for the
see Frank PAGE 3
2. The tuition credit and rising tuition costs are problems currently facing UNM students. How do you plan to handle these problems? The rising cost of highquality higher education, especially at the public major research universities, is a national challenge. We must work collaboratively and collectively to keep costs down while advancing UNM’s high-quality programs.
see Hay PAGE 3
Hopeless, yet hopeful
Paintings and puppets
See page 2
See page 8
2. The tuition credit and rising tuition costs are problems currently facing UNM students. How you plan to handle these problems? I think issues that (are) delicately political, it would be better for you get more information before taking a stance.
see HoffmanPAGE 3
see Murano PAGE 3
TODAY
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