DAILY LOBO new mexico
The only thing we have to fear is fear itself. And finals. Good luck.
December 12-16, 2011
finals week The Independent Voice of UNM since 1895
UNM presidential candidate visits begin Elizabeth Hoffman left her former university because of a free speech conflict. She also addressed the athletics scandal during her term. by Jessica Hitch jehitch@unm.edu
UNM presidential finalist Elizabeth Hoffman said during her campus visit Friday that she learned a lot from her controversy-ridden tenure as University of Colorado president, which ended in 2005. Hoffman said she Elizabeth Hoffman resigned from the presidency because she refused to fire a professor who likened some Sept. 11 victims to Nazis. She said then-Colorado Gov. Bill Owens called her and told her to fire the professor, but she refused because she supports freedom of speech. “I have never bent to the political wills,” she said. “It was my refusal to do what I was ordered to do by the governor.” But the scandal over the professor wasn’t the only controversy that coincided with her resignation. Hoffman’s resignation also followed a football scandal that included allegations of rapes, strip club visits and alcohol-fueled sex parties for recruits, Fox News reported in March 2005.
At least nine women said they were assaulted by Colorado football players or recruits since 1997, and an independent commission reported that Colorado players used sex, alcohol and marijuana as recruiting tools. Hoffman said she learned from the experience. “Having been through a very difficult athletic experience, I have no tolerance, absolutely zero tolerance, for misbehavior,” she said. Hoffman said if she’s elected UNM president, she plans to live on campus in the presidential house and be highly visible to UNM community. “You’ll see me walking my dog on campus,” she said. “I’ll be visible on campus and visit with student, faculty and staff leadership, and be visible at football and basketball games and not just sit there, but go and talk to students.” She said her five-year plan for the University includes increasing graduation rates. “I’d like to see a 50-55% graduation rate with a much-reduced difference between majority students and minority students,” Hoffman said.
Elsa Murano hopes to bolster dismal graduation rates. She has a history of appointing diverse staff, but regrets her previous presidency by Jessica Hitch
news@dailylobo.com Elsa Murano, the first of the five UNM presidential finalists to visit the University, defended her resignation as president of Texas A&M University during her campus visit Thursday by saying the regents wanted to use Elsa Murano university funding for political favors. Murano stepped down from the presidency after just 18 months on the job, but she said she wishes she had never been president. “If I had to do it over again, I would not take that job,” she said. About 40 students and faculty members attended the forum where Murano said she faced challenges with regard to the university during her time as the first female and first Hispanic president of Texas A&M University. “When I was first president, all the deans were white guys,” she said. “I have nothing
Student forums will be held from 11:45 - 1 p.m. in SUB Ballroom B through next week. Candidate Robert Frank speaks on Monday, Meredith Hay on Tuesday and Douglas Baker on Wednesday.
A LONG WAY FROM HOME
Full audio recordings of the forums are available online
Election slate found guilty by Luke Holmen holmen@unm.edu
The ASUNM Student Court found the 10 former ASUNM Senate candidates accused last month of misreporting campaign expenses guilty of all charges. The court ruled on Thursday that each of the candidates, who made up the Make Your Mark campaign slate in last month’s Senate race, must pay a fine of $82.17. The Student Court did not uphold the election commission’s recommendation to bar Sen.-Elect Brandyn Jordan from assuming office. Jordan was the student who took responsibility for Make Your Mark’s actions “While the election commis-
The missing Pikachu
DL
against white guys — my husband’s a white guy. I love white guys.” She said that she made a concerted effort to hire diverse administrators, including a female dean, a Hispanic vice-president and two African-American vice-presidents during her tenure. “At A&M, I knew it had to start from top, as in the people I hired as vice-presidents and deans needed to reflect the population of Texas,” Murano said. Murano said she hopes to tackle the UNM’s retention rate. “Frankly, the retention of 46 percent of overall students is awful and not just a problem with minorities,” she said. “We have 79 percent at A&M and don’t think it’s that good. We want it to be 90 percent or more.” She suggested “creating learning communities,” where groups of students with similar interests live together, as well as an increased focus on freshman advising and orientation. Murano said she hopes to manage problems with tuition and fees hikes at UNM by proving the University’s value to the state Legislature. “Without an educated population, we can’t attract or create jobs, the tax base is going to plummet, and you’ll have a thirdworld country, basically, and that’s not what we want,” she said.
sion was authorized to disqualify Brandyn Jordan from assuming office … the Student Court finds the punishment to be excessive,” the court’s decision said. “Although he is guilty of gross misconduct, based on the proceedings, the evidence did not merit the disqualification of a senator elected by 596 of his peers.” The five elected candidates from Make Your Mark will not be allowed to vote during the first two ASUNM full Senate meetings and first committee meeting. If they fail to pay their fines by Dec. 18, they will not be allowed to take office or participate in future elections. Sen.-Elect Anthony Santistevan, who ran on the Make Your
Mark slate, said the court’s decision to remove his and fellow Make Your Mark candidates’ rights to vote will limit the Senate’s ability to function. “It’s unfortunate that these sanctions have been put in place, but it was decided by the student court that these sanctions would be upheld, and we have no choice but to follow their ruling,” he said. “We are just glad Brandyn Jordan is allowed into office. The students of UNM wanted him there for a reason.” The court’s decision passed unanimously after five days of deliberation. ASUNM President Jaymie Roybal
see ASUNM PAGE 5
IDEA forms remain secret by Luke Holmen holmen@unm.edu
Juan Labreche / Daily Lobo William “Ted” Brady looks dejectedly at the trailer attached to his touring bicycle. Until yesterday, the trailer housed his kitten named Pikachu. The pair of travelers has covered 700 miles of road and 5,217 feet of elevation difference since departing from Bartlesville, OK on October 19. The trip is aimed at raising awareness of local, low-cost (or free) spay/ neuter programs available throughout the country and encouraging people to adopt pets. The two planned on celebrating Brady’s 21st birthday in Albuquerque before continuing to Las Vegas, Nevada until yesterday afternoon, when Pikachu went missing on the Bosque cycling/pedestrian trail between Mountain St. and Bridge St. Brady says he will stay in Albuquerque until he finds Pikachu, a 4-month-old lynx point Siamese with tiger stripes and snow mittens.
Inside the
Daily Lobo volume 116
issue 77
Where are we? See page 2
Ever wonder about the results of the end-of-semester professor evaluations students fill out? University officials said students will never know. Associate Provost Greg Heileman said the Individual Development and Educational Assessment, or IDEA evaluations, are private and for internal use only. “(The evaluations are designed) to improve teacher effectiveness at UNM, not to inform students about what other students reported on
these surveys,” he said. “The privacy of the survey information is guaranteed to faculty, and a faculty in fact has the choice of whether or not to release the survey information to his or her chair.” Student Aaron Wright said the fact that results are kept private diminishes their effectiveness. “I never bother to fill them out,” he said. “You can’t get a straight answer from the administration about how much they actually matter, and we never see the results anyway … It’s absolutely ridiculous.” According to the Office of Institutional Research, UNM doesn’t
track evaluation data for the University as a whole; it is up to individual departments whether they choose to retain records from year to year. GPSA President Katie Richardson said UNM needs to make the evaluation results available to the public and hold teachers accountable for poor scores. “I absolutely believe that the teaching evaluations at a school with a 13 percent (four-year) graduation rate should be public,” she said. “How else can we look at the areas we need to improve? They
see Evaluations PAGE 5
Gift-Giving Guide See page 18