DAILY LOBO new mexico
New Congress see Page 4
welcome back January 7-11, 2013
The Independent Student Voice of UNM since 1895
Student regent named
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Gov. Martinez selects Heidi Overton by Antonio Sanchez culture@dailylobo.com
As one UNM student regent term comes to a close, a medical student looks to fill that seat. Gov. Susana Martinez announced Friday that she had nominated student Heidi Overton to be the University’s next student regent. Overton will take over Jacob Wellman’s seat if she is confirmed by the state Senate. Students Frankie Gonzales, Kurtis Donisthorpe, Athanasios Manole and Alejandro Mendiaz-Rivera were the other four candidates sent to the governor by President Robert Frank. The governor also nominated Camille Hawkins as student regent for Western New Mexico University, Jordan Banegas for New Mexico State University, Chase Sturdevant for Eastern New Mexico University and Israel Rodriguez-Rios for New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology. Overton said she will take a leadership approach similar the one taken by Frank. “One of the examples to follow, President Frank during his first 100 days said he spent it listening, and I think that’s a pretty good example of being willing to come in and listen and learn … to see what students
Juan Labreche/ Daily Lobo Jacob Attencio attempts a backflip off a wall at Gravity Park which opened its doors Dec. 15 and is at San Mateo Boulevard and Eagle Rock Avenue. Attencio, a trampoline enthusiast as a child, said the park disguises exercise in a fun way. See full story on Page 13. are concerned about, what faculty and staff are concerned about,” Overton said. “There’s going to be a really sharp learning curve and I want to make that a prior-
ity to come in and listen and be willing to learn quickly.” Overton, from Gallup, N.M., earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Health, Medi-
cine & Human Values at UNM and is enrolled in the BA/MD program. She received the Regents see Regent PAGE 2 Scholarship
Phi Gamma Delta house sold, tenants sent packing by Elizabeth Cleary
editorinchief@dailylobo.com The 11 students who live in the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity house on Mesa Vista Road must find new places to live after ownership of the house changed hands in early December. Phi Gamma Delta, also known as Fiji, is one of about six Greek organizations at UNM that has a chapter house. Of those six, the Fiji house is the only one not owned by either alumni or the Greek organization’s house corporation. An out-of-state investor owned the Fiji house before it was sold to a local investment partnership in early December. The owners plan to renovate the house and could rent it back out to the fraternity or lease it to other tenants. UNM director of communications Dianne Anderson said Greek organization chapter houses are privately owned, so the University played no role in the real estate transaction. She said she didn’t know the names of the investors who bought the Fiji house or the circumstances surrounding the sale. Ryan Lindquist, associate director of the Student Activities Center, said Student Housing reached out to the fraternity to see if any students living in the Fiji house needed help finding housing on campus. The University was willing to try to place the students in dorms grouped together to re-create the communal living environment. Lindquist said he has been in touch with the fraternity’s house corporation director, who said the students who needed housing found arrangements for themselves. A representative from the fraternity said those with the authority to speak to the media on behalf of the organization were
Inside the
Daily Lobo volume 117
issue 78
Jaun Labreche/ Daily Lobo The Phi Gamma Delta house on Mesa Vista Road changed ownership last month, and the 11 students living in it will have to move out by the middle of this month. The house’s new owner may choose to rent the house back to the fraternity after it is renovated. unavailable. According to the chapter website, the Alpha Nu chapter of Phi Gamma Delta was founded at UNM in 1966. Anderson said the chapter has about 45 members. The Fiji house made
national headlines in October 2011 when a severed goat head was left on the house’s front porch. The head had a note attached that read “done” with a heart drawn over the “o”. The Daily Lobo reported at the time that members
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of the fraternity said they were unsure what the head and the note meant, as they didn’t match up with any tradition or mascot that Fiji or any of the surrounding Greek organizations had.
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