DAILY LOBO new mexico
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The Independent Student Voice of UNM since 1895
thursday March 27, 2014
Balok plans to vie for ASUNM presidency by Ardee Napolitano news@dailylobo.com @ArdeeTheJourno
After two years as a senator at the Associated Students of the University of New Mexico, Colt Balok will take a shot at the undergraduate student government’s presidential seat in this semester’s election. Balok, who leads the ASUNM slate Team U, said he decided to run for presidency because of his previous involvement in the student government. He said he aims to increase accurate representation of students in ASUNM. “It was really the undergraduate community that motivated me to run,” he said. “Serving as a senator has really connected me to so many students that I have to represent in our student government. However, what I also learned was an overwhelming number of students who voice concerns and interests are absent at the table when their student government is making decisions.” Balok originally ran for a senatorial seat at ASUNM in fall 2012 as an independent candidate. Last semester, Balok also ran with Team U and was re-elected as a senator. “I’m one of the senior senators in ASUNM,” he said. “This gives me a lot of interaction with students. I got to see a side of the students that weren’t represented… It’s more than just experiencing ASUNM. It’s about knowing the campus in general.” Balok said that as part of his campaign platform, he aims to support the University’s Athletic Department more. “We realize that intramural sports
and athletics, it does cost more for them to function, but I don’t think they should be penalized because of it,” he said. “They truly bring the most favorable light to the University of New Mexico. They represent us all over the country. People know us when we make March Madness.” Balok will run for presidency against Sen. Rachel Williams, who leads the Connect ASUNM slate, and current ASUNM President Isaac Romero, who leads the Forward UNM slate. Ayham Maadi, an ASUNM senator who will serve as Balok’s vicepresidential running mate, echoes Balok’s sentiments. Maadi said his slate aims to dispel myths about Athletics’ budget and expenditures and about student athletes in general. Team U will also center on campus issues, such as improvement of the University’s Wi-Fi and more accessible parking, Maadi said. Maadi said he decided to run alongside Balok because the presidential candidate’s personality is fit for the position. “He is one of the most genuine people I’ve ever met,” Maadi said. “He could recognize his own failure if need be. He will make every effort, but if it’s going wrong, he would carry on and not at the cost of his pride.” Maadi has been serving as a senator since last semester, in which he was elected for the seat while running with Balok in the Team U slate. He said he has worked for all committees of the ASUNM Senate. Maadi said that if elected, he aims to represent students properly. “The majority of students are underrepresented,” he said. “Many
William Aranda / Daily Lobo Colt Balok listens to his running mate Ayham Maadi discuss what the two plan to do if they are elected for ASUNM President and Vice President. students don’t have the time to voice their opinions and raise their concerns to the student government. I don’t believe in holding them accountable for that. The student government is for the students. We are here to serve them.” In the fall, Team U ran on the platform of achieving solvency for the Legislative Lottery Scholarship. Maadi said that during discussions, issues arose regarding ASUNM
not accurately representing its constituency. Romero recently faced opposition from groups that believed he was misrepresenting them when ASUNM representatives handed out fliers at UNM Day in the state Legislature stating students supported SB 150. The bill would have increased the minimum GPA required to keep the scholarship from 2.5 to 2.75. Romero later apologized for the incident.
But Balok said Romero did not mean to misrepresent. “We all have the same intentions,” Balok said. “We just have different ways of dealing with what we want to do.” Balok said that even if he does not snag the ASUNM presidency, he is content with the learning experience his candidacy brought.
see ASUNM PAGE 5
Dance to fund Children’s Hospital Racist symbol carved in door By Zachary Pavlik
news@dailylobo.com @zachpavlik
UNM students on Saturday will party for 13.1 hours straight to benefit sick kids. LoboTHON will host the University’s first ever LoboTHON Dance Marathon event on Saturday in the Johnson Recreational Center, with the goal of raising $14,000 for UNM Children’s Hospital. Jenna Hagengruber, an English and philosophy major, is the organization’s external director. She said that although $14,000 would immensely help the hospital, it is not the final financial goal of the Dance Marathon, and any level of participation will go towards a great cause. “It’s our first year,” Hagengruber said, “We don’t know if there are going to be two people there or 400 people there, but our committee is so strong and so passionate about it that we know that regardless of whether we raise $50 or $50,000, it is for a good reason. And it is only going to get better from there.” LoboTHON is a student group on campus that was founded in 2013 by UNM organizational communication and management
Inside the
Daily Lobo volume 118
issue 121
by Ardee Napolitano news@dailylobo.com @ArdeeTheJourno
William Aranda / Daily Lobo LoboTHON committee member Siobhan Buckley, right, discusses the LoboTHON Dance Marathon, while Executive Director Kyle Stepp and External Director Jenna Hagengruber listen, after a short preview in the UNM Student Union Building on Tuesday afternoon. The LoboTHON Dance Marathon will take place at the UNM Johnson Recreational Center on Saturday beginning at 10 a.m. major Kyle Stepp. Stepp said the choice to begin the annual event and to have UNM Children’s Hospital as the recipient of funds was partly due to the
significance of the hospital to the University and to the state as a whole. “Why we started this is because we are one campus and one cause,” Stepp said. “There are over 65,000
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kids being treated there every year. It is the only level-one trauma center in the state of New Mexico, the only burn center in the state of
see LoboTHON PAGE 5
Police are investigating an incident in the Santa Clara dormitory in which someone carved a swastika on a resident’s door over spring break. According to the report from the UNM Police Department, the resident of the vandalized room discovered the offensive icon on Sunday upon returning to the dorm from spring break. He had left the dorm on March 14. The swastika was on the upper left-hand corner of his door, according to the report. UNMPD public information officer Tim Stump said resident
see Swastika PAGE 2
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