Daily Lobo 03-26-18

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Burqueños march for gun regulation Regents approve tuition hike By Megan Holmen @megan_holmen

Five and a half weeks after the Parkland, Florida shooting took the lives of 17 individuals, “March for Our Lives” rallied in cities across the world to protest school shootings and gun violence on March 24. Here, in Albuquerque, the “March for Our Lives” march began at 10 a.m. in Old Town Plaza. The march went from the Plaza to Tiguex Park, where the rally began at 11 a.m. Albuquerque’s “March for Our Lives” was organized and ran by local youth. Blair Dixon, Jessica Stanton and Zoey Craft were the head organizers for the march. According to Dixon, a freshman at the University of New Mexico, youth organizers and volunteers met every day for the past three weeks to plan the march. The rally and march were created in remembrance of the victims of the Parkland shooting, but also to demand gun reform, Dixon said. “March for Our Lives” is not anti-Second Amendment, he said, but rather a demand for reform of the Second Amendment to keep students safe. “Safety to us does not look like over-policing and metal detectors in our schools. It looks like prevention, intervention and restorative justice,” Dixon said.

Check out dailylobo.com for Diana Cervantes’ photo gallery and Makayla Grijalva’s video.

By Austin Tyra @AustinATyra

Diana Cervantes / Daily Lobo / @dee_sea_

Babs Jaramillo waives a “We the People” flag during Saturday’s nationwide “March for Our Lives” event on March 24, 2018. Albuquerque participants began marching in Old Town before heading to Tiguex Park where Mayor Tim Keller and others spoke.

The rally included several youth speakers. Mayor Keller also spoke at the march, along with Maggie Toulouse Oliver, who spoke about the importance of voting. One of the main goals of the rally was educating people and encouraging them to vote and become politically active, said Zachary Marshall, one of the youth or-

ganizers for the march and the chair of the media committee. “Come November, if you are a legislator or running to become a legislator, you will not be elected or re-elected if your views do not align with your constituents — particularly about gun regulation,” Marshall said. Sarah Gorrell is a student at UNM, who attended the march

with a handmade sign. She said it is important that people speak up about gun violence and work toward change, because it seems to be a never-ending cycle. “I think (school shootings) happen way too often, and sometimes it feels like there is no end in sight. This is one of the first times that

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Athletics dept pressured on deficit By Danielle Prokop @ProkopDani Students urged the University of New Mexico Board of Regents to not forgive the athletics department’s accumulated $7.5 million deficit at the Budget Summit Thursday. And the regents delivered. Board of Regents president Robert Doughty made the move to table the issue of UNM athletics’ deficit until the department can provide a balanced budget for 2019. “I need to be convinced now more than anything that we will not have a deficit next year,” Doughty said. “We table any discussion on dealing with the past deficit until we get a financially sound transparent budget for 2019.” The measure passed unanimously. Athletics must finish drafting and then present a balanced 2019 budget before the regents at the April 10 Finance and Facilities Committee meeting. The UNM Board of Regents is comprised of seven governorappointed members who are responsible for determining how UNM spends its money, as well as making official University policies and goals. The management of the University falls to the president. In the capacity of managing

University assets, the board acts as a gatekeeper for departments seeking financial resources. The Budget Summit is an annual meeting where the major University players — such as the Health Science Center, Main Campus and Department of Athletics — propose budgets to the regents for approval for coming fiscal year. On Tuesday, the athletics department submitted a proposal petitioning the University forgive all but $1.1 million of the deficit, which ballooned by $3.3 million in the past year. The athletics department’s debt to the University began accumulating in 2006. The department has been operating in a deficit for the past nine out of 11 fiscal years but turned a profit in 2009-2010 and 2014-2015 fiscal years. In UNM’s new Athletic Director Eddie Nuñez’ memo titled “Rationale for Reducing Cumulative Deficit,” he writes that the deficit occurs due to multiple factors. “This includes expenses outpacing revenues, expenses being understated, revenues being overstated, a lack of consistent fiscal oversight within the department and University and a lower level of institutional support compared to our peer institutions,” the memo said. Budget Summit The meeting opened with passionate student comments regarding

On the Daily Lobo website HOLMEN: Graduate Art Association holds 24th Annual Juried Art Exhibition

Madison Spratto / Daily Lobo / @Madi_Spratto

From left to right, Rob Robinson, Eddie Nuñez and Brad Hutchins stand in front of the Board of Regents on March 22, 2018 at the Budget Summit.

tuition increases and concerns about prioritizing the forgiveness of the Department of Athletics’ deficits. Benjamín Lopez, a sophomore studying economics, spoke before the board during public comment and said that allowing athletics to operate year after year in deficit was “rewarding financial mismanagement with a blank check.” In an interview with the Daily Lobo, he emphasized that the Department of Athletics’ debt to the University is personal to students. “I just felt like as a student who is paying for these kinds of bailouts, paying for these deficits, it’s my responsibility to come up and

say I don’t support this,” Lopez said. “And since you’re using my money, and you’re being paid with my money as regents, you have to know how I feel about this.” Two student athletes, junior Josh Kerr, a communications major who runs track and field for the University, and women’s basketball senior, Cherise Beynon, talked about their experiences as student-athletes. Both Kerr and Beynon talked about how the program offers student-athletes an education and a means of support.

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The University of New Mexico Board of Regents voted to approve an increase in student tuition proposed by the Budget Leadership Team during Thursday’s budget summit. There will be a 2.5 percent tuition increase, along with a $7 premium and 2.39 percent fee increase for each upper division course — this will be applied to all students. The charts supplied by the BLT reflect the following monetary increases after the increased tuition, increased fees and new premiums are applied: Students enrolled in zero upper division courses will receive an estimated $88.23 increase. Students enrolled in 1 to 6 upper division courses will receive an estimated $95.30 to $130.31 increase. Students enrolled in 7 to 12 upper division courses will receive an estimated $137.31 to $172.31 increase. Students enrolled in 13 to 18 upper division courses will receive an estimated $179.31 to $214.31 increase. Additionally, UNM graduate students will be receiving a 4.3 percent increase. Terry Babbitt, the associate vice president of Enrollment Management, told the regents that the BLT feels keeping costs low for the first category of students is vital for strong enrollment rates. “This model allows the least increase for the lowest division where we have the most competition,” he said. Babbitt said students enrolled in lower division courses are often “the most vulnerable population.” Prospective UNM students sometimes choose to complete core requirements at junior colleges at a lower cost, then transfer those classes when enrolling at UNM, Babbitt said. UNM has lost thousands of lower division credit hours in the past — meaning credits were transferred over and not taken at UNM. Therefore, the price of lower division classes must remain the lowest, he said. Regent Thomas Clifford supported the model. However, he also mentioned a concern. “Lower income students should pay less, but the degree is not less valuable to a lower income student,” Clifford said. “I

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MABES: Standup comedian Beth Stelling visits UNM POWELL: Annie Merrill wins Scott Wilkinson Student Composer Award


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Daily Lobo 03-26-18 by UNM Student Publications - Issuu