DAILY LOBO new mexico
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tuesday April 15, 2014
The Independent Student Voice of UNM since 1895
Transparency key issue for President-elect by Ardee Napolitano news@dailylobo.com @ArdeeTheJourno
On Wednesday, Rachel Williams, who served as the president pro-tempore of the Associated Students of the University of New Mexico, was elected as the new president of the undergraduate student organization. Williams snagged the position from incumbent Isaac Romero and ASUNM Sen. Colt Balok. The Daily Lobo spoke to Williams about her priorities during her presidential term: Daily Lobo: What would be the main focus of your presidential term? Rachel Williams: I want to make sure that I keep everything kind of open because, at the end of the day, I am the undergraduate student president. But everything is dictated by them, so if something comes up that needs my full attention, I will make sure that I ask questions. As far as right now and the direction that I am going, it’s really just about creating… this greater collaboration across campus. DL: One of the biggest issues surrounding ASUNM this past year was the representation of students, especially with the issue about the solvency of the Legislative Lottery Scholarship. How do you concretely plan to ameliorate that problem? RW: Isaac works so hard in making sure that the Lottery scholarship is solvent. He was just doing everything that he could, and it was unfortunate that that happened. But it became clear that the students wanted their voices heard in a greater way. I can use what Isaac has done correct and some things that didn’t quite go as well for my advantage. I want to make sure that students voices are heard in all big decisions that have
to be made. What do students want to see on campus?... I want to make sure that I hold town halls as often as possible and outreach to the senators and to the greater campus community. There just needs to be greater collaboration. DL: This semester, the state Legislature found a solution that will preserve the lottery for at least two years, but it’s not going to be a long-term solution. Going into the future, what suggestions do you have for a long-terms solution for the lottery? RW: I’m really happy with the direction senators are trying to take right now. The creator of the scholarship, Sen. (Michael) Sanchez, is currently looking for alternative sources of funding. I’m completely all for that. I don’t want to make any broad statements of what I want to see happen, because I really haven’t done much research, and I know that’s completely necessary… It’s definitely not going to be something that I sweep under the rug next year, and it is very nice that it’s not going to be pressing in my presidency. DL: A year ago in the spring semester of 2013, there were a couple of sexual assault incidents on campus. Do you think that during the past year, the campus has become safer, and what will you do to ensure that the campus is safe for students? RW: I just had one of my constituents talk to me about an incident that happened to that individual. We are improving lighting on campus and we are having conversations with the organizations that have a role in it, such as the Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance and the Sexual Assault Response Team… It still happens on campus, though, but I think that this direction that we’re going is very good. But it’s very important not to say that it’s not an issue. DL: There’s been a push for more universal restrooms on campus. How
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ASUNM President-elect Rachel Williams are you helping with that initiative? RW: I am actually sitting on the Universal Restrooms Working Committee. Right now it’s kind of a collaboration between (QueerStraight Alliance), ASUNM, the Dean of Student’s Office and a couple of the resource centers. Right now we’re just trying for a pragmatic approach. We’re looking at it from what we can
do this year and what is simple. We’re looking at single stalls, we’re looking at changing signage. We have scheduled meetings with the dean and we will work with the dean to encourage them to make it a summer project. DL: Some people have had questions about ASUNM’s financial transparency in the past. How do you plan to improve the transparency of
the student organization? RW: As a former finance chair, I know the inner workings of the Finance Committee. It’s just a huge job that after you send all the emails to student organizations, the last you kind of think to be doing is posting all the money (online). I think if we start making
see ASUNM PAGE 3
Pulitzer Prize awarded for national surveillance series by Meghan Barr
The Associated Press
NEW YORK — The Washington Post and The Guardian won the Pulitzer Prize in public service Monday for revealing the U.S. government’s sweeping surveillance programs in a blockbuster series of stories based on secret documents supplied by NSA leaker Edward Snowden. The Pulitzer for breaking news was awarded to The Boston Globe for its “exhaustive and empathetic” coverage of the Boston Marathon bombing and the manhunt that followed. Two of the nation’s biggest and most distinguished newspapers, The Post and The New York Times, won two Pulitzers each, while the other awards were scattered among a variety of publications large and small. The stories about the National
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Security Agency’s spy programs revealed that the government has systematically collected information about millions of Americans’ phone calls and emails in its effort to head off terrorist attacks. The resulting furor led President Barack Obama to impose limits on the surveillance. The reporting “helped stimulate the very important discussion about the balance between privacy and security, and that discussion is still going on,” said Sig Gissler, administrator of the Pulitzer Prizes. The NSA stories were written by Barton Gellman at The Washington Post and Glenn Greenwald, Laura Poitras and Ewen MacAskill, whose work was published by The Guardian US, the British newspaper’s American operation, based in New York. “I think this is amazing news,” Poitras said. “It’s a testament to Snowden’s courage, a vindication of
his courage and his desire to let the public know what the government is doing.” Snowden, a former contract employee at the NSA, has been charged with espionage and other offenses in the U.S. and could get 30 years in prison if convicted. He has received asylum in Russia. In a statement issued by the Freedom of the Press Foundation, Snowden saluted “the brave reporters and their colleagues who kept working in the face of extraordinary intimidation, including the forced destruction of journalistic materials, the inappropriate use of terrorism laws, and so many other means of pressure to get them to stop.” Snowden’s supporters have likened his disclosures to the release of the Pentagon Papers, the secret Vietnam War history whose publication by The New York Times in 1971 won the newspaper
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a Pulitzer. His critics have branded him a criminal. “To be rewarding illegal conduct, to be enabling a traitor like Snowden, to me is not something that should be rewarded with a Pulitzer Prize,” said Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y. “Snowden has violated his oath. He has put American lives at risk.” At The Boston Globe, the newsroom was closed off to outsiders, and staff members marked the announcement of the breaking-news award — coming just a day before the anniversary of the bombing — with a moment of silence for the victims. “There’s nobody in this room who wanted to cover this story. Each and every one of us hopes that nothing like it ever happens again on our watch,” Globe Editor Brian McGrory told the newsroom. The bombing last April 15 that
killed three people and wounded more than 260 also led to a Pulitzer in the feature photography category for Josh Haner of The New York Times, for his photo essay on a blast victim who lost his legs. The Times also won in the breaking-news photography category, for Tyler Hicks’ coverage of the Westgate mall terrorist attack in Kenya. The Washington Post won a second Pulitzer in the explanatory reporting category, for Eli Saslow’s look at food stamps in America. The Pulitzers are given out each year by Columbia University on the recommendation of a board of distinguished journalists and others. The two winners of the public service award will receive gold medals. The other awards carry a $10,000 prize. The Center for Public Integrity’s Chris Hamby won for investigative
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TODAY
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