DAILY LOBO new mexico
monday April 28, 2014
The Independent Student Voice of UNM since 1895
Student leaders oppose UNM president’s fee policy by Ardee Napolitano
Friday regarding the change. During the conference, GPSA President Priscila Poliana insisted that Frank reverse his decision and UNM student leaders continue called on students for their support. to urge President Robert Frank to Poliana said the decision to remove reverse his decision to exempt the two of the departments that receive Athletics Department and University the most student fee allocations from Libraries from the student fee students’ hands is disrespectful toward University tradition. allocation process. “This has been done since 1918 in The Associated Students of the University of New Mexico and the the University of New Mexico, and as Graduate and Professional Student Lobos we take a great deal of pride in Association hosted a press conference maintaining this tradition,” she said. During a private meeting on April 17, Frank informed student leaders that the Student Fee Review Board, which approves student fee allocations for University departments, will Athletics no longer have the $4,000,000 authority to provide input on Athletics’ and Libraries’ budgets. All other student For fiscal year activity fee 2015, Athletics categories $781,786 received the second highest amount of $11,633,170 Libraries allocated student fees from the University, obtaining 24 percent of the fee budget of about $16 million, according to a document from GPSA. According to a Libraries, on the other hand, document handed out by GPSA obtained about 5 percent of the total
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amount, according to the document. Poliana said that, on average, each UNM student pays about $1,200 in student fees per year. ASUNM President Isaac Romero, who was present at the conference, said conversations about the change started in August of last year with the regents’ push for the comprehensive fee policy. The policy aimed to take away the SFRB’s ability to pass recommendations on four of the biggest recipients of student fees, including Student Health and Counseling, Athletics, Libraries and Information and Technology. According to a joint statement from GPSA and ASUNM drafted in early March, Frank said he would not make any changes to the SFRB policy with regard to Athletics and Libraries until the UNM administration formed a workgroup to address the issue. Frank said he would not make any changes during the summer. Poliana said Frank has not respected this agreement. “We were very surprised by this decision,” she said. “Isaac and I were not involved in this process. As a matter of fact, Isaac and I were led to believe that the situation was completely different … I believe that if there had been a misunderstanding, there had been plenty of time for (it) to be addressed.”
Frida Salazar/@FridaSg5 / Daily Lobo Virginia Necochea, left, approaches Rebecca Hampton, center, Mike Butler, right center, and Leslie Alvarado to discuss remarks made during the press conference led by ASUNM President Isaac Romero and GPSA President Priscila Poliana on Friday morning at the SUB Atrium. Romero said that although he is glad only two of the departments addressed by the comprehensive fee policy were taken away from SFRB, he still does not approve of Frank’s decision. “On paper, they got half of what they wanted,” he said.“Instead of getting all four entities, they got two of them. However, what we’re pushing for is making sure that none of these gets through, because we believe that any sort of removal of students’ voices is harmful to students.” He said the SFRB process is
an effective and essential budget process, in contrast to what Frank might have claimed in the reasoning behind his decision. “The reasons I got out of it was that (the SFRB process) is contentious, it’s not cooperative, it’s too combative,” Romero said. “We don’t think that’s the case. We think that a lot of this process is necessary because that way, we can make sure where our fees are going.”
see SFRB PAGE 3
GPSA divestment resolution polarizes students by Chloe Henson
news@dailylobo.com @ChloeHenson5 The Graduate and Professional Student Association passed a resolution calling for the University to divest from companies associated with human rights violations in Palestine. The resolution, which passed during a GPSA meeting on Saturday, was endorsed by members of Students for
Justice in Palestine, Students Organizing for Peace and other organizations. According to the resolution, GPSA calls for UNM to divest in companies that “directly profit from the ongoing violations of international law and human rights, and have an economic stake in the continuation of these violations.” The document cites companies associated with the Israeli government’s involvement in
Palestine as examples of institutions the University should not invest in. “International corporations have been complicit in these severe and ongoing human rights violations systematically committed by the Israeli government, and their involvement has been documented by human rights organizations,” the resolution states. The resolution also calls for financial transparency and a committee with student
representation to review, evaluate and monitor socially responsible investment by UNM. “We’re not saying that UNM is invested (in these companies),” said Elisabeth Perkal, a graduate student and member of SJP. “We’re saying that if it is, we are calling on them to divest.” Perkal said a resolution with similar goals was passed in the 1980s to protest apartheid in South Africa.
“As in the movement to end apartheid in South Africa, students have often stood at the forefront of movements for social change,” she said. “We need to embrace this powerful legacy.” Earlier this month, a similar resolution was voted down by the Associated Students for the University of New Mexico. Members of student association Lobos for Israel attended
by Chloe Henson
During her term, Marshall said she plans to provide workshops for council members on parliamentary procedure. “I feel like there are a handful of us who make all the motions,” she said. “I would like for everybody to have the opportunity to make the motions that they think are best because I feel like people may not say something or make a motion for something they want because maybe they don’t know how to word it.” Marshall said she also aims to spread awareness about GPSA. She said many graduate students don’t know about the organization’s benefits. She said she plans to increase participation by visiting different departments and talking to professors and students about who could represent them in council. “I feel that we’ve been limited because we don’t have as many groups there as could be there,” she said.
New GPSA chair urges involvement news@dailylobo.com @ChloeHenson5
William Aranda / Daily Lobo UNM law student Jessica Marshall smiles with Luke Holmen after winning the Graduate and Professional Student Association council chair election at the Domenici Center on Saturday morning. She will succeed Maria Elena Corral as council chair.
Inside the
Daily Lobo volume 118
issue 143
Clear as mud
Softball Senior Day
see Page 2
see Back Page
see GPSA PAGE 3
Law student Jessica Marshall will take over as Graduate and Professional Student Association council chair next year. During a GPSA meeting Saturday, Marshall won the position with 14 votes from the 19 council members present. The new council chair nabbed the position from candidates Daniel Gray and Sai Uppu. She will succeed Maria Elena Corral as council chair. Marshall, who was chair of the Legislative Steering Committee, said her legislative background and her willingness to ask for help will help her in her new position. “I have a lot of experience working with by-laws, for one with GPSA, and then with other organizations in the past, and with Robert’s Rules of Order,” she said.
see New
Chair PAGE 3
TODAY
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