DAILY LOBO new mexico
The Independent Student Voice of UNM since 1895
Foot follies
see Page 9
monday November 4, 2013
Frank: Give DACA students in-state tuition
DIA DE LOS MUERTOS
UNM president supports GPSA’s efforts to expand eligibility by Chloe Henson and Ardee Napolitano news@dailylobo.com @ChloeHenson5 @ArdeeTheJourno
Natalia Jácquez / Daily Lobo Top: Avery Janeczek Kalapa took strides with a ‘Vote No’ sash Sunday afternoon at the Marigold Parade in the South Valley. Janeczek walked in support for voting against the Nov. 19 ballot measure that would ban late-term abortion in Albuquerque. Bottom: Laura Montoya, left, 55, and her daughter Monique Montoya, 25, a UNM alumna, marched in the Marigold Parade on Sunday afternoon in support of gay pride. Laura, a UNM recreational services employee, said she has attended the Día de los Muertos celebration in the South Valley for the past seven years. See full story Page 3.
Let’s be Frank
‘No solution’ yet for Lottery by Ardee Napolitano news@dailylobo.com @ArdeeTheJourno
With funds for the Lottery Scholarship dwindling to near exhaustion, the New Mexico Legislature and various universities in the state, including UNM, have been working to find a long-term solution to preserve it. While legislators were able to find funds to support the Lottery for another year from the state’s Tobacco Settlement Permanent Fund and postpone its
Inside the
insolvency until fiscal year 2014, the scholarship’s future remains uncertain. The Daily Lobo spoke with UNM President Robert Frank on Friday about the conversation between legislators and University administrators with regard to finding a long-term solution for the Lottery. Daily Lobo: What are the latest updates about the talks that are going on between legislators and UNM regarding the Lottery Scholarship? Robert Frank: There was a
Daily Lobo volume 118
issue 54
Legislative Lottery Scholarship Work Group that was developed in the last legislative session. That worked through the summer, and Isaac Romero, our (Associated Students of the University of New Mexico) president, participated in that group for several months … They had a number of working groups that met in that group, and they produced a number of ideas on how the Lottery might be addressed. At the current rate, the Lottery will face challenges by 2014. We’re
spending $27 million more per year than what the Lottery brings in. It’s a matter that needs to be addressed immediately. DL: What are the various solutions discussed in this work group? RF: There’s only a couple of ways you can address this. One, you either cut down how much each student in the Lottery get, you take some students out and you say they’re not eligible anymore, or you’re going to say we’re going to do it by merit or
see Lottery PAGE 3
Secret spices
Showdown
see Page 2
see Page 12
Months after UNM’s student governments passed resolutions to make education cheaper for undocumented students, the UNM administration has expressed further support. UNM President Robert Frank said Friday he personally supports providing in-state tuition to DACA-qualified undocumented students. “If they’ve grown up in New Mexico and went to high school here, I don’t know why they shouldn’t get in-state tuition,” he said. “If they’ve been here forever, to contribute, I think they should.” Frank said he applauds the University’s student governments for taking a stance on this issue. He said his administration has been addressing the matter through the UNM Vision 2020 plan. And he said the University fully encourages undocumented students’ education on campus. “In general, we’re supportive of encouraging children who have grown up here but are undocumented getting an education,” he said. “We believe that it’s a way of them becoming productive members of the society. We believe education inches people on in their lives. So, we believe this is the right thing to do.” In September, UNM’s Graduate and Professional Student Association made a unanimous decision to pass a resolution that supports allowing students here under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals initiative to qualify for in-state tuition. The resolution was presented to GPSA’s Legislative Steering Committee on Sept. 20, and passed by the GPSA Council at a meeting on Sept. 28. Frank said undocumented students would not only benefit UNM but also the state economy in the long run. He said he understands the burdens undocumented students face when it comes to their education. “They have irregularity in their life and the fear of deportation,” he said. “To those students, that’s a heavy burden for them. Many of them are prohibited from pursuing jobs they want to pursue. We want them to engage in society. This isn’t a full step toward citizenship, but we want to help facilitate that.” GPSA Chief of Staff Matthew Rush said the resolution calls for DACA students to be given the same opportunities as other out-of-state students who wish to apply for in-state tuition at UNM. “We did not see it any different than a normal, out-of-state student coming into the state and establishing residency,” he said. “At that point, they can apply to receive in-state tuition. Rush said the driving argument for the resolution was that students who establish residency and contribute to the economy should be allowed instate tuition. “It makes sense that if undocumented students are here, working and contributing to the state income, they should be able to be qualified, as any other normal student, to receive in-state tuition,” he said. The resolution does not call for students under DACA to receive any special treatment with regard to receiving in-state tuition, Rush said. He said the DACA students would simply have the same standards as out-of-state students who have received in-state tuition in the past.
see GPSA PAGE 7
TODAY
56 | 31