DAILY LOBO new mexico
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Thursday, November 15, 2018 | Vo l u m e 1 2 3 | I s s u e 2 7
ASUNM SENATE ELECTION
10 senators elected with record low turnout UNM
construction plagued by copper theft
By Justin Garcia @just516garc Nearly half of the 1,048 undergraduates who voted in this semester’s Associated Students of the University of New Mexico senate elections voted for the incumbents. Mohammad Assed and Madelyn Lucas both received over 500 votes in an election with a six percent turnout rate. That rate is the lowest since fall 2014, which saw a three percent turnout rate. This semester’s turnout was the second lowest in 14 semesters. “This election was a good reminder of how important it is to constantly be improving and working to include more students,” said ASUNM President Becka Myers in a statement after the election. Executive Director of Elections Commission Jordan Montoya said the low turnout was expected and things like the endorsement forum and the ballot’s design could be improved. Typically, elections with fewer senators draw in fewer voters, according to a study conducted by Daily Lobo reporters. The low turnout did not stop the slate Red1fining UNM, consisting of Assed, Nieajua Gonzalez, Daevon Vigilant, Gregory Romero and Kristin Woodworth. Assed had
By Anthony Jackson @TonyAnjackson
Colton Newman/ @Cnewman101/ Daily Lobo
Daniel Stearns embraces Elijah Jaffe as their names are announced during the ASUNM Senate Election results meeting in the SUB on the evening of Nov. 14.
the most votes of any candidate. Woodworth, Vigilant, Romero and Gonzalez came in third, fourth, fifth and sixth respectively. Assed attributed the slate’s success to its platform and its candidates. “Everyone on this slate is a leader,” said Vigilant, a
Graph by Anna C Evanitz
running back for the UNM football team. Red1fining UNM ran on the platform of making UNM more racially inclusive and safer, and helping provide more opportunity to people after they graduate. Current Finance Chair Madelyn Lucas narrowly came in second. Lucas said she was hesitant about running again. She said her role in new student orientation, a tutor with the Center for Academic Program Support (CAPS) and as finance chair of ASUNM gave her an edge. Her slate, PACC UNM, had one other member elected — Ashley Varela. Unite UNM had both of its candidates win. David Stearns and Elijah Jaffe came in seventh and eighth respectively. Xavier Torres, of Ignite UNM, was elected tenth. Of the ten students elected, only Assed and Varela are not in Greek Life. The four other candidates who ran without a slate did not win. The ten senator-elects are slated to join the Senate next semester. They will be confronted by five fresh faces on the Board of Regents and an over $4 million gap
in student fee spending requests and available funds. The ASUNM Senate is responsible for appropriating money to charted student organizations, confirming unelected positions throughout ASUNM and impeachment. The Senate will also have a new President Pro Tempore and Steering and Rules chair in the spring. Sen. Jorge Rios, chair of the Steering and Rules Committee, and President Pro Tempore Satchel Ben decided not to run for reelection this semester. Ben said, after three semesters as a senator, he wanted to focus on school. The last committee meetings of the fall semester immediately followed the election. Steering & Rules approved a resolution that echoed Myers’ earlier letter that asked Governor-elect Michelle Lujan Grisham to diversify the Board of Regents. Justin Garcia is a freelance reporter for the Daily Lobo. He primarily covers ASUNM. He can be contacted at news@dailylobo.com or on Twitter at @just516garc.
MEN’S BASKETBALL
Lobos secure victory in home opener By Robert Maler @Robert_Maler The University of New Mexico men's basketball took care of business in its home opener, taking down the Iona Gaels by a score of 90-83 at Dreamstyle Arena thanks to strong performances from a
couple of transfers. Iona (1-1) led for a good portion of the first half, benefitting from some careless turnovers and an inability from UNM to connect on its free throw attempts. Although the Lobos seemed to clean things up in the second half, they were unable to shake the Gaels, who continued to respond to runs
On the Daily Lobo website Goeldner: Football — Preview for Friday’s game vs. Boise St.
and keep things close in the final minutes of the game. UNM senior Dane Kuiper hadn't done much to fill up the stat sheet during the game up to that point, but picked an opportune time to step up and knock down a big 3-pointer to create the separation needed for the Lobos to hang on. Head coach Paul Weir credited
Kuiper for his effort and his commitment to working on his shot and said the senior really deserved to see that shot go down. Weir also said he felt his team, especially the newcomers, got a slips at how important all the conditioning work was for them to have the legs needed to finish the game.
see
Basketball page 3
The University of New Mexico Physics, Astronomy and Interdisciplinary Science (PAíS) building is in its ninth month of construction, but has been dealing with an issue that plagues many parts of Albuquerque — copper theft. According to State of New Mexico Uniform Incident Reports obtained by the Daily Lobo through the Information of Public Records Act (IPRA), during the month of October officers from the UNM Police Department responded to two separate calls at the PAíS construction site. According to the reports, UNMPD officers responded to a commercial burglary call on Oct. 19 after a motion sensor alarm was activated. “At approximately 02:25 hours unknowns offender(s) did enter the construction site… and removed several 10 foot sections of copper piping without authorization from the owners,” the document stated. In the report, Miller Bonded Construction estimated a loss of $1,500 worth of copper. In 2012, the New Mexico Legislature passed a law, known as the “scrap metal law,” in an effort to prevent stolen materials from being sold to scrap metal recycling centers. Bill Karr, the operations manager for Acme Iron and Metal, said sellers of scrap metal must show a valid photo ID, name and address. “Now the state monitors us and makes sure we upload to the state everyday,” Karr said, “All the information of everything we bought — all scrap yards do, not just ACME — can be accessed by police if they’re looking for certain items or certain people.” Karr said depending on the type of copper, scrap sellers can get $1 to $2 per pound. “We jump through a lot of hoops to make sure we’re buying legitimately,” Karr said. “If you have no ID, you won’t sell scrap here.” From 2014 to 2017, New Mexico had 189 metal theft claims. For three years there were roughly nine claims of metal theft per 100,000 residents, according to a spreadsheet from the National Insurance Crime Bureau. Despite $1,500 worth of copper stolen from the construction site, Sarah Scott, the vice president of Institutional Support Services, said it has not set progress back. On Oct 24, at approximately 03:02 a.m., UNMPD was dispatched to the PAíS construction site. Shortly after arriving on the scene, UNMPD officers made contact with a male
see
Copper page 2
Narvaiz: Men’s Basketball — Manigault and Jackson lead Lobos against Iona