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Monday, March 20, 2017 | Vo l u m e 1 2 1 | I s s u e 5 1
Martinez’ regent pick raises eyebrows By Gabriela Garcia-Huff & Jonathan Baca @thegreen_gablin @JonGabrielB
Despite the appropriate processes being undertaken by UNM student leaders and administrators for nominating a new student regent, Gov. Susana Martinez chose to reopen the process, resulting in a nominee who wasn’t previously submitted for consideration. The new student regent nominee, second-year law student Garrett Adcock, was recently announced by Martinez after student government members scrambled to find new candidates at the request of the governor in February. The state’s 60-day session came to a close on Saturday before any of Martinez’ three UNM regent nominees could be confirmed, although most regents at other state universities were confirmed. UNM’s regents will most likely be voted on during a special session Martinez will call. In early October, the Graduate and Professional Student Association and the Associated Students of UNM — the primary student governing entities at the University — were tasked with carrying out their own routine selection processes in search of qualified candidates to represent the students on the Board of Regents.
Nick Fojud / Daily Lobo / @NFojud
Governor Susana Martinez speaks during a higher education summit on Friday, Sept. 23, 2016 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Despite student government leaders’ initial considerations for a new student regent, Martinez appointed a representative from the Athletic Department after going through the process a second time.
This process of recommendations is detailed in the New Mexico Constitution under Article 12, Section 13. “The governor shall select, with the advice and consent of the senate, a student member from a list provided by the president of the
institution. In making the list, the president of the institution shall give due consideration to the recommendations of the student body president of the institution,” the Constitution reads. ASUNM Chief of Staff Delia Brennan said their process involved
a panel interview consisting of basic questions about the University and what each interviewee would bring to the position. “We went in with the perspective that we would send on anyone who we thought could be completely qualified and that we could trust as
the student regent,” Brennan said. By Nov. 1st, ASUNM submitted four names to then-UNM President Bob Frank. GPSA president Glenda Lewis said they had their own formal interview process and eventually recommended three students to Frank as well. After one of ASUNM’s applicants withdrew, the remaining six were then interviewed by Frank’s office, approved and sent on to Martinez. It was at this point, Lewis said, that GPSA was informed that one of their recommendations was being seriously considered for the position. However, on Feb. 8th, both student governments were asked by current acting UNM President Chaouki Abdallah to reopen the application process for the Student Regent position. Consistent with past practice and the requirements of the New Mexico constitution, Abdallah said a list of student regent nominees was submitted by him for consideration by Governor Martinez. Abdallah said the nominations covered a broad range of UNM students, including all those recommended by ASUNM and GPSA, and all of whom the administration believed would have “excelled in serving in this critical position.” “We were made aware that one of our candidates from GPSA’s recommendations had spoken
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Martinez page 3
Social media fights against ABQ car theft By Andres Del Aguila & Alissiea Hernandez @Andres_DA95 @Alissiea8 Auto theft is on the rise in Albuquerque, resulting in thousands of victims in recent years, many of whom are taking on an active role to combat the issue by utilizing social media to spread information on stolen vehicles and seek help from the online community. Albuquerque nearly tops the chart for being the worst city in the country for auto theft, closely following Modesto, California, according to the National Insurance Crime Bureau. An Information of Public Records request revealed that 7,351 cases of auto theft were reported in 2016, a 62 percent increase from when the trend began in 2012. The Albuquerque Police Department’s 2015 annual report indicates that an auto theft occurs every hour and 45 minutes. ABQ Alert is one of the many Facebook pages dedicated to combating auto theft in Albuquerque. It is currently the largest with over 10,000 members. Alison Glenna created the page because she was “fed up with
criminals getting away with taking things they do not own, using them, abusing them and walking away without punishment.” The page is frequently updated with posts from recent auto theft victims describing their respective vehicles and pleading to members to be on the lookout. Other posts come from concerned citizens who post photos of cars with stripped license plates or cars abandoned in peculiar locations, asking members if they recognize the vehicle. APD often finds vehicles that were reported on the page, prompting the owner to post a message thanking the group’s vigilant members who often provide advice to recent victims. Auto theft victim takes a stand On a fateful December morning, Marcie Guerrero became one of the thousands of victims of auto theft in Albuquerque. The incident produced a citizen dedicated to confronting the issue in city and state government. Guerrero was on her way to breakfast when she discovered someone stole her truck from outside her friend’s home in northeast Albuquerque. Guerrero said she was upset and “grasping at straws for answers
On the Daily Lobo website NARVAIZ: Recap of Baseball’s third and final game against Cal State Fullerton
Graphic by Andres Del Aguila
or routes to take.” Two months prior, she learned about ABQ Alert when her son’s car was stolen, and a post on the Facebook page notified a friend who discovered the vehicle abandoned on the side of a road. After Guerrero called the
police, she immediately informed her friends on social media and submitted a post to ABQ Alert. Even though social media did not assist in the recovery of her vehicle, Guerrero, like many New Mexicans, was perplexed by the issue.
She created a petition, asking Albuquerque officials to enact harsher penalties and increase auto theft investigations. Guerrero shared the petition on social media and received over 900
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MARTINEZ: The new album “Halfway Human” by “Within the Ruins” is reviewed on our music blog Look out for the next episode of the Wolf Tracks podcast later this week, discussing the State Legislative session!