Daily Lobo new mexico
The Independent Student Voice of UNM since 1895
tuesday December 2, 2014 | Volume 119 | Issue 73
basketball
Now the Pit’s a pie: WisePies buys name rights Men’s basketball coach coach Craig Neal makes his opening statement during a press conference at recently rebranded WisePies Arena on Monday afternoon. Neal, along with UNM President Robert Frank, Vice President for Athletics Paul Krebs and WisePies marketing consultant Season Elliott, made the announcement of the $5 million deal with WisePies Pizza & Salad to rename The Pit.
William Aranda Daily Lobo @_WilliamAranda
The Pit to be rebranded WisePies Arena after pizzaria’s donation Kyle Tomasi UNM’s basketball venue has been called The Pit since it opened in 1966. Fans will have to break their habit of calling it that soon, because somebody finally purchased the naming rights. WisePies Pizza and Salad agreed to give $5 million over 10 years to support the UNM Athletics Department through the newly established WisePies Fund. Because of this donation, The Pit will be dubbed WisePies Arena, aka The Pit, for the duration of those 10 years.
WisePies made its first donation of $100,000 on Monday, according to the payment schedule. WisePies will donate another $100,000 on Dec. 31, 2015. Beginning on Dec. 31, 2016, WisePies will make an annual donation of $600,000 until 2023. “It’s truly my pleasure to welcome you all to the WisePies Arena, also known as The Pit,” UNM President Bob Frank said. “This is a historic time for the University of New Mexico as we commemorate our largest gift ever to Lobo athletics.” The money from this donation will go toward the debt service
for The Pit and will free up some of the operating budget. The Athletics Department plans to use some of this “freed-up” money to supplement other sports programs. “From the time we first discussed the potential renovation of The Pit (in 2009), we talked about the need for state and private support to make the renovation a reality,” said Paul Krebs, Vice President for Athletics at the University. “Specifically, we’ve talked about the need to find a naming rights partner for the building.”
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Arena page 2
William Aranda / Daily Lobo / @_WilliamAranda
The WisePies Arena logo is painted on the court of the newly named basketball venue. The stadium will now be known as WisePies Arena, aka The Pit.
Vets seek support Intl. students made at home through education By Sayyed Shah
By David Lynch
At a time when U.S. soldiers are returning home from conflicts overseas and enrolling in colleges across the country, UNM’s own student veterans have varying opinions on what UNM has to offer those who have served. Richard Baca, a U.S. Army veteran who served in Iraq, said he believes that the system in which the benefits a student veteran receives are based on service time should be amended. He said he would like to see all benefits be equal. “I think that if you serve at least
a year of active duty service, regardless of whether it is guard or reserve, you should qualify for 100 percent tuition,” Baca said. According to the Department of Veterans Affairs’ national website, UNM offers 40 percent in-state tuition, a $536 monthly living stipend and $400 per year for books as part of its Post-9/11 GI Bill for those who have served 90 days of active duty in U.S. military. For comparison, veterans who have served 36 months are eligible for 100 percent in-state tuition, a $1,341 monthly living stipend and $1,000 per year for books.
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Veterans page 2
International Students Incorporated will be donating furniture to incoming international students starting in the spring. Non-profit ISI provides airport pick-up and home-stay for up to three days to international students, and also runs a friendship program to help international students smoothly transition in to the new culture, said Joan Lasche, ISI’s Albuquerque ministry representative. The distribution of furniture and other goods is slated to begin Jan. 5, she said, because it can be difficult for international students to settle into Albuquerque as soon as they arrive. “We pick them from the airport, provide them free home-stay with
host families and then help them find help them adjust to American culapartments,” she said. ture,” according to the ISI website. During the fall the organization Ahmad Yar, a first-year Ph.D. stuhosted more than 400 students, dent at the Department of English she said. and Linguistics, said that he had a “ISI is made up of hundreds great experience with ISI. of volunteers. Each one plays an “They were really helpful,” he said. important role: Some are really “It would have been difficult without good at friendship, some at helping ISI’s help to find a place to live in and students, some at teaching English, concentrate on my studies.” some at hospitality and some at Yar said he was picked up from the moving furniture,” Lasche said. “ISI airport by an ISI host family and he is what it is because of the many stayed with the family for three days. different people involved.” “ISI not only helped me find a The organization was estab- place, but also provided furniture,” he lished in 1953 and is operating in said. all 50 states. The friendship partnership “Since 1953 ISI has been train- program helped him learn about ing Americans to meet international American culture as well, Yar said. students’ needs. These Americans Volunteering with ISI has been an befriend international students and see International page 2