DAILY LOBO
Two faces of fashion
new mexico
November 1, 2011
Continuing Coverage (un)Occupy Albuquerque
Limited time only: protesters reoccupy
See page 5
HUNGER STRIKES
tuesday The Independent Voice of UNM since 1895
Alumnus willing to starve to death unless Schmidly meets with protesters in person
Oct. 27 — UNM Police Department closes Yale Park to protesters and the public, forcing protesters to hold their general assembly meeting across Central Avenue outside Schlotsky’s restaurant. Oct. 26 — Nearly 30 protesters converge on UNM President David Schmidly’s office, demanding to meet with the president after University administration said it wouldn’t renew the protesters’ permit to occupy Yale Park. After meeting with the protesters, Schmidly upholds the decision not to renew the permit. At least 40 protesters are arrested on Yale Park after UNM administrators refused to renew their permit for the park.
by Chelsea Erven
news@dailylobo.com
Inside the
Daily Lobo volume 116
issue 50
Oct. 31 — UNM grants temporary permit allowing protesters to occupy Yale Park from 5 — 10 p.m. on weekdays. The permit expires Friday.
Oct. 29 — Protesters hold a “March for the death of First Amendment rights.”
Group gets shorter hours, fewer days on campus
UNM administrators temporarily allowed the (un)Occupy movement a new permit for campus, but protesters said the change is just the beginning of the dialogue they want with University higher-ups. The permit is valid to Friday and grants protesters the right to occupy Yale Park from 5 p.m.- 10 p.m. Protester Benjamin Hansen said he thinks administrators granted the permit for their personal gain. “It’s still less than what they granted us before,” he said. “I believe the reason why they granted us this much is because they’re expending a lot of resources trying to keep us from having our general assembly meetings here, and so in order to save face and save resources, they’re allowing this much.” Student and protester Elaine Romero said she hopes the temporary permit is the first step in working with UNM President David Schmidly. “I think it’s the beginning of an excellent opportunity to have conversations with President Schmidly,” she said. “We’re very excited about it and we’re really looking forward to him coming out and participating, so we can move forward and work together to solve some of the huge challenges we have going on in Albuquerque and New Mexico and our country.” According to a press release from the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU helped protesters obtain the new permit. “We are pleased that the University and the (un)Occupy protesters have reached an agreement that upholds the people’s First Amendment right to use public space to assemble and protest the government,” said Laura Schauer Ives, ACLU of New Mexico Managing Attorney. “The ACLU of New Mexico will continue to closely monitor the situation to ensure that these rights remain intact.” UNM spokespeople could not be reached for comment as of 6:40 p.m. Monday night.
(un)Occupy’s notable events
Oct. 22 — A transient woman dies near the protesters’ camp. Oct. 21 — Miguel Aguirre is arrested after threatening protesters with a knife.
Dylan Smith / Daily Lobo Alumnus and (un)Occupy protester Sebastian Pais survived on chicken broth, tea and water for the last six days. He said doctors told him his health is fine for now and that he may be able to keep starving himself for a few more days. (un)Occupy protester and UNM alumnus Sebastian Pais stopped eating Oct. 25 in an effort to convince UNM President David Schmidly to speak to protesters about what they call a violation of First Amendment rights. He said he doesn’t plan to eat until Schmidly comes to Yale Park to meet with protesters. Daily Lobo: Why are you on hunger strike? Sebastian Pais: The relationship between us and the University got to a point where it was beyond whether we had a kitchen or music here. It got to a point where it was beyond the little details, and they were restricting our freedom to assemble and our freedom of speech. That cannot be allowed at any level; anywhere in our country… Every single public official must have our First Amendment as their priority. Their duty is to serve us. I believe public officials should feel that they are in servitude and below the people, and I think this movement is trying to make that point. So far it is the belief of many across the United States that public officials have been serving the corporations, not us. I felt that when the University decided to stop renewing our permit, that was attack on us being able to assemble and speak. This is a public university. I am an alumnus, a former ASUNM senator and I pay taxes. DL: What has to happen for you stop your hunger strike? SP: A temporary permit was granted today that goes until Friday, but there are three more points on our proposal to UNM that we want granted. We want them to respect any working groups sitting on this park like anyone else could be doing to work on what we are working on. That’s what we are asking. Until today, nobody had the right to be on this park. That is outrageous. We want UNM to grant the right for anybody to come enjoy this beautiful park and that includes us.
Desperate times See page 4
DL: So even though the administration granted protesters a temporary permit, your hunger strike has not stopped? SP: No. UNM has granted and not granted these things behind closed doors. They have met with our mediators and our mediators have come to us and said one thing, but later that night we were kicked out with riot police and dogs. We need administrators to come in front of the cameras and the TV and the rest of the community and say “we can agree to this.” DL: Are you willing to die for this cause? SP: I am willing do whatever it takes for people to get their rights back. Yes. DL: What have you been eating? SP: Broth, tea, water and a little bit of Gatorade. Liquids. DL: How are you feeling? SP: I’m good. After the hearing the news that UNM is willing to compromise with the temporary permit, I am happy. I am not too tired. I have experienced some pain, but I’m alright still. DL: You have doctors monitoring your health. What have they told you? SP: They say I can probably go on like this for a few more days. After a few days, I may need people to start working on my behalf and be my spokespeople, but that is something I assumed when I decided to start this hunger strike. DL: Do you have a message for Schmidly? SP: That he should not fear coming to meet a group of his community within his institution. If he feels so insecure coming here, he is probably dealing with some other issues that are a lot worse that meeting with us. My message is that he comes and meets us and I would love to share food with him soon. ~Chelsea Erven
FOR YOUR EARS Satisfy your music needs See page 6 a monthly music preview by Nicole Perez
Oct. 16 — Protesters change their name from Occupy Albuquerque to (un)Occupy Albuquerque due to the negative connotations they say the word occupy implies. Oct. 15 — Nearly 500 protesters march and demonstrate along Central. Oct. 10 — UNM’s Peace Studies department, in conjunction with protesters, holds the first of their weeklong teach-in sessions in the SUB, hoping to educate students on the Occupy Albuquerque movement. Oct. 9 — Police remove protesters from Yale Park. Some protesters sleep at the Peace and Justice Center while others stay on the sidewalk next to Central, keeping watch over belongings left at the campsite. Oct. 8 — Protesters enter businesses along Central Avenue. One, Hani Barghout, is arrested on charges of battery, disorderly conduct and criminal trespassing. Oct. 7 — Protesters move their camp from Central Avenue and University Boulevard to Yale Park at UNM administration’s request. Oct. 1 — The movement begins in Albuquerque. Then Occupy Albuquerque protesters march along Central Avenue in solidarity with the Occupy Wall Street movement in New York. Some protesters set up camp on UNM’s main campus on the corner of Central and University Boulevard.
TODAY
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