DAILY LOBO new mexico
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thursday The Independent Voice of UNM since 1895
March 4, 2010
Gabbi Campos / Daily Lobo Junfu Han / Daily Lobo Vanessa Sanchez / Daily Lobo Roman Martinez rides on the shoulders of teammates after the Lobos rolled to a 73-66 Martinez, flowers in hand, points to the wild, sold- Roman Martinez and Lobo head coach Steve Alford embrace on Wednesday at The Pit. victory over TCU on Senior Night. Martinez had 19 points. out Pit crowd at the conclusion of Wednesday’s game. “I guess I excan win 12 in a and nailed a basket with no time left. Mario Trujillo pect to win all row, lose a game The Lobos, however, struggled Daily Lobo of them easy, then start a 14- throughout the second half. TCU forgame winning ward Zvonko Buljan came out of the As the clock struck zero, the UNM just because this streak — those half and hit a 3 to give the Horned men’s basketball team lined up two team has done things don’t hap- Frogs a one-point lead. Both teams ladders, one under each basket, and some remarkable things,” said pen with the par- battled for the lead over the next sevcut down the nets at The Pit forever,” Martinez said. en minutes, but a fast-break layup To get there, head coach Steve Alford, donning a This caps the second consecu- ity on the men’s side anymore. freshly cut net around his neck. “But Fresh off an exhilarating road win by Hobson marked the final lead the Lobos (28tive conference championship for the UNM 73 3 overall, 14-2 we haven’t had a lot of easy contests Lobos and their first outright confer- over then-No.13 BYU, the Lobos were change of the night, 46-44, with 12:50 66 MWC) had to fend over the last three or four weeks. They ence championship since 1994. Last riding a 13-game win streak entering remaining. TCU “When that first shot went in, all off TCU. But, in have all been games that could have year the Lobos shared the title with Wednesday’s contest with TCU. TCU (13-17, 5-10 MWC) was sup- the nerves just went away,” Martinez the end, the Lobos triumphed, 73-66, went either way, but our team just Utah and BYU. earning the right to call themselves finds a way to win.” “It has been an incredible journey posed to be easy. UNM had already said. “I think we were stagnant and On Senior Night, Roman Marti- that these young men have taken all beaten them by 16 away from home. they were more aggressive in the first the lone Mountain West Conference But only leading by one going into half. And in the second half we turned champions. A crowd of 14,568 fans nez, the lone senior, scored 19 points, of us on,” Alford said. “Coaches are pushing the Lobos over the Horned fortunate enough to be part of that halftime, it wouldn’t be easy. that around. Couch got on us about showed up to witness this ceremony. The Lobos snuck out of the first our aggressiveness, and we went on Little did they know they would Frogs. journey. It is not going to sink in for a “This point, cutting down your nets while. It has been very special when half with a two-point lead after Dar- from there.” get a battle. But when the battle was over, UNM won its 28th game of the in your home gym — it is an amaz- you look at school records in an era ington Hobson lined up from the top see Roman page 3 ing experience that I will remember where there is so much parity. And you of the key, dribbled behind his back season, tying a school record.
Ro-mania
Dems: Tax hikes a necessary evil by Leah Valencia Daily Lobo
State legislators passed $240 million worth of tax increases Wednesday after a heated debate on the House floor. The measure, an essential component in completing the state budget, passed the House by a vote of 38-28, after being debated for nearly three hours. The bill will now go to the Governor’s desk for executive approval. Speaker Ben Lujan (D-Santa Fe) said similar bills have been introduced in the past and he saw it as a necessary piece of legislation. “It is not with great joy that we come into a session to increase revenues and place a burden on our citizens,” he said. “Let’s put this bill behind us.” The omnibus tax bill rolled three separate Senate bills into one. It included a measure to allow municipalities to impose a 2 percent tax on all food items. This is to compensate for the annual payments cities have been receiving to make up for revenue losses after the food tax was eliminated in 1995. The state will now eliminate that subsidy. The bill increases the state gross receipt tax by an eighth of a cent. It will also make changes to tax policies by allowing state and local deductions from federal taxes to be included as taxable New
Inside the
Daily Lobo volume 114
issue 111
Mexico income and lowering the state low-income tax rebate requirement to include more people. The bill also creates a gross receipt tax for businesses that make outof-state purchases, a practice that is not taxed under existing laws. Many Republicans opposed the bill moving to the floor before being vetted in committee, which is the usual practice. Rep. Keith Gardner said ignoring the tradition was damaging to the sanctity of the committee process. “If we circumvent that process and bring it to the House floor, members may be uniformed on the content of the legislation,” he said. “Potentially, bad policy could pass unbeknownst to many members and could have adverse effects.” Though there was a motion by Rep. Gardner to refer the bill to the Tax and Revenue Committee, the motion died at a vote of 39-24. Subsequent motions to separate the food tax from the bill and to strike it completely also failed. Democrats empathized with Republicans, Rep. Al Park (D-Bernallilo) said. Though he did not want to enact tax increases, they were necessary to balance the budget. “Yes, ladies and gentleman, ‘revenue enhancements’ is a euphemism for tax increases,” he said. “Some of these things I like; some of these things I hate, but we
have to spread the pain.” Park said though he generally did not support tax increases, the state’s fiscal circumstances called for it. “These are not decisions I relish, but they are decisions I am willing to make,” he said. During the debate, Senate leadership said that the omnibus bill was necessary to balance the budget. Sen. John Arthur Smith (DDeming) said if the bill failed to pass the House without amendment, it would violate the agreement between House and Senate leadership. “Then it would be back to the drawing board,” he said, putting pressure on members of the House. The bill was opposed by every Republican member and six Democratic members. The passage of the bill allowed the Senate to take up the state budget, which the House approved late Tuesday night. If the budget bill passes without amendment, it will be sent to the Governor’s office and the session will come to a close. If the Senate makes changes to the budget, it will have to return to the House for concurrence. By law, the Legislature is required to submit a balanced budget to the governor. The session has already run one day over what was anticipated, and the session costs taxpayers roughly $50,000 a day.
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Dirty words
Daniel Hulsbos / Daily Lobo Student Daniel Richmond pours red Jemez dirt on metal stencils at Smith Plaza on Wednesday, leaving the names of all species on the 2008 endangered species list. Richmond, a grad student, said he hadn’t realized so many species were threatened and wanted to increase awareness.
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