DAILY LOBO new mexico
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The Independent Voice of UNM since 1895
March 26, 2010
Richardson vetoes food tax to help NM families
Brother vs. Brother
by Leah Valencia Daily Lobo
Vanessa Sanchez / Daily Lobo Ahmad Raad jumps on the back of his brother, Omar, as they play soccer near the Duck Pond on Thursday. The brothers and their parents are refugees from Iraq and are part of the UNM Refugee Well-Being Project. Brittany Garcia, center left, and Felice Lamoreux, center right, said the project helps refugee families feel at home in Albuquerque.
New Mexicans are free to eat their tortillas after Gov. Bill Richardson vetoed the food tax Wednesday, forcing lawmakers to choke down an unbalanced budget. The governor vetoed the legislation, passed by state lawmakers, which would reinstate a 2 percent local and county gross receipt tax on food items. The veto leaves the state budget with a $68 million shortfall for the upcoming fiscal year. “I am not willing to put this burden on working families,” Richardson said in a statement. “It is especially cruel during the worst fiscal crisis New Mexico has ever experienced.” UNM Senior Catherine Atencio said she agreed with the governor that taxing food items would
see Tax page 6
Input sought on new dorms in weekly forum held in SUB by Kallie Red-Horse Daily Lobo
If you are a member of the UNM community, the University wants your input on the future of main campus residence halls. Every Thursday night until the end of the semester, Student Housing Outreach Workshops are held in the SUB to get feedback about new dorms from students, faculty and community members, said Kim Murphy, UNM’s director of Real Estate. “Some of our dorms date from the 1950s so they are easily 60 years old and some of them are in need of refurbishment or replacement,” he
said. “We are now entering into what we are calling a planning phase on main campus for new student housing.” The purpose of SHOW is to initiate discussion about concerns University members might have, Murphy said. “The goal of the workshops is really to identify key issues that need to be addressed because we are not going to solve all the problems in the course of this semester and early next semester,” he said. “The goal is to identify those problems that will need to be addressed in the future for new student housing to be successful.” Susan Michie, a UNM visiting professor and nearby resident, said she has been attending the
Gov’t grants reservation $32M to get broadband by Susan Montoya Bryan Associated Press
The federal government is investing more than $32 million in stimulus funds to help the nation’s largest American Indian reservation, the Navajo Nation, build a high-speed Internet highway that will connect thousands of homes and businesses across the sprawling reservation. U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke announced the grant Thursday, saying Navajo communities in New Mexico, Arizona and Utah will benefit from 550 miles of new fiber
Inside the
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issue 122
Student Housing Outreach Workshops Every Thursday thru May 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. 6 p.m. to 7:40 p.m. meetings and encourages her fellow community members to do likewise. “I think it’s important for people to come and voice their opinions,” she said. “I have a couple of concerns but they are just concerns. I realize that universities need to generate revenue and
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Career Bruilder
update student housing and I am all for that. And if they are recruiting more students on to campus if they can do that, that’s great.” The dorm meetings are to address the issues of interested parties, Murphy said. “One purpose of SHOW will be to identify potential sites for new student housing that will require remodeling and or demolition,” he said. “We are working very hard at getting participation across the campus from all the constituencies that have an interest as well as our neighboring communities that surround the University that want to be involved or may perceive there
see Housing page 5
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UFC fighter Carlos Condit kicks a sparring opponent at Jackson Gym. Former world champion Condit spoke to the Daily Lobo about the next step in his career. See what he had to say online on the Multimedia page at DailyLobo.com.
optic cables and 59 new or modified microwave towers that will be capable of blanketing 15,000 square miles. Locke said during a conference call with Navajo President Joe Shirley Jr. and congressmen from New Mexico and Utah that 60 percent of residents on the reservation lack basic telephone service and many Navajo communities have unemployment levels that exceed 40 percent. “Today, too many people in Navajo Nation are stuck on the wrong side of the digital divide, and when you don’t
Kyle Morgan / Daily
Lobo
see Internet page 6
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