PageTwo Wednesday, October 19, 2011
New Mexico Daily Lobo
Career Paths A weekly peek at unique niches
by Luke Holmen holmen@unm.edu
Every day, hundreds of people in UNM’s maintenance department empty trash, clean floors, paint buildings and ensure that UNM’s 650 acres and 338 buildings are ready for students and faculty. Ruben Sanchez is an irrigation technician who has been working with UNM’s grounds department for nine years. “We are in charge of all of the water systems,” he said. “All the drip, all the sprinklers, we put in new systems and take out old systems. I’m assigned a third of the campus for irrigation; basically, we do repairs and upgrades and maintenance.” Student Damien Ramirez said few on campus appreciate the hard work done by maintenance workers. “Those guys work hard,” he said. “The people that maintain the grounds are up and on campus by 6 every day, cleaning and fixing stuff. If you ever talk to them, they are super nice and very humble. It looks like hard work, and I’m not sure that they are appreciated at the University the way they should be.” Sanchez said he feels his work is appreciated. “I’ve gotten nothing but positive feedback from students and staff,” he said.
DAILY LOBO new mexico
volume 116
issue 41
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Sanchez began working at UNM in March 2003 as a grounds technician, pruning trees and picking up trash, and moved his way up two positions to his current job. He said the work is difficult and involves a lot of manual labor, but that it is rewarding to work with his hands. “I like this job very much,” he said. “It’s mostly been on-the-job training, just asking advice from people that know more than I do. I work by myself mainly, and ask for help when I need it.” He said working for the University provides many benefits that aren’t usually available for positions at his pay rate. “At the time the entry position was $7.10, and now I’m making $11.30,” he said. “But we have a lot of benefits: the University provides payment of medical, we have tuition remission, we get 8 hours paid a semester, we get use of the gym facilities, stuff like that. It’s a pretty good job as compared to others with the same pay because of the benefits.” Sanchez said the biggest benefit is that employees can attend classes for free. “Tuition remission is a big thing if you are a student,” he said. “I haven’t used it yet, but I might, and you can always just do stuff you want to do through extended university.” Sanchez lives with his 21-year-old son. He said money is tight, but manageable. Editor-in-Chief Chris Quintana Managing Editor Elizabeth Cleary News Editor Chelsea Erven Assistant News Editor Luke Holmen Staff Reporter Charlie Shipley Photo Editor Zach Gould Assistant Photo Editor Dylan Smith
Culture Editor Alexandra Swanberg Assistant Culture Editor Nicole Perez Sports Editor Nathan Farmer Assistant Sports Editor Cesar Davila Copy Chief Craig Dubyk Multimedia Editor Junfu Han
“It’s a struggle, it’s a big struggle, it’s pretty much hand-to-mouth,” he said. “But you just have to have priorities. I’m buying a house right now, and that is really great.” But Sanchez said his department has been hit hard by budget cuts, which has resulted in more work. “The irrigation department is right where we should be (with staffing),” he said. “But the rest of the grounds department is very understaffed. I think it’s stressful for them — since the bad economic turnaround in 2008, we haven’t had a raise and they haven’t hired anybody on grounds since then, so anyone that retires is not replaced.” Sanchez said although the University has not replaced positions that have been lost through retirement, UNM has been committed to retaining employees. “We’ve been really lucky they have not laid anybody off,” he said. Sanchez said he currently has no plans for advancement. “Within the irrigation department, there is a senior irrigation position, but I don’t know when that is going to open up,” he said. “You can go different places — master gardener is a pay grade up — or you can transfer if you want to go to school and look for a job like anyone else … but I’m happy here.” Design Director Jackson Morsey Design Assistants Connor Coleman Jason Gabel Elyse Jalbert Stephanie Kean Sarah Lynas Advertising Manager Shawn Jimenez Sales Manager Nick Parsons Classified Manager Renee Tolson
Dylan Smith/ Daily Lobo Ruben Sanchez, who works as an irrigation technician at UNM, maintains the University’s watering systems across campus. He said the work is hard but rewarding.
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The New Mexico Daily Lobo is an independent student newspaper published daily except Saturday, Sunday and school holidays during the fall and spring semesters and weekly during the summer session. Subscription rate is $75 per academic year. E-mail accounting@dailylobo.com for more information on subscriptions. The New Mexico Daily Lobo is published by the Board of UNM Student Publications. The editorial opinions expressed in the New Mexico Daily Lobo are those of the respective writers and do not necessarily reflect the views of the students, faculty, staff and Printed by regents of the University of New Mexico. Inquiries concerning editorial content Signature should be made to the editor-in-chief. Offset All content appearing in the New Mexico Daily Lobo and the Web site dailylobo. com may not be reproduced without the consent of the editor-in-chief. A single copy of the New Mexico Daily Lobo is free from newsstands. Unauthorized removal of multiple copies is considered theft and may be prosecuted. Letter submission policy: The opinions expressed are those of the authors alone. Letters and guest columns must be concisely written, signed by the author and include address and telephone. No names will be withheld.
Friday, October 21, 2011 Presented by the
Advocates for Universal Design in Collaboration with the
UNM Office of Equity and Inclusion and the UNM Accessibility Resource Center