DAILY LOBO new mexico
The Independent Student Voice of UNM since 1895
Although early voting ended Saturday, you can still vote on Election Day in the SUB on the second floor in the Cochiti and Isleta rooms. Vote centers open Tuesday at 7 a.m. and close at 7 p.m. Voters registered in Bernalillo County can vote at any polling location. If you won’t be on campus on Tuesday, here are other places in the University Area where you can vote:
A new hope
monday
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VO T I N G
Bandelier Elementary
3309 Pershing Ave. S.E.
Highland High School
4700 Coal Ave S.E.
Jefferson Middle School
November 5, 2012
For a list of Vote Centers in Bernalillo County, visit bernco.gov/vcc or follow the QR code
712 Girard Blvd N.E.
The last installment of the 2012 Election Voter Guide does not appear in the print edition of the Daily Lobo. View the voter guide at DailyLobo.com
Montezuma Elementary 3100 Indian School Road N.E.
American Indian Heritage Month honored
DIA DE LOS MUERTOS
Dance event kicks off UNM’s monthlong activities by Antonio Sanchez news@dailylobo.com
A group of children shook maracas and held feathers and flowers as they danced to the beat of a drum in honor of American Indian Heritage Month. The adorned 4-year-old students of the Walatowa Head Start youth program celebrated the University’s American Indian Heritage Month kickoff event, held by American Indian Student Services in the SUB on Friday. The event is one of many scheduled throughout the month, including a lecture about American Indian health services, an arts fair and a documentary screening. Director of AISS Pamela Agoyo said she hopes the upcoming events not only educate students, but drive students to learn more about the state’s American Indian community. “Whatever event you choose to go to on campus, and I’m not just talking about this month’s, I always hope that people are going because they’re interested, that they’re going to learn something, and so they can contribute in a positive way,” Agoyo said.
see Heritage PAGE 5 For a regularly updated list of upcoming American Indian Heritage events, visit aiss.unm.edu and click under “Upcoming Events,” or follow the QR code.
Inside the
Daily Lobo volume 117
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Natalie Jacquez / Daily Lobo The 20th annual Marigold Parade was held Sunday afternoon in the South Valley to celebrate Día de los Muertos, a Mexican holiday celebrating friends and family who have died. For more, see the photo essay on Page 2.
‘Please, not in this neighborhood’ Drug-abuse center relocation finds pushback by Ardee Napolitano news@dailylobo.com
UNM’s Addiction and Substance Abuse Program will have to find a new home by next fall, but the residents of the program’s prospective new location object to the move. At a meeting Thursday, about 50 neighborhood residents expressed their objections to the project. ASAP has occupied a space near the Sunport at 2450 Alamo Ave. S.E. for the past 10 years, but ASAP’s lease will expire in July 2013. Behavioral Health Finance Executive Director Rodney McNease said because the landlord refused to renew ASAP’s lease, another tenant is set to move into ASAP’s current space before the next school year, so the University is looking for a new location.
“Even though the space we’re in has worked fairly well, the biggest downside is really the location as far as public transportation,” McNease said. “With the lease coming due and not being able to renew the lease, it’s an opportune time to find a site where we can build a permanent home.” McNease said the University aims to move ASAP to a vacant lot near the intersection of San Mateo Boulevard and Central Avenue. He said the new location would make the program more accessible to patients using public transportation. “The vacant land there is not quite two acres,” he said. “Part of the reason for looking at that area to site the clinic is because a large number of patients reside in that area … and transportation for a lot of our patients is a significant issue.” But McNease said relocating to this area would require the construction of a new building,
Losing skid
Mystery foe
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which he estimated would be approximately 16,000 square feet and would cost about $4 million to $5 million. He said the project has already been approved by the UNM Board of Regents. “What we’re looking on building at that site would be to replace the facility that’s there now, and it will be a comprehensive clinic that offers a range of services,” he said. “It will be a new, nice, modern building.” McNease said the program has served about 2,000 patients struggling with substance abuse problems and with other mental issues per year since ASAP’s founding in 2000. He said ASAP has not received complaints from residents in the neighborhood surrounding its current site during its stay in the area. “The instance of having any kind of crime associated with the clinic is very low,” he said. “We haven’t had any problems along that line. So really the relationship with the
current neighborhood over time has been good.” But Peter Dinelli, who has been living near the State Fairgrounds since 1985, said his neighborhood has worked the past 10 years to rid the place of drug-related crimes. He said that although he supports ASAP’s intentions, placing the program in the area will only attract more drug addicts. “There’s no doubt in my mind that there’s a need for the work that you do,” he said. “The reason why these people are here is that they don’t want this program. New Mexico needs this type of program, but not in this neighborhood. Please, not in this neighborhood.” As a retired prosecutor, Dinelli said he knows that crimes, such as murder and rape, often involve drugs. He said that because of the number of local bars, the neighborhood has
see ASAP PAGE 3
TODAY
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