Daily Lobo 3/2/20

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Monday, March 2, 2020 | Vo l u m e 1 2 4 | I s s u e 4 7

The Independent Student Voice of UNM since 1895

Budget would raise fees, tuition, reduce discount By Justin Garcia

PAGE 6 - ‘META/PHYSICAL’

@Just516garc Next semester is looking pricey. University of New Mexico students will pay more in tuition and fees while many would lose a major discount in the upcoming fall semester if administrators approve new budget recommendations in March. The Budget Leadership Team (BLT) proposed cuts and tuition increases, as well as a 4% faculty and staff raise ahead of the 2020 Budget Summit, according to BLT members. The BLT is made up of college deans, administrators, student and faculty government. The team submits their recommended budget to UNM President Garnett Stokes, who sends the budget to the Board of Regents for approval. The annual budget-building process culminates in the yearly Budget Summit. The last three summits have produced tuition and fee increases. Tuition and fee increases supplement declining enrollment. In the past five years, the undergraduate headcount has plummeted nearly 23%. Provost James Holloway said the constriction put the University in a precarious financial position. “Even with the proposed tuition changes, UNM main campus will still have to make over $10 million in cuts to our core budgets for next year, impacting our ability to offer

By Daniel Ward

@wordsofward34

Emille Domschot / @erdomschot / Daily Lobo

Jeffrey deGraaff, 14, brushes Lady J at Cloud Dancers in Corrales on Thursday. Cloud Dancers is a therapeutic horsemanship program that helps children with disabilities learn how to ride and interact with horses. See full story on page 3. academic programs and retain the amazing faculty and staff who serve our students,” Holloway said. Recommendation: Reduce discount for taking 15-18 hours to $400

In previous years, the block rate put a ceiling on the per-credit cost of tuition, meaning students paid more for taking 12 credit hours than 15. The BLT’s recommendation would decrease one of UNM’s re-

cruitment incentives by more than half, from $841 to $400, according to Holloway. “The discount is less important as a student success strategy,” Hol-

a mile east of the Arizona-New Mexico border. Casuse, as well as others in the Navajo community, condemned the liquor store for profiting off of alcohol sales despite its severe impact on Native American populations. Alcohol was largely blamed for the increase in deaths of Native Americans in the region. In early 1973, Garcia was nominated to the UNM Board of Regents. Casuse attended Garcia’s confirmation hearing and firmly protested the nomination. Casuse testified on what he believed was Garcia’s lack of concern for Native American people. He criticized Garcia’s involvement in an alcohol rehabilitation program as a conflict of interest, given Garcia’s partownership of the Navajo Inn, calling him a “false person.” In UNM’s documentation of the Feb. 23, 1973 meeting, Casuse is also cited as saying to the Board, “We don’t really care what you people do, because you people aren’t human beings.” Garcia was, nonetheless, confirmed to the Board of Regents. The following week on March 1 at 4:10 p.m., Casuse walked into Garcia’s office, produced a pistol and marched Garcia out of his office at gunpoint. Accompanying Casuse was Robert Nakaidinae, who aided Casuse in the kidnapping. The trio was briefly stopped by the Chief of Police Manuel Gon-

zales, who unloaded and surrendered his weapon after Nakaidinae threatened to kill Garcia. When Garcia asked Casuse what his plan was, Casuse replied, “We’re going to march you around the state.” Casuse and Nakaidinae led Garcia down the street to a sporting goods store. There they barricaded themselves while law enforcement assembled outside the building. According to Garcia, Casuse stepped away briefly, and Garcia decided to attempt an escape. He kicked Nakaidinae and ran toward the window. Seconds later, the mayor crashed through the store’s front window in a rain of glass. He was accidentally shot in the back by startled police. Garcia was pulled to safety by Gonzales. According to Gonzales, the police officers began taking fire from inside the store shortly after the mayor’s escape. Gonzales ordered a barrage of tear gas as officers returned fire with their service weapons. After the shooting subsided, Nakaidinae walked out of the store to surrender. Police arrested Nakaidinae and entered the store. Inside, they found Casuse lying on the floor, dead. A coroner’s report, detailed in an Albuquerque Journal article from March 3, 1973, reported Casuse’s death as a suicide. District Attorney Louis DePauli summarized the report, stating that while there were

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Fees page 2

Larry Casuse’s legacy lives on after 47 years By Liam DeBonis @LiamDebonis On March 1, 1973, an activist’s kidnapping of the Gallup mayor rocked the small New Mexican town and drew national attention to Native American activism in the state. Carried out by Larry Casuse, then-president of the University of New Mexico KIVA Club, the dramatic event would cement itself in the timeline of Native American struggles in the region. Larry Wayne Casuse had long been known as a political activist within the Gallup community. By the time he was 19 years old, he

UNM celebrates 131st

was a key figure in the KIVA Club, an organization dedicated to providing support for Native American students at UNM, as well as raising awareness for Native American issues and events. Casuse’s main public focus centered around violence against the Native American population and unchecked liquor sales in Gallup. Even as a high school student, Casuse was an advocate for his community, unsuccessfully lobbying local government for reform in these areas. Casuse was especially involved in issues relating to the mayor of Gallup at the time, Emmett Garcia. Garcia was a co-owner of the Navajo Inn, and a liquor store located

Photo courtesy of therednation.org

Inside this Edition LOYA: Threat calls and alleged possession of a firearm in student housing CAIN: Students explore SUB resources through scavenger hunt

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Casuse page 2

SUB — The line trailed and twisted from the Student Union Building atrium to the Southwest Film Center. Some 300 students waited anxiously for one thing — T-shirts. The University of New Mexico celebrated its 131st birthday, Lobo Day, on Feb. 28. The celebration featured a few speeches and a couple of video games. In addition to UNM’s birthday, organized by Lobo Spirit and University Communications and Marketing (UCAM), the day also marked 100 years since the founding of Lobo Louie as the school’s mascot. The theme of the celebration was all about games with an 8-bit design of Lobo Louie printed on the shirts. “They thought since the Lobo is turning 100, it’s like he is leveling up and the video game theme came into play,” Executive Director of Lobo Spirit Kaylee Maxon said. The event started at 11 a.m. but the line for T-shirts didn’t open until noon. No one gave a clear answer on just how many shirts were dispersed, but according to the UNM events website 300 shirts were bought for the event. Either way, everyone who stayed in line until noon got a shirt, quickly filling the atrium in cherry red. “I thought the Lobo Louie was really cute on the shirts,” first-year student Melanie Jun said. “The design was really nice.” Everyone who got a shirt was required to stay in the atrium until the picture was taken for a new mural. Every year on Lobo Day, a photo is printed onto a large mural and displayed in the SUB and the La Posada dining hall. “Honestly, I’m surprised they pulled it off so nicely,” student Oluoma Edeh said. “The shirts were given away in like eight minutes and everything was so smooth like we got cake, we got pictures, shirts. It was nice.” The SUB was filled with different arcade stations for students to play classic games like Donkey Kong, Space Invaders and Pacman. The UNM Esports Club, invited by UCAM and Lobo Spirit, attended the event with an information table. “We were super excited. We heard about it and immediately sprung right into action thinking about how we were going to do our tabling,” Esports Events Coordinator Mark Bailon said. “We are committed to providing a good environment for gamers of all kinds of people. We are really working on making sure we remain inclusive, and we are open to anybody who

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Anniversary page 5

RULL: UNM secures 7th seed in Mountain West Tournament with Utah State win


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