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Monday, November 2, 2020 | Vo l u m e 1 2 5 | I s s u e 1 3
Student Fee Review Board opts not to reduce fees Asian Pacific American Culture Center established
By Spencer Butler Lissa Knudsen & Jesus Mata @SpencerButler48 @lissaknudsen @JesusMataJr99 The University of New Mexico’s Student Fee Review Board (SFRB) voted to hold fees steady for fall 2021, despite calls for reductions amidst the coronavirus pandemic. On Oct. 25, the SFRB — after more than 10 hours of deliberations — approved the fall 2021 student activity fee recommendations on a unanimous 7-0 vote. Student activity fees are charged alongside tuition to all students registered on main campus and at the Health Sciences Center. These fees are assessed per capita — as enrollment increases, the total budget expands, giving the board more money to recommend for allocation. Student activity fees do not include the student government fee, which is a fixed dollar amount approved separately by the Board of Regents for the undergraduate and graduate student government, nor the facility/information technology debt service fee.
This year, total enrollment dropped slightly (down 2.4%, or 548 students) but there was a considerable increase in graduate students (19.3%), and SFRB funds available exceeded requests. On the second day of deliberations, the SFRB discussed lowering student activity fees from 1.5% to 1% but ultimately decided to not lower them, billing the decision as a way to ensure that their reserves remain high. The decision was made despite calls from students for relief based on the financial strain imposed by the pandemic. Especially notable among this year’s appropriations was the establishment of a new Asian Pacific American Culture Center (APACC). Though they did not receive the full $171,679.50 they requested, the SFRB did recommend they receive $72,650 to get the cultural center established. According to the APACC application, the funds were designed to support a professional staff person, student support staff and operating costs. The mission of the center would be to create community and foster success in students of APIDA (Asian, Pacific Islander and Desi American) heritage. In addition to the APACC not receiving all of the funding they
Harris’ VP candidacy carries torch for Albuquerque Asian community By Gabriel Biadora & Lissa Knudsen @gabrielbiadora @lissaknudsen Senator Kamala Harris was selected as the running mate for presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden on Aug. 11, after months of speculation between potential nominees. Following the announcement, the Daily Lobo met virtually with a number of local Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community members to talk about Harris’ cultural heritage and the connections her Indian ethnicity creates within and across the local AAPI community. Harris was born to Shyamala Gopalan and Donald Harris on Oct. 20, 1964 in Oakland, California. Her parents immigrated to the U.S. from India and Jamaica respectively in the early 1960s, a decade defined by the civil rights movement, according to the Los Angeles Times. Harris’ mother raised her two
daughters with a “sense of pride” in regard to their Black heritage, but “never to the exclusion of always also being very proud and active in terms of our Indian culture as well,” Harris said in the Times’ podcast “Asian Enough.” Now, with Harris shouldered in the presidential race amongst a lineup of white men, some voters are looking to her candidacy as a symbolic step toward fair representation and diversity in a government which has systematically oppressed and discriminated against the AAPI community. Every person the Daily Lobo interviewed confirmed that Harris’ identity as an Indian American woman was historic and long awaited. “I love the ticket because she is a woman, and I have been waiting for a woman on the ticket,” Naina Ballachanda, a certified public accountant, moderate Republican and practicing Hindu, said. For Sarita Nair, the first female chief administrative officer of the City of Albuquerque — who has
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requested, ENLACE, the ASPIRE program, Student Publications and Athletics were also funded at a rate lower than they had applied for. ENLACE — a program that provides tutoring and mentorship for low income high school students — was the only program the SFRB recommended less funding than what they received last year. ENLACE was reduced by $6,100 from last year’s funding down to $30,000. The program had applied for a $30,000 increase this year. For the second year in a row, the ASPIRE (Center for the Advancement of Spatial Informatics Research and Education) program approached the board for $212,676 in first-time funding to establish a research center focused on promoting Geographic Information Science. The funding was to go to equipment, as well as to staff and graduate assistant salaries. The board rejected ASPIRE’s request for recurring funding but recommended an appropriation of $27,860 in one-time funding. ASUNM President Mia Amin and board members Sall Ahmadian and Victoria Peña-Parr spoke in favor of the cut. “We can’t just give money blindly to people,” Peña-Parr said. After considerable debate, Stu-
Liam DeBonis / Daily Lobo / @LiamDeBonis
A large U-shaped sculpture stands illuminated in front of UNM’s Hodgin Hall Alumni Center.
dent Publications — the organization that funds the Daily Lobo, Limina and Conceptions Southwest — was also whittled down, receiving $20,000 less than they requested but more than $51,500 than they received last year. Many board members expressed concerns about the large multiyear deficit Student Publications
have rolled over for several years. “If the Daily Lobo were a business, it would’ve shut down years ago,” board member Ricardo Hill said early on in the deliberations. Other, much larger appropriations from the SFRB, such as $2.24 million for the Student Union
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UNM students divided over election By Megan Gleason @fabflutist2716 As the 2020 presidential election inches closer, the staunch political views of students amongst a hyperpoliticized electorate have sparked tensions at the University of New Mexico. From Democrats to Repub-
licans to every party in between and on the outside, UNM students are voicing their concerns about the upcoming election. Many individuals have said neither major party candidate — President Donald Trump or former Vice President Joe Biden — is their ideal choice. However, many have settled into voting for one of the two.
Liberty Stalnaker / Daily Lobo / @DailyLobo
President of UNM Student Democrats Noah Dowling-Lujan (left) and UNM student and Republican Daniel Klause (right).
Daniel Klause, a senior political science major, said Trump has his vote in November. “I identify as a Republican (because) I believe in the strong values of personal responsibility. The whole idea of limited government — not (zero) government but limited government — (is) that people are responsible for their personal actions, and the less the government’s involved in (our) personal lives, the better,” Klause said. UNM alumni Colan Mackenzie said he will be voting for Biden next month. Mackenzie graduated with a double major in history and political science in 2018. “Should Biden be elected, some of the more egregious acts our current government (is) carrying out could be stopped,” Mackenzie told the Daily Lobo in a private message on Twitter. However, Mackenzie voiced his preference for Vermont Senator and former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, as have other leftleaning individuals and groups. “Essentially, it boils down to harm reduction rather than actually being motivated to vote for a Biden/Harris ticket, because I dislike both of them quite a bit,” Mackenzie wrote.
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