DAILY LOBO new mexico
Delicate issues see Page 4
monday January 28, 2013
The Independent Student Voice of UNM since 1895
Frank wants ABQ ‘Innovation Square’ UNMH gets a C grade on safety by John Tyczkowski news@dailylobo.com
UNM graduates are leaving New Mexico for better jobs, and the state’s economy has been stagnant in recent years, but UNM President Robert Frank said he has a plan that could help fix both problems. At the beginning of the month, President Frank and a committee of UNM faculty and staff, public officials and community leaders
from Albuquerque went to the University of Florida to learn about Innovation Square. This is an initiative to reverse the “brain drain,” or loss of graduates to out-of-state employers, and to maintain New Mexico as a force of economic growth, Frank said. Innovation Square, described in a pamphlet as a “community that brings research and business together to inspire people to think bigger,” had revitalized Gainesville, the small town where the University of Florida is, he said. So far
it’s brought in businesses and the technology and service industry jobs to support this growth, he said. “It was really quite remarkable to see all they’ve achieved in such a short time,” Frank said. Frank said that he hopes to bring this success back to Albuquerque, and to customize the role of Innovation Square for the new location.
see President PAGE 3
DROPS THE BALL
NM has fewest A-grade hospitals in nation by Ardee Napolitano news@dailylobo.com
Mark Grace / Daily Lobo Freshman forward Khadijah Shumpert fights for position for a rebound against two San Diego State players at The Pit Saturday night. UNM shot 34.7 percent from the field in a 63-39 loss. See full story on Back Page.
Students to champion UNM in Santa Fe by John Tyczkowski news@dailylobo.com
UNM students are taking the future of the Lottery Scholarship into their own hands. Tuesday is UNM Day, the annual University advocacy event at the New Mexico Legislature, where students can talk to their legislators face-to-face. “It’s the perfect opportunity for students to show our representatives and senators what UNM’s needs are, as well as to get students politically connected with their legislators,” said Cindy Nava, ASUNM executive director of governmental affairs.
Inside the
This year, students are focusing on securing the solvency of the Lottery Scholarship. Other concerns include maintaining the current in-state tuition rates, securing enough funding for the University to keep the UNM shuttle bus system running and maintaining the campus lighting network. ASUNM President Caroline Muraida said ASUNM spent months preparing to tackle the Lottery Scholarship solvency issue. “I personally worked very closely with student regent Jacob Wellman to come up with helpful ideas,” she said. “As a whole, we’ve been looking to other states to see what they’ve been doing to save their similar programs.”
So sad
Escape to the beach
see Page 12
see Page 8
Daily Lobo volume 117
issue 88
Muraida said she and Wellman emphasize the importance of having students be aware of the causes at stake. “Lots of students use these things we’re advocating for, whether it’s campus shuttles or the Lottery Scholarship,” Muraida said. “They should know that they can make a difference when it comes to keeping these things around.” Nava said that this year, ASUNM developed a new plan for students to engage legislators in meaningful dialogue both one-on-one in their offices and on the floor of the Legislature. “In previous years, students
would drop by (legislators’ offices) for casual visits,” she said. “This time though we’ve had training sessions for students on what UNM’s needs are so they can speak to their legislators effectively in favor of the issues.” Trainers taught students how to talk to legislators and how to accurately and succinctly articulate UNM’s needs, she said. The training ended with mock legislator interviews to further aid students, she said. “We don’t want them to be scared or uncomfortable when talking to these people, especially oneon-one,” Nava said.
According to a new report, New Mexico has some of the most unsafe hospitals in the nation, including UNMH. The “Hospital Safety Score,” a report released by The Leapfrog Group, a nonprofit based in Washington D.C., assessed the safeness of hospitals in the U.S. by using hospitals’ existing public records. The report assigned letter grades to hospitals ranging from A to D. New Mexico has the lowest percent of A-grade hospitals in the nation. Of the 14 evaluated hospitals in New Mexico, seven got a C. UNMH, the state’s biggest hospital, was one of them. Roswell Regional Hospital was the only hospital in the state to receive a D. Five hospitals, including Albuquerque’s Presbyterian Hospital got a B, and only Espanola Hospital got an A. The group’s communications manager Erica Mobley said a panel of medical experts from institutions such as Harvard and Stanford conducted the report. She said the group started working on the report last June, and the results are based on public hospital reports they gathered from Medicare and from the American Hospital Association. Mobley said the panel used 26 measures to evaluate hospitals’ scores. This included 11 criteria that counted the number of problem cases, such as bedsores. The other 15 measures scored hospitals on a scale of 1 to 100, 100 being the best possible score, based on the panel’s evaluations for categories such as ICU death rates. Mobley said UNM scored average in the report, because 44 percent of all hospitals got a C or lower, 30 percent received an A, and 26 percent received a B. But Mobley said UNMH scored below average in certain areas, such as the number of patients who develop bedsores. On average, 25 percent of patients develop bedsores at UNMH, compared to the national average of 12 percent, according to the report. The panel also scored UNMH five out of 100 on Intensive Care Unit physician staffing; the national average is 23.08 out of 100. The panel used this to calculate the death rate in UNMH’s ICU, which is more than 20 percent. “Anybody who’s going to a hospital is already sick in the first place,” Mobley said. “But these things are something that happened accidentally that shouldn’t
see UNMH PAGE 5
TODAY
56 | 25