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Thursday, Januar y 24, 2019 | Vo l u m e 1 2 3 | I s s u e 3 8
Tense debate dominates ASUNM meeting UNM profs work to protect NM water By Justin Garcia @Just516garc
By Megan Holmen @megan_holmen
In a recent University of New Mexico community outreach project, “New Mexico Water: What our Next Leaders Need to Know,” UNM professors called upon recent Governor-Elect Michelle Lujan Grisham to protect New Mexico’s water. Recommendations from the project includes increased involvement in water issues by Lujan Grisham, assuring appropriate regulatory programs from federal agencies, addressing climate change and providing financial assistance to small communities to meet water needs. Bruce Thomson, one of the organizers of the conference that produced the project and a research professor in the Civil Engineering Department at UNM, said each year UNM holds a water conference and the most recent one focused on recommendations for the new governor.
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A long and confrontational debate arose in the Associated Students of University of New Mexico’s first full senate meeting of the semester. The debate regarded a $650 line item of an over $3,000 appropriation for LoboTHON after it was announced that ASUNM will be operating with an $99,852 budget. Last semester, ASUNM appropriated roughly $30,000. LoboTHON was eventually awarded $3,189 for costs associated with the groups yearly dance marathon and travel fees for a conference in July. LoboTHON is a student organisation that raises money for the UNM Children's Hospital. According to representatives of LoboTHON some of the appropriation was designated for hiring security for LoboTHON’s yearly dance marathon. Nearly, all of the Senate had something to say about this. The debate centered around whether the dance marathon — to be held in the Student Union Building ballrooms — required security guards at each of its three exits. The new standing rules passed roughly an hour before the debate prevented senators from funding LoboTHON’s request for security in full. However, as many senators pointed out, standing rules can be suspended.
Senator Gabriel Ruja recommended that LoboTHON rely on University of New Mexico Police Department. Steering & Rules chair Mohammed Assed advocated to fund them in full. Assed is also LoboTHON’s Family-Hospital Relations Director. Finance Chair Holly Gallegos
Justin Garcia/ @DailyLobo/ Daily Lobo
Senator Jacob Silva (left) after becoming ASUNM President Pro Tempore.
said the senate was already giving LoboTHON a break since this was something that should have been requested in the budget process. “It’s not our job to clean up other people's mistakes,” she added. After the first vote to reduce the request to $425, Assed responded to Gallegos, saying it was, in fact a
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
Lobos best UNLV in overtime By Cameron Goeldner
Attorney General Emily Hartshorn then raised a point of inquiry. She said that Robert’s Rules, the most common set of parliamentary procedure rules and the set that ASUNM follows, was clear about what members like Assed who are affiliated with LoboTHON ought to do. She said that Robert Rules would have
@kyleoftheland
Cameron Goeldner /@Goeldfinger /Daily Lobo
Jayla Everett goes up for a shot over Katie Powell of UNLV during the first quarter of Wednesday’s game. The Lobos won 80-77 in overtime.
down by three. From there, the Lobos overtook UNLV and ended the first quarter with a 19-13 lead. The seconds started out with more of the same, as UNM built a 12 point lead before UNLV answered back. Nikki Wheatley led the way for the Rebels throughout the first half, finishing with 12 points and leading the charge that got the game back within four by halftime. The second half followed a similar script, with the Lobos building out a lead that reached 15 in the third quarter thanks to strong play from Nunn, who finished
On the Daily Lobo website Garcia: Becka Myers — A profile
the game with 26 points and 12 rebounds. She became the third player in program history to score 1000 career points and record 800 career rebounds. UNLV came storming right back though, as Powell, who finished the first half with two points, scored seven in the third quarter alone to cut the lead back to single digits before the Lobos got it to 11 at the end of the third quarter. In the fourth, the Lobos watched their lead evaporate as Powell came on even stronger, pairing with Wheatley to form a
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them abstain from voting but, at the end of the day, it was up to the individual Senators. In the final vote to fund the LoboTHON appropriation, ten senators voted for while nine abstained, including Assed. Before the debate, Senators elected a new President Pro Tempore. With an 11 to nine vote, Jacob Silva was elected to the position. The meeting saw Silva and Senator Mohammed Jaber nominated for the position whose responsibilities include sitting in on a committee and being “the glue holding (the) Senate together,” according to the ASUNM previous President Pro Tempore, Satchel Ben. After the meeting Silva said becoming President Pro Tempore was something he wanted. He said he plans on revamping Senator’s office hours and “holding senators accountable.” Three other appropriation were also passed. The Honor Society Association’s group charter received $1,326. The groups interim president Victoria Knight said the awarded money would go to cover travel cost to attend the Western Regional Honors Colleges conference. The appropriation was approved unanimously. Knight said HSA would also be making a stop at Yellowstone National Park using some of the money awarded. In addition to being HSA’s
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C&J debates undergoing reaccreditation By Kyle Land
@Goeldfinger The UNLV Rebels are one of only two teams in college basketball this year to come away with a win over the New Mexico Lobos, and they almost doubled up on their win in Las Vegas two weeks ago, but Katie Powell was unable to get a shot off for the Rebels down three in overtime, and the Lobos escaped with an 80-78 win in overtime. “This is UNLV. They’re hard for us to play against, hard for anybody to play against,” head coach Mike Bradbury said. “It’s hard to score against them, I thought we executed really well for the most part, and really good in overtime.” With the win, the Lobos move to 16-2 (6-1 MW) and drop the Rebels to 5-12 (3-3 MW) on the season. The Lobos retain their tie for second place with Utah State, one game behind conference leaders Boise State. UNLV got off to a hot start, taking a 7-0 lead before the Lobos were able to get on the board with a free throw from Jaisa Nunn nearly three minutes into the game. From there, the tide of the game swung dramatically in the Lobos’ favor, as Aisia Robertson was fouled on the following possession, which was followed by a technical foul called on UNLV head coach Kathy Olivier. After two made free throws and a bucket on the ensuing possession, suddenly the Lobos were only
Senator’s duty to clean up mistakes of students groups. That vote narrowly passed with 12 in favor and eight opposed. The second vote to further reduce the line item to $325 succeeded with ten in favor, nine against with Senator Selina Montoya as the sole abstention.
Heads of the University of New Mexico Communication and Journalism department are uncertain whether or not they will go forward with being re-accredited by an outside organization due to the cost and demanding requirements. The department first received accreditation from the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications (ACEJMC) in 1955. The ACEJMC’s task is to accredit professional journalism and mass communication programs at universities and colleges across the country, according to the council’s website. Departments and programs are not required to go through the accreditation process. C&J Chair David Weiss said the department does not have the funds to go through the process — around $30,000. He also said ACEJMC requires yearly dues of $2,000 that put additional financial strain on the department, an assessment that Associate Chair Tamar Ginossar agreed with. “It would be more a financial decision, whether we can afford it or not,” Ginossar said. Weiss also said the process of performing a departmental self-study for accreditation was particularly time-consuming, especially with the
amount of faculty the department possesses. Large appendices are required to be put together before a site visit is performed by ACEJMC. Weiss said he would be meeting with President Garnett Stokes, interim-Provost Richard Wood, and College of Arts and Sciences Dean Mark Peceny in order to request the funds necessary to be re-accredited. However, he said that receiving the $30,000 would not solve all the issues this process presents. “Even if (the President) gives me the $30,000, she’s not going to give me the bodies to put those books together,” Weiss said. “We’re a strong department and I don’t know if we’re strong because we’re accredited.” ACEJMC sets nine standards programs have to meet in order to be accredited, including curriculum and instruction, as well as full-time and part-time faculty ratios. The latter requires that “full-time faculty have primary responsibility for teaching, research/creative activity and service.” The council last performed a site visit to UNM in November 2013. The department passed and received accreditation, but the team noted in their report that the department “relied heavily for a few years on part-time faculty in excess of accreditation limits.” At the time, the department
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C&J page 3
Land: Required events for members of Greek Life