DAILY LOBO new mexico
The Independent Student Voice of UNM since 1895 University thanks to their father’s by Antonio Sanchez news@dailylobo.com @AntonioReporter
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reshman Rebekah Bibb is no stranger to moving. Raised in an Army family with four other siblings, Bibb lived in Virginia, Alabama, Washington, Oregon and several towns in New Mexico before her moved to Santa Fe, just in time for her to enter kindergarten. Although Bibb left the Land of Enchantment and attended high school in Washington D.C., she said she returned to New Mexico to spend time with family and pursue higher education at UNM. “This is my home,” Bibb said. “This is my headquarters.” Bibb is one of 479 students this semester who received the UNM Scholars scholarship. According to the University Scholarship website, UNM Scholars recipients receive approximately $6,248 per year, with the tuition portion of the scholarship funded by the Legislative Lottery Scholarship. Before Bibb made her decision to attend UNM, she said she was concerned about college tuition. Although Bibb was the third sibling in her family to enter college, she was the first to seek financial aid. Her oldest brother attended Liberty University thanks to his GI Bill and her second brother attended Full Sail
GI Bill. “Both of my older brothers had their tuition covered, and they didn’t have to take out any loans, so that left me going, ‘Oh,
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I have to look for scholarships,’ and I knew I didn’t want to do loans,” she said. “I didn’t care what I had to do. I just wanted to get out of college debt-free because I didn’t want to have that
sitting on my shoulders for however long.” However, because Bibb has family members in New Mexico and her father is a New Mexico Guardsman, she said she was
Scholarship lifts burdens
Ardee Napolitano/@ArdeeTheJourno / Daily Lobo UNM student Rebekah Bibb at the College of Education building Jan. 27. Bibb is one of 479 students this semester who depend on the UNM Scholars scholarship. The scholarship is partially funded by the Legislative Lottery Scholarship, which is in danger of losing funds because of deteriorating lottery sales in recent years.
able to apply for the UNM Scholars scholarship. The scholarship has helped lift a financial burden off of her parents, she said. “The big thing is, I didn’t have to take out a loan, and they can also still help out the other two kids still in school,” she said. Bibb, entering her second semester, said her scholarship has helped her pursue a career in nursing. “I’ve always loved taking care of people, especially with my little brother when he would get sick or he would get hurt. I would just love taking care of him. That was one time where we would actually get along when we were little,” she said. “I’ve always had the gift of compassion and empathy for others that I feel would be best in the nursing environment.” With solvency solutions for the scholarship at the center of this year’s legislative session, Bibb said senators and representatives should consider raising the GPA requirement for the scholarship. Having graduated from her high school with a 3.98 GPA, Bibb said a student’s potential for success can be found in the classroom. “What you’re doing in the classroom, that is representative of are you taking the time to study your tests, are you doing what you need to do to get where you want to go,” she said.
Transparency, vets, ‘N-word’ a complex issue education on slate by Tomas Lujan and Chloe Henson
by John Tyczkowski news@dailylobo.com @JCTyczkowski
Now that the deadline for introducing new legislation has passed, state legislators must now begin debate on a large number of bills. Below is a breakdown of four bills relating to higher education, transparency and economic development, including their sponsors, topics and locations in the legislative process. House Bill 18 – UNM Space Technology Consortium This bill, sponsored by Rep. Carl Trujillo, D-Santa Fe, aims to transfer $60,000 from the New Mexico general fund to the University to support the creation of a new space technology consortium. The transfer would be a recurring expense beginning in fiscal year 2015. A problem noted with HB 18 in a fiscal impact report is that the bill does not include enough specifics on the scope and role of such a consortium, and that the bill may be unnecessary if the new consortium would duplicate the efforts of the alreadyexisting New Mexico Space Grant Consortium. The bill is awaiting debate in the House Education Committee. House Bill 331 — Military service degree program credit This bill, sponsored by Rep. Thomas A. Anderson, R-Albuquerque, seeks to allow coursework
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completed in the military, or any military service deemed “relevant and transferable” for a college degree program to be transferred for credit. Students would need to provide the appropriate military transcripts showing that they completed such coursework or service. HB 331 is scheduled to start debate today in the House Rules & Order of Business Committee. House Bill 341 and Senate Bill 201 — Sunshine Portal open records changes The house bill, sponsored by Rep. Mimi Stewart, D-Albuquerque, and the senate bill, sponsored by Sen. Cisco McSorley, D-Albuquerque, both contain identical language and aim to apply the New Mexico Inspection of Public Records Act to contracts listed online that cost more than $20,000 in total. Information about such contracts is currently limited to the recipient of the contract, the purpose of the contract and the contract’s amount, according to New Mexico state law. According to the bills, new information available about such bills would include a full description of the contract and its services, the state agency entering into the contract, the contract’s expiration date, the contractor’s pay per fiscal year, how much contractors’ and subcontractors’ employees are being paid and the total projected cost of the contract.
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issue 92
Cinnamon Burton had just finished doing her laundry in the Laguna 2 dormitory last Friday. She had no idea that upon returning to her dorm, she would see that someone had scrawled a racial slur
her. This incident happened after multiple instances of fellow students on her floor making racist or demeaning comments. “Coming from a predominantly black area — I’m from Maryland — I was never really exposed to that until coming out here,” Burton said. Burton said she was afraid that the residential adviser of her dormitory
see Racism PAGE 3
Aaron Sweet/@AaronCSweet / Daily Lobo Members of the African American Student Services held a discussion Thursday at the Student Union Building titled “What’s up my N?”, on the use of the word “n*****.”
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news@dailylobo.com @ChloeHenson5, @TomasBLujan
on a white board on one of her suitemate’s doors. “N****r,” the board read. “After I saw it, I immediately took a picture,” Burton said at a Civil Campus Council forum held on Thursday in the Student Union Building. Because she is the only AfricanAmerican student on the floor, Burton said she quickly realized that the racial slur was directed towards
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