DAILY LOBO new mexico
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tuesday February 19, 2013
The Independent Student Voice of UNM since 1895
‘Untold Stories’ of sexual assault
PUPPY LOVE
Anonymous publication to give voice to victims by Antonio Sanchez news@dailylobo.com
Lenny Ignelzi / AP Photo In this Nov. 29, 2012 photo, Shiley, a male cheetah, and Yeti, a female Anatolian shepherd who serves as Shiley’s partner, take a break outside the elephant enclosure during a walk through Safari Park in Escondido, Calif. Some zoos are using “companion dogs” to calm the skittish, endangered cheetahs. See full story Page 3.
IN SESSION
Lawmakers look at Lottery Scholarship by John Tyczkowski news@dailylobo.com
Three major Lottery Scholarship bills with plans to keep the scholarship funded have seen action in the Legislature this week. On Friday, House Bill 27, “Expand Lottery Scholarship Eligibility,” sponsored by Rep. Sheryl Williams Stapleton (D-Albuquerque), was defeated in the House Education Committee. However, a replacement version of the bill passed on Friday by a vote of 9 to 4. The Lottery Scholarship, which provides tuition for eligible New Mexicans attending state universities, is slated to effectively run out of funds this July if full tuition continues to be awarded to the next group of eligible students starting school this fall. The original version of the HB 27 would fund Lottery Scholarships for students entering fouryear colleges within two years of high school graduation; the revision maintains the current limit of 120 days after graduation. In addition, the original version provides assistance for students who enter immediately into a two-year community college. The revision changes the limit to within two years of high school graduation, provided that the student immediately transfers to a four-year
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school upon completion of the two-year coursework. The revised version also adds a provision for students planning to enter technical and vocational schools. These students may receive the Lottery Scholarship if they attend such a school fulltime within two years of graduation from high school or receiving their GED. The revised bill goes next to the House Appropriations and Finance Committee, hearing date to be determined.
Funding the scholarship with tobacco money In the Senate on Friday, Senate Bill 392, “Lottery Tuition Fund Distributions,” sponsored by Sen. Michael S. Sanchez (D-Belen), was defeated in the Senate Education Committee. A substitute bill passed on Friday by a vote of 6 to 3. The first version of the bill would funnel 25 percent of the state’s tobacco settlement permanent fund, consisting of money paid by tobacco companies to the state to pay back tobacco-related health care costs, into the Lottery Scholarship fund, starting this July. About $10 million from the projected $39.5 million for fiscal year 2014 would be allocated, according to the bill’s fiscal impact report.
The substitute also requires that, through FY 2016, the governor authorize the transfer of up to 1 percent of the balance of New Mexico’s general fund operating reserve to fund the Lottery Scholarship if the state treasurer certifies that scholarship does not have enough money to meet its scholarship obligation for the year. This general fund is projected to have roughly $320 million for FY 2014. The substitute version of the bill will head next to the Senate Finance Committee, hearing date to be determined.
Requiring repayment if degree not completed Also in the Senate, the fiscal impact report was released on Friday for SB 451, “Lottery Scholarship Requirements & Debt,” sponsored by Sen. William H. Payne (R-Albuquerque). According to the report, SB 451 would require that students pay back their Lottery Scholarship funds to the state if they drop out of school mid-degree, fail out of school, or fail to maintain the requirements for receiving aid. Also, if a scholarship recipient receives four years of funding but fails to graduate in six years, he or she would have to repay two semesters of assistance to
Gotta catch ‘em all
The Death Star always wins
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the state. All debts would include interest at a rate to be determined by the Higher Education Department. The bill also adds three new requirements for receiving the Lottery Scholarship. It raises the GPA requirement for Lottery Scholarship recipients from 2.5 to 2.75; requires that recipients earn at least a 21 on the ACT or at least a 1500 on the SAT; and mandates that the 12 credit-hour requirement exclude remedial courses. The report notes several substantive issues with the bill. The bill does not say whether students currently receiving the scholarship would be held to the new requirements. For students required to pay back their scholarship as a debt to the state, the bill does not say where the debt money would be deposited. The report also questions whether the bill would give the Higher Education Department enough time to draw up new scholarship forms and documents in time for students eligible for assistance beginning in the fall, when the bill’s provisions would take effect. Furthermore, the report suggests that the HED is unequipped to handle the aid-to-loan program without incurring substantial administrative costs which the bill does not provide.
For the first time ever, UNM will have a publication dedicated to victims of on-campus sexual assaults. “Saturday Night: Untold Stories of Sexual Assault at UNM” is an upcoming website that will publish written accounts and artistic expressions of sexual assault on campus. It is an anonymous publication that allows those affected by campus sexual assault to safely share their stories. Angela Catena, a graduate student assistant at the UNM Women’s Resource Center, is publishing the site. Women’s Resource Center Interim Director Summer Little said “Saturday Night” will accept student submissions until March 10, and the annual publication should be published online in April, during Sexual Assault Awareness Month. After Catena arrived at UNM last fall and began work at the WRC, she spoke to the head of the center about raising awareness of campus sexual assaults. In Catena’s search, she discovered “Saturday Night,” an online publication at Duke University that promotes campus sexual assault awareness. The publication began in 2003 and the concept of “Saturday Night” quickly spread, as other universities across the country produced similar publications. “I thought this online journal would be a way for people to come together as a community and let them know that this isn’t a rare event on a college campus and that they’re not alone,” Catena said. Little said contributing to publications such as “Saturday Night” helps victims through the healing process. “We’re hoping that that is a benefit for people who want to share their story. Speaking out has a lot of power and sexual violence is about taking somebody’s power, so whatever survivors can do to take their power back is beneficial for them,” she said. Little said campus sexual assaults tend to go unreported. According to UNMPD crime statistics, there were two reported on-campus sexual assaults in 2011 and two in 2010, while in 2009 there were six on-campus sexual assaults reported, including three assaults reported in residential
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