DAILY LOBO new mexico
Cry baby
friday
see Page 4
February 22, 2013
The Independent Student Voice of UNM since 1895
ASUNM votes to evict mor chikin
SWEET AND SOUR
Senate cites Chick-fil-A’s stance on LGBTQ issues by Ardee Napolitano news@dailylobo.com
The Associated Students of the University of New Mexico approved a resolution on Wednesday night to replace the controversial Chick-fil-A in the SUB with another restaurant. ASUNM Vice President Sunny Liu said that out of ASUNM’s 20 senators, 15 voted in favor of the resolution, three voted against, and two abstained. Liu said the resolution reflects the student government’s official stance on the issue. He said the resolution aims to make the University more comfortable for minority groups, especially LGBTQ students, on campus, even though 85 percent of students surveyed said they wanted Chick-fil-A to stay. “We did not feel that it was right to remain silent on such a big student concern on campus,” he said. “The Senate chose to put the question on the table and take a stance on it. We are here to represent all students, not just the majority.” In June and July of last year, Chick-fil-A Chief Operating Officer Dan Cathy made several public comments against same-sex marriage, saying that those who “have the audacity to define what marriage is about” were “inviting God’s judgment on our nation.” Several media outlets then reported that the restaurant, with branches in 38 states in the U.S., has donated millions to anti-gay marriage groups such as the Family Research Council. But on July 31, 2012, Chick-fil-A issued a statement saying it was leaving the debate over same-sex marriage to politicians. The resolution was sponsored by four ASUNM senators, ASUNM Attorney General Jeff Dan Herrera and the UNM Social Justice League. Liu said the resolution is ASUNM’s formal recommendation regarding Chick-fil-A, and that ASUNM plans to forward it to University bodies such as the Board of Regents, the President’s Office and the SUB Board. He said the SUB Board, which “has more jurisdiction on the issue” than ASUNM, will vote next Wednesday on whether to let Chick-fil-A stay in the SUB. The SUB Board will have the final say on whether to keep Chick-fil-A. Liu said that because ASUNM conducted student surveys about
see ASUNM PAGE 3
Inside the
Daily Lobo volume 117
issue 107
Jamie Kovach Today’s Exposing the Occult features work from UNM MFA student Jamie Kovach’s thesis exposition, Good & Plenty. The show opens April 5 at 5G Noth Gallery 1715 Fifth Street N.W.
New system to track student grades Starfish software will allow advisors to follow student progress and help students schedule advisement by Tanya Prather
news@dailylobo.com New software will allow advisers to directly monitor students’ grades. UNM advisement staff will get a helping hand from Starfish Retention Solutions, a case management system for advisers to track students and help them continue on to graduation. Director of University Advisement Vanessa Harris said Starfish is a retention tool rather than an advisement tool. “We didn’t purchase this tool to replace advisement,” she said. “Starfish aims to help advisers track students and their progression, because students may not always want to admit they’re doing poorly, and there is currently no way of finding out if they are,” Harris said. “Data will be automatically fed from (Blackboard) into Starfish and faculty will be able to send referrals and kudos to students,” she said. With Starfish, students can
also schedule advisement appointments, and it should be easier to see which adviser is theirs. Starfish also features an early alert system with which advisers can gather information from faculty members about how students are faring throughout the semester. For example, if a student is
replacement UNM Learn, making it easier to provide and follow student progression. This was one of the primary reasons the University chose the software, Harris said. Some students, such as communications and journalism major Meghan Mulryan, have mixed feelings about whether they feel this system is an invasion of privacy.
“Starfish aims to help advisers track students and their progression, because students may not always want to admit they’re doing poorly,” ~Vanessa Harris director of university advisement on probation, Harris said, that student will have instant access to a probation plan set in place by advisement to ensure the student follows the steps to get back on track. Starfish integrates with all UNM systems, such as WebCT and its
Safe lead in the MWC
In the swing of things
see Page 5
see Page 6
“I respect UNM’s efforts to try and get students a little more involved,” she said, “but I think that this is college and I feel like that’s a little bit high school and we need to be responsible for our own grades and our own future.” Others feel as though this
initiative can benefit their college experience. “I think if they offer (help), that would be a lot better than trying to find it,” UNM student Alberto Griego said. Harris said that in the last year and a half, a UNM committee has investigated and tested every retention tool on the market and reference checked other institutions that use Starfish, which all deemed the software successful. According to SRS’s website, more than 175 universities nationwide use Starfish as their retention management tool, including nearby universities such as Northern Arizona University, University of Texas at El Paso and Texas A&M. Harris said the initiative will cost “less than $100,000 for the University as a whole” but she would not disclose the exact cost of the project to the Daily Lobo, nor disclose the names of others who would know the cost. However, a public records
see Starfish PAGE 3
TODAY
48 |27