DAILY LOBO new mexico
Sad Lobos see Page 4
The Independent Student Voice of UNM since 1895
monday March 25, 2013
GPSA presidential hopefuls square off Candidates talk campus safety, communication by John Tyczkowski and Antonio Sanchez news@dailylobo.com
GPSA presidential candidates Sharif Gias and Priscila Poliana debated for the final time this weekend before the April 1-4 elections. Both candidates retreaded old ground regarding campus safety and student/administration relations, but also discussed new approaches to UNM campus relations and diversity. Campus relations Friday’s debate, held at the Domenici Auditorium on north campus, began with both candidates discussing the relationship between the north and main campuses. Poliana focused her concerns on the Student Health & Counseling Center (SHAC), and said she wanted to hear input from medical students about possible new directions for SHAC. “I need the help because the nursing students, the pharmacy students, the medical students, they are the ones that know what’s going on better than I do because I don’t have the skills that they do, so I need
their input,” she said. Gias said that if elected, he would push for a community project between different departments throughout the University. He said students from north and main campuses have skills that can complement one another. “We need to create a community project. Don’t forget, we graduate students have the best ideas. It’s not time for us to sit and think about what GPSA will do — we are graduate students, I need your ideas,” he said. Campus safety Both candidates agreed Friday that the University’s safety was a primary concern. Gias said that as president of GPSA, he would work alongside the University to create a website and forum where students could voice their safety worries. Gias proposed having a shuttle that runs past 10 p.m., which is when all shuttle buses currently stop running. He said this would help bolster security for students studying on campus late at night. Gias said this idea came to him after one late-night study session on campus. “I was walking and I was concerned someone was following me — sometimes I don’t feel safe when I walk at night so had there been one shuttle, it would help,” he said. Poliana said she is focused on
safety options students already have, specifically the campus security escort service. “I know there is a demand for the escort service, I want to make sure this works,” she said. “We need to make sure if we’re offering this, we need to make sure UNM cops are getting there timely.” She then said she was not implying UNMPD is late, but she was
saying if we have this program, we have to make sure it is working well and proficiently at all times. Students and administrators During Saturday’s debate, both candidates agreed the lines of communication between students and administrators need to be clearer so both groups’ needs can be heard and acted upon. “I feel frustration when I talk to
students regarding the changes they want to see,” Poliana said. Poliana said she had met with Graduate Resource Center Executive Director Lawrence Roybal to discuss how the GRC can better serve students. Additionally, she said she would talk to administration and faculty to learn how to effectively
involved after witnessing a domestic violence dispute. Most of the men responded that they would “mind their own business.” But if it appeared the woman did not have a direct relation to that man, only then did the men in the video say they would step in. Bunch said this illustrated how men in society view a woman as an object belonging to a man if they are in a relationship. Factors such as these contribute to at least three women a day being murdered by
their partners, mostly during or after separation, he said. One boy at the lecture disagreed with most of the men in the film, and said he would step in whether or not the woman was involved with the man assaulting her. “I would definitely not say (mind my own business), I would get involved,” 15-year-old Bastin Avila said. Avila said he has been influenced by the women in his family almost all his life to be a femi-
nist and thought by going to the event it would help him be part of that voice. “It helps me understand how men are influenced to treat women and see men’s perspective of women,” he said to the Daily Lobo after the talk. Women in the room were asked to raise their hand if they do anything during their day to make themselves feel less at risk of being sexually assaulted. As hands around the room came up, Bunch
asked the men to look around. “Every 12 seconds a man physically abuses a woman in this country and every nine seconds a man rapes or sexually assaults a woman,” he said. Some women explained what they do to protect themselves against such occurrences, such as parking under lights, avoiding eye contact, carrying their keys in a jabbing, outward position and
Sergio Jiménez / Daily Lobo GPSA presidential candidates Priscila Poliana, left, and Sharif Gias listen to a question from a GPSA Council member at their third debate Friday afternoon. GPSA elections are April 1 through 4.
see Debate PAGE 3
Lecturer: Men can end violence against women by Tanya Prather
news@dailylobo.com
Men and women united Tuesday night for a lecture on how men and boys can be the solution to ending violence against women and girls. “Why Good Men Are Silent” was given by Ted Bunch, co-founder of A Call to Men. This national prevention organization is part of UNiTE, a UN initiative committed to ending violence against women around the world. Bunch’s lecture, given in the Science and Math Learning Center, touched on key points such how men and boys are socialized as well as what society has come to perceive as the “man-box.” Bunch said the “man-box” is a social construction that includes all the clichés a boy hears growing up such as “be tough, don’t cry and don’t ask for help.” Bunch said that by telling our boys and men to “quit crying/acting like a girl,” we are teaching them that girls are weak and that we do not value them, which leads to disrespecting women. “Men don’t listen to the voices of women because men do not respect the voices of women,” Bunch said. “If men would listen to the voices of women, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.” He showed a video of men being asked if they would get
Inside the
Daily Lobo volume 117
issue 123
see Violence PAGE 3
Rachel Toraño-Mark / Daily Lobo Audience members attending the presentation on ending violence against women react to a speech given by Ted Bunch. Bunch’s talk focused on how men and boys are socialized to disrespect women and how they can break through that conditioning.
Pigs in a blanket
New home, new advantage
see Page 2
see Back Page
TODAY
55 | 31