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Thursday, Februar y 13, 2020 | Vo l u m e 1 2 4 | I s s u e 4 2
ASUNM votes to raise student fees Issue to go before student body in March By Alyssa Martinez @amart4447
Editor’s note: The approval of this legislation by the student body would financially benefit the Daily Lobo. The editorial board neither supports nor opposes a student government fee raise. A $5 fee raise is headed to the undergraduate student body for a vote during the March student government presidential and vice-presidential elections. 19 of the 20 undergraduate representatives voted for Bill 4S after nearly 30 minutes of public comment and debate over the strengths and weaknesses of each fee raise bill. This approval comes in the wake of what has been called a budget crisis within the Associated Students of the University of New Mexico body. John Cooke, Interfraternity Council (IFC) president and Sigma Chi fraternity vice president, returned to the full Senate to express his view on the importance of raising the student government fee during public comment. Cooke asserted the fee raise is critical because — aside from inflation and a nearly twodecade hiatus since the last
student government fee raise — the University, on the whole, does not invest enough in student life on campus. "They are killing us off one by one," Cooke said. "They wonder why student enrollment has dropped 22% in five years — well it’s because, in all honesty, this is a very boring campus." Cooke added that the financial problems the student government is facing are not solely ASUNM's fault. "For the longest time, I said that ASUNM is worthless — I apologize, I was wrong," Cooke said. "You guys are handcuffed by this administration, you guys are handcuffed by people well above you, and you can’t do anything about it." Cooke went on to reiterate that he believes the fee raise should actually be higher, but that either fee raise bill was a necessary start to amend the budget issues ASUNM faces. The victorious bill was not the only fee raise option the Senate considered. Bill 5S would have prorated the fee raise at $2.08 per credit hour, rather than the current $1.67 per credit hour rate, and was projected to gather about $777,208.75
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Email scams disproportionately harm minority students By Beatrice Nisoli @BeatriceNisoli University of New Mexico students have seen a drastic increase in phishing emails since the start of the academic year, and these emails are disproportionately affecting first-generation and low-income students. Tamara Martinez, a student success specialist at UNM’s Student Support Service office, said
first-generation and low-income students view scam job offers as ways to pay for tuition or housing rent fees. As a student success specialist, Martinez creates scholarship and financial aid workshops for students most in need of them, assists with course and degree plan selections, and helps students set attainable goals for graduation. According to Martinez,
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Photo courtesy of Canadian Centre for Cyber Security (@cybercentre_ca)
Justin Garcia / @Just516garc / Daily Lobo
Former ASUNM Sen. Xavier Torres speaking against the proposed fee raise on Feb. 12, 2020. Torres, who supported a similar legislative package last semester, said he felt ASUNM should focus on outreach to students before raising their fees.
Opportunity Scholarship moves forward with changes By Lissa Knudsen @lissaknudsen Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham’s free college tuition "Opportunity Scholarship" legislation still has a chance. Despite the governor’s high profile press conference last fall announcing the initiative and a direct appeal to state legislators in her State of the State address, Democratic Rep. Tomás Salazar introduced HB 14 — the Opportunity Scholarship Act — nearly a week into the 30-day session. The bill then languished for 15 days before it was heard in its first committee on Tuesday, Feb. 11. Typically, a bill that is introduced late and isn’t placed on a committee agenda for nearly two weeks during a 30-day session indicates that the legislation doesn’t have the support it needs to make it through both chambers to the governor’s desk. Sen. Bill O’Neill (D-Albuquerque) confirmed in a text with the
Daily Lobo that the bill "ran into trouble in its first committee." However, the senator said that committee members and champions of the scholarship "huddled (and) came back with a committee sub addressing the concerns." The committee sub, which revised the bill’s original language, would allow for students to access Opportunity Scholarship funds before they use any federal funding. This means that Pell Grant and other federal grant funds could still be used for books and other living expenses after the Opportunity Scholarship covers tuition and fees. According to the revised bill, the state funding would not apply to University of New Mexico and other four-year college and university students until 2021. The new language calls for a staggered rollout, with just community college students becoming eligible in the fall of 2020. Barbara Damron, UNM’s chief government relations officer,
stood in support of the bill but indicated there would be more work next year. "I implore this body to remember this when we come back next year for phase two of this bill for the four-year universities — that we not be forgotten in the next 12 months — we will be back here talking about that phase of the bill," Damron said. According to Sen. Bill O’Neill (D-Albuquerque), part of the new strategy to get the bill through both chambers was to introduce a mirror version of the revised bill on the Senate side. Thus, SB 323 was introduced on Feb. 8 and heard in the New Mexico Senate Education Committee (SEC) on Wednesday — just four days later and the day after the committee sub was approved on the House side. Even with the recent amendments, however, the bill remains controversial. Sen. Mimi Stewart (D-Albuquerque) expressed concerns about the discrepancy between
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