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One Hundred Years of UNM — 2020 vs. 1920 By Makayla Grijalva Alyssa Martinez @MakaylaEliboria @amart447 A lot has changed in the past 100 years since the roaring 1920s. The end of the first World War, the ratification of the 19th Amendment and the tuberculosis pandemic all culminated at the turn of the 20th century — and the University of New Mexico was no stranger to these growing pains. From a birds-eye lens, UNM’s governance landscape was not too far off from today — there were budget shortages, transplant leadership, constant construction and athletic funding issues. However, only focusing on the similarities would be to erase the changes the University has made over the past century. Enrollment is — and likely always will be — a major focus of discussion surrounding the health of a university. If we look back to our 20th-century roots, we can see that UNM has historically attracted local New Mexicans seeking an accessible education. According to University Archivist Portia Vescio, UNM had just over 350 students enrolled 100 years ago. Today, that number sits at about 18,800 full-time students. With a growing population
comes a new range of challenges, from funding to leadership to vision. In 1919, the man chosen to reshape UNM and lead the University into a new decade was Tennesseeborn teacher David Spence Hill. A tale of two presidents Come 1920, UNM had only been up and running for just under three decades and the governance of the new University is evident of that, according to Vescio. “This was a time where the regents in the early University had a hard time finding presidents — they didn’t know what they were looking for,” Vescio said. “They were more businessmen, they didn’t necessarily have academic backgrounds, so they didn’t know what made a good president of a University.” Hill was appointed as president of UNM in 1919 and served until 1927 when he resigned. “The most common thing I think was said about Hill was that he had an 1890s mentality in the 1920s.” Vescio said. According to Vescio, the most notable difference between President Hill and current UNM President Garnett Stokes is their experience coming into the position, adding that Stokes has done a much better job leading the University than Hill. “She did have administrative experience when she was coming in, and so she had a better handle of what problems to expect,” Vescio
Emille Domschot / @erdomschot / Daily Lobo
Sara Reynolds Hall (left) in 2020. Sara Reynolds Hall (right) under construction in 1920. It opened later that year as the Home Economics Building. Courtesy of Center for Southwest Research, UNM University Libraries.
said. “I think she’s also done a really good job at listening to the faculty and staff and students and getting their opinions on what’s going on and what is needed — and that is something that Hill flat out refused to do.” In 1920, eight faculty members
Census looks to hire temporary workers in NM By Lissa Knudsen @lissaknudsen The 2020 U.S. census count will happen on April 1, 2020, and the federal government is still looking to hire thousands of temporary workers. A census worker in Bernalillo County will receive a pay rate of $16 to $17.50 per hour with checks disbursed weekly, according to the Census 2020 website, Jobs for the 2020 census include both field and office positions. A single application allows you to be considered for several positions, including census taker, census field supervisor, recruiting assistant, office clerk or office staff supervisor. University of New Mexico sociology professor Nancy Lopez told the Daily Lobo that students should apply to be census takers to “be part of history (and) shape the future,” adding that “your work will impact generations to come.” “Generally, hours for field positions are flexible. Some field positions require you to work during the day so you can see addresses on buildings. Other field positions require you to interview members of the public, so you must be available to work evenings and weekends when people are usually at home. Supervisory positions require employees to be available for a certain day, evening, and/or weekend shifts,” said the census website. If you would rather stay at the office and have a regular schedule, there are also administrative positions open. In mid-March, every home in the United States will be mailed an invitation to participate in the U.S. census. Once the invitation arrives, every resident will be encouraged to respond in one of three ways: online, by phone or by mail. When residents respond to the census, they tell the Census Bureau where they reside as of April 1, 2020.
According to the Census Bureau’s website, census takers will count people experiencing homelessness on March 30 and April 1. In May and July, they will begin visiting the homes that haven’t responded by internet, phone, or email to help make sure everyone is counted. Most census positions are anticipated to last several weeks, but employment may end at any time. Additionally, hours of work may be reduced as counts are completed. By December, after as many of the stragglers as possible have been found and counted, the Census Bureau will deliver its counts to the U.S. President and Congress. Census data is used to determine the number of representatives each state sends to Congress. While New Mexico is not expected to change the number of representatives in its congressional delegation in this census cycle, the state, counties and local municipalities will use the census data to draw election district boundaries. According to the Association of Public and Landgrant Universities’ website, “the census impacts congressional representation as well as federal funding for programs addressing student financial need, school safety and mental health services. In all, more than $675 billion in federal funds a year are distributed in part based on census data.” The private sector also relies on census data. “So many businesses decide where to invest based on census data,” Robert Rhatigan, interim director for Geospatial and Population Studies at the University of New Mexico told the Albuquerque Journal. “As they say, ‘bad data makes bad decisions.’”
Inside this Lobo: Knudsen: Vaping legislation in the roundhouse Gunn: US Soccer star Hope Solo coming to UNM
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resigned under President Hill after disagreeing with some of his policies, such as requiring all teaching faculty to carry graduate degrees, according to Vescio. “To Hill, they were just replaceable, so he replaced them,” Vescio said. “He accused his faculty of
inflating grades to make students look better, he cut paid salaries because we were having budget issues then.” Although Hill was not popular among University faculty, he worked to grow the engineering
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NM LEGISLATURE
What you need to know about free college By Alyssa Martinez @amart447 SANTA FE — Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham’s “moon shot” is a step closer to taking off. As the 2020 legislative session nears, some university students across the state are hailing the governor’s proposed “Opportunity Scholarship” as a way to alleviate student debt and provide “every New Mexico student with an opportunity for higher education.” Among them is the University of New Mexico’s undergraduate student government, who passed a resolution last fall in support of the scholarship. But even with UNM and NMSU’s bilateral endorsement of the scholarship, the details are — as of the publication of this article — confuddled. Here’s what we know The scholarship, as currently proposed by the governor, would render college essentially free for eligible state residents. Recipients of the scholarship would only be able to use it for five years, according to a Higher Education Department (HED) factsheet. However, UNM’s Office of Insti-
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tutional Analytics predicts 52% of students graduate at a six-year rate, and 48% at a five-year rate. The scholarship would have the same 2.5 GPA and 15-credit hour requirements as the lottery scholarship, according to HED Deputy Secretary Carmen López-Wilson. If a student wanted to use the scholarship at a four-year institution like UNM, the student must enroll within 16 months of graduation from a New Mexican high school (or a GED diploma). If not, the student would only be able to use it at a two-year institution, like Central New Mexico Community College (CNM). What we do not know: The long-term sustainability of the scholarship For the 2020 fiscal year, New Mexico is expected to have a $2 billion budget surplus. It’s also expected that a substantial portion of educational funding in the state drips down from the Permian Basin’s oil and gas production. According to a report by the Las Cruces Sun-News, an oil boom gave the state the funding needed to launch the scholarship, along with a number of other initiatives. But when the boom’s inevitably
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