NM Daily Lobo 11 13 17

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Monday, November 13, 2017 | Vo l u m e 1 2 2 | I s s u e 2 6

Drag contest celebrates LGBTQ culture

Brontë Procell / Daily Lobo / @DailyLobo

Sabryna Williams hosts the UNM QSA’s 9th annual drag show, “Drag in the USA,” on Nov. 11, 2017 at the SUB ballrooms.

By Rebecca Brusseau @r_brusseau The drag culture in New Mexico may be rather small, but the closeknit community got their chance to shine this weekend. On Nov. 11, the Queer Student

Alliance held their 9th annual drag show in the University of New Mexico Student Union Building: “Drag in the USA.” The show aimed to celebrate talent within the community and for contestants to compete for the title of Miss USA. This event was hosted by Sabryna Williams, who is an assistant manager

at the Albuquerque Social Club, New Mexico’s longest running LGBT bar. The show was sponsored by Self Serve, Boba Tea, Rude Boy Cookies and the LGBTQ Resource Center. Williams emceed the event, introducing the different personalities, interacting with the audience and invoking laughter

with a sense of humor that could only be described as vivacious. Williams even took the stage at one point, performing a dance routine. The show included performers widely known in the LGBTQ community, alongside three drag queen up-and-comers. Some of the performers included Kalorie Karbdashian Williams, Lola La Verve Roxxx and Frida Roxxx, Kiki Stratton and William Eriks, who was recently crowned Mr. Gay New Mexico 2017. The contestants competing for the title of Miss USA included Nadia DeLeon, Willow Kerrigan LeBeaux and Milani Roman. The event was judged by: Division for Equity & Inclusion Diversity Programs Director Lorena BlancoSilva, Frankie Flores of QSA, UNM student and Gender-neutral and Allies resident advisor Deandre Durham, Jessica Holland from the Women’s Resource Center and Executive Director of Equality New Mexico Adrian N. Carver. “(The judges are) allies within our community and people that continue to work to make sure that our community remains inclusive and amazing,” Williams said. The evening included many highenergy performers who danced and lip-synched to songs by popular artists like Shakira and Beyoncé. During many of the performances, audience members approached the stage to tip the performers. While the event benefitted some by giving them exposure

and inducting them into the drag community, it was also a bonding experience for the performers. Many performers accompanied each other in various acts. Lola La Verve Roxxx and Frida Roxxx mentioned the bond that they formed while performing. “I am happy to say that Frida is my sister,” Lola La Verve Roxxx said. “I’m now a part of the Roxxx family.” The finale of the show included a performance from Sativa RicoStratton, which featured Kiki Stratton, among other performers from earlier in the evening. After the finale, DeLeon was crowned as Miss USA. The runner-up was Roman, and second runner-up was LeBeaux. “This brings awareness to the community when people come to watch the show,” Roman said. “Whether they are drag queens, transgender, lesbians, etc., they are (supported).” After the show ended, those who purchased a VIP ticket gathered at Effex Nightclub to continue celebrating. The next major event in the LGBTQ community is the New Mexico Pride Pageant, held at the African American Performing Arts Center on Nov. 17 and 18. Rebecca Brusseau is a news reporter at the Daily Lobo. She primarily covers the LGBTQ community. She can be contacted at news@dailylobo.com, or on Twitter @r_brusseau.

ASUNM

Audit unveils financial Candidates hope to diversify mismanagement By Brendon Gray

@notgraybrendon

By Cameron Goeldner @goeldfinger

The State Auditor released an audit Friday on the University of New Mexico Athletics Department, revealing the University has missed out on hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue, due to what the audit calls “a lack of financial controls and confusion about responsibilities among staff.” “A tangled web of transactions has made it difficult for the public, and even some of the financial staff at the University, to be able to decipher what is going on in the Athletics Department and the various supporting organizations,” State Auditor Tim Keller said in a press release after the audit was shared. The audit reported: $432,000 in uncollected revenue for luxury and club suites at Dreamstyle Arena which was previously reported, $250,000 in uncollected revenue

from a contract with Lobo Sports Properties and finally $185,000 in overpayments to coaches, which have since been recouped. The audit also revealed “problematic perks,” meaning public money commingled with money that was raised by the Lobo Club and other booster groups — those funds were used for purchases that “should have been purchased with Foundation funds but are not an appropriate use of public funds. The lack of clear policy and sources of funds leads to an appearance of impropriety at best and violations of the anti-donation clause of the New Mexico Constitution at worst.” The audit found 23 recipients of perks that did not make any sort of monetary donation to the University. The audit also dives into the “no clear lines of accountability” within the Lobo Club and similar organizations.

see

Audit page 3

On the Daily Lobo website BACA: Student Veterans of UNM celebrate grand opening of new facility

Editor’s Note: This article is part of a multimedia package, which includes a video produced by Makayla Grijalva accessible on our website and on our YouTube page, username: dailylobo. The Associated Students of the University of New Mexico are gearing up for another round of senate elections and, with only 10 available seats and 28 contenders, this semester’s competition is sure to be a tight race. Recent legislative changes have moved voting to back-to-back days. Polls open Monday morning, and online voting will remain available until Wednesday. The change was endorsed by the ASUNM student service agency Elections Commission with the intent of increasing voter turnout. “There is a specific group in (the ASUNM Senate), and they don’t reflect everyone,” said ASUNM Senator Emily Hartshorn,

who introduced the electionchanging legislation. Part of Hartshorn’s motivation to push through the legislation was to increase voter turnout and, as a result, increase the diversity of the students’ representative body. “The 20 senators are here to represent all students, not just the Greek program,” she said. “It is something we need to talk about.” The push for diversity is also coming from the executive desk. “The most important goal is to bring in diversity,” said Sally Midani, ASUNM vice president, in an August interview with the Daily Lobo. Though exact numbers were unclear at the first mandatory candidate meeting, there is a large pool of Greek life students running for office. While diversity in ASUNM is a concern for some, the primary goal for the Elections Commission is to ensure as many students as possible cast their votes. In the past, that has proven to be a challenge. Over the last decade, an average of 1,500 students have participated

in ASUNM elections. Last year 2,416 students and 1,551 students voted in the presidential and senatorial elections, respectively. That means about 10 percent of students make it out for ASUNM elections. On Nov. 1, candidates were endorsed by various chartered student organizations. During the endorsement forum, representatives from the three election slates responded to questions. All three slates — Collective, Lead ASUNM and Think UNM — have candidates contending in the election. Slates are groups of candidates who run with similar campaign goals, pooling their advertising and support. In previous elections, only candidates who were on slates made it into the next year’s Senate. After the forum, it is clear there will be a focus on financial responsibility, accountability and internal diversity. Brendon Gray is a beat reporter for the Daily Lobo. He primarily covers ASUNM. He can be contacted at news@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @notgraybrendon.

RIVERA: Q&A with ASUNM Senate candidates VALVERDE: Movie review — “Murder on the Orient Express” COWAN: Volleyball — Fresno, San Diego recap


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