DAILY LOBO new mexico
BACK TO SCHOOL August 11-17, 2014 | Volume 119 | Issue 1
The Independent Student Voice of UNM since 1895
Flood damage lingers as term looms Destruction is especially severe in UNM’s subterranean Centennial Library
by Stephen Montoya Back-to-back rainstorms resulted in damage to almost 40 buildings on the UNM main campus last week. Some of the departments hit hardest include the School of Engineering, the recently remodeled Honors College, Hodgin Hall and the Centennial
Library located underground. Nancy Dennis, associate dean of the Centennial Library, said she has yet to find out the extent of the damage after hearing that there was standing water in the library. “All those things kind of start filtering through your head when you get that phone call at 3 o’clock on Saturday morning, and you know it’s not good news,” Dennis said.
The first step to salvaging any damaged books starts with calling a book restoration company that will freeze the saturated material and thaw it out over a slow, tempered process, she said. Ninety boxes of damaged books were sent to the BMS CAT Disaster Restoration plant in Fort Worth, Texas for the restoration process to begin, Dennis said.
“If print and books stay wet in a high-humidity and hightemperature environment, then mold can start growing in that material,” she said. The normal response time for saving print materials after they’ve become wet is 48 hours, she said. The freezing of the books will stop any potential breakdown or mold growth, she said.
“The books are placed into a kind of a vacuum chamber at BMS CAT, and they slowly lower the temperature,” Dennis said. “As they lower it the water stays as an ice crystal, so instead of that ice crystal melting and causing the same damage in the book it actually takes that moisture out as an ice crystal.”
see
Damage page 5
Sergio Jiménez / Daily Lobo / @SXfoto
The walls of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Building are exposed for repairs on Wednesday afternoon. Several UNM buildings, including Centennial Library and Hodgin Hall, were damaged by the storm that swept through Albuquerque on Aug. 1.
Lawmakers seek independent input Arts let
students ‘escape for a day’
By J.R. Oppenheim
Three Albuquerque lawmakers came forward Thursday to pitch potential legislation to allow independent voters to participate in the New Mexico primary election process. During a press conference held at UNM, state Sen. Bill O’Neill, D-Albuquerque, said he intends to sponsor a bill that will grant voters who decline to state a party affiliation access to the primary election ballot box. O’Neill said he will work with his House of Representatives colleague Rep. Emily Kane, D-Albuquerque, on the bill, and Rep. Antonio “Moe” Maestas, D-Albuquerque, said he supports such legislation as well. New Mexico currently holds closed primaries, meaning only those who declare party affiliation may vote in their respective party primaries: Democrats can only vote in Democratic primaries and Republicans in Republican primaries. “As a partisan, as a Democrat, we need to respect a person’s choice not to declare a partisan affiliation,” O’Neill said. “That doesn’t mean they don’t care about politics; that doesn’t mean they’re not reading a paper every day, but as Democrats we need to invite them into our party process, into the party.” Only 20.26 percent of registered New Mexico voters cast ballots in this year’s primary election, according to secretary of state’s office. Yet younger voters are increasingly declining to state a party affiliation or are backing third parties. According to data from Research & Polling Inc. published in the Albuquerque Journal in July, 38 percent of voters ages 1824 fall into the declined-to-state/
by Moriah Carty
J.R. Oppenheim / Daily Lobo / @JROppenheim
During a Thursday press conference at UNM, state Sen. Bill O’Neill announces his intention to sponsor legislation allowing New Mexico’s independent voters to participate in primary elections.
other party category. The proportion of declined-to-state/other party voters increases as the age groups get younger, according to the data. Kane said she comes across several declined-to-state voters out on the campaign trail. In other words, she said, those voters do not feel strongly partisan. The polarization in Washington, she said, has caused many voters to become hesitant to affiliate with a party. O’Neill said he does not want a so-called “jungle primary” in which members of the opposition vote in a party’s primary. That reportedly occurred in Mississippi, where Republican incumbent Sen. Thad
Cochran won the runoff despite Tea Party-backed challenger Chris McDaniel winning more votes in the initial primary. Democrats who did not vote in their own primary reportedly came out to vote for Cochran in that runoff. “We’re not talking about that. We’re not talking about independents coming into the Democratic Party and running as Democrats.” O’Neill said. “No. We’re inviting unaffiliated voters to get involved with us, so I personally do not see the downside here.” Gov. Susana Martinez, a Republican, supports participation of independent voters in the primary process, press secretary
Mike Lonergan said. “Governor Martinez believes every American should be allowed to vote and, thus, feels that independents should be able to vote in primaries,” Lonergan wrote in an email to the Daily Lobo. Attending the Thursday news conference, Bernalillo County Clerk Maggie Toulouse Oliver said she backs such legislation. During every primary election since she became county clerk, Toulouse Oliver said, she receives phone calls, emails and questions regarding why independent voters cannot vote in
see
Voting page 2
The Albuquerque Museum of Art and History is using a “magic” bus to inspire poverty-level children by giving them a chance to escape their environment for a day. Rita Butler, the program manager at the museum, said this is the 20th year of the Magic Bus Program, which is funded by the community and private donations. “The program brings school children to the museum, totally free,” she said. “We pay for the bus, we pay the admission fees, we totally pay for the whole education curriculum that the kids receive.” The tour of the museum is either history- or art-based, depending on what the students are learning in the classroom, she said. “We try to give them a mind eraser from where they woke up that morning,” Butler said. “The teachers want to show the students that there is more out there for them and that they can reach for higher goals … The program helps the students forget their problems for a day.” The program was started by young philanthropists who wanted to offer students the opportunity to see Albuquerque museums without taxing the school systems, which already
see
Magic Bus page 2