DAILY LOBO new mexico
MONDAY August 18, 2014 | Volume 119 | Issue 2
The Independent Student Voice of UNM since 1895
Charges against Lobo athletes dropped By Jonathan Baca The District Attorney’s Office formally dropped charges without prejudice against two Lobo football players and one former UNM student. District Attorney Kari Brandenburg said on Wednesday that due to a lack of evidence her office was unable to indict SaQwan Edwards, Crusoe Gongbay and Ryan Ruff on kidnapping and rape charges. UNM is still following up on its own investigation, which could lead to disciplinary action including expulsion from school if it is found that the student-
athletes violated the school’s code of conduct. In a statement to the press, Brandenburg said her office has insufficient evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the three men committed the crimes they were accused of, and are therefore not seeking indictment. “These kinds of cases can be very difficult and present challenging ethical issues,” Brandenburg said. The charges were put on hold in June, when witnesses came forward whose statements cast doubt on the alleged victim’s official story. Ruff ’s attorney George Anthony
Bleus released video footage allegedly from the night of the allegations that does not match the events as described in the police report. In the video footage, the woman can be seen performing various sexual acts with one of the accused men, in a location that was not included in the criminal complaint. Bleus said although he and his client are relieved that criminal charges have been dropped, he does not feel justice will be done until police admit they made a mistake and all records of the charges are expunged. He said because the case never
went to trial, evidence proving the men’s innocence was never seen by the public and some people will continue to have doubts about the case, hurting his client’s reputation for life. “It’s still going to follow you for the rest of your life,” Bleus said. “These gentlemen should not be looked at as defendants anymore, nor as students that have these charges hanging over their head.” Head football coach Bob Davie reinstated Edwards, a senior cornerback, and Gongbay, a senior running back. In a press statement Davie said the players are back in
practice and could start in the team’s first game if they are ready. “The reason I dismissed them was because of the criminal case, and once that criminal case was closed I saw no reason not to reinstate them,” Davie said. “I don’t have any agenda in this other than trying to do what I think is right and what I think is fair.” Jonathan Baca is news editor for the Daily Lobo. He can be reached at news@dailylobo.com.
For more information see story on page
11
Costs of flood repairs pending By Stephen Montoya
William Aranda / Daily Lobo / @_WilliamAranda
The UNM Marching Band performs the UNM Fight Song for approximately 2,500 incoming freshmen at Popejoy Hall on Sunday afternoon. This preceded the UNM Class Crawl and Movie on the Field, which are part of Welcome Back Days.
FOOD OFFERINGS DURING WELCOME BACK WEEK Music and food will be provided from noon to 1 p.m. each day. Information Booths will run 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. MONDAY
TUESDAY
WEDNESDAY
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
UNM President’s Ice Cream Social. Food of the Day: Ice Cream
Safety, Health, Wellness and ROTC. Food of the Day: Watermelon
Campus Community Day. Food of the Day: Green Chile Stew
Student Organization Day. Food of the Day: Pizza
Campus Employment and Community Service Day. Food of the Day: Hot Dogs
Ease into campus life with free food By Lauren Marvin
Free food. Most college students will go for that. That makes for a great opportunity this week, as more than 220 departments and organizations will participate in UNM Welcome Back Days. Ryan Lindquist, associate director of the Student Activities Center, said the Welcome Back Days provide an opportunity to spotlight the diverse departments and communities on campus, as well as a free meal for students. “It’s an excellent way to welcome
students back and ease them into the craziness of the semester,” Lindquist said. “We provide them great resources and information that will help make them successful here at the university.” Each day is centered on a different theme that encourages students to interact with administration. Ice cream, green chile stew, watermelon, hot dogs and pizza will be provided throughout the week, he said. Cecy Velasco, who is a member of the UNM Dream Team that will be a part of Welcome Back Days, said her organization focuses on the needs
and rights of immigrant students through outreach to high schools. “It is definitely a time to really see what the UNM campus and community has to offer to students,” Velasco said. “It offers students the opportunity to get engaged and find something they feel connected to.” The UNM Dream Team participates in Welcome Back Days because they are the only student group that focuses on immigrant students, she said. Its booth will be by El Centro de la Raza on Wednesday and Thursday. Terry Davis, Popejoy Hall’s
marketing manager, said Welcome Back Days are a way for students to peek into what the campus has to offer. “It’s a great way to get everybody from the UNM community into one sort of joint area where you can discover things together, see things you didn’t know and even discover new or old friends again,” Davis said. “It’s a great communal experience.” Popejoy Hall will be involved in the Safety, Health and Wellness Day — Welcome Back’s Tuesday feature — because part of being
see Welcome back page 7
Although details on how much damage was done by last week’s flooding are still being gathered, UNM’s Physical Plant Department is doing its best to find and fix campus-wide problems. The next step for PPD according to Department Director Mary Vosevich is looking over the damages and determining the cost for insurance purposes to get the companies on campus to start making repairs. “We have equipment that determines moisture in a wall, so they know exactly how high they need to go to cut out any drywall to do those repairs,” Vosevich said. In the case of the libraries, materials were the top priority when it came to salvaging and restoring damaged items, she said. “It’s an important mission, so we look at ourselves as a service organization obviously to support the mission of the university to allow them to do the education, learning, research, community service,” Vosevich said. As for the cost of the damages from the flood, PPD is still working on an estimation. Gary Smith, associate director for environmental services and maintenance at PPD, said invoices from the damaged areas on campus have not come in for the department yet, making an estimated cost unknown. “We have started the repairs, but we have not received the cost for them yet,” Smith said. UNM was hit last week with three inches of rain in a one-hour period, flooding 50 buildings on campus, he said. “We’ll be doing repairs for a couple of months,” Smith said, “but classes will go on as scheduled.” Smith said PPD is working hard to make improvements at
see
Flood page 6