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Monday, November 14, 2016 | Vo l u m e 1 2 1 | I s s u e 2 6

Next UNM Prez should ‘walk on water’ Students show off their skills By Cathy Cook @Cathy_Daily

UNM administration unofficially kicked off the search for Bob Frank’s successor as president of the University on Friday, with a public forum to solicit input on what qualities should be sought after for his replacement. The forum was hosted by UNM Regent Jack Fortner, who alluded that the next president is one that locals want to represent the qualities of diversity that the University prides itself on. “What we’ve learned is we need a president that can walk on water, that can speak three or four languages, that is very passionate, yet strong and emotional when he needs to be or she needs to be, and has skin that is hard to figure out what color it is,” Fortner said. Fortner said the search committee for the next president — Frank’s contract expires at the end of May — is being chaired by Board of Regents President

UNM’s speech codes called out By Sarah Trujillo @sarahtweets_abq The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education has called out UNM, along with 110 other public colleges and universities, for “highly restrictive speech codes” that the organization claims violate First Amendment rights. The letter urges UNM faculty and administration to reassess and alter the policies, or else face a First Amendment lawsuit. FIRE gave UNM’s free speech codes a red light rating for portions of the University’s sexual harassment policy and the Respectful Campus Policy. The specific rights of students that FIRE claims are being restricted include freedom of speech, legal equality, due process, religious liberty and sanctity of conscience. The organization’s criticisms are not something new for the University. At a Faculty Senate meeting last month, psychology associate professor Geoffrey Miller presented his assembled notes on many UNM policies that subvert free speech and breach the constitutional rights of

Robert Doughty, and includes Regents Marron Lee and Thomas Clifford, along with other individuals invited to join the committee by the regents. Fortner said he met with other groups earlier in the day about what qualities a new president should embody to effectively lead UNM at a critical time when it is dealing with consistent budget shortfalls year after year. The forum was dominated

by staff and faculty input, with fewer comments from UNM students and community members. One question that came up was whether the next president should have an academic or business background. History Department Chair Melissa Bokovoy said she believed the next president should possess the qualities of an excellent teacher and have an academic background.

“I think experience within an organization, or within a particular industry, I actually think that matters,” she said. Associated Students of UNM President Kyle Biederwolf agreed that a background in academia is important. “Sometimes administrators never have the chance to work with students, but people that

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FOOTBALL WINS FIFTH IN A ROW / SEE STORY PAGE 9

Daniel Ward / Daily Lobo / @DailyLobo

Head football coach Bob Davie celebrates the Lobos’ victory against Nevada University on Saturday, Nov. 5, 2016 at University Stadium. The Lobos won their fifth consecutive game this past Saturday against Utah State with a score of 24-21, making their season record 7-3.

faculty, staff and students. “These policies were often wellintentioned, and accrued gradually over the years,” Miller said. “But they appear to have been written and adopted without anyone seriously checking whether they were compliant.” Miller said in order to fix these issues, some policies are in need of revision, while others need to be repealed completely. At the same meeting, a letter of response was presented by University Counselor Elsa Cole. Cole started the letter by declaring, in her own opinion, that UNM’s policies are constitutional and abide by the First Amendment, thanks to what she said were consistent revisions that are needed due to evolving interpretations of First Amendment law. “An example of this is the current policy prohibiting sexual harassment which went through such a process over the last two years,” she said. A draft of revisions to the Respectful Campus Policy was released just last week. Pamina Deutsch, head of the UNM Policy Office, said although she was uninvolved in the process, she

On the Daily Lobo website Gray: Sex Week returns to UNM Reisen: What do you think when you hear President Trump?

likes the proposed corrections and understands the intentions behind the original words. “I don’t believe their intent was to curtail free speech by promoting respect and civility,” Deutsch said. “Rather, it appears they thought that maintaining a respectful and civil tone would promote a ‘continued dialogue’ as called for in Policy 2220,” referring to UNM’s policy on freedom of expression. Deutsch is making arrangements to work on revisions to the Respectful Campus Policy in collaboration with members of the Staff Council and other constituents. “Personally, I would like to narrow the focus of the policy to antibullying,” she said. “Staff Council has spoken to me about concerns with bullying.” FIRE uses a grading system based on stoplight colors to indicate which schools’ speech-related policies are up to code in the organization’s eyes, with “red” marking speech-related policies that need work. “UNM’s Respectful Campus Policy may have used such terms as ‘respectful’ and ‘civil’ more than other institutions’ similar policies,” Deutsch said. “For that reason, UNM’s policy

was given a red rating while other institutions’ similar policies were given yellow ratings.” While the original letter addressed UNM’s yellow score pertaining to the Respectful Campus Policy, the University has consistently had a red score pertaining to free speech for over two years. As a whole, UNM received a red light grade for having at least one policy that both clearly and considerably limits freedom of speech. Because of FIRE’s grading, when one policy is deemed as a red light, the entire institution is marked that way. A “clear” restriction is defined as one that distinctly breaches on what is or should be guarded expression. According to FIRE, this pertains to the definition of sexual harassment in many UNM policies. In October of 2014, FIRE named UNM’s Sexual Harassment Policy as the Speech Code of the Month, claiming that the annual event SexUality Week violated UNM’s own speech codes through suggestive workshop titles such as “Negotiating Successful Threesomes,” “O-Face Oral” and “BJs

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By Skylar Griego @TDLBooks In an evening full of singing and guitar playing, with occasional dancing and a rap thrown in, the ninth annual Lobos Got Talent event gave UNM students the opportunity to showcase various styles of musical and spoken word performances on Friday. Gigi Bella, a previous winner in the last two Lobos Got Talent shows, took the $500 first prize with a powerful slam poem about the everyday commentary women must endure with their bodies and choices. In an original piece called “War Paint,” Bella spoke of men’s reactions to the choices women make in how they present themselves, and the common assumption that when a woman gets dressed up and wears makeup, it’s for a guy. The poem started and finished with descriptions of people’s reactions to bright, sparkly purple lipstick, which Bella wore during her performance. Bella said she was compelled to perform “War Paint” because she wanted to inspire women with her words. “I definitely was thinking a lot about the current presidential election and what it feels like to be a woman right now in society. I really just wanted to do something that was empowering for women,” Bella said. “I was hoping that (the audience) would take away this kind of mini crash course on feminism. That they would be able to walk out of here and know that we’re people, too ... Ultimately, we can wear purple lipstick if we want to.” The second and third-place winners were, respectively, Michael Junchaya with his performance of Michael Bublé’s “Feeling Good,” and TayTay Wells with an original rap performed to an instrumental version of Ariana Grande’s “Problem.” There was also a $100 “Audience Choice” award, which was awarded to the contestant who received the loudest applause determined by a decibel meter on the stage. The audience selected Cody Aragon, a senior criminology major, for his performance of Johnny Cash’s “Folsom Prison Blues.”

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Narvaiz: Women’s Basketball receives boost from unlikely contributor in season opener Baca: Students organize in wake of Election Day outcome Follow the @DailyLobo on Twitter and vote in our #PollOfTheDay: Should the next UNM president come from a business or academic background?


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