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chalk

UNM maintenance worker Mitch Martinez cleans up graffiti outside the SUB on Monday afternoon. Although chalking policies are in place, policies are ignored at least once a month, according to Student Activities Associate Director Ryan Lindquist.

‘It’s chalk. It’s something that people should understand policies on.’

Rules on chalking in place, but not always followed

news@dailylobo.com

A clear indication of ASUNM election season is the abundance of political advertisements on campus drawn on the sidewalks with chalk, but students can’t chalk on campus wherever they please.

Policies mandate where chalking is allowed on campus, and Student Activities Associate Director Ryan Lindquist said policies are ignored at least once a month.

According to UNM’s posting guidelines, which is enforced by Student Services and the Physical Plant, chalking is only allowed on exposed surfaces where it can easily be removed by precipitation or foot traffic. Chalking is prohibited on permanent structures such as statues and on unexposed sidewalks.

Chalking is also prohibited within 15 feet of buildings’ entrances and in Lobo Village. Students are only allowed to use nonpermanent writing materials such as sidewalk chalk. Materials such as liquid chalk, charcoal and paint are prohibited.

Lindquist said most of the problems the University has regarding chalking involve students writing on vertical surfaces, such as walls. He said Student Activities tracks down the students responsible to ask them to remove the chalk, but if the center’s attempts are unsuccessful, the Physical Plant cleans up the writings by spraying them with water.

“Once in a while, there are always people that struggle with understanding the policy,” he said. “It’s chalk. It’s something that people should understand policies on.”

But Lindquist said student organizations have been cooperative when Student Activities calls them out for violating chalking policies.

“When we ask student organizations to clean up mistakes, they typically do that,” he said.

On the other hand, Lindquist said chalking for campus campaigns, such as those for homecoming and for ASUNM elections, are monitored by ASUNM’s Election Commission.

ASUNM Elections Commission Executive Director Alberto Jacome said the same rules apply to candidates for campus elections. But candidates are prohibited from chalking within 25 feet of polling locations such as Zimmerman Library, Dane Smith Hall and the SUB.

“We’re very protective of our polling locations,” he said. “We don’t want people to be either deceiving or kind of influencing people’s votes.”

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If the Elections Commissions spots an incorrectly placed chalking, Jacome said it notifies the candidate responsible and gives them 24 to 48 hours to remove it. He said that if the candidates refuse to or are unable to do remove the chalk within the given time, the commission will investigate the issue and will impose punishments on the candidates.

Although candidates will still be allowed to run for a position, Jacome said punishment can last up to a semester.

“They can still assume seats,” he said. “But they can lose their speaking or their voting rights, or they can be not allowed to go to senate meetings at all.”

Jacome said the commission draws a 25-feet limit around polling locations ahead of time and retouches the line two days before the election to avoid complaints that the line is unclear. He said this is how they implemented the policy during the recent homecoming season.

Jacome said the commission often extends the limit to a “grace period” of 30 feet. Because of that, he said candidates have not had issues with this chalking boundary.

“Last year, we had somebody chalk beyond that 25-feet line,” he said. “We called them that night, and they mopped it, and the next day it’s just fine.”

Jacome said candidates occupy spaces on a first-come, first-serve basis, and some candidates have had conflicts with their designated spaces. He said some areas, such as the set of stairs going up to the SUB from Smith Plaza, frequently attract candidates, which causes competition for the space.

“We’ve had problems in the past in which candidates will take those stairs, and it will rain,” he said. “But some people take over that space without letting us know first.”

Jacome said candidates who want to take over a washed-up space must consult the Elections Commissions first before taking over the space. If the commission decides that the space is completely washed-off, other candidates are free to write on it. But if it decides that the chalk hasn’t been totally removed, the candidate who previously chalked in the space can retouch his or her chalking and maintain ownership of the space.

Lindquist said Student Activities members educate student organizations about chalking guidelines through mandatory workshops. But he said policy enforcement ultimately rests in student leaders’ hands.

“We have over 400 students organizations on campus, and obviously, each of those has between five and 500 members,” he said. “So it’s up to the student organization leadership to educate their members.”

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