ASUNM Senators debated standards for appropriation and talked about fallout from dialogue in the Daily Lobo regarding an ousted interim election commissioner and a constitutional amendment during a meeting Wednesday.
Appropriation bill 23A, one of two on the agenda, garnered heated debate before passing after an emergency meeting of the Finance Committee and several revisions.
M.E.Ch.A., which stands for Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Atzlan, requested $957.80 for what they listed as office supplies and refreshments for a youth outreach conference on Nov. 29. Though the Finance Committee standing rules limit refreshment requests to $200 and office supplies to $75, the committee voted to suspend the rules and allow the appropriation to pass after adjusting the total to $700 - $500 for refreshments and $200 for office supplies.
When the bill was brought to the floor for Senate approval, Sen. Sarah Bullard, a Finance Committee member, said she didn't support suspending the committee's standing rules because the Senate had drastically reduced other appropriations.
"I voted against this because it's not fair to sponsor this fully when it does nothing for the UNM community and we cut so many others," she said.
Other senators agreed that M.E.Ch.A. should not get special treatment for the conference, which will inform high school students about college opportunities.
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"A kid is not going to decide to go to college and turn his life around just because he got a refill on his orange juice," Sen. Evan Kist said.
But others said they thought suspension of the standing rules was appropriate.
"It was because of something like this that I'm here," Sen. Javier Martinez said. "I was on my way to being a good dishwasher."
"We have the option of suspending the standing rules when something is worth supporting," Sen. Gilbert Morales said. "This does effect UNM students - these kids are our future. By reaching out they'll decide to come here, and decide that college is an option."
Several senators pointed out that the standing rules had been suspended in committee by a 3-2 vote, effectively negating the decision because suspension of the rules requires two thirds of the vote.
During an emergency committee meeting, the bill was dropped to a total of $275 - the maximum allowed by the standing rules - and eventually passed as amended.
During the opening statements for the same meeting, senators discussed issues surrounding recent dialogue on the opinion page of the Daily Lobo regarding the Presidential Appointment Committee's rejection of interim election commissioner Julianita Maestas and Constitutional Amendment Four.
The amendment, which failed to get two-thirds of the vote in Wednesday's election, would have increased ASUNM student fees from $14 to $20, while reducing the amount of money appropriated to the Student Publishing Board, publisher of the Daily Lobo, from 12 percent to 6 percent.
The two issues have caused a flurry of columns and letters to the editor.
Sen. Brian Colton took issue with Maestas' assertion in a Friday letter that her rejection was largely the result of the high proportion of senators who are in Greek organizations.
"When I sit in this seat, I am an ASUNM Senator, not a Greek," he said.
Sen. Tim Serna agreed.
"I see her point, but on the other hand I support (the Presidential Appointment Committee's) decision," he said. "The laws are pretty clear to us."
ASUNM Vice President Steve Aguilar said the Senate would pull all of its advertisements in the Daily Lobo for the remainder of the semester - which amounts to two half-page advertisements. He said the Senate would continue to submit announcements to the On-Campus section of the newspaper to meet open meetings requirements.
The Senate also passed an appropriation bill for $1,455 for the Hispanic Engineering and Science Organization to bring a speaker to UNM.
