Undergraduate students will choose from 24 Senate candidates vying to fill 10 vacant seats, and vote on five constitutional amendments, during today's ASUNM election.
The candidates for Associated Students of UNM Senate represent three slates - The Connection, Campus Unity and B.U.S.Y.
Candidates running on The Connection slate are as follows: Rosalyn Nguyen, Christopher Bitakis, Sen. Evan Kist, Sen. Nicole Griego, Nicol†s Cabrera, Warren Ellis, Paul Campbell, Anita Pineda and Tim Reed.
Kist said the slate's platform was aimed at smoothing student organizations' return to the SUB next year, getting the word out about amendments in today's election and addressing safety concerns brought about by construction projects on campus. He said Connection members come from a variety of different campus backgrounds.
"There's no common thread; that's what makes it great," he said. "We're about getting involved. Everyone here has participated in other activities. Now we want to step it up to the next level."
Running on the Campus Unity slate are as follows: Liz Louton, Sen. Tim Serna, Reyna Chavez, Sen. Celestina Torres, Rosario Matlock, Josh Adkins and Eric Guerrero.
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Serna said the slate was formed to build unity by rallying around sports teams, building school spirit and encouraging small organizations to cooperate on larger projects. He said Campus Unity candidates want to find ways that small groups can pool their resources for bigger unifying events, much like those planned by the Intrafraternity Council and the Engineering Student Union, among other organizations.
"We saw in previous experiences what can happen if you get people together from different corners of campus," Serna said.
Senate candidates running on the B.U.S.Y. slate are as follows: Yousef Assed, Brian Lucero, Christina Humphreys, Athena Spencer, Joseph Garcia, Nathan Martinez, Sean Murray and Lisa Marie G¢mez.
B.U.S.Y. stands for books, unity, safety and you, Lucero said. The group wants to extend the tax-free book-buying period for students at the UNM Bookstore; arrange forums where students, faculty and staff can talk about problems and share ideas; and address lighting and security issues.
"And the 'you' is for you - that's why we do it," Lucero said.
Lucero said the B.U.S.Y. slate is very diverse, with candidates from a variety of Greek and non-Greek, athletic and ethnic backgrounds.
"Within our group, we participate in more than 40 organizations, which we think is a credit to us," he said.
Five amendments to the ASUNM Constitution are awaiting student vote.
Amendment 1, to Article VI of the Constitution, changes all references to the ASUNM/GPSA Business Office to the Student Government Accounting Office. It will also give sole authority for the allocation of ASUNM student fees to the ASUNM Senate as written in the ASUNM Lawbook and Constitution.
Amendment 2 will change Article III, Section 3 of the ASUNM Constitution to provide guidelines for the duties of the ASUNM Attorney General in the ASUNM Constitution. It adds flexibility to the Attorney General's position by adding the sentence, "and shall carry out other duties outlined by the ASUNM Lawbook," to the end of the existing job description.
Amendment 3 will change Article IV, Section 2 of the Constitution to establish appellate jurisdiction for the ASUNM Student Court over the decisions of the ASUNM Attorney General and the ASUNM Elections Commission. This means decisions by those entities can be appealed in student court.
Perhaps the most high profile amendment, Amendment 4, will amend Article VI, Section 2 of the Constitution to increase ASUNM fees charged to students from $14 to $20, while decreasing the amount of ASUNM fees allocated to the Student Publication Board from 12 percent to 6 percent. The Student Publications Board publishes the Daily Lobo, Conceptions Southwest and Best Student Essays.
The amendment would increase the amount of money that ASUNM can allocate to student groups by about $200,000 per semester, while decreasing funding for Student Publications from about $46,000 per semester to $33,248.
Amendment 5 will amend Article IV of the Constitution to establish an alternative for appeals brought before the Student Conduct Committee. Currently, the Constitution reads, "Appeals of the decisions of Student Court may be made to the Student Conduct Committee pursuant to Student Conduct Committee procedures."
Language changes in the amendment add that if the Student Conduct Committee cannot hear the appeal by the end of the semester, the dean of students can hear and decide it instead.
Decisions of the dean of students may be appealed to the vice president for student affairs.
