Editor,
As a concerned student, I believe it is my duty to share with the student body the ways in which student fee money was allocated and spent, and how little students' needs and concerns were addressed in these decisions. In October, I was appointed to the Student Fee Review Board as a graduate student representative. I accepted this invitation because allocating $8 million in student fees is serious, and I could give it the necessary consideration.
Throughout my career as an undergraduate student and graduate student, I have been involved with myriad student organizations, causes, departments and programs. The one involving the SFRB made me question the integrity of the board, its adviser and, most importantly, the process itself.
The SFRB rules demand that the board represent the student body.
Except for the graduate students, the board looked nothing like the student body I see at UNM every day. The undergraduate
representatives came from the same academic programs, same sororities and, most importantly, the same ethnic group. Why didn't the adviser, who asked a graduate student representative who happened to be a member of African-American Student Services to step down from the SFRB, question the lack of diversity among the undergraduate representatives?
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I asked the undergraduates, "What was the primary purpose of this institution?" The answer I received was sororities, clubs and attending basketball games. The purpose of UNM is to educate students, but it seemed rather silly to argue that athletics somehow served students more than places such as CAPS, libraries or ethnic centers.
As a refugee from a war-torn country, I was always taught that education is the one thing that you can always carry with you when everything else is lost. Most people I meet, whether on the street or on campus, would tell you the same - which is why arguing with the board members about the importance of ethnic and women's centers, tutoring or even libraries proved fruitless.
I was appalled by their blatant disregard for the fact that students come to UNM to get a degree, not go to social events. I agree that athletics are an important part of the college experience, but when an average UNM student has to work 27 hours a week in order to pay for books and fees, it is difficult to attend the games or go to social events. Everyone would agree that students go to college to learn, gain skills that will make employers give them jobs, and, most importantly, get a degree that will ensure a better, more secure future. To most students, everything outside the classroom is entertainment - entertainment they don't have time or money for.
The undergraduate student body must know how ASUNM senators allocate students' hard-earned dollars. The opinions expressed in the SFRB meetings were self-serving and ignorant of student expectations. I ask students to question the people that have increased the cost of fees for years so they could be entertained on your dime.
Emira Ibrahimpasic
UNM graduate student
