by Ashleigh Sanchez
Daily Lobo
After four ASUNM senators resigned, students who did not win the spring election stepped in to fill their spots.
"What happens in an election is we make a list with everyone's name and how many votes they received," said Matt Barnes, vice president of ASUNM. "We had four senators drop out. So, their positions went to the next in line."
Joe Sanchez, Christina Lovato, Adrian Carver and Jenny Ding filled the empty seats.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
Barnes said it was unusual for so many senators to drop out in one year.
Two incumbent senators were found ineligible to serve, one dropped out to take an internship, and one did not show up, he said.
"One of our senators received an internship he couldn't refuse four days after the election," he said. "He was upset, but he couldn't pass on it, so Adrian moved up."
Ding filled the last spot a couple weeks after the fall semester started to replace the senator who didn't show up, he said.
Sanchez and Lovato replaced the two incumbent senators, Barnes said. He declined to comment about why they were ineligible.
ASUNM's law book outlines how to fill the vacancies, Barnes said.
"I followed our law book," he said. "It's followed to the T by the election commission."
Student Kevin Smith said he does not mind that the new senators did not win the election.
"If the ones that dropped out had a legitimate reason for not doing it, then, yeah, I think it's fair," he said.
The new senators already have goals for the year.
Carver said he wants to make the campus more environmentally friendly.
"My goals include energy efficiency and sustainability," he said. "I'm the chair of the Campus Sustainability Committee, and my main goal is to get the ball rolling on the Energy Efficiency Committee and get that going."
Sanchez, a 44-year-old transfer student, considers himself the voice of the nontraditional student in ASUNM.
"I have a 5-month-old baby," he said. "The government, as long as I have been here, have all been young - the 24-and-under group. I want to represent those outside that group."
He said he wants students to know he is someone they can reach out to and be a liaison to UNM's administration.
Ding said she wants students to be more involved on campus.
"UNM students are so apathetic," she said. "I want students to know about all the resources they have around them, not just for help, but opportunities for life experiences."
Lovato said ASUNM needs to address diversity and tolerance issues.
"New Mexico is so diverse, and I'd really like to see UNM do more to reach out to everyone," she said. "People think that nowadays racism doesn't exist, but it still does."
All four senators want students to know ASUNM is their voice.
"We are here, and we are here for a purpose," Lovato said. "We want students to come to us."
