The University has taken about $50,000 from the Daily Lobo's financial reserves and redistributed the money to programs running deficits.
The $50,000 is part of a larger sum of money UNM deducted from several on-campus departments.
However, the Lobo doesn't receive any money from UNM, and the funds taken were a surplus of ad revenue the Lobo accumulated over a period of years.
UNM was within its rights when it took the Lobo's money, according to Cheo Torres, vice president of Student Affairs.
University Business Policy 7000 permits UNM to take money from departments with surpluses and give the funds to programs or projects that are running deficits, according to the University Business Policies and Procedures Manual.
Information on the total amount UNM took from departments and which groups received funding was not available Monday.
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Torres' office collected the money on behalf of the Office of Business and Administration, which is directed by vice president David Harris.
Torres said the reallocation of funds from one department to another is a common procedure.
Departments that are struggling financially can expect to be bailed out by surpluses elsewhere on campus, he said.
"Whenever there are major reserves, they have asked that we give back to the University to help those programs that need assistance," Torres said. "So, there was a large reserve in the Daily Lobo as well as other areas, and that is one of the major reasons for why some of that money was given back to the University to help other programs in need. Can it happen again? We don't know. It could."
Jim Fisher, associate director of business operations for the Daily Lobo, explained the situation to the UNM Student Publications Board at a meeting Friday.
He said this is the first time he's heard of the student newspaper being subjected to the University's search-and-seizure process.
"I've never seen this happen since I've been here, and I think that it is the biggest fundamental threat to what we do.. This is serious, and I think that if it happened once, then it's going to happen again," Fisher said.
Torres said the Daily Lobo would be able to request funds from the Office of Student Affairs if the Daily Lobo's reserves were depleted.
Fisher said he feared more money would be siphoned from the Lobo's reserves and that such actions would compromise the paper's independence. If the Lobo had to ask the University for money in order to operate, UNM would have some control over the Lobo's editorial content, he said.
Harris said it is common sense to transfer funds from one department to another. He said President David Schmidly has a standing order not to incur deficits in University programs.
"I know that there are a lot of people at UNM who practice whining . but, you know, when you have to balance your budget, that's where the rubber hits the road," Harris said. "I mean, it's unfortunate if somebody says that they had money transferred to cover someone else's shortfall, but, I mean, we are a University."
Members of the Student Publications Board created a special committee to investigate and address the University's seizure of the Lobo's revenue.
Board member Jesse Stark said the University should guarantee that the Daily Lobo's reserves will stay untouched from now on.
"I think that guarantee needs to be followed with some type of legal document that actually states what can and cannot be taken from that fund, because if the Lobo is supposed to be independent and UNM can tap that so easily and then tell you, 'Well, just ask us for money,' then it does take away that independence," Stark said. "It's a huge conflict of interest for the paper."
