Editor,
As a former justice in ASUNM’s Student Court who worked very hard to make the voice of the students heard, I have to say I was completely flabbergasted upon reading Luke Holmen’s article, “Roybal: Students want rec center,” published Wednesday.
Jaymie Roybal is blatantly going against the opinion of her constituency.
With my experience, I can confidently assert that those who are elected in ASUNM are deeply concerned about the extremely low voter turnout in elections. According to ASUNM’s website, President Roybal herself garnered 883 votes in the spring election, less than five percent of UNM’s undergraduate population of 20,000 students.
In fact, I helped out senators not running hand out fliers listing voting places last fall election. That said, the unfortunate part is that no one in ASUNM understands why the voter turnout is so low.
Honestly, it’s for reasons like President Roybal’s statements.
ASUNM is not being assertive. The students are not being represented. I quite frankly am tired of it and all the rhetoric told to avoid ASUNM getting deeper in hot water with our student body. ASUNM does not put up with student leaders who are assertive hence I am not currently involved and am coming out in support of UNM students.
Make no mistake. Although it is not in the Master Plan, there are numbers that have been formulated and were included in the recreation center poll information in the spring election.
I watched this election very closely and remember the numbers because, as a justice, I orchestrated a constitutional amendment on ASUNM’s non-discrimination policy that passed in referendum (unlike the rec center poll that ran alongside it).
About $131.50 in student fees per semester would be tacked on until a bond upwards of $30 million to build this over-the-top recreation center was fully paid off. This information can be found within the ASUNM Elections Commission Office.
With all due respect to President Schmidly, this pursuit of a brand-new recreation center represents very poor decision-making, especially amid tuition hikes and faculty cuts.
I have talked to many people at UNM about their financial status in college and they honestly cannot afford to pay for things superfluous to education. “I depend on my financial aid; if fees and tuition get raised, I’m not going to be able to attend college,” one student told me.
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I also recently talked to a South Lot bus driver who told me “We (UNM Bus Drivers) haven’t received a pay raise in four years.”
As for our ASUNM president, she is clearly just catering to the wants of our administration instead of serving her constituency and asserting its needs.
When she states that students want a rec center, students would love a luxury like that, but it is just that — a luxury. They are struggling enough in this economic crisis and want to secure their education before shelling out money for something they don’t need.
Connor Lites
Former ASUNM Associate Justice
UNM Student
