Editor,
I am deeply disappointed that the Student Fee Review Board members voted unanimously to decrease the number of graduate student members on the SFRB.
Graduate students are uniquely positioned as the most experienced students on campus (although this vote evidences that they too are susceptible to intimidation tactics and can be made to forget who they represent).
Graduate and professional students have historically fought against the UNM administration’s moves to funnel our money to non-academic purposes. They compiled the statistics that showed the drastic increases in fees over the last nine years, they brought to light that with only three out of seven votes, graduate students were not by any means “controlling” the board or the outcome of the votes, and they fought to ensure that these meetings were video recorded.
Graduate students effectively built coalitions with and communicated to the larger community to raise awareness about the University’s priorities and stop unnecessary fee increases. What happened, Graduate and Professional Student Association? Did you just get tired of fighting? Did you accept political promises that can’t be enforced? Was this meeting video recorded? Is the recording available online so those of us who have to pay these fees can watch and hold our elected representatives accountable?
I encourage future GPSA administrations to work hard to pull graduate student fees from the SFRB process and to get heavily involved in undergraduate elections, as we now have a vested interest in how they vote. We also need all of the students to learn how to effectively lobby in Santa Fe. It’s time for students to mobilize teams of people to help candidates knock on doors so that when they get elected, they remember us.
It’s time for student employees to unionize so that we have the autonomy and resources necessary to ensure that all student employees are paid a fair wage and that our fees are invested into projects and services that will enhance our ability to learn and teach. It’s time for students to learn media management skills so that our message can be heard.
Lissa Knudsen
UNM student, former GPSA president
