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If it passes, General Obligations Bond C would provide the University of New Mexico with about $19 million, which would be used for building renovations.
Bond C is a measure in New Mexico that will appear on the Election Day ballot on Tuesday.
GPSA President Marisa Silva said Castetter Hall and Riebsomer Hall will be renovated if the bond passes, adding that while these are the only buildings that will be renovated on the Albuquerque campus, other buildings at UNM satellite campuses will also be improved.
Silva said the bond is important to ensure students have access to better facilities.
“I know from a student who takes classes in Castetter Hall that the women’s bathrooms are converted men’s hat closets,” she said. “That’s not appropriate for a university.”
According to the UNM website, some of the proposed renovations for both halls include modernization and expansion of laboratory areas, addition of more storage and updating the heating and cooling systems.
According to the website, Riebsomer Hall doesn’t meet state and federal safety standards for heating, ventilation, air conditioning, air quality, power and environmental concerns. Some lab renovations in Castetter Hall have already begun, but were stalled due to a lack of funding.
UNM President Robert Frank said inadequate facilities hurt student enrollment and the University.
“The poor condition of UNM’s biology and chemistry buildings limits our ability to attract and retain high-quality faculty and students,” he said. “Passing this bond will not increase taxes, but will vastly improve the educational experiences of the huge number of people who use these upgraded facilities to support a dynamic learning environment.”
If Bond C passes, it will provide a total of $120 million to universities throughout the state of New Mexico, which will fund repairs and renovations. Funding for campus improvement projects will come from the sales and issues of higher education and special schools capital improvements and acquisition bonds, so taxpayers will not see an increase in taxes to fund the bill.
Silva said the biology and chemistry departments are extremely important to UNM because they feed into a number of different professional programs, like the UNM medical school and degrees in public health. She said that even people who are not involved with these programs will benefit from the upgrades.
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“We are in dire need of the kind of professionals who will pass through Castetter Hall and Riebsomer Hall,” she said. “UNMH is a public hospital, so everybody should care whether or not there are adequate facilities for biology and chemistry majors to finish their degrees in health.”
Silva, ASUNM President Caroline Muraida, UNM Faculty Senate President Amy Neel and UNM Staff Council President Mary Clark recently wrote a letter to the editor of the Albuquerque Journal to show their support for Bond C.
In the letter, they wrote that they feel the bond offers a lower cost solution to make necessary repairs.
“Our educational buildings, classrooms and labs are desperately in need of repair and upkeep,” they wrote in the letter. “We have already invested in these buildings, and we need to protect that investment.”
Muraida was unavailable for comment.
Silva said that it’s important to vote on Tuesday and to vote for the ballot measure to help ensure student success now and in the future.
“If we (as students) are to be considered, we have to vote,” she said. “If students don’t vote then there’s no reason for a politician to take us into account.”
