Letter: Criticism over Senator's remarks is unwarranted

Editor,

This letter is in response to the three letters from concerned students affiliated with various conservative student groups on campus that were published in the last printing, regarding the failure of Resolution 3S on the Senate floor on February 24. We are writing to state our support for Senator Cooper and to clarify the remarks for which he is so harshly being criticized. ASUNM Senators have a duty and responsibility to represent the students’ interests with mechanisms for communication that are in place through our senatorial responsibilities.

With all of this in mind, Senator Cooper acted and spoke in the best interest of a majority of students from which multiple Senators garnered input. Senator Cooper reached out to places such as the Women’s Resource Center and the Accessibility Resource Center regarding Resolution 3S. In addition to these Resource Centers that represent student interests, Senator Cooper took into consideration the many opinions of the Residence Hall Association representatives that spoke with various Senators and represent a body of 2,500 students.

With all of this said, Senator Cooper clearly did his due diligence in regards to outreach before discussing and voting on Resolution 3S. While the opinions of the previous letter writers are completely valid, it is our opinion that the harsh criticism of Senator Cooper is unwarranted. Senators are open to discussing resolutions before they come to the Senate floor and willing to discuss the reasons for voting how they did after the fact, but unless this happens, there are no channels for dialogue. Furthermore, we feel the need to defend Senator Cooper in his statements regarding the numbers of students in each organization. Senator Cooper was not stating that the mere number of students meant that their voices were insignificant, but simply stating that the numbers of students represented in each of the three conservative groups in question is the minority in comparison to those students represented by the Residence Hall Association. Given that Senators are limited to acting and voting upon the students’ voices that we hear, Senator Cooper was making reference to the majority of students to which Senators outreached seemed to be in disagreement with Resolution 3S. 

Additionally, we feel the need to clarify what the purpose of a resolution is and what it entails in terms of student governance. A resolution does not instate new policy for UNM. However, a resolution merely states ASUNM’s support on the part of the student body for various concerns. Should Resolution 3S have passed, stun guns would not be allowed on campus. 

So, do not listen to the cries stating that Senators do not care for your safety or that you would be safe with the passage of Resolution 3S, but take the failure of Resolution 3S as a measure of the ASUNM Senate stating that we found this particular resolution as inadequate to properly address the concern of safety on campus. The issue of safety does not die with this resolution and Senators are actively eliciting information from students to find ways to mitigate this issue daily.

Thank you.

James Walker,

Residence Hall Association president

Hallie Brown,

RHA sponsoring senator

Sarah Moore, student