In the upcoming elections for president and vice president of ASUNM, Student Special Events Executive Director Karis Daskalos (ballot #1) and Governmental Affairs Executive Director Alana Baca (ballot #1) are vying for each position, respectively.
Daskalos is vice president of the UNM Panhellenic Council and a member of the Pi Beta Phi sorority. Baca is an early alum of the Chi Omega sorority.
While Baca could not be reached for an interview due to travel over spring break, Daskalos said their joint campaign focuses on three main platforms of safety, accessibility and innovation. On the safety front, they seek to improve lighting and fencing around campus, continuing work done by the ASUNM Governmental Affairs agency in securing funding from the state legislature through capital outlay.
Leveraging experience from their respective agencies is a throughline for Daskalos and Baca’s campaign, especially in gaining funding for prospective projects, but also when it comes to leading the executive team and representing the student body.
“I think SSE is a great way to lead into something like president, just like any other position could, because it helps you become a spokesperson for the University and to lead large events while still keeping your head screwed on straight,” Daskalos said. “It gives you some creativity too, and fun. You manage your own staff and learn how to be a leader.”
Daskalos said they would like to see string lights go up around campus, along with more benches, fountains and a “mini skate park area” in the plaza where the new humanities building is being built.
“We know that there’s a lot of students on campus who enjoy those types of pastimes, and we think it would be a great initiative to have to build the community together, maybe get some newer tables out there, and maybe just a nice outdoor environment,” Daskalos said.
For students who get around town and campus by car, Daskalos said they would look at “next steps” for an additional parking structure and would seek to reduce parking ticket costs by 25%. She also shared plans to implement lockers for commuter students, at or near the Student Union Building, that would be available for a small fee to store belongings.
Covering the points of accessibility and innovation would be implementation of a digital ID system for LoboID holders through a LoboHub app, which would also give students access to LoboWeb, resource centers and other sites and resources available at my.unm.edu in a more mobile-friendly format. Daskalos said she had seen a similar system in place at Grand Canyon University with their GCU Halo app, and that as the LoboLift initiative was a main focus of current President Andrew Norton’s administration, they would push digital IDs to the forefront of theirs if elected.
Daskalos expressed excitement about running for office with Baca as a female-female pairing.
“We just want to prove it doesn’t matter if you or anybody can lead in any type of pairing, because we traditionally only see male to female pairings for president and vice president,” Daskalos said.
Elliott Wood is the news editor for the Daily Lobo. He can be reached at news@dailylobo.com or on X @DailyLobo
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