News

News

Where is your money going?

Charlie Shipley | August 22

UNM students will pay over $11 million in student fees for the 2011-2012 academic year, which are allocated to cover everything from the Student Health Center to Athletics and libraries.Fees will also go to special funds at the Women’s Resource Center, American Indian Student Services and the LGBTQ Resource Center, among others. “Fees are one of the most important issues that student leadership faces,” Katie Richardson, GPSA President, said. “We want to make sure we’re spending the money well.”

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Turning UNM into a home

Luke Holmen | August 22

While many departments have been forced to increase fees and cut benefits, UNM Residence Life and Student Housing is providing more to students for less.

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Parking prices rise as spaces are removed

Luke Holmen | August 15

This fall, parking permit rates will increase for the first time in four years. Dorm residents’ permits jumped from $242 to $300. Motorcycle permits cost $70, the same as they did last year. Faculty and staff permits cost $36 more than they did tlast year. Student Juan Caraveo said the raises are unreasonable.

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Banks ordered to compensate UNM

Lorena Saenz | August 15

UNM and four other New Mexico businesses will receive monetary settlements from bid-rigging allegations. A federal investigation revealed UBS Financial Services LLC and J.P. Morgan Securities LLC were rigging bond bids to sell bonds for less than fair market value. The banks will pay more than $1.4 million to New Mexico businesses to settle the bid-rigging claims.

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HEROs agents identify local health care issues

Miriam Belin | August 15

UNM Health Sciences Center’s model for primary care and community health has proven so successful that it has received funding to be duplicated in four other states. The Health Extension Rural Offices (HEROs) program received a $220,000 grant from the Commonwealth Fund to replicate the model in Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky and Oregon.

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News

Filters provide tribespeople with clean water

Miriam Belin | August 15

A group of UNM engineers spent two and a half weeks in Bolivia this summer working to provide an indigenous tribe with greater access to clean water. Members of the University’s Engineers Without Borders chapter went to the Tsimane villages of Tacuaral and Campo Bello in June.

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GPSA voices concern over loan cuts

Charlie Shipley | August 15

UNM graduate students will have fewer options for financial aid next year. As part of the Budget Control Act, the federal government will eliminate subsidized student loans for graduate and professional students beginning July 2012. At an August 9 Board of Regents meeting, GSPA President Katie Richardson urged the board to keep graduate students in mind when considering tuition and fee increases.

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News

Courting a new president

Hunter Riley | July 25

On July 19, Regent Board President Jack Fortner named the members of the search committee who will help choose UNM’s next president, and a firm hired to find candidates, Storbeck/Pimentel & Associates (SPA), began its search. Case Manager Alberto Pimentel said the search’s first phase uses web-based surveys to identify the qualifications UNM wants for its next president.

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News

Count on inconvenience in coming months

Luke Holmen | July 25

Lobo Village, UNM’s housing collaboration with American Campus Communities, has no vacancies, and main campus construction is ongoing despite questions about how much rent ACC will pay UNM. Lobo Village cost more than $39 million to build, and it opens Aug.

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Student studying in Nicaragua dies

Chelsea Erven | July 25

Student Kathryn Rios was studying abroad in Nicaragua when she died July 9 from complications of lupus. Rios, 22, went to Nicaragua with a UNM class, Sustainable Development in Central America: Poverty, Inequality and Growth in Nicaragua, taught by Matias Fontenla. The class arrived in Granada, Nicaragua, on June 14 and returned July 12.

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News

Field suits honored professor

Miriam Belin | July 25

Nelson Valdés, a janitor-turned-UNM professor emeritus, was honored with the Bernard S. Rodey Award, given to professors who exemplify leadership in education.

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MVD targets immigrants

Charlie Shipley | July 25

Gov. Susana Martinez announced plans last week for a program that would require foreign nationals with New Mexico driver’s licenses to prove that they are state residents. The Motor Vehicle Division sent letters to 10,000 foreign nationals who have New Mexico driver’s licenses last week, requiring them to schedule an in-person appointment to verify their residency.

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Gift for sports and smarts

Chelsea Erven | July 25

New Mexico natives Sonnet and Ian McKinnon gave UNM’s Anderson School of Management and the Athletics Department $7.5 million, the largest financial contribution given to the University by living individuals.

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Courtrooms are classrooms

Hunter Riley | July 25

Professors and future bosses could be one and the same for law students. UNM is the only law school in the nation with an active court system on its campus, the New Mexico Court of Appeals.

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Interim provost pushes for reforms

Kevin Forte | July 25

In UNM Interim Provost Chaouki Abdallah’s first month on the job, he reorganized the Provost’s Office and proposed a promotion and tenure plan for faculty.

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If you build it, they will eat

Hunter Riley | July 25

When Rick Rennie and Chris Goblet saw the dirt lot that sits west of the downtown Albuquerque Rail Runner Station, they said they cringed to think it would stay barren and undeveloped.

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Fires burn cash for tourist attractions

Kevin Forte and Luke Holmen | July 25

Wildfires struck hard this summer, ravaging New Mexico’s dry forests from Silver City to the Arizona border, and leaving nature enthusiasts with few outdoor options in the state. Popular tourist and camping locations such as Jemez Springs have been shut down for more than three weeks, according to a Santa Fe National Forest news release.

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HSC justifies costly off-campus training

Alexandra Swanberg | July 18

UNM’s Health Sciences Center Board racked up a nearly $12,000 bill at the Hyatt Regency Tamaya Resort and Spa during a May training session, leaving some faculty questioning the use of funds. The Bank of America corporate purchasing card statement for the HSC Board reflects $11,543.38 spent on a two-day training session for inaugurated board members and HSC leadership. HSC spokesman Billy Sparks said the board is a complex organization that demands its leadership to have a thorough understanding of its functions.

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Hospital reps say rights violated

Chelsea Erven | July 18

An anti-abortion group protested outside the UNM Center for Reproductive Health after an ambulance was called to the Center in February, and center physicians responded by saying patients’ rights are being violated. Lauren Cruse, Public Affairs representative for UNM Health Sciences, said Defending Life violated patient privacy when it posted a recording of the 911 call on its website.

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Lapped in funding, students on track

Miriam Belin | July 18

UNM’s race car cruised to a top 10 finish at an international racing competition last month. The LOBOMotorSports team placed eighth in engineering design and ninth in autocross at the Formula Society of Automotive Engineering competition in California.