Of all the license plates in the United States and Canada, why New Mexico? The Automobile License Plate Collectors Association awarded New Mexico first place for its turquoise plates, but some New Mexicans are still bummed about the bumper decorations. Student Adam Rottler said the plate is unworthy of a national award.
UNM’s Board of Regents will take its first step to determine tuition increases and approve an operating budget for 2012. The meeting starts today at 9 a.m.
Chris Quintana, the Daily Lobo’s culture editor, will be the newspaper’s next editor-in-chief. The UNM Student Publications Board appointed Quintana Friday, and he will take over May 1. “I feel like I’ve been handed a big responsibility.
Just like the real thing, synthetic marijuana is now illegal. Gov. Susana Martinez signed a bill at a news conference inside a Farmington Boys and Girls Club banning the possession and sale of synthetic marijuana.
The Student Fee Review Board spent six hours this semester trying to find a way to reduce student fees, and it did, by 31 cents. But Regent Jack Fortner said at the March 28 budget summit that the board might jack up student fees by about $30 in order to give more funding to Athletics, IT Services and UNM Libraries. He said University parties don’t want Instruction and General funds to go to Athletics, even if it’s for utility costs. “I know some people have heartburn about that, but I don’t,” he said. Fortner said the board is looking to offset a proposed $380,000 cut to Athletics by possibly raising student fees. The Finance and Facilities Committee will meet Monday to discuss the fee increase. Regents will make a decision Tuesday. SFRB chair and ASUNM President Laz Cardenas said students should expect an increase in student fees. “My reaction to it was that I wasn’t surprised, and at the same time, I was a little disappointed,” he said.
Katie Richardson will be the next GPSA president. Richardson received a little more than 50 percent of the votes.
At least 17,000 New Mexicans are homeless, and for one night UNM students can experience what that might be like. Six graduating communication and journalism students, The Happy Campers, organized the event as part of a service-learning assignment, student Bryan Wilcox said. “We hope people leave with a better personal understanding of what is like to be homeless,” he said.
Most of UNM’s peer institutions don’t consider the University their equal, and soon UNM might give in to peer pressure. UNM’s peer institutions haven’t changed since at least the 1990s, and of UNM’s 16 peer institutions, only two schools, University of Utah and University of Washington, count UNM among their peer institutions. The University of Washington had UNM on only one of three lists it uses for self-evaluation, according the University of Washington website. In 2008, Mark Chisholm, director of UNM’s Office of Institutional Research, said then-provost Viola Florez asked UNM to re-evaluate its peers. Chisholm said he compared student body characteristics, such as ethnic profile and number of commuter students, but the project lost steam when Florez left the University, and it’s been on the backburner since. “I don’t know whether or not we’re going to go through the energy of going to the state and requesting a whole bunch of new peers right now,” Chisholm said. “You really need someone at a high-executive level that thinks it’s really important.” Chisholm said it’s hard for UNM to find comparable institutions that are similar across the board.
Gov. Susana Martinez signed an expansion of Katie’s Law into legislation Wednesday at a Rotary Club meeting in Carlsbad.
New regent Bradley Hosmer said UNM can lead the country in changing the education system. Hosmer was the superintendent of the Air Force Academy and the president of the National Defense University before retiring in 1994.
Tim Mousseau, Junior, New Day slate Editor’s Note: Tim Mousseau is the new presidential candidate for the New Day slate after Michael Thorning dropped out of the race Monday. Daily Lobo: Tell me about your slate and some of the platforms you guys are promoting. Tim Mousseau: When we selected senators, we chose individuals for their passion for students and the platforms we’re running on.
Albuquerque is taking steps to make the city more bike-friendly. Construction workers broke ground Monday on a four-week project to widen El Pueblo Road between Second Street and Edith Boulevard, near the Los Ranchos/Journal Center Rail Runner station.
Students have a chance to elect UNM’s future undergraduate and graduate student leaders during the ASUNM and GPSA elections, but few actually vote. Since 2008, no more than 11 percent of main campus undergraduate students voted in ASUNM spring elections, according to data from ASUNM Elections Adviser Debbie Morris.
UNM Provost Suzanne Ortega will not return to her post in the fall. Ortega’s contract is up for renewal this summer, but she accepted a job offer back east instead of renewing her contract, University President David Schmidly said in his Monday morning e-mail. “We’ll be able to share more about it as the details are finalized, but know that it is a wonderful opportunity, and no one is more deserving of it,” Schmidly wrote.
Michael Thorning announced Monday that he is dropping out of the ASUNM presidential race, three weeks after resigning from his high-ranking position in the president’s cabinet. The former chief-of-staff declared March 8 he’d run against Attorney General Jaymie Roybal, and he said ASUNM president Laz Cardenas cut his chief-of-staff duties in half three days later. “I think I got the sense that it was either going to become a hostile work environment or I wasn’t going to be working there,” Thorning said.
Jaymie Roybal, Now Slate Daily Lobo: Tell me about the slate that you helped create and its platforms. Jaymie Roybal: We wanted the platforms we’ve developed to be straight, have really broad issues — and then we tried to generalize them.
UNM head coach Steve Alford, who in the past hinted that his UNM stay was contingent on continued administrative support, denied reports that he may leave UNM to fill Missouri’s head coaching vacancy.
More than 300 people celebrated labor activist Cesar Chavez’s efforts Saturday. Supporters marched through the downtown Barelas neighborhood to the National Hispanic Cultural Center.
Michael Thorning, New Day Slate Daily Lobo: What is your campaign focused on? Michael Thorning: We want to start a new era where we ask, “How are we reinvesting in students?” We want to make people more competitive in the job market.
by Shaun Griswold shaun24@unm.edu UNM community members will remember student Beatrice Dominguez-Meiers’ life at a memorial service Saturday morning. Her son, James Meiers, said his mother was dedicated to serving people until the very end. “It wasn’t until the last couple of months where she really got so sick that she couldn’t help people,” he said.
Solutions by The State News
