Andrea Cooper thought her daughter, Kristin, couldn’t be happier on New Year’s Eve 1995 but was overcome with grief when she came home and found her only child dead from a self-inflicted gunshot.
The Connection slate made a clean sweep in Tuesday’s ASUNM presidential election, with Sen. Andrea Cook and Sen. Steve Aguilar winning the president and vice-president positions, and the New Mexico Daily Lobo retaining $38,000 in student fees. Amendment One called for elimination of student fees that go to the Daily Lobo, allocates 3 percent to Conceptions Southwest and Best Student Essays and identifies the Student Government Accounting Office as the main budget office. The item passed a majority vote by 796-765 but did not pass the two-thirds majority needed.
Despite emphasis on tuition increases, the Board of Regents managed to cover other business Tuesday, including ratifying a staff union and selecting the site for the new Architecture and Planning Building.
M. Nicol†s Cabrera, a sophomore double majoring in Communication and Journalism and Spanish, is the only independent candidate running for the ASUNM Senate. “I just believe students have a right to have a independent voice that reflects their needs, and I didn’t agree with the slates, so I am running alone,” he said. He describes an ASUNM senator’s as a person who is servant leader. “A senator is a person who unselfishly works on behalf of others without expecting anything back in return,” he said. Cabrera said he feels qualified to serve as a senator because of his dedication to students and previous experience serving in local, state and national offices with DECA, an association of marketing students. If elected, Cabrera said his top priority would be to streamline the election process by letting students vote online via I-TEL-UNM. “I know GPSA already does it and I think it would be a good way to make elections easier on students,” he said. Cabrera said he also would like to consistently visit students, faculty, staff and organizations; establish an ASUNM calling card with proceeds benefiting a charitable civic organizaiton; improve access to alumni activities and career services; and promote ASUNM as an outlet for aspiring student leaders. He said the biggest challenge that ASUNM will face is working with students. “I think it’s a matter of bring the Senate back down to earth and maintaining the student government as it’s intended to be,” he said. When asked to name three members of the Board of Regents, the president of the University and three student groups, Cabrera named Begay-Campbell, Anaya and Herrera as regents; Dr. Gordon as president; and Phi Eta Sigma, Hispanic Honor Society, and American Indian Science and Engineering Society.
Senate candidate Jason Schaffer said that being a senator means to directly represent a diverse population of UNM students and responding to their needs and wants. Schaffer, a sophomore double majoring in political science and economics, said the Associated Students of UNM is a great way to get involved and help students out because he is very interested in all student organizations around campus. He said he is a resident assistant in the dorms and he’s gotten to see how things work around campus and his desire to get involved helped him decide to run for Senate. Schaffer said he wants to help senators become more connected with student groups and keep contact with student needs and support them, instead of just allocating funds to them and then leaving it at that.
Natalia Bera£n, a sophomore majoring in mechanical engineering, said that as a member of the Hispanic Engineering Society, she wants to be better represented by the ASUNM Senate. “I feel that we, on the engineering side, are rather isolated,” she said.
Travis Clark, a junior majoring in biology, said he decided to run for office to become more involved in ASUNM. Clark said the role of a senator is to represent students. “Our job is to actually express the views of students and make sure we do everything we can to meet their needs,” Clark said. Clark said he feels qualified to serve as a senator because he thinks he can represent students well. “I feel like I can stand for people equally through diversity and representation,” he said.
Despite a vocal and lengthy protest by about 50 students Tuesday, the Board of Regents approved an 8.3 percent tuition and fee increase for graduate and undergraduate students. The regents quietly voted on the increase during the third hour of a five-hour meeting as students shouted about the issue, unaware the measure was being passed. Student Regent Eric Anaya voted against the increase, while Regent Sandra Begay-Campbell abstained. Regents Larry Willard, Judith Herrera, Jack Fortner and David Archuleta voted for the increase. The tuition increase was part of an action item that includes a 10 percent tuition and fee increase for law and medical students and 6.5 percent salary increases for faculty and staff.
Sen. Tim Serna, presidential candidate on The People slate, says he will hold senators accountable for their actions and will work hard to make sure students are the focus of the University. “I don’t want to say people haven’t been doing their jobs — because they have — I just think it can be done better,” he said. Serna said ASUNM President Jennifer Liu and past presidents have been respectful at Board of Regents meetings, but have not established that the regents are there because of the students.
Angelina Flores, a sophomore majoring in nursing, decided to run for office because she is a nontraditional student who is not involved in any organization but wants to make a difference. “I don’t know much about ASUNM, and I need to educate more of the general public about ASUNM and make sure their voices are heard,” she said.
Nick Huffmyer is running for a Senate position because he thinks his college experience is too short not to. “I really need to capitalize on the time I do have and what better way to get involved than ASUNM,” he said. Huffmyer, a junior majoring in criminology, said that being a senator means accurately representing what he and the other senators feel for student interests and to represent the average student who is not a member of the Associated Students of UNM. He said his desire to be an honest and fair representative and his will to work hard qualifies him to be a senator.
Sen. Andrea Cook, presidential candidate on The Connection slate, wants students to know about ASUNM campus safety and the various services available at the University. She is working to create a mandatory eight-week safety awareness course for transfer and freshmen students to learn more about acquaintance rape and alcohol among other topics.
Senate candidate James Cajete, a senior majoring in computer engineering, said the biggest problem facing ASUNM next year basically is student apathy. “A lot of the funding questions allocations and safety issues, but student involvement it the biggest problem right now,” he said.
All registered undergraduate students can vote for ASUNM’s president, vice-president and Senate today, and decide on two constitutional amendments that deal with Student Publications funding and Senate vacancies.
About 20 students marched to Scholes Hall chanting "No tuition increases" after an election rally sponsored by M.E.Ch.A in Smith Plaza Monday. Their voices echoed through the administrative hallways as they knocked on and tried to open doors that said, "Please Come In," but were locked.
Jennifer Onuska is a freshman at UNM and is running for ASUNM Senator with The Connection slate.
Sen. David Padilla, vice-presidential candidate on The People slate, said that getting involved with and adjusting to a new student government has pushed him to keep learning and working for students.
Celestina Torres doesn't feel those leading student government are addressing issues that matter to her, so she decided to do something about it.
Grant Nichols, a junior at UNM, is running for Senate because he hopes to use his previous experience with ASUNM to benefit the University.
Sen. Steve Aguilar said he wants to be vice president of ASUNM because the position allows for a lot of communication with students and senators, which is something he wants to improve.
Solutions by The State News
