Editor,
The Associated Students of UNM Senate passed amendment 5B not because it wanted to punish the Daily Lobo, but because we want to put $38,000 of unused student fees back into the hands of student groups and organizations.
As it stands, the Lobo receives 10 percent of ASUNM money. No questions asked. This bill would put that 10 percent back into the ASUNM account to be distributed to all groups such as Agora and SEPAS.
This amendment, if passed by the students on April 11, would not exempt the Daily Lobo from receiving ASUNM money.
Instead it would require the newspaper to apply for funds the same way every group must receive them: Through the ASUNM, Graduate and Professional Students Association or the Student Fee Review Board funding processes. Additionally, every group on campus receiving student fees is required to itemize where every dollar is spent. After asking the Daily Lobo staff several times, they still cannot indicate where student fee money is used, demonstrating how the Daily Lobo is not held to the same strict financial accountability as every group at UNM.
The Daily Lobo has had revenue every year since 1992, ranging from $2,000 to over $106,000.
This money is put into a savings account in case the Lobo must operate on no outside assistance, including advertising money, for an entire semester. Currently, that savings account has $386,051, more than enough to print the paper for a semester. Additionally, the amount the Daily Lobo has received directly from ASUNM in the past few years has been nearly equal to the amount of revenue the Daily Lobo has maintained annually, proving how student fees taken by the Lobo are used to fund its savings account.
Do any student groups at UNM have a revenue or profit? Is UNM Rugby, MEChA or the Green Community Project allowed put any unused money into a savings account in case their membership is low or they have a bad year of leadership?
The answer to both questions is a resounding no. In the unlikely case that any student group does not use all funding, they must revert those unused funds back to the ASUNM general account. Meanwhile, the Lobo is allowed to hold on to $386,051 of unused student fees, while 200-plus student groups work tirelessly to make ends meet every year.
Currently, student groups are continually operating on limited funding. During this spring budget process, student group operating expenses were reduced by more than $200,000. An extra $38,000 would fund 30 trips, 30 work-study positions or nearly 1 million copies for groups such as Association of Non-Traditional Students, Crafts Studio or NMPIRG. This reduction equals a much-needed boost to student organizations on UNM's campus.
The Senate believes the student body will clearly see how student fees can be more effectively used. ASUNM Senate is not pulling the plug on the Lobo. We are simply taking money from where it is not used and putting it back where it belongs: With student organizations that make UNM what it is today.
Sen. Grant Nichols
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ASUNM Senate
Editor's note: The New Mexico Daily Lobo is not a student group. It a part of the Student Publications Department under the Office of Student Affairs.
Student Publications receives 12 percent of student fees that ASUNM collects. The Daily Lobo receives 8 percent of that allocation, with the remaining 4 percent going to Best Student Essays and Conceptions Southwest. That money goes into the newspaper's annual operating budget, not directly into its reserve fund.
