Editor,
On Monday, we were reading the Daily Lobo Opinion page when we came upon the editorial written by Iliana Lim¢n addressing Amendment One. We were dismayed about what was written concerning ASUNM Senate not representing the majority of UNM students.
We ask Ms. Lim¢n how it is that ASUNM does not represent the majority of students? If Ms. Lim¢n cared to see the front page of the Daily Lobo yesterday, she would have seen that there was an entire article on Spring Storm, which was very successful and brought the UNM community together. Ms. Lim¢n, do events such as Spring Storm incorporate and impact more than 10 percent of the student body? Although ASUNM cannot take full credit for the event on April 6, ASUNM did allocate nearly $2,500 to Spring Storm as well as $1,300 for next year if Amendment One passes. Otherwise, it will be just over $800.
Ms. Lim¢n writes, ". generally spending more than half of its funding to maintain student government." Ms. Lim¢n is absolutely correct in stating that ASUNM Senate spends half of its funding on executive agencies and the other half on student organizations. The sole purpose of student organizations is to bring students with similar interests together on campus, helping students to gain experience, which helps further their careers, religious affairs and academic goals. The sole purpose of ASUNM executive agencies is to establish an avenue for all students to unite and enhance the college experience.
The executive agencies have large budgets not only to create services that all students can enjoy, but also to offset outrageous Daily Lobo advertising costs. Like it or not, the Daily Lobo is the information highway on the UNM campus. The Daily Lobo should be thanking the individuals who wrote into the ASUNM Lawbook and Constitution that some of the executive agencies are required to purchase several advertisements throughout each semester. This includes the Election Commission, which is required to buy ads to publicize student elections; SSE, which publicizes events and programming; and we even advertise through the Lobo when there is a vacancy in any of the ASUNM appointed positions.
"The Daily Lobo must demand that the student government turn the spotlight on itself and dig deeper into its own pockets before frisking students." If Ms. Lim¢n believes that we should "dig deeper into our own pockets", then we ought to look at the Daily Lobo's overpriced advertising costs. Please, let us do it. We are positive that other organizations would love to have that money. If you would like to talk about digging deeper and being more accountable, the last time that we checked, the Daily Lobo received about $46,000 from student fees all the while having $300,000 more in a "rainy day" account.
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Knowing this, would you still like to talk about accountability and responsibility?
Travis A. Clark and Paul C. Campbell
ASUNM senators
