The GPSA Council used its last meeting of the academic year Saturday to address several liberal and social issues - including University investments and animal rights - that affect graduate students and the entire campus community.
Despite it being the last meeting for outgoing executives, the Graduate and Professional Student Association Council discussed and voted on several issues and reviewed numerous standing committee reports.
The first major item for the council to address was a public presentation by associate law professor Tim Canova.
Canova, who has been working with a new group titled the Socially Responsible Investment Committee, proposed a resolution to the GPSA Council.
The resolution asked the University to prohibit investment of a portion of its $180 million endowment fund in World Bank bonds due to the organization's track record of providing restrictive financial assistance to developing and third-world countries.
Canova told the council that it is common for the World Bank, as a condition for funding financially-challenged nations, to require countries to cut back on health and educational services to help pay back the bank's investment.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
UNM does not own any bonds or mutual funds associated with the World Bank, Canova said.
He added that the formation of the Socially Responsible Investment Committee came in direct response to numerous student rallies regarding the University's investment strategies. Yale University, Cornell University, Vassar College, Stanford University and the University of Wisconsin at Madison all have adopted similar investment policies.
The council approved the resolution, which also had been passed by the Student Bar Association. Although the last Faculty Senate meeting did not have a quorum, the majority of senators present voted to pass the World Bank resolution and the Senate is expected to conduct an official e-mail vote later this month.
In addition to the World Bank resolution, the Socially Responsible Investment Committee also is drafting a resolution that would ask the University to establish a screening process for potential investments to ensure UNM endowment fund profits do not come at the expense of socially responsible policies. Canova did not have specific information regarding which screening factors would be used but he mentioned human rights, environmental pollution and worker rights abuses as possible factors excluding University investment.
The council voted to form an ad hoc committee to examine a resolution that the Socially Responsible Investment Committee is expected to complete later this week.
During the meeting, the council discussed the status of its push to expand state-funded child care for graduate students so that it matches the level of support undergraduates receive. Lobby Director Jeff Primm told the council the state's Child, Youth and Family Development Department heard his recommendations at a recent forum but state leaders said it was unlikely they would change their policy.
Debate continued over an amendment regarding the council's policy on funding graduate research projects that use animal and human test subjects.
The amendment, proposed by Graduate Research and Development Fund Chairman Keith Valles, would ban GPSA funding of projects that inflict harm on animals or humans.
The council members discussed the amendment, but because of concern about the wording of the amendment - which included physical harm and cultural and emotional harm - the measure failed by a vote of two in favor, four against and two abstentions.
