by Jennifer Onuska
ASUNM President
and Duff Lill
ASUNM Lobby Director
Once again, its that time of year when all of our local politicians meet in Santa Fe to determine our future as New Mexicans and more importantly students.
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Some items that they will face will directly affect the University of New Mexico such as funding for the University. As students, we can make a difference.
The Associated Students of UNM's goals are achievable. Our 2003 goals relate to our needs as students. The most important being full formula funding, which in plain English means maintaining our current University funding.
We also are supporting a bill, which would require the bookstore to sell tax-free textbooks year-round. This bill was introduced during the last two sessions. The bill was passed through the legislature last year. Yet, amendments changed the bill's purpose dramatically.
Under the current law, and the current administrative code facilities, our bookstore must close to the general public in order to exempt textbooks from government gross tax. This only allows students, faculty, and staff with valid identification to enter the facility. Parents of students, spouses, children, alumni, as well as the general public are banned from entering the store. Also, students who cannot purchase their books in the two-week period must pay 5 percent more than their fellow students. However, bookstores run by out-of-state contractors are exempt from this policy and able to provide their customers with tax-free textbooks year round. This gives an unfair advantage to outside contractors. We hope to change this policy.
Reality Check! Though we would like to see no tuition increase, the reality is somewhat different. Our economy is in a slump and state funding is in demand. Therefore, if the cost to run the University goes up, the State Legislature may not give us all of the funding we need to operate. In this instance, the Legislature will recommend a tuition credit (increase) to compensate for funding. Therefore, we are encouraging the Legislature to accept a low increase in the tuition credit.
We want you! We need your help as students to voice your opinion at the Legislature. We would like you to accompany us to the State Legislature on Feb. 10. To coordinate this effort and ensure its effectiveness, we will be hosting an informational meeting on Feb. 6, at 5:30 p.m., in the Student Residence Center, Room 205. At this meeting, we will inform you about the University's objectives, details about our goals and share our agenda for the day.
UNM Goes to the State Capitol 2003 will include students, faculty, staff and alumni. Together, these groups hope to impact the legislature hand-in-hand to benefit the University of New Mexico.
You can make a difference! Students do have a voice!
