by Caleb Fort
Daily Lobo
The executive director of the Student Press Law Center said ASUNM's issuance of a subpoena to the editor in chief of the Daily Lobo was "ludicrous."
"The whole idea of subpoenaing an editor because they have concerns about the content of a paper is just ridiculous," Mark Goodman said.
The subpoena orders Marisa Demarco to attend a Senate meeting to answer questions on the operation of the paper.
ASUNM wants to "ensure that the Daily Lobo is acting in (a) manner that would best serve the students," according to the subpoena.
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ASUNM Vice President Justin Crosby, who introduced the legislation, said the content of the Daily Lobo is not always relevant to students.
Goodman said ASUNM should not have any say in the content of the Daily Lobo.
"This student government has no legal authority to force content decisions on the paper," Goodman said. "Whether the paper receives funding or not doesn't change that fact. It's protected by the First Amendment."
A small portion of the Daily Lobo's yearly budget comes from the $20 ASUNM student fee paid by undergraduate students.
Crosby said ASUNM is not necessarily questioning the content of the Daily Lobo, but decisions about story placement.
"I think if the stories were more directed toward things that are actually happening to students, it would kind of help the communication on campus," Crosby said.
Melanie Baise, an attorney in the University Counsel Office, said the ASUNM constitution gives it the right to issue subpoenas to appear at Senate meetings, but the subpoena is probably the result of a misunderstanding between Crosby and Demarco. Baise said she does not think ASUNM is trying to exert influence over the Daily Lobo.
"They are representative of the students," she said. "I'm sure they recognize that the Daily Lobo is an independent newspaper and is not subject to control by the student government."
Crosby said there will be no direct consequences if Demarco does not respond to the subpoena, because she does not hold an official ASUNM position.
"If you're not directly involved with ASUNM student government - there's no real direct consequences," Crosby said. "If she doesn't come, she doesn't come, and that's her choice."
Crosby said he tried to e-mail Demarco twice to ask her to come to Senate meetings.
Demarco said she never received those e-mails. Crosby called Demarco at about 1 p.m. Wednesday to ask her to attend a meeting, Demarco said. She said she told Crosby she would think about it, because she wanted to consult with the Daily Lobo staff before making a decision. ASUNM voted to subpoena Demarco at its full Senate meeting Wednesday night.
ASUNM Sen. David Steele was one of the two senators who voted against the subpoena. He said he voted against it because there was no point to the subpoena.
"I don't see the point in general. If Justin had questions to ask her, he should have sat down with her and asked her one-on-one, instead of like this," Steele said. "I don't have any questions to ask, and none of my student groups have anything to ask her either."
Steele said ASUNM is trying to get questions it has for the Daily Lobo answered in "a negative context."
Crosby said because the subpoena comes so late in Demarco's term as editor in chief, it is not an attack on her.
"It's not supposed to be a negative kind of gesture. It's a ploy to say, 'Please, we'd just really like you to come, you know, this is our final attempt,'" Crosby said.
Demarco's term ends on April 30.
Goodman said ASUNM should have made more extensive efforts to contact Demarco and was not warranted in "flexing their muscle" by issuing a subpoena.
"To use some semblance of force to require this editor to appear is both foolish and unjustified," he said. "If they truly believe there are bad choices being made, why don't they just have a conversation with this person?"
Bob Gassaway, chairman of the Student Publications Board, agreed with Goodman.
"I think it's unfortunate that ASUNM has decided to subpoena her when an invitation would have sufficed," Gassaway said. "I think it's interesting that they decided to subpoena someone just to reach out and talk to them."
ASUNM is allowed by its constitution to subpoena any undergraduate at UNM to appear at a Senate meeting. Anyone who does not comply with the subpoena can be suspended from his or her ASUNM position.
- Riley Bauling contributed to this report.
Managing editor's note: Demarco usually copy edits all stories and writes some headlines for the Daily Lobo. However, she did not assist in the editing process of this story.
