by Caleb Fort
Daily Lobo
The Associated Students of UNM met with members of UNM's administration Wednesday night to discuss the $125 million bond sale that took place Aug. 24.
Matt Gallegos, ASUNM senator, said he was unhappy most of the planning for the bond sale happened over summer break.
"Obviously, there was no dissent," he said. "But there were no students here to give dissent."
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David Harris, executive vice president for administration, said planning began in April. He said about $50 million was approved before summer began.
"I think it's very important for this senate to understand that half of the bond issue was put in place in April while class was still in session," he said. "It should not come as a surprise that this happened."
He said all meetings about the issue were open, and ASUNM was not taken by surprise.
"There was no secrecy about this," he said. "I think the student government knew full well where this was going."
He said UNM publicized the issue enough.
"I think we did everything in our power to disseminate the information," he said.
ASUNM Vice President Mike Mooney, who was an ASUNM senator in April, disagreed.
"We heard whispers and rumors about this big bond issue," he said. "We didn't know this was going to take off during the summer."
Harris said it was important to issue the bonds as soon as possible to save the University - and students - money.
"It was purely as an economic issue," he said. "It wasn't about politics or anything like that."
A handout he gave to the senate said waiting until November to issue the bonds would cost about $12 million more.
Fees will increase $56 per year for the next five years, until students pay $280 per year to pay back the bonds. They will be paid back after 30 years.
Some renovations include Castetter Hall and the Communication & Journalism building. The money will also pay for the construction of the Centennial Engineering Center and the Architecture and Planning Facility, among other buildings.
Harris said those projects would not have gotten the funding they needed without the bond issue.
"We had to find internal sources," he said. "This was the best one available."
Mooney said the issue goes against UNM's identity as a public institution.
"One problem I have - and that I think a lot of other students have - is that even though we're a state university, we're almost moving to be a private institution," he said.
Harris said being a state school does not mean UNM should take only state money.
"It's not free, even though it is a public entity," he said.
Charlotte Woods, ASUNM senator, said the bond issue was a good idea.
"I think we're lucky," she said. "How much we'll pay is so little compared to how much the University will improve."
Student Mike Ciura said UNM should try to avoid raising fees. He said students were not given enough input.
"It's already so much to go to school here, with books and everything," he said. "It just kind of happened. It wasn't really a choice."
Mooney said he is in favor of the renovations. He realizes it is too late to change the bond issue, he said. The discussion should illustrate that administrators and students need to work together more closely for issues involving students' money, he said.
"Somewhere along the way, we as a university failed," he said. "I'm not placing blame just on them, or just on ASUNM, because everyone could have done a lot better job to make everyone happy."
One student was in the audience at the meeting.
