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Students search for reason to vote

by Christopher Sanchez

Daily Lobo

With the Oct. 4 Albuquerque mayoral elections right around the corner, student Wesley Reed wants to know why he should vote.

"If the candidates are expecting the young crowd to get out and vote, they need to give us a reason," Reed said.

After a Sept.7 mayoral debate at which Eric Griego and Mayor Martin Ch†vez were the only candidates to show - and they were late - The Daily Lobo wanted to see what mayoral candidates have been doing to reach out to student voters.

Candidate Eric Griego said students at UNM are important to him.

He is involved with the University by contacting students on and off campus, he said.

"We are very active on campus," he said. "I've been there more than any other candidate."

Griego, who is an Albuquerque city councilor, has taught honors courses at UNM in the past.

"I want to work hard to support UNM students and hopefully hire some of them," Griego said.

Ch†vez, who is running for re-election, is teaching a city government class at UNM this semester. He said he has also contributed to the University.

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"My administration gave the bleachers on the south side of the football stadium to UNM," Ch†vez said. "They are for low-income kids to get into the games for free."

Griego said his campaign has a booth set up twice a week in the SUB. He said UNM's League of Pissed Off Voters endorse him and will be releasing 5,000 voter guides on campus next month.

Reed said he has seen the booths in the SUB before, but it didn't look effective.

"There were two guys there and they weren't talking to anybody," he said. "They were just sitting there waiting for someone to approach them."

Mayoral candidate David Steele said he hasn't been able to reach the students at the University because of limited resources.

"I'm trying to reach everyone I can," he said. "I'm doing everything I can to put signs up."

Steele said he would like to visit the University and speak with students if he had more time.

"The biggest thing I found is not enough time in the day," he said. "I'm fighting time every day wherever I go."

The Sept. 7 debate for the candidates was hosted by UNM's Graduate and Professional Students Association. Griego was the only one to represent himself in the debate. Ch†vez, who was attending a forum sponsored by the Albuquerque Police Officers' Association, arrived at the end of the debate.

UNM student Devin Ulibarri said there should be another debate for students to address the key issues.

"I understand they are busy and don't have time to talk one-on-one with students," he said. "But they should make up the debate and address a large audience."

Ulibarri said the candidates should express their positions to students on issues such as crime, transportation and minimum wage.

"This city is getting larger, and if we don't engineer our government, we will see a problem in the future," Ulibarri said.

Ch†vez said when he attended UNM, the president of the University would spend time talking to students, and the students appreciated it. Using the same idea, Ch†vez said he tries to make himself available to the students at UNM by hanging out at the SUB on a regular basis.

"We give notice, and I'll be there for a couple of hours," he said. "I'll take any questions."

UNM student Brennan Divett said he has not seen any of the candidates on campus.

"The only issue I've heard about is Ch†vez's issue on underage shows," he said.

Brad Winter, the fourth candidate, did not return calls Tuesday.

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