by Jeremy Hunt
Daily Lobo
Priorities that were vetoed during the 2006 legislative session came to fruition this year in Senate Bill 710.
The bill included an assortment of allocations for UNM, including environmental health and research programs, and funding to plan and design a building for UNM West.
UNM's Tamarind Institute received $325,000 from the bill to construct a building.
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"Our facility is in great need of repair, and we have huge multimillion-dollar inventory that needs better storage," said Marjorie Devon, director of the institute.
The Tamarind Institute is at 108 Cornell Drive S.E. The new building will be across from the architecture school, Devon said.
Devon said the institute was founded almost 50 years ago to revive the art of lithography in the United States.
Most people don't know what the institute is when they walk by it, but that will change when the institute gets its new home, Devon said.
"It'll be really a wonderful opportunity for the University and for Tamarind to highlight a program that has been internationally noticed and acclaimed," she said.
Devon said with an upgrade, the institute can connect more with the international community.
"We can stream live workshops to schools and institutes across the world," she said. "About half our students come from other countries because we offer the only program of its kind in the world for training master printers."
The Tamarind Institute may receive additional funding from other legislation.
Senate Bill 710 also contributed $20,000 to get lights installed on Johnson Field, an initiative that was seven years in the making.
Lights on Johnson has been a campaign goal for ASUNM candidates since students became interested in the project, said Brittany Jaeger, ASUNM president.
"Students didn't believe it was going to happen," she said. "It's been a promise of various ASUNM senators and presidents and vice presidents. For it to finally be happening, it's great."
ASUNM has received about $260,000 from the Legislature to do the project, but the student government may need a little more than that to complete it, Jaeger said.
"I'm hoping that the University will contribute some funds," she said.
Jaeger said she is not sure when the lights will go up, but it hopefully will be over the summer.
When students come back in the fall, they should be pleased to see a well-lit Johnson Field, Jaeger said.
"Every time that I had reported to the (Student) Senate that things were going really well at the Legislature, everyone seemed excited this was happening," she said. "It's amazing."
Senate Bill 710:
$20,000
Buy and install lighting at Johnson Field
$23,800
Construct, furnish and equip Hodgin Hall as alumni center
$25,000
Plan and design American-Indian learning center
$50,000
Renovate facility in Gallup to house intertribal American-Indian ceremonial collection
$50,000
Equipment for Carlisle Gym
$65,000
Distance learning equipment for Charlie Morrisey Research Hall in African-American Studies
$75,000
Environmental health and research projects for Alliance for Transportation Research Institute
$87,000
Equipment and fence construction in Socorro for biology department
$100,000
Plan and design building at UNM West in Rio Rancho
$135,000
Plan, design, construct and furnish alumni center at UNM
$143,900
Golf hitting bays for UNM golf course
$200,000
Digital photography and editing equipment for fine arts
$375,000
Plan, design, construct and furnish facility for Tamarind Institute
Source: Legis.state.nm.us
