The Associated Students at the University of New Mexico commended retiring professor Peter Kierst during their full senate meeting on Wednesday, Oct 26. The senate also filled a vacant seat, approving Kareem Al Bayraqdar as the newest senator.
The senate unanimously passed a commendation officially honoring Kierst, a political science professor, for his accomplishments at UNM and in New Mexico. Kierst will retire at the end of this semester after 17 years of being a full-time faculty member, according to the commendation.
Kierst is known on campus for his law-focused political science courses and known statewide as the lead counsel in the litigation that saw same-sex marriage legalized in New Mexico, according to senator Jesus Sanchez.
“He is just vital to so many students’ success and especially with their future with law,” Erika Macsaveny, executive chief of staff, said.
ASUNM President Ian May said in an interview with The Daily Lobo following the meeting that he may wait to sign the commendation until it has been resubmitted with sharpened writing at the request of other ASUNM members.
The senate also unanimously approved freshman Al Bayraqdar to become the 20th senator, filling a recently vacated seat. When vacancies in the senate arise, ASUNM Vice President Krystah Pacheco appoints a candidate who the senate then may approve.
During Wednesday’s meeting and the Oct. 12 meeting, the senate awarded about $36,000 in appropriations across 13 student organizations — numbered 3F and 16F through 27F. Over the previous two meetings, the senate awarded over $70,000 to various student organizations through appropriations and budgets.
The senate approved the $35,667 fall student organization budget bill, according to the meeting minutes from the Oct. 12 meeting. In total, 39 student organizations had requested $152,215, which the finance committee cut to $35,667 prior to the final approval.
Student organization budgets are distinct from appropriations: budgets cover “the basic operating expenses,” while appropriations cover “travel and unforeseen expenses” and “one-time capital outlays,” according to the ASUNM senate website.
ASUNM received an advance payment to their general fund from the Student Government Accounting Office, furnishing what had been a dwindling budget, according to senator and finance committee chair Sofie Carillo.
At the start of Wednesday’s meeting, the ASUNM general fund had about $270,000, according to May. Along with $6,000 earmarked for appropriations, this combined amount must last through the first six weeks of the spring semester, according to Carillo.
“SGAO allocated additional money to us in order to spend on reserves because they knew that we would be spending more money in appropriations than we had in our appropriations fund,” Carillo said during the meeting. “They’re taking estimates from the spring semester, funding that we will have in the Spring semester, and allocating it to our reserves.”
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Last spring, ASUNM increased the student fee to $35 per semester. Every three years, the fee will increase by $5 until reaching $50. The money received from the increase in fees will help to supplement the budget.
“Basically, the new projections that they got for the new fee cycle are a lot higher than they had originally anticipated, so they are more comfortable allocating more money to us because they know that those spring projections will be way higher than they had originally thought.”
The full senate will meet again in two weeks on Wednesday, Nov. 9. Full senate meetings are open to public comment.
Gabriel Saiz is a freelance reporter at the Daily Lobo. He can be contacted at news@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @gsaiz83
