Two current senators for the Associated Students at the University of New Mexico, Anthony Tomaziefski (ballot #6) and Mutazz (Tazz) Jaber (#3) are running for ASUNM President and Vice President, respectively focusing on accessibility, safety, involvement and outreach.
Tomaziefski and Jaber’s campaign centers on education and student outreach to address their concerns surrounding the lack of accessibility on campus, safety and bridging the gap between students – specifically Greek Life – and ASUNM, they said.
“Although we'd be the ones in office, the office would be all of ours. We want to ensure that (there is) transparency within our administration and (that) the decisions we are making are backed with the entirety of the student body, or as much as we can,” Jaber said.
To address accessibility and Americans with Disabilities Act compliance issues, Tomaziefski said he wants to build a report of student-identified issues to present to the Board of Regents and UNM President Garnett Stokes to influence the University’s current 2040 inclusive excellence plans.
Cost-free accessibility measures that they could work to implement include rearranging classrooms to make classroom accessibility easier for those who use mobility devices, Jaber said.
“Simple things like the way classrooms are laid out – that's not anything we'd have to spend any money on. That's just us communicating with our campus leaders,” Jaber said.
At the state legislature, Tomaziefski hopes to advocate for funds to create a skate park for students on campus, he said. Or, in terms of safety, Tomaziefski said he would advocate for funds to create environmentally friendly lighting on campus.
“A lot of what I hear from other candidates when they speak about safety is (that) if (students are) scared at night, we need more police,” Tomaziefski said. “As someone who is a person of color and understands that their relationship with police is tenuous at times, I don't think more policing is the solution to our problems. I don't think more patrolling is the solution to our problems.”
Drawing ideas from the Student Fee Review Board hearing – a forum the Board holds in October to hear student input on how to allocate student activity fees – Tomaziefski also supports the idea of lobbying for funds to have free feminine hygiene products available campus-wide, expanding on Zimmerman Library’s current services.
The pair are currently finance senators with Tomazskiefski serving as the chair, and they aim to create an understanding of the Finance Budget Hearings and processes to allow more transparency with student fees and funds that directly affect student organizations, Tomazskiefski and Jaber said.
“I'm working on a way to set up a little document or a video explaining the financial disbursement process – explaining what rules exist, explaining limits on funding,” Tomaziefski said.
One of the “pitfalls” of ASUNM is the current expectation for student organizations to understand the process, Tomaziefski said.
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In the Senate, Jaber is currently working on legislation that will require finance senators to include information on the amount a student organization has previously received from ASUNM in their presentation of the funding request to the ASUNM Senate.
“This is super important when we're talking about making equitable cuts and making good decisions when we're funding student organizations and appropriations,” Jaber said.
Jaber is also working on rewriting the constitution and law book to reflect the current status of ASUNM and would continue if he moves into vice president – a role that oversees the Senate, he said. Tomaziefski brought up working on translating these documents into other languages as well.
“One of the things that I want to do (to) distill and hopefully create longevity throughout the years, even when I'm out of office, would be having a strong line of communication to agencies. A lot of agencies feel like the law book hasn't represented them in a while; there's a lot of things that need to be changed,” Jaber said.
In terms of the executive cabinet, Tomaziefski said he wants to make sure it is built up of students who are highly involved and passionate about working towards solutions.
“Unfortunately, the job of a senator is limited in some aspects. And, as a president, it's easier to reach higher university officials – such as the president, the Board of Regents – to really push an agenda that the student body agrees with and needs,” Tomaziefski said.
ASUNM’s elections begin Wednesday, March 20 at 9 a.m. and closes on Thursday, March 21 at 5 p.m, according to the ASUNM Elections Commission. Polling locations have yet to be announced.
Karina Bolaños is the Culture Editor at the Daily Lobo. They can be contacted at culture@dailylobo.com
Maddie Pukite is the editor-in-chief at the Daily Lobo. They can be contacted at editorinchief@dailylobo.com on Twitter @maddogpukite
Editor’s note: Karina Bolaños was briefly enrolled as a candidate for ASUNM Vice President before formally stepping down from their candidacy on Feb. 28.
Maddie Pukite is the 2023-2024 editor of the Daily Lobo.
