UCAM's News clips for Wednesday, April 30, 2008
1. Tap Donors To Stem UNM Brain Drain (Albuquerque Journal Editorial)
Unless New Mexico invests more in higher education, faculty brain drain could sap future economic vitality, according to David Harris, chief operating officer of the University of New Mexico.
“Constantly our faculty is being recruited by institutions who can offer higher pay than we’re able to meet,” Harris told a business group Monday.
http://www.unm.edu/news/08AprilNewsClips/30donors.htm2. Schmidly: New VPs to focus on diversity (Daily Lobo)
By: Rachel HillPresident David Schmidly said he has spared no expense to create two new vice president positions and fill them over the summer.
Josephine De Léon will be vice president for equity and inclusion, and Carmen Alvarez Brown will take over the University's enrollment management.
De Léon will take over the position previously held by Rita Martinez-Purson, and Alvarez will replace interim vice president Terry Babbitt.
http://www.unm.edu/news/08AprilNewsClips/30diversity.htm3. Study: admin salaries steadily on the rise (Daily Lobo)
By: Brandon CallUNM is spending more than three times as much on administrators as it was in 2002, according to the Faculty Senate.
The Senate reported that UNM spent $8.2 million on administration salaries in 2007, compared to $2.6 million five years ago.
But that information wasn't intended for public release, and the Faculty Senate is in the process of revising its analysis, said Howard Snell of the Faculty Senate Operations Committee.
The Faculty Senate is hosting a meeting to discuss the issue of administration salaries and the impact of financial decisions on research and academic programs today in Anthropology Room 163 at 4 p.m.
http://www.unm.edu/news/08AprilNewsClips/30salaries.htm4. UNM Wants Wheelchair Team Out of Johnson Gym (Albuquerque Journal)
By Martin Salazar; Journal Staff WriterThe University of New Mexico is pulling the red carpet out from under the Albuquerque Kings.
And now the Kings a wheelchair basketball team that has practiced at Johnson Center for about 20 years is looking for a new court for Saturdays.
http://www.unm.edu/news/08AprilNewsClips/30gym.htm5. Zimmerman Fire Unsolved (Albuquerque Journal)
Two years after a fire ripped through the basement of the University of New Mexico's Zimmerman Library, authorities are far from catching the person responsible.
UNM Police Lt. Patrick Davis said while the investigation is still open, police don't have a suspect.
"We initially turned our investigation over to the state fire marshal," Davis said. "They returned it to us concluded and without a suspect, and we're continuing to follow up on a few leads and tips that were received."
The fire caused about $18 million in damage, though insurance paid for all but the $1,000 deductible.
Davis said the state fire marshal concluded that an unknown accelerant was used to start the April 30, 2006, blaze.
To mark the second anniversary of the fire, UNM is holding a formal reopening of the basement from 2-4 p.m. today.
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6. UNM To Honor Rocky Long With Meritorious Service Award (Albuquerque Journal)
By Greg Archuleta, Journal Staff WriterUniversity of New Mexico football coach Rocky Long will receive the UNM Board of Regents Meritorious Service Award during a regents meeting today.
http://www.unm.edu/news/08AprilNewsClips/30long.htm7. Roberts Declines Offer (Albuquerque Journal)
By Greg Archuleta, Journal Staff WriterMike Roberts severed all professional ties with the University of New Mexico athletics department Tuesday when he turned down an offer to take a new role during Lobo football and basketball broadcasts.
http://www.unm.edu/news/08AprilNewsClips/30roberts.htm8. Lobo Sports Will Go On Despite Move (Albuquerque Journal)
By Mark Smith Of the JournalI like Mike. Sounds like a slogan, huh? Thank me later, Lobo fans. I digress.
Sure, I've taken plenty of jabs at Mike Roberts, now the former voice of the Lobos, over the years. I'm sure I'll continue to do so. Maybe before this column ends.
http://www.unm.edu/news/08AprilNewsClips/30roberts2.htm9. Project to promote use of alternative transportation (Daily Lobo)
By: Amanda SkotchdopoleWith gas prices expected to reach $4 a gallon this summer, UNM students can look to public transportation to get around.
Students at the Anderson School of Management set up an advertising agency to encourage 18- to 25-year-olds to use greener transportation in a project called My Other Ride.
The project includes commercials, a Web site and booths at alternative transportation fairs.
http://www.unm.edu/news/08AprilNewsClips/30transportation.htm10. Voters might swing around the blue collar: Some say Obama defectors could tip election (Calibre Macroworld and Milwaukee Journal Sentinel) (UNM Political Scientist Lonna Rae Atkeson quoted)
Will large numbers of white Democrats abandon the party this fall if Barack Obama is the nominee?
The answer was yes last week in Pennsylvania, where nearly one-third of white voters in the Democratic primary said they would not support Obama against Republican John McCain.
But with partisan defections on that scale unheard of in recent presidential politics, many experts are skeptical.
The effects of divisive nominating fights "have been overstated," political scientist Lonna Rae Atkeson of the University of New Mexico wrote in one study she did on the subject.
http://calibre.mworld.com/m/m.w?lp=GetStory&id=30455156111. Students petition in support of China (Daily Lobo)
By: Maggie YbarraAbout 30 students from the Chinese Student Association collected signatures at Cornell Mall on Tuesday to support China's hosting of the Olympics.
Student Qiao Wang said about 100 people signed the group's banner.
Student Bo Yin said the group plans to mail the banner to the Olympic Committee in China.
http://www.unm.edu/news/08AprilNewsClips/30china.htm12. NM ad agencies win National Healthcare Awards (New Mexico Business Weekly)
NMBW StaffAdvertising programs created for several health organizations by Albuquerque firms 3 Advertising, Rick Johnson & Co. Inc. and Esparza Advertising have snagged 16 National Healthcare Awards.
The awards are sponsored by Healthcare Marketing Report. The competition received 4,400 entries, making it the largest healthcare advertising awards competition in the world, according to the publication.
http://www.unm.edu/news/08AprilNewsClips/30awards.htm13. Ex-associate dean will appeal findings of violations (Las Cruces Sun News)
By Ashley Meeks Sun-News reporterFormer New Mexico State University associate dean Larry Olsen, who resigned last week after being notified that he had violated university policy, has appealed that determination, according to Darrell Pehr, of University Communications.
http://www.lcsun-news.com/news/ci_910085814. NMSU prof Herndon to be honored today (Las Cruces Sun News)
Sun-News reportNew Mexico State University professor James W. Herndon will be honored at 4 p.m. today in the Conroy Honors Center Commons Area as the recipient of the Westhafer Award for 2007-2008 for excellence in research and creative activity. A reception at 3:30 p.m. will precede the ceremony.
http://www.lcsun-news.com/news/ci_910085915. Kappa Sigma fraternity helping Fisher House (Las Cruces Sun News)
Sun-News reportThe brothers of the Nu-Epsilon chapter of Kappa Sigma fraternity at New Mexico State University are lending a hand to those who have given their all.
http://www.lcsun-news.com/news/ci_910086216. News from Diverse Issues in Higher Education:
* Challenged D.C. Schools Chief Bringing Reform Story to Academia, National Media
One of the biggest education stories in the United States in 2007 was the unexpected appointment of education reform leader Michelle Rhee as the chancellor of the Washington, D.C., public schools. Under a revamped school governance structure, Washington, D.C., Mayor Adrian Fenty appointed Rhee, formerly the president of the New Teacher Project, to transform the troubled school district into a high-performing system.
http://diverseeducation.com/artman/publish/article_11071.shtml* There Is Room for Improvement in Pell Grant Program, Report Says
The federal government can do more to help America’s poorest students finance college, says a new study by the Institute for Higher Education Policy (IHEP), in collaboration with the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU).
http://diverseeducation.com/artman/publish/article_11070.shtml* When I Grow Up, I Want to … Pay Off Student Loans
Sharde Jennings dreams of being a lawyer, but the $65,000 in student loans she acquired to complete her bachelor’s degree has her contemplating teaching or any job that has a loan-forgiveness program. For an increasing number of students like Jennings, their right-out-of-college career choices are being dictated by their loan situation.
http://diverseeducation.com/artman/publish/article_11084.shtml* Higher ED Leaders in California Protest Budget Cuts
The leaders of the California Community College, the California State University and the University of California systems have come together to petition policymakers in the state capitol to resist deep budgets cuts for public higher education.
http://diverseeducation.com/artman/publish/article_11083.shtml* American Association for Affirmative Action Conference Highlights Policy Action Themes
Last week, the American Association for Affirmative Action held its 34th annual conference in the Washington, D.C., area in a bid to influence Capitol Hill policymakers during a pivotal election year. Diversity officers from governments, colleges and corporations heard from a number of prominent civil rights leaders including Urban League President Marc Morial, who said pressure to emphasize the importance of diversity must be brought to bear on whomever is elected president.
http://diverseeducation.com/artman/publish/article_11085.shtml17. National News:
* College’s High Cost, Before You Even Apply (NY Times)
As the frenzied admissions season winds to a close, many students finally know where they will be attending college in the fall. But there remains a troubling question: how much damage was done along the way? This year’s crop of applicants faced an unusually grueling admissions process. A demographic bubble has produced the largest group of graduating seniors in history, and they now are facing rejection by colleges at record rates — more than 90 percent at Harvard and Yale, for example.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/29/health/29well.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&ref=education&pagewanted=print* Some War Veterans Find GI Bill Falls Short (Washington Post)
Two years after a rocket-propelled grenade hit Nathan Toews during an ambush in southern Afghanistan, sending shrapnel shooting into his skull and spiderwebbing through his brain, he has recovered enough to ask: What now?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/28/AR2008042802994_pf.html* Higher-ed disappointment (Denver Post)
Severance tax revenue would fund scholarships. Presidents at Colorado colleges and universities say they are disappointed Gov. Bill Ritter's plan to direct funding to higher education focuses solely on scholarships.
http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_910010818. Albuquerque Media Monitoring
News clips from Tuesday, April 29 include stories about:* Mike Roberts Turns Down Deal Offered by Learfield Communications
* Computer Theft at the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department
* UNM VP David Harris Says State Must Pay More if UNM is to Keep Faculty
* UNM Students Talk About Handling Stress
* Lobo Sophomore Katie Gilmer is Mountain West Player of the Week
http://www.unm.edu/news/08AprilNewsClips/30media.htmSusan McKinsey
Director of University Communication
Scholes Hall 160, Suite 152C
MSC05 3300
Albuquerque, NM 87131-0011
Telephone: (505) 277-1989