More on Tuesday's de-MILITARIZE UNM Effort

From Stop the War Machine: Demilitarizing UNM of war profiteers is on the UNM Regents agenda for this Tuesday, April 10, at 9 AM or shortly thereafter, in the SUB ballroom B. We are about third on the 9 AM agenda.

History: On September 29, 2006, Bob Anderson, anti-war activist for Stop the War Machine (SWM) was assaulted and arrested at the UNM sponsored Lockheed Martin meeting for speaking out against the university helping promote the new generation of nuclear weapons, Reliable Replacement Warheads (RRW). Concerned citizens went to regents meetings to protest the weapons research and support by UNM. David Harris, interim president of UNM later had a meeting with SWM, at which time he promised to let us have an agenda item for all the regents to hear our concerns and to consider a resolution which we have prepared.

Contact person is: Jeanne Pahls 858-0882 or 401-4808, StoptheWarMachine@comcast.net

This presentation is on behalf of four groups:

• Stop the War Machine
• Democracy for New Mexico
• Los Alamos Study Group
• Progressive Action Coalition

Here is the outline of our UNM Regents presentation:

1. Robb Chavez (Democracy for New Mexico): Brief overview and history of how we came to be presenting today.
2. Paul Eichhorn (Stop the War Machine): Brief review of the Resolution.
3. Vicki Johnson (UNM alumnus): Samples of UNM contracts and funding agencies.
4. Greg Mello (Los Alamos Study Group): Accepting military research contract money changes the agenda of the university from public education center to a private research center run as a subsidy of private weapons corporations; the effect of this on New Mexico.
5. Vicki Johnson (alumnus): The community looks to UNM to be on the right side of US commitments to international treaties.
6. Andrew Marcum (UNM student): UNM's responsibility regarding research
7. Sebastian Pais (Progressive Action Coalition) or Andrew Marcum (both UNM students): student sentiment
8. Carla Josephson (parent of two UNM students): closing

We are submitting this resolution to the UNM Regents for discussion and vote:
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
DEMILITARIZE UNM RESOLUTION
UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICO BOARD OF REGENTS

UNM Regents have formed a partnership to operate a research technology park and contracted for weapons research. This has caused great concern.

Accepting research grants from military agencies and contractors has changed the agenda of a university from public education center to that of a private research center run as a subsidy of a private weapons corporation. A corporation like Lockheed Martin may reap large profits while UNM is the one
doing key parts of the technology research used for weapons.

Because the University of New Mexico (UNM) has close relations with two of the nation's nuclear weapons research and design laboratories and the world's largest arms manufacturer, Lockheed Martin, UNM stands at the center of an unfolding ethical, political and ecological crisis.

For instance:

(1) Assisting, as we have seen on September 29, in the promotion of an entirely new nuclear weapons arsenal called the Reliable Replacement Warhead, which is in contradiction to Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, and,

(2) Providing research for components of ground, air, space and nuclear weapons system required for the new arsenal of the United States.

This has led to the unacceptable situation where dissent against these policies by our students and community has been ignored and even criminalized.

In response the Board of Regents of the University of New Mexico regret the appearance of the University supporting the RRW symposium that was held on campus on Sep. 29. We have decided it is necessary for the University of New Mexico to heed former President Eisenhower's warning of the dangers to our nation of the military-industrial-academic complex.

To improve the quality of education and better serve the needs of students and citizens in the state, we resolve to begin a three-year phaseout program to reduce aggregate value of contracts transacted with military agencies and contractors.

We, the Regents of the University of New Mexico, want transparency and citizen involvement in compliance with this resolution. To ensure public involvement and accountability, UNM will no longer conduct research oversight in secret such as through the Security Managerial Group.  We will instead form an open Oversight Committee that will have citizen input and implement this resolution concerning controversial research.

Action taken: __________________ Date: ______

Editor's Note: Also see our updated previous post on this action.