{"id":2089,"date":"2007-08-10T11:46:00","date_gmt":"2007-08-10T17:46:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2007\/08\/sun-news-says-donor-records-should-be-public\/"},"modified":"2007-08-10T11:46:00","modified_gmt":"2007-08-10T17:46:00","slug":"sun-news-says-donor-records-should-be-public","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2007\/08\/sun-news-says-donor-records-should-be-public\/","title":{"rendered":"Sun-News says donor records should be public"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>The Las Cruces Sun-News<\/a> today endorsed my assertion that information about those who give to the New Mexico State University Foundation<\/a> should be public. <\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Today\u2019s editorial<\/a> further pressures the university to do the right thing. In the media, I\u2019ve been the lone voice calling for the release of such records since the university announced in May that it was using money given by secret donors to boost the compensation of President Michael Martin<\/a> and former men\u2019s basketball coach Reggie Theus<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Not anymore.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cMartin assures us that outside contributions to his compensation package would never factor into his decisions in guiding the university. We take him at his word, and certainly have no evidence to the contrary,\u201d the Sun-News wrote. \u201cBut, this is not about one president or one ex-basketball coach. It\u2019s about a system that promotes secrecy and that lacks the transparency needed to assure that abuses do not take place \u2014 now or in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s about open government, and the belief that the public deserves to know where the funds flowing to NMSU are coming from and how they are being spent,\u201d the Sun-News editorial states.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The Sun-News points out that the university has \u201cgone to great lengths\u201d to keep \u201cits dealings with the foundation secret,\u201d initially refusing to release the new agreement between the university and foundation even after is was approved in a public meeting, then \u201cbegrudgingly\u201d releasing it, \u201ccharging the outrageous fee of $1 per page.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cUniversity officials now say they can\u2019t release donor names because to do so would subject those donors to further solicitations. While that may be a possibility, we suspect that experienced fundraisers already know where the deep pockets are,\u201d the editorial states. \u201cThis should not be an excuse to keep New Mexico<\/st1:state><\/st1:place> taxpayers, whose public funds support the university, in the dark.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

That\u2019s what I\u2019ve been screaming. Thanks to the Sun-News for the support.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Here\u2019s another interesting point: The university foundation, every year, provides to its donors a list of donors (using \u201canonymous\u201d for those who don\u2019t want their names released). I have the 2004-2005 report. As of that year, 96 percent of those who had given $5,000 or more to the foundation throughout its history allowed their names to be released publicly. Only 4 percent \u2013 74 donors \u2013 sought anonymity.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

During the 2004-2005 fiscal year, only 40, out of more than 740 donors who gave $1,000 or more, asked for anonymity. That\u2019s about 5 percent.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

It\u2019s not the largest donors who are seeking anonymity. The anonymous contributors are fairly spread out among the various donor categories. For example, as of that year, there were 18 contributors who had given $1 million or more. Only one was anonymous. Of the 17 who gave between $500,000 and $999,999, only one was anonymous.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The university\u2019s only argument for keeping its records secret is that donors won\u2019t give if their names are going to be made public. Put in this perspective, we\u2019re talking about 4 percent of donors versus the public\u2019s right to be assured that its public officials have integrity and aren\u2019t engaging in pay-to-play politics.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

There should be no question. This is a public university. These are public employees. The university exists for the benefit of the public.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Open the blinds and let in the sunshine.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Las Cruces Sun-News today endorsed my assertion that information about those who give to the New Mexico State University Foundation should be public. Today\u2019s editorial further pressures the university to do the right thing. In the media, I\u2019ve been the lone voice calling for the release of such records since the university announced in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2089","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2089","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2089"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2089\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2089"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2089"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2089"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}