Help Demilitarize UNM
The Task Force has held several meetings and is engaging in correspondence with President Koch regarding the resolution
presented to the UNM Board of Regents. Please read the history below.
The UNM Resolution Task Force needs your help to distribute flyers,
educate the public and gather
petition signatures.
The Task Force exhibited for two full days in late May at the Albuquerque Q-Jam event
at the Civic Plaza, and in early June at the Bernallilo Democratic Party BBQ.
If you are interested in helping to demilitarize UNM, please contact a member of the task force: Robb Chavez (xcruz@webtv.net),
Paul Eichhorn (pauleichhorn@1hop2.com) or Carla Josephson (cjezebel@hotmail.com).
Please distribute these flyers, produced in May 2007:
You can help demilitarization efforts by supporting the outstanding efforts of over 40 University California students who
are fasting to prompt the University of California stop designing, engineering and manufacturing nuclear bombs at the UC’s weapons labs.
For more information, see
UC Nuclear Free and
their newsletter.
DEMILITARIZE UNM RESOLUTION
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
DEMILITARIZE UNM RESOLUTION
UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICO BOARD OF REGENTS
UNM Regents have allowed and encouraged faculty to contract for war and weapons research, some of which is performed at the Science and Research Technology Park. 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 the 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 with the Security Managerial Group. We will instead form an open Oversight Committee that will have citizen input to implement this resolution concerning controversial research.
Action taken __________________________ Date: ____________
Sample of the petition signed by over 200 in support of the resolution:
