Albuquerque Aquarium Repair Fund

[asfullax]

Hey all,

As many of you already know, our prized Albuquerque aquarium was attacked a few days ago. For those of you who do not know, here is a quick snippet:

Police have arrested four middle school students accused of scrawling graffiti on pricey acrylic fish tanks at the Albuquerque Aquarium.

The students are accused of sneaking away from adult chaperones and scratching the viewing windows on five tanks, including a shark tank worth more than $1 million and a larger jellyfish tank with a price tag of more than $30,000.

Anyway, I am currently working with the aquarium and local authorities to start accepting donations to help with the repair costs. If you are interested, please PM or call me. I will be setting up a site for donations this weekend, and rest assured 100% of all funds gathered WILL be given to the Albuquerque Aquarium.

Please ask co-workers, friends, family for help. The aquarium is already working under an almost impossible budget as is, and this damage is a devastating blow.

You do NOT have to be paid member to donate and I will be passing the individual names along with the donations with the organizer being named New Mexico Ocean Keepers.

The full story can be found here:
http://www.lcsun-news.com/latest/ci_5687131

Thanks
Alex Fullam
VP NMOceankeepers
505 - five five zero - nine six three one

[israelnajar]

Maybe post this in the Rocky Mountain Club also?

[GreenUku]

Sadly, when I first heard that the Aquarium had been vandalized by middle school students, I was just waiting for them to say John Adams, where I used to do some science demos and experiments...

Is that legitimate for the Las Cruces Sun News to publish the names of minors charged with crimes? That seems questionable.

Anyway, here's a link to another article (http://www.koat.com/news/11874281/detail.html?rss=alb&psp=news) about it.

[Mrs_Witchdoctor]

I'll bring my donation to the meeting on Friday if that works!

[asfullax]

Of course. I am currently working with PayPal to get an account setup, or use my paypal account for credit card and bank account donations.

Sadly, I will only be at the meeting for about 20-45 mins tomorrow, but as always, Jenn, Eric, or Jason can accept any donations.

[moonpower]

wouldn't something like that be covered under insurance?? a million dollar tank? will they just polish it out?
Thanks for letting us know about this.

[rabid frog]

I think they are going to get it polished, but it is still something like 5k to get it done. But I thought that it would be covered under insurance also

[israelnajar]

Without looking at their insurance policy there is no way to tell.

But I would think that their insurance does not cover malicious damage. Even if it did they would still have to pay a deductible. Who knows maybe those panels cost millions and their deductible is a million and 30,000. Even if it is not, they still may have to pay a heafty deductible which Alex already pointed out that they are already running on a near impossible budget. Just my opinion.

[tigersax7]

I think a suitable punishment for those little SOB's is that they should have to be the ones buffing out the tanks....by hand, No power tools. In addition to that they should have to work at the aquarium doing manual labor like moving salt until their debt to society is paid....lets see $30,000...working part time after school and on weekends at minimum wage that should take them all at least a year maybe two.....just a few thoughts. The other option is a public flogging booth where every person who visits the aquarium gets to take a whack at them for a donation of $5 to help with the repairs. Oh well they will probably get a slap on the wrist because mommy and daddy will complain that they school is responsible for the damage because they didn’t keep a good enough eye on the little twerps, never mind that said Parents should have thought their kids Right from Wrong. Sorry for the long rant, things like this just really irk me especially since no one will receive adequate punishment for this.

Jason
NMOK Secretary

PS. Ill be glad to donate to the repair fund after the first.

[Scooter12ga]

I think a suitable punishment for those little SOB's is that they should have to be the ones buffing out the tanks....by hand...(and)moving salt

This is exactly what I've been talking about with Z, I think this is a completely suitable punishment. Hopefully the judge will rule that way, assigning "community service" and forcing them to work for the bio park. Heck, shoveling elephant 'ish wouldn't hurt the little twirps either.

Heck, they might even learn a few things and gain some respect for the oceans and reefs.

OTOH couldn't they (the stupid kids) just take the sharp edges off the gouges and then fill them with the thick weldon, sand flush, 1000 grit, and polish them? I would imagine the damage would be nearly invisible after that except to the trained eye that knows exactly where to look.

[asfullax]

Talking with a few people at the aquarium, I have been told that insurance coverage may not be an option due to undiclosable reasons, but hopefully next week I can find out more.

As for buffing, the shark tank is going to be repaired as well as the many smaller tanks, but they need to get some people in to validate the structural integrity and make sure buffing IS an option. The Jellyfish tank is a complete loss, there is no way to buff it out and it will have to be replaced at a cost of $30,000 not including holding tanks, shipping charges and worse of all, the possible loss of life.

The whole thing is a mess, and I don't know what a suitable punishment is, I wish that community service at the aquarium would teach them a lesson, but I don't know if that would work. Also, its such a specialized job that I feel they would do more damage then good. I really wish that the media had covered a bit more about what happened such as the amount of chaperones and if the group was split into several small groups.

Although the kids did the damage, I have to put some blame on an "un-organized" event / project / plan. What they did took time, and I find it hard to believe that while some students were stealing from the gift shop and some others were in the display area the trip was well planned. The damage to the tanks took time and plenty of people reported the damage but unfortunately the aquarium security was busy with the other children.

With that type of behavior, I would ASSUME the chaperones new they children were high risk and should have taken better precautions, but that's my opinion.

FYI: Minor's fines have a cap of $4,000 each in the state of NM, and community service is typically frowned on if the work is performed at the crime scene, in fact due to regulations and restraining orders, most of the time its illegal.

I am proposing a goal of $3000, which, even in the event that the aquarium is repaired, the money could be used to beef up security with (more?) cameras. If anybody has a better idea as a secondary "donation" let me know so we can write it up.

Lastly, I will be going on an advertising blitz online and asking for LFS support once the donation site IS complete. Right now I have about $500 in promised donations, lets see if we can make my goal

I am almost done with the donation site, and I will be accepting checks, credit cards, and cash. Lets show this city how much we care and prove to New Mexico / Albuquerque that the aquarium is a valued asset. Next meeting I will propose a donation using NMOK funds, I first have to check with Eric to see what we can logistically afford.

Night
Alex Fullam
VP NMOceanKeepers