Ryan Lotz

Battle of I-25 Blood Drive is a different kind of rivalry for UNM, NMSU

The Battle of I-25 between UNM and the New Mexico State Aggies offers the Land of Enchantment a rivalry whose sporting events are often filled with blood, sweat and tears. But throughout the first week of February, Lobos and Aggies alike will shed blood in a different type of rivalry, away from any sports venue. This week ASUNM Community Experience is hosting the annual Battle of I-25 Blood Drive in a competition with NMSU over which school can collect the most units of donated blood. UNM has partnered with United Blood Services, which will be setting up multiple locations around campus for students to donate, including the SUB and multiple “Bloodmobiles”. According to ASUNM Community Experience, members of the UNM community donated 357 units of blood during last year’s blood drive, defeating NMSU who donated 230 units.

ASUNM: Four things to know about the first meeting of the year

The Associated Students of the University of New Mexico held its first meeting of the spring semester last Wednesday night in the Letterman Meeting Room at WisePies Arena. Although there was minimal legislative business, which is common for the first meetings of the semester, here are the main takeaways of last week’s meeting.

Christmas's spirit drives him to graduate

After a long journey fighting numerous physical disabilities, Christmas is coming early for one UNM senior, and it’s in the form of a bachelor’s degree in economics. Ian Christmas will graduate from UNM this month, finishing his undergraduate studies with a 3.51 GPA. The road to graduation has been a challenging one: Christmas said he suffered a life-changing knee injury two weeks before graduating from One Station Unit Training at Fort Benning, Georgia as a U.S. Army infantryman in 1997.

Holiday Time: New Mexico's holiday traditions enchant the land

New Mexico is a land of enchanting traditions and beauty year-round, but much of the state’s rich heritage relates to life around the holidays. One of New Mexico’s trademark holiday decorations takes the form of luminarias, or farolitos, depending on what part of the state you're from. Consisting of sand and a candle in a brown paper bag, these decorations are common all over the state and offer a unique holiday style that is not commonly seen outside of the Land of Enchantment.

Architecture team takes gold at Design-Build Competition

A team of students and faculty representing UNM’s School of Architecture and Planning and School of Engineering took home the gold at the 2015 National Design-Build Student Competition earlier this month, despite being first time contenders. The competition was held at the Design-Build Conference & Expo from Nov. 2-4 in Denver, Colorado. According to the Design-Build Institute of America’s website, the team of Lobos went on to beat teams from the Universities of Washington and Colorado-Boulder in the final round. The competition originally started at the regional level with 31 teams representing 26 different schools from across the country.

Sex Week returns to inform the student body

After a controversial premier last year, Sex Week has returned with the same goal: informing UNM students about necessary sexual education and promoting tolerance of the idea of sex. Sex Week, which goes by “SexUality Week” this year, will run from Nov. 9-13 on campus and will feature a variety of different classes, seminars and workshops covering different aspects of sex education for students.

Green Jeans Farmery trapped in permit purgatory

Green Jeans Farmery, Albuquerque’s new uniquely-styled shipping container development, was supposed to celebrate its grand opening last Tuesday, but permit complications have caused a delay. Located off of Carlisle Boulevard and I-40, the establishment will be home to 12 tenants, all of which are locally owned businesses. However, only Santa Fe Brewing, which opened in September, has an occupancy permit from the city. City Planning Director Suzanne Lubar said the delay has been caused by unapproved, unrevised changes to the development’s original design, called a “shell drawing”.

Female Ranger School graduates inspire talk on women in combat

Walking across campus with a backpack full of heavy textbooks can be exhausting after a long day of classes. An Indiana University study from 2013 found that college-aged women who reported back and shoulder pain had backpacks that, on average, weighed between 15 and 20 pounds. For the first female soldiers ever going through Army Ranger School at Fort Benning, Georgia, however, walking around with a backpack weighing upwards of 50 pounds is just part of the daily grind.

Shipping container shopping center to open this month

A new development built completely from shipping containers opened Friday, giving a unique face to the growing brewery scene in Albuquerque. The Green Jeans Farmery will offer a unique atmosphere and intends to focus on local business. “It consists of small, local, quality-driven tenants with a unique look,” said Green Jeans Farmery developer Roy Solomon. “The location right there off of I-40 and Carlisle offers good visibility and personality in the shape. It has an individual identity.”

Marsupial's murder remains a mystery

Local businesses and private citizens are pitching in with the city to try to find the person or people who killed a rare animal at the city zoo.In addition to a large cash reward, local restaurant Pizza 9 has announced that they are offering free pizza for up to a year to the person who can lead police to those responsible for killing “Jasper,” one of ABQ BioPark’s Tasmanian devils.

Santa Fe Brewing and Epiphany Espresso’s shipping containers stand as parts to Green Jeans Farmery. Green Jeans Farmery is a district of local businesses that have used recycled shipping containers for their construction materials.