coronavirus

Culture

UNM student hosts Snapchat “Virtual Bachelor” to date while social distancing

Makayla Grijalva | April 14

Will you accept this virtual rose?  As the reality of the new age of social distancing and self-quarantine sets in, some University of New Mexico students like Alex Johnson decided to take a new approach to kindle new romances. Johnson began hosting a virtual dating competition mimicking ABC’s hit show “The Bachelor” complete with dates, rose ceremonies, testimonials and drama. “It’s fun. It’s weird,” Johnson said. “I’m glad that it’s happening, but it’s weird, you know.” 

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News

Pay and safety top UNM staff concerns

Bella Davis | April 13

On April 2, the University of New Mexico announced that its period of limited operations was extended to April 30 in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. With this extension comes new challenges for UNM staff.  One of the biggest changes that came as a result of the extension relates to staff pay.  Since the period of limited operations began, all employees have been sorted into three work tiers. Tier one employees are working physically on campus, tier two work remotely and tier three are on standby and available to report to work if needed.  Regular staff in all tiers will continue to be paid until April 30, per new guidelines sent out by UNM Human Resources. However, no decisions have been made past April 30, according to HR Strategic Support Manager Amber Bailey. 

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Culture

UNM gaming clubs come together stronger than ever in pandemic

Megan Gleason | April 13

For University of New Mexico gamers like Nicholas Livingstone and Samina Kabir, the transition online wasn't much of a transition at all. “We were in a good place to handle the pandemic prior to it happening,” Livingstone, vice president of the Tabletop Tavern club, said. “What our club centers around — board games, tabletop games — has a virtual representation that allows us to maintain some communication with members of our club.” In fact, Livingstone and Kabir — club president of UNM Esports — report their clubs have ballooned as UNM and its students search for community amid the COVID-19 outbreak. The two clubs both have their own online chat room servers on Discord but members of each group have recently collaborated together to provide a fun gaming environment for everyone. 

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Culture

Albuquerque Pride Fest 2020 canceled

Justin Garcia | April 13

Albuquerque’s Pride ceremonies in June were officially canceled this week, the latest cancellation for the City of Albuquerque.  The cancellation follows an outbreak of the novel coronavirus in Bernalillo county. As of April 13, there were at least 440 cases of COVID-19 in New Mexico’s most populous county along with 16 deaths.  “We are issuing full refunds and you’ll receive an email within the next 1-2 days to confirm your refund has been issued. At that point, it’ll take 5-7 banking days for your funds to be available for use,” Neil Macernie wrote in a press release about the yearly events. 

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News

Zoombombing raises questions about OMA

Lissa Knudsen | April 11

On Friday afternoon, the Graduate and Professional Student Association (GPSA) at the University of New Mexico announced they would not host a live presidential candidate forum online due to concerns about “Zoombombing.” A week before, an undergraduate student government meeting was hit with a couple of zoombombs, including profane and racist language.  With public meetings transitioning to an online format as part of a far-reaching social distancing effort amidst the coronavirus pandemic, UNM and other public institutions have been forced to use video conferencing service platforms as a means to conduct the public’s business.

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Culture

Local musicians find audience online

Loreena Cain | April 10

With live performances canceled for the foreseeable future, local musicians are struggling to continue performing for audiences and still pay the bills. Many musicians are substituting live in-person performances for online live shows where audiences can tip them. Local musician and University of New Mexico student Marìon Carrillo said, “I play all over the state generally and it has really been my primary source of income for like a year.” Without live performances, it is more difficult for musicians to make the money they were making before the pandemic.

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Culture

Local religious services adapt to online environment

Beatrice Nisoli | April 8

Religious institutions across the state are choosing to transfer their services remotely in response to forced closures due to the ever-present COVID-19 threat in New Mexico. Just as educational institutions and workplaces begin to take advantage of online platforms such as Zoom and Discord, so too are churches transmitting live streams of worship, youth group classes, rosary sessions, and more. 

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News

Instructors adjust to teaching online

Amanda Britt | April 7

With classes officially starting online only this week, instructors across the University of New Mexico have felt pressure to make a smooth transition from tracking in-person to teaching remotely.  While some professors choose to teach only by posting lecture slides or YouTube videos to Blackboard Learn, others, like Melisa Garcia chose to incorporate Skype, a video web conferencing service, into her teaching. 

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News

Meeting to fast-track med students graduation canceled

Justin Garcia | April 7

A Board of Regents meeting that would have graduated medical students early was canceled Monday after a residency accreditation body issued new guidance on the matter.  The cancellation comes as some medical schools across the United States, but largely in the pandemic’s American epicenter of New York City, are graduating students ahead of schedule to bolster hospital ranks to handle surges of COVID-19 cases.  Health Sciences Center Public Information Officer Alex Sanchez said that some medical students at the University of New Mexico had expressed interest in early graduation as a means to assist the fight against the coronavirus last week. 

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News

New Mexico's COVID crisis, by the numbers

Joe Rull | April 6

Check this page for the Daily Lobo's updated testing and confirmed case data for the COVID-19 outbreak in New Mexico, thanks to the COVID Tracking Project. This page will be updated daily as more data is produced and reported.

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News

UNMH begins clinical trials for COVID-19 treatments

Justin Garcia | April 5

The University of New Mexico Hospital (UNMH) started one clinical trial and is preparing another to examine potential treatments for COVID-19, as deaths and cases swell across the world. A trial for hydroxychloroquine, a drug typically used to treat malaria and lupus, started last week, while an upcoming trial for remdesivir, an antiviral developed during the 2015 Ebola epidemic, is in the works.  Both trials are small parts of an unprecedented global research effort to find treatments and a vaccine.

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Culture

Nationwide photoshoot meet takes place online

Amanda Britt | April 4

There are two types of people in life — those that take advantage in times like this, and those that help, according to Hector Puig, a photographer and artist based in Los Angeles. Puig is the visionary behind the world’s largest virtual photography experience, where photographers from across the country can join together to create art. He said that creating this experience is how he could help both the photographers and the rest of the world through expression and art in these dark times. Puig, along with photographer Dovvie Viramontes, reached out to photo-communities in Albuquerque, Los Angeles, Seattle and DC through Instagram, and expect over 400 photographers to attend the zoom meeting on April 4, 2020.

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Opinion

How to stay motivated in isolation

Annya Loya | April 4

For students who spend the majority of their time on campus or doing extracurricular activities, maintaining isolation can become quite the challenge, if it hasn't already. To prevent the spread of coronavirus, governments around the world have ordered its citizens to practice isolation within their homes and maintain a social distance of at least six feet apart from others. Groups of more than 10 people are highly discouraged, if not banned outright. To make sure you don't completely lose your routine and maintain a positive attitude, here are some helpful tips on how to stay motivated during isolation.

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Culture

Student resource centers shift to a remote workforce

Megan Gleason | April 3

All of the University of New Mexico’s student resource centers have moved to remote services or limited operations during spring break due to the outbreak of COVID-19. Many of the resource centers still operate fairly normally and are offering a majority of their typical resources, such as counseling, advocacy, academic advisement and many more.  Other resources, such as printing stations or computer labs, are curren

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News

Some college students excluded from stimulus checks

Liam Debonis and Alex McCausland | April 3

While many Americans wait eagerly for their $1200 stimulus check to come in the mail, some New Mexican college students have been left to fend for themselves.  In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the president of the United States signed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act into effect on March 27, authorizing $1200 payments to individual Americans, along with a number of corporate bailouts.  For 19 to 23-year-old full-time college students, however, their status as legal dependents or undocumented immigrants bars them from receiving stimulus checks, according to Business Insider.

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News

Dispatch: COVID cases, deaths continue to climb on Navajo Nation

Sharon Chischilly | April 3

GALLUP, N.M. — COVID-19 has gripped the Navajo Nation and given no sign of letting go as new cases and deaths continued to climb this week. As of the publication of this article, there are at least 241 cases of COVID-19 and eight deaths, according to the Navajo Nation Department of Health and Navajo Area Indian Health Service. In an effort to combat the spread of the disease, Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez and Vice President Myron Lizer have called on Navajo Nation citizens to social distance and stay home.

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Culture

Good Friday traditions postponed

Cameron Ward | April 2

The tradition of Good Friday shared amongst many Catholic religious people in New Mexico has been postponed at Santuario de Chimayo from Archbishop of Santa Fe, John Wester.  It was announced by Archbishop Wester March 13, 2020, for the people of God, to stay home during the pilgrimage walk that would happen this upcoming April 10th, known as Good Friday.  Father Glennon Jones from the Archdiocese of Santa Fe said, “The walk has been officially canceled this year, but you know how those things go. No doubt some people will try to do it anyway even though we’ve asked them not to.”

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Culture

Fine Arts Departments Adapt with Online School

Megan Gleason | April 2

As the University of New Mexico moves online, the fine arts departments are faced with challenges on how to move hands-on subjects to a remote education. Many courses were adapted to work from home, which provided challenges like accessibility to the internet and the necessary equipment to work. Andrea Polli, professor of art and ecology, said that art students will struggle with a lack of equipment like 3D printers and laser cutters, which were provided for them at school. Fortunately, Polli’s students bought art kits at the start of the semester and are still able to work from home, although limited. Some courses, like musical ensembles, were canceled completely. 

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Culture

UNM students practice self-care while in isolation

Liam Debonis | April 2

In a time when normal life comes to a halt, having a daily workout or meditation session may seem trivial. But, the battle against the new coronavirus is not the only battle people must fight. Depression, loneliness and anxiety are things that many people struggle with already and are only exacerbated by orders to stay at home, not go to school or refrain from socializing in person. The fight for health and sanity in such concerning times is not impracticable. Resources have already been mobilized for those stuck in their homes. Amazon now offers select children's movies for free. Arnold Schwarzenegger shared his home workout routine online. Self-help mobile apps like Sanvello are offering free premium access to their services for the duration of the outbreak. And online counseling services are experiencing increased demand.

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News

New Student Orientation weighs options amid pandemic

Beatrice Nisoli | April 1

New Student Orientation (NSO) may join the increasing list of services being transferred online in response to COVID-19. NSO, which typically occurs during the summer, is a mandatory two to three-day orientation for incoming University of New Mexico students. The purpose of the orientation is to welcome students to the UNM community through a combination of team-building activities and sharing resources for succeeding in a University setting. An online orientation option had been available for specific student populations previous to the technological shifts brought by COVID-19. Since this is an already existing initiative, an exclusively online orientation format could quickly extend to every incoming student should the need arise.