‘The Office:’ An homage to the ordinary

As heartwarming, relatable sitcoms like “Frasier” and “Friends” began disappearing from the airwaves in 2005, a groundbreaking new show emerged with a focus on the mundane, the boring and the ordinary.

“My job is to speak to clients, um, on the phone, about … uh, quantities and, uh, type of … copier paper,” salesman Jim Halpert explains in the pilot episode. “You know, whether we can supply it to them, whether they can, uh … pay for it. And, um … I'm … I'm boring myself just talking about this.”

‘The Office’ leaves Netflix, encouraging users to make better viewing decisions

With the removal of “The Office” on Jan. 1, 2021, American Netflix audiences can finally move on from their toxic relationship to a sitcom that ended in 2013. At long last, Tinder bios will be written with care instead of littered with a slew of Office quotes. Society as a whole can breathe a collective sigh of relief. Nature is healing.

Let me start off by clearing the air. I don’t think that “The Office” is the worst sitcom in existence, nor is it wholly unfunny. However, at its best, “The Office” made me chuckle, and at its rock bottom made me cringe so hard that I vowed never to watch several episodes ever again. Looking at you, “Scott’s Tots.”

After establishment, Asian Pacific American Culture Center looks to future

The Asian Pacific American Culture Center (APACC) is still laying the groundwork for how it plans to serve the Asian community at the University of New Mexico.

Formalized last year by the Student Fee Review Board, the APACC was conceived in response to the absence of an on-campus resource center for Asian-American students.  Directors Jacob Olaguir and Emma Hotz and the APACC Student Board, which includes the current Asian American Students Association (AASA) president Helen Zhao, are now laying the foundation to “create a home and resource center for students of APIDA (Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders and Desi Americans) heritage during their studies at the University,” according to the funding application submitted earlier this semester.

UNM graduate Nevi Zerkle prepares to start music education career

Nevi Zerkle, a musician and conductor, is just over a month away from starting student teaching amidst the coronavirus pandemic.

Zerkle graduated with a master’s degree in music education with distinction at the University of New Mexico in the summer of 2020.

Zerkle is currently finishing their last batch of music education classes that will allow them to move on to student teaching in January, where they will be educating elementary, middle and high school levels in Iowa.

‘Mental health workbook’ in the works for UNM community

Bruce Smith, associate professor for the University of New Mexico course “Positive Psychology,” is creating a workbook to help UNM staff and students to navigate mental health struggles through positive psychology.  

“(The workbook) is really about enabling people to become their best,” Smith said. 

Much of the workbook is based on work that Smith has taught in his positive psychology courses. 

Helen Zhao graduates with long list of accomplishments, fond memories and driving ambitions

As part of the 2017 BA/MD cohort, Helen Zhao is graduating this semester with a major in health medicine and human values with a concentration in biomedical science and a double minor in chemistry and psychology.

Born and raised in Albuquerque, Zhao spent her adolescence in the halls of La Cueva High School before building her prominent career as an undergraduate at UNM. Through her application for the BA/MD pipeline program UNM offers, Zhao was able to receive a full ride within the School of Medicine.

“I’ll see where (med school) takes me because I have no idea what field of medicine I want to go into. I know once I start med school that’s going to be the main thing that takes up my life so I’m just gonna let it,” Zhao said.