Culture - The Daily Lobo

Culture

Fast fashion out of style at Nob Hill’s NEO Thread

Cameron Ward | September 8

Nob Hill’s local upcycling store NEO Thread, also known as “New Life,” has been on hold since February 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic but continues to keep a space for creativity for all of its dedicated shoppers. Sarah Holley, the owner, founder, seamstress and expert of upcycling, has been in the process of designing and drafting more creative activities for the “wonderfully misunderstood Albuquerque” since 2019. Upcycling, also known as creative reuse, is “the process of changing something you already own into better quality or more valuable to your liking,” as explained previously in the Daily Lobo.

Culture

‘Mulan’ divides and conquers

Andrew Gunn and Lissa Knudsen | September 8

I had the privilege — after paying $30 on top of my Disney+ subscription — of watching the new live action version of Mulan over the Labor Day weekend. And, despite much vitriolic criticism and scathing reviews, I found it to be a gorgeous, uplifting brain break during a socially distanced pandemic that has been grinding on for far too long. Though the movie has garnered a number of angry, bitter commentaries about how the movie was “too politically correct” — for insisting on having an exclusively Chinese and Mongolian cast — and the dialog was” underwhelming,” I thought it was a gorgeous cinematic feat that had less cultural appropriation and more realism than the original animated version of the movie.

Culture

Zozobra gets roasted

Gabriel Saiz | September 8

SANTA FE — Zozobra and the shredded gloom of 2020 stuffed inside him burned away for the 96th time on Friday, Sept. 4, this year in front of a nearly empty field due to the coronavirus pandemic. “If there ever was a year that deserved to burn, it's 2020,” Santa Fe Mayor Alan Webber said as he kicked off the Zozobra live broadcast. “Old Man Gloom” — a 50-foot marionette of gloom incarnate — burns every year at Fort Marcy Park in Santa Fe in a storm of fireworks and flames.

Culture

Moments Together supports pandemic parenting, early childhood development

Beatrice Nisoli | September 8

Childhood education and care never ceases, especially during a pandemic. On Aug. 10, the Early Childhood Education and Care Department (ECECD) launched Moments Together, a campaign intended to provide intellectual and developmental stimulus to children under five as well as support to their caregivers through free and easily accessible online resources. The campaign was adapted from the United Way of Central New Mexico and designed by the Early Literacy Strategy Group in collaboration with the University of New Mexico’s Family Development Program, MediaDesk and New Mexico PBS.

Culture

Activism and poetry inspires truth at UNM

Sarah Bodkin | September 4

Poetry and pressing conversations about social justice typically go hand-in-hand, and “Dare To Speak” confirms just this. Carlos Andrés Gómez and Katie Kramer spoke to University of New Mexico students on Sept. 1 about activism through poetry through the Student Activities Center. I recently found myself reminiscing about on-campus events that wouldn’t happen this semester, prompting me to click on UNM’s Aug. 31 newsletter, “This Week at UNM.” I scrolled until I saw an activist poetry event and, thrilled to see the efforts to spark meaningful conversations among students, I immediately signed up. Kramer and Gómez are collaborators who perform poetry together at various schools and companies in order to promote inclusivity in professional settings.

Culture

Albuquerque movie theaters yet another pandemic casualty

Spencer Butler | September 1

The movie theater industry has been slammed by the coronavirus pandemic on both national and local levels and has seen its enterprise on movie releases shrink. Theaters that financially survive the pandemic are considered the lucky ones. In Albuquerque, permanent closures include both Movies 8 and Movies West theaters of the Cinemark chain, leaving the city without any “one dollar theaters.” While major theater chains struggle, local theaters face similar, if not more dire, financial consequences. Keif Henly, owner of the Guild Cinema in Nob Hill, said revenue is extremely down due to COVID-19 but the online streaming service the cinema has used has helped with lost revenues.

Culture

Fine arts students face unique challenges, new perspectives with distance learning

Liberty Stalnaker | August 30

Methods of learning and practice have changed radically for University of New Mexico fine arts students because of distancing procedures amid the coronavirus pandemic in the fall 2020 semester. As a plethora of courses are now being held primarily or solely online, students in hands-on art studies have voiced a number of concerns with the quality and value of their current education. Photography major Elizabeth Wilkinson said distanced learning affects not only the production of her art, but the nature of her creativity. "When I'm around other people, I get most of my inspiration and most of my motivation, so not having those people around has been a huge burden on my work," Wilkinson said.

Culture

SHAC attempts to assuage student anxiety with new ‘HonesTea with SHAC HP’ podcast

Samuel Fleig | August 30

Student Health and Counseling (SHAC) at the University of New Mexico recently released “HonesTea with SHAC HP,” a new podcast that reassures students that they are not alone in their struggles and anxieties when facing this most unusual school year amidst a pandemic. In the “Welcome Back Lobos” episode, SHAC student-employees Tiffany Martinez, Chris Naranjo and Leah Adent host the podcast (available on Spotify, Apple Music or Amazon) and discuss their thoughts and worries about the fall semester in a casual and relatable format. Martinez poses several questions to her fellow hosts about their feelings on returning to a campus absent of the educational and social opportunities many students have relied on to get through the stress that comes with school and work.

Culture

‘Fallout’: New book sobering reminder of nuclear devastation 75 years after entering atomic age

Hevyn Heckes | August 30

Editor’s note: This book review contains graphic depictions of violence. New Mexicans are perhaps more acutely aware of U.S. nuclear capabilities and the bomb, “Little Boy,” dropped on Hiroshima, since its predecessors were developed and tested in our own backyard. However, most people alive today will not remember the immediate aftereffects of the outsized attack on Japanese citizens that capped off the second world war. Modern awareness of the atomic bomb and the events of WWII are mostly relegated to fictionalized accounts contained in films such as “Pearl Harbor” and “Schindler’s List.” The events surrounding WWII have long since become a cultural legend, and first-person memories of these events no longer exist. We’ve simply forgotten the horrors of global war — until now.

Culture

Black Student Alliance focuses on campus diversity, inclusion amid BLM momentum

Jasmine Casillas | August 30

The Black Student Alliance (BSA) at the University of New Mexico is focused more than ever on the necessity of diversity at UNM. The organization has already gotten to work alongside the start of a largely online fall semester amid the coronavirus pandemic. The BSA is open to all Black students but mainly consists of leadership from other African American student organizations on campus. Its mission is to tackle oppressive issues that affect all of UNM, according to member Ricardo Hill. This semester, the BSA is focusing on what ASUNM can do for the student body to implement inclusive legislation before they move on to working at a larger scale, like taking issues directly to the University. They are also focused on emphasizing the importance of showcasing diversity at UNM by hiring more Black faculty, and restructuring the way UNM markets to new students to include diversity in recruitment.

Culture

UNM professors share the highs and lows of online instruction

Beatrice Nisoli | August 30

Life goes on as students and faculty adjust to the University of New Mexico’s hybrid semester, performing small group discussions in Zoom breakout rooms and submitting assignments from the comfort of their own bedrooms. While technological issues and network timeouts may plague students’ academic experience, on the other end of the screen, professors are also having their fair share of remote learning-based woes. Professors were given a few weeks to tailor curriculum to a virtual format last March, when the University officially shut down in response to COVID-19 cases reaching New Mexico. Instructors utilized the following summer months as an opportunity to finesse online instruction for the upcoming semester.

Culture

‘Big Lebowski’ screening really ties the room together at Fusion Forum

Samuel Fleig | August 27

As New Mexico nears its sixth month of lockdown, many residents are eager to get out of their homes and experience what the city has to offer without compromising the health and well-being of others. Local performing arts theatre company Fusion Forum has made this possible with outdoor film and movie screenings. Fusion showed the Joel and Ethan Coen classic “The Big Lebowski” on the evening of Aug. 23 and plans to continue the trend by showing the pilot episode — as well as the final episode of “Breaking Bad” — on Aug. 29 at 7:55 p.m.

Culture

Pandemic continues to wreak havoc on vibrancy of Albuquerque arts scene

Megan Gleason | August 27

New Mexico is rich in culture, but the coronavirus pandemic has put that to the test by transferring the Albuquerque art scene to an online environment. “We’ve all experienced such a dramatic shift in our daily lives. Everything about how we interact and how we plan and how we move through space and our ability to travel — it’s all changed so much, so quickly,” Diana Gaston, the director of the University of New Mexico’s Tamarind Institute, said. “In the arts community, I think we’re still grappling with some of those changes.”

Culture

Pick-your-own small farm operation gains popularity as pandemic wears on

Lissa Knudsen | August 26

For the past few weeks, people from all over the Albuquerque metropolitan region have been flocking to Heidi’s Raspberry Farm in Corrales early on Saturday mornings to pick pints of tart, delicate raspberries. Pick-your-own (PYO) or you-pick operations like Heidi’s have been allowing people to head to the fields to harvest their own produce across the state. Unlike many other retail businesses, the COVID-19 pandemic hasn’t put their operation on hold.

Culture

International students face daunting financial, legal woes amid Student Family Housing shutdown

Hannah John | August 23

International students are facing a difficult financial situation with the looming shutdown of the University of New Mexico’s Student Family Housing (SFH) in May 2021. According to international student and SFH resident Sherry Shafique, students within the complex were informed through a newsletter in June that UNM couldn’t afford the repairs that SFH needed. A majority of the tenants at SFH are graduate and international students, according to Shafique. International students face unique circumstances with the oft-maligned complex being shut down, forcing them to find another suitable place to live with their families. Most of these issues revolve around financial hardships and having to abide by different laws than students who are from the United States, such as language barriers and academic or visa requirements.

Culture

Sigma Gamma Rho sorority recharters

Beatrice Nisoli | August 23

Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc., a historically Black Greek-lettered sorority, was rechartered at the University of New Mexico on March 28. The non-profit organization was founded by seven schoolteachers during the perilous thickets of segregation on Nov. 12, 1922 at Butler University in Indiana. According to the sorority’s official website, "Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority's aim is to enhance the quality of life within the community. Public service, leadership development and education of youth are the hallmark of the organization's programs and activities. Sigma Gamma Rho addresses concerns that impact society educationally, civically and economically."

Culture

Seclusion, stress and stringent regulations: A day in the COVID-19 dorm life

Kyalynn Moore-Wilson | August 23

Isolation is the new normal for students living on campus at the University of New Mexico. Leaving a dorm room has become a rare occurrence, and UNM is providing limited housing along with a laundry list of new rules and regulations because of the coronavirus pandemic. All students who wanted to live on campus with housing managed by Residence Life and Student Housing had to sign an “addendum and amendment” alongside their regular dorm lease. This legal document laid out some new rules, which include a mask requirement when outside of a personal room, only one guest at a time in personal rooms, no guests that live outside of the dorm building and only one person in an elevator at a time.

Culture

LGBTQ+ students isolated, more vulnerable during online learning era

Megan Gleason | August 21

As students at the University of New Mexico dive into online instruction due to the coronavirus pandemic, some LGBTQ+ individuals are fearing for their lives as they’re forced back to unsafe living environments with little outside connection. According to education specialist Frankie Flores with the UNM LGBTQ Resource Center, some students have had to move back into living environments with strict familial conditions where they are not allowed to be open about their sexuality or even have to detransition completely in order to be safe. “If you’re living in a small town and you don’t know any other LGBTQ folks, how do you find community?” Flores asked. “How do you explore that sense of self?”

Culture

Empathetic commentary on importance of community in ‘Michelle Obama Podcast’

Genevieve Romero | August 19

“The Michelle Obama Podcast” is a refreshingly relatable and optimistic take on the madness surrounding the United States in the face of a pandemic, racial injustice and political unrest. Rather than focusing on the expected political or legal analysis of current events, the former first lady relates to those around her through “topics and issues that we’re all dealing with, no matter what’s going on — whether that’s a pandemic, a nationwide reckoning with race or just any old summer afternoon sitting with our own thoughts.” Throughout the podcast, Michelle Obama emphasizes the importance of the conversations we have with our loved ones and how they lead to greater growth and change.

Culture

Top 5 hidden sculptural gems in Albuquerque

Joseph McKee and Alex McCausland | August 19

Albuquerque is an artistic city that has more outdoor art pieces than you might expect. Whether you want to go for a drive or take a walk about the town, these art pieces will satisfy your appetite for adventure and exploration. Grab a pair of shoes, a water bottle and your mask! Here are the Daily Lobo’s top five hidden sculptural gems in Albuquerque.