University of New Mexico student Alfred Rascon will be graduating with a bachelor’s in history, making him the first in his family to graduate. Rascon was born in Las Vegas, New Mexico and moved to Albuquerque when he was 7- years-old and chose a degree in history because of his love of the subject, he said.
The University of New Mexico’s diverse campus community is home to students and staff from all over the world, with 2018 graduate Paola Monarrez being one of them. Monarrez originally came to New Mexico 24 years ago from Hidalgo del Parral, Chihuahua, Mexico as an undocumented immigrant. “The most wonderful thing that I found about UNM was the fact that (the University) never discriminated against me for not being a citizen,” she said. Starting at UNM in 2009, before the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) was passed, Monarrez said she was very grateful that being undocumented was one of the last things that she had to worry about when pursuing her degree. “I think that being an undocumented person made me feel as if I was incarcerated in my own city.
“Midnight Sun” is a teenage romance that just didn’t make quite as well as other recent teenage romance films at the box office, such as “The Fault in Our Stars” and “The Perks of Being a Wallflower.” For those of you who read the book or watched the film “Everything, Everything,” “Midnight Sun” will feel awfully familiar.
On April 27, the Islamic Center of New Mexico opened its doors to students of the University of New Mexico, allowing those of all religions, genders and walks of life to attend its daily prayer service. UNM students were allowed to attend the daily prayer services held at the mosque, which was followed by a missionary Muslim speaker’s presentation to the student group. Those attending were also given the opportunity to talk with members of Albuquerque’s Muslim community to attend the daily prayer services, themselves.
After ten years, eighteen movies, and dozens upon dozens of hours, heroes, and villains, “Avengers: Infinity War” is the culmination of Marvel Studios’ cinematic promise to entertain. With so much crammed into an enormous package, it’s a feat that the film even holds up against the weight of the expectations it’s been building up to for so long.
The 2018 Scribendi release party showcased submissions from Honor College students from across the country. Scribendi is an annual, nonprofit magazine produced by honor students at the University of New Mexico, who incorporate submissions of other honors students. The free publication is staffed by UNM students who collaborate together to create, design and curate the edition for that year.
Author of the book Social Media Is Bullshit, B.J. Mendelson, delves into the creative world of comic fiction with his addition to the field, “Vengeance, Nevada.” Cover art for the issue is provided by Isidore Koliavras and interior art and letters are by Peter Czaplarski, with the story and characters written by Mendelson himself. The comic begins with the main character who is first introduced by walking into a house where she is quickly greeted by a cat, and after some dialogue she leans back, commenting on her exhaustion before drifting off.
On Tuesday night, Patricia Henning, Ph.D. of the University of New Mexico’s Department of Physics and Astronomy, spoke about solar systems, stars and other elements of the universe, while also touching on her own research. She gave a lecture titled “Our Abundant Universe” as part of the New Mexico Philharmonic’s series, “Discovering Abundance.” Held on the third floor of Hodgin Hall, Alexis Corbin, operations coordinator and personnel manager of the New Mexico Philharmonic, introduced the lecture.
The Institute for Medieval Studies hosted their 33rd Annual Spring Lecture Series this week. Speakers came from many different universities around the world to talk about elements pertaining to this year’s topic: “Sacred Objects and Places of the Middle Ages,” according to Timothy Graham, director of the Institute for Medieval Studies and regents' professor at the University of New Mexico. “We're...examining that concept of sacred objects and places through four different religious and cultural traditions: the Western European Latin Christian tradition, the Greek Orthodox tradition, the Hebrew tradition and the Islamic tradition,” Graham said. “The individual lectures are going to be talking about particular revered books within those traditions, buildings or locations.”
Released on March 23, “Final Portrait” tells the story of artist Alberto Giacometti as he paints a portrait of his old friend, James Lord. Sitting for the painting was only supposed to last Lord a single day, but the process slowly turned into three weeks. The film was adapted from the 1965 memoir Lord authored, detailing his experience and interactions with the pessimistic and selfish artist Giacometti. Lord’s memoir is titled “A Giacometti Portrait.”
The University of New Mexico Jitterbugs Anonymous is a campus club with the primary goal of continuing swing dance traditions while creating connections with other swing clubs across the county. The club welcomes interested beginners as well as experienced students and alumni to weekly meetings teaching the Jitterbug, Lindy Hop, Charleston, East Coast and Balboa swing dancing. Additionally, the group teaches specific dances including the beginner-level Shim Sham, intermediate-level Tranky Doo and most recently the Chocolate Shake, a new dance taught at the Intercollegiate Swing Battle this year.
The UNM Art Museum is remembering Patrick Nagatani, a UNM Regents’ Professor who taught photography, with an upcoming exhibition, “Patrick Nagatani: A Survey of Early Photographs.” This show will feature work Nagatani made in his early stages of becoming the well-known artist he grew to be, said Mary Statzer, the curator of the exhibit. “This exhibition is in celebration of his life and work and his career as a teacher,” Statzer said. “We received a large gift of photographs from him before he died last year, and this show is comprised of many of those works that came in that gift. They're actually photographs that he made before he came to New Mexico. They are works that have not been seen as often here, in New Mexico — some of which haven't been seen or exhibited in a long time.”
Do you ever look a book and wonder where it has traveled? In the Frank Waters Room in Zimmerman Library at the University of New Mexico, there is an exhibit of books that have traveled all around the United States, called the “University Presses Book, Jacket and Journal Show.” The books displayed in the show are winners of a design competition that the Association of University Presses holds every year, said Lisa Tremaine, the art director and production manager of UNM Press.
An individual's capacity for compassion and empathy is portrayed as a powerful tool in “The Compassionate Connection: The Healing Power of Empathy and Mindful Listening,” written by University of New Mexico Professor and Chair for Family and Community Medicine David Rakel, M.D. Throughout the book, Rakel tells a series of stories from the medical field, delving into the power of empathy and expanding on the relationships individuals create with those they meet both medical professional and patient.
Editor’s Note: This is the first in a series of articles on different UNM public art pieces. Continue to follow the Daily Lobo for more. The University of New Mexico has over 25 pieces of public art. One of these pieces titled “Culturas Del Sol” by James Jacob is a Talavera Tile mural found in the UNM Center for the Arts outside Popejoy Hall in the foyer of the Center for the Arts. Made in 1996, “Culturas Del Sol” translates to cultures of the sun.
I am no expert, but I can appreciate a good car when I see one. This past spring break I had the chance to visit the Concours d’Elegance car show in Amelia Island, Florida, where my parents live. The island’s Concours d’Elegance has been around since 1996 and features restored trucks, race cars and kit cars. Also featured were concept cars from big-name companies, and smaller ones I had never heard of, all with futuristic elements, like endless windows and GPS systems projected onto the windshield.
On their second tour in the United States DRUM TAO once again visited Albuquerque’s Popejoy Hall Friday.
The Tamarind Institute, a part of the University of New Mexico College of Fine Arts, will be hosting a three-day-long series of talks featuring a variety of speakers.
In celebration of National Arbor Day, the grounds and landscaping department will be planting different kinds of trees around campus the week of April 23 through 27. Alan Billau, the arboriculture supervisor for the department, said these plantings, which are open to everyone, are a good way to connect with the community.
Lilith Saintcrow’s “She Wolf and Cub” succeeds in so many ways where other dystopian worlds before have failed. Dystopian futures are not generally the most unique of settings. It’s been done before, but perhaps because Saintcrow is so willing to push the limits it has never been done quite like this. Saintcrow poses the question on her website: “Have you ever said to yourself, ‘Self, where are all the cyborg assassin Westerns, because I really want to read one?’” She responded by writing one herself. Answering a need most of us didn’t even know we wanted.
Solutions by The State News
