Editor, In 1982 an editorial in the Daily Lobo led to a student picket against the Daily Lobo. The editorial (October 13) by the managing editor stated that the 1980-81 scores of the SAT exams “proved what everyone knew all along – minorities are academically inferior to whites.”
Editor, In recency, the University of New Mexico saw a flareup of political tensions. Reading between the lines, I'm happy to relate that we are currently undergoing a major political shift in the United States. Student groups at UNM expressed in a letter on 1/26 that they will "protect students from fascism and violence" in anticipation of the flareup, in which police were needed to protect event attendees from protesters; this and other occasions of widespread protest illustrating well how conservatism represents a new counter-culture.
Editor, Nikole McKibben’s Feb. 2 column, titled “Milo has as much a right to a platform as protesters do,” is a masterly example of the deep well of hypocrisy that much of the right-wing American ignorati cheerfully draw from. There is, apparently, enough hours in the day to attend the speech of a hate-monger -- but not quite enough for the author of the column to exercise what is known to some university students as “research.”
Psychology professor Jennifer Freyd will be at UNM Monday at the invitation of Faculty for a Sexual Assault Free Environment and the Feminist Research Institute. Freyd specializes in betrayal trauma — when someone is traumatized after an incident involving someone they depend upon or trust — and will be talking specifically about institutional betrayal, when the perpetrator involves an institution. The Daily Lobo was able to talk with Freyd before her visit.
The terms “Title IX” and “Department of Justice” have circulated the University of New Mexico’s classrooms, boardrooms and offices since the DOJ first began to investigate the University for its handling of sexual assault and sexual violence cases. That investigation has brought changes to policy and procedure. In October of last year, UNM announced they had reached a “formal three-year agreement” with the DOJ. Part of that agreement also outlined expectations for 2017-2018.
The UNM Law School will host an exhibition, “Lawyers Without Rights: Jewish Lawyers in Germany under the Third Reich,” from Tuesday, Feb. 7 through Friday, Mar. 11. Dickason Chair and Regents’ Professor of Law Sherri Burr will be giving a presentation on opening night on the correlations between Jewish, black and current history. She sat down with The Daily Lobo to discuss her role in the event and why subjects like these should be examined.
Should Hollywood and politics mix?
Editor, There is literally nothing “conservative” about U.S. President Donald Trump, the UNM Young Republicans or Milo Yiannopoulos. American "conservatives" have devolved into a reactionary, and even though it’s not politically correct to say, a fascist political party!
This weekend, the ASUNM Southwest Film Center will be screening “American Honey,” a film is directed by Andrea Arnold, who adapted and directed the 2011 adaptation “Wuthering Heights”. “American Honey” is the fourth feature-length film for Arnold, who is known for her unique style of directing. The film stars Sasha Lane as Star, a free-spirited young woman who is a nanny for two kids in eastern Oklahoma, Riley Keough as Krystal, the leader/manager of a traveling door-to-door magazine sales troupe and Shia LaBeouf as Jack, a roguish veteran salesman in the troupe.
Car thefts have been on the rise, both around the city and on campus. According to Lieutenant Timothy Stump of UNMPD, car thefts on campus have nearly doubled from 64 car thefts in 2015 to 124 in 2016. Albuquerque as a whole now has the highest auto theft rate of any city in the country, according to Yahoo Finance, with about 677 auto thefts per 100,000 people. “It is a big epidemic,” Stump said. “It’s one of our main concerns right now, it’s been mine for a while. We have to determine what we can try to do to deter this. All year long we're making these assessments and trying to figure out how to combat this.” Stump also said the thefts are sporadic, with no specific areas on campus being targeted. In addition, it is difficult to identify the crime because of how quickly thieves can break in.
Capping off his first week in office, President Donald Trump signed an executive order placing federal funding for sanctuary cities into question. The order pits sanctuary jurisdictions against White House administration, and it raises the question: What is a sanctuary city, and what consequences will campuses that adopt sanctuary status face? Santa Fe, a longstanding sanctuary for immigrants, now faces losing millions in federal funding. The executive order, signed into law on Jan. 25, stated that jurisdictions unwilling “to comply with applicable federal law” will not receive federal funds.
Last week, the Russian National Ballet came to Popejoy to perform a rendition of the classic fairy tale “Cinderella.” Part of the Popejoy Presents series at the theater, the performance was characteristic of Russian Ballet: passionate, perfectionistic and awe-inspiring, a reputation that Russian Ballet has cultivated over generations. The performance began with dances by Cinderella's stepsisters, showing through dance their character and behavior.
With the start of Black History Month, the UNM Africana Studies program is blooming with opportunities and growing in response to the political climate change occurring across the nation. Jamal Martin, a professor in the program, said changes at the local, state, national and global level directly affect the differences, similarities and challenges that lie ahead ahead for Africana Studies. “Undoubtedly, these public policy decisions concern behavioral economics and unfair resource allocation,” Martin said. “These decisions also correlate with national trends on educational policy, as well as curriculum development and its impact on essential learning objectives for the 21st century.”
Last February, head coach Jeremy Fishbein and the rest of the Lobo men’s soccer staff got what Top Drawer Soccer ranked as the fifth-best recruiting class in the country. The head coach said he feels just as confident about this year’s signings. Four new players signed National Letters of Intent and will be ready to join the University of New Mexico in the fall: Nick Barreiro, Bailey Letherman, Nicolas Taylor and Alex Vedamanikam “Every class you bring in is an A+, you gotta believe that,” Fishbein said. “You believe in theses guys, you’re excited. They are our future, so yeah, I think they are all going to be stars. You don’t bring them in if you don’t feel they are capable of that.”
Wednesday’s national letter of intent signing day was an eventful one for UNM women’s soccer, adding 13 new potential players to their roster. Future Lobos Brianna Rudolph, Madison Hirschman, Delaney Markham, Bella Starkweather, Kate Browning and Leilani Baker are all from New Mexico high schools. The duo of Brianna Rudolph and Madison Hirschman finished their high school careers with Eldorado while Delaney Markham and Kate Browning played for rival school La Cueva. Bella Starkweather played for Hope Christian and Leilani Baker ended her high school career at Rio Rancho. The heavy in-state recruitment demonstrates UNM head coach Heather Dyche’s faith in New Mexico youth soccer, which has produced many current and ex-Lobo players.
The Lobo track and field team demonstrated that the New Mexico Classic & Multis was more than just a tuneup for them this weekend. New Mexico garnered one individual title and 22 top-10 finishes to provide evidence of the team’s focus on the Mountain West Championships. “It just shows they continue to get better,” head coach Joe Franklin said. “Even though it’s an off week, they are still competing very hard, taking it seriously.” Official team scores were not counted at the meet, but UNM posted impressive individual marks in several events.
A halftime deficit wasn't going to stop the University of New Mexico women's basketball team from bringing home a win on Saturday afternoon as one Lobo put up a career high in points. Senior center Richelle van der Keijl notched a career-high 31 points as New Mexico (13-10, 8-4 MW) clinched another conference win, 82-72, on the road over San Jose State (7-15, 4-6 MW). Three Lobos ended the night with double-digit scoring performances, but none more impressive than the near-perfect 13-for-17 shooting from the field. She also reeled in 13 rebounds, giving her a double-double – her seventh of the season. Lobo junior guard Cherise Beynon scored a good amount from the floor, too, putting up 18 points against San Jose State, on 7-of-15 shooting.
The Lobos’ second game without two key starters turned out to be more difficult than expected. New Mexico (14-10, 7-5 MW) suffered a 78-68 loss to San Jose State on Saturday evening at WisePies Arena, the Lobos’ first ever loss to the Spartans. They had previously been 14-0 against the team dating back to 1961. The victory had some additional significance for San Jose State, as the program hasn’t reached reached 10 wins since the 2010-11 season. They got their 11th of the season against a team that was 9-2 at home going into Saturday’s matchup.
New Mexico is half a game away from first place in the Mountain West again, and the team could have a chance to move up in the conference standings this weekend. “These guys have to understand that you’re a half-game back and we have to get better,” UNM head coach Craig Neal said during Friday’s press conference. “That’s the method to the madness, that’s what I’m telling them. We have to get better, we have to keep winning at home.” The Lobos are hosting the San José State Spartans on Saturday afternoon. The two teams first faced each other back in 1961, and the Lobos have yet to see a loss.
Injuries have plagued the Lobos in the month of January, and it had an impact in the team’s first game of February, losing to UNLV by nine points at home. It was the Lobos’ first game since losing sophomore Jaisa Nunn after she suffered a torn ACL against Northern New Mexico on Sunday. And the squad had already lost Emily Lines earlier in the season. On Saturday, New Mexico (12-10, 7-4 MW) will travel to California to play the San Jose State Spartans in the first and only regular season conference meeting, though they could face each other again in the Mountain West tournament in March.
Solutions by The State News
