Defense has been a key part of New Mexico’s success early this season and Saturday’s game against the University of Louisiana-Monroe was no different. The Lobos (6-3) defeated the Warhawks (4-4) by a score of 54-46 at WisePies Arena aka The Pit. This was the Lobos third straight game of holding an opponent to under 50 points.
New Mexico sophomore linebacker Dakota Cox and redshirt senior offensive lineman LaMar Bratton earned first team All-Mountain West honors, the conference announced Tuesday. Senior safety David Guthrie, redshirt junior running back Jhurell Pressley and senior offensive lineman Jamal Price were also listed as MW honorable mentions. Cox missed the final three games of the season after tearing his ACL in a loss to Boise State on Nov. 8. He still led the country and the Mountain West in tackles per game, with an average of 12.89.
As winter approaches and the semester winds down, students and faculty alike may be turning their attention to things such as hot chocolate and warm sweaters. But one lab on campus is trying to make things colder — much colder. Using crystals and lasers, a team of scientists headed by Department of Physics and Astronomy professor Mansoor Sheik-Bahae has developed and is currently fine-tuning a novel method known as optical refrigeration for cooling solids to extremely low temperatures. “It is fair to say that our team is the leader in terms of achieving the lowest temperature and advancing this science into a practical technology,” Sheik-Bahae said.
A Truman Scholar and human rights activist is the second consecutive UNM student to be awarded the Marshall Scholarship, allowing him free graduate-level study at any institution in the United Kingdom. Ryan Roco said he will pursue an M.Sc. in Asian Politics and an M.A. in Southeast Asian Studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. He will graduate from UNM in July 2015 with a B.A. in Political Science and minors in Asian Studies and Philosophy. “In the U.K., I’m most excited to study and to build my regional expertise in Southeast Asia, particularly Burma. Outside of school, I’m looking forward to connecting with human rights organization and policy think tanks,” he said.
Though the team that played Saturday’s game may not have featured championship-caliber defense, they still won an important game for the New Mexico men’s basketball team. The Lobos defeated Valparaiso 63-46 in Valparaiso, Indiana, behind a stingy defense from the opening tip. This was the first true road win of the season for UNM. UNM (5-3) held Valparaiso to a mere 30.2 percent from the floor (16 of 53) and 13.6 percent from 3-point range (3 of 22). This was the lowest field goal percentage allowed by the Lobos so far this season and the lowest by the Crusaders since Jan. 22, 2000.
Marl is making a second splash in the fashion industry. It is a versatile old pattern that goes with everything in the closet, yet it stands out and looks great on any body type. Marled pattern looks like marbled granite; it has a mixed, grainy look. Usually, the colors associated with marled print are black, white and grey, but it can also consist of other colors.
An inability to take care of the ball plagued the New Mexico women against New Mexico State in Sunday’s 70-59 loss. Despite out-rebounding the Aggies 41-25, New Mexico (1-7) dropped the Rio Grande Rivalry game in the only meeting between the two teams this season. UNM came into Sunday’s matchup averaging 21 turnovers per game, which is a major problem for a team that doesn’t force that many. UNM turned the ball over 23 times in Las Cruces compared to the Aggies’ 14.
I got to attend the Lobo/Aggies game Wednesday night, and although the game was great, my experience ... not so much. Recently the naming rights to the Pit were sold to WisePies, a local (yes, they’re local) pizza joint, and now their name is sprawled all over the Pit floor. Not only is their name on the floor, but Bank of Albuquerque’s and Verizon’s are, too. The Pit floor is starting to look more like a billboard than a basketball court.
The U.S. Department of Justice announced Friday that it has started investigating UNM regarding the school’s handling of reported sexual assaults and harassment on campus. According to a release issued by the DOJ, the department will look into UNM’s policies and practices on sexual assault prevention as well as complaints made by students, under Title IV of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. Both acts ban sexual discrimination, the release states. “We have assured the DOJ of our deep concern about the issue of sexual assault and the seriousness of its nature,” said President Bob Frank in an official statement. “We look forward to sharing the many steps that UNM has already taken to address it, as well as detailing the programs we are continuing to implement for training and education aimed at prevention.”
Sex, hazing and non-compliance. This was a bit of a tumultuous semester for UNM, here’s a look back at the top 10 stories of the last 16 weeks.
Car radio stolen from Lobo Village On Nov. 23, UNMPD was dispatched to Lobo Village in reference to auto burglary.
WisePies has purchased naming rights to The Pit. So now, it’s the “Pizza Pit.” Great. Now the rawest building in the state alliterates with bummy sandwiches. You know what else could have paid for the renovation? Abolishing the football team. I’m not sure how this would have affected women’s sports teams with regard to Title IX, but on the flip side, why not just fund them anyway?
Before anyone calls me “anti-teacher,” let me say that I have a degree in education, my daughter is at UNM majoring in education, and I believe the starting pay of teachers in New Mexico should be $5,000 to $10,000 higher. With that said, I have to give credit to the APS school board for delaying a final decision on paying teachers for days they are absent while serving as state legislators. Granted, legislators are not paid a salary.
The Daily Lobo photo desk put together its end-of-semester issue called Five: A photo essay series. Take a look at the photography work done by Sergio Jiménez, William Aranda, Diana Cervantes, Di Linh Hoang and Kanan Mammadli.
Shortest day, longest night: the Winter Solstice is approaching. Among the commonly-known holidays this time of year, there is another lesser-known sacred day celebrated by those who practice witchcraft, generally referred to as Pagans. Yule, or Winter Solstice, is celebrated on Dec. 21 this year. Erin Watson, president of the UNM Pagan Student Group, said she celebrates Yule by spending time with her fiancé, friends and family, as well as with her coven of witches.
I think I’m mostly sad that I didn’t like “Interstellar.” It seemed like everything was in place for it to be an intriguing, Chris Nolan-directed epic about space that pushed more science than science fiction. Also, it seemed to push the reality of humanity truly beginning its first steps into colonizing beyond Earth. In terms of subject matter, there is almost nothing that fascinates and excites me more. “Interstellar” is about a team of space explorers, led by a farmer (Mathew McConaughey), who search for a habitable planet because the Earth is dying. What I didn’t expect was how completely goofy it was going to be.
I see hundreds of people on my way to class every week, and I try to smile, tip my hat or at least nod to anyone who walks by. Only rarely do I get any sort of response. More often than not, folks simply ignore me. Most people walk right on by, too busy sulking to acknowledge another human being crossing their path. I’m not going to stop doing it, though. As disappointed as I am with humanity, I still enjoy human interaction — and besides, I’m just trying to be polite. I mean, is it really that difficult to connect with another human being — even for a split-second? I can accept that kids are under a lot more stress than when I was growing up, and people are extremely busy nowadays. Others are not so kind, however.
New Mexico fans saw a young team mature right before their eyes on Wednesday night. UNM (4-3) defeated the NMSU Aggies 62-47 in the Lobos’ first game at the newly named WisePies arena, filled with 15,335 cheering Lobo (and a handful of Aggie) fans. Junior College transfer and junior walk-on Tim Jacobs played his best game of his young Lobo career. He notched nine points on 4-7 shooting and had four assists. He made multiple plays down the stretch that don’t show up in the stat sheet, as well.
Feeding students corndogs, smashing pies on people’s faces and holding hands with strangers are all part of one duo’s attempt to make UNM a little more social. AntiSocial, a new YouTube channel created by students Levi Martinez and Christian Puckett, captures unsuspecting students during awkward interactions. They have posted nine videos over the course of three months, each averaging 2,000 views. Martinez, a junior liberal arts major, said the idea came from watching online videos of people having fun joking with others.
If the United States wants fewer immigrants, it needs to work for justice for the millions of poor and working people in other nations. Instead, the U.S. government routinely and deliberately sides with the filthy rich to rob and kill the poor. Many immigrants flee here from war, persecution and severe poverty caused largely by the U.S. Many immigrants would prefer to stay in their native lands if living conditions there greatly improved.
Solutions by The State News
