Multimedia

Grad student union holds digital rally to kick off Week of Union Action

On Monday, the United Graduate Workers of UNM held a digital rally to kick off “Rally for Recognition: A Week of Union Action” to pressure the University of New Mexico to recognize graduate students’ rights to unionize. The union aims “to resolve long-standing issues over compensation, benefits, and job security and to improve education and research conditions.” The organization is currently in hearings with the New Mexico Public Employees Labor Relations Board to win recognition as a union. According to the union website, UNM administration argues that grad students cannot be considered employees and thus are not protected under the Public Employee Bargaining Act. 

ABQ protesters gather in wake of nationwide police killings

On Saturday night, close to 80 people gathered at the spot where Claude Trevino was fatally shot by the Albuquerque Police Department (APD) in February to protest against police brutality. This protest was called in light of the recent fatal shootings of Daunte Wright and Adam Toledo by police. Both of these killings sparked mass protesting in both Brooklyn Center, Minnesota and Chicago, Illinois. The event was hosted by Millions for Prisoners, Albuquerque Save the Kids from incarceration and ABQ Mutual Aid. The first speaker, a community member who went by Arianna, began the night by calling for a moment of silence to honor the victims of police brutality.

Following cannabis legalization, inmates await expungement

Within recent years, adult use of recreational marijuana has been legalized in 16 states, and the use of medical marijuana has been legalized in 19 states. Despite the sweeping shift of the drug’s legal status, some states have not expunged the records of people who have been convicted of marijuana charges. Racial disparity plays a big role in arrests for marijuana. According to the American Civil Liberties Union, Black people in New Mexico are four times more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession than white people. Within Bernalillo County alone, a Black person was almost twice as likely to be arrested for marijuana possession in 2018. This is compared to the nationwide average where Black people are 3.6 times more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession than white people, the highest disparity from 2010 - 2018. According to Bernadine Hernandez, an assistant professor at the University of New Mexico and a member of both the Prison Divest New Mexico Coalition and the Fronteristxs Collective, private prisons thrive within New Mexico. Inmates, including people with marijuana charges, are most likely to be held at a private prison.

Cannabis and Communication classes offered at UNM

Since spring 2019, associate professor Tamar Ginossar has taught two “Cannabis and Communication” courses focused on stigma and discourse surrounding the recently-legalized drug. “For the 200 level (course), the goal is to apply communication concepts and learn about the field of communication through the topic of cannabis, which is a topic that is very meaningful and very interesting to a lot of students,” Ginossar said. The upper-level companion course, CJ 393, will be available as a class this summer over Zoom, but Ginossar said she’s hoping they can transition back to an in-person environment in the future. According to Ginossar, this class is more in-depth than the introductory course and has a specific focus on research.

Medical Cannabis Research Fund leads cannabis studies at UNM

The team of researchers with the Medical Cannabis Research Fund (MCRF) at the University of New Mexico have continued their grassroots effort despite federal pushback, lack of funding and the coronavirus pandemic. The team is made up of a variety of professors from different departments and backgrounds at UNM. Jacob Vigil, a professor of psychology, is the group’s director and started it alongside Sarah Stith, an assistant professor of economics and an investigator for the MCRF. Research has proven difficult due to the federal restrictions, making it harder to publish findings, Vigil and Stith said. Additionally, physical research has currently been postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the team is still doing online research and remote assessments.

Derek Chauvin convicted of murder, manslaughter

Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who knelt on the neck of George Floyd during his fatal arrest last year, was convicted of all charges, including second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter on April 20 and faces up to 40 years in prison, according to the Star Tribune. The trial, one of the highest profile in recent history and Minnesota's first televised criminal case, began in March and stretched weeks into April. Jurors debated for more than 10 hours over the span of two days before reaching a verdict. Following the verdict, Judge Peter A. Cahill said that sentencing would be announced in eight weeks. The prosecution, made up of a rotating team of assistant attorneys general and outside lawyers, sought to emphasize the widely-seen bystander video of Floyd’s death in their case against Chauvin.

April 19, 2021 Comics

April 14, 2021 Comics

PLAYLIST: Cannabisseur's Delight

The recent legalization of recreational cannabis is cause for celebration, and to commemorate the event and the upcoming 4/20 holiday, the Daily Lobo editors assembled their favorite songs with especially chill vibes. Listen to the playlist on Spotify here!

Local 4/20 art show kicks off the holiday weekend with a bong

Situated between a barber shop and a tattoo parlor, the exterior of Rebel Prints off 3rd street in downtown Albuquerque appears unassuming at first glance. But if you walked in on the afternoon of April 16, you would’ve been treated to a wide array of artwork and apparel in a particular shade of green. This wasn’t your average art pop-up; it was the “Roll into Spring Cannabis Inspired Art Show” hosted by Rebel Prints from 4:20 to 7:10 p.m. The description of the event posted on Facebook stated, “Here we go Yo! Let's Roll into Spring with a fresh look on going Green. Live Art! Chill Vibes! Masks Required.” Iconic leaves, reddened eyes and lighters were plentiful among the artwork adorning the walls of the studios crafted by 13 local artists. Screen-printed t-shirts made by Karl Bautista, the owner of Rebel Prints, would satisfy any cannabis enthusiast’s needs. A vendor market out back hosted an additional eight artists selling their goods.

REVIEW: ‘Fearless (Taylor’s Version)’: an ode to Taylor Swift’s (and our) adolescence

Prince once famously said, “If you don’t own your masters, your master owns you.” 23 years after his 1996 Rolling Stones interview, Taylor Swift announced her intent to re-record her entire catalog. On April 9, Taylor Swift released “Fearless (Taylor’s Version),” the newly re-recorded older and wiser sister of her sophomore studio album, “Fearless,” which was released in 2008.   Although “Fearless” was a massive success — raking in her first No. 1 on the all-genre Billboard 200 chart, selling more than 10 million copies and earning a Grammy Award for Album of the Year — it was owned by Big Machine Records, her former label. 

Vigil for Daunte Wright held at UNM

On Monday night, close to 80 individuals gathered near the UNM bookstore to honor the life of Daunte Wright, who was fatally shot by the Brooklyn Center Police Department (BCPD) in Minneapolis on April 11. Daunte Wright was a 20-year-old Black man who was pulled over at a traffic stop and fatally shot by BCPD officer Kim Potter. Police say Wright was pulled over due to expired registration tags but Wrights’ mother said he told her on the phone it was due to an illegally hung air freshener. The department is now claiming it was accidental, and that Potter mistook her gun for her taser, according to Star Tribune. The officer and the police chief have now resigned.

Governor legalizes recreational marijuana statewide

On April 12, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed legislation legalizing adult recreational cannabis use and authorizing the expungement of some cannabis convictions. “This legislation is a major, major step forward for our state. Legalized adult-use cannabis is going to change the way we think about New Mexico for the better — our workforce, our economy, our future,” Lujan Grisham said in a statement released on Monday.

Antonia Anderson, Jaedyn De La Cerda to play one more year at UNM

On April 1, University of New Mexico women’s basketball seniors Antonia Anderson and Jaedyn De La Cerda made an official announcement that they were returning to UNM to play a second senior season. This was made possible due to the NCAA giving athletes an extra year of eligibility because the pandemic. De La Cerda and Anderson have spent the past four years of their collegiate careers at UNM, and both were selected to the All-Conference team for their performances last season. In a press conference on April 6, De La Cerda and Anderson said they were exploring their options before making the announcement, but ultimately decided that they would return.  

UNM CAMPerinos hosts 9th annual Farmworker Awareness Week

The ninth annual Farmworker Awareness Week (FAW) kicked off virtually on March 28, with each day addressing a new facet of farmworker history and the impacts of the pandemic. UNM CAMPerinos used this week to honor the essential contributions of farmworkers’ and highlight the injustices they face. CAMPerinos serves students with migrant and seasonal farmworker backgrounds and other students at UNM by providing mentorship, community engagement opportunities and support.  Farmworker Awareness Week was hosted on Facebook for the second consecutive year due to the ban on in-person gatherings. The online event consisted of a series of social media posts which featured infographics, student farmworker testimonials and information on historical figures in the farmworker rights movement.

New Mexico COVID-19 Association club spearheads pandemic student volunteer work

As the pandemic rages on, students at the University of New Mexico have banded together to form the New Mexico COVID-19 Association, a volunteer club focused on helping those directly impacted by the pandemic. Cameron Moezzi, the president of the club, said that volunteers mainly assist at vaccination sites and COVID-19 hotels and deliver vaccination supplies. “Every day there’s vaccines being given — thousands being given in New Mexico — and every time that I (volunteer), I notice that we lack help,” Moezzi said.

NM Notify helps track COVID exposures

On March 23, the New Mexico Department of Health (NMDOH) announced the launch of NM Notify, an exposure notification app that alerts individuals when they’ve been in close proximity to someone that’s tested positive for COVID-19. Exposure notification apps are a form of technology-based contact tracing. Google and Apple worked together with public health departments across the country to create apps that will notify people who have been exposed to someone who has tested positive for COVID, even if they don’t know them, according to a Google video on the topic. When an individual walks by someone else using the app, both devices will exchange the users’ randomly generated personal identification numbers via Bluetooth. Then, if someone tests positive for COVID and reports it in the app, any device that exchanged numbers in the last two weeks will receive a notification about potential exposure.

ABQ 'White Lives Matter' rally flops, dominated by counter-protesters

On Sunday, hundreds gathered at Civic Plaza in Downtown Albuquerque with plans to counter a “White Lives Matter” protest scheduled to take place at the Albuquerque Convention Center directly across from Civic Plaza. Fight For Our Lives (FFOL), a self described non-violent student activist organization, arranged the event, which lasted about two hours and was attended by close to 120 people. No one directly affiliated with the Proud Boys attended the protest, despite a Facebook messenger screenshot that said the organization would arrive at 11 a.m. “It’s really great to see this show of unity,” Zoey Craft, FFOL cofounder, said. “It’s great to see everyone coming together against this planned action that we know is going to further embolden white supremacists in the future.”

April 12, 2021 Comics

CFC offers tax help for UNM students in need

While tax season may be a time that many college students dread, the Center for Financial Capability (CFC) at the University of New Mexico has a variety of services to help students navigate the filing process. Jacob Silva, the director for the CFC, said the center is a resource devoted to helping students become financially successful and graduate with the least amount of debt possible. Lotty Del Barga, a senior at UNM, was awarded a scholarship that refunds roughly $10,000 a year, but she didn’t realize she had to file that refund as income on her taxes. After Del Barga found out about the free tax services at the CFC, Silva helped her successfully navigate the process of filing an amended tax return.