Multimedia

NMSU film festival takes aim at decolonization, oppression from feminist perspectives

Developed on the campus of New Mexico State University, the Feminist Border Arts Film Festival (FBAFF) has recognized the capacity of cinema as a creative platform to discuss social justice issues and representations of identity and difference for the past five years. Laura Anh Williams and Dr. M. Catherine Jonet, the creators of the film festival, originally partnered with 516 ARTS and the Guild Cinema to hold the first screening in-person at the Guild, which canceled early in the pandemic.

Albuquerque murals reinforce value of voting

Voting-themed art has been popping up around Albuquerque from local artists that want to remind New Mexico residents of the importance of voting in the general election. Murals and small paintings on buildings cover the avenues of downtown Albuquerque and Nob Hill, as well as some spots near Los Ranchos de Albuquerque. Artist Felicia Montoya, along with her husband Markus Wall and their daughter Eva and artist Kema, recently painted a mural on Fourth Street. The mural is colorful, with a Black Lives Matter portion and a voter registration box that sits next to large letters on the mural that read “vote.”

Potential Biden win floats possibility of Governor Morales

If the presidential election swings in favor of Democratic nominee Joe Biden and Donald Trump is forced to vacate the White House, New Mexico’s highest political office may see another transition in power soon after. In an August interview with Vogue, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham was asked if she’d be interested in the position of Health and Human Services (HHS) secretary under a hypothetical Biden administration. “Like in the context of being vetted for vice president, I want them to look to governors, because the HHS secretary is going to have to immediately deal with COVID and a whole different strategy for public health,” she replied, floating the very real possibility that Lujan Grisham could exit the Governor’s Residence for a Biden cabinet position with two years left in her first term.

Oct 28, 2020 Comics

LETTER: Daily Lobo should remain independent and funded

For as long as Lobos can remember, the Daily Lobo has served a vital role in bringing thoroughly researched, necessary information to the student body. For nearly as long, we have seen this fundamental University function be threatened by the student leaders who are charged with representing us. These leaders have entertained defunding the Lobo. These representatives have accused the Daily Lobo of bias at times when their coverage accurately reflected political differences. In an era of “fake news” and populism, it is important to ensure that our government, down to the University level, is not involved in the media which aims to hold it accountable.

Student Fee Review Board opts not to reduce fees

The University of New Mexico’s Student Fee Review Board (SFRB) voted to hold fees steady for fall 2021, despite calls for reductions amidst the coronavirus pandemic. On Sunday morning, Oct. 25, the SFRB — after more than 10 hours of deliberations — approved the fall 2021 student activity fee recommendations on a unanimous 7-0 vote. Student activity fees are charged alongside tuition to all students registered on main campus and at the Health Sciences Center. These fees are assessed per capita — as enrollment increases, the total budget expands, giving the board more money to recommend for allocation.

‘Borat Subsequent Moviefilm’ is un-American propaganda

Sacha Baron Cohen’s new movie “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan” is a perverted threat to the decency of America costumed in a loose-fitting gray suit and a highly unconvincing, distracting mustache. This so-called “mockumentary,” or whatever other new-age label it dons, is a gross and unfunny attempt by quasi-socialist director Baron Cohen to deliver a kiddie pool reflection of American society and politics following the election of President Donald Trump and the coronavirus pandemic.

Elections 101: An interview with elections expert Lonna Atkeson

ALBUQUERQUE — With the 2020 general election just over a week away, some voters still may have questions about the election process — particularly those for whom this will be the first presidential election in which they’ve been old enough to take part. To help guide voters through this momentous, era-defining election, the Daily Lobo interviewed Lonna Atkeson, a political science professor and the director of the University of New Mexico’s Center for the Study of Voting, Elections and Democracy. The first step of participating in an election is, naturally, ensuring you are registered to vote.

Progressive legislative candidates again push for repeal of anti-abortion law

With a half-century anti-abortion statute still on the books that has the potential to once again restrict women’s reproductive health care access were the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling overturned, New Mexico state legislative candidates weighed in ahead of the Nov. 3 election with their stances on decriminalizing abortion. Pro-choice advocates feel an increasingly more urgent need to decriminalize abortion in New Mexico, especially since the Sept. 18 death of former Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who served as a safety net for abortion health care in the United States.

UNM cancels classes, remotely

The University of New Mexico will be closed today, Tuesday, Oct. 27, due to inclement weather conditions. “All classes (including online and remote delivery classes) on UNM's main campus and at the Health Sciences Center have been canceled for today only,” according to the UNM Newsroom website.  A powerful storm system will continue in Albuquerque through Tuesday night, bringing a predicted four inches of additional snowfall, according to the National Weather Service. In addition, record-breaking cold air will continue with widespread sub-freezing temperatures and bitter cold wind chills. 

Concerns about voter intimidation loom in election run-up

Albuquerque resident Eleanor Chavez was driving by the 98th and Central early voting site on Saturday, Oct. 17 when she passed a caravan of flag-waving Trump supporters who drove through the parking lot. Hours later, she went back and saw a man with a Trump flag on the back of his truck yelling at voters before the police arrived. “Who does that? I’ve been voting for a hundred million years, and I’ve never seen anything like that,” Chavez said. Chavez said she was planning to vote that day but decided to wait because of the activity she observed, which she called “threatening.”

Analysis: What to watch for on election night

With Election Day just over a week away, President Donald Trump’s odds are looking grim. In national polling averages, Joe Biden led by 9.2 percentage points as of the evening of Oct. 25. Traditionally red states like Georgia and Arizona have turned into fierce campaign battlegrounds. Biden signaled his confidence in a tweet on Oct. 19, telling his supporters “let’s finish strong” while Trump publicly mused about the likelihood of his defeat at a campaign rally just days earlier.

UNM students vote for first time during tumultuous election

It’s no secret that the 2020 election has been and will be unique compared to others in modern history. Amidst a pandemic and historic economic crisis, the issues facing voters have perhaps never been so varied and complex in living memory. An experience that is already stressful for many new voters is now even more complicated, so the Daily Lobo sat down with five University of New Mexico first-time student voters to get an account of their experiences. Sophomores Jordynn Sills and JahJett-Lyn Chavez both shared mixed views on the election.

Oct 26, 2020 Comics

Oct 21, 2020 Comics

UNM’s Project ECHO gets $237 million in federal funding

Project ECHO, the University of New Mexico School of Medicine’s tele-mentoring initiative for medical providers, has been awarded $237 million dollars in federal funding. An award of this size is unprecedented. In comparison, all of the Health Sciences Center’s awards for the 2020 fiscal year totaled $202 million, according to Mark Rudi, an HSC spokesperson. The program is designed to provide “remote-infection control training and technical assistance,” according to a press release from the UNM Health Sciences Newsroom.

Way OUT West film festival offers platform for LGBTQ+ community

In a world where LGBTQ+ characters in mainstream media have been historically resigned to minor storylines and “bury your gays” tropes, the Way OUT West Film Festival recently provided a haven for original, queer content. Festival manager Jake McCook explained it as “a festival for and by other LGBTQ+ filmmakers” because these creators don’t often get their content picked up by other festivals or streaming platforms.

Domestic Violence Awareness Month highlights abuse in Albuquerque

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month, and Albuquerque has seen a drastic rise in cases since the COVID-19 pandemic hit. When the coronavirus began to spread in the United States, there was fear amongst domestic violence resource centers for victims trapped in isolation, according to Caitlin Henke, a program specialist with the Women’s Resource Center (WRC) at the University of New Mexico. “This sort of shelter in place just left people, victims, so vulnerable and people were leaving their homes less frequently,” Henke said. “People who were considering leaving domestic violence suddenly couldn’t leave. And then if your perpetrator never leaves the house, you don’t have the opportunity to flee or even do the things that they were planning to do, like make safety plans, freely talk to an advocate in a way that didn’t identify it.”

GPSA announces support for graduate worker union

University of New Mexico graduate student workers are organizing a union called United Graduate Workers of UNM, with the support of UNM Graduate and Professional Student Association (GPSA), as was announced to all graduate students via email on Monday. Pay, benefits and working conditions, all of which would presumably be the focus of union contract negotiations, “are of material importance to the ability of our graduate and professional students to access a high-quality education, maintain good standing in their graduate programs and complete their degrees in a reasonable timeframe,” the GPSA email said.

Indigenous Peoples’ Day celebrated in Albuquerque

In celebration of the second annual Indigenous Peoples’ Day, the Democratic Party of New Mexico (DPNM) hosted a virtual celebration over Zoom and live on Facebook on Monday, Oct. 12. Speakers included Native artists, New Mexico representatives Deb Haaland and Derrick Lente, New Mexico State Senator Shannon Pinto, Senate candidate Brenda McKenna, County Commission candidates Leah Ahkee Baczkiewicz, New Mexico Court of Appeals Judge Shammara Henderson and many other Democratic representatives.