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News

University Libraries remains closed to public, students due to pandemic

Megan Gleason | August 17

Students at the University of New Mexico will have to find new study spaces at the start of the semester due to the delay in the opening of University Libraries (UL). UL pushed back its originally-planned opening on Aug. 10 to an anticipated opening on Aug. 17 to no date for a public opening at all. Instead, UL is following a two-stage opening plan, according to Associate Dean of Public Services Mark Emmons. This includes the Zimmerman Library, Centennial Science and Engineering Library and Fine Arts and Design Library. “What we’re trying to avoid is having too large of a viral load in our building,” Emmons said.

Culture

UNM to welcome students back with online events

Lauren McDonald | August 14

Welcome Back Days at the University of New Mexico will look different than ever before with an almost entirely virtual lineup of events designed to acclimate students to a socially distanced campus environment. The Student Activities Center has put together various activities and events online because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The week will kick off with a virtual escape room on Aug. 14 at 7 p.m., provided by Nusenda Credit Union. The first 75 attendees to the event will receive a free voucher for a one-topping slice of pizza from the new Dion’s location in the Student Union Building.

Culture

Virtual Popejoy concert features Christopher Jackson from “Hamilton”

Hannah John | August 14

After months of musical silence caused by the coronavirus pandemic, Popejoy Hall announced its newest event “Christopher Jackson: Live from the West Side,” a livestreamed concert that will run on Saturday, Aug. 15 at 6 p.m. Jackson is an actor and singer with credits on and off Broadway, widely known for playing George Washington in “Hamilton” and Benny in “In The Heights.” He’s also known for starring in the Netflix original “When They See Us.” During this concert, Jackson will perform original songs and Broadway showtunes live from New York City. He will also answer questions from audience members who tune in.

News

UNM funds pandemic substance use disorder research projects

Megan Gleason and Liberty Stalnaker | August 12

Only 10% of people in the United States that need substance use disorder treatment are actually getting it, according to Dr. Laura Brown, a clinical assistant professor in psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the University of New Mexico. One of the University’s Grand Challenges initiatives, which launched in the spring of 2019 as a tripartite research project, has now been partially redirected from its original mission to boost that treatment number to studying the effects of the coronavirus pandemic on substance use disorders. The Substance Use Disorders Grand Challenge team, led by Katie Witkiewitz and Brandi Fink, recently allocated funding for four pilot research projects examining the impact of the pandemic and stay-at-home orders on substance use patterns and mental health.

Culture

‘Too Much and Never Enough:’ Mary L. Trump’s scathing exposé on the Trump family

Hevyn Heckes | August 12

Since 2015, there has been speculation on the mental faculties of the man who would become our nation’s 45th president. Donald Trump has been a fixture of the tabloid media for several decades, but never before has his eccentric nature influenced the fate of an entire country. Clinical psychologist Mary L. Trump’s “Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World’s Most Dangerous Man” is a must-read exposé on the Trump family, told from the point of view of Donald Trump’s niece. The first part reads like a CliffsNotes version of Donald Trump’s family history. The most intensive feature in this section is the early childhood trauma that Donald endured when his mother was hospitalized. This is the first insight into Donald Trump’s early childhood and how his development was interrupted by his father’s inability to adequately care for him while his mother was ailing.

News

Mountain West to indefinitely postpone fall sports

Spencer Butler | August 10

Multiple reports have come in that the Mountain West Conference will suspend its fall 2020 sports season and will instead attempt to resume in the spring. The extraordinary move comes after weeks of speculation and concerns that moving forward with collegiate athletic events would exacerbate the coronavirus pandemic currently wracking the country. According to 247Sports, league presidents have decided to cancel the 2020 season due to player safety concerts and health concerns. “"I fully understand the impact of this outcome on our student-athletes, coaches, administrators and staff who work so hard daily to play the sports we all love, and I share in their disappointment,” Mountain West commissioner Craig Thompson said in a statement. “We will continue to navigate this pandemic together, overcome the obstacles and return to intercollegiate athletics at the earliest opportunity.

Culture

AMP Concerts rock New Mexicans with drive-in concerts, neighborhood shows

Lauren McDonald | August 10

Music has found a way to adapt to the COVID-19 pandemic sweeping the nation. AMP Concerts is composing virtual, neighborhood and drive-in concerts for New Mexicans around the state. AMP Concerts have recently started offering in-person events, with locations like neighborhood driveways. People on the street can watch from their porch or sidewalk while still social distancing. “We saw ‘Zoltan and the Fortune Tellers’ right across the street from our home. It was an amazing experience to see a show right across from my house,” Therese Dooner, a northeast Albuquerque resident, said “We sat on the porch and ate dinner while cheering on the band. It was such a nice surprise during this time.”

News

UNM Law professors request delayed fall semester after two test positive for COVID-19

Genevieve Romero | August 10

A group of tenure track School of Law professors at the University of New Mexico have formally requested a delay in the start of the fall semester. According to a letter obtained by the Daily Lobo, law school faculty members Christine Zuni Cruz, Barbara Creel and Marc-Tizoc González sent a letter to UNM School of Law Dean Sergio Pareja on Aug. 5 urging him to push back the start of the semester until Sept. 8. The letter referenced that the law school has reported two positive cases of COVID-19 in the past few weeks. The first was announced on July 24 and the second on Aug. 4, according to the letter.

News

New Mexico’s new voter registration numbers plunge

Spencer Butler | August 10

Amidst national concerns over the safety and security of the November elections in a nation still ravaged by the coronavirus pandemic, low numbers of new voter registrations have voting rights groups anxious about representation at the ballot box in an extraordinary election year. According to the civic engagement advocacy organization Civics Center, New Mexico has seen a precipitous 79.5% decline in new voter registrations in April 2020 compared to four years prior. 8,021 individuals registered to vote in April of 2016, while only 1,644 people registered to vote during April of this year, according to the Civics Center.

News

UNM reconsiders buildings named after violent conquistadors

Gabriel Saiz | August 10

Four University of New Mexico buildings, built and named over two mid-century decades, still bear the names of conquistadors: Coronado Hall, Alvarado Hall, Oñate Hall, and DeVargas Hall. Now, UNM is taking the first step in a long procedural process toward addressing campus buildings named after contentious historical figures, according to UNM spokesperson Cinnamon Blair. The UNM Committee on Naming has been reviewing whether current University policy allows buildings to be renamed or if new provisions must be written to do so, Blair — a member of the committee — said on Wednesday. Current UNM policy covers naming new buildings but lacks a specific provision on their renaming.

News

Community members protest police presence in Albuquerque Public Schools

Genevieve Romero | August 10

Nearly 150 young people, students, teachers and community members demanded Albuquerque Public Schools (APS) defund its police department during a protest outside of APS headquarters on Saturday evening. Organizers said police departments in school systems contribute to the criminalization of Black and Brown communities and aggravate the school-to-prison pipeline. “We are out here to demand the defunding and abolishment of the APS Police Department,” Fight For Our Lives organizer and leader Zoey Craft said. Monica Armenta, a spokesperson with the APS superintendent’s office, said Albuquerque Public Schools “understands many of (our) students and their families experience public education through a lens not always understood by all, and (they) will continue to do what they can to eradicate racism where it exists” in a statement to the Daily Lobo.

Culture

National Farmers’ Market Week highlights need to support local businesses

Megan Gleason | August 10

Local businesses have been struggling amidst the coronavirus pandemic, and local farmers’ markets are no exception. National Farmers’ Market Week was Aug. 2 through Aug. 8 this year, bringing a much-needed burst of attention to farmers’ markets across the country. “(The pandemic) has definitely sent a shockwave through the farmers’ market sector,” Ben Feldman, executive director at Farmers Market Coalition, said. “For quite some time now, it’s been pretty much impossible to be a market operator.” The Albuquerque Growers’ Market Alliance banded together to present the Downtown Growers’ Market, the Rail Yards Market, the Mile-Hi Farmers’ Market and the Dominga Baca Farmers’ Market during National Farmers Market Week.

Culture

Instituto Cervantes conducts interviews revealing pandemic’s cultural impacts

Jasmine Casillas | August 7

A series of interviews conducted by the Instituto Cervantes of Albuquerque brought together three musicians in a collection titled “Porque Canto en Español.” The videos explain cultural influences as well as the impact of the pandemic on being a musician. The interviews were conducted via video conferencing and then uploaded in late July onto the Instituto Cervantes YouTube page. The director of the non-profit institute and interviewer of the series, Silvia Grijalba, states the purpose of the project is “to introduce people who live in the United States (born here or not) and have chosen Spanish to develop their career.”

News

Police response, news coverage of incident with New Mexico Civil Guard at Filling Philly’s biased, protesters say

Bella Davis | August 7

About fifty protesters — including families with children and moms in yellow vests — gathered downtown in front of Filling Philly’s, a cheesesteak shop on Central Avenue and Third Street, on Thursday afternoon to decry an incident that happened there Sunday night. As a Black Lives Matter protest came to a close at around 8:30 p.m. on Aug. 2, Black New Mexico Movement organizer Te Barry walked a few protesters to their cars. They’d heard that the New Mexico Civil Guard (NMCG) — a local militia founded by Bryce Spangler Provance, a man who has a swastika tattoo and a documented leadership role in a neo-Confederate organization — was in the area but didn’t know precisely where.

Culture

‘Saving Alex:’ An education on coming out and escaping systematic abuse

Hevyn Heckes | August 7

This article contains spoilers. When Alex Cooper was fifteen years old, she told her strict Mormon parents that she was gay. She was then shipped off to live in St. George, Utah to participate in a “conversion therapy” program where she was abused for eight months by her host family. “Saving Alex” is her story. Her account is an eye-opening education on how coming out to one’s parents can go horribly wrong and the anxiety young LGBTQ+ people share when contemplating doing so. Cooper’s memoir divulges the events that transpired while she was under the guardianship of fundamentalist strangers in Utah. The moment her parents left her in their care, her worldly possessions were stripped from her and withheld.

Culture

Tradition, courage and honor: ‘Ghost of Tsushima’ dazzles with state of the art graphics, combat engine

Gino Gutierrez | August 4

This review contains spoilers. A true masterclass in storytelling, the newly released video game “Ghost of Tsushima” takes players on a sweeping journey filled with rich character development and stunning visuals. “Ghost of Tsushima” is a new title from Sucker Punch Studios, released on July 17 and available exclusively on the Playstation 4 (PS4). Set on the island of Tsushima during the first Mongol invasion of Japan, “Ghost of Tsushima” puts players in the shoes of Jin Sakai, a samurai and sworn protector of the people of Tsushima. For Jin and his fellow samurai, the Mongol Empire represents a threat unlike any other. They are an enemy with no remorse, conscience or honor, which comes into direct conflict with the way the samurai live their lives.

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Opinion

Letter: Cancellation fees for on-campus housing this fall should be waived

Daily Lobo Readers | August 4

The University of New Mexico has had to be flexible and adapt to the impacts COVID-19. UNM asks that students be ready for possible changes during the fall semester — a semester that may have “to pivot rapidly to address changing health conditions in the State of New Mexico.” I now ask that the students be afforded this same flexibility and accommodation when it comes to our housing contracts. The continuation of housing cancellation fees is putting an unnecessary burden on UNM students. We had to make housing decisions well before we understood the impact that COVID-19 would have on our education and well before UNM had offered a clear picture as to what a “hybrid system” of learning would look like.

News

UNM neglect reason for Student Family Housing closure, students say

Megan Gleason | August 3

Residence Life and Student Housing announced in late June that the Student Family Housing (SFH) complex near south campus would shut down in May 2021 due to insurmountable renovation costs, giving residents time to pack their belongings and find a new place to live. However, some residents are questioning the University of New Mexico administration’s stated reason why SFH is closing. A number of Student Family Housing tenants claim that UNM has been a negligent landlord and treated the SFH complex differently than other potential — and completed — construction projects on campus.

News

Expansion of ‘Operation Legend’ into Albuquerque prompts hundreds to protest downtown

Liberty Stalnaker | August 3

As the work day came to a close on July 31, Albuquerque’s courthouse district resembled a ghost town. Roads were barricaded for blocks in each direction, and the air felt still in the absence of the usual motorized vehicle traffic. But by 6 p.m., hundreds had assembled at the intersection of Fourth Street and Lomas Boulevard chanting, burning herbs and readying shields. The assembled protesters shouted that they were rallying against the influx of federal agents into Albuquerque.

Sports

Nehemiah Cionelo holds fundraisers to help the disadvantaged

Spencer Butler | July 25

Nehemiah Cionelo, a redshirt sophomore on the University of New Mexico’s cross country team, held a virtual fundraiser called Footsteps for Families on Saturday, July 18, providing school supplies to low-income New Mexican families that have been negatively impacted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 145 people attended the virtual event, according to Cionelo. Participants logged in 848 miles, and local businesses and individual donors contributed school supplies for every mile logged. Cionelo said participants logged their mileage online after they finished running, and also were told to follow the social distance guidelines imposed by the state. “Personally, I ran solo with a mask and encouraged those participating to do the same,” Cionelo said.