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News

LoboTHON aims to raise more than last dance marathon

Cameron Ward | February 23

SUB — Looking for superheroes? Look no further than the 2020 Marvel Avengers-themed LoboTHON, the fifth annual dance marathon to raise funds for the Children's Miracle Network. Last year, the fundraising team broke their $100,000 goal and raised $103,408.42. This year, the goal is to raise $111,000 for children's hospitals, medical research and community awareness of children's health issues. The Dance Marathon will provide food and games for the 13-hour run time and be held on March 28 from noon to 1 a.m. The event includes teams led by Zumba group DebTfitness, UNM flamenco students and the Comic Crusaders for New Mexico.

News

UNM team combats climate change

Amanda Britt | February 23

A team of researchers at the University of New Mexico is examining various ways to combat climate change as a part of the South Central Climate Adaptation Science Center (CASC) managed by the U.S. Geological Survey. David Gutzler, a professor and climatologist in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, said the Southwest is particularly susceptible to warming temperatures amid climate change. Gutzler said the biggest threat to the environment is the continued increase of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. "There's been no effective, global policy to bring greenhouse gas concentrations down," Gutzler said. "So there's every reason to expect large scale climate change to continue on into the near future at least."

Culture

Langston Hughes Project celebrates Black History Month

Loreena Cain | February 23

POPEJOY HALL — "The Langston Hughes Project" visited the University of New Mexico in honor of Black History Month and to celebrate the centennial anniversary of the Harlem Renaissance. The project included one workshop led by Ron McCurdy called "The Poets, Dancers and Musicians of the Harlem Renaissance" and two multimedia concerts by the Ron McCurdy Quartet. The concerts also featured three local spoken word poets. The first concert on Feb. 21 was free to the public. The audience was primarily high school students on field trips from across the state. Event organizer Finnie Coleman told the crowd on Friday the concert was the first University-wide Black History Month event.

Sports

Baseball sweeps home opener against Northern Colorado

Spencer Butler | February 23

SANTA ANA STAR FIELD — The University of New Mexico baseball team swept its 2020 home opener last weekend against the University of Northern Colorado. The series kicked off on Friday, Feb. 21 with a 7-6 win against the Bears. Northern Colorado struck early, as UNM junior Aaron Makil gave up two of his three runs in the top of the fourth inning, putting the Lobos in an early hole. UNM bounced back in the bottom of the same frame with a Connor Mang score after Ediberto Reyes' sacrifice groundout. UNM scored again on back-to-back doubles by Harry Fullerton and Shane Podsednik, locking the score at 2-2.

News

Clark Hall to undergo lengthy renovations

Amanda Britt | February 23

The Board of Regents approved $475,000 for the Riebsomer wing lab's waste system replacement in Clark Hall. The Riebsomer wing project is phase two of renovations to Clark Hall, which has an estimated project budget of $16 million and is set to begin June 1, 2020. The second phase of renovations in Clark Hall will shut down the building for approximately 12 months. However, the Riebsomer wing will remain open. Bobby Ortiz, the facility operations manager for chemistry and mathematics, said although fixing the pipes in Riebsomer is an urgent project, the wing will remain open during its renovation because research cannot be stopped from being conducted at the University.

News

Weekly Crime Briefs: School shooting threatened over Discord, burglary near Anderson

Angelina Pompeo | February 23

Discord shooting threat, Valentine's Day break-in at the Anderson building

Sports

Lady Lobos go 1-1 in Nevada road trip

Angelina Pompeo | February 20

This week, the University of New Mexico women's basketball team (14-14, 5-10 MW) played two games in Nevada, starting on Feb. 15 with an emphatic 80-64 win against the University of Nevada-Las Vegas (12-13, 8-6 MW) and concluded with an 86-78 overtime loss against the University of Nevada (14-12, 7-8 MW) on Feb. 19. Before heading into the UNLV game, Assistant Coach Bill Ferrara emphasized the importance of rebounding on both ends of the floor for team success. Going into the game, Ferrarra had noted that “it has certainly been a rough match-up for us physically”, and that “they play two bigs at all times and they pound it inside and they drive it on you. We have to contain the penetration.” After a physical first half in which neither team pulled away, the Lobos channeled their energy and dominated the final two frames, outscoring UNLV 44-27.

Sports

Lobos drop third straight as Alford wins in Pit return

Joe Rull | February 19

The Lobo crowd gave former head coaches Steve Alford and Craig Neal a true Pit welcome Tuesday night, as the now-Nevada coaching duo were introduced to thundering jeers from 12,000 strong. "The Pit shouldn't be quiet," Alford said. "The Pit shouldn't be doing standing ovations or clapping for the opposing coach, no matter who it was. I was here for six years. I never saw that happen, so it's what makes The Pit very, very special." In the end, it was Alford and Neal — University of New Mexico's previous men's basketball head coaches directly prior to the current Paul Weir era — who ended up on top. Nevada led the Wolf Pack to an 88-74 victory and handed UNM (17-11, 6-9) its third straight loss.

Sports

Lobo baseball opens season at Sanderson Ford Classic

Spencer Butler | February 19

SURPRISE, A.Z. — The University of New Mexico baseball team played its first games of the season, taking part in the Sanderson Ford College Baseball Classic at Surprise Stadium in Arizona and splitting its games with two wins and two losses. UNM opened the season against 25th-ranked Oregon State, falling 11-4. This marks the third year in a row the Lobos have opened their season against the Beavers, with this installment getting away from the Lobos early as Oregon State ended the first inning with a 9-0 lead. Five of the runs came off junior pitcher Cody Dye, who was making his first start since 2018 after a season-ending Tommy John surgery and was unable to record an out before being pulled for sophomore Isiah Campa.

Culture

Zimmerman exhibit spotlights New Mexican women

Loreena Cain | February 19

Program Specialists Amy Winter and Mary Wise conceived and curated the digital exhibit "And Yet She Persisted: Women at UNM and Across New Mexico" for the Digital Initiatives and Scholarly Communications (DISC) office in Zimmerman Library. "And Yet She Persisted" is a web-based assemblage of nearly 1,000 records housed in Zimmerman. It highlights the accomplishments of women from the University of New Mexico and across the state. The digital exhibit uses sources such as graduation records, historical documents, biographies and interpretive essays from the library to show the role women have historically played in New Mexico.

News

Funding for Opportunity Scholarship comes through

Lissa Knudsen | February 19

After intense debate, the New Mexico state Senate approved $17 million for the Opportunity Scholarship for fiscal year 2021 on Feb. 19. With only a day and a half left in the legislative session, the only thing standing in the way of the funding being sent to the governor's desk is approval by the House of Representatives. If the bill — packaged into general appropriations legislation — is signed into the law, the money is set to be used for tuition and fee scholarships for students attending public postsecondary educational institutions or tribal colleges. The Senate also boosted the existing Lottery Scholarship fund by $10 million.

News

Parish Library to close permanently

Justin Garcia | February 19

For history undergraduate Keshell Mickens, the William J. Parish Memorial Library was part of her daily routine. "Sometimes I just want a break from Zim, and I like this library better," Mickens said. "It has a lot more outlets, and the study rooms are usually available." Mickens, who described herself as an introvert, said she comes to Parish to eat her lunch and study. She said Parish is empty and sparsely populated study spaces are quiet and calming — which is exactly the reason the library dedicated to business, economics, management and public administration will close this year.

News

Athletics takes million-dollar hit with new contract agreement

Justin Garcia | February 19

The University of New Mexico's Board of Regents unanimously approved a multi-media rights contract to replace the $4.4 million Learfield IMG deal. Athletics Director Eddie Nuñez estimated the new contract with Outfront Media will be worth around $2.9 million. The media rights deal, one of the Athletics Department's biggest cash cows, comes as UNM sports attempts to climb out of $4.4 million hole collected primarily under former Athletics Director Paul Krebs. Krebs is indicted on embezzlement charges. "Guaranteed contracts are not what they used to be. What the University of New Mexico had years ago was actually a really good agreement. But those opportunities have actually changed," Nuñez told the Board of Regents on Feb. 17.

Culture

Native American Studies turns 50

Beatrice Nisoli | February 19

University of New Mexico students and faculty gathered on Wednesday, Feb. 19 in the Student Union Building Ballrooms to celebrate 50 years since the Native American Studies (NAS) department's founding. In honor of its anniversary, NAS hosted its 16th annual Viola F. Cordova Symposium, which informed on the historical development of NAS, honored indigenous students and staff and promoted the cultural significance of Native American education. Tiffany Lee, the department chair with affiliations to the Diné and Lakota tribes, emceed the event.

Culture

Spring welcomes new edition of BSE

Annya Loya | February 19

Best Student Essays (BSE) returns to the University of New Mexico this April with their 2019-2020 spring edition. BSE is a nonfiction magazine student review of UNM and is published annually. It solicits nonfiction work including essays, photo essays, research, criticism, memoirs, foreign language with English translation, journalism, articles and more from UNM undergraduates and graduate students. The magazine, which has been part of UNM since the early 1980s, is meant to give students a platform to not only share their work but share new and different perspectives.

News

Alzheimer’s awareness tour to kick off in NM

Makayla Grijalva | February 18

The Alzheimer's Foundation of America (AFA) will kick off its 2020 national Educating America Tour at the University of New Mexico on Feb. 25. The event aims to educate New Mexico residents about the disease, brain health and caregiving for those with either dementia or Alzheimer's. The amount of people affected by Alzheimer's disease in New Mexico would be the largest town in the state outside of the Albuquerque metro area.

Culture

Vegans advocate for more vegans

Amanda Britt | February 18

Students don't often expect to see dead animals on campus sidewalks, but animal rights activists shocked passersby by displaying graphic footage of animals in the food industry last Thursday at the University of New Mexico. A vegan advocacy chapter, Anonymous for the Voiceless, set up two tents outside of Zimmerman Library — one with informational pamphlets and organizers giving information, the other with volunteers holding television screens depicting the horrors of animal cruelty, such as decapitating and skinning live chickens. "If I had known sooner what happens I would have gone vegan a lot earlier, but I wasn't exposed to this kind of footage," said Camille Severson, a recent graduate from Eldorado High School and vegan of seven months.

News

English integrated into engineering curriculum

Alex McCausland | February 18

The Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering might not be the first place you'd expect to find English professor Catherine Hubka. Since the fall of 2017, Hubka has helped engineering students improve their writing and communication skills inside and outside the classroom. Hubka's presence in the department is thanks to a program called Formation of Accomplished Chemical Engineers for Transforming Society (FACETS) that brought her on as part of its writing program initiative.

News

ASUNM senator endorsements given green light

Alyssa Martinez | February 18

Student government senators and officials alike can now personally endorse candidates running for any Associated Students of the University of New Mexico position after the passage of Bill 3S on Feb. 12. Whether it be through social media posts or on-campus canvassing, student government officials can publicly support candidates as long as they keep in accordance with the University’s policy on political activity. Policy 2060 dictates that University employees cannot use UNM resources — such as logos or office supplies — to engage in any political activity without University approval.

News

Weekly Crime Briefs: Alleged sexual assaults and shoplifting

Annya Loya | February 18

Two reported assaults in two dates to UNM student: Shoplifting at UNM Bookstore by criminal trespasser: Subjected arrested for outstanding warrants