On Sept. 1, local show house, the Toy Barn hosted an art collective comprised of local musicians, ranging from hip-hop to, post-punk, and visual artists publishing their photography and stickers. The venue has hosted similar events but, according to most of the attendees, none to this scale. At the event, the Daily Lobo interviewed some of the bands, encompassing what each act was about:
700 miles, 14 days, three friends, one Pacific Coast Trail. Three University of New Mexico students took time out of their summers to road bike the northern portion of the Pacific Coast Trail from Portland, Oregon to San Francisco. “I think it's definitely kind of a dream that we all shared and then we all finally decided to bite the bullet,” Caleb Brenden, one of the bikers said. Brenden is currently a senior at UNM majoring in business administration. Brenden embarked on the trip with fellow Lobos Ben Lane, a student studying liberal arts, and Julia Andreas who is majoring in biology. However, Andreas and Brenden agree that Lane was the mastermind behind the trek.
After a late start to the match, the University of Arizona men’s rugby team defeated the University of New Mexico on Saturday afternoon at the University of New Mexico’s Johnson Field during a home game. Only a couple passes after the opening kick, the Lobos broke away during an open play and ran down the field for their first and only score of the game, including the conversion kick. The beginning of the match seemed to have started on a high note for the Lobos but took a turn as the Wildcats started to rack up their points. Almost immediately after UNM scored, the Wildcats inched their way closer to the goal line and put points up on the board. A quarter way into the half, the teams were tied, 7-7.
The University of New Mexico’s main campus opened an on-site food pantry Wednesday, Sept. 4 at the University Advisement and Enrichment Center (UAEC). The food pantry, which is now a permanent facility, will provide consistent healthy foods to students who would not otherwise be able to afford it. Students who would like to visit and utilize the pantry are required to bring a valid UNM identification and a bag. In addition to offering healthy shelf-stable foods, the pantry will have other essential living staples such as detergent, toiletries and personal care products. Though the original food pantry was a collaborative project between the Dean of Students Office, Division of Student Affairs and the Roadrunner Food Bank, the decision to expand this operation was driven by the LoboRESPECT Advocacy Center.
The University of New Mexico’s volleyball team traveled south over the weekend to compete in New Mexico State’s Borderland Tournament. Along with UNM, the tournament also invited Texas A&M - Corpus Christi and the University of the Pacific. The UNM lost their first game in the Borderland Invitational against A&M in three sets (25-18, 25-18, 25-19). Senior outside hitter Lauren Twitty contributed with 13 kills and 10 digs which was her second straight double-double of the season. In their second match versus U of P, the lady Lobos won in three sets (25-21, 25-20, 26-16) providing UNM their first win against Pacific in program history, after previously going 0-7. UNM outnumbered Pacific in assisted blocks 24-10.
With the advent of another school year at the University of New Mexico a stream of questions are sure to follow — a lot of these surrounding food on campus. The Daily Lobo has consolidated a list of on-campus eateries, their opening and closing times, and what meal plan components they accept.
Earthships, communes and now an anti-establishment art collective gone corporate: Meow Wolf hosted the second Taos Vortex music festival in history on Aug. 16 through 18. Vortex was, appropriately, a whirlwind. With colors and characters everywhere — some the delusions of an inebriated mind and others not — it’s easy to forget why it’s all there. Music. This year’s line up was admittedly disappointing compared to its predecessor, but that wasn’t going to kill my enthusiastic devotion to the memories of yonder. Iron & Wine, Snail Mail, Too Many Zooz, Wajatta, Empress Of; all honorable mentions, eclipsed by the orphic spectacles of Parliament, Funkadelic and Flying Lotus. They had three stages, all of which had setlists scribbled in sharpie by presumably an intern on the map of Kit Carson Park. “Spire,” the main stage was at the front of the park and was surrounded by bougie tents hosting beer taps.
Juan Peralta, a 26-year-old DEA educator and Albuquerque native, walked the Daily Lobo through the traveling Drug Enforcement Administration Museum exhibit at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science on Thursday, Aug. 29. The DEA Drugs: Costs and Consequences exhibit runs through December 8, depicting graphic dioramas of the cultivation, manufacture, distribution and sale of illicit drugs around the world. Scenes were featuring make-your-own meth labs, showing a tiny bedroom with a bassinet, soiled diapers strewn on the floor, a handgun on a bedside table, used needles and discarded works throughout the space. “Some of these scenes look fairly familiar (to children who are touring the exhibit) and that also plays into the effect too,” Peralta said. “I have seen twelve-year-old little girls cry because their auntie’s house looks like this,” Peralta said.
For all your comida concerns, the Daily Lobo presents: Eating with Wolves. In this edition, Daily Lobo reporters Amanda Britt, Megan Holmen and Alyssa Martinez rated Albuquerque coffee shops on their summertime drinks. For anyone wanting to hold onto summer for just a little while longer, they tasted classic house coffees and iced summer beverages. Each coffee shop was rated for their house coffee and a summer specialty. The reporters reviewed then based on multiple criteria: service, freshness, taste and ambiance.
On Saturday, Aug. 31 the first annual New Mexico Prickly Pear festival took place at Three Sisters Kitchen. According to the website, the festival seeks to celebrate everything prickly pear including food, art and music. According to Desert USA, the prickly pear cactus, otherwise known as Genus Opuntia, “represent about a dozen species of the Opuntia genus (Family Cactaceae) in the North American deserts.” The flesh (tuna) of the fruit produced by these cactus are typically used to make pulp, juice and syrups, among other products. When asked what inspired the Prickly Pear Festival, Will Thompson, consulting arborist and co-owner of Agri-Environmental, told the Daily Lobo that he used to have a small farm in the North Valley, and one of the things he noticed after he stopped farming was that people really do not utilize the prickly pear even though it is a native food.
On a dusty corner of the Valle de Oro National Wildlife Refuge at 7851 2nd Street SW, members of the Albuquerque Astronomical Society (TAAS) came together to share telescopes and knowledge with more than 100 members of the community. Many of the people who attended the Star Party heard about it online. Arriving at the event, people were greeted by a dozen or so telescopes set up and pointed at anything interesting in the sky. Each telescope was manned by a helpful and informative TAAS member.. This gathering was a part of the TAAS Summer Star Parties — events held every summer that bring members of TAAS together to enjoy the night with anyone else who wants to come. Star parties typically take place further outside of Albuquerque, like at Oak Flats in the Manzano Mountains or the TAAS Observatory in Belen, so this is the first time one has been held at the Valle de Oro.
The University of New Mexico community has a long and complicated history with the “Three People’s Mural” located in the west wing of Zimmerman Library. However, two solutions have been proposed to address the “Three People’s Mural” racial controversy. According to the Office of the President, two solutions are in the process of being reviewed for feasibility, primarily financial, before a complete recommendation is sent to the Historical Preservation Committee (HPC). The report was prepared by Taudy Miller from the Office of Design, Planning and Construction on Aug. 27. The proposal provided by the company Ideum, the vendor who would be contracted should the proposed solutions be approved, is “a system in which the murals are masked by easily removable wooden panels coated with a projection-optimal paint; or a system in which the murals are masked by semi-permanently installed controllable smart glass panels.”
The University of New Mexico hosted Coffee with a Cop on Wednesday in the plaza outside of Dane Smith Hall. Standing next to tables filled with Flying Star coffee and boxes of cookies were members of the UNM Police Department, looking to interact with any student wanting to talk. As a part of the UNM Campus Safety Week, Coffee with a Cop is supposed to encourage both interaction with members of the campus police force as well as to spread information about various security concerns on campus. On the table were several sheets of paper promoting UNMPD’s social media accounts in addition to a raffle for a bike lock and steering wheel bar. Detective with the UNMPD and co-director of the Campus Safety Council, Trish Young sees Coffee with a Cop as part of an effort to communicate with the larger community, she said.
BROCKHAMPTON released their fifth studio album, “Ginger” on Aug. 23. The 12 tracks trudge through the boy band’s recent emotional turmoil and Shia Labeouf’s studio meditation sessions, following the removal of founding member Ameer Vann. Contrary to comments made by Kevin Abstract, a founding member of the band, declaring Ginger to be a summer “feel good” record, the album is heartbroken, bitter and flustered. Notable songs on the album are “BOY BYE,” “ST. PERCY,” “DEARLY DEPARTED” and “VICTOR ROBERTS.”
When people think of the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science they typically think about dinosaurs and fossils — not drug-overdose deaths. The “Lost Talent Memorial” is a break away from the museum’s traditional exhibits. On Thursday Aug. 29, about 100 community members, elected officials, law enforcement officers and museum staff convened at the Natural History Museum in honor of International Overdose Awareness Day. The museum hosted the memorial to recognize the people who are grieving the loss of loved ones and to honor those who have died because of a drug overdose.
Crowds of excited students sweltering from Albuquerque’s relentless heat swarmed to the Uni Night’s Water Battle, motivated by the promise of free food and the cooling water of a balloon fight. Uni Nights is a student-led program, run through the Student Activities Center, that put on events throughout the year. The water battle was hosted last Aug. 24. Past Uni Night events have included a variety of activities — from last semester’s plant night to late-night breakfasts, to even a masquerade ball.
University of New Mexico poet Tori Cárdenas loves writing, almost as much as she loves her dog. Cárdenas is a master of fine arts student and the poetry editor of “Writers Resist,” a feminist literary collective born of the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election. She has also worked her way up to become the editor in chief for Blue Mesa Review, UNM’s graduate student literary magazines, during the 2019-2020 school year. Cárdenas said that Blue Mesa is dedicated to showcasing authors and artists, especially in the southwest. She hopes to include more information about the mission and goals of the magazine for readers and artists to help people better understand the culture.
While walking around the University of New Mexico’s main campus, I can’t help but see potential in the big green patches of grass distributed across campus. Not for more buildings or social areas for students, but for the creation of native bee habitats. Yes, native bees. It may not make sense to some people, but many species of bees don’t use hives as habitats the way honey bees do. Native bees — 70% of bee species — burrow in the ground instead.
University of New Mexico professor of Economics Richard Bernknopf is embarking on research in conjunction with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the U.S. Forest Service that aims to use remote imaging and satellite photography in risk-assessment and response to wildfires. This project is focusing on the Sierra and Stanislaus National Forests of the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range, but if proven useful it is expected to expand to other states. Researchers are currently looking into working with Yosemite National Forest to prevent forest fires that ravage the west. According to a May 2019 press release by the California Department of Insurance, there was over $13 billion worth of insurance losses in California in 2018 alone. These numbers continue to climb, as people comb through the destruction these fires wrought on the state. This is the area that served as the study focus for Bernknopf and other UNM researchers.
Aug. 30 marked the 95th annual burning of Zozobra, a historic New Mexican tradition, held in Santa Fe, New Mexico at Fort Marcy Park. The event doors opened at 4:30 p.m., drawing people, bands, vendors alike. Old Man Gloom is an eerie monster-like puppet that represents sorrow, first created in 1924 by Will Shuster. The burning of Zozobra is always occurs, rain or shine, so even though it was windy Friday night the show went on as scheduled. This year the theme for the burning of Old Man Gloom was the 1970s, with era’s music playing, such as the bands Abba and Queen
Solutions by The State News
