“Who are we? Graduate Workers! What do we want? A living wage!” That was one of several chants shouted by around 200 (mostly) graduate workers during a march and protest for higher wages on Wednesday.
Tatia Veltkamp, owner of Wings of Enchantment, looked over her growing butterflies as a trio of breeding monarchs fluttered around their mesh enclosure. Wings of Enchantment is a butterfly farm in northeast Albuquerque that ships butterflies to consumers across the country. What once started out as a fun hobby 18 years ago, has grown into a business farming butterflies for the last nine years. “When my kids were little, I read an article in a magazine about how to go find caterpillars and eggs, but I didn’t know what milkweed was, so we had to figure out what milkweed was first in order to go find them,” Veltkamp said.
The Institute of Mexicans abroad reports there are more than 36 million people with Mexican heritage living in the United States. In addition they reported that there are more than 24 million people that are Mexican-born and living in the United States. The city of Albuquerque is one of the most diverse cities in the country. Hundreds of Mexican families have settled in the largest city in New Mexico. Southwest Albuquerque has become a point of concentration for the Mexican community. Bridge Boulevard is brimming with local restaurants that bring a bit of Mexico to the Duke City for those who have had to leave their country.
Veronica Garcia Ortega hadn’t had breakfast yet, because the motto in her home is that “the dogs eat first,” she said in Spanish. The dog food clatters into the baby swimming pool, and Garcia Ortega tries to step back as dogs scramble over each other to wolf it down. She scoops up the dogs for their photo shoot, navigating muddy paws and eager face-licks. They are under consideration for adoption in the United States, to be taken in shelters as far away as Salt Lake City, Utah. Mary Tovey from Albuquerque and Alma Morfin from Juárez are partners in the nonprofit Planned Pethood de Juárez — an organization which is mainly focused on animal welfare education and spay/neuter efforts in the city and surrounding area.
There are many traditions in New Mexico -- green chile harvesting, lighting luminarias -- but there is nothing that attracts people from all over the world like the pilgrimage to the Santuario de Chimayo. Located at an elevation of more than 6000 feet and east of Espanola, thousands of people visit a Spanish mission tucked away in the mountains during Holy Week. Most walkers start near the village of Nambe, others start in Santa Fe and a select few begin their trek in Albuquerque, more than 80 miles away. Along the way people carry crosses with the names of loved ones. Some walk their dogs and others push their loved ones in a wheelchair through the pastel colored desert and the rising hills. Some people carry their burdens for their God to absolve them.
Dry soil cracked beneath worn soles. The sun was still behind the mountains to the east. Dew clung to wheatgrass. Chris Lopez surveyed his farm with a look of pride and concern before climbing into his Ford to start the day. Lopez has been farming this piece of land his entire life. His grandfather left behind mining in Magdalena and purchased the original piece of land over fifty years ago. Despite the increasing aridity of the southwest and risks of ranching, Chris’ grandfather relocated his family to the fertile middle Rio Grande valley. From an original few acres, Lopez Farms expanded to encompass nearly 700 acres. They grow expansive fields of winter wheat and the hottest green chile in Central New Mexico.Several acres are designated wildlife habitat.
The mass of human bodies swayed back and forth to blaring electronic beats below a flashy stage. Heat generated from those bodies rose into a damp night sky flooded by pulsing yellow, blue and green lights. The crowd moves as one unit, pushing itself closer to the stage like a child yearning for its mother. This is Fiestas, an annual music festival hosted by organizations within the University of New Mexico. It’s attended by thousands of people including students and community members from around main campus and Albuquerque. While the mass around the stage seems to be homogeneous, it is actually a motley collection of individuals moving as one. Each person, swaying and turning to the music, is lost in themselves and obsessed with the one foot of space there bodies have occupied.
Mike Bradbury wasted no time filling his two newly vacated scholarships, replacing guards Madi Washington and Quincy Noble with graduate transfer Ciani Cryor and freshman Celine Dupont. Cryor will wear her third Division I jersey when she suits up for the Lobos in the fall, joining the program after a season at Georgia Tech and the last two at Rutgers. Last year for Rutgers she averaged 8.1 points, 5.6 assists and 2.0 steals per game. Cryor will provide the Lobos with extra insurance at point guard with Aisia Robertson expected to miss at least the first half of the season recovering from a torn ACL she suffered in the regular season final.
The late 1700s welcomed the Industrial Revolution, and while no one can undermine the importance of this cultural shift within every economic sector, it also planted the toxic seeds of humanity’s death. The enormous increase of production due to coal powered machines in the late 19th century, also enormously increased the amount of greenhouse gasses being released into the atmosphere. Forward thinkers within the late 1800s started to notice, and document, changes seen within the climate, but it wasn’t until the 1950s that scientists saw an unusual increase of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Fast forward to today, an even a blind jester can see the effects of climate change. From the icecaps melting, to droughts intensifying, these events are new and undeniably caused by our own avarice of production resulting in pollution.
Sometimes going green is seen as something that is expensive and elitist, and while this can be true in some cases, I am a firm believer that we all can contribute to the earth in meaningful ways. Below are four free ways you can contribute to sustaining our environment.
The 64th Annual Nizhoni Days Powwow wrapped up their week-long event with a gathering on Johnson Field at the University of New Mexico on Sunday, April 28. Crowds formed a circle under the sun around indigenous dancers, drummers and singers. A small market of more than 70 bright blue, white and red tents sold clothes, food and provided information on Native American causes and programs among others, under the shade. Some dancers were local to Albuquerque, but Dan Nanamkin came as far as Washington from the Colville Indian Reservation. He heard about Nizhoni Days through a relative.
The University of New Mexico and United Academics of UNM (UA-UNM), the proposed faculty union for the state’s flagship university, reached an agreement late Monday night, according to multiple sources close to the matter. The compromise reached between the University and the union includes two bargaining units organized under UA-UNM. One bargaining team will represent full-time faculty and a separate unit will represent part-time faculty, according to Associate Professor Matías Fontenla, a member of the union’s organizing committee. He also said faculty from branch campuses will be included in the full-time bargaining team — which was a sticking point in negotiations. Both Fontenla and James Montalbano, an attorney representing the union, said the exact language of the agreement would be publicized Tuesday morning, sometime before a meeting of the general faculty at Popejoy Hall at 10 a.m.
The cost of attendance at the University of New Mexico is going up. That much is clear. However, it’s not a simple student fee increase, base tuition increase or some additional fees; it’s all that and more.
Meow Wolf welcomed English indie-pop band Superorganism last Thursday to their flashy stage. With a colorful set decorated by the band in glitter face paint, hooded cloaks and projections of prawns, they brought an engaging and entertaining show. Though the eight-person group seemed organic on stage, they did not always preform together. In fact, the band is an amalgamation of musicians from across the world.
The annual Gathering of Nations kicked off on Thursday, April 27, with the 36th Miss Indian World pageant held at the Albuquerque Convention Center. Native American women from tribes throughout the country competed for the title of Miss Indian World. Contestants were asked to display knowledge of their culture, public speaking, interviews, essays, dance and traditional talents — like grinding corn, swaddling babies and storytelling. The powwow began Friday and lasted until Saturday night.
When most people wake up for the day, their first stop is the bathroom where the usual necessities are at arm's reach: toilet paper, towels and a toothbrush. For people experiencing homelessness in Albuquerque, waking up and using a bathroom is a luxury most do not have. The homeless community that gathers in Coronado Park has limited access to any kind of restroom facilities. There is only a single, poorly managed, porta-potty that sits at the edge of the park.
The next chapter of the University of New Mexico faculty’s effort to form a union will take place on Monday, April 29. The UNM Labor Management Relations Board (LMRB) will hold a hearing on Monday. The three-person board which handles all UNM labor disputes are weighing the certification or rejection the faculty’s petition to unionize. The petition was signed by over 900 part-time and full-time faculty members. There is no guarantee the board will make a final decision on Monday. The meeting will begin at 9 a.m. at the Marriott Pyramid North Hotel. UNM spokesperson Cinnamon Blair said the hotel was selected because it is a neutral location.
James Holloway was officially named the new provost for the University of New Mexico, according to an announcement made by the University last week. “Dr. Holloway is an inspired choice for UNM Provost and we are thrilled to welcome him and his family to Albuquerque and to the Lobo community,” said President Garnett Stokes in a written statement. Holloway previously served as Vice Provost for Global Engagement and Interdisciplinary Academic Affairs at the University of Michigan, and was selected for the position at UNM following a nearly six-month long search process.
"If you're a fan, you can't ask for anything more... that's for sure." New Mexico United head coach Troy Lesesne summarized with admirable clarity his club's 3-3 draw with the Portland Timbers 2 at Isotopes Park on Friday night. A matchup between two teams atop the Western Conference, the fixture was a first-rate experience of the mercurial nature of competitive soccer. The 90 minutes were fraught with wild swings of emotion for the record 12,921 in attendance — confidence, frustration and despair gave way to euphoria as a last-gasp equalizer from United forward Kevaughn Frater rescued a point for the home side.
The University of New Mexico has announced the school secured a licensing agreement with Adobe Creative Cloud. The Budget Leadership Team had a plan approved by the Board of Regents last week. The plan includes a $50 technology fee for both undergraduate and graduate students to pay for the agreement.
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