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OPINION: Bobbleheads of the week

When there’s a winner there’s a loser. Sometimes a player can do everything in their power to win a game and still lose. Just as often, a player’s performance can cost their team the game. These players are favorably called bobbleheads.  Baltimore Ravens: quarterback Lamar Jackson It's rare for a player of Jackson’s caliber to end up as a bobblehead, but it doesn't matter how many MVPs you’ve won if you play like he did on Thursday, Nov. 27.

Red Raiders run Lobos out of The Pit

In a clash of titans, the University of New Mexico Lobos and Texas Tech University Red Raiders met in The Pit on Sunday, Nov. 23, with the Raiders ultimately defeating the Lobos 82-57.  The game featured a strong Lobo team — who have been blowing out opponents by an average of 26 points over the last four games, outrebounding opponents by double digits, and have held their last two opponents, including New Mexico State University, to only 45 points — against the Big 12 leader, Texas Tech. The Red Raiders had started the season 6-0, defeated power conference teams Mississippi State University, Southern Methodist University and University of Arkansas, outscoring opponents by a margin of 25 points, barely outrebounding opponents and demonstrating grit to the end of each possession. It’s fair to say the match was greatly anticipated.

Student orgs introduce roaming recycling cart at football tailgate

It is easy to imagine the type of waste that is generated at a University of New Mexico football tailgate, with aluminum cans, plastic bottles and cardboard usually sent directly to the landfill. This season, a group of students from environmentally-focused student organizations across campus are banding together to make recycling easier than ever for Lobo fans by debuting a roaming recycling cart at home tailgates.  The cart began roaming on Nov. 15 at the Lobo football tailgate to collect and manage the recyclables people had on-hand during the event. 

Maxwell Museum hosts events celebrating free speech

On Friday, Nov. 21, the University of New Mexico Maxwell Museum of Anthropology hosted two events highlighting the importance of freedom of expression and the role of museums in protecting the exchange of ideas.  The first event was “Lexicon of Liberty,” a celebration of banned and threatened books. Maxwell Museum Preparator Chris Albert and Curator of Education and Public Programs Julián Antonio Carrillo led the event, sharing statistics on who bans books, why and how. The second event, “Designed to Disrupt,” was a round table event where attendees were invited to play “Designing to Disrupt,” a card game by museum worker Chaya Arabia, designed to teach what can be achieved with activism.

Beading workshop honors traditions of Native American Tribes

On Friday, Nov. 21, The University of New Mexico Language Learning Center held a free beadmaking workshop featuring Native American beading, a longstanding tradition within Native communities across the United States. Adam Greenberg, a member of the  Mescalero Apache and Taos Pueblo, and Alicia Clouser,  a member of the Navajo tribe,  led attendees through creating their own set of beaded earrings, while teaching the history behind the Native tradition. Greenberg said that beading originally traces back to 16th-century China and Europe. He said that it was taught to Native women by Victorian nuns during a time when Native Americans were forcefully evangelized. At this time, beadmaking was seen as a womanly, domesticated hobby that nuns encouraged women to learn, in addition to other hobbies like embroidery.

UNM Libraries host last Crafternoon of the semester

A ball of yarn, a streak of a pen and glue on a marble magnet were all things seen at the University of New Mexico’s seventh and final Crafternoon of the year on Nov. 19 and 20. It was an event for all students to come and choose from the variety of crafts, or create their own, to express their creativity. Kate Costello, an undergraduate engagement team librarian, said that Crafternoon was created at UNM to take advantage of the chill library environment for students to explore their creativity and catch a break from classes, as well as a hope for libraries to be third spaces. 

Lobos advance to 8-3 behind dominant defensive performance

On Saturday, Nov. 22, the University of New Mexico Lobos football team triumphed against the Air Force Academy Falcons, winning the game 20-3, and sealing the first victory at Falcon Stadium in 25 years. Lobo quarterback Jack Layne and the offense started the night off with a nine-play, 75-yard drive, capped off by Layne’s 12-yard scramble for a touchdown to take a 7-0 lead. Then, UNM sophomore defensive tackle Jalen McIver and senior safety Caleb Coleman combined for a second down sack that led to a third-and-15 on Air Force’s opening drive, which ultimately resulted in an opening drive punt for the Falcons.  Offensive success continued for the Lobos with senior running back Damon Bankston getting involved through the air, as he had three catches for 27 yards in the first quarter alone. 

University seeks community input on next UNM president

As the search for the next University of New Mexico president continues, members of the community were invited to give their input on what qualities they would like to see the next president embody. Held on Nov. 18 and 19 — the first in UNM’s Student Union Building, and the second in the Domenici Education Center on the Health and Sciences campus — staff, faculty, students and community members presented their perspectives on the investigation to members of the search firm Isaacson, Miller, which the University has contracted to conduct the search.

State and Tribal leaders urge feds to keep Chaco Canyon protections

New Mexico delegation and local tribal leaders gathered to reaffirm their commitment to protecting public lands, firmly stating, “Chaco Canyon is not for sale.” On Friday, Nov. 21, Sen. Martin Heinrich (D) hosted a press conference alongside Sen. Ben Ray Luján (D) and Rep. Melanie Stansbury (D), where Gov. Myron Armijo of Santa Ana Pueblo spoke at the Indian Pueblo Culture Center to discuss the U.S. Department of the Interior’s recent moves to repeal Public Land Order 7923, which protects land near Chaco Canyon, including a 10-mile buffer zone, from oil and gas development. In late October, President Donald Trump’s administration notified several tribal leaders about plans to revoke the 20-year ban on oil and gas development across roughly 336,000 federal lands near Chaco Canyon, according to The Associated Press. 

Opportunity awaits as Lobos officially introduce Karley Nelson as new soccer Head Coach

It’s a new era in University of New Mexico soccer as the Lobos soccer team introduced their new Head Coach Karley Nelson at the University’s fall coaches press conference on Tuesday, Nov. 18. Nelson was elevated to be the team's fifth head coach after serving 11 years as an assistant and associate head coach at UNM. She officially takes over for longtime head coach Heather Dyche, who is resigning to take a new position as the coach of the Under-23 U.S. Women’s National Team. Vice President and Director of Athletics Fernando Lovo said UNM looked for a coach that met championship level standards, supported student athletes and their community and had integrity.

Lobo women’s basketball wins comfortably against UT Martin

The University of New Mexico Lobos women’s basketball team was able to ease to a 77-45 victory on Thursday, Nov. 20, against the University of Tennessee at Martin Skyhawks. With the win, the Lobos now move to 5-1 on the season, a significant jump from the 3-3 record the team started with last season.  Lobo guard Alyssa Hargrove spoke on the difference between this year’s team compared to last year’s team. “I definitely feel like with this team we can play a lot faster, I feel we have more options to get it up to so that’s been a big difference for me handling the ball,” Hargrove said. “Our defense as well, pressing the whole game is new for us so I think it’s a good adjustment, seeing how we're working through it has been good.” 

Chicana and Chicano Studies Department sponsors national Latinx Vision 2.0 conference

The University of New Mexico’s Chicana and Chicano Studies Department sponsored the Latinx Vision 2.0 “One Planet-Many Worlds Online Conference” on Nov. 3 through 7. On Nov. 3, speaker Jessica Hernandez gave a powerful presentation on “Indigenous Science and the Diaspora” hosted via Zoom. Joining her presentation was Divana Olivas, an assistant professor of Chicana and Chicano Studies Studies at UNM. Hernandez, a Binnizá/Zapotec and Maya Ch'orti’, is a Indigenous scientist, climate justice leader, best-selling author of “Fresh Banana Leaves: Healing Indigenous Landscapes through Indigenous science” and founder of Earth Daughter, a transnational Indigenous-led nonprofit dedicated to empowering Indigenous women and youth through mutual aid and climate justice initiatives.

Comic, Nov. 17, 2025

OPINION: Bobbleheads of the week

When there’s a winner there’s a loser. Sometimes a player can do everything in their power to win a game and still lose, just as often a player’s performance can cost their team the game. These players are favorably called bobbleheads.  Seattle Seahawks: quarterback Sam Darnold  At the end of the 2024 season, a major talking point was how much money Sam Darnold had played himself out of. He had been an incredible quarterback all year long; throughout the regular season, he had 35 touchdowns to just 12 interceptions and threw for over 4,300 yards. 

Keller earns key endorsement as runoff fast approaches

With the Albuquerque runoff elections just weeks away, incumbent Mayor Tim Keller has earned an important endorsement in his race against former Bernalillo County Sheriff Darren White. The New Mexico Working Families Party announced its endorsement of Keller on Thursday, Nov. 20, after its initial endorsement of former U.S. Attorney for the District of New Mexico, Alex Uballez, during the regular election.

Lobo mens basketball falls to New Mexico State

The University of New Mexico Lobos men's basketball team took a trip south to Las Cruces on Saturday, Nov. 15, where they came up short against their state rival, the New Mexico State University Aggies, losing 76-68.  The Aggies struck first during the Rio Grande Rivalry matchup, with New Mexico State guard Anthony Wrzeszcz sinking a three-point shot from the corner to thrill the home crowd.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Major UNM organizations call for administration to do more to protect academic freedom

Academic freedom is under attack. Long a cornerstone of higher education, academic freedom creates space for faculty to research, to teach, and to speak in the public arena without threat of institutional censorship or reprisal. This attack on academic freedom is part of a broader assault on higher education, one that puts real people at risk for doing the work they were hired to do. The pressure from federal investigations and funding cuts has contributed to a growing culture of fear, one where academics are wary to speak out and voice their concerns. But silence is not going to save us.  Per the American Association of University Professors Statement of Principles on Academic Freedom and Tenure, "[f]reedom in research is fundamental to the advancement of truth,” and in the classroom, faculty must have the right to “stimulate[] debate and learning that is germane to the subject matter.”  

City Council unanimously passes historic traffic ordinance

The Albuquerque traffic code has remained nearly unchanged since 1974, but is now being updated after a unanimous city council vote in the wake of multiple pedestrian and bicycle traffic accidents, including one that killed 19-year-old cyclist Kayla VanLandingham, who was struck by a car at a bike crossing near Carlisle Boulevard.  The ordinance intends to update the traffic code to improve protections for bicyclists, pedestrians and other vulnerable road users, Albuquerque District Seven City Councilor Tammy Fiebelkorn — who sponsored the ordinance — said during a City Council meeting on Nov. 5.  VanLandingham’s grandmother, Diana Zamora, spoke about her granddaughter's death during public comment at the meeting. 

Lobo women’s basketball continues to own the Rio Grande

On Sunday, Nov. 16, the University of New Mexico women’s basketball team was out for revenge in Las Cruces looking to take down the New Mexico State Aggies, who swept the Lobos last year. The Aggies led the rivalry in the last five games 3-2, but throughout his tenure, Lobos Head Coach Mike Bradbury dominated the Aggies 11-4. This game followed suit, snapping NMSU’s win streak of two, with a Lobo triumph of 77-45. The Lobos showed how deep their bench can get, as it accounted for 36 points, with 10 of the Lobos getting a bucket in their dominant performance over the Aggies. Sophomore guard Nayli Padilla came off the bench as the leading scorer for UNM with 14 points, going four of five from three, and grabbing six boards in 25 minutes. The Lobos, for the second time in a row, outrebounded their opponent by a double-digit margin, 43-31.

How Albuquerque’s publicly funded elections work

In city elections where raising tens of thousands of dollars is common occurrence, Albuquerque participates in a program which seeks to democratize campaign fundraising. The system uses public financing to allow candidates to run for office without the financial burden typical in elections. This tool was a common feature in this year’s Nov. 4 municipal elections, with many candidates financed by the city. Mayoral candidate and incumbent Tim Keller and City Council candidates, incumbent Renée Grout from district nine, incumbent Tammy Fiebelkorn from district seven, incumbent Dan Lewis from district five, incumbent Klarissa Peña from district three, Ahren Griego and Daniel Levia from district one were all publicly financed this election.