Multimedia

Sports

Lobos dominate New Mexico Highlands 4-0 in exhibition match

BillyJack Davidson and Francesca Cicconetti | August 20

  The University of New Mexico Women’s volleyball team played in an exhibition match on Saturday, Aug. 19  against the New Mexico Highlands Cowgirls. Following last season’s exhibition victory against the Cowgirls, the Lobos won 4-0 for the second year in a row. UNM’s volleyball team had a strong season last year, going 17-12 in the regular season and 8-10 in conference play. The Lobos finished the season in fifth place, making the University’s second appearance in a row in the Mountain West Tournament.

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News

Students hate PATS

Maddie Pukite | August 20

  “I hate PATS” is what the stickers plastered all over campus last year read. Created by Tomas Chacon and his roommates. The stickers were created in protest of the Parking and Transportation Services at the University of New Mexico at the beginning of last year, Chacon said. Currently, the cost of parking at UNM is on the rise. Since last semester, the cost of parking meters on campus has been raised by 25 cents per half hour, totaling $1.75 per half hour with the maximum payment of $28 for 8 hours – $3 more than a parking citation. In April of 2022, parking was a dollar per half hour.

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Opinion

LETTER: Study shows $1 billion potential bill for oil and gas clean up without BLM rule change

Amber Wallin | August 20

  From a young age, we teach our children the importance of taking responsibility for their actions and cleaning up after themselves when they make a mess. We should expect the same from the oil and gas industry working in New Mexico. But for far too long, antiquated policies under the current leasing system have left our families on the hook to pay to clean up messes left behind by bankrupt oil and gas companies – messes involving orphaned wells with decaying and leaking infrastructure that can pollute our air and water. This has robbed our communities of tax dollars that could have been put to use improving our children’s classrooms and our hospitals and roadways.

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Culture

Christoph Wagner makes the strings sing

Addison Key | August 20

  Christoph Wagner always wanted to play the cello. The new assistant professor of cello at the University of New Mexico, Wagner started playing when he was six.  Wagner says he watched his sister play the cello and never doubted that it was the instrument for him. What attracted him was the versatility of the instrument. “You can do so many things with this instrument. You can play very low, you can play very high pitches. So you can mimic a huge spectrum of expressions, sounds, timbres and colors,” Wagner said.

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News

UNM Board of Regents files as a party in air pollution regulation

Maddie Pukite | August 20

  This past May, the University’s Board of Regents filed as a party in the ongoing petition to amend the New Mexico administrative code to stop new air-polluting projects in communities that already live with environmental hazards via a Health Environment Equity Impact regulation. The Mountain View Coalition alongside the New Mexico Environmental Law Center filed the petition back in November. This October, the Air Board will vote on the regulation. In May, the Board of Regents entered as a party.

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Opinion

REVIEW: A Norse-inspired fantasy trilogy to enchant

Sydney Walker | August 20

  If you are prone to buying and reading books because TikTok said so, we need to be friends. A few weeks ago, a book by John Gwynne caught my eye and the giant dragon on the cover for “The Shadow of the Gods” sold me. Gwynne is no stranger to adult fantasy books. He has written two lengthy fantasy series prior to “The Bloodsworn Trilogy.” The trilogy, so far, only contains “The Shadow of the Gods” and “The Hunger of the Gods.” When I tell you I ate them for breakfast, lunch and dinner for two weeks straight, I mean it.

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Opinion

EDITORIAL: The importance of critical studies

Maddie Pukite | August 20

  One of the oldest gender studies programs in the nation, the Women’s Studies Program has existed at the University of New Mexico since 1972. In 1999 a major was added, and in 2019 the name was changed from Women’s Studies to Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies. Last week, the first public university in the nation cut its gender studies department. The New College of Florida did away with its Women’s Studies department – a decision supported by Ron Desantis, the Republican Gov. of Florida. The University is now “shifting gears” to a new athletics program. I am in my final year of the program here at UNM and I could not be more grateful for my education in WGGS.

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News

‘It smelled like plastic. That creates a memory’

Austin Fisher and Megan Gleason | August 17

This story was originally published by Source New Mexico Celerah Hewes lives in southeast Albuquerque. On Aug. 6, she was driving home from the grocery store and happened to see the smoke plume from the Atkore United Poly Systems fire. “Otherwise I would never have known,” she said. “I would have stayed in my house, my swamp cooler on, and maybe had no idea that there was an air quality issue.” As of Tuesday, city and state authorities still have not said publicly how much smoke the fire generated. They also have not provided any detailed documentation of where the smoke went. Through a spokesperson, the city of Albuquerque Environmental Health Department said the smoke drifted south by southeast “away from populated areas.”

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News

Legislative meeting highlights plans for a school year alongside AI

Lily Alexander | August 14

  Faculty at the University of New Mexico are preparing for the impact of artificial intelligence for the upcoming academic year after professors weighed its benefits and risks at a Science, Technology and Telecommunications Committee meeting on July 24. The committee was created by the New Mexico Legislative Council in May. AI was one of three topics the committee discussed, and the subject was given additional meeting time to develop legislation.

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News

Board of Regents approve RPSP requests

Maddie Pukite | August 14

  Passed unanimously, University of New Mexico President Garnett Stokes presented the Legislative Research and Public Service Projects Funding requests for FY 2024 - 2025 to the Board of Regents at their meeting on Thursday, Aug. 10.  The largest RPSP request for 2025 was $11,941,700 for athletics to improve student-athlete welfare, recruitment and “enhancing the university’s brand”; it was $3.5 million more than last year’s request. 

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News

UNM’s Film students & faculty stand with the strike

Elizabeth Secor | August 14

  In early May, the Writers Guild of America went on strike. The Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists Union soon followed, striking in early June.  As the 2023 fall semester begins at UNM, film students are looking at their future field without  regrets despite the strikes, senior Michael Madrigal – who’s in the Film Department – said. 

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Sports

OPINION: 2023 Lobo’s football schedule predictions

Thomas Bulger | August 14

 The University of New Mexico football team will begin to get back on track after a 2 - 10 season last year. This year on their schedule, six of the teams they played against went to bowl games, two were last season division winners and three are teams that go by the nickname “Aggies.” 

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Sports

NM United: Reigning champions come to town, United drops game 3 - 0

BillyJack Davidson | August 14

  The New Mexico United’s 22nd match of the season took place on Aug. 12 against the current second ranked team in the Western Division – San Antonio FC. The game went long with minute before half time and an extra seven minutes additional by the end – still not enough time for the boys in black and gold. United lost to San Antonio 3 - 0; all three goals were made in the first half, the first made within the two minute mark.

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News

Trans and non-binary students report mixed experiences with SHAC

Lauren Lifke and Milan Ortiz-Ruiz | July 28

  Over the past two years, several trans and non-binary University of New Mexico students have reported mistreatment and lack of access to hormone therapy at Student Health and Counseling (SHAC), according to Juniper Reimagined’s outreach coordinator, Ophelia Aragon. This has resulted in a delay of medically necessary gender-affirming care. Juniper Reimagined is a Queer and trans student alliance at UNM amongst several LGBTQ student organizations on campus. Five student members of Juniper Reimagined have said they had a poor experience with SHAC, including trans and non-binary individuals who said they have dealt with being misgendered, Aragon said.

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Opinion

Opinion: Summer reads that helped me love reading again

Maddie Pukite | July 27

For those of you who might also reminisce on days spent reading in middle school entranced by some make-believe world but haven't been able to fall head over heels for a paperback since – this is a list of four books that I feel will help you take the jump. I’ve spent the past six months attempting to get back into reading fiction – never able to convince myself to open a book, much less finish one. Halfway through the year, I’ve compiled a list of four of my favorite summer reads – ones I’ve felt have been a good reintroduction to reading for pleasure.

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News

ICYMI: Summer Coverage Collection

Daily Lobo Staff | July 27

With 6 new people on staff and summer classes in full swing, the Daily Lobo has spent the summer in the newsroom writing stories. Below is a sampling of some of the work that has gone out in the Daily Lobo email newsletter this summer. 

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News

Accommodations for queer students living at UNM could go further

BillyJack Davidson | July 24

For Queer students, finding out who your college roommate is can cause anxiety, Mara Cox – the president of Juniper Reimagined – said. While having roommates is a common practice at the University of New Mexico, for trans students it could possibly create an unsafe living environment. “One of the biggest anxieties I personally had to face with getting a roommate you don’t know is wondering if you’ll have to hide yourself. If you do have to hide your identity, the best case scenario is just not interacting with the roommate at all – basically having to purposefully avoid them, which is hard when you live with them,” Cox said.

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Culture

Queer anthems take over the dance floor

Addison Key | July 24

Queer people of color created house music, Justin Cristofer said – a Queer DJ, promoter and producer in Albuquerque. Cristofer aims to take the idea of a Queer DJ and expand it beyond pop music as well as highlight the history of house. House is a music genre characterized by having four-to-the-floor musical patterns and the tempo of 120 beats per minute, according to Harper’s Bazaar. Bringing house music to Queer Albuquerque spaces, Cristofer said, honors the history of the genre.

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Opinion

EDITORIAL: Pride Bangers celebrate Queer music and influence

Daily Lobo Editorial Board | July 24

The playlist “Pride Bangers” was created by the editorial staff of the Daily Lobo and hopes to celebrate a couple of certified bangers, specifically songs that elevate and express Queerness. Additions like “Call Me Maybe” capture catchy pop perfection and excitement on the dance floor, while “Fast Car” exemplifies yearning for something bigger with a tender chosen partnership. Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way” and “G.U.Y.” answer Queer anxieties with captivating beats, lyrics and messaging that display confidence and pride.

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Culture

AJAAS creates space for queer Chicanx identities

Maddie Pukite | July 23

In pursuit of activism and pride, The Association for Jotería Arts, Activism and Scholarship at the University of New Mexico meets twice a month to organize events to create a space for Queer Latine, Chicanx and Indigenous students. AJAAS – a national collective of artists, activists and scholars – has existed since 2005.  Their name and organization reclaims a Spanish slur against Queer folk, focusing on activism and community, AJAAS member Lama Quiroz said. “It's a way to reclaim that word in order to empower ourselves,” Quiroz said. The UNM chapter has been centered around education on the histroy and culture of the chicano power movement, Quiroz said. AJAAS attended the Latinx Visions conference along with hosting book club meetings this past year.