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UNM seeks to appeal graduate workers’ right to unionize

  The University of New Mexico filed a notice of appeal against the New Mexico Public Employee Labor Relations Board on Nov. 19, in which they hope to overturn a decision from August that granted UNM graduate students the right to unionize. The United Graduate Workers of UNM are a part of the larger United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America (UE) and have been fighting for better health care coverage, higher wages and increased influence over University-wide decisions. “Despite long hours teaching, researching and grading, graduate assistants earn an average minimum stipend of just $14,438 per year and struggle with lack of access to medical care and inadequate protections from harassment,” University graduate worker officials wrote in a press release issued on Nov. 23.

River of Lights: Crowd bedazzled on opening night

  The 24th annual River of Lights came back to delight Albuquerque at the ABQ BioPark Botanic Garden on its opening night on Saturday, Nov. 27. Mayor Tim Keller was present to turn on the millions of lights, making the nearly 600 displays light up the night. River of Lights began in 1997 as a BioPark fundraiser and proceeds still support BioPark projects via the New Mexico BioPark Society. “Each year's show unveils ingenious new sculptures and stunning displays made by BioPark artists and craftsmen,” the BioPark’s website reads.   “New Mexico’s largest walk-through light show, River of Lights at the ABQ BioPark Botanical Garden, features ... 600 displays made up of millions of lights,” USA Today reported. 

Amy Farnbach Pearson offers social perspective on COVID-19

  Though she got her start in microbiology in her undergraduate program, University of New Mexico professor Amy Farnbach Pearson now studies medicine through the humanities lens. She seeks to broach conversations on how disease presents in societies and what it means for patients perceived to be afflicted. Farnbach Pearson joined the Honors College team this year, an environment that has been historically welcoming to interdisciplinary conversations and out-of-the-box curricula. She’s a temporary part-time professor teaching “Tuberculosis to COVID-19: What is Health?” this semester, which is one medium she uses to have conversations on how Western societies have and continue to respond to diseases.

OPINION: UNM lacks necessary mental health support

 Despite prolific reports of poor mental health amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the University of New Mexico maintains a limited position on the issue. Considering the generational emphasis on mental health advocacy, the question remains as to why students suffering with poor mental health continue to struggle alone. UNM claims to offer support via Student Health and Counseling and, while in theory that provision is helpful, if you can manage even to have your phone call picked up, the likelihood that you’ll get an appointment scheduled by season’s end is slim to none. Amid a pandemic, these resources are needed more than ever. The support systems that SHAC provides wouldn’t be enough, though, even if fully functional. 

Comics November 22, 2021

‘Boots on the ground:’ SHAC associate director navigates heavy workload

  Karen Lucero, the associate clinical director of counseling services at the University of New Mexico’s Student Health and Counseling, works tirelessly to see her own patients while managing clients and counseling personnel at UNM. As the self-described “boots on the ground” at SHAC, Lucero is proud to work as a counselor and help others. Lucero’s future was not always in counseling. She was initially gearing up to enter the UNM School of Law herself after obtaining her bachelor’s degree in philosophy and economics from UNM before her own personal experiences with grief counseling persuaded her to change career paths.

OPINION: UNM mental health resources

  At this point in the semester, extreme stress and burnout are incredibly common, and it’s more than okay to ask for help. Here’s a list of my favorite campus resources at the University of New Mexico that you should look into if you’re in need of assistance. Agora Crisis Center Payment: Free The Agora Crisis Center offers several free services including but not limited to helpline, online emotional support chat and information on how to help yourself and others. After meeting a few of the volunteers at Agora, I can confidently say that they are committed to helping others in every way they can. The center itself is small but it’s so clearly full of people who care about people.

Coping with seasonal depression

  Seasonal Affective Disorder, otherwise known as seasonal depression, is a form of depression in which symptoms present during specific seasons, typically during the fall and winter months. Seasonal depression affects an estimated 10 million Americans yearly, but there are methods to help identify and cope with symptoms. According to Albuquerque therapist Anne-Marie Cooper, Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) symptoms include abnormal sleep and eating patterns, general low mood and a ”lack of willingness to engage in things that typically one would usually like to engage in.”   University of New Mexico Student Health and Counseling psychiatrist Dr. Tien Nguyen advises students to monitor how much their symptoms are affecting daily function and how much psychological distress their symptoms are causing them when considering professional help.

Mental Health Matters: Local healthcare workers struggle as pandemic rages on

  Once considered heroes by the entire nation, now largely taken for granted while hospitals run at over 100% capacity, local healthcare workers are feeling burnt out from the COVID-19 pandemic as we enter over a year and a half of the crisis with people still refusing to get vaccinated. At one point in the pandemic, Steve Nuanez, director of employee well-being at the University of New Mexico Hospital, said there was a light at the end of the tunnel where things seemed to be returning to normal. Now, however, New Mexico is seeing over 1,000 COVID-19 cases regularly again and Nuanez said UNMH is usually running at 140% capacity.

LETTER: Finding safety and help amid the pandemic

  As we move into the end of fall term, our first term for students back on campus since spring 2020, we have had some time to reflect on the impact of the past pandemic season and our vision for moving forward; hopefully, differently. For the past 18 months we’ve maintained a constant vigilance about our health and safety, a constant distance from others and a constant attention to distressing information from our various news feeds. All this has increased our level of anxiety, affected our attitudes about ourselves and our world and impacted our behavior in often wildly inappropriate ways. You may have experienced this, or read about it daily in our media. 

Self-help tool TAO promoted during Mental Health Screening Week

  Help is as near as a click away for Lobos at the University of New Mexico. And just after the University’s Mental Health Screening Week — the first week ever of its kind at UNM — it’s time now rather than later to take stock of personal mental health. Therapy Assistance Online is a 100% anonymous, free online resource for all affiliates of UNM. This tool, which was largely promoted during UNM’s Mental Health Screening Week that took place from Nov. 15-19, aims to provide mental health and well-being aid for individuals. The only thing needed to access it is an active UNM email.

Men’s basketball prevails against MSU

 The University of New Mexico men’s basketball team stayed undefeated at home after narrowly beating Montana State University 81-78 on Saturday at The Pit. The team now stands at 3-1 overall. This season’s leading scorer Jaelen House got in foul trouble early in the first half, restricting his minutes. UNM stayed in control until a 1-3-1 zone defense from Montana State disrupted their offensive flow; zones like that have so far tended to disrupt the UNM guards’ common tendency to count on the cross-court pass to be a pressure release. The second half was intense and, at moments, The Pit crowd began to bellow in one voice, like when a tough call was made on House late in the second half. 

Protesters speak out on injustice of Rittenhouse acquittal

  On Saturday, protesters gathered at the La Jornada statues in Albuquerque to speak out against the Nov. 19 acquittal of Kyle Rittenhouse. The protest, organized by the Albuquerque Party of Socialism and Liberation and the Albuquerque Center for Peace and Justice, highlighted the racist precedent set by the acquittal of a man who fatally shot two protesters and injured another. In August 2020, the individuals that Rittenhouse killed and injured were involved in a protest against the racial injustice in the case of Jacob Blake, a Black man who was shot seven times and partially paralyzed by police in Kenosha, Wisconsin. 

Biden administration barrs new oil and gas leases around Chaco Canyon

President Joe Biden announced on Monday that his administration will block federal oil and gas leasing within a 10-mile buffer zone around Chaco Canyon, a sacred Indigenous site in New Mexico. A two-year ban on leasing will be enacted in the coming weeks, which will enable the Bureau of Land Management to conduct environmental analysis and public comment. They will then consider a 20-year withdrawal of drilling on public lands in the region.  “The Department of the Interior Secretary Deb Haaland is basically pushing the Bureau of Land Management to do a full environmental assessment of the region, in terms of its impacts relating to oil and gas,” Julia Bernal, director of Pueblo Action Alliance, said. 

UNM men’s basketball emphasizes defense in win against Grambling State

The University of New Mexico men’s basketball team beat Grambling State University 86-61 at The Pit on Monday. The win makes UNM 2-1 in their young season. Six Lobos scored in the game, and guards Jamal Mashburn Jr., Jaelen House, Taryn Todd and Javonté Johnson combined for all but 18 of the Lobos’ points. The first half was chaotic and was more amiable towards Grambling State’s style of play, ending with UNM only up by four points at halftime. However, Grambling State is a turnover-prone team, and once UNM turned up the defensive pressure, they were able to force 10 turnovers in the second half. The Lobos scored 29 points off of turnovers total, and House was able to come up with an incredible eight steals.

Retired UNM professor publishes 60th book

Richard Etulain, retired professor for the history department at the University of New Mexico, published his 60th book this year, “Mark O. Hatfield: Oregon Statesman (The Oklahoma Western Biographies Book 33),” on politician Hatfield, who contributed greatly to Etulain’s philosophy against bipartisanship. Born in eastern Washington and raised on a sheep ranch by his Basque immigrant father and “frontier mother,” Etulain was no stranger to hard work. Growing up, his father consistently reminded him that “anything you set out to do, get ‘er done.” With this in mind, and despite an initial nervousness surrounding writing, Etulain has churned out a book every year since his retirement in 2001.

UNM alumna receives prestigious clean energy award

The recognition of successful women in STEM continues with eyes on University of New Mexico alumna Kate Anderson, chief of staff for energy systems integration at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, a sector of the U.S. Department of Energy. This year, Anderson is the recipient of the C3E Social, Economic, and Policy Innovation Award, which recognizes women in clean energy. “There are not a lot of women in clean energy … but there should be,” Anderson said. “An award like this helps because it helps people see themselves and see that, ‘Oh, that’s something that I could do too,’ and not just view it as a man’s field.”

UNM boasts depth in win against Northern New Mexico

The University of New Mexico women’s basketball team beat Northern New Mexico College 96-40 Friday, Nov. 12 at The Pit. Though largely uncompetitive, the game gave UNM a chance to field some of its younger players. Guard Vianè Cumber started for the first time as a Lobo and shot 7-10 from the field, including 3-5 from three. Cumber scored 17 points — the most on the team — and showcased her ability to shoot while moving. Still, after the game, she said she still feels most comfortable catching and shooting stationary. Cumber is the only UNM player from Albuquerque and was eager to start in The Pit.  “I was really nervous, but I was really excited,” Cumber said.  

Infrastructure law makes investments in local climate, water

President Joe Biden’s $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill was approved by the U.S. Congress in early November and signed into law on Monday, Nov. 15. The bipartisan law, H.R. 3684, is climate-focused and uses a dynamic approach to dispersing funding, with money going to highways, wildfires, electric buses, water and other related projects. New Mexico’s apportionment of the law is $3.7 billion, which will seek to invest in and address vulnerabilities of the state’s water, highway and bridge infrastructure, among other key ventures. University of New Mexico Professor Claude Morelli, scholar of transportation planning and policy at UNM, said the largest cut of New Mexico’s share, $2.5 billion, is going toward highway development. $255 million in the infrastructure package will also address bridge needs across the state as super storms have undermined bridge foundations, causing the collapse of bridges and necessitating more maintenance, according to Morelli.

Stalking cases increase at UNM

  Reports of stalking made by residents living at the University of New Mexico’s student housing increased by 33%, from 9 cases in 2019 to 12 cases in 2020, even though fewer students were on campus. The rise takes place as stalking has become more virtual, experts said. “A lot of this is a virtual type of stalking where people are being threatened or followed through email communication, text messages or as far as a tracking device on someone's car,” said Matt Suazo, compliance and clery coordinator of UNM’s Office of Equal Opportunity. “There’s this sense of anonymity where people are able to engage in this behavior where they’re not able to be identified or confronted.”