You did it! You finally made it through almost nine whole, long, agonizing months of schoolwork, professors and group projects and now you can taste the melting ice cream, feel the sweet sting of sunburns, and smell the many campfires to come. Sounds great, right?
The state scholarship that aids more than 25,000 students annually saw a 30 percent decrease in funds this week. The New Mexico Higher Education Department announced Wednesday morning that the state's legislative lottery scholarship will only cover 60 percent of students’ tuition for the 2017-2018 academic year — falling from 90 percent coverage in the 2015-2016 year and 100 percent as recently as 2014. The decrease in funds is reflected by an increase in tuition costs and a decrease in revenue for New Mexico higher education institutions — as well as overall dwindling scholarship funds.
Despite a previous veto on a bill that left funding for higher education in an uncertain state, Gov. Susana Martinez has signed legislation to ensure continued state funding for higher education. Rep. Antonio "Moe" Maestas (D-Bernalillo) serves on the House Appropriations and Finance Committee, which is responsible for the budget. He said there were only two differences between the new budget and the original budget. The new budget will give an extra $1 million dollars to UNM health sciences and another million dollars to tuition assistance, Maestas said. “The big thing is: the revenue projections today are far more hopeful than the revenue projections back in February,” he said. “So, the bill on the governor's desk didn’t change, but the outlook changed, which allowed us to go home with a balanced budget.”
Six candidates competing to be Albuquerque’s next mayor attended the first public mayoral forum at the National Hispanic Cultural Center on Tuesday. Hosted by New Mexico media outlets Weekly Alibi and New Mexico Political Report, the forum had some twists on traditional structure. The candidates were questioned on everything from the legalization of recreational marijuana to their thoughts on Albuquerque's culture. Candidates were posed: introductory questions, questions that were only answered in “yes,” “no” or “it’s complicated” and open questions within a two-minute response time frame.
During the annual budget summit Wednesday, the UNM Board of Regents approved an $18 course premium for upper division credit hours and a 7.3 percent mandatory student fee increase for undergraduate students and a five percent increase for graduate students. Initially the budget leadership team proposed a $23 premium, but at the tail end of the meeting, Regent Thomas Clifford moved to modify the analysis to adjust for a lower premium rate. The Regents settled on the $18 figure. According to initial estimates provided by the leadership team, 12,000 students would not see a tuition increase next year. However, tuition for some could increase anywhere from two percent to 12 percent, depending on the number of upper division courses taken in a semester.
On May 24, the motion to override Gov. Susana Martinez’s line item budget vetoes proposed by the 53rd meeting of the New Mexico Legislature failed with a vote of 39 in favor and 29 opposed during the New Mexico special legislative session. On the Senate floor, Rep. Damon Ely introduced the motion to override the governor’s line item vetoes. “What has captured the public's attention is the veto of all funding of higher education,” Ely said. “That includes both state and federal funding of higher education, totaling almost three billion dollars.”
Over 500 players from 24 countries are taking part in the 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Korea this summer — and UNM's Aaron Herrera was lucky enough to be selected to participate. Herrera, a defender for the UNM men’s soccer team, has been working with the U.S. National Team for a while. His latest achievement happened only a few months ago when he was part of the roster that took the United States’ first CONCACAF title at the U-20 level by taking down the Honduras’ team 5-3 on penalty kicks. “It was just crazy being the first team to ever do it,” said the Las Cruces native. “There are so many great players that have been through the U-20 who are playing on the full national team now that also went through the same experience we did. None of them ever won it, so knowing that our team was the first to win it is kind of crazy.”
How much is knowledge worth? Thousands of dollars a semester slowly evolving into debt can haunt students for a large part of their lives. The impact of this price is all-inclusive — impacting students entering college either entering as traditional college students straight out of high school or a nontraditional student looking for a career change. In many cases, parents of those seeking a college education will often foot the bill. However, this isn’t the case for all students, and for those whose parents don’t or can’t cover the cost of a college education, there are a few options. Understanding these options can save individuals a great amount of stress now and in the future.
As an institutional member of the American College Health Association, Student Health & Counseling is an on-campus service for UNM students that provides health and counseling services to all students. SHAC provides cost effective, easily accessible care for the majority of medical issues. A SHAC doctor, physician assistant or nurse practitioner is always available to all UNM and Health Science Center students, 24 hours a day for a telephone consultation. “SHAC is an innovative leader in college health among peer universities in providing comprehensive, high-quality services that are guided by those served,” said SHAC Executive Director James Wilterding.
A new president, vice president and ten new senators were sworn into their positions within the Associated Students of UNM on May 12. The new ASUNM Senators and fresh executive team — headed by president Noah Brooks and vice president Sally Midani — are now tasked with addressing campus issues, following through on campaign promises and representing the next generation of UNM undergraduate students. “I’m very excited for the upcoming year,” Brooks said in his first address to the UNM community since the election in March. “I can’t wait to get started,” he said, adding that his goals are to serve the students and accomplish his campaign promises. Outgoing ASUNM President Kyle Biederwolf commended the newly elected senators, vice president and president for their work so far. Fully confident in the new administration's ability to serve UNM’s students, Biederwolf praised the new governing body. Brooks and Midani, who ran together in the election, are looking to accomplish their campaign platform which included: helping prevent sexual assault on campus, streamlining advisement and transforming UNM into a destination University. On the campaign trail Brooks and Midani criticised the UNM advisement system.
UNM faculty and staff will soon have a fossil-fuel-free retirement plan option. “For me and many others, having the option not to invest in fossil fuels is of utmost importance when considering not only my future but my students’, my children’s and the planet’s as a whole,” said Tema Milstein, professor of communications and journalism.
WisePies has stepped aside to let Dreamstyle Remodeling take center stage as the new donor for the Pit. “As a lifelong New Mexican, I am proud to have built a company that has a capability of making this investment in the University and our community,” said Larry Chavez, UNM alumni and founder of Dreamstyle Remodeling. While working on a $250,000 renovation project for the UNM Football facilities, Dreamstyle Remodeling learned about the opportunity.
The University of New Mexico’s ski team is back. After Vice President of Athletics Paul Krebs said their program would be cut from UNM’s athletic programs on April 13, the university made the decision to reinstate the ski program for the 2017-18 season. The overturning was a major win for ski team. In particular, Alex Barounos, a sophomore ski team member and a key contributor in petitioning for the reinstatement, says he and his teammates were ecstatic about the decision made on Thursday.
UNM has record-breaking number of spring 2017 graduates Approximately 3,900 students will become “Lobos For Life” on Saturday when they stand before their loved ones to receive their diplomas, breaking the record for UNM’s graduating class. For the sixth year in a row, UNM’s graduation rate has continued to grow—the number of students graduating in four years is expected to increase 66 percent since the 2010-2011 school year, when the four-year graduation rate was at 15 percent. The University’s six-year graduation rate has also increased and breaks the record at just under 50 percent.
Trump fires FBI director President Trump fired the FBI Director James B. Comey Tuesday over the way he handled the investigation of Hillary Clinton’s emails during the 2016 election. Comey’s immediate dismissal was a “stunning development for a president that benefited from the FBI investigation of the Democratic nominee during the 2016 campaign,” the New York Times reports. The FBI is also separately investigating the possibility of collusion between Trump campaign members and Russia in order to influence the election. Thus, Trump’s abrupt and unexpected decision to fire Comey raised questions over whether the president was trying to influence the Russian investigation.
Last week, six UNM Health Sciences Center faculty and students were recognized by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for their efforts to address the statewide opioid epidemic. The Heroin and Opioid Prevention Education Initiative is a collaboration between the U.S.
New Mexico Sen. Martin Heinrich recently introduced the Energy Workforce for the 21st Century Act, seeking to meet growing demands in the clean energy workforce. If passed, the legislation will create a comprehensive strategy for the Department of Energy to increase participation of women and minorities in the energy sector, provide training for displaced workers and encourage education leaders to give pertinent training to students. “We need to prepare New Mexicans to work in the clean energy jobs of the future and increase the participation of women and minorities throughout the energy sector,” Heinrich said in a press release. “This is the future of jobs,” he said. “It’s incredibly important.”
UNMPD and the UNM Office of Emergency Management have taken advantage of the smartphone craze by utilizing apps, messaging availability and social media — allowing the University community to provide tools for reporting “suspicious or criminal activity.” In the spring of 2015, LoboGuardian, a new technology-driven app that turns a smartphone into a portable “virtual blue light” was launched at UNM. The app is run by the vendor Rave Guardian and is designed to increase the safety of students, staff and faculty on college and university campuses.
Life has a way of changing things, just ask Ayham Maadi. A dual-degree student in chemical engineering and foreign languages with a minor in math, Maadi said he started his education at UNM undecided on where his career path would lead him, but it certainly wasn’t in the direction of engineering. Given his foreign language experience, Maadi said he realized that whatever his future held, he would be supplemented with a degree in foreign languages. Despite his initial intentions, his path shifted toward chemical engineering. And he was excited to take on the challenge.
Haimanot Bihonegne is up for a challenge. As a mother of two from Ethiopia, she has worked hard to balance school, her job at Lowe’s and parenting. “It is challenging, but it’s very good for my kids,” she said. “When I read, they read. When I do my homework, they do their homework. It’s really good (but) it’s hard.” With work on the weekends, and classes and family time on the weekdays, Bihonegne’s schedule is a careful balancing act, she said. When she started school, she wasn’t sure how she would do it, but believes that if you start something, you have to finish it. “It was a long way to go, but I’m here now,” she said.
Solutions by The State News
