News

News

Lobo Rainforest now houses students and community groups

Kelly Urvanejo | August 16

The new Lobo Rainforest building, located in downtown Albuquerque, is now home to UNM students as well as multiple innovative groups hoping to influence students, the community and other businesses by networking and creating opportunity throughout the city. “The University has been involved in a project called Innovate ABQ for the last four and a half years,” said Lisa Kuuttila, CEO and Chief Economic Development Officer at STC UNM. “The vision for the site as a whole, was to develop this live, work, play environment to stimulate creativity, entrepreneurship and innovation.” Albuquerque did not previously have an innovation district, Kuuttila said, which is why the concept to build a corridor between the University and downtown was created.

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UNM community members respond to violence in Charlottesville

Celia Raney , Celia_Raney and Madison Spratto | August 14

More than 50 people gathered outside the UNM bookstore Sunday evening to show support and solidarity for the victims of the violent riots in Charlottesville, VA. The event was organized by the Party for Socialism and Liberation and Stop the War Machine. “It was really just a matter of time before this happened,” said local activist Torrance Green in response to the violent protests in Charlottesville, VA over the weekend. “(These protests) are setting the trend and precedent that, ‘Hey, if you show up and show out nobody is going to stop you.’” Participants joined in chants of: “Alt-Right that’s a lie, you’re a nazi in disguise,” “Ain’t no power like the power of the people ‘cause the power of the people don’t stop” and “Bash the fasc.” Sunday night’s event was held in response to “Unite the Right” rallies organized by white supremacy groups in Virginia last weekend.

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How local police departments counter crime

Kael Krepfl | August 13

It’s no secret that New Mexico has more than its fair share of crime. In 2015, New Mexico had the third-highest violent crime rate and second-highest property crime rate in the U.S. according to FBI data. According to the UNM Annual Clery Report for 2016, the number of auto thefts, burglaries and aggravated assaults have nearly doubled since 2013 on campus alone. In February the Daily Lobo reported that car thefts doubled from 64 in 2015 to 124 last year. UNM Main Campus, South Valley and Downtown Albuquerque are heavy areas of crime with generally high numbers of auto thefts and burglaries, but the city is working hard to remedy these issues.

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Crime Briefs for Aug. 14, 2017

Elizabeth Sanchez | August 13

Battery on a healthcare worker at UNM Psychiatric Center On Aug. 2, two officers were sent to the UNM Psychiatric Center in reference to a battery, according to a UNMPD report. Upon arrival, one officer spoke with a female in the meeting room who said she and another patient were in an altercation concerning community phone use. She said the other patient had already used the phone for 15 minutes before she spoke on the phone. The female said the other patient asked her to hang up the phone after she had only spoken for 10 minutes. Then, the other patient hung up the phone while the female was still using it. Out of anger, the female said she went after the other patient.

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News

Getting there and working hard: A peek inside The New York Times

Celia Raney and Celia_Raney | August 13

“This is my scene,” said Caroline Que, Editorial Director for the News Desk at the New York Times. “I’m grateful to have found something pretty early in my adult life that is interesting to me and is different every day and keeps me engaged at a place where my skills and core values are easily applied.” Que started her career as a journalist in her sophomore year of college, working as an editor at her college newspaper, the Davidsonian. “The second week we published that semester was September 11, 2001, so I had a pretty quick entry to the power of the press, and the need to get information to people and the need that people had for information at that moment,” she said. “When I was starting out I always felt like that was the first moment, and it was kind of a done deal.”

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UNM finds interim athletics director

Nichole Harwood | August 13

UNM interim President Chaouki Abdallah has appointed Janice Ruggiero as Acting Director of Intercollegiate Athletics while UNM continues it’s search to fill the position permanently. The transition from Paul Krebs’ term has gone as smoothly as possible and her experience has prepared her for the temporary position, Ruggiero said. “I have been very fortunate to have overseen most departments within our athletic department excluding the external operations,” she said. “I have been here for almost 28 years so I know the different individuals to go to for most situations that may arise.” 

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News

How does GPA factor into employment?

Kael Krepfl | August 13

Grade point average takes center stage as a means of tracking a student’s performance throughout their academic career. In a collegiate setting, merit-based scholarships and financial aid heavily rely on a student’s GPA, and their eligibility for these services may be negatively affected by a lower GPA score. At the University of New Mexico, students who are receiving financial aid are required to maintain a minimum GPA of 2.0. Failure to maintain the required GPA may result in the loss of financial aid assistance. If students wish to receive extra benefits such as internship opportunities, a GPA. of 3.0 is often the minimum acceptable score. A 3.0 is also the required GPA for any graduate students seeking to continue their education through an accredited Master’s Degree program. Graduating with Honors requires a minimum GPA of 3.5 — 0.12 points above the UNM average GPA score of 3.38.

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Crime briefs for Aug. 7, 2017

Elizabeth Sanchez | August 7

Battery on a healthcare personnel at UNMH On the evening of July 30, an officer was dispatched to UNMH in reference to a battery on a health care worker, according to a police report. Upon arrival, a nurse told the officer a female patient became angry while she was being triaged by another employee. The nurse said the patient began to curse at and threaten staff members, saying the patient was going to leave. However, the patient needed to complete a medical evaluation, because she lives in a group home and had taken multiple aspirin pills. The nurse told the officer the patient was interfering with her own medical care. At this point, the nurse said the patient punched her in the stomach once, but she was uninjured. The patient fell to the floor as she was being taken to a stretcher; she was then lifted to the stretcher, restrained and given medication to calm her.

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Lobo Rainforest housing development move-in ready this month

Celia Raney and Celia_Raney | August 1

A technology- and innovation-based student housing option, UNM’s newest student living option is scheduled to open its doors to residents this month. After three years of planning and construction, Lobo Rainforest is now only days away from completion. The new off-campus student housing is located downtown at the corner of Central Avenue NE and Broadway Avenue NE and is open to Innovation Academy Scholars, UNM upperclassmen and returning UNM residents. “(Lobo Rainforest) has been in the works for a number of years now,” said Lisa Kuuttila, president and CEO of Supporting Technology Transfer and Catalyzing Development at UNM. “It was originated by our president, Bob Frank, at the time who had a vision that we could take our entrepreneurial ecosystem to the next level.”

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New president of library organization aims to spread human experience and education

Nichole Harwood | July 28

UNM associate professor and Curator Suzanne M. Schadl has been chosen as the new President of the Seminar on the Acquisition of Latin American Library Materials which works to collect, preserve and provide access to information from and about Latin American, Iberian and Caribbean countries. As Schadl’s primary duty is to oversee conference planning, she will be presiding at a conference hosted by El Colegio de Mexico in Mexico City, she said. “My colleagues at that institution do all of the local event planning while I work on the more theoretical aspects of mapping out subjects and methods for sharing ideas,” Shadl said. 

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Local company hosts first-ever drone Fly-In

Ty Knight | July 27

More than 75 pilots from across the United States were drawn to Albuquerque on July 22 to attend the area’s first local drone olympics. New-Mexico-based drone pilot training company, DroneU, in association with multiple unmanned aviation organizations, hosted its first Fly-In at its Albuquerque headquarters last weekend. The first of its kind, DroneU’s Fly-In is a veritable drone olympics.

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Editors' Picks: Some of our favorite shots and stories from 2016 until now

July 23

Editorial Note: These articles and images have been revisited (and some reprinted) as part of our "Editors' Picks" issue. The pieces can be viewed by clicking the links listed below. This issue was created with the intent of showcasing some of the Daily Lobo's best work from Aug. 2016 until now. Our news, sports, culture, photo and music editors — along with our Editor-in-Chief — selected some of the most memorable pieces and moments to compile this year-in-review style issue. Although we were unable to include everything in print, more of our favorites can be found online and in our archives. The Daily Lobo staff

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Hundreds of thousands in uncollected "Pit" suite fees place cloud over UNM athletics

Matthieu Cartron | July 19

It was only a few months ago that UNM was under fire for the Scotland golf trip scandal — the athletic director at the time, Paul Krebs, allegedly used public funds from UNM to finance a golf trip for himself, coworkers and business friends. Now, the focus has shifted to a new scandal involving perhaps the university’s most recognizable venue, “The Pit," recently renamed Dreamstyle Arena. Many reports have suggested there are uncollected skybox ticket revenues that date back as far as 2010 and total $432,000. The Lobo Club, the branch of UNM athletics charged with independent fundraising as well as financial management of the luxury suites, has come under heavy scrutiny for what appears to be errant and disorganized managing practices.

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African refugee youth choir raises cultural awareness at fundraiser

Ty Knight | July 19

A local refugee choir performed traditional African dances, songs and drumming before exhibiting varieties of traditional dress in a captivating fashion show on July 16. Co-founders of the Immigrant and Refugee Resource Village of Albuquerque, as well as New Mexico Women's Global Pathways, Lungile Sinandile and his wife Nkazi Sinandile organized the The Matunda Ya Yesu African Refugee Youth Choir performance and fashion show. The event was held to benefit displaced youth from South African refugee camps. Each choir member spent weeks preparing for the event, sewing their own garments and handcrafting their own jewelry. Items were placed on sale, and proceeds aimed to benefit the youth choir members and their families, assisting them with living and back-to-school costs.

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Homelessness in Albuquerque: Beating the Heat

Celia Raney and Celia_Raney | July 17

Temperatures recorded at the Albuquerque International Sunport this summer maxed out at 103 degrees in June, posing a danger to the city’s homeless population. Without regular and reliable opportunities to find air-conditioning, access to shade or regular hydration, the blistering heat of Albuquerque summers sends many homeless persons to emergency rooms with heat stroke and dehydration. “The possibility of dehydration is always an issue during the summer months,” said Kathy Sotelo the executive assistant at Joy Junction, a local shelter. “But nothing changes when the weather changes, only the conditions do.”

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AllOutVR STEM learning camps put on hold

Ty Knight | July 16

STEM learning camps brought to life by UNM professor Elan Colello in partnership with VR Junkies at AllOutVR have been put on hold due to lack of participation. The learning camps were originally scheduled to take place in two different segments between June 19 and 23, and July 17 and 21, but only four students registered for the program. AllOutVR’s website advertises that “VR Days of Summer is the first STEM-based virtual reality camp in the nation.” This collaboration between UNM and VR Junkies, while unique and cutting-edge, represents a continuation in a long tradition of using games, simulation and role play to enhance learning.

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APD officer expected to live after shooting in NE ABQ

Celia Raney and Celia_Raney | July 13

Following an hours-long standoff with SWAT, a man has been taken into custody after opening fire on APD officers responding to a domestic dispute late Wednesday night, injuring one officer. When a man fired three rounds at officers setting a perimeter around the scene of a domestic violence dispatch, one officer was hit in the shoulder and taken by ambulance to UNMH. Facing charges of aggravated battery on a police officer, false imprisonment, child abuse and misdemeanor domestic violence charges, Maximilano Villegas, 38, was booked into the county jail Thursday morning.

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Trump repeal proposal affects at least 280,000 New Mexicans' drinking water

Elizabeth Sanchez | July 9

Last month, the Trump administration released a proposal to repeal the Obama administration’s Waters of the United States policy, which protected roughly 60 percent of U.S. streams from pollution under the Clean Water Rule, a policy under the Clean Water Act. Trump signed an executive order in February instructing the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Environmental Protection Agency to revise the policy. Fossil fuel companies, farmers and other groups opposed the Clean Water Rule, but without it some groups fear negative environmental impact. UNM emeritus professor Bruce Thomson said the Clean Water Act was passed in 1972, protecting various surface waters throughout the U.S. with a loose definition. Over the next 20 years, it was interpreted to be waters used in commerce and their tributaries. In 2015, the Clean Water Rule created a clear definition of which waters within the U.S. are protected.

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LaPo renovations set to finish by start of semester

Nichole Harwood | July 9

UNM’s on-campus dining facility began renovations in April and is currently making progress to open its doors to students right before the beginning of the next semester. The design phase for the renovation of La Posada lasted almost two years, said Paul Wilson-Scott, Resident District Manager for Chartwells, the company that manages the dining hall. The designs made with UNM and the architectural team will include made-to-order areas, which is one of the current floor dining trends, Wilson-Scott said. To continue to keep up with the trend, there will be more made-to-order areas throughout the facility.

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Crime Briefs for July 10

Elizabeth Sanchez | July 9

Battery on a healthcare worker at UNMH On the afternoon of June 17, a police officer was dispatched to the UNMH ER Mental Health Isolation Unit, regarding a patient intentionally smearing blood on a nurse. Upon arrival, the nurse involved in the incident told the officer a patient was placed in this unit after an ambulance brought him to the hospital for a suicide attempt. The officer saw the patient was restrained to a hospital bed, calm and sedated. The nurse said the patient was initially non-cooperative, as he pulled off his hospital gown and pulse oximeter. He later calmed down and agreed to be placed on the oximeter again; while the nurse was doing so, she said he smeared blood from his open wound onto the left side of her face. The nurse said she washed the blood off immediately and notified her supervisor before calling police.