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National Briefs for May 10

Celia Raney and Celia_Raney | May 9

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.

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Students and faculty recognized for efforts to reduce opioid addiction

Brendon Gray | May 9

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.

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Heinrich plans to brighten young people's futures with clean energy legislation

Brendon Gray | May 9

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.”

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Campus police use technology to keep students safe

Celia Raney and Celia_Raney | May 9

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.

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Grad Issue: First-generation graduate thanks support system, looks to bright future

Nichole Harwood | May 8

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.

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Grad Issue: Mother of two inspires her children to learn

Cathy Cook | May 8

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.

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Grad Issue: After emotional trauma, Lobo finds way to manage pain

Matthew Narvaiz | May 8

Life doesn't always pan out as expected. For Ryan Bennett, a UNM student who is graduating with a degree in accounting this semester, that statement rings true. Bennett took all of seven years from the first time he stepped into a college classroom to finish his degree. The graduation will be a crowning achievement and honor, capping the pursuit of a degree which stemmed from a life-changing moment — the loss of his unborn child. He said school was never his niche. He considered himself to be an average student and didn’t have much drive—at least early on.

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Grad Issue: Mental health sufferer hopes to help troubled youth

Denicia Aragon | May 8

Having attempted to take his own life three times, Nicholas J. Aurelio Tollardo almost didn’t make it to the end of his college career, but each time, he picked himself up and pushed forward to make it to his graduation day. He was diagnosed with depression when he attempted to commit suicide for the first time at age 16, he said. He made two attempts: one at age 19, the other at age 21. Enrolled at UNM since the fall semester of 2010, he said his first couple of years at the University were tough. He felt like he could not handle the work and failed a couple of courses. “High grades and success have always been a priority of mine, and it comes from my mother who pushed me hard to succeed and do the best I could,” Tollardo said “I felt like I let myself down, but primarily I felt like I let my mother down.”

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Grad Issue: Student successfully juggles degree and parenthood

Ariel Lutnesky | May 8

College is a majorly time-consuming task, making it even more difficult to manage both school and a family at the same time. Cara Andrade, a graduating senior, said she found her family to be major motivator to drive through her studies. “I did have my daughter, Jessenia, when I was a junior in high school,” Andrade said. “I was terrified, but she has been my motivation.” Andrade said that she now has four daughters to take care of. “It is super challenging getting school work done because their needs come first,”she said. “All of the stress is definitely worth it because, after all, I did this for them!”

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Grad Issue: Student plans to dedicate her life to helping others

Robert Maler | May 7

A career in the medical field is something that might seem like a natural choice for a person with a father who is a registered nurse and a certified nursing assistant for a mother, but one New Mexico graduate is showing almost supernatural abilities along the way. Jacklyn Asamoah, a medical laboratory science major, said one of her early memories was when she was at the hospital with her father. She stapled one of her fingers when her dad was working on charts. Asamoah said she cried — of course — but one of the doctors came and helped her remove the staple and get bandaged up. She said she always remembered how the doctor in the white coat helped her. She said there was one thing she knew for sure at the time — she wanted to help people.

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Grad Issue: Undocumented student hopes to reform healthcare after graduation

Brendon Gray | May 7

Estefania Montanez finished high school with an uncertain future. Her undocumented status, mother’s health and financial struggles seemed to stand in the way of her future. Now, she is graduating UNM with a degree in psychology and a full-ride scholarship for medical school, with a goal to reshape the healthcare system. As an undocumented student, Montanez’ challenges started before she had even started taking classes at UNM “A lot of the scholarships I would apply for I would get because of my good grades,” she said, “But I couldn’t receive the money because of my undocumented status.”

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Grad Issue: Florida transplant discovers diversity, inspiration at UNM

Gabriella Rivera | May 7

Delia Brennan said she came to UNM from Florida for the same reason many out-of-state students do: affordability. Brennan was not looking forward to moving to Albuquerque, nor to attending UNM, but now she considers New Mexico “more of a home than Florida” and is graduating with many accolades. “It started in orientation where I said, ‘I’m going to be positive about this,’” she said. Freshman year, Brennan joined the World Affairs Delegation and Emerging Lobo Leaders. “My original goal was to graduate with a degree in computer science...but after a year of that I realized I liked international relations, international law and things like that a lot more,” she said. “I learned that through joining the World Affairs Delegation and traveling and competing with them.”

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Grad Issue: 30 years later, student finishes her PhD

Bo Yu | May 7

“Suzanne, wherever you are, I hope you know that by affecting me positively...you had a profound influence on thousands of people,” said Lobo PhD graduate Giovanna Eisberg, a Family Studies major, as she wished to express her sincere thanks to former teaching assistant Suzanne Kryder. Eisberg, who currently holds five degrees, considered ending her college career 30 years ago after receiving a D on an exam. “(If) it wasn’t for her, I would never finish my college,” Eisberg said. “Her biggest impact was that...she understood that it was a breaking point for me...and gave me another opportunity.”

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Grad Issue: After 15 years of drug addiction, UNM grad plans to found recovery nonprofit

Celia Raney and Celia_Raney | May 7

On May 13, Jaime Cervantes will graduate from UNM with the class of 2017 after a nearly 15-year battle with drug addiction. After being accepted into every one of his top-choice schools immediately after graduating from a California high school in 1995, Cervantes chose to attend UCLA. Three weeks into his college experience, he was invited to a party where he discovered what any college student who has experimented with drugs hopes they never learn — he was an addict. “I met this girl on campus, and she invited me to a sorority party,” he said. “I tried cocaine for the first time in my life. (The cocaine) was her idea, she was older...I started hanging out with her, and that was it. My addiction started right then and there.”

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Grad Issue: From LA to UNM, one Lobo's story

Hannah Eisenberg | May 7

Having grown up a homosexual, African American youth in 1980s Los Angeles, Richard Bell understands the importance of having a voice, a way to advocate for your rights. Bell has been an advocate for gay rights through his work with nonprofits like the Santa Fe Human Rights Alliance/Pride, and he sees higher education as a way of strengthening his voice. "I think you need something behind that name of yours to get you a voice,” he said. “When those who are educated and have a degree speak up, people are more inclined to listen. So I wanted that. When I’m fighting for gay rights, when I’m speaking out against police brutality, I feel like my voice is stronger when there’s a degree behind my name."

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Grad Issue: Athlete finishes education after recovery

Isabel Gonzalez | May 7

November of 2015 was one of the most difficult times of his life, but today he’s figured out he can overcome anything with a positive attitude and the love of his family. Devon Williams joined the UNM men’s basketball team during the 2012-13 season. He redshirted that season and only appeared in five games. The following year, he started in 30 games. He scored in double figures in seven different occasions, had 48 offensive rebounds and led his team in blocks in six different games. Things were looking up for him, but his world shook up at the beginning of his junior season.

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Grad Issue: Valuable tennis player hopes to improve others' lives

Robert Maler | May 7

Someone landed a great shot at the McKinnon Family Tennis Center, the home courts for Lobo tennis, but there wasn’t a primal scream or even a fist pump. In fact, things stayed pretty quiet, despite the ball catching just enough of the end line to win the point. One of the players slowly started walking back to the baseline, staring at her racket for several seconds, and it seemed clear that she was processing information and in deep thought. It was difficult to tell whether she was happy with the way the previous point just played out — and it doesn’t even matter if it is one that she lost — but Rachana Bhat saw something in the exchange and she just filed it away in her memory bank. It is something that she will recall as the match progresses as she waits to implement it in her game plan. Bhat, a senior on the New Mexico women’s tennis team, is probably one of the most cerebral players a tennis fan could go out and watch compete.

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Grad Issue: Karmeshia Gray turns struggle against TB into strength

David Lynch | May 7

It was the summer of 2014. Karmeshia Gray was studying biology, with plans to become a doctor. The next step in that pursuit was applying for a job at UNM Hospital. But what began as a drive to get some experience for a career became a physical ordeal, a mental struggle and now, three years later, a story of motivation and strength. Gray was diagnosed in the summer of 2014 with tuberculosis, after an adverse reaction to an immunization caused a dormant form of the disease in her body to become active. She was in the process of getting all the required shots to work at UNMH, but the diagnosis turned her into a hospital patient instead of an employee.

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Grad Issue: Student overcomes mental health challenges to achieve her BA

Kelly Urvanejo | May 7

The road to graduation was not easy, but after overcoming bullying, attempted suicide, dialectical therapy, eating disorder treatment and more, Melissa Baca is proud to say that she has reached the finish line and will graduate this month with her Bachelor's of Arts in English. Before beginning her junior year in high school, Baca was reported as having suicidal ideations, causing her to be placed in a behavioral hospital where she began therapy and treatment. In September of the following year, Baca attempted suicide. As a result, she was pulled out of school. “It wasn’t a safe environment for me,” she said.

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Developing story: Fire sparks outside Dane Smith Hall

Brendon Gray | May 5

This is a developing story. Updates will be provided as more information becomes available. A small brush fire started outside Dane Smith Hall shortly after 9 p.m. last night. The fire damaged the side of the building and several small bushes. The flames were contained at a gravel area on the northeast side of the building. There did not appear to be any other substantial damage.