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Pro-life campus group protests fetal tissue usage by UNMH

Brendon Gray , Celia Raney and Celia_Raney | March 20

Pro-life campus groups are protesting the use of human fetal tissue in research conducted at UNM's Health Sciences Center. In mid-February, Students for Life of America and Students for Life UNM held a rally outside the SUB and submitted a letter to acting University President Chaouki Abdallah protesting disputed research and the methods in which it is conducted. “We, the undersigned members of the University of New Mexico community, ask that you immediately halt our school’s participation in collecting, using and distributing aborted baby body parts,” reads the letter, written by students. 

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National Briefs for March 20, 2017

David Lynch | March 19

FBI director expected to provide answers on Russia, wiretapping allegations Fox News reports that amid a House investigation looking into potential Russian activities and involvement during the polarizing 2016 presidential election, FBI Director James Comey is set to testify on Monday. It is expected that Comey will provide at least some answers on Russian ties to the election, as well as the wiretapping allegations made by President Donald Trump.

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Monday on the Street: Job market prospects

Celia Raney | March 19

New Mexico has the highest unemployment rate. What are your thoughts on that as a student preparing to enter the workforce?

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Community utilizes social media to combat rise in auto thefts

Andres Del Aguila and Alissiea Hernandez | March 19

Auto theft is on the rise in Albuquerque, resulting in thousands of victims in recent years, many of whom are taking on an active role to combat the issue by utilizing social media to spread information on stolen vehicles and seek help from the online community. Albuquerque nearly tops the chart for being the worst city in the country for auto theft, closely following Modesto, California, according to the National Insurance Crime Bureau. An Information of Public Records request revealed that 7,351 cases of auto theft were reported in 2016, a 62 percent increase from when the trend began in 2012.

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UNM student government, others question student regent selection process

Jonathan Baca and Gabriela Garcia-Huff | March 19

Despite the appropriate processes being undertaken by UNM student leaders and administrators for nominating a new student regent, Gov. Susana Martinez chose to reopen the process, resulting in a nominee who wasn’t previously submitted for consideration. The new student regent nominee, second-year law student Garrett Adcock, was recently announced by Martinez after student government members scrambled to find new candidates at the request of the governor in February.

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NM House debates sexual assault bill

Gabriella Rivera | March 19

A bill that would have required UNM and other schools in the state to provide evidence-based sexual assault training to every student stalled in the House Judiciary Committee with a “do pass” recommendation. House Bill 339, sponsored by New Mexico Rep. Patricia Roybal Caballero, D-NM, also would have required post-secondary institutions to provide easy access to training material on university websites. UNM expressed concerns over several provisions of the bill.

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Study: New Mexico has work to do with woman-friendliness

Elizabeth Sanchez | March 14

In the midst of Women’s History Month, WalletHub began ranking how women fare in each state, and New Mexico came in at 43rd — ninth worst in the nation. The study compared each state and Washington D.C. across 19 metrics. Area in which New Mexico is notably poor: unemployment rate for women, share of women in poverty, high school dropout rate for women, female uninsured rate, quality of women’s hospitals and women’s preventive healthcare. Associate history professor Cathleen Cahill said the statistics are not surprising, due to the state’s extensive history of a “rural population, poverty and isolation, resulting in difficulties for women and children."

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UNMH audited for transparency on indigent health care

Kelly Urvanejo | March 11

The Board of Regents held an Audit and Compliance Committee meeting on Thursday, where the Government Accountability Office and State Auditor discussed indigent healthcare at UNM Hospital. Sarita Nair, chief government accountability officer for New Mexico, said UNM was selected for the audit because that is where the most comprehensive data on uncompensated care comes from. The Office of the State Auditor said they received many questions seeking more transparency on understanding the impact of funds that support healthcare for those who can't afford it.

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Burqueños march on International Women's Day for equal rights, respect

Celia Raney and Celia_Raney | March 10

More than 200 men, women and children joined in the singing of the so-called Battle Hymn of the Suffragists outside the UNM Bookstore Wednesday evening in celebration of International Women’s Day. “You have told us to speak softly to be gentle and to smile, expected us to change ourselves with every passing style, said the only work for women was to clean and sweep and file,” the collective sang. “That's why we’re marching on.” Hosted by the New Mexico Party for Socialism and Liberation, the event was inspired not only by International Women’s Day, but by the increasingly negative rhetoric toward women, amplified by the Trump administration.

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ASUNM releases list of Presidential and VP candidates

David Lynch | March 8

Elections to select the next president and vice president of the Associated Students of UNM are fast approaching, and for the first time in at least 12 years, the undergraduate student population will have their pick of four candidates at each position to represent them. Monday was the deadline for students to officially file for candidacy, and besides the slightly higher number of prospective ASUNM leaders, there is also a wealth of experience across the board. Among those running for 2017-18 ASUNM president: Sen. Noah Brooks, Sen. Elena Garcia, former senator and current Lobo Spirit Executive Director Justin Cooper, and ASUNM Communications Director Gabe Gallegos.

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UNM Foundation and Board of Regents sued for allegedly violating public records laws

Brendon Gray | March 8

On Tuesday a suit was filed against the UNM Foundation and the Board of Regents for violations of the New Mexico Inspection of Public Records Act. The suit describes plaintiff Daniel Libit as having been denied multiple IPRA requests seeking information from the WisePies/Pit naming agreement, prompting his legal action. “The negotiation and implementation of the WisePies naming agreement is obviously a public activity taken by public officials employed by the University of New Mexico,” said Nicholas Hart, the attorney representing Libit in the case.

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Crime Briefs for March 9

Elizabeth Sanchez | March 8

Domestic violence, assault against a household member On the morning of March 1, an officer was sent to 933 Bradbury Dr. SE in reference to a potential domestic dispute, according to a police report. Upon arrival, a female told the officer she walked to her car near her workplace to pick up lunch for herself and a few co-workers when she noticed her ex-boyfriend’s car in the parking lot. She said she felt fearful, as he was physically abusive with her in the past. She said she rushed to her car and locked the door, only to be unable to drive away because her ex-boyfriend parked his car behind her.

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Financial surplus, cost-saving strategies discussed at Board of Regents HSC Committee meeting

Brendon Gray | March 8

Changes to the Sandoval Regional Medical Center Cost-saving changes to the Rio Rancho-based UNM Sandoval Regional Medical Center will be implemented over the coming weeks, said UNM officials at Tuesday’s Board of Regents Health Sciences Committee meeting. UNM Hospital CEO Steve McKernan and Mike Richards, executive physician-in-chief for UNM Health Systems, announced the changes to the committee. Clinical growth initiatives, personnel reductions and the closing of certain units were mentioned as cost-saving mechanisms to compensate for changes in New Mexico healthcare.

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UNM researchers win $7 Million Air Force contract

Andres Del Aguila | March 8

Students in the School of Engineering are set to play an integral role in an Air Force project that seeks to create next-generation material and technology to improve space satellites. Cosmiac, a research center at the School of Engineering, received a $7 million 5-year contract with the Air Force to research, design and test semiconductor materials for electronics that can survive the harsh conditions of space. “This is a major project — one of the largest research contracts that the School of Engineering has ever received — and it is another great example of the strength of UNM as a top-tier research institution,” said Engineering School Dean Joseph Cecchi.

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National Briefs for March 8, 2017

Matthew Reisen | March 8

G.O.P. healthcare bill faces revolt from the right According to a New York Times article, the long-awaited plan to repeal the Affordable Care Act and revise the American health care system faced a revolt as conservative groups and lawmakers criticized a bill Republican leaders and President Donald Trump hoped to jam through Congress this month. “This is not the Obamacare repeal bill we’ve been waiting for.

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School of Law program that helps overturn wrongful convictions facing defunding

Elizabeth Sanchez | March 6

A UNM law school program that works to overturn wrongful convictions could lose its funding soon.  Since 2009, the New Mexico Innocence and Justice Project helps UNM law students investigate claims of innocence in legal cases after the accused has already been convicted.

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New state legislation would keep victim identities confidential

Brendon Gray | March 5

Legislation approved by the state Senate over the weekend looks to keep confidential the names of victims and witnesses of certain crimes including rape, stalking and harassment. But some critics argue that these changes decrease transparency and could hinder journalists and other public investigators from seeing all the facts of a case.

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UNM lab makes groundbreaking finds on chimpanzees

Elizabeth Sanchez | March 5

Chimpanzees are an endangered species, with their continued survival relying on new knowledge of health and ecological change, according to UNM researchers. Melissa Emery Thompson. That’s where the Hominoid Reproductive Ecology Laboratory at UNM comes in. “Our project has been leading the way in demonstrating that research, which is completely non-invasive, can yield an incredible amount of detail on health and behavior,” said Melissa Emery Thompson, an assistant professor of anthropology and co-director of the HREL. “This is valuable for understanding the chimpanzees, but also for retracing the evolutionary processes that have shaped human biology.”

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Indigenous people speak out against pollution of tribal lands

Celia Raney | March 5

“We are here after dog attacks, we’re here after (being attacked) with chemical agents, military combat tactics, grenades, aerial surveillance, military vehicles, inhumane detention — instruments of war.” These were the words of human rights lawyer Michelle Cook, describing threats posed to her and her clients while camping out at Standing Rock during the anti-Dakota Access Pipeline protests. “We are not terrorists for wanting to live,” Cook said.

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Monday on the Street: The Trump administration so far

Matthew Reisen | March 5

What is your opinion of the Trump presidency a little over a month in?