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National Briefs for March 23, 2017

Celia Raney and Celia_Raney | March 22

Terrorist attack at Parliament “A knife-wielding man went on a deadly rampage at the heart of Britain's seat of power Wednesday, plowing a car into pedestrians on London's Westminster Bridge before stabbing an armed police officer to death inside the gates of Parliament,” according to an Associated Press report. Four people were killed in the incident, including the assailant, while 20 others were injured in what Prime Minister Theresa May condemned as a "sick and depraved terrorist attack," according to the report. The attack caused lawmakers, lords and staff to be locked inside buildings as the wounded were treated and police secured the area.

Ehlam Yosufzai, right, explains facets of the Afghani New Year known as Nowruz during a Refugee Well-being Project gathering at the Cesar Chavez Community Center on Tuesday, March 21, 2017. The project sets students on a two-semester course during which they help refugee families and have the opportunity to learn about various cultures.

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Students help refugee families settle into life in America

Celia Raney and Celia_Raney | March 22

After traveling across the globe in search of a home safer than the one they left behind, refugee and immigrant families coming to Albuquerque are being welcomed with open arms. Brought to the University in 2006 by associate professor Jessica Goodkind, the Refugee Well-being Project pairs UNM students with a family that has emigrated to or sought asylum in Albuquerque within the past three years. Refugee and immigrant families are recruited for the program through friends, current and past participants, employees of the RWP and partner organizations.

Michael Rocca, faculty advisor for the Young American Leaders Initiative, talks about American polarization on Tuesday, March 21, 2017 at the UNM SUB. Sonny Christopher Haquani, founder of YALI, addressed questions related to political polarization.

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Young American Leaders Initiative host talk on political polarization and engagement

Cathy Cook | March 22

The Young American Leaders Initiative hosted a talk on political polarization Wednesday afternoon. With only seven students, the turnout was small, but YALI founder and president Sonny Haquani said the group filmed the event so that it would be available to a broader audience. Along with Haquani, the event was led by UNM political science professor Michael Rocca, who said the event was not designed to show students how to change polarization, but to encourage students to improve the level of political discourse.

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ASUNM prez, VP candidates discuss issues at forum

Gabriella Rivera | March 22

On Tuesday, the candidates for ASUNM president and vice president answered questions and debated issues at the Endorsement Forum. The fate of the lottery scholarship and other avenues of funding for UNM was a major talking point, with all candidates pledging their support of the Lottery Scholarship and their commitment to keeping college affordable. “The Lottery Scholarship would be a priority if elected president for me,” said presidential candidate Gabriel Gallegos.

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LoboAlert: Non-student sexually assaulted on campus

Daily Lobo Staff | March 22

A LoboAlert was distributed to the University community late Tuesday evening, warning of a sexual assault of a non-student that occured on Johnson Field. The incident occured at 11:30 p.m., according to the alert, and involved a male identified as being Native American, 5'8" and weighing between 160 and 170 pounds. The alert goes on to describe him as being in his late 20s, and wearing a gray beanie, black T-shirt with white lettering and a backpack.

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HSC Briefs for March 22, 2017

Matthew Reisen | March 21

UNM researcher joins consortium for vascular dementia According to a UNM Health Sciences Center press release, a UNM neurologist has joined a new national consortium to study small blood vessel disease in the brain to assess its role in contributing to cognitive impairment and dementia. Gary Rosenberg, director of the UNM Memory and Aging Center, is studying telltale biomarkers in magnetic resonance imaging and cerebrospinal fluid for evidence of injury to white matter, the tissue that surrounds neurons in the brain and helps transmit signals.

A solar panel field installed at the Norbertine community of Santa Maria de LA Vid Abbey, located in the South valley, provides energy for several facilities on the campus. The solar field was dedicated "Pope Francis Solar Field", in response to an encyclical he wrote in 2015 titled "Laudato Si'" or "On Care for Our Common Home," addressed a universal concern to develop sustainable alternatives to humanity's imprint on their environment.

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Popular green energy bill fails in state House

Hannah Eisenberg | March 21

The Community Solar Gardens Act, which had gained popular support from Albuquerque residents and political committees alike, failed to pass the state House of Representatives by just three votes on Thursday. The bill, HB338, “provides for the independent development and operation of community solar gardens” within the service territory of investor-owned electric utilities, according to the fiscal impact report summary. A community solar garden is a solar electric generation facility owned or operated by a public utility, an affiliate of a public utility or a subscriber organization.

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News in Brief: Los Alamos donations adds to supercomputing power of UNM

Matthew Reisen | March 21

According to a UNM release, a new computing system being donated to UNM’s Center for Advanced Research Computing by Los Alamos National Laboratory will add to the supercomputing being done at UNM. The system is nine times more powerful than the combined computing power of the four machines it is replacing.

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News in Brief: Parker Center for Family Business names new director

Matthew Reisen | March 21

According to a University release, Robin Dozier Otten was named the next executive director of the Parker Center for Family Business at the Anderson School of Management. As an independent contractor hired to provide services to the center, Otten’s duties include identifying family business needs and capacity in the Albuquerque area, according to the release. She will be working to implement strategies and procedures for growing membership, services and new revenue sources to support the Parker Center.

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News in Brief: Week-long event connects staff to committee focused on helping them

Matthew Reisen | March 21

According to a UNM press release, the Provost Committee for Staff at UNM is hosting “Meet, Greet and Give” every day this week from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the University Club, an event designed to to connect University staff with the committee and learn about its initiatiives. “The event not only supports Lobo Food Pantry, but gives staff members across campus an opportunity to meet current members and learn how they, too, can get involved,” Program Coordinator Lisa Hahn was quoted as saying in the press release. “We are hopeful that this event will help in recruiting new members from underrepresented spaces across campus.”

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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.

Governor Susana Martinez speaks during a higher education summit on Friday, Sept. 23, 2016 in Albuquerque, N.M. Despite student government leaders’ initial considerations for a new student regent, Martinez appointed a representative from the Athletic Department after going through the process a second time.

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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.

Female protestors march along Lomas Boulevard during National Women's Day on Wednesday, March 8, 2017 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. WalletHub has ranked New Mexico as the ninth worst state in the country for women.

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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.