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Communication and journalism department revamps broadcast studio

Shin Thant Hlaing | September 2

The Department of Communication and Journalism has a new revamped live streaming studio that can be used by students and faculty alike at the University of New Mexico. The studio has been available for booking since Aug. 19. Santi Colmenero, audio-visual technician for the communication and journalism department, said they wanted to make use of old dormant equipment lying around. They aimed to create a studio that met modern and contemporary needs, according to UNM Newsroom, and began working on developing the studio space in September 2023.

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Campus crime: Week of Aug. 18

Lauren Lifke | August 26

Editor’s note: The crimes listed were entered into the log during the week. The list includes crimes that police entered last week but allegedly occurred before that. It does not include crimes that may have occurred but weren’t entered into the log. From Sunday, Aug. 18 through Sunday, Aug. 25, there were 18 crimes reported on or near the University of New Mexico campus that were entered into its daily crime log.

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UNMPD to begin using body-worn cameras

Lauren Lifke and Lily Alexander | August 26

The University of New Mexico Police Department will obtain and begin using body-worn cameras within the next six months. The decision follows reporting in November 2023 and March of this year by the Daily Lobo that discussed a loophole in a 2020 statute requiring most New Mexico police departments to use the devices. The Daily Lobo’s investigation — along with reporting from KOB in April — prompted new discussions about UNMPD getting body cameras, UNM Chief Marketing and Communications Officer Cinnamon Blair said.

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Stokes discloses UNM Foundation holdings

Lily Alexander and Nate Bernard | August 23

University of New Mexico President Garnett Stokes disclosed UNM Foundation holdings in her “President’s Weekly Perspective” email on Monday, Aug. 19. The 83-page document lists the funds the UNM Foundation invests in, but only lists the individual investments within 25 out of 84 of those funds. The investments within a fund are known as “securities.” This comes ahead of the first Board of Regents meeting of the academic year on Thursday, Aug. 22, during which Stokes is expected to discuss the disclosure, according to the UNM Palestine Solidarity Camp Instagram. The meeting will take place at the UNM Valencia campus.

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Pro-Palestine rally in held in Old Town

Leila Chapa and Paloma Chapa | August 21

On the morning of Sunday, Aug. 18, over 100 people gathered at Tiguex Park for a pro-Palestine rally and march calling for a permanent ceasefire and an arms embargo on Israel. The Albuquerque rally was one of several “Not Another Bomb” rallies that took place in cities across the country before the Democratic National Convention, which began on Monday, Aug. 19, according to Mother Jones. Uncommitted New Mexico primarily led the rally. “Uncommitted” is a national movement applying pressure on the Democratic Party and warning that they could lose voters this presidential election without an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza and an arms embargo on Israel, according to Politico.

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Mayor Keller delivers State of the City address

Paloma Chapa | August 19

On the evening of Saturday, Aug. 17, the Albuquerque BioPark Zoo welcomed over 1,300 people to watch Mayor Tim Keller’s sixth State of the City address. Two topics that surfaced frequently throughout the address were the challenges of crime and the unhoused community in Albuquerque. Keller also mentioned the issues of gun violence and fentanyl. Keller highlighted some of the City’s upcoming projects and initiatives, including $200 million for redeveloping Downtown and the expansion of the Gateway Center, which he said will accept hundreds of unhoused individuals and families and provide them with health resources.

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Crime brief: Week of Aug. 11

Lauren Lifke | August 19

From Sunday, Aug. 11 through Saturday, Aug. 17, there were 19 crimes reported on or near the University of New Mexico campus that were entered into its daily crime log. The crimes listed below were entered into the log during the week. The list includes crimes that were entered last week but allegedly occurred before that. It does not include crimes that may have occurred but weren’t entered into the log.

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PATS doubles ticket fines, increases permit prices

Lily Alexander and Nate Bernard | August 19

Over the summer, University of New Mexico Parking and Transportation Services increased fines for parking citations from $25 to $50. This is one of a handful of changes PATS made to its operations ahead of the 2024-25 academic year amid student criticism. PATS also increased rates for permits. Costs for campus resident permits and commuter permits increased by 3%. Costs for Reserved Proximity Tier 1 and 2 permits — reserved for faculty and staff — increased by 7% and 5%, respectively.

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OPINION: Contribute to the Daily Lobo’s election coverage

Lily Alexander | August 19

When I stepped into the role of editor-in-chief of the Daily Lobo at the University of New Mexico, I told my colleagues that we would never report from the perspectives of people in power. Instead, we would report from the perspectives of the people affected by the decisions of people in power. Our coverage of the upcoming unparalleled general election will stick to this idea. To do so, we need your voices. We want to broaden our reach beyond the conversations our reporters have time for between classes and the other responsibilities that come with being student journalists. Those are valuable, too, but we want to increase the scope of our connection with the campus community.

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UNM psychology department members release statement supporting campus protesters

Leila Chapa and Paloma Chapa | August 12

On July 19, individuals from the University of New Mexico psychology department delivered a statement to UNM leadership, calling for the University to drop all charges against pro-Palestine protesters and to support student rights to activism and free speech. The statement also highlighted the potential mental health effects of the responses by UNM leadership and police to the UNM Palestine Solidarity Encampment, dismantled by police in May. “We are alarmed with these reported incidents of police violence against peaceful protestors, as these actions infringe on students’ civil liberties and right to peaceful protest. Police violence negatively impacts mental health and social determinants of health,” the statement reads. On July 26, the Board of Regents acknowledged receipt of the statement via email. As of Sunday, Aug. 11, UNM leadership has not responded to the statement.

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Over 200 crimes recorded on and near campus over the summer

Lauren Lifke | August 12

Since the end of the spring semester at the University of New Mexico, over 200 crimes on and near University properties have been reported and entered in the UNM Police Department’s daily crime log. Each crime warrants an individual entry, meaning that one incident can prompt more than one entry if multiple crimes were allegedly committed. The most common types of crimes were assault and battery, totaling at 64 entries over the summer. The second most common category included burglary, robbery and theft-related crimes, which totaled 48 entries. The 10 total categories of crime also include property crime, noncompliance with law enforcement officers and Violence Against Women Act-related offenses: sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, stalking and related crimes.

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New Mexico abortions rise two years after Roe v. Wade overruling

Shin Thant Hlaing | July 26

A March report from the Guttmacher Institute tracked the increase of abortions performed in New Mexico this year, observing a 250% increase since 2022. Two-thirds of them were patients who traveled from Texas — a state with a near-total abortion ban. Significant barriers to accessing reproductive healthcare include cost, transportation, social stigma and insufficient rural healthcare workforce, according to Scholars Strategy Network. The University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center aims to identify gaps in healthcare to prevent barriers, according to Communications Director Chris Ramirez.

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The history of paleontology in New Mexico

Leila Chapa | July 22

New Mexico, once a place of flood plains and swamps, has been home to many dinosaur discoveries. This is largely due to the state’s geographical history, according to three experts. One dinosaur was identified in January as a new subspecies of Tyrannosaurus that predates the T. Rex by up to 7 million years. The discovery of T. mcraeensis resulted from a study of a jaw and partial skull fossil that were found in the 1980s-90s by boaters and museum staff in southern New Mexico, according to the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science.

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The history of the Missing and Murdered Indigenous People crisis

Paloma Chapa | July 22

The crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous People has gained attention in recent years. However, it is not new. Violence against Indigenous women dates back 500 years to the start of European colonization, according to a study by A. Skylar Joseph published in the “Journal of Forensic and Legal Medicine.” European colonists with patriarchal views took Indigenous women as slaves to men, leading to rape, violence and submission, according to Native Hope. As of 2021, Albuquerque and Gallup had among the highest numbers of MMIP in the United States, according to a report by the New Mexico Indian Affairs Department. Native American women in New Mexico experienced the highest rate of homicide among all racial and ethnic groups at the time of the report.

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Unpacking UNM’s divestment from South Africa in 1985

Lily Alexander and Nate Bernard | July 22

On June 11, 1985, the University of New Mexico Board of Regents unanimously voted to divest from gold mines and other investments in apartheid South Africa. This move has been referenced regularly in current pro-Palestine protesters’ calls for University divestment from Israel. Prior to 1994, South Africa held long-standing policies of racial segregation and the exclusion of all non-white South Africans, according to the African Union. This included forcefully removing Black citizens from their homes and illegalizing interracial marriage, according to South African History Online. Throughout the 1980s, internal and external pressures to end apartheid in South Africa mounted — as well as the nation’s brutal tactics to suppress the movement, according to the AU.

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The history of presidential assassination attempts

Shin Thant Hlaing and Addison Fulton | July 22

The history of successful and unsuccessful presidential assassination attempts is tied together by threads of lone gunmen and conspiracy theories. The phenomenon, though highlighted by the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump on the campaign trail, isn’t new. Donald Trump On July 13, gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks opened fire at a Trump rally, killing Pennsylvania resident Corey Comperatore and clipping the former president in the ear. Crooks fired from the top of a nearby building, which was allegedly outside of the security perimeter set up by the Secret Service, according to a statement the Secret Service gave NBC. The building was meant to be guarded by local police.

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‘It’s Joever’: Biden drops out of the presidential race

Lauren Lifke , Lily Alexander and Addison Fulton | July 22

On Sunday, July 21, President Joe Biden stepped down from his position as the 2024 presidential Democratic nominee. Shortly after the announcement, Biden endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris as the new nominee. “It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as your president. And while it has been my intention to seek reelection, I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and to focus solely on fulfilling my duties as President for the remainder of my term,” Biden wrote in a statement posted to X.

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The history of incumbent presidents dropping out of the race

Lauren Lifke | July 22

On Sunday, July 21, President Joe Biden announced that he will not seek reelection in November. This is the closest to an election that a United States incumbent president has ever dropped out of a race for reelection, and the first time it has happened since 1968. Only six other U.S. presidents have not sought a second term, according to Britannica. Out of those, two dropped out of the race within a year of the end of their terms, according to the Kansas City Star.

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‘A purloined possession’: The history of the Smith Family Totem Pole

Marcela Johnson | July 22

The Smith Family Totem Pole, located at the Hibben Center on the University of New Mexico campus, has not always been represented or respected as the sacred item that it is. In 1941, then-assistant anthropology professor Frank Hibben took the pole from the Smith family of the Tlowitsis Nation in British Columbia, but said that he had bought it for two cases of whiskey, according to the UNM Department of Anthropology. Hibben took the pole after he was told he could not have it, according to Lea McChesney, curator of ethnology at the Maxwell Museum of Anthropology.

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79 years since Trinity: The chain-reaction isn’t over

Shin Thant Hlaing | July 17

The shockwaves from the Trinity Test detonation 79 years ago are still felt by the world today. The present-day effects of the test in New Mexico include disproportionate disease and death for those who live near the test site, with no recognition or compensation from the United States government, according to Source New Mexico. Additional effects include “brain drain” – which occurs when educated or professional people leave an area for better conditions – and financial drain from civilian causes, according to Greg Mello, the executive director of the Los Alamos Study Group, an organization that pursues nuclear disarmament and environmental protection.