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City Council postpones vote on controversial sidewalk obstruction bill

Leila Chapa and Paloma Chapa | September 25

At a meeting on Sept. 16, the Albuquerque City Council decided to defer voting on a bill that would prohibit obstructing sidewalks, including with signs or banners. Community members spoke against the bill — and held a protest two days after the meeting — citing potential negative impacts on the unhoused community and concerns about First Amendment rights. The bill will be held to a vote on Oct. 7. Council bill O-24-42 is sponsored by City Councilor Joaquín Baca. He represents District 2, which encompasses Downtown and other parts of Albuquerque.

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Suspect arrested in Santa Fe after student was stabbed repeatedly

Lauren Lifke | September 24

On Saturday, Sept. 21, the University of New Mexico Police Department found a victim who had been stabbed at Lobo Village following an altercation at a party. A LoboAlert was issued to the community an hour later. The suspect and his girlfriend fled to Santa Fe, where the Santa Fe Police Department detained both of them, according to the police report for the incident. The suspect was later taken to the Metropolitan Detention Center, and his girlfriend was released.

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OPINION: What does Hispanic identity mean in New Mexico?

Lauren Lifke | September 23

If you’ve spent time in New Mexico, chances are you’ve met somebody with a Spanish last name who doesn’t speak a lick of the language. If you ask about their background, they might just say they’re Hispanic without mentioning a connection to any specific Spanish-speaking region. I’ve been one of these people. Growing up in Albuquerque, I never felt the need to elaborate any further than “Hispanic” when describing the ethnicity of my mom’s side of the family, and it wasn’t often that people inquired any further.

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Santa Fe obelisk trial awaits final decision

Maria Fernandez | September 23

The two-day trial to determine whether a controversial toppled obelisk will be returned to the center of the Santa Fe Plaza concluded on Sept. 13. A final decision has not been made as of Sept. 22. The obelisk displayed a plaque at the bottom that contained derogatory language toward Indigenous people. This caused outrage over the years and ultimately led to the toppling of the monument by protesters on Indigenous Peoples’ Day in 2020. The plague originally read, “To the heroes who have fallen in various battles with savage Indians in the Territory of New Mexico,” though “savage” had been scratched off over the years, according to National Geographic.

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OPINION: Defiance in definitions: Reflections on the southern New Mexican identity

Marcela Johnson | September 23

I will be the first to admit I grew up confused by the New Mexican identity because it is a mixture of so many different heritages and experiences. Trying to understand myself and my community through the lens of a Mexican American from southern New Mexico feels like a full-time job. I grew up in Silver City, New Mexico, in a very proud Mexican/Midwestern household. My siblings and I were lucky that we were never told to deny our heritage. While I was allowed to be proud of my Mexican heritage, this was in part because I am also white and don’t have racist views directed toward me. Not everyone has that privilege.

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Rudolfo Anaya: Padrino, profesor y autor

Marcela Johnson | September 23

Prolific writer Rudolfo Anaya has deep ties to the University of New Mexico. Known especially for his first book “Bless Me, Ultima,” Anaya received three degrees from UNM and served as a professor emeritus in the English department before his death in 2020. Anaya is a foundational figure in Chicana and Chicano studies, English department associate professor Melina Vizcaíno-Alemán said. “He really put Chicano literature on the map — and I would say even more specifically New Mexico — in the larger national literary scene,” Vizcaíno-Alemán said.

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UNM neuroscientist’s research could impact future brain injury studies

Arly Garcia | September 20

Understanding brain function is crucial to the world of science, but we can’t always get the full picture from a healthy brain, according to Jeremy Hogeveen, a cognitive neuroscientist and UNM professor. “If we’re doing our studies only on healthy subjects using brain scans, we tend to run into this causality problem where you can’t really infer that the brain is causing the behavior you’re seeing,” Hogeveen said. Overcoming the causality problem — coupled with his experience studying brain injuries as a postdoc at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago — sparked Hogeveen’s interest in the relationship between brain injuries and psychiatric function, he said.

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Campus crime: Week of Sept. 9

Lauren Lifke | September 18

From Monday, Sept. 9 through Sunday, Sept. 15, there were 32 individual entries of crimes reported on or near the University of New Mexico campus that were entered into its daily crime log. Red paint poured on statue On Friday, Sept. 13, officers located a damaged statue, according to the crime log. The lobo statue that faces Central Avenue on the corner of University Boulevard had been covered in red paint. It was also adorned in a keffiyeh, according to a photo posted to X. A keffiyeh is a symbol of Palestinian liberation, according to NPR.  As of Sept. 15, the keffiyeh no longer appeared on the statue, but the red paint remained.

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UNM invests in major tobacco companies

Lily Alexander and Nate Bernard | September 16

The University of New Mexico has investments in two major tobacco companies, according to statements obtained by the Daily Lobo via public records requests. The companies are Philip Morris International and British American Tobacco, according to UNM Asset Summary Statements from May-July. In 2023, PMI and BAT had the first and second-highest net sales out of all tobacco companies worldwide, according to Statista. They both manufacture, market and sell cigarettes and other tobacco products. Products that contain tobacco are addictive and deadly. Tobacco kills longtime users and is a leading cause of death, illness and impoverishment, according to the World Health Organization.

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REVIEW: Logical fallacies in the presidential debate

Lauren Lifke | September 16

On Tuesday, Sept. 10, Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump met in person for the first presidential debate between the two candidates. During the debate, both Harris and Trump used more than a few logical fallacies — described in a philosophical context as “reasoning that comes to a conclusion without the evidence to support it,” according to Merriam-Webster.

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New Mexico Attorney General files lawsuit against Snapchat

Maria Fernandez | September 16

On Sept. 5, New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez filed a lawsuit against Snapchat over concerns that the app’s policies have allowed for mass amounts of exploitative material from underage users to spread across the dark web. Torrez is alleging that criminals used Snapchat to carry out sextortion, which occurs when a predator coerces minors into sharing explicit images and then threatens to release the content publicly unless the minor pays the predator, according to a press release.

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ASUNM senate rushes to pass legislation

Marcela Johnson | September 16

The Associated Students at the University of New Mexico passed six appropriation requests, appointed two new senators and passed one bill during a rushed meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 11.

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New Mexicans respond to presidential debate

Lily Alexander , Addison Fulton and Nate Bernard | September 13

On Tuesday, Sept. 10, Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump met in person for the first time during a debate hosted by ABC. New Mexican elected officials and students at the University of New Mexico supported candidates largely along party lines. After the debate, 63% of viewers said Harris outperformed Trump, according to a CNN poll. Fox News anchor Brit Hume said “Trump had a bad night,” according to a Fox News post-debate analysis. In contrast, following the June debate between Trump and President Joe Biden, 33% of viewers said Biden outperformed Trump, according to a CNN poll.

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Campus crime: Week of Sept. 2

Lauren Lifke | September 11

From Monday, Sept. 2 through Sunday, Sept. 8, there were 34 crimes reported on or near the University of New Mexico campus that were entered into its daily crime log. There was also a LoboAlert issued to the community on Sept. 8.

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Woman with felony warrant arrested near SRC

Lauren Lifke | September 9

On the early morning of Aug. 23, University of New Mexico police arrested a woman at the Student Residence Center for trespassing and possession of meth. The suspect had a felony warrant, according to the police report of the incident.

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Man with narcotic pipe breaks into Redondo Village apartment

Lauren Lifke | September 9

On Aug. 27, police arrested a man who had broken into a student’s room at the Redondo Village Apartments. The suspect broke the window screen, entered the apartment and took a student’s keys and wallet. He had a pipe and torch consistent with those used to smoke narcotics, according to the police report of the incident. At about 9:30 p.m. the day of the report, a University of New Mexico Police Department officer was notified of an unknown suspect inside a student’s RVA room. The officer arrived on the scene to find the victim — a sophomore who lived in the room — restraining a suspect, who police then arrested.

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OPINION: Stop the presses, robo-porter

Addison Fulton | September 9

You’re all probably going to be sick of me by the time the robot revolution comes, but until then, I will have bone after bone to pick with the machine. In August, CBS reported that Aaron Pelczar, a journalist for Wyoming news outlet the Cody Enterprise, was caught using generative artificial intelligence to write and publish news articles. One of the stories Pelczar generated was a piece on a shooting in Yellowstone National Park, which featured the line, “This incident serves as a stark reminder of the unpredictable nature of human behavior, even in the most serene settings,” according to the Associated Press. Following the incident, Pelczar resigned.

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Library cyberattack leaves no student or employee data compromised

Lily Alexander | September 9

A cyber attack on University of New Mexico Libraries that began on July 31 resulted in no compromised data for students or employees, according to Mark Emmons, associate dean of the College of University Libraries and Learning Sciences. Publicly accessible resources were mostly available by the start of the semester, according to Emmons, while issues accessing library resources from off campus continued.

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ASUNM senate kicks off the semester

Marcela Johnson | September 3

The Associated Students at the University of New Mexico appointed a new senator and passed two appropriation requests and a bill on Wednesday, Aug. 28 during the first full senate meeting since the start of fall classes. 

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Campus crime: Week of Aug. 26

Lauren Lifke | September 2

Editor’s note: The crimes listed were entered into the daily crime 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 Monday, Aug. 26 through Sunday, Sept. 1, there were 26 crimes reported on or near the University of New Mexico campus that were entered into its daily crime log. There were also two LoboAlerts issued to the community involving incidents that occurred on or near campus since Aug. 25.