Total student enrollment from fall 2013 to fall 2014 is down 2.6 percent, from 28,644 students last fall to 27,889 this fall, according to unofficial numbers released Friday by the Division of Enrollment Management.
Officials will have to wait a little longer to mail out this year’s general election ballots, after the New Mexico Supreme Court scheduled an emergency hearing for Sept. 24.
ASUNM voted down a resolution asking for the student government to support immigration reform in New Mexico. The decision came Friday after a discussion about whether the resolution should be passed in its current state.
More Hispanic students are returning for their sophomore year than ever in UNM history. University President Bob Frank announced on Friday that the retention rate of Hispanic students going into their third semester is 80.1 percent.
UNM-sponsored tailgating parties have received criticism from the press, and the people in charge of the events are defending them as fun, safe celebrations of school spirit. A recent story from KRQE News 13 highlighted drinking and partying at a tailgate two weeks ago, but Drew Ingraham, assistant athletics director for marketing and revenue, said the criticism was overblown and the scenes were taken out of context.
UNM is struggling to bring faculty salaries up to par with peer institutions around the country. The University is finding it difficult to compete for highly qualified faculty in the national market because of budgetary restrictions, which in turn is affecting the quality of education on campus, according to documents from UNM’s Finance Committee.
An organization on campus is reaching out to help students find a balance between college life and responsibility. The Campus Office of Substance Abuse Prevention, which seeks to educate students on the dangers of drugs and alcohol rather than recommending complete abstinence, has started a new program called Diary of a Lady Lobo, aimed at curbing risky drinking in female students at UNM, John Steiner, COSAP program manager said.
A new program is working to inspire a greater sense of kindness in people by helping to develop mindfulness and fostering meaningful social interactions. Amanda Dean, alumna, started Compassion Project as a way to provide the community with a free, ongoing yoga and meditation project that was unaffiliated with any specific religious tradition.
A UNM Police Department officer was dispatched to Lobo Village in response to a report of narcotics located in a room. According to the report, a resident advisor received a complaint about an odor of marijuana coming from a room.When UNMPD arrived, the officer found a Red Bull can and a Coca-Cola can with false compartments concealing marijuana, a line of residue of a white powdery substance with a piece of rolled paper next to it, a glass bong with a glass pipe and a switchblade knife.
Public relations hopefuls may soon get the chance to practice their craft in a professional setting.Dirk Gibson, associate professor of communication and journalism, is looking to resurrect a chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America, a program the University did away with more than three years ago, he said.The PRSSA allows students to work with professional public relations organizations to hone their skills and create networks with professionals.
UNM is investing in a sustainable future by installing new technologies, which will cut greenhouse gas emissions and reduce the cost of keeping the lights on ? by about a million dollars a year.The latest addition of green technologies on campus is the cogeneration unit, located in the Ford Utility Center.
UNM Hospital is feeling the squeeze because of new health insurance policies. The hospital has reserved 22 percent of its annual revenue for the upcoming year to fund unpaid hospital bills caused by a variety of issues, including unreimbursed Medicaid treatments, said Ava Lovell, senior executive officer for finance and administration at the Health Sciences Center. New Mexico used to run a Medicaid program called Salud, but since Jan.
Testing under way for desert locust pesticide A UNM startup company has begun field tests to prove it can protect crops from the desert locust, a crop-destroying insect, the University reports. The company, EcoPesticides, was founded by two UNM physicians, Ravi Durvasula and Adam Forshaw.
Students are putting two weeks of hard work into a large project, just to set it on fire and watch it burn.The annual burning of the Aggie is only a few days away, and the Associated Students of the University of New Mexico Lobo Spirit Volunteers said they are all fired up for this year’s Sept.18 event.
Build and launch your own rocket, see a medieval siege weapon in action, learn to solder and witness a giant remote-controlled robotic face — all in one weekend. The third annual Albuquerque Mini Maker Faire will be held Sept.
Voters will have their voices heard on marijuana laws this November after all. In a special meeting Monday morning, the Bernalillo County Commission voted 3-2 in favor of allowing an advisory measure to be presented to voters on the upcoming ballot regarding the decriminalization of marijuana. The move comes after Albuquerque Mayor Richard Berry vetoed a similar measure that would have gone before city residents. The county’s measure itself does not have the potential to change current marijuana laws, but Commission Chairwoman Debbie O’Malley, who voted in favor of the ballot initiative, said putting the measure before voters is the right thing to do. Voters in Bernalillo County should at least have the opportunity to voice their opinions in a poll that will be taken into consideration by local policy- and lawmakers, O’Malley said. “To put it in very succinct terms, let the people speak,” O’Malley said.
Bernalillo County Clerk Maggie Toulouse Oliver was recently featured on MSNBC’s list “‘30 in 30’: Women Candidates to Watch in 2014.” MSNBC’s list featured female candidates from around the country in a variety of races, and Oliver said she felt privileged to be the only woman from New Mexico on the list. Democrat Toulouse Oliver is running for New Mexico Secretary of State in November against Republican Dianna Duran. She has been active in highlighting issues important to woman voters, and has stressed the importance of getting women to the ballot boxes this November.
Through the Peer Education Project, professors have trained hundreds of New Mexico prison inmates to spur awareness within the prison system of how to avoid chronic diseases like Hepatitis C and HIV. As part of the program, a group of professors and health practitioners visit New Mexico prisons and train a selected number of volunteer prisoners for 40 hours. “It started in 2009. We go in and train prisoners on how to be educators around infectious diseases, particularly Hepatitis C, HIV and addictions,” said Karla Thornton, an infectious diseases physician and a Health Sciences Center faculty member in her division.
Check out this week's episode of The Howl, the Daily Lobo's online newscast.
A trip to Peru, a trek into the Amazonian rainforest, a life-changing encounter with a shaman and a powerful psychedelic brew: These are the ingredients of a compelling TED talk. On Saturday, UNM research scientist Robert Rhatigan will speak at the TEDxABQ conference, sharing the story of how he conquered crippling alcoholism with the help of ayahuasca, an ancient psychoactive drink made from rainforest plants. Rhatigan, who does research in geospatial and population studies, said his goal at the conference is to be an ambassador on the power of psychedelic plants and non-traditional therapies in the treatment of addiction. “I want people to walk away understanding that psychedelic substances are not something that are simply drugs of abuse that people use for hedonistic reasons, recreation, whatever,” he said.
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