News - The Daily Lobo

News

Media are mistaken, say tailgaters

Matt Reisen | September 14

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.

News

Professor pay pales compared to peers

Sayyed Shah | September 14

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.

COSAP Project Manager John Steiner discusses the positive impact of COSAP’s prevention programs early Thursday morning. COSAP, located in the east side of Mesa Vista Hall, is open to all students who wish to receive assistance.

News

Group giving support to struggling students

Matt Reisen | September 12

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.

Amanda Dean meditates at United Methodist Church for the Compassion Project on Wednesday. Dean aimed to provide the community with a free ongoing yoga and meditation project unaffiliated with any religious tradition.

News

Yoga program encourages compassion

Marielle Dent | September 12

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.

News

Crime briefs for Sept. 11

September 10

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.

News

Student PR club getting a revival

Ryan Lotz | September 10

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.

Solar turbines, known as cogeneration machines, run inside the Ford Utility Center on Wednesday morning. These turbines provide power for much of the UNM area.

News

A new generation of generation

Tomas Lujan | September 10

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.

News

UNMH funds set aside for deficit

Sayyed Shah | September 9

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.

News

Campus briefs

September 9

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.

News

The Aggie to go up in flames at Red Rally

Stephen Montoya | September 9

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.

News

Mini Maker Faire features DIY efforts

Jonathan Baca | September 8

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.

Bernalillo County Commission Chairwoman Debbie O’Malley, left, listens to Wayne Johnson, right, as he speaks about letting voters decide on decriminalizing an ounce or less of marijuana during a Commission meeting at City Hall on Monday morning. The Commission agreed to attach the question to the November ballot.

News

Commission puts pot back on ballot

Tomas Lujan | September 8

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 steps outside of the Bernalillo County Courthouse after Bernalillo County Second Judicial District Court ruled in favor of same-sex marriage last year. Oliver was recently named a woman candidate to watch in 2014 by MSNBC.

News

MSNBC names NM candidate to 'watch in 2014' list

Jonathan Baca | September 7

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.

News

ECHO informs inmates to inhibit infections

Sayyed Shah | September 7

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.

News

The Howl: Sept. 6, 2014 episode

September 7

Check out this week's episode of The Howl, the Daily Lobo's online newscast.

News

Research scientist to speak at TEDxABQ on drugs

Jonathan Baca | September 4

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.

News

Audit report shows fraud in SBA's account

Sayyed Shah | September 4

The New Mexico State Auditor’s office is reviewing a recently published UNM internal audit report that found embezzlements in the UNM Student Bar Association’s finances. On Aug.14, the UNM audit department issued a detailed report of its investigation into the financial embezzlement in the Student Bar Association’s account from 2011 to 2013. The report laid out a timeline of the mismanagement of funds and made recommendations to keep another incident from happening in the future.

Kristin Marquardt, left, and Lauren Topper work in the laboratory of Fernando Valenzuela, professor of neurosciences and associate director of the New Mexico Alcohol Research Center, on Thursday. The center at UNM is nationally recognized for Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder research and is funded through various grants such as from the National Institute of Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse, which awarded the center more than $8 million to be distributed over five years.

News

HSC's event hoping to spread Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder awareness

Matthew Reisen | September 4

International Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder Awareness Day is next week, and members of the Health Sciences Center community will spend the day spreading awareness about the disorder – and their facility. The nationally recognized research center opened last month, but it has been in development for a few years, Dr. Daniel Savage, Neuroscience Department chair, said. “The center is about improving the health and well-being of the citizens of New Mexico,” Savage said.

News

Refugees find relief in students

Jonathan Baca | September 3

Refugees from around the world are getting support they desperately need, while students working with them are learning life-changing lessons. UNM’s Refugee Well-Being Program is a two-semester course that pairs sociology, psychology and anthropology students with refugees living in Albuquerque.

News

Act helps borrowers to defeat defaults

Jyllian Roach | September 3

Student loan borrowers will soon have better options when it comes to paying off their debts. The U.S. Department of Education announced Friday that federal student loan servicers now have more incentives to help keep students from defaulting on their loans. Among these incentives are a customer satisfaction survey, which will serve as an indicator as to which servicer gets the most loans. The better the satisfaction scores, the more loans it may provide.