Lobos can growl a little louder this semester with the debut of Lobo Growl, an online radio station made up of student DJs. The group’s president, Billy Ulibarri, is a graduate student in sociology and was on the board of directors for KUNM. “I had more of an interest in student access to communication channels,” he said.
UNM Biology students spent a week with fourth- and fifth-graders in the South Valley this summer, teaching them that science and conservation can be fun.
A task force at UNM put together to keep the state’s brightest students in New Mexico hopes to turn the University Honors Program into a degree-granting college.
Despite the loss of one of their most prominent scholars, faculty at the Department of Political Science have risen to fill some big shoes in the upper administration. The department faced hardships this summer when one of its foremost experts on Latino politics, F.
Rumors of dozens of Minor in Possession charges handed out at Lobo Village swirled across the apartment complex last week, but UNM Police Department said no MIPs were given. UNMPD Operations Commander Christine Chester said UNMPD had responded to six calls at Lobo Village since Aug. “The final [call] was a loud party call that involved minors in possession, but no citations were issued or arrests made,” she said.
For this month only, MatLab is free for students and faculty. The software will allow easier access to computing, math and science calculations, said Vanessa Baca, an IT spokeswoman. “Having MatLab provides an interactive link between math and science, students and faculty, allowing students to do computations and interact with programming languages like Fortran and C ,” she said. A combination of student fees, the Office of the Provost and Vice President of Research, IT and several academic departments funds UNM’s site license for the MatLab software Previously, students had to buy the software in CD format from the UNM bookstore for $99.
Parking and Transportation Services has converted all of UNM’s paid parking to a cashless, card-based pay system, but not everyone is excited about the change. Student Micayla Botwin said her main concern was cost.
Students moving into Lobo Village Aug. 17 enjoyed a pool-side barbecue, ice cream trucks and a DJ. Lobo Village’s grand opening week also included a false fire alarm, a power outage, drinking and smoking in unauthorized areas and minor-in-possession charges by the dozens, residents said. “There were a ton of people drinking on move-in night,” resident Alissa James said.
New Mexico’s population is expected to reach more than 3 million by 2035, and members of Lobo Development said UNM needs to grow to accommodate the population increase. That’s where UNM’s Consolidated Master Plan comes in, they said. The Master Plan is a 10-15 year development plan that aims to change UNM from a commuter campus to a “24/7 campus,” said Dale Dekker, who is in charge of planning for Lobo Development.
UNM students will pay over $11 million in student fees for the 2011-2012 academic year, which are allocated to cover everything from the Student Health Center to Athletics and libraries.Fees will also go to special funds at the Women’s Resource Center, American Indian Student Services and the LGBTQ Resource Center, among others. “Fees are one of the most important issues that student leadership faces,” Katie Richardson, GPSA President, said. “We want to make sure we’re spending the money well.”
While many departments have been forced to increase fees and cut benefits, UNM Residence Life and Student Housing is providing more to students for less.
This fall, parking permit rates will increase for the first time in four years. Dorm residents’ permits jumped from $242 to $300. Motorcycle permits cost $70, the same as they did last year. Faculty and staff permits cost $36 more than they did tlast year. Student Juan Caraveo said the raises are unreasonable.
UNM and four other New Mexico businesses will receive monetary settlements from bid-rigging allegations. A federal investigation revealed UBS Financial Services LLC and J.P. Morgan Securities LLC were rigging bond bids to sell bonds for less than fair market value. The banks will pay more than $1.4 million to New Mexico businesses to settle the bid-rigging claims.
UNM Health Sciences Center’s model for primary care and community health has proven so successful that it has received funding to be duplicated in four other states. The Health Extension Rural Offices (HEROs) program received a $220,000 grant from the Commonwealth Fund to replicate the model in Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky and Oregon.
A group of UNM engineers spent two and a half weeks in Bolivia this summer working to provide an indigenous tribe with greater access to clean water. Members of the University’s Engineers Without Borders chapter went to the Tsimane villages of Tacuaral and Campo Bello in June.
UNM graduate students will have fewer options for financial aid next year. As part of the Budget Control Act, the federal government will eliminate subsidized student loans for graduate and professional students beginning July 2012. At an August 9 Board of Regents meeting, GSPA President Katie Richardson urged the board to keep graduate students in mind when considering tuition and fee increases.
On July 19, Regent Board President Jack Fortner named the members of the search committee who will help choose UNM’s next president, and a firm hired to find candidates, Storbeck/Pimentel & Associates (SPA), began its search. Case Manager Alberto Pimentel said the search’s first phase uses web-based surveys to identify the qualifications UNM wants for its next president.
Lobo Village, UNM’s housing collaboration with American Campus Communities, has no vacancies, and main campus construction is ongoing despite questions about how much rent ACC will pay UNM. Lobo Village cost more than $39 million to build, and it opens Aug.
Student Kathryn Rios was studying abroad in Nicaragua when she died July 9 from complications of lupus. Rios, 22, went to Nicaragua with a UNM class, Sustainable Development in Central America: Poverty, Inequality and Growth in Nicaragua, taught by Matias Fontenla. The class arrived in Granada, Nicaragua, on June 14 and returned July 12.
Nelson Valdés, a janitor-turned-UNM professor emeritus, was honored with the Bernard S. Rodey Award, given to professors who exemplify leadership in education.
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