Two Board of Regents positions remain available after Gov. Susana Martinez rejected a regent selection process proposed by the UNM Faculty Senate.
The opportunity for students, faculty and staff to lobby lawmakers about tuition hikes and other University-related issues is fast approaching.
ASUNM senators will be out in force to lobby against the tuition credit and funding cuts at Monday’s UNM Day at the Legislature.
Under the buildings, walkways and tennis courts of UNM lays a maze of underground tunnels University officials avoid speaking of. Officially known as “the Ford Utilities steam distribution tunnel system,” UNM Utilities spokesperson Jeffrey Zumwalt said the Physical Plant Department keeps the tunnels a secret because they pose a security concern.
Graduate students are taking action against proposed Latin American and Iberian Institute funding cuts that, according to institute representatives, could force the LAII to shut down. Last week, the Provost Review Committee released a recommendation that the institution switch from an internally funded to an externally funded budget, which LAII Director Susan Tiano said would be impossible. The LAII facilitates student research across various departments at UNM through scholarships, fellowships and travel grants. “I wouldn’t have come to UNM for my Ph.D.
Students have the opportunity to contribute to the growth of New Mexico’s local food system. The Sustainability Studies Program at UNM will be offering an interdisciplinary summer field school the next two summers.
One corporation’s request to divert billions of gallons of water away from Socorro and Catron counties and export it, in some cases, to other states, will hang county residents out to dry, opponents say. The application, filed by Augustin Plains Ranch LLC in 2007, asks for permission to drill 37 wells not exceeding 3,000 feet deep “in order to divert and consumptively use 54,000 acre-feet per year in Catron and Socorro counties.” Opponents have until Feb.
Considered a legal alternative to cannabis, synthetic marijuana is creating controversy surrounding its safety. Fifteen states banned smoke shops from selling K2 Spice, the most popular synthetic marijuana brand, because of reports that users experienced intense nausea, increased heart rate and seizures. Albuquerque user Gabriella Pedregon, 19, said the experience was intense, but nothing she couldn’t handle.
The University is gearing up for UNM Day at the Legislature on Jan. 31, when University representatives will lobby lawmakers not to raise tuition as a means to alleviate budget shortfalls.
Former UNM student Colin Bentley, last seen by his mother Nov. 29, was spotted in Parish Library on Tuesday. A witness said Bentley was sleeping in the library.
The mother of former UNM physics student Colin Bentley has not seen her son since Nov. 29, and she said the state of Bentley’s mental health is cause for concern.
More students are taking biology courses, but the department doesn’t have adequate support to handle the demand.
To cope with declining returns, Popejoy may book fewer New Mexico Symphony Orchestra concerts in favor of more profitable events, NMSO and Popejoy officials said. NMSO currently rents Popejoy as the venue for its “Classics” and “Pops” series concerts, but the Orchestra owes nearly $250,000 in unpaid rent, which has piled up since 2008. Popejoy Director Tom Tkach said the orchestra will continue using the venue, but has to develop a better business strategy.
A team of engineers and biologists from the UNM Health Sciences Center and Sandia Labs created an instrument that will help detect biological warfare agents and expedite the diagnosis of infections.
American Campus Communities’ latest project, Lobo Village, will open to residents in the fall, but ApartmentReviews.com users gave nationwide ACC properties negative reviews. Reviewers said they encountered hidden parking and “cleaning” fees, floods, collapses, break-ins and poor management, and warned students to take precautions to avoid unfair charges. “Watch out for any existing damage when moving in,” a review of Nittany Crossing dorm in Pennsylvania said.
A person who wants to film a public meeting has the same right as a person who sits and takes notes, according to the New Mexico Foundation for Open Government. ASUNM President and SFRB Chair Laz Cardenas called authorities to remove a video camera at Saturday’s SFRB hearings.
ASUNM and GPSA will not collaborate this year on student-fee allocation after a dispute over whether to allow Saturday’s hearings to be video recorded, as well as what ASUNM President called “irrelevant attacks” and “distracting interruptions” during the hearings. Cardenas said in a Sunday evening statement that ASUNM removed itself from the Student Fee Review Board.
More than 300 people are expected to attend best-selling author Michael Eric Dyson’s Saturday seminar hosted by the Africana Studies Department. Dyson, once included in Ebony Magazine’s list of the 100 most influential black Americans, will address the brunch’s theme, “Forty Years Wandering in the Academic Desert: Does Anyone See the Promised Land?” at 11 a.m.
Students seeking locally grown, organic and preservative-free food on campus are in luck. La Montañita Co-op opened its third location in Albuquerque last week next to the UNM Bookstore. Student Jake Wellman said students want more local and organic food. “Students want to eat healthy, and students want to be environmentally conscious,” he said.
Nicole Thomas traveled the world, learned four languages and held an array of professions before deciding to study science at UNM. The future volcanologist was born in Mexico City and followed her father, an international banker, and mother, a TV/radio journalist, to places like Panama, Jamaica and Hong Kong.
Solutions by The State News
