News

GPSA recruits committee members

The Graduate and Professional Students Association is recruiting members for standing and executive ad-hoc committees. Members of the standing committees manage the operations of GPSA grants, elections, finance and lobbying efforts. Those on ad-hoc committees serve to accomplish specific tasks as needed, and ad-hoc committees dissolve at the end of the president's or chair's term, according to the GPSA Web site.

Celebrity astronaut on campus

Santa Fe profs find new home at UNM

UNM's creative writing program will be taking in two College of Santa Fe professors who lost their jobs when CSF closed in May. Professors Dana Levin and Mark Behr will begin teaching in the fall. CSF racked up nearly $40 million in debt between 2000 and 2008.

Iran election sparks outcry

Demonstrators gathered in front of the UNM Bookstore Friday, June 19 to protest the results of the Iranian Presidential Election. After President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was elected over Mir-Hossein Mousavi on June 12, protests - incited primarily by university students - exploded throughout Iran.

Question and Answer

UNM cancer researchers have discovered a genetic mutation underlying one of the most common childhood cancers, acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Daily Lobo: Could you give me a brief overview of your findings? Richard Harvey: Sure. The paper was in PNAS, which is Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and it describes JAK mutations in leukemia.

Former student used UNM computers to send threatening letters

Former UNM student Richard Goyette was sentenced to 46 months in federal prison on June 4 after sending 64 threatening letters containing a white powdery substance to financial institutions. In October 2008 Goyette mailed the threatening letters to financial institutions using addresses he obtained while using a Zimmerman library computer.

President Schmidly makes the grade

The Board of Regents gave President Schmidly a stamp of approval on May 29 for his second year at UNM. The regents formulated a progress report, which was then evaluated by vice presidents, provosts and directors. The goals provided by the regents included efforts towards accountability, academics and research.

Lobos mourn grad student

Megumi Yamamoto, a UNM graduate student, died in a helicopter crash June 9 after she was rescued from a hike on Mt. Baldy near Santa Fe. Sgt. Andy Tingwall, the helicopter pilot, was also killed. New Mexico State Police spokesman Peter Olson said the bodies of Yamamoto and Tingwall were recovered from the crash site June 11.

Teen killer's release divides UNM

When is it justified for a juvenile's crimes to receive adult punishment? This is the question lawmakers and the UNM community are asking after the release of Mister Saunders. In 2002, when Saunders was 13, he raped and killed a UNM student. Saunders has been free since May 31 when he was released from custody at the Youth Diagnostic and Development Center.

Drug czar visits N.M.

For the first time in history, a Department of Homeland Security meeting was streamed to Web information centers for government officials across the southwest. The meeting, which took place at UNM on Friday, revealed the Obama administration's National Southwest Border Counternarcotics Strategy.

Graduate student dies in helicopter crash

Megumi Yamamoto, a UNM graduate student, died in a helicopter crash Tuesday after she was rescued from a hike on Mt. Baldy near Santa Fe. The helicopter pilot was also killed in the crash. New Mexico State Police Spokesman Peter Olson said the bodies of Yamamoto and Sgt. Andy Tingwall were recovered from the crash site on Thursday.

Food Not Bombs gets served

The Albuquerque chapter of Food Not Bombs refuses to stop serving free food in front of the UNM Bookstore, despite numerous violation notices and, now, a court injunction. Judge Clay Campbell, district two, granted the New Mexico Environment Department's request for a preliminary injunction against Food Not Bombs on June 1, prohibiting the not-for-profit organization from serving food until they obtain a permit.

Special Olympics hearten N.M.

Special Olympics New Mexico held its largest-ever summer games last weekend. Some 1,035 athletes, up from 800 last year, participated in track and field, bocce, volleyball, cycling and gymnastics, said SONM spokesman Oscar Solis. There are more than 2,500 athletes involved in Special Olympics in New Mexico and three million worldwide, he said.

Daily Lobo Spotlight

Daily Lobo: Why are you going for your Master's in Business Administration? Casey Stephens: I actually had a job when I graduated in finance, which is what my degree is in. I had a job as a broker, and that was in December, which was not a good time for the financial industry, so I signed my contract to go to Phoenix, and they had to rescind the offer, because they just couldn't afford to hire people.

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Holistic healing classes improve students' lives

Rural university students have turned to classes that focus on alternative and holistic health as a means to self-growth and healing, according to a UNM-Taos professor. Jean Ellis-Sankari, department head at the UNM-Taos Academy of Holistic Health and Human Services, published an article on the topic, titled "Higher Education as an Alternative Point of Access to Holistic Health," in the May 2009 issue of the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine.

Italian students find home at UNM after quake

UNM is aiding in the recovery of L’Aquila, Italy, after a magnitude 6.3 earthquake hit the city on April 6. UNM will provide a new academic home for at least two displaced students from the University of L’Aquila this year.

Pushing for Fair Trade

How many people may have been exploited so you could drink your morning coffee? UNM Fair Trade Initiative is trying to answer that question. Student Mike Butler, a member of the group, said most students are unaware of the unfair treatment and the low wages that many farm workers receive.

UNM makes plans for new rec center

UNM wants to build a new recreation center for its growing student population and increase student fees by $117 per semester to pay construction costs. UNM's Division of Student Affairs conducted an online survey in February to evaluate recreation programs and see what improvements students wanted.

Faculty looks to bolster position at University

Faculty members are reactivating the UNM chapter of a national organization of university professors, hoping to strengthen their voice in the outcry against UNM's administration. The faculty has been struggling with the administration over how they have addressed important issues at the University such as retaining tenure-track professors, preventing programs from dissolving due to lack of instructors, and maintaining faculty pay.