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Grad student union effort nears threshold for recognition

Lissa Knudsen | November 10

University of New Mexico graduate student workers reported on Friday that more than 40% of eligible graduate workers have signed union cards. The union needs 50% plus one in order to appeal to the New Mexico Public Employee Labor Relations Board (PELRB) to form a union. “More cards have been coming in ... We have broken 700 cards, and there are 1,600 graduate students. And so, a simple majority is 800,” Emigdio Turner, a chemistry Ph.D. candidate at UNM and union organizing committee member, said during a Zoom breakout session with STEM graduate students on Friday. “(But), we would be looking to go much further past that to demonstrate unilateral support.”

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Video of man performing traditional dance goes viral

Lissa Knudsen | November 9

Editor’s note: The original version of this article incorrectly labeled the dance that Trujillo spontaneously performed as one from the Pueblo of Ohkay Owingeh. The dance was a men’s northern traditional dance not associated with a particular pueblo. We apologize for the error. Ashkia “Kia” Randy Trujillo left his car idling as he jumped out onto Central Avenue in downtown Albuquerque on Saturday evening to spontaneously perform a portion of a men’s northern traditional storytelling dance. Video of the performance captured by a Daily Lobo photographer went viral almost immediately, attracting more than 5 million views and highlighting the influence of Native American voters in the 2020 election.

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Trump supporters spread misinformation at Roundhouse following Biden victory

Bella Davis | November 9

SANTA FE — Shortly after the election was called in favor of President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. late Saturday morning, supporters of lame-duck President Donald Trump rallied at the Roundhouse. The rally was a part of nationwide “Stop the Steal” protests, which organized around the false claim that the 2020 election was fraudulent with rampant voter fraud. Around 200 people stood on the sidewalk in front of the state Capitol building as cars flying Trump and U.S. flags drove by — one of which had “fake news mobile” written on the side, listing local TV news stations KRQE, KOB and KOAT — and cries of “four more years” rang out.

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Biden ousts Trump, elected 46th president

Liam Debonis | November 7

After an agonizing four-day stretch beyond Election Day that spilled into the weekend, Joseph R. Biden Jr is projected to become the next President of the United States. The president-elect defeated President Donald Trump, regaining the White House for the Democratic Party after the businessman and reality television star’s bid for re-election fell short. The declaration of Biden’s victory by the Associated Press and other major news outlets sparked celebrations in Albuquerque and across the country. Lines of cars cruised Central Avenue in Downtown, the University area, Nob Hill and other neighborhoods along the city’s main artery, with honking horns and waving signs replacing more traditional revelry.

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Election uncertain, Trump manages to stay in play for now

Liam Debonis | November 4

Election Day ended with a cloud of uncertainty as Trump pulled ahead in southern swing states. The election now hinges on Great Lakes-adjacent states, including Pennsylvania, which are expected to continue processing mail-in ballots for the next few days. Trump sped ahead in Florida early on Nov. 3 as the state reported voting results at breakneck speed. North Carolina followed suit; as the majority of results poured in, Biden’s comfortable lead vanished and left the Democratic candidate lagging behind. Trump is projected to win in Ohio, Iowa and Texas, states that he led by a small margin in FiveThirtyEight’s polling averages.

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Bacon, Thomson retain state Supreme Court seats

Spencer Butler | November 4

Nov. 3, 2020 may become in retrospect one of the most consequential days in U.S. political history, as 131 million voters turned out to vote on not only the presidential election but the smaller statewide races that happened across the country. This includes New Mexico, where voters weighed in on a number of judiciary members and state Supreme Court candidates. While the races within the judicial branch had multiple Republican challengers, the Democratic candidates still managed to hold on to their seats — in some cases, by the slimmest of margins.

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Luján defeats Ronchetti to secure Senate seat vacated by Udall

Adam Evarts - Guest Reporter | November 4

In a congressional competition that was closer than expected, Democratic candidate Ben Ray Luján won the 2020 New Mexico Senate race over Republican opponent Mark Ronchetti and Libertarian Bob Walsh. The race was called by the Associated Press at 10:25 p.m. in New Mexico. Luján garnered 51% of the vote compared to Ronchetti’s 46% as of 9:30 a.m. on Nov. 4 with all precincts reporting. Walsh earned a meager 3% of the vote. Luján’s win ensures that the seat remains firmly in the blue, as the assistant speaker of the House is set to replace New Mexico statesman Tom Udall, who’s retiring after six terms in office.

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Herrell wins hotly contested 2nd Congressional District seat

William Jennings - Guest Reporter | November 4

A historic election by any measure saw another milestone in New Mexico on Tuesday night, as the state will send the first all-women of color congressional delegation to the capital in January. The 2020 election marked another fierce faceoff between Democratic incumbent Xochitl Torres Small and Republican challenger Yvette Herrell after the two locked horns in the 2018 election. Herrell won the seat with 54% of the vote, ousting Torres Small by just over 20,000 votes in the sprawling, largely rural district. The results marked a shift back to power for New Mexico Republicans, who had previously occupied the traditionally conservative congressional seat.

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UNM Dean of Students Office lifts ‘no contact directive’ on Daily Lobo editor

Liberty Stalnaker / Daily Lobo | November 3

After seven days, blistering community critique and a Daily Lobo editorial condemning a “No Contact Directive” issued from the University of New Mexico to one of its editors, the University has reversed course and rescinded the order. On Oct. 28, Daily Lobo data editor Joe Rull was issued a No Contact Directive by the office of Dean of Students Nasha Torrez, an order that prohibited Rull from communicating online or in person with Student Fee Review Board (SFRB) undergraduate member Sall Ahmadian.

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‘Sexual Citizens’ advocates for sexual assault reduction through campus redesign, better sex education

Shelby Kleinhans | October 30

“Every single Black woman who we interviewed had experienced unwanted touching...and had had an experience that signaled to them that their bodies were not deserving of respect, ”Jennifer Hirsch told her audience of University of New Mexico staff and students on Oct. 21 during a virtual book talk on “Sexual Citizens: A Landmark Study of Sex, Power, and Assualt on Campus.” Elizabeth Dwyer Sandlin hosted the conversation where the discussion of race as one of several forms of power imbalance involved in sexual assault was just one of the many topics discussed.

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The Daily Lobo election guide: Bonds and the art of city maintenance

Beatrice Nisoli , Alex McCausland , Megan Gleason , Maddie Pukite and Nikita Jaiswal | October 29

With early voting well underway — and set to end on Saturday ahead of Election Day — New Mexicans have a lengthy list of choices on the ballot designed to make improvements to the infrastructure, resources and livability of the city of Albuquerque itself. The following is a breakdown of what general obligation bonds are for, where the money would go if approved by voters and whether or not you should vote for a particular allocation of taxpayer-subsidized funding.

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Potential Biden win floats possibility of Governor Morales

Shelby Kleinhans | October 29

If the presidential election swings in favor of Democratic nominee Joe Biden and Donald Trump is forced to vacate the White House, New Mexico’s highest political office may see another transition in power soon after. In an August interview with Vogue, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham was asked if she’d be interested in the position of Health and Human Services (HHS) secretary under a hypothetical Biden administration. “Like in the context of being vetted for vice president, I want them to look to governors, because the HHS secretary is going to have to immediately deal with COVID and a whole different strategy for public health,” she replied, floating the very real possibility that Lujan Grisham could exit the Governor’s Residence for a Biden cabinet position with two years left in her first term.

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Student Fee Review Board opts not to reduce fees

Lissa Knudsen , Spencer Butler and Jesus Mata | October 27

The University of New Mexico’s Student Fee Review Board (SFRB) voted to hold fees steady for fall 2021, despite calls for reductions amidst the coronavirus pandemic. On Sunday morning, Oct. 25, the SFRB — after more than 10 hours of deliberations — approved the fall 2021 student activity fee recommendations on a unanimous 7-0 vote. Student activity fees are charged alongside tuition to all students registered on main campus and at the Health Sciences Center. These fees are assessed per capita — as enrollment increases, the total budget expands, giving the board more money to recommend for allocation.

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Elections 101: An interview with elections expert Lonna Atkeson

William Bowen | October 27

ALBUQUERQUE — With the 2020 general election just over a week away, some voters still may have questions about the election process — particularly those for whom this will be the first presidential election in which they’ve been old enough to take part. To help guide voters through this momentous, era-defining election, the Daily Lobo interviewed Lonna Atkeson, a political science professor and the director of the University of New Mexico’s Center for the Study of Voting, Elections and Democracy. The first step of participating in an election is, naturally, ensuring you are registered to vote.

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Progressive legislative candidates again push for repeal of anti-abortion law

Sayra Ramos | October 27

With a half-century anti-abortion statute still on the books that has the potential to once again restrict women’s reproductive health care access were the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling overturned, New Mexico state legislative candidates weighed in ahead of the Nov. 3 election with their stances on decriminalizing abortion. Pro-choice advocates feel an increasingly more urgent need to decriminalize abortion in New Mexico, especially since the Sept. 18 death of former Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who served as a safety net for abortion health care in the United States.

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UNM cancels classes, remotely

Lissa Knudsen | October 27

The University of New Mexico will be closed today, Tuesday, Oct. 27, due to inclement weather conditions. “All classes (including online and remote delivery classes) on UNM's main campus and at the Health Sciences Center have been canceled for today only,” according to the UNM Newsroom website. A powerful storm system will continue in Albuquerque through Tuesday night, bringing a predicted four inches of additional snowfall, according to the National Weather Service. In addition, record-breaking cold air will continue with widespread sub-freezing temperatures and bitter cold wind chills.

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Concerns about voter intimidation loom in election run-up

Bella Davis | October 26

Albuquerque resident Eleanor Chavez was driving by the 98th and Central early voting site on Saturday, Oct. 17 when she passed a caravan of flag-waving Trump supporters who drove through the parking lot. Hours later, she went back and saw a man with a Trump flag on the back of his truck yelling at voters before the police arrived. “Who does that? I’ve been voting for a hundred million years, and I’ve never seen anything like that,” Chavez said. Chavez said she was planning to vote that day but decided to wait because of the activity she observed, which she called “threatening.”

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Analysis: What to watch for on election night

Liam Debonis | October 26

With Election Day just over a week away, President Donald Trump’s odds are looking grim. In national polling averages, Joe Biden led by 9.2 percentage points as of the evening of Oct. 25. Traditionally red states like Georgia and Arizona have turned into fierce campaign battlegrounds. Biden signaled his confidence in a tweet on Oct. 19, telling his supporters “let’s finish strong” while Trump publicly mused about the likelihood of his defeat at a campaign rally just days earlier.

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UNM’s Project ECHO gets $237 million in federal funding

Gino Gutierrez | October 22

Project ECHO, the University of New Mexico School of Medicine’s tele-mentoring initiative for medical providers, has been awarded $237 million dollars in federal funding. An award of this size is unprecedented. In comparison, all of the Health Sciences Center’s awards for the 2020 fiscal year totaled $202 million, according to Mark Rudi, an HSC spokesperson. The program is designed to provide “remote-infection control training and technical assistance,” according to a press release from the UNM Health Sciences Newsroom.

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GPSA announces support for graduate worker union

Bella Davis | October 21

University of New Mexico graduate student workers are organizing a union called United Graduate Workers of UNM, with the support of UNM Graduate and Professional Student Association (GPSA), as was announced to all graduate students via email on Monday. Pay, benefits and working conditions, all of which would presumably be the focus of union contract negotiations, “are of material importance to the ability of our graduate and professional students to access a high-quality education, maintain good standing in their graduate programs and complete their degrees in a reasonable timeframe,” the GPSA email said.