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Sandia Labs employee rails against critical race theory in lab-wide email

Bella Davis | September 6

Sandia National Laboratories employee Casey Petersen sent out a lab-wide email on Aug. 25 that contained a self-made YouTube video titled “Pushing Back on the Narrative of Modern Systemic Racism & White Privilege.” In the two weeks since the racist video was sent out, Petersen has drawn support from conservative commentators while Sandia Labs leadership have yet to publicly condemn the video. In the hour-long diatribe, Petersen makes a series of claims that anti-racism training doesn’t belong in the workplace and that systemic racism isn’t a major problem in the modern-day United States, among others.

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Students call for firing of UNMPD officer over racist TikTok video

Bella Davis | September 4

Update: UNMPD officer Eric Peer has been placed on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the University’s investigation but no final decision has been made, according to University communications officer Cinnamon Blair. Meanwhile, a petition calling for Peer to be fired has gained more than 100 signatures since being created Friday morning. In a now-deleted TikTok video, University of New Mexico Police Department officer Eric Peer recorded a man tiling a floor with a voiceover of Cartman from South Park saying “scanning for Mexicans” edited in. The video circulated on Twitter Thursday night, with some students calling for Peer to be fired. “I think the cop absolutely needs to be fired. There’s no justification to keep him on whatsoever,” Associated Students of the University of New Mexico President Pro Tempore Suha Musa told the Daily Lobo.

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Black Student Union condemns Brian Urlacher post on Jacob Blake shooting

Gino Gutierrez | September 4

On Aug. 27, perhaps the most famous football player ever to wear the cherry and silver uniform of the University of New Mexico posted an incendiary screed on Instagram denigrating NBA players’ brief strike of playoff games in protest of police brutality and structural racism. The players’ boycott was in response to the police shooting of 29-year-old Jacob Blake, a Black man, in Kenosha, Wisconsin on Aug. 23. Blake is paralyzed from the waist down, according to his lawyer, and remains hospitalized as of the publication of this article. UNM’s Black Student Union (BSU) followed with a strongly worded statement, released on social media on Sept. 2, rebuking what they said was Urlacher’s “horrific” interpretation of the events leading up to the near-fatal police shooting of Blake.

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Medical examiner says no CTE in Flowers autopsy

Hevyn Heckes | August 30

Editor’s note: This article contains discussion of suicide. If you’re feeling suicidal, you are not alone. Please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 or UNM’s Student Health and Counseling at 505-277-3136. On Aug. 25, famed attorney Ben Crump announced a wrongful death lawsuit regarding the November 2019 death of former University of New Mexico football player Nahje Flowers. The suit alleges that Flowers suffered from untreated and/or undiagnosed chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) — a neurological disorder common in athletes who participate in contact sports such as boxing or football — due to repeated head trauma during the course of play in his capacity as a defensive lineman for the Lobos.

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As mass eviction prospect looms, Albuquerque protest calls for rent, mortgage cancellation

William Bowen | August 30

DOWNTOWN — As the coronavirus pandemic continues to rage across the nation, the United States is staring down the barrel of another crisis: a wave of evictions and foreclosures. Almost half of New Mexicans have experienced a loss of employment income since the pandemic began, according to Census Bureau ...

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COVID-19 campus testing available as UNM gears up for outbreaks

Lissa Knudsen | August 28

As student newspapers across the nation push back on administrators and media accounts that are framing party-going students as responsible parties for university COVID-19 clusters and outbreaks, the University of New Mexico’s Student Health and Counseling (SHAC) is busy gearing up its diagnostic testing capacity. UNM opened up a mobile testing site in UNM’s C Lot — located at the corner of Las Lomas Road and Redondo Drive – earlier this week. With the prospect of imminent outbreaks and clusters like those seen at universities across the country, UNM is putting plans in place to stem a potential tide of cases that could arise from continuing in-person classes.

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Prominent civil rights attorney files wrongful death lawsuit on behalf of Nahje Flowers’ estate

Hevyn Heckes | August 26

On Tuesday, famed attorney Ben Crump announced a wrongful death lawsuit regarding the November 2019 death of former University of New Mexico football player Nahje Flowers. Crump’s firm has represented such high profile cases as Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown and the children from the Flint water crisis. The defendants are the NCAA, former head football coach Bob Davie and the UNM Board of Regents. The complaint alleges that the defendants were negligent in the case of Flowers’ suicide and that the NCAA was negligent in cases of other premature deaths of student athletes under their supervision.

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Faculty union, administration agree to pandemic guidelines

Gabriel Biadora | August 23

UA-UNM and the administration reached the agreement just as numerous colleges and universities across the United States have been plagued by coronavirus outbreaks forcing them to shift to online instruction only. Schools like the University of Notre Dame and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have reverted to online classes following a growing outbreak and clusters of infections, respectively, according to the New York TImes. Other universities, like Smith College in Massachusetts, announced plans for an entirely online 2020 earlier this month prior to the school year. Several have opted for a delay in the semester, like Winthrop University and the University of California, Merced.

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UNM town hall addresses ‘gross,’ controversial Title IX changes

Bella Davis | August 23

The U.S. Department of Education announced a series of controversial changes to Title IX — a civil rights law prohibiting sex discrimination at federally funded educational institutions — a little over three months ago. Under the new regulations, colleges are now required to hold live hearings in sexual assault and harrassment cases and must allow for cross-examination. The University of New Mexico hosted a virtual town hall on Friday that addressed those regulations — among other new, contentious requirements — and how UNM is responding. Hosted by Angela Catena, UNM’s Title IX coordinator with the Office of Equal Opportunity (OEO), Friday’s town hall featured one faculty member and three advocacy center staff members who emphasized that the new regulations will not affect the services and support they provide students.

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Militia member arrested, charged with witness intimidation as Baca trial advances

Bella Davis | August 21

A member of a far-right militia has been arrested and charged with witness intimidation after showing up armed with a handgun to the home of a witness connected to the June 15 Juan de Oñate statue shooting trial. The Daily Lobo previously reported that an armed man identifying himself as a Three Percenter — a national far-right militia active in New Mexico — showed up at the home of a witness in the case against shooter and former City Council candidate Steven Baca. 34-year-old Daniel Carr has since been charged with intimidation of a witness. A criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan Court detailed the incident that happened last Friday.

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Armed man shows up at the home of a witness in Oñate statue protest shooting case

Bella Davis | August 17

During Steven Baca’s preliminary trial on Friday, an armed man reportedly identifying himself as a Three Percenter — a national far-right militia with a New Mexico chapter— showed up at the home of a witness in the case. Baca is being charged with two counts of aggravated battery, battery and unlawful carrying of a deadly weapon for his actions at a protest on June 15, during which Baca was seen attacking multiple women before shooting and injuring protester Scott Williams. Shortly after the witness testified, the man “showed up at the witness’ home with a handgun, asking for them by name and if they were ‘antifa’,” according to activist and UNM American Studies faculty member Nick Estes, who is in contact with the witness and reviewed a video of the incident, which has not yet been made public.

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Musa elevated to ASUNM third in command

Kyalynn Moore-Wilson | August 17

The Associated Students of the University of New Mexico Senate came together for its first full meeting to elect Suha Musa president pro tempore on Saturday, Aug. 15 in an otherwise uneventful session. Musa is a sophomore majoring in international studies and was a co-sponsor of the ASUNM Black Lives Matter resolution that was passed over the summer. According to the ASUNM Constitution, “a president pro tempore shall be elected from the membership of the Senate by plurality. The president pro tempore of the Senate shall preside over the Senate in the absence of the vice-president.”

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35 people test positive for COVID-19 as fall term commences

Cameron Ward | August 17

As the infectious spread of the coronavirus multiplies locally and around the country, many students are wondering how the pandemic will impact the University of New Mexico community during the 2020-21 academic year. With students, faculty and staff beginning the slow, deliberate process of returning to campus on Aug. 17, the University disclosed to the Daily Lobo that 35 people with ties to UNM’s main Albuquerque campus have tested positive for COVID-19. Two students, one faculty member and 11 staff members from UNM’s main campus have self-reported that they have tested positive for COVID-19, according to University spokesperson Cinnamon Blair.

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Protesters decry APD killing of longtime UNM-area bartender Ken Reiss

Bella Davis | August 17

Protesters marched through the University area Saturday night in part as a response to the Albuquerque Police Department’s killing of 50-year-old Ken Reiss, a beloved community member who was fatally shot by police last week. Family members, friends and patrons of Carraro’s and Joe’s Place — a local dive bar that Reiss co-owned — have since challenged the APD account of the shooting. Early on Aug. 11, Reiss called the police to report multiple people breaking into his home. The department has alleged that when police arrived on scene Reiss shot at the responding officers before they fired back, but those closest to him have disputed that claim.

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Student sit-in protests tuition increase outside Stokes’ house

Spencer Butler and Kyalynn Moore-Wilson | August 17

Around 50 people came to the University House northeast of the duck pond — the residence of University of New Mexico President Garnett Stokes — to protest the rise in tuition costs on Thursday, Aug. 13. UNM undergraduate student and protest co-organizer Ava Yelton created a petition last month calling on the Board of Regents to reverse the tuition increase for the 2020-21 school year. The rationale behind the calls against the tuition rise is the increasing financial hardships and perceived diminished quality of online instruction wrought by the pandemic.

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University Libraries remains closed to public, students due to pandemic

Megan Gleason | August 17

Students at the University of New Mexico will have to find new study spaces at the start of the semester due to the delay in the opening of University Libraries (UL). UL pushed back its originally-planned opening on Aug. 10 to an anticipated opening on Aug. 17 to no date for a public opening at all. Instead, UL is following a two-stage opening plan, according to Associate Dean of Public Services Mark Emmons. This includes the Zimmerman Library, Centennial Science and Engineering Library and Fine Arts and Design Library. “What we’re trying to avoid is having too large of a viral load in our building,” Emmons said.

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UNM funds pandemic substance use disorder research projects

Megan Gleason and Liberty Stalnaker | August 12

Only 10% of people in the United States that need substance use disorder treatment are actually getting it, according to Dr. Laura Brown, a clinical assistant professor in psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the University of New Mexico. One of the University’s Grand Challenges initiatives, which launched in the spring of 2019 as a tripartite research project, has now been partially redirected from its original mission to boost that treatment number to studying the effects of the coronavirus pandemic on substance use disorders. The Substance Use Disorders Grand Challenge team, led by Katie Witkiewitz and Brandi Fink, recently allocated funding for four pilot research projects examining the impact of the pandemic and stay-at-home orders on substance use patterns and mental health.

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Mountain West to indefinitely postpone fall sports

Spencer Butler | August 10

Multiple reports have come in that the Mountain West Conference will suspend its fall 2020 sports season and will instead attempt to resume in the spring. The extraordinary move comes after weeks of speculation and concerns that moving forward with collegiate athletic events would exacerbate the coronavirus pandemic currently wracking the country. According to 247Sports, league presidents have decided to cancel the 2020 season due to player safety concerts and health concerns. “"I fully understand the impact of this outcome on our student-athletes, coaches, administrators and staff who work so hard daily to play the sports we all love, and I share in their disappointment,” Mountain West commissioner Craig Thompson said in a statement. “We will continue to navigate this pandemic together, overcome the obstacles and return to intercollegiate athletics at the earliest opportunity.

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UNM Law professors request delayed fall semester after two test positive for COVID-19

Genevieve Romero | August 10

A group of tenure track School of Law professors at the University of New Mexico have formally requested a delay in the start of the fall semester. According to a letter obtained by the Daily Lobo, law school faculty members Christine Zuni Cruz, Barbara Creel and Marc-Tizoc González sent a letter to UNM School of Law Dean Sergio Pareja on Aug. 5 urging him to push back the start of the semester until Sept. 8. The letter referenced that the law school has reported two positive cases of COVID-19 in the past few weeks. The first was announced on July 24 and the second on Aug. 4, according to the letter.

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New Mexico’s new voter registration numbers plunge

Spencer Butler | August 10

Amidst national concerns over the safety and security of the November elections in a nation still ravaged by the coronavirus pandemic, low numbers of new voter registrations have voting rights groups anxious about representation at the ballot box in an extraordinary election year. According to the civic engagement advocacy organization Civics Center, New Mexico has seen a precipitous 79.5% decline in new voter registrations in April 2020 compared to four years prior. 8,021 individuals registered to vote in April of 2016, while only 1,644 people registered to vote during April of this year, according to the Civics Center.