News - The Daily Lobo

News

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.

News

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.

News

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.

News

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.”

News

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.

News

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.

News

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.

News

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.

News

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.

News

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.

News

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.

News

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.

News

UNM reconsiders buildings named after violent conquistadors

Gabriel Saiz | August 10

Four University of New Mexico buildings, built and named over two mid-century decades, still bear the names of conquistadors: Coronado Hall, Alvarado Hall, Oñate Hall, and DeVargas Hall. Now, UNM is taking the first step in a long procedural process toward addressing campus buildings named after contentious historical figures, according to UNM spokesperson Cinnamon Blair. The UNM Committee on Naming has been reviewing whether current University policy allows buildings to be renamed or if new provisions must be written to do so, Blair — a member of the committee — said on Wednesday. Current UNM policy covers naming new buildings but lacks a specific provision on their renaming.

News

Community members protest police presence in Albuquerque Public Schools

Genevieve Romero | August 10

Nearly 150 young people, students, teachers and community members demanded Albuquerque Public Schools (APS) defund its police department during a protest outside of APS headquarters on Saturday evening. Organizers said police departments in school systems contribute to the criminalization of Black and Brown communities and aggravate the school-to-prison pipeline. “We are out here to demand the defunding and abolishment of the APS Police Department,” Fight For Our Lives organizer and leader Zoey Craft said. Monica Armenta, a spokesperson with the APS superintendent’s office, said Albuquerque Public Schools “understands many of (our) students and their families experience public education through a lens not always understood by all, and (they) will continue to do what they can to eradicate racism where it exists” in a statement to the Daily Lobo.

News

Police response, news coverage of incident with New Mexico Civil Guard at Filling Philly’s biased, protesters say

Bella Davis | August 7

About fifty protesters — including families with children and moms in yellow vests — gathered downtown in front of Filling Philly’s, a cheesesteak shop on Central Avenue and Third Street, on Thursday afternoon to decry an incident that happened there Sunday night. As a Black Lives Matter protest came to a close at around 8:30 p.m. on Aug. 2, Black New Mexico Movement organizer Te Barry walked a few protesters to their cars. They’d heard that the New Mexico Civil Guard (NMCG) — a local militia founded by Bryce Spangler Provance, a man who has a swastika tattoo and a documented leadership role in a neo-Confederate organization — was in the area but didn’t know precisely where.

News

UNM neglect reason for Student Family Housing closure, students say

Megan Gleason | August 3

Residence Life and Student Housing announced in late June that the Student Family Housing (SFH) complex near south campus would shut down in May 2021 due to insurmountable renovation costs, giving residents time to pack their belongings and find a new place to live. However, some residents are questioning the University of New Mexico administration’s stated reason why SFH is closing. A number of Student Family Housing tenants claim that UNM has been a negligent landlord and treated the SFH complex differently than other potential — and completed — construction projects on campus.

News

Expansion of ‘Operation Legend’ into Albuquerque prompts hundreds to protest downtown

Liberty Stalnaker | August 3

As the work day came to a close on July 31, Albuquerque’s courthouse district resembled a ghost town. Roads were barricaded for blocks in each direction, and the air felt still in the absence of the usual motorized vehicle traffic. But by 6 p.m., hundreds had assembled at the intersection of Fourth Street and Lomas Boulevard chanting, burning herbs and readying shields. The assembled protesters shouted that they were rallying against the influx of federal agents into Albuquerque.

News

Update: Trump announces Operation Legend is being expanded to Albuquerque

Bella Davis | July 22

President Trump announced Wednesday afternoon that under Operation Legend — an initiative launched in Kansas City, Missouri earlier this month — dozens of federal officers will soon come to Albuquerque, as well as Chicago. Reports emerged Tuesday that this move by Trump was likely, as reported in the Daily Lobo. “Under Operation Legend we will soon send federal law enforcement to other cities that need help,” Trump said. “Other cities need help, they need it badly. They should call, they should want it. They’re too proud or they’re too political to do that. One of them is Albuquerque, New Mexico.”

News

Unhoused people in downtown Albuquerque in need of water, PPE and a safe place to sleep

Beatrice Nisoli | July 22

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has cost countless Albuquerque residents their employment and disproportionately affected the existing unhoused population, leaving them scrambling for life-saving resources. As of 2019, homelessness in Albuquerque has nearly quadrupled, launching from 144 to at least 567 people, according to an assessment the Urban Institute released in May. A recent New Mexico Coalition To End Homelessness survey puts the numbers even higher at 1,524 unhoused people in Albuquerque alone. These findings do not account for the pandemic’s impact on housing and employment instability. According to a fact sheet from New Mexico Voices for Children, between the months of March and May, 134,513 New Mexicans filed for Unemployment Insurance (UI) benefits -- which aim to combat homelessness — out of a workforce of 835,800. UI claims show a dramatic increase of 2,272% since the pandemic began.

News

Trump considers sending federal officers to Albuquerque

Bella Davis | July 21

As federal law enforcement agents continue to brutalize and detain Portland, Oregon protesters, President Donald Trump is reportedly planning to send federal officers to other Democrat-controlled cities, saying officers have done a “great job” in Portland. On the list is Chicago, with Kansas City, Missouri and Albuquerque possibly next. Federal officers have been detaining protesters in Portland for at least a week, as reported by Oregon Public Broadcasting. Protesters have described officers dressed in camo pulling up in unmarked cars and detaining people with no explanation.