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NM Supreme Court denies request for automatic mail-in primary

Andrew Gunn and Lissa Knudsen | April 14

The New Mexico Supreme Court on Tuesday unanimously ordered county clerks to mail absentee ballot applications to all registered voters for the upcoming primary elections, while also denying their request for an automatic mail-in election. The ruling, which followed nearly two-and-a-half hours of constitutional quarreling and a lack of debate over public health consequences, means voters will have to fill out an absentee ballot application, complete the ballot at home and mail it in.  Otherwise, voters will have to go against the advice of public health experts and Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham’s stay-at-home order to vote in person on June 2. Bernalillo County Clerk Linda Stover confirmed in a text with the Daily Lobo that county clerks will be sending applications to voters whose voter registration address is up to date and “everything else will remain the same — there will be early and election day voting,” Stover said.

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Pay and safety top UNM staff concerns

Bella Davis | April 13

On April 2, the University of New Mexico announced that its period of limited operations was extended to April 30 in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. With this extension comes new challenges for UNM staff.  One of the biggest changes that came as a result of the extension relates to staff pay.  Since the period of limited operations began, all employees have been sorted into three work tiers. Tier one employees are working physically on campus, tier two work remotely and tier three are on standby and available to report to work if needed.  Regular staff in all tiers will continue to be paid until April 30, per new guidelines sent out by UNM Human Resources. However, no decisions have been made past April 30, according to HR Strategic Support Manager Amber Bailey. 

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Zoombombing raises questions about OMA

Lissa Knudsen | April 11

On Friday afternoon, the Graduate and Professional Student Association (GPSA) at the University of New Mexico announced they would not host a live presidential candidate forum online due to concerns about “Zoombombing.” A week before, an undergraduate student government meeting was hit with a couple of zoombombs, including profane and racist language.  With public meetings transitioning to an online format as part of a far-reaching social distancing effort amidst the coronavirus pandemic, UNM and other public institutions have been forced to use video conferencing service platforms as a means to conduct the public’s business.

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Instructors adjust to teaching online

Amanda Britt | April 7

With classes officially starting online only this week, instructors across the University of New Mexico have felt pressure to make a smooth transition from tracking in-person to teaching remotely.  While some professors choose to teach only by posting lecture slides or YouTube videos to Blackboard Learn, others, like Melisa Garcia chose to incorporate Skype, a video web conferencing service, into her teaching. 

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Meeting to fast-track med students graduation canceled

Justin Garcia | April 7

A Board of Regents meeting that would have graduated medical students early was canceled Monday after a residency accreditation body issued new guidance on the matter.  The cancellation comes as some medical schools across the United States, but largely in the pandemic’s American epicenter of New York City, are graduating students ahead of schedule to bolster hospital ranks to handle surges of COVID-19 cases.  Health Sciences Center Public Information Officer Alex Sanchez said that some medical students at the University of New Mexico had expressed interest in early graduation as a means to assist the fight against the coronavirus last week. 

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Lobo Food Pantry sees increase in demand, decrease in donations

Megan Gleason | April 6

As cancellations and operational changes to staples persist as a response to the global pandemic, the University’s Lobo Food Pantry remains a hub for hungry Lobos. Olivia Torres Jojola, coordinator of the Lobo Food Pantry, said the Campus Lobo Food Pantry had 158 students attend in March — a vast difference from the 50 to 70 students it would typically average. This increase came as the novel coronavirus hit New Mexico in mid-March.   The LoboRESPECT Advocacy Center is hosting a weekly Campus Lobo Food Pantry pick-up service every Monday from 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. outside the University Advisement and Enrichment Center throughout UNM’s limited operations.  According to LoboRESPECT, pre-made bags are available for students to pick-up, whether they drive or walk and include non-perishable goods, toiletries, diapers, feminine hygiene products and more.

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New Mexico's COVID crisis, by the numbers

Joe Rull | April 6

Check this page for the Daily Lobo's updated testing and confirmed case data for the COVID-19 outbreak in New Mexico, thanks to the COVID Tracking Project. This page will be updated daily as more data is produced and reported.

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UNMH begins clinical trials for COVID-19 treatments

Justin Garcia | April 5

The University of New Mexico Hospital (UNMH) started one clinical trial and is preparing another to examine potential treatments for COVID-19, as deaths and cases swell across the world. A trial for hydroxychloroquine, a drug typically used to treat malaria and lupus, started last week, while an upcoming trial for remdesivir, an antiviral developed during the 2015 Ebola epidemic, is in the works.  Both trials are small parts of an unprecedented global research effort to find treatments and a vaccine.

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After veto, ASUNM Senate fails novel fee raise

Alyssa Martinez | April 5

Budget bills, Zoom bombs and the year-long fee raise debate sounded through the computers of student government leaders on the first of the month.  As the University grapples with the unprecedented changes brought by the coronavirus pandemic, the student government assembled on Zoom Wednesday night to debate the reinstatement of a fee raise, already voted down by the student body and vetoed by the student-body president.  The evening commenced with the Associated Students of the University of New Mexico’s President Adam Biederwolf announcing three major breakthroughs prompted by the pandemic. 

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Some college students excluded from stimulus checks

Liam Debonis and Alex McCausland | April 3

While many Americans wait eagerly for their $1200 stimulus check to come in the mail, some New Mexican college students have been left to fend for themselves.  In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the president of the United States signed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act into effect on March 27, authorizing $1200 payments to individual Americans, along with a number of corporate bailouts.  For 19 to 23-year-old full-time college students, however, their status as legal dependents or undocumented immigrants bars them from receiving stimulus checks, according to Business Insider.

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Dispatch: COVID cases, deaths continue to climb on Navajo Nation

Sharon Chischilly | April 3

GALLUP, N.M. — COVID-19 has gripped the Navajo Nation and given no sign of letting go as new cases and deaths continued to climb this week. As of the publication of this article, there are at least 241 cases of COVID-19 and eight deaths, according to the Navajo Nation Department of Health and Navajo Area Indian Health Service. In an effort to combat the spread of the disease, Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez and Vice President Myron Lizer have called on Navajo Nation citizens to social distance and stay home.

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New Student Orientation weighs options amid pandemic

Beatrice Nisoli | April 1

New Student Orientation (NSO) may join the increasing list of services being transferred online in response to COVID-19. NSO, which typically occurs during the summer, is a mandatory two to three-day orientation for incoming University of New Mexico students. The purpose of the orientation is to welcome students to the UNM community through a combination of team-building activities and sharing resources for succeeding in a University setting. An online orientation option had been available for specific student populations previous to the technological shifts brought by COVID-19. Since this is an already existing initiative, an exclusively online orientation format could quickly extend to every incoming student should the need arise.

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Student employees to receive pay through May 15

Alyssa Martinez | March 31

University of New Mexico student employees were just given a big promise.  University President Garnett Stokes announced in an email March 31 that student employees who meet eligibility requirements will be paid through the rest of the semester, regardless of whether or not they are actively working.  “Some of you may still be working while others may not,” the email read. “Regardless, please know that the University values you.”

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UNM gives $200 to eligible students for internet

Alyssa Martinez | March 31

As courses reconvene in an online landscape, select students at the University are being granted $200 scholarships to assist in their transition.  Associate Provost for Student Success Pamela Cheek said up to 400 students will be able to receive the Lobos Connect Mini-Scholarship, which aims to financially assist students who need reliable access to the internet.  “(The $200) amount is based on an assessment of how much it might cost to purchase a MiFi or to augment cell phone or internet services for a few months,” Cheek said. 

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UNM staff concerned about impact of COVID-19

Bella Davis | March 30

As president of the University of New Mexico Staff Council, Ryan Gregg regularly hears from many staff members. However, the coronavirus outbreak has generated the most comments and questions from staff since he began his term almost a year ago, Gregg said. "Staff are concerned about their families and the health of their loved ones. Staff are also concerned about the future of their jobs," Gregg said. Last week, more than 31,000 New Mexicans filed unemployment claims, according to the New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions. The week before that, a record 3.3 million Americans applied for unemployment, the Labor Department reported, as businesses across the country shut down in an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19.

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New Mexico county clerks to ask for mail-in elections

Lissa Knudsen | March 30

New Mexico county clerks are looking to coronavirus-proof the primary election by changing from a traditional in-person voting process to a vote-by-mail process. The Daily Lobo obtained a copy of a petition to the New Mexico Supreme Court that lists Keith Riddle — on behalf of all 33 of the county clerks — as the petitioner and New Mexico secretary of state Maggie Toulouse Oliver as the respondent. The county clerks will ask the Supreme Court to allow them to use the mail-in ballot procedures for special elections because of the health and safety risk that the COVID-19 pandemic presents, according to the petition drafted by Daniel Ivey-Soto, the attorney who represents the state's county clerks.

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UNM set to refund housing, meal plan in coming weeks

Amanda Britt | March 28

The University of New Mexico will refund over 1,110 students for their student housing and meal plans, after forcing them to vacate eight weeks early, according to Residence Life and Student Housing.  Four days before Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham issued a statewide “stay at home” order March 24, students were instructed through email to evacuate from their on-campus housing by that same day. As of March 28, Lujan Grisham said there were at least 208 cases of COVID-19 in New Mexico. 

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UNM’s COVID response blindsided some students away from campus

Alex McCausland | March 28

When Sophomore Indica Simpson first received the email about mandatory move-out, she called the Student Residence Center (SRC). She was told that, because she had renewed her lease for 2021, she could leave her items in her dorm. Simpson was at home in Nevada for spring break, visiting family. She was under the impression the break was only for a week. But on Friday, March 20, Coronado Hall Coordinator Johana Gourdin sent out an email stating that without an exception to stay, “residents (are) expected to have vacated (their) assigned space by Tuesday the 24th.”

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Professor Eleni Bastea remembered as passionate, adventurous

Makayla Grijalva | March 27

“How do you remember a scholar whose scholarship was memory?” That’s what School of Architecture and Planning (SA+P) Dean Mark Childs said in his opening remark for a memorial minute to honor Dr. Eleni Bastéa during the Faculty Senate Meeting on March 24.  Bastéa passed away on January 12 after a long battle with cancer. She is survived by her two sons and her husband, SA+P adjunct faculty member Marke Forte. 

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Dispatch: COVID-19 on the Navajo Nation

Sharon Chischilly | March 26

GALLUP, N.M. — The Navajo Nation awoke to a blanket of snow on March 19 as the third case of COVID-19, known as Diko Ntsaaígíí-Náhást'éíts'áadah in the Navajo language, emerged on the Navajo homeland. The three cases, a 40-year-old, 46-year-old and 62-year-old, shared one thing in common: they're all from the community of Chilchinbito, Arizona. Just days before the cases arose, Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez and Vice President Myron Lizer declared a public health state of emergency for the Navajo Nation due to the COVID-19 pandemic on Wednesday, March 11. As of the publication of this article, there were 69 positive COVID-19 cases within the Navajo Nation.