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Local program works to help refugees resettle

Bella Davis | June 3

As they waited and waited at a bus stop on a Sunday five years ago, Mohammed Alkwaz and his sister didn’t understand why the bus was taking so long to arrive. A woman passing by told them the bus didn’t run on Sundays. Unable to get ahold of the few local contacts they had and with no other way to get home, they walked to a nearby motel and asked the receptionist to call them a taxi. Alkwaz came to Albuquerque from Iraq in 2012. He was one of nearly 60,000 refugees who resettled in the United States that year. He said the process of resettlement comes with many challenges — including language and cultural barriers. “It’s not easy to change your life. Outside of your home country, everything is different: the culture, the system, the language,” Alkwaz said. “Imagine you are going to change your whole life for you and your family. It’s so difficult because, for me, I have no choice.”

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In wake of student death, APD & UNMPD partner

Danielle Prokop | June 3

The man accused of killing Jackson Weller, 23, a University of New Mexico baseball player, pleaded not guilty in a court appearance on Friday, May 31. Police said Darian Bashir, 23, shot and killed Weller outside Imbibe — a bar in Nob Hill — in the early hours of Saturday, May 4. According to reports, police arrived on scene and found Weller, who had been shot once in the chest. Weller was later pronounced dead at the hospital. Police later told KRQE 13 that Weller had been in a fight before the shooting. Witnesses interviewed said Bashir wasn’t involved in the incident. Bashir will be detained until his trial.

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Scooter rentals come to ABQ, but not UNM

Justin Garcia | June 3

Shareable scooters have begun zipping around the University area in Albuquerque. But scooting around campus remains illegal. University of New Mexico spokesperson Daniel Jiron (cq) said that the Spin scooters, like all motorized scooters, are not allowed to be used on campus based on UNM policy 2260. Spin did not return the Daily Lobo’s request for comment on the matter. The scooters arrived after the Albuquerque City Council passed an ordinance creating regulations for the rentable scooters (also called e-scooters) in October, 2018. “We’re excited to have these new forms of transportation like scooter shares come to our great city, as long as they follow the rules we’ve established,” said City Councilor Pat Davis in a press release.

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Marketing students win advertising award

Justin Garcia | June 3

A marketing class at the University of New Mexico Anderson School of Management took home a first-place award in a competition to create the best advertising campaign. The class created the “Made You Look” campaign to promote the Acura ILX, a luxury sedan. The class’ campaign beat out around 20 schools and garnered over a million impressions on social media, according to one of the class’s instructors, John Bendavidiz. “We’ve been doing this forever, I think 14 years now we’ve been doing these competitions, and so I feel fairly confident in saying this is the best campaign any class has ever produced,” Bendavidiz said.

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Changing of the guard: Q&A with Richard Wood

Kyle Land | May 7

Richard Wood has been a sociology professor at the University of New Mexico since 2002. However, in the past couple of years that he has served in his biggest role yet — Interim Provost & Executive Vice President of Academic Affairs. During nearly one year in the position, Wood has faced a host of issues at UNM, including budget cuts, decreasing enrollment and struggling to retain faculty. He recently sat down with the Daily Lobo , just before his replacement, James Holloway, fills his position in July.

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UNM Baseball mourns Jackson Weller's death

Cameron Goeldner and Justin Garcia | May 6

“Jackson Weller was one of the classiest kids I’ve ever coached,” Lobo Baseball Head Coach Ray Birmingham said as he held back tears. “This was the first time in 42 years I’ve lost one of the players on my watch.” Birmingham, Athletics Director Eddie Nuñez and outfielder Brayden Merritt spoke with members of the media about Weller, who was shot and killed outside of a Nob Hill nightclub early Saturday morning. During the press conference, Birmingham and Merritt reflected on how Weller came to play for the Lobos and what he meant to the team, despite never throwing a pitch in a series game.

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Three Protests, Two days, One Union

The Daily Lobo Editorial Board | May 6

Last week there were three unrelated demonstrations at the University of New Mexico — each one larger than the last. On Tuesday, the UNM faculty marched to Scholes Hall chanting and using an airhorn. The march followed a meeting discussing the agreement between United Academics of UNM (UA-UNM) and the University to allow a vote on the existence of a faculty union. UNM President Garnett Stokes has promised to honor the outcome of the vote. The group of about 30 faculty dispersed after an hour. On Wednesday, graduate workers walked out in order to advocate for “living wages.” That protest swelled to around 200 people and lasted over two hours. On Friday, hundreds of Albuquerque students walked out of class to bring attention to human-caused climate change. This in conjunction with the worldwide movement, School Strike for Climate.

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Becka Myers says farewell to UNM

Justin Garcia | May 6

Few students will ever have the ability to impact the University of New Mexico like Becka Myers has. Myers has served as a coordinator, a senator, a chairwomen and, most recently, as the president of the Associated Students of UNM, undergraduate student government. While many students disregard ASUNM, which has been expressed multiple times by senators during meetings, all students are affected by their decisions. When administrators need student input on a decision, like raising tuition, they go to ASUNM. If they can, they go to Myers. Myers was born in Texas but sees Anchorage, Alaska as one of her homes. She went to South Anchorage High School, one of eight high schools in a city with a population of less than 300,000. “We got super excited when the Target opened,” Myers said. “We couldn’t get into Olive Garden for months.” Alaska was the

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UNM baseball player shot and killed

Cameron Goeldner | May 4

Jackson Weller, 23 years old and a University of New Mexico Baseball Player, is dead after a shooting outside Imbibe Nightclub in Nob Hill early Saturday morning. Weller was a transfer from Gateway Community College in Arizona. He had not yet appeared for the Lobos after joining the program in the fall of 2018 and was sitting out this season due to injury. He had plans to rejoin the program next fall, according to an Albuquerque Journal story.

School strike for climate marchers on Central Avenue.

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ABQ students walk out for climate action, participate in global movement

Andrew Gunn | May 4

The youth have spoken on climate change, and their message is clear: inaction will no longer be tolerated. Over 200 students from the Albuquerque area walked out of class on Friday afternoon and converged on Johnson Field in protest of governmental failures to address climate change. The student-led demonstration, in lockstep with a growing worldwide movement known as the School Strike for Climate, demanded elected officials and businesses face the reality of human-caused climate change and take steps to mitigate it. It was organized by Fight For Our Lives, a student-activist group formed in response to the Stoneman Douglas high school shooting in Parkland, Fla., in February of last year. The protest ended in a march from Johnson Field to the intersection of Central and Carlisle, where the junction was blocked for the better part of an hour.

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Graduates protest for higher wages

Justin Garcia | May 3

“Who are we? Graduate Workers! What do we want? A living wage!” That was one of several chants shouted by around 200 (mostly) graduate workers during a march and protest for higher wages on Wednesday.

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UNM, Union reach agreement (updated)

Kyle Land | April 30

The University of New Mexico and United Academics of UNM (UA-UNM), the proposed faculty union for the state’s flagship university, reached an agreement late Monday night, according to multiple sources close to the matter. The compromise reached between the University and the union includes two bargaining units organized under UA-UNM. One bargaining team will represent full-time faculty and a separate unit will represent part-time faculty, according to Associate Professor Matías Fontenla, a member of the union’s organizing committee. He also said faculty from branch campuses will be included in the full-time bargaining team — which was a sticking point in negotiations. Both Fontenla and James Montalbano, an attorney representing the union, said the exact language of the agreement would be publicized Tuesday morning, sometime before a meeting of the general faculty at Popejoy Hall at 10 a.m.

Undergraduate and graduate student tuition increases

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What students pay for tuition increase

Danielle Prokop and Justin Garcia | April 29

The cost of attendance at the University of New Mexico is going up. That much is clear. However, it’s not a simple student fee increase, base tuition increase or some additional fees; it’s all that and more.

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ABQ and UNM partner to help the homeless

Madison Spratto and Alanie Rael | April 29

When most people wake up for the day, their first stop is the bathroom where the usual necessities are at arm's reach: toilet paper, towels and a toothbrush. For people experiencing homelessness in Albuquerque, waking up and using a bathroom is a luxury most do not have. The homeless community that gathers in Coronado Park has limited access to any kind of restroom facilities. There is only a single, poorly managed, porta-potty that sits at the edge of the park.

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UNM to hold hearing on faculty union Monday

Kyle Land | April 29

The next chapter of the University of New Mexico faculty’s effort to form a union will take place on Monday, April 29. The UNM Labor Management Relations Board (LMRB) will hold a hearing on Monday. The three-person board which handles all UNM labor disputes are weighing the certification or rejection the faculty’s petition to unionize. The petition was signed by over 900 part-time and full-time faculty members. There is no guarantee the board will make a final decision on Monday. The meeting will begin at 9 a.m. at the Marriott Pyramid North Hotel. UNM spokesperson Cinnamon Blair said the hotel was selected because it is a neutral location.

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UNM announces new provost

Kyle Land | April 29

James Holloway was officially named the new provost for the University of New Mexico, according to an announcement made by the University last week. “Dr. Holloway is an inspired choice for UNM Provost and we are thrilled to welcome him and his family to Albuquerque and to the Lobo community,” said President Garnett Stokes in a written statement. Holloway previously served as Vice Provost for Global Engagement and Interdisciplinary Academic Affairs at the University of Michigan, and was selected for the position at UNM following a nearly six-month long search process.

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UNM licences Adobe Creative Cloud

Shayla Cunico | April 29

The University of New Mexico has announced the school secured a licensing agreement with Adobe Creative Cloud. The Budget Leadership Team had a plan approved by the Board of Regents last week. The plan includes a $50 technology fee for both undergraduate and graduate students to pay for the agreement.

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President Stokes discusses budget

Anthony Jackson | April 29

Unions, salaries, tuition, campus safety and ethics were all topics University of New Mexico President Garnett Stokes discussed at a presentation on Friday, April 26. Stokes was joined by a panel of five people on her left: Dorothy Anderson vice president of human resources; Craig White, interim senior vice president of the Anderson School of Management; Mike Richards, vice chancellor for clinical affairs; Scott Sander, deputy counsel for health sciences; Rich Wood, interim provost and executive vice president for academic affairs.

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ASUNM cuts Daily Lobo ad requirement

Justin Garcia | April 25

The Associated Students of the University of New Mexico Senate voted to remove a requirement to advertise in the New Mexico Daily Lobo. The bill removed ASUNM from a self-imposed obligation to advertise elections, scholarships and workshops in UNM’s independent, student-run newspaper. Much of the 30-minute conversation centered around how ads placed in the Daily Lobo were affecting voter turnout. Over the last two ASUNM Senate elections, the Daily Lobo has consistently reported historically low rates of voter turnout. Both Senate elections saw a turnout of 6 percent of the undergraduate student body. The bill was sponsored by Vice President-elect Madelyn Lucas, who said that the purpose of the bill was to give agency directors more flexibility in how and where they advertise. Lucas also suggested that advertising online could take the place of advertising in the Daily Lobo.

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GPSA court dismisses complaint against Pres. Elect

Justin Garcia | April 25

A complaint filed against President-elect Muhammad Afzaal was dismissed on Monday, clearing the way for his certification as President of the Graduate and Professional Student Association. The Graduate and Professional Student Association's Court of Review voted 2 to 1 to dismiss the complaint. The complaint accused Afzaal of campaigning too close to a polling station and pressuring students to vote for him. “The court finds that the complaint is not valid because the governing Article, cited by the Plaintiff, is not applicable because the allegations do not involve a physical polling location,” Chief Justice Simon Suzuki said.