News - The Daily Lobo

Elisa Davidson, speaks before the Associated Students of the University of New Mexico to gather support for her Title IX resolution.

News

ASUNM denounces proposed Title IX changes

Danielle Prokop | November 29

The Associated Students of the University of New Mexico Senate unanimously denounced new Title IX recommendations made by the federal government Wednesday night — recommendations most of them didn’t even read. Resolution 15F was a condemnation by ASUNM senators of the recently released Title IX recommendations by the Department of Education. It also called upon President Stokes and the Board of Regents to release separate statements in opposition of the recommendations. Finally, it encouraged UNM students to participate in the 60-day comment period on policy and practices. Rather than the student government, the resolution was authored by nursing student Elisa Davidson. Sponsoring senators included Senators Selina Montoya, Rachel Montoya and Mohammed Assed. Davidson, a sophomore, also works at the Women’s Resource Center — one of two confidential reporting sites on campus.

Associated Students of the University of New Mexico at their last meeting for the Fall 2018 semester.

News

ASUNM doles out last appropriations of semester

Anthony Jackson | November 29

The Associated Students of the University of New Mexico convened for their final meeting of the Fall 2018 semester on Wednesday. The meeting was business as usual for UNM student senators and leaders, which resulted in six appropriations that were passed. Of the roughly $9,120 requested in appropriations, ASUNM voted to grant at least 56 percent of all requested funds.

Larry Plumlee unpacks books at the University of New Mexico Press.

News

UNM Press donates books to troops

Alyssa Bitsie | November 29

University of New Mexico Press has donated over 400 pounds of books to Operation Gratitude for American troops who are away from home this holiday season. Operation Gratitude is a non-profit organization that assembles and sends care packages to troops who are deployed overseas. The non-profit organization has been in operation since 2003.The care packages are also sent to military children, first-responders, veterans, new recruits, wounded-heroes and their caregivers, according to Operation Gratitude’s website. Each care package contains snacks, hygiene products, entertainment and handmade items, as well as personal support, in the form of cards or letters.

A student serves herself hot chocolate and biscochitos during the Hot Chocolate and Gratitude event on Tuesday, Nov. 27.

News

Med students raise donations for the needy

Anthony Jackson | November 29

School of Medicine students and staff at the University of New Mexico North Campus celebrated Giving Tuesday with hot chocolate and a chance to donate. The event, Hot Chocolate and Gratitude, hosted donation bins for Roadrunner Foodbank, South Valley Clinic, homeless shelters and a bin for Hoodies for Humanism. Erika Anderson, the program coordinator for the School of Medicine, said the new tradition at UNM is focusing on improving people’s lives with the little things.

Photo of Betsy DeVos is courtesy of her Twitter feed @BetsyDeVosED.

News

Title IX changes muddy the waters at UNM

Danielle Prokop | November 26

The U.S. Department of Education released new Title IX guidelines last Friday, and it’s unclear how the standards might affect colleges around the country, including the University of New Mexico. Due to the agreement brokered with the Department of Justice in 2016, UNM might have different standards than other schools regarding sexual harassment and sexual assault investigation and procedures. The agreement with DOJ mandated that UNM implement training, revise University policy on reporting to better resolve sexual harassment and sexual assault allegations, eliminate the hostile environment and ensure Title IX state are adequately trained. UNM still has to provide reports until 2020.

News

Accreditation review to focus on Athletics Department

Kyle Land | November 26

The University of New Mexico is facing an accreditation check next year, and will have to reconcile with past choices made by its most controversial department — athletics. The Higher Learning Commission (HLC), which grants accreditation to post-secondary institutions across 19 states, will be going through the process of reevaluating UNM’s accreditation. Accreditation, along with securing federal funding, ensures that universities are meeting certain standards of curriculum and services. In other words, it’s what makes a degree worth something in the real world. In an interview with the Daily Lobo, Interim Provost Richard Wood highlighted areas the HLC will be looking at next semester, including advisement, state governance and budgetary issues at the UNM Athletics Department.

Mudcracks cover dry areas in the Bosque.

News

Climate Change: Southwest becoming dangerously dry

Danielle Prokop and Justin Garcia | November 26

This is the first in a series for the Daily Lobo about the fourth executive summary report on climate change and its effects on the lives of people of the United States. The focus for these articles will be limited to the Southwest. Water, food and human health are becoming less secure in the Southwest as the slow-burning effects of climate change continues to warm the area, and exacerbate drought conditions according to The Fourth National Climate Assessment. The report recommended that if significant steps were not taken, the American economy could be reduced by up to ten percent by the end of the twenty-first century. The NCA surveyed academic articles, news stories across the U.S. and broke their analysis into geographic regions.

Masks y Mas in Nob Hill during Small Business Saturday.

News

Small Business Saturday helps out local shops

Justin Garcia | November 26

It’s a brisk morning in Albuquerque’s Nob Hill. The cold autumn wind is settling in just as dozens of small, locally-owned businesses get set to open for day two — Small Business Saturday — of Thanksgiving weekend. Since 2009, American Express has marketed the day after Black Friday as Small Business Saturday. During the five-day weekend, the National Retail Federation (NRF) estimated that 164 million Americans planned to shop. The NRF survey predicted that about 67 million Americans were planning to shop on Saturday, compared to 116 million on Black Friday. “It’s kind of an urban legend or a myth almost,” said Edward Tomaselli, a manager at Mask y Mas in Nob Hill. “People just come out instinctively.” Masks y Mas has been a Nob Hill staple for 15 years. He said during the Black Friday weekend, his shop sees a 10 percent increase in sales.

A UNMPD officer stands behind a police cruiser on Sept. 23, 2015.

News

Crime Briefs for Nov. 26, 2018

Elizabeth Sanchez | November 26

Indecent exposure at Popejoy Hall According to a report by the University of New Mexico Police Department on the afternoon of Nov.

Families wander around the Albuquerque Civic Plaza and look at the Christmas decorations on the afternoon of Nov. 25, 2018.

News

ABQ kicks off Christmas season with Winterfest

Alyssa Bitsie | November 26

Burqueños kicked off the holiday season this year with the fourth-annual Winterfest at Civic Plaza in Downtown Albuquerque on Nov. 24. The free, family-friendly event was filled with local vendors for everyone’s holiday shopping needs, comfort food and holiday treats. Winterfest took place the same day as Small Business Saturday. Small Business Saturday is a day when the state suspends collections of gross receipt tax on qualifying items at certain small businesses with 10 employees or less, according to the New Mexico Taxation and Revenue website.

News

NM county debates mine construction

Anthony Jackson | November 19

The small town of Truth or Consequences, New Mexico still holds a part of its past. Its yucca strewn, sunbaked roads include names like Ore Street, Iron Street and Copper Street. Half a block from Radium Street, on Oct. 23 – 24, the New Mexico Minerals Division listened to some 35 area residents on whether to grant a mine operating permit to the New Mexico Copper Corporation (NMCC). The hearing is the last hurdle in NMCC’s pursuit to reopen a copper mine in Hillsboro, New Mexico, about 35 miles south of T or C. The hearing exposed divisions within the community — those who want to see economic opportunities in Sierra County and those who fear the mine will damage the environment.

News

Crime briefs for November 18, 2018

Elizabeth Sanchez | November 19

On Oct. 22, an officer was sent to the University of New Mexico Police Department Substation because someone reported an assault, according to a report. The officer spoke with a female and her 16-year-old student, who said he was walking to school around 9 a.m. when he began passing a roundabout north of Lomas Boulevard NE and Yale Boulevard NE. That was when a male driving a green pickup truck called the student a racial slur and spat — the saliva landed on the ground in front of the student. “The student reported the incident to his school’s head administrator (who) then escorted the student to the UNM Police Substation to report the incident,” the report states. The student completed a written statement.

News

Stokes announces new research program

Alyssa Bitsie | November 19

University of New Mexico’s President Garnett Stokes launched the Grand Challenges Initiative in the Student Union Building on Wednesday Nov. 14. Stokes, along with other speakers of the Grand Challenges Initiative, addressed what UNM is doing to foster a more dynamic economy. Grand Challenges are problems of global, national and regional significance that require researchers to work together across disciplinary boundaries to develop and implement solutions, according to UNM’s Grand Challenges website.

Regent Bradley C. Hosmer speaks to attendees of the Tuesday afternoon regent meeting that was held in the SUB Ballroom on March 22, 2016.

News

UNM regent rebukes statements made by Clifford

Kyle Land | November 17

University of New Mexico Regent Thomas Clifford has drawn criticism for comments he made at the Board of Regents meeting on Thursday — including from his fellow regents. Regent Bradley Hosmer, who joined the Board in 2011, wrote a letter to the Albuquerque Journal in which he stated he does “not share Regent Clifford’s views on the UNM graduates.” As previously reported by the Daily Lobo, interim Provost Richard Wood was criticized by Clifford when he said that UNM has a six-year graduation rate of around 50 percent.

News

Staff enrolled as students get to sign-up early for classes

Justin Garcia | November 16

Staff enrolled as students through the University of New Mexico had the opportunity to sign-up for Spring 2019 classes early — some of which will be free to them. The Student Union Building Ballrooms A & B were bustling as representatives from various resource centers and organizations provided staff members with information about services and tuition remission on Monday.

Regent Michael Brasher listens during the Board of Regents meeting on Nov. 15, 2018.

News

Regents discuss UNM's enrollment woes

Andrew Gunn | November 15

The Board of Regents meeting Thursday morning was, for the most part, a business-as-usual session of the oversight body. However, the two and a half hour meeting was punctuated about halfway through by an animated debate on a theme from their previous gathering in October — the University of New Mexico’s unexpectedly large decline in student enrollment and corresponding nosedive in revenues from tuition and fees. The meeting began genially with a report from President Garnett Stokes outlining various initiatives undertaken by the University in recent weeks, most of which can be found in the President's Weekly Perspective. Stokes also announced progress in the search for the Senior Vice President of Finance and Administration position as well as future dates for her traveling office hours.

Daniel Stearns embraces Elijah Jaffe as their names are announced during the ASUNM Senate Election results meeting in the SUB on the evening of Nov. 14.

News

ASUNM: 10 senators elected with record low turnout

Justin Garcia | November 15

Nearly half of the 1,048 undergraduates who voted in this semester’s Associated Students of the University of New Mexico senate elections voted for the incumbents. Mohammad Assed and Madelyn Lucas both received over 500 votes in an election with a six percent turnout rate. That rate is the lowest since fall 2014, which saw a three percent turnout rate. This semester’s turnout was the second lowest in 14 semesters. “This election was a good reminder of how important it is to constantly be improving and working to include more students,” said ASUNM President Becka Myers in a statement after the election.

Construction workers at the Physics, Astronomy and Interdisciplinary Science construction site.

News

UNM construction plagued by copper thefts

Anthony Jackson | November 15

The University of New Mexico Physics, Astronomy and Interdisciplinary Science (PAíS) building is in its ninth month of construction, but has been dealing with an issue that plagues many parts of Albuquerque — copper theft. According to State of New Mexico Uniform Incident Reports obtained by the Daily Lobo through the Information of Public Records Act (IPRA), during the month of October officers from the UNM Police Department responded to two separate calls at the PAíS construction site. According to the reports, UNMPD officers responded to a commercial burglary call on Oct. 19 after a motion sensor alarm was activated.

News

GEO encourages study abroad programs with fair

Alyssa Bitsie | November 15

The University of New Mexico is continuing to host International Education Week (IEW) at various locations across campus and the Albuquerque area this week. Along with other institutions, organizations and businesses, IEW is a series of events meant to celebrate the benefits of international education and exchanges worldwide, according to the IEW website. IEW began on Nov. 12 and will conclude on Nov. 16. UNM’s Global Education Office (GEO) coordinated this week’s various events, and on Tuesday afternoon students were able to find information about study abroad opportunities and cultural exchanges in the Student Union Building Atrium.

Homeless man receives an orange from Nicole Mestas during the Random Acts of Kindness walk.

News

Researchers suggest change to ABQ homelessness program

Andrew Gunn | November 12

A Bernalillo County program designed to mitigate Albuquerque homelessness was recently the subject of a study done by the University of New Mexico’s Institute for Social Research. A report evaluating Community Connections Supporting Housing’s (CCSH) efficacy and progress since its creation in 2015 was released in June of this year. In 2017, the New Mexico Coalition to End Homelessness (NMCEH) counted 1,318 people in Albuquerque who reported experiencing homelessness on the night of Jan. 23. However, Albuquerque Public Schools estimates that at least 3,500 of its students are without a place to stay, and the City of Albuquerque puts the figure at more than 5,000 people on any given night.