The hum of car wheels on the road can be heard over the whines and barks of dogs waiting to be adopted along the side of Academy Road North East on June 30. Volunteers from People’s Anti-Cruelty Association (PACA) - Albuquerque Animal Rescue — a nonprofit no-kill shelter — raised collapsable dog cages, preparing for the day.
Construction on Q Lot at the University of New Mexico main campus began on June 22 and is planned to continue repairs for the next three weeks. Located in between Indian School Road and Lomas Boulevard, students can expect to see changes that will extend the lifespan of the parking lot. Currently, UNM’s Parking and Transportation Services have issued crack sealing, pot hole repairs and the repainting of the parking stalls, according to Sarah Scott, UNM PATS marketing representative. During construction students can still use the lot, but are warned they may need to allot extra time to find a spot.
Editor’s Note: This article is part of a series of profiles on UNM alumnus who have started their own businesses. Follow the Daily Lobo for more articles in this series. It’d be easy to underestimate Caleb Cobos if you ran into him at a coffee shop or in a Fortnite server. But from the moment he begins to speak, the passion and intellect this University of New Mexico graduate possess becomes abundantly clear. Cobos is the 22-year-old owner and founder of Caleb Cobos Photography — his company specializes in the multifaceted challenge of wedding photography and portraits. By late June, he had shot or booked 44 weddings for 2018, which in the wedding picture business, is a lot.
Provost and Executive Vice President of Academic Affairs at the University of New Mexico, Chaouki Abdallah, has accepted an executive vice president of research (EVPR) position at Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, Ga. A press release from UNM on June 28 said Abdallah, a Georgia Tech alumnus with a master’s and doctorate degree in electrical engineering, “will direct Georgia Tech’s $824 million research program and be a part of the Institute’s four-member executive leadership team in his new position.”
The long dry spell across the state of New Mexico, and recent massive wildfires in the north of the state, have forced authorities in Bernalillo County to raise danger levels to stage-II in many areas and close most of the hiking trails and other picnicking areas in Mountainair, Sandia, Magdalena and Mount Taylor Ranger Districts. The stage-II of danger level, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture, is when “fires start from most causes and spread rapidly”. Donna Nemeth, the Cibola National Forest and National Grasslands public affairs officer, said “all hiking trails are closed except for 365-Foothills Trail and Tijeras Pueblo Administrative Site trail.”
Beer is more popular than ever in the United States. Here in Albuquerque, many breweries have been trying to cash in on the recent trends. This has inspired the University of New Mexico’s neighbor, Central New Mexico Community College, to offer students an education in brewing and beverage management. The Brewing and Beverage Management associate degree program at CNM was designed to help residents get in the brewing trade, and possibly start their own business. The program is spread out over is two-terms — one term focuses exclusively on beer brewing, the other focuses on restaurant management, and other beverages such as wine.
Chaouki Abdallah, the current provost at the University of New Mexico, has recently been selected as a finalist for the position of Vice President of Research at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Abdallah has held the provost position over the past 7 years, taking brief break to be interim president of UNM. “The Provost is responsible for everything academic on the Main Campus and the branches, and in some ways collaborating with the Health Sciences, especially at the undergraduate level,” Abdallah said. “All the colleges, student services and faculty ultimately go through the provost to the president.”
A doctor at the University of New Mexico is researching a degenerative memory disease that affects millions with the help of a $150,000 research grant this June during Alzheimer’s and Brain Awareness month. Dr. Benjamin Clark is an assistant professor in UNM’s psychology department. He is using a grant from the Alzheimer’s Association to understand how head direction cells — a type of neuron in the hippocampus that facilitates navigation — are affected by Alzheimer’s disease.
A typical day shift for University of New Mexico Police Department Officer Patrick Burk starts at 6 a.m. On June 18 at 6:34 a.m., his first emergency call of the day crackled over radio dispatch — a near-drowning at Johnson Gym Pool. Red and blue lights flashed on top of a wailing white SUV as Burk hastily travelled east on Lomas Boulevard. Less than four minutes after the call, Burk joined two other UNMPD officers on the scene
Air Force Research Laboratories (AFRL) granted $6.7 million to University of New Mexico sectors for STEM research, with a focus on the development of spacecraft technologies and commercial applications from the research. Matthew Fetrow, the director of AFRL tech management, said that the money is part of a five year grant to improve community outreach to STEM fields, increase economic and workforce development and connect AFRL technologies with students. The principle UNM educator working with AFRL is electrical and computer engineer professor, Rafael Fierro. He said the lab facility for the research is “populated with robots, computers and 3D printers.”
Starting Fall 2018, printing pods at the University of New Mexico Main Campus, School of Law and Health Sciences Center will be replaced by WĒPA printing kiosks, bringing with them the end of the student printing credit. UNM Information Technologies, along with University Libraries, Graduate and Professional Student Association and Associated Students of UNM, made the decision to cut and replace the service.
The University of New Mexico has a number of unique departments, but for 40 years the College of Pharmacy has had a life saving department, the New Mexico Poison and Drug Information Center (NMPDIC). For 24 hours a day, seven days a week, operators at the NMPDIC receive calls from across New Mexico and provide treatment advice regarding poisonings, drug inquiries and more.
Few issues divide our nation quite as much as immigration. Nearly every period of American history was accompanied by a wave of migrants, traveling from some far off land in search of new opportunities and a greater quality of life. Whether from China, Ireland or Japan, in each of these periods immigrants have often been the subject of xenophobic acts and legislation.
Editor, In early June, Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission ("the gay wedding cake case") soaked up most of the Supreme Court decision media limelight, even though (or perhaps because) the court's ruling doesn't really dispose of the major issues in the case. Another case, also not decided on its merits, got much less attention. But that case reveals conflicting priorities in, and signals from, the Trump administration.
During the Fall 2018 semester Professor Luis Campos at the University of New Mexico will be teaching an undergraduate class on queer history. Campos has been teaching the class to undergraduate and graduate students since the Fall 2017 semester. While the history department offers courses that discuss the history of sex and sexuality, Campos said he believes one can look at this concept from a myriad of angles.
Let’s get one thing straight: I’m gay and I don’t like cake. This simple pastry, though, has come to symbolize the fight for full and complete LGBTQ equality in recent years. Just a few days ago, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 7-2 in favor of a baker who refused to bake a wedding cake for a same-sex couple in Colorado in 2012, with an incredibly vague opinion that does little to help defenders of LGBTQ rights or religious liberties.
The 2018 Trans March, hosted by the Transgender Resource Center of New Mexico, took place on Thursday, June 7. The event was organized in part by the University of New Mexico LGBTQ Resource Center. The event began at the Resource Center with food and a meet and greet, and then a number of speakers took to a microphone to speak to their experiences. A crowd of energetic, diverse participants watched as various speakers relayed stories of mistreatment, oppression and violence.
This year, four people were recognized as 2018 New Mexico Pride Title Holders. According to the Albuquerque Pride website, recipients must register and win their pageant, as well as engage communities in a year long project to “educate, and bring awareness” to LGBTQ culture and issues, to become a Title Holder. Chris Salas, also known as Topher Daniels, is a University of New Mexico alumnus, and holds the Mr. New Mexico Pride 2018 title.
In early December of last year, I kissed a girl for the first time. It felt, among all the usual things associated with a kiss, as wholly natural as my first kiss with a guy years ago. I had been dimly aware that I was not straight, but attracted to both sexes since my years in Catholic high school — it wasn’t until college that I consciously acknowledged it. By this time, I felt ready to tell my family, and from there, others. I remember thinking Christmas might be a good time.
With youths aged 13 to 24 making up 21 percent of new HIV diagnoses in the U.S., according to the CDC, it’s no surprise that many HIV clinics are available to young people . Specifically, at the University of New Mexico, there are three HIV Education and Resource clinics that exist, today. Located on campus grounds, the Student Health and Resource Center, the LGBTQ Resource Center and the the UNM Truman Health Services Center all offer monthly testing.
Solutions by The State News
