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ABQ students walk out in memory of Parkland shooting

Megan Holmen | March 18

On March 14 — one month after 14 students and three teachers were shot and killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida — Albuquerque students participated in a national walkout in an effort to memorialize the victims of the shooting and demand gun law reform. Bosque School, a sixth- through 12th-grade college preparatory school, was one of the schools in Albuquerque to organize a walkout. Students walked out of class at 10 a.m. for 17 minutes, in memory of the 17 individuals that died during the Marjory Stoneman Douglas school shooting.

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David Harris retires after 14 years at UNM

Anthony Jackson | March 18

The University of New Mexico will be receiving a new Executive Vice President of Administration by Dec. 31, as current EVP David Harris is retiring after spending 14 years at UNM. Harris held multiple government positions before joining the University in 2004 and said his experience has helped him throughout his time at UNM. “My role was to help with structural issues to try and create a stronger administrative...function here, at the University,” Harris said.

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UNM to open residential hall for African American students

Tasawar Shah | March 18

Starting Fall 2018, Essence Hall will give undergraduates the opportunity to experience an on-campus living and learning residential community focused on African-American students. The new space was created through a partnership between Residence Life & Student Housing at the University of New Mexico, the Black Student Alliance and African American Student Services. Essence Hall will be composed of 25 rooms on the third floor of Coronado Hall, with a mixture of double and single living spaces. It will be one of 18 interest-specific living learning communities offered at UNM.

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New class explores feminist identity

Aubrie Powell | March 18

A course that began this semester at the University of New Mexico Honors College aims to present different feminist perspectives and encourage exploration and critique of these theories. “A Dialogue on Creating a Feminist Identity,” taught by Dr. Dawn Stracener, strives to enable learning through multidisciplinary experiences. Above all, the course provides its students with tools to explore their own identities, feminist or not, Stracener said.

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Traciana Graves talks inclusion, empowerment and being free

Ajinkya Patil | March 11

Traciana Graves discussed inclusion, empowerment and being free Wednesday at the University of New Mexico Student Union Building Atrium. Voted as one of “America’s Most Fearless Women” by Huffington Post, Graves gave examples of heroes and sheroes, including Harriet Tubman, Mahalia Jackson, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Dave Chappelle and Rosa Parks. During the event, which was organized by the Associated Students of UNM Student Special Events, Graves gave students advice on the best practices to comfort and navigate through life.

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Event highlights student writing

Tom Hanlon | March 11

Students were given a chance to showcase their writing abilities at the ninth annual Celebration of Student Writing event at the University of New Mexico Thursday. The event showcased displays that included interactive writing games, digital projects and displays of students’ favorite pieces of literature. Undergraduate students enrolled in English 110, 120 and 220 classes, along with students from various other writing classes at UNM, presented versions of their coursework from the first half of the semester in the Student Union Building.

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ASUNM talks tuition and athletic funding options

Austin Tyra | March 8

The University of New Mexico’s tuition and controversial athletic debt funding loomed over the March 7 Associated Students of New Mexico meeting. Earlier that day, several high-ranking ASUNM members, including President Noah Brooks and Vice President Sally Midani, met with University Administration members to discuss the Board of Regents’ plan to increase tuition in correlation with the potential increase in the athletic department budget, according to Brooks.

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Regents vote on athletic facilities' improvements

Austin Tyra | March 7

The recent resignation of University of New Mexico Regent Alex Romero leaves the Board of Regents Finance and Facilities Committee with only two members: Regent Chair Marron Lee and Regent Tom Clifford. Both members attended this Tuesday’s meeting and discussed two large-scale proposed projects, each regarding on-campus athletic facilities.

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UNM professor receives monetary award for research on teaching

Danielle Prokop | March 7

At the University of New Mexico students learn a lot of vital skills — for one UNM faculty member, the process of learning also matters. Assistant Professor Vanessa Svihla was awarded $516,000 by the National Science Foundation to develop better frameworks for teaching design and engineering that mirrors real-world situations. Her original research project, “Framing and Reframing Agency in Making and Engineering,” received the NSF CAREER Award. Research began Jan. 1 and is funded through 2022.

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NM Dream Team shares info on immigrant rights

Amy Byres | March 6

The New Mexico Dream Team discussed immigrants rights and resources at a community gathering at South Valley Academy Monday. Isaac de Luna, an undergraduate student at the University of New Mexico and the communications director for the NM Dream Team, addressed what to do if Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, were to come to a community member’s home. The tips included: There is no obligation to open the door to anyone. Keep in mind the right to remain silent. Do not sign anything, even if they present what seems to be an order for removal unless an attorney is present. Create an emergency plan to secure family members and possessions.

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Dept. of IFCE research showcase aims for visibility, community collaboration

Michele Arbogast | March 5

The Department of Individual Family and Community Education hosted a research showcase in Travelstead Hall Thursday. There were approximately 35 different presenters from programs within the IFCE department including nutrition, counselor education, educational psychology and family and child studies. Topics included diversity, grief, social behaviors and discrimination among young adults, diabetic patients, food insecurities and the relationship between maltreated adolescents (11 to 17 years old) and their academic outcomes.

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Sonia Rankin loves watching students learn

Shayla Cunico | March 4

Editor’s Note: This is the first in a series of five profiles on women associated with the University of New Mexico, who have been recognized by Albuquerque Business First as women of influence in New Mexico. Sonia M. Gipson Rankin is an Africana Studies senior lecturer, the Associate Dean of University College and the director of first-year success projects at the University of New Mexico. She teaches a course at UNM’s School of Law and is also a wife and mother of three. She never fails to find inspiration from her students, she said.

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UNM students prepare for Model UN conference

Tom Hanlon | March 4

Debating world problems in a Central American country is not on the list of typical spring break plans, but the University of New Mexico’s World Affairs Delegation club will be doing just that. Members from WAD will travel to Panama City, Panama on Saturday to compete in Harvard University’s World Model United Nations conference. The conference is an annual event held by Harvard in partnership with a university in the host country, and this year it will take place from March 12 to 16. “This conference is really exciting, because it’s in Central America, which is a place our club hasn’t gone in a while, so this will be a new experience for our members,” said Devrim Tiryaki, president of UNM WAD and a senior studying economics and political science. Tiryaki is one of the 16 members who will travel to Panama.

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Annual LoboTHON supports young cancer patients

Megan Holmen | March 4

The University of New Mexico hosted the fifth annual Lobothon Saturday. Organized and run by UNM students, this fundraiser aimed to support UNM Children’s Hospital, the only Children’s Miracle Network Hospital in New Mexico. LoboTHON is a 13.1 hour dance marathon created to support children who have or have had cancer, said Jessica Marrello, LoboTHON committee member. According to Marrello, LoboTHON is UNM's chapter of Dance Marathon, an organization with chapters across the country in over 300 colleges and universities.

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ABQ ranks well for women in technology

Megan Holmen | March 4

Recently, a study conducted by SmartAsset evaluated cities across that nation to determine which locations were best for women in the technology field — Albuquerque was rated as No. five in the nation. The study also stated that Albuquerque has the fifth lowest gender pay gap in the technology industry. The University of New Mexico’s Computer Science Department and Computer and Electrical Engineering Department are continuously working to support and encourage female student pursuing a career in tech, said Soraya Abad-Mota, a professor of computer science and computer and electrical engineering.

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Lecturer takes audience on a road trip through history

Megan Holmen | March 4

Jon Hunner, Ph.D. presented “Driven by History: A Road Trip through our Nation's Past” Thursday as part of a spring lecture series, “People and Places” through the University of New Mexico Southwest Research and Special Collections hosted. In his lecture, Hunner, a UNM alum and professor of U.S. history and public history at New Mexico State University, discussed a 2016 road trip across the United States, in which he visited over 100 national parks and drove 20,000 miles. According to Hunner, the national parks are an excellent place to learn about the nation’s history.

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UNM opens new medical research facility

Mikhaela Smith | March 4

The University of New Mexico will host a grand opening ceremony Monday to celebrate its newest research facility — the Autophagy, Inflammation and Metabolism Center for Biomedical Research Excellence, or AIM CoBRE. The event will take place from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. in the Dominici Center and will feature an inaugural speech by Randy Schekman, who is a Nobel laureate, professor in the Department of Molecular and Cell Biology and investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute at the University of California, Berkeley. The speech will be followed by a reception and ribbon cutting ceremony, according to Vojo Deretic, Ph.D., a professor and department chair of Molecular Genetic and Microbiologyand director of the Autophagy, Inflammation and Metabolism Center at the UNM Health Sciences Center.

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Round table reveals what it’s like to be a transgender woman sex worker

Tasawar Shah | March 3

The LGBTQ Resource Center at the University of New Mexico hosted a roundtable discussion Friday as part of their Sex Work Education Week. Sex workers and people who work to fight human sex trafficking facilitated the discussion surrounding a variety of topics related to the life and work of transgender women sex workers. The talk featured three trans women sex workers and one member from a Native American anti-human sex trafficking group. All of them wished not to disclose their identity and will be referred to as Speaker 1, Speaker 2, Speaker 3 and Speaker 4 throughout this article per request.

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Genome research could open doors for therapy, saving lives

Danielle Prokop | March 2

When asked about his work in genomics — the study of the human genome — Dr. Tudor Oprea said, “This science is borderline philosophy. We asked ourselves, ‘What is truth?’ And we don’t always have a good answer.” Oprea is a professor of Medicine and Pharmaceutical Sciences as well as the Translational Informatics Division division chief at the Department of Internal Medicine at the University of New Mexico School of Medicine and a leading researcher in biomolecular research.

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Workshop discusses ethnic invisibility, identity

Annie Edwards | March 1

The University of New Mexico Student Health and Counseling hosted “The Self-hood Struggle” student workshop with African American Student Services in Mesa Vista Hall Monday. Desa Karye Daniel, a doctoral student at UNM and a mental health counselor for African American Student Services, gave a presentation titled “A Phenomenological Study of the Invisibility Syndrome Among African American College Students.” This presentation covered the background of Daniel’s own study. Christopher Collins, senior student program advisor at African American Student Services, helped organize the event. “I just think that this was a great event, and we definitely want to raise cultural awareness here, on campus, and just have everyone’s experiences be that much better here at UNM,” he said. Daniel opened her presentation by asking attendees to think about their emotions when they were accepted into college, during their college career and after graduation or right before graduation.