News

News

Brief: UNM Prez to hold Twitter Q&A

Brendon Gray | October 1

The University of New Mexico’s Interim President Chaouki Abdallah is shaking up the traditional town hall format. Abdallah will be responding to questions from his Twitter account @chaoukita from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. on Monday. Those looking to get answers can submit questions using the hashtag #AskUNMPres. The social media effort follows two in-person town hall meetings held earlier this semester which focused largely on his push to “re-engineer” UNM. Last year, Abdallah conducted several in-person town hall meetings where he addressed hot button issues, including the recent budget cuts and free speech.

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UNM enrollment continues to drop

Brendon Gray | October 1

The University of New Mexico has reported its fifth consecutive year of enrollment decline with a 2.9 percent decrease compared to the same time last year, a recently released analysis outlines. The University records report 26,278 students enrolled for fall 2017 — 782 fewer students compared to fall 2016. University administration expected about 800 fewer students this semester due to Lottery Scholarship funding cuts and increased graduation rates, said Terry Babbitt, Associate Vice President of Enrollment Management.

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Famous director hosts workshop at UNM

Johnny Viscaino | September 28

One of this year’s University of New Mexico Homecoming Week highlights was the presence of Brian Lavant, a 1974 Media Arts graduate and seasoned Hollywood veteran, whose six-week course on sitcom writing wrapped up on Tuesday. With five decades of entertainment industry experience under his belt, Lavant has been at the creative helm of some of the biggest franchises in family entertainment, the Cinematic Arts Department writes. He helped bring to life projects such as, “Happy Days” and “Mork and Mindy,” along with feature films like “The Flintstones,” starring John Goodman and “Jingle all the Way” with Arnold Schwarzenegger.

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Student org uses beach ball to support free speech

Celia Raney and Celia_Raney | September 28

University of New Mexico student group Young Americans for Liberty held a free speech event Sept. 27 on the University’s Main Campus. Several members of the group rolled a roughly 5-foot wide beach ball across the north side of campus, inviting anyone walking by to sign the ball and support free speech. “Free speech to me is being able to say whatever you want to say but in your own limits,” said Jess Ceron, UNM junior and YAL state chair. “A lot of people get that confused with, ‘Oh, I can say whatever I want to say.’ Yeah, you can, but also you have the right to free speech with the responsibility of it as well.”

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ASUNM proposes election reform to help with diversity

Brendon Gray | September 27

Sen. Emily Hartshorn, a student representative in the Associated Students of the University of New Mexico, understands that ASUNM struggles to represent UNM’s incredibly diverse campus. “There is a specific group in (the ASUNM Senate), and they don’t reflect everyone,” she said. “It is something we need to talk about.” That’s one of the reasons why she introduced legislation to change the way ASUNM elections are organized. On Wednesday, her effort came to fruition as the student legislative body voted 16 to 2 to amend the ASUNM lawbook. Barring a veto from the executive desk, ASUNM presidential and senatorial elections will take place over consecutive days, and online voting will remain open for 56 hours straight.

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TV

Seinfeld directors visit UNM

Shubham Chadha | September 27

This week, the Department of Communication and Journalism at the University of New Mexico hosted a town hall at Rodey Theatre with Emmy award-winning directors Tom Cherones and Tom Azzari, who helped make “Seinfeld” one of the best loved sitcoms of all time. Cherones is a Class of ’61 UNM alum, who studied journalism with a focus in photography. He described his initial exposure to photography at UNM as a formative element in developing his directing style. “I was a photographer for so many years at UNM, so I had a good sense of stage when I started working professionally,” Cherones said. “My style of shooting came from my photography experience and was a great influence for me. The experiences here at this University greatly solidified my interest in TV directing.”

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News

Tim Keller makes rape kit backlog his priority

Kelly Urvanejo | September 27

State Auditor and mayoral candidate Timothy “Tim” Keller has recently partnered with the Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners Collaborative to help reduce the amount of rape kit backlogs in Albuquerque, which would theoretically reduce the amount of sexual assault in the city. Rape kits are taken as evidence for possible future prosecution of the offender, but Albuquerque has a backlog of over 3,000 untested kits, according to a 2016 state audit report. According to their website, “the Albuquerque SANE Collaborative serves sexual assault and domestic violence victims by providing immediate, compassionate, culturally sensitive and comprehensive medical treatment and forensic evaluation by nurse experts.”

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News

Mayoral candidates to tackle students' issues at UNM

Brendon Gray | September 27

Six of Albuquerque’s eight mayoral candidates will converge at the University of New Mexico Main Campus Thursday, Sept. 28, giving students a unique opportunity to hear candidates’ positions on issues related to the University community. The candidates who confirmed their participation in the debate at the time of publication are Tim Keller, Brian Colon, Dan Lewis, Gus Pedrotty, Michelle Garcia Holmes and Susan Wheeler-Deichsel. The event, sponsored by the Associated Students of UNM and several other student groups, will take place from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. in the SUB Ballrooms. The debate is free and open to the public. Candidates will answer questions from students, and the event will be hosted by a neutral moderator.

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News

NM ranked sixth most diverse state

Nichole Harwood | September 27

New Mexico the sixth most diverse state in America, according to a recent WalletHub study. Lawrence Roybal, interim vice president for the UNM Division of Equity and Inclusion, said this is an impressive recognition and one his division is proud of. “We are extremely proud that the University of New Mexico is an important part of the tremendous diversity that we celebrate and honor throughout the Land of Enchantment,” he said. “It is important for us to continuously advance a variety of diversity, equity, and inclusion endeavors through UNM in collaboration with our many committed campus partners and community allies throughout each year.”

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News

UNM's new sexual assault training continues progress

Cayla Montoya-Manzo | September 27

Editor’s Note: This story was originally published on Sept. 26 and written by New Mexico News Port reporter Cayla Montoya-Manzo. This is part of our new project to help connect the Daily Lobo audience to more members of our community. UNM’s Mandatory Sexual Misconduct Prevention Training is a sexual assault awareness program, which has reached approximately 15,500 of UNM’s 25,000 plus students. “That’s far better than we were expecting,” said Heather Cowan, UNM’s Title IX Coordinator. Cowan’s job is to assure the University is in compliance with federal guidelines.

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News

ASUNM provides variety of events geared at UNM community

Ashish Khatri | September 25

It’s Homecoming Week at the University of New Mexico, and the Associated Students of UNM are organizing a slew of on-campus events through their subgroup UNM Lobo Spirit. 3-D chalk artist Chris Carlson will be working on a large chalk art piece at the Duck Pond under the Alumni Clock on Monday and Tuesday. On Sept. 26, Lobo Spirit and the Student Activities Center will be hosting a Neon Skate Down event from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. in Student Union Building Ballroom B/C. DJ music and refreshments will be available. Students, staff and faculty will be able to rent skates with their UNM ID.

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News

Homecoming goes beyond the dance

Aaron Cowan | September 25

Homecoming is not just for students — there are an abundance of activities for alumni as well. In fact, for almost 100 years, UNM’s Alumni Association has been putting on Homecoming events, according to Susan MacEachen, the associate director of Alumni Relations. “This is the 92nd year of Homecoming at UNM,” MacEachen said. “It’s a traditional event. Our goal is to have alumni connect back to the school.” Homecoming festivities start on Monday, Sept. 25 at 11 a.m. with a Kickoff Rally in the newly refurbished Karen A. Abraham Courtyard at Hodgin Hall Alumni Center.

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News

ASUNM considers budget reform

Brendon Gray | September 24

Some representatives in the Associated Students of UNM are looking to redesign the way ASUNM money is distributed. If passed, the legislation will require ASUNM balance forwards to be approved by the full Senate. As it stands, a seven-person finance committee is required to pass the balance forward. Balance forwards are extra money not used by ASUNM entities, called student service agencies. Agencies retain 80 percent of their end-of-year surplus, and the remaining 20 percent returns to the ASUNM general fund. “We need this bill to pass to make sure we get veteran eyes on (balance forwards) before they get approved,” said Sen. Theo Aufrichtig, a sponsor of the bill.

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News

Homecoming candidates share Lobo spirit

Madison Spratto | September 24

As a part of the University of New Mexico’s Homecoming Week, ASUNM Lobo Spirit and the Elections Commission will be holding elections for the Homecoming king and queen Sept. 27 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the SUB and online. Before the election, all 15 candidates were given the opportunity to share something about themselves through interviews with reporter Madison Spratto. Not all candidates were interviewed, as Samuel Eze did not respond in time for this publication.

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Dreamstyle Arena will host Party in the Pit

Makayla Grijalva | September 24

Party in the Pit is the first student event to offer Lobos the chance to party on their stomping grounds, the newly renamed Dreamstyle Arena. ASUNM Student Special Events is teaming up with Lobo Spirit, University Communications and Marketing and the Fractal Foundation to put on the event to cap off Homecoming Week. Party in the Pit will be held on Sept. 29, from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. at Dreamstyle Arena. The stage near the dance floor will feature DJs Berret and Jay, as well as an opening by Yak Pak. “Party in the Pit is going to be a once-in-a-lifetime, fully immersive experience,” said ASUNM SSE Promotions Director Xavier Vallejo.

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News

Lecture debunks rape culture myths

Amy Byres | September 23

Editor’s Note: This is part of a project to better connect the Daily Lobo with the University of New Mexico Communication and Journalism Department. Kate Harding spoke at the University of New Mexico Thursday night, to address the myths of rape culture in her lecture, “Taking Down Rape Culture.” Harding said she is a proud feminist and author of several books concerning rape, rape culture and feminism. Her lecture came during UNM’s Campus Safety Week and National Campus Safety Awareness Month. “I believe this talk will help people to understand more about what rape culture is,” said Rob Burford, the Office of Equal Opportunity Clery Act compliance officer. “It’s important that other people hear about that.”

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News

Students rally behind Black Lives Matter march

Celia Raney and Celia_Raney | September 23

“Shoot us in the arm, shoot us in the leg, not in the heart and not in the head.” Dozens of signs and the voices of hundreds rang out over a Black Lives Matter march on Central Avenue Friday, organized by Albuquerque native and University of New Mexico graduate Nikki Archuleta. After the crowd gathered outside the Cinemark 14 Theater in Downtown Albuquerque, the march took off down Central Avenue, united in chants of: “Hands up, don't shoot,” “Whose streets? Our streets,” and “No justice, no peace, no racist police.” Marchers carried a slew of signs sporting slogans such as: “De-militarize the Police,” “#BLM,” and “End Police Brutality,” as they traveled west.

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News

Brief: Baby socks combat abortion

Celia Raney and Celia_Raney | September 22

Laundry baskets filled with 6,276 socks were on display Friday at the University of New Mexico’s Main Campus as part of a tabling event held by Students for Life of America. “That’s how many abortions happen at Planned Parenthood each week, Monday through Saturday,” said Jessica Roseman, one of the event’s hosts. The UNM branch of the national group set up under the Alumni Presidents' Clock on the south side of the Duck Pond to “educate and inform” people about what abortion really is.

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In light of new changes, some UNM officials support DACA

Gabriella Rivera | September 22

The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program and the “dreamers” affected by it face massive uncertainty under the Trump administration. On the campaign trail, President Trump took a hard stance against DACA, vowing to extinguish the program. His rhetoric on DACA has gradually changed, indicating on several occasions that he considers it a difficult topic — at one point, he said he intends to treat the subject “with heart and compassion.” In the opening months of Trump’s presidency, the number of new applicants denied into the DACA program doubled from about 16 percent to 32 percent.

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Safety Walk notifies PPD of potential hazards

Tom Hanlon | September 21

Editor’s Note: This is part of a project to better connect the Daily Lobo with the University of New Mexico Communication and Journalism Department. On Tuesday evening, University of New Mexico students pushed to improve campus safety through the annual Campus Safety Walk as part of UNM’s second annual Safety Week. Throughout the walk, students, faculty and staff searched for campus safety issues, such as improper lighting and obstructions in walkways. The walk was first held in 1994 and takes place in September, which is National Campus Safety Awareness Month.