News

News

Brief: Local org encourages anti-militarism action

Madison Spratto | October 8

Anti-militarism activist groups across the world are acknowledging the first annual Global Action Against Military Bases week beginning Saturday, Oct. 7. The week is meant to show solidarity with activists around the globe who have been resisting occupation, militarism and foreign bases for years, according to a press release by the Albuquerque anti-war group Stop the War Machine. SWM organizes events to protest and educate the community about the harm of militarism. “Uniting our resistance into a global action for peace and justice will make our voices louder, our power stronger and more radiant,” the release said.

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News

Local businesses help to fund Balloon Fiesta

Nichole Harwood | October 8

As Albuquerque comes together to enjoy the International Balloon Fiesta’s festivities, business owners do their best to contribute to their community. Griffin & Associates, a business that got its start in Albuquerque, is one of the event sponsors and currently employs multiple Univesity of New Mexico alumni and provides internships to students. “As a leading communications company, Griffin & Associates is committed to providing the highest level of personalized service to our clients,” said Joanie Griffin, CEO and founder of Griffin & Associates. “We focus on crafting unique marketing approaches to advance the awareness of our clients’ products and services. Griffin & Associates is dedicated to proactive leadership, devising creative media-based solutions to marketing opportunities and consistently assessing the needs and objectives of our clients.”

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News

Brief: Participants scream, “I’m Pickle Rick!” to support hurricane relief

Kelly Urvanejo | October 5

A University of New Mexico student wants to help hurricane relief efforts — the way she did it: screaming, “I’m Pickle Rick!” On Oct. 5 people from the Albuquerque community gathered in front of the Student Union Building at the University of New Mexico to yell, “I’m Pickle Rick,” a phrase made popular by the animated comedy series Rick and Morty. Leilani Stallings, a junior at UNM, organized the event through Facebook. She said she got her idea from friends at the University of California, Berkeley, who were hosting events like “run like Naruto in front of the library or scream ‘my leg’ in front of the park,” Stallings said.

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News

Football: Amid backlash, Davie supports players who knelt during the national anthem

Robert Maler | October 5

On Tuesday, head football coach Bob Davie sat with five of his players in a press conference to discuss the players kneeling during the national anthem at halftime during the Homecoming game against Air Force on Saturday.

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News

What lies next for DACA recipients

Rebecca Brusseau | October 4

Following the proposed rescission of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program — with a six month delay — by President Donald Trump, DACA recipients had to scramble to file their renewal paperwork before Thursday: the deadline set by the administration. The U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services gave instructions that all renewal requests sent via mail must have been received by Thursday, Oct. 5, and the USCIS will not be accepting any requests received beyond this date. In order to meet this deadline, workshops and “DACAthons” were held through the last day of September throughout Albuquerque, aiming to provide information and guidance for those needing help in seeking renewal.

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News

College of Arts and Sciences proposes tuition hike

Brendon Gray | October 4

Students in the College of Arts and Sciences might be paying more for classes next year, according to a tuition change request submitted Monday. The College, which provides 65 percent of undergraduate student credit hours across the University, has made an initial differential tuition request to offset the College’s worsening fiscal situation. “The model that we have now from the administration not only doesn’t allow us to develop better, it puts us at threat,” Phil Ganderton, senior associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, said in a presentation to students Tuesday.

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News

UNM begins testing of new cancer-fighting drug

Madison Spratto | October 4

The University of New Mexico Comprehensive Cancer Center successfully completed the first in-human testing of a promising new cancer drug called BXQ-350 that is meant to target solid malignant tumors. Dr. Olivier Rixe has been involved in the development of BXQ-350 from the early stages of its conception and is the director of the clinical trial at UNM. “You have a lot of steps with the (U.S. Food and Drug Administration),” he said. “It’s almost been 10 years from the initial concept to the first patients treated.”

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News

Crime briefs for Oct. 5

Elizabeth Sanchez | October 4

Burglary at 2300 Tucker St. NE On Sept. 25, the reporting officer was sent to 2300 Tucker St. NE to assist another UNMPD officer with investigating a burglary, according to a report. When the reporting officer arrived, the officer that was already present said an unknown offender or offenders entered through a window on the west side of an office space. The offender(s) then attempted to pry open two cabinets in the secretary's space but did not succeed. However, the offender(s) pried open an overhead cabinet and and took a box containing keys to all overhead cabinets in the cubicles. The offender(s) entered several private cubicles to look through cabinets and drawers. Because all the doors were locked, it appeared the offender(s) were climbing over the top of the cubicles, where there is a 4-foot gap between the top of the cubicle and the ceiling.

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News

After election night, Keller and Lewis prepare for runoff

Brendon Gray , Celia Raney , Celia_Raney , Rebecca Brusseau and Ludella Awad | October 4

Daniel “Dan” Lewis and Timothy “Tim” Keller will now go head to head in a runoff election for Mayor of Albuquerque after citizens crowded polling places Tuesday to cast their vote for the next leader of the city. The University of New Mexico’s polling location in the Student Union Building saw a line across the top floor of the building all day, at times trailing down the stairs. There were three candidates polling ahead when voting opened Tuesday morning; Keller, Lewis and Brian Colón. The final results of Tuesday’s election showed Keller winning 39.35 percent of votes, Lewis winning 22.93 percent of votes and Colón winning 16.55 percent of votes.

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News

Brief: Gunman kills over 50, resulting in deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history

Rebecca Brusseau | October 2

A weekend of excitement in Las Vegas, Nevada ended in terror and chaos as a lone gunman opened fire on a crowd attending the Route 91 Harvest music festival outside the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino: a moment that will be known as the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history. The gunman, 64-year-old Stephen Paddock, fired multiple rounds into the crowds below his room on the 32nd floor of the hotel. CNN reports that Paddock shot and killed over 50 people and injured more than 400 before turning the weapon on himself to commit suicide only moments before authorities were able to break into his hotel room. Police found more than 10 rifles in Paddock’s hotel room, according to CNN.

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News

Krebs' scandal continues to unravel

Gabriella Rivera | October 1

Amid continued state investigations into the University of New Mexico Athletic Department finances, a closer look into the spending activities of former Athletic Director Paul Krebs has revealed more concern. A KRQE investigation found a pattern of personal spending on Krebs’ University credit card, centering around personal trips to the NCAA Final Four tournament every year since 2014. That year, he charged over $6,000 to his UNM credit card for a family trip to the Final Four, including game tickets, airfare and hotel rooms. Krebs also charged UNM almost $2,000 — which he recently reimbursed the University — in hotel room charges for his brother.

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News

Candidates hold final forum before election

Jonathan Baca | October 1

Several mayoral candidates came to the University of New Mexico campus on Thursday, Sept. 28 in the Student Union Building for a final forum before the Oct. 3 election. Timothy “Tim” Keller, Augustus “Gus” Pedrotty, Michelle Garcia Holmes, Daniel “Dan” Lewis, Susan Wheeler-Deichsel and write-in candidate Stella Padilla participated in the forum. Brian Colón gave an introduction but left early due to scheduling conflicts. The forum was hosted by the Associated Students of UNM and a University political science class. ASUNM Vice President Sally Midani and UNM law student Zachary Quintero moderated the event. Candidates were chosen two-at-a-time at random and took the stage to answer a randomly selected question submitted by students.

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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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News

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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News

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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News

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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News

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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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.