Opinion

Opinion

OPINION: Box office bombshell

Addison Fulton | June 26

On July 21, 2023, there was an explosion at the box office. Two highly anticipated films, Greta Gerwig’s hot pink daydream “Barbie,” and Christopher Nolan’s gritty wartime biopic, “Oppenheimer,” were released on the same day. While films frequently share release dates without anyone noticing, the contrast between the aesthetics of these two made them an instant source of amusement. People passed around memes with fake “Barbenheimer” electoral maps and promotion campaigns, comparisons to friends with opposite aesthetics and jokes about the juxtaposition.

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Opinion

OPINION: The Grand Canyon through the eyes of a Daily Lobo photographer

Maria Fernandez | June 14

When I hit the road to Arizona to visit the Grand Canyon National Park last month, I had one question on my mind: Is the Grand Canyon just as magical as people say? Most people can attest that often stories they hear about popular places can sound much grander than how they are in reality. I was curious if a landmark like the Grand Canyon, deemed one of the “Seven Wonders of the World,” would live up to the hype.

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Opinion

OPINION: Vice presidents and virtues

Addison Fulton | June 14

Heading into the 2024 presidential election in November, candidate and former president Donald Trump must choose a running mate. He will likely make a selection at or before the Republican National Convention, which begins July 15. Not only will Trump decide who would run the nation in the event of his death, resignation or impeachment, but the vice presidential nominee can also increase or decrease voter support. For instance, current President Joe Biden’s choice to nominate Kamala Harris gained him support from democratic voters, Black voters and voters under the age of 35, according to a 2020 Politico study.

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Opinion

OPINION: Activities to help curb summertime boredom in Albuquerque

Arly Garcia | June 12

Summer is, for many people, the best part of the year. It offers a respite from our chaotic university lives. Research articles and 8 a.m. classes have no place here unless we want them to. Summer provides time for freedom – sometimes a little too much. If you’re anything like me, then you may begin to grow a little stir crazy after the first few weeks of summer. When that happens, it is imperative to get out and find something to occupy your time. What that something is varies widely depending on your preferences, but here are some of my favorites.

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Opinion

OPINION: Campus protest coverage is impossible without student journalists

Lily Alexander | May 13

Somewhere between 3 and 4 a.m. on April 30, a rapid series of dings from my phone awoke me suddenly. I was immediately alert – I knew what this meant. A couple of hours earlier when I resigned myself to the necessity of sleep, I turned up my ringtone to full volume. This way, I would hear notifications from my group chat with Daily Lobo reporters Paloma Chapa, Leila Chapa, Ella Daniel and outgoing editor-in-chief Maddie Pukite. If anything drastic happened while the reporters were barricaded inside the Student Union Building, covering its occupation by pro-Palestine protesters, I would be aware and ready to drive to the University of New Mexico to pick them up.

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Opinion

Opinion: Taylor Swift’s ‘The Tortured Poets Department’ sings to the soul

Elizabeth Secor | April 29

Taylor Swift’s newest album, “The Tortured Poets Department” offers listeners a unique blend of rich storytelling, lyrically reminiscent of her previous works like “Folklore” and “Evermore,” with a touch of synth-pop akin to “Midnights.” I enjoyed the album, though I wish there had been more variety in the music as many of the songs had similar ambience and instrumentals. The lyrics made each song stand out, but they had to be listened to closely to stand out among the 31 songs released.

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Opinion

Opinion: The Coachella story – Sales, Drugs and Rock and Roll

Addison Fulton | April 29

In 1993, the band Pearl Jam was truly in a jam. They wanted to boycott venues controlled by Ticketmaster because of a dispute over unnecessary charges attached to ticket sales,  according to the New Yorker. The band needed to find a new place to play, and they landed in a desert valley in Indio, California at the Empire Polo Club. “You gotta run pretty far to get some space for yourself these days,” Eddie Vedder, singer and frontman, said to the crowd, according to the LA Times. The Pearl Jam show was a smash hit and proved the venue could be a great location and a thrilling experience. It inspired Paul Tollett, who also founded the Goldenvoice Music Company, to start an annual alt-rock music festival in 1999. He named the festival after that valley where people had run to find a space for themselves – Coachella.

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Opinion

Ask the editors: How do you take care of your mental health while working in journalism?

Lily Alexander , Kelsa Mendoza and Paloma Chapa | April 22

For the mental health special issue, three Daily Lobo editors took a moment to reflect on how we take care of our mental health while working in journalism – a fast-paced and often heavy field.

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Opinion

Opinion: Our professors should play music during exams

Arly Garcia | April 22

When discussing mental health at the university level, there is one topic that consistently comes up: test anxiety. Numerous studies have shown that test anxiety negatively affects college students, but how do we combat it? Maybe with the magic of music. About 25-40% of U.S. students suffer from test anxiety and for 10-35% of college students, it impairs their function, according to a study on test anxiety published in Advances in Medical Education and Practice. Music has been proven useful in calming the mind and body in other areas, so why don’t we use it at the University of New Mexico too?

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Opinion

5 and Why: 5 ways to destress in college

Elizabeth Secor | April 22

After three years of college, I have discovered ways to destress when life gets overwhelming. I am by no means a professional, but here is what I practice. 

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Opinion

Letter: New Mexicans have more to be thankful for this Tax Day By: Paige Knight

Paige Knight | April 15

This Tax Day, we all have much to be thankful for as we consider the bounty of public goods and services that are made possible with our tax dollars. These include a school system that offers a free education to every child, the roads and other transportation infrastructure that make it possible for us to move about our cities and state, the first responders who keep our communities safe, no or low-cost health care coverage for a majority of New Mexicans, our plentiful parks, libraries, museums and so much more.

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Opinion

Opinion: No Labels: The scam that keeps on scamming

Nate Bernard | April 8

Many Americans are exhausted from our two political giants, Democrats and Republicans. Their divisiveness inflames and divides us every four years. A substantial 63% of Americans believe “a third party is needed” because the Republican and Democratic parties do “such a poor job,” according to a September 2023 Gallup Poll. While party diversity within our government would be ideal as it gives greater representation to those with differing opinions, Americans must treat third-parties with the same seriousness as our major parties and must not vote for third-party candidates based solely on their outsider status.

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Opinion

Opinion: The Clippers need to move

Rodney Prunty | April 8

When the Los Angeles Clippers acquired NBA superstars, Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, this was seen as a great move for them and would surely guarantee a long future of success both in the league and in their city. The recruitment of their newest additions was also to compete with their cross town rivals, the Los Angeles Lakers, after they acquired Anthony Davis to pair with Lebron James. All of this happened back in 2019, and since then, the Clippers have been falling short, the franchise has been shrouded in mediocrity and, all the while, the Lakers won an NBA Championship.

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Opinion

Review: Isotopes concessions knock it out of the park

Elizabeth Secor | April 8

The Albuquerque Isotopes unveiled their new concession items right before the current season. The latest food up to bat has me singing, “Take me out to the concession stands.” The ballpark's executive chef, Jim Griego, is the mastermind behind these new dishes. Griego wanted to create food that made coming to the stadium a culinary experience (that requires lots of napkins). 

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Opinion

Review: Feminine and queer work ‘In Bloom’ at Masley Hall

Shin Thant Hlaing | March 29

“In Bloom” is an art exhibition in Masley Hall, constructed  by Generation Action University of New Mexico, that features the budding talents of 13 undergraduate artists. The variety of the mediums presented drives home not just the different experiences of the artists, but the different ways in which those experiences can be articulated. The exhibition spotlights works on femininity and Queerness, and is open to the public until March 29. Generation Action UNM is an organization with ties to Planned Parenthood that advocates for reproductive health care and abortion care. While the chosen works managed to cover multiple spheres of feminine and Queer experience, most of the artworks outwardly came across as focusing more on the feminine experience.

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Opinion

Review: 'Love Lies Bleeding': Brutal beauty and faithful 1980s Albuquerque female bodybuilders

Sadie Hopkins | March 25

Late last week, theaters saw the release of writer/director Rose Glass’ first feature with A24, “Love Lies Bleeding.” Since the debut of the first official trailer, this film looked like it would quickly become a massive success – not only with a specific crowd of niche filmgoers but with the public, too. Unsurprisingly, having been considered among the best at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, it delivered, brutally. “Love Lies Bleeding” follows Lou (Kristen Stewart) in Stewart’s most powerful and excellently executed role to date, a withdrawn gym manager (Ed Davis) and Jackie (Katy O’Brien) – an aspiring bodybuilder – through an off-kilter romance, set in1980s Albuquerque.

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Opinion

Review: Querencia shows a love for home through dance

Valeria Brenes | March 4

Querencia “comes from the word ‘querer’ — to love. It means love of place and people. Querencia can refer to your place of refuge, your home or your homeland,” artistic directors Marisol Encinas and Amanda Hamp wrote in the program. On Thursday, Feb. 29, dancers gathered at Rodey Theater at the University of New Mexico to put on their yearly Querencia performance, which was gorgeously brought together through the contemporary dance and flamenco departments.