Opinion

Opinion

LETTER: More Conversations, Better Outcomes: 5 Tips To Help Prioritize Mental Health While In College

letter | September 23

By Dr. Nicole Brady, Chief Medical Officer, UnitedHealthcare Student Resources  College is often seen as the ultimate proving ground for independence – you’re setting your own schedule, managing classes, navigating new relationships and adapting to a new environment. For many, it can also be the first time living away from home. These many new experiences may lead to stress, anxiety, even depression. Dealing with mental health challenges on your own may only be unrealistic, it may be harmful. 

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Opinion

OPINION: Bobbleheads of the week: NFL week two edition

Rodney Prunty | September 19

Where there’s a victor, there’s a loser, and sometimes, certain athletes contribute to their team’s shortcomings. These athletes are favorably called bobbleheads. NFL week two has come and gone and we saw blowouts, comebacks, thrilling conclusions and, of course, bobbleheads. Here are a few bobbleheads who should’ve stayed at home this week.

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Opinion

OPINION: Will James Harden be a Hall of Famer?

Austin Bishop | August 25

When basketball fans talk about three point shooters, Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Larry Bird usually dominate the conversation. However, over a sixteen year career, James Harden has proven that he belongs in the conversation with the best. Even though his stats are impressive, Harden has no ring and several playoff disappointments, a challenge to his Hall of Famer candidacy.  The numbers don’t lie, James Harden is number 14 as an all-time scoring leader, 2018 MVP, 11- time all star and six-time NBA First Team. Harden in recent memory has led his team to multiple playoff runs and even carried his teams numerous times.

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Opinion

OPINION: #NotMyDuckPond

Nate Bernard | August 25

When the construction fences came down around the University of New Mexico’s Duck Pond on Aug. 4, students expected the return of a refreshed campus landmark. The dearly missed duck pond was a place where students could breathe, study and watch the ducks and turtles float lazily by. What students found instead looked less like an oasis and more like a Cold War set piece. The newly renovated pond doesn’t look like a sanctuary; it looks like brutalist architecture in miniature. Stark concrete borders, harsh angles and the erasure of natural flow have left the space cold and unwelcoming. What was once a green, organic centerpiece of campus life now feels more like a monument to efficiency and bureaucracy rather than beauty and community.

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Opinion

OPINION: Why Albuquerque needs ranked-choice voting

Jaden McKelvey-Francis | August 17

The case for the implementation of ranked-choice voting is a simple one. To have the most democratic elections possible, Albuquerque needs ranked-choice voting. As local voters prepare to head to the polls this November for Albuquerque’s municipal elections, many wonder if the system still truly works for them and advocates for the issues they care about. According to Pew Research Center polling, trust in American government and institutions has faced a steady decline since 1964 — regardless of which political party is in control of the government — highlighting the need to focus our efforts on giving citizens more of a voice and a choice in the people who govern them.

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Opinion

LETTER: From lockdowns to leadership: Why UNM students deserve more than emergency alerts

July 28

July 26, 2025 — Albuquerque, NM Yesterday at 1:42 PM, students at the University of New Mexico received a chilling emergency alert: “Please continue sheltering in place on central campus until UNMPD arrives at your location with instructions.” Eight hours later, another message followed: “The suspect from today’s shooting is in custody. The campus will be open with all planned activities on Saturday.” Just like that, we’re expected to move on. Another crisis. Another sigh of relief. But this isn’t just about what happened — it’s about what keeps not happening: a failure to learn, evolve and empower.

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Opinion

LETTER: Protect students by providing them a safe environment to learn and live.

July 28

I was horrified to hear about the shooting that occurred on campus in a student dorm this past Friday. This occurred in a student dorm by a non-student with a gun. Just three weeks ago I had a conversation with my step-granddaughter during her visit east about her concerns for her safety attending the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque.  I assured her that she should be safe on campus and certainly in her dorm. As a graduate of two state schools — Rutgers University and the University of California, Los Angeles — I believed that her University would protect her on campus. The University of New Mexico failed to do that with this occurrence. 

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Opinion

OPINION: Why New Mexico Democrats should be terrified of primary challengers

Nate Bernard | June 27

f New Mexico’s Democratic incumbents are sleeping easy, they might want to set an alarm. Across the country, a political undercurrent is turning into a wave — and it’s not coming from the right. In New York City, a progressive insurgent named Zohran Mamdani has proven that establishment Democrats are no longer safe in reliably blue states. That same undercurrent could begin to stir in New Mexico, where young, progressive challengers might be eyeing the 2026 primaries with serious intent — and real potential. On June 24, Mamdani, a 33-year-old democratic socialist and state assemblyman, toppled New York’s ex-governor Andrew Cuomo, a Democratic dinosaur with deep institutional backing, in the New York City Democratic mayoral primary.

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Opinion

OPINION: Why Breaking Bad is a representation of Albuquerque culture, from the perspective of a UNM Student

Lexis Lovato | May 19

Perhaps the most infamous tourist attractions in Albuquerque are those related to the filming locations of the crime-drama tv series, “Breaking Bad.” “Breaking Bad” is a fictional tv series about an Albuquerque High School science teacher named Walter White who begins cooking and distributing meth with a former student, Jesse Pinkman to support his family after White was diagnosed with lung cancer. White runs into complicated choices as his business grows and he eventually becomes addicted to the act of committing crime and getting away with it.

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Opinion

OPINION: An ode to David Lynch — and Laura Palmer

Lily Alexander and Elijah Ritch | January 27

When I heard that David Lynch died, I simply froze, mouth agape, and stared at the wall for upwards of ten minutes. Obviously he was getting older, and he’d made his battle with emphysema — a chronic lung disease — public in 2024 but he was somebody I imagined would always be with us. I’m hard-pressed to think of another filmmaker of the past 50 years as influential on both the medium as a whole and specific aesthetic and narrative techniques as Lynch. He has quite literally changed how people both view and make movies. The word “Lynchian” has become commonplace in promotional material and reviews for films with the slightest modicum of surrealism, to the point where the term is devoid of meaning.

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Opinion

OPINION: 2025 Grammy awards preview and predictions

Elijah Ritch | January 27

The 67th Grammy Awards will air Feb. 2. Music released between Sept. 16, 2023 and Aug. 30, 2024 was eligible to be nominated for this ceremony. Here is how I think the evening is likely to go. Song of the Year and Record of the Year are two categories that people frequently get confused. The former goes exclusively to the songwriters, while the latter is awarded to the artists, album producers, recording engineers, mixers and mastering engineers who have worked on a track, according to the Grammys website.

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Opinion

OPINION: Zeitgeist of 2024: A year in horror review

Addison Fulton | November 4

It was just Halloween. The election is this week. It’s a pretty scary time to be alive. In the spirit, let’s talk about horror films. Fear and politics have always been deeply intertwined, making the horror film a deeply political art form — though it is often written off as nothing more than cheap scares. Over the course of the year, I’ve noticed a few trends emerge: reboots and sequels, demon horror and body horror. Two films this year really stood out: “Longlegs” and “The Substance.”

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Opinion

OPINION: WTF is going on with JD Vance?

Addison Fulton | October 2

It was the donut order heard ‘round the world: On Aug. 22, JD Vance arrived at a donut shop in Valdosta, Georgia. He placed his order in the strangest manner imaginable — at one point ordering “whatever makes sense.” His behavior immediately became the topic of internet ridicule. But it got me curious. Who is Vance, and why is he so weird? So, I decided to go straight to the source. In 2016, Vance published his memoir “Hillbilly Elegy.” I thought if anything was going to help me make sense of this man, it’d be his book. I steeled my nerves and read it.

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Opinion

OPINION: University Stadium needs a spiffier name

Addison Fulton | September 30

The football stadium at the University of New Mexico is located at 1111 University Blvd. It seats 39,224. Why do I tell you this? It’s to distinguish University Stadium from the countless other stadiums associated with universities, because the name isn’t doing that for me. I start this by confessing that I don’t know a lot about sports. I’ve tried, at several points, to get into basketball, baseball or football, just for the sake of school spirit. No avail. All too often, I find sports confusing at best and boring at worst. That said, I know about entertainment. I love wow-factor and branding. And, despite my difficulty getting into sports, I have always loved the iconography around UNM sports.

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Opinion

OPINION: Tim Walz: America’s wholesome dad?

Shin Thant Hlaing | August 16

According to the internet, Kamala Harris is “brat” and Tim Walz is “Midwest Princess,” both references to artists who have had meteoric successes in 2024: Charli XCX and Chappell Roan, respectively. Harris selected Minnesota Gov. Walz as her running mate in the 2024 presidential race on Tuesday, Aug. 6. Walz’s experience as governor, midwestern appeal, chemistry with Harris, social media energy and more help explain why Harris chose him and what he brings to the table policy-wise.

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Opinion

OPINION: ‘Kamalanomenon’: Is hope possible?

Addison Fulton | August 12

As of Aug. 11, TikTok account @kamalahq has over 3 million followers, which is no small feat. But it’s not that many people for the account of a public figure like a politician. What makes Kamala HQ different is that it’s an account dedicated to memes. And it seems to be helping her campaign. “Cool factor” and vibes may prove essential this November. As Sam Wolfson of the Guardian wrote, “Trump was almost assassinated by a sniper, but what resonated was how cool he looked in AP photos afterwards. Kamala Harris became the first Democratic nominee in modern times not to go through a primary process, but what really landed was Charli xcx tweeting ‘Kamala is brat.’”

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Opinion

REVIEW: ‘Twisters’ is a disaster film in all the right ways

Maria Fernandez | July 26

Have you heard about the newest tornado movie? Here’s a spoiler: There’s a big twist at the end. “Twisters” — a sequel to director Jan de Bont’s 1996 film “Twister,” starring Bill Paxton and Helen Hunt — hit theaters on Friday, July 19. The new “Twisters” has been popping up on screens and its soundtrack has been playing nonstop on radios for the last couple of months. And while I admittedly had not seen the original “Twister” film before making my way to the theater on the sequel’s opening night, I knew it was a film I couldn’t miss.

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Opinion

OPINION: Crybabies and candles

Addison Fulton | July 19

On June 18, singer-songwriter Melanie Martinez released a line of 13 scented candles, each corresponding with a song from her most recent album, “Portals.” Each candle cost a whopping $75 before taxes, shipping and handling, and are now all sold out. The candles come in 4.3-ounce, roughly palm-sized, cracked egg-shaped jars with matching lids to complete the eggs. The scents are relatively unique, with candles featuring smells such as peach skin and marshmallow; yuzu and caramel; and fig with toasted coconut. Many fans questioned or complained about the high price tag, while some defended Martinez’s pricing. Some purchased the candles and were happy with them.

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Opinion

OPINION: UNM should increase intercollegiate fellowship programs

Shin Thant Hlaing | July 5

As a current participant in an intercollegiate fellowship at the University of New Mexico, I would like to see UNM more involved in similar programs for undergraduate students — either at neighboring institutions or beyond. I am participating in the Emerging Security Studies Fellowship, hosted by Emory University,  funded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York, and involving students from Georgia State University and UNM. The fellowship is a paid learning experience that involves six weeks of classes and a remote internship.

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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.