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Welcome Back Days kick off first week of school

The Student Activities Center at the University of New Mexico is welcoming students back to campus with open arms as they continue to host Welcome Back Days from Aug. 23 to Aug. 27, which will feature differently themed days and tabling events during the first week of school. “We need to kind of jump start campus life again, and Welcome Back Days … are really good places to find those opportunities to get involved with UNM and make it a better place,” SAC director Ryan Lindquist said. All of the events taking place on main campus will be at the Duck Pond from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., with various visitors to represent different sides of campus. Each day will have free food and/or drinks (served starting at noon unless otherwise specified) while supplies last, and live music will be playing at most of the events.

Board of Regents special meeting passes plethora of approvals

The University of New Mexico’s Board of Regents had an exceptionally long list of action items and passed nearly everything in a virutal meeting that lasted over three hours on Aug. 19. The only item that didn’t pass was the sale of the Student Family Housing property to the Central New Mexico Community College. 

UNM grad workers' right to unionize approved

After the fight to unionize has been ongoing for over a year, the United Graduate Workers of the University of New Mexico received a win as graduate students were labeled as public and regular employees by New Mexico’s Public Employee Labor Relation Board (PELRB) on Aug. 17. This label, as specified by the Public Employee Bargaining Act (PEBA), gives the graduate workers the right to form a union. The board will meet again in the future to define what the workers’ bargaining units will be. 

UNM’s Welcome Back Events underway before school starts

  On Sunday, students at the University of New Mexico will have the opportunity to get used to campus life again at the University’s Welcome Back Events. Before school starts on Monday, students can partake in Discover UNM, First-Year Family Day (exclusive to first-year students), Class Crawl and Movie on the Field. The Discover UNM event will kick off the day from 1-3 p.m., in which various departments and organizations will be located in the Student Union Building ballroom to talk about opportunities and resources on campus. “One of the greatest benefits to being a Lobo is the access to resources and organizations that support their intellectual, social and personal interests and well-being,” University secretary Nancy Middlebrook wrote to the Daily Lobo. 

OPINION: “Twilight” takeaways as an adult

  This review contains spoilers for the “Twilight” series Take any movie saga from the early 2010s and you’re bound to get an iconic era fueled by quirky traits like side braids, archery classes and running around aimlessly in the woods. Possibly the most influential of the fictional series phase we all experienced around the 2010s was “The Twilight Saga.” While I never got into the books or movies at the time, the films’ recent arrival on Netflix inspired me to finally see what the hype was about. I can completely understand loving “Twilight” as a kid, but here are some of my thoughts as a first-time adult viewer. 

New Mexico reinstates indoor mask policy following COVID spike

  On Tuesday, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced that the state will reimplement an indoor mask policy, effective Friday, Aug. 20 until at least Sept. 15, due to an increasing number of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations. This policy, which may be extended or lifted by the governor if necessary, is required of individuals age 2 and up regardless of vaccination status.  “We know that the pandemic is not over and that we’re in a pivotal moment in the state,” Lujan Grisham said at a COVID-19 update livestream on Tuesday. Lujan Grisham also said the state is enforcing “mandatory vaccines in the places where they make the most sense.” 

August 16, 2021 Comics

UNM Art Museum eagerly anticipates late-August reopening

 Creativity is in the air as the University of New Mexico Art Museum looks forward to reopening on Aug. 31 after an 18-month closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The museum staff are currently working on preparations to ensure that they are ready to welcome back visitors shortly after school starts. The museum will follow the University’s COVID-19 guidelines, which currently require that masks are worn indoors regardless of vaccination status. During the closure, the museum developed various scenarios for how the museum could cope during the pandemic and has different protocols ready in the event of a campus-wide change in mandates.  A current project that the UNMAM is focusing on is their upcoming exhibition entitled “Visionary Modern: Raymond Jonson Trilogies, Cycles, and Portrait.” 

Q&A with UNM museum director: Museum of Southwestern Biology

   The Daily Lobo talked to the Museum of Southwest Biology to get updates on how it’s doing  amid the COVID-19 pandemic along with the start of school coming up. The Museum of Southwest Biology continues their focus on research and education through their collections rather than public exhibitions. This Q&A addresses current and future happenings at the museum with director Christopher Witt. Q: Can you discuss the museum’s current and future operations? CW: With respect to COVID, we’re in a real state of transition, I think, as everybody is right now, where we’re just figuring things out in the new reality with the vaccine mandate and the start of the semester. 

Ask the editors: Music edition

  As school starts back up, every student should be armed with a solid playlist to get them through the day. Whether you’re running to class or sifting through dozens of introductory assignments, here are four songs that are sure to liven up your days as you get back into the swing of things. Listen to the full playlist here! On Emma’s playlist:  “Unlock It (Lock It)” by Charli XCX feat. Kim Petras and Jay Park This song, expertly squeezed in on XCX’s 2017 feature-heavy album “Pop 2,” is a blissful collection of electro-pop sounds and beautifully curated vocals by XCX and Petras. “Unlock It (Lock It)” has recently enjoyed a resurgence thanks to a viral TikTok trend, and I couldn’t be more pleased. 

OPINION: Fake vaccination cards are dangerous and immoral

  With COVID-19 cases surging across the country, universities and employers have begun attempting to crack down on vaccine requirements. Although this signals a step in the right direction, the increasing number of fake credentials being used to cheat a verified vaccination status could very well land us right back where we started, or worse. Fake vaccination cards are not new in regards to this pandemic; a public service announcement about the illegality of fake cards was released by the FBI in March, near the time the vaccine was approved for the majority of adult individuals in New Mexico, proving that for as long as any place has required a COVID-19 vaccine, people have found ways to produce or procure counterfeit documents.

Friday Night Live kicks off UNM’s Welcome Back Days

  Before the fall semester starts on Aug. 23 at the University of New Mexico, the Student Activities Center is kicking off the University’s Welcome Back Days with Friday Night Live on Aug. 20. After a year and a half of virtual learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this will be the first time for not only incoming freshmen but also rising sophomores to physically attend these events. This in-person event is being held from 7-10 p.m. in the Student Union Building, with events including “karaoke, a DJ, henna tattoos, laser tag arena, photo booths, student organization tables and UNM sports teams,” according to the SAC’s website.  

Mountain West releases UNM basketball conference schedules

  The Mountain West Conference released the University of New Mexico’s men’s and women’s basketball conference schedules on Friday, Aug. 13. For a women’s program that finished on top of the conference standings in regular season play, the new schedule could act as a roadmap to a tournament win; for a men’s team that finished last in its own said standings, conference play will be just one of many challenges for the team. Women’s basketball finished 11-3 in conference play, losing to only three teams: the University of Nevada, Las Vegas; California State University, Fresno; and the United States Air Force Academy. 

Q&A with UNM museum director: Maxwell Museum of Anthropology

  The Daily Lobo talked to the Maxwell Museum of Anthropology to get updates on how it’s doing amid the COVID-19 pandemic along with the start of school coming up. Maxwell is gearing up to reopen to the public on Aug. 17 with some new exhibits and opportunities. This Q&A addresses current and future happenings at the museum with director Carla Sinopoli. Q: Can you discuss the museum’s current and future operations? CS: We will see what they will be as the pandemic continues to develop. So when we were shut down in March 2020 we shifted … to a lot of online activities... 

Financial, academic hardships of unpaid student regent position encourage action

 On Aug. 10, Regent Melissa Henry, a former student regent, asked the Board of Regents Ad Hoc Governance Committee to consider policies that would provide a financial backbone for the unpaid student regent position after experiencing a lot of financial and academic distress during her past term. Ad Hoc Governance Chair and Regent Rob Schwartz hopes to bring this issue to the full Board of Regents at their next business meeting in October.   “It was very naive of me to take this position not knowing how it would impact my career and work opportunities at the University and off campus, and not only did I face the consequences of being in such a politicized, public position but my work and time to contribute to my academic program suffered,” Henry said. 

Governor commits $5M for Chile Labor Incentive Program

  On Thursday, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced that New Mexico will put $5 million toward a wage supplement program administered by the New Mexico Department of Agriculture, called the Chile Labor Incentive Program, for the chile industry due to a labor shortage. This program will provide funding, taken from the state’s share of the American Rescue Plan, to “chile growers, labor contractors and processors on a first-come, first-served basis to supplement the wages of existing and prospective workers as well as incentivize hiring and retention,” according to a press release put out by the office of the governor on Thursday. 

OPINION: Sci-fi comedy “Star Trek: Lower Decks” makes way for another memorable season

  This review contains spoilers for “Lower Decks” seasons 1 and 2 Trekkies were in for a treat on Thursday with the arrival of the season 2 premiere of “Star Trek: Lower Decks.” The show continues to go where no man has gone before as creator Mike McMahan, former “Rick and Morty” writer and producer, intertwines this adult animation with science fiction, comedy and sleek references to the entire “Star Trek” universe, setting up for yet another season that’s definitely worth watching. If you haven’t seen the first season yet, I’d recommend watching that before diving into the second one. 

OPINION: 2021’s ‘The Suicide Squad’ outshines the original

  If you went to the movie theater this past weekend or logged into your HBO Max account, you most likely saw something relating to James Gunn’s most recent directorial outing, “The Suicide Squad.” And like many, including myself, you probably said to yourself, “I really hope this isn’t as bad as the first one.” Luckily, the series is much better this time around with the help of Gunn’s direction and creative freedom. From the fantastically outlandish characters to the disgustingly satisfying amount of violence to the quality comedy, Gunn’s iteration of Task Force X is far more focused and coherent than the original, with a couple of standout performances to boot. 

New Mexico United hosts first public meeting on proposed soccer stadium

  On Tuesday, New Mexico United held what is promised to be the first of many meetings with the public to discuss the construction of a multipurpose soccer stadium in Albuquerque, hosted on Zoom by majority owner/CEO Peter Trevisani and Director of Communications David Carl. Many concerns that were brought up by attendees related to how this stadium will impact the local community. These meetings come after a study from Creative Artists Agency ICON that was commissioned by the city to explore the idea of a stadium for NM United, who currently play at Isotopes Park. 

OPINION: Top 5 Insta-worthy spots on UNM campus

  After not being on campus for a year and a half, you might’ve forgotten about some of the more aesthetic spots that the University of New Mexico has to offer. If you’re seeking interesting locations for your future Instagram posts, look no further — the Daily Lobo has you covered. Here’s our list of the top five most Insta-worthy spots on UNM’s main campus. Center of the Universe #SculptureArt #BruceNauman #I’mTheCenterOfTheUniverse #LookUp Built in 1988 by artist Bruce Nauman is the immersive Center of the Universe, which can be found between Mitchell and Ortega Halls. This towering sculpture perfectly mimics the multidimensional architecture of Ortega Hall and the Humanities Building.