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In policy reversal, UNM requires vaccinations by October

  After a sudden shift in policy, the University of New Mexico is requiring all students, staff and faculty to be fully vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus by Sept. 30, 2021. The reversal from the University’s initial decision to forgo a vaccine mandate comes after local and national rises in COVID-19 cases. This vaccine policy applies to “all UNM personnel and students who access UNM facilities, housing, programs, services and activities located on the main campus in Albuquerque, the Academic Health Sciences campus in Albuquerque, Gallup campus, Los Alamos campus, Taos campus and the Valencia campus,” according to the Bringing Back the Pack website. 

LETTER: UNM grad workers union continues to fight regardless of upcoming labor board decision

  Last fall, a supermajority of UNM’s graduate employees formed a union and filed for certification under the Public Employee Bargaining Act (PEBA) in order to address the poverty wages, inadequate benefits and poor working conditions many graduate workers face as University employees. Graduate workers provide valuable labor to the University, which includes grading, conducting research and teaching 500 undergraduate courses each semester. However, the average graduate employee stipend is $14,438 per year, which is barely above the federal poverty line and almost $9,000 below the living wage for a single adult in Albuquerque.

UNM reinstates indoor mask mandate on select campuses

  On July 29, the University of New Mexico reinstated mask mandates for all individuals regardless of vaccination status effective Aug. 2. Masks will be required indoors for everyone at locations on the UNM Albuquerque, Taos and Valencia campuses, as well as the regional site in Sandoval County. The shift in policy — which had previously allowed fully vaccinated individuals to forgo mask-wearing — was spurred by recent spikes in COVID-19 cases across the country. The CDC recommends that “masks be worn in counties with a 7-day average community transmission of more than 7 new cases per 100,000 persons,” according to an academic dispatch from the Office of the Provost sent on July 29. 

July 26, 2021 Comics

UNM student Andrea Howard swings for the fences around the world

  University of New Mexico student Andrea Howard has been a player to be reckoned with ever since she started playing softball for the University back in 2017, but she has truly shined in 2021. This has been a year of personal bests in batting averages and home runs, but more importantly, it’s the year Howard became an international champion. Howard has been a player with the Italian National Team since 2017 as a dual citizen and helped lead the team to victory in the 2021 Women’s European Championship earlier this month, which allowed them to qualify for the World Games 2022. 

Ask the Editors

  Question to the editors: As we return to campus and in-person classes, how can I balance my schoolwork, work and social life? How do I find myself after the pandemic? These are two very large questions for college students as we wrangle with an age in our life where our goal is to not only find ourselves but also balance school and life perfectly. However, if you don’t know how to do that, it’s okay — none of the rest of us do either. It’s perfectly acceptable to explore who you think you are and who you want to be, but don’t expect that the rest of your life will be mess-free while you try to balance everything. 

OPINION: Top 5 best things about an in-person fall semester

  With August quickly approaching, it’s time for a lot of us students to start thinking about the changes we’re facing with an in-person semester after the virtual semesters we’ve had in the past year and a half. Although some anxieties come with the territory, here are five things that you can look forward to as we say goodbye to Zoom. 1. Group study sessions at Zimmerman Library If there’s one thing I learned from a year and a half on Zoom, it’s that studying for a test or working on a group project from the confines of my room is painfully difficult compared to the steady, bustling atmosphere of the comforting Zimmerman Library. 

Coping with back-to-school nerves after the pandemic

  After over a year of attending online school in a global pandemic, students are facing anxieties about returning to an in-person education. Questions about vaccinations, masks, social distancing and more float in the air, but the Daily Lobo spoke with the University of New Mexico’s Student Health and Counseling center about how students can cope with all of the unknowns as we enter an in-person fall semester. “The permeating anxiety will alter the atmosphere of the campus; it will just be a different environment,” SHAC case manager Margaret White said. “So I would say drop the expectation of normal, whatever that was, and embrace that this (environment) will be new, it will be different.”

UNM aims for 100% vaccination rate after forgoing vaccine requirement

  The University of New Mexico is encouraging all Lobos to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 before returning to campus for the fall semester on Aug. 23. The University has set a 100% vaccination rate goal after forgoing a campus-wide vaccine mandate. “I look forward to challenging and inspiring ourselves and our fellow Lobos to reach for that 100% in the coming weeks,” UNM President Garnett Stokes wrote in a campus-wide message on July 8. The University has an ongoing incentive program that offers students and employees the chance for cash prizes in exchange for proof of vaccination. 

Marginalized students at risk due to loose mask mandates

  As we gear up for a mostly maskless fall semester at the University of New Mexico, students in marginalized communities who are at a significantly higher risk than others during the COVID-19 pandemic are worried about the additional health risks that could affect them now that there is not a campus-wide mask mandate. Going along with UNM’s “Bring Back the Pack” initiative, the University announced in early July that individuals who have been fully vaccinated have the option to no longer wear a mask on campus (except for the Health Sciences Center campus buildings); individuals that are not fully vaccinated will continue to be required to wear one on campus grounds, following nationwide CDC guidelines.

LETTER: ASUNM president explains UNM’s undergraduate student government

  Dear Lobos, We as your undergraduate student government could not be more excited for this upcoming year. The past year and a half has been hard not being on campus, but we look forward to getting back to what we do best: putting on some of UNM’s largest events and fighting to make our campus one of the very best in the country for you, the students. We know that many students still don’t know what Associated Students of the University of New Mexico is or how they can get involved, so allow us to give you an introduction. ASUNM is comprised of three branches: the executive, the legislative and the judiciary.

Controversy surrounds UNM vaccine policy

  When the University of New Mexico decided to forgo a COVID-19 vaccine requirement and instead encourage a 100% vaccination rate goal for the upcoming semester, controversy erupted through the student body and students are still deciding whether or not they feel safe with the administration’s decisions. In May, the University drafted a vaccine mandate policy that would have required most students, staff and faculty to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 but has since abandoned the idea since the vaccine is still classified under Emergency Use Authorization by the FDA.

Lobo Sports Takes: Preview Edition

 The UNM women’s basketball team had a highly successful 2020-21 season, finishing with a record of 15-5 and at the top of the Mountain West conference.   The Lobos men’s basketball team had a dismal 2020-21 season, finishing 6-16 and struggling to assert any kind of successful offense.  The UNM football team struggled to find anything positive during their 2019-20 season.  The University of New Mexico softball team had a rocky 2020-21 season with a record of 10-36 thanks in no small part to a brutal first half of the schedule facing top teams including the University of Oklahoma, the University of Arizona and Oklahoma State. 

37 fouls called during NM United match with El Paso Locomotive

  It’s not often that an official takes center stage during a soccer match, but that was the case in the New Mexico United matchup against El Paso Locomotive FC on Saturday night at Isotopes Park in Albuquerque. The game ended in a 0-0 draw after 37 fouls were issued throughout the game to each team, with 23 going to United. Three yellow cards were also shown in the match — two for El Paso and one for New Mexico midfielder Andrew Tinari; United midfielder Juan Pablo Guzmán received a red card after the second half, putting the team down a player. Of the crowd of 10,303 fans at the game, many  repeatedly voiced their displeasure with the officiating.

Lobo women’s soccer schedule announced for 2021-22 season

  The University of New Mexico women’s soccer team’s recently released a schedule for the upcoming 2021-22 season. The new schedule includes two exhibition games, nine home games and eleven conference games. The first home game is an exhibition match on Aug. 16 against Fort Lewis College. Matches to look forward to include the return of the University of Washington, former recurring competitors who also went to the NCAA tournament last season, and Northern Arizona University, who was one COVID-19 incident away from a conference championship and a berth to the NCAA tournament as well.

OPINION: “Space Jam: A New Legacy” works as a revival for a new generation despite poor reviews

  This review contains spoilers for “Space Jam” Now that “Space Jam: A New Legacy” has been out for almost a week, we should be able to recognize it as the perfectly passable and outright fun family movie that it is. While watching it, I felt reassured that this wasn’t the terrible rehash that many feared but instead a natural revival of a childhood cult classic. The concept of “Space Jam” would make anyone incredulous at first: this movie franchise is about a film production company pairing an all-time basketball legend with Looney Tunes teammates that are forced to play a basketball game with twisted physics. That is such an easy marketing sell that, to the uninitiated, it can seem cynical.

LETTER: Government action on oil and gas reform continues

  The physical and economic health of our states depends on fair and responsible management of publicly owned resources — everything from our school buildings to our state and national parks. But because of the broken federal oil and gas leasing system, our schools have received less-than-promised funding and discarded oil wells are polluting our cherished public lands. Thankfully, several of our leaders in Washington are working to put our communities and public lands first and manage our transition away from fossil fuels.   In January, the Department of the Interior announced a temporary pause of new oil and gas leasing on public lands. 

OPINION: “Black Widow” top-tier acting saves it from disappointing villains

  This review contains spoilers Finally, after two years of no theatrical releases, the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) returned with its 24th installment, “Black Widow.” This film is an action-packed spy thriller starring Scarlett Johansson as the title character. With well-acted protagonists and a heavy focus on family, it’s a genuinely good time from start to finish, despite some villain development problems.  Soon after the events of “Captain America: Civil War,” Natasha Romanoff (aka Black Widow) is on the run when she receives the antidote to the mind control that she and the rest of the Widows have been subjected to. 

Albuquerque senior attempts to break Guinness World Record for her culture

  For Albuquerque senior and retired nurse Hiddekel Sara Burks, breaking a Guinness World Record isn’t just for fun — it’s an expression of her culture. Currently sitting in the Holocaust Museum is a nearly 4,000 foot long textile braid that still isn’t done. This long array of colors won’t be finished until Burks, founder of the National Braiders Guild, braids 6,000 feet and breaks the Guinness World Record for the longest handmade textile braid, which currently stands at about 5,217 feet. Burks estimates that she’ll finish in about six to eight more weeks, and will basket-weave all of the braids into a double helix.

Grow the Growers program supports farmers in the South Valley

Grow the Growers is a program in Albuquerque that provides farm training and business development education for emerging farmers, even amid the current historic drought. This program seeks to strengthen the food sector in the South Valley, which has been severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. “Historically, the South Valley has experienced a lot of environmental injustice, so it’s really important to keep the land that’s been in agriculture here in agriculture for the well-being of the ecosystem and community,” Alicia Robinson-Walsh, a manager for La Cosecha Community Supported Agriculture, said.