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UNM’s desert oasis a costly endeavor

The seven hundred and sixty-nine acres that span the University of New Mexico campus are predominantly covered in grass — an odd sight, given the college’s high desert locale. Water, a precious commodity that is increasingly lacking in supply and high in demand, flows freely on UNM’s grounds — and according to the administration, isn’t a cost that is easily tabulated. Norma Allen, the director of the University’s budget operations, said that UNM’s Facilities Management department receives a $1.9 million budget for the grounds. Facilities Management said that its system isn’t currently set up to monitor the water usage on campus, and because of this isn’t able to peg down the exact cost.

Sept 14, 2020 Comics

Sept 9, 2020 Comics

UNM Athletics spared the brunt of COVID infections in college sporting scene

So far this semester, University of New Mexico Athletics has been spared any major COVID-19 outbreaks, as the program adheres to NCAA and Mountain West Conference guidelines. UNM Athletics director Eddie Nuñez told the Daily Lobo on Aug. 28 that the University is complying with the college sporting body’s stringent regulations, but that hasn’t prevented at least 11 UNM athletes, staffers and/or coaches from testing positive for the virus as of the end of August. These cases are not unique in the wider college athletics landscape. As of the beginning of August, “at least 800 college football players have tested positive for the virus nationwide,” according to Sports Illustrated. However, they warned that “the actual number is likely much higher.”

SHAC massages help relieve stress on campus

The University of New Mexico’s Student Health and Counseling (SHAC) has reopened its massage services, leaving licensed massage therapist (LMT) Eric Revels to find a way to safely meet with clients while simultaneously helping them release stresses often related to the ongoing pandemic. However, Revels has experienced some anxiety himself taking on new patients amid the continued spread of the coronavirus. “My worry wasn’t about particularly working at SHAC, but particularly with working on new people,” Revels said. “Whether that be in my private practice or (SHAC) and them being safe to follow the precautions.”

Brined, not stoned: ‘An American Pickle’ required viewing for Seth Rogen fans only

If you’re wondering what the science behind a man being preserved in pickle brine for 100 years is, you’re in luck! An unnamed reporter asks that very question in the first 15 minutes of the Seth Rogen vehicle “An American Pickle.” I won’t spoil the answer here. I can only say that, according to Herschel’s inner monologue, “The science was good, and everyone was satisfied.” The main highlights of the film include Rogen’s passable Russian accent as Herschel and a few not-so-subtle digs at social media. Fans of YouTube’s “Kalen Reacts” will be pleased to see Kalen Allen make several appearances as Herschel’s “fairy godmother” of the technological age and pickle-odor aficionado.

Fast fashion out of style at Nob Hill’s NEO Thread

Nob Hill’s local upcycling store NEO Thread, also known as “New Life,” has been on hold since February 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic but continues to keep a space for creativity for all of its dedicated shoppers. Sarah Holley, the owner, founder, seamstress and expert of upcycling, has been in the process of designing and drafting more creative activities for the “wonderfully misunderstood Albuquerque” since 2019. Upcycling, also known as creative reuse, is “the process of changing something you already own into better quality or more valuable to your liking,” as explained previously in the Daily Lobo.

Former UNM football coach son's murder remains unsolved

Mike Locksley, whose brief tenure as the University of New Mexico’s head football coach ended in 2011, and his wife Kia held a joint press conference with the Howard County Police Department on Sept. 3 to announce renewed efforts in the pursuit of knowledge about the murder of Locksley’s son Meiko. The day marked the three-year anniversary of Meiko Locksley’s murder. The 25-year-old was shot once in the chest on the 5500 block of Harpers Farm Road in Columbia, Md. He was later pronounced dead at the University of Maryland’s Shock Trauma Center.

UNM getting the bands back together

University of New Mexico bands haven’t practiced in person since August but are set to resume face-to-face rehearsals after Labor Day with the assistance of new, custom-made masks and socially distanced protocols. Associate professor Chad Simons, who is the associate director of bands and director ...

Right-wing Rio Rancho residents plan counter-demo to BLM protest

As right-wing violence continues to escalate across the country, a Black Lives Matter counter-protest is organizing online. Black New Mexico Movement (BNMM), a group that formed over the summer, is planning to hold a demonstration on the eve of the late rapper Tupac Shakur’s 1996 murder “to call for the same changes Tupac called for many years ago,” the Facebook event page states. Shakur was outspoken about systemic racism and police brutality, having himself been a victim of such violence.

‘Mulan’ divides and conquers

I had the privilege — after paying $30 on top of my Disney+ subscription — of watching the new live action version of Mulan over the Labor Day weekend. And, despite much vitriolic criticism and scathing reviews, I found it to be a gorgeous, uplifting brain break during a socially distanced pandemic that has been grinding on for far too long. Though the movie has garnered a number of angry, bitter commentaries about how the movie was “too politically correct” — for insisting on having an exclusively Chinese and Mongolian cast — and the dialog was” underwhelming,” I thought it was a gorgeous cinematic feat that had less cultural appropriation and more realism than the original animated version of the movie.

Zozobra gets roasted

SANTA FE — Zozobra and the shredded gloom of 2020 stuffed inside him burned away for the 96th time on Friday, Sept. 4, this year in front of a nearly empty field due to the coronavirus pandemic. “If there ever was a year that deserved to burn, it's 2020,” Santa Fe Mayor Alan Webber said as he kicked off the Zozobra live broadcast. “Old Man Gloom” — a 50-foot marionette of gloom incarnate — burns every year at Fort Marcy Park in Santa Fe in a storm of fireworks and flames.

Sept 8, 2020 Comics

Moments Together supports pandemic parenting, early childhood development

Childhood education and care never ceases, especially during a pandemic. On Aug. 10, the Early Childhood Education and Care Department (ECECD) launched Moments Together, a campaign intended to provide intellectual and developmental stimulus to children under five as well as support to their caregivers through free and easily accessible online resources. The campaign was adapted from the United Way of Central New Mexico and designed by the Early Literacy Strategy Group in collaboration with the University of New Mexico’s Family Development Program, MediaDesk and New Mexico PBS.

Sept 2, 2020 Comics

Sandia Labs employee rails against critical race theory in lab-wide email

Sandia National Laboratories employee Casey Petersen sent out a lab-wide email on Aug. 25 that contained a self-made YouTube video titled “Pushing Back on the Narrative of Modern Systemic Racism & White Privilege.” In the two weeks since the racist video was sent out, Petersen has drawn support from conservative commentators while Sandia Labs leadership have yet to publicly condemn the video. In the hour-long diatribe, Petersen makes a series of claims that anti-racism training doesn’t belong in the workplace and that systemic racism isn’t a major problem in the modern-day United States, among others.

Students call for firing of UNMPD officer over racist TikTok video

Update: UNMPD officer Eric Peer has been placed on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the University’s investigation but no final decision has been made, according to University communications officer Cinnamon Blair. Meanwhile, a petition calling for Peer to be fired has gained more than 100 signatures since being created Friday morning. In a now-deleted TikTok video, University of New Mexico Police Department officer Eric Peer recorded a man tiling a floor with a voiceover of Cartman from South Park saying “scanning for Mexicans” edited in. The video circulated on Twitter Thursday night, with some students calling for Peer to be fired. “I think the cop absolutely needs to be fired. There’s no justification to keep him on whatsoever,” Associated Students of the University of New Mexico President Pro Tempore Suha Musa told the Daily Lobo.

Activism and poetry inspires truth at UNM

Poetry and pressing conversations about social justice typically go hand-in-hand, and “Dare To Speak” confirms just this. Carlos Andrés Gómez and Katie Kramer spoke to University of New Mexico students on Sept. 1 about activism through poetry through the Student Activities Center. I recently found myself reminiscing about on-campus events that wouldn’t happen this semester, prompting me to click on UNM’s Aug. 31 newsletter, “This Week at UNM.” I scrolled until I saw an activist poetry event and, thrilled to see the efforts to spark meaningful conversations among students, I immediately signed up. Kramer and Gómez are collaborators who perform poetry together at various schools and companies in order to promote inclusivity in professional settings.

Black Student Union condemns Brian Urlacher post on Jacob Blake shooting

On Aug. 27, perhaps the most famous football player ever to wear the cherry and silver uniform of the University of New Mexico posted an incendiary screed on Instagram denigrating NBA players’ brief strike of playoff games in protest of police brutality and structural racism. The players’ boycott was in response to the police shooting of 29-year-old Jacob Blake, a Black man, in Kenosha, Wisconsin on Aug. 23. Blake is paralyzed from the waist down, according to his lawyer, and remains hospitalized as of the publication of this article. UNM’s Black Student Union (BSU) followed with a strongly worded statement, released on social media on Sept. 2, rebuking what they said was Urlacher’s “horrific” interpretation of the events leading up to the near-fatal police shooting of Blake.

Albuquerque movie theaters yet another pandemic casualty

The movie theater industry has been slammed by the coronavirus pandemic on both national and local levels and has seen its enterprise on movie releases shrink. Theaters that financially survive the pandemic are considered the lucky ones. In Albuquerque, permanent closures include both Movies 8 and Movies West theaters of the Cinemark chain, leaving the city without any “one dollar theaters.” While major theater chains struggle, local theaters face similar, if not more dire, financial consequences. Keif Henly, owner of the Guild Cinema in Nob Hill, said revenue is extremely down due to COVID-19 but the online streaming service the cinema has used has helped with lost revenues.