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Track and Field: Records continue to fall at New Mexico Collegiate Team Invitational

Robert Maler | January 27

Jay Griffin IV set a new school record for New Mexico Track and Field when he blazed the men's 200-meter run in 21.08 seconds last week at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Collegiate Invitational last week, but left enough gas in the tank to accomplish the same feat again on Saturday. Griffin IV, a two-sport student-athlete, bested his own school record, shaving a fraction of a second off his time to clock a 21.07 run. Carlos Salcido — who had previously held the school record — finished second with a time of 21.28. Fellow two-sport student-athlete Elijah Lilly also notched a top-10 performance, finishing in 21.74 to place sixth.

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News

Saved by the bill: House Dems push to reinstate sports

Kyle Land , Cameron Goeldner and Danielle Prokop | January 25

House Democrats introduced a bill Friday to give the University of New Mexico a reoccurring appropriation of $2 million to reinstate four sports. Led by House Appropriations and Finance Committee Chair Patricia Lundstrom (D-Gallup), the money would be taken from the state’s general fund to restore men and women’s ski team, women’s beach volleyball, and men’s soccer. Other sponsors of House Bill 320 (HB 320), all Democrats, are representatives Antonio “Moe” Maestas, Javier Martinez, Sheryl Williams Stapleton and Speaker of the House Brian Egolf. Egolf told the Daily Lobo on election night that the sports cut by UNM would be reinstated, and new Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham had campaigned on a promise to bring the programs back.

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News

C&J debates undergoing accreditation

Kyle Land | January 24

Heads of the University of New Mexico Communication & Journalism department are uncertain whether or not they will go forward with being re-accredited by an outside organization due to the cost and demanding requirements. The department first received accreditation from the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications (ACEJMC) in 1955. The ACEJMC’s task is to accredit professional journalism and mass communication programs at universities and colleges across the country, according to the council’s website. Departments and programs are not required to go through the accreditation process.

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News

Tense debate dominates ASUNM meeting

Justin Garcia | January 24

A long and confrontational debate arose in the Associated Students of University of New Mexico’s first full senate meeting of the semester. The debate regarded a $650 line item of an over $3,000 appropriation for LoboTHON after it was announced that ASUNM will be operating with an $99,852 budget. Last semester, ASUNM appropriated roughly $30,000. LoboTHON was eventually awarded $3,189 for costs associated with the group’s yearly dance marathon and travel fees for a conference in July. LoboTHON is a student organisation that raises money for the UNM Children's Hospital.

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News

UNM professors work to save New Mexico's water

Megan Holmen | January 24

In a recent University of New Mexico community outreach project, “New Mexico Water: What our Next Leaders Need to Know,” UNM professors called upon recent Governor-Elect Michelle Lujan Grisham to protect New Mexico’s water. Recommendations from the project include: increased involvement in water issues by Lujan Grisham, assuring appropriate regulatory programs from federal agencies, addressing climate change and providing financial assistance to small communities to meet water needs. Bruce Thomson, one of the organizers of the conference that produced the project and a research professor in the Civil Engineering Department at UNM, said each year UNM holds a water conference and the most recent one focused on recommendations for the new governor.

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Sports

Women's Basketball: Lobos defeat UNLV in overtime

Cameron Goeldner | January 24

The UNLV Rebels are one of only two teams in college basketball this year to come away with a win over the New Mexico Lobos, and they almost doubled up on their win in Las Vegas two weeks ago, but Katie Powell was unable to get a shot off for the Rebels down three in overtime, and the Lobos escaped with an 80-78 win in overtime. “This is UNLV. They’re hard for us to play against, hard for anybody to play against,” head coach Mike Bradbury said. “It’s hard to score against them, I thought we executed really well for the most part, and really good in overtime.” With the win, the Lobos move to 16-2 (6-1 MW) and drop the Rebels to 5-12 (3-3 MW) on the season. The Lobos retain their tie for second place with Utah State, one game behind conference leaders Boise State.

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Culture

Movie Review: "Escape Room" offers exciting mystery film

Tiffani Watteyne | January 24

Since the beginning of 2019, there have been many movies that have piqued the interests of audiences everywhere. One of these movies, “Escape Room,” started out the year right. The movie centers around the drama/mystery genres and brings an entertaining, yet terrifying take to the new real world trend of escape rooms. Its main plot focuses on a group of six strangers — Zoey (Taylor Russell), Ben (Logan Miller), Jason (Jay Ellis), Mike (Tyler Labine), Amanda (Deborah Ann Woll) and Danny (Nik Dobani). All receive a puzzle box that when solved gave them an invitation to the escape room promising the winner a cash prize.

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News

Photo Story: Opening Day of the New Mexico Legislature

Danielle Prokop and Anthony Jackson | January 23

Opening day of the New Mexico State Legislature saw packed hallways, handshakes and lots of kids. The November election brought Democrats control of the governorship and greater control of the House of Representatives. Before opening day, almost 500 bills were pre-filed. Some of those bills are making a second appearance thanks in part to a veto or pocket veto from former-Governor Susana Martinez.

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News

Hemp legalization may boost New Mexican economy

Andrew Gunn | January 22

After a multiple decade-long hiatus from New Mexico’s agricultural fields, industrial hemp is growing anew in state soil. On Dec. 11, 2018, the New Mexico State University (NMSU) Board of Regents voted unanimously to approve the Hemp Cultivation Rule, making it legal once again for New Mexican farmers to cultivate the controversial, but lucrative, crop. Hemp, one of the world’s oldest cultivated plants, is a variety of the Cannabis sativa species without the high levels of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the psychoactive component that causes the “high” when cannabis is consumed recreationally or medicinally. Hemp’s return to the state comes after a nearly 100-year absence, according to Agricultural and Environmental Services Division Director Brad Lewis.

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News

Albuquerque Women's March holds third annual event

Megan Holmen | January 22

Burqueños gathered at Civic Plaza for the 2019 Albuquerque’s Women’s March on Jan. 20. People from all communities and walks of life came together for a common cause — women’s rights. The rally featured keynote speakers including: Samia Assad the Albuquerque Women’s March chair, U.S. Congresswoman Deb Haaland, Public Lands Commissioner Stephanie Garcia Richard, a variety of University of New Mexico professors and other speakers. The Albuquerque Women’s March is held in conjunction with other marches held in cities across the nation, including the national Women’s March in Washington D.C. This was the third year of the march and was dubbed the “Women’s Wave.”

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News

Local museum hosts viewing for blood moon

Luisa Pennington | January 22

On Jan. 20, the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science opened its doors after-hours for a special viewing of the supermoon total eclipse. Starting at 8:30 p.m., more than 1,000 museum visitors were welcomed into the museum’s campus to view the phenomenon until 11:30 p.m. A lunar eclipse occurs when the moon moves into the Earth’s shadow. When this happens a dark red interior color is reflected. They don’t happen often because normally the moon moves slightly over or under the shadow when it’s on the far side of the Earth from the sun, according to The New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science. At 8:34 p.m. the Partial Eclipse began and guests began to arrive. Crowds began to form on the museum grounds and and on the observatory deck. To get a closer look at the supermoon, telescopes were provided by the museum and Albuquerque Astronomical Society for visitors to enjoy.

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Sports

Volleyball: Lobos find new head coach

Matthew Narvaiz | January 22

After 11 years, it’s a new era for the University of New Mexico volleyball program. Jon Newman-Gonchar was named the head coach of the Lobos, the UNM Athletics Department announced on Tuesday. Newman-Gonchar most recently served as associate head coach at Arkansas for the last three years, but has a history in college volleyball that predates that tenure.

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Culture

Blind Spots tour sheds light on unconscious bias

Justin Garcia | January 22

“This is in a foreign language,” a women said referring to the pre-recorded voice on a telephone at the Check Your Blind Spots Unconscious Bias mobile tour. According to a worker with the tour bus that was, in fact, the point. That was Thursday in Smith Plaza at the University of New Mexico, when the tour equipped with virtual reality headsets, tablets and other technology came to main campus. The bus, which is part of the CEO Action for Diversity & Inclusion, featured several interactive exhibits promoting values of diversity and inclusion.

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Culture

5 and Why: C&J Chair David Weiss' favorite plays

Luisa Pennington | January 22

Interested in society’s relationship with the media, Dr. David Weiss, the Department Chair for the University of New Mexico’s Communication and Journalism Department, spends his time researching media discourse, political and religious communication and the media and popular culture industries. In addition to research, Dr. Weiss is an Associate Professor within the Communication and Journalism Department. There, he teaches courses in strategic communication, political communication and media studies. Weiss got his PhD from UNM in 2005. He is also an alumni of Cornell University and the University of Oregon. Between graduating from college and going back to school for a master's degree, Weiss lived in New York City for 17 years. While in NYC, he was an executive at several of the country's largest advertising agencies. Though he was extremely busy, he did have time to go to several plays. So, when we asked him to name his top five plays and why, this is what he said:

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News

New Mexico worst in the nation for child well-being

Justin Garcia | January 22

New Mexico continues to be ranked last in the country in child-well being, according to a report released Tuesday written by New Mexico Voices for Children. For the second time in five years, the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s Kids Count program ranked New Mexico 50th for child well-being. The Kids Count also ranked New Mexico 49th in economic well-being, 50th in education and 48th in health. The report cited what it called the austerity policies of the past decade for the low rankings. “With a brand-new governor,” the report reads, “this is the perfect time to change our course – to turn from austerity onto a road to opportunity.“ In nearly all cases, Hispanic and Native American children were more likely to be experiencing hardships compared to non-Hispanic whites.

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Sports

Women's Basketball: Lobos deal Cowgirls first home loss of the season

Robert Maler | January 21

The University of New Mexico women's basketball team played a tight one on Saturday afternoon, but overcame a late deficit to hand the Wyoming Cowgirls their first home loss of the season. New Mexico (15-2, 5-1 MW) had to withstand a 3-point barrage from its opponent — Wyoming hit 12 of them on the afternoon — as the teams traded blows in a game that featured 16 lead changes.

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Sports

Men's Basketball: UNM crushes Wyoming by 30 points

Robert Maler | January 21

Wyoming has had a rough season so far and the University of New Mexico men's basketball team decided to keep things that way, crushing the Cowboys and administering a 30-point stomping to them on Saturday at Dreamstyle Arena. It was the second time in the past three games that Wyoming was on the wrong end of a one-sided game, falling by nearing an identical score against San Diego State on Jan. 8. The Cowboys lost that game 84-54 and suffered a similar fate against UNM, losing by an 83-53 margin. New Mexico ( 9-9, 3-3 MW) got off to a relatively quick start and saw all five starters score within the first six minutes of the game. A few seconds later the Lobos held their first double digit lead after senior guard Anthony Mathis buried a pair of free throws to the score 14-4 at the 13:58 mark.

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Sports

Men's Basketball: Pair of struggling teams meet for chance to put an end to losing streak

Robert Maler | January 19

The Wyoming Cowboys haven't won in conference play and have yet to win a true road game this season. On Saturday, the University of New Mexico men's basketball team will try to keep it that way. For all the recent problems the Lobos have faced, Wyoming has almost certainly had things worse. And New Mexico (8-9, 2-3 MW) probably couldn't ask for a better opponent to "get right" against and end its current three-game slide. The Lobos have an opportunity to even up both its overall record and in Mountain West play if they can secure a win against Wyoming, which is tied for last place in the conference standings.

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Sports

Women's Basketball: Lobos dominate SDSU at home

Matthew Narvaiz | January 17

No game is easy to win, even at The Pit. Even though the University of New Mexico women’s basketball team was able to play a near-flawless first-half against the visiting San Diego State Aztecs, basketball is still a game of trends. And despite a near-comeback from the Aztecs in the second half, which saw them outscore UNM (14-2, 4-1 MW) over the final two quarters, the Lobos turned the tide when it mattered most and sealed their 70-62 victory after scoring the final eight points of the game.

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News

Lujan Grisham kicks off 54th NM Legislature

Danielle Prokop and Anthony Jackson | January 17

The marble halls of the Roundhouse were buzzing Tuesday, the first day of the 54th New Mexico Legislature, as thousands from around the state convened for opening-day festivities. Family members, lobbyists, constituents, journalists and activists came for the swearing-in of legislators, and New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham’s much-anticipated State of the State Address. People jammed the halls hours before noon as security guards searched bags and pockets before allowing people to sit in the House gallery.