Education has no age limits. Louis Cimalore, a 65-year-old UNM graduate student, knows that as well as anyone. Cimalore was a dual major in secondary education and history at the University of Rhode Island, but that was 41 years ago. This year he will receive his master’s degree in organization and information learning sciences (OILS) from UNM.
After having taken a year off from school due to health issues, Audra Lovato will graduate from college. In 2010, Lovato was diagnosed with Ulcerative colitis, and despite the several medications she was taking, had to undergo emergency surgery starting in the fall of 2013. The surgery consisted of three major procedures, all three months apart and done in Arizona.
Maria Andrea Aguilar is graduating from the College of Arts and Sciences this month, and she took a not-so-traditional path to her Spanish degree, completing the requirements in just two and a half years. Aguilar said that she has always known what is she capable of, and she always try to meet her goals. “I knew it would be possible for me to obtain my degree in less than four years, and therefore I had to do my best to do it,” she said.
JD Blatchford-Rodriguez is a Desert Storm veteran, as well as a father of two, and will be graduating with a bachelor’s degree in liberal arts. It has taken Blatchford-Rodriguez 20 years to graduate due to his obligations to his family and his job, but said he feels relieved that the pursuit is over. “My dad, when I was three years old, brought me to the U.S.,” Blatchford-Rodriguez said. “I was actually born in Mexico City ... my dad brought me to the U.S., he was self-taught how to read, write and speak English within a year.”
Man, it seems like it’s taken a long time to get to this point. Like many other students on this campus, I will take part in next week’s commencement celebration. I will walk up the ramp to receive two bachelor’s degrees: for multimedia journalism and history. I’m also 33 years old — not the oldest non-traditional student out there, but older than many of my counterparts. The effort that I put in during this second stint in college makes this graduation much more important to me than my high school or associate’s degree.
“Humbling” is the word men’s soccer head coach Jeremy Fishbein used to describe the two seniors who will receive their college degrees this semester. The two “interesting cats,” as Fishbein described them, are Josh Dye and Adrian Mora Delgado. “Those are two stable guys,” Fishbein said. “More than anything, they epitomize what a student-athlete is. It’s a bit humbling. They’re both engineering majors with 4.0 GPAs and they’re Division I athletes.”
I had the pleasure of attending several of the SexUality Week events put on by the Student Alliance for Reproductive Justice with some of my friends from the law school. The goal of Sex Week was to give students a comprehensive sex education that is inclusive, positive and gives them the tools to have meaningful conversations about sexuality.
Head coach Bob Davie won’t be a fan at the Gildan New Mexico Bowl this year. After weeks of speculation, it was officially announced on Sunday that New Mexico will participate in the New Mexico Bowl for the first time since 2007. UNM will face Arizona from the PAC-12 in University Stadium on Dec. 19.
New Mexico’s two-game slip came to a close after beating the SMU Mustangs 63-58 on Saturday night in Dallas, Texas. The first quarter was the start UNM needed, going up 15-8 after starting slow in the previous two contests. The hot first quarter didn’t correlate with the rest of the first half as New Mexico’s defense appeared to hit a brick wall in the second quarter. The Lobos were outscored 24-15 in that period, finding themselves in a 32-30 hole at the half.
No. 11 Purdue limited New Mexico to less than 60 points for the first time this season in a 70-58 loss Saturday afternoon in West Lafayette, Indiana. Prior to Saturday UNM (5-2) had scored 75 points or more through its first six games, but ran into Boilermaker squad who had yet to lose.
New Mexico’s schedule so far has seen more guard-oriented rosters with not much size. Saturday’s opponent, Purdue, will be much bigger. The No. 11 Boilermakers’s starting lineup includes 6-foot-8 forward Vince Edwards, 6-9 forward Caleb Swanigan and 7-2 center Isaac Hays.
Courtney Frerichs had a tough decision to make. With one year of eligibility left in her cross country career, Frerichs could either stay at the University of Missouri-Kansas City and complete a second undergraduate degree, or she could leave her home state and finish her collegiate career elsewhere.
Universities across the nation are continuously putting more attention into making their campuses and facilities environmentally friendly. Numair Latif, a graduate student studying architecture & planning, conducted a survey this semester in hopes of getting students' opinions on how to make UNM's campus more involved in that movement. Latif is a part of the Graduate and Professional Student Association (GPSA) and the chair of the Sustainability Committee at UNM. In an effort to recruit new members for the committee, he said he passed out pamphlets to students along with some questions for them to answer.
he looming end of a prominent UNM elementary education program came down to the wire this week, but it will continue for at least another year due to a last minute budget extension. The Natural Sciences Program, originally set for cancellation after the spring semester, was given a one-year extension. The program provides physical science, life science and environmental science courses for future kindergarten through eighth grade educators. Mark Peceny, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, said the proposed discontinuation came as a result of the University going through a 1.5 percent budget cut this year.
Each semester the Daily Lobo photo desk take over an issue at the end of the semester to tell a story visually. Here is this semester's edition from Di-Linh Hoang, Hannah Glasgow, Biraj Rawal, Derek Toledo and Nick Fojud.
The Lobos haven’t lost back-to-back games in nearly 11 months. On Wednesday night, that came to a close in a 70-62 loss against UTEP. After falling to Duquesne in a 78-69 4th quarter let down, the Lobos responded with a sluggish first half in El Paso. It was the first time the Lobos dropped consecutive games since opening conference play with losses to Fresno State on December 31, 2014 and to Colorado State on January 3, 2015.
Albuquerque residents sporting red AIDS ribbons and clothing gathered at the Old Town Plaza Tuesday night for the second annual candlelight vigil in honor of World AIDS Day. Candles were lit in honor of loved ones who lost their lives to the disease while the Highland High School Choir and the New Mexico Gay Men’s Chorus sang songs of love and peace and listeners shielded their flames from the cold wind.
The UNM Hospital is expected to donate around 75 minimally used mattresses to local city shelters to provide a need for impoverished women and families with children, according to a UNM Health Sciences Center release. UMNH is replacing a number of its gently-used mattresses with new ones, according to the release, resulting in the generosity.
One of UNM’s oldest traditions – the setting up of hundreds of luminarias around main campus – will start Friday, according to a UNM press release. The event is hosted by the UNM Mortar Board Honor Society, according to the release, and will begin at 5:45 p.m. this year. Attendees can indulge in free coffee and cookies at the UNM Bookstore at that time. This year there is a caroling route to get attendees in the holiday spirit that will makes its way to University House and Hodgin Hall.
Why do we see police every time we arrange an event? Why don’t ASUNM representatives, despite our invitations, attend our meetings? Why do faculty members treat us like criminals, even when we are the victims? Why have things not changed for African-American students on campus over the last three decades? UNM administration faced these and other tough questions from African-American students during a town hall style meeting arranged by the Black Student Union on Tuesday.
Solutions by The State News
