Camillo Cretara - The Daily Lobo

Culture

Students ask are we doing enough during Earth Month

Camillo Cretara | April 27

With Earth Month upon the University of New Mexico, some students have been reflecting on the importance of sustainability, as well as imagining how they could better serve our grassy plains and blue sky home. Political science student Alex St. Classis Brown said he often thinks of environmental sustainability. “When I think of sustainability, I think of more accountability for corporations primarily, and we all need to reduce our energy consumption,” St. Classis Brown said.

Satire

New invention, loud disco to replace silent lights

Camillo Cretara | March 30

This week at the University of New Mexico, Chairman Seymour Butz of UNM Planning and Events made a revolutionary change to how the University parties. In theme with all the recent renovations on campus, the events’ vanguard began working on a new way to appease the UNM student body and the ever-evolving trends that students love to stay up to date on. The idea they’ve come up with: Loud Disco. “No one’s ever done this!” Butz said. “When my father, Seymour Butz the first, came to UNM and was in this same position, he had come up with the idea of the silent disco which had taken the world by storm.”

Culture

Bugs and backyard refuge

Camillo Cretara | March 23

On Saturday, March 21, the Gutiérrez-Hubbell House put on their annual Backyard Refuge Day fair in tandem with Bernalillo County where at least 20 organizations and groups came together with one common goal in mind: Make Albuquerque a safer place for pollinators. New Mexico is home to around 1,000 of the 3,600 bee species native to the U.S. and over 300 species of butterflies, according to New Mexico Soil Working Group.As bee populations worldwide dwindle, the event sought to bring attention to strategies for taking care of and nurturing environments in our backyards for not only the bees, but also butterflies, bats and hummingbirds.

Culture

‘The Mighty Colorado’ river flows to Zimmerman

Camillo Cretara | March 9

The Colorado River is the sixth longest river in the United States and one of very few “wild” rivers in the lower 48 states. Running through New Mexico, it is one of the most important natural features to maintain in the West for conservation photographer Dave Showalter. On Friday, March 6, University of New Mexico’s Zimmerman Library hosted Showalter with a panel discussion and presented works from his new book “Living River: The Promise of the Mighty Colorado.” Showalter doesn’t refer to the river as a resource, but rather a life force.

Culture

Tamarind Institute remembers artist Jaune Quick-to-See Smith

Camillo Cretara | March 2

Jaune Quick-to-See Smith was a Native American visual artist known for her striking colors and strong shapes. On Feb. 12, Smith posthumously celebrated 46 years featured at the University of New Mexico’s artistic printmaking workshop, the Tamarind Institute. Originally opening its doors in 1960 in California, Tamarind moved to Albuquerque in 1970, with Smith starting her residence in 1980. Tamarind Institute Director Diana Gaston said Smith has made approximately 40 editions. “Our former director saw her work and invited her to come work with us, and that was about 40 years ago, so we’ve had this really long arc of time with her,” Gaston said.

Screen Shot 2026-02-16 at 12.03.43 AM.png

News

REVIEW: ‘BlacKkKlansman,’ a Black History Month must watch

Camillo Cretara | February 16

Of all the Black and African American directors there are, none stand out in history as much as Spike Lee. Lee’s 2018 film “BlacKkKlansmen,” starring John David Washington as Ron Stallworth and Adam Driver as Flip Zimmerman, is a movie based on the story of Colorado Springs’ first African-American detective and his infiltration of the Ku Klux Klan in 1979. Stallworth begins as a filing officer in the Colorado Springs Police Department, filing evidence and paper work until one day, he is moved straight into intelligence. With the movie being set in the 1970s, you can see the stark differences between how detectives gathered information and intelligence then and now. Newspapers were a great way to find things out and were considered more central to the general population.

Culture

Africana Studies Department kicks off Black History Month with brunch

Camillo Cretara | February 2

The University of New Mexico Department of Africana Studies “41st Annual Black History Month Kickoff Brunch” started Black History Month off strong, with the Student Union Building full of smells, sounds and an electrifying sense of community that could be felt as soon as one entered the ballroom. The Saturday, Jan. 31 brunch started off with attendees and speakers singing “Lift Every Voice and Sing” by James Weldon Johnson; a hymn first written in 1900 and adopted as a rallying cry during the Civil Rights movement in the 1950s and 1960s. The afternoon began with brief messages from UNM students and Mr. and Ms. UNM Afro, Jayden Charter and Judie Oyinatumba, as well as a quick introduction from Albuquerque’s first African American City Council member, District Six’s Nichole Rogers.

Culture

UNM alum, songwriter and artist Hataaliinez Wheeler makes Indie Rock his own

Camillo Cretara | January 26

Staying in one place is never good for an artist and University of New Mexico alum Hataaliinez Wheeler, who performs under the name “Hataałii,” recently realized that when he moved to New York City, New York, to continue writing music and painting. A 23-year-old singer, songwriter and painter, Wheeler is known for creating a psychedelic fusion of indie-rock and melancholic pop. Wheeler, who recently attended UNM, first started writing songs and painting in his dorm room, he said. Art can come from a lot of different places, and for Wheeler, his music and paintings often come from similar places, described as “Ntł’iz and Yódí,” he said.