Lily Alexander - The Daily Lobo

News

‘I was number 11 of the people that were bayoneted’

Lily Alexander and Nate Bernard | July 22

On May 8, 1970, 11 individuals at the University of New Mexico were injured by National Guard members armed with bayonets during a Vietnam War protest. One of these individuals was Daily Lobo photographer and reporter Stephen Part, who was stabbed with a bayonet in his back as he leaned over to help a fellow student. Now a retired history and government teacher, Part said he was carrying his press badge and wearing a helmet labeled “press” when he was stabbed. “I felt something like pressure — it wasn't immediate pain. I stood up and my belt slid up over the puncture … I put my hand back there and there was blood,” Part said.

News

Unpacking UNM’s divestment from South Africa in 1985

Lily Alexander and Nate Bernard | July 22

On June 11, 1985, the University of New Mexico Board of Regents unanimously voted to divest from gold mines and other investments in apartheid South Africa. This move has been referenced regularly in current pro-Palestine protesters’ calls for University divestment from Israel. Prior to 1994, South Africa held long-standing policies of racial segregation and the exclusion of all non-white South Africans, according to the African Union. This included forcefully removing Black citizens from their homes and illegalizing interracial marriage, according to South African History Online. Throughout the 1980s, internal and external pressures to end apartheid in South Africa mounted — as well as the nation’s brutal tactics to suppress the movement, according to the AU.

News

‘It’s Joever’: Biden drops out of the presidential race

Lauren Lifke , Lily Alexander and Addison Fulton | July 22

On Sunday, July 21, President Joe Biden stepped down from his position as the 2024 presidential Democratic nominee. Shortly after the announcement, Biden endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris as the new nominee. “It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as your president. And while it has been my intention to seek reelection, I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and to focus solely on fulfilling my duties as President for the remainder of my term,” Biden wrote in a statement posted to X.

News

UNM to implement new Title IX regulations

Lily Alexander | July 17

New Title IX regulations require the University of New Mexico to make changes to the way it addresses sex discrimination and sexual misconduct by August 1. The regulations – released by the U.S. Department of Education on April 19 – broaden the University’s jurisdiction to respond to Title IX complaints; expand mandated reporting of sex discrimination and sexual misconduct; and clarify language and definitions around sexual harassment, sexual orientation, gender identity and sex stereotypes. The regulations also increase protections for pregnant individuals at UNM. Title IX is a federal law passed in 1972 that protects people from sex-based discrimination in education programs or activities that receive federal financial assistance.

News

UNM invests in funds with shares in Israeli companies

Lily Alexander and Nate Bernard | July 1

The University of New Mexico invests in at least two mutual funds that own shares in Israeli companies, according to a list of investments within the funds obtained by the Daily Lobo through a public records request. UNM also holds bonds in a weapons manufacturer that supplies the Israel Defense Forces — the national military of Israel. This information comes amidst calls by pro-Palestine activists for UNM to divest from companies based in Israel or companies that indirectly aid the Israeli military. The mutual funds — Axiom International Small Cap Equity Fund and BlackRock ACWI ex USA Index — together own shares in 15 companies based in Israel, including defense company Elbit Systems Ltd.

News

New Mexico uncommitted vote doubles since last democratic primary

Lily Alexander and Nate Bernard | June 7

On Tuesday, June 4, in the New Mexico primary elections, 10% of registered democrats voted “uncommitted” for their chosen presidential candidate. This was about double the number of those who voted uncommitted in the 2020 primary elections. The elections coincided with a national movement to vote uncommitted due to President Joe Biden’s administration’s policies on Israel, according to Rhi Mauldin, a volunteer at the campaign Vote Uncommitted New Mexico. This movement contributed significantly to the rise in uncommitted voters this election, Mauldin said.

News

The SUB’s history with anti-war protest

Lily Alexander and Nate Bernard | May 13

On May 8, 1970, after three days of occupying the Student Union Building in protest of the Vietnam War, 131 University of New Mexico students were arrested. Fifty-four years later, 16 protesters were arrested after they occupied the SUB in solidarity with Palestine amidst the war in Gaza. The Vietnam War protests at UNM followed United States President Richard Nixon’s order to invade Cambodia on April 31, 1970, according to a UNM timeline. UNM President Ferrel Heady sent a telegram to Nixon disapproving of the invasion, according to a Daily Lobo article from May 6, 1970.

Opinion

OPINION: Campus protest coverage is impossible without student journalists

Lily Alexander | May 13

Somewhere between 3 and 4 a.m. on April 30, a rapid series of dings from my phone awoke me suddenly. I was immediately alert – I knew what this meant. A couple of hours earlier when I resigned myself to the necessity of sleep, I turned up my ringtone to full volume. This way, I would hear notifications from my group chat with Daily Lobo reporters Paloma Chapa, Leila Chapa, Ella Daniel and outgoing editor-in-chief Maddie Pukite. If anything drastic happened while the reporters were barricaded inside the Student Union Building, covering its occupation by pro-Palestine protesters, I would be aware and ready to drive to the University of New Mexico to pick them up.

Culture

Estrada’s creativity knows no bounds

Lily Alexander | May 6

“I was like, ‘F*ck, I’m not getting a job,’” Katrina Estrada said about her 2022 interview to be a freelance photographer at the Daily Lobo – during which she burst into laughter when a pigeon attacked then photo editor Mackenzie Schwartz. A week later, she was hired. She soon became the multimedia editor, and later, the photo editor. She graduates from the University of New Mexico with a bachelor’s degree in film this spring. “I chose film because I’ve always been in love with the art. I think it started with my love for photography that started at a very young age, and then it blossomed into wanting to delve into other visual medias,” Estrada said.

News

Nation’s first mental health responders sign union contract

Lily Alexander and Nate Bernard | April 29

The Albuquerque Community Safety department secured their first collective bargaining agreement with their union in March. The department cited lack of support for employee well-being, stability and mental health, according to ACS Agency Vice President and bargaining committee member Crystal Little. The Union represents the first government agency in the nation that sends first responders with backgrounds in mental health to non-violent calls, according to Sherii Miera, an ACS behavioral health responder and bargaining committee member. Responders are dispatched through 911 calls, Miera said. “One of our main goals throughout has been to focus on the safety and well-being of the responders and ensuring that our voices are heard,” Little said.