Zara Roy - The Daily Lobo

Opinion

REVIEW: ‘Beau is Afraid’ of brevity

Zara Roy | May 1

Time to whip out your Ativan: auteur-at-large Ari Aster has returned for his third feature film, “Beau is Afraid.” Back at his old vices of troublesome familial dynamics and brutal weirdness, Aster now formats them into a hero’s journey with a darkly comic edge. “Beau is Afraid” is a valiant experiment diminished by its own bloated runtime and unsatisfying, loopy narrative structure. The film follows the titular Beau Wasserman (Joaquin Phoenix), an anxious and solitary man, as he attempts to return home for the burial of his overbearing mother Mona Wasserman. Along the way, he is plunged into a variety of surreal, tooth-pulling nightmare scenarios which serve to reaffirm Beau’s various Freudian neuroses.

Culture

UNM film student shares thrill of cinema through work

Zara Roy | April 17

Ari Williams first decided he wanted to become a screenwriter after watching “The Wind Rises,” written and directed by Hayou Miyazaki, in fifth grade. He said he “would do anything to go back to that moment.” Now, as a film student at the University of New Mexico, Williams has worked to recreate the thrill of cinema through his own works. “I always wanted to be a storyteller or a writer,” Williams said. “The first thing I said I wanted to be was a poet … I didn’t really wanna learn how to read and write, but I remember asking my grandmother if she could write down the words I said aloud and then I would draw the pictures and add stickers, and I used to do a lot of books like that.”

News

UNM avoids tuition increase

Zara Roy | April 17

The UNM Board of Regents unanimously rejected a recommendation to increase tuition by 3% for the 2023-24 year. On Monday, April 10, the Board was presented with three fiscal recommendations drafted by UNM’s Budget and Leadership team. Ultimately, they approved recommendation 3, the only option which did not include a raise in tuition, with the only major, student-wide change being increases in student fees, which the other options also included. Regents’ chair Kim Sanchez Rael said that this push came from a desire to keep the University’s tuition affordable.

Culture

Quintessence fools Beliebers, engages community

Zara Roy and Addison Key | April 10

Matthew Greer, the artistic director of “Quintessence: a community of singers,” has addressed questions about the piece they will be performing for their annual Summer Choir Festival in a letter posted on Saturday, April 1. “We have commissioned a new piece, from one of the most popular and controversial musical artists of the last two decades,” Greer wrote. “Justin Bieber.” The letter redirected readers to the choir’s website, which said that the group will prepare a performance of Johannes Brahms’ “German Requiem,” the other JB. Registration to sing at the festival will open on April 20.

Satire

5 and Why: 5 answers to a question

Zara Roy | April 3

Many of us have been wondering this semester. Wondering who? When you what? And then? The Daily Lobo asked freshman philosophy student Virge Ihn his top five ways to tackle the question, “Who when you what and then?” Read on to find out how.

Culture

Lobo Gardens cultivate community and sustainability on campus

Zara Roy | March 23

For 12 years, the University of New Mexico’s Lobo Gardens have been growing as a University mainstay for the creation of community, environmental awareness and, of course, delicious produce. Tucked behind a building on the corner of Vassar Drive NE and Campus Boulevard NE, this quiet growing space and “living laboratory” teems with life, according to volunteer coordinator Amara Szrom. The Gardens are an open space for students to help, learn and grow their own plants. In addition to being a volunteer space open on Tuesdays from 1 to 3 p.m., classes, workshops and guest speakers are hosted out of the garden as a part of its role as an outdoor classroom, according to Szrom.

UNM Photo MFA Candidate's solo-exhibition at Strata Gallery in Santa Fe preview.jpg

Culture

UNM alum celebrates home and family in solo art exhibition

Zara Roy | March 20

On Tuesday, March 21, “Poems From Kay Pacha,” a solo exhibition from University on New Mexico alumnus Rosalba Breazeale, will open at the Strata Gallery in Santa Fe. The show centers around the idea of homeland; Breazeale pulled from their own identity as a member of the Ashkenazi and Peruvian diasporas, as well as their journey in finding a sense of home in Albuquerque. “‘Poems from Kay Pacha’ is a collaboration between my body and my plant relative,” Breazeale said. “Since moving to Albuquerque, I’ve been trying to establish more of a sense of home for myself, so in order to become more rooted in this place, things like getting to know the lands and things like foraging respectfully have been really important for me.”

Culture

Hit or miss: Isotopes jersey review

Zara Roy | March 6

As we jump into the 2023 season for the beloved Albuquerque Isotopes, now is the time for fans, both casual and die-hard, to think about what they’ll be stepping out in on their way to the stadium. The Isotopes are known for their unique array of jerseys which are rotated in and out for special occasions (and available for sale for lovers of the game). But which jerseys knock it out of the park, and which are a swing and a miss?

Culture

ABQ Street Meet fosters creativity and community

Zara Roy | March 6

Since 2018, Street Meet New Mexico has been an avenue for local creatives to build connections and strengthen both their professional lives and community ties. Street Meet is a monthly scheduled meet-up in which local models, photographers and cosplayers — hobbyists and professionals alike — come together to take photos. The Albuquerque event was first started by former University of New Mexico student Megan Kamauoha as part of the larger Street Meet collective, which exists in several other cities including Los Angeles and Seattle.

News

Aerial gunning of feral cattle is met with backlash

Zara Roy | February 26

The National Forest Service began an aerial gunning operation in the Gila National Forest to kill the population of feral cattle in the area which descend from cattle that were abandoned on a grazing allotment within the Wilderness area in 1976. The operation, which started on Thursday, Feb. 23, comes in response to the damaging effects the cattle have on the habitat and water quality of the Park, though the operation has been met with contention due to claims of animal cruelty. This project is part of ongoing efforts since the ‘90s — both lethal and nonlethal — to remove the feral cattle population from the land. The first aerial gunning on the population was done in February 2022 in which 65 cattle were removed, according to Maribeth Pecotte, public affairs officer for the Gila National Forest.