Fall sports are right around the corner at the University of New Mexico and there is a lot to be excited about. This year’s women’s fall sports features dominant and competitive teams that deserve attention and are looking to build on previous successes and continue to be a force in the Mountain West.
Since the United States Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade on June 24, women and people with uteruses have faced uncertainty across the nation. Since the ruling, 44 states have banned abortion after a certain point in pregnancy, with 17 banning it entirely. For New Mexico, abortion is still legal at any stage of pregnancy. Resource centers from the University of New Mexico such as the Women’s Resource Center and the Division for Equity and Inclusion stated their support for people affected all over the country and UNM students in particular.
Since its inception, the Women’s Resource Center at the University of New Mexico has worked tirelessly to create a space that makes individuals feel less alone on the busy UNM campus and continues to adapt to the needs of all students. The WRC prides itself on accessibility and inclusion, in addition to continuously evolving to better serve UNM students. One of the most well-known and unique services provided by the center is confidential advocacy, according to Michelle Dugan, a campus advocate at the WRC.
With summer still in session and the weather ripe for cycling, the University of New Mexico has kicked off a series of bicycle maintenance workshops specifically targeted towards women, trans and nonbinary people, and allies. The goal is to create a comfortable space for femme people to learn the mechanics of their bike. The free program, which takes place at the UNM Outdoor Adventure Center, runs from 5-7 p.m. every Tuesday and Wednesday from July 13 to Aug. 14. The unique workshops cover a variety of different aspects of bicycle mechanics over the course of a month.
The opera “La Malinche: Traitor | Savior” by composer Nathan Felix, premiered July 21 at the Albuquerque Museum, exploring the journey, influence and legacy of historical figure La Malinche and her involvement in the Spanish conquest of Mexico. The opera, commissioned by the Albuquerque Museum, coincides with an exhibit currently showing, “Traitor, Survivor, Icon: The Legacy of La Malinche,” which showcases works of art surrounding the iconic figure. La Malinche, whose real name has been lost over time, was gifted to Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés in 1519. Due to La Malinche being fluent in Nahuatl and Maya, two of the languages spoken in the Aztec Empire, she became Cortés’ translator. Eventually, La Malinche would go on to mother Cortés’ child, according to the Albuquerque Museum.
On June 2, the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service — alongside the New Mexico and Arizona Game and Fish departments — signed a letter of intent to work collaboratively on protecting the Mexican gray wolf. This letter of intent comes right before the five-year recovery update that is due from the 2017 Mexican Gray Wolf Recovery Plan, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Public Affairs specialist Aislinn Maestas. “(We are) coming together to reaffirm, but also put into a formalized agreement, that we are committed to recovering Mexican wolves, both in the United States and historical areas in Mexico,” Maestas said.
Minions have found themselves to be the sources of great civil unrest since their introduction to cinema in 2010 with the release of the first film in the “Despicable Me” franchise. These peanut-esque beings have been shamed and disgraced for little reason since their introduction to the public, but with the release of the latest despicable installation, have risen to great distinction: on July 1, “Minions: The Rise of Gru” released in the United States, already becoming one of the highest-grossing films of the year. Finally, we’re going bananas for minions, rather than rising against them.
On Monday, July 18, the University of New Mexico Center for Southwest Research welcomed over 40 researchers and enthusiasts from around the world into Zimmermann Library’s west wing for the opening event of the 15th International D.H. Lawrence Conference, celebrating the life and work of the early 20th-century English writer. The conference is held every three years in different locales of relevance to the author and his writings. For Feroza Jussawalla, a professor emerita in the UNM English Department and specialist in Lawrence, the conference serves as a good reminder to UNM students and faculty of the value the author brought to our state, which Lawrence saw as a space for a potential utopia.
Recently, the Associated Students at the University of New Mexico announced the hires for student service agency executive directors, including rehires and new faces alike. One such new face is Mac Bagwell, executive director of the Elections Commision, who plans to work diligently in the position. As executive director of the Elections Commision, Bagwell’s primary responsibility is overseeing the entire agency in protecting the integrity of all student elections, including senatorial, presidential and homecoming elections. A junior majoring in criminology and political science, Bagwell is also an executive board member of the Pre-Law Society and vice-president of the UNM chapter of the National Society of Leadership and Success, on top of her ongoing work with Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corps and ASUNM. To Bagwell, being so widely involved on campus has helped her prepare for her role as executive director.
When black midi first burst onto the music scene with their debut single “bmbmbm” in 2018, it was clear they were a band to watch. Their subsequent albums “Schlagenheim” and “Cavalcade,” released in 2019 and 2021 respectively, were met with universal critical acclaim, further cementing black midi’s place among some of the top bands working today. On July 15, 2022, black midi returned with “Hellfire,” an album that strangely feels like the best introduction to the band with its clear sense of identity and superb musicianship. While black midi typically gets grouped in with the other bands out of England making waves in the post-punk scene like Dry Cleaning and Black Country, New Road, they stand out from the crowd with a heavy progessive rock influence not present in other acts. It makes midi’s music incredibly unique, but also difficult to approach.
Baz Luhrmann’s “Elvis,” with its overwrought style beyond substance, is the cinematic equivalent of eating all of your leftover Halloween candy in one night and waking up sick the next morning. An enjoyable ride with sweet flavorings to boot, it’s too eager in its undertakings and leaves you staggered and slightly sick. With a hubristic two-hour, 39-minute runtime that challenges even the most ardent supporters of the hyper-stylistic director, “Elvis” fails to shine beyond spectacle in its portrayal of the relationship between the iconic rock-and-roller and his infamously manipulative manager.
The Associated Students at the University of New Mexico recently announced the new executive directors of the various student service agencies. Among them is the newly appointed Community Experience director Sierra Quintana, who brings past senatorial experience, a strong sense for the responsibilities of community and bold ambition to the position. Quintana, an incoming junior, has been involved with ASUNM since she was a freshman: first with the Emerging Lobo Leaders program, then as a senator and vice presidential candidate. As an electrical engineering major, she’s also heavily involved elsewhere on campus as the president of the Society for Women Engineers and a member of a Panhellenic society.
Researchers at the University of New Mexico were recently awarded more than $3 million to continue studying aging in chimps. The funding, awarded by the National Advisory Council on Aging through a Method to Extend Research in Time award, will last five years with the possibility of a three to five year extension. The research has been led by the Comparative Human and Primate Physiology Center co-director Melissa Emery Thompson. “This project, going from 2015 to potentially 2027, really gives us excellent longitudinal coverage of the different health parameters that we're looking at,” Emery Thompson said.
On the evening of Thursday, July 14, dozens of protesters gathered at the corner of Wyoming Boulevard and Central Avenue to rally and march in support of defunding the police. The rally and march come after 15-year-old Brett Rosenau was killed in a house fire during an Albuquerque Police Department SWAT standoff. Paula Arrietta was one of the cop watchers present on the evening of July 6 and documented the destruction that left Rosenau dead and a house demolished. “It was heart-wrenching, watching the family. I mean, just watching their emotions … They were losing everything,” Arrietta said.
On Thursday, July 14, the United Graduate Workers of the University of New Mexico held a picket line where they confronted members of the UNM bargaining team as they walked into the building where Thursday’s bargaining meeting would be held. The picket served as a call to action on a nondiscrimination clause that the University continues to push back on. “UNM calls itself a Hispanic-serving institution, and they care about diversity, and they care so much about examining the different types of people on campus. However, they have absolutely no way of protecting those people when they actually are discriminated against,” Union bargaining team member Samantha Cooney said.
The Associated Students of the University of New Mexico recently announced their 2022-23 agency directors, including returning ASUNM Arts and Crafts Studio executive director Sara Atencio-Gonzales. She was rehired largely due to her history of dedication and hard work. Atencio-Gonzales first learned about the studio in Fall 2020, when she joined ASUNM’s Emerging Lobo Leaders program. She became interim director in Spring 2022 and applied for the position for this year after she fell in love with the work. In the position, she balances both outward and inward facing jobs, taking care of studio member and employee needs as well as budgeting, working with other ASUNM offices and event planning.
Summer break is a good opportunity to enjoy good reads outside of an academic environment. University of New Mexico junior Julia Langeway, a circulation assistant at Zimmerman Library student studying English and art history, sat down with the Daily Lobo to share five of her favorite books.
On June 28, Wry Press released “Natives Don’t Get Haircuts,” a chapbook by former University of New Mexico student Hataałiinez Wheeler containing 29 poems and one short story. Fans of Wheeler’s will recognize the disconcerting linework as analogous to what is often scrawled alongside his sketches and photographs, while those new to his work will be brought in by the tension and language — none will be disappointed with the outcome, printed and bound. Wheeler, the definition of an interdisciplinary artist, has already released three albums and an EP under his nickname Hataałii. A personal favorite is the song “Walking on Our Own,” co-written and produced by current UNM student Jakob Jaques. Wheeler is also a model and actor, recently working on the AMC television series “Dark Winds” as Joe Leaphorn Jr. In the past year, he’s even delved into painting and jewelry-making with vigor.
The film industry loves to make movies about the film industry and “Dawn Breaks Behind the Eyes” from Austrian/Sri Lankan director Kevin Kopacka, is one of the newest films to join this long tradition after its release in the U.S. on June 24. The Guild Cinema luckily only had a one-night screening of the film so hopefully no one else — save for the poor unfortunate souls in the movie house on Saturday, July 9 — will have to subject themselves to this bore of a watch. “Dawn” starts out following a couple, Dieter (Fredrick von Lüttichau) and Margot (Luisa Taraz), as they explore a possibly abandoned castle inherited by Margot from some dead family member; I say possibly because, at most points, the film can’t decide if the castle is truly abandoned or not. It would seem so, based on its decrepit and dilapidated state, but the couple spends the night there in a bed with some suspiciously nice white sheets — however, this is only a minor annoyance in a film as annoying as a crying child in a restaurant, although far less forgivable.
Protesters gathered outside of the University of New Mexico Bookstore on Sunday, July 10 in response to the killing of Brett Rosenau, a 15-year-old who died in a house fire during an Albuquerque Police Department and APD SWAT standoff. The cause of death was smoke inhalation, with APD Chief Harold Media acknowledging possible fault for the fire, according to the Albuquerque Journal.
Solutions by The State News
