A team of researchers at UNM are developing new wipes for killing bacteria on different surfaces. The wipes aim keep different surfaces clean for longer than usual with the help of compounds developed by the researchers, said David Whitten, associate director at the Center for Biomedical Engineering.
This year’s legislative session ended on Saturday with a major task left incomplete: Passage of a $275 million capital outlay bill that would have funded infrastructure projects statewide. The bill, which is usually passed every session, died because of partisan disagreements that characterized most of this session. On Friday the House Ways and Means Committee voted to cut $45 million in funding for community colleges, senior centers and pueblos across the state to put toward highway funding. These changes to the Senate-approved bill were debated until the final minutes of the session.
New Mexico’s newest athletic program played on its own turf — sand, actually — for the first time on Saturday. The New Mexico sand volleyball team struggled in its home debut against No. 18 Grand Canyon University, dropping both matches 4-1 at StoneFace courts. UNM now sits at 1-3 on its inaugural season. Assistant coach Lisa Beauchene said the program is continually improving and New Mexico needs to keep facing quality competition to progress further. “We’re playing a lot of the Arizona teams more than once, which is really tough competition, but good experience for us,” she said.
A new solar energy array was recently unveiled at UNM West in Rio Rancho, which constitutes another step by the University toward being environmentally friendly. Jeff Zumwalt, interim director of UNM’s physical plant department, said it took about six weeks for the solar panels to be installed. The array cost $465,000 and will account for almost three-quarters of UNM West’s energy needs. “We’re hoping it’ll offset 70 percent of the building’s electricity,” Zumwalt said.
UNM’s School of Law has been ranked among the top 100 in the country in the U.S. News and World Report’s 2016 Best Law Schools List. The school was placed 71st among 149 law schools, according to the report. It shared the position with American University, Pennsylvania State University and University of San Diego, according to the ranking list.
For the first time since 2010, New Mexico captured a postseason victory with a 54-51 decision over North Dakota in the Women’s Basketball Invitational Wednesday night at Johnson Center. Although Johnson Center is typically home to UNM’s volleyball team, the women’s basketball team played its game away from Wise Pies Arena due to scheduling conflicts. However, the Lobos made due with the 1,471 fans, the smallest home crowd of the season, to pull out a tight victory.
As students return from spring break and the semester chugs on, UNM’s student governments are gearing up for one of their biggest events of the year – elections. The Associated Students of UNM as well as the Graduate and Professional Student Association both have their elections in early April, with the presidential seats in both governing bodies for the 2015-16 school year up for grabs.
The Democrat-controlled New Mexico Senate voted not to confirm one nominated regent and another veteran regent resigned in protest of the Senate's actions. Former Clovis prosecutor and Republican Matt Chandler was appointed to the board by Gov.
For the first time in about a year, the Associated Students of UNM have posted a copy of a finished and signed resolution online to address backlash and criticism that have hit the student governing body since its passing. Several University students and Albuquerque citizens voiced their criticism of Resolution 6S, which passed unanimously at ASUNM’s March 4 meting, and urges University administration to state their “opposition of Islamophobia, and related hate crimes”.
Tent City residents have moved yet again – this time closer to UNM’s campus – while advocates hope to find a permanent solution to help them stay grounded. Tentatively called Camp Resurrection, the new lot is situated on a plateau on the Northeast side of Lomas Boulevard and I-25.
On the one-year anniversary of homeless camper James Boyd’s death at the hands of the Albuquerque Police Department, activists and community members gathered in a dusty downtown warehouse in search of a little street justice. Activist group ABQJustice, with help from other community groups, held the Albuquerque People’s Tribunal on Police Brutality on Saturday. The event, which was open to the public, featured the results of a six-month-long, street-level investigation of “prejudice and racial bias” in the APD. American Studies professor and ABQJustice member David Correia helped compile the investigation and presented the group’s findings at the tribunal.
After a 1-7 start to the season, there wasn’t many who thought that the Lobos would be in a position to earn a spot in the NCAA Tournament. Reaching the Mountain West Basketball Championship game put UNM in a position to earn an automatic bid to NCAAs, but UNM missed that chance following 66-60 defeat to Boise State in the Friday’s title bout.
LAS VEGAS – When point guard Hugh Greenwood waves to the crowd at the Thomas & Mack Center it’s usually after a New Mexico victory. Not this time.
Two bills that could affect UNM’s lottery scholarship recipients are making headway in the state Legislature. Senate Bill 286, which would send forfeited lottery prizes to the scholarship fund, will advance to the Senate after the Senate Finance Committee approved the bill. And Senate Bill 355, approved with a 25-16 vote, would allow debit cards to be used to purchase lottery tickets. Supporters of SB 355 said it could increase lottery ticket sales and lead to larger prize amounts, which would in turn boost funding to the scholarship in the long run. However, the bill would also eliminate the requirement that at least 30 percent of lottery revenue be dedicated to the scholarship fund.
A UNM professor has won a prestigious award for a lifetime’s work in physics, as the laboratory he started at UNM celebrates its 25th year. Edl Schamiloglu, a professor of electrical and computer engineering, was recognized for his contributions to the field of pulsed power and was awarded the 2015 IEEE Nuclear and Plasma Society’s Pulsed Power Science and Technology Committee’s Peter Haas Award. According to the NPSS website, The Peter Haas Award “recognizes individuals whose efforts, over an extended period, have greatly benefited the pulsed power field through the development of important applications or areas of activity including research, education and information exchange.”
Measles is making a comeback nationwide, and one UNM Hospital pediatrician is urging parents to vaccinate their children. Dr. Randall Knott, assistant pediatrics professor at UNM, said there is yet to be a reported case of measles in New Mexico, but the national average is currently at 170 cases, approaching a record high in recent decades.
If the capital outlay bill circulating the legislature is approved, UNM will receive $500,000 to complete design and planning of the Interdisciplinary Science Education Building that has been in the works for years. The new building is a necessity if the physics and astronomy department is going to continue competing effectively and creating viable research, said Wolfgang Rudolph, chair of the department.
UNM’s Department of Communication and Journalism will host 16 students from Denmark and India during spring break as part of an exchange program. The students will attend a course titled “Intercultural Engagement” and will visit different cities of New Mexico, said Lillian Kelly, professor and coordinator of the exchange program.
At a legislative workshop held at UNM on Thursday, former state Rep. Rick Miera gave a piece of advice that seemed so simple on the surface, yet made a profound effect on legislators when advocating for an issue. “Send a letter, but don’t send it typewritten. The most important and effective letters you can send are handwritten,” he said.
By Lena Guidi When Rosa Isela Cervantes was a senior at Bernalillo High School, her friend brought her to El Centro de la Raza at UNM — known as Hispanic Student Services at the time — to meet with an advisor and get scholarship information.
Solutions by The State News
