Elliott Wood - The Daily Lobo

News

ASUNM VP impeachment attempt fails in full senate meeting

Elliott Wood | April 7

The Associated Students at the University of New Mexico senate voted Wednesday, April 2, not to open a resolution containing articles of impeachment filed against Vice President Mutazz Jaber for failure to fill two “critical” vacant senate seats in a timely manner, according to Resolution 1S. If there are vacancies in the senate, the vice president is responsible for contacting and appointing the official candidates who received the next-highest number of votes during the most recent general election who could fill those vacancies, according to the ASUNM Constitution. If the candidates appointed refuse the position, the vice president is obligated to accept applications for the vacant seats and appoint replacements, with approval from two-thirds of the senate, within 10 days, according to the constitution.

Satire

LoboAlert system becomes too responsive

Elliott Wood | March 31

Following complaints of delayed and missing campus emergency alerts, the latest cadence of LoboAlerts sent by the University of New Mexico Police Department has students rolling — though depending on who you ask, that could be either the disapproving kind or the laughing kind. “I mean, come on: ‘RUN, HIDE, FIGHT: Jessica Simmons just walked into the SUB and her new Spring outfit is KILLING IT’?” UNM student Cheese Louise said, reciting an email he received last week when the weather began to heat up and students began to dress down.

News

ASUNM presidential candidates debate campus issues

Elliott Wood and Nate Bernard | March 24

On March 11, Associated Students at the University of New Mexico presidential candidates Andrew Norton and Mutazz (Tazz) Jaber participated in a debate hosted by the UNM College Democrats. Vice presidential candidate and Finance Chair Hope Montoya, who is running unopposed, gave a speech supporting Norton’s vision for ASUNM. The candidates discussed food, housing, safety and the role of athletics on campus.

News

ASUNM Senate passes spring budget with changes to executive pay, legislative stipend

Elliott Wood | March 24

The Associated Students at the University of New Mexico Senate passed the spring 2025 budget bill on March 12 during a full senate meeting that ran late into the night, after much of the allotted time was used for debate over discrepancies in pay raises for ASUNM executive staff and senators. By the end of the meeting, student service agency employees and other hourly paid executive staff were awarded an extra 60 cents per hour on top of their $12 per hour — a number that has remained since New Mexico’s last change to the state minimum wage — and senators an additional $150 to their stipend. The stipend is paid on a per-semester basis, meaning that each senator will now be paid $650 total for the one-year term they are elected for.

Sports

Albuquerque Isotopes announce ‘City Roots’ alternate identity and five-game series

Elliott Wood | March 14

On Monday, March 10, the Albuquerque Isotopes announced five promotional games for the 2025 season as part of an upcoming “City Roots” series. The new alternate identity features designs by Rebecca Zook, the Isotopes’ manager for digital and social media marketing, with a Zia sun symbol in a “505” emblem and a stylized “Duke City” logo.

News

ASUNM finalizes student attorney position legislation as budget debate looms

Elliott Wood | March 3

An otherwise uneventful full senate meeting of the Associated Students at the University of New Mexico was punctuated by an impassioned appeal from Sens. Jayce McCloud and Hope Montoya on Wednesday, Feb. 26. The pair appealed for senators to involve themselves in the ASUNM budget process, as the time for full senate discussion of the upcoming budget is all-but-confirmed for the next meeting. A suspension of the standing rule that time-limits senators’ opening remarks motioned by Finance Chair Montoya allowed McCloud 15 minutes — instead of the usual five — to deliver his call to action.

News

Menstrual Equity Project seeks to become university-wide

Elliott Wood and Elizabeth Secor | March 3

At the start of the spring semester, the University of New Mexico launched the Menstrual Equity Project, which provides free menstrual products in Zimmerman Library's high-traffic bathrooms. The project was inspired by another one implemented by the UNM Health Sciences Library and Informatics Center in 2021, according to Amy Jackson, the associate dean for the College of University Libraries & Learning Sciences. That project included menstrual products in both men’s and women’s restrooms because the library did not have gender-neutral restrooms. Zimmerman has followed suit and provided products in both women’s and men’s restrooms. The project is funded through the Student Fee Review Board, Jackson said.

News

ASUNM sees rush of appropriations, elects new president pro tempore

Elliott Wood | February 17

The Associated Students at the University of New Mexico voted on 12 appropriations requests from student organizations and elected a new president pro tempore during its full senate meeting Wednesday, Feb. 12. This was the second election for the president pro tempore position in three months. The newly elected president pro tempore, Sen. Gabbie Gonzales, won over Sen. Charlie Doyle in the roll-call ballot, with endorsements from former President Pro Tempore and current Finance Chair Hope Montoya and Steering & Rules Committee Chair Mary Garcia.

News

James Monroe Middle School educates students on Black history in New Mexico

Elliott Wood | February 10

At James Monroe Middle School located in northwest Albuquerque, seventh grade New Mexico history teacher Jon Stauss teaches lesser-known Black History Month lessons to his students. “For Black History Month, my classes engage in a three-day unit on the town of Blackdom near modern day Roswell,” Stauss said. “It was established and settled by Black sharecroppers coming into the state from places like Georgia at the turn of the 20th century.” Francis (Frank) Marion Boyer, the leader of the group who created Blackdom Townsite Company in 1903, began his search for an area to settle after being threatened by the white supremacist group the Ku Klux Klan in his home state of Georgia, according to the National Park Service.

News

ASUNM spring semester opens with quiet full senate meeting

Elliott Wood | February 3

The Associated Students at the University of New Mexico held its first full senate meeting of the spring semester Wednesday, Jan. 29 — though it was hardly full, as many members were absent due to the date coinciding with UNM Day at the New Mexico capitol. The senate’s repeated close calls in pursuit of the required quorum — ⅔ of sitting senate members present — have been discussed previously by ASUNM Vice President Mutazz Jaber. ASUNM’s newest President Pro Tempore, Bailey Rutherford, led the meeting in Jaber’s stead in their official capacity, having been elected at last semester’s final meeting when Sen. Hope Montoya’s term ended.