DAILY LOBO new mexico
Record breaker
friday
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The Independent Voice of UNM since 1895
April 23, 2010
Budget cuts break up Party Patrol by Tricia Remark Daily Lobo
Terrance Siemon / Daily Lobo Shala Williams smiles during a dress rehearsal for the Miss Indian World pageant in the Kiva Auditorium on Thursday. The Gathering of Nations takes place today and Saturday at University Stadium.
Powwow offers dancing, music and storytelling by Jennifer Gignac Daily Lobo
Teaching diversity in a classroom is one thing, having the opportunity to experience it in your own backyard is something else entirely.
The Gathering of Nations is the largest powwow in North America, according to the event website, which boasts nearly 50 million visitors. Now, 27 years after they hosted the first event, Gathering of Nations founders Derek, Melonie and
Lita Mathews are riding the wave of support. “Through word-of-mouth is how this became so large. (We are talking) about the great event that it is,” Derek said. “Our family travels 30,000 miles a year to other
powwows and other spread the word and information.” This year’s Gathering began Thursday and
events to distribute of Nations continues
see Powwow page 2
Though working with a smaller staff, the APD Party Patrol will still in full force this summer. APD reduced the Party Patrol’s number of officers from about 18 to 12 in October because of budget cuts. Party Patrol is a division of APD that focuses on stopping underage drinking by giving presentations throughout the community and in schools, as well as responding to calls to APD about unruly parties. Party Patrol reduced its numbers because the amount of grant money it receives decreased, said police Lt. Harold Medina, APD Party Patrol coordinator. The New Mexico Department of Transportation’s Traffic Safety Bureau contributed $200,000 to the Party Patrol every year, but stopped in September 2008, said Mark Slimp, Traffic Safety Bureau spokesman. “We help community projects get started,” Slimp said in an e-mail. “Normally in these situations the grants are for start-up money.” Nadine Hamby, APD spokeswoman, said Party Patrol still gets some funding from the city, the Bernalillo County Sheriff ’s Department and the New Mexico Children, Youth and Families Department. “We’ve started to not rely on outside funding as much,” Medina said. “Before, it was all done by overtime and grants.” This isn’t the first time Party Patrol has struggled with funding, Hamby said. The division was shut down from
see Party Patrol page 3
Time for ‘dialogue of freedom’ by Andrew Beale Daily Lobo
The opening ceremony for White History Week was not what you would expect, even if you already knew the event’s name was misleading. White History Week promotes understanding across racial barriers by encouraging discussion of white privilege. The opening ceremony was a Wicca ritual to “honor the spirit of the season and call in blessings for the event,” said Cedar Love, who presided over the ceremony. The idea behind White History Week is to use artistic and therapeutic means to work towards a society without racism, said event co-organizer Jered Ebenreck. “I would say it’s about opening up the imagination of what’s possible,” he said. “If we live in a world of racism and we don’t like it, we have to be able to imagine
Inside the
Daily Lobo volume 114
issue 142
what’s possible.” White History Week started Wednesday and continues through Tuesday. Most events, including an art opening on Friday and a poetry reading on Saturday, will be held at Muykind Culeros Studio on Coal Avenue. The event started at the Out ch’Yonda performance space six years ago, said Virginia Hampton, one of the event’s founders. “It’s just about making people aware of how white privilege has developed and kind of denied white people aspects of their culture,” she said. “(White privilege) is a new concept. It’s only a couple of hundred years old. Though it seems like white people have gained a lot, they’ve lost a lot, too.” The event’s name is controversial on purpose, Hampton said. “One of the things I really think is interesting is when white people become interested in it and try to tell
For a full schedule of White History Week, visit NMAntiracism.blogspot.com people about it, they realize what a hot topic it is,” she said. “A lot of people have a knee-jerk reaction.” Hampton said one goal of the event is to connect white people with parts of their culture that have been lost, such as monotheistic pagan religions. She said the Wicca ceremonies that open and close the event reconnect white people to their ancient cultures and bring good fortune to White History Week. “I liked the idea of adding magic to it, to help with healing,” she said. “In the Middle Ages, people still had connection to the land.” Love, who teaches religion at CNM under the name Mark Love-
see History week page 2
Question of the week
Raising runds
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Cedar Love, a Wicca practitioner, presides over the opening ceremony of White History Week, an event held to combat racism by encouraging dialogue. Sean Gordon / Daily Lobo
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