Daily Lobo new mexico
Big Leagues see page 8
summer The Independent Voice of UNM since 1895
June 14-20, 2010
Provost: Juarez unfit for travel by Tricia Remark Daily Lobo
A May 25 e-mail from the Provost’s Office discouraging students from traveling to Mexico caused one of UNM’s summer programs to change its plans. However, at least two other programs based in Mexico still plan on visiting the violence-ridden country. The e-mail said that Deputy Provost Richard Holder is advising students to avoid the Juarez area. It cited an El Paso Times article about a University of Texas at El Paso student who was murdered while driving on a highway outside of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. Carolyn Gonzales, UNM spokeswoman, said Conexiones, a University Honors Program class that was planning to travel to Morelia, Mexico, by bus, is now taking place in Nicaragua. “They were going to drive,” she
see Mexico page 2
UNM mourns students’ deaths
Rollover car crash kills two of three civil engineering students by Shaun Griswold Daily Lobo
Two graduate students from the Civil Engineering department, Yi Huang and Mohammad Minhaz Mahdi, died June 5 in a car accident in Sandoval County. Huang, a 24-year-old student from China, and Mahdi, a 30-year-old student from Bangladesh, both died after their car slid off the road and rolled over three times, according to a representative of the Sandoval County Sheriff’s Department. The two graduate students and another student, Nasrin Sumee, were returning to Albuquerque from a hiking trip at the Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument near Cochiti Pueblo. Huang died at UNM Hospital and Mahdi died at the scene, according to the police report. Sumee survived the crash and is in stable condition at UNM Hospital. She is a colleague and friend who shared an office with Huang and Mahdi.
Students sow seeds
On June 10, friends, instructors and other members of the Civil Engineering Department held a memorial service on campus at the Alumni Chapel. Those who spoke at the standing-roomonly affair remembered Huang and Mahdi as diligent, intelligent students and funny and kind people. “I’m still stunned and shocked by the news,” said John Stormont, a professor in the Civil Engineering department, “They slowly became integrated parts in the department. We are a tight community. Yi and Minhaz were very involved. Their offices were always open for anyone to stop by.” Huang came from China to UNM in 2008. She was studying pavement design and engineering and was expected to graduate this summer. Huang was developing her thesis work through a study with the New Mexico Department of Transportation and the mechanisticempirical pavement design guide (MEPDG). The study evaluates strength
Huang and pavement designs for reliability. Julie Conrood, a Civil Engineering professor, said Huang was writing the conclusion to her thesis. “She was a good student,” Conrood said. “Vibrant, outgoing, always smiling — always.” Mahdi began working on his master’s degree at UNM in the fall 2009. He graduated from The Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology. Before he left Bangladesh, he was an engineer who built and maintained telecommunication facilities.
Mahdi However, during his first semester, Mahdi contracted a serious illness that forced him to miss most of his classes. “He really believed in higher education. He gave me the motivation to start my Ph.D. work,” Mesbah Ahmed, a friend, said. “When he came back from his quarantine, he was very determined, focused and eager to get back to work.” Ahmed began school at UNM at the same time as
Mahdi and shared an office with Mahdi and Huang. “I would have to teach a class,
see Deaths page 3
Volleyball in the Rio Grande
for new garden lab by Chelsea Erven Daily Lobo
UNM is now offering a course designed to be a hands-on garden laboratory that will promote local food production. Brendan Picker, one of the class’ three teaching assistants, said the class has been in the works for awhile. “There’s been a growing trend in community gardens throughout the entire country and definitely here at UNM,” Picker said. The class is funded through the Research Service Learning Program, which also opened two work-study positions in conjunction with the class. A volunteer system is also being developed for those who aren’t taking the class but would like to be a part of the community garden experience and upkeep. The class has about 15 students and will include both formal class time focusing on issues of ecology, communication and culture, as well as hands-on experiences planting and maintaining a garden in two sites on the UNM campus. Tema Milstein, who is teaching the class, said the summer course will be about planning, preparing, designing and planting the gardens. She said in future semesters, the
Inside the
Daily Lobo volume 114
issue 156
class will be about maintaining and expanding the gardens, doing community outreach and connecting with a student co-op. “We were given two sites, and if we can successfully maintain each site, we will be given more sites, so the garden can spread,” she said. “We’ve got our eye on a triangular patch of grass by the SUB. That would be an ideal spot, because it is high profile and students can go out and eat fresh, organic food grown by students for students.” Milstein said student Alex Borowski originally came up with the idea of planting community gardens on campus. In November, Borowski and a group of his friends planted a garden in the courtyard outside Hokona Hall but UNM Physical Plant asked Borowski to dig it up because he hadn’t asked for permission to plant it. Another group of students, called the “Seeds of Rebellion,” decided to start a community garden. The group found potential sites for the class and started getting permission for it to become a reality. “They did the grunt work,” Milstein said. “They didn’t touch any seeds or any earth, and, when their class ended in May, we still didn’t know whether
see Garden page 3
Terrance Siemon / Daily Lobo Adrian Giron with Dirty by Choice plays in the 15th annual Mud Volleyball Tournament at Tingley Beach on June 12. The tournament included over 600 teams, and proceeds benefited the Carrie Tingley Hospital Foundation.
Much Ado About No-thing
How ’bout them potatoes?
See page 5
See page 9