Daily Lobo new mexico
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New proposals for library murals considered
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Thursday, S eptember 5, 2019 | Vo l u m e 1 2 4 | I s s u e 7
By Megan Holmen
SPA blood drive draws high turnout By Alanie Rael
@megan_holmen
@AllyRael
The University of New Mexico community has a long and complicated history with the “Three People’s Mural” located in the west wing of Zimmerman Library. However, two solutions have been proposed to address the “Three People’s Mural” racial controversy. According to the Office of the President, the two solutions are in the process of being reviewed for feasibility, primarily financial, before a complete recommendation is sent to the Historical Preservation Committee (HPC). The report was prepared by Taudy Miller from the Office of Design, Planning and Construction on Aug. 27. The proposal provided by the company Ideum, the vendor who would be contracted should the proposed solutions be approved, is “a system in which the murals are masked by easily removable wooden panels coated with a projectionoptimal paint; or a system in which the murals are masked by semipermanently installed controllable smart glass panels.”
Every spring and fall, the University of New Mexico’s Student Pathology Association (SPA) holds a blood drive on campus that provides blood to thousands of people in need of the vital resource. On Wednesday, SPA brought in Vitalant, a non-profit organization — previously known as United Blood Services — to conduct a blood drive in the parking lot of Domenici Center in their on-thego donation bus. For SPA, the importance of a blood drive comes from the club’s direct interest in blood. It gives medical students and other students from UNM insight to what kind of jobs are associated with pathology and hematology (blood studies). Allison Price, a UNM medical student and officer for SPA, said that the Pathology Association’s main interest is assisting pathology students in their studies. SPA does this through blood drives, organizing shadowing time of practicing pathologists and holding study
April Torres/@i_apreel/Daily Lobo
“The Three Peoples Murals” is located in the west wing of Zimmerman Library. The mural is composed of four different paintings created in 1939 by Kenneth Adams
The University’s preliminary cost estimate and proposal was requested by the UNM Provost’s Office and provided to the Daily Lobo by Cinnamon Blair, chief marketing and communications officer. Both options differ from the original suggestion of placing curtains over the artwork and instead suggests new options.
Such a project would allow a more interactive approach to viewing the murals while preserving the artwork. According to the Office of the Provost Director of Operations, Melissa Vargas, the wooden panels are estimated to cost the University
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Mural page 3
seminars for first and second-year medical students taking the Step 1 exam of their Medical Licensing Examinations. “We’re basically trying to help people understand what pathology is, what it looks like and how it’s useful,” Price said. Price said that scheduling the blood drives usually boils down to the availability of Vitalant and when they can hold a drive at UNM. Kristen Ludy, a representative for Vitalant, told the Daily Lobo that this particular drive was receiving a high influx of donors. Ludy suggested that this high number of people is more than likely due to the catastrophic Hurricane Dorian which is currently moving over the southeastern coast of the United States and devastated the Bahamas earlier in the week. For Vitalant and organizations alike, times of crisis becomes priority. Ludy said any blood that has already been tested and processed is sent to the hospitals in the affected area immediately. “If a hospital calls us — and we always have somebody on call 24/7 — we figure out a way to get it (the
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Blood page 2
TAAS Sky Party Exhibit raises questions about teaches about the how to address drug crisis night sky By Lissa Knudsen @lissaknudsen
By Colin Peña @penyacolin
On a dusty corner of the Valle de Oro National Wildlife Refuge at 7851 2nd Street SW, members of the Albuquerque Astronomical Society (TAAS) came together to share telescopes and knowledge with more than 100 members of the community. Many of the people who attended the Star Party heard about it online. Arriving at the event, people were greeted by a dozen or so telescopes set up and pointed at anything interesting in the sky. Each telescope was manned by a helpful and informative TAAS member.. This gathering was a part of the TAAS Summer Star Parties — events held every summer that bring members of TAAS together to enjoy the night with anyone else who wants to come. Star parties typically take place further outside of Albuquerque, like at Oak Flats in the Manzano Mountains or the TAAS Observatory in Belen, so this is the first time one has been held at the Valle de Oro. Lynne Olson, a TAAS member, said other events planned for the Valle de Oro this past spring had to be canceled.
“One time, it was cloudy, and the second time, it was so windy that nobody could set up a telescope,” Olson said. Being at the Valle de Oro, closer to Albuquerque’s light pollution than any of the other event locations, can make viewing the stars more difficult. However, according to Olson, light pollution does not take away from anyone’s enjoyment of what they see. According to the TAAS website, the Star Party is in support of the Valle de Oro’s attempt to be certified as an Urban Dark Sky Place. According to the International Dark Sky Place Association, an Urban Dark Sky certifies that an area near significant light pollution is “able to promote an authentic nighttime experience.” Being certified as an Urban Dark Sky Place would be an important step for the Valle de Oro. According to its website, its status as an urban wildlife refuge is important in helping to reconnect people, especially young people, to the natural world. Events aimed at families, such as the Star Party, go a long way towards establishing that reconnection. “It is important to teach kids.
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Stars page 3
On the Daily Lobo website
Juan Peralta, a 26-year-old DEA educator and Albuquerque native, walked the Daily Lobo through the traveling Drug Enforcement Administration Museum exhibit at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science on Thursday, Aug. 29. The DEA Drugs: Costs and Consequences exhibit runs through Dec. 8, depicting graphic dioramas of the cultivation, manufacture, distribution and sale of illicit drugs around the world. Scenes featured make-your-own meth labs, showing a tiny bedroom with a bassinet, soiled diapers strewn on the floor, a handgun on a bedside table, used needles and discarded works throughout the space. “Some of these scenes look fairly familiar (to children who are touring the exhibit) and that also plays into the effect too,” Peralta said. “I have seen twelve-year-old little girls cry because their auntie’s house looks like this.” The museum received $120,000 from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Association to cover the costs of setting up and operating the exhibit. In 2002, the exhibit was displayed under the name “Target America: Drug Traffickers, Terror-
Emille Domschot / @erdomschot / Daily Lobo
A section of the memorial devoted to the role of pharmaceutical drugs in addiction
ists, and You.” The exhibit was originally curated in Virginia at DEA headquarters and was constructed the year after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. This is an important detail to note because Peralta highlighted that the exhibit still includes real remains from Sept. 11 attacks. “These are real beams from the buildings and then real shoe remains and things like that,” he said.
Emphasizing the tragedy and loss of drug-related deaths, one kiosk depicted framed photographs of actual law enforcement officers who have lost their lives in the line of duty. These are juxtaposed withphotos of celebrities who have died from overdoses. Peralta said the local DEA stations worked with museum personnel to include local examples of
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Opiates page 3
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