DAILY LOBO new mexico
World stage see page 6
thursday The Independent Voice of UNM since 1895
September 23, 2010
Seminars help market ideas by Laurel Prichard lbrishel@unm.edu
Attention students: This fall, STC. UNM offers inventors and entrepreneurs seminars that teach business and marketing skills. Lisa Kuuttila, president and CEO of STC.UNM, said that seminars, which are free but require registration, help students evolve and understand how to start their own businesses or market their own inventions. “So you have an idea now? What do you do with it?” she said. “What are some of the options for commercialization? How do you go about it? What are the considerations? I think this is a topic that students are interested in.” There are six seminars slated from September to November, the first starting Thursday at noon in the SUB’s Acoma room. All of them focus on teaching students how to create a game plan for their invention or idea. Some of the topics, like Kuuttila’s “Commercializing Your Intellectual Property: What Are the Options?,” are intended to be straightforward, but some will dabble in creative thinking, such as the seminar on Oct. 21, “Repurposing Drugs for Commercialization,” a talk about using HIV drugs to fight cancer. Kuuttila said the seminars are informative and diverse. “Innovation is the key to everything that we do in the University community,” she said. “We try to address different aspects of commercialization, which involves everything from intellectual property protection to commercialization, startup companies’ investment in venture capital — all of that.” STC.UNM, a nonprofit corporation owned and operated by the University, was formed in 1995 by the Board of Regents in order to assist faculty and students in transferring their ideas and inventions into the marketplace. STC.UNM works closely with the Research and Technology Law Group in office management and administration. STC.UNM puts on seminars every semester. “One of the overarching goals of the seminars is really to increase the awareness about commercialization as a possibility,” Kuuttila said. “Education and research really do go hand-in-hand with translation of that knowledge base and the things that are being developed at the University into something that is commercial and public benefit.” Besides a wealth of knowledge, Kuuttila said STC.UNM will provide free box lunches at each event.
In order to register, go to stc.unm.edu/news/ events.php
Inside the
Daily Lobo volume 115
issue 24
Junfu Han / Daily Lobo Alex Garcia, left, embraces Gary Small before they go to separate surgery rooms for a kidney transplant Wednesday morning. Small and Garcia both work for the UNM Physical Planet Department
Transplant among colleagues a success Donating Life
Editor’s Note: This is the first article in a series on courageous organ donors.
by Shaun Griswold shaun24@unm.edu
Gary Small celebrated his birthday Wednesday in a hospital bed. The UNM Physical Plant Department (PPD) employee agreed to donate a kidney to Alex Garcia, a friend and colleague, with one stipulation: the surgery take place on Sept. 22, Small’s birthday, at the Surgical Post Anesthesia Care Unit at Presbyterian Hospital. “Tuesday, there were a lot of people who called me and told me they had me in their prayers, so I know I am not going in there alone,” Small said before going into the surgical prep room. Family and friends have since confirmed the surgery was successful — Small got his wish and Garcia received his kidney. According to the New Mexico Donor Services, more than 650 New Mexicans like Garcia await life-saving organ transplants and
Junfu Han / Daily Lobo Gary Small fills out a form in the surgical check-in room before going to surgery Wednesday morning. about 150 receive a transplant each year. In the hospital lobby before the operation, both men shared a smile and stood calm in the face of their impending open-knife surgery. They both acknowledged worrying would do no good because there was no turning back. Their demeanor helped comfort family and friends who were
Don’t want to read?
Melodic Metal
See page 11
See page 10
with Garcia and Small at 5:30 a.m. and stayed throughout the fourhour procedure. “Thank God that we are believers. That helps get you through difficult times. The support of our friends and family and God intervening — that’s where it’s all at,” said Vi Garcia, Alex’s mother. That support has been crucial for both men.
Four years ago, Alex was diagnosed with polycystic kidney disease (PKD), a genetic disorder that leads to renal failure. For the past five months, he has undergone dialysis treatment three times a week. Alex, a master mechanic with PPD for 11 years, was forced to take a leave of absence, yet his friends and family have been his safety net. Small has faced his own series of trials and tribulations leading up to the surgery. He moved to New Mexico from Maine in 1999 after a fishing business he owned went under. “There was no room for the little guy,” he said. While undergoing surgical consent procedure and pre-op lab tests, he has been dealing with a divorce. For both men, lost work time has been their biggest worry. “If it wasn’t for the University, I would have a hard time doing this financially,” Small said. “They have the funding. I have enough sick leave, and the department I am in is like a big family. It’s a blessing that I do have a job at such a nice place.” Alex used up his sick leave
see Donor page 3
TODAY
80 | 57