DAILY LOBO new mexico
October 5, 2011
Not losing sleep see page 4
wednesday The Independent Voice of UNM since 1895
Award catalyzes mobile lab Program brings chemistry supplies to NM middle and high schools
by Kayla Smith
kk_09_1@hotmail.com
Juan Labreche / Daily Lobo K. Joseph Ho, director of Chemical Education at UNM, sets up a UV spectrometer. The UChem program travels around to middle and high schools across the state. The mobile lab helps teach students chemistry at schools with insufficient lab facilities.
Vernier Software & Technology awarded UNM $10,000 worth of choice chemistry equipment for a mobile laboratory that delivers scientific tools to middle and high schools. The UChem Teach Mobile lab brings chemistry lab equipment to eighth- through 12th-grade classrooms across New Mexico, and UNM chemistry teaching assistant Paul Hunt said the equipment grant will help update the labs. “The chemistry teaching labs were in dire need of renovation,” he said. “The last renovation was in the 1980s. Furthermore, lab techniques have developed considerably in the last 20 years. Equipping students to work as technicians or as researchers necessitates the use of modern equipment.” Vernier awarded grants to 30 schools: 10 elementary or middle schools, 10 high schools, and 10 college or university science departments, UNM included, across the United States to celebrate its 30th anniversary.
Social site offers support for disabled, ill students by Stephanie Hoover
stephchoover@gmail.com
One of the Internet’s latest social networking sites, dimmi, is a mixture of Facebook and Match. com for people with mental illnesses or those acquainted with them to connect with others in the same boat. “Dimmi” means “tell me” in Italian, and the site, launched in January 2011, is being marketed to college students, project manager Caio Peluffo said. “When we are in college, away from home, it can be hard to deal with certain things,” Peluffo said, “Dimmi is here to help college students deal with personal issues that even sharing with best friends might feel awkward or embarrassing.” The dimmi project is a non-profit owned by Consolidated Shoe Company in Lynchburg, Virginia. It began in 2008 after one of the CSC leaders and family members died from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, commonly known as Lou Gherig’s disease. Peluffo said CSC created the site to help family and friends cope with their loss, and help others
UNM Director of Chemical Education K. Joseph Ho said the grant will help increase students’ exposure to chemistry by bringing fully equipped mobile labs to their classrooms.
“Having access to this equipment really opens the door” ~Valerie Varoz teacher, Sandia High “I believe when students are given the opportunity to have hands-on experience in their high school education they will tend to be more interested in science and technology fields,” he said. “So I would like to acquire equipment more appropriate for high schools.” Ho said many New Mexico schools, particularly those in rural areas, are far short of being equipped with adequate
laboratory equipment. He said 50 percent of UNM students taking a general chemistry lab course have never had experience in a lab before college. The mobile lab aims to change that. Teachers can pick up lab equipment from UNM or have it shipped to their classrooms. The chemistry department also offers technical support to help teachers set up labs and run experiments. During the summer Ho said he uses the equipment in the mobile lab in workshops to train teachers and help them prepare hands-on chemistry lessons. Valerie Varoz teaches beginning and advanced chemistry at Sandia High School and said she and many teachers she knows regularly use equipment from UNM. “Having access to this equipment really opens the door as far as what kind of labs you can do,” she said. “There are smaller schools with smaller budgets, and without being able to borrow equipment from a program like this they wouldn’t even be able to have really a large-scale chemistry lab at all.”
DESERT SHOWERS
with diseases do the same. “They wanted a place where families and friends could meet others alike and share emotions, experiences, frustrations, expectations and hope,” she said. “An advisory board was formed and this select group of people put together on paper an idea that today is dimmi: A social network to connect people who share something in common.” The site is still in its initial development stages and has nearly 500 users. UNM Student Health & Counseling Director Dr. Bev Kloeppel said she thinks the site is an interesting idea because many outlets currently available for support are through associations that focus on only one disease. For people with rare diseases, it can be hard to find support, but dimmi might be the place, she said. “I think there are many advantages to connecting with people who are going through similar experiences,” Kloeppel said. “Expertise in managing the disease and managing the medical system sometimes can be obtained from those people who have experienced it themselves, not to mention the emotional support.”
Cuts force departments to start eliminating jobs by Luke Holmen holmen@unm.edu
UNM’s 3.4 percent budget cut for fiscal year 2011-2012 was approved in April 2010 but has only been in effect for the past three months. Now, departments across the University are starting to feel the strain. The University’s state funding has been cut $8.5 million across main and branch campuses. UNM has lost roughly $63 million in state fund ing from the Leg islature over the last three years, according to UNM
Inside the
Daily Lobo volume 116
issue 33
Today. William Stanley, chair of the political science department, said the department’s main goal is making cuts that don’t affect jobs. “The vast majority of our budget was tied up in salaries and assistantships, so there was no way we could achieve the required cuts without hurting human beings,” he said. “We squeezed the operating budget as much as we could, which meant taking
see Budget PAGE 3
Zach Gould / Daily Lobo Rain flows into a gutter on Central and Yale on Tuesday. According to the National Weather Service, scattered showers and thunderstorms could continue throughout the rest of the week.
Career Paths
Running backward
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TODAY
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