DAILY LOBO new mexico
Juarez’s worries see page 5
HARDCORE HAPPINESS
Schmidly appoints acting president by Chelsea Erven cerven@unm.edu
In an e-mail sent Monday, UNM President David Schmidly announced his appointment of Paul Roth as acting President until Schmidly is given medical clearance to return. In a University-wide statement, Schmidly said he is gradually recovering from an Aug. 17 operation, and his medical team advised him not to resume his normal schedule. Roth, the executive vice president for Health Sciences, became acting president after Schmidly discussed the matter with Roth and Board of Regents President Raymond Sanchez, said Billy Sparks, a Health Sciences Center spokesman. “As acting president, Roth will do all the normal day-to-day operations of the University as well as working with the regents, faculty and staff until Schmidly’s return,” he said. Roth is on vacation and was
tuesday The Independent Voice of UNM since 1895
October 19, 2010
unavailable for comment Monday. Sparks said the decision to appoint an acting president was made based on existing regent policies. Schmidly has been on medical leave since Aug. 18. Sparks couldn’t say how much medical leave Schmidly has left. “It’s a legal question as well as very murky territory. What I can say is that hopefully by naming an acting president, Schmidly will be able to focus entirely on his recovery,” he said. Schmidly said in the statement he expects to return as soon as he is given full medical clearance. “I want to thank all those who have been so extraordinarily kind in their words of encouragement and prayers for me and my family in the last two months,” he said in the email. “It has not been easy... I want to thank the dedicated and professional physicians and staff of UNM Hospital who are now overseeing my care. With their help and guidance, I am looking forward to a full recovery.”
Dreams realized as Pit readies to open by Shaun Griswold shaun24@unm.edu
Audio specialist Eric Devore walked onto the Pit court Thursday and contemplated the last three months that he worked renovating the arena. “I used to come to Lobo basketball games when I was a kid. We used to sit right above the ramp, and I used to dream about being in the middle of the court and with the fans cheering all around me,” he said during a lunch break. “Now I’m here.” The Albuquerque native was just one out of more than 150 New Mexicans hired to work during the final stages of the $58 million Pit renovation, said Jim Hernandez,
pipe metal foreman. Between 100 and 300 employees worked Monday-Friday and occasionally on the weekend for 22 months of construction, said Tim Cass, senior associate athletics director. Cass said 95 percent of subcontractors worked for New Mexico companies. Hernandez, a Denver-based contractor, said his company was hired through a Colorado-New Mexico union coalition. Although he is not a local, he said 48 of his 60 employees were hired through the New Mexico union. “When we won the contract, we were told to hire local workers, and we did,” Hernandez said. “We’ve hired a group of Native American
Robert Maes / Daily Lobo Kendal Fortson, lead singer for Stabbed In Back screams into the microphone, energizing moshing fans. The band is a melodic punk band from Albuquerque. See page 6.
see Pit page 3
Lecture celebrates Chicano, indigenous literature by Ruben Hamming-Green rhamminggreen@gmail.com
Author Rudolfo Anaya will come full circle Thursday evening, reflecting on his famous works and his career as a UNM professor. The lecture is part of the annual Literature of the Southwest series, which focuses on the works of Chicano and indigenous writers. The event will take place at 5:30 p.m. in the George Pearl Hall auditorium. It is free and open to the public. Kathleen Washburn, an
Inside the
Daily Lobo volume 115
issue 40
English professor, said Arizona State University professor Simon Ortiz will speak at the event. An Acoma Pueblo native, Ortiz will talk about the significance of southwestern and indigenous literature. “He’s really one of the foundational figures in the field, one of the first people publishing (Native American literature) in the late 60s and early 70s,” Washburn said. “We wanted to have someone from New Mexico for the first lecture.” Without Anaya’s contribution, Washburn said, the lecture series would not have been possible. She
said Anaya, the author of Bless Me Ultima and a retired UNM English professor, wished to keep his donation amount a secret. “It was a generous donation,” Washburn said. “It was an endowment that will provide for this lecture for 10 years.” Anaya said the series is designed to educate people about the Southwest’s unique art. He said he and Ortiz have been friends for many years, and that Ortiz has been an important Southwest literary figure. “We just want to let the world
Tennessee shooting
Spahhhhh...
See page 5
See page 8
know that we have literature in the Southwest, and it’s very important and very interesting,” Anaya said. “Every literature has a sense of place. … As we describe our place, other people learn about it. That’s what literature is all about.” Ortiz said his native roots and upbringing have influenced him. He said Native American writing continues to be a vibrant, if overlooked, field. “The indigenous American has been a central voice, and a very basic voice of the American southwest,” Ortiz said. “We’re not
just interesting anthropological data, or something to see in exhibits, but we are a living, thriving, simply vigorous and dynamic people.” Ortiz also said that his writing has been shaped by the social movements and political tumult of the 1960s, when he began his writing career. “The civil rights struggle really opened the gates for literature and artistic expression,” he said. “It was a very liberating time, and I would say that my voice thrives because of that liberation.”
TODAY
73 | 48