Daily Lobo 11/21/19

Page 1

Daily Lobo new mexico

The Independent Student Voice of UNM since 1895

dailylobo.com

Thursday, November 21, 2019 | Vo l u m e 1 2 4 | I s s u e 2 9

UNM to terminate internet service at SFH By Colin Peña @penyacolin

Internet service provided by the University of New Mexico the Student Family Housing (SFH) apartment complex will be terminated in July 2020 — leaving residents to pay for their own internet. SFH is an off-campus UNM Resident Life and Student Housing complex of 200 apartments designed specifically for "UNM students, both undergraduate and graduate, with spouses, domestic partners or families," according to the UNM housing website. According to an internal survey conducted by the SFH community, most of the residents at SFH are graduate students and are employed by the University as teaching assistants or graduate assistants. "Installing the same internet capabilities as exist on main campus is prohibitively expensive and could result in much higher rates for the current tenants," said a transcript of the Nov. 6 meeting between UNM Residence Life and Student Housing and UNM IT with a self-organized group of SFH residents. The internet at SFH was previously supplied by UNM through a third party — Satellite Warehouse —

but the internet was slow and often dropped connection for long periods of time, according to SFH residents. "This spring my wife was taking a class... and midterm week it cut out for two days," said Hunter Esmiol, the open committee chair for the SFH community association and a UNM graduate student and employee. "We’ve had people who said that they have dropped entire semesters because they were online and single parents and they couldn’t leave," Esmiol said. "We have professors, teaching assistants and graduate assistants who can’t grade assignments because they can’t upload on time." A previous solution from UNM housing was to provide the residents with new modems, but service after these modems were delivered became worse, with larger periods of "down-time" where the internet was not available at all, according to Esmiol and the survey. As a response to the inconsistencies of the SFH internet, UNM housing canceled the third-party internet service and encouraged residents to purchase their own internet plans. This is being facilitated by giving what amounts to a $30 credit each month for several months to the residents’ bursar accounts. The individual internet coverage will be able to use the co-

axial cable infrastructure from the previous service. According to Anne Turner, a UNM Ph.D. candidate and the communication chair for the SFH community association, the outside internet providers have not been reliable. "People who were on another provider like Comcast, Xfinity or Centurylink said that they had good or okay speeds, but now more people are getting on the Xfinity and leaving SFH and it's starting to slow down... so there’s an infrastructure problem, we think," Turner said. Turner also said the $30 credit given to the bursar's accounts "doesn’t even cover the actual cost with taxes" of the most basic Xfinity plan. Turner emphasized the nature of SFH as serving families and how UNM often is not as responsive to the needs of students with families. "That isn’t always understood by a University that caters to a freshman living on campus... you’re a single parent and you have to be home with your children, and you do your homework when they’re asleep," Turner said. "If you don’t have the internet to do that, you’re not going to succeed." "There are some departments that make it a priority," Esmiol said, adding that the community

Justin Garcia / @Just516garc / Daily Lobo

The Student Family Housing residence hall located behind CNM.

center at SFH has been outfitted with free UNM wifi and computers for residents to use and that many at the University are reaching out to the community to try and find a solution. "They never had a backup plan. Why hasn’t this been addressed preemptively? There’s been internet issues for years," Esmiol said. The University has not advised residents of any plans to update the hardware in SFH and has not presented any solutions beyond providing the $30 credit. At the Nov. 6 community meeting, many of the residents' questions were not answered by the hous-

MEN’S BASKETBALL

Miners extract Lobos’ first loss

By Joe Rull @RullJoe

The University of New Mexico men’s basketball team suffered its first loss of the season to the University of Texas at El Paso Miners in its first away game of the season, going down 66-63. UNM’s (4-1, 0-0 MWC) highlytouted offense sputtered against UTEP (4-0, 0-0 CUSA), scoring just 63 points after averaging over 90 points per game on the season. UNM’s offense got off to a slow start and faced a 10-1 deficit after 10 unanswered UTEP points. This came just a game after the Lobos defeated McNeese State 90-80 last Saturday, Nov. 16. Neither team could buy a bucket in a back-and-forth first half, as the Lobos and Miners each converted less than 40% of their field goal attempts in the opening frame. UTEP shot just 25% (7-28) from the three, continuing their struggles from behind the arc to start the season. The Lobos came into Tuesday night’s game as one of the nation’s top free-throw shooting teams, a trend which continued playing against UTEP. Despite this, uncharacteristic shooting woes from the charity stripe prevented the Lobos from pulling away as UNM converted just 64.5% (20-31) of their free throws. Senior guard JaQuan Lyle went 10-of-15 from the line himself, missing more free throws Tuesday

night (5) than he had all season (1). Fresh off of being named the Mountain West Conference Player of the Week, Lyle once again propelled the Lobos’ offense, finishing with 19 points and eight rebounds despite his difficulties on the line. For the first time all season, UNM head coach Paul Weir’s defense featured full-court pressure and a zone look in the halfcourt, swarming UTEP’s guards and preventing the Miners from finding a rhythm on the offensive end. The tough Lobo resulted in 18 turnovers and kept UNM’s hopes alive. "I thought we had some good defensive possessions, which we really haven’t shown yet," Weir said after the game. "We needed a few more stops down the stretch, but I actually thought today was a step. It sucks to lose, there’s no doubt about it, but I thought we showed a lot of things today." UTEP’s defense struggled to keep up with UNM’s aggressive transition offense in the second half, keeping the game close deep into the game. Still, the Lobos failed to capitalize on their opportunities, at one point missing three straight transition layups in the half. UNM recorded just seven assists as a team — far below their conference-leading 21 assists per game benchmark entering the matchup. For the first time all year, this Lobo offense failed to carry its early-season momentum. With 2:20 remaining in the game, senior forward Carlton

Inside this Lobo

Bragg went down with an apparent leg injury and did not return, though he was able to walk off the court with assistance from the coaching staff. Bragg entered the game ranked 14th in the nation in total rebounding and currently averages a double-double per game. He finished with 10 points and nine rebounds on Tuesday night. After the game, Weir said he didn't know Bragg’s status going forward. The second half saw seven lead changes in total, all coming in the last 6:32 of the game. Led by senior guard Daryl Edwards’ 20 points and four assists, UTEP matched stride with the previously undefeated Lobos for the entire game. Sophomore Jordan Lathon chipped in 10 second-half points, including a jumper with 26 seconds remaining, ultimately claiming the Miners’ lead for good. The Lobos’ shooting issues proved to be its downfall, as UTEP

eventually secured the victory after a missed three-point attempt by junior forward Makuach Maluach that would have taken the lead with two seconds remaining. Lyle drained a last-second half-court heave which had the potential to tie the game, but replays showed that the ball was released just after the buzzer sounded. UTEP walked away with a 66-63 victory, now having beaten both UNM and New Mexico State University in the past week. Tuesday’s game marked the beginning of a rivalry week for the Lobos, as UNM is slated to take on in-state rival NMSU in Las Cruces on Thursday, Nov. 21 at 7 p.m. before heading to New York to play No. 19-ranked Auburn in the Legends Classic. Joe Rull is the multimedia editor at the Daily Lobo. He can be contacted at multimedia@dailylobo. com or on Twitter @RullJoe Photo courtesy of Lobo men’s basketball via Twitter (@UNMLoboMBB)

The University of New Mexico’s men’s basketball team lost to the El Paso Miners on Nov. 19, 2019. The final score was 63 Lobos, 66 Miners.

ing representatives, as they were still waiting to communicate with Xfinity for technical details. "They keep telling us that in order to get hardware to all the buildings, it’s two million dollars. UNM is telling students that it’s a money issue when we’re the ones paying tuition," Esmiol said. "As a student, when that is kind of the currency of the University, it's like we were set up to fail." Colin Peña is a beat reporter at the Daily Lobo. He can be contacted at news@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @penyacolin

Asbestos found in the Humanities Building By Lissa Knudsen & Alyssa Martinez @lissaknudsen @amart4447 The Humanities Building, in between the Student Union Building and Ortega Hall and commanding a view of Smith Plaza, is sometimes overlooked. However, an asbestos alert sent out via email gave some students pause and raised questions about transparency and the safety of the building. At around 3 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 14, English graduate students received an email notifying them that an asbestos abatement team would begin working on the second floor of the building the following day. In the email, Sandy Rodrigue, a department administrator for English Language and Literature, said it was confirmed that "there is asbestos in the drywall" and the drywall would need abatement before the previously planned hallway construction could start. Rodrigue said the asbestos abatement was scheduled to be done over fall break when "fewer

see

Asbestos page 2

GRIJALVA: Crime briefs

NISOLI: Nob Hill Flying Star reopens after renovation GARCIA: ART open house shows off new bus system

DOMSCHOT: Arts & Crafts Fair photo story


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.