DAILY LOBO new mexico
December 7, 2010
Substance seminars replace penalties
Fashion Q&A see page 9
tuesday The Independent Voice of UNM since 1895
LAS LUMINARIAS
by Laurel Brishel Prichard lbrishel@unm.edu
Instead of being treated like criminals, students caught drinking on campus are being educated, not disciplined. The Campus Office of Substance Abuse and Prevention (COSAP) is combating underage drinking by requiring guilty students to attend a three-hour seminar about how drinking and drugs can have lasting effects. Since students caught drinking on campus aren’t given the typical off-campus citation called a “Minor in Possession,” Health educator John Steiner said the class highlights how alcohol and drugs can interfere with day-to-day activities. “(The class) isn’t so much about ‘Don’t do this,’” he said. “It’s much more about making an informed choice.” Wednesday’s session, held from 6:30-9:30 p.m., marks the final meeting of the semester. The classes, held throughout the semester, take a two-part approach. An electronic survey, called E-CHUG, asks students how often they drink and possible risk factors that they encounter while under the influence. Answers are then paired with activities that call attention to dangerous aspects of drinking and drug use. Martin, a student who asked that his last name not be used because of his history with drugs and alcohol, went to COSAP to start a weekly Alcoholics Anonymous program on campus. Martin said COSAP’s
“We don’t label people as problem drinkers or alcoholics. We want them to have good, unbiased factual information.” ~John Steiner CCOSAP health educator non-judgmental approach gives students a safe place to look for help or information. “The most important aspect of (COSAP) is that you can’t be out there browbeating people prohibition-style, because people are going to do what they are going to do anyway,” Martin said. “To have the services there for people to show
see COSAP page 5
Inside the
Daily Lobo volume 115
issue 73
Daniel Hulsbos / Daily Lobo Students and faculty gathered to celebrate the holiday season during the annual Hanging of the Greens on Friday. The event featured caroling, hot chocolate, cookies and, of course, thousands of flickering luminarias.
Students fight to protect NM site Citizens urged to lobby against mesa oil development by Antonio Sanchez
sanchezantonio24@unm.edu Just west of Carlsbad lies what may be New Mexico’s next national monument: Otero Mesa. Nathan Newcomer, New Mexico Wilderness Alliance’s associate director, said he has fought for Otera Mesa’s protection for nearly a decade. He said the Bush administration wanted to develop full-scale oil and gas facilities in the area. “We’re demonstrating to President Barack Obama and … local leaders … that New Mexicans want to see Otero Mesa become America’s next great national monument,” he said. Fighting to turn the possibility into reality, the New Mexico Wilderness Alliance rallied Saturday at the KiMo Theater. In setting up letterwriting stations and scheduling keynote speakers, the organization implored citizens to get involved. Spread across 1.2 million acres, Otero Mesa is on the largest Chihuahuan desert grassland left on American public land. Newcomer and the NMWA stymied plans for oil development after a nine-year battle with Washington. He said New Mexicans and Gov. Bill Richardson helped save the land. “Now we find ourselves in a position today where we have a president and an administration that wants to chart a new course in landscape
Dylan Smith / Daily Lobo Clarence Searles colors a wooden animal, representative of animals found in the Otero Mesa area, on Saturday. The New Mexico Wilderness Alliance will send a box full of the animals to Washington, D.C., to raise awareness of various species in Otero County. conservation,” Newcomer said. It’s apparent why people want to protect the land, said John Kavanaugh, president of the UNM Wilderness Alliance. “This place is just unbelievably beautiful,” he said. Fresh off a campaign to protect
Peninsula in peril
Student spotlight
See page 6
See page 2
New Mexico lobos, Kavanaugh said he got UNM students involved with the Otero Mesa effort. He got more than 20 students to write letters to the President Obama. Student Daniel Richmond took Kavanaugh’s call to action. He crafted Otero Mesa-native animal
stencils and encouraged people to decorate and write notes on them. Richmond said he sent freshly colored stencils and the dozens of rally letters addressed to the Obama. “For me, it’s the point of doing something,” he said.
TODAY
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