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Thursday, S eptember 19, 2019 | Vo l u m e 1 2 4 | I s s u e 1 1
Governor’s office to propose free tuition Trump tacos By Justin Garcia & By Lissa Knudsen
By Luisa Pennington
@Just516garc @lissaknudsen
She described it as a “moon shot.” On Wednesday Sept. 18, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced that her administration will request the state legislature to make 2-year and 4-year public colleges and universities free for New Mexico residents. If approved by the legislature, it is expected to go into effect July 1, 2020, said New Mexico Secretary of Higher Education Kate O’Neill. “Everything we want to do in New Mexico begins with higher education,” Lujan Grisham told the crowd gathered at Central New Mexico Community College for the Higher Education Summit. The “New Mexico Opportunity Scholarship” would be available to students “with a maintained minimum GPA,” and after “enrolling in a public, post-secondary institution,” according to a press release from the governor’s office. “In terms of getting folks to continue in school, getting them to
@_luisapennington_
Justin Garcia / @Just516garc / Daily Lobo
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announces proposal for free tuition for New Mexico residents on Wednesday Sept. 18, 2019 during the Higher Education Summit at CNM. The program is designated for in-state public colleges and universities.
come back to school and getting them to get the training they need to be able to enter the workforce so that we can move New Mexico forward,” O’Neill said. Lujan Grisham did not say how the scholarship would be paid for
and declined to give Daily Lobo reporters further comment after her speech. However, much of education funding in New Mexico relies on oil and gas production in the Permian Basin in the southeastern part of the state.
New Mexico is expected to have a budget surplus in excess of $2 billion for the 2020 fiscal year. CNM President Kathy Winograd, who serves on the Denver Branch
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Trump comes to New Mexico By Amanda Britt, Justin Garcia, Andrew Gunn & Megan Holmen
@AmandaBritt_ @Just516garc @agunnwrites @megan_holmen RIO RANCHO — President Donald Trump held a campaign rally Monday in support of his 2020 presidential reelection bid at the Santa Ana Star Center. He drew a crowd of thousands, which also included protesters. It was ultimately a peaceful affair, although words flew between protesters and Trump supporters outside of the venue. Outside the Star Center, around 200 protesters gathered in a designated “peaceful assembly” area with signs reading “Dump Trump,” “Trump Hates Green Chile and the Constitution” and “stop pretending your racism is patriotic,” among others. Douglas Brandt, a recent UNM graduate, said he disagrees with what he sees as an erosion of American democracy. “The purpose of protests are to make sure that ideas are known and that people are aware that, though we share different ideas, we are fundamentally on the same side,” Brandt said. Rio Rancho police department spokesperson Capt. Andrew Rodriguez said the rally was the largest event that has been held at the Santa Ana Star Center since it opened in 2006. “Our goal... is making sure it doesn’t turn violent and that there’s no damage to property and
no commission of any crime,” Rodriguez said regarding the safety of protesters. “One thing we’ve been telling people for the last week is that we’ll have zero tolerance for any criminal activity. We encourage people to engage in civil discourse and do their best to express themselves.” Inside Santa Ana At around 7:20 pm, President Trump came on stage, finally satisfying an anxious crowd. The overarching theme of the speech was jobs — especially those in the oil and gas industry in New Mexico. The president also reiterated his desire to turn New Mexico into a Republican state in 2020. “Even with the #MeToo movement, you are better-looking,” Trump said to the crowd as he launched into his hour-long speech. When addressing the wedge issue of gun control, he assured attendees that he would protect their Second Amendment rights if reelected. The president did not provide any details for how that might be accomplished. Recent mass shootings in El Paso and Dayton, Ohio have reinvigorated the gun debate in the U.S. Trump also spent a good deal of time responding to a recent impeachment challenge in the U.S. House of Representatives. He said
Justin Garcia / @Just516garc / Daily Lobo
President Donald Trump speaks to attendees of his campaign rally at the Santa Ana Star Center in Rio Rancho on Sept. 16. Trump drew a crowd of over 8,000 including protesters that evening.
no president should be treated the way he has been, going on to say that the lives of all U.S. citizens have improved since he became president in 2016. Throughout his speech, Trump punched in criticism at the New York Times, CNN and other “mainstream media” outlets. Trump went on to say that mean wages for Hispanics in the U.S. have increased by 8% since he took office. He did not attribute where the figure was received from — according to data from the Pew Research Center, Latino workers as a whole saw their median incomes rise 5% from 2007 to 2017, but the incomes of Hispanics born in the U.S. stand at 6% less than pre-recession levels. Tim Murtaugh, the communi-
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cations director for Trump’s 2020 campaign, said Trump has had over 550 rallies across the United States. The Santa Ana Star Center can hold 10,000 people. It’s unclear if that number was reached, but Murtaugh said that campaign anticipated that the arena would be filled. “I think you will see a full arena and thousands of people outside. Usually, a pretty good crowd remains outside. It turns into an outdoor party,” Murtaugh said. The last time Trump visited New Mexico in 2016, violence erupted between protesters, Trump supporters and Albuquerque police in downtown Albuquerque. Murtaugh said the last Trump rally in New Mexico turned violent due to
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In a shop off of First Street, just north of Central Avenue, the Urban Taqueria serves tacos with a side of political commentary. With plates such as “Executive Privilege” and “Fake News,” the comfort-food restaurant is generating controversial conversations. Some of the more politically charged plates include “The Wall” burrito, the “Lock Her Up” burrito and the “Wikileaks” taco. Owner Hanif Mohamed said “The Immigrant” taco was often commented on for its sole ingredients: Organic green chile and fried potatoes. “Every immigrant who comes into this country has to make a sacrifice,” Mohamed — who is an immigrant himself — said. “Potato is a staple diet (food); it was the cheapest item out there... So that talks about the immigrant. It doesn’t talk about one particular group of people.” For some people, this interpretation of the menu is not progressive. University of New Mexico professor Patricia Perea told KOAT in an interview that normalizing phrases that may have been used in hate speech can be dangerous. In response to this, Mohamed said, “How are we legitimizing something we are talking about? If you have a child and your child misbehaves, do you keep quiet?” For Mohamed, having conversations about today’s politics was the reasoning behind the menu’s names. “The wall, whether you like it or not, is a point of discussion… it’s a conversation to have. And what better place to have it than over food?” Mohamed said. Mohamed said that, on Yelp, the discussion over his food was seeing such drastic reviews that the website, along with Google, had to moderate. Since its opening ten weeks ago, the shop has been featured in a plethora of news outlets. Headlines such as Vice’s “New Mexico Taqueria Faces Criticism for Cringeworthy Trump-Themed Menu” have only added momentum to the restaurant’s popularity. “It’s been positive overall… but it got pretty vicious… and then there was a lot of support nationally,” Mohamed said. “We were in the newspaper in London... we were on the radio in Poland. So yeah, it’s spreading pretty quickly.” Prior to its current location at One Central Ave., the Urban Taqueria was located off of Jefferson and Silver under the name of the Crazy Lizard Taqueria. According to Mohamed, the menu items today were already being offered there. “The Mueller and The Bar are the only new additions to my menu. Everything else was at my old restaurant,” Mohamed said. Most of the menu items were created by Mohamed and his staff two and a half years ago. Continuing on, he said most of his employees have been with him for three or four years. In the future, Mohamed plans to add to the menu. As for the tacos, Bryan Chianelle, a visiting member of the US Air Force from Charleston, S.C. said they were tasty and had good flavors. When asked where he got the idea to visit the Taqueria, he replied — Yelp. Luisa Pennington is the Culture Editor. She can be contacted at culture@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @_luisapennington_