DAILY LOBO new mexico
friday
April 25, 2014
The Independent Student Voice of UNM since 1895
HungerU aims to feed the famished by Chloe Henson
news@dailylobo.com @ChloeHenson5 For HungerU crew member Mollie Dykes, food is a basic human right. “These kids in school, if they’re hungry, that’s the only thing they’re thinking about,” she said. “It’s affecting their grades, their performance in school. It’s having a long-term effect on them.” HungerU is a mobile tour that travels around the country to raise awareness about world hunger among college students and inform them about practical ways to fight hunger, according to the HungerU website. Dykes said her agricultural background and her desire to help children who were struggling with hunger inspired her to get involved with HungerU. She said the organization is nearing the end of an 11-week tour of the southern region of the country to educate students on college campuses. She said HungerU raises awareness by engaging students in different activities, such as taking surveys, playing Baggo and viewing a TV that displays facts about hunger. “Our farmland is disappearing at a rate of two football fields per second, and that’s one of the questions on (the survey),” she said. “That always surprises students.” HungerU crew member Mallory
Aaron Sweet/@AaronCSweet / Daily Lobo Marshall Dolch, left, speaks to UNM student Prudence Simon about HungerU, a campaign that travels to colleges and universities around the country to spread awareness of the growing hunger crisis in the United States and around the world. HungerU campaigns using a mobile trailer, which has several interactive exhibits on board, including a hunger wheel that attendees can spin for prizes and a bean toss. Weber said the representatives for the organization go to various areas of the country during tours. “We pick an area of the country and then we go from there and decide,” she said. “We get in contact and see who wants to have us, who can have us, what works with their schedule.” HungerU collaborated with and promoted other organizations to help students combat hunger, such as Stop Hunger Now, Feeding
America and Campus Kitchens, Dykes said. “Colleges will have chapters of the Campus Kitchens project, and they’re a food recovery program,” she said. “They go in to your student union, your cafeteria and recover all of the food that wasn’t served at the end of the day. Then they package it up and donate it to students on campus who may not have an extensive meal plan, or they also donate it to food pantries in the community.”
Dykes said one way HungerU emphasizes the extent of the problem of hunger to students is by helping them realize it is likely happening in their own community. “College campuses are some of the most common for those foodinsecure people,” she said. “There’s a misconception that if you can pay for books and tuition and all of those fees, that you can automatically pay for food. Money runs out at some point, and sometimes it’s
before you can buy that food.” Weber said she also got involved with HungerU because of her agricultural background. “My personal take on it is that we don’t have that much time on this Earth, and we shouldn’t have to spend it worrying about where out food is coming from,” she said. “There are just simply too many people who don’t know where their food is coming from.”
Parking forum discusses fines, future plans by Stephen Montoya news@dailylobo.com @StephenMontoya9
Frida Salazar/@FridaSg5 / Daily Lobo Associated Students of the University of New Mexico Vice President-elect Jenna Hagengruber, left, discusses with UNM Dean of Students Tomás Aguirre questions for the panel at the Transportation Summit held Thursday in the Student Union Building Atrium. UNM’s Parking & Transportation Services discussed citation prices, cost of operations and future plans that will affect UNM students and faculty. A PATS panel consisting of seven members hosted the forum.
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Parking & Transportation Services discussed citation prices, cost of operations, and future plans that will affect UNM students and faculty. A panel of seven members of PATS hosted a forum at the Student Union Building Thursday about issues related to parking. Questions from students were written on cards and read to the panel by Dean of Students Tomás Aguirre. Jenna Hagengruber, Associated Students of the University of New Mexico vice president-elect, said residents have come to her with concerns about available parking on campus. She said finding parking is a major challenge when students are running late and all the parking is full. “I get parking tickets and they’re not fun. Sometimes I park where I’m not supposed to, or I’ll park somewhere at 3:43, not 3:45 and I’ll get a ticket,” Hagengruber said. PATS Operation Manager Joe Lovato spoke at the summit and said there have been a need for electric charging stations at UNM for electric vehicles. This initiative is barely in the infancy state and more research is needed in order to implement this program, he said. Torin Hovander, political science major at UNM, said he appreciated the forum and said it was informative.
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