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Brooks and Midani give “State of ASUNM” address By Anthony Jackson @TonyAnjackson
Associated Students of New Mexico President Noah Brooks and Vice President Sally Midani each gave a state of ASUNM address Thursday afternoon. The address highlighted campus events, improving campus lighting, promoting sexual assault awareness and this year’s tuition bump. “We had a lot of big challenges that we faced from the very beginning,” Brooks said, addressing students in the Student Union Building theater. “About two weeks into our term, we had on the same day the Budget Summit, which was one of the… enjoyable experiences I had as president, and on the same day was the special session in Santa Fe. We had to split up and start working on the Lottery Scholarship right away,” Brooks said. He voiced opposition in tuition hikes and scholarship cuts and said calling on lobbyists and lawmakers to do more “worked to an extent.” “We met with the author of House Bill 147, one of the bills we were trying to originally kill, and it ended up dying in the session, but with some amendments, we worked with the legislators to make it better for students,” Brooks said. The amendment that he helped attach would have transferred unclaimed lottery funds back into the Lottery Scholarship pool. Though Brooks has had a history of opposing policies that
increase student fees and tuition, he endorsed a 2.39 percent tuition increase in March. While students will experience an increase in tuition, some of that money is going toward better lighting on campus in areas, such as the Redondo parking lots and the Duck Pond, he said. Better lighting has been one of Brooks’ administrative goals since August, in addition to improving the Lobo Achieve website. Brooks said he deliberated with regents for student shuttle transportation from Main Campus to University home games to increase UNM’s “destination University” appeal. “We didn’t end up getting that, but we had students at the table talking about how to bring students to these games,” he said. Though Brooks did not get that win, he highlighted events on campus that brought the University community together such as Red Rally, Fiestas and others, thanking Student Special Events for its work. Brooks said campus clean-up events, Spring Storm and Fall Frenzy, had over 1,200 student participants. “This was something they did not have to do, but I think it says something about our University when we get 1,200 students to come to something they don’t have to come to and help better their community,” he said. In addition to praising student committees, Brooks highlighted ASUNM’s “positive new stories” throughout his term. “In a dark time of media for UNM, this was a great way to show-
Anthony Jackson / Daily Lobo / @TonyAnJackson
Noah Brooks address students in the Student Union Building Theater for the State of ASUNM Address on April 26, 2018.
case everything good about the University and what the students were doing and how amazing the…quality of students really are,” Brooks said. With his term coming to an end and President-Elect Becka Myers about to take the reins, Brooks left parting advice. “Make sure everything you do is for the students — even when you feel like you’re losing sight, remember you’re here to represent students,” he said, adding that the most difficult part is reaching to students, because “it’s so hard to
reach every population of students and that is something that ASUNM faces every year.” Abby Lutz, a freshman studying political science and economics, attended the address and said she thought highly of it. She is involved with the Emerging Lobo Leaders student organization. “I thought it was really great, because I think a lot of students do know what ASUNM is or what they do, but this gave a really good comprehensive breakdown of every success they’ve had this year,” she said. “It’s been a rough year
for them, but they’ve done a lot of great things.” Lutz said Brooks left a good legacy at the University, and is hopeful that the incoming ASUNM President and Vice President will continue to “go in a good direction.” Anthony Jackson is a freelance reporter with the Daily Lobo. He can be contacted at news@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @TonyAnjackson.
SHAC celebrates free condoms program College of Education
considers name change
By Anthony Jackson @ TonyAnjackson Student Health and Counseling celebrated their condom-mint program’s 7th anniversary by providing paletas, condoms, mints and safe sex pamphlets to University students on April 26. The event, held in the Student Union Building Mall, was in collaboration with representatives from the University of New Mexico Truman Health Services, the UNM LGBTQ Resource Center and the LoboRESPECT Advocacy Center. Red, orange, green and grey booths lined up side-by-side and representatives informed students waiting for paletas about treatment, consent and student resources. Pop Fizz, a local business, offered frozen treats made from fruit, sugar, and milk or water — also known as paletas — to students passing by on the condition that students follow the student health group on social media or correctly answer questions from a SHAC handout. Tiffany Martinez-Durant, the
By Megan Holmen @ megan_holmen
Anthony Jackson / Daily Lobo /@TonyAnJackson
Representatives from UNM’s Student Health and Counseling answer questions and give students paletas during SHAC’s condom-mint event celebrating the program’s 7th anniversary on April 26, 2018.
health promotion and marketing communications manager for SHAC, said when students share the organization on social media, it increases awareness of SHAC as a resource. “I can no longer wait for students to come to me — I have to reach students where they’re at and if you look right now in Cornell Mall, everyone’s on their
On the Daily Lobo website POWELL: RAIN pays tribute to Beatles at Popejoy Hall.
phone,” she said. “So how do we get to students? And that’s (through) social media.” Martinez-Durant said that by following SHAC on social media platforms like Snapchat, students can engage with informative content about prevention and upcoming SHAC events.
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The University of New Mexico College of Education is currently undergoing a self-evaluation process to determine if the name of the college accurately represents all of its departments and paths of study. According to the College of Education Dean Hector Ochoa, this has been a lengthy process that began in 2012. Dr. Tryphenia Peele-Eady, professor and an administrative fellow at the College of Education, is the Chair of the Naming Committee. Reevaluating the name of the college began as a part of the 2012 reimagination effort, Peele-Eady said. “We recognize that the nuances of what the business of education looks like needs close examination,” Ochoa said. According to Peele-Eady, the committee has a member from all of the departments in the college. This was intentional, she said —
the College of Education wanted to include all of the various perspectives in the college. These departments include: Department of Health, Exercise & Sport Sciences (HESS), Department of Individual, Family & Community Education (IFCE), Department of Language, Literacy & Sociocultural Studies (LLSS), Department of Special Education (SPCD) and Department of Teacher Education, Education Leadership & Policy (TEELP). This means that there are six COE professors on the committee. Additionally, the committee includes two COE alumni and one COE faculty member, Pelle-Eady said. The committee also includes two individuals from the COE friends board. According to Ochoa, one of the main driving factors in the renaming effort is student voice. COE students had the opportunity to take a survey earlier this semester to voice their opinions on the possible renaming of the
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HARWOOD: Book Review — Mendelson’s comic “Vengeance, Nevada” stuns with words and images.