DAILY LOBO new mexico
The Independent Student Voice of UNM since 1895
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tuesday September 16, 2013
These guys are struttin’ their stuff Event raises awareness of domestic violence
by Fiona-Maria Featherston culture@dailylobo.com @fmfeather
Dozens of gentlemen laid their bags and sneakers off to the side as they took their seats Saturday in the SUB Atrium. Listening intently, the men prepared themselves for what was to come. On cue, they put on bedazzled high heels and decorated flip-flops, then set out to change the world. The inaugural Step Up and Walk for Women event, organized by the Alpha Chi Omega sorority was created to raise awareness about domestic violence. Modeled after the nationwide event Walk-a-Mile, this is the first time the sorority has done the event itself, said Jenna Hagengruber, vice president of philanthropy for the sorority. “We knew that other Alpha Chi chapters have done it and, when I was running for VP of philanthropy within the chapter, some of the girls came to me and suggested that I do the event,” she said. The men who participated in the free event put on women’s footwear, primarily heels, and walked approximately one mile to literally put themselves in the women’s shoes. Male-dominated groups from around campus and the Albuquerque area participated, including Greek members, UNM’s soccer and lacrosse teams and even military members, Hagengruber said. “We tried to reach UNM campuswide. It was great to have so much participation and not just from Greeks. The lacrosse team actually won, because they had the most people show up,” she said.
Jeff Doerr, a Sigma Chi fraternity member, said he went all at the event because the concept held a lot of meaning for him. “I wanted to participate because women’s violence is a big deal in my family. There is a history of women’s abuse in my family and I wanted to be there to support what I believe in,” he said. Doerr’s chosen shoe was a size 14 women’s scarlet heel adorned with jewels. He got the feeling of what it was like to be in a woman’s shoes, he said, in a good way. He said he enjoyed the event so much that he saved his heels for next year. The campus event included tables and talks by the Women’s Resource Center, the Rape Crisis Center of Central New Mexico and Agora Crisis Center. Angela Catena, a gender violence prevention program assistant at the Women’s Resource Center, worked closely with Hagengruber and the chapter to pull the event together. “(Step Up and Walk for Women) is a good opportunity to get the guys involved instead of attacking them and making them part of the solution instead of part of the problem,” Catena said. “It broke down gender norms and gender stereotypes, making them think and feel things they never had before.” Step Up and Walk for Women will be an annual event put on by Alpha Chi Omega, Hagengruber said. The event is not meant to raise money, but to raise domestic violence awareness, she said. Alpha Chi Omega hosts several awareness events every school year, including the Spring Tea, a gathering of the sisters to raise money for their philanthropy and Omega Man, a male beauty pageant.
Rachel Toraño-Mark / Daily Lobo Above: Keith Keller, left, and Poncho Fluxa Moncada from the UNM rugby team prepare to walk in their heels at the SUB on Saturday morning. The Lobo rugby team participated in the Step Up and Walk for Women event, which aims to raise awareness of domestic violence. Below: Members of the Lobo rugby team test their stability in high heels before the Step Up and Walk for Women event at the SUB Saturday morning.
Art Museum celebrates 50 years with 3 new exhibits by Ardee Napolitano news@dailylobo.com @ArdeeTheJourno
There wasn’t a cake with 50 candles at the UNM Art Museum on Thursday, but there was a crowd of hundreds, a large cheese platter and art along the walls. The museum celebrated its 50th birthday that night. The event was marked with an opening reception of three exhibitions, featuring more than 30,000 works of art. The three exhibitions will be on display through Dec. 14. Robert Ware, a curator who has worked at the museum for 13 years, said the site has changed a lot since he started. “There have been a lot of changes over the years, and I think it’s all been exciting,” he said. “It’s all worked out very nicely. So I’m happy to be here.” To celebrate its half century of
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life, the museum featured various new art collections. Ware helped curate one of the collections in the event. Ware said as a curator at the museum, he had the opportunity to run the museum’s Raymond Johnson exhibit. He said it was one of the best art experiences he has ever had. “To be able to get in touch with history that thoroughly and closely, that kind of proximity to his life’s work is very encouraging and satisfying to me,” he said. “And here at the museum, there had been a couple of exhibitions that have been very special to me.” Ware said the museum is an important part of students’ educational experience. He said the museum does not “grant degrees, but we educate students nonetheless.” And Ware said as far as a birthday gift from the University
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goes, renovations for the aging museum will do. “Since this building is now 50 years old, it’s time for us to get a new museum,” he said. “I think the University understands that. We’re trying to get the community onboard with that as well. We have the largest collections in the Southwest … And people don’t know that.” Lisa Tamiris Becker, director of the museum, said she is thrilled to celebrate the 50th anniversary with the community. Although she just started working at the museum in April, she said she sees the importance of the site for the University community. “It’s an extremely exciting moment for the museum having had so many years of contributing to the educational experience of the campus,” she said. “I’m excited to be in New Mexico because of the significance of art to the state of New Mexico … and also just the
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love of art in the community.” Becker said she aims to establish a permanent collection space at the lower level of the art museum in the coming years. She said she also aims to bring a “dynamic program of changing exhibitions that would cover a range of approaches to art.” The museum will also continue to work with students, Becker said. “We use all the different modalities that we can to reach students,” she said. “That would include print communication, further development of our website, further development of social media and presentations. I really believe in all of the above rather than just one modality.” Becker said she believes the museum is an integral part of UNM. “It’s actually pretty central to the fabric of the American university system,” she said. “The idea of encountering art is through having a direct
experience to a work of art. You can use that direct experience to explore aesthetics, social issues, history, any different topic that’s somehow different than the classroom where you’re only seeing a projector.” All exhibits in the museum are free and open to the public, Becker said. She said she encourages students to visit the museum as often as they can. “The more you come back, the more you’ll have a deeper experience with art,” she said.
For a video piece on the
UNM Art Museum’s 50th anniversary, see this story online at
dailylobo.com
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