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Thursday, November 1, 2018 | Vo l u m e 1 2 3 | I s s u e 2 3
Player suspended for fight Africana Studies tries
for departmental status
By Cameron Goeldner @goeldfinger
Lobos linebacker Evah Tohi has been suspended for a violation of team rules after an altercation with a teammate over the weekend, according to a report from KOB 4 that was confirmed by the team. According to KOB’s sources, the altercation was a violent fight that left the unnamed teammate in the hospital. Tohi currently leads the Lobos in tackles with 57 and has been the player to fill in the gap left by Alex Hart’s season-ending knee injury against New Mexico State. “I was made aware of an incident that happened Saturday night involving two of our student-athletes,” head coach Bob Davie told KOB in a statement. “Although all the details are still being gathered, I think it’s appropriate at this time to suspend Evah Tohi from all team activities. The University will continue to work through proper procedures and once the process is completed, appropriate action will be taken.” Tohi, as well as the teammate, will miss at least this Saturday's game against San Diego State as the altercation is investigated by UNM. Taking Tohi’s place will be Brandon Shook, a redshirt sophomore
By Alyssa Bitsie @Albitsie
Courtesy Photo / GoLobos
with 11 tackles, two for a loss, one sack and two forced fumbles this season. Shook has seen the field in every game this season, and had his best statistical game against University of the Incarnate Word, when he recorded three tackles and forced a fumble. Tohi is in his third season at UNM, and has already recorded more tackles this season than in his career before this year. Originally from Phoenix, he played a season at Glendale Community College before committing to UNM. Prior to Glendale, he played his high school football at North Canyon High School. Two weeks ago,
he was named to the 2018 watch list for Polynesian College Football Player of the Year. According to the Albuquerque Journal, the injured teammate is a friend of Tohi’s who doesn't see much playing time. A source told KOB that the teammate was a patient at UNM Hospital, but the hospital would not confirm. KOB said on Wednesday that the unnamed player is recovering from head injuries. "We've got two good kids that are friends, that get in an altercation of some form, and you know,
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The University of New Mexico’s Africana Studies Program and their unofficial student-organization, Uhuru Sasa: Freedom Now, are pushing for departamental status. While Africana Studies, founded in 1969, was the first ethnic studies program at the University, it is the only one not currently a department. The Program must submit a proposal to be approved by first the UNM Board of Regents Academic/ Student Affairs & Research Committee. It then will have to face a full BOR meeting and finally go before the Higher Education Department for approval. “By not having an individualized department, at any time our program could be cut,” said Viola Cox, vice president of Uhuru Sasa: Freedom Now and an Africana Studies major. “It’s a huge impact and it’s very concerning especially with the budgetary concerns that are going on here at the university.” Cox said Uhuru Sasa: Freedom Now’s goal is to gather petitions, signatures and do on-campus work to assist the program’s need for support from other departments and build collaborations.
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
Lobos off to good start with win By Cameron Goeldner @Goeldfinger The New Mexico Women’s Basketball team opened the new season the way that every team hopes to — with a win. The Lobos defeated Division II Lubbock Christian University on Tuesday night at Dreamstyle Arena, 62-55. UNM fought through a bad shooting night that saw the team go 5-33 from three as well as 21 turnovers to beat the Lady Chaps. “I think we played hard enough,” Head Coach Mike Bradbury said. “Defensively we did a really good job of, I’m not going to say following the plan, because we didn’t really prepare. We played our base defense, but we did that well. The only thing defensively we probably didn’t do well was rebound so that was a little disappointing.” Bradbury seemed unconcerned with the team’s slow night offensively, particularly the performance of freshman Jayla Everett and Ahlise Hurst. “Offensively, you guys are going to think I’m crazy. We played pretty good, we didn’t make any shots. If you told me Jayla and Ahlise were going to go 0-15 from three, I’m telling you both of those guys are over 40 percent three-point shooters.” He attributed the performance of the freshmen to nerves as the
duo played their first college game. A familiar face led the Lobos offensively, as Jaisa Nunn finished with 17 points and nine rebounds in 25 minutes of action. Nunn said that she enjoyed the extra help she got in the post tonight, as forwards Antonia Anderson and Nike McClure also played more than 20 minutes in the game. “It was pretty nice, I actually got a little bit of rest time and could see what was happening on the floor, especially from the bench perspective, and that’s fine with me,” Nunn said. “We had some other players, we had Nike, we had (Anderson), we had Erica (Moore), we had (Shaiquel McGruder) killing the game in her minutes. I’m really proud of the post that we have. We’ve got a whole bunch of people now and I love it.” McGruder led the freshman in points with eight, going 3-for-3 from the floor while the other four freshmen were a combined 0-for21. Aisia Robertson, the highly anticipated transfer from Kansas made her debut in a Lobo uniform and scored 15 points, had five assists, three rebounds and two steals. On the other side of the coin, she finished with seven turnovers, something that she attributed to it being early in the season, and the team still developing chemistry and getting used to playing at game speed.
“It’s going to be the students that are going to have to compel the (Arts and Sciences) dean to make an overall evaluation and assessment and then make that decision for us,” Cox said. Cox said the professors who teach in the program do not get the same benefits as other professors in different departments, such as tenure. “Africana Studies does not offer that for them, because it’s a program and not a department,” Cox said. Tenured professors have more job security, and often higher salaries than non-tenured professors. Students wishing to pursue graduate degrees in Africana Studies often have to leave New Mexico in order to do so. Cox said that it is unfair for students, because UNM has qualified professors to carry the program forward. The Director of the Africana Studies Program, Dr. Charles E. Becknell, Jr., said the program has advocated for department status for the past 10 years. Becknell said an Africana Studies department would increase enrollment and would display a unique diversity in New Mexico. “Our special niche of researching the African diaspora in the
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ASUNM Committee Recap By Justin Garcia @Just516garc
Cameron Goeldner / Daily Lobo / @goeldfinger
During a mock game Aisai Robertson (#15) keeps the ball out of reach from a player of the opposite team.
“I think I could’ve made some better decisions with the ball, but for it being the first game back I think I did pretty decent,” Robertson said. “It’s definitely a game that I can learn from.” Despite their offensive woes, the Lobos lead for 32:32 of gametime. If the Lobos had been able to make their shots, they would have won by a much larger margin over the Lady Chaps. Maddi Chitsey led LCU with 13 points on the night, as the Lady Chaps suffered only their second loss against a Division I school in program history, with the other coming against UConn
in 2016. The Lobos will finish up exhibition play on Sunday at 2 p.m. against Eastern New Mexico, before the regular season begins on Friday, Nov. 9. Cameron Goeldner is a sports beat reporter and photographer for the Daily Lobo. He primarily covers men’s soccer, women’s basketball, softball and the Albuquerque Isotopes, but also contributes content for baseball, basketball, football and track and field. He can be reached at sports@dailylobo. com or on Twitter @goeldfinger.
A piece of legislation and two appropriations were sent through committee Wednesday night during the Associated Students of the University of New Mexico committee meetings. A resolution asserting that solutions to combat sexual violence should be pursued was passed through the Steering and Rules Committee. The resolution's author, Senator Rose Cary, highlighted fixing the broken blue light phones across campus, installing more lights in parking lots around UNM and extending shuttle hours as solutions students would benefit from. Much of the conversation around the resolution was about the list of recipients. If passed, the three-page resolution would be sent to 37 people, including including specific staff in departments of Office of Equal Opportunity, UNM Police Department and the President’s Office. Vice President Emily Wilks said normally resolutions are sent to a department head who then disseminate the resolution to staff
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