DAILY LOBO new mexico
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wednesday
Bomb threat disrupts classes, events by Ardee Napolitano news@dailylobo.com @ArdeeTheJourno
For at least the third time this calendar year, an on-campus bomb threat that shook up the University turned out to be a hoax. UNM Police Department public information officer Lieutenant Tim Stump responded to the bomb threat early Tuesday morning immediately after UNMPD received an anonymous
call warning of potential blasts. “At 8:02 a.m. we got a call from a male, muffled voice saying that he planted bombs in three buildings: Popejoy Hall, Mitchell and Ortega Hall,” he said. “We sent officers to every building, tried to evacuate everybody that we saw on site, pulled fire alarms.” UNMPD sent multiple emergency alerts to UNM students immediately after the call, with the first sent at about 8:20 a.m. The Albuquerque Police Department bomb squad arrived on the
scene at about 9:15 a.m. with bomb-sniffing dogs. By 10:15 a.m., UNMPD Operations Lieutenant Trace Peck reported that the APD bomb squad had finished inspecting and had cleared Popejoy, Ortega and Mitchell Halls. Peck said three teams of bomb squad officials entered each building with one bomb-sniffing dog each. None found anything suspicious, he said. Classes in the halls were cancelled during the bomb squad’s
inspection and resumed at about 11 a.m. According to a UNM Today press release, UNM’s Office of the Registrar estimates that “1,890 students were impacted by the closure of classes in those three buildings.” Stump said that the Albuquerque Fire Department was also on standby. Police were unable to trace the call, Stump said. He said UNMPD usually calls a particular set of
see Bomb
Threat PAGE 2
Di Linh Hoang / Daily Lobo The UNM Police Department responded to a bomb threat Tuesday morning after receiving an anonymous call. Popejoy, Mitchell and Ortega halls were evacuated. Classes held in the three halls between 8:00 and 11 a.m. were canceled. The buildings reopened around 10:15 a.m. after authorities failed to find anything suspicious.
December 4, 2013
‘Nutcracker’ production cancelled due to scare by Chloe Henson and Jyllian Roach
news@dailylobo.com @ChloeHenson5, @Jyllian_R Tuesday’s performance of “The Nutcracker” at Popejoy Hall by the New Mexico Ballet Company was cancelled due to a bomb threat early that morning. Emily Fine, executive director of the New Mexico Ballet Company, said her dancers were minutes away from warming up for their production of the Nutcracker in the building when they were evacuated. “We actually heard the fire alarm,” she said. “It was probably around 8:25 or 8:20. As soon as we got out of the building, we were told that it was probably a false alarm, but we have to legally evacuate. And then we heard via a police officer that it was a bomb threat.” UNM Police Department responded to a bomb threat after 8:02 a.m. that morning when UNMPD received an anonymous call warning of explosions the Popejoy, Ortega and Mitchell Halls. The threat turned out to be false, and normal campus operations resumed by 11 a.m. The first show of “The Nutcracker” was supposed to begin at 10:15, and a second would have taken place at 12:15, Fine said. The show has been postponed to Friday at 10:15 a.m. at the same venue.
see Ballet PAGE 5
Innovate ABQ draws federal funds to NM Project proposes to support students of all majors by Chloe Henson
assistant-news@dailylobo.com @ChloeHenson5 Innovate ABQ gathered more funds to support itself last week. According to a news release, the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration awarded a $1.5 million grant to UNM’s Science and Technology Corporation (STC), the University department leading the Innovate ABQ effort. According to its website, the Economic Development Administration is the only federal agency focused exclusively on economic development. Lisa Kuuttila, president and CEO of STC, said her
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company learned about the grant on Wednesday. She said her organization submitted the application in July and had to go through a selection process regionally before moving on to the national level. “The proposals that are selected in the region are forwarded to Washington, D.C.,” she said. “Then they have a process to go through and evaluate which ones are selected for funding at the national level.” Kuuttila said she believes the EDA chose to grant the money because of the quality of UNM’s application. She said Innovate ABQ can bolster economic development in the area because income in the region is lower than the national average, according to STC data. Innovate ABQ could foster ‘knowledge worker’ jobs, which
typically have Kuuttila said.
higher
wages,
“I would like to see more internships at Sandia, or just more internships in general.” ~Hans Hofner, sophomore, UNM “Our four county regions — Bernalillo, Sandoval, Torrance and Valencia counties — are at or below 65 percent of the national average per-capita income of $27,915,” she said. “It’s a big challenge for us regionally, and so one of the things in terms of
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strengthening our four-county region was to create a place where innovation can thrive.” The money from the grant may be used to purchase the old Baptist Church property downtown at Central Avenue and Broadway Boulevard. She said this site would serve as the project’s core location. “That’s our headquarters site, if it’s approved by the Regents,” she said. Kuuttila said Innovate ABQ will provide opportunities for students of all disciplines to expand their educations — not just science, technology, engineering and mathematics students. “We are envisioning the innovation academy, for example, as being an innovation minor,” she said. “Students from any discipline could add to their programs. They could have anything
as their major, and then add an entrepreneurial minor to their program.” Hans Hofner, a sophomore majoring in electrical engineering, said he likes the idea of an innovation center that would provide experience for students. “I would like to see more internships at Sandia, or just more internships in general,” he said. “An internship would look good.” Sam Biggs, a sophomore majoring in civil engineering, said he would like to see more jobs in Albuquerque, as well as a place that could provide experience for students. “When you are applying for a job, they ask for five years of experience doing something,” he said. “And how are you supposed to get that experience if there are no internships or anything?”
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