Daily Lobo new mexico
The Independent Student Voice of UNM since 1895
thursday April 16, 2015 | Volume 119 | Issue 141
Website to inform on HPV vaccine By Marielle Dent
After five years of research, UNM’s Health Sciences Center has created an interactive website to help parents and their daughters make an informed decision about the human papillomavirus vaccine. HPV is common and many types can cause cervical cancer and genital warts. Today, it is highly recommended that girls ages 11 to 13 get the vaccine. At a Communications and Journalism research colloquium on Wednesday, Gill Woodall, a communication professor and researcher, discussed the website and the research that went into building it. The researchers conducted focus groups with parents of girls, girls themselves and school administrators across the state on HPV and vaccines, he said. They found that most parents preferred their children to receive the vaccine from a physician rather than at school, were fearful of potential side effects and questioned how susceptible children actually are to the virus, Woodall said. They also discovered a general lack of knowledge on the topic altogether. The website, gohealthygirls. org, is still in the research stage and is not yet optimized online. When it does go live, however, it will provide information on HPV and the vaccine as well as answer questions and concerns, said Woodall. Using interactive videos, it gives tips to parents on talking to their children about HPV. It also contains games like “HPV Jeopardy” that young girls can play. “I found this talk highly informative,” said Jazzlyn Ford, a junior in signed language interpreting. “The HPV
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Speech page 3
File Photo/Daily Lobo
Students gather for the International Festival last year to celebrate different cultures and to introduce students to customs, games and food. This year’s International Festival will feature food trucks for the first time.
Annual festival increases cuisine options By Matthew Reisen
The Global Education Office is hosting the annual International Festival on campus today outside the SUB with new additions to the event since last year. While many food options will be available in booths, this year many food options will be served in trucks. The event, described as “a true celebration of culture and diversity at UNM – featuring food, crafts and performances from all over the world,” by its organizers at GEO, will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. today in the Cornell Mall, east of the SUB and west of Mesa Vista Hall. Ashley Seibert, coordinator for GEO Resource Center, said through events such as the International Festival, the GEO sets out to,
“try and break down some of the stereotypes people have about different countries.” The International Festival has been going on for at least a decade, she said. It is one of the largest events on campus and this year looks to be no different. In addition to the international food trucks, the Black Student Union, Muslim Student Association and local restaurant, Street Food Asia, will be offering food as well. Seibert said while an admission is highly encouraged, the event is free. International food, arts, crafts, live performances as well as cultural information booths will be made available to all attendees. Live performances of music and dance will feature a headlining act for the first time, she said. There will be many cultural information booths manned by
international students who can educate people on where they’re from and what students can expect if they visited those places, Seibert said. The arts and crafts booths will feature information from numerous countries and even some groups represented within the UNM student population including; Ecuador, Persia, Sierra Leone, UNM Peace Studies, LGBTQ Resource Center and more. To find volunteers for the International Festival, she said, the GEO had an online signup for food vendors, performances and international as well as domestic students, could sign up to share their individual culture with UNM. None of the vendors or participants are charged outside of their own personal costs to make food or perform, GEO charges them zero
for the space. Seibert said there will be a large assortment of 20 different international cuisine this year, offered for $3 to $5, from countries including; Colombia, China, Haiti, Germany, Hungary and Diné. The Muslim Student Association will be doing henna hand-painting and there will be a live public art piece that attendees may creatively add to, she said. The space is large enough that everyone will have an opportunity to paint and leave their mark on. Danielle Gilliam, administrative officer for GEO, said the International Festival is largely about trying to inspire domestic students to be see the world. “What we’re trying to do is we want to be more inclusive of our larger community here at UNM,”
already involved with one, the organizers said. “This will be a great opportunity for young professionals and UNM community to get involved with the wide variety of organizations in Albuquerque, and network with other professionals and colleagues,” said Jaclyn Myers, social committee chair for the Young Professionals of Albuquerque, a non-profit organization.
Also scheduled to appear alongside MiABQ Millennial Project and Young Professionals of Albuquerque are representatives from several other Albuquerque young professional organizations, including Active 20-30 Club, Future Fund, Urban Land Institute Young Leaders, Junior League of Albuquerque, Women in Design: New Mexico and many others. “We want to retain the younger
generation by instilling a culture of professionalism, empowerment and participation among these groups. We are also very proud to be giving back to the community,” Myers said. Zoya Dixon, program manager at MiABQ, said the event will provide a good platform for the UNM students to get together with other young professionals
The Professional Networking
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Festival page 3
Mixer event gives young pros opportunity to network By Sayyed Shah
(505)836-2810 FAX: (505)839-0475
www.gatheringofnations.com
The MiABQ Millennial Project and The Young Professionals of Albuquerque are organizing the firstever city-wide young professionals mixer event, coming Friday. The event will provide an opportunity for young professionals in the Albuquerque area to meet colleagues, network, mingle and join a new organization if not
April 24 & 25, 2015
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Professionals page 3
5:30 until 8 p.m. Friday, April 17 Hotel Andaluz (125 2nd St. NW,). There is no cost to attend this event. Participants can register for the event via abqsocial@gmail.com.
at The PIT Albuquerque, NM North America’s “BIGGEST” Pow-Wow!
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