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Burqueños protest anti-panhandling ordinance By Rebecca Brusseau and Madison Spratto @r_brusseau and @Madi_Spratto
Two months ago, former Mayor of Albuquerque Richard Berry passed an ordinance regulating interactions between panhandlers and motorists — Wednesday evening residents took to the streets in protest. On Jan. 24, the intersection of San Mateo Boulevard SE and Central Avenue was the site of a demonstration led by Act Now to Stop War & End Racism Coalition and the American Civil Liberties Union Albuquerque Chapter condemning the city’s antipanhandling ordinance. The ordinance, called the “Pedestrian Safety Ordinance,” restricts panhandling within Albuquerque metro areas — it was passed unanimously by City Council in early November 2017. “Its aim is to make Albuquerque unlivable for homeless people by depriving them of an important means of survival,” ANSWER said in a press release. “Using the cops to perform the function of aggressively enforcing the ordinance in parts of the city slated for ‘redevelopment.’” Bex Hampton, an organizer with the ANSWER coalition, said the organization believes the ordinance is an “attack on the poor” and is another way to criminalize poverty.
Participants held signs that read, “Reverse Anti-Panhandling Ordinance” and “Poverty is NOT a Crime” and followed along in chants such as, “No ART, no way. We need jobs and equal pay.” The ordinance states that panhandling would lead to a penalty of $500 and 90 days of incarceration. “It makes it pretty clear that the city does not care about homeless people or those who have to ask for money,” said University of New Mexico alum Jose M. Enriquez, who participated in the protest. Critics of the ordinance make the point that this is an effort for Albuquerque to inhumanely replace the appearance of low-income citizens with clear medians. “(City Council) says it’s for public safety to keep people off of the medians while asking for donations, yet the city of Albuquerque just completed this $135 million ART project, which put the bus stop right in the median,” Enriquez said. The passage of the Pedestrian Safety Ordinance is a strike within the war against working, poor and homeless people, Enriquez said. The protest’s participants included ANSWER and Party for Socialism and Liberation member Lauren Salter, who is currently attending UNM. Moving from Chicago to New Mexico for school, she said she realized both cities have problems concerning homelessness, untreated mental illness and displacement.
Colton Newman / Daily Lobo / @cnewman101
A protester holds an anti-ART sign during the anti-panhandling ordinance protest on the afternoon of Jan. 24, 2017.
“I would hope to see more programs that really push for housing, rehabilitation, equal and fair pay and less discrimination,” Salter said. “From a more ideological standpoint, I’d like to see more consideration for other human beings, whether or not they live in a home.” Hampton said the only way to change a system that results in poverty, racism, sexism and war is
by taking to the streets and demonstrating that people want change. ANSWER has recently filed a joint lawsuit with the ACLU to fight this ordinance and challenge what the groups view as pro-gentrification and inhumane sanctions against the homeless community.
primarily covers the LGBTQ community. She can be contacted at news@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @r_brusseau. Madison Spratto is a news editor at the Daily Lobo. She can be contacted at news@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @Madi_Spratto.
Rebecca Brusseau is a news reporter for the Daily Lobo. She
ABQ poet to speak at UNM UNM ends its Lynda.com service By Aaron Cowan @AaronTCowan
Hakim Bellamy, the first Poet Laureate of Albuquerque, will give a talk through the Alumni Association at Hodgin Hall on Jan. 25 about his journey in the creative community, since coming here in 2005. Bellamy, a writer, actor and award-winning activist said these kinds of pursuits were not originally part of his intended career path. “When I graduated high school in New Jersey — I’m from South Jersey — I was a full-ride engineering scholarship recipient,” Bellamy said. “I was on this science path. I started working in the drug industry for about a year, but I said, ‘I don’t know if this is what I want to do with my life.’” At the time, Bellamy and his son’s mother were applying to many different schools and were looking to move out West, he said. “I applied to UC Riverside, UC Santa Cruz and UNM,” Bellamy said. “UNM said yes, and other schools said no, so the universe brought me here.” Bellamy moved to Albuquerque on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day in 2005, to study in the Communication & Journalism master’s program.
By Amy Byres
@amybyres12
Courtesy Photo / UNM Newsroom
He landed a work-study job through KUNM, covering radio news, he said. “It really opened my eyes to a different world,” Bellamy said. “I was immersed in the community. I’d find myself at lots of events in the black community and lots of political events.” Bellamy told others there that he wrote poetry, and many of them encouraged him to share his work at these events, he said. “That was the beginning of me seeing this as a viable option,” Bellamy said. “I’d write these things, but I kept them to myself, and people wanted me to share them.” Don McIver, a local slam poet and Central New Mexico Community College instructor, said he remembers receiving an email
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from Bellamy in 2005, expressing an interest in performing poetry. “I remember telling him he should go to this event that I hosted,” McIver said. “Albuquerque just loved him right away. He struck me as this performance poet par excellence.” Albuquerque was just starting its Poet Laureate program at the time, and McIver encouraged Bellamy to apply, he said. Despite Bellamy’s reservations, he applied, and the selection committee chose him. Since then, Bellamy said his career has gone in many directions, and numerous individuals helped him discover his path. From the guidance of Valerie Martinez and Joan Logghe,
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The University of New Mexico’s subscription to Lynda.com, a tutorial website for Adobe programs, Microsoft programs and more, was officially discontinued on Dec. 20, 2017, according to an email sent out to Lynda.unm.edu users by the Information Technologies Center for Student Success at UNM. “Increasing licensing costs, ongoing budget reductions and low overall utilization of Lynda.unm. edu all contributed to the difficult decision to discontinue this service in favor of competing priorities,” said IT Chief Information Officer Duane Ej Arruti. In 2017, over 20,000 students and over 3,000 staff and faculty were a part of UNM, and out of over 23,000 people, 3,819 people accessed Lynda from UNM, according to Arruti. Sol Siltala, a sophomore majoring in multimedia journalism, said he never used Lynda.unm.edu, because he never knew about it. “I think it’s frustrating to find out that we had access to these
things. I wish I had known about Lynda, and it makes me wonder what else I don’t know about,” Siltala said. Those who knew about Lynda. unm.edu watched on average 3.19 hours worth of tutorial videos. The most utilized videos — No. 1 being most used and No. 10 being least used — on Lynda.unm.edu, according to Arruti, were: 1. Excel 2010 Essential Training 2. Excel 2013 Essential Training 3. HTML Essential Training 4. Foundations of Programming: Design Patterns 5. Maya 2016 Essential Training 6. InDesign CS6 Essential Training 7. Access 2013 Essential Training 8. Ruby Essential Training 9. Foundations of Programming: Fundamentals 10. Java Advanced Training In substitution for Lynda, Arruti said many of the same courses are offered through UNM Continuing Education, and other equivalent
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