As part of the Fall 2004 Homecoming festivities the Campus Involvement Department Decorating Contest returns this year and begins Monday, Oct. 18. The purpose of this contest is to promote participation during Homecoming week, to encourage school spirit and to increase awareness of UNM in the community.
Departments can begin decorating on October 18 and they are encouraged to keep the decorations up the entire week of Homecoming.
The contest judging begins at 2 p.m. on Oct. 19. Various, great prizes are lined up for first, second and third places. They include lunch for up to 10 people at Bene Pizza and Pasta courtesy of Aramark Food Service, 10 tickets to an Ovation Series show at Popejoy Hall courtesy of UNM Public Events and a $100 gift certificate courtesy of the Maxwell Museum along with many other exciting prizes.
Participants should complete the Entry flyer and fax it to Lisa Delgado at Testing Center-wide by October 8, 2004. Look for updates on all the Homecoming events on the Homecoming web site, which can be found at Homecoming.
Contact: Eleanor Sanchez, (505) 277-1813; Lisa Delgado, (505) 277-8297
Lobo Lucy and two friends help kick off the 2004 United Way Campaign for UNM. The financial goal for this year is $277,000. President Louis Caldera, backed by the UNM Marching Band, the Spirit Squad, and student athletes gathered at the student union ballroom to kick off the giving season on campus.
Faculty, staff and students will all be asked to contribute to the fundraising effort throughout the month of October. United Way of Central New Mexico funds go to 92 different projects.
Each project sponsor is asked to submit information for the project each year, and groups of volunteers select and monitor the projects so that the United Way is sure the money is spent for projects that really use it as it was intended.
In addition to being one of the major donors to United Way of Central New Mexico each year, UNM is also one of the largest financial recipients. There are a large variety of projects run by departments on campus that are eligible for funding.
“We ask for so much from the community and the community has always supported UNM," said UNM United Way coordinator Patrick Vigil. "Participation in the United Way is an excellent opportunity to thank the community for all the support we have enjoyed for so very many years."
Contact: Karen Wentworth, (505) 277-5627
Economic expansion in the U.S. economy slowed during the second quarter of 2004, but in New Mexico, expansion speeded up during the second quarter. Nonagricultural employment growth, the primary indicator of economic expansion at the state level, increased to 2 percent in the second quarter from 1.3 percent in the first quarter.
Other indicators of economic performance, including personal income growth (up 7 percent in the first quarter of the year) and the rate of unemployment (down to 5.5 percent in the second quarter of the year), suggest that the New Mexico economy is doing quite well at the moment.
In fact, the New Mexico economy has performed admirably during the last three years, averaging 1.3 percent quarterly (year-over-year) employment growth during that period, while the U. S. economy averaged –0.5 percent employment growth for the same period.
New Mexico was one of the few states that avoided slipping into recession in the post-9/11 period. The New Mexico economy managed to remain well above ground while the economies of most other states slipped into the depths because the state was lucky enough to receive strong employment growth from several sources, including expansion at Los Alamos and Sandia National Labs, Indian gaming/entertainment/resort activities, health care and social assistance, particularly home health care and oil, and gas exploration/drilling.
Plus, New Mexico did not experience budget deficit problems as did most other states. Even though New Mexico shared some areas of weakness with the national economy, like manufacturing, the positive far outweighed the negative, and its economy stayed afloat.
The economic outlook for the New Mexico also is good, though not exceptional. Following 1.2 percent gains in both 2002 and 2003, nonagricultural employment growth will increase to 1.9 percent in 2004 and 2.3 percent in 2005. As has been the case for several years, the health care and social assistance industry will be a major provider of new jobs during the next couple of years.
In addition, the construction sector will continue to exhibit solid growth, manufacturing will return as a significant source of strength, and the government sector will exhibit moderate but consistent gains. Overall, the New Mexico economy is looking good in the near term, and will probably continue to out-perform the national economy.
For readers interested in keeping tabs on the New Mexico economy, the Bureau of Business and Economic Research at UNM has two publications available by subscription, a monthly summary of recent economic trends and a quarterly economic forecasting newsletter.
Further information can be obtained by calling BBER’s Larry Waldman at 277-7077 or via e-mail at lwaldman@unm.edu.
Contacts: Larry Waldman, (505) 277- 7077; Steve Carr, (505) 277-1821
The University of New Mexico will receive the New Mexico Division of Vocational Rehabilitation's 2004 Employer Recognition Award Sept. 28 at the division's statewide meeting at the Albuquerque Convention Center.
DVR, a division of the State of New Mexico Public Education Department, helps people with disabilities obtain suitable employment.
During the past year, UNM's Department of Human Resources made giant strides toward the same goal, including:
• Creating a Disability Advisory Group with members from the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation, Adelante Development, Inc., Goodwill Industries, the Business Leadership Network, Albuquerque Public Schools, and others.
• Providing resume and interviewing skills for disabled applicants
• Participating in a job shadowing day on Oct. 20, 2004 in conjunction with Disability Awareness Month
• Hiring 30 people with disabilities
• Establishing an award for managers who hire people with disabilities
• Joining the Business Leaders Network Board of Directors
“I am proud to accept the award on behalf of UNM. This recognition is the result of a team effort, starting with the many talented disabled applicants, their dedicated community advocates, HR Staff and university managers and hiring officials. This is a win/win for all of us,” said Associate Vice President Susan Carkeek, director of Human Resources.
Contact: Laurie Mellas-Ramirez, (505) 277-5915
Christine Sierra, associate professor of Political Science, has been elected secretary of the American Political Science Association. APSA, founded in 1903, is the top professional organization for the study of political science serving more than 15,000 members in 80 countries.
John Garcia of the University of Arizona was named 2nd vice president marking the first time two Hispanics were elected during a term.
“I believe I am the first Hispanic woman to be an officer,” Sierra added.
Sierra teaches and researches American politics with a focus on race, ethnicity and gender. She publishes on Latino political participation, immigration politics and Hispanic politics in New Mexico.
She is at the forefront in the study of Latina women in the United States. She is currently directing a major study on elected officials, with a special focus on women of color.
A reception, celebrating the generosity of H. Henry and Monica Hirsch, will be Friday, Oct. 1, at 6:30 p.m., in the atrium of the University of New Mexico Mechanical Engineering Building. Joseph L. Cecchi, School of Engineering dean and professor and Christopher C. Mead, College of Fine Arts dean and professor, will host the event.
The Hirschs donated the “Rhapsody” tapestry, by renowned artist Leonardo Nierman. The tapestry has been on loan to the School of Engineering and is currently displayed in the Mechanical Engineering Building. Since graduating from UNM, the Hirschs have been avid supporters of the School of Engineering and the College of Fine Arts.
Nierman will also attend the dedication. Nierman enjoys international fame as a leader in modern Mexican art. His work can be found in over 300 major museums and private collections.
H. Henry Hirsch was born in Chile and earned his masters in engineering from UNM in 1968. His professional career was in energy management system integration and engineering and design consulting. Hirsch has been a faculty member and guest lecturer for Southern California Institute of Architecture and the University of Southern California.
University of New Mexico President Louis Caldera announced today the appointment of Michael W. Carroll as vice president for Institutional Advancement and president of the UNM Foundation. The announcement follows an extensive national search to fill the position.
Carroll comes to New Mexico from Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, where he served since 1997 as vice president for Development and Alumni Relations and president of the Rutgers University Foundation. At Rutgers, he led the $500 million Creating the Future Today university-wide capital campaign that exceeded its goal by raising $615 million in support for university programs.
“In Mike Carroll, we have found an absolute star who can help the university increase private support in order to reach our goal of making UNM one of the most well-regarded public research universities in America,” Caldera said. The president also praised and thanked the search committee for its efforts to recruit Carroll.
Carroll and his family visited New Mexico earlier this month and “fell in love immediately with the beauty of the state and the friendliness of its residents.” Upon accepting UNM’s offer Carroll cited among the top attractions of the job the opportunity to work on President Caldera’s team.
“I am highly impressed by his resume, life experiences, plans for the university, and commitment to the state of New Mexico,” Carroll said. “I greatly respect his honesty, personal integrity, and successful efforts to create a very positive environment at the university.”
Carroll added: “I am honored to be invited to join President Caldera’s team and I look forward to working with the deans, faculty and alumni to help build on the university’s already impressive record of achievement in so many fields.”
Carroll brings to UNM more than 25 years of experience in university advancement. Prior to his work at Rutgers, he served as associate vice president for Development at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech), where he oversaw a successful university-wide campaign that raised $337 million, exceeding its goal of $250 million. He also has worked in advancement at the University of California – Irvine, Centenary College in Louisiana, and East Carolina University.
Carroll is the recipient of numerous industry awards including Professional of the Year in 2004, awarded by the Council for the Advancement of Secondary Education (CASE) District II in recognition of exceptional achievement in the development of an institutional advancement program. He has served as a speaker and panel participant at professional conferences throughout the United States and abroad. He holds a master’s degree from Ohio University and a bachelor’s degree from North Carolina State University.
At UNM, Carroll will be responsible for all aspects of the advancement functions of the University including development, alumni relations, communications, marketing, public affairs, and KNME-TV. He will start his new position on November 1, 2004.
Contact: Laurie Mellas-Ramirez, (505) 277-5915
KUNM, 89.9 FM, will be honored by the Albuquerque Center for Peace and Justice at their Annual Peace Awards Dinner on Saturday, Oct. 2, at 7 p.m. at Immanuel Presbyterian Church, on the corner of Carlisle and Silver SE.
David Barsamian, host of Alternative Radio, will speak on the importance on independent, local media.
“Our community depends on KUNM to provide a variety of views on world and local events. Since September 11, 2001, through the invasion and occupation of Iraq, and now during the election season, the independent voices KUNM brings to the air are more important than ever. Thank you, KUNM, for giving a voice to Peace and Justice,” said Maria Santelli, co-coordinator, Center for Peace and Justice.
Santelli said that although it has been several years since the Center for Peace and Justice gave the peace award, KUNM was selected “hands down.”
“It was a consensus by our committee that we honor KUNM. At this time with corporate ownership of most media outlets, KUNM is a vital resource. We want to give KUNM the label of providing for peace and justice,” Santelli said.
Richard Towne, KUNM general manager, said, “It is a terrific honor for the students and volunteers who create the programming here and for those whose work on this issue. KUNM has the capacity to serve as a mirror for the station, providing individuals and groups the opportunity to discuss issues and bring them to the community. Those who plug into KUNM should share in the award.”
Limited tickets for the dinner are available for $15 from the Peace and Justice Center. For tickets or more information, call 268-9557.
Contact: Carolyn Gonzales, (505) 277-5920
UNM Professor Vladimir Koltchinskii, mathematics and statistics, has been inducted as Fellow to the Institute of Mathematical Statistics. The IMS Medallion Award was presented to Koltchinskii for outstanding research on empirical processes, statistical theory of learning and multivariate statistics.
Koltchinskii received the award at the IMS annual meeting this past summer in Barcelona, Spain. As a recipient, Koltchinskii also delivered an IMS Medallion Lecture titled: Data Dependent Complexities and Oracle Inequalities in Learning Theory. Of 37 international nominees, 12 were selected for fellowship in 2004.
Kotchinskii earned a Ph.D. from Kiev University in the Ukraine in 1982. His research interests are in probability theory and mathematical statistics.
All full professors in mathematical statistics at UNM are now IMS Fellows or Fellows of the American Statistical Association, a distinction claimed by only a few U.S universities.
Contact: Greg Johnston, (505) 277-1816
The University of New Mexico’s Feminist Research Institute will host a panel discussion, "Challenges for Women in New Mexico Politics,” Wednesday, Sept. 29, from 5 to 8 p.m. at the University Art Museum, located in the UNM Center for the Arts.
Participants include Lieutenant Governor Diane Denish, Attorney General Patricia Madrid, State Senator Dede Feldman and State Representative Danice Picraux.
UNM History Professor Virginia Scharff, who has written extensively about women, the environment and the American West, will moderate the forum.
“Holding the panel at this time is important,” said Natasha Kolchevska, FRI director. “Issues like the gender gap and women's participation in the entire electoral process continue to surface in elections. The intent of our panel is to have a nuanced, informed discussion led by women politicians with years of experience in public life.”
For more information, call 277-1198 or 277-7363.
Contact: Laurie Mellas-Ramirez
The 6th annual New Mexico Data Users conference will occur on Wednesday, November 17 at 7:30 a.m. at the University of New Mexico Continuing Education Conference Center, 1634 University Blvd. NE. Sessions will be held in Ballroom C.
The New Mexico State Data Center/Business and Industry Data Center (SDC/BIDC) Program sponsors the annual event which is organized by UNM’s Bureau of Business and Economic Research (BBER), a coordinator in the SDC/BIDC network.
This year’s speakers are from a variety of organizations, including several UNM departments—BBER, the Institute for Public Health, Earth Data Analysis Center, and Division of Government Research; the U.S. Census Bureau; New Mexico Dept. of Labor; New Mexico Dept. of Health; and other state and local agencies.
Included in this year’s conference are sessions related to the decennial census—2010 planning; the American Community Survey; the American FactFinder web site, and key decennial concepts and geography; sessions that explore uses of census data—in grant writing, and in profiling the aging population; sessions that discuss economic data—the 2002 Economic Census, N.M. Dept. of Labor occupation projections and web sites, and measures of personal income from the U.S. Dept. of Commerce; and special topics sessions—key databases for public health research, on-line mapping initiatives, geocoding in New Mexico, and a new population estimates program at BBER.
Dr. Larry Waldman, BBER senior economist, will be the luncheon speaker, presenting a review of New Mexico’s recent economic performance and a short-term economic outlook.
The annual Data Users Conference has become a valued learning experience for businesses, government agencies, service organizations and students.
Registration is $40 per person and includes all conference materials, continental breakfast, beverage breaks and a luncheon buffet. For more information and a registration form go to BBER’s web site at www.unm.edu/~bber/conference.htm.
Contacts: Karma Shore, (505) 277-8300; Kevin Kargacin, (505) 277-3038; or Steve Carr, (505) 277-1821
An art and book launch party will be held at the Dartmouth Street Art Gallery, 3011 Monte Vista N.E., on Friday, Oct. 1, from 5 to 7 p.m. to celebrate prolific UNM Professor of Law Sherri Burr.
Burr published three books in 2004. She authored "Entertainment Law in a Nutshell," and co-authored "Entertainment Law: Cases and Materials on Film, Television, and Music," and "Art Law: Cases and Materials.”
Burr is a graduate of Mount Holyoke College, Princeton University and Yale Law School. She has specialized in intellectual property and international law since 1988. Burr lectures worldwide on these topics visiting countries as diverse as Chile, France, Japan, Spain, and South Africa.
The Arts Alliance, the New Mexico Black Lawyers Association and Wild Oats sponsor the event. Attending the celebration will be notable artist Betty Sabo and New Mexico Symphony Maestro Guillermo Figueroa.
To RSVP for the party call 277-5665 or email burr@law.unm.edu.
Contact: Laurie Mellas-Ramirez, (505) 277-5915
The LodeStar Astronomy Center has received a $5,000 grant from the Boeing Company in support of "Sunspotting," LodeStar's solar viewing program. The Boeing funding will be used to upgrade the program to "Super Sunspotting," with the creation of full-dome digital animations of the sun for LodeStar's planetarium, as well as the acquisition of telescope accessories to improve the public's viewing experience in LodeStar's observatory.
A start-up grant from Boeing in 2002 funded the creation of the Sunspotting program.
"Boeing has been a great supporter of LodeStar's educational programs since we opened our doors. Our solar observing program is very successful in inspiring and educating our visitors about astronomy and nature. This grant will allow us to increase quantity and quality of the learning activities," said LodeStar director David Beining.
The LodeStar Astronomy Center, located at 1801 Mountain Road N.W. in Old Town Albuquerque, is a University of New Mexico project in partnership with the New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science.
LodeStar's observatory is open for the Sunspotting program on Sundays from 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and on Mondays from 10 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
Sunspotting is included with admission to any LodeStar or Museum venue. For
information, call 841-5955 or visit: www.lodestar.unm.edu.
The University of New Mexico is partnering with three state school districts to improve mathematics education for children of working class Hispanics. Albuquerque Public Schools, Bernalillo Public Schools and Socorro Consolidated Schools, along with the UNM Colleges of Education and Arts and Sciences, are collaborators in the National Science Foundation funded Center for the Mathematics Education of Latinos (CEMELA).
CEMELA will address the mathematics education needs of Hispanics, the largest minority group in the country. Total project funding from the National Science Foundation is $10 million. Approximately $1.36 million will allow UNM to conduct research and help develop a model that combines mathematics teaching and learning with the cultural, social, linguistic contexts of Hispanic students. Additional partners in CEMELA are universities and public school districts in Arizona, California and Illinois.
Researchers will specially address what university faculty, schoolteachers and administrators need to know to teach mathematics effectively to Hispanic students. CEMELA will develop leaders in mathematics education by recruiting graduate level students to participate in research and teaching activities. Seven doctoral students and one post-doctoral student will receive funding to conduct research and professional development activities over the next five years.
UNM professors Richard Kitchen and Sylvia Celedón Pattichis will serve as principal investigators. Kitchen holds a joint faculty appointment in the departments of education specialties, and mathematics and statistics. Both faculty members contributed their findings earlier this year to a national study on the characteristics of highly effective schools in low-income communities.
“To achieve our goal, we will bring together experts in education, mathematics, language and culture to improve the mathematics education of New Mexico’s working class Hispanics,” Kitchen said.
The grant will promote expertise and innovations in research, teacher education and parental involvement, to be shared with the larger academic community.
Contact: Greg Johnston (505) 277-1816
The Princeton Review – known for its “Best Colleges” publication has released its guidebook of the Best 117 Law Schools (Random House/Princeton Review, 2005 edition). The University of New Mexico School of Law is noted among top 10 schools in four of the 11 categories ranked.
UNM is ranked second in the list of schools with “Most Diverse Faculty,” fifth in categories “Best Environment for Minority Students” and “Most Welcoming of Older Students,” and sixth in “Candidates for American Program Fellowships,” implying that the student body “leans to the left,” the guide states.
The Princeton Review compiled the rankings based on institutional data from more than 7,000 students at 117 law schools. Student opinion survey data along with school statistics reported by administrators were collected.
The Princeton Review is a New York City-based company know for its test prep courses, education services, college and grad school admission services and more than 200 books published by Random House.
Complete lists of top 10 schools in all 11 categories are posted at www.PrincetonReview.com.
For the ninth consecutive year, UNM has been named in the annual report on America’s 100 Best College Buys® designating it as one of America’s best college educations for the cost.
Institutional Research and Evaluation, Inc., compiled the list from a survey of 1,459 accredited U.S. colleges and universities offering four-year undergraduate degree programs.
Of the institutions surveyed, 1,209 schools responded. The survey results showed that UNM’s 2004-05 out-of-state cost was $18,076 compared to the national average at a public institution of $22,198.
Contact: Carolyn Gonzales, (505) 277-5920
Renowned Native American author Paula Gunn Allen, Ph.D., is the first presenter in the University of New Mexico Native American Studies 2004-05 Lecture Series.
She will give a free, public lecture Tuesday, Sept. 28, from 6:30 to 8 p.m. in the Kiva Auditorium, UNM campus.
Gunn Allen received a 2004 Pulitzer Prize nomination for her book “Pocahontas: Medicine Woman, Spy, Entrepreneur, Diplomat,” in bookstores this October and published by HarperSan Francisco, a division of Harper Collins.
Gunn Allen, of Laguna Pueblo/Metis and Sioux descent, is hailed as the founder of American Indian literary studies. She earned her Ph.D. from UNM in 1976.
Among the foremost Native American literary critics, she is professor emerita of English at University of California, Los Angeles. She is author of “The Sacred Hoop: Recovering the Feminine in American Literature,” “Song of the Turtle: American Indian Literature,” and “As Long as the Rivers Flow: Stories of Nine Native Americans.”
“Paula has done ground breaking work in Native American women studies. Her work examines the traditional roles of Native American women and their concerns. She has played a ground breaking role contributing innovative research,” said Elizabeth A. Archuleta, Ph.D., assistant professor of English and NAS affiliated faculty.
Gunn Allen lectures widely and has received several awards including the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Indian Writers Association, 2001; and the Hubbell Prize for Lifetime Achievement in American Literary Studies from the Modern Language Association, 1999. She has been awarded grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and received the Before Columbus Foundation National Book Award.
On Sept. 28, Gunn Allen will also speak to students from 3:30-4:30 in Dane Smith Hall, rm. 224.
The lecture series continues through the fall and is sponsored by UNM's Native American Studies, English and Women Studies departments.
The National Science Foundation has awarded a $350,000 Major Research Instrumentation grant to the University of New Mexico for the purchase and maintenance of a state-of-the-art shared memory high-performance computer.
“The new computer will allow UNM researchers to tackle a wide range of problems in computational science and engineering,” said Principal Investigator, Hua Guo, professor, Chemistry Department. “It will also provide educational opportunities for students interested in high performance computing.”
Computational research plays an increasingly important role in many grand challenge-scale problems in science and engineering. At UNM, a diverse group of investigators are engaged in computationally intensive advanced research projects in physics, chemistry, biology and computer science.
The project, titled “Acquisition of a High Performance Shared-Memory Computer for Computational Science and Engineering,” involves other UNM researchers including: David A. Bader, Electrical and Computer Engineering; Marc S. Ingber, High Performance Computing Center and Mechanical Engineering; Susan Atlas, Physics and Astronomy, and Tudor Oprea, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.
In addition to traditional domains of research, there is a growing trend towards interdisciplinary collaborations to address complex problems in systems biology and nanotechnology. The research includes biologically motivated projects that span conventional departmental boundaries — computational biophysics and biochemistry, phylogenetics and virtual drug screening — as well as work in materials science and the quantum control of complex systems.
“This state-of-the-art computer will be operated and maintained by the High Performance Computing Center at UNM, and in addition to supporting the projects detailed in the proposal, it will be made available for general science and engineering research and education use by members of the university community,” said Guo. “This is an effort to improve the research and educational infrastructure of high performance computing at the University of New Mexico.”
Contact: Steve Carr, (505) 277-1821
A north campus facility at UNM may not see many students each day, but the new Pete and Nancy Domenici Hall (PNDH) expansion project is collecting a lot of attention. The South Side Addition will open Sept. 24, and will establish the MIND Imaging Center as one of the most technologically advanced facilities in the United States.
The PNDH project, which will house the UNM MIND Imaging Center, The MIND Institute and the UNM BRAIN Center, is expanding the existing facility by 42,315 square feet and will support research and patient treatment. The facility will bring together leading-edge neuro-imaging equipment and researchers. All New Mexicans being treated at the MIND Institute will have the most recent, cutting-edge technology available in healthcare programs today.
Among the technologies the new facility will introduce is the Magneto encephalography (MEG), a state-of-the-art medical imaging technology that enables researchers and clinicians a window into the function of the human brain through the measurement of electromagnetic activity.
MEG is able to locate brain activity associated with real-time brain function at a very high accuracy. Complex epilepsy and pre-surgical mapping of normal brain function are applications available by MEG. Combined with the more familiar magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), MEG has amazing capabilities.
“The two modalities (MEG and MRI) provide unparalleled insight into the function of the human brain, and greatly enhance diagnostic capabilities,” said Manager of Information Systems and Technology at the MIND Institute, Robert Christner. “We will be receiving new-generation technology systems to enhance data collection and processing — the first of its kind.”
The remainder of the expansion is scheduled for completion in May of 2005. Throughout the construction phases, patients, students and faculty have had access to the facility. The original Domenici Hall facility remains open for business and maintains full patient clinics.
The PNDH expansion, which began January 5 of this year, has a budget of $17.3 million. Jack B. Henderson Construction Co. is the primary constructor, while Westwork Architects is heading up all design. The facility is located on the UNM north campus at 1101 Yale Blvd. NE, just west of the UNM North Golf Course.
The UNM Health Sciences Center is committed to disease oriented research that particularly influences New Mexico’s population, including mental illness, alcoholism, multiple sclerosis, and other neurological diseases and brain injuries.
The PNDH is a specific example of UNM’s commitment to provide its students, staff, community members and patients with the best facilities for education and treatment.
Contact: Allie Thompson, (505) 277-7584
School of Architecture associate professor Eleni Bastéa will present an illustrated talk titled “Memories of Place” on Thursday, September 23, at 2 p.m. in the Willard Reading Room of Zimmerman Library on the UNM campus. The free event will be followed by a reception.
Bastéa is the latest faculty member to be honored with the University Libraries Faculty Acknowledgement Award. The award is presented to faculty members who publish work in their field of specialty.
Bastéa is currently working on a book, “The Memory of Place, Echoes of a Common Past in Modern Greek and Turkish Thought”. Her own past, as the granddaughter of Christian Greeks living in Turkey and forced to immigrate to Greece in 1922, is a driving element for the book. The underlying hypothesis of “The Memory of Place” is that people are bound to have shared memories of space after centuries of cultural co-existence, just as they share culture and cuisine.
In her classes at the School of Architecture, Bastéa teaches general courses on the history of architecture, seminars on 19th and 20th century architecture and urbanism and on memory and architecture.
Contact: Karen Wentworth, (505) 277-5627
It was a gold medal day for children at Carrie Tingley Hospital. A few young patients were allowed to wear a real Olympic Gold Medal Sept. 15 and hear the story of how it was won. Trent Dimas, an Albuquerque native who graduated from Eldorado High School, won a gold medal in Olympic gymnastics competition in Barcelona, Spain in 1992.
He spent an hour recently with patients and staff at Carrie Tingley Hospital at the UNM Health Sciences Center. Dimas made the short walk from the UNM School of Law, where he is currently enrolled as a student.
Twelve years ago, Dimas visited the specialized children’s hospital after returning home from winning his Olympic event on the high bar. He presented the hospital an autographed American flag he created during the games. USA team members and medallists including boxer Oscar de la Hoya and swimmer Pablo Morales signed the flag, which Dimas personally painted on canvas.
When the ’92 Olympic team was invited to the White House, President George Bush and First Lady Barbara Bush signed their names. Arnold Schwartzengger’s autograph is there too. The flag was displayed for the occasion in the hospital’s recreation room.
While meeting with patients, Dimas dug into his backpack for the heavy medal, which he keeps stored in a sock. He said that he doesn’t like to display it publicly except when children are the intended audience. The medal has a dent or two, that Dimas said happened when he dropped it while racing down a Barcelona street for a Today Show interview with Katie Couric, the morning after winning his event.
Dimas draped the medal around the neck of Ryan Dale Dickman, a fourteen-year-old hospitalized since June for Guillan-Barre syndrome, an autoimmune disorder. Dickman appeared delighted to wear the medal while seated in his wheelchair and prompted laughter when he asked if he could keep it.
Later in the day, Dickman’s mother, Tonya said the event lifted her son’s spirits and he had been in a wonderful mood since meeting Dimas.
Dimas showed a videotape of his medal winning performance. He also autographed picture cards, posed for numerous photos and provided words of encouragement to each child he met.
Contact: Greg Johnston (505) 277-1816
The first annual University of New Mexico Study Abroad Fair will be held Tuesday, Sept. 28, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the atrium of Dane Smith Hall on the UNM campus. The fair, sponsored by the UNM Office of International Programs and Studies and the Latin American and Iberian Institute, will feature display information about study abroad opportunities for UNM students around the world.
The UNM study abroad advisors will be on hand to talk with students about the international exchange program, which allows UNM students to study at more than 75 top universities in 25 different countries.
UNM departments, including Spanish and Portuguese, Honors Program, Art and Art History, Health Sciences Center and the Latin American and Iberian Institute, will provide information about special summer programs and short-term international study opportunities. Representatives of the New Mexico State University Study Abroad Program will also be in attendance.
“Through a special statewide agreement, UNM students are able to apply to go on study abroad programs sponsored by New Mexico State and other
universities in New Mexico,” said Ken Carpenter, associate director, Office of International Programs and Studies.
Also represented at the fair will be more than a dozen outside providers of international study programs, including several university consortium programs in which UNM students may participate. These include “Australearn,” which sends students to many universities in Australia and New Zealand; the University Studies Abroad Consortium (USAC), with programs in 20 different countries, and International Studies Abroad, which has international study centers in nine countries.
Information will also be available on scholarships for study abroad programs, including the Fulbright Program, Gilman, Freeman-Asia, National Security Education Program, and other financial aid resources.
The Study Abroad Fair is free and open to the general public. For more information, contact the Office of International Programs & Studies, 277-4032, or e-mail studyabd@unm.edu.
Contact: Carolyn Gonzales (505) 277-5920
The Robert O. Anderson Graduate Schools of Management (ASM) at UNM have been ranked No. 6 in the country for Hispanic students by Hispanic Business in rankings released in the September issue of the magazine.
It’s the fifth consecutive year that the Anderson Schools have been ranked in the top 10 by Hispanic Business. Business schools ranked ahead of ASM include: Stanford, Yale, New York University, University of Texas-Austin and North Carolina respectively.
“This recognition affirms our commitment to the community we serve and our efforts to provide the best possible educational experience to all our students,” said Anderson Schools of Management Dean Charles Crespy.
At The Anderson Schools, the ranking recognizes that 19 percent (109 students) of the 564 MBA students are Hispanic. Hispanics earned 25 degrees or 18 percent of the 143 degrees conferred by the ASM.
The criteria for recognition was based on total graduate and Hispanic enrollment, faculty, student services, retention rate and reputation. The measures were then summed and a rating assigned to each school on the basis of the total score.
The Anderson Graduate School of Management has attracted corporate partners including Ford Motor Co., KPMG, Target Corp., Intel and Grant Thornton. An active involvement of faculty and students in the Hispanic Business Students Association and the Association of Latino Professionals in finance and accounting provide Hispanic students with a cultural community encouraging excellence.
The school’s commitment to outreach and providing students with hands-on experience is seen at the Center for the Support of Economic Development, an assistance center for small businesses (more than 40 percent of which are Hispanic-owned in New Mexico), entrepreneurs and start-ups involving student teams in creating real business solutions. The school has also launched the Program for Creative Enterprise to help businesses and nonprofit organizations solve problems through non-linear thinking. Student teams are actively involved in these outreach efforts.
Placement rates for Anderson graduates exceed 90 percent within three months of graduation and graduation rates exceed 85 percent.
Contact: Steve Carr, (505) 277-1821
Connie Beimer has been named by President Louis Caldera as his new Chief of Staff. She will assist President Caldera as the president’s day-to-day point of contact for individuals within as well as outside the university community, dealing with a range of student, faculty, staff and public issues. Her responsibilities include overseeing the president’s office and ensuring effective communication and coordination of effort among the university’s senior staff.
“Connie Beimer brings great skills and experience to this position,” said Caldera. “She will help me and our entire team in the Office of the President to be more responsive to the needs of students, faculty and staff at UNM, while enabling me to make more strategic use of my time.”
A major part of the assignment will be to create a focus point and person to allow the president’s office to be more responsive to the concerns of students, faculty, regents and staff.
Beimer comes to UNM from the office of Governor Bill Richardson. She served there as Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations and Public Outreach. Prior to serving with Richardson, Beimer served as Deputy Chief Administrative Officer for Jim Baca when he was mayor of Albuquerque.
Beimer graduated from the University of New Mexico with a bachelor’s, and a master’s degree in public administration.
Contact: Karen Wentworth, (505) 277-5627
New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson today awarded the University of New Mexico $3 million to create the “Art, Research, Technology and Science Laboratory” (ARTS Lab) to support the state’s efforts in the burgeoning digital media industry.
UNM President Louis Caldera was present for the announcement at the State Capitol. President Caldera says UNM has been working for over a year to develop proposals in response to the Governor’s interest in nurturing a film and media industry in the state, particularly proposals that develop the technologies related to that industry. He adds that these digital technologies are important not only for film and television applications, but also for a wide variety of commercial, medical and national security applications as well.
“This funding allows us to leverage strengths that already exist at UNM -- in computer science, fine arts, medicine, law and business -- as they relate to advances in digital media,” said Caldera. “Through the ARTS Lab, UNM will participate in the creation of new, high paying jobs in New Mexico while preparing the students who will take those jobs.”
As envisoned, the ARTS Lab will bring together faculty, staff and students from throughout the university in an innovative and interdisciplinary environment that will develop digital media that impacts art, science, business and technology. Ed Angel, Director of UNM’s Arts Technology Center and Professor of Computer Science, Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Media Arts, says the vision of the ARTS Lab is to become a key catalyst for the education and research that will grow and sustain this industry in New Mexico.
“It really will combine UNM’s strengths in arts and culture with its strength in technology. It is truly geared towards what we’re good at,” says Angel.
Contact: Susan McKinsey, (505) 277-1989
A talk by Dr. Neil Harvey, associate professor of Government at New Mexico State University will highlight the opening of an exhibit, “Chiapas: Preserving Indigenous Rights and Culture.” Harvey will give a 10-year assessment of the Zapatista movement in the state of Chiapas, Mexico.
The talk will be given on Saturday, Sept. 18 at 2 p.m. in the Grand Hall of the west wing of Zimmerman Library. A reception will follow in the Willard Room. The exhibit, in the Herzstein Latin American Exhibit Gallery on the second floor of Zimmerman, will run through Dec. 17.
The Division of Iberian and Latin American Resources and Services in the Libraries is hosting the exhibit in cooperation with New Mexico State University Library and Anthropology Department, and units of the Latin American and Iberian Institute including the Student Organization of Latin American Studies, the Center for Latin American Resources and Outreach, Resources for Teaching about the Americas, and the Latin American Data Base.
The exhibit was inspired by graduate students in SOLAS, who visited the Mexican state of Chiapas during spring break, and wished to present a reflection of their visit. The exhibit includes printed materials, traditional weaving and related articles and videos from the weaving co-operative and the Chiapas Media Project, which will be playing in a continuous loop.
The exhibit will be open during normal library hours from 8 a.m. through midnight, Friday 8 a.m. to 9 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m. to 10 p.m., and Sunday 9 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Contact: Karen Wentworth, (505) 277-5627
De Colores, Inc., Hispanic Culture Festival, celebrated in conjunction with Hispanic Heritage Month, Sept. 15-Oct. 15, has a full calendar of events for 2004 including an art exhibit, leadership awards banquet, film festival, art demonstrations, folkloric dance, Latino music and more.
De Colores found a permanent home at UNM last year thanks to Vice President for Student Affairs Dr. Eliseo “Cheo” Torres who saw it as a winning partnership. “Having De Colores at UNM gives students a greater opportunity to participate and be part of the celebration while De Colores can draw upon the wealth of interest, expertise and venues the campus and its community provide,” Torres said.
“The festival is designed to showcase and celebrate Hispanic culture,” said Jennifer Gomez-Chavez, board president, De Colores, Inc., and program coordinator for the University of New Mexico's College Enrichment Program. “We like to incorporate students, our future leaders, into all the events,” Gomez-Chavez said.
She said that she and other organizers encourage people of all ages from the community to attend one or more of the events.
A kick-off event, hosted by El Centro de la Raza, is scheduled for Sept. 16, the day Mexico celebrates the beginning of its 11-year war for independence against France, which started in 1810. That event will take place from noon to 1 p.m. on Smith Plaza on the UNM campus.
The official opening of the art exhibition in the Student Union Building takes place on Saturday, Sept. 18 at 6 p.m. “We will also have ‘Noche de Salsa Encantada' and salsa lessons and dancing that evening,” Gomez-Chavez said. The same evening, the UNM Bookstore will feature authors José Rivera, Prescilla Baca Candelaria and Ana Baca who will be on hand to sign copies of their recent books.
Because De Colores board members were especially interested in reaching out to youth through this year's events, a Noche de Arte y Juventud is scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 7 from 4 p.m. – 9 p.m. at UNM's Mesa Vista Hall West Courtyard. “We will be promoting Latino youth through art, music and dance,” Gomez-Chavez said.
A Southwest Film Festival and weekly art demonstrations and performances are scheduled Thursdays, Sept. 23 – Oct. 7 in the SUB atrium.
The month long celebration culminates in a leadership awards banquet, Saturday, Oct. 9. Entertainment and dancing make this a particularly festive occasion.
For more information about other events, call 277-7763 or visit www.sub.com
Contact: Carolyn Gonzales, (505) 277-5920; Jennifer Gomez-Chavez, (505) 277-7763
The United States Department of Labor and American Association of People with Disabilities will sponsor National Disability Mentoring Day, Wednesday, Oct. 20, in conjunction with Disability Awareness Month.
University of New Mexico employees will participate this year by providing job shadowing opportunities to people with disabilities.
“Job shadowing offers a chance for hands-on career exploration and enhances employment opportunities,” UNM Associate Vice President and Human Resources Director Susan Carkeek said. “The 2004 theme is “Career Development for the 21st Century” and with the range of careers represented at the University we are the perfect partners for this event.”
Campus visitors will follow a UNM employee-host for two to six hours, observing daily tasks and responsibilities, to learn more about particular career fields.
Staff and faculty volunteers are invited to host an individual with approval from supervisors, as appropriate.
Register for participation online by visiting the Human Resources website at www.unm.edu/~hr/ and clicking on “What’s New.” A representative from UNM Human Resources’ Disability Advisory Group (DAG) will contact volunteers in October. Representatives will work with employees and visitors to find an appropriate match. The agency will work with volunteers regarding any accommodations required and provide ideas for planning a job-shadowing day.
Human Resources Staff Recruiting Services and DAG are coordinating the event. DAG was created in October 2003 to increase employment for the disabled. The group is comprised of members from organizations including Adelante, Goodwill Industries, the Business Leadership Network, Albuquerque Public Schools, the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation and others.
For more information, contact a UNM Human Resources recruiter at 277- 6947.
Contact: Laurie Mellas-Ramirez, (505) 277-5915
Manny Garcia, author of “An Accidental Soldier: Memoir of a Mestizo in Vietnam,” will sign and discuss his book on Saturday, October 16, at 2 p.m. at the UNM Bookstore as part of the "Viet Nam: Voices and Visions Unlimited Symposium.
This rare, first-hand account of the Vietnam War through the eyes of a Mestizo-American was awarded the Utah Center for the Book’s 2003 Utah Book Award for non-fiction.
Garcia, now an attorney in Salt Lake City, Utah, joined the U.S. Army in the 1960s and became an Airborne Ranger. Readers follow Garcia through training camp, jump school and deep into the Vietnam jungles, where Garcia poignantly describes the ambushes, skirmishes; and the natural inhabitants; including leeches the size of small snakes, boa constrictors and tigers.
Toward the end of his tour, Garcia sustained severe shrapnel wounds and recuperated in the military hospitals at Clark Air Force Base and Okinawa. He was then sent to Oakland Army Depot where he was at battle again—this time with a bureaucracy that had no record of his service.
Other symposium features include “Another Vietnam—Pictures of the War from the Other Side: Photos by North Vietnamese Combat Photographers” on exhibit at the Maxwell Museum of Anthropology through January 16, 2005, “Vietnam Visions: Art from the National Vietnam Veterans Art Museum,” “Cu Chi Vietnam 1968-1969: Photographs by Herbert Lotz” on exhibit at the University Art Museum and Jonson Gallery opening October 15.
Betsy Ross, reviewer for the Utah Bar Journal, said, “An Accidental Soldier … will challenge your ideas about race, identity, war, and the human condition. Garcia is challenging our self-righteousness at a time in our nation’s history when self-righteousness is perhaps our greatest weakness.”
Contact: Amanda Sutton, (505) 277-0655
KNME-TV, Channel 5 has won three Rocky Mountain Regional Emmy Awards, as was announced at the 2003-2004 Rocky Mountain Emmy Awards ceremony, held recently in Phoenix.
Winners were:
“Songs of the Spirit,” KNME-TV / Native American Public Telecommunications (NAPT)/ Brandenberg Productions; Ted A. Garcia, executive producer
Category: Program Achievement - Entertainment Program
“Route 66: The Neon Road,” Manuel Machuca, producer
Category: Documentary Cultural Issues
“Albuquerque’s Historic Railroad Shops,” Michael Kamins, producer
Category: Craft Achievement - Photography - Programs, Documentaries or Magazines
Additionally, the Chris Schueler / Chrostopher Productions-produced program “See Mommy Cry,” simulcast by KNME-TV and KOB-TV and which aired preceding the Home Safe Home Town Hall meeting, won in the category of Documentary Topical Issues.
Contact: Evy Todd, (505) 277-1218
Celebra la Ciencia will bring a day of family fun, natural wonders and experimentation to budding astronomers, physicists, naturalists, engineers and others on Tuesday, Sept. 14, 2004, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., at the EXPO New Mexico State Fair.
Celebra la Ciencia’s coalition of museums and educational institutions will engage children and families in a variety of hands-on, informal science activities. It is all part of Celebra la Ciencia’s goal to generate greater interest in the sciences among youth.
Celebra la Ciencia’s coalition of museums and educational institutions will engage children and families in a variety of hands-on, informal science activities. It is all part of Celebra la Ciencia’s goal to generate greater interest in the sciences among youth.
With funding from the National Science Foundation, Celebra la Ciencia works to provide students and their parents with access to resources and activities in English and Spanish to help them develop a strong interest in science to inspire a love of learning that is crucial to success in school and to entering careers in the sciences.
“All organizations involved in the Celebra la Ciencia initiative are committed to reaching out to children and families from our many communities to provide them a glimpse of how much fun science can be and inform them of ongoing opportunities for science-learning experiences,” said Maddie Correa Zeigler, New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science.
The event will include activities from the New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science, Lodestar Astronomy Center, Explora Science Center and Children’s Museum, National Atomic Museum, Albuquerque BioPark, Rio Grande Nature Center, De Colores Inc., Balloon Explorium, NM MESA, UNM and others.
Some of the highlights will include exhibits that provide youth with information about science including planting and experimenting with seeds, building and exploding your own volcano, and experimenting with a solar oven.
UNM participants include Chemical and Nuclear Engineering, Chemistry Department, College Enrichment Program, Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services, Family Development Program, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Multicultural Engineering Program, KNME-TV, Lobo Motor Sports, Maxwell Museum of Anthropology, Recruitment Services, School of Medicine, Sevilleta LTER and STEM Education Outreach Programs.
For additional information on Celebra la Ciencia and activities for children, visit the program website at: www.celebralaciencia.org.
Contacts: Lawrence Roybal, (505) 277-1804; Eleanor Sanchez, (505) 277-1813; and Maddie Correa Zeigler, (505) 841-2822
The first Hispanic mayor of a major U.S. city, Henry Cisneros, will be the guest speaker for the third annual Arthur A. Blumenfeld Memorial Lecture. The lecture will be held Wed., Sept. 22 at 6 p.m. at the Sheraton Old Town Hotel.
The Arthur A. Blumenfeld Endowed Lecture Series honors the life and work of the late Arthur Blumenfeld, former national president of the Government Finance Officers Association and former chief administrative officer for the City of Albuquerque.
During his visit, Cisneros will also meet with specially invited students and faculty at the University of New Mexico to talk about public administration.
The main mission of the Blumenfeld Lecture Series is to facilitate excellence in public administration. Cisneros will speak on Leadership and Diversity in Public Administration at the UNM Student Union Building, Ballroom A at 12:30 p.m. Invited students and faculty at UNM's School of Public Administration and Anderson Schools of Management will be in attendance. UNM President Louis Caldera will introduce Cisneros. The luncheon is provided through contributions to the UNM Foundation/Arthur A. Blumenfeld Lecture Series.
Cisneros’ evening lecture on the Future of America’s Cities is open to the public. The event will feature a cocktail reception beginning at 6 p.m., followed by dinner and the keynote speech. Tickets for the event are $75. Tables of 10 are available for $750. E-mail Lisa McHale at mchale@mgt.unm.edu or call 277-0880 to RSVP.
Cisneros served as Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) from 1993-1997. Starting in 1981, Cisneros served four terms as mayor of San Antonio, Texas, where he was able to help revitalize the city’s economic base and create jobs through massive infrastructure and downtown improvements, making the city one of the most progressive in the nation.
“One only needs to look at his extensive background in government to see Cisneros’ commitment to the ideal of public service,” said David Campbell, chair of the Blumenfeld Lecture Steering Committee. “It is so important that those who are thinking about careers in public administration get a chance to see how a person can make a difference in a community. That’s essentially what the Blumenfeld Lecture Series is all about.”
Cisneros has also served as president of the National League of Cities, chairman of the National Civic League and deputy chair of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. He holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree in Urban and Regional Planning, a master’s in Public Administration from Harvard and a Ph.D. in public administration from George Washington University.
Contacts: Susan Wilson, Hirst Córdova Public Relations, (505) 266-5637; Steve Carr, UNM, (505) 277-1821
An open house for the Isleta Pueblo Head Start & Child Care Center is scheduled Saturday, Sept. 18 from 10 a.m. to noon at 2 Sagebrush Road in Isleta.
The children will dance in honor of the completion of their new school, designed by Janet Carpio as a master's thesis in architecture at the University of New Mexico's School of Architecture and Planning.
Edie Cherry, Carpio's adviser, said it's the rare thesis that makes the leap from concept and drawing to building.
Carpio was looking for a thesis design project when she approached Isleta Pueblo native Ted Jojola, a planner and Regents Professor in the school. “I had been working for a long time with Head Start in Isleta and knew of their preliminary ideas to expand the facility when Janet approached me, introduced herself and told me she needed a project. It was synchronicity,” Jojola said.
Carpio, whose father is from Isleta, met with people at Head Start. “I fell in love with what they're all about, how they teach by incorporating indigenous projects in the classroom,” she said. Carpio and others drove around Isleta until they found the ideal site for a new Head Start school.
Since 1965, Head Start, the most successful early childhood development program of its kind in the United States, has educated more than 20 million at-risk children. The emphasis of Head Start is to make America's most vulnerable kids “ready to learn” in school.
Head Start Director Jennifer Tollefson y Chavez wanted the community to have input on the project and its design. So, through the Land Claims Commission they held charrettes, met with the staff and attended children's events, Carpio said. “Research always takes place before the design phase,” said Cherry, Carpio' mentor, master's chair and current employer.
Carpio extensively researched the tribe's history. “I traced Isleta's history back to Chaco Canyon, tracked the migration of the Tiwa people in order to establish a cultural precedent,” she said. For architectural precedent, among several case studies, she looked at the design for the Taos Pueblo Head Start facility she designed between earning her bachelor's and master's.
Carpio graduated with distinction from UNM in May 1999. At the same time Head Start was looking for revenue because they had outgrown their existing facility. “They received HUD funding and the tribe also contributed,” Carpio said. A licensed architect is required to supervise plan development, so she asked Edie Cherry if her firm was interested. Architects must take a state exam for licensure and although not yet licensed, Carpio plans to take the exam. “Janet did the majority of the architectural drawings and site observations,” Cherry said.
The facility was designed with an understanding and appreciation of the interrelationships between terrestrial, celestial, cosmic and human worlds. “I integrated solstice points into the site plan, construction, material and floor plan to allow people to observe and connect with a much larger landscape integral to indigenous architecture, specifically to the Isleta community,” Carpio said.
Head Start children will enter their homerooms from the playground to the east, in Tiwa tradition. The masonry wall mimics mountains to the east. The floor plan integrates creation and the path of Tiwa life through room arrangement – infants in the center with the older children's rooms spiraling out counterclockwise with age.
“The floor pattern reflects Isleta life with blue representing water surrounding browns which represents earth – ‘Isleta' means ‘isle'– and green represents crops. The colors of the four cardinal directions are represented in the multi-purpose room,” Carpio said.
Pathways lie in the direction of solstice and the cardinal directions while a hallway that lowers as it curves out toward the southeast playfully symbolizes a return to earth, she said.
The facility also has ample space for social workers to work confidentially and to observe children unobtrusively. “The most amazing part of this project has been repatriating Janet back into the Isleta community,” Jojola said. Because her family relocated many times during her youth, she didn't get to know relatives.
The project took Carpio on a journey of discovery. “I learned the myths, the traditions. It's nice to know I'm a part of this culture as well as the larger world,” she said.
Carpio is currently designing a similar facility for Sandia Pueblo. “I hope to contribute to other tribes the expertise I gained from this and other projects. It has given me a new Indian sensibility because it is who I am as a designer,” she said.
Contact: Carolyn Gonzales, (505) 277-5920
Roxana A. Moreno has received the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, the nation’s highest honor for professionals at the outset of their independent research careers. Moreno and others were honored Sept. 9 at a White House ceremony.
A College of Education assistant professor with the Educational Psychology Program, Moreno was one of 20 recipients nominated by the National Science Foundation (NSF). Moreno was the only person to be chosen in the field of education and human resources and was one of 12 women honored as an NSF-supported researcher.
An NSF press release cited Moreno as an innovative researcher on how teachers learn to apply educational psychology to their classroom experiences through new technology tools. Her work addresses complex problems in classrooms attended primarily by Native American and Hispanic students.
“In New Mexico, 60 percent of school children are identified as minorities, 17 percent are special education children and 28 percent live in poverty,” Moreno said. “This means that teaching in diversity requires not only being knowledgeable in the subject matter and instructional methods, but also being able to simultaneously process many variables for each student. The complexity of the classroom environment constantly threatens to overwhelm teachers,” she adds.
Moreno hopes that better preparing teachers for the reality of the classroom will lead to high-quality teaching and a higher retention rate.
Contact: Greg Johnston, (505) 277-1816
The University of New Mexico's International Studies Institute presents “Islam and Europe,” its first fall lecture series, Monday, Sept. 13 – Thursday, Sept. 16 in Woodward Hall, room 101 on the main UNM campus.
Distinguished speakers from UNM and across the continent will present a series of lectures to introduce New Mexicans to the complex interactions of European/Western and Islamic civilizations from the time of the Crusades to present day.
Melissa Bokovoy, director of the International Studies Institute, said, “With the end of the Cold War, some observers have claimed that Islam and more particularly ‘Islamic fundamentalism' is the new ‘enemy' of Western Civilization. These feelings have been reinforced by the events of Sept. 11, 2001. This lecture series will examine the origins and substance of this claim by drawing not only on the history of the encounter between Islam and Europe, including Russia, but on current politics, art and literature.”
Lectures will cover history, archaeology, sociology, religion, gender studies, art and architecture. All lectures are free and open to the public.
Topics and schedule is as follows:
Monday, Sept. 13
4 p.m., Jay Rubenstein, “Islam in the Medieval Imagination”
7 p.m., Andrew Rippin, “European Muslim Intellectuals and the Qur'an”
Tuesday, Sept. 14
4 p.m., Jim Boone, “The Contested Islamic Past in Spain and Portugal”
7 p.m., Mary Neuburger, “The Orient Within: Muslim Minorities and the Negotiation of Modern Nationhood in Bulgaria”
Wednesday, Sept. 15
4 p.m. Stephen Bishop, “French Identity, ‘Muslim Hordes' and the Chanson de Roland”
7 p.m., Robert D. Crews, “Russia's Islamic Past-Europe's Future?”
Thursday, Sept. 16
4 p.m., Eleni Bastea, “Memory and Architecture in Greece and Turkey”
7 p.m., Jytte Klausen, “Banning the Muslim Headscarf: Europeans Debate Religious Toleration and Gender Equality”
For more information, visit ISI's website: www.unm.edu/~isi/.
The International Studies Institute serves as an umbrella organization for the College of Arts and Sciences' three undergraduate areas studies programs, European Studies, Asian Studies – including the Middle East – and Russian Studies.
The institute's goal is to pursue broad-based initiatives involving all three groups. ISI activities include coordinating lecture series, outreach to secondary schools, and writing larger grants for international or interdisciplinary study, research and outreach programs.
Contact: Carolyn Gonzales, (505) 277-5920
The First National Bank of Santa Fe (Albuquerque office), New Mexico Banquest Corporation and UNM will host a reception celebrating the generosity of Jack and Donna Rust on Thursday, Sept. 9, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., at the Hibben Center for Archaelogical Research on UNM’s main campus.
Jack Rust was the first chair of the UNM Foundation Board. He was one of New Mexico’s business and community leaders summoned by then-UNM President William “Bud” Davis in 1979-1980 to spearhead the organization.
Last year the Rusts gave $1 million to the University, establishing three professorships in the field of ethics - two at UNM’s Anderson Schools of Management (ASM) and a third to the UNM Health Sciences Center Institute for Ethics.
The professorships were matched by the State of New Mexico through Senate Bill 14, the Endowment for University Excellence, yeilding an additional $600,000 for the University. Senate Bill 14 offers an incentive to donors who wish to endow faculty positions at the state’s four-year universities by providing state matching funds. The professorships are held for five-year terms.
Adjunct Professor John Ackerman and Professor Jeanne Logsdon were named recipients of the Jack and Donna Rust Endowed Professorships in Business Ethics at the ASM.
The Jack and Donna Rust Endowed Professorship in Biomedical Ethics was awarded to Laura Roberts, the director of the UNM Health Sciences Center Institute for Ethics.
Contacts: Sachi Isobe, (505) 277-7088; Steve Carr, (505) 277-1821
University Counsel Nick Estes announced today that he plans to retire from UNM in the Spring of 2005, in order to pursue personal interests including a Master's Degree in Political Science. In preparation for the transition, President Louis Caldera has named Robert Bienstock to the position of Acting University Counsel, effective September 15, 2004.
Bienstock has been a member of the University Counsel Office since 1988 and is currently Deputy University Counsel for Research and Intellectual Property Legal Services. Estes, who has been University Counsel since 1986, will remain at UNM as University Counsel Emeritus until his retirement.
"I have enjoyed my 18 years as University Counsel and feel we have one of the strongest university legal offices in the country," said Estes. "I have been planning retirement for some time in order to pursue my interest in political science and practical politics, and to continue my involvement with the Explora Science Center and Children’s Museum. I welcome the opportunity to support Bienstock and the rest of the outstanding legal team during the coming months."
A search for a new University Counsel will be conducted after the first of the year, according to President Caldera. “I want to express the university’s and my personal appreciation to Nick Estes for his dedicated service to UNM as its chief counsel, and to Nick and Sharee for their many years of involvement in the university community. I look forward to working with Robert Bienstock and his colleagues to address the challenges of the increasingly complex legal environment in which the university operates.”
Contact: Karen Wentworth, (505) 277-5627
New Mexico higher education institutions are collaborating with the New Mexico Commission on Higher Education (NMCHE), Gaining Early Access and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP), and with the University of New Mexico for “Pathways to College and Careers Day” at the EXPO New Mexico State Fair, along Avenue of the Governors (formerly Main Street) on Friday, Sept. 10, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
NMCHE will have 60 booths featuring exhibitors from the University of New Mexico, New Mexico Highlands University, New Mexico State University, Eastern New Mexico University, Luna Community College, Mesalands Community College, College of Santa Fe, Institute of American Indian Arts, Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute, National American University, University of Phoenix, among others.
Dr. Dan Lopez, President of New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, will host the opening ceremonies at the Ford Pavilion at 12 p.m.
Among other distinguished guests expected to attend are Highland’s President Manny M. Aragon, UNM Vice President for Student Affairs Eliseo “Cheo” Torres, and UNM Los Alamos Executive Director Dr. Carlos Ramirez. The Duke City Stars Dance Group will join the ceremony.
UNM has more than 20 departments participating in Pathways to College and Careers Day. All booths will be set up along Main Street with fun activities for the entire family. All institutions will have representatives on hand to answer questions. Hands-on activities, demonstrations, non-invasive health assessments and entertainment are all part of the day. Many participating booths will have giveaways.
Contacts: Maria Neal, (505) 841-4794; Eleanor Sanchez, (505) 277-1813; Brandon Trujillo, (505) 841-4791
The New Mexico Disaster Medical Assistance Team (DMAT) is still providing medical assistance in Florida to the victims of Hurricane Frances. The team is operating a field hospital on the grounds of the Martin County Memorial Regional Medical Center in Stuart, Fla., near where the eye of the hurricane first came ashore last week.
The New Mexico DMAT was activated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and deployed to Florida on Friday, Sept. 3, to await the arrival of the storm.
The 33-person team is operating on rotating eight-hour shifts and as of 5 p.m. EDT yesterday have treated 121 patients. The New Mexico DMAT is based at the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center and is sponsored by the UNM School of Medicine’s Emergency Medicine Department.
DMAT is made up of volunteer nurses, physicians, emergency medical technicians, paramedics, pharmacists, and logistics, security and communications specialists who train to give urgent medical care at the scene of medical disasters.
The New Mexico DMAT has been one of the most active teams of its type since its creation and has previously been deployed to other hurricanes, floods, and earthquakes, and to ground zero in New York following the Sept. 11 attack.
Contact: Sam Giammo, (505) 272-3682
A team of UNM School of Engineering researchers has been funded $1 million by the National Science Foundation Nanoscale Interdisciplinary Research Team Program to study how protein molecules behave in extremely small fluidic channels.
Sang Han, assistant professor of chemical and nuclear engineering, is the principal investigator for the study “Fundamental Understanding of Nanofluidics for Advanced Bioseparation and Analysis.”
“By introducing extremely small channels to silicon-based substrates, we are artificially creating a well-controlled environment to study the unusual transport behavior of biological molecules that occurs in such small dimensions,” Han said. “Our study will open the door to a better understanding of how biological molecules behave in nanoscale channels.”
Nanotechnology is the increasingly important area of research dealing with objects whose size is measured in nanometers, one billionth of a meter. “If properly fabricated, the silicon chip-based nanochannels will provide a study platform that could ultimately mimic human biological systems,” Han said.
“Scientifically we want to understand how protein molecules behave in such small channels. By understanding their transport, we can ultimately better separate these molecules.”
Working with Han are team members: Gabriel López, chemical and nuclear engineering and chemistry; Steven R.J. Brueck, director of the Center for High Technology Materials; Dimiter Petsev, chemical and nuclear engineering and Cornelius Ivory at Washington State University.
Contact: Greg Johnston (505) 277-1816
KUNM 89.9 FM operates in a 44-year-old, 10,000 sq. ft. old student dormitory. Because of their cramped and antiquated studio space, the station is unable to expand new and local programming; efficiency and collaboration operations are limited as is the number of volunteers and students who can be accommodated.
Richard Towne, general manager, is looking to change all that.
“Through our remodel, we will double our news production space, enhance our ability to offer community collaborations like Youth Radio, create a functional music library and create a fourth studio to create more local programming and services,” he said.
Other benefits of the remodel include expanding local voice and cultural reporting, enhanced sound/fidelity, new community meeting spaces and improved accommodations for volunteers, guests and staff with disabilities.
“We will also have the capacity to expand to digital broadcasting,” Towne said, which will make KUNM one of the state’s first digital radio station.
Costs of the project are projected at $650,000. “The first phase, totaling $350,000 is completely funded,” Towne said. The second phase, coming in at $300,000, is scheduled for completion by December 2004.
To help cover the costs, KUNM has received a $100,000 challenge grant from the Lannan Foundation. “The goal is to raise $125,000 from business foundations, faculty and friends. Public radio is dependent upon its friends to help KUNM earn the Lannan Foundation challenge,” Towne said.
The other $75,000 will be raised, Towne said, from KUNM listeners. “Our hope is that they will give over and above their annual gifts,” he said.
The McCune Foundation is a KUNM supporter. “Why did the McCune Foundation give? Because our funds have always been wisely stewarded and effectively managed. And, because KUNM is an organization of the highest quality and integrity,” said Owen Lopez, executive director, McCune Foundation.
KUNM serves nearly a million people in central and northern New Mexico with main studios on the UNM campus and news studios at the Roundhouse in Santa Fe.
Approximately 88,200 people tune in to KUNM each week for diverse news and
music programming (source: Arbitron Diary Data, Spring 2004).
Editor’s Note: Remodel photos and a journal of the work are available at www.kunm.org.
Press tours are available to anyone in any media organization – please e-mail
RichardTowne@KUNM.org.
Contact: Carolyn Gonzales, (505) 277-5920
Arturo Madrid is happy to be home. In 1960, when the native of Tierra Amarilla took his bachelor’s to California to pursue a Ph.D., he went with the intention of returning to his alma mater to teach. It’s taken 44 years, but he’s finally made it back. Madrid has been named the Garrey Carruthers Distinguished Chair in Honors for the fall semester.
Delighted to be offered the opportunity to teach in the University Honors Program, he said, “I was an undergraduate in 1958, when UNM’s honors program was starting up, and I was always disappointed not to have been chosen to participate in those early classes that were the forerunners of today’s honors seminars.”
“I’m excited to have the opportunity to participate in the honors program now as an instructor.”
His honors seminar, “U.S. Latino/a Artistic and Cultural Expression,” looks at the artistic contributions of the Mexican, Puerto Rican and Cuban communities in this country and examines the cultural context in which that art is produced.
“We tend to look at New Mexico as the heart of Hispanic culture in the U.S.,” Madrid said, “but the world has changed over the last century, and there are now many Latino populations throughout the country. With my seminar, I want to introduce New Mexico students to a broader range of Latino artistic expressions than they may be familiar with.”
He also teaches an undergraduate class, “Chicano/Latino Autobiography,” for the American Studies and Chicano Studies departments.
Madrid will give a free public lecture, “Of Heretics and Interlopers,” on Wednesday, Oct. 6, at 7 p.m. in the Dudley Wynn Honors Forum. Refreshments will be served after the lecture.
Madrid was the founding president of the Tomás Rivera Center, a national institute for policy studies on Latino issues. He also has served as director of the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE) and Minority Institutions Sciences Improvement Program (MISIP) with the U.S. Department of Education. He has served as chair of the University of Minnesota’s Department of Spanish and Portuguese, as well as the Associate Dean of Humanities and Fine Arts at that institution.
Among his awards are the Charles Frankel Prize from the National Endowment for the Humanities in 1996 and the President’s Medal from Brooklyn College in 1997.
Madrid will hold the Carruthers Chair through the end of the fall semester. Those interested in having Madrid visit a class should call the University Honors Program at 277-4211.
Contact: Carolyn Gonzales, (505) 277-5920
Two teams of Anderson School of Management (ASM) graduate students took top honors at the regional level of the Donald W. Fogerty International Student Paper competition recently. The students, Erica Lopez, Tracy Maestas, Stephanie Jones and Tony Luddeke, were sponsored by the Albuquerque Chapter of APICS, an international professional membership organization founded in 1957 that is respected throughout the world for its education and professional certification programs.
Region 6 winners
1st place: Lopez and Maestas – Applying the Theory of Constraints Thinking Process Tools to Raysteel, Inc.
2nd place: Jones and Lueddeke – Applying Theory of Constraints Thinking Process Tools to a Semiconductor Research Facility at a National Laboratory
Sponsored by the APICS Education & Research Foundation, the International Student Paper competition is designed to encourage professional development of full time students interested in operations management. Donald W. Fogarty is an educator and author of several books on Operations Management.
The competition included graduate and undergraduate students majoring in operations management. UNM’s honorees competed at graduate level. Professor Richard Reid, who has served as student liaison for ASM for several years, guided the students.
“The papers were the results of a semester project where they applied the concepts and logic tools embodied in the Theory of Constraints (TOC) to a local organization,” said Reid.
“The idea is to help these organization’s improve their performance by understanding their current problems and work environment, determine the root cause or core conflict responsible for the majority of these undesirable effects, and develop and implement a plan to eliminate the cause (often a policy or managerial paradigm/mindset) responsible for the majority of the identified problems.”
The structured logic techniques expose conflicting business assumptions and provide an analytical approach to identifying new strategies. The teams did an extensive analysis of the study organizational situation using cause-effect logic, propose and validate their solutions through detailed “if… then…” logic diagrams, design plans to implement the solution/improvements by identifying and showing how to overcome organizational obstacles to changes required by the solution/improvements said Reid.
The judging criteria for the papers includes: relevance of topic to resource management (focus of APICS); timeliness of topic and material presented; apparent understanding of the topic and depth of coverage; accuracy of material; organization and clarity of presentation; and originality of treatment.
The paper written by the first place team in each of the 14 regions automatically goes forward for consideration in the international Fogarty competition whose winner will be announced in late October.
The APICS community is composed of nearly 60,000 individuals from 20,000 companies worldwide-across all segments of manufacturing, service, retail, and wholesale industries. APICS members hold titles from production and inventory manager and director of global supply chain to vice president of operations and chief financial officer.
APICS manages U.S. memberships in 14 regions. Region 6 includes Texas, Western Louisiana, New Mexico, Colorado, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Mexico.
Contact: Steve Carr, (505) 277-1821