Two more free outdoor concerts are planned for UNM main campus this summer, following the success of the Staff Appreciation Concert held June 10. On Friday, July 8, noon to 1 p.m., the band Racin Kreol will play festive island music. They are a six-piece World Beat band specializing in the music of Africa and the Caribbean. Band members are from Haiti, Nigeria, Colombia and the USA. Lead guitarist Mario De La Huerga is a UNM employee at the College of Fine Arts.
A yet-to-be-announced jazz quartet will perform on Friday, August 12.
Concerts are held at the University Honors plaza, southeast of the SUB. Free refreshments are being negotiated, so bring your Lobo card to qualify. Sunscreen and protective clothing are recommended.
Concerts are made possible through funding from the Office of Institutional Advancement and are supported by the UNM Staff Council and its Work+Life Committee.
Contact: Greg Johnston, (505) 277-1816
The 15th Annual Mariachi Spectacular de Albuquerque is scheduled for July 6 – 10. Performances will be at various Albuquerque locations including a concert July 9 at Sandia Casino Amphitheater. In conjunction with the festival, Mariachi Spectacular workshops are being held at the UNM Student Union Building, July 6 – 8.
Workshops are being taught for trumpet, violin, guitarron, guitar/vihuela, and the harp. In addition, master classes are offered in violin, trumpet, guitarron and guitar/vihuela. Workshops will conclude with a showcase concert on July 8 at 7:30 p.m. at Albuquerque Civic Plaza.
Registration fee is $85 and includes admission to the Saturday night concert. Students must provide their own instrument and music stand. For registration information call (505) 255-1501.
Contact: Greg Johnston, (505) 277-1816
Curt Porter, who is currently the University of New Mexico budget director will take on additional responsibilities as the associate vice president of planning, budget and analysis as part of a consolidation of the financial management and reporting structure of the university.
In his new position, Porter will be responsible for the integration of budget and strategic planning across the institution. He will also oversee institutional research and will integrate these activities with strategic planning services.
Bill Britton, associate vice president and controller at the University of New Mexico will take on additional responsibilities as associate vice president of financial services on the main campus. He will have dual reporting responsibilities to Executive Vice President David Harris and to Acting Provost Reed Dasenbrock. He will also take on additional responsibilities to integrate fiscal strategies with institutional priorities.
Ava Lovell, who is currently the associate controller at the university main campus will become the new associate vice president of financial services at the Health Sciences Center. The promotion for all three takes effect on July 1, 2005. Lovell will have dual reporting responsibilities to Executive Vice President Phil Easton at the Health Sciences Center and Executive Vice President David Harris at the main campus.
The consolidation comes as part of an overall plan approved by the UNM Board of Regents to coordinate all financial activities so they flow through a single point of administration handled by Executive Vice President for Administration, David Harris. Under the new plan, Harris is designated Chief Financial Officer to oversee all financial activities at the University, including the Health Sciences.
Contact: Karen Wentworth, (505) 277-5627
The New Mexico economy continued to expand at a moderate pace during the first quarter of 2005, and overall, it continued to out-perform the national economy. Non-farm employment growth reached 1.9 percent and has averaged 2.0 percent for the last four quarters (since second quarter 2004 - current). Personal income growth posted a modest 5.4 percent during the fourth quarter of 2004. The first quarter unemployment rate, seasonally adjusted, checked in at 5.7 percent.
When compared to the same quarter (first) a year ago, the economy added a net, 15,000 jobs. As has been the case for the last couple of years, the bulk of the new jobs came in just three sectors — construction, health care & social services and government. Construction employment rose by 2,900 jobs, a 6.2 percent gain. Housing remained strong, with total housing unit authorizations up 11.4 percent from a year earlier. Single-family units jumped 18.8 percent, while multi-family units dropped 32.0 percent.
In addition to housing, construction activities included a large number of highway projects, a racetrack in Hobbs, a cheese plant in Clovis, the Microsystems Engineering and Sciences Applications complex and the Center for Integrative Nanotechnologies in Albuquerque
Within the government sector, which enjoyed an overall employment gain of 1.9 percent (3,733 jobs), local government added the largest number of jobs (3,200, 3.2 percent). Of those, 1,500 were in education, and the remainder in local administration and tribal enterprise. State government employment increased 1.5 percent (1,000 jobs), while federal government employment was down 1.6 percent (467 jobs), the addition of several hundred U. S. Forest Service jobs in Albuquerque notwithstanding.
Health care and social assistance employment increased 3.4 percent,
care (3.4 percent, 2,366 jobs). Social assistance employment was up 3.4 percent, or 667 jobs. Employment in the natural resources and mining sector surged during the first quarter of 2005, posting an 8.3 percent gain, (1,200 jobs). Oil and gas extraction/exploration/drilling employment added 733 jobs (7.7 percent), while other mining employment was up 8.6 percent.
For the most part, the other mining jobs were at the Phelps-Dodge copper mining operation in Grant County. Phelps-Dodge hired 350 workers in 2004, as the world market for copper became stronger and copper prices increased. Most other sectors enjoyed some employment gains. The only
sectors not showing gains were manufacturing, information, and wholesale trade.
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 Larry Waldman at BBER: (505) 277-7077 or via e-mail at: lwaldman@unm.edu.
Contact: Steve Carr, (505) 277-1821
On Saturday, July 30, at 1 p.m., the first graduating class of the Hatch High School Equivalency Program will gather at the Hatch High School Auditorium with friends and family.
The University of New Mexico's High School Equivalency Program, (HEP) in an unprecedented partnership with Doña Ana Branch Community College, established a GED preparation course in Hatch. HEP is a federally funded program through the Office of Migrant Education providing GED instruction to migrant and seasonal farm workers and their children.
Beyond obtaining a GED, HEP participants receive assistance in enrolling into college or university, receive post secondary training, enter the military or obtain a career.
Hatch native and HEP tutor, Cipi Botello said, “Our students in Hatch really make me proud because they have demonstrated to us and their community how determination and hard work leads to success.”
HEP has been in existence at UNM in Albuquerque since 2002 and this year worked to broaden its outreach. With the support of DABCC and individuals in the Hatch community, the dream of serving the Hatch community came true.
Classes began in January, midway through the program's fiscal year, and have successfully graduated nine students with the hopes of six more before the year's end on June 30.
“The dedication and drive of these students is phenomenal,” said Joaquín Griego, interim program specialist. “It takes a special person to work all day, go to classes in the evening and attend tutoring on the weekend.”
HEP staff and graduates invite the entire community to this celebration, Griego said.
Contact: Carolyn Gonzales, (505) 277-5920
USA Today named the Taos Writers’ Conference one of “10 great places to get write with the word.” Founded by Sharon Oard Warner, director of the creative writing program in the University of New Mexico’s Department of English, the conference is praised for its setting’s beauty and cultural richness.
“This conference feels like a family reunion, as everyone catches the relaxed spirit of the desert that has been inspiring artists in northern New Mexico for years,” said Pam Houston, author of Sight Hound and Cowboys Are My Weakness and director of creative writing at the University of California-Davis, in an interview with USA Today.
Scheduled this year July 9-15, the conference features weekend and weeklong intensive workshops designed for both experienced and beginning writers and a keynote reading by renowned author and former UNM faculty member Tony Hillerman.
The 2005 Taos Writers’ Conference is still accepting applications, but workshops are filling up quickly. To register or get more information, visit the Taos Writers’ Conference website at Taos Writers' Conference. For more information contact Kate Fitzgerald, 277-5572
Contact: Sari Krosinsky, (505) 277-5813
A summer seminar, ‘Reading Emerson’s Essays,’ directed by Philosophy Chair Russell Goodman and geared toward college and university professors, is underway at the University of New Mexico. The seminar, sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities with a grant of more than $100,000, is a collaborative effort among the selected 15 participants, who were drawn from departments of philosophy, literature, American studies, and politics from across the country.
If “each age must write its own books,” as Emerson said in “The American Scholar,” this age has certainly produced its own extraordinary books and essays about Emerson. Well-known writers such as Stanley Cavell and Barbara Packer have given their perspective on a new Emerson during the seminar, which has been ongoing since early June.
Goodman, a nationally prominent writer on Emerson, has published papers on such Emerson essays as “The Over-Soul” and “Nature,” and devotes a chapter to Emerson in his book American Philosophy and the Romantic Tradition, which was published by Cambridge University Press.
”Ralph Waldo Emerson is a major figure in American culture,” said Goodman. “His work on “self-reliance” is revered by many general readers, but in recent years it has been gathering increasing attention from philosophers, literary scholars, and political theorists.
“We have been extremely fortunate to have such visitors as (Stanley) Cavell from Harvard, who revolutionized the study of Emerson; Barbara Packer, of UCLA, who has studied Emerson and other transcendentalists in American literature, and Sharon Cameron, who works on the American writers Emerson and Thoreau, Herman Melville, and Emily Dickinson.”
The seminar has been meeting four days a week in the mornings, with afternoon sessions devoted to current work of the participants. The emphasis throughout has been on discussion and exchange, and on opening up multiple ways of thinking about the material. The seminar concludes on Saturday, July 2.
For more information contact Michelle Sauceda-Halliday, (505) 385-6579.
Contact: Steve Carr, (505) 277-1821
Surfect Technologies, Inc. CEO Steve Anderson recently presented a $5,000 check to University of New Mexico School of Engineering Dean Joseph L. Cecchi. The donation will support research by UNM Distinguished National Lab Professor Jonathan Phillips on graphite-treated surface development.
Phillips has researched how to create a uniform texture on semiconductor wafers using graphite. Surfect develops and manufactures micro-powder composition technology for semiconductor packaging. ITU Ventures, the sole investor on Surfect's July 2004 funding, recommended contributing to Phillips' work and supporting the research performed by UNM's School of Engineering.
“We are grateful for support from Surfect Technologies and are looking forward to deepening our collaboration with them ,” said Cecchi. “This support not only benefits the School of Engineering, but the semiconductor manufacturing research will contribute to the educational, technological and economic progress and stability of New Mexico.”
“Surfect is pleased to provide this financial support to the UNM School of Engineering in order to continue advancement of material science and particularly Jonathan's novel graphite development work,” said Anderson. “We are pleased to engage with the University and look forward to increased involvement in engineering programs.”
Phillips is working on novel nanoscale graphite structures, for which he was recognized with a “Nanotech Briefs - Nano 50” award. Phillips works at Los Alamos Laboratories and is engaged in both fundamental science and novel technologies, having eight issued patents. He was recognized last year with an “R&D 100” award for his development of a novel plasma process for making spherical boron nitride, an important integrated circuit thermal management material.
Contact: Greg Johnston, (505) 277-1816
The University of New Mexico is the recipient of five Cumbre Awards from the New Mexico Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America. UNM earned a silver award in five tactic categories in the annual statewide competition. Awards were presented June 23 at the Masterpieces of Public Relations awards dinner held at the Albuquerque Museum. UNM staff and students attended the event.
UNM 2005 Cumbre Award Winners are:
UNM Today – Websites – Government. Recipients are Steve Carr, Greg Johnston, John Sumrow and Karen Wentworth
Celebra La Ciencia - Special Event Materials – Government. Recipients are Jana Fothergill, Lawrence Roybal and Eleanor Sanchez
Quantum – Magazines – Government. Recipients are Valerie Roybal, John Sumrow, Denise Wallen and Melissa Weinstein, Public Affairs Department and HSC Public Affairs Department.
Mirage – Magazines – Government. Recipients are Mary Conrad and the UNM Alumni Association.
Campus News – Water Wise - Special Topic Publication – Government. Recipients are Steve Carr, Carolyn Gonzales, Greg Johnston, Laurie Mellas Ramirez, Susan Moczygemba McKinsey and Karen Wentworth.
Contact: Greg Johnston, (505) 277-1816
The University of New Mexico Women Studies program has appointed its first ever Post-Doctoral Teaching Fellow. Ime Kerlee, who received her Ph.D. in Women’s Studies from Emory University this summer, will assume the two-year position this fall.
Photo: Ime Kerlee was named the first ever Post-Doctoral Teaching Fellow in UNM's Women Studies program.
“Dr. Kerlee was at the top of the committee's list of candidates, and we are very pleased she chose to come here,” Women Studies Director Gail Houston said. “There are so many ways she will enrich the life of UNM, obviously in Women Studies, but also in Latin American Studies, Spanish and Portuguese, Peace Studies, etc. We know the students are going to love her.”
This fall, Kerlee will be teaching Women Studies 200, Women in Contemporary Society and 379, Women and Transnational Migration. “I am a firm believer that Women’s Studies is about the equality of theory and practice, creativity and intellectualism, and open discussion and collaboration among feminisms,” Kerlee said.
Along with more traditional assignments, students in the introductory course will put together a CD of music they consider feminist and create their own social change agency, legislation or product.
The migration course comes out of Kerlee’s research and an essay she accepted for Are All the Women Still White?: Globalizing Women’s Studies, an anthology she co-edited with Janell Hobson.
“The essay asked what Women’s Studies had to do with the lives of poor, immigrant, ESL or non-English speaking women’s lives and then pointed to the strength, commitment and feminism of women who confront poverty, mobility and exploitation for themselves and/or their families,” Kerlee said.
The course will focus primarily on Latin American and Caribbean migration to the United States, as well as women refugees, trafficked women, lesbian, bisexual and transgender women, and rural to urban migrants. Students will collectively organize a conference on migration.
In addition to her scholarly experience, Kerlee brings more than ten years of experience in social activism, including work in domestic and sexual violence and as a cultural competence trainer specializing in youth issues, ESL, race, and lesbian, bisexual and transgender services. She has been looking into Albuquerque organizations working on feminist social change to find opportunities for Women Studies students.
“I think direct service makes us all better scholars,” Kerlee said.
Have you ever wondered what exactly is in the Rio Grande water? Maceo Martinet, a graduate student in the Biology Department did and was surprised by the results. Martinet’s interest was first piqued by a report published in the journal Environmental Science and Technology in 2002. The article reported results from the first nationwide reconnaissance of the occurrence of pharmaceuticals, hormones and other organic wastewater contaminants in 139 streams across 30 states.
“The report startled me because 80 percent of the streams sampled contained one or more of a suite of contaminants, which have a wide suite of origin, from residential, industrial to agricultural,” said Martinet. “Based on the results of that report, I decided to look at what types of personal care products and pharmaceutical compounds are present along the Rio Grande.”
Martinet set out to address two questions in his project: how is the Albuquerque Wastewater Treatment Plant (WTP) effluent altering the nutrient chemistry of the river and shallow alluvial groundwater; and what types and at what concentrations are personal care product compounds present in Albuquerque’s WTP?
The effects of human activities on local, regional and global biogeochemical cycles have become an issue of growing concern and increased research, says Martinet in a recent research paper titled “Presence of Pharmaceutically-Active Compounds in the Rio Grande and Riparian Groundwater.”
The presence of such contaminants in our rivers is a result of human and veterinary use of pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCP) from prescription drugs to fragrances and sunscreen agents, says Martinet. Martinet received funding for his research from the Water Resources Research Institute at New Mexico State University.
Martinet gathered samples using a syringe with an inline filter from five river sites upstream and downstream of the Albuquerque wastewater treatment plant discharge. He sent the samples to MWH Laboratories in California for analysis of a suite of 19 pharmaceuticals and endocrine disruptor compounds.
“With the help from WRRI, I was able to submit five samples to a lab in California,” said Martinet. “I sampled Albuquerque’s wastewater discharge effluent at three times, dusk, mid-day and evening. I also sampled the shallow groundwater above and below the point of discharge about 30-40-feet from the bank of the Rio Grande. There were some interesting results that came back from the lab.”
Not only did the results indicate the presence of antibiotics and nonprescription drugs, insecticides and other compounds, but the insecticide DEET, the anti-microbial ingredient triclosan and several other fire retardant and plastic derived compounds were found at similar concentrations to those reported in the national reconnaissance study (Kolpin et al. 2002).
“One feature of this small data set that is curious is that the concentration of DEET in the shallow groundwater was roughly an order of magnitude greater than that coming out of the wastewater treatment plant, and that DEET in groundwater downriver from the treatment plants discharge was almost twice that of upriver,” said Martinet. “This indicates that potentially DEET could be concentrating within the soil matrix via absorption to clay or other minerals.”
According to the results, concentrations of the PPCP compounds were all in the parts per trillion range, except for DEET, which was found in the parts per billion range. Martinet says in one study (Kummerer 2001), 80 different drugs were found in WTP, surface waters, ground water and drinking waters. Overall, he detected seven of 15 categories from the Kummerer study in his research.
Martinet was also able to establish the fact that the WTP is significantly altering the nutrient chemistry of the river and shallow riparian groundwater. As the Rio Grande passes the WTP, the waters become enriched in nitrate, phosphate and ammonium. In his final report, he says little information is available on the effects the PPCP compounds have on organisms and processes, but new research suggests chronic exposure to certain PPCP’s, even at low concentrations can have biological effects on crustaceans, algae and bacteria.
“I would love to do more work in addressing this question along the Rio Grande but only if I can secure funding to pay for the analytical costs,” said Martinet. “I am looking for new grants, which can help me address this question of what is the occurrence of pharmaceuticals and health care products along the Rio Grande.”
Contact: Steve Carr, (505) 277-1821
Founded on July 1, 1945, the Bureau of Business and Economic Research (BBER) at the University of New Mexico will celebrate its 60th birthday this year. BBER (then called the Bureau of Business Research) was created at UNM as a way to focus university resources in an effort to assist in the economic development of New Mexico and has since provided 60 years of research and information about the state’s economy and population to the citizens of New Mexico.
Over the years BBER has concentrated on helping New Mexicans better understand the state’s economy and the demographic characteristics of the population, with the objective of helping individuals and institutions make more informed decisions. To this end, BBER’s professional staff, with assistance from UNM student employees, collect, analyze, disseminate and explain data, develop estimates and projections of economic and demographic variables, and conduct policy and other research on New Mexico under contract.
“From the very beginning, BBER has been committed to being of service to the State of New Mexico and its residents, and I expect that will continue many, many tomorrows,” said BBER Sr. Economist Larry Waldman.
The BBER maintains a major depository of socioeconomic data that is open to the public—the Data Bank; a “content-heavy” Web site filled with data tables —www.unm.edu/~bber; a monthly publication of economic indicators and topical articles titled New Mexico Business; a quarterly economic forecasting newsletter — The FOR-UNM Bulletin; and an economic forecasting service (FOR-UNM) that provides projections of numerous economic variables for the state as a whole and for three of the state’s metropolitan areas (Albuquerque, Las Cruces and Santa Fe).
In addition, BBER maintains close ties with the U.S. Census Bureau, along with the national community of demographers and information-providers. BBER also conducts research on a contract basis that studies a wide variety of economic and demographic issues.
Recent research projects include: the economic impact of the University of New Mexico; the economic impact of the Federal government on the New Mexico economy (for New Mexico First); a baseline study of the Santa Fe economy, to be followed by a second study, for the purpose of assessing the impact of the Living Wage Ordinance on the City of Santa Fe economy; the economic importance of the arts and cultural industries in Santa Fe County; and the benefits and costs of city-county unification: an analysis of the City of Albuquerque and County of Bernalillo finances.
The general public is invited to contact the Bureau of Business and Economic Research if they seek Census or other data related to New Mexico. The Data Bank can be reached at: 277-6626 or dbinfo@unm.edu; for economic forecast data contact Larry Waldman, 277-7077, lwaldman@unm.edu; or for information on contract research contact Lee Reynis, 277-7071, lreynis@unm.edu. BBER's Web site can be accessed at:
Contact: Steve Carr, (505) 277-1821
In coordination with the New Mexico Film Office, the Guild Cinema, located at 3405 Central Ave. N.E., will present a full week of short and feature-length videos and films made exclusively by New Mexico-based filmmakers of all ages. Admission is free for everyone.
UNM staff, faculty and students are among the filmmakers showcased during the opening days of the festival (see bolded events below).
The weeklong series runs June 24-30 and is based on an open call for submissions, but distinguishes itself from most film festivals by being a completely non-juried, non-competitive event.
For more information, call the Guild at 255-1848 or visit Guild Cinema.
"Within Me" and is showing on Tuesday the 28th at 9:00 pm
Friday, June 24
4:30 p.m.
THE SEEKERS 'N ME (Michelle Faucher, 12m)
A TRIBUTE TO RICHARD FARNSWORTH (Tom McCarthy, 9m),
A PIECE OF THE ANARCHY (Marcus Page, 69m)
6:30 p.m.
THE SUPER PORNO FRIENDS: LA ZOMBIE (Heidi Griffin, student, 23m)
THE FACE OF JOE THE KILLER (Brandon Scott Jensen, 52m)
PUBLIC READING (David C. Herman, 9m)
8:20 p.m.
EXPO (Martin Wilson, 26m),
ARRHYTHMIA: THE MUSIC & THE MAN BEHIND FAST HEART MART (Robert Nakai, 32m),
CHROMOPHILIA (Sarah Wentfishing, 10m)
Saturday, June 25
11 a.m.
LA PROVINCIA DE NAVAJO (Roberto Valdez & Dennis Chavez, 19m)
SHIPIBO-KONIBO (Willem Malten, 100m)
WE'RE MOVING! (Roberto Codato, 10m)
1:30 p.m.
COLLECTING ROOFTOPS (Billy Garberina, 105m)
POETRY TELEVISION'S VOLUME 8: HEY JOHNNY (Stavros, 29m)
4:05 p.m.
THE PELLUCID WORLD (Kyle Silfer, 5m)
OPERATION NIGHT CRAWLER (Bryan Konefsky, faculty, 14m)
CATCHING THE LIGHT (Marie Michele, Jasmin Belisle, students, 8m)
GHOST FLOWER (Ed de Buvitz, 3m)
SENSE (Ben Popp, 9m)
SHRAPA (Dax Thomas, 3m)
EMPTY ROOM (Sarah Williams, student, 7m)
MY DARLINGS (Sheilah Wilson, 5m)
PERISH AND THE NOTH (Marica Woske, 13m)
HAPPY A DEATH (Saul Rodgar, 20m)
[DINNER BREAK]
7 p.m.
CROSS (Chris L. Dillon, 61m)
STUCK (Aaron Hendren, student, 18m)
THE O'KEEFE CASE (Rudy J. Miera, 12m)
8:50 p.m.
SOMETHING RED (Scotty Miller, 12m)
GRONK'S BRAIN FLAME (Hue Walker/Gronk, staff, 5m)
EUROPEAN LOVE? AGAIN? (Nicholas Aase, 2m)
FROZEN LAKE (Karen Hipscher, student, 5m)
THE LEGEND OF AERREUS KANE (Lance Maurer, student, 17m)
Tuesday, June 28
9 p.m.
WITHIN ME (Andres Armijo, student)
Contact: Laurie Mellas Ramirez, (505) 277-5915
This summer the New Mexico Poison and Drug Information Center will become one of four sites in the country to offer a clinical toxicology post-doctoral fellowship for pharmacists.
All UNM pharmacy students must complete a rotation at the poison center to gain experience in drug information and clinical toxicology before receiving their doctor of pharmacy degree. This training helps prepare future pharmacists to be a source of information on identification, prevention and resolution of medication-related problems.
But now pharmacists wanting to specialize in drug information and clinical toxicology can do so in the two-year fellowship program at the Poison Center
“The New Mexico Poison and Drug Information Center contributes significantly to the UNM College of Pharmacy by providing pharmacy students an invaluable experiential education,” said John A. Pieper, dean of the UNM College of Pharmacy. “By learning strategies for retrieval and communication of information about poisonings and drug information, students will enhance the quality of life for the people of New Mexico and become sources of information for the people in the communities they will serve.”
The New Mexico Poison and Drug Information Center is a public service program of the University of New Mexico College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences Center. The center serves as a major teaching site for the UNM College of Pharmacy and Department of Emergency Medicine and is certified as a Regional Poison Center by the American Association of Poison Control Centers.
Contact: Angela Heisel, (505) 272-3651
An exhibition of artwork by the Native American class at VSA North Fourth Art Center will open this Friday at the UNM Maxwell Museum of Anthropology. Nearly two-dozen vivid paintings and drawings will be on display. Native American Visions: Illusions of Traditional Life will show through November 2005 in the Ortiz Gallery. The exhibit opens on Friday, June 24, with a reception from 6 to 7:30 p.m. The museum is open Tuesdays through Fridays, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is free.
Exhibiting artists and Native American students include Nicky Arango, Elaine Archuleta, Cari Lynn Carlston, Lannette Silver, Joe Tenorio, Helene Valdez, Derrick Wanoskia and their teacher Sam Bautista.
A Native American class began several years ago at VSA North Fourth Art Center as a way for Native Americans with developmental disabilities to learn about Native American culture. Artist/ teacher Sam Bautista is from Laguna Pueblo and knows from nearly ten years teaching art to people with disabilities that Native Americans with disabilities suffer culture loss just as other Native Americans can when they are not in touch with their traditions. “For Native Americans,” Bautista explains, “art is not just a form of expression but is a culture we carry within ourselves.”
What began as art instruction in a weekly classroom setting soon expanded to include visits to feast day celebrations and the annual Gathering of Nations Pow-Wow in Albuquerque. The study of traditional Native American culture informed the students’ artwork and strengthened their identity as artists and as advocates of disability culture.
In January 2004, a partnership was formed with VSA North Fourth Art Center and the Alfonso Ortiz Center at UNM that has included educational programming, poetry readings, performances, visits to Maxwell Museum and opportunities for exhibition.
Native American Visions: Illusions of Traditional Life is sponsored by the Alfonso Ortiz Center for Intercultural Studies, the McCune Foundation and the Maxwell Museum Association, and is funded in part by William E. and Judith P. Boebert.
VSA North Fourth Art Center provides creative and cultural access and exploration for people of every ability through the arts. North Fourth Art Center is operated by VSA arts of New Mexico, a member of the national VSA arts network affiliated with the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
Contact: Greg Johnston, (505) 277-1816
In conjunction with the city's 18-month Tricentennial, Native American Studies' student groups are sponsoring monthly activities to honor the diverse history of Albuquerque. Events begin in June, designated “dance month” by the city.
The Kiva Club and NAS Indigenous Research Group will host a lecture by Professor of American Studies Gerald Vizenor Wednesday, June 22, from 3-5 p.m. on Smith Plaza followed by a performance featuring a contemporary D.J. and native break dancers on Cornell Mall.
Vizenor joined UNM this spring and is professor emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley. An enrolled member of the White Earth Reservation in Minnesota, he is the author of several books and essays on native histories, critical studies and literature, including “Manifest Manners: Narratives on Postindian Survivance.”
NASIRG applied for and received a small grant to participate in the Tricentennial, said principle investigator Rebekah Horsechief, who graduated this spring.
In July, designated “music month,” the student groups, and UNM Professor of Music Maria Williams, will present talks by Native American composers Louis Ballard (Quapaw/Cherokee) and Raven Chacon (Navajo). The two will lecture July 27 at 7 p.m. at Keller Hall.
Contact: Laurie Mellas Ramirez, (505) 277-5915
GALLUP — Dr. Elizabeth Miller, executive director of the UNM-Gallup branch, recently signed an agreement between the UNM Board of Regents, UNM-Gallup and the Inter-Tribal Indian Ceremonial concerning storage of ceremonial archives and artifacts.
Photo: sitting (l. to r.): Dr. Beth Miller, executive director and Louis Bonaguidi, president, Inter-Tribal Ceremonial Association. Back (l. to r.): Associate Professor Dr. Teresa Wilkins; Flo Bartan, chairman, Inter-Tribal Ceremonial Board of Directors; and Joe Tanner, vice president, Inter-Tribal Ceremonial Association.
The agreement stipulated that the common goal of both parties is that the archives and artifacts of the Ceremonial — which have been collected since the inception of the Ceremonial in the 1920s — be safely preserved and that the items form the foundation of a long-term program.
UNM-Gallup will provide storage for the archives and artifacts that should help conserve them. The items will be stored for a period of up to 36 months, with payment for the storage to be assumed by the UNM-Gallup. The ownership of the items will remain with the Ceremonial Board.
While the items are stored, both UNM-Gallup and the Ceremonial Board will work to develop a plan for the long-term care and management of the archives and artifacts. They will also identify at-risk items, such as film archives, and look for resources to preserve these items.
“We’re still very much in the early stages of looking at the archives and artifacts,” said Miller. “We believe there are some things of value and others that are of historical interest, such as photographs. As we continue going through the Ceremonial archives and artifacts, we will certainly be thinking of how we can share this record of local history with the public.”
Contact: Linda Thornton, (505) 863-7565 or Carolyn Gonzales, (505) 277-5920
Brian Foster, who in March stepped down as UNM’s provost and executive vice president of academic affairs, has been appointed provost of the University of Missouri-Columbia. He will begin his new duties in August.
"This appointment shows the high regard with which Dr. Foster is held in higher education circles across the country," noted President Louis Caldera. "Congratulations are in order both for him and the University of Missouri."
Foster joined UNM in April, 2000. President Caldera credits him with the growth and rise in national stature of UNM’s programs, as well as his recruitment of an exceptionally diverse and talented cadre of deans and directors.
When announcing this new appointment last week, University of Missouri-Columbia Chancellor Brady Deaton said that Foster “is bringing extensive leadership and visionary skills to MU at a critical juncture in our own path toward excellence. We are confident that his inclusive administrative skills and energetic approach will improve the quality of education we offer to all of our students.”
Contact: Susan McKinsey, (505) 277-1989
(Marketing campaign focused on baby boomer buying behavior earns top honors for UNM team)
It wasn’t exactly the popular TV show The Apprentice, but a group of MBA students at the University of New Mexico’s Anderson Schools of Management (ASM) who entered a national case study contest took top honors in a task that rivaled the show for its creativity and competition. More than 50 teams, including 28 undergraduate and 23 MBA teams from colleges and universities nationwide, competed in the Cadillac National Case Study competition.
Photo: Front row (l. to r.) Kelly Cowan, Dustin Sparks, Don Brunton and Daniel Abeyta. Back row (l. to r.): Kelly Baker, Michelle Woodland, Kristina Lee and Nelmy Jerez-Morales.
UNM’s MBA team beat out entries from American University, University of California--Los Angeles, Tulane University, University of Mississippi, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, University of Iowa, and others, netting them a grand prize of $3,000, which will go to the University. UNM’s undergraduate team advanced to the second round and a top-10 finish.
Real-world marketing challenge
“This competition allowed students to use what they have learned in the classroom to tackle a real marketing challenge faced by one of the premiere automotive brands in the U.S.,” said John Benavidez, ASM lecturer and team mentor. “All of our students worked very hard on their marketing plans and their national recognition is well deserved.”
The competition consisted of three rounds. The first round narrowed the field to 10 undergraduate teams and five MBA teams. The second round identified the top two teams at each level. The final round took the form of a formal presentation in front of Cadillac officials and representatives from Cadillac's advertising agency, Chemistri. Finalists received an all-expense paid trip to Detroit, Michigan for the presentation. The first and second place winners at each level were determined after the presentations and were announced on May 25.
The MBA team that traveled to Detroit included Daniel Abeyta, Don Brunton, Kelly Cowan, Nelmy Jerez-Morales, and Michelle Woodland. UNM’s undergraduate team included Kimberly Gonzales, Justin Gillespie, Christa Marney, Jade Rennels and Matt Shurtliff.
Segmenting the Boomers
The teams’ objective was to help Cadillac break through to the baby boomer generation, capitalizing on recent revival efforts that have helped the company reclaim its historical reputation for achievement and success. The size of the boomer generation and its relative affluence make it a critical target in the market.
As part of the competition, teams conducted primary and secondary research to understand the problems Cadillac faces. Based on that research, they then designed a Cadillac marketing plan to address those challenges and to further reestablish Cadillac as a top-tier luxury contender. The plans covered advertising, events/promotions, sponsorships, interactive, emerging media, grassroots programs and customer retention/brand experience programs.
The MBA teams were asked to focus more specifically on female baby boomers as their target audience. Alone among the contestants, UNM’s MBA team identified two segments of boomers: Leading Edge (born between 1946 and 1954) and Trailing Edge (born between 1955 and 1964).
The team then crafted distinct messages for the two groups: a “reclaim the luxury" tagline communicated through nostalgic advertisements for Leading Edge boomers and a "luxury redefined" tagline communicated through information advertisements for Trailing Edge boomers.
In addition to traditional advertising, the team recommended sponsorship of the American Heart Association's "Go Red for Women" campaign; displays of Cadillac vehicles at Curves gyms across the country; product placement in television shows popular with boomer women; and advertising on Web sites targeted at boomer women, including Oprah.com and MarthaStewart.com.
Students Kelly Baker, Kristina Lee and Dustin Sparks conducted market research for the project and also traveled to Detroit to support the team.
The case study was completed as part of course requirements for Benavidez’s Management 487: Promotion Management (undergrad) and Management 587: Marketing Communications Management (MBA) in collaboration with Dr. Catherine Roster’s Market Research class.
Contact Sophie Martin, (505) 710-9325 or Steve Carr, (505) 277-1821
Shafee Jones-Wilson, a master's candidate in architecture and planning, met recently with Queen Noor of Jordan. Her Majesty was at the Armand Hammer United World College in Montezuma, New Mexico to deliver a commencement address. Jones-Wilson, an alum of United World College, met with the queen as part of an Associated Press team.
She also had the opportunity to speak with the Queen, who holds an architecture and planning degree from Princeton, about her thesis. Jones-Wilson's thesis concerns the use of architecture, landscape architecture and planning to facilitate the educational process and promote peace.
Contact: Carolyn Gonzales, (505) 277-5920
The UNM Board of Regents has approved a $1.572 billion budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2005. The budget, which includes operating funds for the main campus, the Health Sciences Center and the University of New Mexico Hospital, is an $88 million or 5.9 percent increase from the current year.
Under the new budget, about 20 percent of UNM’s overall operating funds come from the New Mexico legislature. Other revenue comes from institutional bonds, student tuition and fees and money collected for such things as hospital services, and food services for students.
About 35.5 percent of the new budget will go to the main campus, 26.6 percent goes to Health Sciences, which includes the School of Medicine, Colleges of Nursing and Pharmacy and Cancer Treatment units, and 25.7 percent goes to operate UNMH.
Last month, regents voted to raise student tuition and fees by 9.9 percent, and a major part of the new funding will go to the Instruction and General budgets, the money used to provide core-teaching services to students.
Contact: Karen Wentworth, (505) 277-5627
KNME-TV, Channel 5 recently announced the winners of Reading Rainbow’s 11th Annual Young Writers and Illustrators Contest. Open to children in kindergarten, first, second and third grades, the story submissions could be fact or fiction, prose or poetry, and they could also have math or science themes.
This contest was designed to encourage, challenge, and reward children for telling their own stories, in their own words and with their own pictures.
KNME-TV awarded a total of 12 prizes – presented to the top three entries from each grade level. The grand prize entry from each grade level will be sent to the national contest. Every contest entrant received a special certificate of achievement signed by LeVar Burton, host of “Reading Rainbow.”
A total of 179 entries were received from around the state. Contest judges included:
Rob Cotton, community relations manager, Barnes & Noble; Judy Puglise, Learning Is Fun, retired teacher; Elizabeth Haskett, assistant director, Albuquerque/Bernalillo County Public Library System; Margaret Edmundson, professional storyteller, New Mexico Storyteller Association; Ana Baca, children’s book author and communications manager, Bueno Foods; and Kathleen McVicker, retired teacher and KNME-TV community advisory council member.
Additionally, UNM College of Education’s “Teaching of Writing” class prescreened the stories. Hadar Ma'yan, Language, Literacy & Sociocultural Studies Department, was course instructor.
“Congratulations to all the children who entered,” said Hollie Lovely, KNME-TV Ready To Learn coordinator. “This contest encourages children to write and illustrate a story and the children of New Mexico have many stories to tell. The outpouring of creativity was fantastic and inspiring. This contests continues to be one of the many successful literacy efforts in which KNME-TV participates.”
The 179 entries were received from the following communities:
118 - Albuquerque
16 - Santa Fe
11 - Los Lunas
5 – Edgewood
5 – Rio Rancho
3 each from – Belen, Kirtland, Los Alamos, Moriarty and Santa Cruz
Other cities represented were: Bosque Farms, Cedar Crest, Cimarron, Lamy, Pojoaque, Sandia Park, Ute Park
Local contest prizes were provided by Learning is Fun, Bound to be Read, pediatric dentists Joseph B. Meckler and Gary A. Meckler, children’s book author Ana Baca and KNME-TV5.
The New Mexico winners are:
KINDERGARTEN:
Grand Prize - Zoe Katherine Burgett,”Athena’s Story” - Age 6, Albuq.
2nd Place - Angelo Joseph Cecco, “Super Cat” - Age 6, Albuq.
3rd Place - Ryan Romero, “Ryan’s Bestest Stuft Anomol” - Age 6, Albuq.
FIRST GRADE:
Grand Prize - Cameron Emms, “Space” - Age 7, Albuq.
2nd Place - Danielle Pierce, “The Stormy Day” - Age 6, Albuq.
3rd Place - Gareth Bonn, “Crossing The Arabian Sea” - Age 6, Sandia Park
SECOND GRADE:
Grand Prize - Jenna Siegel,”Journey To The Magical World” - Age 7, Albuq.
2nd Place - Ryan Vanderham, “The Two Ghosts” - Age 7, Santa Fe
3rd Place - Holly Davis, “Slick The Coyote” - Age 8, Albuq.
THIRD GRADE:
Grand Prize - David Velazquez, “Stanley’s Stinky Feet” - Age 8, Edgewood
2nd Place - Marissa Cordova, “Cootsie Caboo The Cool Kangaroo” - Age 8, Albuq.
3rd Place - CheyAnne Haynes, “The Perfect Pet” - Age 9, Rio Rancho
LOCAL PRIZES
1st Place (awarded in each grade level)
· KNME-TV will videotape the child reading his or her winning story for a spot to air on KNME-TV during the Summer months
· Story Writing Kit donated by Learning is Fun
· A Journal donated by pediatric dentists Joseph B. Meckler, DDS and
Gary A. Meckler, DDS
2nd PLACE – (in each grade level)
· A Classroom Visit / Reading, plus an autographed book, by local children’s book author Ana Baca
· Story Writing Kit donated by Learning is Fun
· A Journal donated by pediatric dentists Joseph B. Meckler and
Gary A. Meckler
3rd Place - (in each grade level)
· Story Writing Kit donated by Learning is Fun
· Gift Card donated by Bound To Be Read
· A Journal donated by pediatric dentists Joseph B. Meckler, DDS and
Gary A. Meckler, DDS
The prize for the national winners will include a Reading Rainbow library set, featuring ten episodes on DVD and related feature books. Each national winner’s story is posted on the PBS Kids Web site.
Contact: Evy Todd, (505) 277-1218
Anne Monson has been appointed the new associate vice president for communications, marketing and public affairs at the University of New Mexico. She will direct strategic communications, marketing and public affairs functions, and act as a strategic advisor to the president, the vice president for institutional advancement and senior university officials.
Monson is well-known in the Albuquerque community. She has been a senior level communications executive with the Lovelace Sandia Health System where she was responsible for planning and implementing strategic communications.
During her career, she has also worked with non-profit community organizations and the electronic manufacturing industry. She currently is a member of the United Way Women in Leadership Council, a member of the board of directors with the Lovelace Clinic Foundation, a member of the All Faiths Receiving Home Board of Trustees, and a member of the Albuquerque Funder’s Group.
Contact: Susan McKinsey, (505) 277-1989
Mike Kingan is the new associate vice president for development at the University of New Mexico. He will direct the fundraising activities of the university and its affiliated programs.
As associate vice president for Development, Kingan will provide staff leadership for the University Foundation Board of Directors and serve as chief staff officer of the UNM Foundation, Inc.
Kingan comes to UNM from the University of Iowa where he served as chief development officer for the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and functioned as a part of a team completing a one billion dollar capital campaign.
He has also been involved with development activities at the University of Washington and the University of Michigan.
Contact: Susan McKinsey, (505) 277-1989
This year more than 3,000 freshmen are expected to walk onto the University of New Mexico campus. So to help freshmen students from just becoming a face in a crowd, University College has a variety of Freshman Academic Choices designed to bring students with similar interests together in small groups.
There are three ways freshmen interested in specific topics can get together. One is Freshman Learning Communities where two or more classes are taught together. The courses are planned and taught together, so both involve small groups, collaborative learning and limited lectures.
Learning Community themes for fall 2005 range from “Making a Difference,” a chance to work with local people on service learning projects to “It IS a Bug’s Life,” an exploration of insects and their relationships with people from the harmful to the helpful to the holy.
In Freshman Interest Groups, 25 students enroll in a weekly one-credit seminar organized around a theme. They also enroll in one or two additional classes together.
The themes range from “Need a Career in an Emergency,” an experience that explores types of public emergency work to “REZ”sources, “REZ”spect & “REZ”sponsibility a theme that helps students develop an understanding of how diversity, leadership, support, partnerships, and spirituality affect a Native American community.
The third way freshmen can connect with other students is in a Living and Learning Community. This is a community of 18 freshmen who share common academic interests, and space in a residence hall along with a weekly seminar and enroll in additional classes together. Living and Learning Communities are offered for students interested in Fine Arts, Engineering, Management, Architecture & Planning, Health Sciences Professionals and Language & Culture.
A complete description of all the Freshman Academic Choices available can be found at Freshman Academic Choices
Contact: Karen Wentworth, (505) 277-5627
The Energy Policy Act of 1992 (EPAct) was passed to reduce our nation's reliance on foreign petroleum and to improve air quality with provisions that address all aspects of energy supply and demand. Several parts of EPAct were designed to encourage use of alternative fuels - those not derived from petroleum - that could help reduce dependence on imported oil in transportation.
The Energy Policy Act of 1992 (EPAct) was passed to reduce our nation's reliance on foreign petroleum and to improve air quality with provisions that address all aspects of energy supply and demand. Several parts of EPAct were designed to encourage use of alternative fuels - those not derived from petroleum - that could help reduce dependence on imported oil in transportation.
To that end, UNM's Physical Plant has purchased eight alternative fuels light duty vehicles (LDV's) from Zangara Dodge in Albuquerque to further improve upon the state government fleet percentage of LDVs required to meet the EPAct. The Physical Plant's Automotive Center along with UNM Purchasing have become UNM's watchdog in regards to the purchase of Alternative Fuel Vehicles.
“According to the federal law, 75 percent of a state government fleet must be capable of operating on alternative fuels,” said Dan Apodaca, PPD Automotive Center supervisor. “UNM is one of the state leaders in meeting EPAct with more than 150 alternative fuel vehicles, and we greatly appreciate vendors like Zangara Dodge that help us meet compliance requirements.”
”I have no problems with UNM as far as compliance,” said Dick Leonard, alternative fuels program manager, Energy Conservation and Management Division for the State of New Mexico.
The eight utility vehicles UNM purchased from Zangara Dodge are flatbeds that have a gross vehicle weight rating of 2,300 pounds. This means they are more than capable of carrying cargo and a variety of amenities including toolboxes, ladder racks, and various equipment storage options. The vehicles are called GEM's, (Global Electric Motorcar), and operate solely on electric power stored in six, 12 volt batteries. The batteries are wired in a series, which means they have a total output of 72 volts. Recharging takes place by simply plugging the vehicle in at a standard 110-volt outlet.
The vehicles, which can go up to 25 mph, are street legal on roads posted 35 mph or less. That is one of the reasons UNM purchased the GEM's as university maintenance crews periodically travel across Lomas, Central and University Blvds.
“The GEM's will also be campus friendly as they are extremely quiet and are compact enough to get into even the tightest areas,” added Apodaca.
Congress established several regulatory activities within EPAct that focus on building an inventory of alternative fuel vehicles in large, centrally fueled fleets in metropolitan areas. EPAct requires certain fleets to purchase a percentage of light-duty AFVs, which are “capable” of running on alternative fuels, each year. Some types of vehicles are excluded.
A state government fleet is covered and must meet the requirements of the Energy Policy Act if all of the following conditions are present: it owns, operates, leases, or otherwise controls 50 or more light-duty vehicles within the United States that are not on the list of excluded vehicles; at least 20 of those vehicles are used primarily within a single Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA)/Consolidated Metropolitan Statistical Area (CMSA); those same 20 vehicles are centrally fueled or “capable of being centrally
fueled.”
”The Physical Plant at the University of New Mexico has done a real good job as far as increasing UNM's alternative fuel vehicles," Leonard added. “UNM is above the 75 percent mark most of the time. If they (UNM) continue the way they have been, they'll be in fine shape.”
EPAct also includes the voluntary acquisition of light, medium, and heavy-duty AFVs. This area of EPAct is implemented through DOE's Clean Cities Program, which helps create markets for alternative fuels and AFVs through public/private partnerships in more than 80 U.S. cities.
Vehicles are considered centrally fueled if they are capable of being refueled at least 75 percent of the time at a location that is owned, operated, or controlled by any fleet or under contract with that fleet for refueling purposes.
Contact: Steve Carr, (505) 277-1821
The University of New Mexico Alumni Association and its Lobos for Legislation committee have selected New Mexico State Senators Cynthia Nava and Cisco McSorley as the first recipients of their new Higher Education Distinguished Legislator Award. The awards were presented at the Alumni Association’s annual Volunteer Thank You reception on June 3.
The purpose of the award is to recognize New Mexico legislators who make an extraordinary and exemplary contribution to higher education at the University of New Mexico. A $500.00 scholarship in the legislator’s name will be awarded to a student from the legislator’s district.
UNM alumni recognized Senator Nava who, as Senate Education Committee Chair, tabled lottery scholarship “decoupling” legislation during the 2005 session. That legislation would have adversely impacted UNM’s lottery scholarship recipients. Nava is also lauded for sponsoring and securing the passage of legislation that created a funding mechanism for UNM Hospital and for the UNM Cancer Research and Treatment Center, allowing $60 million in bonds and an additional $15 million to be repaid by cigarette taxes.
Senator Nava has represented Senate District 31 in Las Cruces since 1993. She has served on the Senate Education committee during her entire tenure and as chair since 1997. Nava also serves on Corporations and Transportation and on the Committee’s committee. She is an educator and deputy superintendent of Gadsden Public Schools in Las Cruces.
UNM Alumni credited Senator McSorley for helping obtain $4.8 million for the Centennial Engineering Building during the 2005 session, as well as another $1.3 million in funding for UNM’s Alfonso Ortiz Center, the linguistics program, Hodgin Hall, Manufacturing Training and Technology and athletics facilities.
An attorney in Albuquerque, Senator McSorley has served Senate District 16 in in the city since 1996. Previous to that, he served in the N.M. House of Representatives from 1985 to 1996. McSorley chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee and also serves on the Indian and Cultural Affairs Committee.
Contact: Susan McKinsey, (505) 277-1989
To help track and identify drugs causing adverse side-effects in patients, Dennis Raisch, associate professor at the UNM College of Pharmacy, is working with the National Institutes of Health to investigate and disseminate information on describing serious and previously unrecognized adverse drug and device reactions.
Every year the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) receives 300,000 calls regarding serious adverse effects of prescription drugs. Adverse drug and device reactions (ADRs) also account for as many as 100,000 deaths annually. Prior to FDA approval, drugs are evaluated in well-designed and carefully monitored clinical trials, but more than half of the most serious adverse drug reactions have been discovered seven or more years after a drug has been marketed.
Raisch and a team of multidisciplinary researchers are working with a monitoring program developed by a Northwestern University researcher who has successfully identified a large number of previously unknown, serious and often-fatal drug reactions associated with 15 commonly used drugs, including Plavix®, thalidomide and drug-coated cardiac stents.
This new, clinically based, hypothesis-driven approach to post-marketing surveillance may supplement existing regulatory surveillance systems and improve patient safety.
“Our goal is to recognize these serious effects as quickly as possible,” Raisch said. “When one person out of twenty-six thousand people suffers one of these ADR’s we want to inform physicians of signs of the adverse experience to keep that from happening to another patient.”
Raisch said that rapid treatment or discontinued use of the drug is key but there are many obstacles in getting physicians to recognize that a symptom is caused by a certain drug or device.
Adverse drug reactions are classified as resulting in death, severe organ failure or requiring major therapeutic interventions, such as cardiopulmonary resuscitation, liver transplantation or placing an individual on a respirator.
The mission of the UNM College of Pharmacy is to develop innovative leaders in pharmaceutical care and research who enhance the quality of life for the people of New Mexico. For more information on the UNM College of Pharmacy, please visit College of Pharmacy.
Contact: Angela Heisel, (505) 272-3651
A University of New Mexico student-built racecar placed 14th, UNM’s best finish ever, in the 2005 Formula Society of Automotive Engineers competition last month in Pontiac, Michigan. The contest is the largest international engineering competition in the world.
UNM placed 14th in design, 14th in endurance and 15th in skid pad during the four-day event. The competition involves a yearlong effort by student teams to conceive, design, analyze, build, test, train, and race small formula-style racing cars.
Approximately 140 teams from around the world compete in seven categories, judged by hundreds of industry professionals.
“I am very proud of this year’s team and the past teams upon which they built,” said Mechanical Engineering Professor and faculty advisor John Russell. “They showed they belonged with the best in the world. Our team demonstrated it had what it takes to win by performing well in all aspects of the competition.”
Areas judged at the competition are for marketing presentation, design report and presentation, and manufacturing. Timed events are acceleration, skid pad, autocross, and a 22 lap endurance event. The UNM team earned 275 more points in this year’s endurance event compared to last year. Less than one-third of the entries finished this event.
“Our 2005 team took UNM to a higher level,” said School of Engineering Dean Joseph L. Cecchi. “They earned more points in endurance than last year and built on the successes of the past. Since this year’s team is comprised of members of past teams, Dr. Russell is ensuring continuity and building strengths.”
The next event for the team is a two-day meet at the University of Texas, Arlington on July 16-17. Teams enjoy the practice this weekend offers, as teams can race as many times as they want, and for UNM, the baton is passed from last year’s to next year’s team.
Students on the team begin a three-semester, for-credit course in the spring semester of their junior year. First semester is dedicated to the academics of racecar design. In the fall, students build the car and then test it in the spring. Students learn about racecar engineering. The class is an alternative to the required senior design project in Mechanical Engineering.
Russell says that he and the students have different goals when the class begins, but all goals converge at the finish line. "Their goal is to win the competition. My goal is to give them tools they can use when they graduate. The racecar is just a neat tool to show them project management, systems engineering and teamwork.”
* * *
The generosity of the sponsors is vital to the UNM team. An important part of support comes from local companies allowing the UNM team to use their facilities and equipment. Corporate sponsors include Ford Motor Company, Waterjet Cutting, Maloy Diversified, Wagner Equipment, Express Cash, Sandia National Labs, Kaehr Plating, Sandia Federal Credit Union, Chapparal Electric, Action Hose, Don Chalmers Ford, Bob Turner's Ford Country, Car Crafters, Reddick Auto Body, ASME New Mexico Professional Section, Dr. Lisa King DDS, and Discount Tire Company. UNM sponsors include the Office of the President, Office of the Vice President for Research and Economic Development, the School of Engineering, the Mechanical Engineering Department and the Manufacturing Engineering Program.
Contacts: Tamara Williams, (505) 277-5859 or Greg Johnston, (505) 277-1816
Vice President of Research and Economic Development, Terry Yates has appointed Warren F. Miller to serve as the associate vice president of Laboratory Affairs. “Pete Miller brings his long background of management within the Los Alamos National Laboratory to UNM to assist in a number of complex activities now in progress at the university,” said Yates. “His experience will allow UNM to work more closely with the national laboratories and other universities in a variety of cooperative efforts.”
Miller is currently a private management and technical consultant. He retired from the Los Alamos National Laboratory in 2001, and has previously served as a member of the Board of Visitors at the UNM School of Engineering. His long management history at LANL included positions as a senior advisor to the laboratory director, deputy laboratory director for science and technology, director of the science and technology base programs, and associate laboratory director for research and education.
He currently serves as the vice chair of the Committee of the Division on Earth and Life Studies for the National Research Council, member of the Nuclear Energy Research Advisory Council of the U.S. Department of Energy, and Member of the Nuclear Technology Advisory Committee at LANL.
UNM is the lead member of a consortium of New Mexico universities including New Mexico State University and New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology that have teamed with the University of California to form an Institute for Advanced Studies. The institute will be established contingent on UC winning the contract to continue to operate LANL.
UNM is also the lead team member for the space nuclear power portion of the educational component of the Battelle Energy Alliance. That group operates the Idaho National Laboratory.
Contact: Karen Wentworth, (505) 277-5627
The Vice President for Research and Economic Development for the University of New Mexico Terry Yates has appointed John A. Garcia as the university's chief economic development officer. Garcia served at the cabinet secretary for economic development under Governor Gary Johnson.
“UNM is committed to being an active partner with the New Mexico business community and to do everything we can to support economic development in New Mexico. John's long relationship with the university and his extensive knowledge of the New Mexico business community will bring UNM economic development activities into clearer focus and help us achieve these goals,” Yates said.
Garcia most recently served as the director of business development for CB Richard Ellis Commercial Brokerage where he managed new business development for land, office, retail and industrial real estate projects. He currently serves on the boards of the Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce, the Southeast Heights Community Alliance, the University of New Mexico Alumni Association, the University of New Mexico Anderson Schools of Management National Advisory Board, and the New Mexico Restaurant Association.
At UNM, Garcia will coordinate and integrate planning and implementation of economic development initiatives in the areas of strategic planning, communications, business, government and community relations and related areas of activity. He will serve as the designated primary point of contact for UNM on economic development matters, issues and organizational interfaces.
Contact: Karen Wentworth, (505) 277-5627
With its first commissioning since opening the door in fall of 2003, the UNM Lobo Battalion made cadre history. 2nd Lt. Adam W. Loomis was commissioned by Lt. Col. Anna Lucero, a UNM professor of military science and the Lobo Battalion commander, at a recent ceremony held at the Alumni Chapel.
UNM president Louis Caldera was the keynote speaker.
“I am truly honored to be the first cadet commissioned,” Lt. Loomis said. “It was great to be in this program, and it is even better to see the Army’s presence here again on UNM’s campus.”
\SFC Edmond Teague, senior military instructor at the Lobo Battalion, was instrumental in standing up the battalion in 2003. He describes Lt. Loomis as having “tremendous potential to develop into one of our finest future leaders.”
He also noted Loomis was a founding member and captain of UNM’s Joint Military Honor Society of Scabbard and Blade. Loomis encouraged other cadets in the battalion to strive for excellence in the Army’s Physical Fitness Excellence Award. Loomis also provided “an outstanding block of training to corps of cadets in the pre-marksmanship instruction that resulted in a 95 percent first-time qualification rate during M16 qualification,” during which 17 percent qualified expert and 22 percent qualified as sharpshooter.
Lt. Loomis served in the Army as a military policeman and entered the ROTC in fall of 2003. As a member of the Lobo Battalion, he served as cadet battalion commander, was president of the Scabbard and Blade Honor Society and was president of the Christian Officers Fellowship. He also was a member of Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society.
A native of Albuquerque, Lt. Loomis graduated from Eldorado High School in Albuquerque in 1986.
The Center for Southwest Research is hosting a celebration of the opening of the Reies Lopez Tijerina Collection on Sunday, June 5 from 2 to 4 p.m. in the west wing of Zimmerman Library. There will be a short program, followed by light refreshments. The event is free and open to the public.
Tijerina, who is visiting from his home in Mexico, will be a featured speaker. Tijerina donated his personal papers and the organizational papers of the Alianza Federal de Mercedes to UNM several years ago. The papers have been organized and are now available for scholarly research.
The collection contains information about dozens of New Mexico families and their current or past holdings in land grants. It also contains Tijerina’s personal dairies and FBI records compiled during his years as a land grant activist in the Southwest. This collection is part of a larger collection of grassroots Native American and Hispanic activists housed at the center.
Contact: Karen Wentworth, (505) 277-5627
A Tricentennial walking tour of the UNM campus Arboretum is scheduled for Friday, June 10 from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. The Arboretum tour will give participants the opportunity to learn about tree care, landscaping, planting and pruning. The tour begins at the east end of the Duck Pond across from Zimmerman Library and ends at the Welcome Center.
The tour will highlight the grand old trees around the Duck Pond, some of which date back to the early days of UNM and are the largest examples of their type in Albuquerque. Many new and underutilized trees will also be included during the tour.
Physical Plant Arborist Supervisor Bryan Suhr, who will lead the tour and is personally involved in their daily care, encourages the participants to submit questions to him at: bsuhr@unm.edu. He will try to answer as many as possible during the tour.
The tour begins at the east end of the Duck Pond across from Zimmerman Library and ends at the Welcome Center with a variety of refreshments. For special needs, please request accommodations when making your reservation.
Space is limited, please call to reserve your place and obtain parking information at 277-1989 or email: evsanch@unm.edu.
Contact: Eleanor Sanchez, (505) 277-1813
The New Mexico Institute for Natural Resources and Analysis (INRAM) Biodiversity Program, a consortium of the four New Mexico universities housing major natural history museum collections of New Mexico flora and fauna, has created the New Mexico Biodiversity Electronic Database and made it available on the internet at: http://biodiversity.inram.org.
A major goal of the INRAM Biodiversity Program is to make information about New Mexico's biodiversity readily available to the general, professional and scientific public throughout the world. Funded by the National Science Foundation since 2002, INRAM Biodiversity has constructed the database of natural history specimen information from the collections of the consortium partners. The database contains information on more than 300,000 specimens from 25 collections held by the consortium.
“The natural history database of New Mexico plants and animals now ranks among the best in the world and has the capability to add other groups of organisms as the information become available,” says Dr. Tim Lowrey, director, NM INRAM Biodiversity Program, University of New Mexico.
The database took three years of collaborative effort by faculty, staff members and students at the participating institutions including the Museum of Southwestern Biology (MSB) at the University of New Mexico (UNM), the Natural History Collection at Eastern New Mexico University (ENMU), the Gila Center for Natural History at Western New Mexico University (WNMU) and New Mexico State University (NMSU) Natural History Collections.
The INRAM Biodiversity project was conceived and directed by Lowrey, and Dr. Brook Milligan, Department of Biology, New Mexico State University, who developed and implemented the database model and software in collaboration with Chris Frazier, INRAM Biodiversity Program Manager at UNM.
The database integrates plant and animal information into an easily searchable format. A user anywhere in the world can obtain information on the occurrence of particular species in New Mexico, collection dates, habitat information and county-level maps of species distributions. The completion of the database is of major importance to land managers, governmental agencies, researchers, private industry and agriculture.
New Mexico is enormously rich in biodiversity. Among the United States, New Mexico has the fourth-highest diversity of plants, third-highest diversity of mammals and reptiles, and the second-highest diversity of birds. The arthropod fauna is similarly diverse, but very poorly understood. A new source of biodiversity with mostly negative impacts is the tremendous influx of non-native species into New Mexico. The online database provides desktop computer access for anyone to obtain information about indigenous and invasive plants, mammals, reptiles and amphibians, insects, spiders and mites, fishes and birds.
In addition to the online integrated database, Frazier also developed a computer software program for individual collections to use as a museum Information Management System, which is optimized for rapid, accurate and complete data entry. Called "Maii'tsoh," the Dine’ word for wolf, it is now being used by collections at UNM, WNMU and NMSU to enter and manage their specimen data. It also has features to support museum tasks such as creating specimen labels and keeping track of loans.
The labor-intensive data entry process in the Museum of Southwestern Biology at UNM involved three faculty members, nine professionals, two technicians, three temporary employees, 12 graduate students and 39 undergraduate students. Supported graduate students came from the Biology, Computer Sciences, Geography and Anthropology departments. Supported undergraduates had majors in Biology, Computer Sciences, Geography, Engineering, Fine Arts and English.
The New Mexico Biodiversity Electronic Database is one of only a few electronic databases in the world that contains plant and animal specimen information. It is dynamic with new specimen information being added on a regular basis. INRAM provides information for the Global Biodiversity Information Facility based in Copenhagen, Denmark and is currently among the top biodiversity information providers in the world.
Contact: Steve Carr, (505) 277-1821
Irene Teting Ma, who recently earned a bachelor’s of science from the University of New Mexico, has been awarded a Phi Kappa Phi Graduate Fellowship for 2005-06. She will receive $5,000 to attend the UNM School of Medicine. Phi Kappa Phi is the oldest and most distinguished national honor society dedicated to the recognition and promotion of academic excellence in all fields of higher education. Only 60 U.S. students are honored with the fellowship annually.
Fellowship selection is based on academic performance, leadership and service on campus and in the community, evidence of potential success in graduate study, a personal statement and letters of recommendation.
Ma is a graduate of La Cueva high school in Albuquerque. She majored in biochemistry at UNM, graduating this spring. Ma applied to several medical schools nationwide, but selected UNM “because it provides clinical experiences early on and emphasizes problem-based learning,” she said.
As an undergraduate, Ma participated in the School of Medicine’s Minority International Training Program traveling to Jos, Nigeria, to conduct biomedical research. The experience sparked an interest in international medicine, which she hopes to foster while continuing her studies at UNM.
“Her achievement attests to the quality of education at the University of New Mexico,” said Marya Free, Phi Kappa Phi director of fellowships.
Contact Laurie Mellas Ramirez, (505) 277-5915