LodeStar Astronomy Center will add a stunning new show to the line-up of digital dome theater (a.k.a. planetarium) shows beginning Saturday, May 5 when “Heart of the Sun” takes an unprecedented and unforgettable look at our life-giving star and is presented in large-format, immersive, ultra-high digital video.
"Heart of the Sun" will be presented for a limited engagement and through special arrangement with the show’s directors and distributors.
The new show schedule, which is effective May 5, also includes “Black Holes: The Other Side of Infinity as Part 1 of a special double feature with “Heart of the Sun.” Show times are on the hour beginning from 12 to 3 p.m.
Ticket prices are $7 for adults, $6 for seniors, and $4 for children ages 3-12. However, on opening weekend (Saturday and Sunday, May 5-6) of “Heart of the Sun” ticket prices are half price.
In “Heart of the Sun” journey from the ancient mysteries of the past to cutting-edge science of the present. From the Neolithic sky watchers of Europe to the solar observatories and blood sacrifice of Mesoamerica to the sun gods of the Egyptians and Greeks and the dawning of Aristotelian science.
The ‘film’ reveals how the development of our whole cosmology has been informed by our struggle with the oldest of mysteries. Experience the story that shows how that process continues today as the sheer strangeness of our nearest star continues to challenge our imagination, science and technology. See the fine surface detail of our sun’s corona and view vast eruptions occurring with unprecedented clarity. Witness our shining star, the sun, as you have never seen it before.
Unprecedented cooperation by the European Space Agency, NASA, the Japanese Space Agency and many others made possible the capture and presentation of many of these recent sun images - to the delight of the many scientists working on the projects. The scientists simply never had the millions of dollars required to translate the data into high definition motion pictures.
New space-based telescopes and terrestrial instruments captured breathtaking, high-resolution motion pictures of our sun, never before seen in a full dome theater! Until now, when audiences can visit LodeStar and travel through time and space to the “Heart of the Sun” and experience the sun shine!
Heart of the Sun is a ultra-high-definition full-dome digital presentation by John Weiley – maker of multi-award winning IMAX films including Antarctica, Solar Max and the hit 3D production Imagine.
This new show runs as the second show in the double feature along with Black Holes: The Other Side of Infinity, which provides a groundbreaking, scientifically accurate perspective on black holes and the latest compelling evidence that these cosmic curiosities are real. To do so, the show brings audiences on a thrilling ride to the inside of a super-massive black hole and uses real astronomical data to create the stunning visuals.
“Black Holes: The Other Side of Infinity” and “Heart of the Sun” will run daily through June 30.
Media Contact: Steve Carr, (505) 277-1821; e-mail: scarr@unm.edu
Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs Reed Dasenbrock has announced three finalists for the position of Campus Executive Director at UNM’s Los Alamos branch campus. The finalists include Marc Nigliazzo, Cedric Page and Rodger Bates. Each finalist will spend a day in Los Alamos meeting with administrators, faculty, staff, students and community members.
Open forums for the finalists will be held in Los Alamos beginning at 5:30 p.m. They will be held in the Lecture Hall, rm. 230, Building 2 on the UNM-Los Alamos campus.
After their respective open forums, the finalists will be in Albuquerque for a series of meetings. At each meeting, forms will be available for audience members to express their opinion of the finalists. Comments can also be sent to provost@unm.edu. The comment period will close on Friday, May 11 at noon.
Marc Nigliazzo – open forum, May 7
Nigliazzo is currently the president of Temple College (Texas) and has served in a variety of roles, including President of Galveston College (Texas) and Vice President/Dean of Instruction at Galveston College. Nigliazzo earned his Ph.D. from the University of New Mexico in English.
Cedric Page – open forum, May 8
Page is currently the dean of Instruction at the University of New Mexico in Los Alamos. He has served as the dean of Faculty/Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs at DigiPen Institute of Technology in Redmond, Wash. and as executive director of the Center for Social Responsibility and Community at the SUNY College at Oneonta, N.Y. Page earned his Ph.D. is from Rutgers University in Urban and Social Geography.
Rodger Bates – open forum, May 9
Bates is currently a special assistant to the Vice Provost for University Outreach at New Mexico State University. From 2000 to 2006, he was the campus executive officer at New Mexico State University at Alamogordo. He earned his Ph.D. is from the University of Delaware in Sociology.
Media Contact: Steve Carr, (505) 277-1821; e-mail: scarr@unm.edu
Nearly $3,000 in scholarship money was given out at the 4th Annual Mercer Speech Tournament, sponsored by Joann Mercer and named in honor of her late husband, Joe, and son, Steve Mercer. The tournament is open to all UNM students. The Mercer men were politicians and lawyers who believed in the power of speech and debate, and Mrs. Mercer created this scholarship to honor their commitment and memory.
The tournament winner was biology major Shayai Lucero whose touching persuasive speech addressed personal affects of DWI, related through the loss of her brother at 19-years-old because of a drunk driver. The speech emphasized the impact of DWI and the need for everyone to take a personal stance against drinking and driving. She received a $1,000 scholarship for the next academic year.
Other finalists included: 2nd place, business student Albert Guillen, $750; 3rd place, political science major Andrew Tennison, $500; finalists, Nicole Achenbach, exercise science; M. Jay Platt, Portuguese major; and Daniel Martinez, history major; all of whom received $200.
Media Contact: Carolyn Gonzales, (505) 277-5920; e-mail: cgonzal@unm.edu
The Office of Support for Effective Teaching and the Faculty Senate Teaching Enhancement Committee announce UNM’s Outstanding Teachers for 2006-07. The College of Arts and Sciences swept this year’s awards. All recipients were honored at a presentation and reception in Student Union Building Ballroom C recently.
Photo: Psychology Professor Jane Ellen Smith was named the 2007-09 Presidential Teaching Fellow. Presenting the award was Provost Reed Dasenbrock.
"The bedrock mission of a university is to teach well," said Vera Norwood, acting dean, College of Arts and Sciences. "I am both humbled and proud that the faculty and graduate teaching assistants of the College of Arts and Sciences swept the outstanding teaching awards at UNM this year. But, I am not surprised--we take seriously our responsibility not only to our majors, but to the university as a whole, to create an environment that inspires student success."
For citation information on each awardee, click on the recipient's name.
The recipient of the Presidential Teaching Fellow is Jane Ellen Smith, psychology. Outstanding Teacher of the Year goes to Mary Domski, philosophy; and Jane Selverstone, earth and planetary sciences.
Adriana Aceves, mathematics and statistics, is the year’s Outstanding Adjunct Teacher/Lecturer of the Year.
Individuals receiving the Susan Deese-Roberts Outstanding Teaching Assistant of the Year Awards are: Alvaro Nosedal-Sanchez, mathematics and statistics; Christopher Brown, communication and journalism; Dana Reinhardt, foreign languages and literatures; Dennis Newell and Jennifer New, earth and planetary sciences; Erin Wilkinson, linguistics; and Robin Runia, English.
Media Contact: Carolyn Gonzales, (505) 277-5920; e-mail: cgonzal@unm.edu
In the year since the serious fire in the basement of Zimmerman Library, large portions of the building have been reopened to the public. The entire 257,000 square foot building has been cleaned and the first floor just above the fire scene has been redesigned, rebuilt and once again enjoys intensive use by students.
“I think this fire raised the level of awareness for life safety issues on campus,” said Acting UNM President David Harris.
Financial cost of the fire and repair of the damage to Zimmerman and its contents will total nearly $17 million. Investigation into the origin of the fire, which has been termed suspicious by the State Fire Marshal, is still underway.
The fire burned more than 13 racks of bound journals, some of them quite rare, and caused smoke and soot damage throughout the library. The cost of removing the burned book racks, carpet and ceiling tile, sending the damaged books for cleaning and repair in Texas, and storing books and furniture while the basement is redesigned and rebuilt will be about $5.5 million.
Replacing the burned and damaged books and journals will cost about $4.5 million. Complete replacement will not be possible, and in some cases journals will be replaced digitally rather than in printed form.
The cost of redesign and reconstruction of the basement will be about $6.5 million. This includes installing a sprinkler system on the first floor and basement levels, and rebuilding the fire alarm system. The price tag also includes replacing carpet, furniture and bookshelves.
In addition, and not included in the fire total, the university has agreed to a complete installation of a fire suppression system in the west wing, tower, and second and third floor areas of the library at an estimated cost of $1.2 million. Those areas were built before fire suppression systems were required by building codes and were not damaged in the fire.
Reconstruction of the basement is expected to begin in June 2007. University Libraries hopes to reopen the basement in time for the spring semester 2008.
Media Contact: Karen Wentworth, (505) 277-5627; e-mail: kwent2@unm.edu
Vera John-Steiner, professor of Language and Literacy and Sociocultural Studies in the College of Education and Presidential Professor in the Department of Linguistics, received the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award given by the American Educational Research Association recently.
Photo: Presidential Professor Vera John-Steiner
For more than 40 years, John-Steiner has been instrumental in her areas of research. Division G, The Social Context of Education, recognized her for lifetime work on collaboration, creativity, multicultural and bilingual education, and cultural-historical theory at the national meeting of the American Educational Research Association held in Chicago in early April 2007.
John-Steiner is a frequent lecturer and guest speaker in the United States and abroad. Several of her books have contributed to an emergent understanding of the relationship of language and thought in the course of development.
She has won numerous awards throughout her academic career including UNM’s Annual Research Lecturer award (1998), Fellow, American Psychological Association (1989), Faculty Scholar, Spring (1992), Resident Fellow, Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University (Spring 1990), and the UNM Presidential Professorship Award (1985 – 1990). She was also the recipient of the UNM Outstanding Graduate Teacher (1983).
Media Contact: Steve Carr, (505) 277-1821; e-mail: scarr@unm.edu
Many services will be unavailable Saturday and Sunday, May 12-13
Beginning Saturday, May 12 at 9 p.m. and continuing through Sunday, May 13 at 11 a.m., Information Technology Services (ITS) will power down all services, including the UNM network, for an Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) installation. UNMH will not be affected and all critical clinical services will be available. Main, North, South and all branch campuses will not have any internet services. During this time ITS will also perform other electrical upgrades, including relocating a transformer.
ITS coordinated the power upgrades with many entities on campus and found that this is the best possible window impacting the least amount of processes and/or services. There will be a 14-hour down time to connect the new UPS power feed, relocate the transformer and do all the electrical work associated with the upgrade.
ITS will safely power down all services, perform the upgrades and maintenance, power up, restore the network, and then safely bring services back up by 11 a.m. Sunday.
Specific details of the Power Upgrade can be found at the ITS Web site: Power Upgrade.
Media Contact: Steve Carr, (505) 277-1821; e-mail: scarr@unm.edu
Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs Reed Dasenbrock has announced the 2007 Outstanding Staff and Workgroup Award winners. They are: Outstanding Work Group - Center For Academic Programs Support (CAPS) and Outstanding Staff - Amy Jameson, Shirley Rey Lovato and Sandra Ortiz. A reception to honor the winners will be held in the Fiesta Room in the Student Union Building Friday, April 27, from 3 to 5 p.m.
Outstanding Work Group Award
Center For Academic Programs Support (CAPS)
Year after year, CAPS operates one of the most sophisticated and successful student employment programs at UNM. They utilize more than 80 tutors at both the undergraduate and graduate level providing them with extensive training in a highly structured work setting.
During the last review period, CAPS tutors provided over 30,000 contact hours of academic support to nearly 4,000 UNM students. One year ago when a basement fire closed Zimmerman Library just two weeks before finals, the CAPS staff did their final exam tutoring in borrowed space at the SUB and empty classrooms all over campus.
During the summer they set up field operations in Mitchell Hall and served as many students there as they had the previous year. Excellence, professionalism, creativity and initiative and a devotion to student success – all these University values have been manifested in special ways by the CAPS staff and students during this academic year.
Outstanding Staff Awards
Sandra Ortiz, office manager, physics and astronomy
Ortiz supervises all aspects of the front office operation. As supervisor, she deals with a broad spectrum of internal and external customers -- from students at all levels to other staff, as well as diverse faculty members including many foreign visitors -- on a regular basis. Ortiz is friendly, organized and very professional -- all positive characteristics which have been a trademark in various positions she has held in the department for approximately 20 years.
Amy Jameson, department administrator, English
Jameson has contributed to the success of the English Department in every possible way. Jameson manages the entire departmental office including budgets, departmental procedures and records. She supervises a staff that is highly varied from student employees to program coordinators to graduate and undergraduate advisors.
Jameson constantly strives for excellence. Her exceptional talents and capabilities as well as her initiative and creativity have had a significant impact on students, faculty and staff. Jameson is a model of integrity and professionalism. Her administrative talents and interpersonal skills have provided a model for harmonious interrelationships among staff and faculty alike.
Shirley Rey Lovato, department administrator, communication and journalism
Lovato is the department administrator in Communication and Journalism. Her duties include managing daily administrative operations of the department. She has been instrumental in helping the department accomplish its goals throughout the year.
Lovato is a leader and team player that will do whatever the department needs. She is the consummate professional and plays a critical role to the mission and daily function of the department.
About the Awards
Each spring semester of the academic year, the Provost presents an annual award to outstanding individual staff and a workgroup at the University of New Mexico who have provided extraordinary service. The winners have demonstrated extraordinary achievement in service to UNM and the community. They have exemplified university values including excellence, integrity and professionalism, diversity within the academic community, creativity and initiative, academic freedom, and access and student success. They also have contributed substantially to respective team and departmental accomplishments.
Media Contact: Steve Carr, (505) 277-1821; e-mail: scarr@unm.edu
Associate Vice President for Financial Services William Britton has announced the appointment of Elizabeth Kerkmans as bursar. She will assume oversight for the centralized accounts receivable systems for the university as well as operations of student financial services. Kerkmans takes over for Leo Moya who retired last year. She began her new position April 23.
Kerkmans will also be responsible for all cash handling functions of the University, accepting deposits from students, departments and external agencies as well as keeping complete records of tuition, fees and other receipts for the institution.
Kerkmans started at UNM in 1981 and has worked in various accounting positions in financial services. Most recently she was the manager of accounting for student accounting in the bursar organization.
“She has a strong and diverse background in management, accounting, financial aid, training and systems implementation,” Britton said.
Kerkmans’ office is located in the Student Services Center on campus across from the Student Union Building.
Media Contact: Steve Carr, (505) 277-1821; e-mail: scarr@unm.edu
Twelve participants in the University of New Mexico’s College Prep/College Readiness Program have been awarded Daniels Fund Scholarships, according to Mandie Pritchard, student program specialist, College Enrichment & Outreach Programs.
Recipients include:
Albuquerque High School
Ngoc Nguyen
Estancia High School
Gabriela Baltazar and Alyssa Barela
Rio Grande High School
Cynthia Miranda, Manuel Molina and Kateri Sisneros
Tohatchi High School
Loyola Rankin
Valley High School
Melissa Aragon, Stacy Daniels, Candace Martinez and Brittany Simplicio
West Mesa High School
Octavio Munoz
The Daniels Scholarship Program serves promising students with financial need who demonstrate academic performance and promise, strength of character, a well rounded personality and a commitment to give back to the community. Scholarship amounts are based on students’ financial need after family contribution is taken into account.
In New Mexico, 42 students were chosen this year to receive the scholarship. About half are associated with UNM-related programs, including College Prep/College Readiness, Service Learning programs and UNM/CNM ENLACE.
For more information visit: The Daniels Fund. For information about the scholarship’s impact at UNM, contact Mandie Pritchard at 277-3096, or pritchm@unm.edu.
An evaluation of safety and emergency notification practices underway at UNM heightened in the aftermath of the Virginia Tech tragedy. Students, parents, faculty and staff have posed the difficult question: Is UNM ready to cope if the unthinkable happens here?
The university has its own police force, fire marshal and emergency manager. About 100 additional staff across campus train to respond during critical incidents, said Police Chief Kathy Guimond. A comprehensive emergency management plan governs campus. University officials work closely with local, state and federal agencies.
The very nature of colleges and universities – with significant student turnover each year – requires continuous training about campus safety. A FEMA-certified team of high-level staff conducts drills. They are on-call 24/7 to staff an Emergency Operation Center (EOC). An Emergency Management Committee meets and makes recommendations to acting President David Harris
“UNM has a real commitment to emergency preparedness,” Guimond said. “We conduct announced and unannounced drills, and we’ve had actual EOC activations.”
Incoming President David Schmidly recently directed the formation of a campus wide Safety and Security Task Force. Harris said the work of this group would complement security integration efforts underway, as well as the work of Gov. Richardson’s Campus Safety Task Force.
The UNM group will be charged with a number of initiatives, including the evaluation of systems, infrastructure, personnel and equipment resources and making recommendations with respect to coordination of all campus security components.
An emergency preparation brochure will be posted at the Police Department’s Web site. It will be printed and distributed across campus and during new student and parent orientations, UNM Police Lt. Pat Davis said.
UNM uses repetitive forms of communication during an emergency, including the UNM e-mail alert, which goes to 40,000 across campus. Guimond says the university was able to quickly implement text messaging capabilities this week because it was in the process of purchasing a system. UNM contracted with e2Campus, which as the ability to send time-sensitive messages to students, faculty, staff and parents or other designates. Alerts can be sent to cell phones, e-mails, pagers and web pages. UNM subscribers will be allowed to enter up to two cell telephone numbers and two e-mail addresses.
“There is an area on UNM’s home page to subscribe. It takes about a minute to fill out the form and to signup. Initially, the system is only for emergency notifications,” said Paula Loendorf, Telecommunications director.
Media Contact: Laurie Mellas, (505) 277-5915; e-mail: lmellas@unm.edu
Peer Mentoring for Graduates of Color will present the first UNM Faculty of Color Awards at a reception on Wednesday, May 2, 5-7 p.m. at the UNM Faculty/Staff Club, 1923 Las Lomas NE. The awards recognize the outstanding work of faculty of color in mentoring, research, service and teaching.
The reception will honor faculty of color that have made a significant difference in the lives of graduate and professional students at UNM. Faculty of color are nominated by graduate and professional students and reviewed by a committee of graduate/professional students and staff. The nominees are listed below. Awardees will receive a UNM bookstore gift certificate and plaque.
The awards are intended as a way for graduate students of color to help retain faculty of color by recognizing their contributions to the campus and New Mexico community and support of students, faculty and staff.
Founded in 2002, PMGC is a student-based organization that works to build community among historically underrepresented groups in graduate school, to increase retention of students of color through academic, social, cultural and emotional support, and to build a more diverse population within UNM graduate and professional programs. For more information visit: http://www.unm.edu/~gradpeer.
The awards are also sponsored by the Black Graduate and Professional Student Association, Raza Graduate Student Association, Society for Native American Graduate Students and other graduate students of color organizations. RSVP to gradpeer@unm.edu or 277-7397.
UNM 2006-2007 Faculty of Color Awards Nominees
Charles Becknell, Africana Studies
Rebecca Blum-Martinez, LLSS
Kirsten Pai Buick, Art and Art History
Gregory Cajete, LLSS/Native American Studies
Finnie Coleman, English and Africana Studies
Teresa Cordova, Community and Regional Planning
Patricia Covarubias, Communications & Journalism
Larry Emerson, Native American Studies
Miguel Gandert, Communications & Journalism
Manuel Garcia y Griego
Phillip Gonzales, Sociology
Ray Hernandez-Duran, Art and Art History
David Hilliard, Research Service Learning Program/Africana Studies
Claudia Isaac, Community and Regional Planning
Ted Jojola, Community and Regional Planning
Miguel Lopez, Spanish/Portuguese
Nancy Lopez, Sociology
Glenobah Martinez, LLSS
Margaret Montoya, Law
Mario Rivera, Public Administration
Ilia Rodriguez, Communications & Journalism
Gabriel Sanchez, Political Science
Richard Santos, Economics
Mary Anne Santos Newhall, Theatre and Dance
Antoinette Sedillo Lopez, Law
Christine Sims, LLSS
Beverly Singer, Anthropology/Native American Studies
Ruth Trinidad Galvan, LLSS
Nelson Valdez, Sociology
Maggie Werner-Washburne, Biology
Maria Williams, Music/Native American Studies
Media Contact: Sari Krosinsky, (505) 277-1593; e-mail: michal@unm.edu
KNME continues its smart, provocative series, featuring some of the most outspoken media voices in the state on – The Line. The Line features UNM Health Sciences Center Executive Director for Communications and Marketing Billy Sparks and blogger Scot Key. The show broadcasts Friday, April 27 at 7 p.m. and repeats Sunday, April 29 at 6:30 a.m.
They join regular guest commentators including host Gene Grant, Albuquerque Tribune and political consultant and blogger Whitney Cheshire.
This week’s topics include:
** The 2008 elections are still a long way off, but many of the important state rDavid Brookshire are beginning to heat up. This week on The Line a look at how those key rDavid Brookshire may shake out, including who is running for what, and why.
** New Mexico is one of the leaders when it comes to charter schools. But, are those alternative learning environments thriving at the expense of traditional public schools?
** Governor Richardson is the first presidential contender to hit the airwaves in Iowa. How his message is playing and what it may mean for his run through the primaries.
Lively, stimulating and always unpredictable, The Line is a diverse take on the news you need to know. The Line strives to bring intelligent, witty, free-wheeling and civilized discourse to a New Mexico discussion, in this age of combative cable news coverage.
The Producer of The Line is Kevin McDonald. Closed Captioning of The Line has been made possible by a gift from Mrs. Elspeth G. Bobbs.
New Feature
Watch, at anytime, the streaming video as the panelists take on issues impacting New Mexico at: The Line.
UNM Auxiliary Enterprises and the Division of Student Affairs is conducting a survey to determine student and employee views and preferences regarding campus food service.
Participating in UNM’s Food Service Survey could win you a valuable prize. In 15 minutes, you could be registered to win a 80 GB Video IPOD (valued at $349), Southwest Airlines Gift Card ($300) and 8 GB IPOD Nano (valued at $249).
Three student participants and three faculty/staff participants will be selected at random to win.
The survey was developed with the help of an independent consulting firm, Envision Strategies of Centennial, Colorado, to assist in establishing the future direction of the Campus Food Service at UNM.
Responses will be kept confidential and are not identifiable to you. Click on the link to enter the survey site: Food Service Survey.
The survey will be available on this site until May 4, 2007.
John Spicochi, who will graduate from the University of New Mexico in May with a degree in English/professional writing, was recently awarded for technical communication expertise. Jonathan Price, president, Kachina Chapter, Society for Technical Communication, presented Spicochi with a certificate and a scholarship check for $250.
Photo: John Spicochi and Jonathan Price
Top technical communication students from New Mexico Tech and New Mexico State University were also awarded. Students were selected for outstanding academic work in technical communications programs and contributions to school programs.
Spicochi is an intern in the Technical Media Group at Eclipse Aviation where he proofreads and edits flight manuals, maintenance manuals and manufacturing manuals. His computer knowledge and background as a computer technician have proved valuable in this internship. After graduation, Spicochi plans to become a technical editor where he can use both computer and professional writing skills.
STC is an organization dedicated to advancing the art and science of technical communication. It is the largest organization of its type in the world. Its 18,000 members include technical writers and editors, content developers, documentation specialists, technical illustrators, instructional designers, academics, information architects, usability and human factors professionals, visual designers, Web designers and developers, and translators—anyone whose work makes technical information available to those who need it.
The University of New Mexico’s new Emergency Notification System is now available for emergency messages to the Albuquerque campus. TextMe UNM is an opt-in text messaging system that provides UNM students, faculty and staff with fast, convenient, real-time message alerts. For direct access to the signup page visit: TextMe UNM.
You can receive important campus information on your:
* Mobile Phone (via text messaging)
* Web Page
* E-mail
* Text Pager
* Google, AOL or My Yahoo Page
TextMe UNM registration is for a default period of one year. You will receive a reminder to re-enroll to continue receiving alerts 30 days prior to your account expiration.
Media Contact: Steve Carr, (505) 277-1821; e-mail: scarr@unm.edu
Schmidly responds to constituency concerns
At the direction of incoming president David J. Schmidly, the University of New Mexico has formed a Safety and Security Task Force, made up of students, faculty and staff, who will review the current state of safety and security on campus as well as explore new strategies being proposed to strengthen both areas. The group will then make recommendations to the President and senior administration.
“President Schmidly asked that we form this task force when he was here earlier this month, after hearing the ideas of faculty and staff who have an interest in campus safety issues,” said acting President and Executive Vice President for Administration David Harris. “We were already pulling the group together when the tragic events happened at Virginia Tech.”
Harris said the work of this task force would complement the security integration efforts that have been underway on campus for the past year, as well as the work of Governor Richardson’s Campus Safety Task Force. The UNM group will be charged with:
* assessing best practices used by comparable institutions nationwide;
* reviewing and making recommendations regarding ongoing campus communication in conjunction with the Security Integration Initiative;
* evaluating systems and infrastructure and making recommendations on closed circuit security cameras, lighting, electronic access control, etc.;
* evaluating personnel and equipment resources needed for expanded campus safety and security; and
* making recommendations with respect to coordination of all campus security components.
UNM’s Safety and Security Task Force will be headed by Breda Bova, Special Faculty Advisor to the President. Its members include Kathy Guimond, UNM Chief of Police; Don Scott, UNM Emergency Manager; Jackie Hood, Faculty; Joseph Garcia, Graduate and Professional Students Association; Hollie Medina, Staff Council; Randy Boeglin, Dean of Students; Jim De Zetter, Safety, Health and Environmental Affairs; Denece Kessler, HSC Faculty; Amy Boule, UNMH Operations; and Greg Sanchez, Manager, City of Albuquerque Emergency Services. Representatives from ASUNM and from the Albuquerque office of the FBI will also join the task force.
The group is expected to make its preliminary recommendations to President Schmidly by May 31, 2007.
Media Contact: Susan McKinsey, (505) 277-1989; e-mail: mckinsey@unm.edu
During the week of April 23-27, international VIPs are at the University of New Mexico to discuss faculty and student exchanges between their schools and UNM, announced Eliseo “Cheo” Torres, vice president for Student Affairs. The leaders are also at UNM to discuss international bridge programs designed to help students from Mexico and other Latin American countries matriculate to college and successfully navigate their way through American higher education.
The VIPs are actually visiting in two groups, Torres said. One group of about 20 university presidents is here to take a course in Public Administration, Education, and Leadership. The Division of Student Affairs and the College of Education’s Language, Literacy, and Sociocultural Studies Department are collaborating to offer this seminar to the international visitors.
On Thursday, April 26 and Friday, April 27, a second group of university administrators, presidents and state officials from Latin America will arrive.
They represent about 40 different universities and colleges in Colombia, Costa Rica, and Paraguay, in addition to Mexican universities in Chihuahua, Jalisco, Estado de Mexico, Morelos and Nuevo Leon. This group will also include the former national minister of education for Mexico, Dr. Reyes Tamez Guerra, who is currently the secretary of education for the state of Nuevo Leon.
Jointly, the groups will learn about existing academic exchange programs, discuss new programs, and talk to UNM faculty, students and administrators about UNM programs that may interest Latin American students.
VIPs travel to Santa Fe on Wednesday, April 25, to meet with New Mexico public officials. On Friday, the groups will honor State Senator Shannon Robinson for helping to facilitate Latin American recruitment at UNM. The ceremony honoring Sen. Robinson, who represents District 17 in Albuquerque, will take place from 1- 2:30 p.m. at the Student Union Building, ballroom A.
Immediately following this event, another ceremony will be held at which UNM officials and Latin American administrators will sign memoranda of agreement concerning future international bridge programs and exchanges.
“These visits by university administrators and government education officials are very beneficial to UNM,” Torres said. “They help us to recruit top students from Latin America and raise our profile internationally. Over time, these programs will bear more and more rewards for us. UNM will become a destination of choice for the best and brightest Latin American students seeking an education in the U.S.”
For more information about the the international VIP visits, please contact Eliseo “Cheo” Torres, UNM vice president for Student Affairs, at 505-277-0952, or at cheo@unm.edu.
UNM’s Parent Relations Office, in conjunction with the Student Affairs Division, is conducting the university’s first parent survey. Access the survey online at Parent Relations. Data will be used to plan programs and services for parents and students. Participants are eligible for prizes, including Lobo Cash and a stadium blanket.
UNM is administering the survey through Student Voice, a national firm offering a new class of assessment tools that make the data-gathering practice actionable, effective and non-intrusive.
Results of the UNM Parent Survey will be posted on the Parent Relations site in early fall.
Media Contact: Laurie Mellas, (505) 277-5915; e-mail: lmellas@unm.edu
Forty students from the UNM U.S. Army Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) Unit participated in the spring semester training event last week. The event, which serves as a final for juniors, took place on Kirtland Air Force Base.
Photo: Cadets prepare for a simulated assault on a bunker as part of a training exercise.
Captain Donald Martinez says the Army ROTC unit has one major exercise each semester. “We teach hands-on leadership,” he says, “as opposed to the classroom experience.”
Students carrying packs loaded with paintball guns and ammunition climbed aboard two Army Blackhawk helicopters south of the University Arena and flew to Kirtland where some students assaulted a bunker, while senior cadets defended it. Team leaders had to plan and lead the assault. They are graded for their leadership potential and some juniors will be sent to a leadership training camp next summer.
The students will use the camp experience to help them decide whether they want to go directly into the U.S. Army after graduation or whether they want to be part of the National Guard.
Employees were honored for excellent service to UNM students during the Annual Student Affairs Recognition Reception April 17. Vice President for Student Affairs Eliseo “Cheo” Torres led the awards ceremony. The provost also attended.
Vivian Sanchez, supervisor for administrative support, College Enrichment Program (CEP), received the Employee of the Year Award. The honor is given to a Student Affairs staffer who excels in service to students. Sanchez’s work with students and parents during freshman orientation programs, support of other staff, her warmth and energy and 25-plus years of service to students were all cited as reasons for her nomination.
Sarah Guilinger, student supervisor, Recreational Services Department, was given the Student Employee of the Year Award. Guilinger, biology major, was cited for her positive attitude and helpfulness to students, and for work as a volunteer for the Agora Crisis Center.
Judy Aragon-Ortiz, recruiting assistant, UNM Air Force ROTC, received the Student Service Staff Award. Nominators spoke of her commitment and enthusiasm, dedication to students, guidance, understanding, and volunteer support to minority student organizations.
Elizabeth Noll, associate dean and associate professor of Language, Literacy & Sociocultural Studies in the College of Education, was presented with the Student Service Faculty Award. Noll was cited for her role as an innovative mentor to education professionals, including her initiation of the College of Education Graduate Student Colloquium, and her guidance of students as they enter the academic marketplace.
Emergency system to be in place by Wednesday, April 25
The University of New Mexico will implement a new campus-wide emergency notification system designed to send instant alerts to all students, faculty and staff. UNM has contracted with e2Campus, a self-service, selective mass notification system that empowers schools and colleges to send instant alerts and time-sensitive messages to parents, students, faculty and staff – wherever they are – all at once from one easy-to-use interface.
“Any student, faculty or staff member at UNM can opt-in,” said Paula Loendorf, director, Telecommunications. “There will be an area on UNM’s home page to subscribe. It takes about a minute to fill out the form and to signup. Initially, the system will only be for emergency notifications.”
UNM officials expect the service to be operable beginning Wednesday, April 25. Students, faculty and staff will be able to sign up for the new service, which will be for Albuquerque campus notifications, via UNM’s homepage at www.unm.edu.
Instant alerts can be sent to cell phones, e-mails, pagers and web pages. Any UNM subscriber will be allowed to enter up to two cell telephone numbers and two e-mail addresses. However, there is no system that is 100 percent effective.
"There is no one fool proof method for notifying individuals in an emergency situation," said Loendorf. "The University is continuing to explore other communication methods for emergency conditions."
UNM is also considering using the system to send group messages with specific information targeting topics such as enrollment and registration deadlines. Users will have the option of subscribing to the other services UNM plans to implement in the future.
The e2Campus service is provided by Omnilert LLC, a Washington D.C. based company that develops and markets the leading selective mass notification system. In 2004, the Onmilert developed the patent-pending Omnilert Network and the e2Campus service specifically designed for schools. For more information about Omnilert visit: Omnilert.
The 100 percent web-based system enables administrators to instantly send messages at a fraction of the cost and complexity of existing emergency notification solutions. There is no software to install and no hardware to buy. A school can setup a secure notification system in minutes to send routine, urgent or emergency alerts to their campus community.
Media Contact: Steve Carr, (505) 277-1821; e-mail: scarr@unm.edu
UNM Provost Reed Dasenbrock has announced four finalists for executive director of the UNM-Taos branch campus. They are: Refugio Rochin, Catherine (Kate) O’Neill, Enrique Lamadrid and Wade Hobgood. Each candidate will spend a day in Taos and then a day in Albuquerque, meeting with administrators, faculty, staff, students and community members.
Open forums for the Taos community have been scheduled for each candidate. Each open forum will be held at 5:30 p.m. in the Los Angelitos room in Coronado Hall at 116 Civic Plaza Dr. in Taos.
Refugio Rochin
Rochin is currently a program evaluator for the University of California, Davis where he has served in a variety of roles, including director for research and evaluation of the Educational Partnership Center at UC Santa Cruz. He has also been executive director of SACNAS, the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos/Latinos and Native Americans in Science and the founding director of the Smithsonian Center for Latino Initiatives. His Ph.D. is from Michigan State in Agricultural Economics. Rochin’s open forum is scheduled for Monday, April 30.
Catherine (Kate) O'Neill
O’Neill is currently the interim executive director at UNM-Taos, where she has taught since 1994. Her Ed.D. in Human Development and Psychology is from Harvard. Her open forum with the community will be Tuesday, May 1.
Enrique Lamadrid
Lamadrid is the director of the Chicano, Hispano, and Mexicano Studies Program and professor of Spanish at UNM Albuquerque, where he has taught since 1985. His Ph.D. in Spanish is from the University of Southern California. His open forum with the community is scheduled for Wednesday, May 2.
Wade Hobgood
Hopgood is a professor of Mass Communications at the University of North Carolina-Asheville. From 2000 to 2005, he was the chancellor of the North Carolina School of the Arts. His Master of Fine Arts in Communication Arts is from East Carolina University. His open forum with the community will be Thursday May 3.
There will be an opportunity at each forum for every member of the audience to express their opinion of the candidates. Comments on the candidates may also be sent to provost@unm.edu.
The deadline for those comments is Friday, May 4 at 5 p.m.
Media Contact: Karen Wentworth, (505) 277-5627; e-mail: kwent2@unm.edu
The Office of International Programs and Studies announces International Festival 2007, an event filled with food, music, dance and arts and crafts, on Thursday, April 26 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. It will be held in front of the Student Union Building and is free and open to the public.
Among groups hosting booths is UNM Israel Alliance, a student from Madagascar, Brazil Club, Taiwanese Student Alliance, Peace Corps, Turkish Student Association, Model United Nations Group, Indian Student Association, Falon Gong Club and PMGS, to mention just some.
“Various groups are hosting tables. They will be celebrating their particular culture by selling foods and crafts or presenting music,” said Heather Greene, international advisement specialist in OIPS.
The event will feature a stage where various groups will perform play music, sing and dance. Also, Yong Kim US Tai Kwon Do Center will do a presentation.
“This is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate international cultures. We have and respect diversity at the University of New Mexico and this is an opportunity to take some time to celebrate and honor it,” Greene said.
Media Contact: Carolyn Gonzales, (505) 277-5920; e-mail: cgonzal@unm.edu
The Albuquerque chapter of Construction Specifications Institute has committed to endow a scholarship in its name. The endowment is distinctive because it is split between the University of New Mexico School of Architecture and Planning and the School of Engineering.
Pictured (l. to r.): Ted Green, CSI-Albuquerque president and School of Architecture and Planning alum; David Vaughan, CSI vice president, industry; Jan Bandrofchak, chief development officer, School of Architecture and Planning; Cleve Gibbon, JELD-WEN Windows and Doors sales rep; Marilyn Mills, CSI immediate past president; Roger Schluntz, dean, School of Architecture and Planning; Kevin Malloy, associate dean, School of Engineering.
Through sponsorship of the 7th Annual CSI Continuing Education Conference & Product Show last October, JELD-WEN Windows and Doors helped the chapter reach its goal. Recently, several members of the CSI-Albuquerque Board of Directors awarded a check to representatives of the two UNM schools.
Media Contact: Carolyn Gonzales, (505) 277-5920; e-mail: cgonzal@unm.edu
Award winning musician, master guitarist and native flute player, singer, songwriter and producer Keith Secola will appear on Tuesday, April 24, at two events in Zimmerman Library. At noon, he will speak at the brown bag lunch in the Herstein Reading Room, and at 3 p. m. he will give a lecture and performance in the Willard Room in the west wing.
Secola is a member of the Asinshinabe Nation is originally from the Mesabi Iron Range country of northern Minnesota. He now resides in Arizona where he plays his brand of native folk and blues rock.
His music is familiar to thousands of fans across North America and Europe. Secola’s famous song “NDN Kars” is considered the contemporary Native American anthem. He is a six-time winner of Native American music awards.
The Medicine Wheel lecture series is sponsored by the Indigenous Nations Library Program. Both events are free and the public is welcome.
Media Contact: Karen Wentworth, (505) 277-5627; e-mail: kwent2@unm.edu
UNM Sustainability Studies Program invites you to the last Sustainability “Greenbag” Lunch of the semester. Faculty, staff, students, and community members interested in sustainability should attend this networking lunch on Thursday, April 26, 12 noon – 1:30 p.m. at the University Honors Program Lounge, located on the ground floor of the UNM Student Health Building.
The program this month includes:
I. Overview of UNM Sustainability Task Force and Process
II. Update on Campus Sustainability Policy Sub-Committee
III. Community-wide visioning exercise!
Please invite friends and colleagues to join.
For more information contact Moana at mswright@unm.edu.
Media Contact: Sabra Basler, (505) 277-7590; e-mail: sbasler@unm.edu
UNM alumna Franci Washburn will read from her new novel, “Elsie’s Business,” at the Student Union building Santa Ana room on Friday, April 27 at 7 p.m. She will be introduced by Gerald Vizenor, professor of American studies, who selected her novel for the Native Storiers Series.
“This event speaks to all that is best about the creative writing program and about the English department at UNM,” said Sharon Oard Warner, director of creative writing.
Washburn received a master’s in writing and a doctorate in American studies from UNM. She is an assistant professor of English and Native American studies at the University of Arizona.
The reading, sponsored by the UNM English department’s Poets & Writers series and the Provost’s Speakers Bureau, is free and open to the public.
Media Contact: Sari Krosinsky, (505) 277-1593; e-mail: michal@unm.edu
College Enrichment and Outreach Honors Academic Achievement
The University of New Mexico’s College Enrichment and Outreach Programs announce student awardees for the 5th Annual Student Recognition. Awards will be presented on Tuesday, April 24.
CAMP or College Assistance Migrant Program, awards for exceptional student achievement go to Adria Cordova of Questa; Janella Mendoza, Carlsbad; and Orlando Obeso, Roswell.
CEP or College Enrichment Program awards go to Albuquerqueans Erica Rios-Casillas, for academic excellence and outstanding service to CEP; Jose Villar, for outstanding service to CEP; and Mabel Arellanes for academic excellence.
Daniel’s Fund awards go to Cynthia Miranda, Albuquerque; Gabriela Baltazar, Tajique; and Gregory Soliz, Albuquerque. All are recognized with outstanding student awards.
The EOC, or Education Opportunity Center, award goes to Elena Maria Luz Carr, Dixon, who receives the award for perseverance.
HEP, or high school equivalency program, awards go to Ramon Gambino, Navolato, Sinaloa, Mexico, for excellent academic achievement; Jannet Parra, Cuauhtemoc, Chihuahua, Mexico, for academic achievement and dedication; and Maria Perez, Sombrerete, Zacatecas, Mexico, for academic perseverance and determination.
Ronald McNair Scholars include Diem Nguyen, Albuquerque; Jenelle Manzanares, Española; and Juan Ortiz Andujar, Puerto Rico. All are honored as top scholars.
ROP, or Research Opportunity Programs, awards go to top scholars and Albuquerqueans Brent Jordan, Herman Leo Gutierrez and Maria DeBlassie.
SSS, or Student Support Services, awards go to Eric Esparza, Gallup; Linda Mejia, Albuquerque; and Nancy Flores, Albuquerque. All are honored for excellent academic achievement.
Summer Bridge awardees are Albuquerqueans Bich Lein Nguyen, excellent academic achievement; Joseph LaPointe, academic perseverance and determination; and Nawid Farhad, excellent academic achievement.
Upward Bound awardees are Albuquerqueans Christian Chavez, Elissia Torres and Malachi Johnson, all noted for academic achievement and program involvement.
Media Contact: Carolyn Gonzales, (505) 277-5920; e-mail: cgonzal@unm.edu
Political Science Professor Gregory Gleason has been accepted as a 2007-08 academic fellow with the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies in Washington, D.C. As an FDD fellow, he will participate in an educational program focusing on the threat of terrorism to democracy. The program takes place in Israel this spring.
Photo: Gregory Gleason, professor, Political Science
“My concern is primarily with democracy. Unfortunately there is a lot of evidence that democracy is typically the first casualty of insurgency. It is very important for established democracies to take steps to protect themselves from insurgents and terrorists without sacrificing the values of tolerance, openness, fairness and free play that are so important to us,” Gleason said.
The FDD Academic Fellowship Program consists of an intensive lecture series of lectures by academics, diplomats and military officials from India, Israel, Jordan, Turkey and the U.S. as well as field trips to military, police and immigration facilities throughout Israel. The goal is to educate participants about terrorism and how democratic states combat the threat.
“As a political scientist I have been working on studying the problems and the possibilities of developing countries for nearly three decades. It is a very unfortunate fact that terrorists and insurgents in many countries in the developing world are carrying on irregular warfare. These people are trying to achieve advantage by employing secrecy, subterfuge, deception, ignorance or public naiveté in order to establish their own political order,” Gleason said.
“UNM has been very gracious and generous during my tenure at the university in permitting sabbatical leave that has made it has possible for me to study the problems of development and political order in the countries of the Middle East and Central Asia.”
Gleason’s research includes applied projects aimed at improving governance and the possibilities for democracy in the developing world.
FDD is a non-profit, non-partisan think tank based in Washington, D.C. that seeks to educate Americans about the terrorist threat to democracies worldwide. FDD produces independent analyses of global terrorist threats that explore the historical, cultural, philosophical and ideological factors that drive terrorism and threaten the individual freedoms guaranteed within democratic societies.
Media Contact: Carolyn Gonzales, (505) 277-5920; e-mail: cgonzal@unm.edu
Despite Billy the Kid’s death in July 1881, history professor Paul Hutton remains hot on his trail. In his recent article appearing in the May 2007 issue of “True West,” Hutton provides insight into both the myth and reality of Billy the Kid. Additionally, Hutton is curating an exhibit, “Dreamscape Desperado: Billy the Kid and the Outlaw in America,” at the Albuquerque Museum. The exhibit runs May 13 – July 22.
Hutton describes Pulp Fiction Billy in books for children, comic book adaptations of Kid films and of course pulp novels. Dancing Billy? Sure, and Aaron Copland composed the music for the Billy the Kid ballet which opened in Chicago’s Civic Opera House in October 1938.
By 2007, Hutton wrote, “60 films about Billy have been made—making him the most filmed historic figure in America.”
The film industry isn’t alone in taking on the Kid. Musicians including Bob Dylan, Bon Jovi and Billy Joel have told the Kid’s tale.
The cover of the current issue of “New Mexico Magazine” invites readers in for more about the exhibit.
Media Contact: Carolyn Gonzales, (505) 277-5920; e-mail: cgonzal@unm.edu
Peer Mentoring for Graduates of Color will present the first UNM Faculty of Color Awards at a reception on Wednesday, May 2, 5-7 p.m. at the UNM Faculty Club. The awards recognize the outstanding work of faculty of color in mentoring, research, service and teaching.
The reception will honor faculty of color that have made a significant difference in the lives of graduate and professional students at UNM. Faculty of color are nominated by graduate and professional students and reviewed by a committee of graduate/professional students and staff. Awardees will receive a UNM bookstore gift certificate and plaque.
The awards are intended as a way for graduate students of color to help retain faculty of color by recognizing their contributions to the campus and New Mexico community and support of students, faculty and staff.
Founded in 2002, PMGC is a student-based organization that works to build community among historically underrepresented groups in graduate school, to increase retention of students of color through academic, social, cultural and emotional support, and to build a more diverse population within UNM graduate and professional programs. For more information visit http://www.unm.edu/~gradpeer.
The awards are also sponsored by the Black Graduate and Professional Student Association, Raza Graduate Student Association, Society for Native American Graduate Students and other graduate students of color organizations.
Media Contact: Sari Krosinsky, (505) 277-1593; e-mail: michal@unm.edu
The College of Education at the University of New Mexico is scheduled for a Fall 2007 accreditation review by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE). Federal regulations require that accrediting agencies allow for public comment on the qualifications of institutions or programs under consideration for first accreditation or continuing accreditation.
Both NCATE and UNM recognize graduates, parents, schools, and community organizations have valuable perspectives on the quality of the programs that prepare teachers and other school personnel. We invite interested parties to submit written testimony on the College of Education to:
Board of Examiners
NCATE
2010 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Suite 500
Washington, DC 20036-1023
Comments may also be sent via e-mail to: callforcomments@ncate.org
Comments must address substantive matters related to the quality of professional education programs offered at University of New Mexico, and should specify the respondent’s relationship, if any, to the institution (i.e., graduate, present or former faculty member, employer of graduates). Copies of all correspondence received will be sent to University of New Mexico for comment prior to the review. No anonymous testimony will be considered.
Letters of comment should be received no later than Friday, Sept. 1, 2007 for institutions with visits in Fall 2007.
Media Contact: Steve Carr, (505) 277-1821; e-mail: scarr@unm.edu
Public television station KNME-TV, Channel 5, presents a new program honoring the annual Albuquerque Museum Foundation’s “Notable New Mexican” on Colores! “From Curandera To Chupacabra: The Stories of Rudolfo Anaya,” airs Wednesday, April 25 at 7 p.m. and again at 10:30 p.m. It repeats Friday, April 27 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, April 29 at 7 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.
Photo: Rudolfo Anaya
Myth-maker, magician, grandfather and guru of Chicano literature, author Rudolfo Anaya is best known for introducing readers to the landscapes and characters of New Mexico, reawakening traditions and defying stereotypes of the Mexican-American experience.
Anaya published his first novel in 1972, a coming of age story set in rural New Mexico about a boy cast into a spiritual world of contradictions and guided by a traditional healer or “curandera.”
The book, “Bless Me Ultima,” put New Mexico on the literary map and gave birth to Anaya’s prolific writing career, which has included a steady and diverse flow of novels, short stories, mysteries, plays, epic poems, and children’s books. His work has earned him national honors, such as the 1971 Premio Quinto Sol Literary Award and the 2001 Presidential Medal of Arts.
“’From Curandera to Chupacabra’ looks at the struggles and exultations of the creative process of writing from the standpoint of an author whose life is steeped in New Mexican tradition,” Kelly Kowalski, KNME producer said.
“Steering away from a strict biographical sketch, the documentary has friends, colleagues and other writers reading excerpts from Rudolfo Anaya’s novels, short stories, plays, travelogues, and children’s books, each contemplating their personal perspective on Anaya’s prose. Anaya talks about how he shapes his writing from influences such as his childhood, family, the New Mexico’s landscapes and traditional folktales, as well as the mythological and dream-like symbols arising from his own subconscious world.
Besides being dubbed ‘the grandfather of Chicano literature,’ Rudolfo Anaya is committed to writing about la raza the people, and la tierra - the land - a commitment that has earned him an honorary place in the hearts of New Mexicans,” Kowalski said.
Each year the Albuquerque Museum Foundation celebrates individuals for their achievements and contributions to New Mexico. An excerpt of the KNME production will be shown at the Notable New Mexican event beginning at the Museum on April 22 at 5:30 p.m. with a cocktail reception at the museum. Attendees will then go to the Hotel Albuquerque for a dinner, which begins at 7 p.m. Tickets are $150 each and benefit the museum’s educational programming, exhibits and acquisitions. For tickets or more information, call 842-0111.
Media Contact: Evy Todd, (505) 277-1218; e-mail: etodd@unm.edu
Head athletics trainer Dave Binder was honored as a Faculty Mentor for his guidance to a pair of UNM students. Lobo undergrads Amber Martinez and Addie Phillips have worked for Binder as student trainers the past four years. Martinez and Phillips, who will graduate in May, noted how instrumental Binder has been in helping them in the field of athletic training.
Part of their class curriculum was making a presentation at the UNM Undergraduate Research and Creativity Conference on April 3. Binder, who has 37 years of experience in athletics training at the collegiate level, has been the Lobos' head trainer since 1995.
Elizabeth Taimi, Assistant Director of the Lobo Club, has been awarded one of 25 inaugural National Association of Athletic Development Directors (NAADD) Diversity Initiative Program grants to attend the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics convention in Orlando, Fla., in June.
Taimi has worked with the Lobo Club since July 2007 and has previous experience at Yale, the University of Massachusetts and the NCAA office in Indianapolis. Taimi’s responsibilities with the Lobo Club include assistance with the annual membership drive and oversight of both the $1.6 million gift-in-kind program and the Junior Lobo Club. She is currently working toward her Ph.D. in Sport Administration at UNM.
Following a successful membership-drive this semester, the Faculty/Staff Club will be restricted to members and guests only beginning Monday, April 30. For those considering membership, the club will serve a catered breakfast on Friday, April 27, 7:30 to 9:30 a.m., the last membership-drive event of the semester.
The club has welcomed nonmembers for a trial period since it opened 2005. Earlier this semester, the club opened membership to staff as well as faculty, and is now close to reaching the optimal number of members that can be accommodated by the available space. Starting April 30, members will have access to the club through a Lobo Card swipe system.
Dues for the Faculty/Staff Club are $5 per month through payroll deduction. For more information or to become a member, visit http://www.unm.edu/~fsca.
Media Contact: Sari Krosinsky, (505) 277-1593; e-mail: michal@unm.edu
Career Services presents the Educator’s Job Fair 2007 on Wednesday, April 25, from 3 - 7 p.m. in the SUB ballroom. The fair is open to students, alumni and community members interested in education-related jobs and careers.
More than 50 job recruiters from New Mexico and other areas of the nation are attending. Visit the Career Services’ web site www.career.unm.edu to review a complete list of registered organizations.
Coinciding with the career fair is “Resume Rescue.” Career Development facilitators will be available from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday, April 23, and Tuesday, April 24, for walk-in visits to assist individuals in preparing for the career fair.
Facilitators will also conduct a “How to Work a Career Fair” workshop Monday, April 23 and Tuesday, April 24 from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. in the Career Services Office. Topics will include general job search processes, career fairs, resumes and interviews, as well as any questions or topics asked by the workshop group.
The Graduate Workshop Series, a series of workshops designed specifically for the professional development needs of master’s and Ph.D. level students will offer the following workshops for the month of April:
- Making an Impression with your Professional Etiquette Knowledge - a reception and dining presentation/workshop, Wednesday, April 18, 5 to 8 p.m.
- Teaching Skills- Part 2, Friday, April 20, 2 to 4 p.m.
Media Contact: Laurie Mellas, (505) 277-5915; e-mail: lmellas@unm.edu
At noon on Wednesday, April 18, in the SUB atrium, UNM students are invited to sign banners or send notes of support to the students of Virginia Tech.
As the City of Albuquerque is planning a vigil April 18 at 7:15 p.m. at Harry Kinney Civic Plaza (4th St. and Marquette), UNM students are invited to participate there. Plans for a Thursday on-campus vigil have been cancelled.
Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority invites all students to join them on April 18, at 8 p.m. for a candlelight tribute ceremony at 1620 Mesa Vista N.E. Limited parking is available in the T lot on the corner of University and Lomas. The national Kappa Kappa Gamma charter requests that no photos be taken during this event.
Additionally, CARS will be hosting an informal discussion on Friday, April 20 from 11 a.m. to 12 noon. It will be held in the Mirage-Thunderbird room in the Student Union Building.
UNM’s Student Health Center has organized a therapeutic debriefing session for Friday at 2 p.m. in the Student Health Center, rm. 234. For more information on campus counseling services, visit http://parent.unm.edu/.
Less than 48 hours ago, a horrific event occurred at Virginia Tech, a campus similar to ours in many ways. The world for higher education has changed in those hours. Now that we know the details of what happened, if not the reasons behind it, and now that we’ve had the opportunity to reflect, we want to inform you of many of the steps that are being taken here at UNM in response.
A letter of condolence and support has been sent to the president of Virginia Tech on behalf of the students, faculty, staff and administrators of UNM. We are expressing our deepest sorrow and assuring the Virginia Tech community that they are not alone – we are all brethren in the higher education family.
We applaud our UNM students for taking the initiative and planning a campus vigil for tomorrow (Thursday) night - giving the UNM community an opportunity to come together to reflect, to express their sorrow and their solidarity with Virginia Tech.
As detailed on our website and in the News Minute, several venues for counseling have been made available for students and anyone else in distress and in need of someone with whom to talk. We applaud Student Health, CARS, the Dean of Students and the residence halls for their immediate response on behalf of our students. On Friday, the Student Health Center will provide an opportunity for students to process their feelings and reactions (in a therapy group type setting) to the tragedy in Virginia. Details will be communicated shortly.
Our Chief of Police began dealing with dozens of media inquiries almost immediately. We can be reassured that UNM has an emergency plan fully capable of dealing with incidents that may occur on or near campus. We have more than a hundred individuals, both on main campus and at health sciences, who go through training exercises regularly and are prepared.
However, in light of these recent events, UNM is re-evaluating not only its emergency management plans but also its crisis communication vehicles. We have learned from this tragedy and are taking steps to strengthen our resources and response capabilities.
UNM is in total support of Governor Bill Richardson’s directive to the Higher Education Department to evaluate the readiness of safety and emergency response on all New Mexico campuses. When President Schmidly was here last week, he asked me and Academic Advisor to the President Breda Bova to form a cross-campus Safety Task Force that will be tasked with reviewing emergency management procedures and sensitizing their constituencies to general issues of safety. Members of that task force will be named shortly.
UNM police want to remind us again that we should all take a moment to think about our own personal safety on campus. We encourage each of you to review emergency plans for your dorms, offices and classrooms. As always, we encourage you to report any suspicious activity immediately to UNM Police at 277-2241 or 911 from any on-campus phone. In keeping with our obligation of keeping each other safe, we also ask that you be proactive, and if someone you know appears to be at risk and needs help, please tell someone in authority who can arrange assistance. Again, UNM has provided access to counseling resources. For more information visit: http://parent.unm.edu/.
Finally, as we continue to reflect on the tragic events at Virginia Tech, it is important that we remain thoughtful of and supportive of each other. Our true strength will be realized in our solidarity.
Erendida Reyes Palma, a mechanical engineering major is the Hispanic Engineer National Achievement Awards Conference featured scholar of the week. The tribute features outstanding Hispanic students majoring in science, technology, engineering and mathematics throughout the nation. The citation can be viewed at http://www.henaac.org.
Palma is interested in becoming a mechanical engineer in the automotive industry, and would eventually like to pursue a Ph.D.
Media Contact: Karen Wentworth, (505) 277-5627; e-mail: kwent2@unm.edu
The New Mexico Historical Review, owned and published quarterly by the University of New Mexico, has received the 2007 Heritage Preservation Award of the State Historian for Excellence in New Mexico Heritage Scholarship, announced Durwood Ball, editor.
In his letter, New Mexico State Historian Dr. Estevan Rael-Galvez states that the award honors “the publication's long history of publishing scholarly research and of providing more information on preservation in New Mexico and the Southwest than virtually any other publication.”
The honor came from the Cultural Properties Review Committee, which Rael-Galvez chairs, and the Historic Preservation Division, of the Department of Cultural Affairs.
Media Contact: Carolyn Gonzales, (505) 277-5920; e-mail: cgonzal@unm.edu
A number of avenues are available for members of the campus community who want to seek counseling following today's tragic events at Virginia Tech including: Agora Crisis Center, Student Health Center, Residence Hall Advisors, Dean of Students and Counseling, Assistance & Referral (CARS).
Contact numbers for the above offices are:
Agora Crisis Center - Albuquerque, 277-3013; nationwide, call 1-866-HELP-1-NM
Student Health Center - 277-3136
Residence Hall Advisors - 277-9203
Dean of Students - 277-8230
CARS - 272-6868
For more information visit: http://parent.unm.edu/.
Additionally, UNM Police reiterate the need for people to be observant, to take seriously things that appear suspicious and to report them to police. They also ask that people be proactive, and if someone they know appears to be at risk and needs help, please tell someone in authority who can arrange assistance. For more information visit the UNM Police Web site at: UNM Police.
An unprecedented volunteer force will serve the Albuquerque community in a one-day, city-wide service project Saturday, April 21, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. in an annual event known as Spring Storm.
Concentrating on more long-term projects like organizing libraries, building sustainable gardens and rebuilding trails in the foothills, this years Spring Storm has a goal of amassing 1,200 volunteers, said Nico Condon, communication director, ASUNM Community Experience.
“As of right now, we have signed up about 850 people,” Condon said. “Student organizations, fraternities, sororities, staff council, UNM Athletics, even whole classes and other community members have signed up.”
The first Spring Storm was held in 2002 and shortly thereafter evolved into a chartered agency known as Community Experience. It is one of seven agencies led by the executive branch of the Associated Students of the University of New Mexico, UNM’s student government.
“The vision of Spring Storm is lucid,” Condon said. “Community service is essential to someone's development, and it is one of the lesser-known civic responsibilities. We would really like to foster a relationship between our campus and the city – especially in the plDavid Brookshire that really need it.”
Community Experience invites all interested in volunteering for this event to register at Spring Storm. Breakfast and lunch will be provided to participants, as well as snacks and water throughout the day.
“If Spring Storm allows us to promote literacy to an underprivileged child, if our work with NM Road Runner Foodbank allows us to stop someone's hunger for a day, if we can restore trails in the foothills, I think our event has been a success,” Condon said.
Media Contact: Laurie Mellas, (505) 277-5915; e-mail: lmellas@unm.edu
Marjorie Bell Chambers, who died at 83 on August 22, 2006, was a feminist before the term was coined, Bill Chambers her widower, recalled. Tuberculosis couldn’t keep her down as a child in Flatbush, Brooklyn, and a refusal on the part of Cornell Law School to admit her as a married woman couldn’t hold her down either.
Years later, it was that drive and determinism that brought Marjorie to the UNM Department of History. She was 43 years old and had raised a family of four. The department was devoid of women then and she was the only woman working on a doctorate – a few were pursuing master’s degrees.
“She put a lot of miles on the car,” Bill recalled. Lots of miles, indeed, more than 150,000 making the trek from their home in Los Alamos to UNM in Albuquerque.
“It took perseverance and discipline, which my mother had in considerable amounts, to do the work, get to class, do her research, and prepare for her exams – this at a time when the department, like the rest of the academe, was not as receptive and welcoming to women, and particularly to non-traditional students such as my mother,” recalled her daughter, Lee Chambers, professor of history, University of Colorado at Boulder.
By the time his wife was pursuing the Ph.D., Bill, a Los Alamos National Laboratory physicist, was a fan of history.
“History is important locally, nationally and globally. If you don’t know history, you don’t know where you’re going,” Bill said. Their own history included being children during the Great Depression, coming of age during war and getting married “between the bombs,” on August 8, 1945.
During World War II, Marjorie worked for the League of Nations organizing NGO’s to lobby to the San Francisco Conference on the UN Charter and later the U.S. Senate to ratify the treaty. When not working, she served as a Red Cross nurse’s aid and a USO hostess. Bill, meanwhile, served with General Patton’s Third Army, Fifth Infantry Division all across Europe to Prague.
While raising her family, she turned to volunteer associations and politics. “She was particularly involved with the American Association of University Women, which annually undertook the study of specific domestic or international issues, which became her form of continuing education,” her daughter said.
History, yeah, she knew history.
“Mom taught women’s history at UNM's Los Alamos extension in the early years. She was a college president at Colorado Women’s College and Colby Sawyer in Maine. She served both as dean and faculty of the Union Graduate School, which specializes in non-traditional students, until she retired at 80 and became professor emerita – she loved to correct people as to the correct gender of her title.
"The Ph.D. also gave her a professional credential, which, along with her extensive experience in politics and education, led her to public service as a member of the New Mexico Endowment for the Humanities and the New Mexico Commission on Higher Education. I think mom’s life’s work illustrates the value of higher education at any time in one’s life. Her degree certified all her experience and cumulative knowledge, opening new doors for her energy, intelligence and commitment,” Lee said.
She was the first woman to run for lieutenant governor in New Mexico. She served four presidents and 10 New Mexico governors in various appointed roles. She was chairwoman of President Gerald Ford’s National Advisory Council on Women’s Educational Programs and acting chairwoman of President Jimmy Carter’s Committee for Women.
Marjorie was recognized in 2003 with a Governor’s Award for Outstanding Women and was honored the same year by the New Mexico Commission on the Status of Women for her lifetime achievement as an advocate for women's rights and education.
She also made an unsuccessful run for governor in 1986.
The Chambers considered 12 non-profits and 15 educational institutions to support with an endowment. But even after giving then-UNM President Gerald May a hard time about affirmative action, she had a “fuzzy feeling for UNM and is grateful to the history department for her degree when many faculty considered her too old to make a significant contribution to scholarship,” the Chambers wrote.
The Chambers were impressed, too, with former UNM President Richard Peck’s dedication to UNM research, scholarship, financial management and student enrollment. So, it is the UNM Department of History that they chose to endow.
The William H. and Marjorie Bell Chambers Endowed Award for Excellence in History is designed to further greater scholarship and national recognition of UNM’s research, faculty and library.
“The endowment supports excellence in history. It can allow a history faculty member to expand his or her scholarship and endeavors,” Chambers explained.
He also said that by providing additional resources, the history department could hire a faculty member otherwise outside their reach fiscally. “Money helps make a particular university a desirable place,” Bill said.
Media Contact: Carolyn Gonzales, (505) 277-5920; e-mail: cgonzal@unm.edu
The 2007 Fellows at the Center for Regional Studies will be presenting their work on University Libraries Collections on Wednesday and Thursday, April 18-19, at 9 a.m. in the Willard Room of Zimmerman Library. The fellows conduct a variety of projects that enhance the accessibility of materials in the Center for Southwest Research to the public. They are funded and sponsored by the Center for Regional Studies and Dr. Tobias Duran.
Wednesday, April 18
Ramona Caplan – Beatrice Chauvenet Fellow
Presentation on “Torres and Kaplan, Two New Mexico Architects of Renown”
Julie McGilvray – John Gaw Meem Fellow
Presentation on “George Pearl, Architect and Artist”
Lavinia Nicolae – Dennis Chavez Fellow
Presentation on “There are Strangers in Our House: The United State Marshall in New Mexico and Alien Enemies in Times of War”
Jane Sinclair – Clinton P. Anderson Fellow
Presentation on “Discovering the Anderson Reading Room: Public Service via Reference, Instruction and Route 66”
Jason Strykowski – Juan and Virginia Chacón Fellow
Presentation on “Alternative Reactions to the Energy Crisis”
Thursday, April 19
Jacobo D. Baca – Governor Bruce King Fellow
Presentation on “A New Mexico Power Couple: The Personal Papers of Gov. Bruce and Alice King”
Aaron Blecha – Preservation Fellow
Presentation on “An Overview of Procedures Performed in CSWR’s Conservation Studio with Examples from Notable Collections Including the Batten Collection and the Artists’ Books”
Theresa J. Córdova – Sophie D. Aberle Fellow
Presentation on “Jenny Wells Vincent: A Contribution of Cultural History through Music”
David Garcia – Fray Angélico Chavez Fellow
Presentation on “AGN, documentos de ramo Tierras y ramo Mayorazgos”
Annette Rodriguez – George I. Sanchez Fellow
Presentation on “The Power of Image and Sound: A Digitized Survey of the Manuscript Collection of the Center for Southwest Research”
Kari Schler – Pictorial Archives Fellow
Presentation on “New Mexico History in the Digital Age: The Digitization of the William A. Keleher Photographic Collection”
The presentations are free and the public is welcome.
Media Contact: Karen Wentworth, (505) 277-5627; e-mail: kwent2@unm.edu
The Research Study Group (RSG) has been charged by the Provost to review and make recommendations for improvement of all aspects of main-campus research administration.
Professor Carlton Caves, Chair of the RSG, notes: "Our study is now entering an intensive phase of gathering input from main-campus researchers, research-support staff, and senior administrators. In addition, a team of four consultants from the National Council of University Research Administrators (NCURA) is looking at UNM research administration from the perspective of national standards and best-business practices. The NCURA team should submit their final report by mid-May, and the RSG hopes to produce its final report by mid-June."
To see how the RSG's study is progressing and how to provide input, visit the RSG main page at: http://research.unm.edu/rsg.
Media Contact: Steve Carr, (505) 277-1821; e-mail: scarr@unm.edu
U.S. Air Force Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (AFJROTC) will hold four Summer Aerospace and Technology Honor Camps at UNM in 2007, announced Mandie Pritchard, student programs specialist, UNM College Enrichment & Outreach Programs (CEOP). UNM College Prep Programs, UNM Air Force ROTC and Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque are sponsors.
The camps, serving at total of 216 students, will take place June 10-15, June 24-29, July 8-13 and July 22-27. Collectively, they are one of only two large AFJROTC honors camp contingents in the nation. The University of Oklahoma and Tinker AFB host four camps serving a similar number of cadets.
The objective of each AFJROTC Aerospace and Technology Honors camp, or ATCH, is “to introduce high-achieving high school cadets to scientific, technical, and top rated career opportunities in the Air Force,” according to AFJROTC literature. “Students selected for the camps have a minimum GPA of 3.0, are rising sophomores, junors, or seniors, enrolled in college prep math and science courses, and have demonstrated leadership potential.”
In addition, “Applicants represent the top one half of one percent of the approximately 110,000 AFJROTC cadets worldwide.”
Each camp will host 54 cadets from around the U.S. and abroad. Thousands of applicants apply each year for the limited space in the camps. The curriculum includes learning about aeropace education, Air Force opportunities, and college campus life, with an emphasis on encouraging students to apply for admission to a college or university. At the camps, students will have speakers and instructors who are faculty in the engineering, physics, mathmatics, and chemistry departments.
The June 10-15 camp will be an “all-services” camp, said Judy Ortiz-Aragon, a student recruiter with UNM AFJROTC. Air Force cadets will participate alongside JROTC cadets in the Army, Navy, and Marines.
Activities include tours of New Mexico labs, a Rocket Car demonstration in conjunction with the Minority Undergraduate Engineering Program, VIP guest speakers, visit to a regional airport for flight instruction where students will pilot small planes, helicopter ride to Santa Fe, trips to museums and historical sites; and a formal dinner, during which a graduation ceremony will be held.
The AFJROTC camp is overseen by Camp Coordinator Lt. Colonel Dan Eddy and Curriculum Coordinator Naomi Mitchell, both from Maxwell AFB in Alabama.
For more information about Air Force Junior ROTC and the Aerospace & Technology Honors Camp program, contact AFJROTC Headquarters at 1-800-235-7682 ext. 3-9488, or log on to www.afoats.af.mil/afjrotc. Or contact Judy Ortiz-Aragon, AFROTC Student Recruiter at the University of New Mexico, at 505-277-4502 or m43058@unm.edu.
Media Contact: Laurie Mellas, (505) 277-5915; e-mail: lmellas@unm.edu
The search committee for the new director of the School of Public Administration is inviting interested members of the campus community to attend open forums with the finalists. All forums will be held from 2 to 3 p.m. in the Social Sciences Building, rm. 3030.
Monday, April 16 - Ali Farazmand, Professor of Public Administration, Florida Atlantic University
Thursday, April 19 - Uday Desai, Professor of Political Science, Southern Illinois University
Thursday, April 26 - John Mikesell, Professor of Public & Environmental Affairs, Indiana University
Friday, April 27 - Deborah McFarlane, Professor of Political Science, UNM
Monday, April 30 - John Rohrbaugh, Professor of Public Administration & Policy, University of Albany
Media Contact: Steve Carr, (505) 277-1821; e-mail: scarr@unm.edu
The UNM Jonson Gallery is now accepting nominations for the Paul Bartlett Ré Peace Prize. The prize will be awarded to a UNM student, faculty, staff person or retiree who has demonstrated notable achievements in promoting world peace and understanding.
The award includes a stipend, an artwork certificate created by Paul Ré and a signed, numbered and specially inscribed copy of Ré’s acclaimed monograph, “The Dance of the Pencil.”
Albuquerque artist Paul Ré has become internationally respected for his peace promoting art. The prize is endowed as part of a bequest of Ré’s estate to the Jonson Gallery.
“I believe that we can greatly improve our world by encouraging and preserving the good in life – wisdom, beauty, insight, humor that enlightens – and using these positive forces to heal discord,” Ré said. “This requires the integration and synergy of many fields – from art and science to engineering and philosophy – plus communication and common sense.”
Nominations are due by Aug. 1. For information and the nomination form visit http://www.unm.edu/~jonsong or call 277-9604.
Media Contact: Sari Krosinsky, (505) 277-1593; e-mail: michal@unm.edu
Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs Reed Dasenbrock has appointed Martha A. Bedard as the new dean of University Libraries, effective August 1, 2007. Bedard is currently associate dean for Information and Collection Services at Texas A & M University Libraries, where she is responsible for collection development and serves as a Dean’s cabinet member creating strategic plans and establishing priorities for library services.
Photo: Martha A. Bedard
“We are very pleased to welcome Martha Bedard, said Dasenbrock. “Her background in technology, student services and collection development will be real assets to our library system. She is ready to lead University Libraries in the changing environment for libraries and scholarly information.”
Bedard has a Master’s degree in Library Science from Simmons Graduate School of Library Science in Boston. She has worked in a wide range of library environments including the University of North Carolina’s Health Sciences Library where she served as the associate director for Library Services, Wake Medical Center where she served as the director of the Medical Library and Education Support Services, the Medical Center of Central Massachusetts, Lowell General Hospital, and Harvard Medical School.
She has just completed a research library leadership fellowship for the Association of Research Libraries and is a distinguished member of the Medical Library Association Academy of Health Information Professionals.
Media Contact: Karen Wentworth, (505) 277-5627; e-mail: kwent2@unm.edu
The University of New Mexico International Studies Institute and Center for Science, Technology, and Policy present “Regime Change: U.S. Strategy through the Prism of 9/11,” with Robert S. Litwak of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Tuesday, April 24, 4 to 5:15 pm, Dane Smith Hall, rm. 126.
The 9/11 terrorist attacks starkly recast the U.S. debate on “rogue states.” In this new era of vulnerability, should the United States counter the dangers of weapons proliferation and state-sponsored terrorism by toppling regimes or by promoting changes in the threatening behavior of their leaders? In his new book, Regime Change, Litwak examines the contrasting precedents set with Iraq and Libya and provides incisive analysis of the pressing crises with North Korea and Iran.
Litwak is director of the Division of International Security Studies at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C. He formerly served as director for nonproliferation on the National Security Council Staff. He is the author of Regime Change: U.S. Strategy through the Prism of 9/11 (Woodrow Wilson Center Press and Johns Hopkins University Press, 2007); Rogue States and U.S. Foreign Policy: Containment After the Cold War (Woodrow Wilson Center Press and Johns Hopkins University Press, 2000); and a co-editor of Nuclear Proliferation after the Cold War (Woodrow Wilson Center Press, 1994, co-editor).
For more information contact Andrew L. Ross, professor of Political Science and Director, Center for Science, Technology, and Policy (the program formerly known as “OPST”), at aross@unm.edu or 277-7391, or Stephanie Grant, CSTP program administrator, at slgrant@unm.edu or 277-1391.
Media Contact: Steve Carr, (505) 277-1821; e-mail: scarr@unm.edu
A recognition reception to honor winners of the spring 2007 Research and Creativity Conference will be held Friday, April 13, from 3-5 p.m. in the SUB Acoma Room. University College, Profound, Special Programs and UNM schools and colleges held the conference April 3 at UNM in a joint effort to promote undergraduate research.
Photo: Dohnia Dorman, right, will be honored in the poster presentation category.
Students will be honored for presentations in three categories: Creative, Oral and Poster.
The categories and winners are:
Creative Presentation Category Winners
Jennifer Griggs, Zayn Bin-Bilal, Genell Burns, Brian Gillespie,
Aimee Schaefer, Justin Golightly, Veronica Garcia,
Lauren M. Anderson, Erik Solis
Oral Presentation Category Winners
Jennifer Griggs, H. Leo Gutierrez
Matthew Moore, Anthony Durran, Casey Smolenski,
Mike Sanchez, Stephanie Saiz, Judith Abeita,
Candra Rivers, Towana Yepa, Venancio Aragon,
Janice C. Tosa, Rory K. LaMarr, Kellen Shelendewa,
Chelsey Barton, Juanita C. Toledo, Kellen Pino,
Renee Tolino, JoAnna R. Sedillo, Monica Moya,
Laura Bouldin, Nicole Gramlich, Hillary Gorman,
Sierra Parson, Chris McNair, Roman Davis, Stephen A. Barros
Poster Presentation Category Winners
*Dohnia W. Dorman - Perfect Score 100 / 100 Points,
*Reza Safavi - Perfect Score 100 / 100 Points,
Nwamaka (Amaka) A. Nwagbologu,
Nicholas J. Santistevan, Brian McConnell, Joel Hill, Jennifer Templeman, Jennifer Torbaghan,
Lynn Wheeler, Justin Pillmore, Jason Tainter,
Marian Daigle, Melinda Yates, Chelsea Howard,
Placido Munoz Moran, Mathilde Walker,
Jenya Novgorodskaya, Stanley Kerr, Travis McKenzie,
Ruben Kerr, Joshua James Alt, Cristina Tartaglia,
Andrew Kroshe, Rose D. Chavez, Evan Jared Speegle,
Mary- Louise Burch, James R. Gillen, Julianna Lichius,
Brian Snyder, Amy Ross, Morgana Hill, Leslie Starr,
Maleri Randour, Mike Sanchez, David Lee, Lani Tsinnajinnie
For more information about the UNM Research and Creativity Conference (spring semester) and Research Quest (fall semester), contact Marla Wyche-Hall, 277-8279 or mycheh1@unm.edu, or visit Explore.
Media Contact: Laurie Mellas, (505) 277-5915; e-mail: lmellas@unm.edu
C-SPAN’s “Road to the White House” Bus Tour Hits Campaign Trail to Track Action in 2008 Presidential Election
Students, staff and faculty at the University of New Mexico can be among the first in the nation to see C-SPAN’s new Campaign 2008 Bus as part of the “Road to the White House” tour, when the 45-foot long mobile production studio makes a stop at the Student Union Building Monday, April 16. The bus will be parked near the southeast entrance to the SUB from 1 to 4 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.
C-SPAN Campaign 2008 Bus is on the campaign trail to promote and enhance C-SPAN’s comprehensive political coverage, traveling to major political events such as candidate debates and speeches in early primary states, touring state capitols, and also conducting educational programs for teachers and students.
“With early interest in presidential politics growing we’re excited to get on the road now with the brand new Campaign 2008 Bus,” said Stephanie Green, marketing representative for the network. “As the political network of record, we’re excited to offer a variety of resources for educators, students, first-time voters and the general public as part of our extensive coverage of the 2008 presidential elections.”
In addition, the bus will make a stop at Gov. Bill Richardson’s for President headquarters in Albuquerque at 111 Lomas Blvd. N.W. on Monday, April 16 from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.
The local stops, in partnership with Comcast, are part of the bus’s inaugural “Road to the White House” tour, named after C-SPAN’s renowned political program that marks its 20th year on the air in 2008.
“Comcast is committed to education in the communities we serve, and we know that technology and programming like C-SPAN can help teachers bring lessons to life, said Chris Dunkeson, vice president and general manager for Comcast’s Northern New Mexico area. “Through presentations and other events aboard the bus, students, educators and community members can learn how C-SPAN’s unique public affairs programming can be used to enhance learning in the classroom.”
A revamped version of the network’s award-winning School Bus, the Campaign 2008 bus sports a new exterior design wrap in election themes along with interior modifications that include the latest television production equipment.
For more information on the C_SPAN Campaign 2008 Bus visit:
Media Contact: Steve Carr, (505) 277-1821; e-mail: scarr@unm.edu
UNM Libraries will honor Anthropology Professor Sylvia Rodriguez on Tuesday, April 17 at 2 p.m. in the Willard Reading Room of Zimmerman Library as part of their Faculty Acknowledgement series. Rodriguez will give a short talk on “Acequias and Collective Ethnography.”
The talk explores the ideas contained in her recently released book from the School for Advanced Research Press “Acequia, Water-Sharing, Sanctity and Place.” In the book Rodriguez examines the traditional acequia or irrigation ditch associations in northern New Mexico and the way people work together to share the available water. She shows how the traditional cooperative approach to using the limited amounts of available water is a reasonable alternative to court actions to resolve competing claims.
Rodriguez has been with UNM since 1988. She currently teaches a course in the “Principles of Cultural Anthropology” and a seminar on Southwestern ethnology in addition to her writing and research.
The University Faculty Acknowledgement awards honor faculty members for their contributions to scholarly research.
Media Contact: Karen Wentworth, (505) 277-5627; e-mail: kwent2@unm.edu
The Office of the Registrar has announced that the Summer 2007 and Fall 2007 Schedule of Classes are now available online at: http://schedule.unm.edu.
The pre-registration appointment date schedule can also be found at: http://schedule.unm.edu. Select registration dates in the left hand column to find out what day you can begin registering for Fall 2007 classes.
Summer 2007 registration begins Monday, April 23. There are no appointments dates set for summer. It is open registration that begins for all current students on Monday, April 23.
Newly admitted/readmitted students/newly admitted transfer students for Summer 2007 or Fall 2007 may begin registering on Monday, May 7.
For more registration information visit the Office of the Registrar home page at:
Registrar's Office.
Media Contact: Steve Carr, (505) 277-1821; e-mail: scarr@unm.edu
Inaugural Award Recognizes Academics, Community Service
George Carter (football), Terryn Granados (women's soccer) and Jen Hale (women's swimming) have been honored as the inaugural Lobo Club Student-Athlete of the Year. The announcement was made April 4 during the Lobo Club Membership Drive Kickoff.
The Lobo Club Student-Athlete of the Year will be presented annually by the Lobo Club Board of Directors to deserving male and female student-athletes who show exemplary service to the community and carry a minimum 3.0 cumulative grade-point-average.
George Carter
Carter is an Albuquerque High School alum currently holding a 3.18 GPA. A starting linebacker for the Lobos, Carter plans to graduate next month in just four years with a Marketing Management degree. He is active in the local community, volunteering his time as a mentor for at-risk teens, providing food and clothing to the homeless through New Hope Baptist Church and helping to revive the Black Student Union organization on the UNM campus. Carter will be a senior on the football team in 2007.
Terryn Granados
Granados, currently a junior with a 3.99 GPA, has participated in Reading with the Lobos and Albuquerque Youth Soccer Organization clinics. She has volunteered her time as a soccer referee and with the Habitat For Humanity program.
Jen Hale
Hale has been active through UNM's Spring Storm, Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, Student Lettermen's Club, and has volunteered as the Literacy Night guest reader at Mark Twain Elementary. Hale will graduate in May with a degree in Business. She has a 3.4 GPA.
In addition to the three honorees the other nominees included:
Ashley Allen, Junior, Softball
Julie Briody, Senior, Women's Basketball
Nick Geyer, Sophomore, Men's Golf
Mike Graczyk, Junior, Men's Soccer
Ian Hollick, Junior, Baseball
Jeremy Johnson, Junior, Men's Cross-Country
Max Jones, Junior, Men's Tennis
Mark Lamb, Senior, Men's Track & Field
Haily Lee, Junior, Women's Track & Field
Lars Loseth, Senior, Skiing
Leslie Luna, Junior, Women's Cross Country
Gayle Tripp, Sophomore, Volleyball
Mackenzie White, Sophomore, Women's Tennis
Media Contact: Greg Remington, (505) 925-5520; e-mail: gregrem@unm.edu
The Biology Department will celebrate the scientific achievements of its students at the 16th annual research day, Friday, April 13, from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. The event, which will be held at Castetter and Northrop Halls, will also feature a keynote lecture given by Thomas Whitman, Northern Arizona University Regents’ Professor in the College of Engineering and Natural Sciences.
Photo: Regents' Professor Thomas Whitman, Northern Arizona University, will present keynote lecture.
Undergraduate and graduate students will display their original research through oral and poster presentations in a celebration of discovery and education in the biological sciences.
Student poster presentations will be on display beginning at noon on Thursday, April 12 in the first and second floor hallways of Castetter Hall and will be on display through Friday’s events. Poster judging takes place on Friday in two sessions from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 1 to 3 p.m. Oral presentations will be start 9:30 a.m. and continue after lunch at 1:15 to 3 p.m. in Castetter Hall, rm. 100.
The event will also feature a keynote lecture given by Dr. Thomas Whitman, Northern Arizona University Regents’ Professor in the College of Engineering and Natural Sciences. Whitham’s research focuses on plant-herbivore interactions and their consequences in ecology. Within his work, he has also studied plant genetics and the genetics of community structure and biodiversity.
The lecture, titled “The Genetic Components of Community Structure and Ecosystem Processes, and Their Conservation Implications,” will be held from 4 to 5 p.m. in Northrop Hall, rm. 122. It will be followed by an awards ceremony from 5 to 5:30 p.m.
Media Contact: Steve Carr, (505) 277-1821; e-mail: scarr@unm.edu
The University of New Mexico now boasts an internationally recognized, award winning Model United Nations team. Fifteen members of the UNM World Affairs Delegation participated in the Harvard World Model United Nations conference in Geneva, Switzerland recently and returned with three awards for excellence in diplomacy.
Photo: Members of UNM's World Affairs Delegation 2007.
Award winners included Julio Acosta, representing Ecuador in the World Health Organization (WHO); Lauren Huesemann, representing Mozambique in the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM); and Mikal Davis, representing Mozambique in the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
The UNM World Affairs Delegation competed against 1,700 students from universities in over 35 countries, including Pakistan, Senegal, China, Venezuela, European countries, and many more. In total, only 100 awards were presented.
Many colleges and universities have courses designed specifically to prepare students for the model UN conference. UNM does not have such a course, but many of the participants prepared through an independent study in political science. They learned in advance which committees they would be assigned to as well as which countries they would represent.
“Political Science faculty Ellen Grigsby and Chris Butler worked with them on writing briefs and simulating negotiations, but primarily their work was self directed,” said Christine Sauer, economics professor and administrative advisor of the group.
“As one of the only teams from a public school competing in Harvard World Model UN, the UNM World Affairs Delegation is proud to bring international recognition to UNM. Now in its third year, the World Affairs Delegation plans to continue competing nationally and internationally, as well as raise awareness of foreign affairs among the student body,” said Jay Reidy, delegation member.
“The World Affairs Delegation is grateful for the generous support it has received from the community, UNM, and the wonderful faculty who made this trip possible,” Reidy added.
“I am pleased with the students’ performance at the conference and applaud them for winning three prizes. In addition to preparing for the conference, they were on their own to raise necessary funds. They created a master plan to follow that allowed them to raise more than was budgeted,” Sauer said.
For more information, contact Jay Reidy, 235-8980, Brian Moore, 310-5913 or Rose Stevenson, wa777ves@unm.edu.
Media Contact: Carolyn Gonzales, (505) 277-5920; e-mail: cgonzal@unm.edu
UNM Theatre and Dance Featured in April Issue of ‘Stage Directions’
UNM is not upstaged by New York in the current issue of “Stage Directions.” The issue features side-by-side articles – the UNM feature is titled “Design for Living,” about UNM’s theatre spDavid Brookshire and programs in Theatre and Dance. The other is something about New York…
Author Robert Woltman gives accolades to Rodey and Theatre X as great venues.
Rodey has “12 removable traps, a hydraulic orchestra pit, a wire tension grid over the thrust area and a sprung dance floor, because dance is an important part of what we do,” said Richard Hess, Rodey’s technical director.
The article describes a hectic schedule.
“In a typical academic year season, the department puts these facilities through their pDavid Brookshire by staging three mainstage plays and two major dance concerts in Rodey Theatre. In Theatre X, one mainstage production and six lesser ones are mounted. Theatre X productions are organized by a student committee with a faculty advisor. With 10 students or under for every theatre teacher, the department fosters a mentoring atmosphere.”
And Woltman, did his homework about theatre and dance programs.
“The Design For Performance BA program at the Department of Theatre and Dance prepares undergraduate students for advanced study or professional careers in design and technical production across the spectrum of the performing arts. Students take classes in courses that may lead to career paths in theatre, dance, opera, film, television, gaming and interactive environments, the new digital media and related areas.
Students have access to state-of-the-art production facilities with the latest equipment, including lighting and sound labs, computer labs, two well equipped theatres and the new high-technology ARTSlab, as well as many other resources in the College of Fine Arts. Students are offered programs of study in the history and theory, as well as the creative and technical aspects, of design for the performing arts.”
To view the article, go to http://stage-directions.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=198&Itemid=39.
Regents also approve 2007-08 employee compensation increase
The University of New Mexico Board of Regents recently approved a 5.4 percent increase in tuition and fees for resident undergraduate and graduate students for FY 2007-2008. This brings the undergraduate tuition and fee total to $4, 570.80, up from $4,335.60. Tuition accounts for 3.8 percent of the increase, while 1.6 percent goes to a scheduled fee increase approved by regents in 2005.
Photo: Incoming President David J. Schmidly says "the budget will be built on helping students."
Regents also approved differential tuition increases for the School of Law and School of Architecture and Planning, as well as special summer rates for the College of Nursing.
In addition, regents approved an average five percent compensation increase for faculty and staff to be awarded on the basis of factors such as merit, market competitive salary levels and correction of inequities.
With no tuition credit coming out of this year’s legislative session, the regents are able to earmark the new monies raised from the tuition increase for initiatives proposed by incoming President David Schmidly.
“The budget will be built on helping students,” said Schmidly, who attended today’s meeting and who will take over as UNM president June 1. The funds will go to areas he says need to be strengthened:
* $450,000 to establish a division of enrollment management and expand student recruitment efforts;
* $750,000 for retention and graduation initiatives;
* $550,000 to develop and staff a division of institution diversity responsible for initiatives related to increasing and maintaining diversity and fostering equal opportunity for all faculty, staff and students;
* $200,000 for minority faculty recruitment; and
* $300,000 for institutional marketing and branding initiatives.
The university budget, which the regents will vote on at their regular May meeting, will also feature a proposal to use $500,000 of interest earnings from the Regents’ Endowment to create a new National Merit Scholarship program and provide additional need-based student aid.
Join the University of New Mexico’s celebration of Native American culture and heritage at the 52nd annual Nizhoni Days April 23-29. The festivities open on Monday, April 23 with an all day Native American Film Makers Showcase beginning at 10 a.m. and the Miss Indian UNM pageant at 6 p.m. in Student Union building ballroom C.
Other events include the Indigenous Nations Library Program lecture series featuring musician, activist and entrepreneur Tom Bee at noon and 3 p.m. on Tuesday, April 24; “Weaving Worlds” by Bennie Klain, a film premiere in SUB ballroom C at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 26; Native Xperience in SUB ballroom C at 6 p.m. on Friday, April 27; and the Sin Fronteras Film Festival.
Capping off the weeks’ events is the Nizhoni Days Honoring our Alumni Pow Wow on Johnson Field, starting at noon on Sunday, April 29.
All events are free and open to the public.
“Nizhoni Days is a celebration of Native thought and presence on and off the UNM campus and of Native American culture both traditional and contemporary,” said Kellen Shelendewa, president of UNM’s Kiva Club. “Nizhoni, a Diné (Navajo) word meaning beautiful, exemplifies what the week represents.”
Sponsored and organized by the Kiva Club since the 1950s, Nizhoni Days demonstrate the wealth of Native American achievements in the arts, activism, politics, academics and culture.
For more information contact kiva@unm.edu or 277-7236
The April 9 issue of Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education rates the top graduate schools and programs for Hispanics in terms of enrollment and degrees conferred. The University of New Mexico is ranked on all lists. New Mexico is among 10 new states joining Texas, California and Florida on the list of the top 25 states for conferring doctoral degrees.
The source for the data is NCES, Digest of Educational Statistics. Some data is from 2005, others from 2006.
“This recognition confirms our sense that UNM is in a position to be – and is recognized as – a leading institution in the country for Hispanic students. UNM is uniquely positioned to meet the needs of Hispanic students and the nation’s need for increasing the numbers of Hispanic doctors, lawyers, MBAs and PhDs,” said Provost Reed Dasenbrock.
UNM is ranked among the top 25 for conferring master’s degrees to Hispanics with 75 of the institution’s 458 male master’s students being Hispanic; 188 of the 757 female master’s students being Hispanic. The combined number of Hispanic master’s students, 263, represents 22 percent of UNM's total master’s student population.
UNM is ranked among the top 25 institutions for conferring doctoral degrees to Hispanics with 10 of the institution's 96 male doctoral students being Hispanic; six of the 85 female doctoral students being Hispanic. The combined number of Hispanic PhD students, 16, represents nine percent of UNM’s total doctoral student population.
Of UNM's 2,721 male graduate students, 428 are Hispanic. UNM’s female Hispanic graduate student enrollment is 746 of the total female graduate enrollment of 3,708. Total Hispanic graduate enrollment, 1,174, represents 18 percent of the institution’s total graduate student enrollment.
The article notes that women dominate men on both enrollment and master’s degrees list, but the percentage drops 40 percent in doctoral programs. “Women outnumbered men in 14 of the 25 schools and tied with men in one school (Rutgers University in New Jersey) on the doctoral degrees conferred list,” the article states.
Media Contact: Carolyn Gonzales, (505) 277-5920; e-mail: cgonzal@unm.edu
'Experiments in Cinema version 2.0,' presented by the UNM Media Arts Department and Bryan Konefsky, returns with an international mix of contemporary, experimental short films that are both challenging and splendid. The event will be held April 13-15 and is open to the public. General admission is $5, UNM faculty and staff $4 and students $3.
On Friday and Saturday, April 13-14, the venue will be The Southwest Film Center, rm. 1003, in the Student Union Building located on the UNM Campus. The event runs from 6 to 9 p.m. both evenings. On Sunday, the event moves to The Guild Cinema, 3405 Central Ave., N.E. from 1 to 4 p.m.
Beyond Hollywood, beyond the money, the pretty fDavid Brookshire and the sleaze there remains a means of expression that is true to the individual and the imagination – film art! For those who have ever wanted to challenge themselves and the limits of film, it is recommended to come see 'Experiments in Cinema version 2.0.'
As part of the three-day event, 'Experiments in Cinema version 2.0' will present an afternoon with Gene Youngblood, internationally known theorist of media arts and politics, as well as respected scholar of history and theory of alternative cinemas. His Expanded Cinema (1970), the first book to consider video as an art form, was influential in establishing the field of media arts. He is also widely known as a pioneering voice in the media democracy movement, and has been teaching, writing and lecturing on media democracy and alternative cinemas for 37 years.
'Experiments in Cinema version 2.0' is also excited to present Home Movie Day, an annual worldwide celebration of amateur films and filmmaking. For the past five years Home Movie Day events have provided an opportunity for individuals and families to learn more about their own family movies, how to care for films, and how home movies helped capture the history of the 20th and 21st centuries.
The McCune Charitable Foundation, Basement Films, The UNM Department of Media Arts and the UNM P.L.A.C.E. Program sponsor 'Experiments in Cinema version 2.0.'
For more information call Bryan Konefsky at, (505) 235-1852 or via e-mail at, bryank@unm.edu.
Media Contact: Steve Carr, (505) 277-1821; e-mail: scarr@unm.edu
Event to be held in Santa Fe
Five hundred historians, teachers and history practitioners are in Santa Fe this week for the 2007 Annual Meeting of the National Council on Public History. Organized by Rose Diaz, program manager at the University Library’s Political Archives at UNM, the four-day conference, April 12-15, offers sessions, tours and other events for participants to explore public history and gain insights into history and historians.
The opening plenary session on Friday, April 13, 8:30-10 a.m. at the Historic Lensic Theatre, is free and open to the public. Several prominent panelists will discuss the conference theme, “Many Histories, Many Publics—Common Ground?”
Registration for the entire conference and one-day passes are available at the conference headquarters, the La Fonda, beginning Thursday morning. Full information about the conference, including a detailed program and descriptions of the special historical tours, is online at 2007 Annual Meeting.
NCPH President Bill Bryans notes that this year’s conference, the 29th in the organization’s history, is an opportunity to find “common ground” among the diverse group of practitioners calling themselves public historians. “Public history is where people connect with their past,” Bryans observes. The Santa Fe meeting will explore the collaborative attribute of the field, one that connects a wide array of historians to each other and to the audiences “that not only receive the products of our labors but also often participate in its production.”
Founded in 1979, the National Council on Public History works to advance the professionalism of public history and to advocate enhanced public and governmental support for historical programs. NCPH includes museum professionals, government historians, corporate and business historians, historical consultants, archivists, teachers, cultural resource managers, curators, film and media producers, oral historians, policy advisors, professors and students with public history interests, teachers, and many others.
For more information, call (812) 272-7142.
Media Contact: Carolyn Gonzales, (505) 277-5920; e-mail: cgonzal@unm.edu
The University of New Mexico’s Center for the Southwest and Kiva Club present “Weaving Worlds” (2007), the final film in this year’s Southwestern Film Series, on Thursday, April 26 at 6 p.m. in SUB Ballroom C.
“Weaving Worlds,” featured during UNM’s Nizhoni Days, highlights Navajo tales of “how the west was spun.” The film explores personal stories of Navajo weavers and their complex relationship with reservation traders. It also examines the delicate balance between cultural survival, economic independence and artistic motivation evident in everyday lives of Navajo weavers. While weavers’ creations are highly valued and collected around the world, foremost is their constant quest for cultural continuity through creating textiles as well as the effects of globalization on their land, sheep and livelihoods.
Bennie Klain, a Navajo, is well known for creating documentaries and fictional films to challenge cultural assumptions. He co-produced “The Return of Navajo Boy” (2000) which screened at more than 60 festivals and received many honors. His short film “Yada Yada” (2002) won the Teueikan Second Prize at Montreal’s First Peoples’ Festival in 2003. In 2006, Klain directed “Share the Wealth.”
He is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin and his production company, TricksterFilms, is based there. Klain, along with Diné linguist Roseann Willink of UNM’s Department of Linguistics and their research team, will discuss “Weaving Worlds” (2007).
The event is free and open to the public. For more information, call 277-7688.
Media Contact: Carolyn Gonzales, (505) 277-5920; e-mail: cgonzal@unm.edu
The Anderson School of Management at the University of New Mexico has announced Mickey Byrd as the new manager of the Management Development Center (MDC). Prior to her current position, Byrd was the program manager for the Executive MBA (EMBA) and Professional MBA (PMBA) programs at the MDC.
Byrd has more than five years of experience in hiring and staffing in an academic environment along with experience in marketing, recruiting, and admissions from previous work at Keller Graduate School of Management as the center director (2000-2001).
She also has experience in developing management training and performance development plans from her work as a management development specialist at Chevy Chase Bank (2003-2004) and as an independent training consultant (2001-2003). Byrd has an MBA from George Washington University.
Byrd oversees and directs the two units that comprise the MDC. These units are the Executive MBA and Professional MBA programs and the professional development (non-degree) certificate programs at Anderson.
The Center is the outreach arm of the Anderson School, serving as the link between the University and business community. The mission of the MDC is to extend Anderson’s educational resources and to meet the diverse learning needs of individuals and organizations in surrounding areas.
Media Contacts: Sophie Martin, (505) 277-7117; e-mail: martin@mgt.unm.edu or Steve Carr, (505) 277-1821; e-mail: scarr@unm.edu
Award-winning Los Angeles Times immigration reporter, Sam Quinones, tells true tales of Mexican migration on Thursday, April 12, at 1 p.m. in SUB Ballroom B. The event is free and open to the public.
Quinones will take listeners on a tale from the soccer fields of small-town Kansas to the velvet painting studios of Juarez and the opera world of Tijuana.
He will discuss the politics of immigration and also relate the heroism and heartbreak of immigrant lives.
Quinones is the author of “True Tales from Mexico,” and his new book is “Antonio’s Gun and Delfino’s Dream.” Both published by UNM Press. Acting President David Harris funded this event.
For more information, call 272-7190.
Media Contact: Carolyn Gonzales, (505) 277-5920; e-mail: cgonzal@unm.edu
Reception for popular Vida Art Exhibitions to feature curator’s artwork in century-old house
Janie Perry Gonzales, a University of New Mexico honors student and curator of Vida Art Exhibitions, will be presenting a show of her artwork in a unique site-specific location – a historical, lovely red-brick Victorian house in the heart of downtown Albuquerque. This exhibition will be her third solo show. A reception will be held Friday, May 18, from 5 to 8 p.m., at 601 Iron, S.W.
In this solo honors thesis exhibition, “Connections – The Big Picture,” Gonzales' art is about a journey through healing.
This non-traditional venue, ideally suited for Vida Art Exhibitions, is one of the many powerful metaphors that communicate the exhibition’s theme.
Built in the 1890’s, the sturdy two-story building has itself survived many ups and downs, yet it stands in the midst of new development of towering office construction and condos, strong, triumphant, and proud of its history.
Recently, due to the record cold temperatures this past winter, water pipes in the house froze in an upstairs bathroom and water sprayed unnoticed in the vacant house for several days. Gonzales and her husband Art, walked into the ground floor to see water dripping from exposed rafters and soaked ceilings, which lay in piles on the refinished hardwood floors.
Before this tragedy occurred, Gonzales had often thought the house would make a perfect venue to showcase fine art.
"We had always tossed out the idea because we didn’t want to expose the beautiful, original hardwood floors to crowds of high-heeled viewers...sometimes, out of pain comes a new paradigm,” said Gonzales. “We just need to step back and look at the 'big picture.' Suddenly Vida Art Exhibitions had the perfect non-traditional and unexpected venue! This historical, resilient Victorian house is like myself healed and ready for its role in connecting its viewers with the magic of art.”
Gonzales, who is an older non-traditional student, will graduate with a bachelor of Fine Arts degree with honors from UNM on May 12. In 2005 and 2006, she was awarded two grants for her work with Vida Art Exhibitions from the PLACE program at UNM.
Her work has been exhibited in many venues including the UNM Student Health Center, the UNM Development/Foundation Office, the UNM Student Union Building, the New Mexico State Fair and The Arts Alliance Gallery. Works are presently on exhibit in room 167-G at UNM Zimmerman Library and at the UNM Family Practice Center.
In this new body of work, Gonzales explores her own journey from back-related disability and immobility to hope, inspiration, opportunity and adventure. Her three years in enchanting Spain play a major role in the exhibition along with stones, marigolds, tickets and her personal symbol, a paper clip.
In all of Gonzales’ works, a paper clip is either blatantly obvious, as in her five-foot-long wooden paper clip bench, or she hides this image in each piece for the curious viewer to possibly discover. The paper clip imagery is a tribute to her beloved mother, Mary Jane VanDamme Perry. The sculptural bench will be surrounded by large acrylic paintings and her newest vibrant pastel series.
Vida Art Exhibitions is a community-based project whose mission is to place fine art in unexpected plDavid Brookshire for the mutual benefit of all parties involved. Previous Vida Art Exhibitions have involved as many as 27 artists in a single show, while this seventh event will be the first to feature a solo artist.
Following this exhibition, some of the pieces will be shown in medical facilities in Albuquerque. The exhibit may also be viewed after May 18 by appointment. A portion of any sales proceeds will be donated to Albuquerque’s Healthcare for the Homeless.
For more information about “Connections – The Big Picture” or upcoming Vida Art Exhibition opportunities call, 899-2830 or e-mail Perry Gonzales at, jfpg@unm.edu.
About VIDA Art Exhibitions…
Vida Art Exhibitions’ name was originally inspired from its debut exhibition in December of 2005 at the John Marshall Multi-Service Center in Albuquerque’s South Broadway neighborhood. Because of its community-based mission, a connection was established with the patients and families of the Maternity and Infant Care Clinic, one of the 13 agencies housed in that building. The intention was to bring fine art into a medical environment to help relieve stress and give hope and inspiration to the viewers.
“Vida” meaning “life” in Spanish seemed like a great theme for the exhibition. Since the success of that first exhibition, the theme, “Vida” became an all-encompassing name for the project in general. Everything, after all, relates to the sacredness, the wonder, and each individual’s unique personal journey through “life.” Vida Art Exhibitions can be boiled down into a powerful, undeniable, yet simple idea.
“Since art makes me feel good, what can it do for others?”
- Janie Perry Gonzales
Media Contact: Steve Carr, (505) 277-1821; e-mail: scarr@unm.edu
The University of New Mexico has identified funding to keep the 37-year old National Youth Sports Program in operation, following federal budget cuts that threatened its cancellation. UNM Acting President David Harris and Viola Florez, dean, College of Education, will combine resources to save the program for another year and have increased its funding to $50,000.
The summer program for disadvantaged youth uses sports instruction and competition as a means to build self-esteem, reinforce the importance of education and promote healthy lifestyles.
“We’ve been working to identify alternate funding since we learned the program faced cancellation several days ago,” said Harris. “It is surprising and somewhat disturbing that federal funds were cut for a program that promotes childhood health and wellness when we’re facing a national epidemic of childhood obesity and diabetes.”
Created by Congress in 1969, the National Youth Sports Program has proven to be highly successful in 39 states.
The local program, which falls under the UNM College of Education’s Department of Physical Performance and Development, had more than 50 percent of its funding cut in 2006, from $90,000 to $40,000. This year, the rest of the funding, except for some support services, was eliminated. With the $50,000 infusion from UNM, the five-week program will provide athletics and two meals a day for numerous underprivileged youth this summer.
Media Contact: Steve Carr, (505) 277-1821; e-mail: scarr@unm.edu
Lt. Gov. Diane Denish honored for educational efforts
The University of New Mexico College of Education presented its Excellence in Education award to Lt. Gov. Diane Denish at the Dean’s Spring Banquet held recently. The award is the highest honor given by the College of Education.
Photo: Lt. Gov. Diane Denish speaks to the crowd at the College of Education's Dean's Spring Banquet.
“Diane Denish has made an incredible difference for the children and families of New Mexico,” said Viola Florez, dean, College of Education. “In an effort to close the achievement gap faced by so many of New Mexico’s children, Denish fought to pass the Pre-Kindergarten Act, a law that creates high-quality voluntary pre-Kindergarten opportunities for New Mexico’s 4-year olds.
“She helped craft the Insure New Mexico legislative packet that begins to grapple with the State’s health care problem by allowing young people to stay on their parents’ insurance longer. Children’s health care is an issue, which is directly related to education. Denish is also dedicated to making affordable housing available to all New Mexicans, especially those living in rural areas. Housing is another area that impacts education.”
Every two years since 2001, Dean Florez has presented the Excellence in Education award to a person who has made significant contributions to education in New Mexico. Past recipients include Congresswoman Heather Wilson, Donald “Duffy” Swan and Dr. Jane Blumenfeld.
The award is given at the Dean’s Spring Banquet, an event that is held every two years to honor donors who have established scholarships in the College of Education. The banquet also provides donors with the opportunity to meet the recipients of their scholarships, so they see the human impact of their generosity.
Media Contact: Steve Carr, (505) 277-1821; e-mail: scarr@unm.edu
University Libraries is presenting two events as part of the Summer Sunset Lecture Series. On Saturday, June 9, two-time Grammy and two-time Emmy nominee Bill Mooney of Boulder, Colorado will perform an original one-man show as famed frontier showman William F. Cody in “Tonight! Buffalo Bill!” The performance begins at 7 p.m. in the west wing of Zimmerman Library on the UNM main campus.
Richard Rodriguez, a contributing editor at New American Media in San Francisco, will present “The Browning of America: Race, Religion and Ethnicity in an Erotic Age” at 7 p.m. on Saturday, July 7 at Rodey Theater in the Center for the Arts.
Rodriguez writes regularly for newspapers in both the United States and England, and he has written an autobiographical trilogy on class, ethnicity and race that includes “Hunger of Memory” (1982), “Days of Obligation: An Argument with my Mexican Father,” (1992) and “Brown: The Last Discovery of America” (2002). Currently he is working on a book concerned with the ecology of the desert and monotheism.
Both events are free and open to the public.
Media Contact: Karen Wentworth, (505) 277-5627; e-mail: kwent2@unm.edu
UNM Parking & Transportation Services will host an Alternative Transportation Fair on the Cornell Mall in front of the Student Union Building on Monday, April 23, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. The purpose of the fair is to help students, faculty, and staff learn about available alternative transportation options and benefits, and find out more about how they can be supported in their efforts to utilize these options.
Alternative transportation is defined as any way of commuting other than the single-occupancy vehicle (“SOV”) method – that is, one person, one car.
As Parking and Transportation Services Director Clovis Acosta explains, “Parking and Transportation Services is taking a proactive approach in dealing with the effects of global warming, the inevitable rise in parking fees, and the depletion of available parking spDavid Brookshire as construction booms on campus. I think people really want to be able to do their part to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, not to mention reducing their commuting costs, but they don’t know how they might be able to make that work into their daily routine.”
To be of further service to the campus community, UNM Parking and Transportation Services is now providing a new service to the campus, serving as a Commuter Advisory Station. People can discuss their particular issues about commuting to campus with a commuter specialist, who will be able to advise them of the various options, and even cost-saving benefits, which might be available to them as users of alternative transportation.
Participants at the fair will include:
VPSI Commuter Vanpool – UNM Parking and Transportation Services will be offering vanpool coordination to employees. VPSI will be on-site with a van and information about starting a vanpool. Vanpooling reduces commuting costs, promotes good air quality, and UNM is able to offer enrollees the opportunity to use automatic deduction, pre-tax dollars to pay for their monthly service fees.
* UNM Police Department will hold their annual bicycle auction. Viewing begins at 8:30 a.m.; auction starts at 11 a.m.
* UNM Recreational Services will have a bicycle tune-up station
* A representative from the Biology Department’s Sustainability Studies program will be on hand to show off their new bio-fuel minivan and discuss carbon emissions issues.
* ABQ Ride and New Mexico Rail Runner Express will have information available about their services.
* Bicycle Safety Education and Advocacy and much more.
All events will be on the Cornell Mall in front of the SUB. Please contact Parking and Transportation Services at 277-0461 for further information regarding this event.
Media Contact: Sabra Basler, (505) 277-7590; e-mail: sbasler@unm.edu
Schizophrenia is a disease that can’t yet be diagnosed with a medical test. Psychiatrists must instead study a patient’s symptoms for a long period of time before making a diagnosis. That’s a source of frustration for both doctors and patients, so one researcher at the MIND Institute on the University of New Mexico campus is searching for that critical physical clue in the way the human mind works while it’s idling.
Photo: Vince D. Calhoun is director of image analysis and MR research for the MIND Institute and associate professor of electrical and computer engineering.
Some of the latest results are in an article written by Trinity College senior Abigail G. Garrity as part of her senior project that appears in the March issue of the Journal of American Psychiatry. Garrity is mentored by Vince D. Calhoun, the director of image analysis and MR research for the MIND Institute and an associate professor of electrical and computer engineering. The paper is based on Calhoun’s research in ways to look at brain scans.
The heart of that research is a new way to look at which parts of the brain are activated when it is idling, a state called “default mode.” The research looks at the way some areas of the brain are activated when a healthy subject is just lying in a functional magnetic resonance imaging machine, and how the active areas change when a subject is called on to perform a specific task, such as reacting to a tone. The same test was given to subjects who have been diagnosed with schizophrenia, but in these patients the “default mode” areas of the brain continued to be active, even when the subject was responding to directions.
That led the researchers to suggest that default mode regions of the brain may be overactive in a way that interferes with normal thoughts and functioning, perhaps interrupting the internal monologue that humans generate and contributing to the delusional thoughts and hallucinations that are characteristic of schizophrenics.
Calhoun’s Research
Calhoun has written extensively about independent component analysis, using software to tease out the confusing and overlapping functions of the brain that show up in functional magnetic resonance imaging. He has adapted the software to try to separate patterns in the brain that can be linked to specific activity.
Since much of his research is funded by the National Institutes of Health, his software tool is freely available on his website at http://www.ece.unm.edu/~vcalhoun/ Calhoun also teaches courses on how to work with the software.
Calhoun says his interest is in application, and research is a way to develop the methods needed to solve concrete problems. That’s one reason he has spent so much time developing the tools to analyze brain scans. He is one of the few researchers in the world involved in this complex specialty.
He says his specialty developed from his roots as an engineer who also worked for twelve years at Johns Hopkins in the psychiatry department. That taught him about the need to bridge the problems researchers have in developing the tools they need to answer their questions about how the human mind works. He has been at UNM since October 2006, and he says he is now interested in teaching students to apply engineering principles to biomedical problems.
Calhoun is also interested in multimodal data fusion - an exercise that takes different instances of brain imaging scans, puts them together, and looks at the possible implications. He thinks about which parts of the brain are active at various times, looks at how those parts might be linked, and what that might mean for potential treatments.
One of his postdoctoral students is currently looking at a combination of genetic information and imaging information to try to determine what part genetics might play in the development of schizophrenia, and what other things might influence development of the disease.
Media Contact: Karen Wentworth, (505) 277-5627; e-mail: kwent2@unm.edu
Two students from the University of New Mexico’s Communication & Journalism Department in the College of Arts and Sciences are award recipients.
Dohnia W. Dorman, a double major in advertising in Communication & Journalism and Spanish, will receive a 2007 Clauve Outstanding Senior Award.
The award is usually presented to six to eight seniors with outstanding academics, community and campus involvement and leadership. UNM Dean of Students G. Randy Boeglin will present the award at the UNM Recognition Reception on April 12.
Shane Harris, also an advertising student, received a 2006 Silver ADDY in the New Mexico Advertising Federation’s local ADDY competition in the Student Category for a series of magazine ads designed for “Under Armour Camouflage.”
The NMAF ADDY’s recognize the best in advertising creative in print, broadcast and Interactive. Local winners advance to district competition, then to the national competition. Shane was honored at the annual ADDY Event held Friday, March 23.
Media Contact: Carolyn Gonzales, (505) 277-5920; e-mail: cgonzal@unm.edu
Kit Carson focus of talk
Legend clashes with reality on the American Frontier as Professor Paul Hutton presents “Kit Carson’s Ride,” the 2007 C. Ruth and Calvin P. Horn Lecture in Western History and Culture, on Thursday, April 19 at 5:30 p.m., Ballroom B in the University of New Mexico Student Union Building.
Photo: Paul Hutton
The lecture, followed by a book signing and reception, is sponsored by the Center for the Southwest, the Department of History and UNM Press. The event is free and open to the public. For more information call, 277-7688.
Paul Hutton is Distinguished Professor of History at the University of New Mexico. His book, Phil Sheridan and His Army (1985), received the Billington Prize from the Organization of American Historians, the Evans Biography Award and the Spur Award from the Western Writers of America.
He has published widely in both scholarly and popular magazines, has written a dozen television documentaries, and has appeared in more than 150 television programs on CBS, NBC, PBS, BBC, Discovery, Disney Channel, TBS, TNN, A&E, and the History Channel.
In 2003-2005 he wrote and co-produced five episodes of the History Channel series Investigating History with Bill Kurtis. Hutton is also the recipient of four Spur Awards from the Western Writers of America and four Western Heritage Awards from the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum.
He has served as the associate editor of the Western Historical Quarterly (1977-1984), the editor of the New Mexico Historical Review (1985-1991), and the Executive Director of the Western History Association (1990-2006). Hutton currently serves as the Executive Director of Western Writers of America.
The C. Ruth and Calvin P. Horn Endowment Fund supports the C. Ruth and Calvin P. Horn Lectures in Western History and Culture, a distinguished lecture series now in its 22nd year. Calvin and Ruth’s vision for the series was to provide the campus and the larger community access to inspiring speakers who brought history to life by providing perspectives on the West. By understanding the past we gain new insight into the history of such matters as land use, conservation, access to water, our regional identity, the creative arts and the actions of historical figures.
Past lectures have highlighted well-known western historians such as Patricia Nelson Limerick, Marc Simmons, David Weber, Vicki Ruiz, Philip Deloria and Hal Rothman. The late Calvin Horn was one of New Mexico’s most beloved civic leaders. Calvin and Ruth shared a passion for learning and became lead supporters of Manzano Day School and the University of New Mexico.
Media Contact: Carolyn Gonzales, (505) 277-5920; e-mail: cgonzal@unm.edu
STC.UNM is recognizing 14 University of New Mexico researchers and faculty members who have received patents or registration of a copyright over the past year. This is the fourth year that STC.UNM has honored UNM researchers.
The award recipients for patents include:
** Tione Buranda, research associate professor from the UNM Health Sciences Center School of Medicine Pathology Department; Daniel F. Cimino, research specialist in cell biology and physiology; Eric R. Prossnitz, professor of cell biology and physiology; Larry Sklar, professor of pathology; and Peter C. Simons, associate scientist, Cancer Research and Treatment Center, and research assistant professor of cytometry and pathology for “Bead Based Detection of Ligand-GPCR-G Protein Complexes”
** Christie G. Enke, professor emeritus, chemistry department, for “Distance of Flight Spectrometer for MS and Simultaneous Scanless MS/MS”
** Majeed M. Hayat, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering and Bradley M. Ratliff, graduate student, Anderson School of Management, for “Uniform, Non-Disruptive and Radiometrically Accurate Calibration of Infrared Focal Plane Arrays Using Global Scene Motion”
** William J. Kroenke, emeritus professor of chemical and nuclear engineering, and Robert T. Paine, Jr. distinguished professor of chemistry, for “Nonaqueous Borate Route to Boron Nitride Powders”
** Robert T. Paine, Jr., distinguished professor of chemistry, for “Non-Aqueous Borate Aerosol Route to Porous Boron Nitride”
** Wilmer L. Sibbitt, Jr. M.D., professor IM division of rheumatology and neurology, for “Reciprocating Syringes”
The award recipients for copyrights include:
** Bruce S. Edwards, research professor in the School of Medicine Pathology Department, and Larry A. Sklar, professor in the SOM Pathology Department, for a copyright titled “HyperSip Software”
** Bruce S. Edwards, research professor in the Pathology Department, for a copyright titled “IDO Query Program”
** Jeannie M. Martinez-Welles, professor of Health Careers at UNM-Gallup, for a copyright titled “Solar Oven”
** William K. (Bill) Szaroletta, P.E. director of Advancement Services, for a copyright titled “Advancement Services Informatics Center”
Four of the patents have already been licensed, and the others are being actively marketed. One of the copyrights "Hypersip Software" is being further developed in an interinstitutional agreement.
STC.UNM is a non-profit corporation formed by the University of New Mexico to protect and transfer its faculty inventions to the commercial marketplace. The corporation works to license the intellectual property created at the university.
Media Contact: Karen Wentworth, (505) 277-5627; e-mail: kwent2@unm.edu
The UNM Opera Theatre presents a new translation of “The Magic Flute,” a grand opera in two acts by W. A. Mozart, April 19-22. Translated and directed by Marilyn Tyler, UNM professor of music, “The Magic Flute” will be sung in English by a first rate cast. The critically acclaimed UNM Symphony Orchestra will be conducted by Jorge Pérez-Gómez, with guest conductor Annunziata Tomaro.
Photo: “Queen of the Night” Hannah Stephens, with “Three Ladies” Andrea Kiesling, Heather Pedelty and Gaby Altunes.
“The Magic Flute” has delighted the public from the opening performance in 1791 until the present time. Mozart’s masterpiece combines high drama, comic relief and great music. Comedy and fantasy, enchanted bells and a magic flute lead the characters and audience on a journey through realms inhabited by dragons, scheming servants and benevolent wise men.
Prince Tamino undergoes challenging trials in order to win his beloved Pamina. He is accompanied on his magical journey by opera’s favorite human comic character, the bird catcher Papageno. “The Magic Flute” comforts and exhilarates while exploring the mystery and the power of love.
“The Magic Flute” will be shown Thursday-Saturday, April 19-21 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, April 22 at 3 p.m. in Keller Hall at the UNM Center for Fine Arts. Tickets are $15 general, $12 seniors/faculty/staff, $10 students and are available at UNM ticket offices, unmtickets.com or (505) 925-5858.
Media Contact: Tori Weller, (505) 277-2131
For several years, students at the University of New Mexico have been using response systems, commonly called “clickers” in reference to buttons on wireless transmitters, especially in science classes. Students use clickers to respond to multiple-choice questions projected on the lecture-hall screen by the instructor.
Student responses permit instant assessment of problems in student learning and also stimulate discussion. Research shows that students earn better grades, learn more effectively, attend class more regularly, and have a more positive attitude toward large lecture classes when clickers are used, compared to when they are not used.
UNM has finalized a preferred-vendor agreement with Holtzbrinck Publishers, LLC, to use iClicker classroom response systems beginning in fall 2007.
Professors have usually selected a clicker system upon recommendation from textbook publishers, leading to the many different clickers on campus and limited opportunities for students to use clickers in more than one class.
“The adoption of a single clicker means that a student will, hopefully, never have to buy more than one clicker during their time at UNM,” said UNM Bookstore Unit Supervisor Anthony Burns. “Another plus is that students can choose to sell their clicker back to the bookstore and there will be used clickers available at a lower price than new units.” Burns anticipates that new iClicker transmitters will cost $33.95 in the fall semester and there are no additional registration fees.
Adoption of a preferred vendor was a joint effort of the Office of Support for Effective Teaching (OSET) and the Chief Information Officer’s Strategic Planning Task Force. These two UNM organizations worked with a group of faculty members who already used clickers to identify desired features for a classroom response system.
Four clicker companies demonstrated their systems during the “Teaching with Technology” event sponsored by OSET last October. Faculty members rated the systems and recommended iClicker as the best match to UNM’s needs. Faculty can still use other clickers but they are strongly encouraged to change to iClicker.
“The clicker anarchy that has resulted from having so many different systems on campus is disadvantageous for everyone,” said OSET Director Gary Smith. “Some students had to buy more than one clicker, they commonly could not sell them back after the class was over, and instructors were unable to get help with using clickers. Now, student cost is lower, sellback is possible, and faculty will be supported.”
OSET will offer workshops for faculty on effective teaching methods for clickers. Information Technology Services (ITS) will provide on-campus technical support and, along with iClicker personnel, will conduct faculty training sessions.
Instructors using iClicker will obtain loaner receivers and software from Media Technology Services (MTS).
“We already provide computers and projectors in classrooms, so it is natural for us to distribute the iClicker instructor kits, too. A faculty member can check out the receivers and software for a semester, a year, or for use during individual class periods,” said MTS Manager David Sanchez.
In the past, many UNM instructors used infra-red clicker systems requiring wiring the lecture halls with many receivers. It was common that student responses were not received, problematic if students were graded for answering clicker questions.
Smith and Sanchez point out that iClicker is a radio-frequency system, a feature faculty insisted upon for the preferred vendor selection. Only one, small, portable receiver is required to instantly, and reliably, record 1,000 responses. Technology problems encountered with the infrared systems are almost nonexistent and clickers can now be used in any classroom, not just those wired with receivers.
Instructors interested in knowing more about using iClicker or teaching with clickers are encouraged to visit the OSET Web site, OSET or send e-mail to oset@unm.edu.
Media Contact: Carolyn Gonzales, (505) 277-5920; e-mail: cgonzal@unm.edu
Microfinance empowers small business owners and cooperatives by loaning small amounts of money. Nicole Coffey Kellett describes a microfinance program in rural highland Peru that provides loans to women in her lecture, “Microfinance and the Empowerment of Women in the Peruvian Highlands,” Wednesday, April 4 at 7:30 p.m. in Hibben Center room 105.
Kellett will discuss the impact on women’s overall well being, examining changing gender relations, community cohesion and labor practices.
This presentation is the 26th Ruth E. Kennedy Memorial Lecture. The series was established to recognize an outstanding UNM doctoral candidate in the Department of Anthropology. Sponsored by the Maxwell Museum Association,
Hibben Center is just south of the Maxwell Museum and just north of the intersection of Redondo and Martin Luther King Blvd.
Media Contact: Carolyn Gonzales, (505) 277-5920; e-mail: cgonzal@unm.edu
"Classics of the 21st Century," a lecture presented by Sam Schuman, will be held Thursday, April 5 at 7 p.m. in the University Honors Forum, located in the basement just north of Johnson Center.
Schuman, a visiting professor in the University Honors Program from the University of Minnesota, Morris, currently occupies the Distinguished Garrey Carruthers Chair in Honors. He will present the lecture, based on a seminar he is currently teaching, concerning novels published since 2000 and their chances for longevity.
From the well-known authors like Phillip Roth or John Irving, to a suprise best-seller like Yann Martel, or even the more obscure, like Kent Meyers--are these going to be the books we are still reading in 2107? Audience members are invited to cast their votes at this dynamic event.
Schuman has taught at the University of Minnesota, Morris since 1995. He is also a past president of the Vladimir Nabokov Society and of the National Collegiate Honors Council. He is the author of several dozen articles and chapters, and of five books on English literature and on American higher education.
Media Contact: Carolyn Gonzales, (505) 277-5920; e-mail: cgonzal@unm.edu
The familiar green teaching evaluation form, called ICES, will soon become part of UNM history. In its place is Faculty and Course Evaluation (FACE). FACE teaching evaluations, which can be administered by paper and pencil or online, will fully replace ICES starting in fall 2007.
Some students and faculty used FACE in a pilot test last fall and an expanded field test is underway for spring. Faculty interested in participating in the field test this semester and getting familiar with FACE before full implementation next fall are encouraged to visit face.unm.edu for more information.
“The ICES evaluations must be replaced because the mainframe computer required to run the ICES evaluations is being decommissioned,” said Chuck McQuade, FACE project lead at Information Technology Services (ITS).
The process to replace ICES has been carefully planned for more than two years. The Faculty Senate Teaching Enhancement Committee formed a subcommittee, chaired by Earth and Planetary Sciences Professor Yemane Asmerom, to explore replacement options.
“Yemane and his subcommittee provided a great service by collecting information on different options, convening forums to discuss evaluation methods, and arranging for the pilot test that established FACE as a viable replacement for ICES,” said Gary Smith, special assistant to the provost for faculty development. Smith is working with McQuade and the FACE Team at ITS to make a smooth transition to the new evaluations.
“Student evaluation of teaching is critical to effective teaching,” said Richard Holder, deputy provost, Academic Affairs. “Colleges, schools and departments can choose to use other evaluation instruments, but it was essential that we replace ICES with a new product, and FACE appears superior to ICES in many ways.”
Although a single form with 38 items is being used during the field test, faculty using online evaluations will eventually be able to choose from alternative forms that are geared toward specific types of courses, like labs or studios. Forms can also be customized from a questionnaire database that contains more than 300 items.
Online administration of teaching evaluations is one new and potentially important feature. “Student response rates to online evaluations tend to be lower than for paper forms and this can be a problem. If a large percentage of students fail to complete evaluations, then the results are unreliable and cannot be used in an informative way to improve teaching. We will likely see instructors using a mix of online and paper evaluations until everyone becomes accustomed to the online version and strategies evolve to improve response rates,” Smith said.
FACE has been custom-developed for UNM by Postsecondary Instructional Development and Evaluation Services (PSIDES) in Tucson, Ariz. FACE is patterned on an evaluation model that was originally developed at Northeastern University and has also been adopted by the University of Arizona.
Media Contact: Carolyn Gonzales, (505) 277-5920; e-mail: cgonzal@unm.edu
On Friday, April 6, the UNM Peace and Sustainability Fair will be held at the Student Union Building (SUB). Join several UNM Departments as they discuss peace and sustainability issues.
The schedule follows below:
SUB Ballrooms - Indoors
11:00 A.M. - Welcoming Statement followed by Keynote Speaker Demetria Martinez
12:00 – 1:30 - Global Warming Panel Discussion
1:30 – 2:00 - Hiroshima; Survivors of the Atom Bomb – Holly Siebert Kawakami; Marda Permaculture Farm in the West Bank of Palestine – Tami Brunk
2:00 – 3:30 - Militarization Panel Discussion
3:30 – 4:00 - African Drummers
4:00 – 5:30 - New Mexico Carbon-neutral Food-shed Project Panel Discussion
5:30 – 6:00 - Slam Poetry
6:00 – 7:00 - Keynote Speaker Keith McHenry (cofounder of Food not Bombs)
Outdoors - Sustainability Activities throughout the day
· Veggie/Ethanol Car display and demonstrations
· Bio-Processor demonstrations
· Solar equipment demonstrations
· Live Music
Veterans for Peace Display – will be located by the Duckpond/Westside of Zimmerman Library.
Information and Display Tables will be located both in the SUB Ballrooms and outside around the sustainability activities. To reserve a table contact Susi at, chknob@unm.edu or call (505) 277-4032.
For more information visit http://www.unm.edu/waytogo/sustainpeace.html.
Media Contact: Sabra Basler, (505) 277-7590; e-mail: sbasler@unm.edu
The UNM Department of Parking and Transportation Services is hosting an Alternative Transportation Fair on Monday, April 23, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. The fair will be located on the Cornell Mall in front of the Student Union Building.
This will be an opportunity for any groups and vendors interested in promoting alternative modes of transportation to provide information to students, faculty, and staff. “Alternative Transportation” covers everything from walking to public transit, biking, motor scooters and motorcycles, carpooling, vanpooling, skateboarding.
Whether the reason is to cut commuter costs, concern over greenhouse gas emissions, or improved health, if your organization is interested in promoting anything other than single-occupancy vehicle commuting, we’d welcome your participation in this special Earth Day event.
For more information, please contact Cynthia Martin, Program Planning Manager at UNM Parking and Transportation Services, 277-1928 or via e-mail, cmartin@parking.unm.edu.
Media Contact: Sabra Basler, (505) 277-7590; e-mail: sbasler@unm.edu
Honor is one of the highest University can bestow on faculty
Biology Professor Clifford Dahm will present the 52nd Annual Research Lecture at 7 p.m. on Thursday, April 19, at the Science & Technology Park Rotunda, 801 University Blvd. SE. His lecture will focus on more than 20 years of research in the fields of restoration biology, biogeochemistry, microbial ecology, hydrology, climatology and aquatic ecology.
Photo: Clifford Dahm
Dahm’s research emphasizes interdisciplinary approaches required for understanding aquatic ecosystems. He will discuss the constantly improving understanding of New Mexico water sources, the impacts of yearly variability in water supply for aquatic ecosystems, and why oceanography matters in this state. He will also talk about what researchers are learning about interactions between surface water, ground water and the interface between the two.
Dahm, who is internationally known in his fields of study, came to the University of New Mexico in 1984 as an assistant professor of biology. He is also the director for the Freshwater Sciences Interdisciplinary Doctoral Program at UNM, and is a member of the Science Steering Group for the Global Water Budget Program of the U.S. Global Change Research Program.
The event is free and open to the public.
Media Contact: Karen Wentworth, (505) 277-5627; e-mail: kwent2@unm.edu
"Knowing Mars: How the Red Planet Became Arid, Irrigated, and Inhabited in the Late Nineteenth Century," a lecture by Dr. Maria Lane, is the second in the Spring 2007 Geography Speakers Series. The event, which is free and open to the public, will be held from 12 to 1 p.m., Friday, April 6 in Bandelier Hall East, rm. 105 on UNM's main campus.
Lane, a research assistant professor in the Department of Geography, has published several articles and is currently writing a book on the historical geography of Mars. Her research explores the ways that astronomers have borrowed geographers' methods in order to make sense of the red planet's landscape.
This presentation focuses specifically on the "canal craze" of the late-19th century, when European and North American scientists thought Mars was likely to be inhabited by intelligent beings.
Lane's broader research interests focus on the ways that environmental knowledge is produced and how such knowledge gains authority among various groups.
Media Contact: Steve Carr, (505) 277-1821; e-mail: scarr@unm.edu
Margot Geist earned MA, MFA at UNM
Albuquerque photographer and University of New Mexico Fine Arts graduate Margot Geist has been chosen to create the 2007 Arts Alliance Bravos Awards. Geist’s original photographs will be presented to winners of this annual award for excellence in the arts at the Arts Alliance awards banquet on April 21 at the Albuquerque Marriott.
Titled, “Opportunity,” each 8 by 10 inch, framed color photograph is encapsulated in layers of fused wax.
“Using wax is a process that helps to evoke an ethereal quality in the object,” Geist said. “Photography is so cerebral in many ways, a portrait of the moment. The wax is a way to make the pieces have more depth and surface quality.”
Originally from the East Coast, Geist has been doing photography since she was a teenager. She received her bachelors in Fine Arts in photography and ceramics from Ohio University, and came to UNM in 1984. She received her MA in ceramics and MFA in sculpture from UNM. She owns Geistlight Studio in Albuquerque.
“I’ve been involved with the arts community for many years, photographing artists’ work and documenting work for many area museums. I get lots of support from the arts community and being chosen to create the Bravos Award is an honor that allows me to give back to it,” she said.
Geist, a 2003 Bravos Award winner in Visual Arts as part of the collaborative “Memory and Other Objects” exhibition, serves on the board of the Friends of Art of the University of New Mexico Art Museum. She is also a member of the board of the New Mexico Arts & Crafts Festival, a 2007 Bravos Award winner (Arts Organization).
The Arts Alliance commissions a different visual artist each year to create original artwork to serve as the awards to winners in the categories of dance, music, visual arts, theater arts, literary arts, outstanding arts volunteer/philanthropist, arts education, outstanding arts organization and President’s award.
For more information contact Cricket Appel at 268-1920 or cricket@abqarts.org.
Media Contact: Carolyn Gonzales, (505) 277-5920; e-mail: cgonzal@unm.edu
University Libraries will recognizes emerging writer Reyna Grande as the winner of the 2006 Premio Aztlán Literary Award. Grande, who is an English as a Second Language and Citizenship Teacher at the Los Angeles Unified School District, will receive $1,000 and deliver a public lecture on Thursday, April 26, at 4 p.m. in the Willard Reading Room in UNM’s Zimmerman Library. Prior to the reading, a talk for students takes place, also in the Willard Reading room, at 11 a.m. Both events are free and open to the public.
“Across a Hundred Mountains” is a stunning and poignant story of migration, loss and discovery as two women -- one born in Mexico, one in the United States -- find their lives joined in the most unlikely way. The phenomenon of Mexican immigration to the United States is one of the most controversial issues of our time.
While it is often discussed in terms of the political and economic implications, Grande, with this brilliant debut novel and her own profound insider's perspective, puts a human face on the subject. Who are the men, women and children whose lives are affected by the forces that propel so many to risk life and limb, crossing the border in pursuit of a better life? Grande’s book, published by Atari Press Simon and Schuster, will be available for purchase at the event.
Grande, born in Guerrero, Mexico in 1975, followed her parents to the United States at nine years of age. She graduated from the University of California, Santa Cruz, in 1999 and was named a PEN Center USA Emerging Voices Rosenthal Fellow in 2003. She lives in Los Angeles with her son.
The Premio Aztlán Literary Award is a national literary award, established to encourage and reward emerging Chicana and Chicano authors. Renowned author Rudolfo Anaya and his wife Patricia founded Premio Aztlán in 1993. The prize was reestablished in their honor in 2004 by the University of New Mexico Libraries
To be considered, each entrant must have authored no more than two books as well as be active in the Chicana/o community. Former Premio Aztlán recipients -- Denise Chavez, Pat Mora, Alicia Gaspar de Alba, Sergio Toncoso and Mary Helen Lagasse -- have become well-known literary figures.
For more information about the Premio Aztlán Literary Award, contact Teresa Marquez at: andaluz@unm.edu or phone (505) 277-0582.
Media Contact: Karen Wentworth, (505) 277-5627; e-mail: kwent2@unm.edu
The UNM School of Architecture and Planning presents “Urban Design Futures in Albuquerque, a panel discussion,” today, Monday, April 2, 4-6 p.m. in the Santa Ana Room, Student Union Building.
The panelists are architects, landscape architects, planners, politicos, developers, students and others.
The panelists will discuss urban design in Albuquerque in the 21st century. After a short statement from each panelist, the audience will be invited to engage in a lively discussion and debate.
This is the final event of the John Gaw Meem Lecture Series for the semester.
For more information, call Dot Waldrip at 277-5885.
Media Contact: Carolyn Gonzales, (505) 277-5920; e-mail: cgonzal@unm.edu
Zia Scientific Takes Top Prize with Two Drug Delivery Systems; Anderson MBA Candidates Sweep the Field
After months of agonizing over details and striving for perfection – and despite the heavy load of classes associated with being full-time students, nine teams gave presentations today at the University of New Mexico’s second Technology Business Plan Competition. A who’s who of New Mexico venture capitalists, whittled that group of nine down to five finalist teams and then awarded first, second and third place prizes worth $25,000, $10,000 and $5,000 to the top three teams.
“In 2006 we saw presentations from 17 teams, and while the quality was high, this year’s competitors were the crème of the crop. All of the judges commented on the extraordinarily high quality of this year’s business plans,” says competition director Dr. Sul Kassicieh, who holds Anderson’s Chair in Economic Development.
Zia Scientific, a company designed to commercialize two new drug delivery systems developed at UNM’s Science & Technology Corporation, took home the Michael Gallegos Prize for Entrepreneurship, totaling $25,000 and accompanied by services worth $2,500 from accounting firm Grant Thornton LLP and law firm Brownstein Hyatt & Farber. Team members David Stein, PhD; Peter Mertens; and Randy Burge are all MBA candidates in the Anderson School’s Management of Technology program.
The Ensura Diagnostics project, which provides a business plan for two new diagnostic blood tests for pregnant women, won the Technology Venture Capital/Lockheed Martin-sponsored second prize of $10,000. The business plan was produced and presented by Jovan Huesser and Elena Rusu, Anderson MBA students.
The WeeCare team won the Honeywell-sponsored third prize of $5,000. Cynthia M. Harris and James Burnes, Anderson MBA students, presented their plan to market a line of interactive baby-soothing systems, including toys and crib and car seat accessories.
The 2006 winning team, Satyrne Biotechnologies, has recently gone on to present in competitions in San Diego and San Francisco.
Corporate sponsors of the competition include American Property Management Corp., Technology Ventures Corporation/Lockheed Martin, DePonte Investments Inc., vSpring Capital, Brownstein Hyatt & Farber, Grant Thornton LLP, the New Mexico Venture Capital Association, and Wasatch Venture Fund.
Media Contacts: Sophie Martin, (505) 277-7117; e-mail: martin@mgt.unm.edu or Steve Carr, (505) 277-1821; e-mail: scarr@unm.edu