This week on ‘New Mexico In Focus,’ topics include - Ethics Reform, the State of our Union and the ongoing discussion over the future of UNM’s North Golf Course. 'New Mexico InFocus' airs on KNME Channel 5 on Friday, Feb. 1 at 7 p.m. and repeats Sunday, Feb. 3 at 6:30 a.m.
Guests…
* Steven Allen, Executive Director, Common Cause New Mexico;
* Rep. Dan Foley, Minority Whip
* Rebecca Vigil-Giron, Former Secretary of State
Panelists...
* Pat Frisch, AM Radio Operations Manager, Citadel Communications
* Pauline Eisnenstadt, Former State Senator
Regular Commentators/Panelists...
* Gene Grant and David Alire Garcia, hosts
* Margaret Montoya, UNM School of Law / UNM School of Medicine
* Jim Scarantino, Columnist, The Weekly Alibi
Topics this week include...
1. Ethics reform is once again a hot topic for lawmakers, but will this be the year significant changes are actually made in Santa Fe? Find out, this week as NEW MEXICO IN FOCUS talks candidly with experts and lawmakers about the proposals on the table during this year's legislative session.
2. President Bush told the nation on Monday that the state of our union is strong. What does that mean for everyday New Mexicans, and what impact did his speech have on the current campaign landscape?
3. Find out what the panelists think about that issue, as well as the ongoing discussion over the future of UNM's North Golf Course.
Co-Hosted by Santa Fe Reporter staff writer David Alire Garcia and local Tribune columnist Gene Grant, New Mexico In Focus takes a multi-layered look at social, political, economic, health, education and arts issues and explores them in-depth, with a critical eye to give them context beyond the "news of the moment."
The producer of New Mexico In Focus is Kevin McDonald. Support for the show has been provided by McCune Charitable Foundation. Closed Captioning has been made possible by a gift from Mrs. Elspeth G. Bobbs.
Media Contact: Evy Todd, (505) 277-1218; e-mail: etodd@knme.org
The UNM Faculty Senate Teaching Enhancement Committee and the Office of Support for Effective Teaching (OSET) invite all UNM instructors, students and staff to nominate outstanding educators for special award recognition. Nominations will be accepted until Wednesday, Feb. 13 at: Teaching Awards.
The nomination process for all awards requires only providing the names of nominees. Nominees will then be contacted to provide information required for the award committees to select recipients.
The award categories are:
2008-2010 Presidential Teaching Fellow
All tenured faculty are eligible. The Presidential Teaching Fellowship promotes excellence in teaching by establishing a core of faculty who are given the highest recognition for their effective teaching. One fellow will be selected and will serve a term of two years, during which time the fellow receives special award compensation.
2007-08 Outstanding Teacher of the Year Award
All tenured and tenure-track faculty and clinician educators are eligible. The Outstanding Teacher of the Year Award recognizes and rewards teaching excellence. Two faculty members will be selected for this monetary award.
2007-08 Adjunct Teacher and Lecturer of the Year Award
All adjunct faculty and lecturers who have taught consistently at UNM for at least four years are eligible for this award. This monetary award is made to up to three recipients to recognize and reward the contributions of non-tenure track faculty to teaching and learning at UNM.
2007-08 Susan Deese-Roberts Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award
This award is designed to recognize and reward the teaching achievements of graduate students. Nominations are made by department chairs on behalf of their departments.
Media Contact: Sari Krosinsky, (505) 277-1593; e-mail: michal@unm.edu
Robert Otto Valdez joins the University of New Mexico as executive director of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Center for Health Policy. He joins the university after leading his own research and analysis firm, Valdez and Associates, and serving as a senior health scientist with the RAND Health Sciences Program in Santa Monica, Calif. and Washington, D.C.
Photo: Robert Otto Valdez
“We are very pleased that Dr. Valdez is ready to provide leadership for the center,” UNM Interim Provost Viola Florez said. “He is a leader in health policy at the national and international levels and we believe he will bring tremendous vision to UNM.”
UNM Executive Vice President for Health Sciences Paul Roth said, “Dr. Valdez is a proven leader who brings very impressive credentials to this position. We are fortunate that the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation recognized UNM as a seedbed for addressing the needs of our underserved populations. Valdez is the right person to lead the Health Policy Center as it begins searching for candidates who will be trained to help develop national policies aimed at addressing healthcare disparities.”
Valdez has conducted policy analyses and health services research at RAND and as a senior fellow at Emory University’s Institute for Advanced Policy Solutions. He previously served as founding dean and professor of Health Policy and Management at the MCP Hahnemann University School of Public Health. From 1985 -1999, Valdez was professor of health services at the UCLA School of Public Health and directed the health services doctoral studies program.
He is nationally recognized as an expert on health services research methodology, the U.S. health care system, and health policy analysis. Valdez received his Ph.D. from the RAND Graduate School for Public Policy Studies where he specialized in studies of health care financing and quality of care for children.
“To create the best health care services for all Americans, the country needs a diverse group of leaders in Washington and in academic circles who represent the interests, cultures, and needs of this incredibly diverse nation,” said Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, M.D., M.B.A. president and CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. “We are delighted that Dr. Valdez will be leading the effort to attract and support a new generation of health policy leaders with those diverse perspectives.”
Valdez has been active in health policy and health services research at the international, national, state and local levels. In 1998, he served as special senior advisor to the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans. From 1993 to 1996 he served in a dual capacity at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services as deputy assistant secretary for Health, Public Health Service and director of Interagency Health Policy, Health Care Financing Administration.
His responsibilities covered a wide range of issues including children and adolescent health initiatives, managed care developments and their effects on the public health care system; care for the uninsured; Indian health care initiatives, and state health care reforms. Prior to joining the Department of Health and Human Services, he served as a senior advisor to the White House on health care reform.
The RWJF Center for Health Policy is a physical, educational and cultural home for promising minority leaders and others, providing them with the training, research and opportunities they need to inform discussions and debates about health policy.
As a university-wide interdisciplinary research organization dedicated to addressing the social, behavioral and economic factors affecting health and health care, the Center projects emphasize applying social science theories and methods to reduce or eliminate health and health care disparities.
Through its students and programs the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Center for Health Policy will serve as a national resource and contribute to the development and implementation of national health policies by increasing the number and diversity of scholars who can engage in the debate as leaders.
Media Contact: Carolyn Gonzales, (505) 277-5920; e-mail: cgonzal@unm.edu
The UNM Bookstore invites everyone to attend a book talk and signing with Ira Jaffe, author of “Hollywood Hybrids: Mixing Genres in Contemporary Films.” The event starts at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 16 at the UNM Bookstore.
Through close readings of films by U.S. filmmakers such as Quentin Tarantino, David Lynch, Errol Morris, Todd Haynes, and Joel and Ethan Coen, Hollywood Hybrids studies provocative, disorienting strategies of genre mixing in contemporary cinema.
The book also explores foreign parallels to U.S. hybrid cinema in films by such directors as Pedro Almodovar (Spain) and Stephen Chow (Hong Kong). Hollywood Hybrids regards genre mixing as a key creative interest motivating major filmmakers around the globe.
Jaffe is professor emeritus and former chair of the Department of Media Arts at UNM.
Site team finds department compliant in all standards
A site team representing the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications (ACEJMC) has recommended the journalism and mass communication programs in the Department of Communication & Journalism at the University of New Mexico for accreditation.
The team found the department in compliance with each of the nine standards of the ACEJMC:
* Mission, Governance and Administration
* Curriculum and Instruction
* Diversity and Inclusiveness
* Full-Time and Part-Time Faculty
* Scholarship: Research, Creative and Professional Activity
* Student Services
* Resources, Facilities and Equipment
* Professional and Public Service
* Assessment of Learning Outcomes
The team’s recommendation is advisory to the accrediting committee and subsequently, the accrediting council, who makes the final decision in May 2008 at their annual meeting.
John Oetzel, chair, UNM Department of Communication and Journalism, said, “We are elated with the recommendation of the site team. They found us in complete compliance with all of the standards validating the excellent work of the faculty and department. They also made some constructive suggestions for our continued excellence. We look forward to working with students, the university, community and media organizations to continue this excellence and further strengthen our program.”
For more information, contact Oetzel at (505) 277-5305 or joetzel@unm.edu.
Media Contact: Carolyn Gonzales, (505) 277-5920; e-mail: cgonzal@unm.edu
It’s space allocation time in the SUB again, and that means free rent for nearly 100 student organizations. The space allocation process allows chartered student organizations at UNM to apply for free office or free storage space in the SUB. Each year, nearly 100 chartered student organizations apply for office or storage space in the SUB.
In the past, the needs of almost every organization have been met. Some student groups will share space with each other as the goal is to accommodate as many organizations as possible. Offices are equipped with furniture, and data ports. This year, the SUB has increased the storage allocation space by 25 percent, which means more groups will have a place to store their supplies.
Chartered Student Organizations which would like to apply for space for the 2008-09 academic year should complete the Space Allocation Application, available online at Space Allocation.
Groups that currently have space will also need to apply for next year. The deadline to turn in applications is 5 p.m. on Feb. 15. Allocation announcements will be made April 11.
The University of New Mexico Provost’s Committee for Public Service and Community Engagement will launch the Community-University Partnerships Web site on Friday, Feb. 1. A reception celebrating the launch will be held 11 a.m.-noon in the Student Union Building, ballroom C. Bruce Milne, director of the UNM Sustainability Studies Program, will be the guest presenter.
The Provost’s Committee for Public Service and Community Engagement is composed of alumni, staff, students and faculty and was created by President Louis Caldera in fall 2005.
For the last year and half the committee has worked on documenting all the UNM programs, projects and courses that involve community partnerships. The Web site also lists all UNM’s community-based research projects, courses that incorporate community-based learning and service opportunities.
As lunch will be served, reservations are appreciated. Send RSVPs and questions to cpsce@unm.edu.
Two Anderson School of Management staff members are the proud recipients of the 2008 Charter Bank Staff Excellence Award. The award, sponsored by Robert Wertheim, an Anderson alum, Chairman of the Board of Charter Companies, Anderson National Advisory Board member, and a respected community leader, honors staff members who have provided extraordinary service to the UNM Anderson School.
Photo (l. to r.): Darlene Trujillo, Robert Wertheim and Jaye Francis.
This year’s winners are Darlene Trujillo and Jaye Francis. Trujillo is the supervisor of administrative support. She has worked at Anderson for more than 25 years, starting while she was a student at the University of New Mexico. She is responsible for entering time and annual/sick leave for the Anderson staff and she is one of the primary staff contacts for graduate and undergraduate student employees. She is always reliable, accurate and timely in her work.
Francis is an administrative assistant three and the coordinator of the American Business Association at Anderson. She serves as search coordinator for the hiring of faculty and provides information and support to both students and faculty. Francis is also the key link between the Anderson Schools and the Native American community. She has tirelessly worked with Native American students at Anderson, UNM Native American organizations, and Native American tribes and businesses in the State of New Mexico.
Both winner’s were nominated and selected by staff members at Anderson and received a monetary prize for their accomplishments.
Since 1987 Robert Wertheim has funded the Charter Bank Award endowment. He was on hand at the school on Friday, Jan. 25 for the ceremony honoring Trujillo and Francis.
Anderson Interim Dean Amy Wohlert congratulated the winners and says there are plans to install a plaque in the school’s reception area with the names of all the Charter Bank award winners, past and present
“It will be a great reminder of the many outstanding staff members who are so critical to Anderson’s success and mission,” said Wohlert.
Media Contact: Leslie Venzuela, (505) 277-7117; e-mail: venzuela@mgt.unm.edu
Former President Bill Clinton will be on the UNM campus Thursday, Jan. 31 for a special campaign event billed as a “Solutions for America” rally in Johnson Center on the UNM Campus. Clinton is campaigning on behalf of his wife Hillary, who is running for president.
Photo: Former President Bill Clinton
Clinton is scheduled to address the rally in the main arena at approximately 3:15 p.m. for about an hour.
The event is sponsored on campus by the College Democrats. It is free and open to the public. Tickets are not required. Doors open at 1:30 p.m. Clinton is slated to speak at approximately 2:30 p.m.
Johnson Center will be open as usal, however security measures will require that portions of the Center will be off-limits from noon until 4:30 p.m. Center officials are working to keep classes schedules intact. No classes will be cancelled.
Media Contact: Karen Wentworth, (505) 277-5627; e-mail: kwent2@unm.edu
The University of New Mexico wants its students to have a front row seat to the various presidential campaigns. So the university is waiving standard facility fees for campaigns that have been invited to campus by chartered student organizations.
UNM President David J. Schmidly says, “With so much at stake in the outcome of this important presidential election and so much they can learn from their participation in it, the students of the University of New Mexico deserve to be an important part of this, the most exciting and hotly-contested presidential campaign in decades and one of the most important of our lifetimes.
Accordingly, we will make university facilities available this year to any and all presidential candidates who wish to appear here, provided their appearances are sponsored by a legitimate student group. The university will waive customary facility fees with the hope to encourage candidates to come to New Mexico and this great University.”
UNM has had several inquiries from president campaigns who are interested in holding events on the campus.
Media Contact: Susan McKinsey, (505) 277-1807; e-mail: mckinsey@unm.edu
Black History Month kicked off with a bang at the annual brunch sponsored by UNM Africana Studies. The keynote speech was presented by Levar Burton, known for his starring role as Kunta Kinte in “Roots,” as Lt. Commander Geordi LaForge in “Star Trek: The Next Generation” and as the executive producer and host of the PBS children’s series “Reading Rainbow.”
Photo: LeVar Burton
Underlying the many roles Burton has played as actor, director, producer and writer is the fundamental role of educator. He opened his speech with the name of his mother, Erma Christian Burton, who was an English teacher. “Whenever I speak in front of a crowd, I like to mention my mother’s name, because she was my first teacher.” He said among the many gifts she gave him, “at the top of the list is a love for the written word.”
Burton said that most of the women on his mother’s side were educators, while most of the men on his father’s side were ministers. Early on, he had wanted to be a priest, but he later left seminary and transferred his passion to theatre as another “way to express the written in spoken form.”
Burton received a scholarship to study drama at the University of Southern California. “My mother told me I would inherit a world that would sometimes be hostile to my presence… and the best weapon in my arsenal would be a good education,” he said.
It was while studying at USC that he had the opportunity to audition for the role that launched his career. He said he was drawn to Kunta Kinte because he was a warrior.
Because his background was primarily in stage acting, there was some hesitation before Burton got the part. “Everyone was in my corner, but no one wanted to pull the trigger on giving the lead role to the one actor who had never been in front of a camera,” he said. He recalled the moment his persistence paid off: “The producer came out and said ‘pack your bags, kid, you’re going to Savannah.’”
Burton said the network executives were also uncertain about whether the mini series could garner an audience – surprising as it may seem to those who grew up with the legacy of “Roots.” “Back in 1977, we watched ‘Roots’ as a nation,” he said. “The final episode of ‘Roots’ is still the most watched episode in the history of television.”
“When I was growing up, it was really a cause for celebration to see people of color on TV,” he said. “‘Roots’ was very revolutionary in the landscape of television simply for telling the story of slavery.”
“Star Trek” also played a role in revolutionizing the landscape of television. “Gene Roddenberry was a visionary. He fought the network tooth and nail to have a Russian and a black woman and a Japanese man on the bridge of the ship,” Burton said.
Burton stressed the power of television – and the responsibility to use it wisely. “Television is the most powerful tool in the history of humanity for social change,” he said. “All television is education. The question is, what are you learning?”
Media Contact: Sari Krosinsky, (505) 277-1593; e-mail: michal@unm.edu
Events begin with flag-raising Feb. 1
The University of New Mexico’s Office of African American Student Services is gearing up to expand on a tradition of academic excellence, community empowerment, awareness and vision at the second Annual Black Cultural Conference, Feb. 28-March 1. This year’s theme “Mahogany Soul” is a reminder of the diverse cultures that the conference tries to represent. The events celebrate, inspire and develop past, present and future contributors.
Black History Month events begin Friday, Feb. 1 with the annual flag raising and Kick-off Celebration. Participants will meet at the African American Student Services Center, 1130 Mesa Vista Hall, march to Scholes Hall for the flag raising and then meet in the Student Union Building atrium for the celebration.
Other events include the Black History Month Film Series on Feb. 6, 20 and 27 at 7 p.m. in the African American Student Services Center, 1130 Mesa Vista Hall; luncheon lectures on Feb. 5, 11 and 19 in the SUB Lobo room; and the Madden 2008 Tournament in SUB ballroom B, Feb. 14-15.
The Black Cultural Conference kicks off with the Gospel Extravaganza in the Newman Center at 7 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 28, highlighting choirs from Albuquerque and surrounding areas. This year’s featured artist will be Rosalind Jones, the wife of Pastor James L’Keith Jones and a First Lady of Metropolitan Church of God in Christ. Her second live album “Holy” will be released in stores soon.
Conference activities continue with African American Junior Day on Friday, Feb. 29, including an Information Fair; an educational composition from the MacArthur Fellow recipient Ishmael Reed and Lothario Lotho and Company; a lunch time performance featuring Phyllis Wheatley High School Marching Band from Houston, Texas; and the Blues Festival in SUB ballrooms B and C at 7 p.m., featuring Cathy L. McGill.
An Albuquerque native, McGill will present an array of performers in “Roots Revival 2008, A Chronicle of African American Music.” The Roots Revival will encompass the call and response of the Negro Spiritual to modern day hip hop culture and all points in between.
Conference activities culminate Saturday, March 1 with a keynote speech by author and New York Times sports columnist William “Bill” Rhoden on his book, “Forty Million Dollar Slaves.” Peppered with historical gems and did-you-knows, “40 Million Dollar Slaves” weaves together the twin strands of innovation and struggle that today define adrenaline-filled arenas.
The final highlight, the Duke City Marchdown at 7 p.m. in Johnson Gym, will showcase the legacy of Black Greek step shows and promise exciting, friendly and skillful competition among historic collegiate fraternities and sororities.
“We, here at African American Student Services, strive to encourage and challenge our own young people and community members to be the best they can be,” said Scott Carreathers, director of African American Student Services. “We hope that the community will come out and support the conference to help make this a premier event of the Southwest.”
Conference tickets can be purchased beginning Feb. 1 through African American Student Services.
Ticket prices are as follows:
* Gospel Concert: $3 plus a non-perishable food item
* Blues Concert: $25 general admission
* William “Bill” Rhoden: $10 general admission, $100 per table of 10
* Duke City Marchdown Step Show: $8 Greeks, $15 general admission
For more information call Tenille Cleaves at (505) 277-5645 or visit http://www.unm.edu/~aass.
Media Contact: Benson Hendrix, (505) 277-1816; e-mail: bhendrix@unm.edu
The University of New Mexico Department of Parking and Transportation Services (PATS) announced an agreement with Zipcar, a national car-sharing service, to provide vehicles to students, staff, faculty and members of the Albuquerque community.
Zipcars will be available at the University of New Mexico for those students, staff, faculty and members of the Albuquerque community who are members of Zipcar. Zipcar is a vehicle sharing service available nationwide.
Representative of Zipcar were on campus recently with more information and to sign interested people up for the program. As a special promotion, the $35 sign up fee will be waived for anyone who joins during the next 90-days. All members 21+ will also have access to Zipcar's network of more than 5,500 vehicles throughout the UK and North America.
"Anyone who bikes or rides the bus to UNM can benefit from this new program," UNM PATS Director Clovis Acosta said. "Faculty and staff who use alternative transportation don't have to drive to UNM anymore if they have an appointment off campus. All they need to do is visit the Parking Department offices and check out a Zipcar for the afternoon."
Members receive their own "prox card," and when they need a vehicle they reserve it either online or by phone. The vehicles are available at an hourly or daily rate which includes gas, vehicle insurance, maintenance, 24/7 roadside assistance and 24/7 customer support, if necessary.
Five vehicles - three Honda Civics, a Toyota Sienna Minivan, and a MINI Cooper - will be located throughout campus available for use 24 hours a day, seven days a week. If you're 18 or older, you're eligible to be a member. Hourly rates start at $9 and include gas, insurance and 180 free miles.
Among the dozens of colleges that have partnered with Zipcar include MIT, Columbia, Georgetown, Ohio State, Arizona State University, American University, Harvard University, University of Minnesota, University of
Toronto, University of North Carolina and The University of Chicago.
For more information about the Zipcar program contact Parking and Transportation Services at 277-1938.
Media Contact: Benson Hendrix, (505) 277-1816; e-mail: bhendrix@unm.edu
UNM's office of Career Services will host the largest career fair of the year on Tuesday, Feb. 5, in the Student Union Building Ballroom from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The 32nd Annual Career Expo will be open to all UNM students, alumni, as well as community members seeking professional jobs and internships.
Recruiters from over 110 local and national employers will attend this premier event to talk to job seekers, introduce them to their companies, and set up interview times. Professional attire and preparation (i.e. resume) are expected.
For an up-to-date detailed list of registered recruiters and their openings visit the UNM Career Services' Web site at Career Services or call 277-2531 for more information.
The Maxwell Museum of Anthropology will present the Ancestors Lecture, "Sivapithecus: The Life and Death of a Miocene Ape," by Sherry Nelson on Thursday, Jan. 30 at 7 p.m. in the Hibben Hall, room 105.
Fifteen million years ago, a great variety of apes were living in what is tropical Africa and Southeast Asia. Seven million years later, many of those apes went extinct, and only a few great ape species still exist in those regions. Some questions that Nelson discusses in this lecture include "what kind of world supported all of these apes" and "what were these apes like?"
Nelson will focus on one kind of ape, Sivapithecus, in her lecture. Fossils for Sivapithecus were found in Pakistan amidst a remarkable sequence of vertebrate fossils spanning the past 20 million years. This fossil sequence provides a rare glimpse of an ape throughout its peak and demise. This lecture uses the fossil sequence to present a reconstruction of Sivapithecus's habits through isotopic and dental microwear analyses with a view to understanding Miocene ape ecology and extinction.
Nelson is an assistant professor in the Anthropology Department at the University of New Mexico. She has conducted field work with fossil apes and hominid localities; living lemurs, monkeys and apes, modern Hadza forages or hunter-gatherers in many parts of the world, including Costa Rica, Pakistan, Spain, Turkey, South Africa, Uganda and Tanzania.
The lecture is free and open to the public. For more information please contact Mary Beth Hermans, (505) 277-1400 or mhermans@unm.edu.
John W. Brown, Partner with Mesa Capital and Sandia Capital Partners, will talk with students at a free lunch and seminar on Friday, Feb. 15, from 11:30 a.m. until 1 p.m. in The Anderson School’s GSM 302. Brown’s talk titled, “Right on the Money: Financial Projections in Business Plans,” is part of the UNM Technology Business Plan Competition events, and everyone is welcome to attend.
Photo: John Brown
The UNM Technology Business Plan Competition seeks to involve students from across campus in partnering to create viable business plans and compete for more than $100,000 in prizes and seed funding. Overseen by The Anderson School Endowed Chair in Economic Development, Dr. Sul Kassicieh, this year’s competition will take place on Friday, April 11, and a series of speakers will be brought to campus to share their experiences with students beforehand.
Open to all UNM students taking at least six credit hours in the Fall 2007 or Spring 2008 semesters, the competition fosters economic development within New Mexico by supporting students in generating sound, innovative business plans. More information can be found at techbizplan.mgt.unm.edu or by writing to bizplan@mgt.unm.edu.
Brown has more than 30 years of investment banking and private equity experience. Prior to joining Mesa Capital Partners and Sandia Capital Partners, John served as COO and Managing Director of PricewaterhouseCoopers Securities, LLC and as Managing Director at Coopers & Lybrand Securities, LLC.
John has been an advisor to Mesa Capital Partners since its inception and, until joining Mesa, served on the New Mexico Growth Fund I as a member of its advisory committee, providing early stage seed capital to businesses located outside the Albuquerque area.
Mesa Capital Partners was established in 2003 as an early stage private equity firm focusing on high-potential small businesses in industries and geographic areas underserved by other capital providers. Sandia Capital Partners, LLC provides high level corporate finance advisory services, strategic insight, and investment capital to enable corporate clients to solve challenging corporate finance problems.
John, a Chartered Financial Analyst, earned his MBA with distinction from the University of Michigan and his BBA from The Anderson School at UNM. He served as the first Managing Director of Invest New Mexico and is the chair of the Anderson School of Management Foundation board of directors.
Media Contact: Jennifer Bayley, (505) 277-6172; e-mail: bayley@mgt.unm.edu
Henry R. Hertzfeld, George Washington University, will discuss “Who Owns the Moon?” Tuesday, Feb. 5, noon-1:30 p.m. in the University of New Mexico Student Union Building Luminaria Room. Hertzfeld is a research professor of Space Policy and International Affairs at the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University. He is an economist and an attorney who has specialized in research and teaching on legal and economic issues of space and high technology industries.
Photo: Henry R. Hertzfeld
Hertzfeld is co-author of Space Economics and has written numerous articles and monographs on topics such as the economics of launch vehicles, privatization and commercialization of the space shuttle, property rights and sovereignty on the Moon, commercial space and spacepower and the issues and use of economic indicators for the space industrial sector.
This event is co-sponsored by the Center for Science, Technology, and Policy; a curriculum grant for “The Human Settlement of Space” taught by Mohamed El-Genk, chemical and nuclear engineering; and Christopher Butler, political science; and the UNM World Affairs Delegation.
For more information, contact Butler at ckbutler@unm.edu or Andrew L. Ross, director, Center for Science, Technology, and Policy, at aross@unm.edu or 277-7391.
Media Contact: Carolyn Gonzales, (505) 277-5920; e-mail: cgonzal@unm.edu
On Friday, Feb. 8 at 4 p.m. the University of New Mexico Bookstore will host a book launch for UNM Press author David Stuart and his latest novel, Flight of Souls. Stuart was a senior academic administrator for many years and is a professor of anthropology at UNM. This event is free and open to the public. For more information, contact the UNM Bookstore at 277-5451.
Throughout his career at UNM, Stuart worked as an associate vice president for academic affairs in charge of creating a new interdisciplinary college now known as University College, and trouble-shooting administratively distressed units. Stuart also served as assistant vice president for academic affairs, a special assistant to the vice president, a professor of architecture and planning and professor of anthropology.
In his latest book, Flight of Souls, Stuart reveals early 1960s Mexico on the cusp of social change. Mexico’s rural youth flock to cities for work and a modern lifestyle. Meanwhile, the United States is interfering with Mexico’s politics as its obsession with Cuba and the spread of communism overwhelm both good sense and law. Pursuing an obsessive quest for freedom, it is to this Mexico that protagonist John Alexander, a human rights worker, turns to start a new life—only to learn that freedom has a price.
After a childhood spent in and out of foster care, orphanages, and reform school and riddled with emotional and physical abuses, Alexander is insulated with layers of anger and cynicism. He readily abandons the disillusionment that plagues him in the U.S. to pursue studies of anthropology and folklore at Mexico City’s University of the Americas. Suddenly, he finds himself caught in deep diplomatic crosscurrents surrounding a sensational murder mystery and covert schemes of the world’s superpowers. Now a fugitive forced to flee Mexico City, Alexander seeks asylum in communities steeped in Aztec tradition and is offered a rare glimpse at a world rapidly being swallowed up by modern Mexico.
David E. Stuart of Albuquerque is the author of The Guaymas Chronicles (named Southwest Book of the Year by the Tucson-Pima County Public Library, 2003) and Zone of Tolerance (PEN Southwest Award finalist, fiction) and the novel, The Ecuador Effect (PEN Southwest Award finalist, nonfiction), and numerous Southwestern anthropology books, including Anasazi America.
Media Contact: Carolyn Gonzales, (505) 277-5920; e-mail: cgonzal@unm.edu
Erin Sotak’s installation sculpture is on view at the University of New Mexico-Gallup’s Ingham Chapman Gallery. A reception for the artist is set for Monday, Jan. 28, from 5 to 7 p.m. Refreshments will be served, and the event is free and open to the public. The sculpture will be on exhibit through Tuesday, Feb. 12.
During the reception, the artist will give a performance in and in front of the installation sculpture she is building in the gallery. The exhibition will contain two large installation pieces as well as multiple photographs.
For more information, call John Zimmerman, gallery manager, at (505) 863-7774.
The University of New Mexico School of Architecture and Planning presents the Spring 2008 Lecture Series, held for the first time in George Pearl Hall, the school’s new home, located at 2410 Central NE. All lectures are at 5 p.m. and are free and open to the public.
Friday, Jan. 25 – Architectural Design and Ethics: Tools for Survival by Thomas Fisher, professor and dean of the College of Design at the University of Minnesota. He also served as the Editorial Director of “Progressive Architecture” (John Gaw Meem Series)
Monday, Jan. 28 – Designers as Policy Makers, A Panel Discussion with Community Development Consultant Bernadette Miera, Albuquerque City Councilor Ike Benton, Minnesota State Representative Jeremy Kalin and Albuquerque EPC member Jonathan Siegel (John Gaw Meem Series)
Monday, Feb. 4 – Rules of Engagement by Mary Miss, sculptor and designer (John Gaw Meem Series)
Monday, Feb. 11 – Aldo Leopold in the Southwest by Curt Meine, Senior Leopold Fellow at the Aldo Leopold Foundation (John Gaw Meem Series)
Monday, Feb. 18 – Defiant Gardens with Kenny Helphand, FASLA, professor at the University of Oregon and author of “Defiant Gardens” (JB Jackson Series)
Friday, Feb. 22 – MOD, TOD, TND, Another Look at Sprawl and Its Alternatives by Doug Kelbaugh, Dean of the University of Michigan’s Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning (George Pearl Fellow Lecture Series)
Monday, March 3 – Tectonic Still Lifes with Carlos Jimenez, professor from Rice University (Offered in conjunction with the Santa Fe AIA)
Monday, March 31 – World Showcases in Urban Development and Cultural Heritage by Dr. Jamie Vargas, professor from Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolas de Hidalgo (John Gaw Meem Series)
Monday, April 7 – Indigenous Planning in Canada: First Nations and Urban Aboriginal Experiences with Ian Skelton, Department of City Planning with the University of Manitoba, and Ryan Walker from the University of Saskatchewan’s Department of Geography (John Gaw Meem Series)
Monday, April 14 – When Being Sustainable is a Matter of Survival by Cameron Sinclair, co-founder of Architecture for Humanity (John Gaw Meem Series)
Monday, April 21 – Elemental Architecture: The New Sustainable by Robert Livesey professor from The Ohio State University (Annual Donald Schiegal Series)
Media Contact: Carolyn Gonzales, (505) 277-5920; e-mail: cgonzal@unm.edu
Numerous University of New Mexico student groups sponsored blood drives in 2007 to provide much needed blood to United Blood Services. The result: 649 units of blood collected for hospital patients in New Mexico. United Blood Services honored UNM and these student groups with its “Most Improved Blood Drive” award during the organization’s “Annual Coordinators and Community Partners Recognition” luncheon recently.
•Community Experience – eight drives and collected 219 units of blood
•Army ROTC – eight drives and 205 units of blood
•Humanist Society – two drives and 17 units of blood
The following honored groups each held one blood drive during the year:
•Lambda Theta Phi Latin Fraternity – 75 units
•Student Nursing Association – 65 units
•North Medical Students – 36 units
•UNM Resident Hall Advisors – 17 units
•Pi Tau Sigma – 15 units
Media Contact: Benson Hendrix, (505) 277-1816; e-mail: bhendrix@unm.edu
LeVar Burton, known for his commanding roles as Kunta Kinte in the award-winning TV miniseries Roots and as Lt. Commander Geordie LaForge on Star Trek: The Next Generation, is keynote speaker at the 26th Annual Black History Month Kickoff Brunch set for Saturday, Jan. 26, from 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. at the University of New Mexico Student Union Building in ballrooms A and B.
“LeVar Burton’s remarkable ground-breaking career as an actor, director, and writer is simply one of the most important in African American cultural history,” said Finnie Coleman, acting dean of University College. “I cannot think of anyone who better embodies this year’s theme ‘Remembering Our Roots; Preparing for Our Future.’”
For more than 25 years Burton has also served as host and executive producer of the highly acclaimed PBS children’s show Reading Rainbow. He has won ten Emmy Awards, five NAACP Awards in producing and starring in the PBS series. In addition to his acting, Burton is an accomplished director. He is the only director to contribute episodes to each of the four live-action Star Trek series following the original Star Trek.
The event is sponsored by the UNM Africana Studies Department. Tickets are $25 in advance or at the door. Advance tickets are available at University Arena box office, 925-5626, the UNM Bookstore box office, 277-4569, or at www.unmtickets.com.
For more information about the UNM Black History Month Kickoff Brunch, please call 277-5644.
UNM events to commemorate Black History Month start with a flag-raising ceremony, tentatively scheduled for Friday, Feb. 1. For updated information about Black History Month events on campus, contact African American Student Services at 277-5645.
Media Contact: Benson Hendrix, (505) 277-1816; e-mail: bhendrix@unm.edu
This week on KNME Channel 5 primetime news magazine show ‘New Mexico In Focus’ looks at Governor Richardson’s plan for universal health coverage, a topic already under fire in the Roundhouse. The program airs Friday, Jan. 25 at 7 p.m. and repeats on Sunday, Jan. 27 at 6:30 a.m.
Several opposing proposals are now on the table, and concerns about the cost are growing. ‘NM In Focus’ has analyzed the Governor’s proposal, but now it’s time to hear some alternatives. Explore the options, and find out which plan has the best chance of making it through the short legislative session.
The panelists will also discuss which Democratic presidential candidate has the best chance to win New Mexico, now that Richardson is out of the running. They will also look at a plan to pay for the Rail Runner with tax money and a push by child advocacy groups for a statewide pre-K program.
This week’s guests are Jane Blume, Health Security for New Mexicans Campaign; Paul Gessing, president, Rio Grande Foundation; and John Tyson, Albuquerque physician.
Panelists are Pat Frisch, AM operations manager, Citadel Communications; and Dave Maass, staff writer, www.sfreporter.com.
The one-hour ‘New Mexico In Focus’ brings viewers the important topics, opinions and insight in an integrated package.
Co-Hosted by Santa Fe Reporter staff writer David Alire Garcia and Albuquerque Journal columnist Gene Grant, ‘New Mexico In Focus’ takes a look at social, political, economic, health, education and arts issues and explores them critically to give them context beyond the “news of the moment.”
Kevin McDonald is producer of ‘New Mexico In Focus.’ This episode is co-produced by Karl Swanson, UNM intern. Support has been provided by McCune Charitable Foundation. Closed Captioning has been made possible by a gift from Mrs. Elspeth G. Bobbs.
Media Contact: Evy Todd, (505) 277-1218; e-mail: etodd@knme.org
Pamela Karlan, the founding director of Stanford Law School’s Supreme Court Litigation Program and one of the nation’s leading experts on voting and the political process, will present the 2008 John Field Simms/Alumni Association Memorial Lecture on March 6 at 5:30 p.m. at the University of New Mexico School of Law.
Photo: Pamela Karlan
The topic of Karlan’s lecture, “What Can Brown Do for You?” will focus on the current debate about the significance of Brown vs. Board of Education, the ground-breaking 1954 U.S. Supreme Court decision that struck down official racial segregation of public schools. She will then tie this discussion to one of the most widely cited pieces of legal scholarship ever written, Herbert Wechsler’s 1959 article, “Toward Neutral Principles in Constitutional Law.”
In addition to her work with the Supreme Court Litigation Program, Karlan is also the co-author of three leading casebooks and author of over 48 articles on constitutional law and related subjects. She has served as a commissioner on the California Fair Political Practices Commission and as an assistant counsel and cooperating attorney for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. She is a widely recognized commentator on legal issues and is featured frequently on the NewsHour with Jim Lehrer and other news programs.
Before joining the Stanford Law School faculty in 1998, she was a professor of law at the University of Virginia School of Law and served as a law clerk to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun and Judge Abraham D. Sofaer of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. She earned her J.D., M.A. and B.A. at Yale University.
The John Field Simms Memorial Lecture was established in 1954 by Albert Simms in memory of his brother, John, who, prior to his service on the New Mexico Supreme Court, was a highly respected trial lawyer and also served as a UNM regent. The UNM School of Law Alumni Association now donates funds annually to support the Simms lecture series, allowing it to be held every other year.
Members of the State Bar of New Mexico may earn 1 general CLE credit for attending the lecture. The cost of the lecture for CLE students is $20 in advance and $25 at the door. The lecture is free if not attended for credit. For more information, contact Claire Conrad at 277-0080 or conrad@law.unm.edu.
Media Contact: Benson Hendrix, (505) 277-1816; e-mail: bhendrix@unm.edu
Philip Schrag, a prominent law professor at Georgetown University, will discuss a comprehensive study on the asylum adjudication process in the United States at a presentation to be held at the University of New Mexico School of Law on Feb. 11 at 5:30 p.m. Schrag will discuss his findings, which reveal significant disparities in asylum decisions in the United States, even among different adjudicators in the same office considering nationals of the same country.
Photo: Philip Schrag
He will also explore correlations between sociological characteristics of individual immigration judges and their grant rates, the consequences of Attorney General John Ashcroft’s reforms of the Board of Immigration Appeals, and disparities in asylum adjudication by judges of the U.S. courts of appeal.
Assisting Schrag on the study were Jaya Ramji-Nogales, assistant professor at Temple University’s Beasley School of Law and Andrew Schoenholtz, deputy director of the Georgetown University Institute for the Study of International Migration. Their findings were featured in the Nov. 2007 issue of the Stanford Law Review in an article titled, “Refugee Roulette: Disparities in Asylum Adjudication.”
Schrag is the director of the Center for Applied Legal Studies at Georgetown University, where students, under professional supervision, represent refugees from religious and political persecution who are seeking asylum in the United States. He also directs the Public Interest Law Scholars Program, where students receive special academic enrichment as they prepare for careers as public interest and government lawyers. He teaches courses in civil procedure, administrative law, legislation and advocacy. Schrag is author of a book on asylum and refugee issues to be published in 2008, titled “Asylum Denied: A Refugee’s Struggle for Safety in America.”
Members of the State Bar of New Mexico may earn 1.5 CLE professionalism credits for attending the lecture. The cost of the lecture for CLE students is $29 in advance and $39 at the door. The lecture is free if not attended for credit.
For more information, contact Claire Conrad at 277-0080 or conrad@law.unm.edu.
Media Contact: Benson Hendrix, (505) 277-1816; e-mail: bhendrix@unm.edu
The Anderson School of Management & Association for Commerce and Industry present a Business-to-Business Breakfast Series. Join Anderson for a special breakfast and discussion with Distinguished Adjunct Professor John T. Ackerman on Tuesday, Feb. 19, from 7:30 to 9 a.m. on the first floor of the Paul R. Jackson Student Center.
Photo: John Ackerman
Ackerman's discussion on "Ethical Choices in Organizations: What's the Problem?" will focus on real world challenges to ethical behavior and will draw on real life examples from his own career. He invites the audience to share their experiences during the question and answer portion of the program.
Ackerman is the Rust Professor of Business Ethics and President of the Board of the New Mexico Ethics Alliance. He came to Anderson shortly after serving as President, Chief Executive Officer, and Chairman of the Board of the Public Service Company of New Mexico (PNM).
Admission to the breakfast series is free, however seating is limited. Those interested in attending can reserve a space at rsvp@mgt.unm.edu or for more information call (505) 277-6413. A light breakfast will be served.
Parking: Parking spDavid Brookshire in the lot immediately north of the Anderson School are available free on a first-come, first-serve basis. Additional spDavid Brookshire may be found at the parking structure next to Popejoy Hall (two minute walk from the lecture), for a nominal fee as well as paid meters along Las Lomas.
Media Contacts: Leslie Venzuela, (505) 277-7117; e-mail: venzuela@mgt.unm.edu or Steve Carr, (505) 277-1821; e-mail: scarr@unm.edu
The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH) recently honored Michelle Steinauer, a research assistant professor in the University of New Mexico biology department, with the Young Investigator Award at the organization’s annual conference in Philadelphia. Steinauer was one of five recipients recognized with the prestigious award.
Photo: Michelle Steinauer
The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene is the principal organization in the United States representing scientists, clinicians and others with interests in the prevention and control of tropical diseases through research and education. The Young Investigator Award recognizes the work of young investigators and encourages developing scientists to pursue careers in various aspects of tropical disease research.
Steinauer, who has been at UNM for three years, was recognized for her research on schistosome parasites, a flat worm that causes the disease, schistosomiasis, in humans. Schistosomiasis is one of the major unconquered infectious diseases afflicting people of developing countries in tropical regions, particularly in Africa. An estimated 200 million people worldwide are affected with the parasite, which causes chronic damage to the organs, particularly the liver.
Steinauer works in collaboration with Eric S. Loker, chair, UNM Biology Department and the Kenya Medical Research Institute on a project that is funded by the National Institutes of Health. Their research program uses molecular and evolutionary techniques to address questions concerning the epidemiology of the parasite in western Kenya, a hotbed for schistosomes.
One of the challenges of studying schistosomes is that the adult worms live within the circulatory system of humans, which makes them routinely unavailable for study. Steinauer and her colleagues have developed a technique to study the adults indirectly through their progeny, which are released from the human body into the environment. They collect genetic information from the progeny and use parentage analyses to make inferences about the adult populations.
“From these data, the worm burdens within humans can be estimated, and the genetics of the adults can be used to learn about patterns of genetic diversity, transmission dynamics, and the evolutionary biology of the parasites,” said Steinauer. “These topics are important to disease control and prevention because the parasites are living organisms that respond and adapt to human initiated control measures such as potential vaccines and drug treatment.
“This research will not only aid in monitoring drug resistance in schistosomes, but also in the prediction of how potential drug resistance genes will spread throughout schistosome populations.”
Media Contact: Steve Carr, (505) 277-1821; e-mail: scarr@unm.edu
The Employee Health Promotion Program and Recreational Services have teamed up to bring faculty and staff the w.o.w one-pass, which allows UNM benefits-eligible faculty and staff to take advantage of fitness classes from both by using their tuition remission. Faculty and Staff must first fill out a tuition remission form, and EHPP's PAR-Q, which can be downloaded on Recreational Services.
After completing and providing the tuition remission form and PAR-Q document, individuals will be able to sign up for the w.o.w pass and attend any of Recreational Services Fitness classes on the "Works" schedule, as well as any of EHPP's Fitness classes.
New! Fitness Assessments in 2008
Start 2008 on the road to fitness! Starting this spring, you can get a complete fitness assessment that can be purchased for a small fee of $10 by purchasing a 2008 "Works" pass.
The assessment is applicable to all UNM students, faculty and staff. The purpose of these assessments provides a baseline measurement of cardiovascular, muscular endurance, body composition, Body Mass Index, and flexibility.
Fitness assessments can aid in goal setting, tracking of progress, evaluation of health related components and motivation! Fitness assessments can also be purchased on it's own for a fee of $20 with discounts for students.
UNM Hospitals will provide attendees with information from more than 25 specialty areas within the hospital at the 10th annual Eyewitness News 4 Health Fair Saturday and Sunday Jan. 26-27. Show hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday.
During the two-day event this weekend at the Manuel Lujan building at EXPO! New Mexico, UNMH will provide attendees with free tests (including bone density, blood pressure, body fat, height and weight) and face-to-face interaction with staff from many specialty areas.
Those areas include Departments of Neuroscience and Neurology (epilepsy, stroke and traumatic brain injury), Epidemiology, Pediatric Emergency (finger casts for kids), Carrie Tingley Hospital, Lifeguard fixed wing transport, Interpreter Language Services, UNM Sleep Disorders Center, the Reproductive Endocrinology & Infertility Clinic, the UNM Center for Development & Disability (autism and CDD), Trauma, the Health Sciences Library and Informatics Center, UNM Cancer Center and many more.
The UNM Hospitals Pavilion within the KOB Health Fair is directly adjacent to the main entrance of the fair.
This year UNMH will feature a presentation at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 26 by Megan Rauch of the UNM Sleep Disorders Center regarding kids and sleep.
The Division of Human Resources, in conjunction with the Provost's Committee for Civic Engagement and Public Service, announces the 3rd Annual Sarah Belle Brown Community Service Award. Nominations are now being accepted for the Sarah Belle Brown Community Service Award for work completed in 2007. The award ceremony will be held Tuesday, March 4, 5-7:30 p.m.
Photo: Sarah Belle Brown
Serving New Mexico is central to the University's mission. Everything that UNM does - education, research, patient care as well as public service - advances the interests of New Mexico.
This award serves to recognize UNM Faculty and Staff who have dedicated substantial personal time to volunteer activities and demonstrated a high level of commitment to public service.
To support and promote the University's commitment to public service, Regent Doug Brown established this award in honor of his wife, Sarah Belle Brown. Any staff member with .50 FTE or greater and not in probationary status, and faculty who have received tenure or are on tenured track, are eligible for nomination.
For a nomination form and detailed information on the award, visit the HR Web site at: Human Resources. Completed forms should be returned by 5 p.m. on Feb. 4, to Human Resources, MSC05-3345, Scholes Hall 100 or hrinfo@unm.edu.
An exciting new masters program was developed last year to further training of faculty interested in pursuing a career in clinical and translational research and moving on to independent funding. The program was created in accordance with the new directions the National Institutes for Health are taking in funding research and in support of the recent submission of a $48-million proposal to NIH to fund the UNM HSC Clinical and Translational Science Center.
The program - a Masters of Science in Biomedical Research with a Concentration in Clinical Research (MS-BIOMED-CR), has just completed a very successful first semester with its first cohort of students, and has moved into the second semester.
How to Apply
Applications are now being accepted for the 2nd cohort of students, with orientation and course work starting June 25, 2008. Deadline to apply is Feb. 29, 2008. Application Packets can be picked up at the CTSC Office in the Basic Medical Science Building (BMSB), room B83.
For more information visit: HSC Admissions, or call 272-6556.
Tavish Brown grew up in Naschitti, N.M., located between Gallup and Shiprock on the Navajo reservation. While still a student at Newcomb High School, where he graduated in 2005, Brown knew what he wanted to do: study the Navajo language. Brown is the UNM undergraduate recipient of the 2007 Robert W. Young Scholarship, which supports students studying Native American linguistics.
Photo: Tavish Brown
“Barbara Howard was my high school Navajo teacher. She told me that she was getting old and that I should learn Navajo and come back and take her spot,” Brown recalled.
Howard also encouraged Brown to form a Navajo dance group at the school, which he did. Called T’iis Nideesghizh Bitsoόké, or “Grandchildren of Newcomb,” the group was influenced by the Dinétah Navajo Dancers; Brown is now one of their performers.
Brown speaks highly of the Navajo language program at UNM. “Ms. [Roseann] Willink helps us with difficult words, tongue twister words. She breaks them down, explains their history. She also explains the difference between some Navajo words used in New Mexico and those used by Navajos in Arizona,” he said.
Willink also helps her students to learn and understand old Navajo words that are not in use today, Brown said. He noted that the Navajo equivalent of the phrase, “let’s go,” has evolved from “tsotti’” to “tį́.”
“People who are fluent notice that others speak in a chopped up or abbreviated form. Only medicine men still speak the language in its full form,” Brown said.
Brown said that his parents speak Navajo, as does his older sister Tamara, a student at Coe College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. His younger sister, Kendra, at Newcomb, doesn’t have the language fluency either. Brown said that mispronouncing words in Navajo can be embarrassing because they can be “bad words.”
The beauty of learning Navajo at UNM, he said, is that he is learning it while also learning more about culture and tradition. “Words are tied into ceremony. You can’t understand the words without their cultural context,” he said.
He intended to spend part of the winter break working with a medicine man.
“I’ve already learned so much from him. Young people who follow him know the language,” Brown said.
Brown was raised in the Christian faith, but he’s learning that the language needs to be taught within the native belief system. Following his studies at UNM, Brown plans to go to Diné College to learn how to teach. Teachers there, he said, are medicine healers.
Brown said that the use of technology and exposure to non-native language, culture and tradition have hurt native language acquisition among young people. “Many people prefer the modern world and choose to learn in non-native ways,” Brown said.
Brown follows his own path, the well-worn path of his ancestors.
Media Contact: Carolyn Gonzales, (505) 277-5920; e-mail: cgonzal@unm.edu
The University of New Mexico Ronald E. McNair Post-baccalaureate Achievement Program and Research Opportunity Program will hold an induction ceremony Wednesday, Jan. 23 at 5:30 p.m. in the UNM Student Union Building, ballroom C to welcome its 2007-2008 cohort.
The ceremony is to recognize new scholars’ accomplishments and acceptance into the program and present them with an induction certificate. Scholars’ families, UNM academic and Student Affairs representatives, graduate programs and research staff and faculty will attend the ceremony and encourage the new scholars to complete their undergraduate research and continue their education to the doctorate level.
The Ronald E. McNair program is a federally funded program in existence at UNM for seven years. The program recently successfully competed for an additional five years of funding to continue programming at UNM.
The Research Opportunity Program is a state funded program; both programs are focused on preparing under-represented, first generation and low-income students for graduate school.
The Ronald E. McNair Scholars Program is completely funded through a grant from the U.S. Department of Education under the Higher Education Act of 1965. The Research Opportunity Program is funded by the State of New Mexico.
Media Contact: Carolyn Gonzales, (505) 277-5920; e-mail: cgonzal@unm.edu
Amid the quiet of winter break, avatars in metallic clothes and neon-bright hair step out of a computer screen onto the sky-bridge outside the Thorax bar – Woodward Hall, that is. They are part of “Society,” a simulation game similar to “Second Life” but with real people as avatars for hire.
Photo: In the movie “Game,” filmed in Albuquerque, live avatars battle in a virtual world called “Slayers.”
“Crank” creators Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor filmed the scene for their new movie “Game” – a dystopian thriller starring Gerard Butler (“300”) that takes virtual reality to a new level. The film is scheduled to be released in December 2008.
On Location
One could tell it was an unusual set the moment writer/director Neveldine rollerbladed through the actors, camera tucked in his elbow, perhaps mimicking the “fly cams” to be added later with CGI. “Game” spokesperson Michael Umble said the technique produces an effect like a dolly shot but more fluid.
In addition to the Thorax bar, UNM sites doubled as military barracks and a television studio, said location scout Shani Orona, a former UNM student. “We were looking for a location that had a lot of interesting angles and architecture,” she said. UNM’s buildings – inspired by pueblo architecture – also fit the film’s futuristic look. Fees paid for the use of UNM locations will be used to fund scholarships.
In addition to bringing funds to locations, the movie brings jobs for New Mexicans. Scott Voss of Voss Brothers Studios in Santa Fe is shooting “Behind the Scenes” for the film. “I have an all access pass,” he said. “It’s like getting paid to go to film school.”
The Story So Far
At the TV studio in Rodey Theatre, Kyra Sedgwick (“The Closer”), playing a reporter, grilled Michael C. Hall (“Dexter”), playing the creator of “Society” and “Slayer,” on the ethics and methods of the games.
“Slayer” also features live avatars, but this time the players – with Butler’s character Kable at the head of the pack – are death row inmates offered the chance to fight until they die or survive thirty levels and go free.
Hall explains that those wealthy enough to own avatars control them through implanted nano-devices. To demonstrate, he tells a cute pup to sit, to a collective “awww” from the audience.
Simple as it was – especially compared with the high end stunts and explosions filmed in downtown Albuquerque – the scene demonstrated the complexity of filmmaking. Sedgewick slipped off her character’s high heels during the long pauses between takes while lighting and cameras were rearranged or the dog acclimated to the set.
Chilewood
“Game” continues the state’s long history in film. The first film ever made in New Mexico was “Indian Day School,” an 1898 documentary filmed at Isleta Pueblo. After a brief deluge of westerns in the early 1900s, the state’s film industry slowed to a steady trickle until 2003, when a statewide strategy including financial incentives, workforce training and new studio facilities opened the flood gates to Chilewood. The growth continues, with the New Mexico Film Office listing eight films currently in production around the state.
UNM has played a key role in the New Mexico Media Industries Strategy Project since its inception, developing a center for media research and education through the ARTS Lab, and starting last fall the Interdisciplinary Film and Digital Media Program. Through UNM’s interdisciplinary approach, students can gain a holistic understanding of the industry while developing a specialty among a wide range of fields – from directing to computer animation to movie marketing.
Media Contact: Sari Krosinsky, (505) 277-1593; e-mail: michal@unm.edu
As concerns about the accuracy of new voting systems continue to rise, many states have adopted post-election audit systems to solidify the integrity of the election process and to reassure their citizens that their votes were correctly counted. Some of those programs are based on research done, in part, by the University of New Mexico.
Photo: Political Science Professor Lonna Atkeson to conduct research.
On Jan. 16, the University of New Mexico was part of a group of researchers awarded two grants to continue research on election reform and election processes by engaging in a simulated audit of the voting system in Bernalillo County, New Mexico and by evaluating the current auditing practices in Utah.
The grants came from the Pew Center on the States and the JEHT Foundation. UNM Political Science Professor Lonna Atkeson will be leading the New Mexico project in collaboration with University of Utah Professor Thad Hall and California Institute of Technology Professor R. Michael Alvarez.
“Elections are at the heart of democratic governance and it is important that voters have confidence in our election system,” Atkeson said. “Post election audits provide one means to test the accuracy and integrity of our voting systems.”
The first grant, worth $176,500, was given to UNM for the researchers to conduct an audit of the 2006 election in Bernalillo County, working with election officials from the Bernalillo County clerk's office. The goal of the project is to document the proper way to conduct a post-election audit, including what to watch out for, the cost in time and resources and the various challenges associated with different ballots and voting modes.
It will also examine voter intent issues and address voter education needs regarding the use of paper ballots. New Mexico Secretary of State Mary Herrera is providing an additional $10,000 and Bernalillo County Clerk Maggie Toulouse Oliver is contributing $15,000 in additional support for the project.
The second grant of $87,600 was granted to the University of Utah. Investigators from the same three universities will evaluate the audit process in two Utah counties, Salt Lake County and Davis County, and review how electronic ballots were audited in 2007 and will be audited in 2008 within the context of the complete post election canvas and audit process used.
For more information on the New Mexico study, please contact Lonna Atkeson at (505) 277-7592 or email atkeson@unm.edu.
Media Contact: Benson Hendrix, (505) 277-1816; e-mail: bhendrix@unm.edu
On Saturday, Jan. 26, the northbound lane of Yale Boulevard will be closed from Lomas to the intersection of Yale and Camino de Salud from 7 a.m. until midnight. The construction team on the project needs to remove a section of pavement from the roundabout in order to complete the project, the target date to open the roundabout intersection to traffic. The pavement being removed is part of the detour road that was added to the construction area the previous fall.
Traffic for UNM Hospital, the Office of the Medical Investigator, the UNM Cancer Center and other north campus departments will be detoured from Lomas westbound, past Yale to University Boulevard, turning north on University to Tucker, heading east on Tucker to Yale and south on Yale to eastbound Camino de Salud. A traffic plan has been developed with the city of Albuquerque to minimize difficulties for the one-day detour.
Cold weather has slowed progress on part of the roundabout construction, but as the weather warms over the holiday weekend delayed paving on Yale and Camino de Salud will be completed without impacting traffic.
After Jan. 26, northbound traffic will be allowed back onto north campus from the Lomas and Yale intersection, but will continued to be detoured around the roundabout construction area until the intersection’s opening.
Media Contact: Benson Hendrix, (505) 277-1816; e-mail: bhendrix@unm.edu
Stephen Littlejohn, adjunct professor of communication and journalism, will receive the UNM Paul Bartlett Ré Peace Prize during an award ceremony at the UNM Art Museum, Center for Fine Arts, on Wednesday, Jan. 30, at 5 p.m.
The prize is awarded to a UNM student, faculty, staff person or retiree who has demonstrated notable achievements in promoting world peace and understanding. It 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.”
Littlejohn will be recognized for his work in mediation. Arti Prasad, Center for Life executive director and founding section chief of integrative medicine at UNM’s Health Sciences Center, will be recognized as an alternate. William Gross, professor emeritus of mechanical engineering, will receive an honorable mention.
For more information, visit Jonson Gallery Jonson Gallery or call 277-8927.
Media Contact: Sari Krosinsky, (505) 277-1593; e-mail: michal@unm.edu
Open forums have been scheduled for two finalists for the position of Vice President Rio Rancho Operations and Branch Academic Affairs. The two finalists are Marc Nigliazzo and Krista Rodin. Their open forums will be held Friday Jan. 25 and Thursday, Jan. 31, respectively. Both forums will be held from 1:45 to 2:45 p.m. in SUB Ballroom A.
A five-member committee identified the two in a national search. Among other duties, the Vice President will direct and manage the strategic planning, development, and implementation of all aspects of the University’s Rio Rancho campus as well as oversee and provide leadership in the direction and management of the academic and associated services of the various branch campuses.
Open Forums Schedule
** Marc Nigliazzo, Friday Jan. 25, 1:45-2:45, SUB Ballroom A.
** Krista Rodin, Thursday, Jan. 31, 1:45-2:45, SUB Ballroom A.
The 2008 New Mexico legislative session began this week, and this year’s “to do” list is long. Learn what legislators have planned for this 30-day session on “New Mexico In Focus,” which airs on KNME Channel 5 on Friday, Jan. 18 at 7 p.m. and repeats Sunday, Jan. 20 at 6:30 a.m.
Guests Representative Al Park, D-Albuquerque and N.M. Senate Majority Leader Michael Sanchez will join co-host David Alire Garcia, staff writer with the Santa Fe Reporter, to discuss what prominent lawmakers think are the top priorities of this year’s legislative session. In addition to this, viewers will also be given a behind-the-scenes tour of the Roundhouse.
Then guest panelists, Pat Frisch, AM operations manager for Citadel Communications and Rudy Garcia, Dean of Students for Central New Mexico Community College, will join Albuquerque Journal columnist Gene Grant and regular panelists Margaret Montoya with the UNM School of Law and UNM School of Medicine, and Jim Scarantino, columnist with the Weekly Alibi, to continue the discussion on the current legislative session and analyze Governor Richardson’s agenda.
They will also chat about the new solar power company coming to New Mexico, mandatory summer school for Albuquerque students, potential changes for Albuquerque’s red light camera system and other current topics relevant to New Mexicans.
‘New Mexico In Focus’ is KNME, Channel 5’s prime-time news magazine show covering the events, issues and people shaping life in New Mexico and the southwest. The one-hour show brings viewers important topics of our time in an integrated and cohesive package.
Media Contact: Evy Todd, (505) 277-1218; e-mail: etodd@knme.org
Kathleen “Kit” Elliott, a Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) volunteer with the UNM School of Medicine, Department of Emergency Medicine’s Center for Disaster Medicine, was recently awarded a national Daily Point of Light Award. The award honors those who have made a commitment to help meet critical needs in their communities.
Elliott, a full-time nurse at First Choice Community Health, has volunteered her guidance and experience to almost every aspect of the MRC, including administrative skills, CPR training, first-aid station care, disaster-response training, immunization clinics and more.
“If Kit only volunteered with the MRC, she would be constantly busy. But she’s also a national disaster nurse with the American Red Cross, and involved with the Local Emergency Planning Committee, Blue Star Mothers and the Community Emergency Response Team,” offers Katharine Juul, program manager for UNM Center for Disaster Medicine, who nominated Elliott.
An MRC unit is a community-based group of volunteers who can serve during a local emergency health situation and assist with local public health needs. A local MRC unit also can be a valuable asset for helping address general public health concerns in a community throughout the year.
The National Daily Points of Light Award is a program within the national Points of Light Foundation based in Washington DC, which encourages people from all walks of life to volunteer. Through a variety of programs and services, the Foundation engages and mobilizes millions of volunteers to help solve serious social problems in thousands of communities.
For more information about UNM’s Medical Reserve Corps call (505) 272-6240 or visit UNM Medical Reserve Corps.
The GFX Café kicks off 2008 with a special presentation on digital hair and fur at noon on Friday, Jan. 18 in the ARTS Lab Garage. Thursday, Jan. 24, ARTS Lab hosts the N.M. Adobe Users Group and Adobe’s AIR | Flex 3 Pre-release Tour.
Armin Bruderlin, senior software engineer and 3D-tools lead at Sony Pictures Imageworks, will present “Advanced Digital Hair/Fur Pipeline.” A practical animal fur and human hair pipeline for digital characters has been in development at Imageworks since its initial implementation in 1998.
To date, Imageworks’ hair/fur pipeline has been successfully utilized in 14 motion pictures, both live-action and computer animated. The system has proven capable of producing a wide range of looks, from short animal fur to long human hair, and, most challengingly, the accurate reproduction of the hair of real actors. In this talk, Bruderlin will introduce the core building blocks that make up the pipeline and present some of the more recent features.
Bruderlin’s work has supported the production of movies such as “Surf’s Up,” “Open Season,” the “Spiderman” movies and “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe.” He received a B.Sc. in informatik from the Fachhochschule Furtwagen in Germany, and a M.Sc. and Ph.D. in computer science from Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, Canada.
ARTS Lab will also welcome Kevin Hoyt of the Adobe Flex/AIR product team, who is traveling to select cities across the country to show off the new features of Flex 3 and AIR in anticipation of its release.
The tour stop on Thursday, Jan. 24, 6-8 p.m. presents a chance to:
· learn about new technologies before they are released,
· meet and talk with Adobe pro Kevin Hoyt,
· discover how these tools will increase productivity,
· learn about new income opportunities that will exist,
· enjoy a wine and cheese reception with colleagues, and
· be entered in a drawing to win more than $3,000 in software, including Flex Builder 3 Professional and Adobe Creative Suite CS3 Web Premium.
Both events will be held at the ARTS Lab Garage, located at 131 Pine St. NE, just north of Central Avenue and one block west of University Boulevard. Registration is required for the AIR | Flex 3 Pre-release Tour. Free tickets are available at: AIR | Flex 3 Pre-release Tour free tickets.
The UNM Health Sciences Center Section of Integrative Medicine recently announced the opening of its new UNM Center for Life Integrative Medicine Specialty Clinic. The new center will embody all aspects of health, wellness and healing by integrating both proven and promising complementary approaches into conventional medical interventions.
“We are passionate about our work in health and healing and will continue to deliver comprehensive, innovative care,” said Arti Prasad, executive director. “The UNM Center for Life will provide a wonderful healing space dedicated to embracing this holistic healthcare model.”
The center offers a 10 percent discount for all UNM/UNMH employees on paid-up-front services, such as massage, natural skin care consultations, hypnotherapy, and classes in mindfulness and movement.
Clinical services currently available
- integrative medicine consultations
- non-pharmacological pain management and stress reduction
- acupuncture and Chinese medicine
- massage therapy
- non-invasive myofascial release and physical therapy
- natural skin care consultations and custom facials
- hypnotherapy
In the near future, the center will also provide an opportunity to consult with traditional New Mexican Curanderos, Native American healers, and other spiritual authorities. Other upcoming services will include psychotherapy, bio-feedback, Ayurvedic lifestyle counseling, holistic nutritional consultations, and movement therapies such as Nia, Yoga, and Tai Chi.
The center also offers wellness classes. Two eight week courses coming this spring are Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, starting April 3, and Mindful Eating and Living, starting March 4.
The center is located at 4700 Jefferson Blvd. NE, Suite 100, between Montgomery and McLeod. Appointments for some services require a referral.
Not all services are covered by insurance. For more information, contact the center at 925-7464 or CenterForLife@salud.unm.edu, or visit Center for Life.
Ask employees what they value most in a Human Resources/Payroll system, and they would first point to a system that pays people accurately and on time. A close second would be a system that provides easy access to view and maintain personal employee information. These things and more have been realized with the recent go-live of Banner HR/Payroll.
Jan. 11 marked the most significant event to date for the HR/Payroll project. This was the very first payroll to be run from beginning to end with the new tool, and the best part is what employees did not see. No lines of people waiting to get paid, no phones ringing off the hook. Employees were able to preview their pay stubs online using LoboWeb for Employees the day before getting paid and direct deposits posted on payday without incident.
Transitioning to new technology is always a daunting task, and UNM took all the necessary precautions to ensure that we were prepared for any situation that could arise. An emergency payroll operations center was established at each campus location to assist any employees that had difficulties. We are pleased to report that all these support areas were relatively quiet on payday. We can attribute this success to the efforts put forward by every department and employee on campus in adapting to the new process of time entry.
For a highlight of the features of the new system we have prepared two flyers: “How will Banner HR/Payroll Impact Me?” for the employee, and “How will Banner HR/Payroll Impact My Department?” for departmental administrators. These and other information regarding the new system are available at hr.unm.edu.
The Division of Human Resources and all its partners are dedicated to the continuous improvement of the new system and we will continue to provide support as it moves forward. Contact the support center at 277-HRPR, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m.-5 p.m.
By Helen Gonzales, vice president, Human Resources
Finnie Coleman, director of Africana Studies and associate professor of English, has been appointed acting dean for University College on Jan. 2, while the university prepares a national search.
After a distinguished tenure as the dean for University College, Peter White went on sabbatical from the University of New Mexico at the end of the Fall 2007 semester. When White returns to UNM he will join the faculty to focus on his passion for educating and mentoring students. Coleman will then become interim dean.
“Dr. Coleman has a comprehensive knowledge base of higher education affairs, especially in undergraduate academic programs,” said Viola Florez, interim provost and executive vice president for Academic Affairs. “(He) will continue to build upon the excellent programs and initiatives implemented by Dean White, faculty and professional staff working in University College.”
As director of Africana Studies at UNM, Coleman has been responsible for coordinating an African Field History Project, organizing Black History Month activities for the UNM community and working with UNM faculty to provide courses on the African-American experience, as well as language courses in Arabic and Swahili. He also runs a mentoring program in local schools and takes responsibility for local community outreach.
Coleman came to UNM from Texas A&M University, where he was an assistant professor in the Department of English, teaching courses in African American literature and Africana Studies while working tirelessly to expand the university’s course offerings in those areas. He was also associate director for Honors, leading Honors to deliver more academic enrichment programs for high achieving students.
Prior to teaching, Coleman served in the U.S. Army with over a decade of service in Military Intelligence. He began his service as a private, spending four years on active duty as an enlisted soldier prior to attending Virginia Military Institute, where he was a dean’s list student, distinguished military graduate and the vice-president of the class of 1990. After his education at Virginia Military Institute, Coleman served as an officer, leaving the military after the Persian Gulf War.
Coleman’s academic focus includes African American literature, culture and history, 19th century American literature, the history of race and racism and ethnic identity development.
While Coleman works as acting dean for University Studies, UNM will begin a national search for a new permanent dean of the college in the fall of 2008.
Media Contact: Benson Hendrix, (505) 277-1816; e-mail: bhendrix@unm.edu
Two UNM-Gallup students have been nominated to the All USA Academic
Team for community colleges. They are Darryl Day Chief, a sophomore studying information technology, and Brittany Showalter, in the Bachelor of University Studies program.
Day Chief, who has been on the dean’s list for the past three semesters, studies at home while caring for his daughter while his wife works. In addition to IT classes, he has studied business management. After he receives his associate’s degree in IT, he plans to pursue a bachelor of business administration degree at UNM.
“I grew up in southern Alberta Canada on the Blood Reservation,” said Day
Chief. He was raised by his mother Judy and his late grandmother Lucy. He has an older brother Bradley and a younger sister Courtney.
“I would go everywhere with my grandmother and they are the big reasons that I wanted to pursue a good education. I have been here in Gallup for about six years now,” he said.
He and his wife, Alana, have two-year-old daughter, Violet Rose. “Alana and Violet Rose motivate me to do well in school. We have been on our own for a while now and we have adjusted to living independently.”
Brittany Erin Showalter, of Fort Defiance, Ariz., is Navajo and her clans are Tó’aheedliinii, Tséníjíkiní, Tódík’ózhí, and Táchii’nii. A 2004 graduate of Window Rock High School, she received her associate of arts and sciences degree in general studies with honors from UNM-Gallup in spring of 2007. She is focusing on health education, psychology and Native American Studies as she pursues her BUS degree from bachelor and graduate programs at UNM-Gallup.
“I thank God and my family for all their encouragement and support to pursue my goals,” Showalter said.
Sixty team members will be selected in May from all the nominees across the nation to be on the first team, second team and third team.
Tori Johnson, University of New Mexico landscape architecture graduate student, presented “Forest Table,” her winning landscape design entry for the annual International Garden Festival in Chaumont-sur-Loire in France. Students in the school’s landscape architecture studio five participated in the design competition, which is open to professionals and amateurs alike.
Photo: Tori Johnson
Alfred Simon, director of the UNM School of Architecture and Planning’s landscape architecture program, said that the competition funds construction of the project. “We are going to raise money to send four people over for ten days to build it,” he said.
The festival will be open from April 30 to Oct. 19, with peak crowds expected during holiday weekends.
“We may expect up to 4,000 visitors per day who will walk through the gardens or play in the interactive gardens,” Simon said.
Johnson said, “Each year 26 gardens are selected to be built at the festival. It appears that each year three or four student designs are chosen. The rest are professional firms or artists. I think each year at least one designer/firm is invited to participate. It’s good company.”
Ever since its creation in 1992, the International Garden Festival has become an essential event in the worldwide arena of landscape design. A meeting place for artists, designers, landscape experts and sculptors of different nationalities, the festival’s spirit of encouragement and competition has proven to stimulate top creative minds to reflect upon nature, its management and new forms of development.
From its first years, the festival has offered several hundred young creators a magnificent display case for their ideas and designs, and for some, has acted as a virtual springboard to professional success.
Year after year, it has been a source of inspiration for professionals and amateurs alike, helping to innovate gardening arts and to share the discovery of new planting schemes and unusual, unexpected new materials.
Media Contact: Carolyn Gonzales, (505) 277-5920; e-mail: cgonzal@unm.edu
A new exhibit showcasing the art of Carlos Merida opens on Tuesday, Jan. 22, in the gallery of the Center for Southwest Research in the west wing of Zimmerman Library. The exhibit, “Indigenous Dress and Sacred Text: The Art of Carlos Merida,” will be open through May 16. The exhibit is comprised of 36 prints, color serigraphs and lithographs, selected from six print portfolios produced during the 1940’s by Carlos Merida, a preeminent painter, printmaker, and muralist of 20th century Mexico.
Early artworks within Merida’s lifetime body of work attest to his contribution as one of the initiators of the indigenous movement in Mexico – a revaluation of living nature culture as the foundation of Mexican national identity-which gained momentum just prior to the Mexican revolution of 1910-1920.
In five of these portfolios, “Carnival in Mexico” (1940), “Mexican Costume” (1941), “Dances of Mexico” (1941, “Trajes Regionales Mexicanos” (1945), and “Trajes Indigenas de Guatemala” (1949), the artist renders regional native dress and dance costumes from Mexico and Guatemala in a way that is both documentary and decorative. Additionally, Merida draws inspiration from the ancient religious beliefs of the Quiche-Maya in the sixth portfolio “Estampas del Popol Vuh” (1943).
The exhibit is curated by UNM Center for Regional Studies Research Scholar, Teresa Eckmann. For questions about the exhibit, she can be reached at (505) 277-1010 or eckmann@unm.edu
The Center for Regional Studies, the Center for Southwest Research, the Division of Iberian and Latin American Resources and the Maxwell Museum of Anthropology are all sponsors of the exhibit, which is free and open to the public.
Note: For additional images e-mail Media Contact, Karen Wentworth (505) 277-5627; e-mail: kwent2@unm.edu
Stephen Dent, associate professor, University of New Mexico School of Architecture and Planning, recently received a $5,000 grant from the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards to create a series of professional-level courses to be taught at the UNM School of Architecture and Planning by practitioner/educators and offered to interns, practicing professionals and advanced students.
Photo: Steven Dent
“Reconsidering the role of practitioner/educators could be instrumental in addressing the gap between practice and the academy, strengthen the continuum of the architectural education process, and transform training of interns into education of interns,” Dent said, adding, “These courses would cover the topic areas that are generally considered to be the most critical in the gap between the academy and practice.”
Geraldine Forbes Isais, director, UNM architecture program, said, “The grant brings all groups together – students, interns and professionals – using an educational facility and forum to deliver professional education. The grant will help us bridge between practice, training and architectural theory and design. In addition to students and professionals, interns, who are in line to become practicing professionals, can advance their training and education.”
The proposed classes would be taught by local experts in various topics, recruited from local offices, and mentored in course development and classroom skills by UNM “master teachers.”
“Teaching examples drawn from locally accessible projects gives them a richness and immediacy that is difficult to duplicate in abstract or distant projects. Courses will be taught in a variety of formats based upon information needs, using computer pods, seminar rooms, design studios, offices or even a construction site,” Dent said.
He said that faculty will assist practitioner/educators in teaching methods, especially in preparing course materials that place the topic in its larger context – reflecting both theory and practice.
Funding for the NCARB grant will pay for Dent, as principal investigator, and a graduate research assistant to survey architectural interns to determine most needed courses, recruit most qualified educator/practitioners, supervise course development and coordinate outreach efforts and enrollment.
Media Contact: Carolyn Gonzales, (505) 277-5920; e-mail: cgonzal@unm.edu
On behalf of the University of New Mexico Press, HACU invites one and all to attend a book reading/signing by Armando Rodriguez on Thursday, Jan. 17, at 6 p.m. at the National Hispanic Cultural Center in Albuquerque. The event is free, open to the public, and will be taped by C-SPAN Book TV for National Broadcast.
Rodriguez has a long record of involvement in education at the local, state, and federal level. He started as a special education teacher in San Diego in 1949. He began working for California's state education administration in Sacramento as Chief of Bureau of Intergroup Relations in 1965, and in 1973 became President of East Los Angeles College.
Rodriguez's book, From the Barrio to Washington: An Educator's Journey,
was published by University of New Mexico Press in 2007.
The New Mexico Italian Film Festival is back for a second year in Albuquerque, Feb. 10-17, all to benefit the University of New Mexico Children’s Hospital. The 2008 festival will present a series of classic Italian films, blended with more contemporary and new films never before seen in New Mexico. Italian food, wine and special musical entertainment will also be featured.
Screenings and events will take place at the KiMO Theater, Lobo Theater, Guild Cinema, Embassy Suites Hotel ballroom and other venues throughout Albuquerque.
Last year the event raised $25,000 to help purchase state-of-the-art equipment for the UNM Children’s Hospital.
Tickets for all showings and events are now on sale through the Italian film festival’s web site and at all Border’s locations in Albuquerque.
For more information or to sign up to be a volunteer during the festival visit: Italian Film Fest or call (505) 277-5625.
UNM’s Employee Health Promotion program invites all faculty/staff and University Hospital employees to learn about diabetes Tuesday, Jan. 22, at 12 noon at the UNM Business Center, rm. 1007. Titled, “What to Know About Diabetes: Diabetes & Nutrition,” this educational sessions will focus on nutritional tips and recommendation for those with diabetes.
The presentation, which will be conducted by Sr. Clinical Nutritionist Shelley Rael, is open to all faculty/staff as well as hospital employees. To sign up visit Learning Central at: Learning Central under the subject, EOD - Health Education or contact Rhonda Miranda @ 277-4996.
Note: There is no paid parking at the business center. There are parkingmeters for use on the east side of the building for $1.60 per hour.
Ángel González, one of Spain’s most prominent poets and member of a literary generation known for its opposition to the dictatorship of Gen. Francisco Franco, died at the age of 82. González was an emeritus faculty member in the University of New Mexico Department of Spanish and Portuguese.
Photo: Ángel González
González died Saturday morning after being hospitalized with pneumonia. He was cremated Sunday after a ceremony at Madrid’s Almudena Cemetery.
González is survived by his widow, Susana Rivera.
Many writers, artists, teachers and others who were friends of González, a lover of late-night chats in the bars and cafes of Madrid, attended.
González was a member of the Spanish Royal Academy, the prestigious, official watchdog of the Spanish language, and won awards that included the Asturias Prize for Letters in 1985.
His poems addressed issues like freedom and solidarity, and like many intellectuals under the Franco regime, González eventually left Spain.
In 1972 he accepted a teaching position at the University of New Mexico and remained on faculty until 1993, although he frequently traveled back to Spain.
Dr. Pelayo Fernandez, one of González’s colleagues in the UNM Department of Spanish and Portuguese, recalled how they frequently got together at Fernandez’s house, located near campus.
“Ángel was an amiable man. We would get together to eat, talk, maybe drink a little. The discussions were always positive, never argumentative. Sometimes he would play the guitar, singing, improvising,” he said.
“After his retirement he traveled a lot around the world. Wherever he went, he was welcome. He was often invited to present his poetry, but he always came back to New Mexico because of its peaceful atmosphere. He connected with New Mexico Hispanic traditions,” he said.
One of his poems, “Twilight Albuquerque, Summer,” expresses González’s appreciation for the natural environment, as well.
Sunlight sustained in the west, high
polyphony of light!
From the other side of the horizon,
the choral mountain
—wood and wind—
responds with a dense and purple chord
to the long cadence of evening.
Media Contact: Carolyn Gonzales, (505) 277-5920; e-mail: cgonzal@unm.edu
A certificate program in health care ethics will be offered at the University of New Mexico Institute for Ethics this spring. This program, The Joan Gibson Health Care Ethics Certificate Program, is open to both professionals including lawyers, doctors, nurses, and social workers, as well as non-professionals and those in the community who are interested in learning more about today’s ethical issues in health care.
The program has two modules (that need not be taken in any particular order) and is designed for faculty/staff, as well as other professionals interested in the interdisciplinary study of health care ethics.
Module I Begins Saturday, Feb. 2
Will meet every Tuesday (Feb. 12 – March 25) from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m.
& Two (2) Saturday sessions: (Feb. 2 and March 29) from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
This module focuses on basic ethical issues in health care: theoretical and applied ethics; values-based decision making, confidentiality and privacy, informed consent, health care access, culture and medicine, and beliefs and practices related to death and dying.
Module II (Will be scheduled for Fall 2008)
This module explores ethical challenges such as conflicts of interest, professionalism, cultural diversity, kinship, and research ethics. During Module II, faculty will be available to work one-on-one with participants on a project related to specific ethical issues as identified by the participant.
Cost
$800/ module, $1600 total. UNM tuition remission applies for all faculty and staff. Visa and MasterCard accepted. Flexible payment terms available for those who qualify.
Continuing Education
CME Credit available; other professional continuing education credits may be available upon request.
For More Information and/or registration call Tina Lujan at the Institute for Ethics at, (505) 272-4566 or via e-mail: tlujan@salud.unm.edu.
Beginning Jan. 28, UNM Hospitals will conduct a Weight Watchers Program. Meetings will be held every Monday beginning with weigh-in from 5 to 5:30 p.m. The class itself will follow from 5:30 to 6 p.m. in the 2ACC meeting room in the main hospital. The class is open to everyone. You don’t have to be a UNMH or UNM employee so invite your friends and family members.
The Weight Watchers program is not a diet, it teaches a healthy way of eating for the rest of your life. There are no special foods to buy. The cost of the program is $186 for 17 weeks. Included in the price is access to Weight Watchers e-tools, the internet weight-loss companion which normally costs $12.95 per month alone- included in the cost of this program. Weight Watchers eTools, the Internet weight-loss companion, customized for men and women, makes it easier to stay on track between meetings. It's available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
How will eTools help you?
* Chart your personal progress with the Weight Tracker.
* Access over a thousand delicious recipes and convenient meal
ideas.
* Check POINTS® values for over 29,000 food options.
* Create healthier versions of your favorite dishes with the
Recipe Builder.
* Because men and women approach weight loss differently,
Weight Watchers eTools is specially customized to meet each of their
unique needs.
For more information, contact Frances Salas at FSalas@salud.unm.edu or
272-5979 or Carolyn Green at: CG@salud.unm.edu or 272-1126
Computer Science Professor George Luger will deliver a talk on Thursday, January 24, 2008, at 2 p.m. in the Willard Room of Zimmerman Library as part of the University Libraries Faculty Acknowledgement Awards Program. His lecture is titled “Computation of Epistemology: A Probabilistic Perspective.”
Photo: George Luger
Luger’s research in the area of diagnostic reasoning and stochastic languages and modeling has been funded by the National Science Foundation. His work to assist in the development of a program to recognize and interpret space phenomena such as sun spots and solar flares was funded by the National Aeronautic and Space Foundation.
He has worked on a project called “Albatross” for the U.S. Department of Energy through Sandia National Laboratories to help develop a glider that stays airborne by recognizing and using air currents. Current research for SNL involves the Mind Research Network to use functional magnetic resonance imaging to identify areas of the human cortex associated with various problem solving skills.
Luger has concurrent appoints as a professor in the Psychology and Linguistics Departments in addition to his appointment in Computer Science, which reflects the interdisciplinary nature of his work. More information about his wide-ranging research is available on his Web site at: George Luger.
The University Libraries Faculty Acknowledgement Award is given to members of the UNM Faculty in appreciation for their contributions to the body of scholarly knowledge. This program is a forum for colleagues, students and members of the community to learn about the achievements of UNM faculty members. The event is free and the public is welcome.
Media Contact: Karen Wentworth, (505) 277-5627; e-mail: kwent2@unm.edu
The UNM Anderson School of Management's Foundation Board has announced its 2008 inductees into the Anderson Hall of Fame. The inductees are: Chief Justice (Ret.) Gene E. Franchini (BBA, 1957), Ned A. Godshall (MBA, 1994), and Bradley J. Preber, (BBA, 1981).
Photos (l. to r.): Gene Franchini, Ned A. Godshall and Bradley J. Preber
"These candidates are selected for their professional success, contribution to community and ongoing commitment to education," said Anderson Foundation Board Advancement Committee Chair, Deborah Gorenz. "This year the committee received a 10 percent increase in the number of submissions for a total of 28 applicants, all of them highly accomplished individuals in their own right."
The Anderson Foundation Board also recognizes three young alumni under the age of 40. Lewis W. Kneib (BBA, 2001); Angela L. Rapko (MBA, 2002) and David Wanek (MBA, 1998) have already distinguished themselves early in their careers and show promise of continued growth in the years ahead.
"This annual tradition allows us to celebrate the very best the Anderson School of Management has to offer," says Anderson Foundation Board Chair John Brown. "And it confirms what we already know, that Anderson graduates are making a difference in and out of New Mexico. All three young alumni are practicing attorneys outside of New Mexico."
Professor Jeanne Logsdon is the recipient of the 2008 Faculty Community Leadership Award. All full-time faculty members are eligible, with the exception of Deans, Sr. Associate, Associate and Assistant Deans.
Faculty must have demonstrated leadership in enhancing the Anderson School of Management's visibility and relations with the business community by creating connections, providing leadership and being actively involved in the business community.
"Our faculty create the foundation for our students' success, and some achieve a very high standard for community engagement, too. This award is an important way to recognize those multi-talented faculty leaders," said Anderson Interim Dean Amy Wohlert.
The Anderson Hall of Fame honorees will be recognized at the Hall of Fame dinner at the Student Union Building at the University of New Mexico on March 18, 2008. Corporate table sponsorships are available at $700 for a table of 10. Individual tickets are $75. To make reservations or to inquire about sponsorship opportunities, call the Anderson School of Management Development Office at (505) 277-6413 or e-mail: armijo@mgt.unm.edu by Friday, March 7, 2008.
Media Contacts: Leslie Venzuela, (505) 277-7117; e-mail: venzuela@mgt.unm.edu or Steve Carr, (505) 277-1821; e-mail: scarr@unm.edu
Lobo Energy, Inc, a corporation of the University of New Mexico, is seeking candidates for the position of Energy Conservation Educator. With these positions, Lobo Energy, Inc. will be implementing a comprehensive energy conservation program for UNM that will reduce utility consumption, save money and benefit the environment.
The challenge of the program is to encourage members of the UNM community to work together everyday to change habits in the way energy is used and assure that energy is only being used when it is needed.
These positions will support all campuses of the University of New Mexico. For further information, please send an inquiry with contact information to: lei@unm.edu.
ITS Communication Network Services is continuing to address issues with the intermittent inability to retrieve messages and erroneous message waiting indicators resulting from the voicemail upgrade last weekend. Generally the ability to leave a message is unaffected, even while messages cannot be retrieved. Representatives of the manufacturer are working onsite and remotely to pinpoint the problem and identify a solution.
Users should report voicemail issues to 7-1111, unless it is related to the inability to access voicemail messages or message waiting indicator status.
CNS will continue to post messages to the Voice Alerts page at: Voicemail Alerts as new information becomes available.
Bill Richardson is officially out of the presidential race. Learn what his pull out means to the other candidates and his future politically this week on ‘New Mexico In Focus,’ which airs on KNME Channel 5 on Friday, Jan. 11 at 7 p.m. and repeats Sundays at 6:30 a.m.
Guest panelists Mario Burgos and Heath Haussamen, political bloggers; and John Wertheim, former New Mexico Democratic Party chairman; will join regular panelists David Alire Garcia, Santa Fe Reporter staff writer and Gene Grant, Albuquerque Journal columnists, will discuss all sides of the issue.
They will also look at Richardson’s future, as well as the upcoming legislative session. The panelists express their opinions, including what they think were the highlights and lowlights of the Governor’s campaign.
‘New Mexico In Focus’ will also take a hard look at the future of the oil and gas in New Mexico. Featured guests David Bacon, energy consultant and advocate; Bog Gallagher, president of the New Mexico Oil and Gass Association, will look at an industry that brings in millions of dollars per year to the state, but is under pressure by many who want the equipment and environmental threat gone from the state completely.
On this week’s show, ‘New Mexico In Focus’ goes to the latest battleground in the fight over this precious resource: the Galisteo Basin. Hear from both sides of the issue as host David Alire Garcia sits down with the head of the Oil and Gas Association and one of the leading voices of opposition, former green party candidate for the PRC, David Bacon.
‘New Mexico In Focus’ is KNME, Channel 5’s prime-time news magazine show covering the events, issues and people shaping life in New Mexico and the southwest. The one-hour show brings viewers important topics of our time in an integrated and cohesive package.
Media Contact: Evy Todd, (505) 277-1218; e-mail: etodd@knme.org
Faculty, staff and students interested in what the University of New Mexico's priorities are for the 2008 session of the New Mexico Legislature can find details on the legislative Web site. When bill introduction begins, the site will carry spread sheets that track the progress of bills of interest to the university community as they move through the committee process.
The site also has contact information for the legislative lobbying team. It can be found at 2008 Legislative Priorities.
Beginning Tuesday, there will be a link for the site on the UNM home page.
Contact: Karen Wentworth, (505) 277-5627; e-mail: kwent2@unm.edu
More than 400 business people and engineers are attending the 45th Paving and Transportation Conference in Albuquerque this week. The program, hosted by the Department of Civil Engineering and the Alliance for Transportation Research, drew participants from throughout the Southwest to hear about the latest techniques in paving, and from the Secretary of the New Mexico Department of Transportation about plans for coming projects.
To listen to NMDOT Secretary Rhonda Faught’s remarks, click here: Transportation Secretary Rhonda Faught.
Civil Engineering Professor James Brogan has organized the paving conferences for more than 20 years. He says this is a part of the outreach that UNM offers to the general business community. This year the program features presentations on a wide range of issues that are of interest to the road construction industry.
For details about the conference program, please go to: 45th Annual Paving Conference.
Contact: Karen Wentworth, (505) 277-5627; e-mail: kwent2@unm.edu
When Professor Jim Ellis first walked into his office on the UNM School of Law campus in 1976, the new professor might not have realized the impact he and his work, spanning over three decades and still going strong, would have on generations of lawyers walking through the law school halls.
Photo: Professor Jim Ellis and UNM School of Law Dean Suellyn Scarnecchia stand with Ellis' award after the UNM Regents' presentation.
On Tuesday, the UNM Board of Regents presented Prof. Ellis with the Regents’ Meritorious Service Award for his dedication to the students he taught and mentored, his impact on the legal profession, and his tireless defense of the rights of people with mental disabilities in the criminal and civil justice system.
The Regents’ Meritorious Service Award is an honor that is rarely bestowed by the Board of Regents, and is given out to honor those staff and faculty members in recognition of extraordinary and distinguished service to the University of New Mexico.
“It is wonderful to be honored by the university,” said Ellis. “The opportunity to teach over 30 years has been wonderfully rewarding and it’s particularly an honor to have some of my colleagues, students and former students attend (the ceremony).”
“The University of New Mexico is proud to bestow the Regents’ Meritorious Service Award to Jim Ellis, Professor of Law since 1976, for using the law to save the lives of society’s most vulnerable and for inspiring generations of University of New Mexico law students,” the award read.
Ellis – who teaches Constitutional Rights, Introduction to Criminal Law, and Rights of Children, along with Mental Health and Retardation Law and Mental Disabilities in Criminal Cases – in 2002 argued the case of Atkins v. Virginia before the United States Supreme Court. In this case, the Supreme Court held that the execution of individuals with mental retardation violates the Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution’s prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment, embracing Ellis' argument.
Ellis’ interest in mental disabilities dates to his conscientious objector service during the Vietnam War at the Yale Psychiatric Institute. After law school, he worked at the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law in Washington, D.C. prior to joining the UNM School of Law faculty.
Atkins v. Virginia was the first time Ellis argued a case before any court, preferring to work behind the scenes. During his tenure at the UNM law school, he has filed briefs in 18 Supreme Court cases, always inviting UNM law students to participate in his work.
Ellis has received numerous awards over his illustrious career, including being named “Lawyer of the Year” for 2002 by the National Law Journal. In October 2006, Ellis was received the School of Law’s Henry Weinhofen Endowed Chair. Among Ellis’ other awards are the Paul Hearne Award for Disability Advocacy from the American Bar Association, the Call to Action Award by the ARC of the United States, and the Champion of Justice Award by the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. He was also recognized by the National Historic Trust on Mental Retardation as one of 36 significant individuals in the field of mental retardation in the 20th century.
Media Contact: Benson Hendrix, (505) 277-1816; e-mail: bhendrix@unm.edu
Law Professor Denise Fort is one of the co-authors of the recent “Prospects for Managed Underground Storage of Recoverable Water,” a book released by the National Research Council of the National Academies. With a strong background in water quality, groundwater, and water and natural resources, Fort was asked to join the panel of experts preparing the book. She collaborated on a chapter examining the legal and economic quandaries regarding how various jurisdictions determine whether a project to store underground water is viable.
Photo: Denise Fort
“Groundwater storage is especially attractive in New Mexico because our reservoirs lose so much water to evaporation,” Fort said. “This is also of interest to jurisdictions for which recycling could be cheaper than finding new water supplies.”
The book evaluates issues involved with storing water in groundwater aquifers for the purpose of later recovery. The stored water is often water that has been used, such as treated sewage effluent, which raises additional questions about water treatment before storage and after withdrawal. Research priorities for development of future underground storage projects are also identified in the book.
“Periodic droughts, changing land use, rising temperatures, over-allocation of rivers, over-drafting of aquifers (underground water reserves), water quality changes, and environmental problems, combined with rapidly increasing populations, have heightened awareness of the pressing need to find sustainable , long-term water management solutions,” according to a report issued by the National Academies.
The book was compiled over two years by a broad-based panel of experts and was released after undergoing peer review. Its intended audience includes water policy makers and managers, and the goal of the book is to help address concerns about the technology of recapturing water and proper handling of water resources by various jurisdictions.
Media Contact: Benson Hendrix, (505) 277-1816; e-mail: bhendrix@unm.edu
On Wednesday, Jan. 16, Jeanne Logsdon, Rust Professor of Business Ethics, will present "Dealing with Conflicts of Interest in Business and the Professions" as part of Anderson School of Management's Faculty Lecture Series. The lecture, which begins at 7 p.m., will be held in GSM rm. 302 located on the third floor of the new Paul R. Jackson Student Center. The faculty lecture series is free of charge and the public is invited.
Photo: Jeanne Logsdon
Logsdon has taught at Anderson since 1989 and has held the Jack and Donna Rust Professorship of Business Ethics since 2003 for excellence in teaching and research in the area of business ethics.
She has served as Anderson Faculty Chair, Chair of the Dean's Review Committee, Chair of the Budget Review Committee, and as Anderson's representative to The Washington Campus Program, among her many service activities.
Limited free parking for the lecture series is available in the lot just north of the Anderson School on the UNM Campus.
Media Contacts: Leslie Venzuela, (505) 277-7117; e-mail: venzuela@mgt.unm.edu or Steve Carr, (505) 277-1821; e-mail: scarr@unm.edu
Scholarship to benefit non-traditional student
A new endowed scholarship, titled ‘The Arthur, Martha and Alice York Endowed Scholarship at the University of New Mexico,’ that provides full tuition for a non-traditional student, was established recently announced the UNM Development/Foundation office. The gift of $85,000 establishes the endowed scholarship that will provide full tuition for a student who has been away from college or out of high school for five years or more and who doesn’t qualify for a New Mexico Lottery Scholarship.
A Massachusetts native, Arthur York attended UNM as a young adult in 1948. However, he was based on a ship during his enlistment in the Navy and was often gone. After retiring from the Navy, he and his wife, the former Martha McGann, a native of Newport, Rhode Island, chose Albuquerque as a location for their family because of the availability of a strong public university here. He went on to finish his degree at UNM as a non-traditional student in math in 1966.
The Yorks, who have had a strong commitment to education over the years, sent all four of their daughters to UNM. Each daughter earned an undergraduate degree at UNM, and also went on to earn an advanced degree.
“There was never any discussion about whether we would attend college or not – it was an expectation,” the York daughters commented.
To qualify for The Arthur, Martha and Alice York Endowed Scholarship, a prospective student must be enrolled full time, have completed at least one semester at UNM and hold a UNM cumulative grade point average of 3.5 or higher. The scholarship, which also bears the name of Arthur’s late sister Alice, can be awarded to the same student for up to four years provided the student continues to meet the criteria of the scholarship. Alice York was a native of Newburyport, Massachusetts and lived there until her death in 2007.
Students interested in the scholarship, should visit the Web site of the UNM Scholarship Office, review the criteria on the “Bulletin Board” section and then complete the scholarship application available at the site if they meet the criteria for the scholarship.
In order to develop private financial support for the University of New Mexico, the University's Board of Regents established the UNM Foundation Inc. in 1979. The Foundation began operations in the spring of 1980.
In accordance with University policy, all private gifts are received through the Foundation, which has the responsibility for managing contributions to all UNM programs. Gifts to the UNM Foundation are tax-deductible. For more information visit: UNM Foundation.
Media Contact: Steve Carr, (505) 277-1821; e-mail: scarr@unm.edu
Grant is first and largest corporate gift for new Visualization Lab
The University of New Mexico today announced its first and largest corporate donation for the Science and Mathematics Learning Center’s new Visualization Lab in the College of Arts and Sciences. The $250,000 grant was awarded by the Bank of America Charitable Foundation, one of the largest corporate philanthropies in America, for construction of the facility, which will be built using ‘green’ building standards.
Photo: UNM President David J. Schmidly discusses the UNM Science and Mathematics Learning Center with Bank of America President Rick Wadley.
On hand for today’s announcement at the UNM President’s office were: Rick Wadley, New Mexico President, Bank of America; UNM President David J. Schmidly; Dr. Brenda Claiborne, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences; Michael Kingan, Vice President of Institutional Advancement and Math Professor Tom Hagstrom.
“The College of Arts & Sciences is extremely grateful for Bank of America’s generous contribution to our future Science and Mathematics building, which will not only help us construct this critically needed facility, but will help our math and science programs better reach out to the Albuquerque community,” said Dean Brenda Claiborne.
“Bank of America is proud to support the University of New Mexico’s efforts to build the state’s newest epicenter of scientific education,” said Rick Wadley, president of Bank of America New Mexico. “In a state with two national science and research laboratories, a state of the art science education facility can help build the best careers for our community members, and the best scientists for America.”
The Visualization Lab will provide greater space for UNM’s growing population of science students, featuring state-of-the-art computing and media equipment that will provide researchers in mathematics, science and engineering a new tool to study complex phenomena modeled by computational means. A full range of students will utilize the facility, from future scientists from K-12 schools to postdoctoral professionals.
The lab’s advanced technologies combined with integrated teaching and research capabilities of leading science researchers in the state will also help increase student retention levels.
UNM will build the Visualization Lab using environmentally sound green building components and methods that will more efficiently use energy, water and materials that reduces the building impact on human health and the environment. Bank of America supports environmental initiatives and green construction under its $20 billion environmental commitment.
The Science and Math Learning Center’s Visualization Lab will break ground in the Fall of 2008, with completion expected by 2010. UNM has received initial capital funding from a $16.5 million student bond issue, and $7 million from the New Mexico State Legislature. Additional funds are being sought from corporations and individuals who support the key mission of providing the highest level of math and science education.
The $250,000 grant from the Bank of America Charitable Foundation is the company’s largest single-year grant awarded in New Mexico.
Media Contact: Steve Carr, (505) 277-1821; e-mail: scarr@unm.edu
A team of scientists from the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL), the Air Force Research Laboratory’s (AFRL’s) Research Vehicles Directorate, Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M., and the University of New Mexico (UNM) has detected the lowest frequency radar echo from the moon ever seen with earth-based receivers.
Photo: HAARP facility
In the lunar echo experiment (more properly called a lunar bi-static radar experiment), the Air Force/Navy High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP) high power transmitter, located near Gakona, Alaska, launched high power radio waves toward the moon. The reflected signal, weakened because of the long distance to the moon and back, was detected by receiving antennas in New Mexico.
NRL consultant scientist Dr. Paul Rodriguez, of NRL’s Information Technology Division, who conceived and proposed the experiment explains, “Analysis of the echo gives information on the properties of the lunar sub-surface topography, because the low frequency radar waves propagate to varying depths below the visible surface of the moon.
"It is somewhat like sonar, except that we are using electromagnetic waves rather than sound waves. The experiment also allows us to study the interaction of the echo signal with the earth’s ionosphere along its return path, because the ionosphere is only partially transparent at low frequencies.”
During the experiment, which was carried out on Oct. 28 and 29, 2007, the radar signals from HAARP were at 7.4075 MHz and 9.4075 MHz. Both the transmitted signal and the echo from the moon were detected by NRL Remote Sensing Division scientist, Dr. Kenneth Stewart, and NRL engineer Brian Hicks with antennas built for the Long Wavelength Array (LWA).
LWA is a radio interferometer being built in the desert west of Socorro, N.M., by UNM, NRL, the Applied Research Laboratories at the University of Texas at Austin, Virginia Tech, and Los Alamos National Laboratory, for studies of space physics and astrophysics.
The LWA is intended to work below the 88 MHz edge of the FM band, but to get down to the HAARP signal frequencies, the antennas were equipped with digital receivers and specially designed matching networks developed by Stewart, Hicks, and engineer Nagini Paravastu at NRL. “Detecting the very weak radio signals after their round trip to the moon and back was challenging and required careful modification of the LWA antennas to improve their performance at these frequencies,” says Stewart.
NRL LWA Project Scientist Dr. Namir Kassim notes, “One of the successful goals of this experiment was to demonstrate that the LWA can work with instruments like HAARP at lower frequencies than its nominal design.”
The HAARP radar antenna array was ”phased” to point about 45 degrees away from the zenith, in order to track and directly illuminate the moon. Its full total power capability, about 3.6 MW, was used to transmit pulses two seconds in length every five seconds over a period of two hours each day, one hour at each frequency. Using such a pulse pattern makes the echo, which arrives back from the moon 2.4 seconds later, immediately recognizable, allowing the scientists to distinguish the moon’s echo signal from the HAARP signal.
The HAARP signal reached the receiving antennas in New Mexico by reflecting off the underside of the ionosphere, the region of the Earth’s atmosphere from 50 to 400 km in altitude that is partially ionized by solar radiation. The lunar echo measurements at 7.4075 MHZ are believed to be the lowest frequency (longest wavelength) at which bi-static radar measurements have been conducted.
“Even though lunar echoes have been detected before at higher frequencies, it was really exciting to see them arrive in real time out under the full moon in the New Mexico desert,” says NRL’s Hicks.
The team members involved in the HAARP-LWA lunar radar experiment are: Dr. Paul Rodriguez, Dr. Kenneth Stewart, Brian Hicks, Dr. Nagini Paravastu; and Edward Kennedy of NRL; Dr. Paul Kossey of AFRL’s Research Vehicles Directorate; and Dr. Lee J Rickard of UNM.
Significant help in conducting the experiment was provided by HAARP Program Managers Paul Kossey (Air Force) and Edward Kennedy (Navy); Mike McCarrick of BAE Systems-Advanced Technologies, which operates the HAARP facility, and by Clinton Janes (UNM); Gerald O’Connell (National Radio Astronomy Observatory); and Patrick Crane (NRL).
The Naval Research Laboratory is the Department of the Navy's corporate laboratory. NRL conducts a broad program of scientific research, technology, and advanced development. The Laboratory, with a total complement of nearly 2,500 personnel, is located in southwest Washington, DC, with other major sites at the Stennis Space Center, MS; and Monterey, CA. The LWA Web site may be found at: Long Wavelength Array.
Media Contacts: NRL Public Affairs Office, (202) 767-2541; e-mail: nrl1030@ccs.nrl.navy.mil or UNM, Steve Carr, (505) 277-1821; e-mail: scarr@unm.edu
The Journal of Anthropological Research is hosting a discussion on southwestern cultural diversity as part of the XXVI Journal of Anthropological Research Distinguished Lecture Series. Dr. Regna Darnell, Distinguished University Professor and former chair of the Anthropology Department at the University of Western Ontario, will be speaking on "Benedictine Visionings of Southwestern Cultural Diversity: Beyond Relativism" at 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 7 in the UNM Anthropology Lecture Hall (room 163).
Photo: Dr. Regna Darnell
This lecture will focus on the cultural anthropologist Ruth Benedict and her role in interpreting southwestern Native American societies from the Boasian "culture and personality" perspective.
"Professor Darnell is one of the leading historians of American Anthropology of her generation and is especially well known for her studies of Franz Boas and his students, including Ruth Benedict – famous for her "culture and personality studies in the early-to-mid 20th century,” said Lawrence Straus, Ph.D., editor of the Journal of Anthropological Research.
“Darnell also works on Native American, also known as "First Nations,” languages and cultures in Canada, particularly in the Great Lakes region, where she is interested in the relationships between life on the reservations and in the cities. She is a prolific author and dynamic speaker."
At noon on Feb. 8, Darnell will be presenting a separate seminar in Anthropology room 178 on "Nomadic Legacies: Native North American Residential Mobility and Decision-Making," examining the patterns of movement by Canadian First People tribes between Canadian cities and reservations.
Darnell has written a vast number of books, articles and reviews in the field of Anthropology and is editor of numerous volumes on the history of anthropology, Canadian First Nations and Native American cultures and languages, as well as biographical sketches of many prominent figures in anthropology. Her recent research foci include the relationship between reservations and cities in the lives of urban Canadian First Peoples, and cross-cultural studies of ecosystem health. In addition to this work, she has completed linguistic research in Gambia (West Africa). She knows several languages, including Cree, Slavey and Mohawk.
Darnell is a recipient of the American Anthropology Association's Franz Boas Award for Exemplary Service to Anthropology and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. Darnell was also recently given one of the first Canadian Premier's Discovery Awards for the Social Sciences and Humanities.
The Distinguished Lectures are published in JAR, which has been published quarterly by UNM since 1945. Its Web site is: JAR Lecture.
For more information about the Journal of Anthropological Research and the JAR Lecture Series, please call 277-4544.
Media Contact: Benson Hendrix, (505) 277-1816; e-mail: bhendrix@unm.edu
“Beyond the Missouri: The Story of the American West,” penned by Richard Etulain, professor emeritus of history at the University of New Mexico, and published by UNM Press, has been picked for the annual CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title list.
“Beyond the Missouri" is a narrative history of the American West ¬ spanning from North Dakota to Texas and west to the Pacific Ocean ¬ from prehistoric times to the present day. The story includes the histories of the diverse cultures in the western United States, including American Indians, Hispanics, Asian Americans and African Americans.
Etulain’s narrative emphasizes two themes in the geographically and culturally vast American west ¬ change and complexity. He looks at the Native American inhabitants in the area, the Spanish southwest, the colonial rivalries that developed, and the inclusion of mountain men, missionaries and the Oregon Trail as history advanced in the region.
Etulain goes on to discuss the Mormon push into the west, the mining boom and the development of ranching and farming in the area before examining the west in pre-World War One and Two and the Cold War era in history. He concludes his work with today’s continuing search for the American West.
This year’s CHOICE list is composed of more than 640 books, chosen for their excellence in scholarship, presentation and significance of their contributions to their author’s respective fields of study. The “Outstanding Academic Title” list makes up less than 3% of the more than 25,000 academic titles submitted to CHOICE during the year.
Media Contact: Benson Hendrix, (505) 277-1816; e-mail: bhendrix@unm.edu
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Center for Health Policy at the University of New Mexico will open its new location on Jan. 7. The office is moving to 1909 Las Lomas NE, one door east of the Las Lomas and Yale Boulevard intersection and across from University House.
The RWJF Center’s number will remain 505-277-0130.
Media Contact: Benson Hendrix, (505) 277-1816; e-mail: bhendrix@unm.edu
The UNM Health Sciences Center Institute for Ethics will present an Ethics, Law and Medicine Forum titled “Preventing Obesity in Children: What We Can Do Now” on Wednesday Jan. 16, from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m., in rm. B at the UNM Conference Center located at the Continuing Education Building at 1634 University Blvd., N.E.
Speakers include:
* Sally Davis, Ph.D., professor and vice chair for Research, Department of Pediatrics, director, Prevention Research Center, UNM School of Medicine, Health Sciences Center
* Susan DeFrancesco, JD, MPH, MAT, Associate Scientist, Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Injury Prevention Project, UNM Department of Pediatrics
* Jane W. McGrath, M.D., professor, UNM Department of Pediatrics; Program Director, Envision New Mexico
The event is free and open to the public. For more information contact Tina Lujan, administrator, Institute for Ethics, at 272-4566.
Members of New Mexico’s media-related worlds – including film, animation, games, education, research and technology development – will converge at the Fourth Annual N.M. Media Industries Conference: Media Industries 4 New Mexico’s Future, hosted by the University of New Mexico ARTS Lab on Jan. 12. All interested may participate to learn what’s happening in the state’s media industries and meet the people who are making it happen.
This year’s conference, held 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the UNM Student Union Building, features presentations and workshops on Digital Media 101, Indie Filmmaking Essentials, Making New Mexico’s Incentives Work for You, Animation and Game Development, along with a special presentation from symbol and design expert Maggie Macnab of Macnab Design.
The conference is part of UNM’s response to the state’s Media Industries Strategy Project – Gov. Richardson’s plan to create a media industry in New Mexico based on the state’s unique combination of technical, artistic and cultural resources.
The event is free, but registration is required. More information, including a complete schedule, is available at http://artslab.unm.edu/
Media Contact: Sari Krosinsky (505) 277-1593; email michal@unm.edu
UNM researchers and staff are undertaking a survey of “Chemicals of Interest” as part of a mandate for all colleges and universities by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The survey requires that anyone possessing specific chemicals throughout the university and satellite campuses identify the amounts and location of more than 300 specific chemicals that may be stored on UNM property.
The survey must be complete by Jan. 25. These are new requirements, says Lowell D. White, manager of chemical hygiene in the Safety and Risk Services Department of UNM.
He notes that it is important that the surveys are completed promptly because fines for non-compliance can be as much as $25,000 a day for each location at UNM. The new requirements are part of the nationwide Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards which require colleges and universities to report the possession of quantities of chemicals that may be used in acts of terrorism.
Anyone interested in seeing a complete list of the “Chemicals of Interest” or may find them here. In addition, information about the requirements can be found here.
Media Contact: Karen Wentworth (505) 277-5627 or email
kwent2@unm.edu
The Mind Research Network and the University of New Mexico are pleased to announce the upcoming fMRI Image Acquisition and Analyses Course to be held February 4-6, 2008 at the Mind Research Network located on UNM’s north campus. This meeting is being held just prior to the Society for Personality and Social Psychology meeting in Albuquerque. This course will cover Statistical Parametric Mapping 5 (SPM5 and relevant SPM2 issues) as well as Independent Component Analysis.
The course faculty include Drs. Kent Kiehl and Vince Calhoun of The Mind and UNM, and Tor Wager of Columbia University. The course will cover experimental design, image acquisition, image preprocessing, and analysis using the general linear model as well as Independent Component Analyses (ICA) of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data.
The course is designed for fMRI researchers who range from beginning to intermediate skill levels. Participants in the course are strongly encouraged to bring laptops with Matlab 7 (or higher) installed. SPM, custom code and toolboxes will be installed on the laptops during the beginning of the course.
In addition, following the lectures, participants will be trained to analyze example fMRI data on their laptops using SPM5, the Group ICA of fMRI Toolbox (GIFT), and related SPM toolboxes, such as statistical nonparametric mapping (SnPM). The course will be small, having only 30-40 students with many opportunities to work closely with the faculty. For more information and to register for the course please see: www.mrn.org/fmricourse
CME credits will be provided. This course was formerly known as the Yale University and Olin Neuropsychiatry Research Center fMRI Image Acquisition and Analyses Course.
For more information please visit the course website at www.mrn.org/fmricourse or contact Kent Kiehl kkiehl@unm.edu.
The 2008 New Mexico Economic Outlook Conference is set for Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2008, at the Embassy Suites Hotel, located just west of Lomas Blvd. NE and I-25, in Albuquerque. Registration and breakfast will be held from 7:30 to 9 a.m., while the conference runs from 9 a.m. to 12 noon. The third annual conference will present a morning devoted to the assessment of and outlook for the United States and New Mexico economies.
Also on the agenda is a presentation on regional economic development. The program is aimed at business owners and executives, as well as economic development and local government officials.
University of New Mexico President David J. Schmidly will open the conference with welcoming remarks. He’ll be followed by the PNM’s annual Forecasting Award presentation by Cindy McGill, vice president, PNM.
Noted conference speakers include Dr. Eugenio Aleman, Senior Economist and Vice-President, Wells Fargo & Company; Dr. Lawrence Waldman, Sr. Economist, UNM’s Bureau of Business and Economic Research (BBER); and Ron Gifford, President and CEO of Indy Partnership, an economic development organization in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Aleman will begin the program, addressing the current condition of the national economy, the housing sector, financial markets and credit, monetary policy and the Federal Reserve, and will offer insight into the current economy, both nationally and internationally.
Following a short break, Dr. Waldman, Senior Economist at UNM’s Bureau of Business and Economic Research (BBER), will discuss recent developments in and outlook for the New Mexico economy.
Gifford will close the program with the presentation of a model of cooperative regional economic development, which has been quite successful as applied in a ten-county partnership in Central Indiana.
The conference registration fee is $40 and is open to the public. For additional information and to register, visit the conference Web site: http://www.economicoutlooknm.com.
For additional questions regarding registration not answered on the Web site, call Julie Morales at the Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce, (505) 348-8326. For other questions, call Larry Waldman at (505) 277-7077.
Media Contact: Steve Carr, (505) 277-1821; e-mail: scarr@unm.edu