Four days shy of his first anniversary as President of the University of New Mexico, David J. Schmidly presented a year-end progress report to the UNM Board of Regents. That report shows completion of or significant progress made in 90 percent of the regents' goals set for the President. It was presented to the regents as part of the President's annual evaluation.
Photo: President David J. Schmidly
“The regents couldn’t be more pleased with President Schmidly,” said Regents’ President Jamie Koch. “He does what he says he’s going to do, and he’s achieved goals faster than we anticipated.”
Jill Derby, a governance consultant who facilitated the evaluation, reported on the process during the May 28 regents’ meeting, and called it exemplary and a best practices model for any college presidency. Derby also praised the process for its transparency.
“I’ve enjoyed working with everyone at UNM,” Schmidly told the regents. “It was a productive year and we achieved many of the things we set out to do.”
Schmidly and the regents will work through the summer to set out goals for the coming year. Those will be presented in August.
To view President Schmidly progress report on regents’ goals, go to the President’s homepage at http://www.unm.edu/president/ and look under Current Items.
Media Contact: Susan McKinsey, (505) 277-1807; e-mail: mckinsey@unm.edu
The Associated Students of the University of New Mexico Undergraduate Student Government recently swore in 11 new senators.
The senators include seniors Chris George, Mario Hernandez, Ivan Miller, Jessica Martin, and Shauna Tuite; juniors Arielle Bernier and Gayle Tripp; and sophomores Lazaro Cardenas, David Conway, Spencer Moya and Michael Westervelt.
UNM Student Court Justice, Nick Autio, swore in the senators at a formal ceremony on May 16. They officially began their one-year term on May 19.
Media Contact: Dorene Leninger, (505) 277-5299; e-mail: dleninge@unm.edu
John W. Welty has been appointed associate vice president for University Development at the UNM Foundation/Development office. Welty comes to UNM with impressive credentials from the University of Arizona where he was vice president of the UA Foundation. He begins at UNM on June 2.
Welty assumes responsibility at UNM for day-to-day operations of the Development Office/UNM Foundation and will be a leader in the upcoming comprehensive campaign.
“I look forward to the opportunity to serve the UNM community by helping the University realize its boldest ambitions with assistance from philanthropic investment. The passionate engagement of our supporters will provide results beyond our imagination,” said Welty.
As associate vice president at UA, Welty was charged with establishing the foundation’s campaign management, prospect management and donor database systems. In more than 18 years at the University of Arizona/UA Foundation, he served as director of development for the UA College of Science and as senior director of development for the Arizona Cancer Center.
Welty has participated in several comprehensive campaigns. The latest, a $1.2 billion campaign, which ended in 2005.
John Grey, assistant professor of chemistry, was named the recipient of a 2008 Ralph E. Powe Junior Faculty Enrichment Award from the Oak Ridge Associated Universities. Grey plans to use the money from the award to continue his research in the field of photovoltaics.
Grey, who is new to UNM, says his research explores the interdependence between nano-scale structure and the outcomes of charge generation and transport processes, which will aid materials scientists in the rational design of new synthetic and processing strategies.
He is planning to work with students to incorporate new molecular level characterization techniques in order to establish correlations between local structure and functionality in promising photovoltaic strategies. Ultimately he hopes to improve the efficiency and lifetime of materials that are used in photovoltaic devices.
Grey currently has three students in his research group who will work with him on the problem of nano-structured materials in photovoltaics. This fall he will also teach Chemistry 567- Characteristics of Nano-Materials, an interdisciplinary course that emphasizes the use of fundamental physical methods to solve complex problems in emerging areas of science.
Previously Grey was an Alternative Energy Fellow (Petroleum Research Fund-American Chemical Society) at the University of Texas, Austin in 2007. He received his Ph.D. from McGill University in Montreal, Canada in 2004.
Media Contact: Karen Wentworth, (505) 277-5627; email: kwent2@unm.edu
This week, KNME’s “New Mexico In Focus” will televise a live debate between U.S. Senate Republican primary candidates Heather Wilson and Steve Pearce, hosted by the New Mexico Broadcaster’s Association. The debate will be televised on Friday, May 30 from 7-8 p.m. on KNME-TV, channel 5. Then “New Mexico In Focus” will host a special live reaction and analysis after the debate.
The Wilson-Pearce debate will be the final opportunity for primary voters to see the two candidates before New Mexico’s much-anticipated June 3 primary election. The winner of the Republican primary will go on to face Democrat Tom Udall, in a battle to replace long-standing New Mexico Senator Pete Domenici.
Following the debate, Albuquerque Journal Washington Bureau reporter Michael Coleman, UNM Political Science Professor Gabriel Sanchez, and political blogger Joe Monahan will join co-host Gene Grant and regular panelists Margaret Montoya from the UNM School of Law and UNM School of Medicine and Scott Darnell, Communications Director for the Republican Party of New Mexico for a special live analysis of the debate from 8-8:30 p.m.
Co-hosted by David Alire Garcia, managing editor, New Mexico Independent, and Albuquerque Journal 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. Closed Captioning of “New Mexico In Focus” has been made possible by a gift from Mrs. Elspeth G. Bobbs.
Media Contact: Evy Todd, (505) 277-1812; e-mail: etodd@knme.org
UNM President David Schmidly, Jemez Pueblo Governor Paul Chinana, Walatowa High Charter School Board President Ryan Toya and Principal Tony Archuleta have signed a memorandum of understanding to solidify a partnership creating dual enrollment opportunities for Native American students.
Photo: UNM President David Schmidly and Jemez Pueblo Governor Paul Chinana.
Schmidly said, “We want to work with you to get as many Native American students as possible into college and graduating.”
Funded in part by a $12 million, eight-year Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation grant, with support from the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the Ford Foundation, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and Lumina Foundation for Education, the Center for Native Education’s early college high schools aim to increase the number of Native American students who graduate and go on to college.
Partnerships between tribal, high school and college stakeholders allow early college students the opportunity to earn up to two years of college credit while still in high school.
Walatowa High Charter School fills a need in a district that struggles with only 29 percent of its 11th grade American Indian students meeting or exceeding proficiency on state reading assessments – a figure that compares to an overall 58 percent in New Mexico.
On state math assessments, 18 percent of the district’s native students were proficient, compared with 31 percent of all New Mexico 11th graders. On average, students in early colleges for native youth experience a 32 percent increase in state reading scores and a 15 percent increase on math scores.
Chinana said, “We’re talking about the future and we’re working for our future leaders.”
Media Contact: Sari Krosinsky, (505) 277-1593; e-mail: michal@unm.edu
Barbara Nail-Chiwetalu recently accepted a Distance Services Coordinator position within UNM's Health Sciences Library and Informatics Center (HSLIC). In her role as Distance Services Coordinator, Nail-Chiwetalu will work with health professionals and health consumers throughout the state of New Mexico and also will oversee the library’s program of services to Native Americans.
Photo: Barbara Nail-Chiwetalu
Nail-Chiwetalu previously held the position of Health Sciences Reference Librarian at the University of Maryland, College Park, and also served as an adjunct faculty member in the Speech and Hearing Department. Her interests include applications of technology to facilitate education and the transfer of information.
UNM’s HSLIC improves and enhances human health through support, innovation, and leadership in the organization, delivery and use of quality information. For more details visit: HSC Library and Informatics.
Media Contact: Luke Frank, (505) 272-3679; e-mail: lfrank@salud.unm.edu
UNM Regents’ Professor of Chemical and Nuclear, and Mechanical Engineering Mohamed S. El-Genk was the keynote speaker for the 5th Annual European Thermal-Science Conference, Eurotherm 2008, in Eindhoven, the Netherlands last week. El-Genk spoke on enhanced boiling of dielectric liquids on copper nanodendrites, porous graphite and macro-structured copper surfaces.
The speech was based on research done by Jack L. Parker and Amir F. Ali, research assistants with the UNM Institute of Space and Nuclear Power, who are working on their doctoral degrees with El-Genk their faculty advisor. El-Genk says the research has a direct application to immersion cooling of high power computer chips.
In addition to the keynote speech, El-Genk chaired a technical session and gave two additional presentations of the results of recent research conducted at UNM-ISNPS on boiling heat transfer on micro-structured surfaces and on liquid flow in micro-tubes and micro-channels.
The latter has applications to the design and optimization of Micro-Electrical Mechanical Systems, micro-sensors, micro-satellites and biomedical engineering, and is based on the ongoing dissertation research of UNM-INSPS research assistant In-Hwan Yang with El-Genk, his faculty advisor.
Media Contact: Karen Wentworth, (505) 277-5627; email: kwent2@unm.edu
Buffy Sainte-Marie, an educator, activist and singer will give a free lecture on June 7 at 7 p.m. in the ballroom of the UNM Student Union Building as part of the University Libraries Summer Sunset Lecture Series.
Photo: Buffy Sainte-Marie
Sainte-Marie virtually invented the role of Native American activist pop star. Her work against the exploitation of Native American artists and performers has kept here in the forefront of activists for 40 years. She currently operates the Nihewan Foundation for Native American Education.
Sainte-Marie was born on the Cree Reservation in Qu’Appelle Valley, Saskatchewan, adopted and raised in Maine and Massachusetts. She holds a Ph.D. in Fine Arts from the University of Massachusetts, and also holds degrees in Oriental Philosophy and teaching, but she is best known as a writer of protest and pop songs
The lecture is sponsored by University Libraries and the Office of the Vice Provost for Academic Affairs. For more information call 277-4241.
Media Contact: Karen Wentworth, (505) 277-5627; email: kwent2@unm.edu
The UNM Art Museum presents “BIG Stuff: Works from the Permanent Collection,” June 17-Aug. 17. Size does matter and impacts greatly on how we experience and interact with a work of art. This exhibition presents an opportunity to see a number of large works from the UNM Art Museum’s permanent collections that are not often on view, in part because of their size.
But size is also relative, and in this exhibition of paintings, sculpture, prints, drawings and photographs – some contrasted with very small works – we can observe just how size and scale function in different media and in relation to other works of art.
Artists include Garrow Antreasian, Enrique Chagoya, Jim Dine, William Henry Jackson, Raymond Jonson, Harry Nadler, Dennis Oppenheim, Ed Ruscha, Roger Sweet, Dewain Valentine, Jim Waid, Carla Williams, William T. Wiley and others.
The Art Museum’s summer hours are Tuesday-Friday, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday, 1-4 p.m. Admission is free. Visit http://www.unm.edu/~artmuse or call 277-4001 for more information.
Media Contact: Sari Krosinsky, (505) 277-1593; email: michal@unm.edu
The Chase Foundation recently awarded the University of New Mexico’s Enrollment Management division with a $50,000 grant to enhance student success for students from southeast New Mexico and other rural areas. The grant is in addition to the Chase Scholarship that provides the opportunity for Artesia High School students to attend a college or university with tuition assistance that also includes the New Mexico Lottery Success Scholarship and matching funds from higher education institutions.
The University of New Mexico is matching up to $2,500 for each student, the highest of any participating school. However, improving retention rates for those students from initial enrollment through graduation is a critical next step of the program.
“The Chase family has been so generous and such a great partner for educating the students from southeast New Mexico and this progression of their support addresses not only the financial issues of our students but will dig deeper into the challenges they face from a sociological standpoint as they transition to a large university in an urban area,” said Terry Babbitt, interim vice president, Enrollment Management. “We believe this initiative will ultimately help a large number of students be successful.”
The Enrollment Management division will provide a research-based student success program to identify academic and social needs unique to southeastern New Mexico students, and will also work collaboratively with those students and existing university resources to create effective, integrated support programs that will ultimately improve rural student retention. A provision within the grant calls for a review of funding for the second year after portions of the study are completed.
Enrollment Management will develop learning communities during the first year of the program, i.e. cohorts of southeastern New Mexico students, that will a) provide peer support opportunities (informal pathways); b) formally guide students to existing academic, health, and social support programs as needed; and c) recruit students to participate in surveys and outreach programs. Students will be involved in research collection and some analysis, and will have the opportunity to participate in outreach activities in their hometown.
Media Contact: Steve Carr, (505) 277-1821; email: scarr@unm.edu
The UNM Alumni Association hosted a Memorial Day Celebration at the UNM Alumni Chapel recently. The Memorial Day Celebration was designed to recognize alumni who died while serving our country, and alumni, faculty and staff who died in 2007. The Memorial Celebration was a campuswide event.
Photo: UNM Alumni Chapel
During the event Karen Abraham, executive director of the Alumni Association, gave a brief history on the chapel before unveiling the wall of names of the service men and women that died in 2007.
The Alumni Association recognized and honored three alumni who died in service of our country. They included: 1st Lt. Tamara Long Archuleta, BA ’99 and Capt. Thomas J. Casey, BA ’96.
The Alumni Association also recognized alumni, faculty and staff who passed away in 2007 including: Valerie J. Burge, Krzysztof Galicki, Greg Johnston, William Kane, Dara K. Kaufman, James N. Kraft Jr., John Lutz, Marvin C. May, Timothy Moy, Benjamin Sacks, Daniel E. Smith, Sharon Lee Smoker and Terry Yates.
Please inform the UNM Alumni Association if you know any names of other UNM Alumni who have died in the service of their country, but do not appear on the wall.
For questions or comments please call Natalie Armijo at 277-1968 or email, njarmijo@unm.edu. For more information visit the Alumni Web site at: UNM Alumni.
Media Contact: Steve Carr, (505) 277-1821; email: scarr@unm.edu
The University of New Mexico and the Albuquerque Council for International Visitors (ACIV) recently entered into a Memorandum of Understanding signifying an important agreement to help bring more international students to the University.
Photo (l. to r.): Dr. Juan Pineda, Kay Carrico, Cheo Torres and Stephan Helgesen.
The MOU was signed by Dr. Eliseo Torres, Vice President for Student Affairs, on behalf of UNM President David J. Schmidly, and Stephan J. Helgesen, President of ACIV.
Helgesen, who also serves as the Senior Science and Technology Officer in the NM Department of Economic Development, is passionate about what New Mexico has to offer international students.
“There is no better place than New Mexico,” Helgesen says. “And the MOU between UNM and ACIV will enhance what we’re doing already.”
And what they’re already doing is promoting the benefits of international involvement to the people of the State of New Mexico. Thus, the MOU will focus on promoting these benefits specifically to the academic community, volunteer and non-profit organizations, State and city governments and the cultural and business communities.
“The University and the Division of Student Affairs are always looking for ways to increase the enrollment of international students,” Torres says. “This new relationship will enhance what we already have in place and will be good not only for the University, but also for the State of New Mexico.”
Kay Carrico, ACIV Second Vice President, says the MOU is a great first step to pooling resources, bringing more international students to NM and educating them with marketable technology that can be used both in our state and country.
Among other events, UNM and ACIV will be collaborating on the promotion of ACIV’s “Citizen Diplomacy” program which will be sponsored by the University and held on its main campus during 2009.
Part of the ACIV credo is the belief that diversity continues to make Albuquerque an attractive destination for programs from all over the world, which aligns with the University’s special international initiatives linking the international population with the campus and Albuquerque community.
“Part of our mission is to bring more international visitors to Albuquerque and create bonds of friendship with them,” Helgesen said. “People who come to New Mexico remember the people and traditions, but especially remember the state as a warm, hospitable and multi-ethnic place.”
The ACIV is an all-volunteer office that has been serving the needs of International Visitors Program for over two decades.
Media Contact: Dorene Leninger, (505) 277-5299; email: dleninge@unm.edu
Last week, KNME’s “New Mexico in Focus” looked at the Republicans and independents competing for New Mexico’s third congressional district, covering much of northern and northwestern New Mexico, including parts of the Navajo Nation and the oil and gas fields of San Juan County. This week “New Mexico in Focus” will look at the competitors in the Democratic primary. “New Mexico in Focus” will air on KNME-TV, channel 5, on Friday, May 23 at 7 p.m. and repeat on Sunday, May 25 at 6:30 a.m.
Co-hosted by David Alire Garcia, managing editor, New Mexico Independent, and Albuquerque Journal 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."
Alire Garcia will discuss the important issues facing the district with all of the Democratic contenders for NM-03: Jon Adams, Ben Ray Lujan, Rudy Martin, Harry Montoya, Benny Shendo, Jr. and Don Wiviott.
Then, Albuquerque Journal reporter Jeff Proctor will join co-host Gene Grant and regular panelists Margaret Montoya from the UNM School of Law and UNM School of Medicine, Scott Darnell, Communications Director for the Republican Party of New Mexico, and Jim Scarantino, columnist for the Weekly Alibi to discuss the candidates and issues of importance to the congressional district.
The producer of “New Mexico In Focus” is Kevin McDonald. Closed Captioning of “New Mexico In Focus” has been made possible by a gift from Mrs. Elspeth G. Bobbs.
The University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center recently joined a growing number of Health Sciences Centers across the nation in creating a policy to limit the conflict of interest inherent in physician and medical student interactions with pharmacy and other private healthcare industry representatives. The policy was designed specifically to promote outstanding patient care and medical student education, free from the influence of pharmaceutical promotion.
Until now, individual departments set forth policies for dealing with drug representatives. Under the new, HSC-wide policy, pharmaceutical representatives will be restricted to certain approved areas. HSC faculty, staff and trainees may not accept any form of personal gift from private healthcare company representatives on the UNM HSC campus nor can they display items bearing industry logos, such as pens, pads, hats or tee shirts on the UNM HSC campus. There are also stricter policies for accepting drug samples for patient use with the goal of encouraging physicians to select the best and most economical medications for their patients.
Estimates are that only 10-12 other academic centers nationally have policies similar to UNM’s although some 30-40 institutions are in the process of developing them. UNM medical students approached the Dean of the School of Medicine in 2005. In percentage terms, only 5.5 percent of the pharmaceutical industry’s 25 billion 2005 budget was spent marketing to faculty and medical staff at academic health centers. However, that figure translates into a startling $705 million spent annually on academic health sciences campuses.
“This has been a very thorough, thought-provoking, almost three-year process that was initiated by our students,” said Paul Roth, M.D. Executive Vice President for UNM Health Sciences. “While the increasing influence of the pharmaceutical industry on health sciences centers across the country has been a gradual one for our faculty, it is the only environment that our students know,” said Roth.
“The students were jointly in a task force with faculty to incorporate a far-reaching policy that will govern all aspects of our interactions with pharmaceutical representatives in the clinical and educational arenas. We are proud that the resulting policy puts our institution at the same level as such medical schools as Yale and Duke University,” he said.
Pharmaceutical drug representatives have interacted with physicians on campus since the 1950s, and traditionally have served an educational role in sharing information on new drugs. However, the number of drug reps in the U.S. doubled from 45,000-90,000 representatives during the 1990s. This corresponded with the explosion of what has been termed, “me too” drugs where companies developed very similar drugs for many conditions and then marketed aggressively for name-recognition and market share.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has judged that 76 percent of all approved new drugs in the U.S. between 1989-2000 were no more than “moderate innovations over existing treatments,” with many being modifications to an older product.
Additionally, by the year 2000, the average prices of these new drugs were nearly twice the average price of existing drugs prescribed for the same conditions. Drug companies moved to distinguish their products through aggressive marketing, from sponsoring educational seminars and luncheons to handing out free samples for patients to shipping cases of branded pens, note pads and other office supplies began streaming into medical institutions across the country.
“Most doctors will tell you that they are not swayed by such items,” said Eve Espey, professor and associate dean for Student Services and one of the task force members. “However, data suggest that even small items influence prescribing in a potentially negative way for patient care and there is an increasingly strong public perception that physician acceptance of gifts is not good for patient care. We believe it is important to respond to the public’s concerns.”
Among other provisions of the gift policy:
HSC faculty, staff and trainees may not accept compensation or gifts for listening to a sales pitch by an industry representative. The long time practice of pharmaceutical company sponsored noon lectures and lunches will also come to an end over a three-year period. Beginning in January, 2011, meals funded by private health care industry (PHCI) representatives cannot be provided on the UNM HSC campus. In the transition, departments and divisions will reduce their dependence on PHCI funding by at least 33% in each of the three years.
The policy also calls for HSC health care providers to conscientiously and actively divorce clinical care decisions (including referrals, and diagnostic or therapeutic management) from any potential or actual benefits accrued.
The policy also sets out provisions for Scholarship and other training funds as well as how free drug samples will be handled.
The UNM College of Nursing has received its largest donation ever from an individual that will be used to fund an endowed professorship in the midwifery master’s program. Paul Albers and his wife Leigh Ann decided to fund an endowed professorship to recognize Paul’s sister, Dr. Leah Albers, professor of midwifery at the UNM College of Nursing, for her extraordinary work and research in midwifery.
Photo: Leigh and Paul Albers. Photo by Roger Harmon.
“My sister has an exceptional career and contributes a great deal to UNM and midwifery,” said Paul Albers. “We are glad to support the University and honor Leah by endowing a professorship in her name.”
The Leah L. Albers Endowed Professorship in Midwifery will be awarded to a senior faculty position in the midwifery concentration. The funds from the endowment will finance research, national and international professional travel, and educational advancement within women’s health, prenatal health and midwifery programs.
Dr. Albers is internationally known and considered a national leader in midwifery research. Albers joined UNM in 1991 to launch a master’s program in midwifery. Since then, she has helped UNM’s nurse-midwifery master’s program achieve a U.S. News and World Report third-place ranking for five consecutive years.
Dr. Albers plans to continue her research and hopes the endowment draws senior research talent to the midwifery program at UNM.
Media Contact: Lauren Cruse, (505) 272-; email: venzuela@unm.edu
The University of New Mexico rolled out on-line 'Preventing Sexual Harassment' training for all employees on May 19. Within two days of its availability, more than 1,000 faculty and staff had completed the training and received the certificates of completion. This training is required to be completed by all UNM staff members by July 1, 2008. The deadline for faculty to complete the training is Oct. 1, 2008.
Direct access to this training is available at: Preventing Sexual Harassment.
A fact sheet regarding this training is available at: Fact Sheet.
Additional on-line Civil Rights at Work training is also available at: Civil Rights at Work. This training is not mandatory training but is available for supervisors and employees who want further information on laws and policies that relate to employment discrimination.
Physicals, registration set for June 3-4 at Johnson Center
This summer, the National Youth Sports Program (NYSP) at the University of New Mexico will once again provide a free sports program for disadvantaged youngsters in the community. The NYSP combines sports instruction with exciting educational programs for children ages 9-14.
Photo: First day orientation for the NYSP program
Registration and physicals will be conducted Tuesday-Wednesday, June 3-4 from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. All participants must have a physical to participate. However, NYSP will accept a current physical from a participant’s own doctor if it’s within the past 10 months. All applications must be brought to Johnson Center on registration/physical days. The camp begins Thursday, June 5 and concludes Wednesday, July 2. Camp hours are 7:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. daily.
The program, which falls under UNM’s College of Education’s Department of Physical Performance and Development, was created nationally in 1969 with $3 million from Congress. It serves nearly 40 states nationally by utilizing sports instruction and competition as a means to enhance self-esteem, promote respect for oneself and others, reinforce the importance of education to one's future, and to promote active, healthy lifestyles.
Sports activities include swimming, tennis, basketball, soccer, new image rugby, softball and football (flickerball). The education program includes alcohol and other drug -abuse prevention, nutrition and personal health, career and educational opportunities and job responsibilities, as well as higher education and community concerns. Also, as part of the program, each participant receives a free medical examination and follow-up (if necessary) and at least one free meal daily.
For more information concerning the UNM NYSP program, call UNM’s Department of Physical Performance and Development at (505) 277-5151 or visit UNM NYSP. For more information on the National Youth Sports Program visit: National Youth Sports Program.
Media Contact: Steve Carr, (505) 277-1821; email: scarr@unm.edu
Opening of lab increases research capability
The Mind Research Network (MRN), one of the country’s leading mental illness and brain disorder research organizations has opened its new Neurogenetics Laboratory (NGL) on the UNM Campus. The NGL, a state-of-the-art facility capable of whole genome genotyping, whole genome methylation and whole genome gene expression analyses, adds a vital research tool to MRN’s arsenal of neurodiagnostic equipment.
Photo: Marilee Morgan, Lab Manager, Mind Research Network Neurogenetics Core conducts tour of new laboratory.
Significant advances in the diagnosis and treatment of mental illnesses, including addiction, will require a greater understanding of individual genetic differences and the neurobiology of brain disorders. This understanding should lead to the ability to develop personalized medicine – that is, using the human genome to determine which treatments are most effective for a particular individual’s illness. The NGL is expect to greatly facilitate this line of research
According to Dr. Kent Hutchison, director of the NGL, “This new facility allows us to leverage our existing capabilities and maximize the clinical potential of our research in ways that we would not have imagined even a year ago.”
With the installation of the Illumina Bead Station, which supports the profiling of a focused set of genes and whole genomes, MRN now has the capability to conduct a wide-range of genetic analysis. The NGL will allow scientists to integrate genetic and imaging data through innovative neuroinformatic techniques such as ICA (Independent Component Analysis), to potentially develop new diagnostic and treatment solutions. ICA is a statistical and computational technique for revealing hidden factors that underlie sets of random variables or signals.
“The Mind Research Network is leading the way in expanding our knowledge of illnesses and conditions that affect the brain, and I continue to support federal funding for ongoing research. This Neurogenetics Laboratory will allow researchers to better understand the link between genetics and neurological illnesses, which will pave the way for better treatment of these conditions in the future,” said U.S. Senator Pete Domenici (R-NM), who is the lead Republican co-sponsor of a bill to increase support for, and better coordinate, federal investment in neurological research.
About MRN
The Mind Research Network is dedicated to advancing the diagnosis and treatment of mental illness and brain disorders. Founded in 1998 and headquartered in Albuquerque, MRN consists of in-house scientists, as well as an interdisciplinary association of research partners located at universities, national laboratories and research centers around the country. For information on the Mind Research Network, please call (505) 272-5028 or visit www.mrn.org.
Media Contacts: UNM - Luke Frank, (505) 272-3679; email: lfrank@salud.unm.edu or MRN - Dolores González, (505) 925-4747.
'Edward L. Romero Scholarship' encourages students to pursue entrepreneurial ideas
The Center for Regional Studies at the University of New Mexico is honoring former U.S. Ambassador to Spain and Andorra Edward L. Romero by sponsoring a scholarship in his name for graduate students at the Anderson School of Management. The $15,000 scholarship is intended to encourage Anderson students to pursue entrepreneurial endeavors and prepare them for leadership in the development of new businesses in New Mexico.
Photo: Former U.S. Ambassador Edward L. Romero
Interim Anderson Dean Amy Wohlert says the Center’s support of the Romero Scholarship is invaluable “affording Anderson a special opportunity to support small business and future New Mexico entrepreneurs.”
Graduate students who are enrolled in a minimum of six credit hours at Anderson are eligible to apply for funds. The award will be distributed as two annual amounts of $7,500. Scholarship recipients must maintain a minimum grade point average of 3.0 and submit an annual report describing their progress in gaining entrepreneurial expertise. Priority will be given to use of the scholarship as part of a recruitment package to attract talented New Mexican students to graduate study at the Anderson School.
“The Center for Regional Studies, UNM, is pleased to join the Anderson School of Management in sponsoring a graduate fellowship/scholarship in honor of Edward L. Romero, a native New Mexican,” said director Dr. Tobias Duran. “Part of the mission of CRS is to connect UNM and its resources to the broader community in New Mexico; thereby enhancing the lives of New Mexicans. The Edward L. Romero graduate scholarship will promote that effort.”
Scholarship recipients will be selected based on the student’s demonstrated commitment to small business and entrepreneurship in New Mexico. In addition to completing Anderson’s standard application for scholarships, published by the Anderson School of Management, applicants will be required to submit a statement of purpose detailing their past experience and future plans in entrepreneurship.
Application deadlines will correspond to the “best consideration” dates published by The Robert O. Anderson School of Management, but interested applicants to Anderson’s graduate programs are encouraged to include the scholarship application with their admission application.
Media Contact: Leslie Venzuela, (505) 277-7117; email: venzuela@unm.edu
Talking over a cup of coffee at the UNM Bookstore, Stefi Weisburd points to a single strand of her hair, explaining that the width of that hair contains about 100,000 nanometers. She said on the scale of a nanometer – one billionth of a meter – physical forces act differently than they do at the macroscopic level.
Photo: Stefi Weisburd, outreach coordinator, Center for High Technology Materials
Last August, Weisburd became the National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network outreach coordinator at the Center for High Technology Materials, an interdisciplinary research center affiliated with the UNM School of Engineering. She coordinates educational outreach to teachers and students at elementary, middle and high schools throughout New Mexico.
Weisburd organizes three-day workshops which combine lectures and hands-on activities to show teachers how researchers exploit the strange ways forces act in nanomaterials. For example, Assistant Professor Elizabeth Dirk leads teachers through an experiment with an alginate polymer to demonstrate how she uses polymeric materials to re-grow bone in her research.
Weisburd said that while people are aware of nanotechnology in computers and cell phones, the biological applications are less well-known. “Where I think the biggest impact is going to be is nanomedicine.”
Through the Integrated Graduate Education Research and Training program, Weisburd and graduate fellows visit middle and elementary schools to foster an appreciation for nanotechnology.
In one exercise, students fill two mugs with water – one ordinary-sized and one tiny – and then turn them upside down. The water in the regular mug pours out, but the water in the tiny mug stays put. The exercise demonstrates that on the smaller scale, surface attraction to the mug and between water molecules becomes stronger than gravity.
Weisburd is organizing a nanocamp for both students and teachers June 23-July 11 at Albuquerque Academy. Exercises include using hydrophobic nanomaterials – those repelling water – to solve a crime scene and making stained glass with nanoparticles.
Weisburd studied physics at the University of California at Berkeley and Stanford University. She’s been an analyst for Congress and an editor at Science News magazine.
When her daughter – now a student at Carnegie Mellon University – was born, Weisburd switched to freelancing. She also returned to another of her early passions – poetry.
“My father’s a poet,” she said. “Before I knew how to write, my mother would write down my poems for me.”
Two books of Weisburd’s poetry were recently published: “The Wind-Up Gods” and “Barefoot: Poems for Naked Feet,” a collection for children.
She said poet and psychoanalyst Ruth Danon described “The Wind-Up Gods” exactly: “These poems are about a woman who wants to live in a predictable world of Newtonian mechanics but is forced to live in a quantum mechanical relativistic world.”
This marriage of science and poetry seems like a natural fit for Weisburd. “I’m not religious, yet I’m still in so much awe of nature. Science provides a ‘wow’ factor,” she said.
Media Contact: Sari Krosinsky, (505) 277-1593; email: michal@unm.edu
The Bernalillo County Clerk’s Office is conducting early voting in the Amigo Room of the Student Union Building from noon to 6 p.m. on May 20-23. On May 24, early voting will be from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
The voting is part of the New Mexico primary, and in order to vote a person must be registered as either a democrat or republican. There is no primary for voters registered as independents or not affiliated.
Voters from any area in the county may vote at UNM. For more information contact the Bernalillo County Clerk's office at (505) 468-1290.
English professor Gary Harrison is the 2008 Presidential Teaching Fellow, the highest teaching honor the University of New Mexico bestows. One of his students wrote on the nomination for the award, "Dr. Harrison's ability to cultivate a classroom where all have a voice in an ongoing dialogue is one of the greatest aspects of his teaching, as is his facility in constantly challenging his students to think, explore and discuss."
Photo: Gary Harrison, 2008 Presidential Teaching Fellow
Harrison began teaching at the university in the fall of 1987, after he graduated from Stanford University with a Ph.D. in English. His specialty is British Romanticism and Literary Theory, and he says the most formative experience in his teaching career cam when he had the opportunity to teach an innovative two-semester course in World Literature with four seasoned, creative colleagues, Paul Davis, Patricia Clark Smith, David Johnson and Joseph Zavadil.
As part of a National Endowment for the Humanities grant they developed what is now the survey of world literatures sequence in the Department of English. The course includes a truly diversified study of the world’s literature for student in an increasingly global culture. The “masterworks” course includes key works from Japanese, Chinese Indian, African, Arabic, Persian, and Latin American writers.
He has also worked to develop new curriculum in the Comparative Literature/Cultural Studies program, and has worked with colleagues to develop a Health, Medicine and Human Values curriculum as the undergraduate component for UNM’s B.A.-M.D. program.
A published author, Harrison wrote “Wordsworth’s Vagrant Muse” as well as several articles on romantic literature and culture, literature and ecology and pedagogy. In addition he is co-editor of two anthologies of world literature, “Western Literature in a World Context” and “The Bedford Anthology of World Literature.” A concise edition of the Bedford Anthology will be in bookstores this December. Harrison is currently working on a critical study of the English poet John Clare.
The fellowship gives faculty members a two-year opportunity to work in areas that will benefit the university as a whole and Harrison has chosen to do curriculum development and will assist departments in developing assessments of student outcomes. He is also interested in exploring ways to develop e-portfolios for students to electronically store and document their writing and multimedia projects. E-portfolios could be used by students as electronic resumes, and accessed by employers who want writing samples or other examples of student’s work.
This fall Harrison will be teaching classes in British Romanticism and Introduction to the Professional Study of English along with a number of individual study courses.
Media Contact: Karen Wentworth, (505) 277-5627; email: kwent2@unm.edu
The Harwood Museum of Art of the University of New Mexico opens its next round of exhibitions starting June 6, featuring work from the permanent collection. The Harwood Discovery Series will continue through 2008 and into 2009 following the schedule of the proposed expansion.
Curator of Education Lucy Perera-Adams said, “The Art Committee spearheaded by Charles Strong and Gus Foster has planned a series of exhibitions gleaned from the museum’s permanent holdings. The Discovery Series is an opportunity to exhibit work which has not been shown in a long time, and in some cases includes work never before exhibited.
This ongoing series highlights the Harwood’s many treasures both old and new in a format which includes a Focus exhibition of one artist, a Selections exhibition of multiple works and an On Paper exhibition comprised of drawings, photographs and prints.”
The Discover Series I – “Focus: Larry Bell,” “Selections: Modern & Contemporary Abstractions” and “On Paper: New Mexico Photography” opens June 6, with a public reception on Saturday, June 7, 3-5 p.m. Guest curators for these exhibitions are Charles Strong, Steve Rose and Gus Foster. These exhibits will be on view through the end of September.
For more information on the Harwood Museum’s summer exhibitions or a complete listing of related programs, visit www.harwoodmuseum.org. The museum is located at 238 Ledoux Street, Taos, N.M. Hours are Tuesday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. and Sunday, noon-5 p.m. Admission is $8, or free on Sundays to N.M. residents.
Media Contact: Lucy Perera-Adams, (575) 758 9826 ext. 105
Peter Meyer always knew he wanted to work on big issues - to work in public service and be involved in the policy making process. He’s about to do exactly that. Meyer graduates later this week with a Master of Arts degree in Latin American Studies, and next fall he will walk into the Library of Congress Congressional Research Service to work as an analyst in Latin American Affairs.
Photo: Peter Meyer
Meyer survived a competitive process that allowed him to become a Presidential Management Fellow. This program annually selects approximately 400 students completing graduate and professional degrees for a wide variety of positions within the federal government in Washington D.C. and around the country.
Meyer will work in the Foreign Affairs, Defense and Trade Divisions of the Congressional Research Service, assisting members of Congress and their staffs concerning policy issues in Latin America. As these individuals request information, he will research and write reports and memos as well as brief members on the spectrum of policy options they might consider.
Meyer says when he was considering graduate schools, a professor at UNM told him about the Fellows program. Meyer thought that sounded like what he wanted to do and as he completed his master’s degree he focused on becoming a Fellow after graduation.
The fellowship lasts for two years, and Meyer says his long-term interest is transitioning into a permanent position with the Library of Congress.
Media Contact: Karen Wentworth, (505) 277-5627; email: kwent2@unm.edu
The Johnson Center weight room will be closed May 19 - June 8 for renovation. Upper and lower level will get new carpet, rubber floors and entire weight room will be painted. Existing kiosks in the weight rooms will be taken out and replaced with smaller more functional kiosks to make more space for equipment.
Alternative areas to work out will be at the SUB weight room from 7:30 a.m. -
5:45 p.m. and the faculty/staff weight room located in Johnson Center from 7 a.m. - 7 p.m. Faculty/staff weight room will be exclusively for faculty staff.
For more information on alternative workout hours call Recreational Services 277-0178.
Media Contact: Steve Carr, (505) 277-1821; email: scarr@unm.edu
The University Title V Department will be holding its fourth annual Advisor’s Institute luncheon on May 19 at 12:00 in the SUB Ballroom. The event is open to all UNM academic advisors as a way to enhance the quality of advisement offered to UNM students.
The Institute was created by Title V with the goal of creating standardized training for all advisors. Title V Director, Jennifer Gomez-Chavez, hopes that the Institute will be a great starting point to getting advisors the training they need.
For more information or to register for the luncheon contact the Title V office at 277-1723.
Historians believe the word Tucumcari is derived from the Comanche word "tukanukaru," which means to lie in wait for something. Students from the School of Architecture and Planning's graduate community outreach studio spent the semester developing ideas for ways to improve the liveability and economic viability of the town. They presented their plans to the community in a third and final session recently.
With a pending $70,000 planning grant from the state, Tucumcari won’t have to wait much longer to realize needed change.
The students looked at the historic Main Street area to increase the vitality as well as to establish connections within the area and to the rest of the city. “We looked at ways to renew and strengthen Tucumcari’s special places, such as the Sands Dorsey Building and the Depot,” said Michael Furze, graduate student in community and regional planning.
In looking at the old train depot site, an architecture and landscape architecture student team suggested the possibility of a bandstand, amphitheater and skatepark. A suggestion for the Sands Dorsey Building included a sculpture garden to capture and capitalize on the growing arts community in the town.
Downtown revitalization ideas, such as those proposed by architecture student Michael Lee, focused on developing street facades to feature a “street wall” that creates a sight and unity along the road. The students saw a need to realign streets, widen sidewalks and establish parallel parking to handle vehicular and pedestrian traffic.
The courthouse received a critical look, in response to requests from civic leaders. Designs included adding administrative space, landscaping and developing a city/county building and courthouse district.
Critical to bringing revenue into the town is to draw traffic from I-40. Landscape architecture student Edwar Calderón said, “Tucumcari doesn’t have an identity to people traveling the interstate. One idea is to create an urban gallery. Take the dinosaur sculptures to the street to complement the museum. Expand upon that to showcase other work from the broader arts community.”
Anderson School of Management student Briar Sangiuliano, a collaborator on the project, suggested that Tucumcari promote green strategies. “The use of green logos to celebrate festivals and other events is a way to expand the notion of ‘Tucumcari Tonite’ into ‘Tucumcari Tonite…and Tomorrow.’”
Community members were disappointed that attendance at the session wasn’t higher, but they aren’t discouraged. Resident Connie Falls said, “We love this town and want it to come back to life. It’s been on life support too long.”
Charlie Deans, New Mexico MainStreet coordinator with the School of
Architecture and Planning’s Design Planning Assistance Center, said, “This lays the foundation to develop a request for proposals and then move forward to request capital outlay funding to make some of these suggestions a reality.”
Media Contact: Carolyn Gonzales, (505) 277-5920; email: cgonzal@unm.edu
Communication students from Fray Luca Paccioli University in Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico, visited UNM last month, the third year their professor, Arturo López Durán, brought a group to study broadcast with Communication and Journalism Associate Professor Richard Schaefer.
For the first time, the group left the campus, the studio and the state and traveled extensively through Navajo country. Their goal was to develop an understanding about Navajo culture and to listen to stories, gather information about the traditions and history and draw comparisons and contrasts with native cultures in Central Mexico. The students will also produce a television program about their experiences.
Armed with notebooks, still and video cameras, the group set off for Acoma and El Morro. The guide explained that Acoma ancestors came in search of Hak’u, a spiritual homeland prepared for their eternal settlement. Coming from Mesa Verde, the people called out “Acu” and when the mesa echoed back their call they found themselves in “A place always prepared.”
After a cold night camping and learning how to make Schaefer’s famous spaghetti carbonara on a Coleman stove, the group headed to KTDB-FM 89.7, a public radio station in Pine Hill, N.M. The students learned of the station’s 36-year history.
Bernie Bustos, the station’s community services division director, explained that in the station’s early years people came in to give messages to friends and family over the airwaves because there was no telephone service in the area. Barbara Maria, general manager, broadcasts NPR news and then translates it into Diné. Maria is hard at work to complete a broadcast degree, having taken as many courses as she can at UNM-Gallup.
The group made its way to Window Rock and toured the Navajo Times. Duane Beyal, editor, explained how the paper made its break from tribal control and how it covers the entire Navajo Nation in its weekly publication.
The group camped at Spider Rock Campground, near Canyon de Chelly, and looked at the ruins of a once vibrant community living in the shadow of the rocks.
They then headed north to Monument Valley. Harold Simpson combines his love of his Navajo culture with his love of storytelling in his tour company business. After a tour of the monuments, dinner and a native dance performance, Simpson collected questions and answered them by weaving the responses through stories and legends as well as personal experience.
A tour of the ruins at Mesa Verde brought the story full circle. All the native people regionally connect their ancestry to the ruins at Mesa Verde, the students learned.
The drive back to Albuquerque was illuminated by the glow of laptop computer screens as the students – eager to make deadline – put together their presentation set to be delivered the next afternoon.
Schaefer will travel with UNM journalism students to Mexico in June.
Media Contact: Carolyn Gonzales, (505) 277-5920; email: cgonzal@unm.edu
Joaquin Griego will graduate in May with a master’s in language, literacy and sociocultural studies in the College of Education. His path toward his degree was not direct. He took a break from academia to pursue another interest – firefighting.
Photo: Joaquin Griego
“A cousin’s companion got in the Albuquerque Fire Department and I saw it as a career opportunity to provide a service to the community while also providing for my family,” Griego said.
The process to get accepted is rigorous. Following the application process, he had to take a written test, demonstrate physical fitness and go through an interview.
“I was accepted in May ’07 and decided to put my studies on hold because it’s so hard to get into the academy. And I knew I could go back to school,” he said.
He found the fire academy to be a different learning environment than higher education. “It was probably the most difficult four months of my life. They train the cadets so that they will know how to react in situations that can be life or death,” he said.
Out in the field since November, Griego got back on track in January to finish his degree. “The fire department schedule is 48 hours on, four days off. That allowed me to finish my thesis,” he said. His thesis focuses on civic engagement.
Prior to getting into the fire department, Griego worked as the New Mexico Civic Engagement coordinator, a UNM based program under Community Learning and Public Service in the College of Education.
“I ran a statewide network of high school youth, community based organizations. I was involved in training them, listening to them about issues important to them and their communities,” Griego said.
His involvement was to take issues and move people to action. “Youth of color are the least active civicly, especially up north in rural areas,” he said. Griego is originally from Las Vegas, N.M. “Issues included acequias, immigration, teen pregnancy. We hosted a summer institute where we engaged in peer-to-peer training so that the youth could learn how to advocate at the State Legislature,” he said.
With degree in hand and in his time off from the fire department Griego plans to get reconnected with youth. “I want to put what I’ve learned – both through my formal education as well as through the fire department – into use to benefit the community,” he said.
Media Contact: Carolyn Gonzales, (505) 277-5920; email: cgonzal@unm.edu
"Most students of creative writing are too good at being students. They are cautious and risk averse. They have not learned to welcome failure and despair. I want them to stop thinking of themselves as students with assignments and deadlines imposed by some professor or program and begin to see themselves as artists, as writers," says Associate Professor of English Gregory Martin.
Photo: Associate Professor Gregory Martin
He was hired at UNM to implement a creative nonfiction concentration within the creative writing program and his students, who are all required to submit a manuscript for publication in a magazine have been published in literary journals, in anthologies, and had their work read aloud on National Public Radio. Martin mentors student writers with an emphasis on the process of revision and peer review.
Martin has already received the Keleher Award for Outstanding Assistant Professor of English and the Gunter Starkey Teaching Award from UNM’s College of Arts and Sciences. He also wrote “Mountain City”, a memoir of the life of a town of thirty-three people in remote northeastern Nevada. That book received a Washington State Book Award and was named a New York Times Notable Book of the Year.
His students describe him as demanding, inspiring and kind. This fall he will be teaching Senior Honors Thesis, Individual Study, Creative Writing Workshop-Creative Nonfiction, Problems for the Master’s Degree, Problems for the Doctor’s Degree, and Dissertation.
Media Contact: Karen Wentworth, (505) 277-5627; email: kwent2@unm.edu
"When I first began teaching, I worried about myself. Had I prepared enough material? Was I smart enough? Was my slip showing?" says Catherine "Kate" Krause. But she adds that over the years she realized that it wasn't about her. It was about her students, and slowly she began teaching in a fundamentally different way.
Photo: Associate Professor Catherine "Kate" Krause
Krause is an associate professor of economics at UNM and has taught everything from Freshman Learning Communities to introductory macroeconomics classes with nearly 200 students. She taught upper division and graduate seminars and teaches teachers about economics through the Albuquerque Teachers’ Institute.
Krause is a behavioral economist and she considers what people do when faced with economic decisions that don’t have obvious “right” answers. Should I gamble? Donate to charity? Recycle? Leave a tip? She tries to encourage her students to be curious and skeptical about what economic models tell us about human nature. Krause frequently tells her students to write about their own economic behavior and the economic choices they observe around them.
Her drive to persuade her students to question and reach conclusions and judgments helped make her a UNM 2008 Outstanding Teacher of the Year. This fall she can be found teaching Introductory Microeconomics, Public Finance, Reading for Honors, Senior Honors Thesis, Master’s Thesis and Dissertation courses.
Media Contact: Karen Wentworth, (505) 277-5627; email: kwent2@unm.edu
The National Senior Citizens Law Center (NSCLC) has announced the appointment of Paul Nathanson as the new executive director. Nathanson, a professor emeritus from the UNM School of Law, brings to NSCLC a wealth of experience and leadership in the field of legal services for the elderly. He was the first executive director of NSCLC, from its founding in 1972 until 1980, and has been a longtime member of the Board of Directors.
Dr. E. Percil Stanford, president of the NSCLC Board of Directors, said, "NSCLC has a distinct advantage in having as its director Mr. Nathanson, who has been integral in the field of aging and law for many years, and can provide the leadership we need to move the organization into the 21st century.
"Given the political, economic and social climate, the needs of the underserved older population are more imminent and will be a focal point more than ever before. We are confident that Mr. Nathanson will help call attention to the injustices that are inherent to this population."
Nathanson joined the faculty of the Elderly Law Program at the University of New Mexico in 1980. He was named director of the UNM School of Law's Institute of Public Law in 1983, where he continued to serve until 2005. He is now Emeritus Faculty at the Law School.
He has been a national leader in aging policy for more than 25 years. In 1984, he was elected president of the American Society of Aging, and he was a member of its Executive Committee from 1982 to 1988. He was a founding member of the American Bar Association Commission on Legal Problems of the Elderly, and was National Secretary of the Gray Panthers. He is Past Chair of the Board of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, and currently serves on the Board of Directors of the National Committee To Preserve Social Security and Medicare Foundation.
He was co-chair of the University of New Mexico Center for Aging Research, Education and Service, and chair of the New Mexico Association of Geriatric Education.
Recently, Nathanson has been involved in the field of social marketing and has special interest in video production as a means of community organization. He has won numerous awards, including regional Emmys, for this work.
He earned a J.D. with distinction from Duke University School of Law, 1967, and masters of Comparative Law from the University of Chicago Law School, 1969.
Interim Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs Viola Florez has announced the 2008 Outstanding Staff and Workgroup Award winners. They are: Outstanding Work Group – Counseling and Therapy Services (CATS) and Outstanding Staff – Geoffrey Courtin, Josie Gibson and Susan Minter. They were honored recently at a reception at the UNM Student Union Building.
Photo: Outstanding Staff Work Group – Counseling and Therapy Services (CATS)
“It’s very important to honor and praise those individuals behind the scenes for their hard work,” said Florez. “To be recognized by their own peers and colleagues is quite an honor.”
Outstanding Work Group Award
Counseling and Therapy Services (CATS)
The CATS workgroup serves students’ mental health needs. They assist UNM students with psychological and psychiatric support services to help them function successfully in their academic lives and are a critical function of the campus. CATS is integral to the needs of students who might otherwise dropout of school due to depression, anxiety or other psychosocial problems. The most important services are emergency care for life-threatening situations, and same-day interventions for significant life crises.
Outstanding Staff Awards
Photo: Josie Gibson, Interim Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs Viola Florez and Susan Minter. Not pictured: Geoffrey Courtin.
Geoffrey Courtin, research engineer, Chemical and Nuclear Engineering
Courtin does many things for many people. He essentially keeps the research and teaching labs up and running. He oversees the state-of-the-art scanning electron microscope, four undergraduate laboratory courses as well as safety, chemicals, equipment and inventory.
Additionally, Courtin is concerned for the success of the students in the department. Even though he is not a faculty member, he is responsible for four core classes. He donates his time to a diverse group of students who participate in national engineering design competitions. Courtin also takes pride in outreach and minority recruiting and is known as the “go-to-guy” for departmental outreach.
Josie Gibson, coordinator, Program Advisement, Civil Engineering
Gibson has turned around the Program Advisement within the civil engineering department since joining the department in December 2002. She developed and organized a filing system, and created databases and spreadsheets to track enrollment, ethnicity, gender and programs.
Working with the department chair, scholarship director and Engineering Student Services, Gibson also helped to reorganize departmental scholarships creating guidelines and procedures for awarding scholarships to the most deserving students.
Susan Minter, manager, Applications Programming, ITS
Minter was instrumental in the implementation of HRS and the recent Banner HR/Payroll at UNM. A leader by example, Minter worked many hours above and beyond the call of duty during the implementations of those two campus-wide projects. An intelligent, diligent and self-sacrificing employee, Minter was praised by many for her dedication, work ethic, and analytical skills.
“I can honestly say that there were times in both the HRS and HR/Payroll projects when the entire project might have failed had it not been for Susan,” said David McGuire, associate director, ITS Computing Services. “Her intelligence, perseverance, enthusiasm, skill and dedication kept both projects going during some very dark hours.”
Media Contact: Steve Carr, (505) 277-1821; email: scarr@unm.edu
New Mexico’s third congressional district is vast and complex, covering much of northern and northwestern New Mexico, including parts of the Navajo Nation and the oil and gas fields of San Juan County. This week, KNME’s “New Mexico in Focus” first takes a closer look at the two Republican candidates, before moving on to feature the two independent candidates hoping for electoral success in the district. “New Mexico in Focus” will air on KNME-TV, channel 5, on Friday, May 16 at 7 p.m. and repeat on Sunday, May 18 at 6:30 a.m.
Co-hosted by David Alire Garcia, managing editor, New Mexico Independent, and Albuquerque Journal 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."
Alire Garcia will sit down with the Republican candidates Marco Gonzales and Dan East to discuss District Three’s important issues, find out what sets them apart, and why each thinks they have the best chance to win in the general election. Then Alire Garcia will talk with the two independent candidates running for District Three, Carol Miller and Ron Simmons, one of whom has a history of being a political spoiler in the district.
Then, guest panelist Danny Hernandez, from the Albuquerque Metro Arroyo Flood Control Authority, will join co-host Gene Grant and regular panelists Margaret Montoya from the UNM School of Law and UNM School of Medicine, Scott Darnell, Communications Director for the Republican Party of New Mexico, and Jim Scarantino, columnist for the Weekly Alibi to discuss the candidates and issues of importance to the congressional district.
The producer of “New Mexico In Focus” is Kevin McDonald. Closed Captioning of “New Mexico In Focus” has been made possible by a gift from Mrs. Elspeth G. Bobbs.
Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Harris L Hartz will be the keynote speaker for the University of New Mexico School of Law commencement scheduled for Saturday, May 17 at 1 p.m. on the School of Law's north patio area. The topic of Judge Hartz's speech will be "Respect."
Hartz has been a member of the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals since December, 2001. From 1989 to 1999 he was a judge on the New Mexico Court of Appeals, serving as chief judge from 1997 to 1999. And from 1996 until 2005, Hartz served as an advisor for the American Law Institute Restatement of the Law (Third) Agency. He is a magna cum laude graduate of Harvard Law School, where he was Case and Developments Editor of the Harvard Law Review.
Judge Hartz graduated valedictorian from Farmington High School before continuing his education at Harvard. En route to graduating summa cum laude in Physics at Harvard he was president of the Harvard-Radcliffe International Relations Council and one of nine members of his class of 1,200 who was elected to Phi Beta Kappa in his junior year. After graduating from Harvard, Hartz went on to graduate studies in physics at Princeton with a National Science Foundation Fellowship and Woodrow Wilson Honorary Fellowship before returning to Harvard to study law.
Judge Hartz is a member of the United States Judicial Conference's Standing Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure. He served as Chair of the Appellate Judges Conference of the ABA in 2004-05. He has been active in the American Law Institute since 1993. Hartz also served as an Assistant United States Attorney for the District of New Mexico from 1972-75.
The University of New Mexico-Gallup has joined the ranks of colleges nationwide in going paperless with its summer/fall 2008 schedule of classes.
The course schedule will now be exclusively available online at UNM Gallup or Gallup Course Schedule.
The principal advantage, noted Student Services Director Paul Kraft, was that the online schedule is continuously updated in real time, whereas the paper schedule was out of date as soon as it was published.
“Information on courses, such as time, location and instructor, changes continuously. Further, courses are added and dropped between the time the schedule would be printed and the first day of class,” Kraft said. “By getting into the habit of accessing the course online, students will have the most up-to-date information available and less frustration in planning their schedules.”
UNM-Gallup is showing its commitment to reducing the use of paper by this move. College officials estimate they will save $23,000 by going paperless.
Kraft acknowledged some students may find the move to an online schedule a bit inconvenient at first, but said he was confident they would adjust to it, just as students have nationwide, including those at UNM in Albuquerque.
“For those without Internet connections at home, it will mean using a computer here at the college or elsewhere to access the course schedule,” Kraft said. “But access to the Internet is increasingly an expectation for students as far as the learning experience, and also increasingly a necessity as far as the enrollment process. In the end, the real-time schedule should help eliminate a lot of the confusion that occurs on the first day of classes as students try to find classrooms.”
Media Contact: Linda Thornton, (505) 863-7565; lthornton@gallup.unm.edu
Northern New Mexico has a pressing need for skilled technicians in a variety of fields, according to a labor market assessment conducted by UNM-Los Alamos over the past year. To meet that demand, the branch is developing a new Associate of Applied Science in Applied Technologies. Los Alamos National Laboratory has committed to support the program with a seven-year, $700,000 grant.
Irina Alvestad, program coordinator, is working with experts from UNM, LANL and area businesses to design a curriculum. The program will provide basic academic and hands-on skills for entry-level technician positions in rapidly evolving fields such as nanotechnology, electro-mechanical technology and manufacturing – the main high-demand areas identified in the labor market assessment.
“This applied technologies degree program is a customized program for the needs of our local and regional labor market,” Alvestad said.
The degree will prepare students to become competitive in the labor market for technicians, providing the quality training necessary to pursue employment with regional companies such as LANL, Intel, Bechtel, Qwest and PNM.
New courses are being developed for the program, building on existing core and technical courses such as technical communications, electronics, computer-aided drafting and design, material science, welding, machine shop practice and blueprint reading.
Service learning is an important component of the curriculum. Working with an area business or employer, students will work on projects connected to their chosen area of concentration where they will use skills and knowledge in real-life situations.
The program will be submitted for approval to the UNM Faculty Senate and New Mexico Higher Education Department in the fall and begin offering courses in spring 2009.
For more information contact Alvestad at (505) 662-5919 ext. 679 or protech@unm.edu.
For the first time in the history of the UNM-Valencia campus, the student head count has exceeded 2,000. As of the 21-day count, 2,049 students were enrolled in courses.
The spring semester record followed another record set during the fall 2007 semester. Enrollment at UNM-Valencia set a precedent this past fall with increases in double digits from the previous fall semester.
As for the spring semester figures, Alice Letteney, executive director of the Valencia campus, noted the historical significance of the enrollment numbers. “This is the first time in our 26 years of operation that we’ve had a head count over 2,000.”
“That is a 20 percent increase with our most significant increase coming from our full-time- equivalency students,” she said. There are 1,133 FTE students enrolled this semester.
Letteney credited the increase to two factors. “We’ve been working more closely with the high schools to enroll dual credit students, and we seem to be retaining more developmental students.”
Last fall, the FTE increase was 13 percent, with 1,079 students compared to 956 the previous fall semester.
The growing pains continued from the fall semester as staff and faculty scrambled to add more sections and raise caps on courses to accommodate the increase in enrollment.
Campus officials are hoping the trend continues, and Letteney noted that the Valencia campus is the only site in the UNM system to show an increase in enrollment.
Capping a series of events to be held around the world, Leonardo, the flagship journal of the International Society for the Arts, Sciences and Technology, will celebrate its 40th anniversary at UNM. Competing with such prestigious universities as Stanford and MIT, UNM ARTS Lab successfully bid to host the 40th anniversary conference, “New Leonardos Engaged in the Burning Issues of Our Times,” in Albuquerque, March 18-21, 2009.
The conference is expected to draw 1000 participants and will feature world-renowned artists, researchers and scholars, including Nobel laureates.
Claudia Valdes, ARTS Lab associate director, said the conference will explore the convergence of art, science, technology and business as a dynamic conversation with each discipline enhancing the others, a conversation in which New Mexico, Albuquerque and UNM are uniquely well-versed. “It naturally ties in with the efforts that are already here in the state.”
Leonardo, a peer-reviewed scholarly forum for the conjunction of art, science and technology published by MIT Press, has published more than 5,500 artists, researchers and scholars. The conference will bring together scientists and artists, elder practitioners and younger creators, scholars and administrators from around the world to celebrate the achievements of Leonardo and to design the important questions that will shape the next 40 years.
The event showcases some of the most compelling work of the “New Leonardos.” It will provide a framework to debate the burning issues that face the arts, humanities, sciences and technology in a world of declining science literacy, limited resources, man-made environmental change, and enduring inequalities and social injustice.
The conference is hosted and co-organized by the UNM ARTS Lab, Albuquerque and Leonardo/ISAST.
ARTS Lab encourages those planning to participate to pre-register at artslab.unm.edu/leo40/registration.html. Pre-registration does not require a deposit, and will help staff plan, design the conference and fundraise.
A call for papers and final registration will launch later this year. The cost will be $300 general or $200 for students, UNM and Leonardo members.
For updates and to join the mailing list, visit artslab.unm.edu/leo40.
For faculty and instructors teaching a course for the first time or looking for fresh ways to teach familiar classes, “Designing Courses for Effective Student Learning: Faculty and Instructors Institute” provides intensive instruction in current best practices, moving the focus from teaching to learning.
During the institute, presented by the Office of Support for Effective Teaching Thursday-Friday, May 22-23, 8:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. at the UNM Student Union Building, instructors will learn what research in cognition, teaching and learning implies for college instruction and pick up fresh ideas through conversations with colleagues.
The institute demonstrates teaching and assessment methods consistent with diverse learning styles. Instructors learn to design goal- and learner-centered courses, guided by three central questions: What should my students learn? How should they learn it? How will I know that they learned it?
Hope Garcia, UNM-Valencia sociology faculty, participated in the institute when she started teaching Sociology 101.
“I began the institute as a desperate doctoral student, who was about to be loosed upon a herd of unsuspecting freshmen,” she said. “As I heard in the institute, ‘When all you’ve got is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.’ So, I was hoping for a few pointers – a few different tools besides my trusty lecture hammer.”
Garcia said the tools she picked up at the institute have helped stimulate discussion and lead students “to understand and apply principles, not just memorize definitions and dead guys.”
Maria Lane, assistant professor of geography, joined the institute to design a course she hadn’t taught before – Geography of the Southwest. She said the main point she took from it is “that you have to orient your class around students learning, not yourself teaching.”
“Of course I’d heard about importance of active learning before, but the institute put it all together, from the fundamental level of course design,” she said.
She added that it was a good opportunity to meet with faculty from other departments, get feedback and see other learning styles in action.
Laurie Schatzberg, associate professor in the Anderson School of Management, said the institute helped her “to find ways to add new components to my class [Introduction to Management Information Systems] and to pause from time to time for the students to see the how the class work ties to the objectives and the real world.”
The institute is free and open to all UNM instructors. Visit unm.edu/~oset to register.
The UNM School of Architecture and Planning is hosting “Acequias: Their Culture and Future,” an exhibition of measured drawings and photographs on the acequias and traditional Hispanic mill in La Cienega, New Mexico, on the first floor of George Pearl Hall through June 30.
Photo: La Compuerta Major: main head gate for diversion of water from La Cienega Creek to the acequia, Martin Stupich, 2007.
The exhibition was prepared by Professor Arnold Valdez and students in his class “Acequias: Their Culture and Future,” with photographs by Martin Stupich.
The class was offered as part of the 2007 Southwest Summer Institute for Preservation and Regionalism, and was co-sponsored by the University of New Mexico School of Architecture and Planning and the Santa Fe County Land Use Department. This joint venture allowed the university and county to work together organizing presentations and field studies.
Acequias, also known as community ditches, are threatened today by development, over-use, competing technologies to collect water, and the decline of traditional agricultural methods. The class explored the history of acequias, how they shaped the cultural landscape of New Mexico, their engineering, how they contribute to traditional communities in the Southwest, and the challenges and opportunities for conservation and continued use.
More classes will be offered during the 2008 Southwest Summer Institute for Preservation and Regionalism. Registration is currently open to regular and non-degree students. For more information contact Meghan Bayer at mbayer@unm.edu or call 277-0071.
Four UNM faculty and staff members will spend their summer learning how to write research grants for proposals funded by the National Institutes of Health. In turn they will act as a resource for faculty and staff members who are seeking grants from NIH.
It’s part of a joint Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services program to improve grant awards to Hispanic serving institutions like UNM.
Celia Iriart, assistant professor of Family and Community Medicine; Karlett Parra, assistant professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology; Lisa Cacari-Stone, lecturer in the Department of Family and Community Medicine, and Marcos Garza, a contract and grants administrator for the Office of the Vice President for Research, will all travel to San Antonio, Texas and Bethesda, Maryland this summer for a series of workshops to help them hone their grant-writing skills.
Their training will be complete by fall.
The Chase Foundation donated $100,000 to the New Mexico Poison and Drug Information Center Tuesday. The money will be used to support the center’s program in providing efficient and accurate poison and drug information to healthcare professionals and New Mexicans statewide.
Photo: Jess Benson, director of the New Mexico Poison and Drug Information Center, Richard Price, executive director of the Chase Foundation, Representative Janice Arnold Jones, John Pieper, dean of the UNM College of Pharmacy.
As the best resource in New Mexico for any poison-related emergencies, 24-hours a day, 365 days a year, the center continues to improve the health of New Mexicans by reducing the morbidity and mortality associated with poisonings, and by encouraging proper use of medications.
Anyone can call the poison center if they, a loved one or even a pet has possibly been poisoned or is experiencing a medication error. Healthcare professionals, including pediatricians, ER physicians, nurse practitioners and pharmacists can call the center with questions or if they need assistance with a patient. The New Mexico Poison and Drug Information Center is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week at 1-800-222-1222.
The New Mexico Poison Center is a public service program of the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center (UNM HSC) and serves as a major teaching site for the UNM College of Pharmacy (UNM COP) and the UNM Department of Emergency Medicine. Staff members at the center, answering poison emergency calls, are pharmacists who are specialists in poison information. The center also has a medical toxicologist on call 24 hours. These specialists can often guide home treatment, allowing clients to avoid costly medical or emergency department visits.
Chase Foundation, established in 2006 by Mack and Marilyn Chase to help serve the community of Artesia, N.M., decided to donate to the New Mexico Poison Center after being approached by local Artesia pharmacist Lowell Irby. Irby owns Lowell’s Pharmacy in Artesia and in his 30 years as a pharmacist understands the importance of having a New Mexico poison center readily available with the latest poison and drug information.
According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers, job prospects for new college graduates remains positive. Employers expect to hire eight percent more graduates than in 2007. Starting salaries are also expected to increase an overall average of 5.3 percent over the same period last year.
“It’s a great time to be entering the job market. UNM candidates are being recruited at record levels as reflected in an increase in the number of organizations participating in on-campus recruiting events, which are up 16 percent in the past two years,” said Mary Montano, career placement manager in the UNM Office of Career Services.
UNM career fair registrations rose 44 percent, Montano said.
Hot careers include accounting, management information systems and engineering. Arts & Sciences majors are also being given a closer look as they bring a wide array of knowledge, skills and problem-solving abilities to the work place.
Locally, a number of organizations continue to hire at consistently high levels, including Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Kiewit, Lockheed Martin, Myners & Co, Thornburg & Co, UNM, USDA Forest Service and Walgreens.
New graduates should meet with a UNM career development facilitator to help focus a job search. Eliminating options that have no appeal allows for a more productive search.
“Although there is talk of recession, the job market is still extremely strong for well-prepared candidates, especially those who were able to complete some type of experiential education such as an internship or co-op work experience,” Montano said.
“For students seeking work-life balance, career opportunities in the public sector are at an all time high, with federal organizations leading the way in offering competitive salaries, flexible work schedules, family friendly support, and extremely attractive retirement programs such as the Thrift Savings Plan, with some agencies offering loan re-payment programs as well as support for completing graduate degrees,” Montano said.
As for graduate school, many employers offer to support employees in their pursuit of an advanced degree, so by making wise choices, students can have the best of both worlds.
Student veterans are ready to combine their voices to help others transition from military service to college life. In a recent meeting, a group of veterans decided to create the Student Veterans of UNM, a group dedicated to providing the support that fellow vets need when entering college.
Photo (l. to r.): The officers of the new Student Veterans of UNM include Tomas Trujillo, treasurer, Zack Mutchler, vice-president, Jeremy Zimmerman, secretary and Darrin Kowitz, president.
The new group is the brainchild of Darrin Kowitz a doctoral student in sociology.
“For me personally, forming this organization lies at the intersection of my identities as a veteran, a student, and a sociologist, all within the context of the current state of US military and veteran policy,” said Kowitz, who also serves as president of the newly formed organization.
Kowitz, who served in the army during the 1990’s, created the group to support veterans attending UNM.
“We live in a society that produces large numbers of military veterans, and in particular over the past 5 years, combat veterans,” Kowitz said. “There are around 500 student veterans at UNM, and until now they've had little, if any, institutional structural support.”
One of the problems that many veterans who have left the military find is they must pay for their first semester tuition out of pocket, then get reimbursement when their GI Bill kicks in.
The Student Veterans of UNM is only part of a larger effort to help the university become more hospitable to military veterans. Kowitz, along with Student Veterans of UNM faculty advisor Lee St. Pierre, has been working with President Schmidly’s office to create a UNM Veterans Outreach Center.
“We know that only roughly ten percent of eligible veterans in New Mexico are using their educational benefits,” Kowitz said. “The goal of the center would be to increase that number.”
Kowitz hopes that working cooperatively with the university will benefit both veterans returning from their service and preparing to integrate back into civilian, and scholastic, society, and the University of New Mexico.
“We’re still in the early stages of the project, but both President Schmidly and I share a commitment to the veterans of New Mexico,” Kowitz added.
Kowitz has also received support for the new center from U.S. Representative Heather Wilson, an Air Force Academy graduate, and New Mexico Secretary of Veterans Services John Garcia.
The next meeting for this group is scheduled for Tuesday, June 3 at 7 p.m. A meeting location has not been determined yet. If you are interested in joining the group, please contact Darrin Kowitz at dkowitz@unm.edu.
Two Albuquerque business executive have joined the board of STC.UNM. Gary Tonjes, president of Albuquerque Economic Development and Maria Griego-Raby, president of Contract Associates will serve four-year terms.
“We are delighted to have these top business people as members of the STC.UNM board,” said Lisa Kuuttila, president and CEO of STC.UNM. “They bring a wide range of experience and vision.”
Tonjes has been president of AED, a non-profit corporation that recruits new companies to the Albuquerque area, for 13 years. AED’s recruits include Eclipse Aviation, Gap Inc.’s Corporate Shared Service Center, Intel, General Mills, Tempur-Pedic and the Verizon Wireless Center. AED was ranked one of North America’s Top Ten Economic Development Organizations for 2000, and given an honorable mention for that award in 2006.
Griego-Raby is the president of a family business that provides contract furniture throughout the Southwest. For the past three years Contract Associates has been recognized on Hispanic Business Magazine’s top 500 list of largest U.S. Hispanic-Owned businesses.
Griego-Raby currently serves on the Board of Finance for the State of New Mexico, the Board of the Hispano Chamber of Commerce, the Albuquerque Foundation and the Advisory Council of Arts Alliance. She was a member of the Board of Regents for the University of New Mexico through January 2005.
Professor Julia Fulghum has been the Chair of the Department of Chemical and Nuclear Engineering since August 2002 and is currently Interim Vice President for Research for UNM. Prior to her arrival at UNM, she was a Professor in the Department of Chemistry at Kent State University, beginning in 1989.
Fulghum received her Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry in 1987 from the University of North Carolina. Her research interests include materials characterization with an emphasis on multi-technique correlation and multivariate analysis for non-destructive evaluation of heterogeneous samples.
Media Contact: Karen Wentworth, (505) 277-5627; email: kwent2@unm.edu
Open forums have been scheduled for the final two candidates for the position of chief information officer. The open forum for Gilbert Ramirez Gonzales is scheduled for Wednesday, May 14 from 3 to 4 p.m. in the Robert's Room, Scholes Hall. The open forum for Richard Kogut is set for Wednesday, May 21 from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. in the UNM Student Union Building, Fiesta A&B.
Gonzales is the CIO for California State University at Monterey Bay, while Kogut is currently the CIO and associate vice chancellor at the University of California, Merced.
They join three other candidates in the search including Anna Peralta Hines, Arthur “Barney” Maccabe and Kenneth Stafford. For more information on these candidates visit: Open Forums Scheduled for Chief Information Officer.
The finalists were identified by a search committee in a national search. The CIO leads and integrates information technology related functions across the University.
Media Contact: Steve Carr, (505) 277-1821; email: scarr@unm.edu
The University of New Mexico is committed to providing a positive and supportive environment in which all students, faculty, staff, applicants for employment, and campus visitors are treated with dignity and respect. As part of its ongoing efforts to provide information regarding cultural diversity, equal opportunity, and the issue of sexual harassment, the University will soon begin offering two online courses, titled 'Preventing Sexual Harassment' and 'Civil Rights at Work' at UNM.
This training will provide faculty, staff and students with valuable information, helping them learn their rights and responsibilities, and hopefully preclude future incidents.
These online courses will provide education to the entire University community about a number of issues related to discrimination in the workplace. Through a series of scenario presentations and activities, you will learn important principles that you can apply to your everyday work and learning activities.
The Preventing Sexual Harassment online course will be mandatory for all UNM employees, meaning both staff and faculty will be required to participate in the training annually. Current staff will be able to access this training via the departmental web sites of Employee and Organizational Development and Office of Equal Opportunity starting May 19, 2008, and will be required to complete the training no-later-than July 1, 2008.
All new employees (staff and faculty) will need to complete the training within two weeks of their hire date at the University of New Mexico. Faculty members will also have access to this training starting May 19, 2008, but will have until Oct. 1, 2008 to complete the training due to their unique school schedule.
The Preventing Sexual Harassment course will be available in Spanish language and also in staff, faculty, supervisor/manager and student/student employee versions.
Employees can access this module by clicking on any of the following links:
Preventing Sexual Harassment Mandatory Training Module
http://training.newmedialearning.com/psh/unewmexico/
Civil Rights at Work at UNM Online Course
http://training.newmedialearning.com/ped/unewmexico/
Office of Equal Opportunity
http://www.unm.edu/~oeounm/index.htm
Employee and Organizational Development
http://www.unm.edu/~hrinfo
As employees it is crucial that you reaffirm to the University’s commitment to foster an environment that recognizes the worth and potential of every individual and that promotes the highest degree of respect among all members of our University community.
Please refer to the training fact sheet designed to provide further information regarding the Mandatory Preventing Sexual Harassment training.
For further details regarding this training contact the Office of Equal Opportunity at 277-5251.
Program also recognized in national competition
New recycling bins will dot the UNM campus in July. The UNM Recycling Program won 10 bins in a competition co-sponsored by the National Recycling Coalition and Coca Cola. The UNM Recycling program also won an award from the New Mexico Recycling Coalition for the Best Community-Based Recycling Program.
The UNM Recycling program has also won an award from the New Mexico Recycling Coalition for the Best Community-Based Recycling Program. The recycling program was nominated for holding education environmental fairs to increase awareness of pollution prevention activities, for holding e-waste events and for offering tours to elementary and middle school students to educate them about recycling.
The award nomination cites the program for great customer service, pointing out the stripping of old refrigerators into recyclable component parts, and spreading the word about a new market for recycled Styrofoam.
The award will be presented at a conference in Albuquerque next month.
Media Contact: Karen Wentworth, (505) 277-5627; email: kwent2@unm.edu
Frank J. Williams, chief justice of the Rhode Island Supreme Court, will deliver the keynote address at the University of New Mexico spring commencement Saturday, May 17, at 9 a.m. in the University Arena, “the Pit.” About 2,421 students are projected to receive degrees, as follows: 1,600 bachelor’s degrees, 477 master’s degrees, 74 doctorates, 90 juris doctorates, 80 medical doctorates, 85 pharmacy doctorates, 5 graduate certificates and 10 education specialists. An official degree count is determined following commencement.
Scientific advocate Eugenie C. Scott, civil rights leader Vicente T. Ximenes and acclaimed American Indian artist Jaune Quick-to-See Smith will receive honorary degrees at the ceremony.
UNM Regents’ President Jam