UNM Alumni Association to Host 'Dinner for 12 Strangers'

Do you like the idea of meeting new and interesting people connected with UNM? How about exchanging ideas and experiences in a casual environment over dinner? Then a unique program titled, Dinner for 12 Strangers, might just be your calling. Sponsored by the UNM Alumni Association, the 'Dinner for 12 Strangers' program is an opportunity for alumni to connect with UNM students, faculty and other alums when local alumni host a dinner in their home in an effort to make UNM a smaller and friendlier place.

“Parent Day at the Pit” Set for Saturday, Feb. 20

Pre-game reception also scheduled

The University of New Mexico Parent Association is partnering with UNM athletics to offer the 2nd annual “Parent Day at the Pit” special event Saturday, Feb. 20. Tip-off for the UNM vs. Air Force men’s basketball game is set 1:30 p.m.

PPD's iService Desk Unavailable Feb. 17-24

The Physical Plant Department's iService Desk will be unavailable beginning Wednesday, Feb. 17, at 5 p.m. through Wednesday, Feb. 24, at 8 a.m. To place work orders during this period call PPD's Work Control office at 277-1600.

Mitchell Hall Open House Set for March 3

The Office of the Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs will celebrate Mitchell Hall's Renovation with an Open House on Wednesday, March 3 from 3 - 5 p.m. in Mitchell Hall. Mitchell Hall is a 1950 building that has been renovated to modern classroom standards. The Program begins at 3 p.m. and everyone is invited. Light celebratory fare will be offered.

UNM to Sharpen Focus on Cost Containment

University of New Mexico President David J. Schmidly today announced the formation of a special advisory group to the President whose mission is to sharpen UNM’s focus on containing costs in both academic and non-academic areas.

Rethinking Chaco Canyon as a Center for Pilgrimage

John Kantner, anthropological archaeologist and Vice President of the School for Advanced Research in Santa Fe, New Mexico reviews research on Chaco Canyon and advances the theory that it was a place of pilgrimage in the 11th Century A.D.

Photo: John Kantner

Conference promotes Success in the Classroom

The Office of Support for Effective Teaching presents the fifth annual Success in the Classroom: Sharing Practices that Work, a university-wide, free conference on teaching and learning, on Wednesday, Feb. 17, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. at the Student Union Building. The luncheon keynote address will be given by Chris Anson on “Engaging Writing – What It Means for Student Learning in YOUR Class.”

Photo: Chris Anson

UNM Attracts $37 Million in Federal Stimulus Funding

Researchers at the University of New Mexico have been awarded $37 million in competitive grants from funds appropriated for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Health Science Center researchers have been awarded $21 million in grants. Researchers on the UNM main campus have been awarded $16 million.

CELAC Seeks Conversation Partners

The Center for English Language and American Culture is looking for people interested in becoming conversation partners with UNM international students. The students come from many different countries—Korea, Japan, Taiwan, China, Thailand, Vietnam and places in Latin America, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East—and represent a linguistic smorgasbord.

UNM's David Gutzler to Present Lecture on North American Droughts

The Science & Society Distinguished Public Talks series presents 'Toward Prediction of North American Droughts’ with David Gtuzler on Thursday, Feb. 11 at 5 p.m. in rm. C of the UNM Conference Center located at 1634 University Blvd. N.E. A meet and greet will also be held prior to the talk at 4:30 p.m. The lecture is free and open to the public. Plenty of free parking is available.

Photo: David Gutzler

Proposal Development and Electronic Proposal Routing Software System for Main and Branch Campuses

In response to faculty requests for improvements in federal grant proposal development and electronic routing processes, Vice President for Research Julia Fulghum has announced that we have selected and are in negotiations with Cayuse to provide UNM Main and Branch Campuses with proposal development and electronic proposal routing software.

2010 Central New Mexico Science Olympiad Set for Saturday, Feb. 6

Nearly 400 middle and high school students from Albuquerque and surrounding areas will participate in the Central Region Science Olympiad scheduled at the University of New Mexico Saturday, Feb. 6. Registration for the event begins at 6:45 a.m. at Dane Smith Hall. A number of competitions will follow throughout the day and the event will conclude with an awards ceremony from 4-5 p.m. in Woodward Hall, rm. 101.

Report on College Alcohol, Tobacco, and Other Drug Use in New Mexico to be Released by Higher Education Prevention Consortium

Press conference set for Friday, Feb. 12 at 9 a.m. at MCM Elegante Hotel

Results of a report by the New Mexico Higher Education Prevention Consortium on student use of alcohol, tobacco and drugs at seven state higher education institutions will be released Friday, Feb. 12, at a press conference at the MCM Elegante Hotel, 2020 Menaul N.E. in Albuquerque.

UNM Alumni Association to Honor Its Own

A group of distinguished alumni will be recognized by the University of New Mexico Alumni Association for their community efforts on Thursday, Feb. 11 at the Hotel Albuquerque. The honorees include John Echohawk, Joe Diaz, Alan Morgan and Anita Obermeier. The event gets underway with no host cocktails at 6 p.m., followed by dinner at 6:30 p.m. The Hotel Albuquerque is located in Old Town at 800 Rio Grande Blvd. The deadline to R.S.V.P. is Friday, Feb. 5.

Lecture by Dean of Anderson School on “The Dark Side of Business”

Douglas M. Brown, dean of the Anderson School of Management will speak on Tuesday, Feb. 9, at 12 p.m. in the Acoma Room at the Student Union Building. His topic will focus on the national economic crisis. Brown says the financial meltdown of 2008 was ignited by a blowtorch of greed, distortion of risk/reward, and absence of oversight and of checks and balances.

Photo: Doug Brown

UNM Professor of Law to Lecture on Cross Cultural Research at Santa Clara Pueblo

Gloria Valencia-Weber, professor of Indian Law at the UNM School of Law, will talk about “Cross Cultural Research at Santa Clara Pueblo: Going Beyond the Law” on Thursday, Feb. 11 at 4 p.m. in Hibben Room 105. Her talk will explore a long-term project at Santa Clara Pueblo arising from the 1978 Supreme Court decision in Santa Clara Pueblo v. Martinez.

Photo: Gloria Valencia-Weber

Former Gov. Gary Johnson’s Future Plans, Turmoil at UNM, Legislative Update and More on This Week’s “New Mexico in Focus”

Former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson is making political waves once again, this time on the national stage as the honorary chairman of the new political organization, “Our America Initiative.” Does his involvement in this group mean he’s laying the groundwork for a presidential run in 2010? This week “New Mexico in Focus” correspondent Sarah Gustavus asks him this and more in an exclusive one-on-one interview.

UNM's 'Live United' Campaign Surpasses Goal

The University of New Mexico’s 2009 United Way theme, “Live United” was based on the belief that humans are all connected and interdependent. Extending a hand to one disadvantaged person in the community can influence the conditions of many others. To that end, UNM once again set a lofty goal of $1 million and surpassed it by raising $1,010,604. Additionally, this year, more hands were extended as UNM added 243 new donors.

UNM Doctor Receives Hispano Round Table Award

Valerie Romero-Leggott, vice president for diversity at the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, was honored recently at the Sweeney Convention Center in Santa Fe with the 16th Annual Hispano Round Table (HRT) “Walking the Talk” Award for her commitment to creating positive change in the community.

Photo: Valerie Romero-Leggott

IT Policies Under Review

All IT-related University policies are being reviewed, and where appropriate, will be revised. The proposal to review and revamp these policies - prior to the end of May 2010 - is available on the IT Standards and Policies page at:
IT Policy Proposed Revisions

Cold War Consumption in the US and Chile Focus of Lecture

The Students of Latin American Studies, History Graduate Students Association, and the Feminist Research Institute present Heidi Tinsman, associate professor of history, University of California, Irvine, who will deliver the lecture, “Buying Into the Regime: Grapes, Gender, and Consumption in Cold War Chile and the U.S. (towards a transnational history),” on Thursday, Feb. 11 at 5 p.m. in the Student Union Building Acoma Rooms A&B. The event is free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be provided.

Photo: Heidi Tinsman

12th Annual International Conference on Treatment of Addictive Behaviors Set

The 12th Annual International Conference on Treatment of Addictive Behaviors (ICTAB-12), sponsored by the UNM Center on Alcoholism, Substance Abuse, and Addictions (CASAA), is set for Sunday – Wednesday, Feb. 7 – 10, 2010, at the Eldorado Hotel in Santa Fe, N.M. The 2010 Conference Theme is “Evidence-Based Treatment in Real World Systems: Maximizing Service, Value, and Outcome.”

Qualitative Cafe Brown Bag Returns for Spring Semester

The first Qualitative Cafe Brown Bag of 2010 is set for Thursday, Feb. 11, from 12 to 1 p.m. in rm. 252 in the College of Nursing building. The first lecture, given by the Department of Family and Community Medicine’s Chrissy Getrich and Andrew Sussman, is titled "Theory building and representation in qualitative research: How do we show what we know?" Bring a lunch and any interested colleagues and or students—all are invited.

Dine (Navajo) Blessing Way Stories told by Sunny Dooley

Native Diné (Navajo) storyteller Sunny Dooley will share her culture’s rich artistic heritage on Tuesday, Feb. 9 at 3:30 pm in the Willard Room in Zimmerman Library. Dooley is a storyteller, poet, playwright, lecturer, and folksinger from the Four Corners region of the southwest from a community called Chi Chil' Tah (Where the Oaks Grow). She has been telling the Origin and Creation Stories of the Dine' people for the past 20 years.

International Task Force Presents February and March Programs

The International Task Force has two upcoming events. On Tuesday, Feb. 16 from noon to 1:30 p.m. in the Roberts Room in Scholes Hall, Linda Melville, UNM Office of International Programs & Studies, presents on the “International Student Experience at UNM.”

Student Affairs Celebrates Random Acts of Kindness Week

The Division of Student Affairs will celebrate National Random Acts of Kindness (RAK) week Feb. 15-19, by hosting a necessities drive for Cuidando Los Niños and the Albuquerque Rescue Mission. The drive will run Feb. 12-19 with donation boxes for each charity located on the first and second floors of the Student Union Building.

Architecture and Planning Begins Spring 2010 Lecture Series

The School of Architecture and Planning will be hosting its Spring 2010 lecture series, a semester-long series, beginning on Feb. 1 with Wendell Burnette of Wendell Burnett Architects in Phoenix, Ariz. All lectures begin at 5:15 p.m. in George Pearl Hall Auditorium. They are free and open to the public.

Indigenous Nations Library Program Explores New Ways to Assist Students

Students who come from small high schools without libraries are sometimes overwhelmed when they reach UNM and find four on-campus libraries with complex electronic databases. That’s where the Indigenous Nations Library Program at University Libraries can make the transition easier.

Diversity Showcase to Highlight Best Practices

The showcase, “Sharing Best Practices: Culture and Diversity,” which will recognize how diversity is embraced on campus and how it can lead to increased retention of students, faculty and staff, will be held on Feb. 4 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the SUB Ballroom C.

An Easy Way to Learn About Retrofitting Buildings to Save Energy

Have you ever wondered about how to improve an existing building to make it more energy efficient? That’s the focus of a UNM Continuing Education Class taught by Jerald L. Rounds, AGC Endowed Chair Professor in the Civil Engineering Department. He will be joined by Birk Jones, who has recently graduated with a master’s degree in engineering.

Entry Deadline and Presentation Skills Seminar: UNM Technology Business Plan Competition

Special luncheon seminar to be held Feb. 5

The deadline to register for UNM Technology Business Plan competition, with expected prizes totaling $40,000, is Friday, Feb. 5. Open only to UNM students, this competition fosters entrepreneurial activity and offers exposure to venture capital and angel funders as well as legal, accounting, and banking professionals.

Photo: John Freisinger to present business plan seminar.

Alemán to Present the Sixth Richard W. Etulain Lecture in History

Jesse Alemán, UNM associate professor of English, presents the 2010 Richard W. Etulain Lecture, “From Union Officers to Cuban Rebels: The Story of the Brothers Cavada and their American Civil Wars,” Thursday, Feb. 18, at 5:30 p.m. in the UNM Student Union Building, Lobo A and B. This event is free and open to the public. A reception will follow the lecture.

Photo: Jesse Alemán

Politics of the Cuban Political Refugee Program Focus of LAII Lecture

Lisa Burns, case manager with the Center for Refugee Settlement and Services at Catholic Charities, presents, “Politics of the Cuban Political Refugee Program,” Tuesday, Feb. 2 at 1 p.m. in the Latin American and Iberian Institute, 801 Yale Blvd. NE.

E-Mail, Messaging and Calendar Forum at UNM

At the request of the Executive Vice Presidents, Chief Information Officer Gil Gonzales is facilitating a campus-wide discussion about the strategic direction of e-mail, calendar and messaging at UNM. Campus participation is being sought at public forums to be held in February and March, and also by a short survey which will be open to students, faculty and staff for responses.

UNM Air Force ROTC Cadet Chinana Receives Marshall-Arnold Award

Cadet Delilah Chinana is the recipient of the 2010 George C. Marshall - Henry H. Arnold Air Force ROTC Award, as selected by UNM AFROTC Lt. Col. Raul Garcia. Chinana is a 2005 graduate of Jemez Valley High School and the daughter of Alondo and Diane Chinana of Albuquerque. Chinana, a political science major, plans to graduate from UNM in May and will become a contracting officer in the Air Force.

Photo: Cadet Delilah Chinana

Emergency Siren Test Set for Tuesday

The University of New Mexico will test its emergency notifications systems including the campus warning siren and text messaging systems on Tuesday, Feb. 9 at 11:02 A.M. UNM tests the emergency sirens every semester. The sirens alert the campus community to seek shelter indoors. They are used to warn about emergencies that make it unsafe to be outdoors. That could include a severe lightening storm, an environmental hazard or threat from an armed individual.

Hispanic Education Act, Upcoming APS Bond Vote and More on This Week’s “New Mexico in Focus”

Representative Rick Miera (D-Albuquerque) recently introduced the “Hispanic Education Act” in the 2010 New Mexico Legislative session. This main purpose of this bill is “to provide for the study, development and implementation of educational systems that affect the educational success of Hispanic students to close the achievement gap and increase graduation rates.” This week “New Mexico in Focus” correspondent Peter St. Cyr discusses the proposed bill with Miera, Dr. Jose Armas of the Latin/Hispano Education Improvement Task Force and Ellen Bernstein, president of the Albuquerque Teachers Federation.

Anthropology Lecture on Chaco Canyon and the Evolution of Pilgrimage Centers

John Kantner from the School for Advanced Research in Santa Fe will speak on “Chaco Canyon: Costly Signaling and the Evolution of Pilgrimage Centers” at 4 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 4, in the Hibben Center Room 105 on UNM’s main campus. The lecture is free and the public is welcome.

Innovative Program Gives UNM Broadcast Journalism Students Real World Experience

Four UNM student interns are now reporting on the activities of the current session of the Legislature in Santa Fe, sending their radio reports to more than 55 stations across the state. At the same time, their counterparts in Washington, D.C., a group of five students, are learning the basics of news reporting as actual reporters for NMBA.

STC.UNM Spring Seminars Begin on Tuesday

Bruce Fryer, the CEO of ProtoHIT, Inc. will discuss the concept of due diligence and its critical importance to the success of a new company in the first STC.UNM Spring Seminar on Tuesday, Feb. 2, at noon in the Stamm Commons, Room 1044 in the Centennial Engineering Center. He says founders of companies are often blinded by their idea or are clueless about the hard work that due diligence requires. The seminar is free and open to the UNM community and the public. Box lunches will be provided.

Photo: Bruce Fryer

UNM Art Museum to premiere ‘Man Ray, African Art and the Modernist Lens’

Opening reception set for Friday, Feb. 5 from 5 to 7 p.m.

Philadelphia-born, Parisian artist Man Ray (1890–1976) has been recognized as one of the most important artists of the 20th century. He translated the early modernist taste for African art into photographs in the 1920s and ’30s. About 60 of these, many never before exhibited, along with more than 40 rare photographs by his contemporaries, Cecil Beaton, Walker Evans and Alfred Stieglitz, will appear side-by-side with some of the African objects featured in the images.

Students Flock to UNM in Cyberspace

The University of New Mexico is experiencing a cyber explosion, with unprecedented growth in online enrollment through Extended University. As of Jan. 22, student enrollment in online courses shot up 47 percent, from 1,492 in spring 2009 to 2,199 in spring 2010. That’s more than double national growth in online enrollment, recently reported at 17 percent. Student credit hours grew by 72 percent in that period, from 5,257 to 9,037.

Trying to Sense the Small Changes that Signal Big Trouble in Bridges

No one is more interested in the tiny changes in Bridge #7937 on I-40 near Tucumcari than the UNM Department of Civil Engineering. Over the summer Professor Mahmoud Taha and his research team installed sensors to monitor reactions the bridge has as trucks travel across it. Strain gauges look at how the bridge is responding to heavy loads. Accelerometers measure acceleration and both are connected to a Smart Data Acquisition system that sends the information, along with temperature readings back to the UNM structures lab. At the lab a scale model of the bridge is monitored by the research team.

Photo: Graduate students with model bridge in structures lab.

UNM Set to Host Career Expo 2010

The UNM Office of Career Services presents Career Expo 2010, scheduled Thursday, Feb. 11 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Student Union Building Ballrooms. The Career Expo is the premier career fair on campus with more than 80 local and national employers from various industries including accounting, aerospace & defense, construction & planning, education, engineering, financial services, government, health care, human resources, management, military, nonprofit, research, transportation services and much more will be in attendance.

Talking About Latin American History from the Viewpoint of Latin Americans

Walter D. Mignolo, the William H. Wannamaker professor of literature and romance studies, and professor of Cultural Anthropology, and Spanish at Duke University, will speak on “The Global South and World Dis/Order” on Thursday, March 4, at 7:30 p.m. in the UNM Anthropology Lecture Hall room 163. This is the 30th Distinguished Lecture sponsored by the Journal of Anthropological Research at UNM.

Photo: Walter D. Mignolo

LAII Accepting Applications for the Greenleaf Graduate Fellowship

The Latin American & Iberian Institute is currently accepting applications for the 2010-2011 Richard E. Greenleaf Graduate Fellowship. The application deadline is Wednesday, March 31, at 5 p.m. at the LAII, 801 Yale Blvd NE.

LAII Solicits Submissions for Research and Reference Publications

The UNM Latin American and Iberian Institute is soliciting submissions by faculty and graduate students for publication in the LAII's peer-reviewed, electronic Research Paper Series and Reference Works Series. The deadline for submissions is Feb. 26.

LAII Accepting Applications for Field Research Grants

Informational session set for Wednesday, Feb. 10

The Latin American & Iberian Institute is now accepting applications for the Spring 2010 Field Research Grants. LAII’s field research grants support faculty and graduate student field research in Latin America and Iberia. Completed applications are due Friday, March 12 by 5 p.m. at the LAII, 801 Yale Blvd NE.