DAILY LOBO new mexico
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thursday August 29, 2013
The Independent Student Voice of UNM since 1895
LGBTQ Resource Center celebrates 3 years ‘We are definitely a welcoming campus’
by Ardee Napolitano news@dailylobo.com @ArdeeTheJourno
Rainbow-colored balloons filled a grassy patch beside the Anthropology Building as UNM’s LGBTQ Resource Center celebrated its third anniversary Wednesday afternoon. LGBTQ Resource Center Director Alma Rosa Silva-Banuelos said the past three years have been a “success” for the organization. But she said there is still room for improvement, and that she aims to make the center more accessible to the University community. “As we continue to grow we hope to be more successful,” she said. “We want to make sure that all our staff and faculty at UNM can access the resource center. We want to make sure that the LGBTQ community at UNM feel supported.” Silva-Banuelos said the center planned the event over the summer. She said the center scheduled disc jockey performances and a drag show and distributed free food at the event. The resource center ensured that there would be “plenty of rainbows at this event.” About 100 people showed up. The party became more sentimental because of the this week’s
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Sergio Jiménez / Daily Lobo Nate Christian, left, lets out a celebratory laugh while Ashton Ruiz and Anaubrey Shannon raise clumps of rainbow-colored balloons near the Anthropology Building on Wednesday. UNM’s LGBTQ Resource Center marked its third year on campus with an event that afternoon. Besides free food, the celebration featured disc jockey performances and a drag show.
Abortion proposal goes ahead Reporting campus Measure gets enough signatures to require City Council action
by Chloe Henson
news@dailylobo.com @ChloeHenson5 The fate of a recent initiative that would limit abortion in the city remains uncertain. On Tuesday, Amy Bailey, the city clerk of Albuquerque, confirmed that the Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Ordinance, a proposal that would restrict abortion in pregnancies beyond 20 weeks, will be presented to the City Council and might end up on the ballot in November. According to a story by the Albuquerque Journal, Bailey and her staff confirmed that a petition to limit abortions gathered about 200 votes more than the 12,091 needed to require the City Council to act on the bill. Supporters say they gathered 27,000 signatures. The Council can choose to pass the ordinance immediately or send it to voters. It must be sent to voters within 90 days if the Council does not pass it. Although the signatures were not verified in time for the initiative to appear on the Oct. 8 mayoral ballot, it may appear in an election Nov. 19, the provisional day for a runoff election if needed after the mayoral election, according to the Albuquerque Journal. If the proposal ends up on the
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ballot and passes, women would only be able to get an abortion after 20 weeks if “reasonable medical judgment” proves that “a life-endangering physical condition caused by or arising from the pregnancy itself” exists, according to an Operation Rescue transcript of the ordinance.
“If this ballot initiative passes, our city will have decided that we have the right to force these women to carry these pregnancies.” ~Mary Lou Singleton rally organizer Psychological and emotional conditions would not warrant an abortion. Tara Shaver, a member of Project Defending Life, said she “worked together with a group of local organizations” to get signatures for the petition.
“I filed the petition and I’ve been the media spokesperson,” she said. “But in all reality, it’s been the community that’s come together from many different groups to collect the signatures and spread awareness of the atrocity that is late-term abortion in our city.” Shaver said she feels confident that the ballot initiative will eventually be voted into law. “We’re just looking forward to asking the city councilors to adopt the amendment and if they don’t adopt it, then it will go to the people for a vote,” she said. “And we’re extremely confident that it will pass at the city level.” But last week, a group of prochoice supporters gathered at Civic Plaza to protest the out-ofstate pro-life “missionaries” and the recently petitioned abortionlimiting measure. Mary Lou Singleton, a midwife who organized the rally, spoke to the crowd about the ordinance. “If this ballot initiative passes, our city will have decided that we have the right to force these women to carry these pregnancies, which will inevitably end in heartbreaking tragedies,” she said. “And we’re telling them they have to carry these pregnancies for another five months.”
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That’s so fractal
Bus stop guy
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crime now easier by Jamillah Wilcox news@dailylobo.com @JamillahSW
UNM Police Department’s new online crime reporting system makes life easier for victims of campus crime. Through the Citizens Online Reporting System (CORS), anyone can report nonviolent property crime that took place on the University’s premises. The system, which officially launched Aug. 19, is available online at UNMPD’s website. UNMPD Public Information Officer Lieutenant Tim Stump said CORS is beneficial for the campus community and is a tool that will help assist UNMPD. Stump said that if anyone wants a police officer to respond to the scene even after filing the report online, UNMPD will send an officer to the scene. “What it does for us is make us more visible on the campus,” Stump said. “It doesn’t take away from us responding to them. If you still want to have an officer to take the report, that’s still available.” Filing a report online is free and forms are available on the website any time, Stump said. He said the crimes that can be reported online include auto burglary, theft, harassing phone calls, vandalism, lost property and vandalism of a motor vehicle.
Stump said the system is easy to understand and use. After UNMPD receives the report, a sergeant will confirm it and the person who filed it online will receive a confirmation email. He said reports can be printed online, which will provide students a physical record of the report. He said CORS makes it more convenient for busy students to report crimes on campus. “We’re a tech-savvy university, and it just makes everything better,” Stump said. “If students are too busy with school, it makes it easier to fill it out online.” Jacqueline Muñoz, a UNM freshman, said the online reporting system will help police prioritize emergencies. Muñoz said she is aware that criminal incidents take place on campus. Maymie Mitchell, a senior, said the system will allow students use CORS knowing an officer is sure to visit the crime scene if requested. “I think it’s kind of nice because students can’t really say, ‘Oh, I didn’t tell them because I didn’t think they would come,’” Mitchell said. “It’s nice to know that you can get your story out there, so at least they can hear about it, or they can report it or talk to other people about it.”
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