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Thursday, Januar y 30, 2020 | Vo l u m e 1 2 4 | I s s u e 3 8
Two pedestrians hit by an ART bus in two incidents By Daniel Ward
@wordsofward34 A woman was struck and killed by an Albuquerque Rapid Transit bus near Central and Maple on Jan. 28, around 7:40 p.m. She was about 20-30 years old and unidentifiable at this time, according to police. Police say she had been walking out into oncoming traffic before she rolled out in front of the bus. Police said witnesses reported her to be causing a commotion in the street around dinner time near 66 Diner. They said she was laying in the middle of westbound traffic before rolling over into eastbound traffic. The bus driver did not have enough time to stop before driving over her. This is the first fatality caused by an ART bus on Central. It’s unclear how many people were on the bus but police say everyone scattered after the woman was killed. As of now, no one has come forward about being involved in the incident. 66 Diner employee Nathan Sandoval was on shift when the accident happened but was able to talk to one of the witnesses on his break. “I didn’t see any of this, but I heard that this woman seemed as if she was on something and she was like trying to get hit by passing cars who basically wouldn’t cooperate with that until she eventually got hit by a bus,” Sandoval said. Prior to the collision, witnesses
By Beatrice Nisoli @BeatriceNisoli
Daniel Ward / @Wordsofward34 / Daily Lobo
APD on the scene of the fatal ART bus accident on Jan. 28, near Central and Maple.
say other cars had been stopping in the street to get her out of the way, but it is unsure whether her actions were deliberate according to Officer DeAnguero. Photojournalists from KOB and KRQE said the body was so damaged, they couldn’t tell if it was a male or female when they first arrived on the scene. As of now, police found no damage to the ART bus, but it was still towed away so that the under-
side can be examined. Less than 24 hours after the woman was hit by the bus, another man was reportedly hit by a different ART bus near the same area. The Albuquerque Journal retrieved further information on the second crash from Gilbert Gallegos, an Albuquerque Police Department spokesman. “The male pedestrian appeared to be jaywalking when he crossed Central,” Gallegos told the Journal.
“The nearest crosswalk was about 50 yards from the point where the male stepped in front of the bus.” The Albuquerque Journal said witnesses saw the man being taken away in an ambulance while passengers left the bus with a cracked windshield. Daniel Ward is the culture editor for the Daily Lobo. He can be contacted at culture@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @wordsofward34
Update on the Opportunity Scholarship By Justin Garcia @just516garc SANTA FE - The Opportunity Scholarship is firmly in the hands of the lawmakers. It’s future, however, may be in question. During a Senate Finance Committee meeting, three Democratic Senators expressed concerns and criticisms of the proposed Opportunity Scholarship, the second onslaught of such criticism the
Board of Regents seeks community input in new UNM seal selection
legislation has received. During the meeting, Sen. Jacob Candelaria (D) was the first to criticize the proposed Opportunity Scholarship. Candelaria said he was concerned the Opportunity Scholarship would be abused by higher education institutions like he said the Lottery Scholarship was. “We’ve known in the legislature the Lottery Scholarship needed reform for years and could never summon the political will to do
so because various of these institutions fought reform because there institutions got more money or didn't get as much money as others,” Candelaria told a busy committee room. He also pointed to various student groups he believes were "co-opted by certain special interest to basically fight any reasonable attempts at making the lottery scholarship sustainable.” On Jan. 27, the Opportunity Scholarship was introduced
Justin Garcia / @Just516garc / Daily Lobo
as House Bill 14. According to Higher Education Department (HED,) the scholarship would affect 55,000 students pay for college. The HED and the governor's office expects the cost of the scholarship to be $35 million. The day before legislative session opened, a Legislative Finance Committee analysis said the scholarship would likely cost millions more and would not have the positive effect that HED and the governor expect. Instead, Senators suggested reforming the lottery. “Shouldn’t we resolve the lottery problem first before we atognize it with more funding?” Sen. Gorge Muñoz asked HED Secretary Kate O'Neill. O'Neill responded and said the Opportunity Scholarship would sure-up the Lottery Scholarship. Despite the lengthy discussion, the senate committee could take no action on the house bill. HB 14 was sent to the House Education Committee and had not yet been scheduled for a hearing as of the publication of this article. Justin Garcia is the Editor in chief of the Daily Lobo. He can be contacted at editorinchief@ dailylobo.com or on Twitter @just516garc
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Sen. Jacob Candelaria during a Jan. 29 Senate Finance Committee meeting.
Inside this Lobo WARD: Two pedestrians hit by an ART bus in two incidents MARTINEZ: UNM Day showcases students
SCHOLES HALL - The University of New Mexico is changing its seal from the current interim design, but this time, the school is seeking input from its student and alumni population. Prior to 2016, protests arose — primarily from Native American student groups such as Kiva Club and The Red Nation — regarding the previous seal, which featured a conquistador brandishing a sword and a rifle-carrying frontiersman. Many students expressed discomfort with this seal due to New Mexico’s violent history that ensued from Spanish exploration. The discourse for a new seal culminated in the suspension of UNM’s previous seal in 2016. Shortly afterwards, the Board of Regents passed a resolution directing the Provost to formulate a committee for designing and selecting a new University seal. In the meantime, an interim seal with the University’s name and founding date was and is being utilized. Currently, UNM is encouraging students to rank their favorite seals based on five options — four finalists submitted by local artists and the interim seal. The seals feature diverse designs, from a howling lobo to the sun setting over the Sandia Mountains to the university’s name and founding date in various fonts. Lorena Blanco-Silva, the director of UNM’s Division for Equity and Inclusion, explained how the committee selected the four finalists. “We did a blind review of all the submissions before narrowing the selection down to four designs,” she said. “The ranking process is important too. Because the Board of Regents will ultimately select the new design, we want to give them recommendations based on community input gathered from the rankings.” According to Blanco-Silva, the committee made selections based on “how aesthetically pleasing they were, if the accompanying statements of intent were met, and how well they would represent all of the University’s campuses.” Caleb Brenden, the artist of one of the final four seals and a UNM undergraduate in his fourth year,
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