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Monday, November 19, 2018 | Vo l u m e 1 2 3 | I s s u e 2 8
Late rally comes up short for Lobos By Robert Maler and Matthew Narvaiz @Robert_Maler @matt_narvaiz
Fans of the University of New Mexico Men's Basketball team saw an underwhelming performance for much of its match-up with rival New Mexico State on Saturday at Dreamstyle Arena — The Pit, watching their team drop a 98-94 contest. Head coach Paul Weir credited the Aggies for playing the way they did and said NMSU's A.J. Harris had an outstanding individual performance — perhaps the best he's seen on that court since coming to Albuquerque. Weir took responsibility for the loss when asked if there was one reason besides Harris that caused the Lobo loss. "I think at the end of the day, we're not as far along as where we need to be 18 months into me being here, and that's on me," Weir said. "So if there is one reason, it's Paul Weir." Both teams started with a quick tempo in the opening stages of the game. Harris opened the scoring for NMSU and junior transfer Vance Jackson answered with a jump shot of his own for UNM's first basket as the two squads traded a pair of buckets in the first two minutes. New Mexico (2-1) seized an early advantage using a 9-1 spurt
announces new research program By Alyssa Bitsie @Albitsie
Cameron Goeldner/ Daily Lobo / @Goeldfinger
Anthony Mathis reacts after turning the ball over on the Lobos final possession against New Mexico State at Dreamstyle Arena The Pit on Saturday afternoon. The Lobos lost 98-94.
to jump out to a 13-5 lead. The run was capped by a Vladimir Pinchuk jumper as five different Lobos scored from the floor up to the point and appeared to be finding their groove. But the visiting team strung together a 12-0 run to swing things
back in their favor, getting wide open looks both in the lane and from beyond the arc. The porous defense continued throughout the first half and the Lobos struggled from the line in the opening half for the second straight game (5-of-10 at one point) to add to the list of problems.
That allowed New Mexico State (2-1) to stretch its lead to as many as eight in the first half after Harris and Mohamed Thiam each connected on 3-point attempts to make it 34-26 with just over four minutes remaining.
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Basketball page 2
Regents discuss UNM’s enrollment woes By Andrew Gunn @agunnwrites The Board of Regents meeting Thursday morning was, for the most part, a business as usual session of the oversight body. However, the two and a half hour meeting was punctuated about halfway through by an animated debate on a theme from their previous gathering in October — the University of New Mexico’s unexpectedly large decline in student enrollment and corresponding nosedive in revenues from tuition and fees. The meeting began genially with a report from President Garnett Stokes outlining various initiatives undertaken by the University in recent weeks, most of which can be found in the President's Weekly Perspective. Stokes also announced progress in the search for the Senior Vice President of Finance and Administration position as well as future dates for her traveling office hours. The next opportunity for faculty, staff and students to hold an open dialogue at Stokes’ roving office hours will be at the Willard Room in Zimmerman Library on Nov. 28 from 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Following Stokes’ presentation was the Board’s routine review of equipment acquisitions for various University departments, the most notable being UNM Hospital’s
Stokes
Colton Newman / Daily Lobo / @cnewman101
Regent Michael Brasher listens during the Board of Regents meeting on Nov. 15, 2018.
(UNMH) request for a $2.7 million PET-CT scanner to replace the aging, outdated scanner currently in use. Bonnie White, interim chief financial officer of UNMH, was granted unanimous approval by the seven member board for the upgrade. The mood of the room shifted significantly after several more reports concerning the operations and modernization of UNMH and the UNM Health Sciences Center. The Daily Lobo has previously reported that a shortfall of $9.7 million in revenue from the enrollment decline will dip into University reserve funds. That figure was reiterated multiple times on Thursday during a
On the Daily Lobo website Garcia: Staff as students event
presentation by University Controller Liz Metzger and other University officials concerning the most recent quarterly financial report. Regents then began a protracted debate on the state of the University’s finances and the current plan to mitigate the nearly eight figure deficiency. Marron Lee, vice president of the Board, began by asking, “Do we have a really good reason why there’s such a sharp decline? I know there’s a lot of things that are going on, but can we address that? For every one percent decline (in enrollment), we lose a million (dollars).” Several somewhat testy exchanges followed — Interim Provost Richard
Wood went on the defensive, pointing to shifting demographics and an improving economy as the two main factors in the enrollment losses. Wood also cited a new study suggesting a shifting perception amongst 18 to 35 year olds that a college education isn’t worth the cost. When Wood continued his testimony on behalf of the University’s recruitment and retainment efforts, touting UNM’s success in recent years in raising the six year graduation rate to 50 percent, Regent Tom Clifford provided a sharp rebuttal. “Okay, so 50 percent of our customers get nothing of value that they can show. They get debt. That’s not a good product, folks,” Clifford said. “And telling ourselves it’s because people don’t understand what a good product we have? That’s ridiculous. That’s totally naive. That’s how we get the reputation of being ivory tower, out of touch people.” Tensions lessened soon after as the agenda moved on to a brief report from UNM athletics officials and an update on current projects from the University’s marketing and branding department. The meeting adjourned after cordial updates on ongoing activities from representatives of the Associated Students of UNM and the UNM Graduate and Professional Students Association. The future makeup of the Board of Regents is currently in a state of
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Regents page 5
University of New Mexico’s President Garnett Stokes launched the Grand Challenges Initiative in the Student Union Building on Wednesday Nov. 14. Stokes, along with other speakers of the Grand Challenges Initiative, addressed what UNM is doing to foster a more dynamic economy. Grand Challenges are problems of global, national and regional significance that require researchers to work together across disciplinary boundaries to develop and implement solutions, according to UNM’s Grand Challenges website. “Launching the UNM’s Grand Challenges Initiative today is not only about advancing our research capacity, but also about our value proposition — that is how UNM adds distinct value to higher education and the state that sets it apart from other institutions in New Mexico,” Stokes said. In Spring 2019, UNM will select three Grand Challenges Conceptual Goals — two lead by UNM Main Campus and one led by UNM Health Sciences Center — to fund planning grants for each, according to their website. “The UNM Grand Challenges Initiative will unite researchers, educators, students and community members in this type of really big thinking,” Stokes said. With the combination of the states national laboratories and research institutions, New Mexico has been home to research and innovation across many fields that attract talent and resources to the state, Stokes said. Stokes said the current challenge is assuring that New Mexico can generate an ecology of innovation that fosters a flourishing economy. “We’re exploring at UNM, climate prediction, the politics of agriculture water use, how to modernize New Mexico’s electrical grid, and one day we expect to revolutionize the way mental illness is diagnosed, perhaps we already are,” Stokes said. Health research addresses current needs in New Mexico, the Southwest and globally, Stokes said. To identify these challenges UNM will publish a Request for Proposals in November 2018 for early next year, according to the website. “We must harness the dynamic and diverse research power at UNM to seek out and provide solutions to what stands in the way of intellectual, social and economic health and prosperity in our state,” Stokes said.
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Initiative page 2
Maler: Cross Country — Women earn runner-up finish at NCAA Championships