Daily l obo new mexico
NM AG announces legislation to protect victims of AI deepfakes
By Addison Fulton @DailyLobo
On Thursday, Jan. 15, New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez and State Representative Linda Serrato (D-Santa Fe) announced legislation meant to curb the spread of harmful images generated by artificial intelligence. The legislation will be voted on during the upcoming legislative session, which begins on Jan. 20.
The “Artificial Intelligence Accountability Act” would establish requirements that generative AI servers and social media platforms embed markers or “signatures” into images, allowing law enforcement to trace illegal AI generated content back to its source, as well as allow the New Mexico Department of Justice to investigate tech
companies for infractions, Torrez said during a press conference at the New Mexico Department of Justice office in Albuquerque.
The legislation would impose fines up to $15,000 per violation for every day a company is out of compliance, according to a fact sheet released by New Mexico Department of Justice.
“Artificial intelligence is rapidly becoming a part of everyday life. It is being utilized by businesses. It’s being utilized by everyday citizens.
We utilize it to some extent in this building,” Torrez said. “But like all technology, it is something that can be misused and abused. And one of the most damaging aspects of artificial intelligence today is the ease with which people can create malicious, deepfake content.”
A deepfake is a video, photo or audio recording that seems real
but has been manipulated with AI, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office. AI can replace faces, manipulate facial expressions, synthesize faces and synthesize speech, with deepfakes depicting someone appearing to say or do something that they never said or did.
The legislation also creates civil liability for individuals who produce and knowingly reshare malicious deepfakes, and allows victims of deepfakes to sue perpetrators, including recovery of damage or $1,000 per impression, Torrez said.
“That is a substantial penalty for a malicious deepfake that racks up a million likes or a million clicks or is reshared that many times. But I think that is setting a penalty that is appropriate to deter that kind of behavior, given the nature of the harm see AI page 6
Grad students seek statewide study on healthcare expansion for higher ed workers
By Paloma Chapa @paloma_chapa88
Members of United Graduate Workers of the University of New Mexico collaborated on a House Memorial that, if passed, would request the Legislative Finance Committee of the New Mexico Legislature launch a study on the feasibility of expanding health insurance to all higher education educators, including temporary part-time faculty and graduate student employees, according to the memorial.
The report requested by the memorial would have a deadline of Oct. 1 of this year. The 2026 legislative session is set to begin on Jan. 20 and end on Feb. 19.
New Mexico State Representative Patricia Roybal Caballero (D-Albuquerque) who introduced the memorial, wrote to the Daily Lobo that higher education “runs on graduate workers, adjuncts, and other employees who often lack stable pay and basic benefits, including healthcare.”
“Working with UNM graduate workers has been collaborative, solutions focused, and exciting. They have brought forward clear needs and serious policy input,” Roybal Caballero wrote.
A memorial is similar to a bill except that it does not have the force of a law nor require an action by the governor — instead, it is a formal expression of legislative desire, according to the State Legislatures Glossary of Terms.
Ahead of drafting the memorial, UNM PhD student and UGW Data Committee Chair Zach Strasberg, along with the UGW data team, compiled a report on compensation, healthcare and tuition coverage from universities statewide, he said.
According to the report, across all six New Mexico public universities, including UNM, the average full-time graduate worker earns $2,093 per month, $1,352 below the average cost of living across the state.
Although UNM is the only public university that provides health insurance to graduate workers in New Mexico, a 2025 survey conducted by UGW found that 70% of graduate workers at UNM felt
financially insecure, and 60% were “rentburdened,” according to the report.
According to the report, statewide employer-sponsored healthcare would cost the six universities an estimated $7.5 million collectively to enact the change for all higher education workers. UNM already offers employer-funded medical insurance to faculty.
Graduate pay has not kept pace with inflation, according to the report, which found that in 2011, average stipends nearly matched the state’s living wage, but fall more than 35% short today.
“It would both be beneficial to the University to pay its grad workers a little bit more and it would obviously be beneficial to the grad workers themselves because they could probably finish their degrees faster,” Strasberg said. “They wouldn’t have to take out second jobs.”
Strasberg said that UGW was able to negotiate a 6% raise last year, after bargaining from March to October.
“We basically spent the entire bargaining session fighting. So we started bargaining, we just finished bargaining and we just got the raise,” Strasberg said.
Roybal Caballero wrote that nontenure track faculty and graduate workers who “teach and support students” are uninsured or underinsured, with many graduate workers having aged out of dependent coverage.
“The purpose (of the memorial) is practical,” Roybal Caballero wrote. “Get verified facts to interim committees after the session so we can act: either draft a bill for 2027 that would create a revolving fund for insurance coverage, or even possibly directly fund coverage within our existing budget.”
Paloma Chapa is the multimedia editor for the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at multimedia@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @paloma_chapa88
Elected officials condemn Trump administration in Albuquerque ‘Free America Rally’
By Leila Chapa & Paloma Chapa
Hundreds gathered at Civic Plaza on Sunday, Jan. 18 to express their disapproval of President Donald Trump’s administration, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement detentions, the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good by an ICE agent in Minneapolis, Minnesota and Trump’s “fascism,” according to the event flyer.
Among those who spoke at the rally were New Mexico gubernatorial candidate Deb Haaland, U.S. Rep. Melanie Stansbury (D), New Mexico Women’s March Founder and Chair Samia Assed and community organizer Selinda Guerrero.
Haaland was one of many rally speakers who encouraged attendees to vote in this year’s midterm elections.
“2026 is a very important election year, and that’s how we make our voices heard,” Haaland told the crowd.
Stansbury called for the impeachment of Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Trump during her speech, calling it a “legal necessity” and a “moral imperative.”
“The president has waged an all-out assault on our communities, from deploying ICE and Border Patrol into communities across the country to frighten people and arrest them and violate their due process,” Stansbury told the Daily Lobo.
Stansbury said New Mexico is “leading” in showing how to “protect” people who live in the state, citing the special session of the legislature that provided $162 million in emergency funding for food assistance programs and other urgent state needs after the Trump administration announced it would not provide federal funding for these programs during the government shutdown.
“We also have a city government here in Albuquerque that is meeting regularly with advocates and civil rights and immigrant rights organizations,” Stansbury said. “I would say New Mexico is unique in that we are working across all levels, from our federal delegation to the state to local to tribal, to make sure that people are protected.”
Thalia Fort, who attended the rally, said she was grateful for the “Free America Rally,” but that she feels some protests “don’t offer meaningful resistance all the time.”
“I do think some of the people up there today are fighting for things I agree with, and it’s not enough,” Fort said. “I’m not okay with ‘vote blue no matter who’ I’m not okay with the Democratic Party in general.”
Fort said she wants to see members of the New Mexico congressional delegation “block,” “be irritating,” “interfere” and “meaningfully combat what the Trump administration is doing.”
“Just simply saying you’re not okay with it and it’s wrong isn’t doing anything to stop harm that’s happening to real people,” Fort said. “It’s not enough what’s being done right now when people are being ripped off the streets, when families are being torn apart, when people on the street are being murdered.”
Kristi Sanchez brought her young daughter to the rally and said that she also has a son with autism whose special education resources lost funding over the course of Trump’s presidency. Last July, $7 billion of federal funding meant for student learning and achievement, afterschool programs, teacher training and adult education and literacy nationwide were frozen, according to Source NM.
“I want (my children) to have a future, for them to have a world to still live in,” Sanchez said. “I want a government to fight for them, not against them.”
Doris Fields came to the rally dressed as Tinky-Winky from the Teletubbies show, and said she was feeling angry and disappointed.
“I’m committed to addressing the major threat to freedom, the major threats to democracy that we are facing, living in right now,” Fields said. “So it was good to be here.”
Benjamin Lange attended the rally holding a sign that read “abolish ICE detention centers.”
“It’s abolishing the immigrant detention centers here in New Mexico because they’ve been proven to be really horrible places with very low standards of living,” Lange said. “They just need to be abolished.”
New Mexico has three immigrant detention centers in Otero, Cibola and Torrance Counties, with civil rights abuses reported in each, according to a September 2025 document
see Rally page 3
New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez (right) speaks at a press conference on Thursday, Jan. 15, where he and State Representative Linda Serrato (D-Santa Fe) announced they would be introducing legislation to regulate artificial intelligence.
Addison Fulton / Daily Lobo / @DailyLobo
KUNM programming to increase focus on local news
By Jaden McKelvey-Francis @jadenmckelvey
New Mexico’s largest nonprofit newsroom and National Public Radio affiliate, KUNM, is proposing a new program schedule to shift more local news segments into primetime listening slots.
The changes could go into effect this spring, pending a review by the KUNM Radio Board on Feb. 3.
“The top line for us is more local news for the most people, that’s why we’re making a program change,” KUNM’s General Manager Jeff Pope said.
The program changes on Wednesday will see an extra hour of “Local News” and “Morning Edition” from 8-9 a.m., with the programs aired during that slot moved to 9-10 a.m. and “Democracy Now!” moving from 4-5 p.m. to 10-11 a.m.
Between 4-7 p.m. will be a mix of “Local News,” “All Things Considered,” “Marketplace” and “The Daily,” three hours that used to be filled by “Democracy Now!” and “All Things Considered.”
On Sundays “This American Life” and “Sunday Special (public affairs)” will be switching time slots with “This American Life” airing from 11 a.m.–12 p.m. and “Sunday Special (public affairs)” from 4–5 p.m. no changes are proposed to the Saturday schedule.
“Performance Today,” which currently airs from 9-11 a.m., will no
longer be aired, and “Counterspin,” “This Way Out” and “Tuesday Rotating Public Affairs” will be offered as podcasts only.
“It’s part of a 10-year strategy that we’ve built up to meet the needs for more civic information, more information people can act on in their own communities at a time when the news industry is really struggling to find business models at work,” Pope said.
The station is currently in a public comment period to elicit feedback from listeners on the proposed changes. Members of the public are also given time to speak at Radio Board meetings if they register for the meetings ahead of time on KUNM’s website.
Tristan Clum, the program director of KUNM, said the station extended the public comment period well past the seven days mandated by the KUNM bylaws, as the changes were proposed in December 2025.
“We got some good feedback, but we were hearing from the board and at our December meeting that folks had more questions,” Clum said.
Clum said the station had already heard from approximately 400 listeners during the comment period.
“It is amazing how passionate people have been. We get the sense that — in tallying — we’ve got majority support for the change, but we can’t ignore the folks in the middle who have a lot to say, and it will be part of
what we consider in the future as we continue the process of evaluating what we do all the time and making changes,” Clum said.
Due to the dissolving of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting on Jan. 5, KUNM lost 12% of its funding, Pope said. With the programming change, the station hopes to grow their audience and ensure that communities are getting the local news they need, Pope said.
“Our role is to be an anchor in a
broader ecosystem, and to keep doing what we do best and making sure that issues that can impact local communities — it goes out both on our broadcast, on our on-demand audio,” Pope said. “Everything we produce is written down, and then we have very active social and digital channels.”
Most people in the state face barriers to accessing local news, according to a 2025 New Mexico Local News Fund report.
“We’re always telling folks how awesome listeners are. Public radio listeners — they are definitely passionate. And in our case — for sure — they’re engaged,” Clum said.
Jaden McKelvey-Francis is the editor-in-chief of the Daily Lobo. He can be reached at editorinchief@dailylobo.com or on X @jadenmckelvey
Homeless shelter organizers speak on cold fighting $820k state grant
By Penelope Loyd Sment @DailyLobo
In a first for the New Mexico Office of Housing, a new grant program to prepare for winter emergencies was announced earlier this month, with $820,000 distributed to shelters across the state, giving a maximum amount of $20,000 to each homeless shelter.
The funding seeks to help shelters prepare for the needs of people with unstable housing conditions during the winter by increasing the holding capacity of shelters and other living facilities and distributing greater amounts of warm food and drink, hygiene supplies including pads and tampons, and warm clothing, according to a New Mexico Department of Workplace Solutions press release.
“Cold weather can be dangerous for people without stable housing across our state,” NMDWS Cabinet Secretary Sarita Nair said in the
press release. “By distributing funding for winter readiness, we are helping service providers expand capacity to ensure people not only have access to warmth and safety but also connect to essential services that can help them stay off the streets for good.”
Last winter, shelters like Joy Junction reported being near capacity as temperatures dropped, according to KOAT.
Among the shelters who applied and received the funding were Mesilla Valley Community of Hope and Project Comunidad.
“It’s really awesome, we’re really grateful to the Office of Housing. It’s something that we scrape together every year to make sure people are staying warm and this year the state is really helping us out,” Mesilla Valley Community of Hope Executive Director Nicole Martinez said.
Martinez said they have been purchasing as many items as
possible with the grant money to get warming station supplies for people.
“My outreach staff are the ones disseminating the supplies and they go out on a daily basis to make sure people are getting what they need: blankets, water, hot hands,” Martinez said. “We’re seeing a ton of people helped who would not otherwise have access to these items.”
Jan Millis, the founder and CEO of Project Comunidad, said the grant program has its problems.
“It’s basically an Excel sheet where we put down different things we thought would be helpful like blankets, gloves, hats, neck warmers, emergency blankets and can openers. The hard part about the funds is that it is not a disbursement of funds, it’s all reimbursement. So I set myself up as a vendor and what we have to do is purchase and then send invoices. It’s so difficult,” Millis said.
Millis said Project Comunidad was notified last October that they
had been awarded $13,590 to spend and get compensated for. Millis’ strategy for effectively using the grant money was to make a deal with a local grocery store.
“Some things I couldn’t afford to buy before reimbursement, so I went to the local store and I worked something out with them where they’re letting us purchase and give us an invoice and then I get reimbursed and I pay the store. It’s really cumbersome,” Millis said.
Despite the reimbursement system being difficult to handle, Millis said it’s helping her in some ways.
“It’s helping just with that fact that we’re going to be able to get shelf-stable food, as opposed to the food we usually get from Roadrunner Food Bank. It’s good and everything, but it’s not always the best,” Millis said. “We’re at least able to put together kits from that and it’ll be something that’ll get them through the weekend, but now I’m really concentrating on
the nutrients part and making sure they get the vitamins and protein they need to survive.”
Millis said they’re “not getting any funding” with the current system, and that it’s a “live and learn” situation. The state can do better next year by providing funding through disbursement and being more transparent when it comes to the type of help they’re going to be providing, Millis said.
“(The shelter) provides another contact for (the community), another safe space and it’s helping in the fact that I’m able to give out a little extra. Connections with the community, with schools, it helps get people in the door to see what we have to offer,” Millis said.
Penelope Loyd Sment is a freelance reporter for the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at news@ dailylobo.com or on X @DailyLobo
An entrance to the KUNM radio station on Jan. 18.
Leila Chapa / Daily Lobo / @lchapa06
Spyglass Festival features spies, secrets at nuclear museum
By Elizabeth Bolke @DailyLobo
The National Museum of Nuclear Science and History hosted its inaugural Spyglass Festival from Jan. 15-17. This three-day event combined science and history through a range of activities celebrating the work of spies during World War II and the Cold War, as well as featured retired Central Intelligence Agency officer David Kitchen.
On Thursday, Jan. 15, Science on Tap featured specialty brews from Bombs Away Beer Company, a veteran-owned brewery and taproom in Albuquerque’s Skyline Heights neighborhood.
“We come here because we support the museum, because they support us, and we believe in our cause,” Kristen Mathieson, assistant brewer at Bombs Away Beer, said. Kitchen shared insights on Soviet
espionage during the Manhattan Project and various spy tactics used at the end of World War II. His topics included defenses for keeping secrets and the U.S. adversaries, as well as German, Japanese and Russian spy efforts. Kitchen also discussed the tradecraft of spying.
“I’m here because I love this museum. I’m passionate about the work I do, and telling the story. As someone who worked in the spy field, I think it is a great way to encapsulate how espionage still works. There is a lot of technological stuff, as well as the same basic trade and craft techniques,” Kitchen said.
On Friday, Jan. 16, guests attended a soldout screening of “Bridge of Spies” in the museum’s Periodic Hall, learned about Cold War spycraft, and sampled two specialty brews from Bombs Away Beer.
On Saturday, Jan. 17, the museum offered free admission, hands-on STEM activities,
guided tours of the new Artifact Center and the opportunity to meet experts from Sandia National Laboratory, Los Alamos National Laboratory and other institutions. Museum attendees explored rare Cold War artifacts and visited local vendors. The festival concluded with Nuclear After Dark, a familyfriendly evening featuring spy games, music, photo opportunities, and a screening of “Alamogordo, Center of the World.”
Bernadette Robins, Director of Communications at the National Museum of Nuclear Science and History, said that the museum has recently created a variety of events to engage the community.
“We’re always hoping to open up the story of the atomic age to people,” Robins said.
Elizabeth Bolke is a freelance reporter for the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on X @dailylobo
Rally from page 1
produced by the New Mexico Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.
Talia Sledge carried a hand-drawn sign that she said represents her frustration with both the Republican and Democrat party.
“It’s not about Republican versus Democrat, it’s not about anything except the people versus the power and we need to take back that power for everybody,” Sledge said. “I really wish that the Democratic leaders that we have here today would take even stronger stances to actually act on their words. I love the words they’re saying, but we don’t see a lot of action actually happening where it matters.”
Leila Chapa is the photo and social media editor for the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at socialmedia@dailylobo.com or on X @ lchapa06
Paloma Chapa is the multimedia editor for the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at multimedia@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @ paloma_chapa88
GCU vanquishes Lobo womens basketbal team in The Pit
By Wyatt S. Padilla @wyattspadilla
The new kids on the block in the Mountain West, the Grand Canyon University Antelopes, were blessed with a victory against the University of New Mexico Lobos women’s basketball team, winning 75-62 on Saturday Jan. 17. The Lopes came into the Pit with a 5-12 record, but tied UNM in the Mountain West standings at 4-3.
The Lobos entered on an unusual losing slide that included a homecourt loss to Nevada and a brutal 17-point road loss to San Diego State, hoping to right the ship with a return to The Pit. GCU, however, had different plans and handed UNM its third loss in a row, as well as its third loss in The Pit this season.
UNM and GCU started the game trading buckets as each team began to find its rhythm and tempo. Both teams were shooting the ball at a high
Brian Hosfeld takes reins as Lobo volleyball head coach
By Rodney Prunty @rprunty05
On Dec. 3, 2025 the University of New Mexico and volleyball Head Coach Jon NewmanGonchar mutually decided to go their separate ways. It didn’t take the Lobos long to find his replacement, as on Dec. 21, 2025, UNM announced Brian Hosfeld as their new volleyball head coach. With the hiring, Hosfeld is now the 11th coach in the program’s history.
Newman-Gonchar spent the past six years as the Lobos volleyball head coach, and was able to amass a 97-94 record at the helm. This past season, the Lobos went 13-16, with thirteen of those 16 losses coming within the Mountain West conference.
Hosfeld started his coaching career in 1993 with California State University, Long Beach, winning a national championship in his first season. After three seasons with Long Beach, he took over as the volleyball head coach at Baylor University. Hosfeld spent eight years at Baylor, and is their winningest head coach in program history with 129 victories. He also led Baylor to their first ever
NCAA tournament appearance in the process.
Hosfeld then left Baylor for the University of Texas, where he served as an assistant coach for the Longhorns, helping them become three-time Big 12 champions.
Hosfeld’s most recent stint was as an assistant head coach at Wichita State University, where he won an AAC tournament title and a trip to the NCAA tournament in 2024.
Experience at the college level is not the only thing Hosfeld is bringing to New Mexico, as he coached at the international competitive court with the Volleyball A2 junior national team in 2005 and USA Volleyball in 1997.
“The opportunity to build alongside our student-athletes developing them on and off the court is what excites me most. UNM is a special place with good history, and I can’t wait to begin this journey with the Lobo family,” Hosfeld said in a press release on Dec. 21.
Rodney Prunty is the sports editor for the Daily Lobo. He can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on X @rprunty05
rate — the Lobos at 38% from the field and the Lopes at a stellar 46% in the first quarter.
Grand Canyon refused to allow New Mexico to stop them from scoring, taking over and outscoring the Lobos by 10 points in the second quarter while shooting a whopping 56% from the field, as UNM’s signature defense fell flat. The Lopes capitalized off the Lobos’ mistakes, turning defense into offense with 13 points off turnovers in the first half.
The Lopes went into halftime leading the Lobos 41-30, something that UNM has struggled with all year, as they hold a 0-5 record in games when down going into the half.
The second half was a neverending game of catch-up that resulted in a brief comeback attempt for the Lobos. UNM created some defense to offense in the third period with a 7-0 run to close the deficit to just four, which came from a guard Nayli Padilla steal and guard Cacia Antonio layup.
However, the Lobos were unable
to meet the moment, and the Lopes mounted an offensive clinic on a lackluster UNM defense. The Lopes continued to have the hot hand, shooting 50% in the fourth quarter while UNM went 39% from the field, unable to match the Lopes unrelenting streak.
UNM also struggled to keep control of the ball and ended with 19 turnovers which allowed GCU to score an additional 20 points. The result was a GCU team seemingly unable to miss, leading the Lobos by as much as 18 points in the fourth quarter, with late offensive action from guard Kaia Foster and point guard Laila Abdurraqib cutting the deficit to just 13 points by the final buzzer.
The Lopes out-hustled the Lobos to a final score of 75-62, as the Lobos fall to 12-7 and 4-4 in Mountain West play, putting them in fifth place in the conference outside of the first-round bye in the Mountain West Tournament, awarded to teams that finish top
four of league play standings. The Lobos were led in scoring once again by guard Detinee Hooks, who scored 17 points and went 5-13 from the field.
Following Hooks was forward Jessie Joaquim’s breakout performance of 12 points, going 6-8 from the field with 12 rebounds, securing a double-double on her first start with UNM. Despite Joaquim’s stellar performance around the glass, the Lobos were outrebounded 41-32; 11 of GCUs’ rebounds were offensive boards that led to 11 second-chance points for the Lopes.
The Lobos will hit the road for a battle with the Air Force Academy Falcons on Saturday, Jan. 24, and will be back in action at The Pit on Jan. 28 as they host the University of Nevada, Las Vegas Rebels.
Wyatt S. Padilla is a beat reporter for the Daily Lobo. He can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on X @wyattspadilla
Review: ‘We feel that’ Vince Gilligan’s ‘Pluribus’ is a masterpiece
By Addison Fulton
@DailyLobo
Creator of “Breaking Bad” and “Better Call Saul,” Vince Gilligan’s newest series “Pluribus” reinvents the alien bodysnatcher subgenre and brings Albuquerque to centerstage once again.
Largely filmed in New Mexico, “Pluribus” features an alien, virus-like entity that comes to Earth through a mysterious radio transmission, with almost everyone on Earth assimilated into a pacifistic hivemind, except for just 13 people worldwide, who are — for an unknown reason — immune.
The show follows a grumpy fantasy-romance writer Carol Sturka, played by Rhea Seehorn, one of the few immune to the alien mind virus on the day of the “Joining.” Sturka, resentful of the virus’ role in the death of her wife, seeks to put the world back to the way things were, but finds difficulty, as everyone seems content with the exceedingly accommodating and friendly hivemind. The hivemind members attend to the remaining humans’ every whim, unable
to harm any living thing — they cannot even pick fruit due to their “biological imperative.”
Gilligan takes a new approach to the horror of the hivemind; it is frightening simply because it strips people of their originality. Unlike many stories focused on collective consciousness, the “Pluribus” hivemind comes with no threat of violence. Compare that to the pod-people from “Invasion of the Body Snatchers,” or more recently the vampires from “Sinners,” these entities aren’t just threatening because they’re hiveminds, they’re also threatening because they’re aggressive and violent. The “Pluribus” hivemind, however, cannot hurt humans.
And yet, even without the threat of physical violence, the “Pluribus” hivemind is immensely sinister. Gilligan demonstrates that the threat to one’s originality, autonomy and humanity is enough to be terrifying, even if it results in world peace.
It’s impossible not to notice the similarities between the “Pluribus” hivemind — a single entity with
access to all of humanity’s collective knowledge and does nothing but say “yes” to and desperately try to please humans — and AI chatbot models like ChatGPT. “Pluribus” illustrates that a threat to the mind and spirit is horrifying, even when it explicitly doesn’t threaten the body.
Sturka’s identity as an artist and art appreciator adds a layer of thematic depth. At one point, she goes to the Georgia O’Keefe museum and takes the original “Bella Donna” painting to hang in her home.
Contrary to Sturka, the hivemind of “Pluribus” is an entity that prioritizes efficiency above all else. All resources are allocated to the pleasure of the immune and the achievement of hivemind goals. Art is deemed waste and left behind.
As AI art becomes more common, a question increasingly asked of artists is why we bother creating things by hand. The insinuation is we are wasting our time making when we could just have whatever we want spat out for us in seconds.
But the waste is the point. Everything that Carol asks the hive
to get back; power to museums, the sparkling city lights, the stocked shelves of her usual grocery store; are gone to begin with because the hive deemed them waste. Humans, as opposed to the hive, are not governed by “biological imperative,” we’re motivated by desire and satisfaction. The point of human life is not to get what you want, but to want. The world created by the hive is joyless, because anything you could want, you immediately get.
Gilligan makes this clear when Sturka jokes to a member of the hive that there is nothing wrong that a hand grenade couldn’t fix. Taking her at her word, the hive provides Sturka with exactly what she wanted—a live hand grenade that subsequently destroys her home.
Another subtler aspect of “Pluribus” I appreciated is the way Albuquerque is treated. Since his breakout series “Breaking Bad,” Gilligan has set most of his projects in Albuquerque; however, both of his previous projects showed the city as a rough place, riddled with drugs and crime. It’s not an entirely
inaccurate depiction, but it’s not what I’d call a fair depiction either. The Albuquerque of “Pluribus,” however, is soft and hauntingly beautiful. Gilligan treats the city’s architecture, landscape and cultural history with a new sense of reverence.
In all of Gilligan’s projects, the city is a character. In “Breaking Bad” and “Better Call Saul,” Albuquerque is a rough anti-hero, but in “Pluribus,” it plays a similar role to Sturka’s deceased wife. It’s this beautiful thing, taken and hollowed out by the hive. Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller also had a cameo, which I loved because it made me laugh.
With “Pluribus,” Gilligan is exploring new territory compared to his previous work and artfully pushing the boundaries of the genre he’s moving into. I cannot wait to see where the rest of this series goes.
Addison Fulton is the culture editor for the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at culture@dailylobo.com or on X @dailylobo
GCU’s Anisa Jeffries (#1) and Juliana LaMendola (#20) battle with UNM’s Jessie Joaquim (#24) as she attempts a layup during the UNM against GCU game at the Pit on Saturday, Jan. 17.
Maria Fernandez / Daily Lobo / @DailyLobo
UNM ARTSLab merges technology and art
By Jaden McKelvey-Francis @jadenmckelvey
Across University Boulevard from the University of New Mexico main campus sits the UNM ARTSLab, a place that many students have not entered, but likely noticed due to the large mural painted on the outside of the building.
The ARTSLab provides technology and support to interdisciplinary research conducted within the College of Fine Arts, ARTSLab Director Stewart Skylar Copeland said.
“We try to support and maintain cutting-edge equipment and technology that researchers can use and incorporate in the research they’re doing, and we support it and provide access to multiple users to that equipment,” Copeland said.
Founded in 2005, the ARTSLab specializes in emerging media, especially technology that is immersive and interactive. The lab has changed a lot since its creation, Copeland said, originally starting with mostly planetarium-style dome projection, but now includes a focus on augmented reality and virtual reality technology alongside fabrication tech such as 3D printers.
“Keeping up with things is difficult and a lot of work. But it also is the point of the lab, and it creates a really interesting environment where you
have a lot of that curiosity, (which) just has its own exciting energy that’s really generative,” Copeland said.
Recently, the ARTSLab launched its Community Immersive Technology Hub in an effort to make AR and VR technology more accessible to the University and broader Albuquerque community.
In 2024, UNM received congressionally-directed funding as part of a NASA grant to fund the CITH and launched its programs in the spring of 2025. Since the CITH’s creation, its equipment has been accessed over 200 times.
“The core concept behind it is that a lot of people are interested in learning AR and VR, but it can be really difficult to get your hands on this technology, so we’re trying to make it more accessible,” Copeland said.
The ARTSLab has technology outside of AR and VR, including the largest 3D printer on UNM’s campus, which can fabricate objects up to one-cubic-meter in size, and a Digital Jacquard Loom that allows for computer-controlled hand weaving.
“It’s kind of wild. It feels a little bit like we’re learning at the same time. And we found also that the University is learning at the same time,” Copeland said.
At the end of each spring, the ARTSLab sponsors the annual
New Mexico Dance Hackathon, in which artists who specialize in technology and movement come together to create a new interdisciplinary performance.
“Dance Hackathon is a community-facing program where we take technologists and dancers, and they get together and work on a piece, and they develop their piece over the course of a semester, and then they premiere in the summer,” Copeland said.
The ARTSLab also introduced a student-created AR and VR experience named Neon Forge at the Bands of Enchantment Music Festival, in which attendees created neon sculptures inside VR and later exported their creations as a 3D file.
In the fall of 2026, the ARTSLab will be moving into the new Center for Collaborative Arts and Technology, which is currently under construction. The new space will double the size of the exhibition space, expand the footprint of the fabrication lab and increase access to the ARTSLab for non-university users.
“Right now, (our) 3D printer causes issues because it can be loud, so you can’t run it at the same time. And if you’re printing anything on our big 3D printer, it takes usually about a week at least, to print something on it. And so in the new building,
we have a dedicated sound-isolated (fabrication) lab so we can be a much more effective and efficient lab in a new space,” Copeland said.
Copeland said that if a student or professor wants to utilize the ARTSLab’s equipment to either do research or try to implement it into a course to simply “email us and we get going.”
“We really take accessibility really seriously, and it can be challenging
when you’re coming for students or any researcher who’s working on a new technology. Sometimes you can get a bit anxious about asking too many questions — people get nervous,” Copeland said.
Jaden McKelvey-Francis is the editor-in-chief of the Daily Lobo. He can be reached at editorinchief@dailylobo.com or on X @jadenmckelvey
HAPS The Entertainment Guide
Monday JC’s
Mama
Quirky
Birthright
after childbirth.
birthright.org/albuquerque New Volunteers Always Welcome
10AM-1PM; 3228 Candelaria Rd NE
Tuesday
Birthright of Albuquerque
Providing love, support, and hope to woman both before an d after childbirth.
birthright.org/albuquerque New Volunteers Always Welcome
10AM-1PM; 3228 Candelaria Rd NE
JC’s New York Pizza Dept.
Buy Pizza, Wings, and more
With LoboCash through Grubhub 11AM - 10PM; 215 Central Ave, Nw (505) 766 6973
Mama and the Girls Cannabis Dispensary and Education Center
Open 8 AM - 10:30 PM
Quirky
Birthright of Albuquerque
Providing love, support, and hope to woman both before and after childbirth.
birthright.org/albuquerque
New Volunteers Always Welcome
10AM-1PM; 3228 Candelaria Rd NE
JC’s New York Pizza Dept.
Buy Pizza, Wings, and more With LoboCash through Grubhub 11AM - 10PM; 215 Central Ave, Nw (505) 766 6973
Mama and
JC’s New York Pizza Dept. Buy Pizza, Wings, and more With LoboCash through Grubhub 11AM - 10PM; 215 Central Ave, Nw (505) 766-6973
Mama and the Girls Cannabis Dispensary and Education Center Open 8 AM - 10:30 PM
Quirky Used Books & More Books, Puzzles, Stickers, Mugs, Etc. 11 AM - 6 PM 120 Jefferson St NE
JC’s New York Pizza Dept. Buy Pizza, Wings, and more With LoboCash through Grubhub 11AM - 12PM; 215 Central Ave, Nw (505) 766-6973 Mama and the Girls
JC’s New York Pizza Dept. Buy Pizza,
and more With LoboCash through Grubhub 11AM - 12PM; 215 Central Ave, Nw (505) 766-6973
Mama and the Girls Cannabis Dispensary and Education Center Open 8 AM - 10:30 PM
Quirky Used Books & More Books, Puzzles, Stickers, Mugs, Etc. 11 AM - 6 PM 120 Jefferson St NE
The University of New Mexico ARTSLab on Jan. 18, 2025. Paloma Chapa / Daily Lobo / @paloma_chapa88
AI from page 1
we’re seeing,” Torrez said.
The legislation allows an additional year to be added to a felony sentence if AI was used in connection to the felony, according to the fact sheet.
“I think we all have a basic sense of what it means to be accountable for our actions, and accountable for our choices. One of the difficult things, because of this technology, is the way in which it allows anonymous people to create real harm to others,” Torrez said. “Because of that, we are proud to announce our proposal, which will be the first AI accountability act in the state of New Mexico, and it provides certain core elements that we think are essential to protecting our people.”
The legislation announcement follows the arrest of Richard Gallagher for possession and dissemination of AI-generated child sexual abuse material, which he allegedly created
using AI “undressing” tools to convert clothed photos of children to unclothed photos, according to the New Mexico DOJ.
“This is the first instance as far as we are aware of someone who actually used artificial intelligence to generate images of sexual exploitation by using publicly available images of children and then modifying those images in a way which is truly horrific and will create lasting harm,” Torrez said. “In a broader sense, I think it is a significant turning point and should hopefully serve as a wake up call for all of us — for policymakers, for community leaders, for parents and educators.”
Serrato said the full bill text will be available at the start of the legislative session on Jan. 20, where it is up for discussion and voting.
“Our job, as leaders in the state, is to make sure that (New Mexicans) have
a sense of comfort and protection. That is our New Mexico values. I have talked to other states and too few folks come from a point of protection for us oftentimes, because we all want to see our states thrive,” Serrato said. “We want to be the leaders in different things. But this is an opportunity for New Mexico to show how we can create an ecosystem where AI works for us. It’s not about just making it better for business it is or for those who are profiting off of it.”
Torrez said he was confident in the bill and the New Mexico DOJ to implement protections despite the Trump administration’s recent executive order “Ensuring a National Policy Framework for Artificial Intelligence,” which aims in part to reduce state-by-state regulations, he said.
The order, signed by President
Trump on Dec. 11, 2025, directs his administration to “(take) action to check the most onerous and excessive laws emerging from the States that threaten to stymie innovation” in regard to regulating AI, including by potentially withholding federal funding for broadband programs from states with such regulations in place.
Adam Billen, vice president of Encode, a nonprofit focused on child safety and threats posed by AI, told NPR in December 2025 that the order could have a “chilling effect” on states’ willingness to regulate AI.
Torrez said the state of New Mexico is empowered by the U.S. Constitution to protect its citizens and the federal government only preempt a state action with a bill passed by Congress that explicitly prevents states taking action.
“There are a number of red states, very conservative states that are pushing back against the administration because they recognize that this is not a form of technology that can be frankly left up to tech companies and leaders of those companies to police themselves,” Torrez said. ”I certainly would hope that the substance of what we are trying to achieve and accomplish would be reviewed by the Trump administration before they undertake any action, but I can tell you that we stand prepared to withstand any legal challenge that’s brought.”
Addison Fulton is the culture editor for the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at culture@dailylobo.com or on X @dailylobo
HOUSING GUIDE daily lobo
DAILY LOBO CLASSIFIEDS
Announcements
HEY
DAILY LOBO C ampus Calendar of Events
TUESDAY
Lectures & Readings
CMO Program Meeting
Fitz Hall Room 303
1:00 – 2:00pm Ryoma “Puck” Ohi, UNM, presents “Secrets of microtubule biology that are locked behind its conformational code.”
Nuclear, Particle, Astroparticle and Cosmology (NUPAC) Seminar
PAIS Room 3205
2:00 – 3:00pm
Andrew Gentry, UNM, presents “Measurement of the Branching Ratio of a Neutral B meson to K-short Plus Two Muons Using ATLAS Data at Center-of-Mass Energy 13 TeV, and Development of Silicon Detectors for Future Particle Physics Experiments.”
CQuIC Seminar PAIS Room 2540
4:00 – 5:00pm Billy Braasch, NIST, presents “NonAbelian transport distinguishes three usually equivalent notions of entropy production.”
WEDNESDAY
Campus Events
Welcome Back Days
SUB Atrium
11:30am – 1:30pm
Stop by this table event to see what UNM departments and Greek organizations are up to on campus.
Hypnotist - Christopher Carter
SUB Ballroom C 6:30 – 8:30pm Interactive mentalism performance that uses psychology, suggestion, and humor to capture attention, and build connection.
Workshops
Look
12:00
Theater & Film
Midweek Movies: Now You See Me: Now You Don’t
Theater 6:00 – 8:00pm The Four Horsemen and a new generation of illusionists join forces to steal the world’s largest diamond from a South African mogul who heads an international crime syndicate. Free concessions. Sports & Recreation
online.
THURSDAY
Lectures & Readings
CART Astrophysics Seminar
2:00 – 3:00pm PAIS Room 3205
David Coria, UNM, presents “Isotopic Carbon & Oxygen Abundances in Cool Dwarf Stars: Implications for Galactic Chemical Evolution and Giant Exoplanet Formation.”
FRIDAY
Lectures & Readings
Economics Seminar
2:00 – 3:00pm ECON Room 1002
Michael Ford and Jiaqing Zhao, Ph.D candidates, UNM, presents, “Keep it Down inThere: Modeling Operator Behavior in Geologic CO2 Storage.”
Physics and Astronomy Colloquium
3:30 – 4:30pm PAIS Room 3205
Prof. Val Zwiller, Royal Institute of Technology, presents.
Department of Chemistry & Chemical Biology Seminar
4:00 – 5:00pm
Mitchell Hall Room 101 Program tbd.
Theater & Film
SWFC: Wreck-It Ralph
SUB Theater
6:00 – 8:00pm The film tells the story of Ralph, an arcade game villain who rebels
against his “bad guy” role and dreams of becoming a hero. Free concessions.
Sports & Recreation
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Invitational Albuquerque Convention Center 9:00am – 5:00pm UNM Track and Field hosts. Tickets are free for students but must be acquired online.
Swimming & Diving vs Northern Arizona University 11:00am – 3:00pm Seidler Natatorium Tickets are free for students but must be acquired online.
SATURDAY
Art & Music
New Mexico Philharmonic Popejoy Hall
6:00 – 8:00pm Classics 3: Symphonic Dances, featuring pianist Roman Rabinovich in Prokofiev’s dazzling Piano Concerto No. 3. Luis Fernando Benavides’ evocative Acequia (2024), a vibrant contemporary work inspired by the life-giving flow of New Mexico’s historic irrigation channels. Closing the program is Rachmaninoff’s final orchestral masterpiece, Symphonic Dances. Tickets start at $41.50.
Sound Performance/Closing of No Paths Back
Fourteenfifteen Gallery
7:30 – 9:00pm Exhibit by UNM Professor Mary Tsiongas and Jim Roeber.
Sports & Recreation
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Invitational Albuquerque Convention Center 9:00am – 5:00pm
UNM Track and Field hosts the Don Kirby Elite Invitational. Tickets are free for students but must be acquired online
UNM Men’s Basketball vs Nevada The Pit
6:00 – 8:00pm Tickets are free for students but must be acquired online.
Theater & Film
SWFC: The Dark Crystal
SUB Theater
6:00 – 8:00pm Set on a fictional planet, the film
revolves around Jen and Kira, two Gelflings on a quest to restore balance to the world of Thra and overthrow the evil, ruling Skeksis by restoring a powerful broken Crystal.
The film was promoted as the first major live-action motion picture without any human actors, featuring characters realized through groundbreaking animatronics created by Jim Henson’s Creature Shop Free concessions.
SUNDAY
Theater & Film
Sing-A-Long Broadway Popejoy Hall
3:00 – 5:00pm
Sing your heart out to your favorite Broadway showstoppers as two hilarious hosts guide you through a night of vocal gymnastics, audience interactions, video presentations, and even lessons in harmony. Tickets start at $29.50.
CURRENT EXHIBITS
Harmony Hammond: Desire Through January 23, 2026
Tamarind Institute
Harmony Hammond, a pivotal and ground breaking figure in the feminist art and queer abstraction movements, investigates the lithograph as a non-planographic object.
No Paths Back: Photographs from Northern Greece Through January 24, 2026
Fourteenfifteen Gallery Exhibit by UNM Professor Mary Tsiongas and Jim Roeber.
The Armor We Wear Through January 31, 2026
516 Central Ave SW, Albuquerque, NM 87102
How do clothing and adornment transcend utility —becoming symbols of power, identity, and intent. The exhibition features eleven local and regional artists, including from UNM.
Entangled Cultures: How Humans and Microbes Co-create through Fermentation
Maxwell Museum of Anthropology Through March 14, 2026
Entangled Cultures presents diverse global examples of traditional
vessels used in the creation and consumption of fermented foods and beverages.
Ancestors
Maxwell Museum of Anthropology
Permanent Exhibit
Ancestors will lead you through those aspects of modern humanity that makes us unique and successful, tracing the path of evolution through the past four million years.
People of the Southwest
Maxwell Museum of Anthropology Permanent Exhibit
This exhibition celebrates the cultural history of the Southwest, especially the close relationship southwestern people have had with the land around them.
About the Daily Lobo Campus Calendar of Events
The Daily Lobo Calendar coordinator combs through 85 UNM calendars to find events for you!
Here are the restrictions for what appears in the Daily Lobo Calendar of Events:
* Events must be sponsored by a UNM group, organization or department
* Events must be in person
* Classes, class schedules, personal events or solicitations are not eligible.
* Events must be of interest to the campus commu-
