Daily Lobo 4/11/2022

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Daily Lobo new mexico

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Monday, April 11, 2022 | Vo l u m e 1 2 6 | I s s u e 3 2

The Independent Student Voice of UNM since 1895

Individuals with disabilities Incoming GPSA struggle at UNM amid ineffective president to focus on inclusivity, ADA accessibility measures By Madeline Pukite @maddogpukite

Over 30 years have passed since the Americans with Disabilities Act was first signed into law in the U.S. by former President George Bush. While the law was a step forward for addressing accessibility issues, stu-

dents and staff with disabilities at the University of New Mexico still face mobility issues due to ADA building standards, especially those for historically significant buildings, as well as construction and maintenance. Any building that was built before March 14, 2012 is not required to comply with the 2010 ADA revised codes, titled the ADA Standards for

Mackenzie Schwartz / Daily Lobo / @mackenzid5

A reserved parking spot for those with accessibility needs stands in a parking lot in front of Alvarado Hall, a historic building at UNM.

Accessible Design, and are only required to be brought up to code if a major renovation is planned, according to Disability Rights New Mexico coordinator Bernadine Chavez. Certain parts of historical buildings are not required to comply with ADA code even in the case of a major renovation if it interferes with any historical aspects. Historic building eligibility can be determined on a federal, state or local level. UNM has qualified 55 of its buildings under the federal, state or local registries, according to the historical preservation plan. There is a transition plan in place to ensure buildings on campus are updated to comply with ADA codes, but there is no set timeline yet, according to university planner Rosie Dudley. “The (transition plan) has identified more than $41 million worth of ADA renovation projects. The projects that impact life, safety and primary means of access will be prioritized. At this time, the projects’ schedules and funding have not been determined,” Dudley said. The physical accessibility of

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sustainability

By Megan Gleason @fabflutist2716 With nearly half the votes secured to his name, University of New Mexico student Shaikh Ahmad won the 2022-23 Graduate and Professional Student Association presidential election, for which voting ended on April 1. The results are still unofficial until certified by the Elections Committee. Ahmad, a dual-degree student pursuing a Master of Science in information systems and assurance and a Master of Public Administration, is in his third year with GPSA. He plans to prioritize inclusivity of minority groups, holistic sustainability and communication in his term. A whopping seven candidates were vying for the role, although Paul Tice was found to be ineligible when voting started. Ahmad got 144 votes (43%), runner-up Inusah Mohammed got 80 votes (24%) and the other eligible four candidates got anywhere from 4% to 11% of the votes.

Only 338 students of the 4,619 graduate students registered for the spring 2022 semester voted, equating to approximately 7% of the population. An additional 123 votes were cast but determined ineligible in addition to six unsubmitted opened ballots, therefore not counted. One of Ahmad’s significant priorities is supporting students of color and marginalized groups, such as Indian students, Hispanic students, African American students and other minority groups. Ahmad brought up the various resources UNM has available for these students, including El Centro de la Raza, American Indian Student Services, African American Student Services and the LGBTQ Resource Center. “Instead of coming up with new things, I think it would be better if we could strengthen them, see where we can support them with our events, with funding and with just being there if they need me to be,” Ahmad said. Ahmad is a project lead for the

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UNM teach-in, benefit concert to be held in solidarity with Ukraine By Megan Gleason @fabflutist2716 A teach-in and benefit concert to stand in solidarity with Ukraine will be held at the University of New Mexico’s Rodey Theater on Thursday, April 14 at 7 p.m. This event, which is a personal choice of entry for free or by donation, will feature musicians as well as activists, and all proceeds raised will go toward Ukrainian refugee relief efforts. Vitaliy Osmolovskyy, an activist and grassroots organizer, will be joining from Poland via Zoom for the event. All funds raised will go to his organizing efforts, for which he has a supply list that addresses many different needs, some of which are for physical and mental health aid. “He’s going to give us a direct communiqué of what’s happening on the ground and his work with refugees that he’s receiving in Poland that are coming from the Ukraine,” said Dominika Laster, one of the event organizers and UNM associate professor of theatre and performance studies. Oud musician Rahim AlHaj will be performing as well as Argentinean-French band Engine. “The main reason for us to participate in this event is to support the people living in or fleeing from

Ukraine, people going through immense pain right now,” Engine band member Alejandro Tomás Rodriguez said via email. AlHaj “was forced to leave Iraq due to his activism against the Saddam Hussein regime” and then lived in Jordan, Syria and finally, Albuquerque, New Mexico, according to his biography. Laster approached AlHaj after attending his performances to ask him to perform at this event. “I learned a little bit about his own life being a refugee, and a lot of the music that he composed very much resonated with the current situation, even though he was writing about his exile from Iraq, there are a lot of resonances with what’s been happening in current-day Ukraine,” Laster said. Other guests are in the process of being confirmed, according to Laster. “There will be experts on the historical and political situation in Ukraine so they can learn about the political situation and what’s happening on the ground currently,” Laster said. Fighting is ongoing in Ukraine, and the United Nations General Assembly voted on Thursday, April 7 to suspend Russia from the U.N. Human Rights Council due to “high-profile allegations of atrocities committed by Russian soldiers during the war in Ukraine,” according to CNN. “I think that, interestingly enough,

many of the people who are participating in this event, whether they’re artists or activists, have had the experience of being a refugee or having very close proximity to such events,” Laster said. Laster herself is a former child refugee who escaped from Poland with her mother. Her grandmother was Ukrainian, and her family is still in Ukraine. “I think the reason that I’m affected by these events is not just because this is hitting close to home and I have a family there. Even before this was happening, I was involved in … justice initiatives and activism because I myself have had that experience of being a child refugee so I’m a little bit more aware of what that means,” Laster said. Although the U.S. hasn’t witnessed a direct attack with the exception of 9/11, Laster said, what’s going on in Ukraine still affects Americans in many ways, including the waves of refugees that have come and are coming to the U.S. “I think it’s in our nature to feel empathy towards others who are suffering because we have seen some form of suffering ourselves in our own lives. It might have taken a slightly different form but I think we can all identify and empathize with what’s happening in Ukraine, even if we haven’t experienced anything

Liam DeBonis / Daily Lobo / @LiamDebonis

Exterior lights at Popejoy Hall on UNM main campus illuminate the building with the colors of the Ukrainian flag in March.

as extreme. I think we can imagine what it might be like to lose one’s home, family, way of life, everything that we take for granted,” Laster said. Laster emphasized the importance of helping other areas of the world that need help as well. “We have to work in coalition with one another to help support each other across difference(s), across geographic, ethnic, national divides,” Laster said. This local event will create a space for community through the arts, according to Laster. “Through music and through the arts, we will also create community. We will come together to support each other because we’re all affected in various ways,” Laster said.

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The idea for the event was initiated by Laster’s Palestinian-American friend Samia Assed, who knew Laster had family in Ukraine and wanted to help the Ukrainian community locally and abroad. “At times like this — and not only at times like this but particularly at times like this — we need each other; we need community, so that’s one of the things we’re going to do at the event is try to create a community between us and work in solidarity to help the people of Ukraine,” Laster said. Megan Gleason is the Editor-inChief of the Daily Lobo. She can be contacted at editorinchief@dailylobo. com or on Twitter @fabflutist2716


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