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summer June 30-July 6, 2014 | Vo l u m e 1 1 8 | I s s u e 1 5 9
Attorney: Was rape accusation racist? by Thomas Romero-Salas Videos shown by an attorney to several media outlets may suggest that a woman who accused two UNM football players and a CNM student of raping her may have been the sexual aggressor. On Tuesday, attorney George Anthony Bleus played the videos after rape charges against UNM running back Crusoe Gongbay and CNM student Ryan Ruff were dropped by the District Attorney’s office. Gongbay and Ruff were accused of raping a female UNM student along with a third suspect, Lobo cornerback SaQwan Edwards. Ruff was accused of raping the woman at gunpoint. District Attorney spokesperson Kayla Anderson said all charges against Gongbay, Ruff and Edwards have been dropped. Anderson said the prosecutors can refile charges if any more evidence is found, and in a statement UNM said it is continuing the investigation. At a press conference, Bleus showed local media the videos that he said demonstrate the alleged victim may have been the sexual aggressor. Bleus told the media that the videos were just a few of those that he has obtained. Most are “so sexually explicit and salacious” that they couldn’t be shown, he said.
The attorney also questioned whether the victim’s motives were racially motivated: the victim is white, while the three accused are black. “It’s too simple these days to just blame the black guy,” Bleus told the media, adding that it is one the reasons he took the case for free. Bleus is black. Bleus, who represents Ruff, said the videos were taken on the night of the alleged rape and are dated and time-stamped. The videos contradict the story given to UNM police by the woman, who said she was gangraped in a BMW. Bleus showed the media sworn depositions from five witnesses that contradict the statements made in the criminal complaint, he said. “I’m just relieved that it’s over — well, not over,” Ruff said during a news conference. “I just want my dignity back.” When the charges were issued, Edwards and Gongbay were suspended indefinitely from the team by UNM head football coach Bob Davie. In a statement, Sports Information Director Frank Mercogliano said, “When and if there is a change in the status of SaQwan Edwards and Crusoe Gongbay, we will let all
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William Aranda / Daily Lobo / @_WilliamAranda
UNM senior running back Crusoe Gongbay celebrates a touchdown he made during the game against Colorado State at University Stadium on Nov 16, 2013. The rape charges against Gongbay, UNM redshirt senior cornerback SaQwan Edwards and CNM student Ryan Ruff were dropped by the District Attorney’s office.
From dusty tomes Professional Science on pause to your cellphone by Zach Pavlik
William Aranda / Daily Lobo / @_WilliamAranda
Torran Kahleck, the UNM student who designed UNM Pocket Archivist, demonstrates how the new app works Friday morning. The new app can be downloaded for free on iTunes.
by Zach Pavlik A new smartphone application allows users to take the reins in their exploration of UNM, offering interactive tours of the campus and its rich history. First made available on iTunes June 6, the UNM Pocket Archivist, which is available without an internet connection, includes an interactive map of main campus, historical building information, photos, three walking tours and information on points of interests within various buildings, according to application details on iTunes. The app includes three tours: UNM Historic Buildings, UNM Campus Arboretum and UNM Public Outdoor Art.
Terry Gugliotta, University archivist, said the reason for creating the app was to put a practical history of the University in the hands of those interested. “The goal really is to inform people about the history of UNM and make it easy for people,” Gugliotta said. “We just wanted to make a more modern way of getting the information out to people — something more interactive.” Gugliotta came up with the idea of UNM Pocket Archivist when she realized that much of the information and history she had unearthed about the University during her time as archivist was not recorded, she said.
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The Professional Science master’s degree program has seen its federal funding dry up and its existence put on hold, but hopes remain that the future might bring reinstitution as a University program with University funding. Dr. Kevin Malloy, director of the PSM program during its existence, said the program operated for five years on National Science Foundation funding in the form of fellowships covering full expenses of education for students during their time in the program. This five-year period was established as a concrete runtime for the program from the beginning, and the PSM program stopped admitting new students in the spring of 2013, Malloy said. The program was set up as a joint program between the Nanoscience and Microsystems Program at the University and the Anderson School of Management. The goal of the program was to make the Master of Science degree more useful for students so that it didn’t have to be a research degree and could give science students a pathway into business and industry, Malloy said. “One of the strongest industries in New Mexico is actually entrepreneurship and innovation, and a lot of our graduates end up going on to work for small- and medium-sized companies that are just getting started,” Malloy said. “(The graduates) end up starting their own companies themselves.” Roughly half of the students who graduated from the program decided to stay and pursue their
doctorates, and the other half went on to work for commercial entities such as Intel, Sandia Labs or Los Alamos Labs, Malloy said. However, if the Professional Science master’s program is to return as a University program, it will first have to go through the Budget Leadership Team, according to Carol Parker, senior vice provost, in an email statement. Such a request for funding has not been seen on the team’s list of requests yet, she said. Once the request is received, it will be analyzed against other requests for the given year in order to assess whether it is an initiative that the University can and/or will financially support, and for how long funding will be given, Parker said. “In any given budget cycle, whether new funds are awarded and whether they will be awarded for shorter or longer time periods is entirely dependent upon how well they fit into UNM’s strategic goals and how much competition there is from other initiatives for scarce resources,” she said. However, programs that already have infrastructure built by previous outside funding and have already been established are more likely to receive University funding, Parker said. “A program that develops a solid footing during its development stage, including proving that sufficient student interest exists, is much more likely to be able to transition to permanent funding, regardless of whether they remain partially subsidized to some extent, or are able to operate solely on the revenue they generate,” she said. Noel Dawson, fourth year
doctoral student in the Nanoscience and Microsystems Department, was one of the PSM program graduates to stay at UNM in pursuit of a doctorate. The program was instrumental in offering him a different perspective on education and career choices, he said. “It exposes you to a whole new, different world,” Dawson said. “You know, as a scientist you’re not really used to dealing with the business side of things, but experiencing the business side prepares you to start companies, or if you’re going to work in a company to be a managerial-level employee.” Dawson plans to try to start a business of his own at some point after graduation, and he said he does not think it will be quite as difficult after the program. If the program were to successfully return it would be good news for both the University as well as the state, he said. “I think the University would benefit, but not just the University,” Dawson said. “I think New Mexico itself would benefit. I know a lot of people who graduated my year, and the following year tried to start their own business. (The program) really motivated us to start businesses, which is good for the economy here in New Mexico, and it’s good for the University because the University can say, ‘Look at all these spinoffs that came out of our technology collection.’” Zach Pavlik is assistant news editor at the Daily Lobo. Contact him at assistant-news@dailylobo. com or via Twitter @zachpavlik.