Daily Lobo new mexico
The Independent Student Voice of UNM since 1895
friday September 5, 2014 | Volume 119 | Issue 15
Audit report shows fraud in SBA’s account Research By Sayyed Shah
The New Mexico State Auditor’s office is reviewing a recently published UNM internal audit report that found embezzlements in the UNM Student Bar Association’s finances. On Aug. 14, the UNM audit department issued a detailed report of its investigation into the financial
embezzlement in the Student Bar Association’s account from 2011 to 2013. The report laid out a timeline of the mismanagement of funds and made recommendations to keep another incident from happening in the future. Audit officials said the majority of the recommendations of the report have already been implemented.
“We have sent the report to the State Audit office, but we have not yet received any feedback from them,” UNM Internal Audit Director Manu Patel said. The report revealed that the president, whose name was not released, used an off-campus account for transactions of SBA funds, despite clear instructions in the organization’s handbook that
all funds were to be deposited in the official SBA account. According to the audit report, the funds in the account fell from $23,979 at the end of the 2011 financial year to $8,626 at the end of 2013. On Oct. 8, 2013, the UNM Internal Audit Department
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HSC’s event hoping to spread awareness
Sergio Jiménez / Daily Lobo / @SXfoto
Kristin Marquardt, left, and Lauren Topper work in the laboratory of Fernando Valenzuela, professor of neurosciences and associate director of the New Mexico Alcohol Research Center, on Thursday. The center at UNM is nationally recognized for Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder research and is funded through various grants such as from the National Institute of Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse, which awarded the center more than $8 million to be distributed over five years.
Community looks to educate public on International Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder Day By Matthew Reisen International Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder Awareness Day is next week, and members of the Health Sciences Center community will spend the day spreading awareness about the disorder – and their facility. The nationally recognized research center opened last month, but it has been in development for a few years, Dr. Daniel Savage, Neuroscience Department chair, said. “The center is about improving the health and well-being of the citizens of New Mexico,” Savage said. “One of our biggest challenges is simply awareness of the problem.” Graduate students from the HSC will help with awareness, when they hand out literature to students in the SUB on Tuesday, said Fernando Valenzuela,
professor of neuroscience and the New Mexico Alcohol Research Center’s associate director. Tables will be set up from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on the bottom level of the SUB, near the Credit Union, he said. The students will also answer questions about the effects of alcohol consumption during pregnancy. The center is run through the combined efforts of the Pharmacy program, MIND Institute and the Pediatrics, Psychology, Community Medicine and Neurosciences departments, he said. Research by the center is funded through various grants sought out by the institution, he said. One such grant, from the National Institute of Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse, awarded the center with $8 million to be distributed over five years, Savage said.
The graduate students who will man the info booths during Tuesday’s event are being trained through a secondary grant created specifically for the training of students doing research on FASD at clinical levels. Lauren Topper, one such graduate student, said she is positive about the new center and getting information out there. “I’m really excited about the event, I think it’s important to raise awareness,” she said. “Especially among college-age kids because binge drinking is the worst drinking you can do and it’s also the most typical seen among college students.” FASD affects 2 to 5 percent of the population, Valenzuela said. In comparison, autism spectrum disorders has a prevalence of 1 percent, yet gets more media attention.
The CDC estimates that 17 percent of women consume alcohol within the first trimester, a number the center is trying to lower through awareness, he said. The center has three distinct goals in mind, Savage said. The first goal is to understand how alcohol affects developing brains. The second is to see if a diagnosis can come sooner, and the third is to develop more efficient methods to help affected children, he said. “There is a need for more information, more services and that kind of support,” Savage said. “We are working to remove the lack of understanding and improve comprehension.” Matthew Reisen is a freelance writer for the Daily Lobo. He can be reached at news@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @DailyLobo.
scientist to speak on drugs By Jonathan Baca
A trip to Peru, a trek into the Amazonian rainforest, a lifechanging encounter with a shaman and a powerful psychedelic brew: These are the ingredients of a compelling TED talk. On Saturday, UNM research scientist Robert Rhatigan will speak at the TEDxABQ conference, sharing the story of how he conquered crippling alcoholism with the help of ayahuasca, an ancient psychoactive drink made from rainforest plants. Rhatigan, who does research in geospatial and population studies, said his goal at the conference is to be an ambassador on the power of psychedelic plants and non-traditional therapies in the treatment of addiction. “I want people to walk away understanding that psychedelic substances are not something that are simply drugs of abuse that people use for hedonistic reasons, recreation, whatever,” he said. “There is a very compelling body of research showing that these substances have incredible therapeutic potential.” Five years ago, Rhatigan said he had become desperate after struggling with alcoholism for 10 years. He had tried 12-step programs, therapy, doctors and medication, but nothing got rid of his powerful cravings for alcohol, and he was not interested in white-knuckling it for the rest of his life, he said. “Nothing seemed to address the underlying issue,” he said. “I was looking for something that would help to remove my desire to drink, and nothing that I came across seemed to offer that.” Then he heard about the successes of shamans in Peru who conduct traditional healing ceremonies using ayahuasca, and he decided to fly to the Amazon and give it a try. “As a scientist, I’m sort of hesitant to share the more personal aspect of it, but there was just something calling me to give it a shot,” he said. “There was just this voice that I couldn’t ignore that was telling me to go down to the Amazon and see what happens.” Once there, Rhatigan said, he participated in a ceremony that truly changed his life. He didn’t want to give away the whole speech before the event, but he said that the psychedelic experience began a mental process that has completely removed his desire to drink. He said that he also believes there was a biological mechanism at work, a chemical change in his brain that has ended his cravings. “In a moment I knew exactly what had happened. My desire to drink was completely absolved,” Rhatigan said. Aside from telling his own story, Rhatigan will discuss the research currently being done on addiction
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