Photo by Olawale Oluwakoya
Staff Reporter
“I don’t trust words; I trust pictures, written records can only tell so much” as the reconstruction of the North building gathers pace (5th October 2020).
Category: Photo Gallery
Take A Virtual Balloon Ride with The ABQ Balloon Museum
Story and photos by
Olawale Oluwakoya
Staff Reporter
CNM students should participate in the Balloon museum virtual field trip because
it is fun, educative, informative and a great opportunity to acquire a wealth of knowledge without leaving their couch, said Balloon Museum’s Field Trip and Volunteer Coordinator Katie Farmin.
The Virtual Field Trips will take place every Tuesday and Thursday at 9:30 am, the lesson is approximately 40 minutes and will be a mix of PowerPoint, video, and some movement, she said.
The field trip will cover the history of early ballooning, the anatomy of a balloon, the science behind balloon flight, and a short history of the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta, she said.
“The available dates for the virtual field trips will be provided in the registration form (here). You will have a first and second choice, however, they are not guaranteed. If your choices are not available, you will be contacted to coordinate other possible choices,” she said.
“Once you register, a confirmation email will be sent out with the date of the field trip. You have the choice of the museum sending a Zoom link, Google Meet link, or we can pop into your class if you have a recurring link with whatever platform you are using for your digital classroom,” she said.
After the field trip, another email will be sent out with additional material for students to reflect on what they learned, she said.
If students have any more questions they can send an email kfarmin@cabq.gov or call (505) 768-6027, said Katie Farmin.
Drive In At Balloon Fiesta Park
Story And Photos by Dshawal Oluwakoya
Staff Reporter
The drive-in theater was created to support New Mexicans through this pandemic, said drive-in organizer Levi Sperry.
Movies have been shown through the summer and the turnout has been good, he said.
Right now there are events scheduled through September 4th with more shows to be announced, he said.
“I think students should come see a movie because it is fun and you get to spend time out with your friends and family, watch a movie together and create wonderful memories even during tough times,” he said.
All drive-in presentations are COVID-safe, people can stay in their cars or tailgate as long as they stay within the appropriately distanced zones, he said.
Tamara Villescas a UNM student said she comes to watch movies here frequently. “I come here every time with my girls, it gives me a reason to leave the house, also I love food trucks”.
They are located at 9201 balloon museum Dr NE, view shows and book tickets online here, any questions can be sent to admin@balloonfiesta.com, said Mr. Levi.
Rollin, Rollin, Rollin, Food Trucks Keep On Rollin
Photos and Story
By Mark Graven
Staff Reporter
The Street Food Institute, in partnership with CNM, has been able to keep its food trucks rolling during the covid challenge, according to its executive director, Tina Garcia-Shams.
Many area restaurants have been able to keep going by providing take out, or curbside service, but food trucks are naturally made for take-out, said Garcia-Shams.
“You can just take the food, and eat it. You don’t have to be sitting down,” she said.
Tacos are always on the menu, she said, adding that Executive Chef David Sellers dips into a wide variety of menu items from pizza, to Asian-fusion, or southern-style cooking. Recently, oyster po’ boys, from Louisiana were featured, she said.
Sellers will often incorporate ideas from CNM Culinary students when putting together menus. It gives the students a real-world reality check on their culinary thinking, Garcia-Shams said.
One student came up with the idea of serving “nachos from around the world,” which went over well, she said.
Students participate as part of the Culinary Arts curriculum, or in an entrepreneur’s lab. Internships are available and members from the community at large also have opportunities to participate, Garcia-Shams said.
The Street Food Institute has three trucks in operation, two of which are on loan from Bernalillo County, she said.
In covid times they are still serving at their regular locations, such as UNM Hospital, Hyder Park, and the Marble Heights Brewery, she said.
Normally the Institute would be running the cafeteria at the CNM Student Services Center, but the cafeteria has been closed, along with the rest of the campus during the pandemic, Garcia-Shams said.
About the only thing different for the food trucks during the pandemics is the wearing of masks inside the trucks, she said.
The trucks follow the same health department guideline as regular restaurants, and are subject to health department inspections, just like the restaurants, she said.
Garcia-Shams said she was with the Street Food program when it launched in 2014 and began serving as executive director when it spun off from the Simon Charitable Foundation out of Santa Fe, and became a non- profit in 2016 and now works in partnership with CNM.
Garcia-Shams said she herself is not much of cook. She leaves that to Sellers and his crew.
“What I want out of a food truck is a good sandwich,” she said, and with the Street Food Institute continuing to roll, she invariably gets it.
Progress at Max Salazar
Photos by Mark Graven
Staff Reporter
Duck Pond Down
Photos and Story by Mark Graven
Staff Reporter
The “iconic” University of New Mexico Duck Pond is down, but not out. It it just having its every-other-year cleaning, according to Steve Howe, the public relations representative for the university’s Facilities Management.
The ducks seem understanding, as they observe their domain being drained, from the shade of the pond’s grassy banks.
The 10-day cleaning project should be completed by July 17th, Howe said. Fish have been removed from the pond by Aquatic Consultants, of Albuquerque, and will be restored to the cleaned water after they have been checked and inventoried, according to Howe.
The pond is accessible to CNM students, via a three/quarter mile, or so, walk, along the Yale Boulevard corridor. The pond experience is free; the ducks won’t bill you.
Pic Of The Day
Photo by Mark Graven
Staff Reporter
The Biking Coop
Story and Photos by
Mark Graven
Staff Reporter
Folks are pedaling bikes more during the Covid-19 shutdown, but the Bike Coop, a long-time CNM neighbor, is peddling very few bikes according to Coop owner Greg Overman.
The Coop, at 120 Yale Boulevard, is selling few bikes these days, because there are hardly any bikes to be had, Overman related in a recent interview at his store.
Instead bikers are digging old bikes out of their attics and basements to be fixed, which means Overman, 67, and his staff are extremely busy.
“We’re three weeks behind,” said Overton, as he looked over his shop crammed with hundreds of used bikes.
Past riders are embracing biking anew because they don’t like being cooped up inside with the Covid restrictions in place, and they are reluctant to take mass transit, according to Overman.
“Biking has built in social distancing,” noted Overton, adding that biking is generally a good thing anyway. “It keeps you younger, and healthier, and it is the best shrink you’ll ever see.”
Overton said he usually rides a minimum of four miles each day, by just going to and from work, on his custom-built Dave Salinas frame bike.
Salinas is a local frame builder who used to work at the Bike Coop, Overman said.
Greg Overman in his office at the Bike Coop.
Overman bought the Bike Coop in 1998, after working at the store for six years at its original location on Central where it had started out as the Bike Cooperative in 1977.
Overman said that moving the Bike Coop to its present location on Yale Boulevard in 2012 brought in “a lot more student customers, both from CNM and UNM, but that when school is out the student business declines noticeably,” which has been true during the Covid shutdowns.
Bike sales are sensitive to national economic trends, according to Overman.
Basic new bikes are hard to get because of the Covid lockdown and the tariff wars with China, Overman said.
Supply lines have been disrupted so that the basic 300-to-500 dollar bike is non-existent, said Overman, adding that high-end bikes “over a thousand dollars” are still obtainable.
The Bike Coop usually does a brisk business in consignment bikes, but those sold out early in the Covid challenge, said Overman.
The bike Coop is swamped with bike to repair because of a Covid Crunch.
Overman compared the shortage of bikes to sell to “a coffee shop not having any coffee to sell.”
That still leaves repairs, but repairs are not particularly lucrative, especially when they involve changing out a tube for a flat tire, according to Overman.
“That’a just 25 dollars per wheel,” noted Overman.
Overman said that non-availability of parts can be a problem with repairs as well.
“Rubber is in short supply,” he said.
All in all, Overman said he would rather be selling bikes than fixing them, but he still enjoys what he does.
Overman said he is making no predictions as to how long the period of intense repairs and low sales will last because there are too many variables. But he thinks the Covid experience may portend well for biking over the long haul, with bikers rediscovering the sport’s benefits.
“Sometimes people lose their driver’s license with a DUI, so they take up biking,” said Overman. “And sometimes they keep biking after they get their license back, because they notice the health benefits and the money they save.”
El Patio Working Through COVID 19
Story by Mark Graven
The El Patio Restaurant, located at 142 Harvard Drive,SE between the CNM and UNM campuses normally gets a lot of student clientele, but not during these corona virus times, according to Steven Candelaria, the restaurant manager.
“We normally get quite a few (students), but now we hardly get any,” said Candelaria, 48, who has been working at El Patio for nine years.
The result is logical, as there are hardly any students on either campus, he noted.
El Patio has been a mainstay in the university community for over 4 decades, and is owned by David Sandoval, according to Candelaria.
Now, with the government restrictions in place, the restaurant is only open for takeout and curbside pickup, which has caused a 70 percent drop-off, both in traffic and revenues, Candelaria said.
The restaurant typically employs a staff of 15 to 20, but that has been cut down to five.
Candelaria said he finds himself running outside, (through El Patio’s blue picket fence), to make a curbside hand-off, which he does not mind.
Restaurant employees are paying attention to details for the benefit of the health and safety of the customers, based on information the media has provided, Candelaria said.
The city did not send out any written guidelines, although some from the Department of Health did call, Candelaria said, adding that city inspectors seem to be following their regular schedules of coming by every two to three months.
All restaurant employees wear masks and gloves throughout their shifts, Candelaria said.
When folks come in for take-out, they are advised to keep a six-foot spacing, if they haven’t picked up on the procedure, and the counter is wiped down with disinfectant after each customer leaves, he said.
A lot of incoming customers are wearing masks, he said.
People are ordering the same items from the menu, but they are skipping dessert, according to Candelaria, adding that the ever popular biscochitos and the flan “are out.”
“People are tightening their belts, and budgeting their money, I guess,” said Candelaria. “They want to get as much bang for their buck as they can.”
Candelaria said that he is thinking the restaurant and others like it, will start getting up to speed gradually in June, with a 20 to 30 percent occupancy limitation.
Candelaria said that he personally was laid off from a second restaurant job so that he just goes home after work, where he is likely to find his son playing video games.
One thing is still the same during these challenging times, according to Candelaria: “Green chili is still more popular than red.”
Water Damage Delays Max Salazar Reopening
Story & Photos by Staff Reporter Chloe Fox
The reopening of the newly renovated Max Salazar hall on Main Campus was originally set for January 13th, 2020, but water damage has delayed the opening of the project until May 18th the beginning of the 2020 summer semester according to Physical Plant Department project manager Peter Siebert.
Siebert said in a previous interview that not all the classrooms would be open in time for the beginning of spring term, but that most of them would be.
In the same interview, Siebert did say that the front expansion of the building was not set to open with the rest of the building at the start of the spring term and was in fact on track to open sometime in March and was not affected by the water damage.
This is a focus room, a quieter, more intimate version of the above agility space, also damaged by the water.
When contacted on January 27th, Siebert said due to the water damage that building sustained, the Fire Marshall and building inspectors would not allow for the building to open in time for the spring term.
Siebert said that the damage was being repaired and that the building is set to open on May 18th, 2020, just in time to hold classes for the summer semester.
The new frontal addition, although previously slated to open later than the rest of the project according to Siebert, is set to open with the entire project on May 18th.
Students who purchased permits for Max Salazar/SSC lot in anticipation of having classes in MS this spring may either get a refund or exchange their pass for a different one depending on availability, according to Director of Parking at CNM Nicholas Aragon.
According to Antonio Alvarado from CNM Parking services and the CNM Parking Services website, https://www.cnm.edu/depts/parking, the Max Salazar parking lot will not be open until Fall 2020. However, on January 31st 2020, Peter Siebert said that the parking lot of Max Salazar will be opening in time for the Summer 2020 s