Food and Housing Insecurity at NM Colleges

This week on New Mexico in Focus, Senior Producer Lou DiVizio speaks with two authors of a recent report that shows more than half of New Mexico college and university students struggle with food and housing insecurity. Sarita Cargas, founder of UNM’s Basic Needs Project, and Patricia Trujillo, deputy secretary of the state’s Higher Education Department, tell Lou how systemic barriers can lead to these insecurities. Later in their discussion, Lou asks how New Mexico college campuses are helping students in need. 

This month, Searchlight New Mexico journalist Joshua Bowling published a story detailing the political power of the state’s horse racing industry. In our one-on-one interview, Joshua tells Lou how hundreds of thousands of dollars in political contributions are flowing from New Mexico racetracks. 

Earlier this year, Senior Producer Laura Paskus spoke with three Thoreau High School students opposed to a federal plan to bring uranium mining waste into their community.  As most things are, it’s a complicated situation, and the people of the Red Water Pond Road Community are looking for help cleaning up an area ravaged by decades of uranium mining. Even though the mines were shuttered in 1983, contamination remains, and as our guests explain, they seek justice for their community and a return home. And as Edith Hood points out, she wishes the leadership of the Navajo Nation could find solutions that don’t pit Diné communities against one another. 

Host: Jeff Proctor 

Segments: 
Half of NM College Students Struggle with Food and Housing Insecurity 
Correspondent: Lou DiVizio 
Guests: 
Sarita Cargas, Founder, UNM Basic Needs Project 
Patricia Trujillo, Deputy Secretary, New Mexico Higher Education Department 

Diné Community Seeks Justice 
Correspondent: Laura Paskus 
Guests: 
Edith Hood, Red Water Pond Road Community Association  
Teracita Keyanna, Red Water Pond Road Community Association   

The Political Power of NM’s Horse Racing Industry 
Correspondent: Lou DiVizio 
Guest: Joshua Bowling, Reporter, Searchlight New Mexico 

How College Student Hunger in 2024 Differs from Previous Generations 
Correspondent: Lou DiVizio 
Guests: 
Sarita Cargas, Founder, UNM Basic Needs Project 
Patricia Trujillo, Deputy Secretary, New Mexico Higher Education Department