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Trump’s Funding Cuts and Potential War Crimes

This week on New Mexico in Focus, we head to the Institute of American Indian Arts. For the second time in as many years, the institute’s future is uncertain as President Trump threatens to cut billions in funding for higher education, including more than $350 million from minority-serving programs. That puts IAIA squarely in the crosshairs. President Shelly Loew spoke to host Nash Jones about her first year leading the college, whether she expects Congress to reject Trump’s cuts again, and how this financial uncertainty has affected her students. 

Executive Producer Jeff Proctor sits down with constitutional and international law expert Joshua Kastenberg to delve into the war in Iran — how it began and how it’s going. Proctor asks the law professor and former Judge Advocate General how war crimes are defined — and by whom — and to consider whether he has seen any evidence of Trump or the U.S. military committing them in Iran. 

Earlier this month, a state District Court judge ordered Republican state Rep. Rebecca Dow to be removed from the ballot following allegations she had filed flawed paperwork in her reelection bid. Earlier this week, the state Supreme Court reversed that decision and reinstated Dow’s candidacy. We hear from Dow just moments after the justices ordered her back on the ballot. 

In March, UNM named Ryan Berryman to be its next athletics director. Berryman has been connected to Lobo sports since he was a teenager and, at 32, is one of the youngest ADs in Division I sports. The Albuquerque Journal’s Geoff Grammer joins Senior Producer Lou DiVizio to discuss the new department head and consider what Berryman’s tenure could mean for the Lobos on the football field, the basketball court — and beyond. 


Host: Nash Jones 

Segments: 
Trump Threatens Again to Cut NM Native Arts School Funding 
Correspondent: Nash Jones 
Guest: Dr. Shelly Lowe (Navajo), President, Institute of American Indian Arts 

Presidential Powers and the War in Iran 
Correspondent: Jeff Proctor 
Guest: Joshua Kastenberg, Professor, UNM School of Law 

How Trump’s Online Posts Open Door for War Crimes in Iran 
Correspondent: Jeff Proctor 
Guest: Joshua Kastenberg, Professor, UNM School of Law 

State Supreme Court Orders Rep. Dow Back on Ballot 
Correspondent: Nash Jones 
Guest: NM Rep. Rebecca Dow, R-Truth or Consequences 

New Leadership at UNM Athletics Department 
Correspondent: Lou DiVizio 
Guest: Geoff Grammer, Sportswriter, Albuquerque Journal