New Mexico
FBS Pauper NMSU Makes ‘Outside the Box’ Play for State Funds
While the wealthiest college athletic departments are reconnoitering with private capital these days, one of the least-resourced FBS schools, New Mexico State University, is pursuing a unique proposal with a more traditional funding source: the public kitty.
Ahead of next year’s legislative session, the Aggies, who compete in Conference USA, have presented New Mexico legislators with the idea of creating a $137 million endowment to help fund its women’s sports programs.
While the endowment’s principal would remain with the state, NMSU athletics would receive about $5 million to $6 million in the annual income it produces, according to the proposal. Alternatively, NMSU is asking for a one-time appropriation of $27.5 million, to help float its women’s athletics programs for five years.
It’s a bold idea, and one that NMSU athletic director Mario Moccia says is timed to two contrasting financial dynamics. In light of the proposed House v. NCAA settlement, the already-distressed Aggies have been forced to quickly come up with a plan that would address millions of dollars in increased expenses while the school’s annual share of NCAA distributions are reduced.
For the 2022-23 academic year, NMSU’s athletics spending of $37.15 million ranked 92nd out of 110 public FBS universities. Over that same period, the university reported receiving $6.75 million in revenue from governmental appropriations, ranking it eighth among that cohort.
The Aggies have long teetered on the tipping point of ’s top subdivision, eschewing pressures over the years to call it a day and drop down to FCS.
Meanwhile, the state of New Mexico, despite being among the poorest in the nation, has recently enjoyed a budget boom thanks to near-record oil and natural gas prices since the pandemic. Oil and gas revenues in the state have more than quadrupled in the five-year span from 2018 to 2023. Typically, New Mexico earns about $4 billion in direct revenue from energy production, primarily through drilling and property taxes, which funds at least a quarter of the annual state budget. However, in the fiscal year 2023, those revenues exceeded $5 billion, after a 162% year-over-year increase.
“We are sitting on a significant amount of one-time money,” Moccia said in a phone interview Saturday. “So this year, seeing as the state had so much funding, we said, ‘Hey, let’s think outside the box.’”
In effect, the endowment proposal would be an augmentation of the annual money the state already gives to the Aggies. Unlike many other states, New Mexico’s legislature directly appropriates operating revenue to the athletic departments of its two FBS schools, NMSU and the University of New Mexico.
The next legislative session commences Jan. 21 and runs through March 22. A hearing for final approval of the House settlement is slated for April 7.
How confident is Moccia in his big ask?
“Nobody has said this is a terrible idea,” he said. “It has been out in the public, there are articles about it, a lot of our legislators have talked about it. So hopefully you go into the [legislative] session with some momentum.”
Earlier in the year, Moccia led a delegation of NMSU female athletes to lobby on behalf of the endowment proposal.
“I think it is brilliant that the athletic department is being proactive in this space,” Aggies women’s basketball coach Jody Adams told the Las Cruces (N.M.) Sun-News.
In addition to the endowment, NMSU is also pursuing athletic department monies from the bursting pork barrels of individual legislators. “Each state representative or state senator is a potential millionaire donor,” Moccia said.
NEW MEXICO (KRQE) — The Social Security Office released the most popular baby names for 2025 on Thursday. And here in New Mexico, we saw some familiar names top the charts once again.
Coming in at No. 1 for girls is Mia, and as for the boys, Noah ranks No. 1. That’s no change from 2024 when Mia and Noah also led the pack, both coming in at No 1. For 2025, there were a total of 66 babies named Mia and 115 babies named Noah, while in 2024, there were 81 Mias and 105 Noahs.
What do the names mean? Online sources list a few different interpretations for Mia, but one common association is with the Italian word “mia,” which means “mine.” As for Noah, the name is most commonly associated with the prominent bible figure. It’s thought to mean “rest,” or “comfort.”
Here’s a look at some of the other top baby names in New Mexico for 2025.
- Girls:
- Olivia (65 total)
- Sophia (65 total)
- Sofia (60 total)
- Camila (59 total)
- Eliana (57 total)
- Isabella (56 total)
- Amelia (53 total)
- Aria (45 total)
- Aurora (45 total)
- Boys:
- Liam (109 total)
- Mateo (99 total)
- Elijah (76 total)
- Santiago (70 total)
- Sebastian (69 total)
- Ezra (67 total)
- Elias (66 total)
- Ezekiel (66 total)
- Levi (69 total)
Nationally, Olivia and Liam are the most popular baby names, and have been for the past seven years, according to the Social Security Administration. As for the fastest-rising names, Klarity jumped nearly 1,400 spots on the girls’ list, and Kasai jumped 1,108 for boy names.
Other names rising in popularity for boys include Atlas, Adriel, Emiliano, Arthur, and Archer. On the girls’ list, Ailany, Sienna, Amara, and Georgia are becoming more popular.
You can find the full list by state online.
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LAS CRUCES, N.M. — An ‘imposter nurse’ in Las Cruces is facing 34 charges after nearly causing the death of a patient and illegally giving medications to patients under 18 years old.
A Doña Ana County grand jury indicted Margarita Gonzalez. She is accused of assuming the identities of nurses in Texas to get hired at four nursing facilities in Las Cruces:
- Village at Northrise
- Las Cruces Wellness and Rehabilitation
- Peak Behavioral Health
- Matrix Home Care
The New Mexico Department of Justice’s Medicaid Fraud and Elder Abuse Bureau investigated and discovered instances where Gonzalez illegally gave injections and dispensed prescriptions, including narcotics to eight inpatient residents under 18 years old.
An investigation also found Gonzalez was also about to allegedly give “an incorrect insulin dose” to a patient that they claim could’ve killed the patient if another nurse hadn’t caught the error.
Several facilities fired Gonzalez over patient safety concerns and an observed lack of knowledge.
“Impersonating a healthcare provider is a reckless and selfish crime that subjects those most vulnerable to risk of serious injury or death,” Attorney General Raúl Torrez said. “I will not tolerate those who risk the safety of patients or cause danger and unnecessary confusion within the healthcare system. These charges should keep anyone attempting to pose as a healthcare provider on notice: we will find you, and we will prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law to protect New Mexicans.”
Gonzalez’s charges include identity theft, nursing without a license, abuse of a resident, distribution of controlled substances to a minor and fraud totaling over $25,000.
If convicted on all counts, Gonzalez could face up to 100 years in prison.
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