Daily Lobo Reader

LETTER: Virginia third-grader calls for help on New Mexico project

Dear people of the great state of New Mexico, Hello! I am a third-grade student in northern Virginia. Our class is learning about the United States, and I will be teaching our school about the state of New Mexico. In the month of May, I will create a display for our state that I hope will make you proud. Although I have gathered facts about your state from books and websites, I think I can receive the best information from the people who live there. This is why I am writing to you. I am hoping that you would be willing to send me some items to help me learn more about the best things in your state. You might consider sending items such as postcards, pictures, souvenirs, this newspaper article or any other unique items that would be useful or show your state pride. Here are a few questions:

LETTER: Aaron Cowan is the experienced choice for GPSA president

Dear Daily Lobo Editor, I am writing because I believe we have a very critical choice to make between two different candidates for GPSA president. Aaron Cowan is the experienced choice, as he has been involved in student government for years at UNM.

LETTER: The time for paid family leave is now

Dear editor,  There is nothing more important than our families’ health. But our country needs to live up to its family values. Did you know that even before the pandemic, one in four new moms are forced to return to work within two weeks of giving birth? That’s heartbreaking and insane! I am the proud mother of a 6-week-old, and I have been lucky that I can teach from home, but if we weren’t working from home, I would be in the same boat. And as a teacher, I have seen

LETTER: Complete your 2020 census for our Lobo community

Lobos: We urgently need your help! It’s not too late to be counted! The deadline to fill out the census is rapidly approaching (Sept. 30, 2020), and New Mexico is in danger of losing critical federal dollars. If our state loses federal funds, our University of New Mexico community loses federal funds as well. So, what is the census, you might ask? The census is the once in a decade opportunity for us to re-shape our communities. A simple, 10-question questionnaire determines how more than $800 billion in federal funds get distributed across our country. In New Mexico alone, the 2020 census will determine how more than $7 billion per year gets distributed to our state. As students and members of the Lobo community, the census impacts us directly, as it determines how much funding is in: • Medicaid • Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) • Federal student loans • Pell Grants • Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) • Many more programs that we and our families use

Letter: Universities should be open to challenging speech

In the coming weeks, far-right PragerU speaker, Will Witt, will be coming to UNM. Whether or not that will garner the same hatred and response as when Milo Yiannopolous came to speak is yet to be seen.  Being a registered Democrat and a self-described progressive, my biggest complaint with my own party is our refusal to hear others with views that don’t align with exactly with our’s. The first amendment of our Constitution states, “Congress shall make no law … prohibiting the free exercise thereof, or abridging the freedom of speech.” I’m not sure why we have such an animosity towards those who have opinions that do not match our own.

Letter: Student Family Housing has a serious cockroach problem

UNM provides many services to students, some better and some worse. As a new graduate student, my family and I relocated back to Albuquerque and moved into Student Family Housing (SFH). The pros: international neighbors, utilities, cable, internet and laundry are included. The cons: limited living space, poor grounds keeping, theft and GERMAN COCKROACHES. That's right, UNM SFH, which houses graduate & postgraduate students, their partners, children & youth, expose residents to roaches.

Letter: Why soccer

At 9 pm on a summer day in Germany, Mario, from Mexico, waited to be seen by emergency doctors for an injury to the chest. His friend Arturo from Colombia had driven him to a nearby hospital — in northwest Germany, this past July. The husband of an elderly German couple waiting in line in front of them could hardly contain his impatience with a young immigrant family whose infant needed treatment. It took that family a long time to get registered. Finally, the couple was seen. Then it was Mario’s turn. He, too, took a long time to get registered. Two hours later, after several x-rays and an ultrasound, Mario and Arturo left the hospital, relieved, no ribs broken, lungs and spleen intact.

Letter: UNM offers a top-of-the-line education

Staff at UNM were recently dismayed at comments made by Regent Tom Clifford and his assertion that UNM “[doesn’t] have a good product.” This claim is false. The University experience isn't a widget you either sell or don't sell or that works or doesn't work. Learning in higher education is challenging and success levels are complex. Degrees are not the only ‘product’ that UNM offers. Great teaching, mentoring, research and programming take place here to engage our students before, during and after they earn any degree.

Letter: Regent Clifford was wrong to criticize UNM's product

I write in response to Regent Tom Clifford’s comments made during last week’s Board of Regents meeting as reported by Andrew Gunn on Thursday, Nov 15. Regent Clifford is reported as saying UNM graduates “get nothing of value that they can show.” It is disheartening to hear that a regent — a person who has been called on to lead the University — carries an opinion so far from the truth.

Letter: Religious books contain dangerous messages

After the Gulf War, a large Albuquerque fundamentalist Christian church held a rally celebrating U.S. victory in Iraq. I went to that rally. I held up signs strongly opposing war. A man told me, “Blessed is he who takes your little ones and dashes them against the rock.” That is an awful, actual verse in the Bible (Psalm 137:9). Many Christian fundamentalists believe the whole Bible is the perfect Word of God.

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