Editor,
UNM President David Schmidly recently appointed a committee to review the policies and procedures of animal research conducted at the University. This is all well and good, since there have been reported allegations of animal abuse. It is certainly necessary to get to the truth and correct any wrongdoing that may exist.
On the other hand, last September, a symposium about the nuclear Reliable Replacement Warhead research took place on the UNM campus, spearheaded by none other than the hopeful manufacturers of such destructive - and, according to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, totally illegal - devices. At that symposium, a number of individuals were not allowed to voice opposition to such plans (remember free speech?), culminating in the extreme result of campus police knocking down local citizens,
kicking others out of the meeting and arresting at least one individual for daring to speak out against such illegal and immoral research being conducted at UNM for the purposes of expanding the destructive forces of the military industrial complex. The type of questions that were not allowed to be raised were: Why else does one build bombs and missiles, nuclear or otherwise, except to use them? And by perpetuating war, the manufacturer can build more to sell, thus profiting from death and destruction. The symposium leaders commanded the campus police to intervene before such ideas could be raised.
This is UNM, an educational institution, now promoting research with its end purpose being the destruction of some country and its people? Surely, this calls for a blue-ribbon panel for a complete and thorough investigation of such worrisome circumstances. Additionally, why isn't there greater amount of research on areas such as alternative energy, with New Mexico's abundant sun, wind and other energy sources? It couldn't possibly be because we won't need alternative energy if we keep building weapons to use to take oil from other countries, just like we are now doing in Iraq. It is time to call UNM to the table on this issue. If we are to think globally, we must begin work locally. I, therefore, demand a full committee investigation of this despicable RRW symposium incident as well as a thorough investigation of UNM's complicity in the military war machine's march toward forceful American world domination as exemplified by where this most diabolical Bush regime has taken our once great country.
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Stan Serafin
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