It's ignorant to suggest UNM eliminate its support centers

Editor,

Lawrence Allen, you must feel like public enemy No. 1, and this is for a very good reason. Do you think all subalterns, minorities and the (learning) disabled are placed on God's green Earth to be unskilled laborers to serve you? Did you forget the Emancipation Proclamation?

What a shame UNM admitted such a small-minded, bigoted and uneducated redneck such as yourself. How did you make it through high school without a lack of foundation in history and current affairs? And if these cultural centers offend you so much, why don't you go to a nice place far away from New Mexico and spare the University the embarrassment of a racist person such as yourself.

But I will spare you the slander, as that is for your karmic debt to endure, and let me tell you it makes the national debt look very small. Even President Barack Obama cannot pull you out of the mess you are in. So you think the elimination of support centers is a good idea? Without them, I guess I would still be drifting from job to job and place to place. What is it like to work in menial task jobs because you are thought of as stupid? Depressing. Perhaps some humility in this situation would behoove you.

For those of you who think those of us with learning disabilities do not deserve a chance, think of Dr. Albert Einstein, who had ADHD but challenged and blew away every law of physics there was. Did you know Buzz Aldrin, one of the "Magnificent Seven" astronauts and the second man to walk on the moon, is bipolar? Just imagine if nobody gave these brilliant men a chance. But suffering in silence is just one more unavoidable insult we have to endure to avoid discrimination from small minds like you to keep us from ending up on the streets. And who gives you the right to determine financial admittance to the University? Not everyone has helicopter parents hovering over them to wipe their noses and tie their shoes. They have something that you will come to grief at obtaining - self-sufficiency and old-fashioned elbow grease. One day, your parents are going to gently take you by the arm, cut you loose and encourage you to walk your own path without their financial assistance. What exactly will you do then?

Before you cut those like me down, a learning-disabled single parent putting herself through grad school knowing I will be almost $150,000 in debt by the time I finish my PhD, I want to leave you with a parting shot. I would be furnishing my own education and following the path of my choosing; you, on the other hand, are going to do exactly what your parents tell you to do. I truly pity you, and I also hope you get your chance at a bright and productive future. Just remember, four walls inside brick and mortar buildings do not always contain education.

Elizabeth Hillman

UNM student