Letters - The Daily Lobo

Opinion

Letter: Respond to tragedy with kindness

November 2

Random acts of violence evoke emotions of despair, frustration, sadness and anger, as well as the ever-present question, “How could this happen?” In the wake of the recent tragedies in Albuquerque and around our country, “What can I do to help?” or “What small changes can I make to ensure that this doesn’t happen again?” seem to be the recurring questions in our lives. The answer is simple: be kind. While it’s heartwarming and inspiring to see our community and businesses step up in support of Lilly Garcia and Officer Daniel Webster, I would challenge us to keep this support and assistance going—even when these tragedies aren’t in the forefront of our minds.

Opinion

Letter:

November 2

Editor, Hands - we enjoy using our hands to work, to garden, to play musical instruments, to prepare and eat meals, to pleasure our genitals, to make love with others.

Opinion

Letter: Societal expectations lead to homophobia and self-denial

October 5

Many males who yell “faggot” at others have sex with males or want to, but do not have the balls to say so. Some males are terrified of their hidden desire, scared if they tried it once with a male, they would enjoy it so much that they would want to keep getting it on with males.

Opinion

Letter: Pope's visit an ominous sign for the US

September 28

Swept up in the trumpeted spectacle of this pope’s giving of audience to our government leaders in no less than the nation’s capital, inviting him to a special ceremony in the White House to show him awe, having him speaking to a special joint session of Congress, we need to stand back a tad while reaching out our hands just to get a hint of his “awesome presence” and ask, “What’s wrong with this picture?”

Opinion

Letter: Obama is not living up to his words about justice and human dignity

September 28

A quote from President Obama Wednesday, addressing Pope Francis: “You call on all of us, Catholic and non-Catholic alike, to put the ‘least of these’ at the center of your concerns...to stand up for justice and against inequality, and to ensure that every human being is able to live in dignity because we are all made in the image of God.”

Opinion

Letter: U.S. should cooperate with Syrian government to topple terrorists

September 24

Editor, There are still those who stubbornly cling to the myth that there is a “moderate” opposition in Syria that the United States must support against both the Syrian government, ISIS and al-Qaeda.

Opinion

Letter: Pro-life abortions could become a consequence of costly medicine

September 24

Editor, The price for a single pill to actually cure an increasing number of otherwise fatal illnesses is jumping to astronomical levels in the United States — what’s ahead?

Opinion

Letter: The beliefs of many atheists are based on unscientific presuppositions

September 21

Editor, We would like to present the results of the Atheist Survey collected on the UNM Albuquerque campus in April-May 2015. Of the 56 self-proclaimed atheists and agnostics who completed the survey, 45 (80 percent) have at least one parent who believed in God, 35 (63 percent) believed in God as a child, and 42 (75 percent) began to doubt God's existence prior to leaving high school.

Opinion

Letter: Lobos an appropriate mascot for UNM

September 21

Editor, Lobos are not a losing face, nor do they besmirch the legacy of UNM. The Mexican grey wolf is not extinct but critically endangered, and many efforts have been made to remedy this. The mentality of wolves in general as being degenerate and pests has only made the Lobos come back more difficult. Despite all the cards being held against them, Lobos preserve and maintain their dignity. Lobos are shot, poisoned and thought of as losers, yet they still survive and stick to the tradition of a pack mentality: with a variety of members in a pack working together to achieve the same goals. Their penchant for team work and success as a pack is something that we at UNM all emulate. To me the Lobo represents strength in the face of adversity, which is a mascot we should all be proud of. Resilient, strong, and proud: UNM Lobos for life! Sincerely, Veronica Koomson-Maiden Daily Lobo reader Lobos are not a losing face, nor do they besmirch the legacy of UNM. The Mexican grey wolf is not extinct but critically endangered, and many efforts have been made to remedy this. The mentality of wolves in general as being degenerate and pests has only made the Lobos come back more difficult.

Opinion

Letter: Republicans show they are against the defenseless

September 21

Publicly, have you noticed how so many Republican power-mongers pick mainly on weak people, people who are already oppressed, people who are defenseless? Like dirt-poor undocumented migrants, artistic gay men, women in crisis making the agonizing decision of having a late-term abortion or possibly dying, and entire third-world nations that they bomb on the slightest pretext because the people there are too poor to fight back.

Opinion

Letter: Simple, cheap living is possible for those who don't consume by reflex

September 21

I enjoy living simply and healthy on less than half the United States poverty level and less than half the federal income taxable level for me as a single person -- to boycott the U.S. empire’s greed and wars. I lived well in 2014 on $4,923 for my total expenses -- rent, food, etc.

Opinion

Letter: Anti-equality views on toplessness based only on debatable social mores

September 8

Female toplessness, an Aug. 25 Daily Lobo letter says, will lead to more objectification. This thesis is fatally flawed: It ignores the social construction of gender and the implications of that. It is the tautological argument that women’s bodies need to be covered in order to garner respect (social norms say women’s bodies should be covered to be respected; women should cover their bodies for greater respect because thus sayeth social norms). It is time – no, it is far past time – to deconstruct and interrogate the arbitrary social constructions that permit men to do something while women are not given the same privilege. The first flaw in the argument made in that letter is the glaring dichotomy set up between “woman” and “man.” The argument goes like this: men and women are different, because of – you know – anatomy and biochemistry and genes and things. Thus, men are different from women.

Opinion

Letter: Chartwells' pay issues are being investigated

September 8

In response to the recent letter to the editor in the Daly Lobo, Chartwells would like readers to know that it is important to Chartwells that every associate is paid on time.

Opinion

Letter: Women's Equality Day is a good time to get involed

August 26

August 26 is the 95th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, which granted women the right to vote. The League of Women Voters of New Mexico honors the amazing women who fought with unrelenting tenacity to achieve the most powerful extension of citizenship rights in our nation’s history.

Opinion

Letter: Toplessness will lead to more female objectification

August 26

While I respect the goal to obtain equal rights among men and women, I was disappointed after I read yesterday's story, "Activists Go Without for Topless Equality." While their intentions may be to de-sexualize the female body, the results are furthering our objectification as women.

Opinion

Letter: Campus weapon policy enables predators, creates victims

August 24

On Friday, there was another student alert of a female being groped on UNM main campus. That makes five groping reports in a month (according to KOB Channel 4 news). As people on campus are being targeted by predators, the UNM policy office states: “No person may use or possess a weapon on any part of campus.” Also, any weapons found could lead to materials being impounded by law enforcement and disciplinary or criminal action. (The only persons exempt are campus police and “inoperable” weapons by ROTC).

Opinion

Letter: Slow erosion of communities can be averted by purposeful involvement

August 24

We live in a society that is more connected, and yet at the same time more disconnected, than ever before. Social media has transformed the way we communicate, and has made creating social connections that previously would have been improbable as easy as clicking a button. At the same time, repeated studies show that the number of close friends the average American says she/he can talk to in a time of need has dropped sharply over the last half-century. Other evidence points to the same trend: the number of people who would describe themselves as lonely, who live alone and who don’t interact outside of work/school situations have all increased steadily over the last 50 or so years.

Opinion

Letter: Trump dominates the media, but other candidates are more frightening

August 24

I’ve been reading your letters pages and am happy to find something better than what appears in the local dumb rag (the Journal). Trump reminds me of Rupert Pupkin, the comic wannabe in Scorsese’s “The King of Comedy” who kidnaps a talk show host (Jerry Lewis) to get ten minutes on the program. I kind of like Trump’s unfiltered rant -- it’s audacious, but what he proposes is usually ugly, in line with the Republican agenda.

Opinion

Letter: Trump runs off controversy and no political platform

August 20

Every time I hear or read about Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, I can’t help but contemplate the similarities between the man himself and this animated character. He feeds off distraction, misdirection and controversy. His racism and sexism is forgiven or even cheered because it is “honest.”

Opinion

Letter: Voters choose candidates based on ignorance

August 20

American politics is quite silly – absurd, even. This irreverent perspective goes beyond a critique of the veneration that cartoon characters like Donald Trump receive from much of the conservative body politic: It is a viewpoint that strikes at a very deep, very real problem that appears to be embedded in the American political fabric. The problem, you see, is the American voter’s dutiful allegiance to a willful culture of ignorance. American culture, broadly speaking, is not well-known for scientific literacy. After all, we are rather good at turning out high school students who simply do not measure up in STEM areas compared to students from many other “developed” or “First-World” nations.