The recent deaths of senior criminology major Matthew Grant and junior business administration major Briana Hillard have brought together the UNM community in a way that is rarely seen. Moments like these show how much of an effect we can have on others.
It wasn’t that long ago when the decision between going to the University Hospital (UNMH) and some of the other options (Lovelace or Presbyterian) for a UNM employee was a no-brainer: If you had to get major surgery or had a major illness, you went to UNMH, you paid out $150 and that was the end of it.
I got to attend the Lobo/Aggies game Wednesday night, and although the game was great, my experience ... not so much. Recently the naming rights to the Pit were sold to WisePies, a local (yes, they’re local) pizza joint, and now their name is sprawled all over the Pit floor. Not only is their name on the floor, but Bank of Albuquerque’s and Verizon’s are, too. The Pit floor is starting to look more like a billboard than a basketball court.
WisePies has purchased naming rights to The Pit. So now, it’s the “Pizza Pit.” Great. Now the rawest building in the state alliterates with bummy sandwiches. You know what else could have paid for the renovation? Abolishing the football team. I’m not sure how this would have affected women’s sports teams with regard to Title IX, but on the flip side, why not just fund them anyway?
Before anyone calls me “anti-teacher,” let me say that I have a degree in education, my daughter is at UNM majoring in education, and I believe the starting pay of teachers in New Mexico should be $5,000 to $10,000 higher. With that said, I have to give credit to the APS school board for delaying a final decision on paying teachers for days they are absent while serving as state legislators. Granted, legislators are not paid a salary.
If the United States wants fewer immigrants, it needs to work for justice for the millions of poor and working people in other nations. Instead, the U.S. government routinely and deliberately sides with the filthy rich to rob and kill the poor. Many immigrants flee here from war, persecution and severe poverty caused largely by the U.S. Many immigrants would prefer to stay in their native lands if living conditions there greatly improved.
Editor, On Nov. 25 more than 300 citizens of Albuquerque collectively decided to take to the streets to disrupt business-as-usual in the wake of the decision denying young Michael Brown justice. Protesters marched peacefully between San Mateo and Yale Boulevard. Brown was assassinated by the killer cop Darren Wilson and left in the street for four hours in a way that horribly traumatized friends, families and onlookers. The police in all cities act as a cartel or gang in that they are always sending a message about their capability to inflict violence and death.
According to the Macpherson report, institutional racism is “the collective failure of an organization to provide an appropriate and professional service to people because of their color, culture or ethnic origin, which can be seen or detected in processes; attitudes and behavior which amount to discrimination through unwitting prejudice, ignorance, thoughtlessness and racist stereotyping that disadvantages minority ethnic people.” Whether one believes that institutional racism is real or not, there has long been a perception in so-called minority communities throughout the United States that the various police departments are ready to kill them on the flimsiest pretext. As of this writing, Ferguson, Missouri prepares for a possible race riot if police officer Darren Wilson is not indicted in the killing of black youth Michael Brown.
Times have changed since solar and wind power first became available. Across the country, the cost of coal is going up, and the price of clean energy – like wind and solar – is coming down. Employment trends are changing, too. Today, more workers are employed in the clean energy industry than in coal mining nationwide. Since 2012, New Mexico’s solar industry has added nearly 1,000 new jobs. Almost 2,000 New Mexicans now work in our state’s growing solar economy. As owner of a local solar company, I’ve seen the remarkable transition to clean energy take root in our region. Solar electricity costs less than grid energy, and home and business owners are taking advantage of the opportunity to fix their energy costs for the long run. We’ve added 30 employees in the past year to keep up with demand. It is a really exciting time.
Editor, From an early age I learned life is not certain. Tomorrow is not guaranteed to any of us.
Editor, The reason for writing is to let you know about the lousy experiences I have had from departments at the college where you sign up for programs and then through advisements where we are asked to sign papers which we do not want to sign. The advisement office told me I had to finish classes before fall which I think they and I knew just couldn’t be accomplished in that given amount of time.
Editor, It is no secret that the “special relationship” between the United States and Israel has been strained as of late.
On Friday the Daily Lobo reprinted an article by Michael Reagan originally called “Riding the Wave.” This article overlooks the actual landscape from which Republicans were able to benefit simply because they were not the party of the president. There is a term among political scientists called the “six-year itch,” which in essence predicts that in the second term of a presidency, the president’s party will likely suffer defeats during midterm elections. Mr. Reagan should be quite aware of this, given that his father suffered the very same problem in his second term, losing eight seats in the Senate and five seats in the House, as well as the fact that previous Democratic majorities with which Obama entered office were based upon gains made during midterms in George W. Bush’s second term.
Editor, Do I ever know myself or the other person or the future well enough to know for sure we both will do well with only each other romantically until death?
Editor, As we approach the holiday season, I would like to remind everyone whether they are spending the holidays with friends or family that this joyous time is not joyous for everyone, for some it is a nightmare.
You would think that feudalism is a thing of the past, when land-owning lords rented out to peasants who did all the work and the landlords just sat back rubbing their fat bellies while counting out their money. You would be wrong.Today there is a resurgence of feudalism in all but name, and it is right here in the U.S. of A., and it is people who to this day call themselves “landlords.” The only difference is they rent out apartments and houses and parking lots, and where they are making their killing is around college campuses.For one thing, they serve a transient population of students who would rather not take the landlord to court because they are going to leave sometime soon, and they are young and are looking forward, however illusorily, to a materially successful future after graduation.
When would it be right for an enemy nation to murder your family?If never, how can it be right for the United States to murder the families of people in our enemy nations?Would I, as an openly gay man, fight to be accepted into the mafia? Would I, as an openly gay man, fight to be accepted into a violent street gang? Would I, as an openly gay man, fight to be accepted into a band of drug dealers or bank robbers?
Editor,The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, along with 51 individuals (including parents and children), have sued the State of New Mexico.
The attempt by some unknown individual or group to firebomb the Islamic Center of New Mexico this past Friday should serve as a wakeup call to members of our community that Islamophobia is a real phenomenon.
This letter is a brief commentary on the legacy of the late Ali Mazrui, Professor and Prophet of African and Global studies. Kenyan-born, Ali Mazrui (1933-2014), who recently died, was a prominent scholar and ranked in 2005 among the top 100 public intellectuals in the world.His works have engaged anthropologists, biologists, economists, historians, sociologists, secularists, humanists, creationists, evolutionists, political scientists, policy makers and philosophers, to mention a few. His documentary, “The Africans: A Triple Heritage” in 1986, albeit divisive for the American audiences, was a groundbreaking synthesis of many academic disciplines and social values.
Solutions by The State News
