Letters - The Daily Lobo

Opinion

Letter: Our way of life is not the only way

April 25

I constantly collect wisdom every day in order to live it. We have much to learn from other cultures. The native Tiruray people, who lived in the southern Philippines in the 1960s, enjoyed complete equality between men and women. Men were not above women, women were not above men – in any way. A spirit of harmony – no battles of men against women, no battles of women against men. Caring, non-violence, warmth, nurturing, sharing and empathy were not considered feminine qualities; they were human qualities – the right way for both men and women to be. Bravery, confidence, clear thinking, boldness in sex and boldness in conversation were not considered masculine qualities; they were human qualities – the right way for both men and women to be. Toughness, dominating others and taking advantage of others was not right for men or women. Men and women deeply understood and helped each other.

Opinion

Letter: A vote for Hillary Clinton will only bring more violence

April 21

ld like to take this opportunity to address Hillary Clinton supporters. If you are not aware by now, then there is a certain faction within our government known as the neoconservatives or "neo cons" for short. This group published a paper called "Rebuilding America's Defenses" in which they argued that after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the United States should use its superior military strength to dominate the rest of the world by the barrel of a gun.

Opinion

Letter: Save the bees, save our food

April 21

I sure like food, don’t you? Without food, as a matter of fact, there would stop being people. We are getting closer and closer to running out of bees that pollinate over 70 percent of our foods. In the last year, over 50 percent of bee colonies died in New Mexico due to a recently popular pesticide called Neonics.

Opinion

Letter: New Mexico's water needs to be protected

April 21

As a native New Mexican and a college student, I care a lot about having clean drinking water in this city. Not having clean drinking water is a big problem for all of us. But it's especially a big problem for our kids and future generations of New Mexicans. Growing up in New Mexico my father and I went on a lot of river rafting trips in New Mexico on rivers like the Rio Chama and a lot of the other rivers.

Opinion

Letter: I drink no booze

April 21

I drink no booze. Booze has devastated the lives of many of my friends. Booze causes car crashes, paralyzing and killing thousands, including my niece Rachel. Booze causes awful family fights, ruined romances, horrible holiday memories ... I do not want to make it easier for me to say or do things I later terribly regret. Men wake up in jail not remembering stabbing their wife or buddy while drunk the night before.

Opinion

Letter: Cars are an addiction that's killing the planet

April 14

15 years ago April 7 was the last time I rode in any car! I have not owned a car for 36 years. I damn wars for oil! I condemn fracking. Cars cause catastrophic climate chaos. Cars poison the air. Highways, streets, parking lots and garages smother millions of acres of fertile soil needed for growing food and trees. Trees soak up the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide.

Opinion

Letter: Sanders is running against civic resignation

April 14

Civic resignation is the head bowed to the inexorable outcome; the shrug that follows two centuries of democracy at half mast; the unquieted, Flint-Michigan-state-of-dread that knows that someone will put something in the tap.

Opinion

Letter: Britain covering up crimes with euphemisms

April 14

The Panama Papers leak has brought the world’s attention to tax dodgers among the rich and the powerful, reminding us that a large percentage of the world’s tax “havens” are on British-ruled islands.

Opinion

Letter: Concealed carry permits are for protection, should extend to campus

April 14

The recent bill that was passed in Texas has been a hot topic as of late. S.B. 11, also known as the campus carry law, is a new law that will allow anyone who possesses a concealed carry license to be able to carry a gun on campus. The law does however, give discretion to universities to allow them to tweak and create some restrictions.

Opinion

Letter: Randy Ko in touch with commuter students

April 11

Randy Ko is more than just your typical candidate for the president of the student body. He is unique and necessary because he is a commuter student like the vast majority of us students, a rarity in student body presidents. He lives in the reality that many students could be more involved in the university and seeks to show students that there is something at the University for everyone. Student collaboration defines student success by giving them connections and experiences that will stay with them for a lifetime.

Opinion

Letter: John McCain wrong about ISIS

April 11

Senator John McCain recently criticized the US war effort against ISIS. In a letter to Defense Secretary Ashton Carter, McCain said, “My conversations with military commanders both on the ground and in the Pentagon have led me to the disturbing, yet unavoidable conclusion that they have been reduced from considering what it will take to win to what they will be allowed to do by this administration.”

Opinion

Letter: Government spying could change humanity

April 7

This is the era when the processing of Big Data by artificial intelligence is revealing things about you and your past that even you don’t know -- revealed not to you, but to those who are looking to use what they find to act maliciously against you, both transnational criminal enterprises, and Big Government saying it is all for the greater good, of course.

Opinion

Letter: Health care providers in the U.S. don't have say in multiple arenas

April 7

Your letter regarding healthcare in the US was interesting to say the least and highly misinformed as well. You seem to feel that providers of healthcare may arbitrarily decide how and when they will treat patients.

Opinion

Letter: Free parking on campus would mean no parking on campus for many

April 7

We are writing in response to a letter on March 31st regarding UNM Parking and Transportation Services (PATS). Having worked directly with PATS in the past, we can say that they are some of the kindest people you will ever meet. Their primary mission is to serve the students of UNM and they are very clear and enthusiastic about that in any conversation you have with them. Because of this, we think it is only fair to clear up some misconceptions that are widely held all over campus.

Opinion

Letter: Sanders represents a populist campaign of participation

April 7

Protagoras was among the first partisans of the so-called social contract, a compromise prohibiting the stronger from injuring the weaker that ratified (in effect) the foundation of democratic government—and strength in the modern age has been principally economic. Wall Street one-percentism is the unambiguous dissolution of the social contract; the Sanders movement represents its surprised restoration.

Opinion

Letter: Why is violence, but not sex, acceptable entertainment?

April 4

Why are movies about passionate romance between Romeo and Juliet or Judy and Juliet or Romeo and Roger, with scenes of affectionate naked lovemaking, NOT considered family entertainment? Imagine a world where watching affectionate naked lovemaking is family entertainment for all ages.

Opinion

Letter: Healthcare a right, not a privilege

April 4

What gives a doctor the right to decide who gets to live and who gets to die? Here’s a clue: All these doctors who currently are not taking patients for life-saving clinical trials (such as wonderfully effective immunotherapy drugs for cancer) because their regular patients do pay as usual, but the patients in the trial do not. And so many American terminal cancer patients cannot find a doctor to perform said experimental therapy, and die.

Opinion

Letter: Racist seal should be dealt with

April 4

We respect and can’t forget the cultural economics and political gifts that came from the Native people. All of this combines to make the state of New Mexico what it is today.

Opinion

Letter: Board of Regents decision shuts out student voice

March 31

On March 14, during spring break for many UNM Health Sciences Center (HSC) students and with insufficient notice, the UNM Board of Regents voted 4-2 to restructure the UNM HSC Governance. Among other changes, the HSC Board, previously comprised of seven voting members (five Regents and two community members), was reduced to a three member board solely comprised of Regents. For a comprehensive list of changes, see the full agenda from the Board of Regents meeting.

Opinion

Letter: Lack of diversity in STEM programs not due to racism

March 31

I recently read several articles in the 28th of March edition of the Daily Lobo and I have several rebuttals to make. The first being to the divisive Ted talk that just took place. I am a white student in a STEM program and want to point out many of the fallacies and bigoted thinking that permeated this article. First off, if you’re not white, you can still be a racist. Look up the definition of the word. Secondly, I’m fairly certain I didn’t get lost on my way to African studies and wind up in the Engineering complex by mistake. It was a personal choice, the same personal choice that most students have in which educational route to take.