LETTER: Bill 18F would cut funding for ‘irreplaceable public service’

The University of New Mexico College Democrats strongly oppose ASUNM Senate Bill 18F that would slash guaranteed funding for student publications from 8.5% to 4% of ASUNM revenue. Student publications such as the Daily Lobo are indispensable to the undergraduate population at UNM, having been proven to be a unique and irreplaceable public service by providing students with steady, credible reporting and information, most recently with information on where and how to vote in the 2020 election.

Nov 16, 2020 Comics

LETTER: Structural changes needed to prevent tragic deaths like KUNM news director

In the wake of KUNM news director Hannah Colton’s death, a common refrain by friends, loved ones and community members circulated: “Check on your friends, and reach out if you need help.”

As two people who were very close to Hannah, we hear and appreciate the gesture. Creating communities of care and resilience is important. But checking on Hannah, asking that she reach out, did not solve the underlying problems that led to her death.

Hannah was a journalist who led a chronically understaffed and resource-deprived newsroom, no different than most other newsrooms and many nonprofits. Every day she confronted very real structural violences of a world organized around profit and white supremacy.

Nov 11, 2020 Comics

LETTER: The value of transparency

The University of New Mexico’s Student Fee Review Board (SFRB) was created to add the voice of our University’s students to the budgeting process. Through this board, the students’ representatives voice concerns and make adjustments to the use of the community’s student fees. The goal of the SFRB is to enhance UNM’s academic and intellectual environment by supporting student activities and organizations. While there are tough budget and management questions to be answered each year, this year presented difficult decisions based on a continued decline in student enrollment.

EDITORIAL: UNM administration flouts First Amendment with gag order on Daily Lobo reporter

Let it be known that there is no doubt that Daily Lobo data editor Joe Rull could quite easily “break the ankles” of any student government representative, for Rull is an absolute beast in the post, his footwork is immaculate and he knows every move in the book.

In addition to reaffirming our data editor’s skills on the court, we must also make clear that when the University of New Mexico Dean of Students, Nasha Torrez, violated the First Amendment rights of a member of the student newspaper, she violated the rights of the newspaper as a whole.