Editor, My name is Evan Harris and I am an independent candidate for ASUNM vice president. My previous letters to the Daily Lobo were published on March 31 and April 3 and should be available online. Today, I will focus on some of my ideas for improving ASUNM lobbying efforts.
Editor, The right to vote is absolute and shall not be restricted in any manner whatsoever. Christopher Ramirez had no right to remove three questions from the ballot when the council voted to include them in the election. Limiting speech through manipulated elections is unacceptable and should not be tolerated.
Editor, As an anthropology undergraduate student concentrating in human evolutionary ecology at UNM, I feel fortunate to attend an institution where the faculty and administration do not write off the contributions of undergraduates or the possibility of undergraduate research.
Editor, For the past two years, I've had a chance to work repeatedly alongside B. Lee Drake, who is currently running for GPSA president. He has come under fire for his attempts to reach out to the broader UNM community, which has been dismissed as having no higher agenda than a high school dance.
Editor, The current field of candidates for GPSA president offers an embarrassment of riches. Both candidates have impressive résumés and thoughtful platforms of reform. Yet, a choice must be made, and that choice has become clear: Lissa Knudsen is the candidate that will most strongly stand up for the interests of graduate and professional students in the face of an arrogant administration and its ASUNM stooges.
Editor, I'm writing in response to Beth Johnson's attack on GPSA presidential candidate B. Lee Drake. She argued that his emphasis on working to find common ground with undergraduate students is useless, as their only focus is the "Homecoming football dance.
Editor, I am an undergraduate at UNM who is about to graduate. I have attended this University for a long time. I've watched slates and ASUNM presidents come and go. I've seen firsthand the apathy that many undergraduates feel toward their student government.
I am running for ASUNM president because I strongly believe that the role of any government - student or otherwise - is to offer powerful and representative advocacy on behalf of whatever constituent group it claims to represent. As a three-year veteran of ASUNM who has served as an ASUNM senator and the ASUNM attorney general, I have had the opportunity to see the true power of this organization firsthand.
Editor, Beth Johnson's letter concerning the GPSA election was condescending. Graduate and undergraduate students pay tuition, and it is unfair to single out ASUNM's only concern as being "the Homecoming football dance." All the ASUNM senators I have met take their responsibilities as student representatives seriously, and they devote a lot of their free time toward working hard on what they believe is in the best interest of the students.
I agree with others who have written about the GPSA elections. GPSA and graduate and professional students deserve a GPSA president who can continue to bring change. We also need someone who can work with our administration and hold it accountable. I have tried to do both of these things over the past year and have realized how valuable it is to build relationships with administrators, faculty and staff and other key decision makers and supporters of graduate and professional students.
Editor, It seems appropriate to say that our world is collapsing around us. Our relationship with the Middle East has been shot to hell, political tension between Mexico and the U.S. is continually fermenting, the economy is in shambles, corruption (at least the corruption that has been made apparent) is unprecedented, and global warming still remains a very valid threat that's only getting worse.
Editor, The Daily Lobo article about UNM Press on April 1 inaccurately describes the layoff of three employees. By titling the article "UNM Press to fire three employees," the Lobo implied that the individuals in question were terminated for some kind of wrongdoing, which is not the case.
Editor, I am writing in response to Beth Johnson's opinion about B. Lee Drake and, more importantly, ASUNM. Unfortunately, Beth is nothing but an example of the misinformed students that ASUNM tries to reach out to. Apparently, Beth, you have not done the amount of research that is necessary to make such bold statements, but instead you mask your lack of knowledge with brash tactics and vocabulary.
Editor, I am writing in response to Joseph Garcia's column in Tuesday's Daily Lobo. Garcia closed his remarks with the proposal that GPSA as a group and GPSA as a movement are two different things. This horribly flawed logic has persisted in GPSA for far too long and is perhaps the most prominent legacy of both Garcia's administration and his successor's.
Editor, Why does the administration find it so easy to criticize UNM Press for its deficit, resort to firing dedicated staff and threaten to outsource the whole operation? Let's keep in mind that the press is completely self-supported, has to pay rent for its offices and warehouse, and has had to endure two moves of its offices that were dictated by the University and had a negative effect on its operations and sales.
Editor, In March, we were again graced with the presence of another right-wing columnist. Dixon Duval was angry (even by right-wing standards), and can one blame him? With the conservatives' last president an embarrassment, Barack Obama's victory definitive, if not overwhelming, and Republicans' stances in the polls at an all-time low, it's clearly not a fun time to be a conservative.
Solutions by The State News
