Opinion

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Faculty, infrastructure more important than new coach

Editor, I wish to thank the University again for showing us how out of touch with the community it really is. The news of a recent hiring this week of a football coach for zillions of dollars when we have temp employees terrified they will not be able to pay mortgages and insurance payments as of the first of the year is shocking.

Filling athletics vacancies over faculty not fair to students

Editor, Here's a simple question: What is wrong with a University that can't fill a faculty spot years after it becomes vacant but can fill the head football coach position within days? I have come to accept that a school's sports programs, especially football and basketball, take priority over its academic programs because sports programs can bring in a lot of money.

UNM needs to justify allocating large salaries to vice presidents

Editor, I have attended UNM for the past couple of years, and I have noticed that there are several recurring themes. Most often, I feel I am educated enough to have a legitimate idea of where I stand on most issues. However, one area in which I have always felt deep concern, but on which, to be perfectly honest, I have virtually no knowledge of, is that of our budgetary concerns regarding the employment of what is often alleged to be an excess of administration.

UNM's spending shows it values entertainment over education

Editor, With much interest, I read the article in Friday's Daily Lobo reporting on the decision of the regents to divert money from a cogeneration project to Pit renovations but not to move forward on the GPSA-supported expansion of the UNM child care facility.

Bush has made United States a broken, bankrupt country

Editor, I have been reading the Daily Lobo's Opinion page for 15 years and have always looked forward to reading the editorials and letters to the editor. Correct me if I am wrong, but the editors of the Daily Lobo have not written a single editorial this semester about the election, the wars or the economic collapse.

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Students need to attend forum; budget battles affect everyone

Editor, The first question of the day is, How many of you know President David Schmidly will address concerns about the "economic crisis" at an important forum Friday? The second question is, How many of you will show up? As a GPSA representative for the Community and Regional Planning Program, I see it as my responsibility to inform fellow students when important events affecting their University community and academic resources will happen.

War on drugs ignores individual rights to liberty and property

Editor, If Alaskans have state constitutional protection to have marijuana, why is marijuana still illegal for the rest of us? Marijuana is still illegal because the judiciary does not recognize marijuana users as persons and does not recognize marijuana as property under other state and federal constitutions.

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Daily Lobo excels in covering economic crisis at University

Editor, I want to commend Daily Lobo journalists for doing an excellent job in reporting on the current economic crisis at UNM. Every day, even if I have a busy schedule, I have made it a point to check the latest in the Daily Lobo and to read the lead articles carefully.

Letters: The abortion debate

While the debate about abortion heats up in the letters to the editor, so do the comments posted on DailyLobo.com. Here's a look at what some of our online readers have to say: Rich Latta, while your letter is an interesting look at scripture, it does not speak to the issue of abortion: Why is it OK to kill the unborn baby? Do you doubt or deny the medical science that clearly identified you as a new, unique, distinctive human being at the moment of conception? If you agree with medical science, do you agree that we should end abortion except to save the life of the woman when no other choice is available? Philip Howell posted on DailyLobo.

Capital funds should be used to help nontraditional students

Editor, I strongly believe that government's role in economic hard times like these is to help the common man get by and to help our nation's workers prepare for what could be a very different future economy. Given the recently declared recession, I particularly appreciate UNM going ahead with major capital improvement projects.

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Day needed for remembering murdered transgender people

Editor, On Feb. 12, Lawrence King, 15, was shot and killed in his classroom by a 14-year-old classmate. In the same month, a black transsexual woman, Duanna Johnson, was beaten and pepper sprayed while handcuffed in a police station in Memphis, and then in November, she was found dead.

Thanks to UNM Transportation, shuttle service is less stressful

Editor, I would like to publicly say thank you to the UNM transportation team. I commute to UNM for classes and park in South Lot. Last semester, this was not a pleasant experience; I had to wait in line, sometimes for 20 minutes, for a bus to come around, and sometimes, I barely made it to class.

Column: U.S. needs to spend carefully

'Tis the season for buying each other cheap plastic gifts that will be swiftly relegated to the back of a closet. It's a Christmas tradition, after all. And all too often, we spend tax dollars the same way: just mindlessly throwing money around because, well, that's just the way it is, and we never do anything about it.

The Bible does not support Christian anti-abortion beliefs

Editor, In his guest column "Abortion is a woman's choice," James Letterhos references arguments made against abortion based on the Christian faith. It is widely believed that Judeo-Christianity opposes abortion, but if you actually read the Bible, it tells a different story.

Avoid computer viruses this holiday

Since friends and family will likely be sending you holiday letters and eCards this time of year (and saving a few pennies and a couple of trees by not sending paper cards through the U.S. Postal Service), it may be a good time to review the "golden rules of e-mail.

GPSA has degenerated into a playground of amateur politics

Editor, After last year's GPSA debacles, President Christopher Ramirez and Council Chairwoman Lissa Knudsen were overwhelmingly elected on a platform of transparency, accountability and unification. Yet those words disappeared from the GPSA vocabulary before the ballot boxes were cold.