Opinion - The Daily Lobo

Opinion

Obama's success due to strengths, not ethnicity

April 18

Editor, Sen. Barack Obama's campaign has been at the forefront of the 2008 presidential election. Progressive former vice presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro said, "If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position," and Black Entertainment Television founder Bob Johnson supported Ferraro, asking "If you take a freshman senator from Illinois called Jerry Smith, and he says, 'I'm going to run for president,' would he start off with 90 percent of the black vote?" The fallout from such statements has been extreme but puzzling.

Opinion

Respect your own country by respecting other flags

April 17

Editor, What makes every so-called loyal American think that other countries do not revere the flag to the same dying degree that we do in the U.S.? Other countries, Mexico in particular, fought hard, losing many heroic men and women for the right to fly their flag democratically and honorably.

Opinion

Racism is still ingrained in campaign for president

April 17

Editor, In his letter in Tuesday's Daily Lobo, Philip Howell tries in vain to make the point that it would be a mistake to elect Sen. Barack Obama just because he's African-American. But he simply proves my point that racism is still an integral part of American society.

Opinion

Students with disabilities face entrenched prejudice

April 17

Editor, Being a student at UNM is not an easy thing. It is particularly difficult for students with disabilities. We face bone-grinding discrimination, discrimination that actually allows senior departmental administrators to enter classrooms while classes are going on and take away the accessible supports of disabled students with absolute impunity.

Opinion

Editorial: Politics are behind U.S. concern for human rights

April 16

The Olympic torch has never had it so bad. From Paris to London and in our very own San Francisco, it has evoked a little love but mostly a lot of protests, so much so that the torch had to be extinguished at one point in Paris and put into a bus to keep away hordes of protesters who were trying to put it out.

Opinion

University needs to ban smoking on Main Campus

April 16

Editor, I would like to comment on Peggy Spencer's column on secondhand smoke in Tuesday's Daily Lobo. I work on North Campus and take classes on the Main Campus. Last week, I had to pass a smoker to get to class at Dane Smith Hall. I had to walk behind a smoker when I walked back to work.

Opinion

Electing Obama on race could set bad precedent

April 16

Editor, Rose-colored lenses allow Santhosh Chandrashekar to see a fantasy world where Sen. Barack Obama is the savior. Some facts rather than fantasy: Obama's demonstration of racial healing is attacking his white grandmother who raised him for words he claims she used 25 years ago.

Opinion

Column: The perils of secondhand smoke

Peggy Spencer Columnist | April 15

UNM is considering becoming a smoke-free campus. Smoking is already prohibited inside the buildings and within 20 feet of entrances. I'm a physician and I feel moved to offer information about the health effects of secondhand smoke and smoke-free workplaces.

Opinion

Hillary Clinton truly cares for her fellow Americans

April 15

Editor, This letter is to explain why I am not supporting Sen. Barack Obama but Sen. Hillary Clinton for president. Obama maintains that he is the candidate for change, but what has he done to work for change? Why are most of his political endorsements coming from Washington insiders? This is something to be considered.

Opinion

The word 'schmidly' best defines UNM's president

April 15

Editor, The philosophy department has become curious about the meaning of the word "Schmidly," which has entered current usage at UNM. We have researched dictionaries and etymologies in several languages and come up with the following definition: Schmidly (shmid.

Opinion

It's time to move on; stop debating the flag incident

April 14

Editor, Can we simply drop the flag debate? Peter Lynch tore a flag and got punished for it. The end. There is absolutely no reason for a debate on racism, a term that is too easily used these days. Although I can see how it started - Lynch is white, and the people he offended aren't - if any "ism" needs to be discussed, it should be nationalism.

Opinion

Pedestrians must be alert when they cross the street

April 14

Editor, As I sit outside Popejoy Hall every afternoon waiting to go home, I notice that the majority of people violate one basic rule: Look both ways before you cross. It is as simple as that, and yet I have seen maybe only three people this week even look both ways.

Opinion

Column: Obama comes as a ray of hope

Santhosh Chandrashekar columnist | April 14

I never thought an African-American would one day be in the White House - that is, until Sen. Barack Obama came along. Compared to his competitors, Obama has a number of advantages. Unlike Sen. John McCain, he is not an advocate of military solutions and staying the course in Iraq, even if it takes another 100 years.

Opinion

Demonizing white males is not true multiculturalism

April 14

Editor, I don't get to read the Daily Lobo as much as I'd like to. However, I did see some letters in the Friday issue regarding the issue of flying the flags of foreign countries and about the desecration of the Mexican flag episode. I can see the manner in which Peter Lynch removed the flag was sub-optimal, but why would UNM fly the flag of another country on campus to begin with? I realize the academic and college population are required to furnish these opinions and perspectives.

Opinion

Politicians should resign if they voted for Iraq War

April 11

Editor, The decline of Western civilization is apparent driving in Albuquerque or going to Wal-Mart. Have Americans always been so stupid about everything? The reason the U.S. needs to get the hell out of Iraq is because the reasons we were given for getting into Iraq, simply stated, were a pack of lies.

Opinion

Lynch should have known the law before violating it

April 11

Editor, Peter Lynch had no understanding of American law when he committed his act of unconscionable vigilantism, and it is clear from his most recent tirade that he has learned nothing. As before, he made a massive error by referencing the U.S. Flag Code which, in all its clauses, says "should" and never"must.

Opinion

Flag tearer received the punishment he deserved

April 11

Editor, Was Peter Lynch not guilty? His petty misdemeanor deserved every bit of punishment he received. His probably artificial apologies and ROTC status does not make him immune to the law. "Justice for all" includes Lynch. He complains of the reverse racism that he suffered, but for what reason did he pull down the flag in the first place? Had it been a Confederate flag, would he have torn it up so violently? I think he deserves to be punished for the anger and disrespect that he caused.

Opinion

Israel-China comparison disregards policy issues

April 10

Editor, I find it disconcerting that Vicki Johnson wrote another letter likening Israel to China published in the Daily Lobo on Monday. Her response to criticism is particularly insulting. She suggests that those who disagree with her only do so because they have been socialized into a system that somehow parallels the Chinese Communist Party propaganda.

Opinion

Violence by Palestinians prolongs Mideast conflict

April 10

Editor, In a letter published in the Daily Lobo on Monday concerning Chinese and Tibetan people, the phrase "brutal suppression of minorities" in reference to Israel and Palestinians caught my attention. I want to pose the question: Who is suppressing whom? Hamas and other Palestinian terrorists in Gaza have fired more than 400 rockets and mortar shells into Israel since the beginning of January.

Opinion

Flag violations tolerated out of respect, patriotism

April 10

Editor, It greatly saddened me to read the letter by Peter Lynch published in the Daily Lobo on April 9. I do believe the Daily Lobo made the right decision by publishing it, for any person deserves the right to express his or her opinion. However, I am saddened that after nearly seven months, there is still animosity in the air over this incident.