Editor, I am writing in response to the article on banning smoking published in the Daily Lobo on Feb. 27. I feel the headline writer missed the point by focusing only on the negative aspects with the headline, "Campaign to ban smoking loses spark," saying it all.
Dear Dr. Peg, Should I get tested for HIV? I'm in a new relationship, and we're getting ready to have sex. But I'm a heterosexual woman, have never done drugs and have only had three other sex partners in my life. It seems to me like I'm at low risk for HIV, so I don't need to get tested.
Editor, It is imperative that UNM students understand how important services for underrepresented students really are. The University is designated as a Hispanic-serving university, but the majority of students at UNM are not Hispanic, African-American or American Indian.
Editor, I was in Gordon Hodge's Intro to Psychology class during the spring 2006 semester and appreciated his no-nonsense teaching style. If you've ever had a class in Woodward Hall, where everyone's talking while you're trying to listen to the instructor, then you know how frustrating learning can be.
Editor, I am a little disappointed with the cursory reporting in the human body exhibit story published in Wednesday's Daily Lobo. Possessing an anthropology degree, I am somewhat familiar with the procurement of human specimens for education purposes. Many of the human skeletons used for forensic osteology courses throughout the country were once purchased from East Indian companies in the '60s and '70s.
Editor, In this country, we pride ourselves on our jurisprudence. We claim that a person is innocent until proven guilty by due process. Unfortunately, there are individuals who fail to make their case and merely assume guilt. Medical students protesting the human body exhibit at Coronado Center have not provided sufficient evidence that the bodies on display have been acquired by illegal means.
Editor, I'm grateful that the Daily Lobo has finally revealed the truth. All us professors here at the good old UNM should and must entertain the students at all costs. In fact, entertainment = learning. As for me, I structure all my classes like "Survivor" game shows.
Editor, This is an open letter to all bicyclists who lock their bikes to handrails, especially my peers at the School of Architecture and Planning. As a long-time bicyclist and bicycling advocate, I completely understand the frustration of not having a bike rack near your destination.
Daily Lobo columnist Ali Mazrui says in his book Cultural Forces in World Politics that the gender revolution was intended in Islam but never took off. According to Mazrui, it got aborted for two reasons: Mainstream Islam turned royalist from the Ummayids onwards as a result of which the harem developed and because the doors of Ijtihad, or intellectual effort, closed.
Editor, I am disappointed that students at an academic institution would organize a protest against an educational exhibit. To paraphrase Saul Bellow, it is our business to keep open the channels of education. Amanda Lo, Jennifer Hunt and Gabriel Palley, mentioned in an article published in the Daily Lobo on Wednesday, seem intent on keeping those channels closed for an obviously shifting set of reasons.
Editor, David Martinez, in his letter published in the Daily Lobo on Tuesday, said we should take responsibility for our choices. My response is we should have a choice. Why do we not have the option to eat at La Posada only if we want to eat at La Posada? Why are we forced to buy a meal plan when I can find cheaper alternatives? We are being forced to give money to a University-imposed monopoly.
Editor, After reading David Martinez's letter Wednesday about his experience with Chartwells at New Mexico Tech, I felt the need to share my experience as well. I also went to New Mexico Tech a few years ago and transferred here. What I am about to say are just my experiences that I can accurately remember and generalizations that may or may not be true.
Editor, This is in response to Brandon Curtis's letter published on Tuesday regarding how Mayor Martin Chavez's "gestapo" tactics have sent many people out of Albuquerque, and how the Albuquerque Police Department routinely harasses people. Some of you may have seen or heard me playing trombone along Central Avenue near the Kimo Theatre during the last year or so.
Editor, Normally, I prefer not to make personal remarks about people's behavior. In general, poor behavior earns people what you might expect. However, I have noticed a disturbing rash of disrespectful conduct among UNM students that, frankly, isn't becoming of young adults seeking to get higher degrees.
Editor, After a week of hearing people complain about Aramark, I think it's time for a little story. When I first came to UNM, I was blown away by the selection at La Posada. It was quite an upgrade from the gruel they would serve in my high school cafeteria.
Editor, I want to place a few facts surrounding the ownership of guns. Criminologists have found that citizens use firearms as often as 2.5 million times every year in self-defense, but in more than 90 percent of these defensive uses, citizens merely brandish their gun or fire a warning shot to scare off the attacker.
Editor, Whatever one's view of the exchange between Philip Howell and Joachim Oberst regarding the war in Iraq and all its merits or lack thereof, the following information should be part of any debate worth the attention of the rest of us. The war has been either the first or second issue for the American public for the past year.
Editor, I'm glad to see interest rekindled in the discussion on banning smoking on the UNM Main Campus. For my money at this public institution, I want every opportunity to give my lungs and olfactory senses a break from carcinogens and foul odors. Let's face it: This is the 21st century and we now know what smoking does to both smokers and bystanders.
Editor, Albuquerque is a fascist entity. What do I base this opinion on? Albuquerque's insular and parochial nature - the utilization of fear by local politicians and an unaccountable police force that is hyper-reactive. Albuquerque is a parochial town, insular and bubble-like.
Editor, Our country values and believes in education. We, as citizens, fight for freedoms that ensure our right to make choices and to be unfettered in our search for happiness and success. We, as the caretakers of the children in our society, believe in leaving behind a legacy of hope for a better life.
Solutions by The State News
