I've stayed out of the GPSA's internal politics, but I would like to address some of the issues raised by and in response to the effort to recall GPSA President Joseph Garcia.
Editor, I'm writing in response to a statement made by Mayor Martin Chavez concerning Rep. Tom Udall, which was published in The New York Times. In the article, Chavez refers to Udall as being the "fair-haired boy" of Harry Reid, the Senate majority leader, and Sen.
Editor, Somehow, there's the idea that "good Americans" become silent, obedient followers so America can lead. That by looking inside and not outside, going to our little gerbil-wheel jobs on the ant farm, at the university and in the lab, we somehow put our best foot forward, outside.
Editor, We have serious problems with two of the structures on Main Campus - Ortega Hall and the Humanities Building, also known as Onate Hall. For starters, they're hideous. Blocky, rough masses of concrete that try to capture some of the pueblo-revival style UNM is known for, yet lack all the grace and dignity of Zimmerman Library just across the plaza.
Editor, I was extremely disappointed to see an ad in the Daily Lobo for a meeting hosted by Peer Mentoring for Graduate Students of Color on Tuesday. I was even more disappointed in the topic "Are We Minorities?" for a critical roundtable. In today's world of ethnic and racial sensitivity, it is hard to believe that a state-funded university tolerates an organization that openly limits itself to persons of color.
Editor, You've seen them on television or in real life. Bone-thin with pained expressions. Victims of a socioeconomic disease known as world hunger. If you're like me, you've always wanted to do something to help, especially at this time of year, somehow.
Editor, This letter is to inform graduate and professional students about a petition to recall the GPSA President Joseph Garcia and the rationale behind it. First, I would like to state that this is not a personal attack on Garcia. As GPSA president, he is responsible to the electorate.
Editor, I was pleased to read Amy K. Coplen's letter in Tuesday's Daily Lobo. The scam run by the packaged water industry selling our municipality supplied water back to us at outrageous markups is indeed egregious. On one significant point, though, I differ with Coplen - I think water should be a commodity.
Editor, As graduate and professional students and UNM community members, we would like to address statements made earlier in the Daily Lobo that GPSA has recently given too much attention to and been too politically engaged with world events and issues of diversity, equity and inclusion at UNM.
Editor, This is regarding the 2007 ASUNM legislative priorities. Once again, students with disabilities have been left out of the planned platform for lobbying at the 2008 Legislature. Students with disabilities have higher costs of attendance and, in fact, have very few reliable support services at UNM.
On March 14, Nandigram, India, a small farming village about 100 miles from Calcutta, faced the realities and horrors of globalization. The communist government of West Bengal brought in police to beat up people who were united under the umbrella of Save our Farmland against the government's plan to develop a chemical hub and an economic processing zone in the region.
Editor, By 2025, two-thirds of the world's population will be without access to an adequate amount of safe, clean drinking water. Today, more than 1 billion people are already in this dire situation. As privileged Americans, we are lucky that our public water systems provide us with a seemingly endless supply of clean water, most of which is carelessly wasted.
Editor, I spent 1,200 hours working on Rep. Tom Udall's 1998 campaign for Congress and, like many others, voted to elect Udall because of his integrity, his sense of justice and his outstanding work during his eight years as attorney general. I didn't expect him to take orders from whatever inflamed portion of the public had something to say on any national scale, but, rather, to exercise his carefully considered judgment on issues and on specific votes.
Editor, Have you ever been so excited about something that you had butterflies in your stomach? This is exactly how I feel when I think about Rep. Tom Udall running for the U.S. Senate. The butterflies in my stomach start to flutter, and I can't push back the excitement.
Editor, I am writing in response to Richard Berthold's column published in the Daily Lobo on Nov. 16. Though there are many issues in the column one can address, I want to confine myself to his main conclusion, which is that the Bible cannot be accepted as history.
Editor, Evolution is both a theory and a fact. As a doctor and scientist at UNM, I would like to clarify where science actually stands on the issue of evolution. Richard Berthold, in his column published in the Daily Lobo on Nov. 16, claims: "Like Darwinian evolution, the idea that the Earth circles the sun is just a theory.
There's one outcome of the 2008 House and Senate races that's certain - it will be bad for New Mexico. Heather Wilson, Republican representative of the First District, announced her candidacy for Republican Sen. Pete Domenici's seat shortly after he announced he will not seek re-election.
Editor, I'd like to clear some of the "basic research" brought up by Dennis Kinzler's letter published in Monday's Daily Lobo. Kinzler tries to use a scientific principle called isostasy to prove that coastal communities have nothing to fear from global warming.
Editor, I take exception to Donald Gluck's use of the word "theory" in his letter published in the Daily Lobo on Tuesday. He states that "evolution, a theory, which among other complexities . does not warrant 'an incredibly high probability of being correct.
Editor, I would like to commend Dennis Kinzler on one of the finest examples of trolling I have ever seen in the Daily Lobo. For those who don't know the term "trolling," it refers to the practice of posting an intentionally incendiary missive to an Internet message board in order to provoke a hostile response.
Solutions by The State News
