Although it is not well known, UNM faculty and students are involved in a remarkable array of international activities in virtually every part of the globe.
Editor, On his recent visit to the U.S., Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad claimed, "In Iran, we don't have homosexuals like in your country." The Columbia University crowd burst into laughter. I laughed, too. I figured the educated Columbia audience was laughing because they realize that homosexuality has been a part of human nature for thousands of years.
Editor, Throughout the summer, several buildings on campus received renovations. However, Friday afternoon, I walked through Mitchell Hall and thought it was one of the most neglected buildings on campus. There was some graffiti on one of the clocks and on one of the handrails; the paint looked old; the water fountains were rusty, old and had those mossy formations on them; and the floor tiles desperately needed to be replaced.
Today is Mahatma Gandhi's birthday. It is also the International Day of Nonviolence - a day to contemplate not just Gandhi's effect on world politics, but to actively think about how his concepts of peace, nonviolence and civil disobedience can be applied to redress the injustice that characterizes our world today.
by Peggy Spencer Daily Lobo columnist Dear Dr. Peg, I saw that the Student Health Center has flu shots, but I already had the flu last week. I puked my guts up for two days. But my roommate didn't get sick. Is that because he got the flu shot last year? Dear Puker, You didn't have the flu. You ...
Editor, UNM is ready to go tobacco-free. Students have voted in favor of a smoke-free campus. The Staff Council passed a resolution for our campus to be a healthier place. The dean's council endorsed the same resolution. Nationwide, more than 65 colleges and universities have gone tobacco-free or smoke-free.
Editor, Although there have been many instances in which I have wanted to write, it took rude, inconsiderate, lazy UNM employees to push me to this point. I am tired of the incompetence at the financial aid office. Although this does not speak to most of the caring and hard-working counselors, there are a few that should have been fired long ago.
Editor, I was almost run into by a UNM Police vehicle Saturday while driving south on I-25 near the Osuna Road/San Mateo Boulevard ramp. A police cruiser almost took my front end off when it decided it was going to merge into oncoming traffic as it, along with another cruiser, escorted two private Herrera Coaches down the freeway.
Editor, Over the course of the past week, I have seen and heard many misguided voices raised in defense of Peter Ryan Lynch, the man responsible for desecrating the flag of Mexico, an American ally. Many have chosen to ignore the facts of this case as well as the University's explanation in favor of howling at the wind in righteous indignation.
Editor, I'm tired of college students telling me it's a waste of time to vote. Don't they know voting is the basis of democracy? Countless lives were lost so we could have this right. So many people I talk to either believe we should leave Iraq or that it's a good thing we're there, either because they think introducing their culture of democracy is important or for numerous other reasons surely everyone reading this has heard.
Editor, I would like to apologize to the Mexican government for many things that are too numerous to list in a letter or a column or, probably, a 1,000-page book. I would like to point out that D. Glover's comments published in the Daily Lobo on Wednesday are racist in nature, much like the arguments of those who would like to make English the official language.
Editor, I am responding to the letter by Laura Bracht and Havah S. Johnson published in the Daily Lobo on Wednesday. I cannot say the authors of this letter are ignorant simply because they believe in the Bible, but I can point out something very ignorant in this letter.
Editor, I'm writing in response to the letter by Laura Bracht and Havah S. Johnson published in the Daily Lobo on Wednesday in which they claim that because the Bible has clout in our society, it is factually accurate. The Iliad is considered to be a semi-historical myth.
Editor, Unless you are of American-Indian descent, all Americans are immigrants or distant relatives of immigrants. Even our noble founding fathers - like Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson and George Washington - chose to flee from the British throne to establish the original 13 American colonies.
Editor, I am a disabled student at UNM. I am also a U.S. Navy veteran. I have been filing complaints over the discrimination I have faced at UNM for years. I find the flag issue particularly troubling. There have been difficulties with the flag ceremony for some time.
by Tob°as Durán Daily Lobo guest columnist The brouhaha about the tearing of the Mexican flag may have a silver lining. President David Schmidly's comments quoted in the Daily Lobo on Sept. 19 appear to reveal a sensitive knowledge of New Mexico's past.
Editor, Let us see if we can't finish off all of the silliness over the flag incident. First, let's blame everyone involved, then absolve them and then shut up. First, the U.S. Code states: "When flags of two or more nations are displayed, they are to be flown from separate staffs of the same height.
Editor, I do not understand why the UNM administration would apologize to the Mexican consulate for someone having taken down and torn up the Mexican flag. That pandering offended me more than the flag being torn up. Isn't this the U.S.? Isn't the American flag the one that should hang in front of buildings here? Why was the Mexican flag allowed to be hoisted in the first place? This is not Mexico, and I, for one, was offended that it was flying on the campus in the first place.
Editor, The people of the U.S. have been making a mistake for 200 years. It started out small, like most mistakes. All they did was fail to listen. Unfortunately, the speaker they failed to listen to had something very important to say: "They serve to organize faction, to give it an artificial and extraordinary force; to put, in the place of the delegated will of the nation, the will of a party, often a small but artful and enterprising minority of the community; and, according to the alternate triumphs of different parties, to make the public administration the mirror of the ill-concerted and incongruous projects of faction, rather than the organ of consistent and wholesome plans digested by common counsels, and modified by mutual interests.
Editor, My fiance is on his second term in Iraq where he is sacrificing 11 months of his life to locate bombs, fight urban fire fights against pissed-off resistors and witness the deaths of close friends and comrades who at home have wives and children, all the while having to wonder each moment if he might be next.
Solutions by The State News
