Opinion - The Daily Lobo

Opinion

Those with political opinions should take the time to vote

September 28

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.

Opinion

Excluding foreign flags a subtle form of racism

September 28

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.

Opinion

Bible is taught as literature with a historical backdrop

September 28

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.

Opinion

Bible heralded as truth in our Christian-based society

September 28

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.

Opinion

Violation of U.S. code no reason to desecrate flag

September 27

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.

Opinion

Flag incident exemplifies decline of UNM standards

September 27

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.

Opinion

Flag tearing fosters dialogue

Tobas Duraacuten | September 27

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.

Opinion

Flag debacle is everyone's fault; now let's move on

September 27

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.

Opinion

Foreign flags shouldn't fly at U.S. public institutions

September 26

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.

Opinion

Political parties undermine discussion, voters' minds

September 26

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.

Opinion

Justification of racism is extension of violent past

September 26

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.

Opinion

Faith, like reason, is an acceptable belief system

September 26

Editor, The Bible is the most well-documented and extensively evaluated book in existence. There are 500 copies of the New Testament dating earlier than 500 A.D. Other manuscripts such as the Dead Sea scrolls further serve to back up the validity of the Bible.

Opinion

Senate resolution a threat to our freedom of speech

September 25

Editor, Last week, a nonbinding resolution was introduced by Sen. John Cornyn to condemn an ad that criticizes Gen. David Petraeus, the officer in charge of the Iraq occupation, which was printed in the New York Times by the liberal advocacy group MoveOn.

Opinion

Bush administration hides use of mercenaries in Iraq

September 25

Editor, I am appalled at the complete lack of coverage of what the company Blackwater USA actually does. There have been two articles and one interview in this newspaper related to Blackwater, but no clear explanation of what it does. In this newspaper, it has been referred to as a private security firm, but should be more accurately described as privatization of the military or, to put it simply, a mercenary group.

Opinion

UNM violated law flying Mexican flag on its own

September 25

Editor, My name is Peter Ryan Lynch, and I am a student at UNM. I am a decorated eight-year veteran of the U.S. military, honorably discharged in July. I am appalled that a foreign flag flew unaccompanied on a UNM campus flagpole for three days, including a U.

Opinion

Mind-sets of intolerance lead to strife and conflict

September 25

Editor, I commend you for printing David Martinez's letter last Tuesday. The letter is particularly apt in revealing how important it is to protect our legal protection against dangerous mind-sets of intolerance. It is instructive to know that, even in institutions of higher learning such as UNM, a substantial number of people operate with opinions that are relics of a darker past.

Opinion

Bible shouldn't be exempt from historical scrutiny

September 24

Editor, In response to Andres Saenz's letter published in the Daily Lobo on Wednesday concerning the historical relevance of the Bible, I want to ask him for evidence. Do you remember learning about the time the Egyptians enslaved the Hebrews? How about when the sea supposedly parted and hundreds of thousands of Hebrews traversed the length of the Red Sea? And what about the 40 years they spent wandering the desert? You don't remember learning any of this in a public school history class? Right, because there is no evidence that any of this actually took place.

Opinion

Desecration of flag is not necessarily a hate crime

September 24

Editor, In response to the article in Wednesday's Daily Lobo about a Mexican flag being taken down and damaged by an individual, I would like to say that while the willful damaging of a flag is considered disrespectful, why all the talk about hate crimes? Last time I checked, it was illegal to fly a foreign flag unless there is an American flag displayed one flag-length above it.

Opinion

Symposium re-evaluates civil rights in our society

September 24

Editor, UNM will host a civil rights symposium this week at the SUB. Students should strongly consider attending it. The theme of the symposium is "40 Years of Community Activism, 1967-2007: Civil Rights Reform, Then and Now." The symposium will provide the UNM and Albuquerque communities the opportunity to engage with experts on a variety of issues related to civil rights.

Opinion

Johnson Gym should be more available for students

September 24

Editor, Adam Ornelas stated in his letter published in the Daily Lobo on Thursday what many on campus agree with. Having attended three other universities prior to coming to UNM for my Ph.D. - in different states and of different student population sizes - UNM is the worst at making the gym available to the whole student body.