Opinion - The Daily Lobo

Opinion

Parking at UNM is a steal compared to other schools

September 5

Editor, I want to respond to Matthew Martinez's letter published in the Daily Lobo on Friday suggesting that either the City of Albuquerque or UNM pay for students' parking passes, in addition to paying for student bus passes. The city is giving students free passes because it encourages more people to take the bus instead of driving, therefore making the roads and parking lots less crowded.

Opinion

Free public transportation for students is a good idea

September 4

Editor, Matt Martinez, in his letter published in the Daily Lobo on Friday, thinks we are all too lazy to get a driver's license. He should stop complaining about how he has to pay to park in a private lot at least somewhat close to campus. This initiative that Albuquerque is taking for its college students is an excellent idea.

Opinion

Public transit has always gotten short end of stick

September 4

Editor, It is ironic that Matthew Martinez, in his letter published in the Daily Lobo on Friday, talks about how bus riders are getting government money while folks like him are being left behind, because automobiles get massive subsidies from the government.

Opinion

Brave the elements, save some gas, help the planet

September 4

Editor, This is in response to Matthew Martinez's letter in the Daily Lobo on Friday asserting the need for free parking passes from UNM. UNM didn't appropriate millions for students who are too lazy to get a license to drive a car; it did so because with rising gas prices, many people can't afford the commute to school.

Opinion

Berthold's research efforts were respected by peers

September 4

Editor, Both Brandon Curtis and Austin Duus have misrepresented Richard Berthold's research record in their letters published in the Daily Lobo on Friday and Thursday, respectively. Berthold has published work in peer-reviewed journals since 1978, most notably the article Fourth Century Rhodes, which was published in the respected journal Historia Volume 29 (1980).

Opinion

People in New Orleans deserve a helping hand

September 4

Editor, I am offended by Jessica Stanton's letter published in the Daily Lobo on Friday, though I don't live in New Orleans. To look upon the poor of that city - many of whom can't move out due to their financial situation and cannot pay to renovate their homes or even afford the health care to fix their families - and suggest that the city is almost forgotten shows the attitude of so many in this country: "If it's broken, throw it away and get a new one.

Opinion

UNM should reconsider its mission on education

August 31

Editor, I want to reply to Austin Duus' letter published in the Daily Lobo on Thursday, specifically to the following quotation: "Remember Richard Berthold? He was the UNM professor who told a class of freshmen on Sept. 11, 2001: 'Anyone who can blow up the Pentagon has my vote.

Opinion

Resources shouldn't be wasted on high-risk areas

August 31

Editor, Hurricane Katrina demonstrated that New Orleans is a risky place to live. Another Katrina is not just possible -- it's likely. People who lived in New Orleans made a conscious decision to run the risk of losing everything to a hurricane. Iraq may be a wasteful war, but wasting money in Iraq does not justify wasting money in New Orleans.

Opinion

Staff cannot be on both state and campus payrolls

August 31

Editor, Richard Berthold, in his column published in the Daily Lobo on Wednesday, is correct in pointing out the illegal actions of the three former administrators who are now state officials. They cannot be paid twice for state jobs. They cannot be on the UNM payroll and receive pay for another state job.

Opinion

City should dish out free parking passes for students

August 31

Editor, Now that the city of Albuquerque is buying bus passes for students who are too lazy to get a license to drive a car, I think it's about time the city also starts to pay for our parking passes. After all, anyone with a parking pass knows just how much of a hassle it is to rake up enough money every semester so that we might have a chance to find a place to park.

Opinion

Need professorial advice? Please, please stop on by

August 30

Editor, The Daily Lobo reported Aug. 28 that UNM is No. 1 in having inaccessible professors, according to the prestigious Princeton Review. I am very thankful that we finally became No. 1 in something. The Princeton Review study was a rigorous scientific examination based on a single question asked of a few students: Are your professors accessible? I was reading this article while munching a Little Debbie snack cake during my office hours.

Opinion

Lax admission standards hurt UNM's national rank

August 30

Editor, Despite its status as a Carnegie Tier-One research institution, UNM occupies the third tier of this year's U.S. News rankings. The Princeton Review has dubbed its faculty the most inaccessible. Beyond the rankings, more evidence suggests that UNM is not competing with the nation's select schools as it continues to over-admit unqualified students and over-employ marginal faculty.

Opinion

Residents still neglected two years after Katrina

August 30

Two years after Hurricane Katrina rendered New Orleans a wasteland, the government's promises to allocate billions of dollars have helped little to rebuild the city. The federally funded Road Home program - the irony of the program's name has not been lost on the residents of New Orleans - is yet to make any difference to the wounded landscape, as more than half of the promised $8 billion has not been released.

Opinion

New Orleans dying despite 2 years of reconstruction

August 30

Editor, New Orleans will never be the same. Two forces are halting the reconstruction of New Orleans: the free market economy and the natural risk. Nobody, not even the government, controls these forces. Katrina was the first hurricane; Rita was the second, and how many more are in the future? Scientists are projecting a rise in sea level and an increase in hurricanes and hurricane intensity.

Opinion

UNM administration top-heavy

Richard M. Berthold | August 29

With the passage of time, large organizations, whether public or private, inevitably become more bureaucratic and administratively top-heavy, and the University is certainly no exception. Further, and hardly surprising, compensation grows far more rapidly among those at the top, particularly in academics, where generally cowardly faculty are disinclined to seriously challenge the powers that be.

Opinion

Graffiti on campus conveys ignorance, insults students

August 29

Editor, I appreciate my campus. I enjoy it as an oasis in our desert town - full of green canopies, colorful flowers, as well as appealing and interesting public art. This was, of course, before Friday. While walking to class, I was appalled to see that someone had assaulted my campus - our campus.

Opinion

Democratic Party shouldn't bend the rules for Florida

August 29

Editor, I applaud the Democratic National Committee's recent action toward Florida and the impact of its primary on both the traditional guidelines set forth on the Democratic primary calendar and on the effect it has on small states. The committee had worked out a schedule, greatly reducing the impact of Iowa and New Hampshire without knocking them out of the game.

Opinion

U.S., Iran closer to open conflict

Matthew Chavez | August 28

In the late 1990s, Iran specialist Shahram Chubin predicted that the "all-purpose bogey" the Iranian government found in U.S. foreign policy was a device whose effectiveness at constraining domestic dissent was rapidly waning.

Opinion

Republicans would rather save face than save lives

August 28

Editor, I thought the Grand Old Party had sunk to the bottom of the mucky, mucky barrel when it continued to support the administration's unjustified invasion and occupation of Iraq. After all, this five-year occupation of Iraq has resulted in the deaths of more than 3,000 poor U.

Opinion

University should stay at forefront of sustainability

August 28

Editor, This letter is to congratulate President David Schmidly, the Board of Regents, ASUNM, GPSA, Vice President of Student Affairs Cheo Torres and the SUB for taking steps to make UNM a more sustainable campus. President Schmidly's energy-saving plan is a step in the right direction.