Opinion
Q & A: Norman Finkelstein
Matthew Chavez | February 16In June, 40 years will have passed since Israel began the brutal colonial occupation of the Palestinian territory.
Opinion
Opinion
ASUNM Facebook group meant to be taken as joke
February 15Editor, I am writing in response to the letter published Tuesday about the ASUNM Facebook.com group page. As I read the article, I couldn't help but feel responsible for the misunderstanding. The reason I feel responsible is because I was the one who created the page back in 2004.
Opinion
New buildings shouldn't take place of golf course
February 15Editor, I am writing to protest any impending plans to obliterate the UNM North Golf Course and replace it with buildings. Development at the expense of a treasured refuge is unacceptable. The UNM North Golf Course is one of the major assets UNM makes available to the community.
Opinion
Presidential candidate takes unethical stance
February 15Editor, Presidential candidate Robert McGrath provided an unacceptable answer to the ethical question asked by a faculty member on Friday: Is it appropriate for UNM to participate in defense research? McGrath's response, according to the Daily Lobo, was that since this research is happening anyway ".
Opinion
Low head count at forum exposes student apathy
February 15Editor, I attended the last forum for the UNM presidential candidates. Even though UNM is an institution with many thousands of students, less than 12 students attended this forum with me. I'm very discouraged by the utter apathy of most of the student body.
Opinion
Simple lifestyle changes will conserve resources
February 15Editor, I am committed every day to saving energy resources, saving water and reducing catastrophic worldwide climate change. Imagine if all who write articles on these concerns made permanent, radical personal changes in their daily lives and challenged all of us by their public example.
Opinion
Safety is best expression of love on Valentine's Day
February 14Editor, Something to remember on this day honoring St. Valentine is that there are consequences to acts of love performed in the heat of the moment, where emotions overwhelm one's thoughts about anything outside of that instant. Enjoy every aspect of the day - except its overcommercialization - but make sure to use protection.
Opinion
Campus would not benefit from ban on skateboarding
February 14Editor, Last Friday, I was skateboarding past the Duck Pond on the way to learn in Dane Smith Hall when a UNM faculty member entered my path. I called out three times in a row to fellow pedestrians, "I'm coming up on the right." I was, at all costs, trying to prevent an accident.
Opinion
No denying global warming now
Olivier Simon | February 14The first installment of the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change was released Feb. 2. Painstakingly assembled and vetted by more than 1,200 scientists and policy experts from 113 countries, it's an 18-page rundown of the meatiest observations, projections and uncertainties in modern climate change science - a preview of the findings of the larger report, which will be hundreds of pages long and released in sections throughout the year.
Opinion
Save a life by donating marrow
Peggy Spencer | February 13Do you remember Kailee Wells? She was in the news a few years back. Kailee is a little Chinese girl who was adopted by an Albuquerque family. When she was 5 years old, she almost bled to death from a nosebleed. This is how her family discovered that she has aplastic anemia, a disease in which the bone marrow shuts down. Kailee became a local poster child for bone marrow donation, a procedure that could save her life.
Opinion
ASUNM Facebook page lacking professionalism
February 13Editor, I am writing as a concerned student of UNM. As I'm sure many people were, I was on Facebook last night, talking to friends and checking out groups and people's profiles. I stumbled upon ASUNM's Facebook group. I thought it would be cool to see who was in ASUNM and what sort of issues it was working on this year.
Opinion
Americans can blame only themselves for war in Iraq
February 13Editor, If the student walkouts across the U.S. on Thursday to protest the proxy wars across the Middle East are anything like the student walkouts four years ago, the silent majority of overachieving college students will be cowering in their classrooms as the rest face off with militarized riot police.
Opinion
U.S. needs to resolve conflict with words and not bullets
February 13Editor, A few years ago, a case was built for the invasion of Iraq, and Iraq was invaded. Those of us who did not pay the price of that with our lives are living with the results of that decision. Is there now a case being built for the invasion of Iran? Will Iran be invaded? Is it impossible to learn that there is only one alternative to engaging in dialogue with each other and finding mutually acceptable solutions to our problems? Haven't we chosen the alternative of war often enough, for long enough, to give dialogue a chance to stop all these senseless killings? Maybe I've got it all wrong.
Opinion
Bill aims to reform sex ed. to prevent risky behavior
February 12Editor, The purpose of this letter is to clarify what the proposed Senate Bill 124 supports, and why it is an important legislative initiative that will give our state resources to address the problem of teenage pregnancy. New Mexico has the third-highest rate of teenage pregnancy in the nation, and it is first in the nation for 15- to 17-year-olds.
Opinion
Skateboarders jeopardize safety of UNM pedestrians
February 12Editor, This past Friday, I was walking past the Duck Pond on the way to teach in Dane Smith Hall when a student on a skateboard ran into me. He continued down the sidewalk. I called out, "Hey, what do you think you're doing?" He responded, "(Expletive) you," and then he flipped me off.
Opinion
Driving while distracted causes fatal accidents
February 12Editor, I read most of the opinions concerning the issue of conversing on a cell phone while driving. I believe it's a good idea to ban this practice for several reasons. According to a 2002 study by the Harvard University Center for Risk Analysis, cell phone distraction while driving results in 2,600 deaths and nearly half a million injuries a year.
Opinion
Legislature needs to hear students' views on issues
February 12Editor, The ASUNM Lobby Committee participates annually in the New Mexico legislative session by lobbying for initiatives that affect the students of UNM. Common goals of the past include keeping tuition low by supporting a zero to minimal increase in the tuition credit and supporting the current structure of the Lottery Success Scholarship.
Opinion
Cell phone ban an excuse to write more absurd laws
February 9Editor, The cell phone driving ban that the City Council recently passed claims that talking while driving is just as dangerous as being drunk behind the wheel. I do not agree with what is being suggested by this bill, our city government and the media. Deciding what "driving with distraction" would encompass is very subjective.
Opinion
Guest Editorial: Grad students need space on campus for housing
February 9It is difficult for graduate teaching assistants to meet with undergraduates outside of scheduled office hours if graduate students are forced to live 10 miles from campus. By allowing graduate students to live on campus, it would give undergraduates greater access to this valuable source of knowledge and improve the retention and performance of both groups of students.
Opinion
Lack of student presence at forum a disappointment
February 9Editor, With the impending selection of a new president of UNM, I am apprehensive about the small number of students who attended the student forum with candidate Herman Lujan on Tuesday. Although this meant I had more time to ask Lujan the questions that personally affected me, I was very disappointed in the lack of representation from not only students as individuals, but all student organizations, as well.
