Opinion

Letter: Ban would strip rights, force values on smokers

Editor, This smoking-ban issue is really getting on my nerves - more so than the secondhand smoke that supposedly pollutes the entire campus. I am not a smoker, but I am completely against the ban on smoking. Since when is it OK to take a constitutional right away from a public university? If people are paying to come to school here and get a proper education, why can't they enjoy a perfectly legal activity, such as smoking a cigarette while walking to class? We already have rules on campus that state a smoker cannot stand near any doors or windows, and that they cannot smoke in any buildings, so why continue trying to force people to quit doing something they enjoy? If people want to smoke, let them.

Letter: Closing Zia Lot will make South Lot's herds bigger

Editor, I am writing in response to Monday's article about the closing of Zia Lot. Closing Zia Lot will not help improve gas prices - all it will do is add to the mass chaos of hundreds of students waiting for the shuttle at South Lot. Every day I park in South Lot and walk to Zia Lot with many of my fellow students in hopes to get to class on time.

Letter: Don't single out Christians for anti-gay discrimination

Editor, In response to David Gonzalez's letter on Monday, he is right - there is a real problem when a specific group of people is picked out for discrimination. However, there are far more people than just those who claim to be Christians that discriminate against the gay community.

Letter: Plug your nose, nonvoters, and pick the best of the bad

Editor, This is in response to Deanna Delgado's letter in Monday's Daily Lobo stating that nonvoters are not lazy or uninformed. I agree with that assessment. She used an example that since no candidate represents what she stands for, "It's like offering me the choice between a turkey sandwich or a ham croissant when I'm a vegetarian.

Letter: Closing Zia Lot will make South Lot's herds bigger

Editor, I am writing in response to Monday's article about the closing of Zia Lot. Closing Zia Lot will not help improve gas prices - all it will do is add to the mass chaos of hundreds of students waiting for the shuttle at South Lot. Every day I park in South Lot and walk to Zia Lot with many of my fellow students in hopes to get to class on time.

Letter: Tax money needs to go to solving city's problems

Editor, Monday's article by Abigail Ramirez was a one-sided regurgitation of Judy Anderson's opinion of the proposed tax hike. The so-called Quality of Life tax represents a hostile business climate, a regressive tax burden on a poor county and a disturbing trend in government paternalism and cronyism.

Column: U.S. leaves democracy behind

The decline and fall of the Bush doctrine continued last week, with North Korea defiantly testing a nuclear device, confounding an administration locked in a self-constructed policy labyrinth of dead ends. Pyongyang's nuclear provocation is the final nail in the coffin of Bush's clumsy campaign against the so-called "axis of evil."

Ed toons

Letter: Nonvoters are not lazy nor uninformed citizens

Editor, I am a left-winger - way left. In fact, I'm so far left that I don't really feel that voting is really up my alley, since no candidates seem to represent what I stand for. It's like offering me the choice between a turkey sandwich or a ham croissant when I'm a vegetarian.

Letter: Ignorance makes it difficult to live as a gay person

Editor, The Daily Lobo deserves praise for publishing an article Wednesday that makes people aware of the problems that gay people are still facing as a community. All too often, people look no further than the Bible for resources. They turn to the Bible, which has been interpreted and reinterpreted by priests, pastors and parents over and over again through the years.

Letter: Elections give opportunity for representation in D.C.

Editor, Students are well-known for voicing opinions about lack of satisfaction with politics, the war in Iraq, global warming, nuclear proliferation, the use of University resources to proliferate nuclear weapons, energy alternatives and many other issues confronting us today.

Letter: Zia Lot closure will make shuttle system inefficient

Editor, As a commuter student who takes the shuttle from Zia Lot every day, I was distressed to hear that parking and transportation services decided to close Zia Lot starting Monday. Parking is a huge issue here at UNM, and I shudder to think of the overcrowding and inefficiency that will result from eliminating 500 to 600 parking spots in an already bloated and overcrowded parking system.

Letter: Right to clean air must override right to smoke

Editor, I feel I must address Rachel Berardinelli's letter about the potential smoking ban. She raises two issues. The first is valid - Friday's issue of the Daily Lobo presented a bad case for the smoke-free campus initiative. Opinions of people like Alex Hansell, who have no valid reason aside from their dislike of smokers to rid the campus of smoke, are not representative of the UNM Smoke-Free Campus Coalition's position.

Letter: UNM not spending money on smokers' medical costs

Editor, As a smoker, the debate over eliminating smoking on campus seems almost entirely one-sided, so I thought I would throw in my opinion. I would like to comment on the smokers that showed up at the forum last Thursday. It was certainly out of line for them to do what they did, and I'm sure that most people will agree with that.

Letter: Protest should have been covered by student paper

Editor, I was appalled at the coverage of the demonstration for justice that took place Thursday. Before the protest, I saw no announcement in your newspaper that it was to occur, though I do know you were notified. The photograph you showed was not at all representative of the diverse crowd of people that participated.

Letter: Smoking ban infringes on personal liberties

Editor, In response to the question of the week about smoking in Friday's issue of the Daily Lobo, I wonder if anyone asked Alex Hansell what she thought of African-Americans, gay people, Jews, skateboarders, cyclists and people who don't speak English. I just want to know if her bigotry is limited to people who smoke, or if it's a general hatred of traits that are different from her own.

Column: Coffee has its ups and downs

Daily Lobo, I got a question about coffee intake.

Letter: Student newspaper unfair to Greek life on campus

First, I'd like to say that I think the Daily Lobo is usually a great way for the UNM community to get its news. However, Monday's issue made it clear that it presents a one-sided view of certain issues. For example, Greek life on campus.

Ed toons

Letter: Legal abortion necessary to protect women's safety

Editor, This is in response to the letter by Rachel Shreve about abortion in the Oct. 2 Daily Lobo. Speaking as a female scientist, I would like to agree that generally there is no debate that biological life begins at conception. Yet, life in the biological sense just means that a cell is able to metabolize nutrients, produce energy to grow and reproduce.