Opinion

Letter: Smokers' rude behavior shows need for regulation

Editor, Thursday's Daily Lobo article on the smoke-free forum neglected to address two important subjects. It first failed to provide any of the information on the consequences of secondhand smoke that was presented by the panel of experts in the field, and it also neglected to mention the disrespectful behavior of the students who attempted to represent at least some of the smokers on campus.

Letter: UNM not meant to serve those who profit from war

Editor, I am a citizen of New Mexico, so UNM is my University. I am appalled that the war planners are using my University in my state to promote genocide. I come from a long line of military people. My father was a B-17 pilot and firebombed Germany, and he came home and killed himself because he had participated in that horror.

Letter: National labs' main focus should be civil technology

Editor, In Thursday's Daily Lobo, student Estaban Sena wrote, "Without the continuing need for improved military technology, New Mexico would not have much else to offer the nation." The truth is that while the national laboratories support the economic welfare of some people, what they create is not beneficial to our nation in general.

Letter: University lacks integrity for weapons involvement

Editor, In Dean Vera Norwood's letter to the Daily Lobo on Friday, she stated that there was adequate opportunity for the public to comment on UNM's involvement with nuclear weapons and other issues brought up at the meeting where Robert Anderson was arrested.

Letter: Bush's war on terrorism is stripping us of our rights

Editor, Maybe we just don't understand how President George Bush is trying to defeat the terrorists. Bush frequently tells us that the terrorists hate us because of what we stand for and that we must defeat them. Is it possible that instead of defeating

Letter: Republicans ignore ethics to protect power structure

Editor, Conservative Republicans, alongside our prestigious Rep. Heather Wilson, pride themselves on their superior moral qualities. In fact, it is foundational to their entire approach to government. This explains the zeal with which they pursued Bill Clinton's affair with Monica Lewinsky, leading to the former's impeachment.

Letter: Free speech was allowed at weapons symposium

Editor, A number of misconceptions have evolved following the Sept. 30 symposium at UNM at which a local activist was arrested. As interim dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and someone who was actually present at the forum, I would like to correct these misconceptions.

Letter: Forum on smoking ban clouded by protesters

Editor, I want to thank all the participants of the Smoke-Free Campus Forum, especially the panel of experts who presented statistics and ideas, like that more than 3,000 deaths each year are due to secondhand smoke; that cities like Calabasas, Calif., are smoke-free; that Presbyterian campus and all its clinics are smoke-free; that tobacco companies are targeting youth by sweetening cigarettes in a concentrated effort to replace dying smokers; that any amount of secondhand smoke is harmful; that tobacco negatively affects youth; that nicotine is an addiction; and finally, that UNM will eventually be smoke-free.

Letter: Voting should be political, not just for homecoming

Editor, I think it would be nice if the Daily Lobo published the number of participants during this year's homecoming elections, just to compare it to the number of students that voted during the last elections for mayor and president. I am sure many of us would be impressed with the results.

Letter: Protester had the courage to make noise for peace

Editor, It is hard to remain calm in word or thought about the Robert Anderson arrest during the UNM-sponsored forum on mass murder and genocide. The true crime is the overwhelming drive to smother any and all objection to illegal and immoral nuclear proliferation, disguised under the basically ironic, yet diabolical, goal of killing for peace.

Letter: Activists don't realize jobs come with weapons labs

Editor, In response to Sam Roth and Terry Mulcahy's letters in Tuesday's Daily Lobo, don't the two of them realize that New Mexico almost certainly would not exist without nuclear weapons? Coming from a small northern town in which most of the citizens are employed by Los Alamos National Laboratory, it's not very hard to see that without such employment opportunities, the surrounding communities would be laden with poverty.

Letter: Radio an outdated format for broadcasting football

Editor, Well-deserved congratulations to the Lobo football-marketing geniuses. Just as my grandfather listened to his favorite football team - the Green Bay Packers - on the radio from the 1940s to the 1960s, and just as my father-in-law listened to his favorite football team - the Dallas Cowboys - on the radio from the 1950s to the 1970s, now I find myself listening to my favorite college football team - the Lobos - on the radio, too.

Letter: Weapons unacceptable for University complicity

Editor, There is no possible case for further research and development into nuclear weapons. Despite the blatant hypocrisy in the argument for more weapons, are we, as an institution of higher learning, going to let this stand? The abuse of knowledge to create weapons of mass destruction that incinerate victims alive, not to mention the environmental degradation of nuclear waste and strip mining, is preposterous.

Letter: Kendra's Law is merely a way to placate public

Editor, Why does the news media keep saying the day John Hyde murdered five people in August 2005 was the bloodiest day in Albuquerque history? Has it forgotten the Hollywood Video murders in 1996, by Shane Harrison, in which five people were also killed? Does the fact that no police were murdered by Harrison make the whole thing easy to overlook? Harrison, Michael Astorga and countless other people in Albuquerque were on parole at the time they committed murders.

Letter: Warning needed if visitors fill student seats on shuttle

Editor, On Tuesday, a group of elementary school children was on campus. I remember coming to campus for a field trip when I was in elementary school. I think these trips are a great opportunity for kids to get a glimpse of college life. However, I was troubled by the fact that these kids, their teachers and chaperones were using the UNM shuttles.

Ed toons

Letter: Well-deserving Americans must demand democracy

Editor, The fundamentalist and fundamentally un-American leadership in the White House and Washington is attacking everything good that the United States once stood for. It is doing so without regard for the loud and gathering voices of opposition among the population it somehow represents through ignoring.

Letter: Dissent not a problem if done in respectful way

Editor, The actions of Robert Anderson illustrate just how far some liberals will go to publicize themselves and disrupt lawful gatherings of anyone holding opposing viewpoints. The symposium at which Anderson decided to make a fool out of himself was not a forum for debate.

Letter: Protester was rude, brash toward symposium panel

Editor, The hypocrisy and incompetence displayed by Robert Anderson at a weapons symposium Friday was astounding. His actions were simply a publicity stunt, and their consequences are now being twisted by people like Elaine Cimino in her letter in Monday's Daily Lobo to deceive people.

Letter: Iraq war puts freedom at stake, not just money

Editor, New Mexico Attorney General Patricia Madrid was sure to be a big hit with students when she said that the war defending our country is taking money away from colleges. Yes, the war does take government funding, but so do welfare, health care and interstate repairs.