Opinion

Letter: Cops handcuffed protester, let the real criminals walk

Editor, Were you at the SUB last Friday? If so, you must have seen the man in handcuffs, who UNM Police had thrown to the floor. And you must have seen the people in suits walk right past the police and out the front door with our money. Last Friday, on the second floor of the SUB, the people in suits, representatives of Sandia National Laboratories and other weapons developers, gave a presentation in which they tried to sell our University the idea of creating a new generation of nuclear weapons.

Letter: Shame on UNM for support of weapons developers

Editor, It is shameful enough that detainees in Iraq have had no rights and have been tortured without proof of complicity in terrorism. It is shameful enough that laws today allow people in this country, even legal immigrants and U.S. citizens, to be held without notification, habeas corpus or trial.

Letter: National protest of Bush to take place Thursday

Editor, On Thursday, Worldcantwait.org is holding nationwide protests in 155 locations across the U.S. to drive out President George Bush for all his impeachable offenses. These include treason for lying us into a war with Iraq; treason for providing cover to those guilty of exposing an agent and her whole operation company, which was geared to providing intelligence on the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction in the Gulf region; violation of habeas corpus and constitutional protections against wiretapping; violations of constitutional limitations on the executive branch by trying to extend or violate legitimate law using signing statements; criminal neglect in allowing the deaths of thousands to occur in the wake of Katrina over a five-day period; and treason or criminal neglect in allowing Osama bin Laden - the mastermind of the Sept.

Letter: Fight against tyranny must start in White House

Editor, For 230 years, hundreds of thousands of Americans have died defending the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights. These rights are about to be taken away, not by the terrorists, but by our own government. Americans are too stupid, lazy and cowardly to stop it.

letter: Cameras at intersections a useful public safety tool

Editor, There are now automated cameras to catch drivers running red lights and speeding throughout Albuquerque. Some have complained that this is unfair, because we all expect to break the law without penalty unless an officer is present. Let's get real.

Letter: A fetus is no less human than a developed adult

Editor, I am writing this in response to Damian Erasmus' letter about abortion in Thursday's Daily Lobo. First, I would like to establish the personhood of a fetus or embryo. Despite some people's opinions, there is no debate among the medical community that life begins at conception.

Letter: Madrid quote misleads voters who are undecided

Editor, Caleb Fort's reporting is usually extremely solid. But I was stunned with disbelief to read this sentence in Fort's Daily Lobo article on Friday: "Madrid said the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan impact U.S. students. The money spent on the wars could be spent on improving financial aid," she said.

Letter: Police actions at meeting show UNM's bad judgment

Editor, UNM squashed free speech on Friday by silencing dissenters on nuclear weapons production in New Mexico. Maybe University police were following the orders of Sandia National Laboratories officials present at the symposium when they arrested CNM professor and activist Robert Anderson.

Ed toons

Letter: Oil, religious fanaticism justification for Iraq war

Editor, Cold wars are typically fought for an audience. They try to show that one country has more power and potency than another. In short, they try to make a point. This is the absurdity of the war in Iraq that President George Bush started. It is entirely a hot war, and the only audience is there on the ground at the other end of the guns and weapons.

Letter: Sexuality is more beautiful when it's not manipulated

Editor, On Aug. 24, 2006, the Food and Drug Administration decided to allow the emergency contraceptive drug levonorgestrel, commonly called Plan B, to be sold over-the-counter to people at least 18 years old. Advocates of this decision say that easier access to Plan B will decrease the number of unwanted pregnancies.

Letter: Corn sweeteners can be part of a balanced diet

Editor, Wednesday's column, "Sweetener subsidies," by Whitney J. Davis unfortunately mischaracterizes both corn syrup and high fructose corn syrup by suggesting a unique causal link between these natural ingredients and obesity, as well as other health problems.

Letter: Fraternity's past actions should not be minimized

Editor, Jay Tillman and I would like to respond to the letter written by Daily Lobo reader Brandon Curtis. His analogy of comments made by Tillman and myself about the return of Sigma Chi to the UNM community was taken out of context - this is not the issue, anyway.

Letter: 'Pro-life' phrase covers up dangers of illegal abortion

Editor, Abortion-rights advocates should not cede the terms "pro-life" and "right to life" to the anti-abortion advocates. It is a woman's right to her own life that gives her the right to terminate a pregnancy. First, it is absurd to compare a mass of cells to the equivalent of an infant.

Letter: Campus coalition to hold forum on smoking policy

Editor, The Coalition for a UNM Smoke-Free Campus will host a forum to address amending the UNM policy and creating a smoke-free and tobacco-free campus. The forum will take place Oct. 4 from 3 to 4 p.m. at the plaza east of the SUB. The panel members will be Dona Upson, a doctor in the UNM internal medicine program; Don Soderstrom from the American Lung Association; Jane Bowes from UNM patient education; and Cynthia Serna from New Mexicans Concerned About Tobacco.

Letter: Academics should work on hunger, not weapons

Editor, UNM will host a nuclear think-tank meeting at the SUB to promote weapons on Friday. This is incongruous with the fundamental role of a university in promoting peace and free thought. People all over the world are sick and tired of science and technology being used for profiteering and conquest.

Letter: UNM shouldn't be host to weapons development

Editor, I concur with Robert Anderson's letter in Monday's Daily Lobo, especially the significant alarm that nuclear weapon development and its imminent use is readily accepted in this post-9/11 world. I am intellectually, morally and spiritually saddened that UNM would host a playground for nuclear weapons - the same weapons the Bush regime is telling many countries they cannot have.

Letter: Alliance with weapons labs makes money, not sense

Editor, As a two-time UNM graduate, I send condolences to my alma mater for gross misjudgment, amorality and nuclear madness. All of my immediate family went to UNM, but we will not be going down that path again and recommend that other parents choose schools with a more solid ethical base.

Ed toons

Letter: UNM should join in effort to rid the world of nukes

Editor, It is a shock to read about the conference this Friday hosted by UNM and Sandia National Laboratories to discuss their collaboration on the reliable replacement warhead. The announcement of this event sounds almost celebratory. Of course, we a