Opinion

Letter: Most soldiers are noble, the rest are put in jail

This letter is in response to Brian Fejer's opinion, which appeared in the Aug. 23 issue of the Daily Lobo. The military has not lowered its standards. I don't know how Fejer even thought of it. I'm a private first class in the Army, and standards are higher than ever. People with past criminal history cannot be recruited. On top of that, any members who are convicted in military court of rape, any hate crime or murder will be breaking rocks the rest of their lives in jail.

Letter: Demographics of military mirror society as a whole

As a veteran, I found Brian Fejer's letter in the Aug. 23 Daily Lobo interesting to say the least, though it's obvious that he has never served in any of the U.S. armed forces. If he had, he would understand that the populations of these organizations have the same demographics as the population of the U.S. as a whole.

Letter: Vehicle emissions as bad as secondhand smoke

How many more facts, figures, statistics and deaths does our society need in order to be convinced that vehicle emissions pose serious hazards, not only to the environment but also to our health?

Editorial: UNM mourns tragic loss of promising students

To the UNM community and the greater Albuquerque community, It is with a heavy heart that I join the UNM community in marking the sudden passing last weekend of two promising new students, best friends who were planning to room together on campus and who were about to begin their collegiate careers at UNM.

Letter: Military's low standards lead to assaults, rapes

I just wanted to ask returning UNM students and the invading hoards of freshmen, why are you still here? The U.S. needs generation 9/11.

Letter: Black Panther co-founder well-qualified to teach

While I was generally pleased with Christopher Sanchez's piece in the Aug. 21 Daily Lobo on David Hilliard's faculty appointment in African-American Studies, I was extremely disappointed that he chose to punctuate, not once but twice, that Hilliard did not have an academic degree. Given that the very first sentence makes this point, one might easily believe that the author felt that it was important to inform our academic community about what some here may perceive as an anomaly. And while this may be far removed from Sanchez's intentions, I want to respond briefly to his article.

Letter: Israel unjustly accused of imperialism, violence

This letter is in response to Shoshana Handel's comments in the July 27-Aug. 2 issue of the Daily Lobo. Like Handel, I am Jewish. Having grown up in the Soviet Union and experienced an oppressive regime firsthand, I am a firm believer in the freedom of speech, just as Handel clearly is. However, I feel that individuals need to be responsible while exercising their First Amendment right, something Handel failed to do when she unjustly accused Israel of "imperialism," "willful violence against civilians" and "war crimes."

Letter: Clean air a commodity that everyone deserves

A battle was sparked almost a year ago concerning the monstrous problem of smoking on campus. A group of students, faculty, staff and community members united to fight for smoke-free air on campus. The reasons are numerous and have been made clear to the public countless times in the Daily Lobo, the Albuquerque Journal, KUNM radio and KOB television news.

Letter: Wolves victims of cruel and unrealistic policies

In September 1920, the UNM football team and the paper you are reading adopted the Mexican gray wolf as their mascot. "The Lobo," it was said, "is respected for his cunning, feared for his prowess, and is the leader of the pack."

Column: Patriotism about sacrificing

We have all heard the saying that the only sure things in this life are death and taxes. However, in my opinion, one thing is equally certain - the government's distraction of the populous with affairs of the unimportant.

Column: Casting ballots will help U.S.

It seems like we have no control over our world sometimes.

Letter: Conflicts in Middle East could have been avoided

Some people are blaming Hezbollah for the recent conflict in the Middle East because of its capture of two Israeli soldiers and refusal to release them. Other people are blaming Lebanon for that same conflict because it allowed Hezbollah to remain on its territory and become strong. Other people are blaming Iran and Syria because they supported Hezbollah with money and military weapons. Other people are blaming the United States because it provided aid to Israel.

Ed toons

Letter: Media not investigating Bush's economic boasts

While it irks me to hear President Bush bragging to the news media about how strong the economy is, it bothers me more to see news media reporters not questioning his statements. In the America he's living in, every American is enjoying prosperity. Iraq and Afghanistan are examples of flowering democracy; our environment is clean; all our children are learning and the government is in capable hands.

Column: Veto puts principles before life

No, you didn't miss anything on ESPN, and no sports statistic came crumbling to the ground - all of this excitement took place on C-SPAN. I am speaking, of course, of President Bush's streak of consecutively signed congressional bills.

Ed toons

Letter: Media wrongly portrays Israel as an aggressor

I am concerned about how quickly some judge Israel. For years, Israel has been forced to respond to terrorists and violent attacks from extremist terrorist groups.

Letter: Israelis, Palestinians both deserve sovereign nations

Each and every day, $10 million of our tax dollars go to Israel in "foreign aid," which is more than the budgets of the U.S. Coast Guard and U.S. Forest Service - agencies that save American lives. We now can clearly see how Israel chooses to spend that money - dropping expensive made-in-America bombs and missiles on the civilian population of Lebanon.

Letter: U.S. should end support of country tied to terrorism

On July 11, a series of coordinated bombs were set off in the world's busiest subway system - in the Indian city of Mumbai - resulting in hundreds of causalities, including around 200 dead. Once again, innocents have paid a price because the international community, led by the U.S., refuses to acknowledge the double game played by Pakistan.

Letter: Not anti-Semitic to criticize Israel's immoral actions

I thought that Matthew Chavez's column in the July 20-26 Daily Lobo, "Middle East conflict distorted by U.S.," was perfect.