Editor, My boyhood hero, Robert Kennedy, used to say that "Jobs are better than welfare." As a liberal/progressive Democrat, I agree.
Editor, For the fourth consecutive year, the New Mexico Lottery is pushing legislation to repeal the guarantee that at least 30% of lottery revenues must go to college scholarships. This fight goes back more than a decade.
Editor, I was appalled when I saw that the Albuquerque Journal published an offensive cartoon a few days ago, depicting Dreamers as MS-13 thugs assaulting a conservative couple at gunpoint. It was particularly offensive to me, because I fit into the same demographic as the Dreamers: I was brought to the USA from Mexico by my parents as a little 7-year-old boy in pursuit of a better future. I grew up and graduated from UNM with my bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering, became a U.S. citizen prior to graduating from UNM and I have always been a productive member of American society.
Editor, It’s hard to turn on the news anymore and not have a feeling of helplessness about the amount of crime in our state and the safety of our citizens. While it’s nice that Albuquerque is ranked as the nation’s kindest city (Whisper app, 2016), it’s equally disturbing that we are also ranked as one of the highest places for crime in the nation.
Dear Reader, I’m not writing about the cartoon — yeah, that one. The cartoon depicting “Dreamers,” immigrant youths who were brought here as children, as terrorists and gang members from Mara Salvatrucha, also known as MS-13. The cartoon that sparked a protest, condemnations from locals to lawmakers and received national coverage. Instead, let’s talk about journalists, apologies and accountability.
Editor, "Uncertainly is swirling over whether the Census Bureau will be able to get an accurate population count for the 2020 census," the Hill reports. The Department of Justice wants the bureau to ask respondents about their citizenship status, which could result in people avoiding the census altogether. There's a simple solution to the "problem," and that is for the Census Bureau to slim its questionnaire down to the only question it can legally ask: "How many people live here?"
Editor, The only material possession we each have from birth to death is our body. No other material possession can give us more misery or more pleasure. Sadly, many people take far better care of their car, house and pets than their own body. We can buy, sell or survive withour a car or house. We can adopt other pets. But we each own only one body to abuse or nurture. Life is hard enough when we are healthy. We all will die. But until I die, I eat, I exercise, I sunbathe, I walk, I sleep to stay lean and healthy. Why suffer?
Editor, On Jan. 29, U.S. District Judge Katherine B. Forrest ordered the release of immigrant rights activist Ravi Ragbir from pre-deportation detention. Ragbir, who came to the U.S. from Trinidad in 1991 and got his "green card" in 1994, has been fighting deportation over a fraud conviction since 2006. Earlier this month, while checking in with immigration authorities to renew his annual extension, he was detained and jailed. Ragbir's is an interesting and compelling story, but this column is about Forrest and the elegant hypocrisy of her words in ordering his release:
Editor, I have a suggestion for the Democratic Party and its members in terms of what its "message" and campaign slogan/theme should be for the 2018 and 2020 elections, because I believe that it is a "winning" message. Back in 1987, I heard Bill Clinton give a speech in which he said something that I really agreed with and liked a lot.
For most young athletes, there’s a moment when they realize that they don’t have the athletic ability to play their sport professionally someday. For many, this is where their hopes of someday working in sports comes to an end — and that’s fine, but that doesn’t have to be the case. There are many careers for those of us who may not be athletically gifted enough to play beyond our youngest years (anyone else get cut from the high school golf team? No? Just me?), so let's start with the obvious ones.
Editor's Note: This piece was originally published online in the UNM BioBlog on Jan. 30, 2018, written by Biology Professor David Hanson.
Childhood holds a peculiar time in our lives. At the tender age of five to 10, we are impressionable, curious and open to learn new and innovative information. As teenagers we are often stubborn and passionate, as we slowly form the identities that will define our adulthood. It is only when we take that final step into adulthood that some of our firmest beliefs from our teenage years are finally shaken.
Editor, On Jan. 22, U.S. Trade Rep. Robert Lighthizer fired the first shots of the Trump administration's 2018 trade agenda: tariffs of 30 percent on imported solar panels and tariffs starting at 20 percent on imported residential washing machines. In the name of "protecting" jobs — "America First!" — the administration is dead-set on making you poorer. Yes, the tariffs may benefit a few people (stockholders and employees of American solar panel and washing machine makers), if foreign governments don't retaliate in kind and then some with their own tariff schemes. That's a big if.
Editor, As someone who was sexually harassed in the past, I know first-hand about the inner pain that victims/survivors experience. But as someone who spent five years as a counselor/therapist working in the fields of alcoholism, drug addiction and mental health, I want to share my observations and research findings about various forms of "abuse."
Editor, I lived well all of 2017 on $5,528 for my total expenses — rent, food, etc. — for less than half the U.S. poverty level for me as a single person. I enjoy living simply — less spoiled, less bills, less stress, more freedom. I refuse to be a slave to ads, commercials and corporations. How much worse the environment and climate chaos would be if all 7 billion people on Earth consumed, traveled, polluted and ate meat and dairy like most USA-ans. Why hog much more than my fair share in our world family?
Dear Protester, I am a journalist. One of the mainstream media, if that is the name you choose. I go to rallies, marches, demonstrations, sit-ins — you name it, I cover it. I am there because you are. The causes you support, the tension and disruption are all means of facilitating discussion. So, talk to me. Tell me about it.
Editor, The Atlantic's Ronald Brownstein reports that a new political organization, With Honor, "has launched a major effort to elect to the House more recent military veterans who commit to working across party lines...a bipartisan core of House Members who are inclined to seek common ground, whatever their personal views." The idea that veterans are particularly well-suited for political office — in part because of "their experience working in diverse teams that pursue common goals under great stress," as Brownstein describes With Honor CEO Rye Barcott's view — is not a new one. Nor is the expectation of a ready and waiting bloc of voters, many perhaps veterans themselves, who are inclined to support veteran candidates.
Editor, We applaud people who feel like doing something. In an age where so many people spend so much time sitting or who are doing nothing, let's celebrate the people who are doing something. Celebrate their living. I've always been blessed with energy. Energy is a good asset. As a young adult growing up, I wanted to be in the middle of whatever was going on. I always enjoyed playing sports, swimming in the lake or creek, riding a bicycle for miles or being in the middle of the dance floor. I've always enjoyed movement.
Hundreds of millions of people suffer from snail borne parasitic diseases. Some of these parasites, like the schistosome worms that live in blood vessels, are considered world health concerns.
The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), Medicaid, Student Loans, Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) and Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) — these are all programs that many individuals have used at some point in their lives, even if they didn’t know it. All generations, whether it is Baby Boomers, Generation X, Millenials or the upcoming Generation Z, have felt the ripple of poverty that has left its impact throughout the history. Not all individuals were born with a silver spoon. Despite the fact that poverty has long been a factor in any society, American or otherwise, there is often a stigma to it.
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