Opinion - The Daily Lobo

Opinion

Letter: Stormy Daniels scandal adds little to what we already know about Trump

Daily Lobo Readers | January 24

Editor, In October of 2016, a Wall Street Journal article claims Donald Trump's lawyer paid $130,000 to buy the silence of Stephanie Clifford, better known to viewers of adult films, at any rate as "Stormy Daniels." Daniels, it's alleged, was set to tell the story of a 2006 sexual encounter with Trump on Good Morning America and in Slate. Now-president Trump and Daniels deny — through the attorney — both the encounter and the alleged payoff, but as I write this, In Touch magazine now claims to have the true scoop. In 2011, the magazine claims, Daniels described the encounter in an interview and passed a lie detector test to substantiate her story.

Opinion

Column: Trump's first year in office

Nichole Harwood | January 21

Jan. 20 marked a full year since Donald Trump was inaugurated as the 45th President of the United States. Love the current president or despise him, few can deny that his first year has been anything but ordinary. Trump’s approach to his candidacy for the White House was widely viewed as unorthodox, and he has continued this approach into his presidency. Trump has involved himself on social media far more than any of his predecessors and used Twitter as a form of communication to spread both his positive and negative views on national and international politics.

Opinion

Guest Column: BioBlog — The secret life of poop

Aurora Kraus and Heather Mercer | January 21

Poop is funny. As scientists, we have many euphemisms for it: guano, scat, feces and frass. But no matter what you call it, or how old you are, poop makes you laugh. However, most people don’t appreciate the health benefits of having healthy poop.

Opinion

Letter: The worst thing about federal government "shutdowns"

Daily Lobo Readers | January 21

The second worst thing about federal government "shutdowns" is that they're almost entirely meaningless theatrical productions — tales told by idiots, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing — from beginning to end. The worst thing about such "shutdowns" is that they end, usually in a way that undoes most of what little good they accomplished in the first place.

Opinion

Letter/Poetry Submission: Plaza Renovation, Groundbreaking Ceremony

Daily Lobo Readers | January 21

Skateboarding into Spring (1/18/18) 9 a.m. the brown earth like wet hay collects like a lump of bread like dough or a hovis or a barley loaf of

Opinion

Letter: Marriage can ruin fulfilling friendships

Daily Lobo Readers | January 21

Editor, Marriage destroys many friendships. My parents might have been good friends if they had never married. Some couples become better friends after divorce. If I had been my mother, I do not know how I could have coped with being married to my dad. If I had been my dad, I do not know how I could have coped with being married to my mother. Married 48 years until my mother died, much of the time, it was emotional WAR! Fortunately, they did not booze; they did not own guns! I learned from them NOT to get trapped in a miserable marriage!

Opinion

Letter: The will of the people is manipulated by the elite

Daily Lobo Readers | January 18

Nikki Haley’s reaction to the U.N. resolution in opposition to Donald Trump’s infamous Jerusalem decision is symptomatic of the U.S. disdain for real democracy. With an overwhelming majority of 128 to 9, the General Assembly defied the threats of retaliation by the U.S. government and decided to give peace a chance and keep the Jerusalem question open. The U.S.-American administration could bring only eight satellite states into line. Autocrats routinely couch their lies in a Royal We. Thus, in stubborn defiance to the U.N., the U.N. ambassador, Nikki Haley, insisted, “America will put our embassy in Jerusalem. That is what the American people want us to do. And it is the right thing to do...The president’s decision reflects the will of the American people.”

Opinion

Column: Don't forget the homeless after the holidays

Elizabeth Sanchez | January 17

When the holiday season is in full swing, so is giving. But why can’t giving be something we do more of year round? Just last week, I was driving in Downtown Albuquerque and happened to notice quite a few tents and sleeping bags in the area — there’s something beautiful and symbolic and silently loud about the things people choose to carry when there is only so much they can own. It reminded me of the fundraisers, donation bins and meal preps that were abundant over the past two months. Awareness was abundant. Where did all the help go?

Opinion

Letter: Remember MLK's opposition of the Vietnam War

Daily Lobo Readers | January 15

Editor, Prophet Martin Luther King, Jr. damned the Vietnam War in his most controversial speech on April 4, 1967 — exactly one year before he was assassinated. King damned the U.S. mass murder of Vietnamese people. King said, “The greatest purveyor of violence in the world today is the my own government.” The New York Times, the Washington Post, many newspapers nationwide condemned his strong message of truth! Many whites, many blacks, the White House, even most of King’s inner circle of black leaders condemned his strong message of truth!

Opinion

Letter: In defense of immigration from "Shithole Countries"

Daily Lobo Readers | January 15

Editor, "Why are we having all these people from shithole countries come here?" U.S. President Donald Trump allegedly asked during an Oval Office meeting, further musing that the U.S. should try to strike a new balance with fewer immigrants from Africa and the Caribbean and more from, say, Norway. Well, of course, he shouldn't have put it THAT way, if he did (he denies it). Between the language and the demographics in his supposed example, he's handed his opponents the opportunity for a doubly delicious round of public moral preening — look how vulgar, and how racist, Donald Trump is!

Opinion

Guest Column: BioBlog — Into the mud: A Solomon Islands story

Xena Mapel | January 15

Editor's Note: This piece was originally published online in the UNM BioBlog on Dec. 11, 2017, written by Xena Mapel. This is part of our project to help connect the Daily Lobo audience to more members of our community. What is it like to conduct international field work as a biologist?

Opinion

Column: Bridging the gap between generations

Nichole Harwood | January 7

Is the millennial generation entitled? Well, that depends highly on who you ask. Most individuals who fall in the 20-year age gap of being born after 1980 and to come of age in the new millenia would argue no.

Opinion

Letter: Men should be ashamed for sexual harassment epidemic

Daily Lobo Readers | January 7

Editor, This letter is in response to the articles covering the sexual harassment allegations made against men in the media and government throughout the United States. To all males living in this country, I issue a collective statement: enough already! Who are you to impose your sexual desires on someone, because they did not give you their consent?

Opinion

Letter: LoboAlerts warnings need to be more timely

Daily Lobo Readers | January 7

Editor, While I understand the need for the LoboAlerts advisory text messages, something really needs to be done about the timeliness of them, or lack thereof.

Opinion

Column: Why isn’t Dead Week really “dead”?

Madison Spratto | December 12

It’s that time of year again — students are sleeping less, studying more and questioning if they really need a college degree. That’s right, it’s finals week. Wheather someone is a Chemistry major, or a journalism major like myself, chances are they are counting down the days until winter break, and calculating exactly what grade they need on their final to still pass — C’s get degrees after all, right? Preparing for finals has become so notorious for contributing to an exponential rise in stress that many students refer to it as “Dead Week."

Opinion

Letter: IT's response to letter published on Nov. 19 regarding Banner

Daily Lobo Readers | December 10

Editor, This letter is written in response to a letter to the editor published on Nov. 19, titled "UNM should be careful with upcoming Banner overhaul." Thank you for taking the time to respond to the UNM News story regarding the updates to the Banner system. The resources you reviewed on the published site were intended to provide a high-level view of the steps we have in place to prepare Banner 9 for go-live, and, as you note, they do not show the level of detail to address your concern about our approach to testing, nor do they represent the full project hours for each implementation.

Opinion

Letter: Suicide is never the best answer

Daily Lobo Readers | December 10

Editor, I, as an older student, am here to say to younger students: never commit suicide. I'll tell you why. It isn't as it I have never wanted to, because I have when I was in my 20s. I had two almost tragically close attempts. Then after the second attempt, I made a decision that no matter how hard life got, I would never do that.

Opinion

Column: Don't be afraid to come out to your family

Kyle Land | December 4

This past Thanksgiving, my grandfather passed away. For most people, such an event would be very emotionally-trying. Yet, from the moment he passed until the day he was buried, I felt strangely conflicted. As cliché as it may sound, my grandfather was very religious. No — that’s putting it mildly. Religion, specifically Orthodox Christianity, was the dominant force in his life.

Opinion

Letter: Religion has no place on campus

Daily Lobo Readers | December 3

Editor, As I meet and speak with other students, as I notice which groups are setting up where and how often, I am struck by how great a presence religion has on campus. To be sure, it is always Christians evangelizing, but my concern stretches to any faith-based tradition. Religion does not belong on campus. We are here to learn. Importantly, we are here to sophisticate our knowledge.

Opinion

Letter: Trump's insults put women in danger

Daily Lobo Readers | December 3

Editor, The misogynist history of Donald Trump’s predatory mindset is nothing new and should not surprise anyone. The fact that it still does, speaks against the hypocritical self-conception of this country as a beacon of justice. A quick glance at Trump’s trail of verbal abuse is indicative of even worse atrocities this man is accused of having committed during the course of his parasitic existence.