Opinion

Opinion

Guest Columnist — BioBlog: Middle Pleistocene or Middle Earth?

Amelia Villaseñor | October 1

Editor's Note: This piece was originally published online in the UNM BioBlog on Sept. 27, written by Amelia Villaseñor. This is part of our new project to help connect the Daily Lobo audience to more members of our community. During the late Pleistocene, around 70,000 years ago, fossil and genetic evidence tell us that there were at least four species of hominins (human ancestors) inhabiting the planet. However, rather than elves and orcs, there were Denisovans, Neanderthals and, in both Middle Earth and the real one, humans and hobbits. UNM Biology postdoctoral researcher Amelia Villaseñor discusses these near-human creatures that our direct ancestors encountered in the UNM BioBlog.

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Opinion

Letter: A brief summary of Christianity for those who aren't familiar

Daily Lobo Readers | September 27

Editor, I am writing this letter about Christianity, the reason being that there may have been a generation who knows little about it except negative things they’ve heard. Christianity 101: we believe in God and that God had a son who came as a savior and deliverer. His name in Greek is Jesus. In Hebrew, it’s Yeshua or basically Joshua which means “deliverer,” as many names have meanings, especially in the Bible. We don’t believe God is just some “energy” as do new-agey people — and I live in Santa Fe where there is every kind of new-age woo woo you can think of. We believe that God is one but that God has a son and an omniscient Holy Spirit. To understand this, an earthly person can be a son and a father and still be the same person. Jesus said, “I am the Father are One.” God is a God of love, but sometimes disciplines us as an earthly father does. The word “disciple” contains the element of discipline.

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Opinion

Column: President's attack on NFL players is blatant hypocrisy

Jonathan Baca | September 27

Despite Hell-on-Earth conditions in Puerto Rico (a territory of the United States) after the ravages of Hurricanes Maria and Irma, despite the very possible nuclear holocaust between the U.S. and North Korea, despite the possible destruction of healthcare benefits for tens of millions of Americans — our President is tweeting about...the National Football League. And what is his beef with the much beloved NFL? That some players, and now many owners and coaches, are standing — and kneeling — with one Colin Kaepernick, a 49ers quarterback, who decided over a year ago to take a knee during the National Anthem. Kaepernick did this in protest of widespread police brutality against unarmed, innocent black men who were (and are) being gunned down in the streets by the men and women sworn to protect their communities.

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Opinion

Letter: When does social media's collusion with government cross the line?

Daily Lobo Readers | September 27

Editor, In a Sept. 21 post, Mark Zuckerberg shared nine steps the site he started is taking "to protect election integrity and make sure that Facebook is a force for good in democracy," by "actively working with the government" and "partnering with public authorities." The day before that, the United Kingdom's prime minister, Theresa May, used the United Nations General Assembly as a forum to demand that social media networks "ensure terrorist material (read: content that May disapproves of) is detected and removed within one to two hours."

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Opinion

Letter: People with pre-existing conditions should be allowed into Medicare

Daily Lobo Readers | September 24

Editor, Ask your Congressman to not penalize Americans who have preexisting medical conditions. The idea floating around now in Congress that insurance companies will be able to charge higher amounts to Americans who are sick is a bad idea. This is an idea from the medical insurance lobbyists who continue to buy Congress. They hand out millions of dollars in money to the campaign coffers of our politicians. The Congresspeople are supposed to be representing you and your district but they often get bought out when they arrive on Capitol Hill.

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Opinion

Column: Homecoming might be more than a hastle

Nichole Harwood | September 24

Homecoming was not made for me. I don’t mean that in an outwardly negative way either. I’m not saying the tradition of Homecoming celebrated by high schools and colleges doesn’t mean something to others, or that it doesn’t reach out to a large amount of people. It’s simply that these traditions were clearly not made with someone like me in mind. While I have never loathed the concept of others celebrating Homecoming, it has never particularly excited me either, or ever caught my attention.

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Opinion

Letter: Most movies have a poisonous message

Daily Lobo Readers | September 24

Editor, I would not watch most movies, even if I were paid. Most movies are a stupid waste of time, talent and money. Most movies are saturated with glamorized murder, money addiction, rape, robbery, booze, revenge or war! Why would adults who damn violence on the streets enjoy watching movie violence for entertainment? Regardless of how many jobs and dollars, most movies made in New Mexico are nothing to celebrate! Spiritually, they are crap!

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Opinion

Guest Column — BioBlog: Is Hurricane Irma the result of climate change?

Felisa Smith | September 22

Editor's Note: This piece was originally published online in the UNM BioBlog on Sept. 8, written by Felisa Smith. This is part of our new project to help connect the Daily Lobo audience to more members of our community. In the last month, two catastrophic hurricanes have threatened the U.S., causing widespread destruction. Is global warming to blame for the frequency and strength of these hurricanes? UNM Biology Professor Felisa Smith discusses how climate change influences extreme weather patterns in the UNM BioBlog. The full article can also be accessed in the print version of the Sept. 21 version of the Daily Lobo. Felisa Smith is a guest columnist at the Daily Lobo. She can be contacted at fasmith@unm.edu or on Twitter @UNMpaleoecology.

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Opinion

Letter: Trump folds to the establishment with latest debt deal

Daily Lobo Readers | September 20

Editor, The Washington Post reports that U.S. President Donald Trump and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) "have agreed to pursue a deal that would permanently remove the requirement that Congress repeatedly raise the debt ceiling." That must be a bitter pill to swallow for those who thought they were electing an "anti-establishment" president to "drain the swamp" in Washington, but it should be no surprise. After all, Trump built his business career on going into debt up to his neck, taking a profit when things worked out, and leaving his partners holding the bankruptcy bag when they didn't.

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Culture

Guest Columnist: The challenges of living in a pueblo

Guest Columnists | September 20

Editor's Note: This story can be attributed to Humans of New Mexico contributors. This is part of our new project to help connect the Daily Lobo audience to more members of our community. Between Cultures & Pueblos My name is Bryce Townsend. I am from San Felipe Pueblo and Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo. I’ve lived in San Felipe most of my life, and I participate in Ohkay Owingeh as well. I kind of live in both places, you can say that.

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Opinion

Letter: Cops must become approachable to win community support

Daily Lobo Readers | September 20

Editor, The only way to build the moral for the department is to have the community's support. The only way to have the citizens support police is if police must themselves be approachable. They (the police) seem to have this "holy other than thou personal." People, I sense, feel they have to walk on eggshells around cops...personal opinion. God bless the APD. M. Jenkins

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Opinion

Letter: Newspapers should be more careful about the opinions they publicize

Daily Lobo Readers | September 17

Editor, I am a graduate of the University of New Mexico School of Law '11 and an immigration attorney in Santa Fe. I appreciate your need to print a variety of opinions about current events. On it's face, in fact, Ryan Margraf's Sept. 14 letter "Trump Faces Sensitive Topic With Immigration" is a fine opinion. It misstates many facts and reeks of conservative bigotry but it is, after all, Mr. Margraf's opinion. Editor, I think you need to consider this headline: Daily Lobo faces sensitive topic with immigration. A letter you may consider innocuous civil discourse threatens the safety of students on your campus. UNM proudly welcomes students of all immigration statuses and seeing anti-immigrant sentiments in print, even when they are opinions, can be terrifying and isolating to immigrant students in an environment where they are simply trying to learn and thrive like everyone else.

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Opinion

Letter: Colonial islands are systematically neglected by rich nations

Daily Lobo Readers | September 17

Editor, Is it surprising that so many Caribbean islands have been given short shrift by the occupying colonial powers, both in preparation for Hurricane Irma and in the aftermath, when entire islands have been leveled to the extent they are uninhabitable? Britain has been particularly culpable in this regard, to where there has been serious shortage of food and water. But then, when has a colonial power historically cared enough about the well being of its “native subjects” in its far-flung territories?

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Opinion

Guest Column: BioBlog — Feathered Dinosaurs

Guest Columnsits | September 15

Did Tyrannosaurus rex, one of the largest carnivorous dinosaurs, have feathers? Though feathers are inherently thought of as a trait that only birds posses, there is more than ample evidence to suggest that this apex predator could have had more than just scales. Jenna McCullogh discusses the evolution of birds, their feathers and what scientists think T. rex looked like in the UNM BioBlog.

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Opinion

Column: Trump faces a sensitive topic with immigration

Ryan Margraf | September 14

President Trump must call upon Congress to build a big, beautiful, humane border wall with Mexico, a state whose government has gone so far as to publish pamphlets on how their ever-so-economically valuable citizens can infiltrate the U.S. without detection. In the same breath, he must also call upon Congress to grant Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipients a path to citizenship. When President Trump announced the end of DACA, there were local protests abound. University administrators nationwide came right on cue, stating their unconditional support of undocumented students.

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Opinion

Letter: Trump's shots at the EPA directly affect UNM finances

Daily Lobo Readers | September 13

Editor, UNM’s budget is at risk, and it’s not from Santa Fe this time. President Trump and his cronies in the energy sector have the EPA in their crosshairs. While the connection to our campus isn’t obvious at first, the EPA provides funding for numerous research programs around campus, such as the College of Pharmacy's Center for Native American Health Equity Research. The EPA has promised 1.5 Million to this program, which will allow UNM, with the help of Montana State and Washington Universities, continue to study the impacts of uranium mining on the Navajo Nation, Crow Tribe and Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe.

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Opinion

Letter: Change for the better is within your grasp

Daily Lobo Readers | September 13

Editor, With much help from many people, I have made many major changes in my life. I grew up in a mostly white Illinois farm community. I now enjoy living in a mostly people of color neighborhood in New Mexico’s largest city. I grew up in a 10-room, two-story house, plus attic and cellar. I now enjoy living in one sunny rented room 9 ½ by 12 feet. As a youth I was spoiled with too many toys, clothes, books and records. I now enjoy living on less than half the U.S. poverty level for me, as a single person.

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Opinion

Letter: David Harris defends himself from cronyism allegations

Daily Lobo Readers | September 13

Editor, On September 11, you published an letter by an individual named Brian Fejer, which contained numerous inflammatory comments regarding my service to the University of New Mexico over the past thirteen years. While Mr. Fejer’s knowledge of the administrative actions during my tenure amount to no more than biased conjecture and interpretation, I understand that he is welcome to his opinion. However, his piece contains so many inaccuracies that it is difficult to know where to begin. 

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Opinion

We'll always remember what we were doing on 9/11

Nichole Harwood | September 10

There are certain memories that become cemented in your mind. Certain events, times and places that when they happen, you know you are going to remember where you were and what you were doing at the time for the rest of your life when it occurred. You’ll remember even if you don’t understand why. The viewing of the news feed of the attack on Sept. 11, 2001 is certainly one of those memories. According to an Aug. 2011 Pew Research survey, “97 percent of Americans who were at least eight years old when the attacks happened said they remembered exactly where they were or what they were doing when they heard the news.”

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Opinion

Letter: UNM is rife with cronyism

Daily Lobo Readers | September 10

Editor, The two worst governors in this failed state's history, Republican Susana Martinez and Democrat Bill Richardson, left a corrupt and vile stain on the University of New Mexico! UNM needs to drain the swamp of all appointees of these crooked Governors. Cronyism is defined as the practice of awarding jobs to friends or trusted colleagues, especially in politics and between politicians and supportive organizations. This also includes appointing "cronies" to positions of authority, regardless of their qualifications! Why does UNM VP for Finance David Harris still have a job, after the LOBO/Scotland/Pit debacles?