Opinion - The Daily Lobo

Opinion

Letter: Young people should learn our election system before demanding to change it

Daily Lobo Readers | January 15

After watching the civil division that this past presidential election has caused for the past year and a half, we seem to be reaching a climax in political opposition. After the election of Donald Trump as president-elect, many Americans across the country took to the streets in protest. Many of these protestors are Millennials who are now calling for an entire overhaul of our election process.

Opinion

Column: UNM Football has earned the right to expect more filled seats

Robert Maler | December 15

The New Mexico football program has pulled a 180 since hiring a new head coach five seasons ago. But despite putting a winning product on the field, attendance has inexplicably continued a downward trend. Head coach Bob Davie has the team reaching new heights after he took over a program that appeared to be in shambles, winning just three games in as many seasons before he took the helm. New Mexico (8-4) has a chance to triple that amount this season alone if it is victorious over Texas-San Antonio (6-6) in Saturday’s Gildan New Mexico Bowl.

Opinion

Op-Ed: Should Trump impose tariffs on China and Mexico?

Robert W. McGee | December 11

Should Donald Trump impose a 35 percent tariff on the importation of goods from China and Mexico as he proposes to do once inaugurated? The short answer, for two reasons, is NO. Reason number one has to do with utilitarian ethics. Nearly all studies conducted by unbiased economists have found that trade restrictions are negative-sum games: There are more losers than winners, or the total losses exceed the total gains. For every job saved, two or three jobs are destroyed, depending on the study and the underlying assumptions.

Opinion

Letter: Hosting Yiannopoulos will not foster open discussion

Daily Lobo Readers | December 4

Dear Young Americans for Liberty at UNM, After criticizing your organization for hosting Milo Yiannopoulos, the self-proclaimed leader of the “alt-right,” I was asked by one of your supporters to give him a chance and learn more about him. So I did - and am now more convinced than ever that your group should reconsider.-

Opinion

Letter: U.S. hides assassinations with counter-terrorism excuse

Daily Lobo Readers | November 30

Editor, The clandestine war being waged by the US in Somalia is but yet another example, with all the secret “Special Ops” forces spread out and killing extra-judicially in so many countries, of the secrecy being maintained in consolidating the American Empire with our prima facie excuse of counter-terrorism. This is why it is not surprising that even Hillary Clinton has, in a closed-door, now-hacked speech to Wall Street, promoted the use of covert operations.

Opinion

Letter: UNM is to be thanked for countering hate on campus

Daily Lobo Readers | November 30

Editor, As public health professionals dedicated to the well-being and protection of traditionally oppressed communities which have faced structural and social inequities and marginalization, we want to thank the UNM leadership for taking important initial steps to counter hate speech, hate crimes and bigotry on campus in Albuquerque and satellites statewide. We also support the call for civil discourse among our UNM community of students, staff, faculty, and community partners.

Opinion

Column: History remembers the brave, and will continue to do so

Nichole Harwood | November 29

On Nov. 20 the World Health Organization, otherwise known as “WHO,” released a statement that said “More than 250,000 men, women and children living in eastern Aleppo are now without access to hospital care following attacks on the remaining hospitals over the last week.” Videos on social media and news outlets spread throughout the internet showing men, women and children fleeing for their lives and being treated for severe injuries. Watching the videos and reading the news stories gave me pause for thought on the events that have unfolded this year.

Opinion

What do you think about the Lobo Football program? Leave a comment.

November 28

Lobo football ended its regular season with a 56-35 romp of Wyoming on Saturday, a victory that earned New Mexico a share of the Mountain Division title for the first time since 1997. The Lobos' 11 conference victories over their last two seasons is also a program record. What are your thoughts on the football team's improvement in recent years? Leave your comments below.

Opinion

Column: What happened to "drain the swamp"?

Jon Lofquist | November 27

After shocking the world by winning the U.S. presidential election a little over two weeks ago, President-elect Donald Trump has been filling important cabinet positions. But some of his picks for top positions haven’t exactly received a passing grade, if you will. For the position of chief political strategist, Trump tapped Breitbart CEO and campaign strategist Steve Bannon, a man who is known to lead the alt-right movement, and has been condemned as a racist and as anti-semitic. His appointment doesn’t exactly send a good message to several groups of minorities that he’s offended. Trump campaigned on a promise to “drain the swamp,” in reference to Washington’s brokenness, and to separate himself from his businesses, something he has so far failed to do. He’s surrounded himself with campaign loyalists and known Washington insiders such as RNC Chairman Reince Preibus, who he appointed as his chief of staff.

Opinion

Letter: Pedestrians should make sure they're visible at night

Daily Lobo Readers | November 27

I normally bike but I happened to drive across campus the other evening (in the rain). It was only 5:30 p.m. but the cloud cover and time change had made the streets darker. To add to the decrease in vision was the road construction everywhere. Dividers here and there, construction lights blinking and headlights coming and taillights just ahead made me realize how invisible pedestrians are in the darkness.

Opinion

Op-Ed: The end of privacy is on sale, and we're buying

Thomas Knapp | November 27

Like it or not, these days the reason for the season seems to mostly be: Shopping. Even if you weren't among the millions lining up outside brick and mortar establishments on "Black Friday," you've probably got your eyes peeled for holiday deals on the web. The hottest bargains this year come with microphones and the promise that those microphones will put the world at your beck and call. Amazon's Alexa-powered line of devices and Google's new Home appliance augur an increasingly voice-powered world.

News

What do you think about UNM's response since Election Day? Leave a comment

November 23

How do you think UNM has handled hateful imagery and harassment on campus since Nov. 8? We want to hear from you!

Opinion

Letter: Universities should open their doors to more conservatives

Daily Lobo Readers | November 20

The hate and intolerance directed at Trump during Wednesday's "walk out" reminded me of a relatively old (1991) quote from a well-known liberal attorney, author and professor named Alan Dershowicz, who back then was so disturbed by the lack of respect for conservatives in certain liberal circles he’s on record as saying: “Political correctness is the most serious issue on college campuses. We are tolerating, and teaching, intolerance and hypocrisy” (James Warren, “Drawing Laughs,” Chicago Tribune, April 14, 1991, section 5, p. 2). Things didn’t change much from 1991 by 2005. Indeed, the intolerance of the ever-so-trendy “politically correct” mob just seemed to have gotten worse (power may have gone to their heads). That motivated a libertarian syndicated columnist named Nat Hentoff to pen a piece titled "College no place for closed minds" (Chicago Sun-Times, Sept. 15, 2005, p. 45).

Opinion

Column: Don't get complacent after tough election

Matthew Reisen | November 20

I woke up on Nov. 9 not wanting to do anything. Anything at all, up to and including: go to class, eat breakfast or even put on pants. The wind was taken out of my already fluttering sails. It was something I didn’t see coming. I joked about it. I half-heartedly said “but, what if?” I didn’t fully absorb the reality until the following Sunday, when I saw a “60 Minutes” preview that read “45th President” with Donald J. Trump’s face beside it. There is a tsunami of feelings that came with that reality. I felt let down, confused, scared, worried, frantic, desperate and apathetic. One thing I wasn’t, not in the least, was hopeful.

Opinion

Letter: The Electoral College needs to be reformed, not abolished

Daily Lobo Readers | November 20

The framers of the U.S. Constitution created the Electoral College as a result of a compromise for the presidential election process. During the debate, some delegates felt that a direct popular election would lead to the election of each state’s favorite son and none would emerge with sufficient popular majority to govern the country. Other delegates felt that giving Congress the power to select the president would deny the people their right to choose. After all, the people voted for their representatives to the federal legislature. The compromise was to set up an Electoral College system that allowed voters to vote for electors, who would then cast their votes for candidates, a system described in Article II, section 1 of the Constitution.

Opinion

Letter: The Inconvenient Truth of Donald Trump

Daily Lobo Readers | November 16

It has become a convenient sport to display one’s democratic colors by hurling the strongest condemnations at America’s most iconic target: Donald Trump. The man himself not only invites, but calls for the criticism. His public posture consists, in a shameless transparency, of an unashamed mindset that digs deep into the muck of America’s bigoted history of racism, slavery, sexist misogyny, chauvinistic nationalism, militarism, burnt-earth capitalism and blood-drenched imperialism. Violence of hatred breeds more hatred of violence. Entrenched in the vicious cycle, Trump is one of few public figures who refuse to mince words. He exhibits his narcissism with an inadvertent honesty that pulls him into the spotlight of utter impertinence.

Opinion

Column: The Electoral College doesn't represent a true democracy

Jon Lofquist | November 16

After 18 grueling months of election campaigning, America shocked the world and elected Donald J. Trump as its 45th president. For the fourth time in American history, and the second time in 16 years, Trump won the presidency despite receiving less votes overall than Hillary Clinton. To recap, Trump got 290 electoral votes and Clinton got 228. Throughout the 2016 presidential campaign, Trump repeatedly stated that the electoral system was “rigged.” In fact, I think I heard that word more often than any other throughout the campaign. It became a theme in Trump’s temper tantrums. I don’t agree or stand for anything he’s said in the campaign, but I think he has a point here.

Opinion

Letter: ASUNM should be willing to discuss finances publicly, not behind closed doors

Daily Lobo Readers | November 13

Editor, On Nov. 11, the ASUNM president sent me a personal email regarding my recent and open critiques of ASUNM and its performance. Specifically, he invited me to schedule a private meeting with him and his staff to address my communications to the Daily Lobo. The ASUNM president's invitation to a private dialogue without an audience should come as a shock to all undergraduates, as this proposed cloak-and-dagger affair runs in the face of the transparency, openness and full disclosure that ASUNM alleges it values. This is indicative of a desire to handle ASUNM business in a manner so that is hidden from the public eye.

Then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks to rally attendees during his Nov. 30. 2016 visit to Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Opinion

Editorial: What President Trump has said he wants to accomplish

Daily Lobo Editorial Board | November 13

Here are some of the things President-elect Donald Trump has said and promised to do once elected: Trump praised the use of waterboarding, an interrogation technique now defined as torture by the U.S., adding “if it doesn’t work, they deserve it anyway for what they do to us.” - Campaign rally in Columbus, Ohio. In the fight against Islamic terror groups, Trump said on Fox and Friends that when it comes to suspected terrorists, “you have to take out their families.” The purposeful killing of civilians is a war crime under the Geneva Convention, and is considered terrorism.

Opinion

Letter: Frank condemns anti-Trump graffiti but refuses to condemn Trump's fascism

Daily Lobo Readers | November 13

Editor, UNM President Frank has condemned "highly offensive" anti-fascist Trump graffiti at UNM. Does he also condemn fascism? I imagine after the tumult of the next four years, this highly offensive grafitti is going to look pretty damn tame in 2020! Appeasement in a social or political context is a diplomatic policy of making political or material concessions to an enemy power in order to avoid conflict. Frank can try his best to be fair and balanced, but fascism should never be appeased.