I usually drive my car to campus to lift weights at Johnson center at around 5:30 p.m. or later, four days a week. I usually park in the "A" lot next to the Student Residence, and I rarely have trouble finding a space. In fact, there are usually several dozen empty spaces.
What’s up America? Afghanistan is poor. Its population is roughly 27 million. The Afghan life expectancy is 47 years, more than two thirds of the people are illiterate and telephone service is erratic.
I write this with the knowledge that we are now at war. I can't help feeling the weight of this situation and my place as a human being in the thick of these events.
As an American, I am mortified by the actions of certain UNM students and staff, as well as members of our state Legislature.
I offer my highest complements to President Bush and his Cabinet. This administration's response to the acts of war committed against us on Sept. 11 has been outstanding. It has been rational, thoughtful and humane. It has my full respect and support. We also owe due credit and thanks to Congress and our allies. I have never been more positively impressed by our federal government - or more proud of it.
The Taliban has forced the United States into a very real war, and we need to support and sponsor our country by all means. We observe the reactions about the attacks a number of people support and few do not.
I was interested in the comments on KUNM made by UNM Political Science Professor Gregory Gleason telling of his first hand experience in areas around Afghanistan. However, when he asserted that the United States has "never occupied" foreign lands for purposes of economic profit, I was astounded at his lack of historical perspective.
We have waited for nearly month and the other shoe has finally dropped.
I know we're all getting tired of the Berthold affair, but I think it is important for as many faculty members as possible to go on record in support, not of Professor Berthold, but of the principle that what professors say in their classrooms is protected by the First Amendment. That includes the principle of academic freedom - especially since the Faculty Senate failed to do so unequivocally last Tuesday, though they came close.
I find it disturbing what some Americans have come to call "patriotism" in the weeks following the terrorist attacks. These so-called patriots see any criticism of our government and its actions as un-American. They demand unity and an end to free speech.
Rachel was on the couch reading the paper when she felt someone tugging on her pants. When she looked down, there was little Betty peering up, curiosity furrowing her brow
Professor Richard Berthold is an outstanding lecturer on the history of Greece and Rome. He is articulate, flamboyant, outspoken and very funny. His style is to provoke the interest of his students by peppering his classes with jokes and outrageous remarks.
The University of New Mexico has long subscribed to the principles of academic freedom. However, the controversy over the remarks allegedly made in class by UNM Professor Richard Berthold on Sept. 11 suggests that those principles are imperfectly understood in many quarters.
Recent events surrounding the comment made by professor Richard Berthold have inspired a witch trial straight out of the McCarthy era. Admittedly, what he said was insensitive, but his comment deserves to be heard.
This week, I received a flyer from the UNM office of Counseling, Assistance and Referral Services in my campus mailbox. Printed on bright blue paper, it was titled "Make a Haven," and was basically a list of what it considered normal reactions to the "recent tragic events."
Writing under a full moon, I feel the silent waters that have been violently disturbed. Occasionally there is a period in our lives when we wonder why so much energy is dedicated to warfare and its technologies and not enough put into wondering about this moon and how it effects each and everything.
I have been regularly writing this column for some 20 years now, and it has been great fun and, I hope, entertaining and annoying to the campus community. But in the interests of the University and my own health - dealing with the real world turns out to be a fairly scary thing - this column will not appear for a while.
We've been buried neck deep in controversy over Professor Berthold's recent comment. So he made a bad joke? So what?
My letter is a short response to Professor Richard Berthold's cowardly remark about the Pentagon bombing. Basically the professor is entitled to his point of view but his comment leads to a question about academic freedom.
I wish to express my condolences to the lower division undergraduates of this august institution. If some are correct, your poor darlings can be lead astray with a few words in an off-the-cuff remark. These folks seem to believe that you are so brain-dead, so soul-dead, that the first 18 years of life with your parents can be negated in one class by an evil, wicked professor. They probably also believe that you are all non-smoking, non-drinking virgins.
Solutions by The State News
