Opinion - The Daily Lobo

UNM students play bean bag toss on Johnson Field Saturday afternoon during Fiestas.

Opinion

Review: UNM's outdoor festival satisfies

Matthew Reisen | April 13

Fiestas 2015! was a huge success this weekend – filling Johnson Field with good music, students, beach balls, hula-hoops and so much more. Hearing the words “miniature-Coachella” was a common happenstance at Fiestas this year, and to any attendee, the reasons for such a comparison were obvious, with the event taking on the very look and feel of a music festival. The skies above may have been mainly overcast but the positive energy was palpable, with people coming and going for a good time throughout the day.

Opinion

Popular opinion says U.S. is unhinged

Jason Darensburg | April 10

No one looking at America from a balanced perspective can deny any longer that the country has gone collectively insane. Certainly there are some rational, intelligent Americans still around, but we must face the fact that a large segment of the population is totally nuts. Worse, the ruling class is sociopathic and inherently evil. This untenable situation has serious implications for our nation’s future stability, our living standards, and for democracy itself.

Opinion

Letter: Case law cited in suspension unconnected to funding issue

April 9

I find the ruling of ASUNM Justice Seth Barany against Sen. Rebecca Hampton, and the Daily Lobo article covering the ruling, disturbing on many levels. First of all, it is irresponsible, dangerous and unacceptable for Justice Barany to incorrectly quote a U.S. Supreme Court case to legitimize a ridiculous decision by ASUNM. Second, the ASUNM law that is cited applies to ASUNM as a whole, not to a single senator.

Opinion

Editorial: Daily Lobo will now include non-gender-specific pronoun

Daily Lobo Editorial Board | April 9

In a recent edition of the Daily Lobo, the staff was faced with a new issue that is likely to crop up more and more: gender-specific pronouns. A source asked that we not use a gender-specific pronoun and instead asked that we use they/them when referring to this person. In a news story, this is a nearly impossible request to honor — when an article includes quotes and voices from multiple people, using they/them to refer to a single person can make it confusing for a reader to know who is being referred to. We understand there was no simple solution. None of the standard journalistic references offer a guideline on this and conversations on the subject offer widely varied and often conflicting solutions. While the Daily Lobo editors did their best to handle this request immediately, it is obvious that a good long-term solution is needed.

Opinion

Don't overlook benefits to state from solar industry

April 8

Editor, You might wonder who is benefitting from solar PV being installed on homes, businesses, schools and cities in New Mexico.

Opinion

Red Faction supports Muslims, other groups

April 7

Editor, As a co-founder and member, of a politically left student club on campus, I would like the opportunity to speak to some issues that have been raised in the Daily Lobo these past few weeks. I would like to start off by giving some background information on who we are. Red Student Faction is a chartered student club at UNM that has been on campus for one year. Our guiding principles are to critically interrogate systems of oppression and join others in systemically challenging oppression and exploitation.

Opinion

ISIS panel was an attack on Christians, non-believers

April 7

Editor, In defense of Michael Noah Guebara, the ISIS panel did in fact turn the discussion into a personal attack session against Christianity. As the student who sat right behind Guebara, and also engaged the imam throughout the entire discussion session, I can attest to the fact that the imam was presenting a whitewashed version of Islam that does not exist in reality. There are several points that need to be addressed, but before that it must be mentioned that the Muslim Student Association did not upload the entirety of the discussion – there is an important part of the discussion missing, which is about jihad.

Opinion

ISIS discussion was intended to denounce religious violence

April 7

Editor, Has the quality of education in America become so empty and meaningless that a UNM student would actually post an online video claiming the Muslim Student Association was holding a pro-ISIS rally at UNM? I am seriously concerned for the future of my country if a man can actually earn a high school diploma and be accepted at a university while being so woefully inadequate on such a basic level of critical thinking. Let me attempt to disabuse some of my fellow human beings at UNM about the MSA’s alleged support of ISIS.

Opinion

A sonnet in memory of Hector Torres, who was killed in 2010

April 6

The verses below, in Sonnet form, are written in honor of Hector Torres, a UNM professor killed five years ago. This Easter Monday would have been his 60th birthday.

Opinion

Defunding care for mentally ill can lead to tragedies

April 6

Editor, In the wake of the Germanwings Flight 9525 tragedy, it is hard not to ask questions about how better and more effective mental health services might prevent future catastrophe on large and small scales.

Opinion

Religious prejudice overtakes racism in the United States

April 6

Editor, In our country today, racism is being overtaken by religionism. That is quite a feat because there are all these completely different races constituting our epiphenomenon of a nation. Discrimination based on racism is on the decline because the laws that apply are well exercised by now. Not so with religionism, where there is dangerous regression.

Opinion

Letter: Video misrepresents MSA's position on ISIS, objective of event

April 3

Editor, Recent events on campus have created some division on campus. This was highlighted in the “ISIS Panel” that the Muslim Student Association held on AWednesday. Sadly, this event was misunderstood by a single student, and he presumed this was a pro-ISIS panel. The MSA stands firm in saying that this event was anti-ISIS, and MSA members had made this clear throughout the panel.

Opinion

Letter: Empathy is the core of religion, not antipathy

April 3

Editor, If I was a photographer, a baker or a florist, it would never occur to me to deny service to another human couple because they were different? If they were Jews, Muslims, Christians, Hindus, Scientologists, or Atheists, I’d take my camera equipment to the synagogue, the mosque, the church, the temple, the celebrity center, or the botanical gardens, and take the most exceptional photographs I could. If they were in the Tea Party I’d knock out some gnarly Obama jokes.

Opinion

Ignorant reaction to panel is no surprise

Sayyed Shah | April 3

In the wake of the recent reaction to the ASUNM resolution and the attacks on Muslim students across the United S. the reaction of the UNM student to an “anti-ISIS” debate arranged by Muslim Students Association was not a surprise. This is the way Muslims have been stereotyped by the mainstream media in the West, and this is the perception of Muslims some U.S. citizens have.

Opinion

Dr. Peg's Perscription

Dr. Peggy Spencer | April 2

In Blackout Theater’s infamous and irreverent video “S** Burqueños Say,” Lynette leans repeatedly around a corner, offering bottles of soda of varying colors and kinds (none of them Coke), asking each time, “You want a coke? You want a coke? You want a coke?” True to our melting pot nature, Americans have a variety of names for this type of beverage. Most common are “soft drink,” “pop” or “soda.” But whatever you call them, they are bad for your health. I know you know this. Sugary drinks are largely responsible for the obesity epidemic in this country. They rot your teeth and contribute to your risk of diabetes. I have seen patients who lost 20 to 30 pounds just by cutting out sodas. In 2012, New York City even made soda consumption into a public health issue by banning the sale of any soft drink larger than 16 ounces. Two years later, this ban was overturned, to public health officials’ disappointment and soda companies’ delight.

Opinion

Letter: GOP, not leftists, seem to forget we live in a republic

April 1

Editor, UNM student Sam Ryu fallaciously claims that Americans who criticize Israel are “supporting or thinking about seditious activities in order to overthrow the constitutional republic and replace it with a form of socialism.” Speaking of mental issues, what is Sam even talking about?

Opinion

Light pollution found to be wasteful and harmful

Amy Adams | March 31

Light pollution refers to excessive and unproductive artificial light that intrudes on the night landscape. Sometimes light pollution results from too many light sources crowding an area, which produce more light than needed. More often, light pollution results from lighting structures that direct light poorly, usually to the extent that less than half of the light emitted is used for the intended purpose of illuminating a particular object or patch of ground. Remaining light is wasted, usually radiating into space, illuminating unintended areas, or casting glare that interferes with night vision and surveillance.

Opinion

Letter: Injustice in race-baiting and U.S. treatment of Iran

March 30

The Republican letter to Iran stinks. Netanyahu’s speech to Congress also stinks, as does Elie Wiesel’s presence there. The American practice of vilifying Iran, dealing with them unfairly, specifically after it is American President Eisenhower who started their nuclear program, stinks.

Opinion

Letter: Leftists need to stop turning blind eye to reality

March 30

It is quite apparent that some UNM students are rabidly anti-Semitic and possess hatred for the constitutional republic that America is. It should make the reader question why these people want to live in America, unless they are supporting or thinking about seditious activities in order to overthrow the constitutional republic and replace it with a form of socialism. Nobody else is obligated to deal with the mental issues that these people project onto others. For example, claiming that 9/11 was a false flag operation that blames the Jews requires proof. Simply saying or claiming something does not imply the truth. The leftists who claim to value peace and freedom are contradicting themselves at every turn. What peace and freedom are these leftists referring to? Perhaps instead of making false accusations and personal attacks, these leftists should compete for the status of “ultimate victim.” Although leftists hate the notion of competition, they certainly don’t see a problem with a race for ultimate self-victimization. The fabricated versions of reality that these people produce may be associated with smoking too much marijuana or just being intoxicated with the socialist ideology, as they feel self-pity for their own selves, and become resentful and jealous of people who succeed the right way ... yes, the “right way” (no pun intended).

Opinion

Letter: Obama and Saudi Arabia are both in the wrong

March 30

I have heard more than one person say the United States has the best government money can buy. In what would seem to be an unfortunate confirmation of that statement, the Obama administration has recently given its blessing to Saudi Arabia’s recent invasion of Yemen. A popular uprising in Yemen recently sent former president Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi into exile, and Saudi Arabia seems hell-bent on shooting and bombing the new Yemeni government into submission.