Opinion - The Daily Lobo

Opinion

Letter: Axe the football team, fund basketball instead

December 8

WisePies has purchased naming rights to The Pit. So now, it’s the “Pizza Pit.” Great. Now the rawest building in the state alliterates with bummy sandwiches. You know what else could have paid for the renovation? Abolishing the football team. I’m not sure how this would have affected women’s sports teams with regard to Title IX, but on the flip side, why not just fund them anyway?

Opinion

Letter: Teacher salaries should not include legislating

December 8

Before anyone calls me “anti-teacher,” let me say that I have a degree in education, my daughter is at UNM majoring in education, and I believe the starting pay of teachers in New Mexico should be $5,000 to $10,000 higher. With that said, I have to give credit to the APS school board for delaying a final decision on paying teachers for days they are absent while serving as state legislators. Granted, legislators are not paid a salary.

Opinion

Letter: Simple lives in the US, better lives abroad

December 4

If the United States wants fewer immigrants, it needs to work for justice for the millions of poor and working people in other nations. Instead, the U.S. government routinely and deliberately sides with the filthy rich to rob and kill the poor. Many immigrants flee here from war, persecution and severe poverty caused largely by the U.S. Many immigrants would prefer to stay in their native lands if living conditions there greatly improved.

Opinion

Column: Social media may be killing our social lives

Jason Darensburg | December 4

I see hundreds of people on my way to class every week, and I try to smile, tip my hat or at least nod to anyone who walks by. Only rarely do I get any sort of response. More often than not, folks simply ignore me. Most people walk right on by, too busy sulking to acknowledge another human being crossing their path. I’m not going to stop doing it, though. As disappointed as I am with humanity, I still enjoy human interaction — and besides, I’m just trying to be polite. I mean, is it really that difficult to connect with another human being — even for a split-second? I can accept that kids are under a lot more stress than when I was growing up, and people are extremely busy nowadays. Others are not so kind, however.

Opinion

The Pit's new name changes nothing

J.R. Oppenheim | December 3

Got a problem with the WisePies Arena name for UNM’s basketball venue? Get used to it. If this deal runs through the length of the agreement, the fedora-clad logo will be on the building for the next 10 years.

Opinion

Deadly police violence driven by perception of fear

December 2

Editor, Trayvon Martin was shot to death in Sanford, Florida, on a Sunday night, Feb. 26, 2012.

Opinion

Extra food fro dining hall could be put to better use

December 2

Editor, As a freshman attending the University of New Mexico, I am required to have a meal plan and eat at the main dining hall, La Posada.

Opinion

Joining digital age could reduce newspaper litter

December 2

Editor, With the way technology is nowadays, it seems like more and more people are going paperless.

Opinion

The People's Dissent Decree: All lives matter

December 1

Editor, On Nov. 25 more than 300 citizens of Albuquerque collectively decided to take to the streets to disrupt business-as-usual in the wake of the decision denying young Michael Brown justice. Protesters marched peacefully between San Mateo and Yale Boulevard. Brown was assassinated by the killer cop Darren Wilson and left in the street for four hours in a way that horribly traumatized friends, families and onlookers. The police in all cities act as a cartel or gang in that they are always sending a message about their capability to inflict violence and death.

Opinion

Hooked on hookah? It's not as clean as you might think

Dr. Peggy Spencer | December 1

Dear Dr Peg, Some friends introduced me to hookah smoking a few months ago, and we've been getting together to smoke a couple of times a week. It;s fun to hang out, and the smoke smells nice. I know cigarette smoking is dangerous, so I've never done it, but hookah smoking is safe, right? Doesn't the water filter out all the bad stuff from the smoke? And isn't hookah tobacco healthier than the tobacco in cigarettes? -Hooked on hookah

Opinion

Sexual assault display about resources, not opinions

November 26

Editor, Sexual violence is a very serious issue, and I can say with confidence that many would agree that all survivors deserve healing, hope and love.

Opinion

Gila River needs a butterfly effect

Daniel Richmond | November 25

Julia Butterfly Hill chronicles the two years she spent living 180 feet up in the branches of an ancient tree, on a tiny platform exposed to the wind, snow, sun and rain in her book “The Legacy of Luna.” She went 738 days without ever touching the ground. One night in particular, during a fierce winter storm, as her 6 square-foot plywood home rocked and jumped around crazily, she clung to the great redwood’s center and prayed she might survive the night. Foot-thick branches snapped off all around her head. Are you wondering why on earth she was even up there?

Opinion

Dogged pursuit of 'cover-up' is an embarrassment

November 25

Editor, The GOP-led House Intelligence Committee recently released one of many reports absolving the Obama administration of any mishandling of the now infamous Benghazi affair.

Opinion

Task force's approach to violence is misguided

November 24

Editor, I was deeply disturbed on Friday when I was walking in front of the SUB to find the campus organization Students for Life using cases of rape and sexual assault to push their anti-choice agenda.I was even more disturbed to find out that some of these students are part of the Sexual Violence Task Force on the UNM campus.

Opinion

Student group's display a bait-and-switch

November 24

Editor, On Friday the Students for Life were outside providing information, at a quick glance, on rape. With further exploration it became clear that their table of information and handouts were littered with pregnancy resources, birth control information, and anti-abortion literature and available services.

Opinion

Support, not shame, is needed after sexual assault

November 24

Editor, Some people might have seen Student for Life’s display addressing the issue of sexual violence on campus, but what many might not have realized in passing was that this display was actually a front to push a particular viewpoint that in fact stigmatizes some survivors of sexual assault — those that have abortions after being raped.

Opinion

Low voter turnout illustrates student apathy

November 21

Low voter turnout is not simply a national problem, a statewide problem or a municipal problem this election cycle; UNM felt it, too. Only 682 undergraduate students voted in the recent Associated Students of UNM Senate elections.

Opinion

Do the economy a favor: shop local this holiday season

November 21

Editor, The holiday season is approaching and with it a wonderful time to support our local economy.

Opinion

Cheerleaders warrant boost in scholarships and funding

November 21

Editor, As we build toward the climax of the 2014 college football season, you can already hear the perennial debate beginning again — should college athletes be paid for their work in addition to the scholarships they receive?

Opinion

Letter: Race riots would show MLK's dream unrealized

November 20

According to the Macpherson report, institutional racism is “the collective failure of an organization to provide an appropriate and professional service to people because of their color, culture or ethnic origin, which can be seen or detected in processes; attitudes and behavior which amount to discrimination through unwitting prejudice, ignorance, thoughtlessness and racist stereotyping that disadvantages minority ethnic people.” Whether one believes that institutional racism is real or not, there has long been a perception in so-called minority communities throughout the United States that the various police departments are ready to kill them on the flimsiest pretext. As of this writing, Ferguson, Missouri prepares for a possible race riot if police officer Darren Wilson is not indicted in the killing of black youth Michael Brown.