Editor,
Sept. 11 has affected all of us in some way. As a 10 year employee, an alumna and as a American, I am even more devastated that a university paper would allow its community to view the horror of atrocities to human beings. I am tired of seeing this kind of violence laid out before our eyes. Isn't New York enough!
It has been said that a picture says a thousand words: What are you saying? What the Nov. 14 Daily Lobo photo of a Taliban soldier lying half naked, being shot, lying in a pool of bloodied clothes reflects, which was worse then a history professor's comment about the Pentagon, is unethical photojournalism by a UNM paper.
How dare you flaunt it in our faces on the front cover. Are we rejoicing, are we happy yet, can you sleep at night, do you go to CARS?
Could you have used a different picture?
Have we forgotten the Geneva Convention? Have we forgotten the atrocities of Vietnam? Have we forgotten Sept. 11? Have we forgotten what America stands for? Do you really care how this impacts some of us in the University community? Have we forgotten that you are innocent until proven guilty?
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Have we forgotten that the real reason that the United States of America is in Afghanistan is to bring Osama bin Laden and the al Qaida terrorist network to justice? Shouldn't we be reporting on that effort and not depict a brutal, inhumane scene of a war crime in the making? Yes, it is part of the news, but how much is too much?
Let's prove to ourselves first that we are not monsters on a headhunt. Let's depict ourselves as problem solvers and an educated diverse people helping others. We can never forget, but we can change and impact the way things are. Seek out stories that depict how a university community comes together during this delicate time and rise up to educate the students, faculty and staff on cultural diversity. Help heal our wounds, not aggravate them with salt.
Words are a tactical tool but a picture tells the story! Who's the bad guy now, the Taliban or us?
Margaret Duran
UNM College of Education staff
