As the UNM community braces for the legislative session that opens Tuesday, several state leaders have said that they will be paying extra attention to the University this year.
Our friends state Reps. Rob Burpo and William Fuller are each hatching plans to admonish the University for failing to appropriately punish Professor Richard Berthold for his remark that, "Anyone who can blow up the Pentagon has my vote."
Both call UNM's decision to reprimand Berthold, bar him from teaching freshman-level courses for this year and put him through a post-tenure review a slap on the wrist and each have set their own course to correct it as they see fit.
Fuller, a retired Army colonel with a son who was in Pentagon the day of the attacks, is seeking a way to withhold UNM's funding for not firing Berthold. He says that he does not want to punish the entire University for Berthold's actions but sees no other choice.
Burpo, a Republican gubernatorial candidate, is searching for a constitutional loophole that would allow the Legislature to make sure none of UNM's state appropriation can be applied to Berthold's salary.
It's nice to know these two civic leaders can bring the Salem Witch Trials and McCarthy style of governing to the Land of Enchantment. Their posturing is appalling and embarrassing.
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Berthold made a stupid remark, he apologized, the University reprimanded him and is reviewing his teaching practices. It appears that after 30 years of outspoken criticism, Berthold has finally learned to think before he speaks.
Berthold says he is done eating crow and rightfully so. It's time for everyone to move on with their lives and accept his comment as a mistake from which we can all learn a valuable lesson.
Iliana Lim¢n
Editor in chief
