by Caleb Fort
Daily Lobo
A flier circulating around campus that promotes a group called the Reagan Rangers appears to be a joke.
The flier states the Rangers want to make UNM "a more American place to worship and study."
It lists several priorities for the University, including "on-campus spot-checks of virginity to stop liberal sex practices."
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Other priorities on the flier include mandatory chapel attendance and replacing biology and geology textbooks with the Book of Genesis.
It is not clear who made and distributed the fliers.
The flier lists the Reagan Freedom Society and the College Republicans as sponsors of the group. However, officers from both organizations said they had never seen the flier and had never heard of the Reagan Rangers.
Rodney Dunn, president of the UNM College Republicans, said the flier is an ineffective way to resolve political differences.
"It's not going to get them anywhere," he said, referring to the people who made the flier. "The flier's obviously fake, and it's not going to change anyone's mind."
The flier advertised a rally at the Alumni Memorial Chapel at noon Thursday, but nobody showed up.
Bob Cornelius, statewide chairman of the Reagan Freedom Society, said his organization would not retaliate.
"I don't think it's worth the effort or the time," he said.
Student Laura Gleim said the flier probably achieved its goal.
"The Daily Lobo's writing an article about it, so they're getting a response," she said. "I'm sure that's what they wanted."
The Reagan Rangers are not listed as a chartered student group at UNM. A Google search for Reagan Rangers returned 22 results, but none of them appeared to be student clubs.
Jenny Gibson from the New Mexico Reagan Freedom Society said the flier is irresponsible.
"There's always been political rivalry on campus, but I think this is way more serious," she said. "People could get really offended. Something crazy could happen, like a fight or something."
Student Lana Rezayeva said the flier is harmless.
"I think it's funny," she said. "Everybody has their own opinions, and it's just somebody's way of showing it. It's a free country."
The flier is more malicious than funny, Gibson said.
"Whoever is doing it is obviously trying to make us look really bad," she said. "It's just a poke at conservative stereotypes in general."
Gleim said the flier is politics as usual.
"I don't think anything in politics is ethical," she said.
Student Lucas Miller had mixed feelings about the flier, he said.
"I think it's kind of funny," he said. "But I also think it's unfair to make the assumption that all Republicans are this stringent in their beliefs."
The flier is not a constructive way to go about politics, he said.
"I don't really get what they're trying to accomplish," he said. "It's all just a bunch of bashing."
Jacqueline Belding, president of the UNM College Democrats, said her group was not involved with the flier. She said the flier is detrimental to everyone, regardless of political affiliation.
"There are so many other ways to get college students involved in politics," she said. "This is showing everyone the ugly side of it."
Dunn said there are no immediate plans for how to deal with the flier, but he will discuss it with other officers of his group.
