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Keep UNM mitts off golf course

For over 40 years, I have resided in the University of New Mexico's north campus area. I have witnessed many times the very questionable choices which UNM has made over in its endless quest to expand and build in the name of progress.

This time, however, UNM may have finally gone way too far and crossed the boundaries of those who, in fact, pay the salaries of the very same people now involved in possibly making the most regrettable decision of their careers.

There have been rumblings and rumors that UNM now plans to tear up or build upon the area now occupied by the North Golf Course.

Obviously the regents, or whatever UNM governing bodies may be involved in this decision process, have absolutely no clue of the magnitude of furor and dissension that is already brewing over even the mere possibility of this discussion. . . .

The UNM North Golf Course . . . holds a historical and sentimental place in the hearts and minds of all who reside within two miles of its location. It is not just a naturally beautiful golf course for those who enjoy the sport. It is also an emerald gem of an oasis, which, for decades, has served as a health haven for walkers, joggers and medically fragile or challenged people who have testified to the wonderful therapeutic role it has played in their recoveries. . . .

If anything, UNM should make the greatest efforts to preserve and maintain this historical and very special piece of property and make it forever off-limits to any sort of commercial or private construction undertaking. . . .

Chris Mares

Albuquerque

Honor nature, sustain our health

I am a regular walker around the North Golf Course at the University of New Mexico. This area, with birds, rabbits and native plants, a haven in the midst of our noisy city, is threatened with development.

Hundreds of users, many of whom are UNM employees, walk or run the perimeter daily as part of their physical health maintenance. To lose this bit of nature would be a blow to both our physical and emotional well-being.

Please, please, UNM: Honor nature and our Earth and us citizens by leaving this area intact. Be a leader in the field and help preserve our space.

Karen Reagan

Albuquerque

Don't develop treasured refuge

I am writing to protest any impending plans to obliterate the University of New Mexico North Golf Course and replace it with buildings.

Development at the expense of a treasured refuge is unacceptable. The golf course is one of the major assets UNM makes available to the community. It is an oasis in the middle of the city.

This September will be my 25th year walking the perimeter of the course. As a former UNM employee, I began walking there before work each day and have continued to do so throughout my retirement.

I believe the use of the course has grown exponentially over the years. The course is not restricted to golfers, UNM students, faculty and staff. A variety of Albuquerque denizens use it. Members of various Albuquerque High School track teams, marathon runners, amateur and professional athletes, young parents and their children, and young and older adults use this area throughout the year, day in and day out. In other words, it is emblematic of the Albuquerque community, and the university is the valued contributor of it to the community.

The university owns land located in the north and south campuses, which provide ample space for buildings. But this one space brings the Albuquerque community together to share this exquisite environment. I hope the regents and the next UNM president realize that the university is much more than an institution of higher education; it is an integral part of the community. And as an essential member of the community, the university should symbolize the best of Albuquerque by continuing to be a good citizen and preserving this oasis for all to enjoy. This is our Central Park, and we must fight to keep it.

Bea Bevell

Albuquerque

Course has saved my mental health

Please, you must help stop the University of New Mexico from destroying the North Golf Course.

The golf course has been a community asset and my personal mental-health saver. I have walked and run the golf course for 20 years, and I have never failed to be struck by the beauty and openness.

UNM needs to realize it has an obligation to the community in which it resides.

Kahjarime Baca

Albuquerque

This is where I learned to golf

I am 14 years old right now, and, just a few years ago, I learned to play golf for the first time at the University of New Mexico North Golf Course. Since then, my friends and I have flocked to the course a dozen or more times each summer.

It is the perfect place for me to play, because it has great service, well-kept grounds and a wonderful atmosphere. The UNM North Golf Course is the only place my friends and I can get to to play golf. If it was torn down, we would have to drive to much more expensive places where it is not as fun to golf.

Tearing down the golf course would create a terrible predicament, not just for me, but for countless others in the community.

Please do not tear down the course.

Kelan Drake-Lavelle

Albuquerque

Cockfighting ban is a culture war

(Re: "Cockfighting debate fueled after Senate OK," Tribune, Feb. 8.)

I've got to get my two bits worth in on the cockfighting situation.

Back in 1954, I was stationed at Clovis Air Force Base - now Cannon Air Force Base. Every two months or so, on a Saturday evening, some of us guys would drive to Taiban, a small village west of Clovis. Off a dirt road close to town, we would come to a little arena where cockfights would be held. You could see that for the folks in this remote area these get-togethers were a big part of their lives.

I have also lived in the Philippines and on the island of Guam. I recall taking Sunday drives in both places and running across cockfights with heavy attendance.

I have come to the conclusion that these activities are, indeed, a part of certain cultures, of which we in New Mexico have quite a few.

I understand the quandary in which this puts a lot of folks. I'm not sure how this will turn out, but I do understand both sides of the problem.

Rod Junghans

Albuquerque

Clean energy isn't all about utilities

"Going clean," Tribune, Feb. 12, about imposing percentages of clean power on the utilities, should have been more informative.

It said, "Such quotas are meant to unleash the free market." The free market is about getting rid of quotas and subsidies, not imposing them. You are confusing the public and helping the utilities sell more electricity.

Sunlight need not be turned into electricity for us to use it. This campaign amounts to an attack on traditional, direct uses of the sun and means ever-more buildings lit by light bulbs during the day rather than by windows, ever-more clothes dried in driers rather than on clothes lines and more and more buildings heated and cooled by expensive power, rather than by inexpensive, passive means.

Of course the utilities don't object to quotas. How can you be surprised?

Let us hope your readers catch on and realize power grids and politicians are to serve citizens, not the other way around.

Steve Baer

Corrales