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Monday, February 1, 1999

Week of Remembrance events fail to draw crowds

RECAP: Program tries to promote acceptance through speakers, films

By Barbara Ortutay

Daily Bruin Staff

Little student participation characterized the Undergraduate Students Association Council's (USAC) "Week of Remembrance" last week, which sought to raise awareness among students about hate crimes through speakers and a trip to the Museum of Tolerance.

Of the two scheduled speakers, only one - Mexican human rights activist Rosario Ibarra de Piedra - showed up, drawing a crowd of about 35 listeners in Meyerhoff Park on Tuesday.

"It's always hard to get people out there for these events," said USAC president Stacy Lee. "The turnout wasn't that inconsistent with other events."

"With hate crimes especially, I think people don't pay attention until it happens to them," she said.

On Wednesday night, about 15 students waited for speaker T. J. Leyden to share his experiences as a former skinhead. After Leyden did not arrive for an hour, students left and the event was canceled.

His booking agent, Avra Shapiro, said Tuesday that she was not aware Leyden was scheduled to speak at UCLA the next day.

Among the week's events, Thursday's program attracted the largest audience, with more than 40 students attending a documentary film about the life and death of Thien Minh Ly, a former UCLA student who was murdered in 1996 by an alleged neo-Nazi.

It was the second year since his death that students gathered to watch the film, entitled "Letters to Thien" and held a candlelight vigil afterward.

"Last year, I thought I didn't have time to go see the documentary," said Vinh Nguyen, a second-year biology student. "After watching it today, I see myself as very similar to him - how I came to America, how I strived hard to get where I am."

After the film screening, students walked outside and lit their candles silently. Forming a close circle around a memorial display for hate crime victims, students stepped up one by one to share their thoughts.

"It's easy to forget about death in Los Angeles," said Tram Linh Ho, USAC financial supports commissioner and co-organizer of the event.

"It happens every day and we are desensitized to it, but this hits close to home. It could have happened to any of us," she added.

While Thursday's vigil focused on the victims of hate crimes, having Leyden speak would have shed light on the other side of the issue, according to organizers.

While waiting for Leyden Wednesday night, USAC General Representative Mike de la Rocha led a discussion among audience members about hate crimes.

Students raised the issue of the university's responsibility to prevent hate crimes. Some agreed that the administration should go beyond punishing criminal offenses.

"The university is here to create a safe educational environment," said USAC General Representative John Strelow.

"When someone interferes with that, the university should be able to prosecute that, even if it's not criminally prosecutable."

Strelow, the only member of USAC who did not run on the Praxis slate, was also the only member of the council who abstained from voting on USAC's hate crimes resolution, which was passed last week.

The resolution called for a campus hate crimes policy and federal hate crime legislation, among other things.

Strelow supported the policies against hate crimes, but did not agree with the clause that stated that Proposition 209 created an "atmosphere of isolation and misunderstanding" on campus.

He said that the clause may lead to "unnecessary division" on an issue that most people agree on.

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