Letters

Published: Wednesday, May 1, 2002

Palestinians not terrorists

I would like to thank the Daily Bruin for publishing my piece (“Palestinians must surrender unconditionally,” Viewpoint, April 26). It appeared as I wished, with one exception. I have received nasty e-mails, and each points to the effect of the title, which was not my doing, since people who submit to the paper do not write their own headlines.

I did not mean to convey that Palestinians per se must surrender to Israel – far from it. My commentary was limited to and did not extend beyond terrorists, and only terrorists. I do not equate Palestinians with terrorists.

Benjamin Nabati Third-year Political science

DB candidate portrayal unfair

I would like to express my disappointment in the presentation of the USAC General Representative candidates – specifically, those of the Student Empowerment! slate – in “Candidates present vague platform” by Karen E. Graulich (News, April 29).

Although I am not a supporter of all Student Empowerment! views, many candidate quotes were seemingly taken out of context and written to portray them as incompetent and illogical. This article presented an implicitly sarcastic portrayal of these candidates. Although it is a right to have negative opinions about these candidates, the Daily Bruin should depict them as objectively as possible without conveying personal staff opinions that would unfairly bias voters. After all, this article was included in the News section, not in Viewpoint. The fact that these candidates were presented in a subtle yet wry way is unfortunately poor taste on behalf of this otherwise well-respected publication.

Anthony Fermin Fourth-year Molecular, cell and developmental biology

Commission should stay as is

The writers of the editorial “USAC must reform its commissions system” (Viewpoint, April 30) need to take a trip up the Kerckhoff elevators.

As a member of the community service commission, I feel the editors themselves lack the initiative to visit these individual offices to actually see how projects and events of the different commissions work.

Is the editorial suggesting voicing a concern directly to the USAC president rather than our own commissioner who sits in our shared office? If the commissions were to rely on a slate to voice concerns, would that not be defeating the purpose of being apolitical?

Michelle Gonzales Second-year History and Asian American studies