Collective sorrow
Editor:
The religious communities represented at the University Religious Conference at UCLA mourn the tragic deaths of civilians in Israel and decry the use of terror for political purposes by elements of Hamas.
Rev. George Grose
Academy for Judaic, Christian and Islamic studies
Rev. Giles Asbury
Canterbury Westwood
Rev. David Myler
Clinical Pastoral Education
Michelle Rosen
Hillel Jewish Student Organization
Ahmed El-Gabalawy
Islamic Center of Southern California
Rev. Soon Chung
University Presbyterian Church
Rev. Heidi Singh
University Buddhist Association
Fr. Paul Dechant, C.S.P.
University Catholic Center
Rev. Timothy Seals
University Lutheran Chapel
Rev. Fran Matera
Wesley Foundation
Making amends
Editor:
The purpose of this Viewpoint letter is to apologize to Bernadette Agaton, as well as anyone else who may have been offended by the Ackerman Gameroom's antics the Saturday evening two weeks ago ("Not everyone is laughing," March 7). The attempt at humor by the staff that evening missed the mark completely and could not have been more insensitive.
The Gameroom offers its apologies to those visiting Ackerman Union that evening to attend the annual Pilipino Cultural Night, and extends an invitation to participate in a private party in the Gameroom for the Samahang Pilipino organization. Please let us know if you'd like to attend. Our phone number is 206-0829, or come by and visit us on A-Level.
Eric Chang
Gameroom coordinator
Jay Goss
Student union division manager
Listen to activism
Editor:
Princeton Kim's latest diatribe ("Lack of pride tears apart Bruin unity," March 6) simplistically attacks recent student activism at UCLA as leading to divisiveness and serving to disrupt students' educational opportunity. Nothing could be further from the truth.
This year's two major affirmative action protests have brought together a diverse set of students from many backgrounds and political perspectives. If Kim had taken the time to examine the composition of the protesters, he would have noticed a good representative sample of a diverse campus community.
It appears that the central tenet underlying Kim's demagogic sermon is that any sort of outspoken political action is disruptive and counterproductive. Not surprisingly, Kim never defines "intelligent action," perhaps because he has seemingly designated nearly all forms of student activism as "political terrorism and publicity stunts."
Kim should understand that throughout history, various forms of peaceful political activism have resulted in some of the greatest advances in our society. Would Kim have considered the bus boycotts of the l950s in Montgomery, Ala. "juvenile and misguided"? Would he have labeled Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s civil disobedience "political terrorism"?
The implications of Kim's arguments are disturbing, particularly in light of continuing threats to education. Kim envisions a campus where students are silent as educational opportunity is diminished, where ignorance rules supreme as access is denied.
But I would ask each student to think about whether the type of educational environment which Princeton Kim envisions is a productive one. Or should students take an active pride in the issues which affect not only them individually, but the generations of future college students who will someday hopefully have the same opportunities that each of us had? And what better a role for student government than to serve as an advocate and leader in fighting for the issues which affect students?
No, these acts of protest don't take away from the educational well-being of anyone; nor do they take away the pride which each of us holds in being a UCLA student. Rather, activism can and should bring together students, faculty and staff who believe that our voice in the political process should be heard and who care about the future of this university. Now that's something to be proud of.
Darrin Hurwitz
External vice president
Bruin Democrats
Drug danger
Editor:
Thank you for printing the article on the "date rape" drug, Rohypnol ("Abundance of new drug concerns officials," March 7). This drug has already contributed more to the problem of date rape than statistics can verify.
A close friend of mine from high school, who now lives in Wisconsin, was a victim of date rape due to this drug. She was at a party with co-workers who slipped a tablet into her glass of wine. She doesn't remember anything until the next morning when she woke up in bed with a co-worker who claimed that they had slept together.
Unfortunately, no one in the small town in which she lives had even heard of the drug or its connection to date rape. And since it is nearly impossible to trace, the police would not press charges. She could only have the perpetrator removed from the school where she was working on the basis of sexual misconduct.
I hope the students of UCLA will learn from my friend's misfortune. Please be careful when you're out with acquaintances or strangers, and don't underestimate the power of this drug.
Melissa Vogel
UCLA alumna
Class of 1995
Staff member
Office of Residential Life
Tax debate flat
Editor:
In her March 8 column, Sherry Hartel critiqued Forbes's flat tax proposal ("Forbes' tax fair for heirs, but closes door for poor"). I'm not a fan of the flat tax. In fact, I agree with Hartel's basic premise that the flat tax is regressive.
However, I think her lack of facts is embarrassing to our shared position. Under Forbes' flat tax plan, the hypothetical minimum-wage worker would pay NO income tax, except maybe the 32 cents for postage to mail in his or her tax return, astronomically less than the $1, 400 Hartel suggested.
This is because the Forbes plan has a deduction of at least $12, 800 from taxable income (for single people) and $25, 600 exempt for a married couple filing jointly.
It is disappointing that in three years at this fine institution, a student has not learned to do minimal research to back up her views. It took me three minutes on the World Wide Web to find out the deductions; it's a shame that she couldn't do that as well.
The Chinese sage Sun Tzu gives us relevant advice: "Know your enemy as you know yourself and in a thousand battles you will never be defeated." Not knowing basic principles of your opponent's ideals ensures that we adherents of a progressive tax structure will see defeat.
Gabriel Rossman
First-year
SociologyComments to webmaster@db.asucla.ucla.edu