Letters to the Editor

Dance Marathon a noble cause

Brett Noble’s “Dance Marathon’s growth needs a plan” (News, Jan. 7) poorly represents Dance Marathon’s positive influence on our campus by comparing the event to a similar one held at Penn State, called THON.

While Penn State’s annual fundraising amount is truly inspirational, it is important to remember that THON was founded in 1973, while the first Dance Marathon took place in 2002. Dance Marathon has successfully raised its dancer involvement and fundraising totals.

Noble also recommends that “more, if not all, of the proceeds be relocated to fund research endowments at the UCLA Medical Center.” While Dance Marathon supports the goals of the UCLA AIDS Institute, our mission is to provide treatment and prevention of pediatric AIDS, something in which the UCLA Medical Center does not necessarily specialize.

Lastly, it was proposed that Dance Marathon implement a more inclusive policy for dancers, similar to that of THON.

While there is no minimum fundraising amount for THON dancers, the amount that a dancer team raises determines how many team members can dance. Many students who fundraise are left standing on the sidelines instead of on the dance floor.

Dance Marathon has adopted a different structure, one that allows anyone to dance, so long as they raise a minimum amount. By allowing anyone to participate, more students become educated.

Marissa Levi

Fourth-year, communication studies

Dance Marathon public relations

Graphic illustration is offensive

I want to thank the Daily Bruin for helping me maintain a healthy body weight – by making me purge my breakfast. It was a great way to start the day: I went for an invigorating morning workout Monday, returned to a lovely breakfast, opened the Daily Bruin to the Viewpoint section, saw the larger-than-life illustration of a vibrator, and succinctly rid my stomach of the fatty breakfast that was weighing it down.

So thank you for personally looking out for my weight, and I’m sure the weight of other readers, by including such graphic depictions of sexual devices in your pages. It was a decision, I’m sure, made after much deliberation over possible reader reactions.

Kudos, also, to your illustrator, for the attention to detail and the command of realistic shading techniques. It so accurately captured the look of male genitalia that I was at first convinced that was what I was looking at.

Be sure to use this in your future attempts to make UCLA a leaner, less fatty campus through the power of visual media.

Kurtis Hanlon

Third-year, Japanese