Taliban’s rise not America’s
fault
I was disgusted by Glenn Sacks’ commentaries on the
Afghanistan civil wars (“U.S.
backed wrong side in Cold War,” Daily Bruin, Viewpoint,
Sept. 28).
The Soviet-backed regime was simply a puppet government that
would have allowed the Soviet Union to engage in expansionist
policy by proxy. Soviet regimes massively curtailed freedom and
made people fear what their own government might do to them. All
the ballyhoo about social services has, since the end of the Soviet
Union, shown itself to be a red herring.
It was right for the United States to support the rebels in
Afghanistan. The rise of the Taliban over the other Afghan groups
really started after the United States began to disengage from the
situation.
Of course, if we had stayed to support the better Afghan group,
Sacks would have had the chance to rant about American
“neo-colonialism” and other such clap-trap instead of
his current rant.
Daniel Rego Alumnus
Religion shouldn’t affect academics
I feel the need to respond to the article “Class
changes accommodate celebration of Yom Kippur” (Daily
Bruin, News, Sept. 27) and your editorial, “Loss
of Zero Week detrimental to all” (Daily Bruin, Viewpoint,
Sept. 27).
I would like to applaud the university for taking a moment to
address students’ personal needs. This is something I feel
the administration is supposed to be here for.
I do have a problem with the actions that evolved from their
concern. At first, I was like, “yeah, no class on
Thursday” because many of the professors canceled their
classes. Upon finding out that the majority of this was due to a
religious holiday, I was livid.
I was very disappointed while reading the comments made by vice
chancellor Tom Lifka: “We thought the appropriate compromise
was that students who want to observe Yom Kippur should not miss
the first day of class.” With all respect and sensitivity to
the Jewish religion, why is this holiday for this particular
religion affecting the entire university on such a grand scale?
I have to agree with the Viewpoint editorial saying the
separation of church and state should apply in our case.
Sure it is nice that the chancellor and other administrators did
not want those who observe Yom Kippur to miss out on the first day
of class. I just want to know if I will be penalized for missing
class on Ash Wednesday or Good Friday.
Emily Richards Fourth-year Political science and
sociology
Schedule change is correct choice
Not starting classes on Yom Kippur has nothing to do with the
issue of separation of church and state, as stated in your
editorial “Loss
of Zero Week detrimental to all” (Daily Bruin, Viewpoint,
Sept. 27).
While this is a state school, nobody was forced to go to church
on Yom Kippur. UCLA has not made Yom Kippur a university
holiday and did not cancel classes.
Not having exam week during Christmas is also not
because of a lack of separation between church and state. It
just simply would not be practical to have an exam when a large
number of the students would be unable to take it.
The decision to rearrange the schedule also has little to do
with respect for culture or religion. If 10 percent
of students would have missed the first day of class for some
reason that had nothing to do with culture or religion, the
university would still have rearranged the schedule.
Most colleges in this country start on the Tuesday after Labor
Day, and students have managed just fine saying goodbye to mommy
and daddy on a Monday rather than a Wednesday. I fail to see
how having two extra days of class is a “choice to
sacrifice academics.”Â
The university made a good decision to avoid a
major inconvenience for the student population, and I am very
surprised that the decision is considered at all controversial.
Jonathan Schwartz First-year graduate student
Economics
Columnist misses “˜the’ point
This is in response to Marc Nickel’s “NorCal,
SoCal speak different languages” submission in the
Registration Issue (Daily Bruin, Viewpoint, Sept. 23-26).Â
I would like to point out that while Nickel talks about why one
part of California is better than another, I’m interested in
talking about facts, not opinions.Â
First of all, Nickel has thankfully avoided calling NorCal
“NoCal,” a mistake that SoCalers and out-of-staters
often seem to make.
From there, I have to take issue with his
thoughts. Regarding “hella,” I’m from
Northern California. I don’t say it. I know SoCalers who
say it. What’s the big deal?Â
Using faddish pop jargon to argue that one area is wholly
better than another is pretty irrational.
Nickel talks about how Bay Areans wrongly think the Bay is
cleaner than Los Angeles. Los Angeles leads the country in
days per year that the air does not meet governmental health
standards. I don’t have the stats in front of me, but L.A.
air is unsafe around 250 days out of the year. I believe Sacramento
is second with a figure in the one hundreds, but then, Nickel was
talking about the Bay Area, not Sacramento.
The Bay Area’s number is in the double digits. Look
at the San Francisco Chronicle weather page. On a rating of 0-200
(going from clean to dirty), Bay Area air regularly lands in the
30s, which is in the completely safe range.
The next crack Nickel takes is that no one in their right mind
would eat a fish out of the bay. I personally challenge Nickel
to eat a fish out of Long Beach Harbor. He might find a fish
similar to Blinky from “The Simpsons.”
Next comes the “the” debate. Look, it’s
simple. In “The 101 Freeway,” freeway is the noun, and
101 is the adjective ““ it tells you what freeway you’re
talking about. It makes sense to say “the 101 Freeway,”
and it makes sense to say “the freeway,” but it does
not make sense to say “the 101.” I have no problem
saying “the 101″ so long as the next word is
“freeway.” Besides, I don’t see “The
101″ on Southern California freeway signs, I only see
“101.”
As for BART not using “the,” the letters of BART,
unlike the New York Subway, the Chicago El and the L.A. Metro Link,
stand for something. So, unlike the non-acronym public transit
systems, you don’t have to say “the.” I
don’t think you’d talk about “the AIDS,”
though you might talk about “the NBA.” The bottom
line is, it’s a matter of preference, and for whatever
reason, BART users don’t prefer to use
“the.” Why can’t you leave them alone and
realize that their way, though different than your way, is equally
valid?
Look at facts. Don’t bad-mouth traits of the other
side that, were they on your side, you would likely blindly
follow. I’m aware that both sides make stupid arguments
about why their side is better. Well, I have two responses:
calm down and grow up.
By the way, I’m a Giants fan, not a “the
Dodgers” fan.
Russell Bourne Fourth-year Geography