Cancelling classes caters to religion
I am curious how not having classes interfered with
“settling in” to apartments or waving good-bye to
parents? (“Loss of zero
week detrimental to all,” Daily Bruin, Viewpoint, Sept.
27) I am assuming that with this new found “separation of
church and state” we will now be able to hold classes on
Christmas Day and Easter, correct?
Why should I be denied my right to consistent education by
having it constantly interrupted by Christmas and Easter breaks? Oh
yeah, that’s right. They call them winter break and spring
break now.
Or did we think it was coincidence that we always have our
winter and spring breaks around those holidays?
Andee Steinman Class of “˜99
Sacks way off on Afghanistan
On Sept. 28, you published a submission by Glenn Sacks
titled “U.S. backed
the wrong side during cold war,” (Daily Bruin, Viewpoint)
which is nothing more than a bunch of crap. I do not know what he
does for life, but if he is a journalist, then it’s a
shame.
He writes of all the good things that the communists did during
the occupation of my country, Afghanistan, but he forgets to
mention how they slaughtered hundreds of thousands of people
““ especially those who were fighting for freedom and
democracy. I bet none of his family members were killed by the
communists. Mine were.
The communists that Sacks praises so dearly killed my
father because he did not believe in communism. The
communist government that he says were
“reform-minded” killed thousands of
people, including teachers, doctors, professors and anyone who
dared to oppose their ideology.
He says that many people in Afghanistan supported the
People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA). When I was
in Afghanistan from 1979 to 1989, I saw nothing but hatred for
PDPA. People had no rights under the PDPA. People like my
father were killed because he told someone that we should have
democracy instead of communism.
If Sacks believes that this is reform, then he is nothing
more then a communist sympathizer who does not belong in this
democratic nation.
He also says that the United States should not have
supported the Mujahedin because they were the wrong people. If you
ask me, the United States would not have won the Cold War if it was
not for the Mujahedin.
By reading the submission, it only tells me that Sacks is
nothing more than a blind man who sees and understand nothing
beyond the American borders.
People like him only create more prejudice toward the
people of Afghanistan. People of Afghanistan have suffered enough.
It is time for them to be helped ““ not hated or bombed.
Shekib Jami Fourth-year Physiological science and
neuroscience
Title IX biased against men
Glenn Sacks hit the nail right on the head with his submission
“Men’s athletics
suffer due to growth of women’s programs“ (Daily
Bruin, Viewpoint, Sept. 23-26).
I am in favor of athletic equality, and the fact is that
men’s sports do suffer because of Title IX.
Something Sacks didn’t mention that I think is a huge
argument is this: Other than football and men’s basketball,
admission to almost all regular season matches, meets and games of
almost all other sports is free with a student ID. This means
that the only programs making a sizeable amount of money are
football and men’s basketball.
If women’s sports wants equal scholarships and equal
funding, then they ought to be producing an equal amount of
profit.
Since the enactment of Title IX, and since the gains in interest
and participation in women’s sports (both good things, to be
sure), it just isn’t happening.
It’s a travesty that UCLA has lost two of the greatest
men’s programs in their respective sports: gymnastics and
swimming. I’m happy for the women’s crew and
women’s soccer teams, but can they really only exist with the
destruction of those men’s programs? If gymnast Steve McCain
sprains his ankle while training, is it really right that he
can’t get a bag of ice like all the athletes in sports that
exist at UCLA?
The solution is this: When determining scholarship distribution,
set aside the football players and any other program that makes
more money on its own. I suspect men’s basketball and
women’s gymnastics might fall into that category.
Give equal scholarship money to all the programs that
don’t make enough money on their own (in other words, most
other sports). Then separately deal with the scholarships for those
sports that do make the money.
By dealing with them separately, it can be ensured that
smaller-draw men’s programs (gymnastics and swimming, for
example) aren’t short-changed in scholarships just because
football is a big draw and makes money.Â
To put it simply: big programs have different scholarship needs
than small ones, so they ought to be dealt with differently.
Russell Bourne Fourth-year Geography