Westwood leader is not an enemy
I’m writing on behalf of the owners of the Madison’s
building and many other surrounding properties in Westwood
Village.
We read the opinion submission written by Christopher Ivicevich
regarding Sandy Brown (“Local
community leaders attempt to stifle all forms of Village
nightlife,” Daily Bruin, Viewpoint Oct. 3) and could not
disagree more with the author’s characterization of
Brown.
As a large property owner in the village, we have continuously
consulted with Brown on land use issues and tenant make-up in the
Village.
Brown is an advocate of the community issues surrounding
responsible development in Westwood Village. Although we
don’t always like the answer we hear from her, she always has
the best interests of the residents of Westwood Village at heart.
Sandy Brown keeps us all in line.
Douglas S. Brown Managing partner Regent
Properties
Villaraigosa should not teach class at UCLA
I was dismayed by your recent story regarding the hiring of
former California Assembly Speaker Antonio Villaraigosa
(“Villaraigosa
joins UCLA faculty with new class,” Daily Bruin, News,
Oct. 3).
The liberal indoctrination of students at UCLA is bad enough
with former Vice President Al Gore serving as an
academic-in-residence.
It is particularly ironic that the former Speaker will talk
about education policy making. As was evidenced by his consulting
contract with the United Teachers of Los Angeles, Villaraigosa
follows the agenda of the teachers’ unions and other members
of the education establishment.
Along with Villaraigosa, these organizations have worked
diligently to preserve their own perks and privileges at the
expense of giving California’s students the educational
opportunities they deserve.
It is probably too much to hope that UCLA’s education
department will give a more conservative former member of the state
legislature the same opportunity as Villaraigosa so that they can
maintain some semblance of fairness and academic integrity.
Gregory McGinity Graduate student Anderson
School
Bruin needs to apologize for ad
I was appalled to see three ads printed in the Oct. 5 issue of
the Daily Bruin. Each ad pictures an attractive young woman with
the words “enter me,” “use me,” and
“share me” emblazoned across her torso.
What severe lack of judgement on your part allowed these ads to
be printed?
What sort of message are you trying to send to people reading
your paper ““ that if I enter this contest, I can
“win” these women? Or, are you saying that only men
should be entering this contest because you have blatantly sexist
remarks across these women’s chests? And I’m interested
to know what message you think you are sending to the young men who
are getting their “education” here.
Discrimination, hate crimes and date rape all originate from
somewhere.
Perhaps it is the message society sends that this way of
thinking is socially acceptable and desirable. These ads do nothing
but perpetuate gender bias, sexist attitudes and the
objectification of women. I am disgusted and I expect more from a
university publication.
I expect an apology.
Megan Hall Doctoral student Department of Microbiology
and Molecular Genetics
YRL employee unfairly punished
I read the editorial “Freedom of
speech under attack at YRL“ (Daily Bruin, Viewpoint, Oct.
5).
Let’s see if we have this straight: Jonnie Hargis had a
copy of a mass e-mail directed to him and he sent one back. Then he
was suspended for mass e-mailing and the primary sender
wasn’t?
I understand Hargis made a politically incorrect statement about
Israel in his e-mail. If he had said something “not
nice” about Arabs or Muslims ““ like I see almost on a
daily basis in newspapers ““ everything would have been fine
and dandy.
Many people in the United States over the years have been
persecuted for expressing displeasure with the United States aiding
and abetting the Jewish state. This is just one more example of the
spiteful campaign against anyone who dares to tell it like it is
about Israel.
Our constitutional rights are constantly under attack because of
our support for Israel and I consider Hargis to be among the rare
Americans who have the knowledge and courage to say anything about
it and risk being called the usual names and having his job
jeopardized.
Tom Moran Venice Beach
Psychological war needed as well
The editorial “Violent
conflict not a practical response“ (Daily Bruin, Oct.
3)Â has many flaws.
Sheer force never wins a war, but attempting a bilateral
agreement with an obviously hostile enemy is reminiscent of Neville
Chamberlain trying to negotiate with Adolf Hitler. Not only is
it ineffective, it is a waste of time.
While engaging in all-out war may now seem to be the most
appealing solution to our problems, this course of action will cost
thousands of lives in a recurring cycle of violence. Even the
United States Armed Forces knows better than that.
Wars, especially wars against groups with no legitimate
political basis are fought by winning the battle of wills.
Killing people may be instantly gratifying, but the U.S. tried
that strategy once. We call it the Vietnam War. Russia tried it
once in Afghanistan and that flopped so badly they eventually just
gave up. Too many of their soldiers were dying for an unworthy
cause.
No, wars are instead won by winning popular support. That
doesn’t mean not killing terrorists. Of course we should kill
existing terrorists. It is not logical to ignore somebody who can
potentially bomb a building, attack an airplane, take hostages, or
any number of other possible scenarios. If you have a gun and
someone is shooting at you, shoot back or die.
But our political and military strategy should incorporate an
element of psychological warfare. We should fight the ideas of
terrorist propaganda with the ideas of the true faith of Islam. A
jihad of the mind and soul to counter a jihad of steel and
blood. No one will fight for a cause that they do not believe
in and cannot support.
Ian Dong Second-year Biochemistry