It takes more than regents to free Burma
Thank you for your editorial concerning the issue of Burma
(“UC
sanction of Burma will hurt the innocent,“ Daily Bruin,
Viewpoint, Jan. 16). It’s nice to know that at least some
students still have sense, or are at least realistic. UCLA students
can protest as hard as they want to make the university
disassociate themselves from Burmese companies, but a larger effort
has to occur involving people with more power and importance.
It’s naive to think that having the regents pull out of a
country is going to effect meaningful change like establishing
democracy or reconstructing the economy of a country.
More often than not, at least during my time at UCLA, those
protesting for freedom in Burma, or in any other country for that
matter, are students who need to feel “liberal” and so
adopt a cause that’s beyond their grasp, instead of something
more local and reasonable.
Burma should be free. Every country should be free. But students
should be protesting to the government, their congressmen and other
high ranking public officials. These are the people that can enact
change in Burma, they’re the ones that matter, not a handful
of regents.
Claire Johnson Alumna
Illegal immigration not a
“˜crime’
I highly disagree with Kimberly Jordan’s submission,
“AB
540 condones illegal immigration“ (Daily Bruin,
Viewpoint, Jan. 14). She repeatedly compared illegal immigrants to
criminals in jail, but how is this possible if undocumented
immigrants have not committed a crime?
Take this scenario for instance. A young girl comes to the U.S
in 1990 and ever since then has been educated by the American
schooling system. She attends elementary school, middle school and
high school in which she graduates in the top 10 percent of her
class. Would you not agree that she is a highly qualified candidate
at any UC?
If she is admitted into a UC, she has to pay the non-resident
tuition, on top of not being able to receive any financial aid. And
in most cases, I am sure the families of undocumented students are
hard-working, and certainly not on the high end of the incomes in
the U.S.
It is only fair to provide the same education for everyone who
is qualified regardless of their citizenship status. Perhaps Jordan
should imagine herself in this situation. It is sad to say that not
everyone in the world is a U.S. citizen. I believe Jordan should be
more careful with what she writes, because it is obvious some
people have it easier than others.
Joy Thammaruja First-year Physiological
sciences
Horowitz doesn’t deserve attack
Once again, liberals come full steam to attack the
conservatives. The editorial on David Horowitz’s speech only
whined about what he said, without making any valid points about
what is wrong with his arguments. (“Horowitz
displays patriotic ignorance,” Daily Bruin, Viewpoint,
Jan. 15).
The editorial never stated why Horowitz is wrong about not
paying for slave reparations, it just used sarcasm. The editors
never considered the rationale behind profiling Arab and Muslim men
who were not residents of the United States before Sept. 11: we may
have saved thousands of lives and billions of dollars in damage,
not to mention it would have prevented the U.S. from going to war.
Nope, it just stated that racial profiling is racist.
But what’s most disturbing is the allusion to Adolf Hitler
profiling Jews before World War II. When Hitler profiled Jews, it
was with the intent to destroy Jewish lives, but
when we profile suspicious people without proper documentation,
it’s to preserve American lives. Just as the liberals do
nothing to support an Israel under attack by terrorists, they are
attacking a patriotic man such as Horowitz.
James Kim Second-year Business economics