Don’t overlook Bruin sports
The Daily Bruin claims to have been “serving the UCLA
community since 1919,” but in fact, the addition of the
“Sports Plus” page, with reports on professional teams,
has taken room away from UCLA sports that find no coverage
elsewhere. One can seldom turn to the Los Angeles Times to read
about tennis or swimming even baseball or track, let alone sports
that half of the UCLA community has never heard of, like
lacrosse.
I am painfully aware of how little attention is paid to us, and
most non-revenue sports, by the UCLA community. Our space has been
supplanted by sports coverage that can be easily found elsewhere.
Like many students, I am interested in the results of last
night’s Lakers game, but there are many other places where I
can find that information.
The Daily Bruin exists as a vehicle for news distribution for
the UCLA community. The hard work of campus sports teams is being
squandered by simply putting the articles online and not printing
them in the paper where they are accessible to the greatest number
of readers.
Victoria Bohannan Fourth-year Political science
Women’s lacrosse
Bruin should ask the harder hitting
questions
I wonder if the Daily Bruin could have asked even easier
questions regarding Islam and Western misconceptions in
its Feb. 6 Q&A? Not one answer by Ibrahim Wang is
challenged, not even regarding Islamic law and the way women are
treated.
He should have been asked about Sharia as practiced in Nigeria
and most other Islamic states. Maybe a few questions regarding
homosexuality or Salman Rushdie, the author who is still in hiding,
might’ve rounded things out a bit. But to accept without
criticism that “If you actually talk to a Muslim sister
you’ll find that their head covering, dress or behavior are
all things that Muslim women choose,” without even a quip, is
mind-boggling. Next time, just get a few press releases from Muslim
apologists and publish them verbatim!
Jeffrey Abelson New York City
Learn to think, not just repeat
This is in response to Ben Shapiro’s column,
“Launch
of War on Terrorism warrants Nobel nomination,“
(Viewpoint, Feb. 6). In reference to justice being something that
must be fought for, Shapiro says “No one, not even
intellectuals and haters of freedom, can take away that prize
away.” I also seem to recall, shortly after Sept. 11, how he
called for the eradication of “leftist” professors.
College is a time for young people to open their minds and
become exposed to new ways of looking at things. If we are to leave
here with anything, it is the ability to think critically about the
information we are bombarded with constantly in our information-age
society.
Shapiro has evidently not pursued this path very far in his
career at UCLA and instead embraced the party-line politics of
“Crossfire” and “The O’Reilly
Factor.” The shallow, sound-bite-driven methods employed by
these pop media outlets are not what higher education and academia
are all about.
Instead of rehashing a tired, old conservative spin, maybe
Shapiro should start listening to those hated intellectuals in
class sometime and maybe learn some critical thinking skills while
he’s at it.
Walter Lee Fourth-year Political science
News story misses key facts
On the contrary, it is a common practice of Congress and many
states to add “conscience clauses” into their
legislation in order to respect the religious freedom of
individuals and private organizations.
It disturbs me that Fogel has so little regard for such a sacred
American freedom. Whether it’s a Catholic hospital or Tzu Chi
Buddhist Free Clinic, people motivated by their religious faith to
serve others should not be forced by the government to compromise
their values.
Benjamin Kong Third-year Economics/international area
studies
Bush doesn’t deserve Nobel
In regards to Ben Shapiro’s column, “Launch
of War on Terrorism warrants Nobel Prize“ (Viewpoint,
Feb. 6):
Hopefully Shapiro’s right in his speculation that
President Bush will not win the Nobel Peace prize. Bush did a
decent job of not screwing up the war in Afghanistan by using
smaller, more specialized forces rather than a massive invasion of
ground troops. However, he also withdrew from the Anti-Ballistic
Missile treaty, and may well have restarted the arms race of the
’80s by focusing on using missile defense platforms.
As for your statement that war is a means to peace, come on, you
can’t really believe that. If so, why have there been civil
wars in South America, Indonesia, Africa, etc., that have lasted
for many decades?Â
And women in Afghanistan may have more alleged rights because of
our involvement in the country, but old habits die extremely hard
““ the subjugation of women has persisted for thousands of
years.
Terrorism does need to be rooted out of Afghanistan, but that
can only be done by addressing the enormous inequality of wealth in
the world. If you had nothing to lose, I’m sure killing
a large number of people you have been taught to hate
wouldn’t be too difficult. Conflict brings more conflict. If
President Bush believed this to be the case and acted upon it,
maybe then he should be given a look by the Nobel committee.
Adam Hellman Administrative Specialist Graduate School
of Education and Information Studies