Bounds is a third-year microbiology and molecular genetics
student.
By Kenneth C. Bounds
Many columns that appear in the Viewpoint section are devoid of
any real thought or rationale that would indicate the columnist has
sufficient knowledge to form his or her opinion.
For many students, The Bruin is a source of news and current
events. But the Viewpoint section is quite possibly read more
closely than News simply because students feel more in touch with
the opinions expressed there. The fact that these uninformed
opinions are getting such large exposure is disturbing because of
the indubitable influence they have.
Another qualm I have with The Bruin is the selection of news
articles. I know it’s not feasible to expand the news section
simply because the paper does not have the resources or money.
However, I believe a wider variety of articles should be
published.
Don’t get me wrong, I am still interested in the work
being done in Afghanistan to ensure stability, the fighting between
Israelis and Palestinians, and all the latest Enron events. I hope
these things aren’t forgotten when the next big story hits.
But because these issues are widely covered, other things are
forgotten.
For example, what is happening in the former Yugoslavia? I think
people are still starving in Somalia, but I don’t know for
certain because its not in the news. And what about the fighting
between Russia and Chechnya?
This doesn’t only happen in the Daily Bruin. It is the
problem with every news source; they are able to tell people what
news is. I expect more from a paper put out by one of the greatest
universities in one of the greatest and most diverse cities in the
world.
I know The Bruin is a liberal paper. The news that the paper
reports is about as unbiased as any other large circulation
newspaper, possibly because many of the articles come from the
Associated Press.
The Viewpoint section is different though. Most of the
columnists lean to the left. Some are moderate liberals and some
are extreme leftists. The only people on the right are people like
Ben Shapiro, whose purpose seems to be making his readers detest
both him and conservatism by spewing closed minded, uninformed,
stereotypically extreme Republican ideas akin to “the liberal
femi-nazi democrats are baby killers” belief.
Please find a more thoughtful, open-minded representative of the
right. I would like to read the opinions of people who know what
they are talking about and can think for themselves rather than
regurgitating ideas that were fed to them by whatever influences
they had when they were growing up.
This mindlessness occurs with liberal columnists as well, but at
least there are some of them who aren’t sheep and think for
themselves. Shapiro and his like are the only conservative
representatives on the Viewpoint staff, which is sad.
My viewpoint is that people need to be more open-minded. Get
your news and facts from many different sources and think about
things before you make an opinion. Try not to be a victim of the
endless propaganda that is apparent in all sources of news, from
the Daily Bruin, to the New York Times, to the papers in Moscow,
Tehran, Israel and Palestine.
And finally, before arguing for your opinion, you should have a
considerable amount of knowledge and evidence that backs up its
validity. You should also be open to any knowledge or evidence that
could possibly change your mind. You would have to be extremely
pompous if you refuse to.