Relationship advice not relevant or insightful
I often look to the Daily Bruin as a source of information on what
is going on in the real world and also for a pick-me-up at the end
of the day. Thus, I feel compelled to write in response to David
Burke’s column on his experience with being rejected
(“Fear of rejection should hinder no one,” Viewpoint,
April 19). Apparently this rejection was a big enough deal to him
that he felt the need to share his precious yet pathetic story with
the entire Daily Bruin audience. It seems quite amusing that
Burke’s personal sentiments could change so drastically, from
planning out a detailed future relationship with someone he barely
knew to reaping “spring break’s ultimate benefit
““ “˜hooking up’ with no strings attached.”
(“Tips for a great spring break,” Viewpoint, March 14)
I admire Burke’s ever-present confidence in sharing the story
of his (let’s face it) major relationship dis. Perhaps it
would be best, however, to leave his personal anecdote as a
submission to magazines like Seventeen or YM. Since his prior
articles have shown him to be insistent that people make the most
of their educational opportunities on campus (“UCLA needs to
make courses more difficult,” Viewpoint, March 6), perhaps he
should spend more time paying attention to lectures instead of
concocting methods to flirt with the girls whom he feels lucky to
sit next to in class. I fail to see his credibility as a columnist
who could potentially influence the social lives of many fellow
Bruins, especially the ladies who may ultimately be
“succumbing to (his) charms.” Burke’s article
ends somewhat sincerely as he attempts to convince readers that
they should overcome their shyness and ask out the people they
truly like, yet I would be interested to see some evidence of the
vast improvement to his own life with the ladies since his newly
found understanding of rejection and dating. When it comes to the
cockiness and self-assured attitude of a typically over-ambitious,
audacious male, Burke takes the cake.
Lisa Aminnia Second-year Business economics
USAC reporting biased in the Daily Bruin Has
the Daily Bruin itself stooped to “petty” mud-slinging
in its reporting of campus affairs? The editorial published by the
Daily Bruin Editorial Board lambasting Student Empowerment!
(“Student Empowerment! shows its petty politics,”
Viewpoint, April 23) coupled with the laughably biased article on
the proposed entertainment referendum in the USAC meeting
(“Entertainment referendum dies,” News, April 23)
demonstrates how the Daily Bruin has lost its ability to report
objectively. The “report” written by Marcelle Richards
about the entertainment referendum read more like a sensational
commentary rather than an objective attempt to report an event.
With facts being thrown around without any context regarding
cancelled USAC meetings and student funding decreases, this
indicates lazy reporting at best, or slanted defamation at worst.
Biased reporting like this has no place if the Daily Bruin hopes to
return to its past history of fair and objective reporting.
Ghaith Mahmood Fourth-year International development
studies and business economics Drug restrictions
on financial aid would mostly affect low-income
students
In response to Ian Eisner’s most recent column
(“Financial aid a privilege, not a right,” Viewpoint,
April 24), you state that lower-income students are “afforded
the opportunity to rely upon taxpayer-funded federal or state aid
as a means to help pay for education.” I am a financial aid
recipient and was taken aback by your column. Where would you
prefer the financial aid money I receive go? To jails or the
welfare system, two entities which are already 100 percent
subsidized by the government? Or should it go to students like me
who are trying to get an education and make a contribution to
society? For the sake of argument, let’s say I was a big-time
drug offender and am now trying to support myself and get back into
college because I screwed up at one point in my life. You’re
saying that I should be penalized from receiving aid? What a
draconian opinion! As a lower-income/financially independent
student, is there no margin for error? While the stipulations in
your financial aid proposal would put me on a temporarily
ineligible list, how many other students would be discouraged from
applying and not apply at all after reading that provision? How
many bright and capable minds have languished in low-paying jobs
because of one ruling? And why should undue burdens be put on a
potential student merely because of his/her financial situation?
Poor/independent students aren’t the only folks who have made
mistakes by doing illegal drugs, but we are the ones who will
receive the majority of negative attention. Middle class and
wealthy students have made their mistakes, too. I know of two prior
offenders: one, a 19-year-old recovering alcoholic; the other a
cocaine addict, who beat their addictions, thanks to the support of
their wealthy parents. One has graduated and is now working in the
community while the other is due to graduate from a prestigious
university. Neither one of my rich friends had to submit to
restrictions due to drug problems, and we shouldn’t be
subjected to them either. I am glad that UCLA is expected to rebuff
the “drug free student loans” provision. Universities
should be designed for all qualified students, rather than just as
places for students who can afford to bypass such discriminatory
financial aid laws. After all, education is a right, not a
privilege.
Leilani Albano Third-year Asian American
studies