Letters to the Editor

Jones’ bake sale refreshing

Kudos to the Bruin Republicans for their refreshing affirmative
action bake sale. It’s nice to see the truth told so
cleverly. Also, I thank the Daily Bruin for letting the rest of us
know that there are still some students who understand what
equality really means.

 

Linda Mok (nee Barr)

Alumna on the merits

BA, MPh and JD UCLA

Airlines charge because they can

Nick Dang’s column “Airline food fees unfair to
consumers” (Feb. 13) made an excellent point about the
airline industry. Since air travel is nearly inevitable, airlines
are really charging us for food “because they can.”
Instead, airlines should be simplifying their fleets, reducing
flight capacities, and increasing daily utilization of their
aircraft.

If the airlines really start charging for food, who knows what
else they’ll make passengers pay for. The next time you fly,
you might have to pay to use the lavatory.

 

Alex Chao

First-year, materials engineering

Protesters mad at Bush, not troops

Counter demonstrators to the recent worldwide peace marches have
gotten the idea that we are angry at our American troops. If you
read our literature or listen to our speeches, you will understand
that we are attacking the top leadership, President George W. Bush,
who is sending our friends and family into harms way under a false
pretense.

We do not believe an unprovoked invasion of Iraq, as despicable
as Saddam Hussein may be, is based on protecting America’s
freedom and democracy.

Paul Harris

San Diego

Hate against U.S. won’t gain support

The first clue to how some Iranians feel about being in America
is the fact I saw only one American flag being carried by someone
at the front of the marchers in last week’s protest.

Everyone else carried an Iranian flag. So, these people
were not Americans who happened to have come from another country.
This was a group of people so hate-filled that they
couldn’t even think about becoming American citizens.

How can I say these things? A few years ago I was invited
to attend an Iranian celebration held at the Anaheim Hilton
Hotel. I paid quite a bit to attend as there was going to be
music, dancing and great food. 

My friend and I arrived around dinner time and took a couple of
empty seats at a table. Suddenly my friend, who is a member of
the Iranian community, told me we needed to leave that table
and find another. We found another couple of empty seats, but
once again, we were asked to get up and leave. It happened one
more time, and we were now against the wall, watching everybody
else get served. 

People were deliberately bumping up against us; men were saying
nasty things to me, and even though I did not understand the
language, the look on their faces said everything. The Iranian
Ambassador to the United States was seated at a table next to the
wall where we were standing. He looked over at us, watched
what was happening, and eventually stood up to offer us his
seats. Later, while I was in the hall talking with the only
other individual who would talk to me, the ambassador came up to me
and apologized. 

I know for a fact the majority of the Iranians at that party
hated Americans and were not afraid to show how they felt. Now some
want Americans to support their cause? This particular
American is not interested in supporting people with two faces.

Kathy Kasten

Administrative assistant

Department of pathology