Protester should listen and learn before
protesting
I couldn’t help but laugh at the hypocrisy displayed by
the protester quoted in the article (“Alan Dershowitz
discusses “˜The Case for Israel,'” News, Oct. 22).
Here was a person so concerned that others hear her opinion that
she protested outside the discussion, yet never ventured 20
additional feet to hear what Dershowitz actually said. Repeatedly,
Dershowitz stated his support for a sovereign Palestinian state,
including the removal of controversial Jewish settlements in the
West Bank. Still, the unidentified protester was quoted as saying:
“We stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people in
expressing their right to national sovereignty, a right repeatedly
supported by the (United Nations) and countries around the
world.” She also said: “We believe the position
Dershowitz is advocating today directly compromises this
goal.”
If this protester is so intent on opening others’ minds to
her position, perhaps she should first open her own mind, or at the
very least her ears, to hear what she can learn.
Marc Levy Fifth-year, mechanical
engineering
Better reason needed to cross picket lines
I respectfully submit that Dang (“Don’t blame
students who cross picket lines,” Oct. 20) is missing the
point. Strikes are supposed to be inconvenient for everybody
““ workers, management and customers. The idea, you see, is
when it becomes sufficiently inconvenient to enough people,
management might find it wiser to negotiate in good faith than to
upset its customers and go broke.
If Dang disagreed with the strike ““ if he thought the
workers’ demands were unreasonable ““ then I would
applaud his crossing the picket line as a matter of conscience. If
he crosses because it’s inconvenient not to, then my
sympathies lie elsewhere.
Better Dang should get together with other students (including
those with wheels) who would rather not cross the picket lines, and
establish a buying group to patronize the non-striking inexpensive
stores like Food 4 Less, Smart & Final or Costco. Then he can
have his Velveeta and eat it too.
William S. Korn Associate director for operations Higher
Education Research Institute
Participants in research should weigh
benefits
Leighton Davis (“Looking for the easy money,” Oct.
20) has found a resource for college cash that fits nicely with her
schedule and her current life perspective ““ she gets paid for
participating in research studies.
Well-conducted research contributes significantly to advances in
medicine, the behavioral sciences and other fields.
The compensation paid to subjects is for time and effort spent
in participation. Given that there are a number of factors involved
in participating in a study besides compensation, it is important
to take them into consideration as well ““ these are the
risks, benefits and burdens of participation. Risks may not always
be physical. There may be psychological or social risks involved
with agreeing to be a subject.
As for benefits, there usually are no benefits to healthy
volunteers. Many subjects do participate in studies for purely
altruistic reasons. For certain medical research studies, the
subject may benefit directly or the overriding benefit is to
society through the advancement of science. Monetary compensation
should never be considered a benefit.
In deciding whether or not to be a subject in a research study,
one has to take all of the above into consideration, read the
informed consent form, and ask questions.
Laurie Shaker-Irwin, Ph.D. research subject advocate
UCLA General Clinical Research Center
Dershowitz article should reveal allegation
It is surprising to read an article (“Alan Dershowitz
discusses “˜The Case for Israel,'” News, Oct. 22)
about Alan Dershowitz’s new book that makes no mention of the
fact that he has been accused of plagiarism by the renowned
author and Israel-Palestine expert Norman Finkelstein.
I would hope the Daily Bruin would recognize the relevance of
accusations of plagiarism to Dershowitz’s credibility. The
article failed to present an accurate picture of Dershowitz by
presenting him as an academic whose integrity has never been
questioned. In reality, the children of Holocaust survivors, like
Norman Finkelstein and many other experts, characterize
Dershowitz’s work as “scandalous
scholarship.”Â
Sarah Weir UC Berkeley alumna
Strikers should be viewed in human context
Sean Green’s (“Leave striking to highly skilled
workers,” Oct. 22) beef appears to be that because grocery
store employees have failed to gain an education or acquire some
sort of vocational training, they deserve what they get ““ a
life full of uncertainty.
Green states: “But let me reiterate, we’re talking
about cashiers, stockers and scanners.” But allow me to
translate: We’re talking about husbands and wives, fathers
and mothers, people not fortunate enough to walk the halls of
UCLA’s Anderson School, or read Chaucer or Milton.
People are suffering in the world, and not just in far off
lands, but right here in Westwood, Calif. ““ and yet some of
us can only throw our education around and try to make
“educated” sense of things rather than help. Have the
grocery workers been naive and a bit “foolish” to have
put all of their eggs into one basket? Possibly. Are they unskilled
and easily replaceable? This may also be true in some cases,
depending on your definition of “unskilled.” But can
these possibilities be reason enough not to care about human beings
with families who live one disaster or serious ailment away from
poverty?
Richard Torres Third-year, English
Column reinforces stereotypes of Greek life
David Graham-Caso’s (“Fraternity brotherhood makes
for good sports,” Sports, Oct. 21) column does little to
dispel negative stereotypes. Many students feel a real antipathy
toward fraternities and sororities. The system, to the best of
their observation, is frequently selective along superficial lines
of color, socioeconomic background, or, now feasibly, athletic
prowess. For these students, the following two facts are
resounding. First, UCLA has a population in which those of a
minority background comprise a statistical majority. Second, this
is not the case on frat and sorority rows.
I would advise Graham-Caso to be shrewder in the future.
Unprovoked, self-aggrandizing columns declaring the athletic
superiority of Greek brothers do not contribute to an intelligent
discourse on this or any subject.
David Lee Third-year, international development studies
and history