Coverage of deaths unequal

Sunday, April 7, 1996

Daily Bruin must re-evaluate why Ly was ignoredBy Brian Yam

I was disheartened to hear of the tragic death of 21-year-old
fellow UCLA Bruin Cherese Mari Laulhere in the bus accident in
India, and my condolences go out to her family and friends. I also
praise the Daily Bruin staff for placing her story on the front
page along with her picture.

But it is this same praise that has caused me to lose my respect
for this campus publication. Yes, from this year’s Daily Bruin I
have come to realize and sympathize with many of the tragedies of
current and former Bruins, some who are so young to have left our
world: from debate protégé Aaron Lesser, to tennis great
Arthur Ashe, to former track star Benjamin Brown, to Graduate
Students Association External Vice President Jim Rowe, to
Laulhere.

We’ve all heard of these names; they’ve been front page news.
But what happened to a lesser known, Vietnamese-born fellow Bruin,
Thien Minh Ly? Does anyone know who he is? I do not know Ly, never
heard of his name, until a few weeks ago when I saw on the
20-something page of the Orange County edition of the LA Times a
small heading titled, "Former UCLA student brutally slain on tennis
court." And the content goes on to report that the suspects’
apartment contained NEO-NAZI and SKINHEAD paraphernalia. But the
police, however, are unsure of the motive behind the senseless
murder.

I heard not a single word from the Daily Bruin about Ly, besides
the Viewpoint letter written by Ly’s friend Mai Pham. Again, I ask
the question: What happened with Thien Minh Ly that led to a
silence by the Daily Bruin staff? Why did he not receive the
recognition bestowed upon the others mentioned? Is his story not
worthy enough to be on a publication of a campus with a population
of 40,000? Was his murder not brutal enough? What is the excuse?
Was it because he was not a current student? No, because Ashe and
Brown weren’t either. Was it because his death was far from campus,
in Orange County? Well, that bus accident was in INDIA! Was it
because he did not accomplish much at UCLA? Lesser was on the
debate team, Ly was president of the Vietnamese Students
Association. Then why?

I understand that the Daily Bruin cannot and should not report
everything that happens to UCLA students. Yes, it would be very
nice to live in a world where there are no tragic news, no mention
of anyone dying from accidents or murders. But if that is the case,
then why tell us about Rowe or Lesser or any of the others?

I, personally, did not and do not know 24-year-old Ly, or
whether or not his parents care that the UCLA community knows about
his violent death (they probably don’t). But I do know that those
who knew him would also like others to know about Ly. To learn
about his struggle to America from war-ravaged Vietnam, about his
accomplishments at "our" campus, and about his brief presence here
on Earth.

I urge Daily Bruin staff members to think about this, to reflect
on the people they know and love dearly in their life, to remember
the smiles of joy and tears of sadness in those loved ones, and to
imagine a life without one of them. No … you probably can’t
imagine it. You probably wouldn’t even try.

Yam is a fourth-year biochemistry student.