Letters to the editor
By Daily Bruin Staff
Oct. 12, 2006 9:00 p.m.
Column written at others’ expense
My ability to delve into Jed Levine’s views on
UCLA’s admissions and affirmative action (“A modest
proposal for an immodest proposition,” Oct. 10) was
overshadowed by my concern about his numerous references to what
are often seen as harmless jokes about Asians.
Perhaps you think I am being hyper-sensitive about a racial
issue that you and others think to be unimportant, and I know that
your intentions were far from being mean-spirited, but your
viewpoint was written at the expense of others.
I feel that it is my responsibility as an active member of the
Asian American community (I just came out of a 20-year hibernation)
to publicly disagree with your use of terms, which consciously or
subconsciously contains negative connotations.
Stephanie D. Lo, Fourth-year, international development
studies
Not all Asians are overrepresented
Jed Levine should be proud. He has sparked debate on what will
be one of the most contentious issues of the year.
However, being the avant-garde writer that he is, instead of
looking at it from the usual perspective of the low numbers of
African American, Latina/os, Chicano/as and American Indian
students on our campus, he took a different approach. But who are
“Asian Americans” anyway?
The terms “Asian” and “Asian American”
include the usual Chinese, Koreans, Japanese, Indians and
Vietnamese; they also include Hmong, Khmer, Thai, Malay,
Philipina/os, Indonesians, … and the list goes on and on.
With so many people included under the term “Asian
American,” of course we are entering the university at high
rates. But are we really?
After 24 Pacific Islands students entered UCLA this fall, their
grand total has come to about 50 students.
Hmong students were happy to welcome three new students this
year: a freshman, a transfer and a grad student. They’re
finally up to a whopping 18 students at UCLA, according to the
Association of Hmong Students.
But so long as that broad group of “Asian Americans”
is doing well, all those communities within that group don’t
need any help. Why solve the problem if you can ignore it with
semantics?
Daniela Conde, MEChA chairwoman Doug Johnson, Afrikan
Student Union chairman Jason Osajima, Asian Pacific Coalition
director Nefara Riesch, Pacific Islands Student Association
co-president
