Letters

Monday, 4/28/97 Letters

Bruin Belle’s name change defended I am writing in response to
Mimi Guzman’s Viewpoint article, which focused on the name change
of the Bruin Belles Service Association. (April 23, 1997) As the
current President of the organization, l would be remiss if I did
not point out that a majority of our members, including myself,
disagree with her defense of our name. I also want to correct
several errors in fact. First, Guzman writes that the proposition
to change our name "did not begin from within the group, not from
the women who serve as Belles everyday …" This is untrue. As all
of our members have been told, the name change issue would have
been raised regardless of our advisor’s opinion on the matter. Over
55 percent of our members voted to change the name "Belles" to
something that represents what our organization stands for.
Obviously, it is not just our advisor who has a problem with our
name. Second, Guzman claims that if we did not change our name, "we
would lose our funding and our place within the university
structure." This is a false allegation. Almost all of our funding
comes from within the organization in the form of membership dues
and fundraising activities. We will not lose our place within the
university structure either. Our organization will not be
dismantled or hung out to dry. For the past six years, our advisor
has done nothing but look out for the organization’s best
interests. She would not be doing her job if she did not take a
stand against what many of us feel is a sexist and degrading name.
Finally, Guzman contends that our name is an "unimportant" and
"trivial" matter. In so doing, she devalues the importance of
language in contributing to peoples’ perceptions and stereotypic
tendencies. "Belle" is defined as "a pretty and popular woman." Our
name is our first impression to the campus and to the community. It
is our greatest publicity tool, and it should encompass what we
stand for. Instead, our name has constantly worked against us. I
believe it discredits the tremendous achievements of our members,
demeans the stature of our organization, and makes a mockery of
what we propose to stand for: women’s leadership and community
service. How are we expected to be taken seriously with such a
title? Rather than reflecting our 160 members’ exceptional records
of leadership and service, the name portrays us as vain,
superficial socialites more concerned with our hairstyles than with
our deep commitment to social change. Linda Klein, President, Bruin
Belles Service Association fourth-year communication studies Hemp
Fest gives wrong message First of all, I’d like to make it clear
that I fully support anyone and any group’s freedom of speech and
expression. However I would also like to point out the morality, or
lack thereof, with the Bruin Libertarians’ Hempfest. The speakers
were, among other things, advocating the use of marijuana as a
"recreational" drug and making the whole situation appear comical.
One of the speaker’s last lines was, "… and start smoking pot!"
While Meyerhoff Park is a "soapbox" for people’s opinions, think
about who’s listening. I see lots of little schoolchildren from the
inner city touring campus all the time. The whole purpose of it is
to show them that their situation in the inner city is not
hopeless. With a lot of hard work and studying and saying "no" to
gangs and drugs, they too can make it into UCLA. Now, what kind of
message is being sent to these kids when they see college students
promoting the use of marijuana? There are many drug-resistance
programs in those grammar schools to keep kids off of drugs, yet
they see these older "children" supporting marijuana. Also, since
it is springtime, a lot of high school juniors and their parents
are touring the campus to help them make a decision of where they
will attend college. The Bruin Libertarians are not sending a
positive message to them or their parents. Contrary to the "popular
culture", I’d like to believe that the majority of us are here to
learn and not to "experiment" with illegal substances. We need to
send the right message to kids and their parents and not let UCLA’s
student body be associated with marijuana and other controlled
substances. For more details about drug abuse, I refer the readers
to Jennifer Nelson’s October 3 article at dailybruin.ucla.edu/
db/issues/96/10.03/view.nelson.html Marlon A. Cicero fourth-year
applied mathematics with computer specialization Drugs a question
of Individual choice As the former chairman of the Bruin
Libertarians (1993) I would like to say a few words about the Hemp
Fest in Meyerhoff Park last Wednesday (April 23) sponsored by the
current generation of Bruin Libertarians. I advocate the
legalization of marijuana. There are many good arguments to make
for legalization, and the Hemp Fest last Wednesday was a good forum
in which to make these arguments. However, advocating legalization
is not the same as advocating use. While I advocate the
legalization of marijuana, I do not advocate use. There are many
positive uses of hemp. However, it is a drug that, like all drugs,
can be abused. Many studies have shown that using it as a
recreational drug lowers one’s reaction time and ability to learn
new things. No controlled study I have ever seen has demonstrated
that using it as a recreational drug allows one to learn more as
Craig Ruben claimed on the front page of the Bruin (April 24). Why
then do I advocate legalization? I advocate legalization because I
believe that people have to make their own choices. I can tell
people not to use it. I can explain its negative effects. I can try
to reason with them. Whatever I do, however, when it comes right
down to it, people have to make their own choices. Who am I to make
the choice for them? Sending the government to "solve" the problem
by using intimidation and force solves nothing. Sending the UCPD to
Meyerhoff park to stop college kids from smoking, as some would
advocate, is not the way to address the problem. These kids will
make their own choices for their own reasons. The UCPD cannot make
decisions for them. I guess the UCPD knew this, because they,
wisely, did not interfere with the Hemp Fest last Wednesday. But
the argument can be extended, sending the dealers to jail won’t
change the basic fact that the buyers have already made up their
own minds. Nor will intimidating and/or invading small Latin
American countries change this fact. Government is not a bad thing.
It offers all of us many benefits. Regardless of how much good,
benevolent government we have, however, government cannot change
the fact that ultimately people are responsible for their own
lives. Jesse Choplin graduate student cognitive psychology