Letters

Thursday, October 8, 1998

Letters

Ignorance about Muslims prevails

I greatly appreciated Ahmed Shama and Salar Rizvi’s attempt to
clarify facets of Islam ("Media, society perpetuate stereotypical
view of Islam," Viewpoint Oct. 5, 1998) – a religion which is
largely misunderstood. Although grateful for the forum, I am still
saddened that Islam, which is practiced by billions of peaceful
Muslims, still has to be defended in the Daily Bruin. Respect for
another’s religion is a staple of civility and those who have not
learned that by now never will.

Hence, I was shocked yesterday, while in my sociology of
entrepreneurship class, to hear the professor teach that Muslims do
not practice economic activism like the Protestants – rather, they
choose political activism. The professor went on to state that
because of this political activism, Muslims possess such a sense of
righteousness that they kill and wage holy wars in order to correct
what they believe to be unjust. What the professor failed to bring
to attention is that Islam has its own unique economic system – a
fact that would have introduced a bit of learned insight to the
lecture. Biased blanket statements have no place in institutions of
higher learning, especially those institutions that take pride in
diversity and tolerance.

Islam is one of the world’s three great religions and is
intrinsically linked to Judaism and Christianity, as all Muslims
accept the Torah and the Bible. So, isn’t it about time that the
"Judeo-Christian tradition" be replaced by the
"Judeo-Christian-Islamic tradition?"

Amena Akmal

Third-year

Sociology

Don’t blame the white man

I was walking around campus today when a fellow white male
approached me. He gave me the secret "white man’s handshake" (which
is of mere tradition since it is quite evident when someone is a
white male).

When I properly responded, he pulled me aside and gave me the
scoop: "In the upcoming election, vote for all the white, male,
Republican politicians. They’re on our side. They are devoted to
keeping "people of color" out of UCLA while continuing to repress
their progress in modern society."

I quickly responded with a triumphant, "I certainly will. I
can’t stand it when all those ‘people of color’ make it into the
school. Asians, I can live with, but all the others make me
uncomfortable." I was so happy that our scheme was actually
working. With the abolishing of affirmative action in the last
election, it seemed that everything was in place for our (the white
males’) plan that we’ve been scheming for so long.

All the secret letters, the subliminal messages in the media,
and especially the forcing of "people of color" to pay before they
pump their gas have finally paid off. And since the white man is
controlling everything, we’ve been able to keep this secret plan
from all the other races.

Does this sound ridiculous? I think it does. But, for the last
two years at UCLA, I have opened the Daily Bruin and have read
countless articles explaining how white people (as a group) are
trying to repress minority groups. Don’t get me wrong, I admit that
there is a lot of discrimination and racism that needs to be
addressed; however, the bulk of what I have read has been
ridiculous.

I don’t blame the editors, for they are only accurately
portraying the attitude of the student body at UCLA. But, I ask
each person at this school to please stop writing articles about
how the end to affirmative action is an attempt to keep minorities
out of UCLA. Please stop writing any article that appeals to the
ridiculous notion that a group of people is attempting to repress
the students at UCLA. If my little story becomes a reality, then
write away. But, until that happens, save your energy for more
substantial issues.

Justin Berardino

Fifth-year

Mathematics

In defense of President Lee

In his critical assessment of President Stacy Lee’s speech
(Viewpoint Letters, Oct. 5, 1998), Thomas Soteros-McNamara entirely
missed the message that Lee was trying to get across.

I’m sure that McNamara well understands that there is a certain
desire among us first-years to distance ourselves from the
communities we’ve all come from. It seems natural that we would be
extremely interested in devoting our time to meeting all of the new
people on campus and taking in the new sights. As each of us works
to find our own particular niche in this new environment, we all
come to isolate ourselves in many ways from the world outside.

I don’t feel that Lee was truly trying to impress her own views
on us. Her speech had a far different motive. I believe that her
real desire was to remind us that, as much as we want to fully
immerse ourselves in the newfound academics and diversions of
university life, there still exists an outside world that demands
our attention and concern.

Lee attached a strong personal element to her speech that made
her point all the more important. In concluding with the simple
message that all students should participate in the voting process,
Lee summarized her theme of universal student involvement and
communicated the need for all students to voice their own opinions.
Considering that our age group has the lowest percentage of voters
in the nation, I feel that her message was extremely pertinent.

I admit that, while listening to the speech, some of Lee’s
comments surprised me, but I now realize that this was her way of
keeping our attention focused on her underlying theme of
involvement.

Reflecting back, I can see that President Lee’s speech was
really the highlight of the convocation ceremony. After all, if the
proceedings of every major campus event have to be "de rigueur" –
why should anyone attend?

David Yagol

First-year

Pre-med

CIA shouldn’t recruit from UCLA

This Thursday UCLA is hosting a job fair in Pauley Pavilion with
the intention, I assume, of giving students the opportunity to find
a job which would be of interest to them. In looking over the list
of possible employers, my blood truly ran cold at one potential
employer signified by only three letters. That employer was the
CIA, or Central Intelligence Agency.

It truly disgusts me that the university would allow this
organization to attempt to recruit students into its ranks. In the
agency’s 50-year history, it has managed to amass a huge record of
death and destruction throughout the world. Let me name just a few
examples of the murderous approach the CIA has taken in its job.
Guatemala 1954: The CIA overthrew the democratically-elected
government of Jacobo Arbenz, bringing the Guatemalan military to
power. The military proceeded to slaughter thousands of Guatemalan
citizens, most of them Mayan Indians until well into the 1980s.

Indonesia 1965: The CIA contributed to the Indonesian military’s
overthrow of the Sukarno government. During the coup’s bloody
18-month aftermath, over 500,000 Indonesians lost their lives.

General Suharto, who took power at this time, remained in power
until just a few months ago, committing gross human rights abuses
against his own people as well as possibly the worst post World War
II example of genocide relative to the population in East
Timor.

Chile 1973: Working closely with the Chilean military and
U.S.-multinationals with investments in Chile, the CIA helped to
oust democratically-elected President Salvador Allende,
assassinated during the coup. Chile remained until recently under a
brutal military dictatorship, responsible for the murders of
thousands of its political opponents.

And in the very city which houses this university, Los Angeles,
felt the sting of the CIA during the ’80s, as evidenced most
recently by journalist Gary Webb’s account two years ago in the San
Jose Mercury News. In an effort to finance the Contra war against
the elected Sandanista regime in Nicaragua the CIA was, at the very
least, complicit in allowing huge amounts of crack cocaine to be
imported into poor areas of the city populated mainly by people of
color.

These examples reflect merely a small sampling of the murderous,
anti-democracy actions the CIA has taken around the world. Why do
we allow such an organization to exist in the first place? Why do
we allow it to openly recruit new members into its ranks from the
student body of UCLA? Apparently, that these murderers and drug
pushers are sanctioned by the U.S. government somehow makes it OK
in the eyes of UCLA.

Garrick Ruiz

Fifth-year

American literature

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