Letters

Clerical workers take a cue, fight for rights I
commend you for your July 10 coverage of the important issue of
UCLA management’s abuse of employees in the
“casual” category. The quote from Jose Hernandez in
Todd Belie’s story, “Assemblywomen investigate charges
of unfair labor”(News, July 10-14) well summarizes the issue.
The only problem with your story is that it fails to mention the
fact that approximately one-third of clerical employees
(administrative assistants, library assistants, child care
teachers, and more) at UCLA are also classified as
“casual” and subjected to these same management abuses.
The Coalition of University Employees, which represents 18,000 UC
clericals, has been, and will continue to be, part of the fight to
bring justice to these workers. As chair of the UCLA local of CUE,
I was part of the union delegation that met with the assemblywomen;
CUE is actively supporting this important work.
“Casual” clericals at UCLA are urged to get in touch
with CUE to help with this campaign. Claudia Horning Chair of the
UCLA local at CUE

Men also live by societal standards Like many
feminists, Nicole Seymour seems to have trouble seeing both sides
of a coin in her column “Women’s Right To Be Hairy
Unrecognized (Viewpoint, July 10-14). Seymour complains about
societal pressure on women to remove body hair, but mentions
nothing about similar pressure on men. She even blames the entire
problem on men: “I wonder if a single one of these women
tells her boyfriend how disgusting she thinks his hair legs
are.” Selective blame is not the answer. None of us can
really change who and what they’re attracted to. Did it occur
to Seymour that men might feel similar pressure, proportionate to
their average share of body hair? I called the UCLA Hair Removal
Center for a breakdown of clients by sex. Maybe Seymour did the
same, I don’t know. But if she did, she probably didn’t
like the results. “It’s about 50/50, maybe 40/60, but
no big difference.” Men usually go in to remove hair from
their shoulders, backs and necks. Which reminds me … I’ve
heard countless women express utter disgust for hair on men’s
shoulders, backs, and even necks. Connection, maybe?
Seymour’s one sided complaint is similar to the gripes about
restrictions on women’s attire in the workplace, even though
men are more restricted than women in many cases. At the law firm
where I formerly worked, female employees could wear earrings. I
had to remove mine. They could choose between slacks or a skirt,
long or short hair, makeup or no makeup, long or short sleeves,
etc. The men had no choice but to wear collars, ties, long sleeves
and slacks, regardless of the heat. Next time Seymour writes on an
issue she thinks effects only women, she might try considering
other perspectives. Despite the chivalry and silence of most men, a
growing number are actually voicing their grievances. Marc
Angelucci Law student and Member of the National Coalition of Free
Men

Moshing for releasing energy, enjoyment Judy
Pak starts off her article (“To avoid concert injuries, use
some common sense,” July 10) claiming that every person in a
mosh pit is “liquored up,” has “their
testosterone flowing,” and looking to “inflict
pain.” Before moving on I’ll go ahead and say that
first of all, some of the better concerts I’ve seen were
attended completely sober. (Just for some sort or credibility
I’ll mention that I’ve taken part in mosh pits in
concerts such as Megadeath, Anthrax, Bad Religion, Pennywise,
Metallica, Rancid, not to mention innumerable others). It is very
uncommon to be in a pit without a number of female fans. Finally,
it is the last thing on my mind to inflict pain on anyone while in
a pit. Mosh pits are a release of energy absorbed while listening
to music that inspires and energizes fans. Pak however, sees this
tension release as “mindless fun and games.” Pak goes
on to claim people’s lives are in danger because of pits. She
cites two recent horrible tragedies. The first incident referred to
was in Roskilde, Denmark. A crowd was trampled to death after
slipping and falling in mud, leaving eight dead. This type of
incident is in no way correlated with mosh pits and unfortunately
occurs wherever there are large masses of people at many different
events. The second incident cited was in Baltimore where one of the
fans plunged from the top of the stadium to his death. How is that
in anyway associated with mosh pits? The reality is that no one has
ever died from moshing. After explaining how terrible and deadly
mosh pits can be Pak gives us a brief history of how mosh pits came
about. She claims, “it was probably the Nirvana video
“˜Smells Like Teen Spirit’ which introduced moshing to
an extensive mainstream youth audience.” I hate to shock
everyone but there was pitting before Nirvana. Has anyone ever
heard of the Sex Pistols, the Misfits or the Ramones? Moshing is
just as popular now as it was back then. The truth is, music
excited people then and it will continue to do so in the future.
The purpose of my article is not simply to bash Pak. My point is
moshing isn’t for everyone, but it can be a lot of fun and a
great method for expressing yourself. Pitting is a perfect way to
enjoy music, let off some steam and have a great time. Don’t
let anyone tell you what you should or shouldn’t like.
Moshing may only appeal to a few people but like our parents tell
us, don’t judge something until you try it. Spencer Aller
Third-year Political science