Letters

Restrict politics to Viewpoint

The Daily Bruin has a responsibility to provide the community
with a paper that reports the news accurately, and to keep opinion
material limited to the Viewpoint section.

Unfortunately, the Daily Bruin failed to accomplish this on Nov.
16. A graphic
display in the Arts & Entertainment section spotlights
student hand turkeys with drawings and messages in them.

While the sentiment was nice, one of the turkeys contained a
political statement, making it inappropriate for publication in the
A&E section.

It is saddening that the Daily Bruin’s editors did not
have the foresight to limit political speech to the appropriate
section of the publication.

By allowing political bias in other sections, including A&E,
the Daily Bruin does a disservice to the community.

These low journalistic standards serve nobody and only foster
animosity among those of us who read the A&E section for
entertainment information, only to be confronted by
somebody’s political thoughts.

Please act responsibly and limit future political speech to the
Viewpoint section, where it belongs.

Howard I. Chernin Third-year Spanish
linguistics

Turkey messages inappropriate

I am writing to you in response to an unacceptable cartoon in
the Arts &
Entertainment section of the Nov. 16 Daily Bruin. In this tacky
piece about Thanksgiving, a turkey had “Free Palestine”
written in it. Your tasteless Palestinian turkey was offensive.
Political pieces do not belong in the A&E section. If I wanted
to read somebody’s opinion, I would turn to the Viewpoint
section.

The Middle East crisis is very sensitive to many students on
campus. Captioning a controversial issue inside of a poorly drawn
turkey only serves to demean the conflict. Please note that this is
a cartoon in which turkeys say “Goble Goble,” enjoy
“smok(ing) a J,” and “satisfy (themselves) when
home alone.”

Bringing up the Palestinian grievance in this context is
juvenile. It degrades all who seriously care about this issue.

The Daily Bruin purportedly prides itself on unbiased reporting.
As the students’ newspaper, it has a responsibility to
represent all sides of an issue.

David Tobin and B. L. Mahler

Don’t got, don’t want God in
paper

As far as I know, UCLA is a public institution, and I thought
this meant that, among other things, the school is not allowed to
present religious materials in certain contexts ““ namely,
allowing the placing of pro-Christian propaganda in the school
newspaper.

When I first saw this “Got God?” pamphlet in the
Nov. 19 issue of the Daily Bruin, I was intrigued because I figured
it was probably a presentation of different religions and what
their conceptions of God are.

Imagine my disappointment in finding the lies and the untruths
of the Catholic church presented as a way to solve all your
existential worries.

I hope the education UCLA students are receiving will help them
discriminate between insightful spiritual literature and the
mind-numbing filth distributed in the Bruin.

Michael Caffell Third-year Psychology

Toledo, punish players’ wrongs

I am writing in response to Monday’s editorial entitled
/db/archivedarticles.asp?ID=17398&date=11/19/2001>"Wayward
Players Deserve Reprimand” (Daily Bruin, Viewpoint, Nov.
19).

I completely agree with you that players who get themselves into
trouble off the field need to be reprimanded by the coach to
maintain the dignity of UCLA’s football program. Regardless
of the punishment outside of school, head coach Bob Toledo needs to
teach these young players that just because they are stars
doesn’t mean that they can do whatever they want and get away
with it.

It doesn’t matter if they are crucial to a Bruin victory
or not. Toledo holds a position of respect in these players’
lives, and he needs to teach them about the meaning of class and
humility.

Because some players are so good, they will receive special
treatment and will be offered benefits ““ both big and small
““ and they need to learn that they cannot accept such
benefits or treatment. Not only is it against the rules, but it
makes them look bad in addition to reflecting badly on the athletic
program and UCLA. It’s time for Toledo to start thinking
about something else besides winning the next football game.

Sarah Phelps Alumna Class of 2001